News » Society » Most parts of Jilin witnesses snowfall

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• Most parts of Jilin witnesses snowfall
• Smart phones cut family face time
• Lost tourists rescued on plateau
• 'Xiao' surname in Henan linked to Genghis Khan
• Jump in postgraduates raises quality concerns
• 'Left-behind elderly' big worry for migrants
• All Chinese crew saved after ship fire near sea off Okinawa
• HK moves to weaken local currency
• No Spain release for dealer
• A Spanish judge has ordered a Chinese businessman and art dealer be kept in jail on suspicion of leading a gang that laundered hundreds of thousands of euros a year, a judicial source said.
• Islands rival to blaze rescue
• Change and challenge facing China
• VIDEO: Boy rescued from gap in wall
• Man snuffs out 15 candles with Shaolin Sunshine Hand

Most parts of Jilin witnesses snowfall Posted: 21 Oct 2012 08:05 PM PDT Children walk past snow-covered tree branches and cars in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, today. Most parts of Jilin witnessed snowfall today. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Smart phones cut family face time Posted: 21 Oct 2012 10:07 AM PDT Despite living in a nation where filial piety is encouraged, elderly Chinese are feeling left out nowadays as their children and grandchildren focus on their mobile phones during their spare time. At restaurants, on buses and even at home, the young chat online, play games or browse Twitter-like microblog feeds on their state-of-the-art smart phones, ignoring the family and friends sitting right next to them. On October 12, a grandfather in eastern Qingdao City expressed his anger at the trend by smashing a plate at a dinner table where his grandchildren were too busy with their phones to chat with him. "You just live with your mobiles," the grandfather said before he left the table. Local media released the story online later, compelling the public to reflect on how family ties have been affected by the digital era. "Through the news, I realized that the longest distance in the world was 'when I stand in front of you and you are busy playing with your cell phone,' " said Zhang Feng, a white-collar worker born after the 1980s. Zhang, who works at an accounting firm in Shanghai, said pressure at work and frequent business trips have left her at a loss for both the time and the mood to communicate with her parents. "I seldom talk after work, and social networking sites have become the major channel for me to contact my friends," she said, adding that she would be left behind if she failed to check updates. Zhang spends most of her spare time surfing the Internet and, even at the dinner table, she takes photos and uploads them - something she thinks her parents just don't understand. At Xujiahui Park in Shanghai, a woman over 60 surnamed Wang was escorting her grandson to play. She said her son and daughter-in-law do not arrive home from work until 7 or 8pm, and then they surf the Internet on their phones or computers until it's time for bed. "They rarely talk to me, let alone thank me for taking care of their kid," Wang said. She once proposed holding a family meeting to discuss the matter, but her son said there was nothing to talk about. "All I want to do is chat with them," Wang said. To "recover" time, Wang established a family rule banning mobile phones at the dinner table. The diversified functions of smart phones are challenging filial piety in China, as more and more young people prefer to fiddle with their mobile phones than to talk face-to-face. Zhang Youde, a sociologist with the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said the "human-to-human" communication style has turned into a "human-to-mobile" style, making old people feel more isolated and exacerbating the effects of the generation gap. "The elderly, who are used to face-to-face interactions, have been left behind in the information era," said Zhang. Zhang advises young people to consider their parents' feelings and communicate more with them.

Lost tourists rescued on plateau Posted: 21 Oct 2012 10:06 AM PDT TWO Australian tourists were found by Chinese rescuers yesterday afternoon after being stranded for five days in Hoh Xil on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. One suffered an injury on the right arm, but both are generally in good health, said Guo Haili, head of the public security bureau of the city of Golmud in northwestern Qinghai Province. The two Australians were identified as Edward Tasman Game and Hamish Henry Reid. Doctors with the rescue team treated the injured after the rescuers and the two Australians had arrived at a supply station in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, where they would stay overnight, Guo said. They were expected to return to Golmud late today. Rescuers found the Australians at 1:40pm yesterday after walking 40 kilometers as the area is not accessible to cars. The Australians entered Haixi Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture by bicycles. They then lost their way near the Zhuonai Lake in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve last Wednesday. Local police immediately sent three rescue teams to search for them after receiving information. In the latest contact made yesterday morning, the Australians said they were in fine physical conditions. Rescuers told them to stay put and await rescue. Perched at an altitude of 4,500 meters, Hoh Xil encompasses China's largest area of uninhabited land. It is home to several species of endangered wildlife, including Tibetan antelopes.

'Xiao' surname in Henan linked to Genghis Khan Posted: 21 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT EVIDENCE has indicated that people in central China's Henan Province with the family name Xiao are the descendants of Genghis Khan, according to experts. The 5,000 people surnamed Xiao finally found their ancestry to be of the Mongolian ethnic group instead of Han after 20 years of research by five experts on Mongolian culture and history from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Nankai University and Inner Mongolian University. The people living in 30-odd villages in Zhongmu County, all identified as Han ethnic group on their household registration books, are found to be descendants of Genghis Khan's grandson, who migrated to central China with his people, said Ren Chongyue, a researcher with the Institute of History of the Henan Academy of Social Sciences. Ren said the experts had been looking for the descendants of the famous Mongolian emperor, and finally found clues in Zhongmu's county annals. The tomes revealed that the Xiao family came from the Mongolian plateau and are related to a Mongolian noble. The news spread among villages quickly and there is great satisfaction among the Xiao people, who have long heard legends about their ancestry but never had it confirmed, said Xiao Wenxue, director of the county's radio station. "We have found a sense of belonging now that we know our ancestor. My clansmen plan to travel to Mongolia to worship the tomb of Genghis Khan, and try to establish a culture gallery to tell our own history," Xiao said.

