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China
Aug 7, 2007 20:58:19 GMT -5
Post by Flash on Aug 7, 2007 20:58:19 GMT -5
I want to go traveling in China this summer. I already searched out some stuff. I hear and read a lot of weird thing about the gouverment of China.
Do you notice a lot of this in China self? Are there things you have to be carefull with, like things you say?
This is something what make me doubtfull to go or not.
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China
Aug 7, 2007 21:03:10 GMT -5
Post by Flash on Aug 7, 2007 21:03:10 GMT -5
I want to go traveling in China this summer. I already searched out some stuff. I hear and read a lot of weird thing about the gouverment of China. Do you notice a lot of this in China self? Are there things you have to be carefull with, like things you say? This is something what make me doubtfull to go or not. I’ve been living here for 4 months now, and so far I didn’t have nor hear about any bad happenings caused by the government like the stories of people disappearing or stuff like that which often is told in foreign countries. Nowadays you have to differ very carefully about what sounds realistic according to the time we are living at and what might have been happening during the Cultural Revolution. Of cause it’s not that long time ago that China opened its doors for foreigners. But it is a matter of fact, that it is one of the fastest developing countries worldwide. So many things which happened 10 years ago, nobody could think of happening again today. Of cause China is still communistic. And Government is still controlling everything. You will find cameras everywhere, even at the most unexpected places, it might happen that you buy a book and you will find some pages censored, and especially while surfing the internet you will realize that pages which are very popular in the rest of the world not are accessible in China. But to be honest, I’m never careful about what I’m saying. And I’ve even met Chinese people who were complaining about the system themselves. Of cause it’s clever maybe not to start a discussion about the failures of the Chinese system with a person you hardly know, but more because of the fact that you might hurt his patriotic feelings than because of the risk to wake up in jail next morning. As a tourist there is really nothing to be afraid of. And China is one of the most beautiful countries during summer, especially at the end, means September. The weather is lovely, not too hot and not too cold, and the nature is still green. Arrow China-Lover LiSiYin, who is sooo disappointed that time is going too fast in Beijing!
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China
Aug 8, 2007 13:41:16 GMT -5
Post by Flash on Aug 8, 2007 13:41:16 GMT -5
On August 8, the countdown clock that has been erected in front of the Chinese National Museum east of the magnificent Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, runs down to exactly "366 days to go", which is particularly conspicuous to passers-by. The 29th Olympic Games, a focus of global attention, is due to open in the national capital on this very day a year later, and a centenary dream of the Chinese nation will come true.
China has plunged itself in six years of enthusiastic, intense preparations for the Games since the World Olympic Committee (WOC) announced on July 13, 2001 to the world that the city of Beijing had been chosen to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. It has been six full years of the country's concerted, nationwide efforts to honor their commitment to the world under the leadership of the communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, or the central government. On March 23 this year, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, while hearing a report on preparations for the Games during a meeting it called, underscored that "all-out efforts will be made to do well the job for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing."
Beijing has been stepping up efforts to improve its environment, and the "Green Olympics" embodies China's concept for sustainable development.
Against a lovely, beautiful scenery of green foliages below the limpid skies with white clouds, the Olympic swimming water park in the outskirtan Shunyi district in northeast Beijing has a water space of about 640,000 square meters and a green space of 580,000 square meters around, an ideal site for yachting and canoeing events and, with its green coverage making up 82 percent.
While building those sports stadiums and centers, Beijing has worked to integrate preparations for the Games with the protection and construction of its eco-environment and, taking the "Green Olympics" as the pivot, gone all out to upgrade the quality of its environment as the national capital so as to make it a very pleasant city to live in.
The removal or relocation of two leading industrial firms in Beijing has drawn the attention of local residents. A 47-year-old coking plant east of Beijing, which provided more than 80 percent of gas or heat for industrial and cooking use has suspended production and, opposite to it at the western fringe of the city, Steel Giant Shougang, or the Capital Iron and Steel Company LTD, China's fourth largest steel maker by output, has begun moving all its polluting steel plant to the faraway, seaside the Caofeidian Industry Zone in Tangshan city of neighboring Hebei province. With the relocation of the steel giant, more than 50 million cubic meters of water can be saved a year, equivalent to the volume of water 25 times as much the water stored in the Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace, a famous summer resort of the imperial Qing Dynasty court (1644-1911).
Air has been turned much fresher, the land greener and water bluer and cleaner in and around Beijing. The quality of air in the city proper was good on the whole for 241 days last year as against merely 100 days in 1998, and some half of the land space in Beijing has now been covered with green trees.
In the meanwhile, more "contents" or innovations of science and technology have been introduced to the construction of grand stadiums, centers and other sports facilities. Among them are China's National Stadium dubbed "the bird's nest", the main venue for the 2008 Olympic Games, and the national Swimming Center, which has earned the name of "Water Cube" for its surreal design, are most enticing and attractive.
The bird's nest has used more than 40,000 tons of super-quality rolled steel, and a kind of high-intensity steel, called Q460, was put to use in its biggest part to sustain the maximal gravity of 24 huge steel columns, and the steel was developed by Chinese engineers and technicians. And ETFE, the innovative material used in area of 100,000 square meters as the "skin" of the water cube, is indeed an amazing material with excellent insulation properties.
As a project to be contracted, the construction of the National Stadium has invited more than 40 bids, and the average price for each bidding is anywhere from 15 percent to 18 percent lower than the market price. As for the National Swimming Center, bidding for 16 of its items such as steel frame structure, decoration engineering, outer engineering, elevators and air conditioning systems has been tendered. So far, no misconduct has been spotted in violation of disciplines with respect to these two construction projects.
Beijing has made outstanding achievements of global attention in recent years. Its gross domestic production (GDP) reached a total of 787.03 billion yuan in 2006 at the current price, up 12.8 percent over the preceding year, financial revenue amounted to 111.72 billion yuan, a rise of 21.5, twice as much as in 2002.
As a matter of fact, the people's recognition of the "humane Olympics" in Beijing has long outreached the scope of the transmission of the Chinese culture. The core of the "humane Olympics", as local residents acknowledge most frequently, is "to take the people first, to involve them in the Olympics and to enable them to share the fruits of the Games."
To date, the total number of volunteer applicants to the Beijing Olympics has exceeded 560,000, far more than for any previous games in the Olympic history, and a "low-price" policy has been introduced to the selling of the games entry tickets in a bid to providee more people with accesses to the Olympics arenas.
Moreover, Beijingers are now often seen jogging, having distance races, doing traditional Chinese shadow boxing and other outdoor physical exercises in all corners of the city. Body-building activities have spread to all residential sub-districts, towns or townships, and neighborhood communities with essential conditions available. Beginning to share the outcome evoked by the work of preparations for the Games, people in Beijing have long aspired after a brand-new Olympic Game of higher standards with special characteristics.
By People's Daily Online ==
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