20160914ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： "关店潮" 来了？ 报道称，到2020年中国三分之一商场恐消失..LW: Now shopping malls are something that we saw all over China (shopping centers for that matter Nick) but that bubble may be starting to burst. You You, take it away.YY: A latest report says that one thirds of Chinese shopping centers will be out of business by 2030. The report is from the Chinese academy of Social Sciences. It also says that those centers that aren’t out of business will have to transform in order to survive and will become retail market places and a third will become integrated into online shopping. This is all because of the rise of online stores. [NL: 2020 seems quite soon].LW: Its three years away because 2016 is on its way out.YY: You can see the rapid growth of online stores here in China and also across the world. And some of the brick and mortar stores are having a bit of a dilemma because they have to pay the taxes and also the rental fees, but usually online stores do not have those kinds of worries. They usually have other kinds of worries. The facts are that by the end of last month, which is August, you can see that some cities like Qingdao, Dalian, and Chongqing, all saw large shopping centers shut down.LW: Let’s use the example of a Beijing market: Yashow. It used to be relatively cheap and used to be one of those places where you would go to bargain. Basically it used to be a market but now it’s turned into this really flashy mall. It used to be one of the places where if you had family visiting Beijing it used to be one of the places you take them [if you love bargaining]. You bargained there and a lot of people practiced their Chinese there and it was a bit of a free-for-all. Like the Wild West. Understandably as China becomes more developed, you can’t really have those fake goods around anymore and big companies are going to start complaining; its not necessarily a good look.YY: Also, some world leaders went there for an experience.LW: The rent was raised for a lot of the tenants and they couldn’t afford it, so they had to put down a lot of money as a deposit, and it turned into this high-end luxury mall and a place where people with good reputations can go. Unfortunately it’s fallen off. People don’t want to visit it because now it looks like every other mall or every other place.YY: When you transform it into a high-end shopping mall. It loses what makes it different. And its difference makes it perfect. One thing that I will say to that is that I don’t see shopping malls vanishing quickly because [a lot of people] need to dry the clothes on compared to online stores. I think that is one of the main advantages of the shopping mall.

20160913ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 中国计划对外籍人士工作签证制度进行改革NL: So the powers that be are trying to attract more highly skilled talent into China, as is always the case with the visa system. To achieve that end they are looking to categorize the types of work visas that foreigners are able to get. Currently if you want to work in China, there are two different types of work permits that you can apply for. One of them is called an employment license for foreigners and that comes from the ministry of human resources and social security, and the other one is in my experience at least, the most common visa that foreigners have in Beijing which is the foreign expert work permit which comes from the state administration of foreign experts and affairs. So currently there are those two kinds but they are all going to be streamlined into the same system. A trial is going to be going on in some cities and it will be rolled out further in some cities if that trial is a success.LW: The current visa system is set up for a planned economy, one that is growing toward the future, where it was very much like, get people in for those valuable skills as much as you can. And now that China is an economic giant it needs to be attracting skills that are harder to cultivate domestically. As things stand those skills are going to become much more high-level as it were than what they were in the past.NL: I think clearing up the system works in terms of how wanting to attract foreign workers into China [is important]. Having successfully managed to get a visa working in China, I think the level of documents that you need and the procedures that you have to go through, compared to other countries in the world, isn’t necessarily that stringent or that difficult to get the kind of documents that you need. But the process is so poorly explained that sometimes people don’t know what to do and this is where the problem arises. It’s very difficult to find accurate information to draw on when you’re making those applications sometimes. LW: I will say that we don’t know a lot about this process, I think that it is being rolled out now in the bigger areas, and then hopefully it will filter down to other metropolitans. We don’t know all of the details, but we do know about the A the B and the C track. The A would be like a kind of a top level the B would be in the middle and the C would be (not undesirable) but less desirable than the B and the C.WY: I would say that there are plenty of job opportunities in China, and there will be plenty more, so welcome to China.

20160912ou 一中两外锵锵三人行　今日话题：怎样才算好上司？　LW: Today we’re talking about nice boss syndrome. We all know these kinds of people who are quite conflict averse and look to keep the peace, but it turns out that these people are always what you need as a business to keep going forward. And that I actually might be holding people back themselves.　NL: It makes a lot of sense. Respecting your boss is the most important thing and if you’re boss is an extremely nice person, someone you get along with, but too nice in terms of not following through on goals or targets, or not making sure that what you’re doing is up to standard or up to scratch, or not coming down on you when you’re not, it’s easy to see how your productivity can falter or you can begin to fall behind on things. It’s nice that they’ve given this catch-all syndrome, it seems excessive to me but if it gives a one catch-all name to this name to this problem as it spreads across different industries then yeah. Why not?WY: I think it depends on the definition of being nice. If you’re simply looking at being nice as being gentle, then I don’t think it is a nice boss. Looking at it in the long term, if the boss can push you forward and you can become better, then that is a nice boss as well; if we’re simply talking about the character, or a person’s attitude toward you. It’s partly about being nice, so how you define nice is also very important.NL: I don’t think that these two things are necessarily mutually exclusive. Being a nice boss and being a good boss. I think it comes down to what we mean when we say ‘nice’. If you are a person who think that to get the most out of the people around you (maybe that’s just your personality) by having a very business-like relationship with them (i.e. I am your boss you are my employees) then that’s for you. But if you are the kind of person who feels competent and capable with the people around you, that you can get along with them be friendly and still get them to achieve the most, then there is no reason not to be nice to them just because someone says that nice boss syndrome is a thing.

20160909ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：英国小姑娘给中国宝宝取英文名 收入50万！LW: A 16-year old British girl has been earning a lot of money. And I’m not exaggerating here when I say that it is a lot of money doing something that I find ridiculous.WY: In the UK a 16-year old girl, has made almost GBP 50 000 helping people name their babies. This girl came up with the idea after a family visit to China. When they were out having dinner with friends she was asked to give an English name to a new-born baby. In China we name the children based on elements, but this time they want the similarity with how they pick their Chinese name and their English name. What the girl does is she assigns personality traits to each name and lets the people choose the name. She earned a lot. Parents, who want to send their children overseas, want their children to have an English name.LW: I’d still say keep the name. Just a quick search on Google and you should be fine.NL: You would think that. Many Chinese people have tried that and have come up with some rather unfortunate sounding English names. The reason she came up with this is that she came across Chinese people who had called themselves things like Rolex. Or Gandalf or Cinderella [WY: Or Harry Potter]. Which is quite unfortunate if you are trying to be taken seriously in an English speaking country. So this is a service those people could have used.LW: There is a science to this. People say names come in a cycle which is why certain names are more popular than others. There’s a reason people in poorer classes have particular names. Its because names filter down from the top and by the time it starts back up again, people don’t want to give their sons or daughters those names because its ‘trashy’ or whatever.WY: I will have to ask you this. Would you guys like to have a Chinese name?LW: No.WY: For lots of foreigners they would prefer to have a Chinese name.LW: That’s for ease of use; to get around. I used to, when I was a teacher, I used to give my students crazy names. I had a student called Beyonce There was one called Kanye. Presumably they’ll change the names at some point,NL: You should tell them!LW: If they go on Beau’s website they can do that for themselves

LK: Well, let me ask Morris: compared to other nations, what do you think are China’s advantages and disadvantages in developing space programs? MJ: I think China has one clear advantage over the United States, and, to a certain degree, a lot of other nations, and it’s simply the fact that China knows how to draw up plans, and China then knows how to stick to those plans. China has a very coherent, long-term plan that makes sense, and they’re steadily working through their progress, whereas we have situations in the United States, where it isn’t really clear where America is going in the long run with spaceflight. They’re struggling to define plans; their plans seem to change on a regular basis, and so you really don’t know where America is headed. China has a good strategy, and it’s that long-term strategy that leads to success. LK: Well, Kerri, do you agree? Do you think the American way of doing this is more to go with the flow and change it as they experiment? KC: Well, I think you can say that with some certainty for the public sector projects. It’s harder to say with any clarity for the defense sector, and I agree that the political system is organized such that administration changes affect the overall goals and strategy, and that it would be good to have long-term plans that are consistent, because you really do sometimes need these tens of years of development, for projects like the James Webb space telescope, which is a very large-aperture telescope with segments that are deployed, and it’s very complicated; also for infrastructure such as manned spaceflight and very large launch vehicles. To some extent we’ve been trying to address this by pushing into the commercial sector, where right now there is certainly not the level of investment that you can get from a government program, but there might be more long-term consistency and direction, and so those things are not at a point yet where I think they’re very stable, but it is a possible future path that would have a little bit more consistency than we currently see with the administration changes. LK: Well, Yuguang, as Morris has pointed out, China usually has a five-year plan for economic development, and space programs certainly are included in that kind of plan. Do we always stick to that kind of plan? Do we always reach or achieve what we plan to do? YYG: Yes, China has a very continuous plan for its space program compared with the United States. Although the US has the most advanced technologies and has very outstanding crews, they always have some shortcomings in their long-term strategy. You see, they performed the Apollo program, but suddenly they stopped that program, and you see that almost half a century later, human beings have never visited the moon again. For the space shuttle program, first they wanted to improve the cost, and also to achieve high reliability, but the fact proved that the space shuttle is not economic and not safe. So, the United States made many mistakes, and today they even depend on the Soyuz spaceship of Russia to access the International Space Station. That’s a problem. China develops space technology depending on its own requirements, not competing with any other country. So, it has a very concrete plan to achieve its projects.

20160908ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题："斗地主"也有国家认证 ! 全国排位总奖金500万! LW: Now an interesting card game has risen to prominence, You-You, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about it.WY: The game is called ‘battling the landlord’. Two people play against one. So now we see the first national doudizhou contest. It is hosted by China’s general administration of sport. The winner could get as much as 5 million Yuan as a reward. And players can also gain points that will form the basis of the national ranking of ‘landlord poker’ players. Anyone can apply for it, and everyone can play in the competition for free.LW: How does it work? Tell us a little bit about it, I know tat Nick id dying to know.NL: 5 Million? I’ll give it a go!WY: It usually consists of three players; one being the landlord and the other being the peasants. So the peasants play in a team against the landlord. And any player that feels confident in his cards can claim to be the landlord in the beginning and then receive three extra cards. In China this game is very popular online. So many people would just play it online. The number is quite astonishing. More than ten million people play the game online, monthly.LW: Do you play poker Nick?NL: I am not a very talented poker player unfortunately.LW: Do you play any sort of card games in general?WY: Or Chinese Mahjong?NL: I have played that. I learned how to play it once, but I’m not sure I’d remember the rules if we had to play it now.WY: There is a Mahjong international league in Europe. They’ve hosted over 2000 competitions.LW: I’m a big fan of Chinese chess. You have the little compound and then you have to cross the river and do all sorts of crazy stuff. I’ve subsequently forgotten how to play because if you don’t play often, I think it kind of loses you.WY: Sometimes if you see in the park, there are senior people playing that and you can practice there. There are rounds of people usually there giving suggestions.LW: I’ve won before when there were old Chinese men involved, and I won but I didn’t touch any of my pieces, they just move it for you. People say I’ve played really well, and I’m like “I haven’t played at all”.NL: A lot of people have different rules as well. I know people in different parts of China have different riles for the game as well. No one know how to play against each other so I think you have some lee-way.WY: The authorities have also published a set of rules and regulations for the players.LW: It’s interesting. I’ll keep an eye on it. Now that I know that there is something at stake, You-You you’ll have to take me aside and show me.WY: 50% of your stake.LW: Really? 50%?NL: These negotiations can take place outside the studio.LW: I’ll give you 30% if I win it!

20160907ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：今年的暑期电影 你还满意咩？ LW: Now this an interesting thing here we look back now on a summer f movie-going, both in China and abroad, and it turns out that this year hasn’t been that good of a year for films. It seems like there weren’t really many big blockbusters to speak of, and the ones that were, were really rubbish if you can excuse that. It seems like things aren’t as good as they used to be.NL: I don’t know if that’s kind of anecdotal or kind of backed up by the numbers, but when you said ‘let’s look back at a summer of movies’, I couldn’t really think of any great ones. LW: You You anything jump out t you over the course of the summer.WY: I’m really disappointed. I think the movies the past couple of months; have really not been that good. I can think of throughout the year of maybe one movie, which is Star Wars [LW: that didn’t even come out in the summer though, that came out in February.] This year there can be a lot of superhero movies. “The Marvels”. But I’ve become so tired of it. Because they are the same things, with the same genre every timeLW: I think we all have some kind of superhero fatigue. We’re done with it. [However] sometimes you do want to go with your mate to the cinema. You all want to face the same way. I remember for the latest Jason Bourne film. I saw an article that people were protesting and saying that they don’t want to pay 3D.WY: It was really not necessary to turn that into a 3D movie? Sometimes the camera can move so fast. After a couple of minutes you start feeling sick, especially if you’re wearing 3D glasses. Sometimes people start to worry about why they want to make it a 3D movie. Is it because, they want to raise the ticket prices? LW: It’s exactly why. There’s an incentive, tax-breaks and subsidies if you want to have cinema be 3-D compatible. Definitely in North-America you have the option of whether or not you want to watch a 2D-movie or a 3D movie. The problem is firms get greedy and say let’s export these 3D things to China, they’ll eat it up. And people say no this is nonsense, I can’t see anything and this is too much and disorientating. If people are getting sick in the cinema it’s safe to say it’s a flop.NL: Literally this movie made me sick.

20160830ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：中外寝室对比 还记得睡在你上铺的兄弟吗？ 有报道称，大部分的中国大学寝室条件还不如美国100年前的寝室条件。。。LW: Now some would say that quite a depressing fact has emerged about the state of Chinese dormitories. You You can you illuminate us a little bit further as to what exactly that could be.WY: A recent report says that most of the dormitories in Chinese colleges are not as well equipped as those in the United States a century ago. The common arraignment for most dormitories in China is like this: one student has to share a 150 square foot dorm room with three other students. There can also be six to eight students in one dorm. Some dorm rooms have a bathroom attached but that can be considered to be a luxury dorm room. Usually most dorm rooms don’t have a shower room or a bathroom, you have to walk out of the building, to go and take a bath. Schools have a public shower facility which is like a public shower room. Students need to totally see each frankly and in a plain room that is called a bath building.LW: Why it’s maybe a bit of a problem is that you should think of what you’re losing out on. Students have to make it to wherever they’re going and they’re bright, if you then have (help me out here Nick) getting sick because you have to walk 15 minutes in the middle of winter. What about the time that you are missing out on there because you’re sick and you want to study but you have to stay at home? What about the fact that you aren’t getting as much good sleep because there are seven other people there? That’s study time that you’re losign.WY: You can say that a lot of the students do come from rural areas in China. All their tuition fees are from their families, relatives and maybe they borrow money from the bank. You ask why you don’t pay 200 more you can have a shower in the dormitory, maybe that is a very hard question for them to answer.LW: The dormitories, all of it, is one thing. Its not just that you go to study and then you go home. It s a holistic experience.WY: Oh I haven’t finished describing the situation in the dormitories yet, Electricity is cut off at 11pm every weekday and during exams many students take their chairs out in into the hallway in order to study. There is no air-conditioning so summer is insufferable.LW: Nick what about your and mine’s university situations.NL: Ours is very different to many countries. It’s actually quite unusual to share a bedroom with anyone. You have a little divider, so a long hallway with rooms off it, each person is one in each, its kind of a narrow extension of the room. I only had one friend I think who shared a room.LW: In South Africa, at least where I went to university everyone kind of has their own room. If you wanted to share with someone that was kind of seen as a privilege. If you wanted to live with your friend. People also don’t stay in dormitories for very long, you’re usually moving out by the end of your second year.WY: One advantage of this is that after student s graduate from university, the four students or the eight students in one dormitory can become very good buddies. Very good friends.

NL: As we’ve heard, the plan is to send a spacecraft to orbit Mars, make a landing and then deploy a rover as early as 2020. So how do all those plans sound to you? How feasible do you think this project is? MJ: Well, these are very ambitious plans. China is planning a very complex and sophisticated mission, but I believe that China can do it. I mean, China has one of the world’s most advanced space programs, they’ve already landed a probe on the moon, they’ve already operated a rover on the moon, they know how to perform atmospheric entry. So many Chinese spacecraft have returned to Earth after decades. So the thing is, China already has most of the technology in place to do this Mars mission, and it won’t take much more for China to reach that goal. I’m sure they’ll do it. LK: Compared with the United States and Russia, China is probably a latecomer in this field. So what are the reasons for China to achieve so much within such a short period of time? MJ: Well, for one thing, China doesn’t have to reinvent the basic strategies or technology. We know what Mars is like; we know the basics of how to design a Mars mission. And there’s also the fact that even though China is a relative latecomer to exploring Mars, China is not a latecomer to spaceflight. China has been launching rockets and satellites. After decades, it has a human spaceflight program. It operates satellites of every description: communications, weather monitoring, scientific observatories. So China has a long and a very broad history of experience with spaceflight. NL: At a similar time to the unveiling of the Chinese project, a NASA-funded study in Hawaii completed a Mars simulation with astronauts. What do you think is the value of these kinds of projects, and how soon might we see real astronauts heading up to Mars? MJ: Well, it’s going to be a very long time before astronauts from any nation go to Mars. It won’t happen in ten years; the way things are going, I don’t think it will happen even in twenty years, because despite all these simulations, we don’t have the basic technology for life support or surface operations, and it’s going to take a lot more basic research to get that technology. As well as that, you’ve got the tremendous cost, which will be far higher than flying to the moon or building a space station. So it’s going to be a long time before any of that happens, but there is a strategic race in the sense that every nation likes to compete. But I think the most interesting strategic race for Mars exploration is not about sending astronauts there, or anything that America or Russia is doing. It’s probably the strategic space race in Asia, and China is an important part of that. I mean, let’s look at what’s happened in this century. In 2003, the Japanese tried to send a spacecraft to Mars, just a simple orbiter, and that failed. And then we had this attempt by China, in 2011, to piggyback a spacecraft on a Russian mission, and that also failed. The Indians saw a window of opportunity to be the first Asian nation to reach Mars, and they did that in 2014. So China is coming back with a mission that’s bigger and better than anything else that any Asian nation has done before it. So I think there’s a bit of rivalry there with other Asian nations, but there’s also the fact that even without those early omissions, China’s first deep space missions are always better than a simple mission, because they have the technology to take a big step forward on the first step.

20160829ou一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 老板发明了新方法防治上网开小差LW: Now we move on to the topic of cyberloafing. NL: Electronic bread?LW: No. It’s not electronic bread. Although that is brilliant. You came up with that on very short notice and under a lot of pressure. Cyberloafing is basically procrastinating on the internet. But also, you look like you’re loafing but you’ve got maybe four or five browsers open, so if someone walks behind you, you could quickly switch to another tab, so it doesn’t look like you’re wasting people’s time. A study that was done in 2014, but that has only recently gained a lot of traction, showed that 30 – 40 percent of internet use at work is non-work related, and survey’s also showed that 82 percent of employees send non-work related e-mails and that cyberloafing was the most common distraction at work. WY: If I’m doing some research about some movie that I was going to talk about later, and then suddenly I saw another interesting movie – all of a sudden – I’m reading the inscriptions and what did they do. Suddenly, I’m reading the gossip about a certain role, and then about her husband and then some gossip about him.NL: I think You You has hit the nail on the head. The links on articles are the killer. Maybe you’re scrolling through something that is related to your work, or is in the first place, and you’ll open that thinking ‘that’s interesting’ you’ll go back to the first article, and then I’ll get stuck in the second one, and within that one there are links to something else.WY: It’s like its trying to be helpful, the computers, but the usefulness can cause harm. It just depends on how you use it.LW: That is absolutely one hundred percent true. Some companies are actually starting to address this. There is a company; Jeremy Glassman is the name of the man who invented [a system] from Arizona state, and the system totally blocks sites that eats up a company’s bandwidth. And it gives a warning message that you need to work more often or someone might come and see you. The system allowed employees to browse leisure sites for ten minutes at a time, and up 90 minutes in total on any given day,NL: Over the course of one day to have wasted 90 minutes; I would hope I’m not wasting that much time. LW: What about you You-You?WY: I think after all this is all just about self-discipline. I think that as an adult, all the employers and workers, they can control themselves. You say that this is more like a distraction. But what about putting an apple on your desk, some snacks on your table, you might be distracted. And if you’re talking to someone, like your friends on your cellphone, that can be a distraction as well. There can be lots of distractions during your working time, so that is not simply an excuse. I think there’s nothing that can be called cyber loafing, there is simply distraction or no distractionLW: Break it up into hour segments or something, or even less you can break it up into half an hour segments. 20 minutes of hard work and then 5 minutes of social media time and then 10 minutes of social media time, or however long your attention span is. That way it’s pretty simple to do.

20160826ou今日话题：奥运会期间很多新闻都是机器人写的，你看出来了吗？ ： ）LW: Now China, at the Rio Olympics, put in a very good showing, came third. One of the more interesting innovations that came out of there was the creation of a sport news bot. These things are kind of ubiquitous now, they’re kind of everywhere. I think the AP did one in 2009, if I’m not mistaken, so it’s something that’s everywhere around. The actual news that it tweets out – is it something that you can actually understand or enjoy? LK: You know what, it’s clean, it’s clear and it’s clinical. I read one report in Chinese, one report in English. It has all the things that a piece of legitimate journalism should contain, and I think it’s pretty good. NL: But it’s the basic facts of the story, right? LK: Yeah, it has the bones, but not the blood and flesh, if I can say that. I think there are a lot of things in journalism that cannot be done without real people involved. For example, how are you going to design the agenda? I don’t think a robot can actually achieve that. Do you think a robot can replace our job? LW: The interesting thing is that they have, kind of, experimented with news bots for broadcasting, and generally speaking, it’s been pretty awful. NL: I think it’s also the reader, or the listener, or the viewer’s expectations when they are consuming what it has produced. So when you’re reading a story produced by a robot, most people, when scrolling through the news, don’t immediately read the journalist’s name, probably you read a bit of the story first. You probably wouldn’t realize it was written by a robot, so you wouldn’t think anything of it, and then when you do realize it was written by a robot, you’re pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Whereas if you’re watching TV, and suddenly there’s a robot talking to you, immediately you’d think ‘What is this? Why am I watching this? It’s a bit strange’, so you approach it with a different kind of mindset. LW: I would say there are certain genres of news which this would do particularly well with. There are things, especially, I think the AP uses theirs for business reports. You know how these companies come out with, goodness, they come out with maybe 300 a day. You see those reports, and for the journalist who has to sit there and actually write out those stories, you know, 300 stories! All different companies, and you can only get through so many. It’s the journalistic equivalent of back-breaking work. LK: The thing is, I think there’s always a creative element in every industry that cannot be replaced by a robot.

20160825ou 今日话题： 最近报道显示：婚内妇女对男性的家暴案件数量有所上升。LW: A survey done by the All-China Women’s federation shows that women against men domestic violence cases have been increasing in the country. LK: The survey said that compared with physical violence, what is more unacceptable is verbal abuse by their spouse. The Guangzhou branch of the All-China Women’s federation did a survey that listed 20 cases of domestic violence where women have been abusing men. In one particular case the wife has been abusing the husband for 13 years. On an extreme occasion, the wife woke up and found that the TV was not turned off and stayed on the entire night. She then slapped her husband in the face. In another case the wife owns a business and supports the family whereas the husband teaches in a local middle school. The wife often complains to the husband, accusing him of “living in my house and making no contributions to the family”. LW: Nick what do you make of this? NL: I think its very interesting. Obviously we can’t forget that domestic violence against women is still a huge problem, but abuse against anyone is still abuse and should be taken seriously. I think attitudes toward the two things are still very different. It reminds me of a video project that was made in the UK a couple of years ago that I saw that tested attitude toward this among the public. They had two actors – a man and a woman – who pretended to be a couple having an argument in the street. It was recorded from far away like in a CCTV camera so no one knew that they were being filmed. In the first one, the man was slapping the woman and shouting at her. Every passerby was intervening saying ‘what are you doing!?’ and ‘stop that’. In a different street the woman was slapping the man and screaming at him and people were laughing and taking photos. They thought it was all a big joke. LW: I think the important thing to keep in mind is that the reason these cases are big news – the cases of domestic violence against men – is because it still news. It’s still relevant. If we reported every case of domestic violence where women were the victims, I think our newspapers and our news broadcasts would look a lot different. As a result these cases are getting a higher profile than it would otherwise if the genders were reversed. For one, framing it as violence against men or violence against women, some experts have pointed at the fact that it should just be viewed as domestic violence. If you differentiate, you create a space where one is deemed to be more prevalent than the other, [but we should ensure] that there one is not seen to be more acceptable than the other.

