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The Wenzhou Train Crash

Jul 302011

Last week on Saturday, China had it’s first major high-speed railway accident. The accident occurred when a high-speed train in the eastern province of Zhejiang slammed into the rear of another train, sending four train cars plunging off a 49-foot bridge and derailing two others.

Here is a brief summary of events:

July 23, 2011 – at 8:38 p.m. local time near the city of Wenzhou, train D301 from Beijing collided with train D3115 traveling from the Zhejiang provincial capital of Hangzhou.

July 24, 2011 – On Sunday night, the Railways Ministry said it had dismissed the chief, deputy chief and Communist Party secretary at the Shanghai Railway Bureau, which administers the railways in much of eastern China.

- Images from the crash scene showed backhoes and other large equipment manipulating some of the wreckage, prompting some to question whether the government was mishandling or trying to bury evidence crucial for the investigation. The Railways Ministry spokesman was quoted by Chinese media saying that it was necessary to cover some of the debris to enable rescue equipment to reach parts of the site.

July 27, 2011 – Premier Wen Jiabao orders a “swift, open and transparent” investigation into Saturday’s fatal high-speed train collision.

July 28, 2011 – At least 39 people confirmed dead and 192 others injured. Police said the identities of all 39 dead in the accident have been confirmed through DNA tests.

- Design flaws in railway signal equipment led to Saturday’s fatal high-speed train collision near Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, the Shanghai Railway Bureau said on Thursday. Having been struck by lightning, the signal system at Wenzhou South Railway Station failed to turn the green light to red, which caused the rear-end collision.

- The signal equipment was designed by the company Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication. The company posted an apology on its website, expressing its condolences and regret to victims of the accident and their families.

Prison Inmates Farm Gold in World of Warcraft

Crazy & Bizarre No Responses »

Jun 092011

In what might sound like a dream come true, prison inmates in China are forced to farm gold in the MMORPG World of Warcraft.

Obviously, things aren’t always as great as they sound. Check out the video below to understand why…

So instead of just suffering physically, China’s prisoners also have to suffer mentally. What might seem like an addictive hobby for a lot of gamers is torture to these prisoners.

According to the Guardian, “prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labour.”

This is no surprise as the virtual economy is growing rapidly. Around the World, millions of gamers are prepared to pay real money for virtual currency to obtain virtual goods in games. It is known as “gold farming” – the practice of building up credits and online value through the monotonous repetition of basic tasks in online games such as World of Warcraft. The trade in virtual assets is very real, and outside the control of game publishers.

Figures from the China Internet Centre show that nearly 2 billion dollars worth of virtual currency was traded in China in 2008 and the number of gamers who play to trade credits are on the rise. It is estimated that 80% of all gold farmers are in China; with 100,000 full-time gold farmers in the country.

From the sound of things, China is also going to be a leader of labour exploitation in the virtual world.

via The Guardian

Chinese Man Buys 8 Tons of Salt -- Fears Radiation from Fukushima

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Mar 312011

During the massive salt rush that struck China after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a Chinese man from Wuhan city spends 27,000 CNY (around 4,123 USD) to purchase 13,000 catties (around 8 tons) of salt.

Now after the panic across China has subsided, this man wants a refund. As expected, no stores were willing to offer refunds.

via CQIT

The PLA Loves LV?

Crazy & Bizarre No Responses »

Mar 262011

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China normally evokes a strict and disciplined image. This image, however, elicits the scorn of many Chinese that is usually reserved for the filthy rich.

A Chinese netizen posted about running into the two women wearing military uniforms at the Shenzhen airport and shocked by how they were accessorized: two shoulder bags/purses, a Burberry and LV (Louis Vuitton) respectively, LV branded luggage bags and suitcases, and the black paper bag at the bottom left corner of the photo was a newly purchased Gucci.

Attentive netizens calculated how much all of the items in the picture cost: Large LV luggage bag/each = 58,500 yuan, 5 * 58,500 = 292,500 yuan, small LV bag/each = 26,000 yuan, 2 * 26,000 = 52,000 yuan, and not including the rolling suitcase and other items, the total: 344,500 yuan (~52,197 USD).

The question is whether the army personnel are that well paid or are they just carrying fakes.

via chinaSMACK.

Scientist to Satisfy Strong Thirst for 'Human Milk'

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Mar 232011

Genetically modified (GM) dairy products that are similar to human milk will appear on the Chinese market in two years, an expert in biotechnology has predicted.

Li Ning, a scientist from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at China Agricultural University, said progress in the field is well under way. Li said Chinese scientists have successfully created a herd of more than 200 cows that is capable of producing milk containing the characteristics of human milk.

“In ancient China, only the emperor and the empress could drink human milk throughout their lives, which was believed to be the height of opulence,” Li said. “Why not make that kind of milk more available for ordinary people?”

Human milk contains two kinds of nutrition that can help improve the immune systems and the central nervous systems of children. The components are not available in milk produced by goats or cows. Li said the scientific world had not previously found a way to mass-produce those ingredients.

Li states that the GM milk will be as safe to drink as that of the ordinary cows, and within 10 years, people will be able to pick up these human-milk-like products at the supermarket.

The Ministry of Agriculture issued bio-safety examination certificates for the GM herd in March 2010, giving the scientific team a 22-month period during which the technology can be tested in laboratories. The ministry will then evaluate the results of the tests before deciding whether to allow the milk to be sold. Xue Dayuan, chief expert with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said the government will carry out a series of tests on the transferred gene and the method of transplanting it before the genetically modified cows and their milk are declared safe.

