Miscellaneous China News

[Randy W]

from the SCMP


Coming to a plate near you soon? Rice grown by Chinese scientists using seawater in Dubai’s deserts

Successful harvest of salt-resistant strain raises researchers’ hopes that one day large swathes of the desert could be turned into paddy fields

Last week’s rice harvest, which had been planted in January on the outskirts of the city, far exceeded scientists’ expectations, according to a report by the state news agency Xinhua.

The high yield reported – 7,500kg per hectare compared with the global average of 3,000kg per hectare – has encouraged scientists to expand the project.

They now plan to set up a 100-hectare experimental farm later this year, put it into regular use next year and then start expanding after 2020.

Eventually, the report said, the goal is to cover around 10 per cent of the United Arab Emirates, which has a total area of 83,600 sq km (32,278 sq miles), with paddy fields – although details as to how this will be achieved have yet to be disclosed.

[Randy W]

from the SixthTone

Hyperloop Coming to Guizhou

Guizhou will soon become home to China’s first hyperloop ultrafast transportation system — cinching the southwestern province’s transformation from a sleepy backwater to a tech hub.

The city of Tongren has signed a contract with California-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies to build a 10-kilometer long hyperloop, according to a statement sent to Sixth Tone. The hyperloop, a concept pioneered by engineer and billionaire Elon Musk, will allow passengers and cargo to travel at high speeds in a network of low-pressure tubes.

The city will provide 50 percent of funding for the private-public partnership, the statement said. It is not clear when the project will be completed. (Image: Weibo)

http://image5.sixthtone.com/image/5/12/175.jpg

[Randy W]

from China Daily

 

Vaccine maker involved in new probe

By YANG WANLI | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-07-22 16:09

top Chinese vaccine manufacturer involved in a probe regarding its production of rabies vaccines for human use is under investigation for its substandard adsorbed diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine for infants, according to thepaper.cn.

As reported by the Shanghai-based online media organization, Changchun Changsheng Bio-tech Co, in Northeast China's Jilin province, received a punishment notice by Jilin Provincial Drug Administration, which fined and confiscated 3.44 million yuan ($508,000) due to its substandard ADPT vaccine.

. . .

The State Drug Administration said last week that during an inspection by the administration, Changsheng was found to have serious irregularities, including fudging production records for freeze-dried rabies vaccines for human use.

 

 

. . . and the Global Times

 

Authoritative voice needed amid vaccine fear

Source:Global Times Published: 2018/7/22 23:03:39

 

 

 

The China Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement Sunday evening that it has already carried out an inspection of the company. The company and its suspected crimes will be handled by the public security department and the firm will be prosecuted for criminal liability. The faulty rabies vaccine has been recalled and there is no longer such a vaccine on the market, it said. Production has been halted on Changchun Changsheng's counterfeit diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccines and revaccination had been arranged for February.

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

A spunky lady . . . from the SCMP

 

Chinese runner and accidental internet celebrity milks fame to attract sponsors, and show another side to beauty

Mao Dou gained a big social media following after photos of her running in marathons were posted online. She’s bucking the ‘white, thin, beautiful’ trend and using her fame to empower woman and show they can have muscles, too

 

 

Some people question her methods of empowering women – Mao Dou’s posts on Weibo include shots of her in sports bras, and of close-ups of her toned stomach and legs.

“If men see me as a sex object, it’s their problem,” she responds. “A lot of people think that I post those photos for others, but it is for me. I train every day to maintain my figure. This is hard and very boring, and I tell my fans this. I want to show the other side of beauty; the work that goes into it.”

Most of her fans are women. “Yes, men respond to these photos, but they [usually] make a comment like, ‘oh, you look hot’, and then they move onto the next female wang hong,” she says. “Girls ask me questions, and they stay.

 

 

[Randy W]

 

from China Daily

 

Vaccine maker involved in new probe

By YANG WANLI | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-07-22 16:09

top Chinese vaccine manufacturer involved in a probe regarding its production of rabies vaccines for human use is under investigation for its substandard adsorbed diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine for infants, according to thepaper.cn.

As reported by the Shanghai-based online media organization, Changchun Changsheng Bio-tech Co, in Northeast China's Jilin province, received a punishment notice by Jilin Provincial Drug Administration, which fined and confiscated 3.44 million yuan ($508,000) due to its substandard ADPT vaccine.

. . .

The State Drug Administration said last week that during an inspection by the administration, Changsheng was found to have serious irregularities, including fudging production records for freeze-dried rabies vaccines for human use.

 

 

. . . and the Global Times

 

Authoritative voice needed amid vaccine fear

Source:Global Times Published: 2018/7/22 23:03:39

 

 

 

The China Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement Sunday evening that it has already carried out an inspection of the company. The company and its suspected crimes will be handled by the public security department and the firm will be prosecuted for criminal liability. The faulty rabies vaccine has been recalled and there is no longer such a vaccine on the market, it said. Production has been halted on Changchun Changsheng's counterfeit diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccines and revaccination had been arranged for February.

 

 

 

 

The SCMP take

 

Rabies vaccine scandal reveals China’s tattered moral fabric

Lijia Zhang says the Communist Party’s violent discarding of traditional values, suppression of religion and later embrace of cutthroat capitalism has severely damaged social trust. The party has attempted moral campaigns since then but, as the Changsheng scandal shows, they have not worked

 

 

 

Deng used to describe the negative impacts of the reforms as “a few flies” that had wedged in through China’s opened door from the decadent West. Such “flies” included the rising crime, rampant corruption, money-worshipping and declining morality.

The market economy brought in cold-hearted, dog-eat-dog capitalism to a society that was already on survival mode. To survive, to get ahead in the competitive market, to gain personal wealth and success, you had to take whatever measures necessary and bend the rules when necessary.

