23/02/2020
BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has written back to a group of U.S. elementary school students, encouraging them to continue their efforts to learn Chinese language and culture and contribute to promoting friendship between the two peoples.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, 50 fourth-grade students from Cascade Elementary School in the U.S. state of Utah wrote New Year cards to Xi in Chinese, telling him about their Chinese language learning and personal hobbies, expressing their love for China and Chinese culture as well as their hope for a chance to visit China, and wishing “Grandpa Xi” a happy New Year.
In his reply letter dated Feb. 15, Xi told the children that like the United States, China is a big country, that the Chinese civilization has a history of more than 5,000 years, and that the Chinese people are as hospitable as the American people.
He added that they can learn more about Chinese history and culture by learning the Chinese language, which is used by more than 1 billion people around the world.
Xi said he is pleased to see those students write and learn Chinese so well, and hopes that they will continue to work hard, make greater progress and become young ambassadors for the friendship between the two peoples.
Established in 1967, the public school is one of the first schools in Utah to offer a Chinese immersion program, which involves more than half of its students. Utah has one-fifth of all Chinese language learners in the United States. The state’s Chinese immersion program began in 2009 and is now available in 76 elementary and secondary schools.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in "Grandpa Xi", 5,000 years, American people, big country, billion people, Cascade Elementary School, China, Chinese civilization, Chinese culture, Chinese history and culture, Chinese language, Chinese language and culture, Chinese language learning, Chinese people, Chinese President Xi Jinping, encouraging, History, hospitable, learn, love for China, New Year cards, Spring Festival, U.S. elementary school students, Uncategorized, United States, Utah, written back |
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23/01/2020
BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) — The Chinese Spring Festival gala will be broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. on Jan. 24, the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, as the last dress rehearsal wrapped up late Wednesday, the production company China Media Group said.
The gala, which usually runs for more than four hours, will feature pop songs, crosstalk and sketch comedies, as well as other art forms, all of which mirror trending stories of common Chinese people over the past year, the media conglomerate said.
Crosstalk is a traditional Chinese comic performance featuring jokes and funny dialogue. Together with sketch comedies, such performances are widely-anticipated by audiences.
The performance will be presented worldwide via close to 600 media platforms, it added.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Beijing, chinese lunar new year, gala, live broadcast, Spring Festival, Uncategorized |
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12/12/2019
SHANGHAI, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) — Chinese tourists will travel to more overseas destinations during the Spring Festival holiday in 2020, said a report released by the country’s largest online travel agency Trip.com Group.
Chinese tourists have booked trips to 419 overseas cities in over 100 countries and regions during the seven-day holiday beginning Jan. 24, 2020, said Trip.com, adding that both figures are new highs for the group.
Boasting warm weather, Australia and New Zealand are among the most popular destinations for Chinese during the period. Trips to Italy, Britain, Spain, Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates are also bestsellers, according to the report.
Ninety percent of Trip.com Group’s users have chosen high-quality travel products and services. Private travel groups with tour guides and flexible schedules have also been favored by tourists.
The fact that Chinese are willing to spend more money and time on traveling shows their growing incomes and higher living standards, said Peng Liang, a researcher with the tourist data research center of Trip.com Group.
As more Chinese travel overseas for holidays, the world will also share the benefits of China’s development, said Peng.
Chinese made 6.3 million outbound trips during the Spring Festival holiday in 2019, up 12.48 percent year on year.
Posted in Australia, bestsellers, Britain, Chinese, during, France, Holiday, Italy, New Zealand, overseas destinations, Russia, Spain, Spring Festival, travel, Trip.com Group, Uncategorized, United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates (UAE) |
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29/09/2019
- Millions of Chinese children are raised by their grandparents but some seniors are demanding compensation
For generations in China grandparents have provided childcare, but some are no longer willing to do so for free. Photo: Shutterstock
The traditional role of grandparents in caring for China’s children has been called into question with two recent lawsuits sparking debate about whether seniors should be paid for their efforts.
Two grandmothers took their demands for compensation to court in separate cases which have highlighted the reliance of Chinese workers on their parents to provide childcare while they pursue professional advancement.
A woman in Mianyang, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, was awarded more than 68,000 yuan (US$9,500) by a local court after she sued her son and daughter-in-law for the costs of raising her nine-year-old grandchild, according to Red Star News.
The woman, identified only by her surname Wang, had been the child’s full-time carer for eight years after his parents left home to seek better-paid jobs elsewhere. Wang said she had taken care of most of her grandson’s living expenses and had decided to seek compensation when his parents said they were considering a divorce.
They should respect our contribution. Grandmother Wang, Sichuan province
“I only want to let them know through this lawsuit that it’s their obligation to raise their children,” she was reported as saying. “The young ones should not take it for granted that old people ought to look after their grandchildren. They should respect our contribution.”
Despite winning the case, she has not received a penny and the boy still lives with her.
