Blogs » Society » Shanghai International Literary Festival 2013 starts TOMORROW

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• Shanghai International Literary Festival 2013 starts TOMORROW
• Chinese authorities in Tibet are allegedly turning a blind eye to Christian missionaries
• Infographic: 35 countries that rely on China
• Gary Locke: China's future depends on the rule of law
• Three of Shanghai's Best French Toasts
• Albums Galore
• Photos: China's first panda hotel is a furry's dream come true!
• China invented whoring, too, probably: archaeologist
• Five Things To Consider In Forming Your China Company. Plus The Most Important One Of All.
• Extreme Sports Pioneer Yi Ruilong Dies In Hang-Gliding Accident (Video)
• Mo Yan Grants First Interview Since Winning Nobel Prize, Rebukes Ai Weiwei, Makes Very Interesting Cultural Revolution Comparison
• Mid-Week Links: Fire in Sanlitun, BBC’s shortwave radio blocked in China, Manny Ramirez may be heading to Taiwan
• Shanghai nonagenarian writes comic book memoir commemorating love of his life
• China’s Ghost Cities. No Worry No Cry.
• Drought and earthquakes pose "enormous risk" to China's nuclear plans
• Dish of the Day: Xiaolongbao @ Jia Jia Tang Bao
• Presented By:
• Does concern for the environment stunt political careers in China?
• Watch: CBA 2013 All Star Slam Dunk Contest was kind of embarrassing
• Watch: Taiwan groups call for end to stray animal euthanasia

Shanghai International Literary Festival 2013 starts TOMORROW Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:00 PM PST For three weeks, novelists, journalists, food writers, biographers, Sinologists, explorers, cinematographers and more discuss a richly diverse selection of genres in interactive forums and individual sessions. Altogether, 69 authors, film producers and artists from all over the world will participate. M has put together a neat and comprehensive list with author bios here. [ more › ]

Chinese authorities in Tibet are allegedly turning a blind eye to Christian missionaries Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:00 PM PST A growing number of western Christian missionaries are setting their sights on Tibet, tacitly encouraged by Chinese officials hoping to erode the region's ardent Buddhist faith, the Guardian reports. [ more › ]

Infographic: 35 countries that rely on China Posted: 27 Feb 2013 07:00 PM PST China, currently the second largest economy in the world, is unsurprisingly a cornerstone of the global market. Everyone is familiar with China's labour force and the 'Made in China' phenomenon, but where China is increasingly important now is as a consumer of other countries' exports. [ more › ]

Gary Locke: China's future depends on the rule of law Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:00 PM PST 'China has a bright future, but this success depends on the implementation of rule of law,' said Gary Locke, the US ambassador to China, this week. [ more › ]

Three of Shanghai's Best French Toasts Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:07 PM PST Date: Feb 28th 2013 10:59a.m. Contributed by: electronicdrew

Albums Galore Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:27 PM PST Date: Feb 28th 2013 10:27a.m. Contributed by: katvelayo

Photos: China's first panda hotel is a furry's dream come true! Posted: 27 Feb 2013 05:00 PM PST        We all knew it was only a matter of time, and now China has opened its first Panda-themed hotel and it is oh so fetch! The hotel, which opened on Monday, is located at the foot of Emei Mountain, a hop skip and a jump away from Chengdu, home of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. [ more › ]

