Wang Lei

Wang Lei on DIY Music website
Here's a new Chinese music sharing website - DIYmusic.com that looks off to a good start: one of the artists whose original music you can hear on the site is indie rocker / dub / reggae Guangzhou original Wang Lei (site in Chinese).

Prostitutes and chickens
A scandal has erupted in Shenzhen after a primary school dictionary was found to have included the slang definition of the Chinese word for chicken, which means prostitute. What a scandal! Living in the wholesome boomtown of Shenzhen, no one would ever guess that there are such things as prostitutes (link - in Chinese).

Government to help newspapers survive
From Asia Media, a report about government media initiatve that lays bare many of the contradictions and hypocrisies behind recent media policies:

Amid mounting concern that the Internet might make newspapers obsolete, Chinese propaganda officials and editors of leading dailies are drafting a five-year plan to provide direction for the industry.

Newspaper circulation and advertising revenues have been falling in China, as they face increasing competition from the Internet and other new media for advertising dollar, according to a recent report in the South China Morning Post.

The General Administration of Press and Publication (Gapp), a state agency, said at an annual meeting in Beijing earlier this month that the plan would be released next month.

It will specify press market targets, business models and general industry direction.

Ms Wang Guoqing, deputy director of Gapp's newspapers and periodicals department, said the latest plan aimed to ensure that by the end of 2010, three in 10 households bought a newspaper regularly.

She said newspapers would be encouraged to change the way they did business and major media groups would receive support to help the industry cope with rising competition.

There are 39 newspaper groups on the mainland.

Other measures proposed included encouraging a variety of content in a single newspaper, fostering information valueadded services and promoting the development of digital newspapers.

Gapp vice-president Shi Feng said that in the past five years, "the press industry has faced a serious challenge."

To meet increasing market competition, traditional party-run newspapers should sharpen their competitive edge through consolidation, he said.

The market economy required a more market-oriented and multi-faceted business model, he added.

...But he said: "Driven by commercial profit, some media had lost some of their sense of political and social responsibilities."

He called on mainstream media to take more responsibility to continue their function as propaganda tools of the Communist Party and government (link)

Corrupt private enterprises monopolize funeral business
A Xinhua report reveals that a company in Jingmen City, Hubei, bribed city officials to gain an exclusive 20-year lock on mortuary services for the city of 360,000 people

According to a salesperson at the Qingshan public cemetary, the cheapest graves go for 2860 yuan, but their location and fengshui is not that great. The most popular sell for 9800, 12,800, and 18,000 yuan, and there are also high-end graves selling for 110,000 yuan.

To guarantee the "at least 2500 bodies cremated annually" stipulated in the contract, and to protect the interests of Huada Co., the Funerary Service Center in 2003 set up a "Funerary Enforcement Brigade." Only four members of the Brigade have licenses, but Huada Co. sent out an additional six identically-dressed people to enforce contracts. Violence like the beating of family members of the deceased and shattering of car windows occurred.

This scenario plays out in other regions as well. The funeral business in China is extremely profitable; according to a CCTV report in 2003, it places third, behind real estate and education, in the ranks of the most lucrative industries. Returns run from 300% to 2000% (via Beijing Times, link).

Fake professors at Peking University
Vice minister Wu Qidi (吴启迪) of the Ministry of Education announced that scholar brought in by Peking University are always invited according to proper procedures. That's settled then (link - Chinese).