In another case, three months ago, a Beijing court supported a woman’s demand for compensation for helping to raise her granddaughter since her birth in 2002.
The stories of the two women generated a public reflection on the Chinese way of childcare which, for generations, has involved leaving most – if not all – of the burden on grandparents.
One of 60 million: life as a ‘left-behind’ child in China
From a cultural perspective, it has been a matter of course in a country with a long history of several generations living under one roof, for grandparents to participate in child rearing, according to Xu Anqi, a researcher specialising in family studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
“Today, as people face fierce competition and great pressure from work, it’s still common to rely on their old parents to look after their children,” she said.
While rapid urbanisation in recent decades has broken up multi-generational households, Chinese elderly still take an active role in child rearing, with many relocating to their children’s cities to take on the job.
Millions more families do it the other way round – with parents leaving children in their hometown with the grandparents while they seek better paying jobs in the cities. In August last year, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, China had nearly 7 million “left behind kids”, as they are known.
My little granddaughter is adorable, and generally I enjoy doing all this.Li Xiujuan, grandmother
“Many grandmothers like me would joke that we are ‘unpaid nannies’, but at the same time we feel it’s our responsibility to help them out – they would be in financial stress if one of them quit or they hired a nanny,” said Li Xiujuan, who relocated from her hometown in the central province of Henan to Shanghai two years ago to help look after her granddaughter.
“I’m a 24-hour nanny for my grandkid. I prepare food for her, wash her clothes, attend early childhood classes with her, take her for a walk in the park twice a day, sleep beside her at noon and night …” she said.
“I never cared for my daughter when she was little like I do her daughter now. You know, it was also her grandmother who mainly took care of her daily life when she was young,” Li said, laughing.
“My little granddaughter is adorable, and generally I enjoy doing all this. The hard part is that I miss my friends and relatives back home. We don’t have friends here. I have plenty of things to do at home, but here, nothing but babysitting. People are polite, but it’s difficult to make new friends,” she said.
‘Left behind’ sisters cry when parents leave home to go to work
In a 2017 study of about 3,600 households in six major cities including Beijing and Guangzhou, the Chinese Society of Education found almost 80 per cent of surveyed households had at least one grandparent as carer before children began primary school.
The study also showed that 60 per cent of parents still relied on help from grandparents after children were old enough for primary school at the age of six.
Whether grandparents should be compensated for their efforts split a poll of 49,000 users conducted by social media platform Weibo in late June, with half believing that the older generation should be paid for raising their grandchildren. Only 2.3 per cent said babysitting grandchildren was “an unalterable principle” for the elderly.
“This arrangement could be well managed and improve blood ties if children reward the elderly in their own ways, such as sending gifts on holidays and taking them on trips,” Shanghai researcher Xu said.
I think what they need more is words of appreciation, which many of us have neglected. David Dai, Beijing parent
Grandmother Li agreed: “I think regular payment is a little awkward, but I do expect some kind of reward, like cash gifts on festivals and daily necessities as presents.”
David Dai, a 30-year-old white collar worker in Beijing, said how to reward grandparents for their contribution depended on the financial situation of each household.
“My parents are farmers – they are in good shape and not so old – in their late 50s, and if they didn’t come all the way from my hometown in Anhui to Beijing to look after my son, they would still be taking some odd jobs,” he said.
“Therefore, besides covering their living costs at my place, I give them cash gifts on their birthdays, the Spring Festival and other important occasions, because babysitting their grandchild means they lose the opportunity to work,” he added.
“In some families, the grandparents might have retired and have a good pension. They don’t lack money and enjoy spending time with their grandkids. I don’t think they need to be paid. I think what they need more is words of appreciation, which many of us have neglected,” Dai said.
China boosts childcare and maternal health services in bid to lift birth rate
But for those who never show any gratitude, their parents have every reason not to offer child rearing help or to demand payment, Xu said.
Zhang Tao, a lawyer at the Hiways Law Firm in Shanghai, noted that as long as at least one parent of a child was living, the grandparents had no obligation to help with childcare.
“The grandparents should be compensated for the money they have paid for the child’s education, medical fees, and accommodation from the beneficiary,” he said.
But whether they should be paid has become the latest controversy as more grandparents find it a burden.
Source: SCMP
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01/03/2019
Passengers walk to board a train at Liuzhi Railway Station in Liuzhi, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, March 1, 2019. China’s 40-day Spring Festival travel rush concluded on Friday. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)
Posted in China alert, Spring Festival, travel rush, Uncategorized |
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25/02/2019
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) — China’s national observatory on Sunday forecast that some northern and eastern parts of the country would be shrouded in smog in the coming days while snow will hit western regions.
Thick smog will envelop northern and eastern areas including Hebei and Shandong provinces until Thursday, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).
