Current Events

[Randy W]

Residents flee homes as subway tunnel collapses in China

• Hangzhou subway operator says water seeped into underground construction site
• Zhejiang’s capital was scene of subway collapse that claimed 21 workers’ lives in 2008

from the SCMP 

Quote

Homes in a major city in eastern China were evacuated on Wednesday after water seepage at a subway construction site caused a main road to cave in and cut a gas main.
 
Authorities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, said dozens of residents feared for their homes as buildings cracked and swayed from the cave-in.
 
Videos posted to the Weibo microblogging network showed yellow smoke engulfing the neighbourhood as the road fell below street level. Authorities said Hangzhou’s gas supplier managed to close off the mains.
 
Hangzhou Metro Group, the city’s subway operator and the company overseeing the network’s expansion from four lines to nine for the 2022 Asian Games, said on Weibo that water seeped into a tunnel that connected two stations in the centre of the city, leading to the collapse.

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Rising death toll after central China floods

At least 25 deaths caused by heavy rain and severe flooding in China’s central province of Henan had been confirmed as of July 21, 2021.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/358651165888256/

[Randy W]

Serena Dong, CGTN, on Facebook: Heart-wrenching scenes. My colleague who is at the places being destoryed by the #floods in China’s central province of #Henan, shared these pix.
Heavy rain pounded since Tuesday, bursting the banks of major rivers, trapping subway passengers, causing 33 dead and eight missing so far.  More to come…

Facebook link -
https://www.facebook.com/theserenadong/posts/338667101241397

Also Serena on Facebook: Scary yet heartwarming moments! Ppl are putting their own lives in danger to help one another. #Henan #flooding

Click on Facebook link:
https://www.facebook.com/theserenadong/posts/338711494570291

Edited July 22, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Millions struggling after deadly China floods

The official death toll from devastating floods that struck China’s central province of Henan was raised to 33 on July 22, 2021.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/360394085687942/

As much as 200 mm or 8 inches in one hour

 . . . and the Sixth Tone

As record rainfall battered central China’s #Henan province this week, videos have surfaced online of ordinary local residents braving the floodwaters to help save lives.
Related read: http://ow.ly/O3ok50FBovi

Click on Facebook link - 
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3000315153620658

Edited July 23, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

On 6/22/2020 at 5:30 PM, Randy W said:

from China Daily on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/191347651290/posts/10158572259106291/

Guests visit China's first high-speed maglev train testing prototype in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on May 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

 

China's new high-speed maglev #train rolled off the production line on Tuesday. It has a designed top speed of 600 km per hour — currently the fastest ground vehicle available globally. #railway

from China Daily on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/chinadaily/posts/10159633494706291

 

[Randy W]

Zhengzhou: terror in the tunnel

The Top Secret of Zhengzhou Severe Flood: The 24 hours of the Tunnel/Flooded within 5 minutes

China Insights on YouTube

July 20: 5:40pm, the Jingguang Tunnel in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, was flooded within 5 minutes.
The military has taken over Jingguang express tunnel in Zhengzhou; the tunnel has been sealed off all around; the number of victims is unknown.

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

After one year of operation, #China's first ultra high-voltage (UHV) power superhighway for transmitting #CleanEnergy delivered 13.1 billion kWh of power from the Qinghai-#Tibet Plateau, abundant in energy resources, to densely populated Henan in central China, according to State Grid's Qinghai branch.
As the world's first all-clean energy UHV power transmission project, the 800-kilovolt direct current transmission line became operational on July 15, 2020. It extends 1,563 km across four provinces.
It is a pilot project aiding China's pursuit of attaining carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.

from China Pictorial on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ChinaPic/posts/3981089458683080

[Randy W]

中国运动员夺得金牌的时刻！
The moment when Chinese athletes win the gold medal!

from Chinese Culture on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=129141269389299&id=104445868525506

[Randy W]

Many people in #Zhengzhou went to the Line 5 subway station to mourn the deceased during the #floods.
Latest data according to #Henan Government: 13.3 million people were hit by the torrential rain with a death toll of 71 by July 27. 
May the deceased rest in peace.🕯️
#China

from Talk It Out with Jingjing on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/106341131134920/posts/347809666988064/

[Randy W]

As the waters slowly recede and transportation networks are gradually restored, rescue efforts have finally been able to reach flood-hit Mihe in central China. Now, the town tries to put itself back together.

