These are some pictures I gathered from the web depicting one of the National Days during the Cultural Revolution.
The smile was so genuine.
Foreigners in the parade.
Beijing, the Happiest City in China?
On July 18th, Beijing was awarded the happiest city in China after a 2-week testing campaign across 6 major cities.
Two LED boards with “happy” and “sad” smileys were fixed on 10 bus stations in Beijing. Over 460 thousand Beijingers voted “happy” among the 820 thousand participants, a 56.06% ratio. Dengshi Xikou Station is the happiest spot among the 10 because of its closeness to Dongdan shopping malls and tourist attractions. Children’s Hospital Station is the saddest spot for obvious reasons.
Shanghai is awarded the second happiest city, the rest are Kunming, Xi’an, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.
“It is not a scientific and detailed statistic evaluation, but the result reflects certain facts”, according to “experts”.
Are you currently living in Beijing? Or have you been to Beijing? If yes, please share your experience by posting comments.
Be happy! 
Car Accident
An old man was hit by a taxi this morning when he was crossing the street on the pedestrian crosswalk.
The old man’s head was hit on the car window.
There was blood on his head, one of his shoes was on the other side of the road.
He was in severe pain.
His right ankle was broken.
The police officer was asking for information, but he was still in trauma. All I heard was he’s only got his wife at home, whom is disabled from illness.
Finally the ambulance came, and he was being treated.
It was during rush hour. Automobiles still occupying the pedestrian crosswalk.
Pedestrian watching while crossing the street on the crosswalk squeezed by cars.
The ambulance took the injured old man and the trembling taxi driver away.
Car accident fatality rate in Japan–0.5%;
In the UK–1%;
In the United States–2%;
In China: 18% and increasing.
Call for all drivers: pedestrians need better road safety!!
Support the Meals that Matter Campaign
According to State Statistics Bureau, there were 225,420,000 migrant workers across the country till the end of December 2008. Over 60% of them are working away from home, as waiters, construction workers, security guards, etc.
Most of the migrant workers are under-paid, have no proper insurance, and are often asked to work overtime on a regular basis.
And the most difficult decision for them to make is whether they should take their family with them or just leave them behind.
It seems neither option is good enough, especially for their kids. Due to lack of support, fund, and general public awareness, the migrant and left-behind rural youths are having serious difficulties in receiving proper education. For those who came to the big cities with their parents, no proper schools are willing to accept them without paying an extra fee, and they have to move with their parents whenever they switch jobs. They find it hard to make friends because they never stay at one place for long enough. For those who are left behind with their grand parents, the lack of parenthood also brings serious problems to their mental health. They generally have low self-esteem and are more vulnerable to harms. According to statistics, the number of juvenile crimes in recent years is increasing by 13% each year.
Established by Judy Shen in 2005, CAI is an organization that helps the migrant and left-behind youth in China restoring their confidence through various arts and sports programs. Sponsored in the media by CityWeekend, CAI recently launched the Meals that Matter campaign – a fundraising campaign intended to generate proceeds for the benefit of the character-building, arts and athletics programs CAI runs for the many migrant and displaced rural youth in the Beijing area. They have teamed with many selected restaurants all over the city in launching initiatives encouraging awareness of not just good dining, but also the empowerment of children in need.
At customers’ requests, our ¥5 initiative adds donations of ¥5 to their restaurant bills. In appreciation of this simple gesture of support, we offer bookmarks designed by the children in CAI’s Arts Programs. Our newly-created Voucher Booklet Initiative assembles a hefty collection of discount vouchers, donated by roughly fifty of the city’s top dining establishments. With the proceeds of these voucher booklets (sold for 299 RMB apiece) and the ¥5 initiative, CAI hopes to be able to purchase program sports equipment and art supplies, fund teacher-training programs in rural China, and support the establishment of our Promise School for gifted, rural students.
So when you go out dinning next time in Beijing, please demonstrate your charitable efforts through supporting the Meals that Matter campaign. Every penny you help to raise strengthens the awareness and thus effectiveness of CAI’s campaigns, helping them to improve young lives in China.
Be a part of the Beijing community for the good cause!
Photos courtesy of DonDomingo, stelzer, dongdawei, Chen Xuanyi,and CAI.
He’s Just a Tourist Guide
Qianmen is one of the nearest old city gates of Beijing to Tiananmen Square. Lots of tourists here on a daily basis.
He’s a self-employed tourist guide. He’s had no proper training, no official certificates of any kind.
He spoke randomly to tourists and tried very hard to find someone to hire him as a guide.
He spent 10 minutes telling him the story behind the gate as a test drive. The badge on his chest was probably self-made.
The man finally walked away, not interested, not impressed, or simply didn’t want to spend money on some stories.
He was still smiling but a slice of disappointment can be found on his face.
He started to look around again,
trying to find someone that can appreciate his stories and buy him dinner.
Qingming Festival at Tiananmen Square
During the 3 days vacation of Qingming Festival, Tiananmen Square was flooded with tourists from around the country.
