Google and China

All i s quiet on the Google front. Google is re-routed through the Hong Kong site, but still works like a charm. I learned a lot about china during that event. The government is a master at manipulating people, controlling all of the media surely helps. In that period, the media blasted Google, they pulled out all the stops, no less than ten articles littered the web about how bad and evil Google is.

In reality, China was just afraid of the bad press. This place is a difficult place to work in if you have morals and ethics, and Google, along with godaddy, another and maybe Dell, have all considered that it is not worth it. To the Chinese this is a slap in the face, they feel that everyone should be dying to come here- and most companies are, yet they don’t understand our expectations.  the cultural differences are enormous.

SOHO Beijing

Land Developers Raze House With Man Inside in China

This is crazy, a guy and his dad barricaded themselves in their house so it ‘ be razed for new construction, and the developers destroyed it with them inside, killing one them.

excerpt:

BEIJING – A farmer died and his father was severely injured as they protested the forced demolition of their pig farm in East China’s Jiangsu province, in the second protest of its kind in four months.

Tao Huixi, 68, and his 92-year-old father locked themselves in the house and poured gasoline on the door as more than 100 people arrived to demolish the property in Taoli Industrial Park in Donghai county, Lianyungang on Saturday, the Beijing News reported.

“The demolition team neglected (to remove the two men) and continued to drive the bulldozer into the house to dismantle it by force. Soon after that, the house was on fire,” Tao Qiuyu, Tao Huixi’s

“No one tried to rescue them when they were on fire. Then my father died and his body was left untouched for more than two hours and was only removed after the demolition finished.”

It follows a similar case last November, when Tang Fuzhen, from Chengdu in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, shocked the nation by setting herself alight to protest the forced demolition of her former husband’s garment processing business and house.

Tang died from her injuries 16 days later at a local hospital and the building she attempted to save was torn down.

Rain Beijing

Keeping the Good Stuff- Chinese Profs Hoard all the Good Books

In the west, some students will resort to all kinds of trickery, including hiding or mutilating important books that others may need. The reason is that many classes grade on the ‘curve’ and only so many people can get A’s B’s etc. In China, the profs will hide the best books, or keep them to themselves. I think the reason is that in China. the prof is supposed to know more than anyone else, so it is a defense mechanism.

By Dawanglu

Beautiful Buildings by SOHO

Freedoms in China

China had the freedom of speech, press, religion and demonstration written into their constitution since 1954. Yeah, so how is that working for them…

Cancer to Go- Take out in China

A little bit ago, I blogged about toxic Oil being used in Chienese restaurants. It was studied and found that China is reusing its cooking oil to the tune of about one-half of one pound per week per person in China. The oil was supposed to be rich in aflotoxin, a cancer causing agent.

Now, the take out boxes from China have been studied, and found that they too will cause cancer. In beijing, it was found that aroudn 30% of the boxes were substandard, so presumably cancer causing.

excerpt:

chinadaily.com

“BEIJING – Next time you say the word da bao (box it) at a restaurant, be aware, you could end up with a life-threatening disease. At least, that’s what an expert in food packaging claims.

According to Dong Jinshi, vice-president of the Hong Kong-based International Food Packaging Association (IFPA), about half of the disposable dishware used in the country are unsafe, with excessive amounts of chemicals that can cause cancer.

The situation in big cities is better, he said, adding that about 30 percent of disposable dishware found in Beijing is substandard.

Dong said his figures are based on a nine-year research project conducted by his association, in addition to some documents from the country’s top quality watchdog – the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The latest case of unsafe disposable dishware Dong’s team detected was on March 3. The researchers visited two famous restaurants – the 170-year-old Laobian dumpling restaurant and the Dong Laishun restaurant – in Beijing and requested some disposable dishware.

The samples were then sent to the Beijing Center for Physical and Chemical Analysis, where tests indicated that the boxes contained excessive amounts of minerals, such as talcum powder and ceresin wax, which contains a substance that can cause cancer.

Zhang Zhisheng, a lawyer from the Beijing Zhongyin Law Firm, confirmed Dong and his team had filed a lawsuit against the two restaurants at the Haidian district people’s court, accusing them of selling poisonous foods.

“This will be the first case in which the newly issued Food Safety Law will come into play in consumer rights protection, Zhang said.

He added: “Consumers might not be willing to go to court for something cheaper than 1 yuan, which partly resulted in the manufacturers’ weak legal consciousness.”

Boarding the Train in China

Old Chinese Lady Robs Old Chinese Man- She’s now Going to the Pokey

China Daily

“A 50-year-old woman was sentenced to three years in jail and fined 3,000 yuan for stealing 36,000 yuan from her 73-year-old boyfriend, Beijing Times reported Friday.

The woman surnamed Zhang stole her boyfriend’s identity card and time deposit certificate from his house in Beijing’s Tongzhou district on Sept 3, 2008, then made two withdrawals from the bank. He, the boyfriend, reported it after finding the money missing and Zhang was arrested.

Zhang insisted that she took the money to punish He because she found out he cheated on her and refused to marry her.