Finer in China
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Posts posted by Finer in China
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Yeah, the one funded by EXXON.Wasn't there just a report debunking the environment claims of the bio-fuel industry? It seems to me it was just 2 or 3 weeks ago.
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www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-04/01/content_6582660.htm
Awesome!China enlarges bio-ethanol fuel coverage(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-01 14:29
NANNING -- South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region became the 10th Chinese locality to have replaced gasoline and diesel oil with bio-ethanol fuel on Tuesday out of environmental and energy efficiency concerns.
Petrol stations in all the 14 cities of Guangxi began to sell bio-ethanol fuel on Tuesday and in two weeks, traditional petrol and diesel oil will be phased out, said Fu Jian, an official in charge of transport with the regional government.
Fu said about 350,000 motor vehicles and more than 3 million motorbikes will have their tanks cleaned up for the fuel change.
Presently nine other Chinese provinces are using ethanol fuel including Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces in the northeast, Henan and Hebei provinces in the north, Anhui, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces in the east and the central Hubei Province.
Guangxi is the first Chinese locality to commercially produce ethanol fuel with cassava instead of grain. The region produces 7.8 million tonnes of cassava a year, more than 60 percent of China's total.
It is home to China's first bio-ethanol fuel production base that went into operation in December in the coastal city of Beihai. The base is designed to produce 200,000 tonnes of biofuel annually out of about 1.5 million tonnes of cassava.
China banned the use of grain for ethanol production last year to ensure sufficient food supplies, and biofuel manufacturers have since turned to sweet potatoes, sorghum and straw stalks instead.
Ethanol fuel is believed to help ease China's energy supply bottleneck. Customs statistics say China's net crude oil import climbed at least 12 percent year on year to reach 160 million tonnes in 2007, and the country's reliance on crude oil import is at least 46 percent.
It is also believed to help cut carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions, by around 30 percent and 10 percent respectively.
Chinese officials said the country's ethanol fuel sales will reach 30 million tonnes in 2010 to make up half of the total gasoline supplies.
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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-04...ent_6587547.htm
President Hu: China, US share responsibility for world economy(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-02 21:36
BEIJING - Chinese President Hu Jintao said here on Wednesday that China and the United States, as important members of the global economic system, had a shared responsibility to safeguard the health, stability and development of the world economy.
Hu made the remarks during a meeting with visiting US Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson in the Great Hall of the People.
Hu spoke positively of the recent growth of Sino-American economic and trade cooperation and bilateral relations, noting that the development of these ties served both nations' interests and promoted world peace and prosperity.
"China will join hands with the United States to boost exchanges and communication, expand strategic mutual trust and appropriately handle sensitive issues in an effort to step up bilateral constructive and cooperative relations", Hu told Paulson, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry after the meeting.
Hu also hailed the bilateral Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) as "a success" and stressed that the three consecutive dialogues had already played an important role in promoting ties. He said that China attached great importance to bilateral consultative mechanisms such as the SED.
China would intensify communication and coordination with the US on macroeconomic policies, continuously lift the level of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and make joint efforts with the United States to maintain the growth of the world economy and the stability of the international financial system, Hu said.
Paulson, who came to China as a special envoy of US President George W. Bush, briefed Hu about the latest developments in the US economy and his views on U.S.-China trade relations.
"The SED has made and is making progress", Paulson said, highlighting the view that sound growth of both economies would yield mutual benefit.
Growth of overall bilateral ties was important to both sides, Paulson said, and he expressed the hope that the two nations would push forward the SED and other aspects of bilateral relations.
Paulson, who arrived in Beijing earlier on Wednesday for a two-day visit, was also scheduled to meet Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior officials.
Prior to his visit, Paulson told reporters he intended to visit China because of the change of leadership after China's 11th National People's Congress session. He said that he would meet with his counterparts, new leaders, and the president and premier to talk about the SED.
Launched in September 2006, the SED, a biannual economic strategic dialogue, serves as a platform to discuss long-term, strategic and comprehensive issues in the bilateral trade relationship.
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Visiting US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday that US appreciates China's holding of US treasuries and admitted that the yuan appreciation has been "more rapid".
