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

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?

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.

From 1 June, all supermarkets are required to charge small fee on plastic bags, which measure is thought to deal with polution and global warming issue. The following are some interesting points.

1. Some say, the government is idiot. Aren’t we suffering enough from price rocketing?  Supermarkets will add costs on customers. It is better to use degradable plastic bags.

2. Some say, it is a good idea. After paying money for bags, customers will remember to bring their own bags, or reuse paid bags.

3.Some say, they won’t change, because they’d rather pay for bags, than bring bags. It is not good idea. If they use less shopping bags, they still need buy bin bags, which could be saved.

4. Some say, oversea supermarkets and in Shanghai, have charged shopping bags for a while. We should not refuse trying  just for the inconvenience it causes. .

5.Some say, this measure can help reducing  unnecessary bags. Second thought, when you need pay.

6.Some criticise those disagree to be greedy for freebies, and not care about planet’s future.

To sum up,  this measure gain some support, which means  people can understand and cooperate with government, though they require supermarkets to pay as equally as customers concerning go-green cause.  No surprise, a lot fuss accuse government of being stupid and soft to follow west’s demands to reduce pollution. But these complaints are labelled as selfish.

A newest policy says that from 2008, China will select 100,000 Uni graduates to work in rural China, which to some extent will ease tightening pressure that huge number university graduates put on city job markets each year.

Though rural origin graduates are not put in a must-apply situation, this policy do help them to find a secure social servant job and erase their uni loans, if they agree to serve three years.

No one wants to go in rural China. Not even students from countryside. Most parents expect children to work in Beijing state government in their best wish; if not available, they want university, bank, big state-owned corporations, or foreign companies. Certainly, working with farmers, is the last thing in parents’ plans. That is a reality that delays rural economy.

With too many university graduates, and too few city job vacancies, directing job seeker to rural China, couldn’t be a very bad idea. When more university graduates fit in, they will want to claim more rights and benefits on things such as less education fee, nationwide medical insurance, pension scheme if necessary etc.

I personall think thumb up of this policy. Because rural China’s benefit become a part of our business, when a lot of gradates have to live it for 3 years or probably longer. People in rural China are not ignored any more if this project goes well.

Only 3 months into 2008, already two young promising graduates commit suicide who only worked for less than 6 months with each employers.

The dead girl, named Zhang Wei, was a teacher in charge of student activities in Zhong Shan University. She moaned to her friend about too much work and compulsory socialising made her lack of sleep and felt bad as hell. When a senior upper rank colleague recommend himself to be her boyfriend, it was the last straw.

It could be a scandal concerning the upper male colleague if the victim was a tougher girl. But sadly, Zhang Wei was too timid, shy, not knowing when to say no. You can say she is a loser despite her eminent academic qualification.

The dead man worked in IT for Huawei, the best though cruelest ever expanding telecommunication solution provider company. He had triple times higher pay than the average city dweller, but the wolf company culture that lacked in care and love, corner him to the edge.

Why the strawberry generation, a name for born- in -1980s give up to difficulties that easy? I am afraid much blames have to fall on the born-in-80s, who have very high expectations about what their future should be but less competent at negotiating and getting on with people. Sadly, some choose suicide when finding out what real world is.

Only being whipped, tossed and ground by life, you can exist like a pebble in a sea, a river or just a pond.

This responsible guard stopped a car whose owner skipped parking fee by putting his own safety on the line.

It is not out of communism education, but purely post responsibility the guard feel right to insist. Nowadays, it takes the guts to do your job, because too many people think they can outstand rules.

Last year in Manchester UK, a similar case was that hundreds people quequed up to withdraw cash from a malfunctioning ATM which gave out double times of the amount you required. At the time, it was treated as a laugh and late comers regret about losing the chance. I am not sure how those mass amount people got punished, but definitely not life.

This young man named Xu Ting who fled with 170,000 RMB stolen from malfunctioning ATM one year before turned himself in, has triggered a months long arguments on internet forums on whether the life sentence is fair.

It is agreed that Xu Ting has commit stealing from bank. He should be locked in prison for one year or two based on returning the money and having paid the fine, since his friend who stole 18,000 got only one year.

However, the court recons a heavy punishment should be used on this deliberately malicious crime. Xu Ting clearly knew the stealing and did not plan to return when he repeated deliberate cashing 171 times and fled.

Xu Ting’s father now studied law himself and tried to convince the court to lesson the sentence in the forthcoming trail.

The double standard in treating financial criminals infuriate people. Why some peole stole millions don’t get life sentence? Old people said, in Mao’s time, government employee had death sentence for very small corruption, which was strict but warning and equal.

China is progressing fast towards law and order. Xu’s case will be a good legal education for both the government and people.