Jump in postgraduates raises quality concerns Posted: 21 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT AN increasing number of postgraduate students is triggering concerns over the quality of education in Chinese universities. According to the Ministry of Education, about 517,000 postgraduate students were enrolled in 2012, over 220,000 more than in 2003. Postgraduate students in some leading Chinese universities have outnumbered undergraduates, according to a report issued by Wuhan University in central China's Hubei Province. At Tsinghua University, one of China's most elite universities, the ratio between the undergraduate and postgraduate students currently stands at 0.61 to 1, said the report, quoted by yesterdays' Wuhan Evening News. In the country's top 10 universities, including Tsinghua and Peking, students graduating from postgraduate programs last year outnumbered those finishing undergraduate programs, the report said. The increase in postgraduate students poses challenges to faculty. According to the report, 15.7 percent of university professors are supervising more than 10 postgraduate students each, and 1 percent of them are supervising more than 20 students each. The appropriate number of postgraduate students for one professor is three and the maximum is six, or the professor will not be able to control the quality of his or her work, said Qiu Junping, director of the Research Center for Chinese Science Evaluation under Wuhan University. "Chinese universities are hoping to improve their research capabilities, but this does not depend on the number of postgraduates," Qiu said.

'Left-behind elderly' big worry for migrants Posted: 21 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT THE traditional, family-based elderly care system in China is facing a great challenge, as seen in a survey released yesterday showing nearly 70 percent of the migrant workers visit home only once every six months or at longer intervals. The survey, carried out by Daguu.com, an online job-hunting site, interviewed 9,751 migrant workers. It looked into the situation and problems of their parents, sometimes called the "left-behind elderly," who often live in remote, rural areas. Nearly 20 percent of the respondents said they find it difficult to see their parents even once a year due to growing financial and work pressure in big cities. High transportation cost, lack of vacation and intensity of work are all factors that keep migrant workers from going home despite their strong desire to see their parents. The infrequency of visiting parents has resulted in less care for the elderly - nearly a third said their parents live alone and are left unattended back home. The respondents said they would send money home or ask relatives to take care of their parents. But what they worried about most is their parents' health. Chen Dongfang, a 30-year-old migrant worker at an aluminum alloy processing plant in Shanghai, said he wished there were a small clinic close to his village in central China's Henan Province so that his mother, who has chronic bronchitis, wouldn't have to walk several kilometers to the hospital in the county. "Every time my mother phoned and told me she was sick, the news had me on edge though I knew I could do nothing here in Shanghai," Chen said. Chen moved to Shanghai with his wife in 2006 but his parents, both in their 60s, still work in the field while taking care of two grandsons, aged 8 and 9. Like Chen, up to 40 percent of the respondents said they are afraid of parents getting ill with age, and they have no preparations in place if that were to suddenly happen. "It is widely seen in rural areas that elderly people, again, become the family's primary workers in the field when the young workforce leaves home for big cities," said Lydia Wang, who conducted the survey. According to the survey, 28 percent of the respondents' parents worked to support themselves and 35 percent are mainly supported by their children. According to China Agricultural University, as of 2008, the left-behind elderly numbered 20 million.

All Chinese crew saved after ship fire near sea off Okinawa Posted: 21 Oct 2012 12:09 AM PDT All 64 Chinese crew members on a cargo ship were rescued after their boat caught fire yesterday evening near sea off Japan's Okinawa, said an official from the Chinese Embassy in Japan today. Smoke was at first spotted at the stern of the cargo ship last night, according to the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. The Japan coast guard has dispatched aircraft and patrol vessels last night after it was informed of the fire. All Chinese crew were rescued early this morning, of which three were slightly injured, Kyodo News reported.

HK moves to weaken local currency Posted: 21 Oct 2012 03:44 AM PDT Hong Kong moves to weaken its currency as demand from investors fleeing Western markets has caused a sharp increase in its value.

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Change and challenge facing China Posted: 21 Oct 2012 04:25 PM PDT The key issues facing China's incoming leadership

VIDEO: Boy rescued from gap in wall Posted: 21 Oct 2012 08:12 AM PDT Chinese state media said the boy, from Jinhau City in Zheijan province, was pulled out after rescuers chiselled through one of the brick walls.

Man snuffs out 15 candles with Shaolin Sunshine Hand Posted: 21 Oct 2012 12:17 AM PDT TO China, where 23-year-old Chen Jia / Zhang Feng  can snuff out 15 candles with the power of his wind. No. The wind produced by his hands. He has mastered the art of Shaolin Sunshine Hand. He places the candles 10cm apart. He lights them. Then with a flurry of man-hand activity not seen since the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, Jia / Feng kills the lights. Marvellous. And useful. If China is invade by an army of candles, Feng will see them off. Fule under: The Human Draught. YouTube link.

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