20160824ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 有报道称，办公室空调调高有利于提高工作效率。你同意吗？LW: I came across the report by HVCNR which is a research company that measures the productivity of workers in the office when it comes to the air-conditioning. What they found was that if the temperature is too low, your workers are less efficient and produce less output. When you bump it up to 27- 28 degrees the output in the office more than doubles.NL: 28 degrees? That sounds hot to me.LW: Yeah, that’s alright for me, since I’m from a particularly hot country and I don’t really have problems with it. Maybe 26 or 25 degrees would be my sweet spot. It’s interesting that you guys mentioned different temperatures. Of course it is a very subjective thing and it turns out that there actually is a big difference between women and men when it comes to the air conditioning. What do you suspect that might be You You.WY: Take me for example. I usually wear a dress but if the temperature in the office drops down to about 20 or 21 degrees, that would be too cold for me and I can’t wear it. For male workers, usually they will wear suits or at the very least, pants. It’s the case that most of them cannot wear shorts in the working places, so that means the temperature needs to line up with people’s working dress codes.LW: The thing that you need to keep in mind is that all of this goes back to a formula drawn up in the sixties. These two scientists came together and needed to find a formula or an algorithm for what needed to be the temperature in the office. What they used as the baseline to test is the physiology of a 40-year old male, who weight approximately 70kg to 75kg. Now obviously most offices don’t look like that, you have a lot of shapes and sizes, a lot of different ages which plays a massive part. There are a lot of different ethnicities perhaps or cultures and how people have adapted to heat and to the cold so people are saying maybe it is time for us to change that. So it’s a weird thing that definitely needs to be addressed. And one of the ways that they’ve tried to address it is through this interesting app called ‘comfy’. “Comfy” gives you three options, you can have ‘warm my space’, ‘cool my space’ or ‘I’m comfy’ and through the day the heating and cooling system in the building responds to those requests. The goal is to keep it in this optimum range where everyone is happy and everyone is comfortable and that way it\s not a big problem going forward into the office.

20160823ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：邮件里的客套话 你说过哪些？Lincoln: Now there might a reason for whatever you use to sign off on your emails. It’s very likely that you use the same kind of stock phrases over and over again. That actually might be a good thingYoyo: A recent report says that overused phrases or clichés in e-mails like ‘all the best’ or ‘best for everything’, sometimes can be more valuable than they seem to be. There is a reason that these clichés are so overused is that they do signal something. They don’t actually signal whether or not the sender is concerned whether or not you are well or not or that they are concerned. The ‘all the best’ signals I’m ending this e-mail politely and ‘I hope you’re well” signals that you are starting an e-mail politely as well. It is out of courtesy.Lincoln: So Nick what is your go-to sign off on e-mails. Nick: I’m a best wishes kind of person.Lincoln: You strike me as a ‘best wishes’ kind of person. What about you Yoyo?Yoyo: ‘Best for everything’.Lincoln: Really? ‘Best for everything’, I don’t think I’ve seen that one before…Yoyo: I’m not sending it to you of course.Lincoln: Fair enough, I walked right into that one!Yoyo: I have differing levels and degrees of courtesy in my e-mails.Nick: I don’t think we sign off emails to each other at all.Lincoln: So what are your different levels?Yoyo: The top levels are for some very important people, I would say ‘all the best, my best regards to you’ and ‘I hope everything goes on well. In Chinese I would say, ‘my best wishes in winter for you’.Nick: Let’s hope the VIPs have a lot of time to read all that.Lincoln: I’m all for ‘regards’, that’s the one that I use. If I’m feeling particularly generous it would be ‘kind regards’. I haven’t done ‘best regards’ yet because I feel like that would be too much.Yoyo: Another way to look at it is that these kinds of cliché’s in e-mails are just like daily greetings. When I meet someone I would just say ‘how are you today?’ I’m not really expecting to see how they are doing or what kind of problems is going on in their daily lives, it’s just out of courtesy. It’s just like a habit that most people will do in the morning, like ‘what’s up’ or ‘how’s everything;’ In Chinese we’d greet someone with ‘have you eaten yet’? But they don’t want to invite you to dinner or to breakfast. It’s simply out of courtesy.Lincoln: Could you imagine if everyone you gave that response to, took you up on it? If everyone you asked, ‘how are you doing’ or have you eaten,’ if every single person took you up on that, how much time that would that take out of your day.Nick: I also think that in an email as well you can always just re-phrase it as a sentence rather than a question. I would just say, ‘I hope you are well’, rather than say ‘how are you’.Yoyo: That’s a very good point from you guys. Especially when people ask how are you, you feel obligated or responsible for the answer, but Nick has a good point that you should just refuse to listen to their problems and say ‘I hope it’s going well’ don’t tell me about their problems.

NL: Did the Games live up to your expectations? What have been your highlights? WZX: Well, I think many Chinese were disappointed about the number of gold medals the Chinese team won, and now China is positioned at number three, behind Great Britain! That’s a bit surprising and disappointing for Chinese audiences, but I think overall, Chinese society is becoming more tolerant, less obsessive about gold medals, so people are learning to cope with this, playing down the Olympics in their mentality. ZCG: Previously, the Olympics were a symbol of a nation’s strength. In 2008, staging a spectacular Olympics in Beijing was part of China’s efforts to promote its international image. But today, China is the world’s second-largest economy; it has gone from strength to strength. Do you think that China may no longer need an event like the Olympics to demonstrate its strength and promote its image globally? WZX: I think that’s probably correct, I think the Olympics have become less of an obsession of Chinese people. China doesn’t feel the need to hold such a big event to showcase its culture, its image and its capacity, but on the other hand China has become more influential in the world, it’s actually more challenging for China to present itself to the world in a more well-rounded way. There are many more aspects for China to engage the world, to become part of the world, so in terms of economic relations, in terms of cultural exchange, in terms of people doing business outside China – so things are actually becoming more challenging for China, to enter the world, to become a part of the world, to engage the world. NL: In the closing ceremony, we’ve just seen the handover from Rio to the next Olympics, when they’ll be returning to Asia with the Tokyo Games in 2020. Obviously that’s a way off, but is there anything in particular that you think we can look forward to in four years’ time, based on what you’ve seen this time round? WZX: Well I think, of course, the Japanese people will do a much better job in terms of organizing the event. The competition for gold medals will continue between China and the US and now, we don’t know about Great Britain, four years on, how well they will do! But it’s going to be hosted by Japan, so the Japanese team will also have a lot to show to the world as well. So we should just look forward to the event. At the same time, I think, as we discussed, Chinese sports, Chinese people will need to continue to think how best to organize sports in China.

20160819ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：有报道称，某些手机的操作方法是不必要且愚蠢的，比如贴膜，充电前用光电量等，你中枪了吗？ LW: Now a new report has come out saying that you may be doing some very silly thing with your smartphone. You You, take it away.WY: First of all I’ll count it, if you say yes then you are doing it. The first one is. “Do you shut down all the apps running in the background? Do you do it?NL: All the time.LW: All the time. I do it on a regular basis, on my phone you long press, and all the things come up and you think: “I don’t need all of that, I’m listening to music”, and you turn all of it of. Surely that makes a lot of sense.WY: It just means that you have a sense of control over your phone, it doesn’t mean that you are the person saving the battery.LW: Next one.WY: Buying a screen protector.NL: I have one.LW: I have one, why is that stupid though?WY: It can’t really protect your screen that much. It is just plastic. It can’t really protect your screen all that much. It can prevent the heat from escaping from your phone so it might not be that good. I have to confess, I’ve done it too. The truth is, at the same time I use a very expensive screen protector made of glass, and I become very relaxed, thinking that putting that screen protector on, makes it totally safe. After that I smashed it several times because I felt so safe that I didn’t care anymore [I see what you mean]. After I took it off, I never dropped it again.LW: That’s interesting it provided a false sense of security. Next one.WY: Never using a third party charger. Do you use a third party charger? LW: I have loads of chargers. I’m obsessed with them because I feel like they are the most lost item.NL: I don’t even know which one was my original charger.LW: Next one.WY: Turning off Wi-FI Bluetooth or local services in order to save battery.LW: Now this one I’m not going to accept. That is not a stupid thing! You put it in airplane mode, because if you turn it off and turn it back on it takes more battery. That’s nonsense I don’t believe it, I don’t believe anything this lift has to say. Why? Why You You why?WY: People are saying that it won’t affect your battery life at all.LW: Nonsense. I refuse to believe this thing that is being said to us right now.WY: As soon as you open your screen, all the things won’t necessarily download themselves unless you click on it. So it doesn’t affect it at all.LW: So you’re telling me, that the connection that I have to use to use Wi-Fi and data, that tales zero battery!?WY: Yes. The report is saying that.

20160818ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 如何跟歪果仁聊中国的"鬼节" -- "中元节"昨晚歪果同事走在大街上觉得好奇：怎么到处都有人在烧东西捏。。。。Lincoln: There was an interesting sight all over Beijing yesterday. Chinese people burning, what seemed to be, just regular paper, maybe you can enlighten us as to what that reason might be.Yoyo: Yesterday was China’s ghost festival, so let’s put it in a very simple way so that listeners can understand it. It is much like Halloween in Western culture. It is when we believe that the gate of hell are thrown open, releasing hungry ghosts to wander the earth in search of food or seeking revenge on those who wronged them in life.Nick: That doesn’t sound much like my understanding of Halloween [it’s somewhat similar] that sounds pretty scary.Yoyo: This day people would also burn things such as paper houses or paper cars, paper servants, paper television or paper money in order to please the ghosts.Lincoln: These papers that we are burning, what are these papers exactly.Yoyo: These papers are fake paper money.Lincoln: So not real paper money, so these ghosts can presumably be easily fooled by counterfeits. They don’t have any ability to be able to detect that it is not real.Yoyo: Because maybe the real money is not enough for them. They have billions, trillions with lots of zeroes on it, [LW: There seems to be a lot of inflation in the afterlife! Goodness me]Lincoln: They really should get that economy under control in the afterlife.Yoyo: Families will be tribute to the other homeless wondering ghosts so that they will not intrude on their lives. Firstly people will draw a circle on the ground, and you need to leave a gate around the front. And then you need to burn like two pieces of hell money and that’s the money for the unknown wandering ghosts, for in case they intrude on other people in the circle [LW: Fascinating]. And then you will burn the money in the circle; that is for your ancestors. When you are burning the money or the other paper servants you are talking to them, if you are burning to grandma and grandpa I would say, ‘ grandma and grandpa, all the best to you, best wishes’, because winter is coming. And I would burn the money so that you have money to buy clothes in the afterlife.Lincoln: That’s lovely, it s a really interesting idea. Is there a specific month that you do that?Yoyo: In China, the seventh month the Chinese lunar calendar is called the ghost month. Yesterday on the Chinese lunar calendar is July 14. ON this special day (with regards to the ying and yang) the yin atmosphere, the gloominess, is the highest, so this is why people choose this day as the ghost festival. Lincoln: As a foreigner in China sometimes, even if you get embedded in the culture, there is always going to things you just don’t know.

20160817ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 奥运赛场上的＂双性人＂运动员引争议南非“女”飞人塞曼亚以女运动员身份参加赛事。在去年8月塞曼亚在柏林田径世锦赛上有争议地获得女子800米金牌后，这位双性人运动员引起世人关注 ... Lincoln: Now it is time to take a look at day 9 and day 10 of the Olympics. The athlete Caster Semenya. This is an interesting story that has been developing for some time now. She shot fame a few years ago. At the World Championships before the London Olympics she ran a really great time, she outstripped all of her competitors. Then something weird happened. There were questions about her gender, questions about whether or not she was a man. People were very uncomfortable with her look. If you see her, she’s quite muscular and strong, she has a very good physique. What happened is the IAAF launched an investigation into whether or not she is a ma nor a woman. She is a woman who has underdeveloped make sex organs. It’s a weird thing to debate someone’s gender in public. Nick: There’s been a lot of media scrutiny as well. I can remember the details quite vaguely as well. That was a couple of years ago as well. Lincoln: Michael Johnson, the sprinter came out and criticized the IAAF, because one of the things they said she did was that she has an excess amount of testosterone in her body that gave her an unfair advantage over her competitors. Yoyo: What do you mean by an unfair advantage? She was born this way. Every advantage is unfair advantage. You can say that if someone is born with and shorter upper body and longer legs or that if someone is can run faster because of the different shape of their foot. Just look at Michael Phelps he was born [blessed with the ability] to be able to hold his breath for a long time so is that an unfair advantage against all the other nations. Lincoln: He also has a crazy wing-span. If he opens up his arms its ridiculous. Yoyo: There have also been a lot of fun things that have happened at this Olympics. During the medal ceremony a lot of athletes would just put their hands on their hearts. There has been a controversial issue about the American gymnast Gabby Douglas. Some internet users mentioned that she did not put her hands on her chest when the national anthem was being played. Later on she said on her social media: “Just in response to a few tweets I saw tonight, I always stand at attention out of respect for our country, whenever the national anthem is played. I never meant any disrespect and apologize if I offended anyone. Do you think it is really necessary for her to apologize? Lincoln: It’s a load of old nonsense. It’s absolutely ridiculous. She’s an athlete she was great in the London Olympics, all of this kind of criticism outside of her performance I think is stupid really. Not putting your hand on your heart? She’s disappointed and she’s sad she doesn’t have to, that’s ridiculous. Yoyo: At the same time there is another interesting story about the canoe sprinter John Schofield. He has a tip about the possible dangerous drinking water in Rio. Someone suggested he should drink Coca-Cola. You can swirl it around in your mouth and it can kill the bacteria.Nick: Also cheaper than a trip to hospital. Lincoln: Also a little cheeky sponsorship grab there? Drink Coca-Cola not water, wonder what all the sports nutritionists would have to say about that.

20160816ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 各国早餐都吃什么, 你造吗？ Lincoln: Now its time to have a look at breakfasts from around the world. Yoyo: There was a report that came out that said that typical US breakfast usually contains a lot of sweet food. The typical American breakfast usually has sugary cereal, processed waffles and syrup. Sometimes scrambled eggs pork products or orange juice. What do people eat in the UK?Nick: People do eat a lot of sweet things, there is the cereal of course and people eat a lot of toast.Yoyo: Wouldn’t that be too sweet?Lincoln: Oh my goodness. Toast is a big problem for me in China in general for me because a lot of bread is sweet.Yoyo: So that is maybe why we don’t eat it in the morning.Nick: Because its your fault!Lincoln: Bread is not sweet outside of China, not really. I’m sure you can find sweet breads if you look hard enough, but a good solid full English breakfast is amazing.Yoyo: So enlighten us Nick.Nick: The full English breakfast that Lincoln is referring to is toast that isn’t sweet. It’s bacon, sausages, mushrooms tomatoes and baked beans [LW: yeah].Lincoln: In South Africa it is very similar to the British one I would assume. We have porridge like Bokomo and Matebela it’s really filling and really gets you all the way. Those are the things I think we would have. Standard procedure? Maybe boiled egg with some toast and some butter, and some nice coffee.Yoyo: Coffee in South Africa is very good?Lincoln: Yeah we have a good coffee culture so we have a lot of that going around.Yoyo: Now the Chinese breakfast. We have deep fried dough sticks.Lincoln: Is that not very heavy in the morning?Yoyo: We eat it together with the soy milk and the dough sticks.Lincoln: Why soy milk specifically?Yoyo: You digest it better and sometimes it tastes better.Lincoln: I’m just thinking about all this milk and fried dough sloshing around in my stomach.Yoyo: And we have a type soy milk usually made with a blender in the street stalls and you can buy it everywhere. The next one is jianbing. Do you like it?Lincoln: Now this is interesting because jianbing isn’t really a breakfast food for me. That’s a food that I tend to have on the end of a night out.Yoyo: They are usually wrapped around a deep fried crispy dough slice and topped with fine eggs and finely chopped mustard pickles scallions and spicy sauce.Nick: They are really nice foods and I know from having them, but I don’t want them at breakfast time.Yoyo: What about rice porridge?Lincoln: That has the right consistency, but its just the texture. It doesn’t really do it for me.Yoyo: Sometimes in certain parts of China. Maybe Guangdong, usually people will eat porridge with pork egg and meat in it. That makes it very nutritious. What about buns, the little buns xiao longbao?Lincoln: That is very delicious but not for breakfast. What maybe should happen is some of these people in that survey can come over here and look at what some Chinese people are eating and rethink some of their ways.

20160815ou 锵锵三人行 今日话题： 北京积分落户政策出台 落户细则出台 2017年起实施LW: Now there’s been reform in Beijing’s hukou system. Now a lot of people might not quite be aware what the hukou system is, maybe you can walk us through it.WY: It’s a government record of household registration. It’s required by law in China. It mainly has detailed information about one person including you name, parents, spouse, date of birth, marriages, divorces and all of the members of the family. This is like a household registration.LW: You You if I’m getting right, you have to be in Beijing. If you’re a working professional how long do you have to be in Beijing usually?WY: You have to be paying social security in the city for at least seven consecutive years in the city. Which means you have to stay in the city for at least seven years.LW: Why does this system exist?QU: For our listeners especially those outside of China might not be familiar with such a system. Previously it was for the purpose of maintaining social order; it was kind of like an obsession for ancient China, maintaining social order. It’s a legacy of that time. Now that [we have] market economy if there is a chance that you will work somewhere, [it is likely] that you would live there. But China has very specific conditions. You have mega cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where the populations are about 24 million more or less. That’s the size of some countries, for example Australia,WY: Talking about population size, Beijing has a population of about 20 million, that’s about 2.6 times that of London. There is a pressure of the population size, and at the same time the local governments are struggling to maintain a balance between, the well-being of the citizens and the population size.LW: What about other major cities in China, do they implement it in the same way or are their wrinkles to the way they implement the system?QU: You can divide the rest of the country into two groups. The first group actually introduced a similar system earlier than Beijing; Shanghai in 1912 and Shenzhen and Guangzhou too. Other cities, provincial cities or so-called second tier cities and even third tier smaller cities there is no such a system; its easier for them to handle. There is a policy for these cities that as long as you live there you get it immediately, so there is not attachment. Usually the problem for those cities is that they are not able to provide those precious life opportunities. That’s why you see increasing pressure on these so-called mega cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These places provide precious educational opportunities for their kids and also excellent public services. If you take a long term point of view, I think it’s really the result of the imbalanced development between the Eastern coastal areas and the inland and Western part of China and between urban areas and the countryside.

20160812ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：泳池有快慢&功夫该入选LW: Its been an interesting Olympics so far. There have been some interesting narratives developing recently. One of them is that the Olympic swimming pool is too fast. WY: Hang on, how can a pool be too fast.LW: I didn’t actually know this but you have such a thing as fast pools and slower pools. For example this pool has seen 15 world records broken. The world governing body for swimming, FINA, says that there needs to be a minimum depth for all swimming pools which needs to be 3 meters. There are all sorts of things that make a pool faster. [The depth helps with] the choppiness of the water. The temperature if it’s between 25 and 28 degrees and it has slick drainage and shock absorbent lane dividers. All these little details to make the pool faster or slower.MB: So essentially if the pool is deeper, it’s faster because there are fewer ripples.LW: Yeah, presumably because there is more of a surface area too, so you glide through it as opposed to fighting through it. I’m looking here at Singapore, and the gold medal bonuses that’s made my Marketwatch is something like $753 000 per medal. There’s obviously a discrepancy between getting gold medals and endorsements. I don’t think all gold medal athletes get endorsements. You’ve got to be marketable and stuff like that.WY: Someone else who is very famous lately who is playing in equestrian, this event is quite popular in other countries, maybe in China sometimes it’s not as big. A knight has come to China. His name is Hua Chin. He gave up his British citizenship, and applied for a Chinese visa to play for the Chinese team.LW: What sport is it?WY: Equestrian.LW: Ugh the most boring sport. So boring, I would be glad when that ends, just to know that it’s not on the list anymore.MB: Have you got sour grapes because South Africa aren’t going to medal in it?LW: Really? I feel like medaling in equestrian is more embarrassing than medaling in equestrian. Cheng Xunzhao became the first man to win a gold medal for China in judo. I think they’ve done well before female Chinese athletes. The female Chinese judoku have been doing quite well. This is the first time that a man has been doing well in the event. MB: That’s quite significant. That’s like a Japanese person winning a gold in kung fu.LW: Kung fu is not at the Olympics.WY: We should be expecting in the future that we have Kung Fu at the Olympics. MB: Why is Judo at the Olympics and not Kung FU.LW: I don’t know that’s definitely something that we’ll have to look up.

20160811ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 如何在无聊会议中假装全神贯注Lincoln: Now we’ve all been in those meetings at work. You don’t understand why you’re there, they won’t end. Its late, you’re sleepy, you’re hungry, you’re all of the above. How do we get through them You You. Yoyo: A latest report says that you’re facial expression might help get you through. The skill has been made popular my columnist Lucy Callaway. You should be looking exasperated but poised, superior but never rude. You should look powerful but not dishonest. You need to nod in general. Lincoln: What was the phrase you used? Michael: You need to be exasperated but poised. I think you need to be ready. You need to be on the front foot. On the front of the chair leaning forward looking like: “come on guys, what are you doing”. Lincoln: Are you frowning a lot? Michael: I think you kind of furrow the brow. Lincoln: I think we all have kind of perfected it. Everyone has their own specific things that they do. I’m a bag fan of the scratching of the chin. Yoyo: That’s a good one. Lincoln: What’s another one that you use? Michael: A bit of nodding. Nodding and a bit of eyebrow. Lincoln: What else do we have You You? Yoyo: Usually you can pick up your pen and pretend that you are taking notes. Lincoln: Yeah as an employee that is a skill that you need to develop. Because not every meeting that you make it to (in your head at least) needs to happen. Michael: Interestingly in terms of big no-nos…You should never smile in a meeting. It seems sycophantic, Lincoln: Also don’t smile. Don’t be a smiling person at a meeting. It’s weird. Stop doing that. You have to learn those skills, and You You is the one teaching us. Yoyo: If there is any kind of emergency and you get asked [to talk] by the speaker. Just remember, repeat the last thing that the speaker said. Only very very slowly. Michael: That’s a good one. Lincoln: If you know that the meeting, is terrible or that it is going to be bad, surely there has got to be a way to just avoid it altogether. Yoyo: Pick up your phone and say “It’s an emergency I’m so sorry”, and then just walk away slowly. Michael: Or pick up the phone, pretend you’ve received a message and then just run out and shout “Oh my god!” Lincoln: That’s a good one! Just start crying uncontrollably if you can manage that, people usually just give you the benefit of the doubt.