See more: http://ow.ly/8YIp50FDqx7

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3003567933295380

A damaged car in Mihe Town, Henan province, July 24, 2021. Xiao Yang for Sixth Tone

Edited July 27, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

On 7/27/2021 at 10:42 PM, Randy W said:

Many people in #Zhengzhou went to the Line 5 subway station to mourn the deceased during the #floods.
Latest data according to #Henan Government: 13.3 million people were hit by the torrential rain with a death toll of 71 by July 27. 
May the deceased rest in peace.🕯️
#China

from Talk It Out with Jingjing on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/106341131134920/posts/347809666988064/

Not much has been said about the situation in the Jingguang Tunnel in Zhengzhou City, except for the apocalyptic pictures of all the cars that were washed out of it - I'm going to guess that the human situation was much less dire than the China Insight folks indicated in their video above - The Top Secret of Zhengzhou Severe Flood: The 24 hours of the Tunnel/Flooded within 5 minutes - and that the flooding took more like several hours, rather than the "5 minutes" claimed, giving an adequate opportunity for those people to abandon their cars and make it to safety.

 

China mourns subway flooding victims

from the SCMP on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/531226464816272/

 . . . and YouTube

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Even though Team China stood just one gold behind 2020 Olympics medal table leader Japan by Wednesday morning, several fan favorite Chinese athletes have not lived up to expectations and face a mix of criticism and support back home.

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3004810699837770

[Randy W]

Flood Defense in Ancient Times
How the 2,000-year-old Dujiangyan irrigation system solved flooding in Sichuan

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3004476409871199

Before the completion of the Dujiangyan irrigation system in 251 BC, the Sichuan basin was frequently devastated by flooding. It was one of the earliest river diversion projects achieved without the use of dams, and is still in use today.

Quote

 

Before the completion of the Dujiangyan system, named because of its location in what is now the city of Dujiangyan, the Sichuan basin was frequently devastated by flooding. The ancient Shu kingdom, which covers the same approximate area as today’s Sichuan province, was referred to as “the inundated land” and the “red basin,” as its lands were frequently submerged underwater from the Minjiang River.

The Minjiang starts high in the Min Mountains, flowing fast through narrow and steep stretches, eventually reaching lower ground. During the springtime, when melting ice from the mountains would increase the flow of water, the Minjiang would often burst its banks as it reached the heavily silted and slow-moving water in the Sichuan basin. Guan county (about 60 kilometers from Chengdu), where Dujiangyan is located, was particularly hard hit by the annual floods.

After the Qin state conquered the Shu in 316 BC, the king of Qin hoped to better control the flooding in the hope of using the area as a military base for further conquest into the neighboring Chu kingdom. Qin official and engineer Li Bing was dispatched to investigate the flooding and devise a solution, assisted by his son Erlang in some historical records.

 

 

[Randy W]

 

 

Counting the financial cost of deadly flooding in China’s central city of Zhengzhou

from the SCMP

[Randy W]

Beijing’s universities, hospitals and state-owned enterprises will start relocation to Xiong’an in 2021: report

Universities and hospitals affiliated with ministries, and centrally administered state-owned enterprises in Beijing will begin relocation to Xiong’an New Area, North #China’s Hebei Province in 2021 as part of removing the non-capital function: report

Aerial photo taken on April 1, 2021 shows the Xiongan Railway Station of the Beijing-Xiongan intercity railway in Xiongan New Area, north China's Hebei Province.Photo:Xinhua

Quote

 

Universities and hospitals affiliated with ministries, and centrally administered state-owned enterprises in Beijing will start relocation to Xiong'an New Area, North China's Hebei Province this year as part of removing the non-capital function, an official from the leading group for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region said in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency on Friday.

The official pointed out that they will be moved to Xiong'an in groups and aim to build a batch of demonstration projects over the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period to set up a foundation for the medium- and long-term tasks, the report said.

According to the report, the authorities will step up institutional innovations in setting up policies, spark their internal initiative of moving out of Beijing, and try to ensure their income is not lower than the amount they used to earn in Beijing.