China invented whoring, too, probably: archaeologist Posted: 27 Feb 2013 05:05 PM PST By DA FEIJI Lifestyle Correspondent A migrant archaeologist finds just what he was looking for on Monday XIAN (China Daily Show) – Call it the 'Fifth Invention.' Brothels and erotic scrolls, belonging to a previously undocumented ruling dynasty, have now been sensationally unearthed in central China, experts say. The new evidence suggests that the world's oldest civilization may have also invented the world's oldest profession – a claim that the ruling Communist Party has moved swiftly to refute. "For a full list of our inventions, please see the document on Xinhua [news agency] entitled the 'Four Inventions,'" a spokesman said yesterday. But growing archaeological evidence suggests that Middle Kingdom madames were likely the first. The long-forgotten Swing Dynasty (385-380 BC) was an epicurean court in a society primarily devoted to endless warfare, according to a team of day laborers working time-and-a-half in the city of Xian. "The Swing didn't see the point of constantly falling out with each other," claims Professor Eimen Von Häffenmast, visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Guttenberg, who is closely monitoring the dig. "These johns preferred to make love – not war. Spears, for example, were considered objects of love, rather than conflict. "Consequently, this highly creative community didn't stand a chance." In the course of their short-lived but immensely popular reign, the Swing are said to have invented the terracotta dildo, proper erotica, the water-calligraphy bed and tabloid journalism – all over a five-year period, during which almost everyone got laid and no one died. The Swing's young and well-endowed ruler Long – who contemporaneous scrolls describe coyly as the 'She'long Emperor' – apparently established his kingdom half-way through the year 385BC, in the middle of a brief lacuna when marauding rival tribes had simply agreed to take a breather. Emperor Long supposedly died happy, after choking on ground tiger-bones Historians are unsure as to the exact origins of the dynasty, however. The Swing are believed to have been descended from the Jin, who first quarreled with the Han, Zhao, and Wei dynasties but then made alliances to destroy the Zhi – a move later endorsed by the Zhou, but not before the Zhao attacked the Wei, after they had appealed to the Han for some help against the Chu. In the resulting confusion, the Swing were able to quietly slip in and rule, legalizing polygamy and establishing a successful franchise of upmarket brothel-spas. The brief interregnum became known colloquially as the 'Whoring States Period.' "China often reminds the world of its 5,000-year history and now we are starting to see the real fruits of that," claims von Häffenmast. "We have also found evidence of a three millenia-old recipe for Kidney Surprise and definitive proof, finally, that syphilis originated somewhere in Henan." The She'long Emperor was regarded by his subjects as a laid-back, generous and giving ruler, and is depicted in recently unearthed statues as a long-haired dude, fond of making lewd hand-gestures. But despite the brevity of its rule, one of the Swing's major innovations – an equalized system of sexual barter, grounded in Legalism – would later took deep root in the national psyche. Indeed, von Häffenmast claims, the legacy of the She'long's rule lives on today – in China's many neon-lit urban barbershops, attended by smiling peasant girls. Working tributes to Emperor Long's flowing locks and fondness for paid sex,  von Häffenmast assures, "can continue to be found in every city, down countless darkened alleyways – which are still also very good places to get some." Be sure to follow exclusive China news at @chinadailyshow on Twitter Report tips and STD results by contacting cds@chinadailyshow.com

Five Things To Consider In Forming Your China Company. Plus The Most Important One Of All. Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:52 PM PST Very helpful post over at the always helpful International Business Law Advisor Blog.  The post is appropriately entitled, The 5 Key Factors You Must Consider When Establishing a Foreign Corporation and it lists out the following: Decide on Corporate Form:  The post talks of determining the right corporate form for the country in which you will be establishing your company. For China, this might mean Joint Venture, Representative Office, Wholly Foreign Owned Entity (WFOE), etc.  For more on forming a company in China, check out the following: How To Form A Company In China. The Basics How To Start A Business In China — WFOE How To Start A China Business — Representative Office The Best Way To Do Business With China. Joint Venture, Rep Office, Licensing Agreement, Distributorship, Export Selling? Identify Your Business Purpose:  The post notes how "unlike in the U.S., the business purpose of an entity in a great number of foreign jurisdictions require that the business purpose of the entity to be described in detail."  This too is true of China, where what you list as the scope of the business can end up limiting what it can do. For more on this, check out the following: How To Form a China WFOE. Scope Really Really Matters. How To Form a China WFOE. Scope Really Really Matters, Part II. Choose the Corporate Name:  The post notes how a "great majority of foreign countries have specific requirements regarding corporate names" and this is true of China as well. Determine the Officer and Director, if any:  The post notes how some countries do not recognize the U.S. concept of "director and officer"  and of how residency requirements may also apply. China definitely has a different leadership structure than is familiar to Americans and this oftentimes results in problems. Quantify Capital Requirements: The post notes how minimum capital requirements "necessary to form an entity varies by country."  This is actually true within China where some cities have fairly low minimum capital requirements and others have much higher such requirements.  For more on China's minimum capital requirements, check out the following: How To Start A Business In China — The Minimum Capital Requirements For A WFOE Minimum Capital Requirements. Good News For Small Companies Looking At Shanghai Okay, so what is the missing, most important consideration of all?  Whether it even makes sense to form a company overseas.  This is by far the most important and also most complicated in forming an overseas entity. Is forming a company overseas really the best way to accomplish what you are seeking to accomplish?  Might you be able to sell your product or services pretty much as well via a licensing, franchising, or distributorship relationship?  Do you really need a company in a foreign country to have your products made there or your research conducted there, or might you be better off just outsourcing? Most importantly, is going overseas really right for your company.  Running a single domestic company is tough enough.  Now consider running two or more companies at the same time, with one or more of them being in a foreign country.  Or as my friend Ben Shobert would say, Are You China Ready?