一中两外锵锵三人行 奥运特辑二 之"飞鱼"菲尔普斯 Lincoln: We now take a look at day three and four from the Rio Olympics, and if I take a look at the table correctly, it seems like the US has taken the lead with nine gold medals and a total of 26, and China followed closely behind with a total of 17. This has a lot to do with the swimming pool. There are a lot of events and four different strokes, and a lot of different ways that these events are set up. You can get quite a good medal count coming out of the pool, especially the US that has Michael Phelps who is a gold machine when it comes to the Olympics. Yoyo: People love different stories in the Olympics and the games transcend the barriers between different countries. I can see that one of the most famous gold medal winning athletes, Michael Phelps has many fans in China as well. Many people like him and some of the online comments are very interesting. Just now Michael Phelps won his 20th gold in the men’s 200m butterfly final and some net users online who really like him, commented online that ‘your uncle is still your uncle’. Lincoln: That’s in reference to people asking if he’s still good or not. Your uncle is still your uncle [You You: He’s still capable no matter what]. Michael: Do Chinese users particularly like Michael Phelps because he was photographed with those cups on his arms? Youyo: I think that helps! Lincoln: One of the interesting things that happened was between North – and South Korea. There was an interesting selfie wasn’t there Michael? Michael: Yeah. These were two gymnasts from North- and South Korea competing together, and they posed for a selfie together. Which I thought was an interesting gesture. Obviously North- and South Korea have been at war fro many years now; there are very few scenarios where outside of the Olympics these athletes would probably have come in contact with one another. You have athletes from two countries that have been in conflict with one another for 50/60 years now, showing that sport can help to break down these sorts of boundaries. This image of these two athletes, one from North and the other from South Korea has really captured the imagination on social media. It’s been shared and retweeted hundreds of thousands of times and I think it’s been a very lovely image.

20160809ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：奥运趣闻 之 "洪荒の女" Lincoln: We’re going to take a look at the Olympics; there’s been a lot of action, most of it in the swimming pool.Michael: I was struck by a particular event. We spoke about how yesterday it’s not just about the winning it’s about the spirit of being at the games. There was one event, I think it was the ladies breast stroke where the Chinese candidate (I think her surname was FU) Fu Yunhui that’s right. She tied with a Canadian both receiving bronze medals and the camera was following her as she was walking away from the podium, and she was so happy and she was waving at the camera and smiling and cheering and showing two fingers to the camera and I though that was such a lovely moment. She was clearly so happy to have won an Olympic medal.Lincoln: And she’s become a bit of an online sensation in China hasn’t she? Her entire speech, her demeanor, her bubble personality has come through and a lot of Chinese citizens on the internet have taken quite a liking to her.Yoyo: So when she came back from the first the reporter was asking her, “what do you think of the race just now? You’ve already made it at 58 seconds”? She said; “I thought it was 59 seconds, oh that was fast, I’m so satisfied”. When they asked if she’s still reserving strength for the final tomorrow, she said “no I didn’t hold back I gave my all”. She continued to say that she used her “pre-historical power’.Lincoln: Hang on now, “pre-historical power”, that’s a very strange thing to say. Did she just come up with that on the spot?Yoyo: It’s from a Chinese idiom . It comes from a Chinese pop TV series. There’s one fairy in the TV series, she has the power to destroy the universe. She said that she used her power to destroy the whole universe, that she gave it her all and that she used pre-historical powers. Internet users really liked her.

20160808ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 立秋了，你抢到秋膘了咩？ Lincoln: Autumn is kicking off in China. You You, take it away.Yoyo: In China we divide the year into 24 solar terms. Yesterday was the beginning of autumn. On this special day we have a special tradition. Previously we’ve spoken about how on each special day, we eat special things and on this day, can you guess what we will eat?Lincoln: Is it watermelons? Yoyo: Not really, but good guess.Michael: I don’ know autumn, is it apples?Lincoln: Because it starts with an ‘a’, that’s a good way to go. Is it avocados? [Wu You: It’s not a fruit]. Is it a biscuit, are we eating that yet?Yoyo: This time we eat more stewed meat.Lincoln: So this is interesting, in the middle of summer [Yoyo: It was the beginning of autumn yesterday] it’s still very hot! I’m not going to eat a hot stew…Goodness me!Yoyo: According to the tradition on this special day at the beginning of autumn most people would eat stewed meat. We have a special name for it, qiu bao-秋膘 it means “the fat of autumn”.Lincoln: Is it any specific type of meat, or is it all tings go here?Yoyo: Usually its pork, and very fatty pork. During the hot summer people believe that we tend to eat less and exercise more and we lose our appetite and lose weight, hence people tend to lose a little bit of weight in the summer. Then at start of the autumn, a little bit of stewed meat can help us get the fat back and help keep us warm for the winter. Eating stewed meat is called ‘stick autumn meat’.Lincoln: Michael you seem perplexed.Michael: I can understand the sentiment of eating a bit more fat in the winter to keep you warm, but I would argue that you don’t need to do that for another two or three months yet.Lincoln: Is that the only tradition; eating a bit of pork fat? Is there anything else attached to this tradition?Yoyo: There’s also a practice where when you’re eating you grab the meat in someone else’s bowl. We call it ‘grabbing autumn fat’.Lincoln: Now this sounds very contentious. This sounds like it could actually lead to a bit of conflict there. What if you’re dealing with someone who is not aware? Do you have to know the person, or can it be any person?Yoyo: Usually it’s just in one family not people on the street! It might be a bit uncomfortable. I have a question. If you guys are invited to a Chinese house, and people start to play this game to grab each other’s meat, would you participate in it?Lincoln: Immediately! As soon as it happened I would grab everyone else’s meat.Michael: I think I would find it very bizarre if all of a sudden people were just having a free-for-all with each others’ fat.

20160805ou一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 奥运时刻-往届奥运趣闻LW: Now, the Olympics are kicking off, tomorrow morning is the opening ceremony, about 7:30 Beijing time. Every Olympics is going to have some sort of story, some sort of narrative around it, about this country not necessarily being prepared or ready, but it’s not actually that new. Going back even to the ancient Olympics, they had lots of problems, like Hippocrates – the founder of modern medicine, many people say – he actually told the athletes that they needed to drink wine and be drunk at least once or twice during the games, because there was no water, there was no running water during the summer, which was drought months, or whatever, and everyone just had to drink wine because that was the only thing that was safe during that time. WY: What about in the running events? If they are drunk, can they run straight, still? LW: I don’t know, but could you imagine how much fun that would be to watch? [Laughter] Imagine ten people trying to run all drunk, half of them not making it to the finish line! And there’s all these kinds of stories, all these great stories of Olympics gone by. By the way, drugs have always been part of the Olympic games, people have always tried to get that extra advantage. Apparently, ancient Olympians had a wide range of special potions and dietary supplements – they had dried mushrooms, herbal concoctions, animal hearts, testicles, opiates-laced cocktails – I wonder what that is? – and they were never tested, and what happened in 1908, they actually banned it for the first time, and the guy who ended up winning was disqualified, not for doping, but because his coaches carried him over the line! MB: I mean, surely the authorities have got to come down like a ton of bricks on that, haven’t they? LW: But Yoyo, which sports are you most excited for? (WY: Swimming) Swimming? OK. Who are your pics for winning the gold at these ones? WY: Oh, it must be the Chinese swimmer Ning Zetao. LW: OK. Is that because…? WY: He’s very good at swimming, of course. LW: Is it not his nice abs?! WY: Well, those are additional points, you know(!) I counted – he has [not only a six-pack, but a ten-pack] LW: Fantastic. What about you, Michael? Which event are you looking forward to the most? MB: It’s got to be the 100 metres, hasn’t it? I mean, with all due respect to everybody who does archery or clay pigeon shooting or something like that, if you’re the 100 metres champion, you’re the fastest man in the world, aren’t you? Woman, as well, of course. LW: Yeah, 100%.

LK: China is sending a large delegation of about 400 athletes this year, the biggest in its history. Lingling, how do you comment on the overall line-up of this year’s China delegation? What highlights can we expect? Liu Lingling: I think China will still do very well in its traditional events. For example, badminton and also table tennis, but in some traditional events – for example, gymnastics – perhaps China won’t be as good as before. LK: Why is that? Liu Lingling: I think it’s because they have a lot of talented [competitors]. For example, they are in the same group as Russia. They also have Japan. I think Japan now is getting better and better in gymnastics. LK: Mark, what do you think? Mark Dreyer: China has 35 Olympic champions in its delegation. I mean, that’ll be a pretty strong team however you look at it, and these are not people who are in their late 30’s, these are people who are going to be competing to retain their titles, so again, it’s going to be very, very strong. Almost everyone, I think, is predicting that China will finish second to the US, so there’s going to be a ton of medals, and hopefully, from the Chinese perspective, a lot of gold ones. Liu Peng, who’s the head of the delegation of the Chinese Olympic committee, has tried to back away a little bit from China’s previous gold obsession. LK: Don’t expect too much from us! Mark Dreyer: Yeah. I mean, that’s smart, because he’s trying to take the pressure off some of the athletes, but of course, everyone’s going to looking for China. He’s saying, talking about these traditional sports – you know, table tennis, badminton, gymnastics – that China is not going to have it its own way. But, you know, on the flip side, they’re going to still be winning a ton of medals. I’m more interested, actually, in looking at some of the other sports, the newer sports, such as fencing, where China is beginning to make some strides. We’ve got Lei Sheng, the flagbearer, who was the champion first time around for China in London, and then Xu Anqi on the ladies’ side, she’s a very good bet for a gold medal in her fencing discipline. This is a new sport that China is looking to try to make as dominant as some of the old ones.

20160804ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：韩国pop女子乐团参与军队的禁烟任务 LW: Now, South Korea takes an unusual step to try to cut smoking rates in its military. Nick, take it away.NL: Yes, in South Korea there has been an ongoing problem with high levels of smoking and this has particularly become an issue in the military, where obviously health and fitness are very key, and they are keen to minimize the number who are smoking as much as possible. So they’ve now taken an unusual step which is to stop previous attempts to punish people or preventative measures to stop people from smoking, and instead to accept the fact that people are already smoking and incentivize them to stop. This particular scheme has been to enlist the help of a K-pop girl group called the Lovelyz – with a Z, not just an S. There are 8 singers in the band and they’ve been enlisted as anti-smoking ambassadors to try and influence and persuade the young men of the military that smoking is perhaps not such a good idea after all.LW: So what are we using, are we using the attractiveness of the ladies? Why would they, more than anything, incentivize men to stop smoking in the South Korean military?NL: You pose a valid point, these are attractive women and they hope that by being told to stop smoking by attractive women, they will listen more than if they are just told to stop by their boss.LW: Yoyo?WY: Okay, first of all it’s a very interesting story, but the fact is the military says around 40% of soldiers smoke. Also, according to the OECD, male smoking rates in South Korea are amongst the highest in the developed world. This means the situation is serious and they want to do something about it. You know, in the military, sometimes they are facing a very cruel situation and their only entertainment time can be simply listening to the radio, or monthly or annually having concerts hosted by the military and inviting some beautiful girls to sing and dance for an hour or so. And maybe, if they quit this addiction to smoking, they get to be on TV, so I think it is very motivational.NL: You spoke about the TV aspect there as well, this is another thing which I didn’t introduce before, the girl group are getting their own talk show on the country’s military TV channel and those soldiers who manage to kick the smoking habit will be invited onto the show for an interview and a chat so you get your five minutes of fame as well if you successfully quit smoking.

20160803ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 【太任性】荷兰一41岁男子为见中国女网友飞半个地球来华网友，蜗居机场十天。Lincoln: Now, a failed romance in China has taken on what I would describe as epic proportions. Yoyo, take it away.Yoyo: Okay. Now – to what length have you gone for love? That is a question. A Dutch man has answered that question recently. A report about a Dutch man who traveled around the world to come to China, to meet his so-called girlfriend, has gone viral on Chinese new media. The man’s name is Alexander Cirk, and he’s 41 years old. Mr. Cirk told Chinese media that he met Mrs. Zhang, who is 26 years old, in an app two months ago, and the romance blossomed. Mr. Cirk then flew from Holland to China’s Hunan Province, in the hope of meeting his online girlfriend. Mrs. Zhang didn’t show up in the airport, and Mr. Cirk refused to leave the airport for the next ten days, and he was eventually taken to hospital suffering from physical exhaustion.Lincoln: Wow. Nick?Nick: I have a lot of questions.Lincoln: Fire them off. Let’s hear them.Nick: He came to Hunan Province “in the hope of meeting her”. Was he just hoping to bump into her? Did he even ask her to come and meet him?Yoyo: Okay, the answer is more interesting than the story. Mrs. Zhang told Hunan TV that one day he sent her a photo of air tickets, and she thought it was a joke. And Mrs. Zhang also added that, by the time Mr. Cirk arrived at the airport, she was away having plastic surgery in another province and had turned off her phone.Lincoln: Unbelievable.Nick: The plot thickens.Lincoln: For ten days she was having plastic surgery and her phone couldn’t be turned on once? In ten days?Nick: Never mind her, who waits in an airport for ten days when somebody doesn’t show up? You have to have somewhere to go, because you have to put it on your visa application.Lincoln: Exactly, exactly. But what have people been saying online about this? Yoyo: Now, the hashtag ‘foreign man went to Changsha to meet his online girlfriend’ has been trending on micro-blogging sites.Lincoln: What a long hashtag.Nick: I love Chinese hashtags.Yoyo: One comment is like, “perhaps she did go to the airport, and saw what he looked like and promptly turned back around?”Nick: That’s not very nice! Some people did take his side, somebody said, “He’s a guy who is taking a relationship seriously, and if she didn’t want him to come, she should have told him so that he didn’t waste all his time, money and effort to come all the way to China.Lincoln: All sorts of things happening here, in this little story of a Dutch guy.Yoyo: Talking about what is also happening, you know the story hasn’t ended yet.Lincoln: Oh, it hasn’t? Oh, go ahead.Yoyo: Mrs. Zhang reportedly said she would be keen to meet him after her recovery, saying she was still interested in maintaining their relationship.Lincoln: Ridiculous. How is that possible?Nick: Well, I mean they’re never going to be short of media attention.Yoyo: Maybe, on the good side, the man is crazy in love.Lincoln: No, no, no.Nick: Maybe crazy, full stop.

20160802ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 土豪的世界难懂！阿联酋任命一位“幸福部长”LW: Now, a recent report says that in the United Arab Emirates, we have something quite interesting coming about. Happiness training? Happiness inspectors? What exactly is going on there, Nick?NL: Yes, earlier this year, the United Arab Emirates started a happiness drive where they were looking at building upon the happiness of their citizens. The prime minister announced the first Minister of State for Happiness back in February, that is Ohood al Roumi, and she took up the new role and says that the training program is part of the efforts to make the UAE one of the happiest countries in the world, and as part of this, she has now come up with a new initiative. A group of 60 people are the country’s first Chief Happiness and Positivity Officers. They will leave the country heading to the UK and the US, where they will study things like positive psychology, mindfulness, all these kind of techniques. They hope to bring back the techniques on how to spread happiness among the population.LW: Yoyo, what do you think?WY: This is Pursuit of Happiness coming to real life.LW: That’s not a very happy movie, I will say.WY: I think it is a good movie!LW: There’s a lot of sadness in the Pursuit of Happiness.WY: Okay, but there is a happy ending. So the country has tried its best, and also the question can be, is happiness something that can be taught and learned in classes?NL: Interesting question. On the face of it, I would instinctively say no, but then that would kind of invalidate this whole program, so maybe we could find some middle ground. I think there are definitely strategies or techniques for being happy that can be taught, whether everybody needs that is another question. It will be interesting to see how the results get measured, as well.WY: Well I have a perfect example here in China, because we all know Chinese students can be very hard-working, and also sometimes, before the college entrance examination, they suffer from great stress, and also sometimes depression, but in China some universities have initiated the course of positive psychology, which is also dubbed ‘happiness class’, so happiness can be taught this time. And this is from the Chinese University of Geosciences – when the course was opened, immediately over 100 students signed up to the class. You can see that there is this kind of positive psychology classes, or we call it happiness classes, it is simply to deal with students’ depression or sometimes for people who are suffering from depression or even OCD, so I think it can help a certain group of people, but to a large extent, do you think that happiness can be learned and taught?LW: Yeah. The interesting thing about this is, I wonder, because if you ask most people, if they’re happy, I wonder here, if we are going from people who are unhappy, people who are quite struggling, and moving up towards happy, you know, or we’re not going from people who are just kind of, meh, okay, but then who move up to kind of an insane level of happiness.

20160801ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题: ​华哥，呆萌，鹿晗组团打怪兽？ 呆萌来演中国英雄 你觉得肿么样？ 有歪果网友看完《长城》预告片的吐槽简直高能！让马特呆萌做主演，来演有关中国古代故事的电影适合吗？ Lincoln: Now, Matt Damon has faced some backlash over his latest film. Nick, maybe you can tell us why.Nick: The trailer for a new, upcoming film ‘The Great Wall’ has been released; it’s only the first trailer that you get when the film is still in production but it’s already faced quite a bit of backlash. It has Matt Damon in it, and controversially, he seems to be the main actor, the lead hero of a film which is set during the construction of the Great Wall of China.Lincoln: I am fascinated by this. I don’t think they are stupid enough to make Matt Damon play a Chinese character. We don’t know the details of the plot at all, it’s just a trailer, what I am quite interested in is the idea that Matt Damon has made this film. You could make the argument that if Matt Damon didn’t appear in this film, would it still be made? Would people still be able to attract the financing, the marketing budgets, the international exposure? I’d argue probably not.Nick: It does also have Willem Dafoe in it. Lincoln: It does have Willem Dafoe. Who’s watching the new Willem Dafoe movie, Nick? Be fair. It does have Andy Lau. I’m very interested to see how this is going to play out. Yoyo?Yoyo: I’ve got a thousand words to say about this. First of all, as quoted in Taylor Swift’s song, I knew he was trouble. You know why? Because he’s always in trouble! Saving Private Ryan - Matt Damon is the leading character and America has to save him. In the movie Interstellar – Matthew McConaughey is trying to save Matt Damon and America has spent billions of dollars trying to save him. And in the latest The Martian – America has paid billions of dollars trying to save him, and with Chinese help! Because they are using our rocket, the Taiyang Shen. Everything is just trying to save Matt Damon! This time, Matt Damon is paying us back. Lincoln: This isn’t the first time Hollywood has done this. The impetus for the awareness around this trailer comes from the actress Constance Wu from the show fresh off the boat. She went in on Matt Damon, but she did also say towards the end “it’s not about blame, it’s not about blaming Matt Damon, the studio, or the Chinese financiers, it’s about awareness”. There’s only so many movies that can have Jet Li in or Jackie Chan in. They are the ones that have broken through. So, you know, get Matt Damon in there. Get Matt Damon in there. Get the experience, get the money, get all of those things, get the prestige that you deserve, and next time, put a Chinese face in front of it. Yoyo: I really like the phenomenon right now, it’s like more cooperated films have been made because you can see the latest movies like Mission: Impossible and also 007 they are introducing more Chinese characters into the films and also shooting parts of the plots in China, so that means we are nurturing the industry and then people get to know more about China and the Chinese actors, maybe in the future another leading role is a Chinese guy.Nick: Apparently having Matt Damon in your film is the latest tactic to appeal to China, we’ll have to wait and see how that works out for them. It’s due to be released next year, in 2017.

20160729ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：网红经济 今天我们来聊聊网红的赚钱之道,我们不难发现,当年靠颜值和靠才华的网红们，他们中的一些人已经依然靠后续开发,开始赚取高额的收益了。 MB: Now, online celebrities are certainly very popular indeed in China, with the huge potential traffic driven by websites such as Wechat, Weibo, Youku and others, but what about the business behind their success? Wu You, what have you got for us?WY: [Internet celebrities are a booming industry in China, but] now the job has turned into something more lucrative. In China now, people know how fast someone can become an internet sensation, then what about the next step? The internet sensation would like to turn the fame into real cash, so one example here is a Weibo star – let’s call her Miss Shui – she has a nice picture, pretty clothes and a Weibo account with 270,000 followers. Now she seems like a model for a Taobao clothing shop, but in fact she is also the owner of that shop, and to talk about the numbers, you know that Shui’s 12-hour days are paying off. Her company’s income was 50 million yuan, which is over $7 million last year.MB: OK, so it clearly seems like there’s a huge amount of cash in this sector. So essentially, what you’re saying is these are just completely ordinary people who have an account on Weibo or Wechat or whatever else (WY: Social media), on any social media account, and they put something on there, some videos, or some vlogs or something like that that get extremely popular, and that’s how their popularity starts? (WY: Yes) Brian, what do you make of all this? It seems like it’s incredibly popular here in China.BK: It is, and it seems to be largely based on the visual there, as opposed to, say, like YouTube [which] you see in the west, or the rest of the world, really, where you’ll see a funny video, or it’ll be interesting in some sort of way. It’s an interesting, unique trait here, but obviously people are finding ways to monetize that. I guess the analogue that it reminds me of would be like the Kardashians in the US, not that they rose to fame by this way, but I think their phenomenon right now is centred around [taking] pictures or maybe recording videos or things like that, as opposed to someone being famous just for their tweets or whatever.WY: And I think the difference is just like the Kardashian family [which] has already become very popular, and they are so rich, and people want to follow her, or at least look at her picture and their life, what they do every day, but this is quite different because those are ordinary people and they suddenly became famous online. This is quite different from the Kardashians, and also you can see Miss Shui is only one of hundreds of people who are making a living based on this internet fame in China, but how long can it last? Can you really just attract people by your appearance? Will people be tired of your appearance some day?MB: Well, I mean, there are lots of jobs out there, Wu You, which are solely based or largely based on your appearance. I mean, if you’re a model, for example, you only have a certain shelf-life until people are going to stop taking photographs and videos of you. I imagine this is the same sort of thing.

JN: Known as the Great Tangshan Earthquake, the tremors occurred ataround 3 am on July 28th, 1976, in the industrial city of Tangshan.Around one quarter of the city’s one million inhabitants were killed.BK: This was the deadliest earthquake of the modern era, killinghundreds of thousands. But while it was major in terms of size, it wasnot one of the strongest, coming in at 7.8 magnitude. Why was thedeath toll so high?VG: The timing when the earthquake took place, very early in themorning, in a very hot summer day, made the situation much worse. Ithink [was] when most of the people were sleeping. Further, I thinkTangshan’s population density was very high, and at that time, thequality of the buildings in the city actually was relatively low, andit’s not earthquake-[proof].BK: There were warnings of seismic activity before the earthquake withrelease of gases, well water going up and down and animals actingerratically. How would you evaluate the preparedness before the quake?VG: I think the fact that some scientific teams had come up withevidence about the possibility of a upcoming earthquake, but theirwarnings were actually disregarded by the government authorities. Now,one fortunate thing was that there was a county in Tangshan where thegovernment leaders actually picked up the warning, and gave thewarning to the people. In that particular county, which was very closeto the epicenter, not a single life was lost, and it also gave hopethat we need to be on constant alert and when we discover signs of badthings which may happening, we need to give full attention to suchevidence.LK: Well, then, 40 years later, how much do you think the earthquakeis part of the identity of Tangshan the city?VG: We have been made humble, I think, as human beings, in front ofthe almighty destructive force of mother nature. And I think we needto keep this spirit of humility, and we need to deal with nature whenit unleashes so much wrath and destructive force with all respect andhumility that we can come up with, and we need to show more love andrespect for human life, and we need to really treat the relationsbetween human beings and nature, really, really carefully. And we needto take all the precautions, and the government agencies inparticular, need to be on full alert and give out warnings to thepopulation, as early as possible so as to minimize human losses anddestruction of property.LK: Compared to what happened in the 2008 tragedy that happened inWenchuan, China has come a long way. What areas do you think we canstill improve?VG: Many areas. For example, in terms of beefing up the quality of thebuildings, in coming up with more scientifically detailed buildingstandards for example so that buildings will be moreearthquake-[proof] for example, and in that regard, I think we canlearn a lot from countries, especially like Japan, which have reallycome up with very high standards in terms of building codes, etc.,which will make sure that the buildings in many cases can stillsurvive a major earthquake, [LK: Yes] and I think China can reallylearn a lot in this regard and become much more prepared.