Mr. Li also said, “the milk tastes stronger than normal milk.” Sounds like someone is already enjoying their ‘human milk’…

via People’s Daily Online.

Health Alert: Pigs Test Positive for Clenbuterol

News 1 Response »

Mar 212011

China has been hit by a fresh food scandal after the country’s largest meat processor, Shuanghui, was forced to apologize when an illegal additive was found in some of its pork products.

Jiyuan Shuanghui, an affiliate of the Henan-based Shuanghui Group, was said to have bought pigs that had been fed with clenbuterol. The additive can speed up muscle building and fat burning to produce leaner pork – lean meat sells for a premium in China.

Clenbuterol is banned in China because if eaten by humans it can lead to dizziness, heart palpitations, profuse sweating, nausea, headaches, limb tremors and even cancer.

The Henan province conducted urine tests on 1,512 pigs in nine pig farms, with 52 pigs testing positive. Immediately, chiefs of animal husbandry bureaus in Mengzhou City, Qinyang City and Wenxian County received duty suspension notices. Another 27 officials in the province were in police custody, sacked or suspended from duty. Also, the province intends to random test more than 1.63 million pigs in five counties and cities.

Meat products that are suspected of having been tarnished by the banned feed additive have already been taken off the shelves and meat confirmed to contain the additive have been destroyed, according to government officials.

While the China Meat Association tried to down play the possibility that tainted pork was widespread, many consumers will be avoiding pork for the moment. This pork scandal is definitely nothing new to the Chinese. There have been 18 outbreaks of food-related clenbuterol poisoning between 1998 and 2007, according to a report on the Shanghai Food Safety website. One person died and more than 1,700 others fell ill, the website said.

Well at least the salt scare is now over.

via Xinhua, Yahoo News and Chinadaily

Child Gymnasts in China

Social 1 Response »

Mar 202011

China is the current powerhouse in Olympic gymnastics; winning a lot of gold medals over the years. However, its training programme has been harshly criticised for being too strict.

Children in China start to train to become gymnasts from the age of four. Before they are chosen to start training, children are tested to see if their bodies are limber enough to withstand the demands of the sport. Those that are selected, start a lifelong process of becoming the best. The Chinese government has set up a very large training facility where the children live and train. These little children have to balance a gruelling training schedule, tough school routine and also give time to their families. It can sometimes become too much for them to handle.

Spurred by dreams of national glory, many parent are very willing to subject their children to such intense lifestyle.

Some may say that putting young children under such intense training is child abuse. That is debatable, but no one can argue that such training methods haven’t paid off.

Check out the photo gallery after the break!

China Halts All Nuclear Building Plans

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Mar 172011

This comes as no surprise. Straight after the accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, China has suspended approval for new nuclear power stations. It will also carry out checks at existing reactors and those under construction. China is currently building 27 new reactors – about 40% of the total number being built around the world.

The decision to temporarily halt approval for nuclear plants came at a meeting of China’s State Council, or Cabinet, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao. “We will temporarily suspend approval for nuclear power projects, including those that have already begun preliminary work, before nuclear safety regulations are approved,” read a statement from the State Council.

China currently gets only about 2% of its electricity from nuclear power from 13 reactors, but it has launched an ambitious project to drastically increase those figures. It is currently building more reactors than any other country in the world. According to the World Nuclear Association, China wants to build a total of 110 nuclear reactors over the next few years.

Although China’s nuclear power plans seem very ambitious, they are not entirely unreasonable as the country is still heavily dependent on coal for power. There are many forms of greener energy but to meet the demands of such a large population, nuclear power seems to be unavoidable.

The problem is that many of the new nuclear plants are near highly populated areas and China doesn’t have the best safety record in respect to nuclear power. International experts complained in 2009 that China was short on nuclear inspectors, a problem the government pledged to remedy by quintupling the number of staff at its safety agency by the end of that year. Also in 2009, the government-appointed head of China National Nuclear Corp., which overseas China’s nuclear program, was detained because of allegations of bid-rigging in nuclear power construction contracts. That scandal raised fears that contractors were being allowed to cut corners and evade safety standards.

I would add that this suspension will most likely only be temporary.

via BBC News and NY Times

Only 10% Chinese College Students Use Contraceptives

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Mar 152011

Given the lack of sex education in China, I am not surprised that many teenagers have unprotected sex. I am surprised, however, by the high number of college students who do not use contraceptives.

Check out the video below for details:

The statistics are more shocking if you consider the college students surveyed were all from the major cities in China.

I am still skeptical of these statistics as there are only around 400 samples – not a lot compared to the huge student population in China. Nevertheless, sex-ed is definitely lacking in China.

At Least 25 Killed in Yunnan Earthquake

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Mar 122011

yunnan-earthquake-2011-5

At least 25 people were killed and 250 injured in an 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Yunnan province on Thursday, according to the state media.

The quake struck Yingjiang – a remote area of southwest China near the border with Myanmar. The tremor reduced hundreds of houses to rubble, left some desperate residents trapped under buildings and triggered power cuts in the surrounding area of China, though no casualties were reported in Myanmar.

The earthquake has toppled the homes of 1,039 families and left 4,994 others seriously damaged. In response, the National Committee of Disaster Reduction, Ministry of Civil Affairs and Yunnan’s provincial government have dispatched 9,700 tents, 15,000 quilts, 15,000 clothes and other materials to the region.

Like all other natural disasters, such as this one, the death toll is expected to rise further. Although at this point in time, the massive earthquake that has just struck Japan (Friday) seems to have totally eclipsed this one in terms of destructiveness. I send my condolences to all those affected by these cruel natural disasters.