In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, a "bottleneck lake" (堰塞湖) formed as a river was blocked by a landslide. Collapse of the dam posed a tremendous danger to those down-stream community, and the Chinese government spent huge resources and risked many lives to erase the lake. Guangdong provincial party secretary Wang Yang started a mini-landslide of his own, when 3 days … [Read more...] about Use Democracy to avoid a "Bottleneck Lake" in China
Chinese extremely optimistic about nation
More released from Pew Global Attitudes survey. From the IHT/NYTimes: "Eighty-six percent of the Chinese surveyed said they were content with the country's direction, up from 48 percent in 2002 and a full 25 percentage points higher than the next highest country, Australia. And 82 percent of Chinese were satisfied with their national economy, up from 52 percent." … [Read more...] about Chinese extremely optimistic about nation
Zhang Ziyi – What's in a name?
Zhang Ziyi was recently interviewed on a Chinese TV network: She said (in translation): The first time I was the lead in an English-language film, I received some high praise. And especially as a Chinese person, I thought that was something to be proud of. At the Cannes Film Festival, in front of all that media, then they call your name... And as a Chinese person, they … [Read more...] about Zhang Ziyi – What's in a name?
Unity is strength – Shenzhen home-buyers try group buying
There is probably only one other issue capable of challenging the Olympics for national attention in China right now: the collapse of the housing market in China, led by Shenzhen. Home prices in Shenzhen grew very rapidly in recent years (on the order of 50%-100% ), and now appear to be falling just as quickly. But for some people, it might not be falling fast enough. Two … [Read more...] about Unity is strength – Shenzhen home-buyers try group buying
A meaningful exchange on Tibet
On one of our earlier threads on the misnamed Dalai Lama, there is an excellent on-going exchange of thoughts and positions from two of our posters: one is a Tibetan in exile, the other is Chinese in China. … [Read more...] about A meaningful exchange on Tibet