Chinese Lives

An interneter bewildered by Master Kang bottled water’s campaign slogan “chosen fine water source”, did careful field research at a main water factory of the brand in Hangzhou, and found out that the water source are just tap water.
Many bottled water brands like Master Kang, Robust, Nong Fu ect make nice advert about how their water are delicately purified with added healthy elements, or naturally made, so we customers believe our purchase are worthy.
But customers feel hurted if the adverts are lies, especially when it happened on things people eat and drink. No one would buy 500 ml tap water for 1 yuan, that is probably enough for 1 ton tap water. Younger generation regard bottled water as natural, mineral included and healthy, so that some of them donot drink boiled water as much as their parents do. A lot of water adverts are misleading.
Master Kang apologized for the untrue adverts, and said some regions’ products are indeed natural water, as in North East China provinces.

Now this month, June of the Chinese traditional calendar , is the hottest and busiest month for Chinese farmers. In South China countryside, which i know a little, farmers often leave home and start harvesting rice plants at 4 am when it is the coolest time of a day. Between 12pm and 3 pm, the temperature inside rice paddy can rise up to 50 Celsius Degrees after hours direct sunlight, when farmers have to stay home and rest. After 3 pm, they work again till late night.
Harvesting rice and planting new rice shoots for autume harvest, make Chinese Calendar June a hell month, because delaying harvest will cause ripe crops to rot in field, and delaying rice planting till autumn, will not secure a good harvest. That is to say, farmers have to finish planting before 7th August.

Source: http://cache.tianya.cn/publicforum/content/free/1/1390180.shtml

Another hot topic grasped people’s attention on China’s most popular forum Tianya. The post was series story-telling about Tianwan’s 30 years by a 30-year-old Taiwan born young man. Mainland Chinese are interested in post-1949 Taiwan history, especially Jiang’s family, how GMT stepped down the ruling seat, and how Taiwan achieved economic boom and democratic progress in the last more than half century.
After July 4th this year, China and Taiwan formally agreed to restore direct flight between two places though only limited through weekends, which was a big gesture towards a harmonious relationship between China and Taiwan Strait.
More normal Chinese can see and taste Taiwan in their own eyes. Taiwan, as well as Hongkong, and Macao, are surely more advanced than Mainland in many ways, which will be worthy journey.

On June 28th, nearly 10 thousand Weng’an locals fought with police in a demonstration for justice relating to a 16-year-old girl’s death, which unfortunately lost control and finally set the local police bureau on fire.

The dead girl’s name was Li. She was with her classmate Wang, who was a girl, and two other teenage boy who possibly were Wang’s friends. Let the time go back; at 6pm June 21, Wang came to Li’s rent place and asked her out, and nearly quarter past 11 pm, Wang called Li’s brother to tell him Li would stay at her home, and at 21 minutes past 12am of June 22, Wang called Li’s brother again and told him Li drown herself out of despair and homesick. 36 minuts past 12 am of June 22, Li’s brother arrived at the spot with police whom he random met on the road and found two teenage boys there with Wang.

Li’s family thought Wang and the two boys were the suspects. But local police provided a postmortem report that stated the death reason as drown, and avoid proving whether Li was sexually harmed, which led to her death.

Now this point, how locals rallied to torch the government building. First, they heard one of three suspects was released because he was son of local county chief or county communist party chief . Second, they heard Li’s uncle was beat dead when he was taken to police station. Third, they heard the uncle’s wife became insane out of police’s beating and threatening.

What’s the ending/ Li was buried, and a third and final postmortem report will out on 8th July. Local government Communist Party Chief and the county Chief were both removed from their post.

Some truth. Li ’s uncle was not dead, and Li’s aunt was not insane, but it was true Li’s uncle was beat by unknown men outside police station. 3 suspects’ parents were ordinary local farmers.

Some assume that: Li refused two boys to copy her answer during the secondary school graduation exam, and two boys wanted to teach her a lesson. They raped Li, and pushed her down in the river. In a similar case many years ago, a girl was raped and killed by three men, who escaped law’s punishment because some unknown reason. Some people compared two cases to think that someone inside government wanted to cover up for the criminal.

Weng’an was not a heavenly peace place, but a place full of crime, thanks to local gangsters. There were a lot of gangs, and they have been living threats on daily basis to local citizens. Local police certainly failed to protect people, and there were deep hatred and disappointment towards invalid government officials, especially police station, so it was ruined by fire.

What’s the truth? Shall we wait until the report is out? But to those who destory police station, did they do anything wrong, and should they answer for their doings?

http://cache.tianya.cn/publicforum/content/free/1/1304950.shtml
A man gave 20 RMB to a homeless on his way home at night, and the homeless insist to give back this stone, which seemed one of his treasure.

Runner Fan is not a person’s real name, but a nickname, a negative meaning. He got that for his inact to protect teenage students when the earthquake happened. Without proper warning and guidance, he just said the word earthquake and ran away. That is why he is called Runner Fan.

A Beijing University graduate majoring history who left Uni for 10 years, Fan was a failure under comon standard to be in his present place, a temporary teacher, because Beijing University is the top art-subjected university in China.