"We appreciate the Chinese investment in all of our securities (including treasuries)," he told Ed Zhang, senior consultant of China Daily, during an exclusive interview with the China Daily website.
China is holding about $490 billion in US treasuries, according to US Treasury figures. Some US politicians have warned that it will be a big danger to the US economic security.
But Paulson said it is not a problem. "We trade $500 billion treasuries a day."
Paulson is on a two-day visit in Beijing for preparations for the upcoming Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) set for June in Washington. He met with Premier Wen Jiabao and Minister of Commerce Chen Deming Thursday before leaving Beijing in the evening.
"The yuan is appreciating more rapidly and I think it's a very important and very wise step," he said, adding that it is in the interest of China.
But many Chinese economists have warned that too fast appreciation of yuan is set to damage the Chinese economy by dampening exports and reducing employment.
Paulson said he appreciates the SED mechanism in helping solve long-term and sensitive issues of mutual concern.
He stopped short of predicting when the US economy will step out of recession, but believed US has a "resilient and diverse" economy that will help long-term fundamentals. "I'm an optimist ... We are making process and working our way through it (the recession)."
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http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?showforum=36 is a good place to start
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Sincere condolences from a guy weeping as I read this thread... if anyone ever questions themself about posting on some "stupid" messageboard, it is memories like this and a responsible sense of community that make this as real as anything in your life.
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Art Review | 'Anatomy of a Masterpiece'
The Art Is in the Detail
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/03/13/arts/16asia-600.jpg
Detail of Qian Xuan's “Wang Xizhi Watching Geese.”
From his terrace, the world is blue and green — mountains and trees — or almost green. Spring is on the way; the geese are back. One, then two, alight on the river, with more still invisible but close behind. Pavilion living! The only way. With the city somewhere down there, and nature everywhere up here, he watches mist rise. River meets sky.
The calm watcher is the fourth-century scholar-artist Wang Xizhi, father of classical calligraphy and model for living an active life in retreat. He is depicted by the painter Qian Xuan, another connoisseur of reclusion, in a 13th-century handscroll at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The scroll is in “Anatomy of a Masterpiece: How to Read Chinese Paintings,” a spare, studious show that offers, along with many stimulations, a retreat from worldly tumult — the religious fervor, the courtly pomp, the expressive self-promotion — that fills much of the museum.
read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/arts/des...amp;oref=slogin
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Good old Wang with his "bring it on" rhetoric!
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http://www.thestar.com/article/326783
Olympics terror bid foiled: ChinaGuns, bombs seized in raid linked to Uyghur separatists; 'They're goal was very clear'
Mar 10, 2008 04:30 AM
Christopher Bodeen, Assocated Press
BEIJING–Chinese police broke up a terror plot targeting the Beijing Olympics, and a flight crew foiled an apparent attempt to crash a Chinese jetliner in a separate case, officials said yesterday.
Wang Lequan, the top Communist Party official in the western region of Xinjiang, said materials seized in a January raid in the regional capital, Urumqi, had described a plot with a purpose, ``specifically to sabotage the staging of the Beijing Olympics.
"Their goal was very clear," Wang told reporters in Beijing.
Wang cited no other evidence. Earlier reports on the raid had made no mention of Olympic targets.
Speaking at the same meeting, Xinjiang's governor said a flight crew prevented an apparent attempt to crash a China Southern flight from Urumqi on Friday. Nur Bekri did not label the incident a terrorist act, saying it remained under investigation. No passengers were injured and police are investigating, the governor said.
The incidents may give greater force to China's arguments that extreme measures are necessary to ensure social stability and the safety of August's Olympics.
China has ratcheted up anti-terror preparations in anticipation of the Summer Games, with the nation's top police official last year labelling terrorism the biggest threat facing the event.
Police found guns, homemade bombs, training materials and ``extremist religious ideological materials" during the Jan. 27 raid in Urumqi, in which two members of the gang were killed and 15 arrested, according to earlier reports.
Chinese forces have, for years, battled a low-intensity separatist movement among Xinjiang's Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim people culturally and ethnically distinct from China's Han majority. Iron-fisted Chinese rule has largely suppressed the violence, however, and no major bombing or shooting incidents have been reported in almost a decade.