20160729ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：英国学校为了能让家长更好的参与到孩子的学习中同时督促孩子完成作业，校方会短信家长有关孩子的作业情况，近期考试时间， 以及学校合适准备放假等信息。 MB: We’re talking first about the age-old problem for parents everywhere – namely, how to make your children do their homework. Wu You, what’s the latest?WY: Well, how to make children do their homework. To many parents, that can be a million-dollar question. But recent reports suggest that maybe children can do better in school when their parents are involved in their school life. A recent study published by Education Endowment Foundation suggests something counter-intuitive. The best way to get parents involved may also be the cheapest - simply by sending them text messages about the time of exams and also the homework.MB: Okay, well I’m looking at some details here. It seems that this group, they examined three programs that a group of schools had done in order to get parents more involved and more engaged in their children’s schooling. There was one program which taught the parents of five and six-year-olds who were struggling to read some techniques in order to help their children. There was another which paid parents of older primary school children thirty pounds, so that’s about forty dollars, per session, to attend classes on improving their children’s literacy and numeracy. But there’s a third program, Wu You.WY: A third program developed by researchers at Harvard and Bristol universities was more promising. The parents of nearly 16,000 pupils at 36 secondary schools in England were sent regular text messages to remind them of forthcoming tests and to report whether homework was submitted on time, and to outline what their children were learning. So they were making the parents be a monitor at home.NL: Yeah, absolutely, I think one of the key things about the first two methods that you just outlined there – teaching the parents techniques to help their children, and paying them to attend classes – they’re both very time-consuming, they take up a lot of parents’ time. Obviously parents have their own jobs, they’re busy people, and the text message thing is so much easier. It’s a much more easy way to engage people, as well, because when you’re looking at the results, as well, I think the kind of parents who are going to go and volunteer to take classes on how to better be involved in your child’s education are probably the ones who are already quite hot on their child’s education, if you think about it. This way you get a much broader range of pupils’ families, and it seems that it’s a better way to reach people.MB: Do you think this sort of scheme would be popular in China, among parents?WY: I think this scheme can be the primary level in China, because we have created even better schemes. In China we use WeChat. Schools just let all the parents join a WeChat group, and then the teacher will directly send one message in this WeChat group to let every parent know. This can be harsher than the situation in England, because they were texting each parent, but they didn’t know what was happening to other people. But here, if you’re in this kind of parents’ WeChat group, no matter what the teacher sends out, every parent can see. If the teacher just accidentally sends something about one kid, the other parents will also know it and the other kids will also know it. And then they will be afraid, sometimes, of public shaming.MB: Accidentally, or accidentally-on-purpose? That’s the question.

20160727ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：拿什么来拯救你亲爱的"低头族"？ MB: In Austria, it seems that some people need to be reminded how to cross the road safely. Wu You, tell us more.WY: A recent report shows that in Austria, people are being offered workshops focusing on how to cross the street safely in the smartphone age. It is initiated by the Austrian Road Safety Board. The workshops warn people that there can be legal consequences for pedestrians, and also the workshops highlight other possible distractions such as smoking, eating or drinking while you’re crossing the street.MB: OK, so the implication here is that people are glued to their smartphones to such an extent that they are stepping out into the middle of the road and not being safe at all. OK, I don’t really quite know what to make of this. This is rather silly, isn’t it?NL: It does seem a little bit like an overreaction. I think if people need to be having a workshop on how to cross the road safely, they don’t really deserve to have a phone at allMB: This reminds me – back in the 1960s and 70s, when cars suddenly sprung up on the roads in great numbers, people needed to learn how to react to them. In the UK, there was this big campaign – stop, look and listen – which was teaching kids how to cross the road safely and making sure that you stop and that you look both ways and that you listen for the traffic. In the 60s and 70s, people needed to do this, because people were unfamiliar with the concept of many cars on the road, and that’s all well and good. But now, 40 or 50 years later, to have to go through this again. I mean, I’m all for adapting to technology and to new environments, but this seems like we’re pandering a little too much to the smartphone and to how it’s dominating people’s lives. Wu You, what do you think about this?WY: I think they do have numbers to back it up. They have asked about 2,500 pedestrians, and surprisingly, 29% of them were being distracted while crossing the road, and then people were talking about the fact that now is the smartphone age, everyone is so eager to quickly respond to text messages or scrolling down the Wechat moments, Twitter, Facebook, whatever can be so interesting on their smartphone, they’re focused on that. This can be so dangerous, because they’re risking their life responding to cellphones.MB: The figures you just mentioned there, Wu You, 29% 2,500 pedestrians – that’s nearly one-third of them being distracted in some form or other while they’re crossing the road. I wonder if there’s a certain degree of complacency here? You know, that people just assume that road crossings now are so safe and that the drivers are going to stop, and that you can just weave in and out, wandering around on your smartphone or anything like that. Maybe people aren’t paying enough care and attention.

20160722ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：歪果仁怎么看中国的三伏天儿LW: We’re getting into the final stretch of summer. We’ve had some pretty scary rain over the past two days, but it seems to be that we’re heating up once again in Beijing. Yoyo, take it away.WY: Okay, so as you said, we are heating up, and probably will face the hottest days of summer in Beijing as well. It is traditionally regarded as the hottest part of the year, and we call it ‘Sanfu Tian’ in Chinese. This is according to the Chinese lunar calendar. Interestingly, different cultures describe these days in different ways. In China we call it ‘Sanfu’, but in English, these days are often referred to as the ‘dog days’ of summer. It refers to the ancient observation by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans as the Dog Star Sirius rose at sunrise at this time of year, while in Chinese culture it is widely known as ‘Sanfu’ which refers to three periods of intense natural heat that can be observed at this time of year. And a fun fact is that the right half of the character ‘fu’ which also means dog, ‘quan’, in Chinese. So ‘dog days’ indeed!NL: Well you’ve just educated me on an English expression; I didn’t know it was anything to do with stars or the Romans.LW: I had no idea.NL: I thought it was just because it was too hot for dogs at that time of the year.LW: Although, you know, I’m looking at the weather forecast, it doesn’t look too bad over the week. I feel like the worst is behind us, surely? Because we got up to, like, high thirties, forties. Nick was struggling, I saw him. People were having a hard time of it.NL: I’m not built for this kind of climate.LW: Yes, no, it’s, no, he’s a very deeply English man. He’s not ready for this kind of heat. But, yeah, like, 30, 33, 26, 27, 29, 32. I mean, that’s very, very manageable compared to what we’ve experienced in the past, isn’t it? But are there any traditions attached to this? Are there any, kind of, rites or rituals that go in, attached to Sanfu?WY: Oh, yes. Talking about the ritual, and sometimes we must mention is the Chinese food. In Chinese culture it is believed that Sanfu helps cure diseases that you picked up during cold seasons.LW: Oh, wow. So you sweat out all the badness in you, is that something?WY: Exactly.LW: So what sort of foods are you looking to eat?WY: People are encouraged to take in vegetables that contain high amounts of Vitamin B, like lotus root and cucumbers, as well as the cooling fruits like watermelon and pineapple.LW: Now you see, that’s what I meant when I said a lot of these things are quite intuitive, because I would argue that in most places around the world, in the summer, that would form part of a large part of people’s diets, just because that’s the fruit, or that’s in season, or that’s just, you know, what people do.WY: In Chinese we also say, you should eat the food in season.LW: Yeah, that’s what people tend to do around the world, as well.

20160721ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：暴雨中的北京LW: Now, from 1 a.m. on Tuesday to about 8 a.m. on Wednesday, the average precipitation across the city reached 47.3 millimeters. We’re talking here about Beijing, which experienced something that I actually haven’t experienced in my lifetime before, some of the heaviest rains I’ve ever seen. I don’t know about you, Nick. NL: Yeah, I mean I’m from the UK, we’re pretty used to rain, but this was something quite unusual.LW: Where in the UK are you from?NL: From the southeast, not too far from London.LW: And have you ever seen something like this?NL: Not for quite this length of time, I don’t think, no.WY: But I think you’re fully prepared, right? Because there is a saying, “all the British people will carry an umbrella with them”. NL: That may be a little optimistic, but yeah, on this occasion I definitely had my umbrella with me.WY: And during this week, on Tuesday morning, you can see Beijing’s meteorological center issued a blue alert for heavy rain, so that means we’re fully prepared for the rain, and this time we prepared better than last time. LW: If you looked at a lot of the images on social media, a lot of the WeChat sights and a lot of the pictures, it showed mass flooding in many areas. WY: And also, you can see that many people just focus on the draining system in the city as well, but at the same time I want to point it out, a report says that in Beijing, within the third ring road, there can be around a million people living underground, and they are all migrant workers. When they cannot afford an apartment above the ground, then usually they would choose these kinds of apartment to rent, and those places used to be surrounded by pipes which is the draining system. So they should be fixing the pipes, especially the draining systems, but because so many people are living there, so it will be very difficult for people to fix it, so that is why there used to be a time when we were saying, in many places in the city, there can be a draining system problem, but nowadays we can see, this time especially, we’re prepared better.LW: Yeah, the draining system is something that was taken care of. Generally speaking, the damage to some property that we saw, if you were driving, especially, it would have been very difficult.NL: I think rain is one thing, but it kind of reminds me of when it snows in the UK, because it’s only one or two days each year, and then everything just shuts down because we can’t deal with snow.WY: Extreme weather!LW: Yeah, and you have to, kind of, make the case, then, that, for, is it worthwhile installing this really complex and presumably quite expensive system, when this happens once every four years? Or do you make the case that, well, this happens once every four years! You have to be prepared for this in case it does happen, what if it happens next year again? Are we going to be in the same situation?NL: I think we are entering a period of climate change and more uncertainty with the weather, so it can’t hurt to be more prepared for any eventuality, but you’re not going to be able to install a state-of-the-art draining system in a city where, like you said, rain like this only happens once every few years. But some form of protection, which seems, by and large, to have been working in the city center, is probably the best option.

20160720ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：水果说：长得丑有罪嘛？！报道称，美国每年都有近60亿磅果蔬产品被浪费只因不上镜...Lincoln: When you pick your fruits, you might want to be less picky next time. Yoyo, take it away.Yoyo: A recent report says that an estimated six billion pounds of fruits and vegetables are wasted every year in the United States because they are ugly. Six billion pounds equals to 20% of produce grown for human consumption. So, people are very picky when they are shopping. At the same time, supermarkets can be picky.Nick: Yes, I think that is the key distinguishing factor here. They have cosmetic defects, let us say; their appearance isn’t as polished or as perfect as you might imagine the standard fruit or vegetable to be. So, the supermarkets will reject fruits and vegetables that don’t meet these certain standards. They won’t even put them on the shelves to see whether people will buy them or not. They assume that people won’t buy these, and therefore it all just gets thrown away before it even makes it to the shelf, even though a lot of this fruit and veg is perfectly good, perfectly edible. They just don’t look the way a child’s drawing of that fruit or vegetable would look. In fact, I think people would be willing to buy these kinds of fruits and veg. Different experiments around the world have shown that people are quite willing to buy fruits that don’t meet these standards; it’s the stores, more often, that are blocking the way here.Yoyo: The fruits or vegetables like these, they have a different look than all the other ordinary vegetables, and people are always saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”, now they are judging a vegetable by its cover!Lincoln: Yeah, but I mean, at the same time, you kind of have to understand where the shops are coming from, where the stores are coming from. If people aren’t buying these fruits because they go off, or because they aren’t aesthetically pleasing, do they have a responsibility to still stock them? They’re businesses.Nick: Well it’s not that people aren’t buying them; it’s that they’re not stocking them, so you don’t know whether people would have bought them, because they weren’t on the shelf.Lincoln: No, but I feel like, no, what has led to the one thing, do people, do they not stock them because people don’t buy them, or people don’t buy them because they don’t stock them?Nick: No, they don’t stock them because they think that people won’t buy them. But when people have led campaigns to try to reduce waste, and they have introduced a separate shelf in the store with “ugly fruit”, they call it, or “ugly vegetables”, and especially when you put a slight discount on it, because it hasn’t had to go through all of this kind of appearance testing, you can then sell it to the consumer for a slightly lower price, so people are actually very willing to buy it. It tastes the same.Yoyo: I think the only thing that matters is whether vegetables and fruits are fresh enough or not. They taste the same. And also, they are not rotten. So they are all good vegetables and fruits. Still, they can sell it instead of simply wasting it. Because you can see that a latest report shows that there might be some 795 million people in the world who do not have enough food to lead a healthy, active life. So why not collect fruits that you cannot sell, instead of simply throwing it away, just give it to the people who really need it.

20160719ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：白鲸来撩妹~亲不亲？ 一张范冰冰亲吻白鲸的照片引发争议，很多人喜欢，觉得很美，可爱的白鲸宝宝让人毫无招架之力，甚至献上香吻一枚。也有人反对，认为这样对白鲸不好，同时认为这也是在宣传建立海洋馆和动物园，把动物关在有限的空间内,人类的这些做法很残忍，是抹杀动物天性的事情。 Lincoln: Photos of a Chinese renowned actress has gone viral for kissing an animal. Which one is it?Yoyo: Last night, photos of Chinese renowned actress Fan Bingbing kissing a Beluga whale on a reality TV show has gone viral online. It now has almost 1 million likes so far; however, some Chinese animal lovers and activists say that keeping the whale in captivity is cruel and these photos only serve to promote whales in captivity.Lincoln: What do you think, Nick?Nick: I think the main issue that people have taken with this photo seems to be, there is obviously the issue of keeping the whales in captivity which people are against, these activists and various commenters, a lot of people, I think, are more annoyed with the actress herself for kind of abusing the platform that she has, because obviously she has such influence, so many followers, fans on social media, she really has an opportunity to kind of influence people and share positive messages and I think people think that by engaging in this kind of photo shoot with a captive animal, that she has gone against what they believe and they believe that she could have done better in that situation.Yoyo: And that is why zoos and aquariums have been criticized a lot.Lincoln: Yeah, the problem with that is often these animals aren’t necessarily as safe in the wild as they are in aquariums, sometimes. Maybe they’re not as happy, but there’s all these different sorts of threats, mostly from humans, of course, and putting them in this enclosure is one of the places where you can, well, for lack of a better word, you can keep them safe. But the problem with that is, you know, these are obviously big animals and they’re not supposed to be kept in these kinds of confines for long periods of time, and it’s a very difficult ethical issue.Nick: Yeah, I think the issue also, not just with keeping it in captivity, but reducing it to kind of a prop in this reality TV show, getting it to leap out of the water and give her a kiss, is a bit, kind of, against the animal’s natural instincts. Obviously there have been tragic incidents in aquariums and sea parks around the world where people have had accidents, or have been dragged into the water, whether intentionally or accidentally, by the animals, and it’s all ended very badly. So I think in many aquariums, we’re kind of moving away from the interaction-with-people kind of aspect of it, I think some of the sea parks in the US recently announced that they would be stopping the breeding program of their captive orcas, so I think that is something that is on the way out in some cases.Yoyo: And also, to another face of the story, I would want to say, instead of simply bombarding the zoos or aquariums, simply criticizing zoos: what about protecting the environment? If we are really thinking for the animals, we are not only saying that they shouldn’t be kept in a zoo, it’s more like if we protect the environment well enough, if the water has been polluted, if the air has been polluted, if all the forest has been cut out, there will be nowhere else they can go, so in that case, what about first protecting the environment and them happily living in the forest instead of just saying ‘okay, so you should release all the animals in the zoo, and even though you release them into the wild, and then there can’t be enough good environments for them to live in, then what’s the point?

20160718ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 课究竟该怎么上？ 最新报道指出：只有老师一人在前面讲，不见得是最好的方式LW: There’s been a report that came out in the Atlantic, and it says that maybe lectures isn’t the best way. Places like MIT, in their introductory physics classes, and we’re talking here about very difficult things, these are quite high-level classes that we’re operating on here, they are also starting to do away with lectures, saying they are ineffective, they are time-consuming, and they’re not necessarily the best way to convey information.WY: I think it varies from the lecture’s subject, and also it varies from the professor himself.NL: Yeah, I’d agree with that, I think it very much depends on the style of the lecture and the personal style of the actual lecturer.LW: Oratory used to be a thing, used to be a thing that was taught a lot, I feel, I did a bit of research looking back at this, and from about the early 40s, 1940s, it used to be a very, a very important thing, but then, kind of, as science kept advancing, there was a weird moment where there was a kind of a backlash against it, you know, the ability how to speak well, but the ability to actually convey emotion and stir emotion in other people is something that, in academia at least, seems to have kind of fallen towards the background. And something that I noticed in China that I hadn’t actually noticed elsewhere, I don’t know if it was just, kind of, the technology has advanced a little bit quicker, is a lot of people don’t actually take notes. You kind of, you have your, you have your iPad, or your tablet, you have it up, and that’s where you take your notes. From my perspective, at least, that’s a lot of opportunity for distraction! WY: I mean computers in classes enables people to share everything instantly, so that is one advantage for it. But what about the disadvantages? If people are sitting there quietly, just simply reading the article out of their computer instead of the teacher giving a lecture, you can just read it from your computer at your home, so you don’t need to even apply for a university. When we’re talking about maybe less lectures from the professor and then students are all forming different groups, different little teams, within their teams they are giving lectures by themselves, and also studying with the help of the computers or iPads, do you think in that case it’s just shifting the person who is giving the lecture from the teacher to the students, so the lectures still exists but the only thing that has changed is who is giving the lecture?LW: That sounds like a great idea. And the only problem I would have is not all students arrive at the classroom or at the lecture venue, kind of, with the same amount of resources, so we have students, maybe, who don’t, you know, they, they don’t have access to a lot of technology, as it were, or a lot of free time, which would probably be more important nowadays, and that could be a little bit difficult because now you’re placing the student at a, at a disadvantage, where maybe they didn’t sign up for that. Quickly before we go, Nick, what was your worst lecture or lecturer?NL: I had one, it was on a Friday afternoon, he had such a pleasant, soothing voice that you were just sliding off into sleep. It was nice to listen to, but I learnt nothing from it.LW: What was the subject?NL: It was French history.LW: Fantastic, that sounds fantastic.WY: How romantic!LW: What about you, Yoyo?WY: Linguistics.LW: Linguistics, that was the worst one?WY: It can be the worst, and it can be the best. Because maybe the lecture is a little bit boring, but the teacher is so handsome.LW: Okay, well there you go!

20160715ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 韩国的那些奇葩菜名儿《韩食菜单外文实际情况调查报告》显示，首尔主要景点32.4%的中文菜单有1处以上的严重误译。 另，英文菜名也有误译情况。 BK: Menu translations – opportunities for creativity and artistic expression, and also for utter failure. WY: A recent report says that South Korea has set up a government task force aimed at tackling embarrassing translations of Korean dishes. Officials from two ministries have teamed up to discuss the standardised names for some of the country’s cuisine, not only in English, but also in Chinese and Japanese.NL: I think both in South Korea and many other countries around the world, the translations of food in particular seem to present difficulties, and I don’t think it’s that surprising, because when you think about the names of food dishes in any language, they’re sometimes unclear, they don’t really describe what the content of the dish is, it’s more of a name for historical or cultural reasons, and that’s why when you rely on translation computer software, it sometimes doesn’t quite get the meaning across. WY: Yeah, and one of the perfect examples is like ‘Dynamic Stew’. Guess what it is?NL: It sounds very exciting. WY: It is actually pollock. NL: You might be disappointed then, you see, when you actually receive the dish, at how non-dynamic it is. BK: There’s a lot of those. The ones that seem to be the most familiar, at least for us, since we are English-speaking, are those found in East Asian countries.NL: Yeah, I think, as you said, signs in daily life can be very amusing, but I think those ones, because of the context in which you see the sign, or the location of it, even if it’s funny, usually you can work out some kind of meaning from it, or you can deduce what it’s trying to say. WY: Back in the year 2012, in China, a list of correct translations of around 2,000 Chinese dishes’ names has been published. One dish is called ‘Four Happy Meatballs’. It is simply pork balls. BK: Okay, that makes a little more sense, there. WY: And other examples are like ‘Wood Mustache Meat’. So the correct translation should be the Moo Shu Pork, or omelette and fungus with shredded pork. And the other one is ‘Sixi Roasted Husband’. BK: Yeah. NL: Probably wouldn’t order that. WY: That is very strange, but the correct translation should be ‘deep-fried sliced gluten with peanuts, day-lily, fungi and mushrooms’. NL: That’s the key, it’s the description, rather than just the name, that’s the helpful part here. WY: Yeah, and the other example is like ‘Weird Germ Soup’. It’s actually mushroom soup. BK: Yeah, so maybe you could have the colourful name, and then have a list of ingredients, or the main ingredients, that could probably do a lot to help out. WY: Or maybe putting a name that can catch people’s attention, but actually with a little explanation under it.NL: Maybe that’s the way forwards, here.BK: That, plus a picture, there.

20160713ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：维多利亚贝克汉姆与女儿嘴对嘴亲亲引争议 父母该与子女嘴对嘴亲亲吗？ 不同国家的人初次见面时问候的礼仪-点头，握手，还是贴面吻呢？ Lincoln: Now, a picture of Victoria Beckham kissing her daughter on the lips has gone viral. Yoyo, maybe you can explain to us exactly why.Yoyo: So, on new media during the recent days, there has been a picture of Victoria Beckham kissing her daughter on the lips, and then the picture has been liked more than half a million times, but there has been backlash against it, and then backlash against backlash.Nick: It seems that there has been a considerable amount of disagreement about the image, so the first round of backlash was people getting upset about the image, people were saying, you know, “you’re kissing your daughter on the lips, that’s a really weird thing to do, we don’t agree with this, this is an odd thing to do as a parent”, and then the second wave of that was people saying “who are you to criticize a mother for how she treats her daughter? Every family is different. Maybe those are your values, but you don’t have any right to impose them on anyone else”, and it seems the debate is far from over. People are still commenting and having quite fierce arguments about this. Lincoln: That’s exactly what I do now if I go home, that’s the first thing I’ll do, is kiss my mum hello on the lips.Nick: That is alien to me. Is that just your family? Lincoln: I think it’s not just my family, I think it’s culturally with my ethnicity and my culture, that’s one thing, but also broader than that, that’s also a thing that happens. I know a lot of white families that do that as well.Nick: So let’s just draw the line here. It’s female relatives only?Lincoln: Yes.Nick: Okay.Lincoln: Especially with people from the opposite gender, a handshake often feels really strange to me, I don’t really understand that. How would you say hello to a man you’ve just met? You’ve been introduced to someone.Nick: Like a friend of a friend.Yoyo: Okay, in that case nod the head, or just simply wave hands, or say hello with a smile.Lincoln: Okay. Nick, how about you? Friend of a friend, what do you do? Nick: Obviously Brits are the masters of awkwardness, so we don’t really have a protocol.Lincoln: You have no protocol whatsoever?Nick: I mean, I can’t think of one that would fit every situation. I’ve often thought this, and it was something that I only realized was weird about Britain when I started to learn French and went to France, and there it’s okay, you just kiss everybody on the cheek.Lincoln: The blanket rule.Nick: Whoever you meet, that’s perfectly fine. And then I thought, why don’t we have anything like this? Because when you meet somebody, there are so many different levels of appropriateness – how well do I know this person? Should I go for a hug? Should I just shake their hand? Yoyo: That’s a lot of questions going on in your mind! Does it mean that two Brits, when they meet for the first time, need to just stand there for like five minutes just having thousands of thoughts, thinking about what the appropriate procedure is?Nick: I’ll give you an example, I met the mum of a good friend of mine, it was someone that I met at university so I knew him well, but I had never met his parents. I was introduced to her, and I didn’t know what the correct protocol was, so I went for a handshake, she went for a hug, my right hand was crushed between us and that was very awkward.Lincoln: Usually what happens is, one person is quite firm in what they’re going to do. I feel like, okay, if both people, if it’s fifty-fifty, there’s going to be problems. You guys are going to be standing there for quite some time.