Extreme Sports Pioneer Yi Ruilong Dies In Hang-Gliding Accident (Video) Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:34 AM PST Yi Ruilong, an extreme sports trailblazer in this country known as China's "first flying man," disappeared on Sunday evening after his hang glider crashed into remote Hanyuan Lake in Fuquan town, Sichuan province. You can watch the video of his fateful accident above, in which he loses control while trying to complete a 360-degree turn. Witnesses aren't sure whether Yi died on the spot, but search crews found no signs of the 70-year-old until two days later, Tuesday night, when they finally dredged up his body. He had been wearing a 10-kilogram sandbag and was strapped into a 30-kilogram glider, his friend Ling Xidong told Western China City Daily. Yi, who hails from Shandong province, has spent the past two decades gliding over places such Shandong's Mt. Tai, Shaanxi's Mt. Hua, Sichuan's Mt. Emei, Kunming's Western Hills, et al. In the 1980s, he reportedly made a delta wing glider by himself. Authorities are still investigating how such an experienced glider could have met such a tragic end. (Image Baidu Baike)

Mo Yan Grants First Interview Since Winning Nobel Prize, Rebukes Ai Weiwei, Makes Very Interesting Cultural Revolution Comparison Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:51 AM PST Since accepting the Nobel Prize in Literature on December 10, the controversial Mo Yan has turned down every formal interview request from every publication in the world. But he finally broke his silence last week, granting a sit-down with Germany's Der Spiegel, one of Europe's largest news weeklies. The article was published in this week's (February 25) issue, roughly coinciding with the German debut of Mo's novel Frog. The author promised only a "very short" interview but ended up talking for two hours, according to Spiegel, and the result probably could not have been better for the venerable magazine. Mo Yan called his writing style "un-Chinese," though said his novels contain "hope, dignity and power." He said that he "realized that the Cultural Revolution was the mistake of individual leaders. It had less to do with the party itself," which could have been the sound bite of the interview if he hadn't proceeded to rebuke Liao Yiwu's criticism of him, then turn his focus on Ai Weiwei. "Another one of your critics is Ai Weiwei, an artist particularly well-known in Germany," the Spiegel interviewer says, and one can almost picture Mo snapping: "What does he have to say about me?" (We don't know that he actually snapped; the published account gives no stage directions.) And then: SPIEGEL: He too accuses you of being to close to the state. He says you are detached from reality and cannot represent current China. Mo: Aren't many artists in mainland China state artists? What about those who are professors at the universities? What about those who write for state newspapers? And then, which intellectual can claim to represent China? I certainly do not claim that. Can Ai Weiwei? Those who can really represent China are digging dirt and paving roads with their bare hands. Other highlights follow. Let's start with this excerpt, out of which Der Spiegel pulled three words — "I am guilty" — for its headline: SPIEGEL: Unspeakable things happen in many of your novels. In "The Garlic Ballads," for example, a pregnant woman, already in labor, hangs herself. Still, "Frog" seems to be your sternest book. Is that why it took so long to write? Mo: I carried the idea for this book with me for a long time but then wrote it relatively quickly. You are right, I felt heavy when I penned the novel. I see it as a work of self-criticism. SPIEGEL: In what sense? You carry no personal responsibility for the violence and the forced abortions described in your book. Mo: China has gone through such tremendous change over the past decades that most of us consider ourselves victims. Few people ask themselves, though: 'Have I also hurt others?' "Frog" deals with this question, with this possibility. I, for example, may have been only 11 years old in my elementary school days, but I joined the red guards and took part in the public criticism of my teacher. I was jealous of the achievements, the talents of other people, of their luck. Later, I even asked my wife to have an abortion for