Wang said the group had been trained by and was following the orders of a Uyghur separatist group, based in Pakistan and Afghanistan, called the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The United Nations and United States both describe the movement as a terrorist organization. East Turkestan is another name for Xinjiang.
China says its main terror threat comes from the movement. It is not believed to have more than a few dozen members, but terrorism experts say it has become influential among extremist groups using the Internet to recruit and raise funds.
Chinese forces reported raiding one of the movement's training camps last year and killing 18 militants allegedly linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Wang said security forces would crush terrorism, religious extremism and separatism. "These guys are fantasizing if they think they can disrupt the Olympics. They don't have the strength.''
Few details were available about the alleged attempt to crash the China Southern Airlines flight that left Urumqi at 10:35 a.m. Friday.
Governor Bekri indicated more than one person was involved but did not specify who is suspected of arranging the attempt.
Bekri said the crew responded to the hijack bid, arranging an emergency landing in the western city of Lanzhou, before continuing an hour later with the flight to Beijing.
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I love ping pong. I played in the PP club in high school. What a great way to spend two hours after school each day!
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great youtube video and interview http://youtube.com/watch?v=iKWKsue33m8
http://www.womenofchina.cn/Profiles/Sportswomen/202035.jsp
Wang Nan Farewells Table Tennis ChampionshipsMarch 06,2008
China News
Chinese table tennis veteran Wang Nan won her 23rd world title on March 1 at her last world championships.
"This is the last time I have participated in the competition. I am excited that I could work with my teammates and claim the title." Wang said calmly. Being one of the most well-known Chinese table tennis players, she had claimed 19 world and Olympic titles by 2005, beating previous record holder Deng Yaping by one. She added another three titles to her collection at the 2007 World Table Tennis Championships and World Cup.
http://www.womenofchina.cn/Profiles/Sportswomen/images/picvw20xd23.jpg
China wins the women's title, the eighth in a row, at the world team table tennis championships in Guangzhou, March 1, 2008. [Xinhua]
She attracted much public attention during this competition because she was under pressure seeking for a berth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. China's 2004 Olympic singles winner Zhang Yining and reigning world champion Guo Yue qualified for the Games automatically.
The 29-year-old woman suffered a defeat against much lower-ranked Kim Jong of DPR Korea in the group matches at the team championships in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on February 25, raising more concerns about her condition. But Shi Zhihao, head coach of the Chinese women's team, showed his trust in Wang Nan by insisting on sending her to compete in the following matches.
http://www.womenofchina.cn/Profiles/Sportswomen/images/picap107077.jpg
Wang Nan (L) talks with her teammate Zhang Yining during the world team table tennis championships in Guangzhou. [Xinhua]
Wang did not disappoint Shi. She earned a 3-0 victory both against Tie Yana of Hong Kong in the semifinal and Wang Yuegu of Singapore in the final.
"I don't think much about the record. I just work hard for a better performance and I will keep fighting until after the Beijing Olympics," Wang said.
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Though done in 1978, it is a very thorough free online resource!The old FSI course has a pretty thorough drilling in pinyin. Tape & book. It's available free on the net nowadays. It used to be used to teach US diplomats for overseas postings.
I presume you are referring to this FSI:
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http://voyage.typepad.com/lfc_images/Tiananmen_Tank_Man_Google_China.gif... Wait 20 years and see what comes out of China! -
What's tape? Like the old days dad? <--- my sons say
Everything now is disc and digital, really. Anything else from video and audio on tape is OLD tech and getting older.
I point them to the reality that voting has gone back to "old" ballots because for the important things, a bird in the hand is worth more than two on a disc.
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A friend gave me the full Rosetta Stone (for every language) so I'm going to give it a shot for 6 months before I go to China.
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Yes, my phone bill shows my number and my address but it only shows her phone number. I don't think I've ever seen a phone bill that shows the recipient's address. Is that what you mean?
What do you mean buy this line here?They want your number/address to her number/address.
