Trends and Buzz

This week in figures

A few interesting numbers from the press this week:

21: Number of tertiary institutions in Beijing from which China's air force will recruit pilots. (BJT)

100: Amount, in percent, of Chongqing facilities trading in sex services that must provide condoms under a new public health policy. Public opinion has generally applauded the measure for its awareness of the dangers of STDs, but some people have objected to the program as legitimizing immoral behavior. Compliance is another problem: any venue seen offering free condoms may be targeted by the police, since the sex industry is still illegal.

Rumors have been circulating that the police would go undercover to check if prostitutes were following the new regulations; according to a Yangzi Evening News report, the Chongqing police said that a spokesperson's suggestion that police "may act as johns and make covert inspections" was intended to target the venue owners, and not the prostitutes themselves. (BJT)

300: Amount in RMB which doctors were required to submit to a hospital in Chengdu as part of a program to reduce hongbao, the bribes given to doctors by patients. Department heads were required to submit 500 yuan. The hospital had originally made bribe submission voluntary, but since few doctors handed over any cash, the administration set up these "bribe targets." (SouthCN)

1000: Price in RMB of a pair of glasses produced in Henan province. A Tongzhou man bought the glasses thinking they were imports from the Netherlands, and has lodged a complaint against the shop for false advertising. The shop countered that the problem was merely one of accent - the salesperson's dialect doesn't distinguish between [l] and [n], so "Hénán" became "Hélán." The store gave the customer his money back. (Mirror)

10,000: Approximate number of pieces of mail sold off to paper recycling centers in Tongzhou. The mail was mostly printed material mailed at a common rate that under current postal regulations is completely uninsured - the postal service need pay no compensation for loss or harm to that class of mail. The articles that were recovered were purchased from a white van for 2000 yuan by a recycling station attendant who is currently on the run. (TBN)

30,000: Approximate number of bottles of alcohol confiscated at the Beijing Capital Airport over the last two years that are to be donated to charity organizations for resale. The alcohol, valued at nearly 500,000 yuan, was brought to the airport by passengers unaware that it has been banned on airlines since February 2003. Proceeds from the sale will go to public service projects like charity construction and teacher training. (Mirror)

There are currently 0 Comments for This week in figures.

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
AXL091030storiesforthcoming.jpg
Princess Der Ling: Two Years in the Forbidden City: Two years in the Forbidden City is largely a reminiscence of the minutiae of life for one of history's most powerful women, by one of her court attendants, a Manchu noble's daughter by the name of Der Ling.
Carl Crow's The Long Road Back to China: In 1939 Carl Crow - an American journalist, advertising executive and author who had lived in Shanghai for 25 years until forced out by the Japanese - travelled up the Burma Road from Rangoon to Chongqing on assignment for Liberty magazine - 'the most interesting assignment I have ever been given'.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ New Years Past: Other Spring Festivals by Geremie R. Barmé (2007.02): Sang Ye interviews two people about their experiences during Great Leap Forward-era Spring Festivals. Translated and annotated by Geremie R. Barmé.
+ Trend-spotting in online fiction (2007.06): An interview with Daniel Dan Fei (丹飞), publisher of Notes on Graverobbing (盗墓笔记), Rear Palace (后宫), and Those Ming Dynasty Things (明朝那些事).
+ China's 50 Most Beautiful People (2005.03): The Beijing News borrows a picture of Maggie Cheung from Cosmo for the cover of today's Entertainment insert, "50 Most Beautiful People in China". Ms. Cheung takes the top spot, with Takeshi Kaneshiro, Little S, Zhang Ziyi, and Liu Ye rounding out the top five in this exercise that is a conscious imitation of People magazine's yearly rundown.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30