the sake of my own future. I am guilty. Mo talks briefly about his writing… SPIEGEL: Your books paint a bleak picture of modern China. There seems to be no progress. Neither your figures, nor society, nor the country as such seems to be heading anywhere. Mo: I may be rather un-Chinese in this respect. Most Chinese stories and dramas have a happy ending. Most of my novels end tragically. But there is still hope, dignity and power. …before dropping this semi-bombshell about the Cultural Revolution: SPIEGEL: How do you yourself think about this? After all, you were forced to interrupt your education during the Cultural Revolution. And yet, you are still a member of the party. Mo: The Communist Party of China has well over 80 million members, and I am one of them. I joined the party in 1979 when I was in the army. I realized that the Cultural Revolution was the mistake of individual leaders. It had less to do with the party itself. The Cultural Revolution is referenced again as he addresses the media pressure that surrounded his Nobel win in the context of freedom of speech and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Liu Xiaobo: SPIEGEL: But there are people in this country who are harassed, even arrested for what they write. Do you not feel an obligation to use your award, fame and reputation to speak out on behalf of these colleagues of yours? Mo: I openly expressed the hope that Liu Xiaobo should regain his freedom as soon as possible. But again, I was immediately criticized and forced to speak out again and again on the same issue. SPIEGEL: Liu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. And indeed, repeated statements of support would make a greater impression than a single comment. Mo: I am reminded of the rituals of repetition in the Cultural Revolution. If I decide to speak, then nobody will stop me. If I decide not to speak, then not even a knife at my neck will make me speak. He also turned his attention to Chinese exile Liao Yiwu, one of his most vocal critics. (Liao organized a naked-run protest outside the Nobel Banquet Hall in Stockholm the night that Mo received his prize.) SPIEGEL: When Chinese writer Liao Yiwu was awarded with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade last year, he criticized you in SPIEGEL as a "state writer" and said you don't keep enough distance to the government. Mo: I have read his statement and I have read the speech he gave at the award ceremony. In the speech, he called for the split of the Chinese state. I can absolutely not agree to this position. I think that the people of Sichuan (the province where Liao is from) would not agree to cut their province out of China. I am sure Liao's parents could never agree to this position. And I can not even imagine that he himself can, in the depth of his heart, agree to what he said there. I know he envies me for this award and I understand this. But his criticism is unjustified. Mo clarifies that by "criticism" he's referring to Liao's accusation that Mo praised Bo Xilai in a poem. Mo: … in a poem. Actually, the opposite is true. I was sarcastic, I wrote a satire. Let me jot it down again for you. (Mo Yan takes a notebook and writes) Sing-red-strike-black roars mightily, The nation turns its head to Chongqing. While a white spider weaves a real net that catches bugs, A black horse with loose bowel movement is not an angry youth. As a writer one should not be afraid of either a left or right party, As an official one should hold dear one's good name before and after his death. A gentleman, a bedrock in turbulent waters, that you are, The splendid cliffs shine on Jialing River like fire. And he addresses the infamous book, which features his writing, that celebrates Mao Zedong's 1942 Yan'an speech: Mo: Honestly, it was a commercial project. The editor of a publishing house, an old friend of mine, came up with the idea. He had convinced around 100 writers before and when we attended a conference together, he walked around with a book and a pen and asked me, too, to hand-copy a paragraph of Mao's speech. I asked "What should I write?" He said: "I chose this paragraph for you." I was vain enough to take the opportunity to show off with my calligraphy. There's more over at Der Spiegel's website. Go give the interview a read. Nobel Laureate Mo Yan: 'I Am Guilty' (Der Spiegel)

