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| Lack of Social Graces Gets Attention |
Mind your manners.
¡¡¡¡That¡¯s the word from the Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. The China Daily reported that the committee found ¡°the behavior of some Chinese travelers is not compatible with the nation's economic strength and its growing international status,¡±
¡¡¡¡The committee is particularly concerned about the actions of civil servants and executives of state-owned industries.
¡¡¡¡Many tourists clear their throats loudly and spit, take off shoes aboard planes and trains, squat and smoke in public places, and often appear uncouth, the newspaper reported.
¡¡¡¡¡°Decent behavior is a reflection of a country's character,¡± said Robert Lao, who has organized many overseas trips for Chinese officials and formerly worked for the Canadian government.
¡¡¡¡¡°Travelers should also learn social conventions, table manners and etiquette in different countries,¡± said Lao.
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| What¡¯s the Lifespan of the Chinese Miracle? |
¡¡¡¡The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has offered a sobering look at society, noting that as a result of an aging population, the nation will inevitably lose its labor-force advantages and economic development will slow.
¡¡¡¡Xinhua reported that Cai Chuang, one of the authors of the Green Paper on Population and Labor said as a result of the nation¡¯s family planning policy, China's natural growth rate is declining while the number of people older than 65 will grow rapidly, reaching 17 percent of the population by 2020. Currently those older than 65 make up only 7.7 percent of the population.
¡¡¡¡¡°China will be the only country in the world that grows old before becoming rich,¡± Cai said.
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| Dirt Moving Begins for World Expo |
¡¡¡¡China's preparations for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo began in earnest in August as construction of the World Expo park formally started in downtown Shanghai, according to the Xinhua news agency.
¡¡¡¡The park is located on the banks of the Huangpu River. About 18,000 households and 272 companies in the area will be relocated to make way for the project.
¡¡¡¡The six-month Shanghai World Expo will open on May 1, 2010 and end on Oct. 31. |
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| Beijing Gets A Higher Profile in Fortune¡¯s Global 500 |
¡¡¡¡Tokyo easily topped all other cities by being the headquarters for 52 of Fortune¡¯s Global 500, but Beijing has moved into the No. 5 spot behind Paris, New York and London.
¡¡¡¡China¡¯s representatives on Fortune¡¯s list: |
1 |
Sinopec |
23 |
98,784.9 |
Beijing |
2 |
State Grid |
32 |
86,984.3 |
Beijing |
3 |
China National Petroleum |
39 |
83,556.5 |
Beijing |
4 |
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China |
199 |
29,167.1 |
Beijing |
5 |
China Mobile Communications |
202 |
28,777.8 |
Beijing |
6 |
China Life Insurance |
217 |
27,389.2 |
Beijing |
7 |
Bank Of China |
255 |
23,860.1 |
Beijing |
8 |
Hutchison Whampoa |
259 |
23,474.8 |
Hong Kong |
9 |
China Southern Power Grid |
266 |
23,105.0 |
Guangzhou |
10 |
China Construction Bank |
277 |
22,770.6 |
Beijing |
11 |
China Telecommunications |
279 |
22,735.8 |
Beijing |
12 |
Baosteel Group |
296 |
21,501.4 |
Shanghai |
13 |
Sinochem |
304 |
21,089.0 |
Beijing |
14 |
Agricultural Bank of China |
377 |
17,165.6 |
Beijing |
15 |
China Railway Engineering |
441 |
15,293.7 |
Beijing |
16 |
COFCO |
463 |
14,653.8 |
Beijing |
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| March of the Publishing Penguin |
¡¡¡¡In a publishing breakthrough, Penguin has finally arrived in China.
¡¡¡¡According to The Guardian, the British publisher will translate such classics as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist, Crime and Punishment and Moby Dick into Mandarin and sell them in the world's fastest growing book market.
¡¡¡¡The first 10 novels will go on sale in November.
¡¡¡¡The London-based newspaper went on to report that although the works probably won¡¯t hit the best-seller list, the publisher is betting that the titles ¡ª including Dante¡¯s Inferno, Victor Hugo¡¯s Hunchback of Notre Dame and Leo Tolstoy¡¯s Resurrection, will have a long shelf life and compete favorably, because of Penguin¡¯s quality translations, expert introductions and copious footnotes.
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| U.S. Will Train Chinese Air Marshals |
¡¡¡¡The China Daily reports that China is sending 18 air marshals to the United States for anti-terror training.
¡¡¡¡The marshals will undergo two weeks of training at a facility in Atlantic City, N.J.
¡¡¡¡They will be deployed on flights operated by Chinese flag carriers.
¡¡¡¡¡°The latest terrorist plot that was thwarted by British police at Heathrow Airport on Aug. 10 once again alerted the industry that the terrorist threat still lingers large,¡± Yang Chengfeng, director of CAAC¡¯s security department, was quoted as saying.
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| Monster Dinosaur Fossil Uncovered |
¡¡¡¡Agence France-Presse has reported that Chinese paleontologists have found the remains of the largest dinosaur ever to be unearthed in Asia, measuring about 115 feet.
¡¡¡¡The fossil is located in Changji Prefecture, part of northwest China¡¯s Xinjiang region.
¡¡¡¡¡°We have so far only excavated the neck of the dinosaur, but extrapolating from it, we can determine it to be 35 meters long,¡± said , Xu Xing, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. |
| Archaeologists Uncover A Mystery |
¡¡¡¡In central Henan, excavators have uncovered a team of horses still tethered to a chariot.
¡¡¡¡The find has been dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty, which ended in the year 221BC.
¡¡¡¡The way the horses are entombed may indicated that they were ceremonially laid to rest, but experts aren¡¯t sure. |
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