20160712ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：外国夫妇带4000元欲穷游中国35天 钱花光向过往车辆求救Lincoln: Now a Belgian couple has come up a little bit short in China on their honeymoon. You You take it away. Yoyo: In China a Belgian couple has gone to the police for help. They are 24-year old newlyweds, and they said that they ran out of money during their honeymoon trip in China. They decided to make a honeymoon trip to China with a budget of just, 4000 Yuan. They came to China and didn’t understand a single word of Chinese. Nick: Interesting. I have many questions for this couple, and I feel like us here in the studio probably can’t answer many of them. The first one is ‘why?’ that’s the biggest question that springs to mind. Yoyo: And also more information coming in, throughout the way, the hitchhiked and managed to travel through three cities in China. First of all they landed in Beijing the capital city, and then they traveled to Datong, a city in the Shaanxi province and then they traveled to Suzhou which is in the Southern Jiansong province and they finally managed to get lost outside of ChongQing which is in South-West China. Nick: So give us some idea of some distances. How far did they go? Yoyo: So the first up from Beijing to Daatong takes about 330 km and then from Daatong to the city of Suzhou, it is about 1400km. And then from Suzhou to ChongQing is about 1600km. Lincoln: This really ridiculous for them to do this. This is the kind of thing that you would see people do in the 80s or whatever; “we’ll just hitchhike and make our way”. No this is nonsense! We live in 2016. There’s technology, there is money at your disposal, and presumably in order to fly back you have to buy tickets return otherwise you can’t get the visa. The only other thing that will come out of this for me as a kind of silver lining is the kindness of the people that they’ve come across. By and large it seems that Chinese people have looked at these people and kind of taken them in. I think the story said that they went to the police station You You. What happened there? Yoyo: The local police officers took them back to the station and provided them with food and drinks. I have to say this reminds me of carpooling. Especially since there are apps where you can ask for carpooling and you can see the background information of that driver if you want to take his car. That guarantees whether that car is safe or not. Rather that than randomly hitchhiking on the road. I think that demands a second thought. Lincoln: It definitely does.

20160711ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 有人发明了一项新工作：为人收拾衣柜，收入最高时可做到两天赚一万元 Lincoln: Now an interesting new job has emerged in China. You You, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about it. Yoyo: In China a girl from Chengdu helping people organize her wardrobes, guess how much money she can earn within two days. Lincoln: By you asking me that questions I’m going to assume that it could be quite a lot. Yoyo: She charges according to the size of the wardrobe and typically her fee is 100 yuan per hour per meter and it if it takes longer than 1 hour then it is 120 per hour. She once served a client living in a villa who owned two large wardrobes. It took her two full days to organize them and she earned over ten-thousand yuan. Qinduo: I think what attracts people’s attention is not only the ten-thousand yuan that she made for two days but also the new job, the new line of trade. I think that is very intriguing for a lot of people here. I think it is an interesting story. She’s oneof the many so-called post 1990s generation and people tend to classify peoplebased on which generation you are. Because of the rapid development of thecountry, people born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s up until the 1990s are very different.It’s due to the background you grew up in. The post 1990s – I tend to seethem as more open-minded and creative, and brave too, as we see with this girland her entrepreneurial spirit creating a new line of business here. Lincoln: I would say that this not something that I would ever see myself using regularly. Even at this time in my life now, I’m not particularly organized but there is a loose system in place in my head, where if you ask me where something is I would be able to tell you.Yoyo: Imagine you had a whole closet full of t-shirts, it would be difficult for you to find one if you didn’t know where to look in a mountain of t-shirts. Lincoln: In that case, and Qinduo will back me up on this, you’ll just wear the top one. Yoyo: Sometimes the whole procedure helps me to find the forgotten [QD: the hidden treasure!]. Yeah! It’s like treasure-hunting. Sometimes I have too many dresses for the summer, so sometimes it’s the procedure for me that I have to find that buried one that I have already forgotten, which is really good. I really enjoy the whole experience. Lincoln: It’s the same sense of well-being for me in organizing all my music. When I have all my music on all my various players, by finding the little tracks and putting the little album art in. It gives me a sense of enormous well-being. However, I’m not going to pay someone to do it am I? I’m not going to pay someone to go and do that for me, it’s not gotten that out of hand. Qinduo: As the Chinese economy is transforming itself from heavy reliance on import and export economy, young people are being creative and now they are forming their own businesses and their own services to meet people’s demand and people’s needs. I see this as very positive. When people get rich, I don’t say they are lazy, but they do not have a lot of time, they do need some assistance. Yoyo: There is a need for this. It’s the same logic as for deliveries. Like when people don’t want to go to the restaurant even though its only like 100m away from their house. They still prefer staying at home and having the phone delivered online. Is it necessary? Not really, but there is an industry building up.Lincoln: You pay for the convenience don’t you?

20160708ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 关于吃什么有营养 你信谁说的？ LW: Now who gets to decide what is healthy? Wu You I know you try your best to remain as healthy as possibly can, but how do you actually know what is healthy and what is not. Why have you believed them, why have you not believed them? WY: 50 percent goes to my Mum, and 50 percent goes to reports done by scientists. LW: Which scientists are the ones that actually tell you to? Which ones do you actually believe? WY: Firstly I would search online for news telling you how to remain healthy and how to keep fit. Those reports really caught my eye, then I would search for the source of this news if it is from a[credible] university or renowned news agency then I would believe it. LW: Brian where do you get your advice from? Which experts do you trust and why? BK: I don’t trust experts individually. But national and international health organizations. I would tend to put more faith in [LW: Throw some names out]. The World Health organization and, the Centre for Disease and Control. LW: Recently the FDA, the Food and Drug administration in the United States has chosen to review the foods it catergoirieses as healthy. The change comes as healthful fats like those found in nuts, or avocados fish or things like that are increasingly recognized as things that need to be part of a good diet. Now the problem is, there seems to be a discrepancy between what people believe and what the experts are saying. For example, most people believe that sushi is healthy whereas most experts say, about 78 percent of them actually, that this is not the case. If I ask you, is sushi healthy? BK: In my opinion it is, because I love Chinese food, and it contains rice vegetables and seafood, and because sushi tends to include more rice and seafood, I think it tends to be healthier than other foods. LW: What’s quite interesting about this is that I was having a little bit of a think. I think it has to do with the fact that we don’t really know. We don’t know what is healthy and what isn’t. WY: People are aware of healthy food but most people also have an awareness of unhealthy food. Most people with common sense know that fried foods or oily things can be unhealthy. LW: I looked at the survey done by the New York Times done in conjunction with Morning Consult. There seems to be - much like in the political things that we’ve seen around the world as well – there seems to be a distrust in terms of what the public seems to think about experts. Or at least experts are misunderstanding how people actually consume information because people end up worrying about the authority of it. Here’s what happens, everyday we sit in front of our computers [reading] “this thing gives you cancer”, now “that thing gives you cancer”. In the end within all of that white noise, because you’re not an expert you kind of just lose faith in the whole system in the first place.

20160707ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 快递！ 最能让你女友立刻高兴的一句话莫过于："You need to cry dear!" -"有你的快递！" :) 快递小哥们没日没夜的工作换来了我们能最快速度收到快递的开心和喜悦， 那么他们在不开心时，压力大时肿么办呢？ 近日，有公司发明了快递小哥解压室。。。Lincoln: Now, couriers in the capital – that’s Beijing, by the way, in case you weren’t paying attention – are indulging in a stress-relief room, jointly set-up by Cainiao, logistics platform under the Alibaba Group, and express delivery service Yuantong Express, according to a report by The Paper. Now, we all make use of delivery from time to time at some point in our time here. E-commerce in China is particularly easy, but it seems that the people who actually do it are under a bit of stress, Yoyo.Yoyo: Yes, people are getting very stressful, especially for this delivery guys. Nowadays someone come to help them because they build this emergency room which can help them relieve their stress.Brian: Yeah; so it’s got a massage chair, it’s got some nice mats and it also has plastic chickens you can squeeze that will shriek or squeak or something. And that – these’ve proved popular for them there. These guys – they seem to work pretty darn hard. It’s not like working in the field or in a factory, but you’re on the go, on your little motor-trike, zipping around the city, and then you’re out, running up the stairs to deliver stuff; you give them money, they give you change or whatever, and then they’re gone – they don’t stick around.Yoyo: Delivery guys play a role as the backbones of all the delivery industry in China. You can see these statistics show that express delivery industry in China is expanding at a rate six times that of GDP, which is around 40% growth, and annual deliveries look to set to reach 100 billion very soon, [LW: Yeah] so they really play a key part.Lincoln: It’s true. It’s basically – e-commerce doesn’t exist without it, really doesn’t. And we all know how important e-commerce is in China, and how quite ubiquitous it is, how many people can use it, and how it’s also helped people maybe in rural communities who can also get things delivered to them, but at a reasonable price.Yoyo: And not only that, but also you can see that sometimes they can get very tired because everyone wants their goods to be delivered very soon. One example I can make is that I bought a huge box of books early in the morning, 6 AM, and then I get it in the afternoon [BK: Yeah, that’s…]. That was extraordinary.Brian: That is very fast. And this is one of those areas where China is actually, has progressed further than the United States. For example, in the US if you want…I mean, there’s not that many options for buying stuff online. For a lot of people, you know, it’s Amazon [LW: Ebay] that’s, [LW: Amazon, Ebay] some people, [LW: Yeah, Amazon, Ebay] Ebay’s not as big as it used to be [LW: No] I feel.Lincoln: Amazon’s probably the biggest one.Brian: Yeah, yeah. And there’s – that’s pretty much the main one, whereas you got – you obviously have Alibaba’s stuff; Jingdong; Amazon’s also here; that’s the majority of the market pretty much.Lincoln: And just to kind of put it into perspective how far ahead China kind of is: in the US, the average freight rate is 15 dollars per kilogram for a two-day ground delivery between distant cities. In China, the going rate is about four yuan, so that’s about 60 cents. Kind of show you how far ahead China is in terms of that. And, honestly, it’s one of the things that I think is impressive. It’s incredibly impressive. It’s something that I use fairly regularly – not as regularly as I used to, but it is something that I find quite impressive.

20160706 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 北京的胡同儿， 是应该好好地保护呢？还是让它顺其自然的消失呢？ Lincoln: Is Beijing becoming more and more gentrified? There have been a lot of articles about this and we often hear about hutongs that have been demolished for the sake of modernity and the for the sake of moving forward. There’s an interesting article that came out in the Observer recently. Brian what do you think?Brian: Gentrification: in some ways I think this is a sign China is modernizing and joining other more developed countries in seeing this. Coming from the United States you see a lot for gentrification in big cities there, but I don’t think I’ve heard about it often in China so you could say that this is a step forward but probably not for the residents who originally live there at least.Lincoln: Just to give clarification for the listens; Gentrification is a trend in urban neighborhoods, which results in increased property values and the displacing of lower-income families and small businesses. So it’s not something that is desirable but it is very often a necessary by-product of progress.Shaowen: Last weekend me and my wife went to a Hutong to the West of the Forbidden City, where she used to live with her grandparents. She was sort of disappointed with how things have changed. I asked her two questions; are you wiling to move back don’t think about costs or anything else. She said no. Second question; when you have a choice to move out twenty or thirty years ago, would you choose to stay or to go, like Brexit! She said definitely. She may struggle with herself but in the end she would move. So that kind of change is based on mutual adaptation based on actively choosing to change or by passive adaptation because of an increase of so-called ‘aliens’. By ‘aliens’ I don’t just mean people who did not used to be hutong residents but people who are from other cities or from other countries. So even if you wanted to restore that culture it’s no longer there, it’s a mixture. [It’s] Multi-ethnic or multi-cultural. Now they are providing many services for those residents who want to improve their lives. For example those Behai or Sichihai, those areas are providing so-called bars or pubs, but actually life-like bars is not typical of hutong culture. It’s actually the tea-house culture that is more relevant.Brian: Behai is a perfect example because its a kind of a very cool place to go to, its not as hip and trendy as other places, but it’s a place for young people to go to.Shaowen: We can call it Beijing today but not Beijing from 50 days ago.Brian: Absolutely, and maybe we can say that it has changed for the better but maybe its not.

20160705ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 暑假来临，小孩子们是应该无忧无虑的玩和放松呢，还是有计划的度过整个假期呢？ Lincoln: Now, do children need to be bored? Brian, take it away.Brian: Well that’s a very good question, and we’re in the right season to talk about it, because summer’s here, and I think most kids, at least in the Northern Hemisphere are about out of school now. A lot of their time gets scheduled by their parents, whether it’s for family vacations, it’s for learning something, maybe summer school. Sometimes kids may not have much of an opportunity to be bored because they’re so tired of everything else.Yoyo: Well, nowadays, I can see that lots of kids, they are surrounding me. No matter in the cinemas or in the shopping mall or in the restaurant, I can see them everywhere, and I can just hear their laughing before I even saw them. In China, it is the summer holiday for primary school students, and they’re really happy about that. And usually parents are warning them, after hours and you will have your time studying mathematics. I can see–Lincoln: I feel so incredibly sad, because I remember summer, being one of, some of the best times of my life, just playing outside, reading lots of books, being allowed to be creative, to write something, I don’t know, [WY: Free, careless] just free and then to just to have to have that be a continuation of the school year, and from what you tell me, Yoyo, even worse, because now there’s more time for you to learn more things.Brian: Yeah…Yoyo: Or the parents are preparing the kids to get ready for the future exams, or make them a better person possibly in the future.Brian: You’d hope – the second one, that sounds good, I’m all for that in moderation. The former one? I mean, you’re kind of trapped, ‘cause you were saying before the show, Wu You, if everybody else is studying and your kid is not, that takes a very strong will and a lot of confidence to say, you know what, I’m not gonna force my kid to do this; they don’t need to do that, even though there’s this big exam that marks the single most important event in their life comin’ up, the gaokao, for a lot of people, that’s hard to say no to.Yoyo: I can totally understand Lincoln when he talked about as a kid that is the only period of time in your life when you can just worry about nothing, and you can just simply play throughout the summer, that is great. But for lots of kids nowadays it is a competitive world. You can see that it is not all totally wrong for the parents to make all the schedules. You can also see that in China nowadays, parents are taking their kids not only to these extra classes but also to like astrology museums, or gallery, or even to the interesting zoos to let them know it is an exciting outside world and what you can achieve in the future. And also you can see, there are different tour groups even for the little kids to experience like what university really looks like in Beijing or Shanghai.Lincoln: Oh wow, this, this being exciting times.Yoyo: You can see some kids really enjoyed it.Lincoln: Most kids?Yoyo: I don’t want to say most, but if a kid really get bored during their summer holidays just staying at home being a couch potato and watch all the TV series, you think that is good? You know most Chinese parents would put all their efforts, like 90 percent of energy in nurturing and educating their kids. That is unquestionable. But is it really that bad?Lincoln: What would you say to that, Brian?Brian: Well, I would say what you were listing before that, before the college tours, was all fantastic. This is exactly what summer is for. You get your down time, keep it at a minimum, let kids have fun, and let their minds rest and wander, because if you don’t, if you’re always doing something with your mind, you’re gonna be more tired, and you’re not going to be as creative I think.

20160704ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题 - 最新报道称，越能用准确的词汇形容感觉，感觉越强烈 真切 Lincoln: Now, how can language make you happier. Yoyo, take it away.Yoyo: A recent report says that the limits of our language are said to define the boundaries of our world. That means we are restricted by the words we know, so whatever vocabulary we have managed to acquire in relation to happiness will influence the types of feelings we can enjoy.Brian: There’s ideas in philosophy that language and reality are very much related, like let’s say you only a few thousand words. Daily life would be most the same as anyone else, but maybe the range of emotions you’d be able to express – at least express, but also feel or comprehend in a certain way, would probably be limited as well.Yoyo: So that means when you’re talking about something, you can only describe it vaguely, and you might feel it vaguely as well.Brian: Right.Lincoln: I love these kind of things as well – it’s one of my favorite things to look, because if you don’t have an idea for a concept, it’s impossible to translate a word. One of the famous ones is toska, in Russian; have you heard of this?Brian: I have not.Lincoln: It’s supposed to be this kind of – it’s supposed to be like the sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any pause. It’s also kind of like, like a morbid dull ache of the soul, and at the very lowest [BK: Wow…] level, at the very lowest level it’s just like boredom, like it’s a very…Ennui is another great example of a word which you actually can’t translate, this kind of…this word in French [BK: Yeah], that it – it denotes a very specific thing that just doesn’t translate. There’s another one, one of my favorites one, which is in Indonesian, I think it’s yaoos or yaaus? Which is a joke that is told so poorly that you can’t help but laugh – it’s just this, it’s just a very beautiful [BK: Ah, that’s great] summation of something.Yoyo: And also, one famous example is just like back in the year 2015, in March, there’s the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress. One spokesman answered the questions from some reporters, and then he suddenly said, okay, dajia dou hen renxing (大家都很任性). Then the translator just hesitated, and everybody’s just wondering how to translate that word into the right content. Renxing (任性), it literally means willful or capricious; sometimes it’s just naughty, you’re so naughty. And then finally the translator used the word capricious. But still, it lacks of some naughty element into word.Brian: Yeah, the connotation isn’t fully there.Yoyo: And also in Chinese, we have lots of the idioms, which is four-character words, and it can mean a lot, and it’s very useful, just like one of them: kuxiaobude (哭笑不得), which means someone who wants to cry but also he finds it so funny, and he wants to laugh at the same time.Brian: Right, right. I feel like there’s an emoji for that, where you’re laughing and crying Lincoln: There’s just an emoji for it now; it used to be a thing, but now there’s an emoji.Brian: You’re not sure if something’s, something’s so horrible you don’t know if you should–Yoyo: –or something’s very annoying [BK: Right, right], but you want to laugh at it.Brian: Yeah, so there’s not an exact one English word for it. And that – and that’s what it is.Lincoln: And I’ll leave you guys with, with this one, one of my favorite one’s, possibly, which is actually from Pascuense, which is like from an Easter Island country [BK: Okay]; the word, that word – tingo – is to gradually steal all the possession out of a neighbor’s house by borrowing all of his things, and never returning them…One word! One word, sums up all that.

20160701ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 公司给你钱让你多睡觉，就是这么任性！Lincoln: Now, most of us do not get enough sleep. That’s something that I think most of us can attest to. So, there’s been this interesting study from this company, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about it. Nick: Yes, so the insurance company is called Aetna, and it has introduced this scheme to try and ensure that its employees are getting enough sleep, because as you said, a lot of people in many, many different jobs are so busy, they’ve got so many things going on in their lives, you know, we’re always saying that working hours are getting longer, we have technology at home, we have different things to do, and sleep deprivation is a real problem for them. The firm is concerned about the impact of sleep deprivation on the performance of their employees, so they’re actually thinking about the performance of the company here, as well as the individual wellbeing of the staff members. So they’ve encouraged workers to sign up to a scheme that rewards them for getting at least seven hours of sleep a night. So staff at the company are rewarded with $25 for every 20 nights in which they sleep seven hours or more. Yoyo: That is a very precise rule, but I’m so curious – how can they know how many hours they sleep every night? Nick: This is a very good question. So, there’s the option to have one of those wrist monitor things, so it’s like a little wristband that monitors your heart rate, I think, and can tell when you’re sleeping by how your heart slows down. Yoyo: First of all, this is a sweet initiative, because they care about their employees’ sleep, and also they pay them to get more sleep. This is sweet. But my question is, even if they make sure they have enough sleep every night, is it really a guarantee for their working efficiency? Nick: Well, no, I think there are a lot of factors that go into your working efficiency, but the things you do when you’re at work, generally, your employer probably has some rules and regulations on anyway, so the one big thing that they can affect when you’re outside of work is something very simple like sleep. They can’t realistically tell you to alter your life outside of work in so many different ways for their job performance. Yoyo: But what about for the employees that don’t need that much sleep and can still work efficiently? Nick: That’s a very good question; I think they probably feel very disadvantaged by this kind of scheme. Lincoln: The idea that you need seven hours a night, we don’t really know if that’s, generally speaking, that’s what we agree on, but there are stories of people like Margaret Thatcher, for example, the former prime minister of Britain, who could actually sleep for four to five hours and be incredibly productive going forward. Barack Obama, as well, has, I remember when he was on the campaign trail, he used to sleep, what, three, three or four hours, and survive and do well, and able to function at quite a high level, but I would say that those two people that jump out as quite big, unique examples. Maybe they have other skills that allow them to be more productive than that.

20160630ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 花式健身之 “石头热疗”， 大妈们的石头疗法真的有效吗？ Lincoln: Now, Yoyo, people are lying on hot rocks. There are hot rocks, the rocks are there, they’ve been warmed up by the sun, but then guess what? People are going and lying on them. Please explain this for us, please.Yoyo: A recent report shows that in Xi’an, in China’s Shaanxi province, people have found some middle-aged women lying on their backs on big rocks, and they have covered their faces with towels. In fact, this is not a performance art, and they were reportedly having a medical treatment.Nick: Sorry, when people first came across middle-aged women lying on their backs with towels on their faces, they thought it was a performance art?Yoyo: Some thought soNick: Okay.Yoyo: But quickly they found out it is not a performance art.Lincoln: Now, let me ask this question. What is the perceived benefit of lying on a hot rock? Why would you do this? Why would you spend your time in this way?Yoyo: They reportedly believe that lying on hot rocks, which have absorbed the heat from the sun, especially between 3 and 4 p.m., can keep them in good health. One little piece of bad news is that one elderly woman got sunburned after she exposed herself to the sun for too long.Nick: She forgot the towel.Lincoln: Now this seems a little bit weird to me, that they would decide to just lie in the sun.Yoyo: They tend to believe something they find in their friend circle on new media, and that lying on a hot rock can cure some certain diseases on your back, and then when the rock is hot, it is very good for your blood circulation.Nick: And is it?Yoyo: Well, here is one of the experts saying, a doctor from Xi’an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, suggested that the sun worshippers should not trust folk prescriptions which are usually without scientific grounding, and asked them to consult with doctors when feeling unwell.Nick: Okay, so is this like a treatment? Have they got some kind of illness that they’re trying to treat by lying on these rocks or is it kind of a preventative, keep yourself in good health, kind of measure?Yoyo: The latter one.Lincoln: One woman actually spoke to some reporters, identified only by her surname as Lou, she told reporters that she suffered from synovitis and stiff muscles.Nick: And did the rocks help?Lincoln: She said that one of her relatives with similar ailments as her tried this out-of-home remedy, and she was cured!Yoyo: That is good news.