Mid-Week Links: Fire in Sanlitun, BBC’s shortwave radio blocked in China, Manny Ramirez may be heading to Taiwan Posted: 27 Feb 2013 05:00 AM PST Sanlitun Village fire, photo by Steven Schwankert via the Beijinger Anyone see the low-hanging orange moon yesterday? It's these collective experiences that bond us as a human community, or something about links. Also, it's CBA playoffs time! Beijing playing as we speak. "Rare color photos of 1960s Chinese operas." "Photographer Zhang Yaxin was one of the only people in China with access to color film during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Zhang was a photographer for Xinhua News Agency when he was chosen by Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong, to photograph the performances of the model operas she developed after the Communist Party leaders banned traditional Peking opera for being too bourgeois." (Slate via Shanghaiist) No surprise, but disappointing all the same. "Tourists have been accused of turning the Forbidden City's moat into a garbage dump, after waste and food packaging has piled up on the moat's melting ice. // The moat's administrators and the district sanitary office said that the ice condition now means that cleaning up the garbage is not only difficult, but also hazardous." (Global Times) All great projects start with an idea. "I decided to test things for myself, and set out on a quest to buy a gun online in China. (Of course, I never really planned to actually purchase a gun; that would be illegal and stupid. But I wanted to see how far I could get)." (Charlie Custer, Tech in Asia) Human rights. "More than 100 Chinese scholars, journalists, lawyers and writers urged their national legislature on Tuesday to ratify a major human rights treaty, in the latest challenge from intellectuals seeking to curtail arbitrary Communist Party power. // The petition calling on the party-controlled National People's Congress to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights came a week before the congress holds its annual full session, which is to install Xi Jinping as China's president, succeeding Hu Jintao." (NY Times) A brief history of capital transplant rumors. "So will the Chinese government actually move the capital, as Some Guy on Weibo says? Hey, from your lips to the NDRC's ears — but I wouldn't hold my breath. Not any more than I usually do in Beijing, anyway." (Brendan O'Kane, Rectified.name) Quite the movie title. "Cross-border tensions on social media were stirred this week after a Beijing film critic slated a Hong Kong comedy film for being a work of 'cultural garbage' that portrayed mainlanders negatively. // Jia Xuanning, a 24-year-old Beijing Film Academy and Chinese University graduate, won the Hong Kong Arts Development Council's first ever Critic's Prize with a scathing critique about 2012 film Vulgaria." (SCMP) Marriage certificate denied. "February 25, Beijing, lesbian lovers Elsie and Mayu headed to the marriage registry in an attempt to register their marriage, but were politely turned down by the working staff." (chinaSMACK) Ew. "Niu Niu has had the habit of chewing her hair while daydreaming since she was two years old, her mother told the TV station. // …Shi Duanhua, an expert in the digestive system at Jiangsu People's Hospital, said the ball had a radius of 8-9 centimetres and that they were trying various methods to get it out." (The Nanfang) Proper reaction to first sentence is the eye-roll: "A City worker has quit his job to star in a new Chinese sitcom – despite having no acting experience. // Bilingual Richard Heathcote, 24, earned £26,000-a-year as a translator for Norman Foster's architecture firm, but is pinning his hopes on the success of Ciao Britain." (Daily Mail) Beijing travel video set to Burning Spear's "The Invasion" interlude: Finally… "BBC World Service shortwave radio blocked in China." (BBC) Hackers plant virus in Mandiant report download link. (ZDNet via China Digital Times) Manny Ramirez, if he doesn't sign with an MLB team by March 7, may go to Taiwan. (ESPN) This is kind of fun: Who said it, Dennis Rodman or Kim Jong-un? (Foreign Policy) "China, den of cannibals?" (China Media Project) Finally, finally… Stephon Marbury vs. Liang Qichao, via Josh Chin