He seemed living in pain under current education system that only request good marks to enter university after 12 years’ study, and he hated hypocrite moral lecturing that exist in society. Simply he wanted freedom of choice. For instance, he wanted the choice to live, rather than to die for students. He would never die for anyone else including his mother who gave him his life, but his little daughter.

Runner Fan, to warn students of the earthquake would not cost your life. It only test your heart. I don’t know whether i could criticise Fan of his being selfish. I know he would categorize me as hypocrite. But still, I have to say Runner Fan, you failed your students’ expectations, and teaching is not suitable job for you.

This man loves to be in America, or maybe UK and the Europe, where he regards free and liberal. I doubt he got it right, because in America, many teachers help and die for students. Is he a Chinese Patient?

A hair saloon that cheated and threatened its customers to pay up to 100 times real bill, was finally closed up for further investigation, but under tax evasion charges. I first heard this in last December that a girl went in the saloon for a 68 RMB perm curl hairdo but ended up paying 5800 RMB. She was told to buy a VIP member card with that amount, so as to apply 40% discount, and she could have about 2000RMB balance left for next use. If not, she had to pay 5670 RMB in full. Of course, it was not normal business pricing, and fortunately the girl had all her money back after one local media interfered.

How much most people pay for a haircut in central China? Average saloon, I mean not obviously expensive place probably run by celebrity stylist, charges 30 RMB for a lady’s haircut, about 100 RMB —400RMB for perm curl, and 100-300 RMB plus each for color and hair care treatment. When it is national holidays, there are usually sale package for less money.

If you look carefully at two numbers on saloon’s window, there is the trick. Two prices aren’t same, actually 100 times different. I personally experienced similar hard sale in other saloons of another city. Stylists live on additional hair treatment because their pay base on sales commisions, so their boss drive them to force deals made. But still, the saloon in trouble was inhonest, strolling on gray areas and actually blackmailing innocent customers.

That evil saloon threatened and cheated customers not the first time. Local newspaper had written articles about their gangster-minded business style. But assumed backstage big-name certainly protected the saloon from being terminated.

The saloon was fined 500,000 RMB for tax evasion charges.

Between 26th and 29th this month, Expo Central China was held in Wuhan, a beautiful city beside Yangzi River. News says investments from inside China get to 200 billion worth of contracts to develop 6 central China provinces.That is really great.

The 6 provinces are, Hubei, Hunan, Ann Hui, Henan, Jiangxi and Shanxi, which used to depend on agriculture crops, national owned heavy manufacture industry and mining industry, so that become less comparable to opened-up coastal economic regions after decades economic reformation.

Like GuangZhou, central China has cheap labour, enormous natural resources and much better weather. Basically, it is not difficult to start a factory from scratch in any non-capital city of the 6 provinces, as long as you have a profitable project and money.

What to invest on? Government prefer ones less harmful to environment. French businessmen make and sell cars in Wuhan. German car companies also can grab a market in cities, such as Zhengzhou in HeNan, if they are interested. Probably it will interest asda or tesco to buy vegetables, fruits, rice from central China, since the central is famous for that.

I am no business head. It is up to you, take good care of your money.

A man came up to complain his wife gave up her decent job and stayed home which wasted her Master degree qualification. Her job was at a local government subordinate company, good welfare and average salary, though she may feel bored to do very easy work every single day, plus she was not comfortable to deal with complext relationships between colleagues.

I can see the man loves his wife and tolerate her request for now. Why women have to work? In feudal times, women’s workplace is home; it is only in modern times, a family needs both husband and wife work to run family’s finance. If women stay home, kids can have more attention and care; husband can have clean home, warm dinner after a day’s hard work. A lot of benefits. Maybe less traffic jam, less waste of oil and less carbon footprint, since less women join the morning and evening rush hour.

Frankly, very few Chinese men would let his wives stay home forever. If so, very likely, this woman is poorly treated mentally, for instances, taking blames or fists when husband fails his job; or her family has intrusion from other woman. A lot of families, calculate each member’s economic value, and treat each other accordingly. For instance, if wife earns bigger salary, she makes the rules, and her mother-in-law will try to like her.

Some men who want wives to work, claim work makes women confident, not isolated and confined at home and contribute to family.

Women who have Master’s degree or higher, hope to marry a rich, competent and kind man, so as to stay home and enjoy life. Many responders criticised this though as a failure of our education industry.

Pickpockets can have good ones? I doubt this very much, but some people say even thieves are professional trained not to take more than money.

People share their good pickpockets experience, which sound genuine, but not excluding possiblities that it is fabricated.

Episode 1. He knew 3 constant people at a bus stop was pickpockets, and came to them for help after he found his wallets stolen 5 minutes ago. He was very certain, and 3 pickpockets did not deny. Probably moved by his anxiousness to find important cards inside it, pickpockets took him to a place, where all stolen wallects were kept. But his wallet was not there. Then making a phone call to their head, pickpockets said, 50 RMB,you get your wallet tommorow 8 am at same stop.

Episode 2, a man lost his walle which kept very important receipt to pickpockets during a business trip. Fortunately, they only took money, and sent back everything else through express post to address on the man’s ID Card.