Front Page of the Day

Strong wind: clear air again in Beijing

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The Beijing News
October 24, 2008

A strong cold wind hit Beijing yesterday, dropping the temperature to 4℃, knocking out power in parts of the city. The wind also blew down a tree, smashing a car, as can be seen on the front page of The Beijing News. The giant cauldron erected on top of the Bird Nest where the Olympic flame burned during the Games was also pulled down it prevent it blowing away.

Today's Beijing Daily Messenger reported that the wind also has dispersed the pollution hovering above Beijing's sky, making yesterday a "first grade day" of superb air quality. The dropping mercury also accelerated the reddening of tree leaves. For tourists who are keen on the Chinese "red leaves appreciation" tradition, Xiangshan Park and Badaling Forest Park are the most ideal, says the newspaper.

Also on the front page of The Beijing News:

  • Two Qing dynasty bronze sculptures which were originally from Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) are going to be auctioned in France. The two sculptures, which have an estimated value of 200 million yuan, are two of a series of twelve animal heads representing twelve lunar months.
  • Two former CCTV TV hosts are stepping into politics. The two TV figures, Wang Zhi (王志) and Zhang Zheng (张政), have been appointed as the assistant to chairman of Xingjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and vice mayor of Lijiang, Yunnan Province respectively.
  • jinghuashibao.jpg
    Yesterday's Beijing Times with a photo showing the Olympic cauldron being taken down
  • Jiang Renjie (姜人杰), former vice mayor of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province was sentenced to death in his first trial recently. He was found guilty of receiving a total of 108.67 million yuan, 50,000 Hong Kong dollars, and 4,000 US dollars in bribes.
  • Li Bin (李斌), director of the National Birth Regulation Committee said yesterday that China's population is going to reach 1.5 billion by 2033. Li also said that the estimated lifespan of the Chinese people is 73, which has already reached the level of "medium developed countries".
  • The municipal government of Beijing has dished out a new policy aimed at private sector kindergartens. According to the new policy, the quality of private kindergartens in Beijing will be evaluated, and tuition fees will be based on the evaluation. Private kindergartens, which have enrolled a total 57,945 children in the city, account for 26% of the kindergarten market.
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From 2008
Books on China
The Eurasian Face : Blacksmith Books, a publishing house in Hong Kong, is behind The Eurasian Face, a collection of photographs by Kirsteen Zimmern. Below is an excerpt from the series:
Big in China: An adapted excerpt from Big In China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising A Family, Playing The Blues and Becoming A Star in China, just published this month. Author Alan Paul tells the story of arriving in Beijing as a trailing spouse, starting a blues band, raising kids and trying to make sense of China.
Pallavi Aiyar's Chinese Whiskers: Pallavi Aiyar's first novel, Chinese Whiskers, a modern fable set in contemporary Beijing, will be published in January 2011. Aiyar currently lives in Brussels where she writes about Europe for the Business Standard. Below she gives permissions for an excerpt.
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From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Korean history doesn't fly on Chinese TV screens (2007.09): SARFT puts the kibbosh on Korean historical dramas.
+ Religion and government in an uneasy mix (2008.03): Phoenix Weekly (凤凰周刊) article from October, 2007, on government influence on religious practice in Tibet.
+ David Moser on Mao impersonators (2004.10): I first became aware of this phenomenon in 1992 when I turned on a Beijing TV variety show and was jolted by the sight of "Mao Zedong" and "Zhou Enlai" playing a game of ping pong. They both gave short, rousing speeches, and then were reverently interviewed by the emcee, who thanked them profusely for taking time off from their governmental duties to appear on the show.
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