Shanghai nonagenarian writes comic book memoir commemorating love of his life Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:05 AM PST Rao Pingru (饶平如) has lived a long life marked by great hardship and perseverance. Yet Rao survived war, famine, incarceration, separation and illness, and lived his entire life with undying love for one woman. Now aged 91, Rao's long life was characterized by all the trials and tribulations that the Chinese people experienced in a turbulent twentieth century. His story is anachronistic in our current age of self-absorption and fleeting love, and will soon fade back into the mists of time. But old though he is, Rao has determined to preserve his journey and the memory of his beloved wife of 60 years, Mao Meitang (毛美棠). So ever since his wife died in 2008, Rao has been engaged in writing a comic book history of his life and lifelong love with Mao Meitang. After working on the project daily for five years, the comic book will be finally published in April this year under the title "The Story of Us" (我俩的故事). The Oriental Morning Post (东方早报) from Shanghai today featured Rao's comic book history on its front page. It is a deeply moving tale. The following are the news report and some excerpts published by the Oriental Morning Post today: Early life and war against Japan Rao was born in Jiangxi (江西) province in 1922 as the son of Qing dynasty government official. He was only 11 years old when he first met his future wife, Mao Meitang, who was the daughter of one of his father's close friends. She came over with her father one day, and the two of them played around the house. A few years later, however, Rao's life was turned upside down by the outbreak of war against Japan in 1937. In 1940, Rao was accepted for officer training at the Whampoa Military Academy (黄埔军校) in Guangdong, where the Republic of China's officers were educated. Before he left his home in Jiangxi, his father had given him the present of a small poem, which read: On the day that Japanese pirates invade China, it is time for the scholar to cast aside his pen (倭寇侵华日,书生投笔时). Four months later, Rao graduated as an artillery officer in the Kuomintang army, and was sent on his way to Chengdu in Sichuan province. When there was a train, he took it, but he walked much of the way to Chengdu on foot. Love, marriage and separation After serving six years in the army and seeing it through all the way to the end in 1946, Rao received a letter from his dad asking him to go home and get married. In his years in the army, Rao said afterwards, he did have the chance to start intimate relationships with other women, but he always refrained from doing so – he had his eye only on Meitang. So soon Rao found himself back in Nanchang, Jiangxi province. He and Meitang first confessed their love for each other in Hubin Park (湖滨公园), when she sang songs and he played his harmonica. Soon afterwards they were married, and in 1951 they settled in Shanghai, where Rao found a job as an accountant. These years in Shanghai in the 1950s are the fondest memories for Rao, a time when he and Meitang could enjoy life together in peace. In 1958, however, their joyful existence was shattered when Rao was sent for Re-education through labor (劳教), because he was a Kuomintang soldier in the war. Rao was sent to a farm in Anhui province where he did backbreaking manual labor, while Meitang stayed on alone in Shanghai, eventually getting a job moving cement at a museum in the city. They would be separated for 22 years, during which time they wrote nearly a thousand letters to each other, never doubting for a moment that they will always be faithful to one another. Reunification and illness Rao was finally allowed to return home in 1979, and he found a job as an editor at a publishing house in Shanghai. They lived happily together once more, but misfortune struck again in 1992 when Meitang was diagnosed with diabetes and kidney problems. Gradually her condition worsened, and she became psychologically deranged as well. She finally died in hospital in March 2008. On the day of her passing, Rao was notified that his wife's condition had suddenly worsened, and he reached her deathbed one minute before she died. He held her hand and kissed her one last time. "The Story of Us" Meitang's death in 2008 inspired Rao to begin work on the comic book memoir to preserve their story for his descendants. In the years since, Rao acquired a cat to keep himself company, started learning the piano, and has worked around two hours every day on the book. When asked whether he had anything to say to the youth of today, Rao replied the following: Life is short, I am now already 90 years old. The older I get the more I realize that time moves very fast. If you look at the television, you see young people getting married for three months, they quarrel, and they just get a divorce. You can't just divorce because of small things that come up. You should really treasure the time of your youth, and treasure the present. (人生苦短，我到90岁，越是年老越觉得光阴太快。你看电视，年轻人结婚三个月，吵吵架，不好就离婚。不能碰到很小的事情就离婚，应该多珍惜青春，珍惜现在。) Links and sources Oriental Morning Post (东方早报): 我俩的故事 ; "我们俩的一生都在画里"

China’s Ghost Cities. No Worry No Cry. Posted: 27 Feb 2013 07:36 AM PST I have always thought China's ghost cities were overrated in terms of their economic importance/significance.  The anti-China crowd loves to point at them as proof of China's inefficiencies and evidence of an eventual and certain economic downfall.  Yes, they do evidence inefficiencies, but so what?  Go to even the most well functioning economy and you will see pockets of inefficiencies and abandonment.  I went to Toledo Ohio during economic boom times (was it 2006) and was shocked at its downtown, which felt at least half vacant.  Would it have been fair for me to use that as proof of America's downfall?  Of course not. Isolated instances of inefficiencies do not an economy make.  Yes, ghost cities make for good symbols, but unless you can quantify their numbers and their impacts, I just don't care. I now have even more reason for not caring.  The Wall Street Journal's always excellent Real Time Report just came out with a story, entitled, Analyst: I Ain't Afraid of No 'Ghost Cities.'  The Real Time story is on an article [no link given nor found] by "economist and veteran China-watcher Jonathan Anderson" entitled "Hurray for China's Ghost Cities."  In that article, Anderson writes on how China's investing in "'ghost cities'" to underpin growth, China saved itself from even more unwise overinvestment in areas that could have done lasting damage to the economy, such as manufacturing.": Even though China has been investing almost 50% of GDP for the past few years, Mr. Anderson doesn't see much evidence that it's resulted in widespread industrial overcapacity. He notes that industrial profits have been picking up along with sales, suggesting that manufacturers still have plenty of pricing power. And, in contrast to the situation a decade ago when the last credit bubble burst, China isn't saddled with a massive glut of industrial commodities that it's trying to dump on the rest of the world. Steel exports, for example, have increased only modestly this time around. Mr. Anderson defines "ghost cities" as a relatively narrow slice of investment, conducted mainly by local governments, in urban infrastructure and certain types of construction, notably subsidized "social housing" units rather than commercial housing. They've certainly been a black hole, he says, but a hole that has emptied largely into the equally dark vaults of China's state-owned banks, where bad debts can remain buried for a long time. "Lesson learned: If you're going to waste capital best to waste it completely, where it will do the least damage to everyone else," writes Mr. Anderson. Makes sense to me. Is China heading for economic failure or success.  Me, I have no clue, but I am pretty confident that looking at ghost cities for the answer is looking at the wrong tea leaves. What do you think?

