Chinese Guardian Lions’ Stone Sculptures Covered with Plastic Bags Protect from Extreme Weather
Posted: November 24, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, Asia, China | Tags: 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Aleksandr Zheleznyakov, Alibaba Group, Anyang Normal University, Beijing, Celestial coordinate system, Central China, Chemical plant, China, Henan Leave a commentWinter can be brutal – so brutal that even stone sculptures need protection. In Anyang, central China’s Henan Province, the Chinese guardian lions’ stone sculptures were covered with plastic bags to guard it from extreme weather. The meteorological department had forecasted 10-14mm of snowfall in the province, and the “red scarf” was used as a protective measure to safeguard the cultural relics.
Source: CCTVNews
China’s Internet Boom
Posted: November 19, 2016 Filed under: Asia, China, Science & Technology, Think Tank | Tags: 17th century, AdSense, Alibaba Group, Ant Financial Services Group, Apple Inc, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous car, Baidu, China, Department of National Defence (Canada), George Qulaut, Google, Government of China, Internet of Things, Kim dynasty (North Korea), Kim Jong-un, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, MIT Technology Review, Virtual reality Leave a commentOnline experimentation doesn’t have to be limited to tech companies.
Edward Jung It’s tempting to portray the rapid growth of the Chinese Internet as just one more example of China’s efforts to catch up with the West: Alibaba is the eBay of China, Baidu is the Google of China, Didi is the Uber of China, and so on. But China is actually conducting some fascinating experiments with the Internet (see “The Best and Worst Internet Experience in the World“). You just need to look outside the tech sector to notice them.
The most significant innovation is happening not among Chinese Internet companies but in the country’s so-called “real” economy. Corporations in old-school sectors like construction, agriculture, transportation, and banking are pursuing new business models based on big data, social media, and the Internet of things.
These are some of the largest firms of their kind in the world, yet many are young enough to be helmed by their original owner/founders. They’re like Rockefeller, Ford, or Carnegie with access to smartphones.
So it’s China’s largest residential-property developer—not a tech company—that is pioneering the integration of Internet-based technology and services into fully wired communities. Vanke wants to create urban hubs that supply residents with gardens, safe food, travel, entertainment, and medical and educational services, all enabled by the Internet. Read the rest of this entry »
Hong Kong Police Restore Cuts Made in Revision of their Official Account of the Deadly 1967 Riots
Posted: December 29, 2015 Filed under: Asia, Censorship, China | Tags: Alibaba Group, Bagheria, Beijing, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Brookings Institution, Central Conservatory of Music, China, Cultural Revolution, Death of Li Wangyang, Hong Kong, Jack Ma, Mainland China, Pro-Beijing camp, South China Morning Post Leave a commentForce backs down after being accused of trying to whitewash the city’s history and role played by pro-Beijing radicals.
Christy Leung reports: The Hong Kong police force has made an unexpected climbdown and is restoring its official account of the 1967 riots after causing a storm earlier this year by deleting parts of it.
A source told the Post the missing details would be reinstated on its archived website as early as Friday, and more historical details would be added to make the account “fuller”.
The U-turn was decided at a meeting of the Police Historical Records Committee yesterday.
It reverses a controversial move in mid-September to revise the official version of the riots, during which pro-Beijing radicals inspired by the Cultural Revolution sought to overthrow the colonial government.

Protestors wave the Little Red Book
The force replaced phrases like “communist militia” with “gunmen” and deleted detailed descriptions of events such as leftist mobs threatening bus and tram drivers who refused to strike.
Police were accused of trying to whitewash history out of political considerations. They were also ridiculed for claiming there was not enough space to publish full details online.
[Read the full story here, at South China Morning Post]
“[We are uploading the original version] to answer our readers’ calls and have no political agenda behind it,” the source explained yesterday.
“We think people nowadays are not into reading bulky and long paragraphs, but since they enjoy reading the full version, we are bringing it back.”
In addition to the original write-up, the history of women in the force and the Hong Kong Police College will be added to the website.