From Sunday night to Monday morning, thick fog will be seen in the provinces of Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Hubei, reducing visibility in some areas to less than 200 meters, the NMC said.
From Sunday night to Tuesday, snow will hit west China’s Tibet, Qinghai and Gansu, while rain will soak the south from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Bad weather could disrupt traffic after the Spring Festival holiday when many people are returning to work after the break.
China’s Spring Festival travel rush started from Jan. 21 and will last till March 1.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Anhui, China alert, Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, National Meteorological Center (NMC), national observatory, Qinghai, shandong province, Shanghai, Smog, snow, Spring Festival, Tibet, Uncategorized |
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25/02/2019
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) — Railway trips in China hit a record high as travelers returned to work after the Spring Festival break, data from the national railway operator showed.
On Saturday, some 13.17 million passenger trips were made by rail, a daily record for the travel rush, up 38.8 percent year on year, according to the China Railway Corporation (CRC).
On Sunday, 12.2 million railway trips are expected to be made as the travel rush continues, the CRC said.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese went back to their hometowns to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year with their families.
The annual travel rush around the festival (chunyun) often puts the transport system to the test.
As more trains have been put into operation, railway transport capacity improved by 5.3 percent this year during the travel rush, according to the CRC.
The Spring Festival travel rush started from Jan. 21 and will last till March 1, with railway trips expected to hit 413 million in total, up 8.3 percent.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in China alert, China Railway Corporation (CRC), lunar new year, railway trips, record high, Spring Festival, Uncategorized |
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24/02/2019
Aerial photo taken on Feb. 12, 2019 shows emergency worker Dong Jinbing (L) inspecting the high voltage wire with his workmate Wang Wensheng on the power transmission tower in the mountain area of Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province.
A team of electricians was dispatched to repair a high voltage wire that was broken due to thick layer of ice accumulation. After one day’s work on the over 40-meter-high power transmission tower in bad weather condition, the team succeeded in fixing the failed power system that lowered the trains’ speed causing delay during the post-holiday travel peak. This year’s Spring Festival travel rush started on Jan. 21 and will last till March 1, with railway trips expected to hit 413 million in total, up 8.3 percent. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
Posted in China alert, Dong Jinbing, Electricians, high voltage wire, holiday travel, hubei province, railway trips, Spring Festival, travel rush, Uncategorized, Wang Wensheng, Wuhan |
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19/02/2019
BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) — Emergency air rescue has played a key role in relieving southern China from frequent forest fires during the Spring Festival, according to the emergency management authorities Monday.
During the week-long Spring Festival holidays from Feb. 4 to 10, helicopters were dispatched 91 times to fight forest fires in southern China, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
In a total of 170 flight hours, they carried a 735 tonnes of water with hanging buckets to fight eight forest fires with a total range of 25,000 kilometers.
The Spring Festival has been a key time for forest fire control in southern China due to the warmer weather and more frequent outdoor fire use during the holiday, especially during tomb sweeping and when setting off fireworks.
Emergency air rescue is playing a more important role in fighting forest fires in China, especially in southern regions with high-altitude mountains or rough terrain.
Aerial extinguishing teams take firefighters, equipment and water closer to the sites with fire fighting helicopters, allowing them to control the fire more quickly.
China is making efforts to strengthen emergency air emergency rescue capabilities by introducing new equipment, cultivating professionals and improving infrastructure, according to Ministry of Emergency Management.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Aerial extinguishing teams, Air rescue, China alert, cultivating professionals, equipment, firefighters, Fireworks, forest fires, helicopters, high-altitude mountains, improving infrastructure, Ministry of Emergency Management, rough terrain, sites, Spring Festival, tomb sweeping, Uncategorized, water |
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12/02/2019
GUANGZHOU, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — China Southern Airlines (China Southern), the country’s largest air carrier, has transported more than 2.1 million passengers during the week-long Spring Festival holiday from Feb. 4 to 10, said the airline Monday.
The airline has provided air services to a total of seven million passengers since the start of this year’s Chinese Lunar New Year travel rush on Jan. 21, according to China Southern.
It represented an eight percent increase comparing with the figure over the same period in 2018. Meanwhile, the airline has also seen ten percent increases of passengers on its regional and international routes.
Guangzhou-based China Southern operates a fleet of about 840 airplanes, ranking the first in Asia and third worldwide. It is China’s largest air carrier with the largest passenger volume and air route network.
Traveling by air has become a major trip mode of Chinese thanks to expanding route networks and continuous rising household income.
A total of 12.59 million air passenger trips were made during the week-long holiday, up 10.6 percent from last year’s holiday, said statistics from Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
China is now the world’s second-largest civil aviation market. It is expected to become the largest by mid-2020s, according to the latest forecasts by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Source: Xinhua
Posted in air carrier, air passengers, CAAC, China alert, China Southern Airlines, Civil Aviation Administration of China, IATA, passengers, Spring Festival, Uncategorized |
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CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 