Drought and earthquakes pose "enormous risk" to China's nuclear plans Posted: 26 Feb 2013 07:49 PM PST China's nuclear industry is shifting inland, away from the crowded coast. It's a risky move, argues Wang Yi'nan When the Fukushima nuclear disaster struck, China was building new nuclear power capacity at a rate unprecedented in world history: 40% of all reactors planned or under construction were in China. Targets for installed nuclear generation capacity by 2020 were raised repeatedly – from 40 gigawatts in 2007 to 80 gigawatts in 2010. Preparations were also under way for more than 20 inland nuclear power plants. The 41-plus gigawatts of capacity already completed or under construction lies along China's seaboard. Space is running out. But Fukushima sent shockwaves through the nuclear industry. In China, focus shifted from the speed and scale of expansion to questions of safety and quality. The government placed a moratorium on approvals for new nuclear plants, which lasted for more than a year, a period during which debate on what to do raged – over safety, scale of expansion, technology, site locations and, most crucially, whether or not the process of considering applications to build new inland nuclear power plants should be restarted. China's nuclear moratorium may have been lifted, but those arguments continue today. Earthquake risk and water shortages Advocates of inland nuclear development argue that there are no technological differences between building a nuclear power plant on the coast or inland – that it is simply tougher to choose the right location. The EU and US have built plenty of nuclear power plants away from the coast. In France, 14 of 19 nuclear power plants are in the country's interior. If China is to hit its original targets for 2020, the argument goes, its nuclear industry too must move inland. And it is making moves to do so: apart from China's remoter regions of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Yunnan, all provinces – including the most densely populated – have nuclear power projects under way. But China's realities warn against inland nuclear development. Figures from the China Earthquake Administration's Institute of Geology show that, since 1900, China has been hit by almost 800 earthquakes of magnitude six or above, causing destruction in all regions except Guizhou, Zhejiang and Hong Kong. Despite having only 7% of the world's landmass, China – where three tectonic plates meet – gets more than a third of all strong continental earthquakes.  Moreover, China's per-head freshwater resources are only one quarter of the global average. Inland nuclear power plants require a failsafe, 100% reliable and never-ending supply of water for cooling. Even if a reactor stops operating it still requires water to carry off heat. If the water dries up, we could see a Fukushima-style disaster, with terrible consequences: radioactive pollutants released into nearby rivers and lakes, affecting the safety of water on which hundreds of millions rely. In June last year, Reuters covered a report by European and US scientists on the vulnerabilities of nuclear and thermal power to climate change. According to the report, "under climate change, a lack of water for cooling is severely restricting generating capacity at nuclear power plants in the EU and US. In the summer seasons of 2003 to 2009, many inland nuclear power plants were forced to shut down due to a lack of cooling water." The authors predicted that "due to a lack of water for cooling, between 2030 and 2060 nuclear and thermal generating capacity will drop 4-16% in the US, and 6-19% in the EU," and went on to stress that "opting to build nuclear and other thermal power plants by the sea is an effective and important strategy to cope with climate change." China is densely populated and prone to both drought and earthquakes, making the development of inland nuclear power inadvisable. It has also long sought to emulate the EU and US, regions which have now realised the outlook for inland nuclear power is bleak. China should not make the same mistake. Insecure uranium supplies China also faces a huge shortage of uranium. The 41 reactors already operating or under construction will see China rely on imports for 85% of its uranium – far above the 50% internationally recognised as a "warning line". Security of uranium supply is an even graver problem than that of oil supply. In 2008, some 43,760 tonnes of uranium were mined worldwide. The world's 440 nuclear reactors use 65,500 tonnes of uranium annually (with the US, France, Japan, Russia, Germany and Korea accounting for 48.203 tonnes of this). Moreover, importing uranium is much harder than importing oil. Before Fukushima, China had become an all-important market for the nuclear industry, and a proving ground for new reactor technology. But in terms of reactor-years, China has only 1% of the world's experience in running nuclear power plants. It must not blindly expand nuclear power. Nuclear's potential to inflict harm on humanity means risk assessments must not look only at the probability of an accident, but more importantly the consequences. We cannot relax simply because the Nth generation technology has cut the risk of an accident to a very low level, because if that accident does happen, the consequences would be disastrous. China has half the landmass of the former Soviet Union, but 10 times its population. An inland nuclear accident would be a disaster. The damage would be far beyond comparison with any coal-mine collapse or high-speed train derailment. Long-lasting radioactive pollution and public panic would threaten political stability, economic prosperity and the environment. Nuclear power is not yet controlled, not yet tamed, not yet safe, and China cannot take the enormous risks of building nuclear power plants inland. Safety standards still not being met Moreover, there are still limits to China's ability to run nuclear power plants. During the State Council's safety audit of 41 reactors in operation or under construction, some plants and fuel recycling facilities were found not to meet new safety standards for flood and earthquake resilience, while some plants did not have procedures for preventing or mitigating major accidents. Others had not evaluated tsunami risks and responses. The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant has no guidelines for managing a major accident, for example. The Taishan No.2 reactor, Ling'Ao and Tianwan Nuclear Power Plants have procedures only for certain types of major accident. Nuclear engineering is a major undertaking. Construction capabilities and staff competencies cannot be raised overnight. China's 10-plus gigawatts of nuclear power capacity today account for just 1% of the country's total electricity output. China has better and more realistic options to relieve energy shortages and cut emissions. These include more efficient use of resources including coal; the promotion of energy-saving techniques such as the use of energy performance contracting(where energy savings from new buildings systems pay for the cost of a building renewal project) a tool which, if used in China as it is in the EU, would save the equivalent of several Three Gorges Dams' worth of energy. Comprehensive clean-energy solutions, incorporating solar power, wind power, bioenergy, pumped-storage hydropower and natural gas peak power plants, can provide China with the clean, reliable and efficient energy it needs for a new type of industrialisation. China's development must be built on genuinely safe, reliable, clean and efficient energy. Blindly opting for nuclear power in response to energy shortages and emissions pressures is to drink from a poisoned chalice.