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I saw this format:
http://www.chinasnippets.com/images/chinese-address-format.jpg
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Chinese women are shorter than American men.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-03/16/xin_19030316072626658382.jpg
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On a PC you just click start, then settings, then control panel, then regional settings. select all the languages you want and click enter. You're done. The language support comes with Windows, you may have to put in your disk if you don't have it loaded. If you have an old Windows version you can also go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ and get the latest language pack. If you go to a website that has Chinese characters it will popup a window asking you to download the font.
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In other ping pong news:
In what was probably one of the least surprising results in sports history, China claimed the top spots in both the Men's Team and Women's Team events at the 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou, China.The Chinese men faced off against South Korea in their final, and came through 3-0, although they didn't have things all their own way. In the first match, Ma Lin was tested by Olympic champion Ryu Seung Min, but steadied to record a 3-1 win. In the second match, Korea's Lee Jung Woo won the first game and was 12-all with Wang Hao in the second, when Wang had two lucky net balls on successive points, helping Wang to win the second 14-12. With fortune on his side, Wang took the next two games and the match 3-1. In the final match, Wang Liqin was far too good on the day for Joo Se Hyuk, and achieved a comfortable 3-0 victory, wrapping the final up for China. You can read more details on the ITTF website.
In the Women's Team event, China faced off against the Singapore women, and although Singapore started well with Li Jia Wei beating Guo Yue 3-0, that was the last success for the Singaporeans, as the China women came to life and ran out the next 3 matches - Zhang Yining defeating Feng Tianwei 3-1, Wang Nan beat Wang Yue Gu 3-0, and then Zhang Yining completed the match by stopping Li Jia Wei 3-1. More details can be found on the ITTF website.
So once again China is dominant in world table tennis. And while you have to admire the skills of the Chinese players, it would be nice to see another nation win now and again. But at present it is hard to see exactly where such a challenge is going to come from - Europe had it's worst championships on the men's side for many years, South Korea's administration is in turmoil at present, and everyone else still looks a level below the Chinese. Team China must be eagerly awaiting the 2008 Olympic Games - there appears to be 4 gold medals there for the taking.
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What would a Chinese woman think if you told here that there was a problem meeting the USA poverty level? (I know about your future job) Do you think that might be a red flag for her to consider?
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Alaska and Hawaii are different
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The following are the 2008 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia:
Size of Family Unit - Poverty Guidelines - 125 Percent
1 - $10,400 - $13,000
2 - $14,000 - $17,500
3 - $17,600 - $22,000
4 - $22,200 - $26,500
5 - $24,800 - $31,000
6 - $28,400 - $35,500
7 - $32,000 - $40,000
8 - $35,600 - $44,500
For family units with more than 8 members, add $3,600 for each additional member to meet the poverty guideline; $4,500 to meet 125% of the poverty guideline.
When processing immigrant visa cases subject to the Affidavit of Support (I-864) requirement under INA 212(a)(4)©, posts must use the figures in the column on the right (125% of poverty guidelines) as the minimum income that a petitioner and/or a joint sponsor must demonstrate, or the column on the left (100%) for an active member of the U.S. Armed Forces sponsoring his orher spouse or children.
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Yes, Chicago is a city of dynamic neighborhoods. It isn't pure non-stop people-packed excitement. I can't think of one place I've lived in the USA that is like that including Manhatten, LA, etc. But moving to such a diverse city as Chicago can be daunting to even other Americans. Where I live in the near North suburbs it is about 50% Russian in my neighborhood. Go over a few miles and it is hardcore Thai, the other way is Korean to the hilt, then there is Chinatown, Ukrainian village, Polish pockets, etc. just about everything. But I've always liked Chicago because these all seem to work together and add variety to the city of big shoulders.Well, I've lived near Chicago almost my entire life,including five years in the city itself. IMO it doesn't compare at all to the vibrance of Shanghai at least. Yes, maybe part of it is the fact that there are so many people everywhere. But Shanghai just has a kind of pulse that you feel everywhere you go, 24/7. The same can't be said of Chi-town, IMHO.Does that mean that Chicago is boring? Not hardly. But if your looking for pure non-stop excitement, I'd pick Shanghai over it anytime.
China enlarges bio-ethanol fuel coverage
in The Middle Kingdom - 中国
Posted
Oh my home State of Michigan! Bless you and hoping for the best. Make some lemonade.