But all traditional and religious systems were destroyed after the Communist Party took power, especially during the Cultural Revolution, when Chairman Mao Zedong ordered the citizens to destroy the “four olds”: “old customs”, “old culture”, “old habits” and “old ideas”. The basic social fabric was torn to pieces.

 

 

[Greg.D.]

I disagree that "discarding of traditional values" leads to callous treatment of fellow citizens. I think they are, in fact, the cause of such behavior.

 

Rather, Christianity and later communism were attractive to Chinese because they do, in fact, give guidance for how to think of others outside one's family. Even then, getting away with murder while exploiting the social trust is hardly unique to China.

[Randy W]

 

from the SCMP

 

 

Coming to a plate near you soon? Rice grown by Chinese scientists using seawater in Dubai’s deserts

 

Successful harvest of salt-resistant strain raises researchers’ hopes that one day large swathes of the desert could be turned into paddy fields

 

 

 

Last week’s rice harvest, which had been planted in January on the outskirts of the city, far exceeded scientists’ expectations, according to a report by the state news agency Xinhua.

 

The high yield reported – 7,500kg per hectare compared with the global average of 3,000kg per hectare – has encouraged scientists to expand the project.

 

They now plan to set up a 100-hectare experimental farm later this year, put it into regular use next year and then start expanding after 2020.

 

Eventually, the report said, the goal is to cover around 10 per cent of the United Arab Emirates, which has a total area of 83,600 sq km (32,278 sq miles), with paddy fields – although details as to how this will be achieved have yet to be disclosed.

 

 

 

from the GlobalTimes

 

Dubai plans to expand Chinese saltwater rice into Arab world, Africa

 

 

 

Dubai aims to create an oasis that covers more than 10 percent of its land with saltwater rice developed by Chinese researchers and then expand out to the rest of the Middle East and North Africa.

The Qingdao Saltwater Rice Research and Development Center, led by China's "father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping, is trying to breed saline-tolerant rice varieties adapted to Dubai's climate, together with a plant protection system that uses sensors and big data technologies.

The surface temperature of Dubai can reach 54 C between June and July, the temperature in one day can swing over 30 C, and there is salt water with a salinity of 1.6 percent seven to right meters under the desert.

"We are choosing the most suitable breeds for Dubai from more than 80 varieties," Zhang Guodong, deputy director of the center, told the Global Times. The saltwater rice varieties that the center has developed can grow with 0.6 percent saline water. Seawater is saline up to 3.5 percent, Zhang said.

 

 

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone - scroll down a ways to get to the meat of the matter. An interactive page

 

Even at Shanghai's 'marriage market,' it's hard to find a date

What data analysis of hundreds of personal ads says about Chinese views on relationships.

 

 

Most of the ads are for lonely hearts in their 20s or 30s — but you’d be hard.pressed to spot one in the crowd. Instead, the ads have been written by their middle.aged parents, who also man their umbrellas, eager to talk to any passerby who shows interest in their adult child’s description

 

. . .

 

Think you’ll be more successful at finding a match?

Try our Shanghai 'marriage market' dating game.

 

 

 

Woman, 1.73 m tall. Born in 1982. Have Shanghai residency rights. Working as a civil servant.

Looking for a man. Shanghai residency rights not necessary. Should have similar qualifications to mine.

 

 

 

http://shanghaiist.com/upload/2016/06/ian-mckellen-shanghai-1.jpg

Edited September 1, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

in the SCMP - the BMW/machete road rage murder

 

Chinese cyclist ‘acted in self-defence’ in fatal road rage machete attack on BMW driver

In case that has gripped nation, police clear 41-year-old electrician Yu Haiming of criminal responsibility over the stabbing of a motorist who later died of blood loss

 

In surveillance footage of the incident, cyclist Yu Haiming pursues motorist Liu Hailong. Photo: Weibo

 

Liu attacked the cyclist but lost his grip on the weapon as he and Yu scuffled, the report said.

Yu then picked up the machete and stabbed Liu five times in seven seconds, rupturing one of the driver’s major veins and his intestines.

. . .

But courts have overwhelmingly found against defendants like Yu in the past.

. . .

State-run media came out in favour of the police investigation, describing it as “a victory for the rule of law”.

. . .

Kunshan police confirmed that Liu had a record of violent criminal activity but was not involved in a gang or organised crime.

 

[Randy W]

1.2 million people affected by severe flooding in China’s Guangdong province

 

South China Morning Post

Published on Sep 5, 2018

 

More than 1.2 million people have been affected by severe flooding in southern China’s Guangdong province, according to state-run media. Over 127,000 people were evacuated from their homes, as floodwaters reached as high as 2 metres.

 

 

[Randy W]

Yonden Lhato, chief news editor of the South China Morning Post, weighs in on the death of John McCain

 

 

 

[Randy W]

from the Shanghaiist

 

Shanghai is building the world’s biggest indoor snow resort

 

Three ski slopes, over 25 attractions, a water park, and an ice hotel expected

 

 

 

The project is called Wintastar Shanghai, and it’s scheduled to open in 2022, in time for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Built by Singaporean property developer KOP Limited, Wintastar Shanghai will be in Lingang City, Pudong, near the cluster of attractions including Disneyland, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, and Shanghai Planetarium.

. . .

Wintastar will span 227,000 square meters – the size of about 32 football fields – with a design based on European alpine ski towns, natural iceberg formations, and the alps.

The highlight is the alpine-themed 90,000-square meter Ski & Snow Park with three slopes, including one for Olympic training, as well as multiple ski runs and over 25 alpine-themed attractions for non-skiers.