儿童贫困问题到底有多难解决？UNICEF有答！JN: UNICEF is warning that the plight of the world's disadvantaged children will worsen in the next decade or so if action is not taken. Over 165 million children will be living on less than two US dollars a day, and almost 70 million children under the age of 5 will have died of largely preventable causes. It also predicts that 750 million women will have been married as children,. It argues that investing in the most disadvantaged is not only the right thing to do, but an economically sound and strategic decision.ZCG: What are the causes of this situation? Do they vary much from country to country, or they largely the same?SB: So what, what the report highlights is that what we’re trying to do is advocate for a more nuanced approach to defining poverty for children. So it’s obviously economic, but the social ramifications are critically important. So, it’s not just looking at how much money the household has, but whether the child has access to good health, whether they are getting access to a decent primary school, and the quality of education and learning is important. Do they have access to safe water, what’s their environment like, and are they able to grow up healthy, and that obviously differs from country to country. But in many ways we know that even the poorest countries with the right political commitments can make a difference, if they’re investing in the types of social programs that can benefit, that can improve the access to basic services and improve the quality of life that a child is growing up in.BK: Well, we have these Sustainable Development Goals which were actually agreed upon late last year, but the report also said that these goals are likely to fail if action is not taken. So what else specifically can national governments and international organizations do? In particular, how valuable might be education and cash transfers be?SB: We know that education can be a way to break intergenerational poverty. If you educate a mother, if you make sure a girl doesn’t drop out of school and doesn’t fall into early marriage, the likelihood is that her children will be better educated, more healthier, and survive. So we’ve got to look at those intergenerational investments to stop the vicious cycle of poverty. Education is critical. You also mentioned, and the report highlights cash transfers. We have seen great evidence that if we build safety nets for children and their families, if we invest in social transfers, and those social transfers can be household level, where you could give a family an extra income that they could use then for investing in their children, or it can be an investment in the poorest services to make sure they access quality free primary education and quality free healthcare that that is a sort of social transfer that helps improve the development and growth of that child, which then obviously has a huge individual investment, I mean the child grows up healthy, educated, but it also contributes to the development of society, and leads to an economic return on that small investment. We’ve got statistics the report highlights in health, education where you just invest and the economic return later is enormous. A dollar invested for example in vaccines, can lead to a huge investment of 16 dollars in economic gains later, because you’re children are healthy, they’re going to grow up productive.

20160629ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 机器人律师闪亮登场啦！20160629ou:Lincoln: Now, artificial intelligence might be helping you with some law advice. Nick, already I’m quite apprehensive about this, you’ll have to convince me.Nick: No need to be apprehensive, it’s probably best to say at the start we’re not talking about a situation where you’ve been accused of a crime, you’re taken to court, and your lawyer is a robot, were talking about lesser offences, so specifically, the first thing that this particular artificial intelligence lawyer was set up to tackle was parking tickets, and being able to challenge the authorities when you are given a parking ticket. So it’s a ‘robo-lawyer’ and it’s aptly called ‘DoNotPay’. Lincoln: DoNotPay? Nick: That’s the name of it. So the aim of it is that you don’t have to pay the fine that you’re given if you manage to prove that your parking ticket was given unreasonably or unfairly or there were other reasons why you should not have got that in the first place. It’s completely free to use, it’s online, you just log in and it’s able to present to you all your rights, all the information that you might need to be able to challenge this decision, and you don’t have to pay the fee that you would have to pay to an actual lawyer, so it’s a big step forward for people looking to challenge rulings of this kind. Lincoln: That’s very interesting, the idea that it’s also just for, kind of, offences that are of a lower level, misdemeanors, kind of thing. Nick: I think that’s more because of the nature of it, it’s only able to give you advice on things where there are a strict set of rules that the robot can learn and then apply to your situation. Whereas if you’d robbed somebody or something it probably wouldn’t understand the nuances of the situation well enough to tell you what to do. Lincoln: I feel like that’s a bit of a grey area. Lin Shaowen: My question would be that definitely it’s sounds a kind of relief, but you know, what kind of information or evidence do I need when all of a sudden I see a notice pasted on my windscreen of the car and then at a place they call it no parking area, but does, what kind of evidence do I need to say that this is the place I can park? Nick: Well you go into this program, so at the moment it’s running in London and New York, so what it’s able to give you is the information that tells you whether you were actually wrongfully parked or not, so for example in some cases it might be unclear, like one side of the street is one thing, and the other side of the street is another, but the sign wasn’t clear, so it has this information and it’s able to give it to you so that you can make a decision. Lin Shaowen: So in that case we need, say, big screen, electric screens on the street, say, showing that this is allowed, this is forbidden, or there are more empty parking lots at the end of the street, or the other street down south, or whatever. So no information, or no assistance, was given, not enough assistance was given to me so that I can park in the legal and right way.

一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题- 报道称：父母管太多可能对孩祗不利。真滴吗？ LW: Now, is intrusive parenting harmful to children? I would put it to you, Yoyo, that almost all parenting is incredibly intrusive, so you’ll have to explain this one for us a little bit more. WY: Okay, recently, a study found out that parents pushing their kids to excel in school in pursuit of good grades might be harmful to their health, and it could lead to unintended consequences. Researchers from the National University of Singapore found that for kids with perfectionist [parents], their tendency to become highly self-critical may increase over the years. NL: Many, many parents still do have these kinds of attitudes and perhaps it’s to, kind of, make them aware of the pitfalls, because obviously there are both benefits and pitfalls to any parenting style, pretty much, you could say, and make them aware of the other side of the actions that they’re taking. LW: Okay, well, let’s ground this a little bit before we go on. Nick, would you say that your parents’ parenting style was quite intrusive, or not? NL: I would not say that it was particularly intrusive. LW: Not particularly intrusive. WY: And, there’s also a book, called Intrusive Parenting: How Psychological Control Affects Children and Adolescents. It says that this kind of parenting style, which is known as ‘intrusive’ or ‘helicopter’ parenting, is characterized as ‘manipulative’. LW: Well, hang on here. ‘Helicopter’ parenting? I don’t think I’m familiar with that term. What does that mean? WY: So it means that they will remotely control their kids, or they’re always above your head. LW: Okay. WY: Controlling every step that you are taking. NL: Hovering above you. LW: Just hovering. Like a helicopter, Nick. Do you see that? NL: I do, I see it. The mental imagery, there. It sounds like some quite strong language, I think. ‘Psychological control’, ‘manipulative’; I don’t think many of these parents would set out to deliberately inflict these kinds of treatments on their children. It seems more like, kind of, an unintended consequence of an action which was intended with good purposes. LW: But what about you, Yoyo? WY: My mom can be a little intrusive. NL: Okay. Would you call her a helicopter? WY: No, of course not! LW: Not to her face. WY: She is a spaceship. LW: Oh, wow. Just everywhere, all the time. It doesn’t necessarily even have to be for academic performance, it could be for sport as well. And, the weird thing is that you don’t necessarily see the people that don’t make it. You end up seeing the people that do make it. WY: Maybe we see so many flaws of it, but now let’s look at the advantages of it. You can see that there has been a perfect example, not long ago, the famous video of sending lots of Chinese teachers to the UK and teaching the British kids. And then, as a comparison, to have the similar number of students being taught by the British teacher. The Chinese teacher is pushing the students really hard, and then some students even cried in the classroom. After a long time, there can be an examination, and when the scores finally came out, the results from the class that was taught by the Chinese teachers, they actually scored higher than the other class, and then the students look at their behavior and their performances, the students are quite happy and grateful to them. NL: Are they happy and grateful that they got better scores, or are they happy and grateful that the whole thing is over? WY: Most of them being interviewed, they said it was a nice experience, and they will remember it. They are grateful for scoring higher. LW: If you give me a choice between getting 85 on a test and getting 80, but I have to cry to get to 85 and I can coast towards 80, I’d be hard pressed to say that that 5% is worth, you know, a lot of mental anguish.

一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：敲瓜无国界！ Lincoln: Now, Wu You, there’s been some odd behaviour with some watermelons. Apparently something’s going on and watermelons are involved. Yoyo: Not odd. It is quite useful and it is creative. So, a picture of a notice in a supermarket has gone viral online these days. The notice is in the language of Italian, and it is stuck in a crate of watermelons which reads: “Please stop knocking on the watermelon, they will not respond to it. Lincoln: Cheeky, very cheeky. Why is this a thing that someone would have to do? Yoyo: To know whether it is ripe enough or not Lincoln: Can you demonstrate this for us, please? Yoyo: OK. The special technique is very interesting and useful, because sometimes people do not know what the right sound is. Now I have a special technique to tell you guys. So first of all, you knock on it, and if it sounds like [knocks on table] it is raw, and if it is a deep and clear sound, it is ripe. Lincoln: No, no, you have to make a deep and clear sound, right now! Yoyo: There’s another way to test it. Lincoln: What is the other way? Yoyo: You have your own body, and if you knock on your forehead like this [knocks on forehead], it is raw. And then you can knock on your chest [knocks on chest], it is ripe. Lincoln: Can you demonstrate that one more time, for the listeners? I don’t want you to hurt yourself, I just want to make sure. Yoyo: The ripe watermelon sounds like this: [knocks on chest] Lincoln: Can you try that, Michael? Michael: OK, so here we go. This is the ripe watermelon: [knocks on chest]. Yoyo: So that is the knock on your chest, and then to knock on your belly: [knocks on belly]. This is over-ripe. Lincoln: Tremendous. Absolutely remarkable, Michael. Michael: Are you going to make me stand up and punch my belly? Lincoln: Do you want to? I feel like you want me to! Michael: I think that’s what you were angling for, Lincoln! Lincoln: OK, so what happened here is these Chinese people, presumably living in Italy, they’ve gone and they’ve done this, they’ve knocked on the watermelons. Yoyo: It’s not specially targeting the Chinese people, or else the board would be written in Chinese. Michael: But, Wu You, the person who took this photo which went viral was a Chinese person. Yoyo: And then he posted this online and it quickly went viral, especially in China. Lincoln: Well, I’ll put it to you, Wu You, that I think this is actually might be aimed at Chinese people, because presumably the Italian shop owners wouldn’t know how to write that sign in Chinese. Yoyo: It is not especially just in China, but also, you can see, in Russia, a popular Russian cartoon called “Nu, pogodi” included watermelon knocking as part of an episode, and also in Japan, there has been this kind of video telling you the skills of knocking on the watermelon, and also in India, so this is not simply just in China, but also it is a universal skill, and watermelons in Italy must be very lonely, because they haven’t been knocked before. Michael: There’s a lot of comments here implying that watermelons are somehow sentient beings, and have their own personalities. Lincoln: Yeah, imbuing the watermelons with a lot of feelings, you know. I’ve seen this, maybe you’ve seen this at a cricket [match], Michael – people wearing watermelon hats. Michael: I’ve seen that – I’ve seen a picture of someone doing that on the tube here in Beijing, actually. It went viral about a year or so ago, and a lot of Chinese net users were absolutely terrified by it. [Lincoln: Really?] Yeah. I think the police actually came and stopped him and he was like: “What? I’m just wearing a watermelon on my head!” Lincoln: You know, it keeps you cool. Michael: But you’re going to get watermelon juice everywhere. There’s still going to be some residue, isn’t there? Lincoln: I don’t think so. Yoyo: And then someone might knock on his “door”. Michael: Well, exactly!

20160623ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 地图上为什么一定是上北下南呢？ Lincoln: Now, Yoyo, if I had to say to you, if you looked at the earth from space, which part would you say is the top? Yoyo: Of course the north pole. Lincoln: The north pole. Michael, what about you? Pretty much similar? Michael: Yeah, yeah. North is at the top, isn’t it? Lincoln: But actually, have you guys ever wondered why north is at the top? Why, when we look at a picture of the world, why do we actually think that north is actually at the top? Yoyo: It’s on most of the maps. Lincoln: But why? Who was the first person to decide that that was how it was supposed to be? So this is a really interesting article that I came across. It basically has got to do with the idea that maybe, you know, the way we view the world, the maps that we see, maybe they aren’t necessarily the way that the world is, Michael. Michael: Well, I mean, if you’re looking for a point to put at the top or the bottom, it seems natural that you’d put… I mean, obviously, you’ve got the north and the south pole at each extremity of the earth. It seems natural that one of those goes at the top and one of those goes at the bottom, but I suppose, taken in isolation, there’s no reason to suggest that north should be at the top, because, you know, the world’s round, isn’t it? You can’t, strictly speaking, have anything at the top. Lincoln: Yeah. At the same time, being able to orientate yourself and navigate, that’s an important human skill. The first map actually came down from 14,000 years ago, which was scrawled on a [wall] in the Abauntz Cave in Navarra, Spain, and the idea is that when you were out in the savannah, or out in the fields, being able to know your way back home was your survival, because there’s no light – if you’re in the field, you’re in the field and lost, so you need to know where you’re going, or at the very least, know where you’re not trying to go, so the kind of inclination and desire to draw a map has been really important. Like, for example, Wu You, here in China, one of the strangest things I recall is that China is in the middle of the map, as opposed to Africa and Europe, which is in the West. Yoyo: Yeah, that was the common situation when I saw most maps, and especially in the geography textbooks. There was always a joke talking about the fact that we are the Middle Kingdom, and the centre of the world. I believed it because I had proof, because on most maps we are in the middle. Michael: And the funny thing is, when I first came to China and I saw all these maps with China in the middle, I thought that was really strange, because I’m used to seeing maps with Europe and Africa in the middle, and you talk about China being the Middle Kingdom, Wu You; we talk about China being in the Far East, so it’s just your perception of where it is, and what’s really strange to me is, obviously you’ve got China in the middle, and then you’ve got the entire Pacific Ocean, the whole thing, whereas on our maps, the Pacific is kind of split at each end; it’s not contiguous. [WY: That is interesting] It’s only really when you look at that map, I think, that you get a sense of how big it is and how vast it is. Lincoln: It’s true there is an inherent cultural bias in terms of how maps are presented. The reason that north is – on Chinese maps, when [they were] being drawn up – the reason it’s at the [top] is that’s where the Emperor lived. Yoyo: Right, there is a belief in that, yes. Lincoln: Generally speaking, that’s where the Emperor lived, and that’s why – you wanted the emperor to be above the people, so that’s why it was created there.

20160622ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题: 最热夏天来袭！颤抖吧地球人！ Lincoln: Now, things got a little too hot to handle for some students in China. Wu You, you will have to elaborate a little bit more on that. Yoyo: Now in China’s Henan Province, student[s] in Zhengzhou University have to flee their dorms for [the] library to beat the heat. Brian: They have to flee – notice the choice [LW: Flee, the heat] of words here. Yoyo: So days are getting hotter, and since yesterday is the summer solstice in China, it signifies the first official day of summer. Xinhua news reports that apparent temperature in many cities in China’s Jiangsu province is 40-41 degrees Celsius. And for people to better understand it, it’s about 104 Fahrenheit degrees. Brian: Thank you Wu You, for your generosity towards those [LW: Thank you for helping, helping those…] of us from North America. Lincoln: …who would actually say that. I would actually say that, I, love it. I love summer [Yoyo: Oh Lincoln], I love that it is hot, that you get a good sweat on, you know you’re going outside, whatever, whatever, I think it’s great. Brian: But go down south, Jiangsu…imagine 40 degrees, and 80 percent humidity. How ya feeling? Lincoln: That is the depths of hell. That is… Yoyo: In the southern part of China, people are feeling it’s like buns, in the steaming pot [BK: Yeah, yeah], and you’re in it 24/7. Lincoln: In my hometown, it gets particularly hot. I live near Cape Town in a little town called Wellington, and it gets really hot. My town is in a bit of a valley, so all the heat gets trapped. The heat that comes off the mountain, 47 degrees, 47 degrees Celsius, 48 degrees, we’ve seen that. Yoyo: Wouldn’t people faint? Lincoln: People don’t do anything. You don’t go outside. What you then do is you go sit in your car, because most people’s cars have air cons. Brian: California varies. Where I’m from, it’s similar to Cape Town in that, you know, this Mediterranean kind of climate, but it’s that, but also semi-arid, like the desert is not that far away from where I’m from, so I’m used to a dry heat. Lincoln: Come back to it – like when we used to walk to school, it was 45, 46 and we would have to walk 7:00, maybe school would start at 8. You would have to bring two shirts – one for your walk, and one for…because [WY: You’ll be so sweaty] by the time you get to school, you had to change your shirt. And also, like you’d have to keep the breaks, the recesses quite short, because if it’s too long, people would get into arguments. I do think that most fights start in the summer. Brian: ‘Cause in the summer, you’re unhappy, you go out, and there’s something wrong and you’re [ahhrrhhrh] whatever. Lincoln: Yeah, and also, quickly some tips, especially during this hottest days: first of all, maybe drink some green beans soup, and secondly, just try to not stay in the strong air conditioning places for too long, because it’s so hot outside and you might get a cold when you’re coming out from this. Lincoln: I can say that. I know a lot of people who, and I’ve been guilty of this in the past, sleep with the air conditioning on, and that’s a mistake, because when you leave, ‘cause when you leave, it can get really cold. Yoyo: And also in Chinese, we say it when you calm down inside, you will feel cooler outside – (心静自然凉). Just try to have your inner peace. Lincoln: So yeah – try and stay cool, try and stay out of the most of the sun, put on your sunscreen, enjoy your time.

中国超级计算机 世界最强ZJN: A Chinese computer once again tops the list as the world’s fastest computer system. Sunway Taihu Light performs 93,000 trillion calculations per second at its peak, and has around 10 million computing cores. LK: Well, the top 500 list of the world’s top supercomputers just announced at the 2016 International Supercomputer Conference in Frankfurt, Germany, said: “Considering that just 10 years ago, China claimed a mere 28 systems on the list, with none ranked in the top 30, the nation has come further and faster than any other country in the history of supercomputing.” So, according to your observations, what are the reasons behind China’s rise in this area? JZ: Well, I think it’s China’s commitment; it’s probably got to do with government support, because when you’re doing a comparison, you’re doing a comparison with the United States. I’m looking at the New York Times’ figures; China has 167 and the US has 165 [of the top 500 supercomputers]. Now, the United States has been decades more involved in the development of supercomputers, there is more money, there has been more research power at universities, but this has changed, because the United States hasn’t had the commitment to science and technology that China has, so the reason for China’s great progress has been its commitment. LK: In the area of developing supercomputers, what are the usual international common practices in terms of information sharing and at the same time, protecting your intellectual property rights? JZ: Well, I think most organizations have been pretty wary to share everything, and certainly not with overseas countries, but what you’ve got – and I mean it’s rather interesting – the US is not focused on supercomputers. If you look at all the current developments, and particularly social media, if you look at the retrieval engines of Google, if you look at Facebook, all of these, the software is coming out of the United States, but the investment in hardware has always been a long way behind its investment in software – and I think really, the reason is because the investment in social media has been driven by profit-making, whereas the investment in large-scale computers has much less of a financial benefit. NL: Looking forwards then, what would you say are the future trends of development when it comes to supercomputers? JZ: Well, I mean the trend is there for China to develop more and larger supercomputers, and these supercomputers won’t just help in computing, they will help in education, they will help in medicine, they will help in defense. The United States is more likely to be involved in that sort of software that is going to be used by individuals. They are a much more individualistic society, and individuals don’t care about supercomputers because they are not using them, they don’t have these sorts of problems, they care more about Facebook and Whatsapp and all these other social media interfaces.

Volkswagen is planning to launch 30 all-electric models to reposition itself as a leader in so-called "green" transport.Chief executive of Europe&`&s biggest carmaker, Matthias Mueller, says huge investments are needed. He hopes that by 2025, all-electric cars would account for about 20-25% of the German carmaker&`&s annual sales.Latest figures show that sales growth of Volkswagen-branded cars continues to fall behind European rivals.For more on this topic, CRI&`&s Tu Yun talked to CRI financial commentators Cao Can and Einar Tangen.

20160617 OU 一中二外锵锵锵三人行今日话题：学生党与早起的“爱恨纠葛”BK: An American medical group is recommending schools start later for student sleep. So the thing is, lots of young people tend to be on a bit of a different sleep schedule than the rest of us, but at the same time, at least in the US, school starts pretty early for a lot of places. About ten percent of schools, according to one survey, start at 7:30 or before, but, I know at least my high school started just after that at 7:40, so it’s quite common and it causes no small amount of sleepy students and sleep deprivation. NL: That’s early. I was slightly later than you guys – my school started at about 8:30, so I guess I had an extra hour’s sleep, but even then no one was doing anything in the first hour [BK: Right] – everybody was sleepy and not concentrating. BK: Yeah – and that’s exactly the time the American Medical Association is recommending for middle and high school classes: 8:30; whereas others, both in the US and the UK, have suggested that, really, 10:00, especially for high school, would be a better time, as well as even for university students. But – well, kids stay up late, a lot, anyway, partially because they’re supposed to be shifted back, but then they have all this homework, and they have – they’re going to be up late pretty much regardless, and then they have to go to school very early. So this leads to, according to some research, less than a third of American teens getting at least eight hours of sleep on an average night. Now, I guess the widely accepted version of how much sleep we’re supposed to get as adults is 7-9 hours, and teens – you know, adolescents – need to get, I’m sure, at least eight hours, seven hours would not be doing the trick. So, obviously this is a problem – their bodies are thought to run up to three hours later than the rest of us, so, if you feel, you know, very much awake at 8:00 in the morning, that level of awakeness might actually only be felt by adolescents at say 11:00. Whereas if you feel sleepy at 8:00 at night, you may actually be feeling that sort of feeling of sleepiness only at 11:00 if you’re an adolescent. WY: If they didn’t just delay the morning work, and then give the workers a nap time at midday, that can be optimal choices, because sometimes, people just need a little bit of relaxing time, or a nap time during midday, and then they can perform even better in the afternoon. But, in the morning, sometimes that is when important meetings are going on. BK: What seems to be the best is, first to get enough sleep, no matter how you get it, you need to get enough sleep, and then especially for adolescents, getting it at the right time. Now, if you’re not able to get it at the right time, a nap may make up for it, but let me emphasize again the importance of getting enough sleep. In general, a lack of sleep, sleep deprivation, is thought to increase your susceptibility to illness, you know, you get sick more easily, and more often, you can gain weight, which is something many people would probably worry about, you are more likely to become depressed, and your performance, overall, is impaired, across everything. So if you care about your health, if you care about your weight, or your performance, it’s really important to get enough sleep. NL: But as you said, it’s not that clear-cut when the right time is to be taking this sleep, because looking back into the past there seems to be some evidence to suggest that in pre-industrial kind of times, people would go to sleep in the evening, have a sleep for a few hours, and then wake up for a bit, go about their daily business – in the night – and then go back to sleep again until dawn, so they would have two separate sleeps, both in one night. BK: However it is you’re going to get your sleep, make sure you get enough, and again it’s recommended, generally, 7-9 hours, and if you don’t you may pack on the pounds or kilos, so watch out for that, there.

20160616OU 一中二外锵锵锵三人行 今日话题：一句“你懂的”胜过“千言万语” BK: Have you ever had a feeling but you weren’t quite sure how to describe it? We may have just the word, or words, for you. NL: Yes, a researcher called Tiffany Smith from Queen Mary University in London has published a book called ‘The Book of Human Emotions’, which is a very grand title, and she has gone through all of these different words that exist in various languages around the world, but not necessarily in English, or maybe vice versa, as well, to come up with ways in which speakers of different languages express feelings differently to people of other languages. The first one is ‘Amae’, and it means ‘to lean on another person’s goodwill’, even as an adult, allowing somebody else to look after you as though you were a child in some way or another. See how lengthy a description I have to give of it in English? In Japanese, it’s ‘amae’. BK: And this, I think, like quite a few of these, may be culturally specific in a certain way. Obviously the most basic emotions, every language is going to have. WY: Also there’s another feeling that you guys might know how to describe in maybe three sentences, but now I have only one phrase to talk about it. So have you ever experienced the feeling when you’re standing on the top of a building, a very tall building, and then you have a feeling that you might want to jump? Or, when you’re facing a very dangerous situation, you might have a thought just flashing into your mind, what would happen if I jumped off of that bridge? So, that feeling, we can now talk about it in just one beautiful phrase, which is simply, ‘l’appel du vide’. BK: Yes, yes, which if you didn’t guess, is French, there. American psychologists described this sort of phenomenon as the ‘high place phenomenon’, but the French literally means ‘the call of the void’. WY: Exactly, and now the word has saved us a lot of time for description. And the other one which is also very interesting is that, have you ever experienced a situation where you and your big boss are trapped in only one elevator, and then maybe you find it very difficult to find any discussion topics or you find it very awkward? So, how to describe that in only one word, since I have already wasted time to talk about it in three sentences? It’s called ‘Malu’. BK: I think, again that’s also a very common thing. Maybe you get into an elevator with your boss and it’s just the two of you. Suddenly, it just becomes very awkward, it becomes difficult to start talking, or respond, or anything. WY: So next time, you can practice it. When lots of workers are in the elevator with your boss, you can come out to talk with your friends and say, “I had a Malu just now”. BK: But it is interesting, because one of the things that I think is related to all this is, well, the relation of language and reality, which is a somewhat obscure, philosophical topic. But obviously, many of these things we may be aware of, or we’ve experienced these things, but without having a word to describe it, as opposed to, as Wu You has mentioned, several sentences, it’s harder to grasp the situation. Or, for example, you could experience this thing, but not really be aware of it as being a thing, had you not known the word, there. So having known these words, it may actually change your perception of this and may actually change your reality in a certain way.