The Police College will be added to the Hong Kong police website. Photo: Jonathan Wong
“We want to make the contents ‘finer’ and ‘fuller’, so that people can have a better understanding of police history,” the source said.
It is understood the committee is still reviewing the content and may upload the original version along with the new information on January 1 at the earliest. Read the rest of this entry »
Shrinking Spaces, Rising Costs: Hong Kong Residents Feel the Crunch
Posted: December 21, 2015 Filed under: Asia, China, Economics, Global | Tags: Alibaba Group, Andrew Constance, Augeas, Australia, Bank of Korea, British Empire, Carl Jung, Chief Justice, Donald Tsang, Government of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong dollar, Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong), MTR, Shenzhen Leave a commentThe average area per capita dropped 29.3% from 2013 to 47.8 square feet in 2015 – not much bigger than a king-size bed.
Isabella Steger reports: For some of Hong Kong’s poorest residents, the tiny subdivided apartments they call home are shrinking– and becoming less affordable.
With the city’s real estate among the most expensive in the world, many low-income Hong Kong residents — sometimes entire families — have been forced to live in so-called subdivided units. These apartments have been modified by landlords to fit multiple tenants and aren’t strictly illegal, but are subject to different structural and fire-safety requirements.
According to a study jointly conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Institute of Future Cities and a concern group for people living in subdivided units, tenants of subdivided units now pay on average around 41% of their income towards rent, compared to 29% two years ago. The average rent is about HK$3,924 (US$506) a month, the study said.
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A general view of old residential flats, which contain subdivided units, at Sham Shui Po, one of the oldest districts in Hong Kong February 4, 2013. Reuters
Rents in more central areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon far exceed those of the New Territories, where many poor families are forced to live despite long and expensive commutes.
[Read the full story here, at China Real Time Report – WSJ]
According to the study, a 90-square-foot subdivided unit in the downtown Tsim Sha Tsui district could command HK$5,500 (US$710) a month, which works out to be about HK$61(US$7.87) a square foot a month. In a 2011 Wall Street Journal story, a family of four paid HK$4,000 (US$516) a month to live in a 150-square-foot subdivided unit in the low-income district of Sham Shui Po in Kowloon. The unit housed a stove, desk, fridge and bunk bed.
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Michelle Wong, a single mother, plays with her two-year-old daughter in the bedroom of an 80 square-foot (8 square meter) sub-divided flat, which she rents for HK$3,000 ($387) per month at Sham Shui Po, February 4, 2013. Reuters
Spaces are also getting tinier in subdivided units, according to the study. The average area per capita dropped 29.3% from 2013 to 47.8 square feet in 2015 – not much bigger than a king-size bed. Read the rest of this entry »
Humanoid Robots as Models: Julie Watai’s Manga & Otaku-Inspired Photography
Posted: June 21, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Japan, Mediasphere, Robotics | Tags: Alibaba, Alibaba Group, Book, Chinese language, Comic book, fashion, Glamour, Humanoid, Humanoid robot, Japan, Julie Watai, Manga, Otaku, Photography, Robot, SoftBank, The Wall Street Journal Leave a comment
Japanese photographer Julie Watai creates manga and otaku-inspired photography, often using humanoid robots as models. Watch TheCreatorsProject‘s exclusive video on her here.
[PHOTOS] This Road in China Got Covered in Almost 15,000 Pounds of Live Catfish
Posted: March 20, 2015 Filed under: China, Food & Drink, Global | Tags: Agence France-Presse, Alibaba Group, Bangladesh, Catfish, China, Fish, Guizhou, Italy, Jonathan Klein (Getty Images), Seafood, Truck, Wels catfish 1 CommentWe’re back with more catfish! I discovered and posted a link to small item about this here, yesterday, but was disappointed to not find any additional reporting on it, but most of all, disappointed to find no photos. Thankfully, images are coming in. A story about a gigantic catfish-in-the-streets catastrophe is obviously a lot less fun without pictures.

ChinaFotoPress—Getty Images
When the door of a delivery truck in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou swung open, 15,000 lb. of catfish came spilling out, covering the road in a flopping, scaly mess.
Remarkably, with the help of community members and the local fire department, a two-hour rescue effort was undertaken and the shipment was not wasted, according to the Shanghaiist. Their task was arduous but simple — workers basically sprayed the fish with water to keep them alive while others picked them up and returned them to the truck…(read more)

ChinaFotoPress—Getty Images
China Releases Reporter Jailed in Yahoo Email Case
Posted: September 7, 2013 Filed under: Breaking News, China, Mediasphere | Tags: Alibaba Group, China, Hong Kong, Jerry Yang, Shi, Shi Tao, Wang Xiaoning, Yahoo Leave a commentBEIJING (AP) A Chinese reporter who was sentenced to prison in 2005 after Yahoo Inc. disclosed details of his email has been released, a writer’s group announced Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »
Yahoo ceases China news and community services
Posted: September 3, 2013 Filed under: China | Tags: Alibaba, Alibaba Group, China, China Yahoo, Community service, Li Zhi, Twitter, Yahoo 2 Comments
The Yahoo portal in China contains a farewell message citing adjustments to its operations strategy as the reason for the change.
Yahoo’s news and community services have shut down in China, following the closure of its email service last month.
The Yahoo China home page now redirects users to a site run by Alibaba, which manages Yahoo’s Chinese operation.
In a farewell message which appears before the redirect, the firm says it is “adjusting its operations strategy”.