Qingming Festival (also called Pure Brightness Festival) is a traditional Chinese festival on the 106th day after the winter solstice, occurring on April 4 (leap years) or April 5 (other years) of the Gregorian calendar. It marks the middle of spring and above all, a sacred day of the dead.
Mahjong Sessions Under the Bridge
This was taken a month ago while the Spring wind was still strong. But the fresh air and the river were good reasons for the elders to have a couple hours of Mahjong sessions outdoors.
The residential community I live in was established in the late 80s. So 90% of the residents are elders. There is a recreation center adjacent to the community, but it’s only for senior government officials and employees who have authorizations. But anyway, it’s better off here.
Gambling is strictly prohibited in China. But I guess it doesn’t hurt for the elderly to play just to kill time.
To know more about Mahjong, click here.
Speaking of Marketing
I’ve been attending job interviews pretty frequently during the last 2 weeks, approximately 1 interview every 2 days. I was looking for a part-time English teaching job with RMB 100 per hour pay (which is standard), so that I can continue my Internet marketing adventure (I’m onto several projects at the same time) without worrying too much about what to feed my dogs.
Usually this kind of interview consists of 3 steps: a self introduction in English, a demo lecture, and a private conversation with the employer. Because more than often there are lots of applicants going through the first 2 steps together. I thought why don’t I make use of this?
Not like others starting with their names etc, the first thing I did was to put “RecordingBeijing.com” on the black board before rambling about my experiences, interests, methodology, etc.
Just imagine that, nearly a hundred English speaking Beijing inhabitants who will teach a hundred students each… What kind of marketing is more targetted and viral than that? And I do notice an increase in the number of visitors these days.
And the cost? RMB 1.6 bus fare.
What about your job you may ask. Well, I guess the employers didn’t like my blatant advertising very much… That’s the only reason I can think of.
Beijing Welcomes First Snow This Year, In Spring
The number of freezing days in winter during recent years is decreasing dramatically. Well, maybe not that dramatic because it takes like 9 months for the 2 ends meet so that people can have a comparison. But it did surprised everyone this winter for not having any snow. When the snow finally reluctantly arrived Beijing on 17th, it’s already Spring.
Looking outside my window in the next morning, only the river is still covered with snow. No trace of it can be found on the streets due to heavy morning traffic.
These 2 were taken the next day when the snow became a little heavier.
Taken from above the river.
Some say the snow was man-made using rockets fired up to the sky. I don’t know for sure. But it does look like the effect of global warming is getting serious. I guess it wouldn’t be long when we have only one season on earth, a hot, sweaty summer. Or, extreme cold in some places and extreme hot in others.
But no need to worry, we intelligent humans are always capable of alter the nature using freaky machinery, equipments, techniques, technologies… We will have whatever season we want using rockets, a beam of laser light, a bunch of fire crackers, or just a simple click on the keyboard. We are the lord, if nature refuses to act in our favor, we’ll simply make it!
Until, until one day, everything looks like nature on this planet is actually man-made. You see why there must be a God? We humans can create a fake earth, why can’t God create a universe?
Maybe everything around us is actually created on purpose, with precise and complex design in mind.
God doesn’t need to be all divine, godly, and intangible, he maybe right now comfortably sitting in his armchair, clicking on keyboards, watching us little plastic toys running around in a computer screen, and laughing.
A little off topic. All I wanna say is climate change may takes decades or centuries to be evident for us living in it. But look from the perspective of the whole course of human history (from the 1st Homo Erectus to the day we die out), it will be just a blink of an eye, and a couple of pages in the Nature text books for the next batch of intellectual beings on earth (cockroaches or rats?).
There’s a famous ancient poem in China pretty sums up my feelings: “You don’t see the real Mount Lu, only because you are in it”.
Feeling Lucky Working 9 to 5–Snapshots from CIEC Job Fair
CIEC (China International Exhibition Center) Job Fair is one of the biggest job fairs in Beijing, if not China. Over 60,000 job seekers, more than 700 employers, 500 securities, and numerous vendors, journalists, and thieves make the huge exhibition space one of the most crowded place on earth.
According to official statistics, over 20 million migrant workers have returned home due to unemployment caused by the financial crisis. The number of new college graduates across the country is also estimated to reach 6.1 million, another record high.
If you are still complaining about your 9 to 5 rat race, unsatisfactory pay, over time, traffic, and all that “waste of life” theory, you might wanna have a look at the following snapshots and start feeling lucky.
In front of the main entrance.
Small companies that cannot afford the rental inside the center recruiting outside.
Security personnel near the gate.
Before entering the hall:
And after:
A journalist, or a just guy with similar hobby, using a whole lot better gear.
There were exhaustion,
frustration,
confusion,
pain,
but also laughter.
A stage play, where everybody play their own roles.
Life could still be confusing even when you are in your mid-40. Or does it actually become more confusing when you grow older?
Nomatter young or old, everyone needs to find a spot in life,
become another brick in the wall,
get used to it,
put your life in it,
even fall in love with it,
before you are thrown back to the wild again,
with less hair on your head, and 1 more page on your resume.
Hmm… time to feel grateful to my boss I guess, and start working on that @#$* assignment!
