Beijing Shuts Down Massage Parlors- Did They Forget to Pay Bribes?

The chinadaily proclaimed that in an effort to clean up the city, the public security bureau cum gestapo, raided 14 hair salons suspected of prostitution and other crimes. Hmmm only 14 in all of Beijing? What I can say is that if the cops needs some help, I can direct them to a few more. Although one ‘house of pleasure’ near my abode has been closed, there are two operating with impunity within fifteen meters of it. In addition, across the street and to the right is another, and behind are two facing the road. A large complex next to mine also has two that face the road and one behind while the complex across from it has at least two within walking distance…. In the apartment complex behind me there are two and two more just outside of it. So if we take my area as representative, looks like the SS missed at least 14 more….
btw… I am ummmm well I am not some pervert…. um but actually all of these are either directly on the road to and from work and on the way to the local 7-11….

beauty4ashes.org.uk

from the chinadaily article here

Fuzzy Chinese Logic- Blame the West for Poor Decisions

People from China do an excellent job of altering the reality to suit their needs, some would boldly state that the communist party which has its 90th birthday today even lies or misleads the bleating sheep who often have no clue about the history beyond the little ten km area that surrounds their home. I would not be so bold as to make this statement as I live here and think that being bludgeoned with an electric baton and then losing my political rights would really really suck, so I will stay mum on that accord.
What I would be bold enough to say is that sometimes China likes to introduce the west and shift some of the blame for poor choices the Chinese have made, all in the name of saving face. Confused?
Ok then read this.
Some guy from China wrote a book about the history of the communist party over the past thirty years. So, in order to be published some of the rough edges,( read as truth), must were knocked off his work in order to make way for the editors , (read as propaganda officials), to approve the finished copy,( read as white washed compilation of untruth and half truths).
In the book, some Chinese historian, read as old Chinese guy with either a grudge or a lot of political clout. The author, instead of laying some of the blame for the great leap forward, the disastrous period where up to 30-50 million Chinese died of hunger and stupidity meted upon them from the communist party which turns 90 today, he blamed the west. He said this period was a result of “Oppressive pressure from the world powers” and that the poor Mao Zedong thought China would be “dismissed from the earth if it did not reverse its backwardness rapidly”

hmmm, interesting and yet we can see how wrong he is. After all, China is not being dismissed from the earth after being one of the most backwards countries on the earth today….
oh yeah, way to take ownership for you faults China, the world appreciates your openness, honesty and soul searching integrity…

Blue Sky in Beijing

When its sunny in Beijing it is a surprise and oh so beautiful.

China and Her Legal System

Gtom China’s Long March toward Rule of Law-new (Randall Peerenboom)
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Complicating the task of legal reformers who wish to establish rule of law in China, law has always been held in low esteem as a means of achieving social order. The lack of respect for law is no doubt due to various factors. In traditions where law is the product of a divine lawmaker or grounded in a transcendent religious order, law is (allegedly) sacrosanct. The lack of a divine origin for law in China may explain in part law’s lowly status.73
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Interesting Information About the Three Gorges Dam in China

From Wikipedia
A large dam across the Yangtze River was originally envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in The International Development of China, in 1919.[12][13] He stated that a dam capable of generating 30 million horsepower (22,371 MW) was possible downstream of the Three Gorges.[13] In 1932, the Nationalist government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, began preliminary work on plans in the Three Gorges. In 1939, Japanese military forces occupied Yichang and surveyed the area. A design, the Otani plan, was completed for the dam in anticipation of a Japanese victory over China. In 1944, the United States Bureau of Reclamation chief design engineer, John L. Savage, surveyed the area and drew up a dam proposal for the ‘Yangtze River Project’.[14] Some 54 Chinese engineers went to the U.S. for training. Some exploration, survey, economic study, and design work was done, but the government, in the midst of the Chinese Civil War, halted work in 1947.

How the Country Uses the Law in China

Great excerpt on how the communist party uses law in its favor.

From China’s Long March toward Rule of Law-new (Randall Peerenboom)

Admittedly, there were also significant differences. Although in both periods, law allegedly served the interests of the people, in the Imperial era, its served the dynasty; in the Mao era, it served the Party. The legal system and indeed society as a whole were much more politicized during the Mao era. For instance, while informal dispute resolution played a prominent role throughout, mediation became much more political during the Mao era.69 The state became more involved, and family, guild, and community leaders played a lesser role. In keeping with Mao’s more confrontational belief in unending class struggle, the emphasis of mediation shifted from restoring social harmony to upholding the Party line, inculcating Party ideology and socialist values, and oppressing the enemy.
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China and US Relationship

This is an excerpt detailing the relationship between China and the USA.

The Beijing Consensus-new (Stefan Halper)

In fact, a measure of stability is found in what has become a marriage of liabilities; China’s “threat” to the United States is mitigated by the U.S. “threat” to China. The Chinese have as much interest in keeping the U.S. economy and the U.S. dollar stable as do Americans themselves. The Chinese government has purchased American debt for the simple reason that such purchases sustain the macroeconomic engine the Chinese people rely on. Chinese investment in American assets such as bonds and mortgage-backed securities has helped to keep American interest rates low, made credit easier to obtain, and generated a pool of capital for Americans to continue buying consumer products—that is, Chinese consumer goods. Low interest rates have also been crucial in enabling American businesses to expand. Lower mortgage rates help more people to buy houses and push up the value of real estate. With higher house prices, consumers have borrowed against the increase in equity in their homes and spent the difference. 27 The huge supply of foreign money has enabled the U.S. government to fund large deficits that have stimulated the U.S. economy, allowing for lower taxes and more jobs created by government spending.
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Before Exchanging Money in China, Read this Post

Excellent post on what it is like to change money in China. Seriously it is a long post but will prepare you for your travels to China.

This post is from serenityinchina.wordpress.com from here
This afternoon Julianne and I headed to a Bank of China location that I’ve used several times now for exchanging RMB in Canadian dollars, and doing international money transfers too.
I did all of my usual overkill preparation because I know a trip to the bank in China is never without surprises and often involves situations that foreigners cannot conceive of as possible.
For those outside China considering living and working here I’ll share the list of things I bring with me to the banks here.
1. passport
2. Foreign Expert Permit
3. a copy of my contract
4. my home country bank account number and general info (transit#/location, street address)
5. all past money transfer papers (so the bank officer can refer to it when she forgets how to do something/doesn’t know what to do something)
6. ***a native speaking Chinese friend (often CRITICAL to any kind of success with even simple banking tasks)
7. a statement of income signed and stamped by my university
8. any and all other papers, things, rabbits’ feet, lucky charms, four-leaf clovers, etc
And even then don’t even dare to think that your efforts will be successful . . .
Let me explain.

continue here
http://serenityinchina.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/whats-it-like-exchanging-money-and-doing-an-international-money-transfer-at-a-bank-in-china/

China Fact

Chen Guangchen is a blind activist in China who was sent to prison for attempting to bring local Shandong officials to task for forced abortions and forced sterilizations in an attempt to meet local ‘birth quotas’.

Happy Communist Birthday Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a big day for communists in China for they turn the big -90! Yes, it has only been ten years shy of a century that those wonderful people who call themselves communists have been running wild in China. The official birth date is July 1,1921 and the local communists are red with joy. The happy communist songs and dances offer we barbarians a glimpse at the glory of a people free from the oppression of capitalism and liberated by the wonder of China’s communist party.