Dish of the Day: Xiaolongbao @ Jia Jia Tang Bao Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:00 AM PST Newbies to Jia Jia Tang Bao may not believe that this dusty rathole cranks out some of the tastiest, most elegant-looking xiaolongbao in town. I didn't either until I saw their confident troupe of squat ladies crafting such delicate parcels at a grueling pace, like oompa loompas doing origami on speed. These weren't people who'd give me a stale xiaolongbao. [ more › ]

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Does concern for the environment stunt political careers in China? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 05:00 AM PST A recent study has shown that party officials who focus on the environment are less likely to be promoted than those who focus on economic development. [ more › ]

Watch: CBA 2013 All Star Slam Dunk Contest was kind of embarrassing Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:30 AM PST I don't often write about basketball here (I'm British, basketball makes as little sense to me as cricket does to you), but this was too good to pass up. The Chinese Basketball Association held its annual All Star Slam Dunk Contest in Guangzhou on Sunday, and it was kind of terrible. [ more › ]

Watch: Taiwan groups call for end to stray animal euthanasia Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:00 AM PST There are a massive number of stray animals in Taiwan, so many that the government has resorted to mass euthanasia programs to cope with the numbers. Up to 50 percent of all animals caught are put to sleep. Animal rights activists are protesting against the use of euthanasia, including the aptly named rapper Dog G. [ more › ]

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