20160615ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：城市排名北京垫底！你敢信么？ BK: A new livability ranking has come out for Chinese cities, and we’ll give you a hint – Beijing is not at the top. NL: I wouldn’t be surprised that it wasn’t right the way at the top, but I’m quite surprised at where it has come, out of the top forty cities, which is right at the bottom. WY: I’m quite surprised, frankly, because I would say that it can be in the top ten, in my heart. NL: Somewhere in the middle, at least. WY: So I’m surprised! And the report says that Qingdao can be the most livable city in China, and surprisingly Beijing is said to be the least livable city. So this is from a recent report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. BK: I would definitely guess Kunming would be in there, because that city – I’m not working for anything, but I’ve heard – is a wonderful place, I’ve been meaning to go there, it’s supposed to be the city of eternal spring. It’s never really too hot or too cold. WY: Bingo! That’s number two. And coming up next, Sanya, Dalian, Weihai, and then for the next five: Suzhou, Zhuhai, Xiamen, Shenzhen and Chongqing. BK: Right, so as Nick was just pointing out, coastal cities tend to do pretty darn well there, obviously seven of the top ten were coastal cities, and the ones that aren’t, again, there’s Kunming, there’s Suzhou, which is well-renowned for its beauty in many ways. WY: And about the terms and conditions that they really value, it’s about better natural environment, safety, medical services, and transportation. NL: Okay, so this is what goes into deciding how livable a city is. WY: Back in the year 2015, last year, in August, the Economist also pointed out another ranking of the most livable cities in the world, and in the Chinese mainland, Beijing ranks number one. So you can see there has been quite a contrast. And also, why most people would love to live in Beijing or choose Beijing as their workplace, possibly is because as a first-tier city, it has the best education resources, and most top universities are in Beijing, and also the top hospitals in China are centered in Beijing. I think those two factors are very important. BK: Right, Beijing is not only the political capital, obviously, the official capital of China here, but also is, in many ways, the cultural capital and the educational capital as well. NL: It all comes down to, as you mentioned earlier, what criteria we use to decide what is the most livable part of a city or which are the most livable cities. WY: Many corporate companies, especially those kinds of international companies, would set their headquarters either in Beijing or in Shanghai, so that means here, you might have more working opportunities, and at the same time it’s not only a job vacancy but also it’s for further personal skills development. If you just work here you might learn more, compared with your living in other cities. NL: I think these things kind of go in cycles, though. Obviously Beijing is the capital of China, hence all these international companies and also Chinese companies would choose to put their headquarters here, which means that the jobs are here. Then, all the people move here, then this creates the problems that we are saying make it a less livable city: the traffic, the pollution, the crowdedness … BK: We’ve been talking about people, and all those sorts of things, and that makes a big impact as well, the kind of people that go there, the kind of human capital, not only by being able to learn things, but by interacting with these other sorts of people. And, as part of that, international destinations, because some of these cities are quite livable and are big economic centers, but they’re not necessarily international hubs, whereas places like Beijing and Shanghai do tend to be like that.

20160614ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：如何处理废旧电子产品？NL: Now, Wu You, we have discussed the advances that technology has brought to our lives, and the various benefits that these technological devices have brought to us, but there comes a point when an electronic device is no longer any use; it’s broken, it’s old, you have a new one, and what happens then? WY: Exactly. Because of the rapid updates of all the devices, sometimes we might have a spare cell phone, a spare fridge or even a television, so some people just throw it away in the garbage bins or sell it to second hand buyers. NL: I would be more on the recycling side. When I got rid of my last phone I gave it to my sister. That’s recycling in action. WY: In May, China released an action plan on soil pollution, the State Council vowed to curb soil pollution by 2020 and also improve soil quality by 2030, completing the task outlined in action plans on environmental degradation issued by the central government. But at the same time, the e-waste and all these kinds of electronic devices can be a very serious pollution to the soil as well, because they’re so difficult to be dismantled in the soil. And also, the special situation in China is because China is one of the largest e-waste producers and recipients in the world. Not long ago, in May, a recycling industry report released by the Ministry of Commerce says, e-waste items recycled in China in 2015 alone amounted to over 150 million pieces. Earlier this month, over thirteen countries have come to Beijing to learn about China’s experience in managing the e-waste recycling challenge and also about China’s e-waste management system and how it can be applied and replicated in their countries. This is initiated by the United Nations Development Program together with the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection. They want to develop a workshop to share the experience. The government has subsidies. It will be easier for them to recycle the devices. LSW: We need a market to do this, not just rely on the individual people collecting those recycling things. Those people who are producing those products re-collect them back. The businessmen, the industrialists, the technicians of that company should have the responsibility. Combine those increased costs of re-collecting into the initial price that you sell. For example, when you sell the mobile phone at 2,000 to me, then why don’t you sell at 2,030? WY: So you mean the consumers should pay the price for dismantling work? LSW: Well, that’s for that recycling. But when they re-collect those sorts of things, if many parts are still usable, they have to pay us back. NL: I think the problem here is that you’d have to get the mobile phone companies on board with this. WY: Shaowen’s idea is mainly about creating, overall, a chain on e-waste dismantling and recycling. LSW: A chain of industry, right? WY: Actually, there has been another new idea, because a new app has been created in China called the Baidu Recycle app. Companies can come to collect your old, spare TV or refrigerators, and also they will pay you, you will have the financial benefits from it, just like 10 kuai or 30 kuai. And at the same time, I think to implement a regulation is one thing, and to encourage people to participate in this field is another thing.

20160613ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：魔兽来袭 部落vs联盟NL: The American film ‘Warcraft’ opened on the Chinese mainland on June 8th, last Wednesday, and has already taken over $140 million US in revenue, Wu You. WY: Yes, can I really say the Chinese market saved ‘Warcraft’, a lot? NL: I think you can. It’s certainly done better here than it did in the US, at least, where it got some absolutely terrible reviews, but people in China seem to absolutely love it. I think it was just last week that we were discussing here, Wu You, how every time we talk about American films, or foreign films in general, coming to China, a new record has been broken, and this one is playing in a record-setting 67.5% of all Chinese movie theaters. WY: Wow. ‘Warcraft’ made 600 million RMB, which is around $91 million US, in two days. NL: Two days. WY: Two days. It’s unbelievable. LSW: And it’s appropriate to say “Wow”, because ‘Warcraft’ resulted from the video game, ‘World of Warcraft’. So, it’s quite good to say, “WoW.” The premise is the debut coincided with the three-day holiday, the Dragon Boat Festival. The video game had more than 5 million players around the world and more than 20% of them are Chinese, so they have some sort of nostalgic and special feelings about this game and they want to see what the film may look like, and it also coincides with the Shanghai International Film Festival. WY: Actually, I went to the theater to see the movie. The boys around me, you should see them! They were talking and talking for the whole two hours, explaining every small detail about the movie, they were so excited. When the mage appeared, and they have a different kind of magic, and I was asking, “So, is that a magician?”, and the boy next to me said “Yes, and let me explain to you!” and he was explaining to me what kind of magic he knows, and what kind of roles he played in the video game, and when there’s another animal. One of the animals looks like a wolf, but it was a huge mega-wolf, and I said to him, “Okay, that is a nice wolf!” And he suddenly corrected me: “No! That is not a wolf!” He quickly explained everything to me. It was more like, you know when you are watching a football match, sometimes there’s a background voice explaining everything about the different types of skills that they have been using, so it is really an interesting experience. There have been different seat labels in many theaters in China; it’s separated into two parts. One part is the ‘Orc’ part, and the other part is the ‘Human Alliance’ part. So if you are a fan of the Human Alliance and then you sit in the Orc part, you might face a difficult situation. Just like the latest Euro 2016 cup! NL: But how would anybody know? Do you have to wear a uniform when you come in? WY: Lots of them did wear different T-shirts! And they had different logos on the back of their shirt, and also you can see there is one famous Chinese actor involved in this movie, Wu Yanzu, Daniel Wu, but you really can’t recognize his face in the movie because of the makeup he has been using, or special visual effects. Like that reality TV show in America called ‘Face Off’! NL: So they took a famous actor and made him unrecognizable with special effects, that’s unbelievable. WY: Or that is better for promotion? LSW: I was wondering whether they chose this deliberately for the Chinese premiere.

中美首个高铁项目流产 中企出海除了技术过硬还需注意什么The U.S. company XpressWest has announced it is terminating its cooperation with China Railway International in building a high-speed rail link between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.Chief executive of Las Vegas-based XpressWest, Tony Marnell, says that his company's ambitions outpace China Railway's ability to move the project forward in a timely and efficient manner.China Railway says XpressWest is irresponsible in making such a decision while talks are still on-going.The two companies reached a deal to build the high-speed rail link starting this coming September.The American firm has backed out of the 100-million US dollar deal at the last minute, citing regulatory hurdles and timing as the main issues.For a further look at the issue, CRI's Tu Yun talked to Mike Bastin, director of the China Business Center in London, Southampton Solent University, and Paul Gillis, Practice Professor of Accounting at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management.

20160609ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：歪果仁对端午节怎么看 Lincoln: What happens in general during the festival? What are some of the traditional activities? Yoyo: Eating Zongzi, it’s the sticky rice treats wrapped in bamboo leaves. Lincoln: Have you had this Nick? Nick: I have. I haven’t had any this year but I’ve had it in the past. Lincoln: We’ll try and work on that. Would you say that it’s particularly delicious? Nick: I think there’s a reason you only eat it once a year.Lincoln: What about you Wu You; do you like it? Yoyo: I like it. Nick: Its fine. Lincoln: Its fine said Nick Lanigan! What else? I would assume there would be some sort of dragon boat attached to it, walk us through that because I love a good dragon boat. Yoyo: It includes racing dragon boats [Lincoln: Ok] and do you know why it is dragon boats and not panda boats? Lincoln: Doesn’t quite roll of the tongue “Panda Boat Festival”. Nick: Although that is something that I would pay to go and see. Yoyo: The reason it is related to the dragon is because we want to relate this day to the more masculine dragon energy. Lincoln: The dragon boat festival is happening, you go and see a dragon boat race and you eat the traditional snacks. What else do you do? Yoyo: What you need to understand that on this day, the reason we eat zongzi is in commemoration of a certain person. Qu Yuan is a famous Chinese poet, and also the minister of a kingdom called Chu, who lived during the warring states period, so that is about 278 BC. Known for his patriotism, he tried unsuccessfully to warn his king, and then the capital was taken by another country. In that case, he committed suicide and jumped into the river, and that took place on this day. According to the legend, people threw packets of fish into the river to prevent the fish from eating the poet’s body. The thing people were throwing into the river was zongzi. Nick: So the fish would have something else to eat. Lincoln: Are those the only activities? I’m sure there has to be others? Yoyo: There is another activity where you wear a bracelet made with five different colors of strings, where you wrap it up and wear it, On the first rainy day after the festival, you throw it into the water. Lincoln: why? Yoyo: Just for good fortune. Lincoln: This is what I love about Chinese festivals. There is this rich tapestry of things and ideas. You’re eating this food, and you’re feeding the fish and then you’re throwing your bracelet away.

中国小学生可申请赴澳洲留学ZJN: Starting in July, Chinese pupils from the age of six can apply for student visas to study in Australia. This is according to Australia’s new student visa policy. LK: So first up, the new visa policy applies to all international applicants, but analysts are saying that a major target of the six-year-old visa policy is at Chinese students and parents. What’s your take? HD: I would say this is highly likely, because when you look at student enrollment in Australia by source country over recent years, China definitely, by far, is number one. But when you look at the make-up, higher education comes at the very top, followed by language courses and vocational courses and down below are schools; junior high and senior high schools and also elementary schools. So when you look at it, the schools account for about five to six percent, so there’s definitely a good reason for Australia to target the Chinese students and parents for this. When we look at Australia’s policy on this, we see that they opened applications to international students to Australia, or shall we say to Australia’s junior high, in 2014, that’s two years ago. So actually we are seeing this policy very much in line with that, so two years later the elementary schools have also been opened, and we have to recognize that education is a very important sector in Australia; it’s a very important part of its services export. Back in 2000, education accounted for just 6 percent of its services exports, and for 2013 for example, up until 2016, the proportion is more like 28%, so definitely there’s a good reason for Australia to introduce more policies to attract more students, including six year olds. LK: The Chinese website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia Plus, reported that in a reply to the website, Australian immigration officials said that when reviewing the application from young pupils, officials may consider whether the student will be able to return to his or her home country to continue further study after primary education, so it is highly impossible for anyone to seek continued education from primary school to high school in Australia. Why are there such restrictions? HD: Actually, we’re not quite sure about these restrictions yet, because technically as I said just now in 2014 Australia opened applications by international students to its junior high schools, so technically that’s possible. But I have to emphasize here that we’re dealing with two sectors in Australia; one is education, the other immigration, and this is why in this policy we see GTE or Genuine Temporary Entrance, so the immigration officers will look at your intentions and all the factors that will push you to come back to China after this education, so these are actually two very different areas.

20160608ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：昨天是高考第一天，语文全国卷1中，作文题目竟是个漫画对此，大家怎么看呢？ Lincoln: Now, the gaokao took place yesterday, so it’s obviously a very stressful time, as you can tell by – even I’m stressed about it, [and] I’m not even taking it. Some interesting exam questions have come out of it. Yoyo: Yes it is. So yesterday they have taken the Chinese examination; in it one especially important part is the composition, and you can see there has been very interesting composition topics coming out from yesterday. And one topic from national paper, there has been a cartoon on the paper, and it showcases different kids are holding test papers, with the scores on it. And the kids on the left, when he has 100 points, he got a kiss; but when he has 98 points, he got a slap on the face. And the kids on the right: when he got 55 points, he got a slap on the face, but when he has 61 scores, he got a kiss on the face. And, have to say that the Chinese test, usually we have 100 as the full score, and the cut line is 60. Brian: That’s right – if you were sitting for the gaokao, you saw this, and you had to do 800 characters, what would you do? Lincoln: If I – if you were to press me, it would be like – the only thing, if you get a 100, if you get perfection you get praise; if you – you also get points just for trying? I don’t know. I think that’s very interesting. I know a lot of the conversation surrounding the Chinese education, and there’s always the kind of idea, it’s very kind of black and white, it’s very dry, there’s not a lot of room for creativity. But I would actually argue that that’s a good example of something like that. Brian: It is also notorious for having these really abstract questions. I think there’s certain ways you are to respond to these questions. Yoyo: But, well, I have to say I have a different opinion, because you know in the past there has been this kind of very precise questions, topics as for the composition part, and people need to write a long article simply about maybe a day in school or about some real thing, but this time it is a cartoon. I think maybe the point of abstract topics can give them some room for imagination. So if you simply are arguing about this is not creative enough, on the contrary, I think this is very creative. Lincoln: Right – it’s one thing to be like, oh, you need to be creative to answer the question, but then, creativity is one of those things that there’s really no more or less of it, you’re either creative or you’re not. Yoyo: That is a very good point. Besides that, you can see it showcases a certain point of the society’s true phenomenon, because it is a reality that people are paying too much attention on the scores, and this topic has mentioned that point [BK: Right] and give them some room to leave there thoughts on this – should people be paying so much attention on scores or not. Brian: Right. Actually I think you’re totally right Wu You – this is a fantastic question to have on the gaokao, because there is nothing that epitomizes this quest for scores, both from the students and their parents, than the gaokao itself. So to be able to actually have this opportunity, to give this opportunity to students to sound off on what they think about it, is fantastic. Personally, I think first of all, the fact that these kids are getting slapped at all is not a good thing. I think it is ridiculous that you’ve gotten almost perfection, you’ve gotten excellent, and that’s somehow a problem. And I know, like you said Wu You, this is a real phenomenon, this is how a lot of parents are – they get unhappy if their kids get very close to being perfect but not, whereas in the US, you rarely see 100s anyway; it’s generally a 100 or like an A-plus, that is above and beyond. Normally if you get your “A”, your 94 to 97 or whatever, that’s seen as very good. Something, you know, that any parent would be happy to have.

20160606ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：网红养成指南LW: A guide to becoming an online Chinese celebrity. Wu You, maybe you can continue that trend.WY: Recently an article on Chinese Quora-like website Zhihu has talked about how to become an online celebrity in China. Here are some tips: it joked about number one, get the look. Let me just tell you what is the look. The pointed chin, the Roman nose, smooth and pale skin, and the snake-spirit face (蛇精脸). BK: I’m gonna first wonder, how many people naturally look like this, and I feel like the answer is not very many. You’ve got a pointed, sharp tin – to me, that looks unnatural. WY: Some even have the chin sharper than a tin opener, so that is why you can see that [BK: That’s…] it is really some tricks. You know that in China, one cosmetic surgery company gained more than ten million users in just two years, and it’s latest round of financing saw investment of some 50 million US dollars. LW: You see that on Instagram as well. It’s not just a Chinese thing. [BK: Yeah] It’s a very different look, but the kind of, the underlying principle remains the same, where it’s just kind of a very, to a large extent, very homogenized look that is considered to be “the look”. And on Instagram, maybe it’s a bit more exotic, you know, you have a great tan, nice full lips, big eyes, these high, like really high cheekbones, the people nyehh…but, that seems to be the thing on Instagram, so I mean this is not surprising. WY: And number two, selfie, selfie, selfie. And also there are some tricks, because nowadays, they have selfie stick, that you can hold your phone as far as you can make it, and 45 degrees up to your face and got the better light, and got the better angle, and then [click]. LW: Yeah, it’s just a little trick you have to make sure the sun is in front of you? You don’t want the light behind you. That’s a little photography tip for you, if you’re taking that selfie trying to become famous. Go ahead, Wu You. WY: Becoming a ‘Big V’. So here are several aspects to consider when you look to establish yourself as an online icon: just to have some key opinion[s], and be a key opinion leader. BK: It’s just like a solely, kind of – not so much like a celebrity in a visual sense, but okay, like: this person is famous for having a lot of opinions on stuff. WY: And after finish all the above, final step is: cash. [BK: Yes] [LW: Ooh.] So number five: the fan factory – turning followers into hard, cold, cash. Combining a big online influence with e-commerce can always bring huge commercial potential. Just like one famous online influencer runs an online Taobao shop, and then using her fans, she can rake about one hundred million RMB, which is around 15 million US dollars a year. BK: Right, right. I don’t really get how this is, ‘cause you see fans, you see online people of various sorts there, some with these – maybe some they, maybe they play video games online and people watch them, and people will like buy their stuff or even just like, you know, maybe they’ll pay for a digital currency and give them like these digital gifts that people can make money off of. [LW: Yeah, well…] And some people, some fans are really into that; I don’t get it. LW: Yeah, well, ‘cause that’s kind of the thin edge of the wedge, is like converting what seems to be kind of human capital, and converting that into actual capital. I think if you’ve made it to this point in time, you can sit back and almost let the money roll in almost, ‘cause it seems like, ‘cause [BK: Well…] it seems like the hard work’s basically done. WY: You need to work hard on that LW: No, I’m working hard up until that point.

20160606ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：只有酒的酒吧LW: Now, should bars have to accommodate non-drinkers as well? Now this has been interesting, from a food post blog that we saw recently that we’ve been discussing. Brian, maybe you can walk us through it a little bit. BK: Right, so the blog post is from Food52, a food blog obviously, and it was talking about the idea of being more inclusive when it comes to drinkers and non-drinkers, but obviously there’s a degree of pushback for the story there. For example, a quote from one of the bartenders in the article is “The bar is where we go when we want a drink. As a value proposition, bars are absurd. I can get a six pack of Budweiser at the bodega for five dollars, but – or you can pay eight bucks for a Budweiser to drink it, say, in a fancy sports bar. In most basic terms, the service value added there is just opening the bottle. But it’s the other elements that we get in bars, the behavioral codes, social cues, interactions, expectations and conventions.” LW: So what – basically what the idea is here, is there’s been kind of a movement or a push towards getting bars to be more inclusive when it comes to non-alcoholic drinks, but then, in return, with that, there’s been a pushback with bars where they’re actually, no, no we don’t have to do that, ‘cause this is a bar. If it was a restaurant or something else where the food is the main attraction then sure, fine, but where it comes to something being a bar, and holding that identity, it feels like, some people feel like they don’t need to necessarily cater to the wider public who might not want to be drinking. BK: Right – some people do feel like that, but there’s a couple different elements to it. First I would say commercial elements – [LW: Okay] just the profit motive for businesses. By only offering alcoholic drinks, you’re losing a potentially sizable market share or at least clients, because sometimes, let’s say you got a group of people, and maybe one of them is a non-drinker, they all go out to the bar to hang out; non-drinker wants something to drink, they don’t have it, well, that’s potential money that you could’ve got that you didn’t. Or, perhaps, you have a group of friends going, they’re all drinkers, but because they’re going to be smart and safe people, and this is in the US where everybody drives, you have a designated driver – one who does not drink, that night at least, so that everybody else and one person stays sober so they can be safe on the road. LW: Wu You? WY: Well, besides the situation, if you’re a non-drinker, if you’re having a party and you need to be in there, besides that situation, why do you want to go to a bar? LW: Okay, let me ask this question – just on top of the question Wu You just mentioned: if, for example, you were a vegetarian [WY: Yes, just like Brian is?] Okay, and you’re in a group of people, and you go to a steak restaurant, how do you manage that situation? BK: Well, I guess I’ll answer since everybody’s looking at me here. Presumably, what you would do is have a salad or something, ‘cause presumably – at least in the US, when you go to a steakhouse, they’re gonna have things besides just steaks. Some may not; that is a thing, that does happen, but normally a steakhouse will have you know, mostly steaks, but they’ll have a couple other side items that may not have meat.

20160603ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： Online Buzzwords of 2015 年度网络热词盘点来啦！ An annual report from the Ministry of Education and the National Language Committee unveiled the most popular online buzzwords of 2015 Lincoln: These buzzwords have kind of been thrown around the internet. I don’t know any of them, Yoyo, so you will have to walk us through some of them. What’s the first one? Yoyo: Okay, the first one is ‘important things are to be repeated three times’. Let me give you an example. So, during the Spring Festival holidays in China, there has been a big event where your parents or your friends will give you ‘e-red envelopes’. And when they will announce in the WeChat group, “Important things are to be repeated three times”, I will send out an ‘e-red envelope’. That means, they want you to pay attention to this. They want to attract your attention immediately. Nick: The next one is ‘the world is so big, I want to explore it’. Yoyo: Oh, there has been a background story. This comes from a middle school teacher from central China’s Henan Province. She wrote a ten-character resignation letter in April back in 2015. It caused a buzz on Chinese social media, and then everyone is just forwarding the sentence or saying it to the other person, just say “the world is big, I want to explore it”, and then go on holiday. Lincoln: I’m looking at some of the ones, from, maybe, from overseas. I think some of the ones from overseas are quite interesting as well. There’s the famous one, the famous buzzword, ‘bae’, B-A-E, I can already see Nick frowning. I’ve also got some other ones as well that I think you guys are, are you guys familiar with this? The term, ‘lit’. This is a word that’s used a lot, to be like, “Oh, did you see someone perform at the show?” “Oh yeah I did, it was lit”. Nick: And that means … Yoyo: Was it good? Lincoln: It was good. It was lit. Nick/Yoyo: Okay. Lincoln: One of the interesting things is ‘woke’. Have you guys ever heard this? Nick/Yoyo: Woke? Lincoln: As in, “stay woke”.Nick: As in, “stay awake”? Lincoln: No, as in, “stay enlightened”. Nick: What does that mean? Lincoln: You have to keep your mind, be aware of current events and cultural issues. Neither of you guys is woke. Okay, another example would be like, “Oh dude, you need to watch out for that other guy over there. Stay woke.” Nick: No, no. Lincoln: Nick, you’re not having it?Nick: I’m not having that. Lincoln: Not woke at all. And then another one of the ones that’s really popped off a lot is “savage”, which is when you’ve acted either with no regard for your own feelings or for anyone else’s feelings, you’ve done something like a savage. So something will be like “Oh dude, they made that hamburger really poorly the other day, it had way too much cheese. And then you go like “Oh, savage”. Nick: Okay, this is something else, this is an existing word taking on a new meaning. I think this is the evolution of language, I’m okay with this, I’m not okay with just making up words. Lincoln: Why are you okay with this, when the evolution of language kind of needs us to have new words? Nick: It doesn’t, there are enough words already.Lincoln: No, no, there aren’t enough words, because how else, we invent new things, we have new situations that we’ve never come across, we just have to use the words that we have? Nick: I feel that I have reached this far in my life and I have never encountered a time when I needed to express that something was ‘lit’. Lincoln: If you want to hear what condescension sounds like, it’s the ‘T’ at the end of Nick Lanigan’s “lit”. He said that with this disdain dripping from his mouth. Unbelievable. You know what, we’re all about the same age, but I feel like you guys are, like, fifteen years older than me. Just with this kind of confusion. Yoyo: No, I use the Chinese buzzwords! Important things are to be repeated three times!

New figures from a Chinese business think tank, China Index Academy, show that the average housing prices in 100 Chinese cities grew more than 10 percent year on year last month.Compared to April, May has witnessed a 1.7 percent increase.In the meantime, it's reported the top ten cities with the highest price increase in May are all second-tier cities.The academy's forecasts suggest the growth of property prices of second-tier cities is expected to be anywhere between 30 and 40 percent this year.Analysts say the heat in second-tier cities is making it difficult to reduce the number of China's unsold homes.For more on this, CRI's Tu Yun talked to CAO CAN and Einar Tangen, both CRI's financial commentators.

20160601ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：为救孩童射杀大猩猩 孰之过？LW: What’s actually happened here is Harambe, a Western Lowland Gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, was shot. Now, this has actually led to a lot of outcry publicly, globally, as well as in Cincinnati. So what happened here is, a four-year-old boy managed to get into the enclosure, into the zoo.NL: The gorilla comes over and is kind of grabbing the boy, dragging him around a bit. This was viewed to be a kind of aggressive act. LW: And I think we’re all kind of on the same side that there really wasn’t much that the zookeepers and the staff could have done other than actually, you know, take action and shoot the gorilla. But I think where it kind of gets a little bit interesting for the story, for me, is when it comes to actually, who should take responsibility for this, because, well, obviously it’s very hard to blame a four-year-old child. There have been some comments online actually blaming the zoo, and then there’s others blaming the mother, saying, well, why weren’t you paying attention to your child? How can you let your child get away, and get into this enclosure, which actually it seems like it isn’t easy to get into, because since the opening of the zoo, there’s never been anyone that’s fallen in, ever? XQD: For a parent, you want to make sure of 100% safety for your child, right? But, you know, we are normal human beings, we are not supermen, right? And you do sometimes make mistakes, just overlook your child for one or two seconds, and then something bad happens. LW: But now, we also have to keep in mind that we don’t just assign blame for when you’ve purposefully done something wrong. We assign blame for when you’ve been negligent, as well. XQD: That’s right. LW: So now, in this case, where do you think most of that blame for the negligence should fall? XQD: I’d tend to see, because we don’t know, you know, probably until the end of the investigation to see whether there’s a negligence problem on the side of the zoo, if the zookeepers failed to complete their responsibilities, then I think, probably, there is a point for the parents to launch a suit. Otherwise, you know, remember that this is the only case over the past thirty years, the first breach of the enclosure. For the parents, I’m not sure how solid that case would be if you sued the zoo. As a parent, I’m a parent, you know, I would blame myself, probably, for overlooking my child, even for one second. NL: I think it is a little bit too easy though, for, kind of the internet police, everyone on Facebook, all of these people, to come crashing down on the side of, you know, this is an awful mother, she is a terrible person, she didn’t take care of her kid. And the amount of hate she’s receiving online is unbelievable! There are petitions calling for her child to be taken away by the social services. XQD: I think it’s easy for the rest of us to point the finger at the mother or at the zookeepers. I think we should put our own feet in her shoes, you know, people make mistakes sometimes. Even parents, no matter how much love you have for your child, we do make mistakes, and we should be a little bit more considerate, more tolerant. LW: It feels to me like the ease with which the internet has taken this very complex, really quite emergency situation – it all took place in about ten minutes – and kind of made it a black and white situation where it’s very clear what should have been done and who’s guilty, and who’s culpable, that to me has been a little bit disheartening. XQD: I agree, I agree. I think, you know, there’s also a kind of mob mentality on the web, both in China and also in the rest of the world, you see on the internet sometimes, probably because of the effect of keeping anonymous, right? Some people would express their feelings directly without considering, you know, how that might be hurtful or unfair, sometimes. It’s like a phenomenon, right?

促进冬季运动 从孩子开始ZJN: The Canadian winter sport industry is aiming to improve Chinese people’s participation in winter sports through advocating grassroots education in China. LY: Canada is a country that has a fine tradition of winter sports. And Beijing will be hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. When we talk about the grassroots level Winter Olympic sports, do you think­ that the prospect is good here in China? JW: I do believe so. Basically you need to build up the grassroot development, starting from the youngsters. That means you start at five years old, and to interest the older kids and even adults, so this way you can develop a wider, and spread out the interests in the snow and ice business. And in Canada, what we do is like, when we say grassroot development, it’s not only talking about the sport. We’re talking about the Canadian value[s], which you bring in the social and cultural mentality into the sport. LY: The Olympic Games will be held in 2022 and so there are still six years to go. And during this journey, what do you expect to achieve? JW: Well, first I think that, you know like most of the facilities [are] already built. In Beijing, they will only have one speed oval track that they’re going to build. The rest, we’re gonna use Wukesong, we’re gonna use the Water Cube, we’re gonna the National Gymnasium. In Zhangjiakou, probably they will have to build a bobsled track - that’s new, they don’t have. I think they have twelve in operation in the world. So it’s a lot of projects we can be involved. And the second thing is, when you build a new facility, you have to consider what you’re going to do after the Olympics. So first instance, Richmond Hill, the speed oval track back in Vancouver – when we designed it, we designed it for after the Olympics, it will be used for the community. So Beijing will have to design something that after the fact of the Olympics, what are you gonna do with this facility? LY: Let me shift your attention to the kids’ education. Within these six years journey, what do you expect to achieve within that regard? What is the master plan of your company in educating people and improving people’s awareness of having winter sports? JW: Well, the first thing I think that sport has to be linked with the education. So, our next step is trying to get into the school and try and promote. For instance, the synthetic curling is less expensive, is fun. You have to build up the momentum where the youngster[s] are interested in that sport. So I think the best way, like we do in Canada, is we are linked to educational, we are promoting the sport, in the school, and not in the sport facility. For the synthetic curling, we have a million Canadian kids in different schools across Canada participating in that sport, and with that you build up grassroot development, and slowly the kid is interested in that sport. They can turn from synthetic to the real ice, participate in the club, and participate in the sport. In China it will not be different.

20160601ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：人为什么会哭？LW: Now, little kids do it all the time, women do it more often than men, and men only tend to do it at sports games, apparently. And the answer to this is crying. We take a look at some recent surveys. A recent study has come out that has actually kind of posed the question, why do we cry? Do we understand that we do? I think it’s very clear that we understand that we do, and we maybe even understand the things that make us cry, but we don’t understand the reason why we cry. Nick. NL: And when you stop and think about it, it’s really actually quite weird. Water comes out of your eyes and rolls down your face, and what purpose does that serve? It doesn’t seem, on the face of it, to have any kind of biological explanation. LW: The psychologist William Frey, he did a study, back about thirty years ago or so, which I think is still relevant, and he found that women cry, on average, 5.3 times a month, as men only cry 1.3 times a month, which is fantastic, because I didn’t know there was a .3 of a cry. NL: What is one cry? LW: Exactly! Is it one cry across the whole day? Or is it, you know, a series of unrelated cries? Or if you cry twice about two different things, are those two cries? And they found also that, on average, when a woman cries it’s likely to be for five or six minutes, compared with two or three minutes. NL: Maybe women have, you know, more stored water reserves than men. LW: I have no idea. WY: Oh, come on! Come on! LW: Wu You, let me ask you this. Wu You, do you, on average, are you above or below that average of 5.3 times a month? WY: 5.3 times a month? That is too little! That is underestimated. LW: Too little? Wow, that seems like quite a lot. WY: I can spend that quota in one day! LW: So five cries, just one day? WY: It’s just like, sometimes, when you’re crying for like twenty minutes, you might be a little bit tired, and you need a rest, and you need to calm down and restore your energy for five minutes. LW: Oh, restore. Is that when you do the whole [panting sounds], that’s when you can’t breathe any more, you just, what makes you, what makes you cry, Wu You? WY: Very touching South Korean TV series. LW: Oh, okay. WY: You know, the main character died. LW: But what else that make you cry? WY: In real life? LW: Real life situations. What makes you cry? WY: Okay, just like, very touching presents. LW: Oh, okay, so gratitude, just kind of. WY: Yeah. LW: Oh, that’s great, okay. WY: Tears are more like a pearl in the scallop, or tears symbolize the words when you’re talking. LW: Okay, all right. Nick, what about you? Do they, are they the pearls in your scallop? Are you crying on a, are you above or below that 1.3? NL: I reckon I’m below, you know. LW: You reckon you’re below.NL: I don’t think I’ve cried in the last month other than for like, chopping onions. WY: No way, no way. LW: No no no no no Nick, we’re not going to allow that, we’re not going to allow that, think, think, you know what, I will actually give you a little bit of a time to think, I’ll tell you the last time I cried, it was actually watching the film Room, that I was in tears. I was flooded in tears by the end of that. And before that, it was for the Inside Out. WY: That was a cartoon. LW: Yes, I was very emotional when I watched that one! Yeah, but those kind of things tend to get to me as well, I totally get what you mean, Wu You, like, I don’t really respond in tears to real-life situations, it’s mostly hypothetical ones and animation. What about you, Nick? What makes you cry? NL: Okay, I’ve got one, I don’t know if it’s necessarily the last time, but it’s a time. There’s a program on in the UK in which people who have, like, a long-lost relative come on, and then the show tracks them down, and then they get reunited. WY: That’s touching. NL: Yeah, there’s always this ridiculous scene at the end where they’ve built it up, and built it up, and built it up, and there’s violins playing, and one of them is sitting in a room, and the other one’s coming up the stairs. WY/LW: Yeah.

ZCG: The meeting has set five priorities in the country’s innovation drive, and among them, the establishment of a rich talent pool of scientists with global vision. How would you say China can really reverse this brain drain, that has been going on for quite a while and retain the best scientific talents in the country. LBC: I think in the first place, we are not really intending to build a pet house to simply to keep those scientists in an isolated surrounding. So therefore we need not only to have global vision, but you also need to have constant global interaction with cutting edge research development so that they will be able to keep abreast with what is going on. And to own those science is not really important but really to access, through those scientists interactions, to the leading technology. That’s something very important. BK: Well another thing that President Xi addressed particularly on this issue was – he said that scientists should be allowed to freely and boldly explore and experiment. How would you say that fits into maintaining the top scientific talents? LBC: I think, that’s very important that the scientists will be given full liberty in their imagination, in their trial and error efforts, and we have to build a tolerant culture, that we have to be able to tolerate failure, because the innovation will result most likely in failure, but with the accumulation of failure, this will lead to a sort of break-through. And having said that, the government will have really limited role. So, a draconian type or patriarchal type will not really lead decisive innovation, so it is really the market that can offer the best drive because need is the mother of invention. You know, if you look at those top innovation, it is really the consumer spending, that they demand new products, and new products will channeled into the need for the new innovation in the area of R&D. And plus, there needs also to be a division of labor. The state will fund big, research institutions, and universities for basic discovery, but the state cannot go as far as commercialization. So the, you know, for example in the US, it is really the NASDAQ, you know, the venture capitalists who are supporting the R&D, and the big companies will also, support those R&D because they have close connectivity, and they are well-informed of what is going on in certain R&D labs. So, the government, R&D firms supported by financial market, and also the big multinational companies, so these play different role in supporting a sort of integrated innovation process. So only relying on the government to burn the money, it is not really cost-effective.

20160531ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 拖延症 怎么得的? 该怎么治? Lincoln: All of us have problems every now and again, or most of us at the very least have problems, procrastinating. A recent report cited in the Washington Post tries to get to the bottom of why, Nick. Nick: Yes, so procrastination, as you said, is something which is kind of a minor annoyance in most people’s lives, but according to some studies it can even be detrimental to your health. A study found that people who were considered regular procrastinators of university age had higher stress levels, they were more likely to become ill. A couple of reasons were given for why we think that people procrastinate. People think that it’s kind of a failure to self-regulate. Lincoln: You a big procrastinator, Nick? Nick: I’m a YouTube video watcher. Lincoln: What sort of YouTube? Instructive, or what is it? Nick: Instructive, you know, we’re talking documentaries about completely unrelated things. Lincoln: Penguins falling off a cliff, stuff like that? Nick: Absolutely. Back when I was studying, I was a terrible procrastinator, and actually I realized, after a while, too, that I was including procrastinating even within my work. So in the program I was studying we would have some really big assignments and some much more frequent, but much smaller, ones, and I would always put off the big one and just do the small ones first. Lincoln: How about you, Yoyo? Yoyo: Okay, I used to be a procrastinator because while I was in school, I always took back home a huge luggage of books, something that I thought I might read during the holiday. So, I would think that I will make good use of that time. And it turns out, I start a new semester, I take back the same luggage with the books that I haven’t ever read a page of! That’s so bad. Lincoln: Oh no! Both of you guys are not good. Clearly, I never struggle with procrastination. No, that’s not true. I actually do struggle with it quite a bit, actually. I find myself, when I have work to do, I’ll usually put something on in the background, say, if I know that this album, or this particular thing, is maybe thirty minutes long, I’ll put that on in the background and say I’ll work for the length of those thirty minutes, and then I’ll stop. But what often ends up happening is, after thirty minutes, something else catches my eye. Nick: Or the background thing has become the foreground thing. Lincoln: Yes, the foreground. And there’s a big disconnect between your current self and your future self. So the idea is that your current self will do something it knows will hurt your future self, but most people have very little empathy for their future selves. In your head it’s a different person. Yoyo: And sometimes, if we simply put it off, in reality it will come back and bite us. But there can be better methods, because Mark Twain once said, “If your job is to eat a frog, eat it first thing in the morning. And if your job is to eat two frogs, eat the big one first”. Lincoln: That’s a good point, because here’s the interesting thing. You’re saying just get it done. After the end of a year, I don’t really know what I did with my time or what my state of mind was. So I have this journal, and I write in it and I plan my life, but now I’ve found that I’ve actually had to plan to write in this planner now. I’ve procrastinated so much about writing in this thing. Nick: When you’re procrastinating about procrastinating, you know things have gone too far. Lincoln: Yeah, and you know, it’s a vicious cycle, it could go, who knows where it could end up. What about nowadays? Like, in a more modern setting, like now, in 2016, now that you don’t have two holidays. How do you procrastinate? Yoyo: Nowadays I think I’m getting better, it’s because I have a special trick. It’s called rewarding and encouragement system. I will have a simple plan. If I want to finish this article, I will simply say, “If I finish this, I will reward myself with new shoes or a new dress!" Lincoln: This is what I know is going to happen, you’re going to reward yourself, and then you’re going to forget to do the thing. I can see it coming!

20160527ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 络腮胡也收税？！ Lincoln: Now, a barber has proposed a very interesting tax. Michael, maybe you can kick us off.Michael: Maybe not so much in China, but in the UK, in the US, in a lot of western countries, beards have become tremendously fashionable. People go around with their buttoned-up shirts and their fixed-gear bikes and their beards, and it’s become a hipster staple over the last few years, and one barber in the UK has called on the government to implement a beard tax. He proposes that the tax would be £100 a year, so that’s about 1,000 kuai a year under his proposed law, while those with more modest stubble would only have to cough up £50, so about 500 kuai. I don’t even know where to begin with this. How would you possibly enforce a beard tax? Is there a debt collector who comes and knocks on your door?Yoyo: Usually, if people tax something, they will put the money into infrastructure or for good causes, so if they tax beards, how do they want to use the money?Michael: His idea was that he would put this plan to George Osborne, who’s the UK Chancellor, and propose that the extra money could be used to help plug the hole in the national budget.Lincoln: Apparently, something like this, it’s been reported, has actually existed before. There is evidence that in 1910, the state of New Jersey in the United States introduced a levy on facial hair.Michael: And interestingly, people with ginger beards were taxed an extra 20% on top of the flat rate. Now, I wonder if this has anything to do with racial discrimination. A lot of Irish immigrants came over to New Jersey and that part of the US, and a lot of Irish people tend to have quite ginger hair, so I wonder if there’s a correlation between the two, there.Lincoln: Quite possible, and we don’t even know why they introduced the beard tax in the first place, so we don’t know why they did that for every other man, as well. Now, I know you shave a fair bit, Michael. Is it a hassle? Is it something that you quite enjoy having? Michael: I mean, I have to get up quite early for work. It’s really more of a hindrance than anything else. I shave my head at the same time, with the same razor. It just saves a lot of time. If I had a job where I had to look in any way presentable, I’d probably shave every day, or at least every other day.Lincoln: What I would want is a nice little thin one, like Hercule Poirot, like a French private investigator.Michael: Something that you can twirl.Lincoln: Yeah, I would love to be able to twirl it.Yoyo: Oh, that is just like Captain Jack [Sparrow], Johnny Depp.Lincoln: Yeah, I think that’s perhaps a bit too much. I think thin, on the lip, just uncomfortable for everyone around me, because they feel like they have to talk about it, and I’m just quite oblivious to the whole thing.Michael: The great thing about having a beard, or having facial hair, is that there’s always something to play with, you know, absent-mindedly, especially if you have a moustache, you can just twirl the ends, or just lick the ends with your tongue. A good thing is, if you’re having soup, or something that’s quite thick, you actually get a second bite of the cherry, so to speak, because once you’ve had the initial spoonful, there’s usually a little bit that gets stuck in your top lip, and then you can just lick that down, or maybe a few hours later, maybe something’ll get stuck in [WY: Save it for later] Just have a little snack.

美国允许变性学生任选厕所引争议TY: Eleven US states have filed a lawsuit challenging the federal government's recent efforts to expand the rights of transgender students. The White House issued a directive earlier this month, mandating that all students be allowed to use the toilet that matches their gender identity. The Obama administration has threatened to withhold federal education aid to states that do not comply with the directive.BK: So, first of all, could you briefly go over the arguments for both sides of the issue?RD: Well, the argument for the states is that the, that the states should have the right to set their own laws and the excuse they give for forcing transgender people to use the bathroom of the opposite gender with which they identify, is this idea of little girls being molested by men. Having said that, there is not much evidence of transgender people having molested anybody in bathrooms. From the federal government’s standpoint, it is that discrimination is wrong and that people should be able to use the bathrooms of whatever gender they identify with. If somebody is dressed as a man, if somebody has a – who’s a transgender person has a beard, they shouldn’t be forced to go into the women’s room because their original birth certificate said that they were born a woman.BK: People have made comments as to the, especially for people who do appear to be individuals of the opposite gender, using the bathroom of their birth gender, that could potentially even cause a certain amount of discomfort there. But, going back to the safety issue, you said there hasn’t been much, many cases of, for example, men going into women’s bathrooms and molesting girls. How much of a safety issue is there overall, either for people pretending to be one gender and going in for ill purposes, or for transgender individuals actually being at risk going in to the…RD: Again, the issue is – I’m not saying there’s never been a case of molestation in bathrooms, it’s just by transgender individuals, there has not been an issue. There are issues of, particularly men, preying on young boys and young girls, but that’s a whole separate issue that wouldn’t be solved by any of this legislation. I mean, in terms of safety, I think there’s more a risk of safety [for] transgender individuals if they’re forced to go into bathrooms that don’t match their identity, because people could pick on them, or people might be insulted if somebody in a beard comes into a women’s room.

20160526ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 美国"泄愤屋" 专治不开心！ Lincoln: Now, a new therapy for rage is – if you’ll excuse this – all the rage, Michael. Maybe you can explain a little bit more about what they’re doing. Michael: Yeah, so this chap called Shawn Baker started a company based in Houston. It’s what’s known as a “rage room” where people come and they destroy inanimate objects – you know, old televisions, things of that nature, using baseball bats. Lincoln: Yeah, and he formed “Tantrums”, which has the slogan “relaxation after devastation”. Actually, that’s pretty good, but why specifically in Houston, Michael? Michael: Well, Houston, Texas obviously has a large oil and gas and drilling industry, and obviously, low oil and gas prices, we’ve seen a lot of over the course of the last couple of years, and obviously Houston has been particularly badly hit, so that would certainly explain why a lot of people feel a bit disaffected and disenfranchised, and release a bit of rage every now and again. Lincoln: Yoyo, what do you make of this? Yoyo: I have a different opinion. The only difference between human beings and monkeys is because we can communicate, and we don’t really need this kind of relaxation after devastation therapy, because you have lots of methods to release your anger, to release your rage [instead of] paying someone $25 or $85 [for] only a five-minute session to smash some television to release your anger, and also, do you think that is sustainable? Because this time you pay this money to release your anger, what about next time? You need to pay again, and [eventually] you need to have a year membership of that rage release room. Do you think that is sustainable? Of course not. Lincoln: Well, let me say this though: maybe it’s not sustainable on a regular basis, but every now and again, if you feel things are getting a bit too much, maybe this isn’t a bad idea. Boom, boom, boom, hit all those televisions straight up! Yoyo: That is a question of your characteristics, because you cannot even control your emotion. I can totally understand that we all, as normal human beings, we have [times when things really get to] us and we feel so angry, but there can be better methods to deal with it, because it’s not the only way, smashing things and being so violent. You can deal with it. I have a method. We can go jogging, we can swim, we can do exercise, or there’s an even better method: doing housework, washing clothes. It’s a very good way to just release your anger. Lincoln: I’m very likely to have to go and visit one of these rage rooms if I have to do housework, if that’s something that’s going to have to happen to me. What about you, Michael? How do you release your stress? Michael: I must say, this does sound like tremendous fun. Lincoln: It does, though, doesn’t it? Michael: Although it’s interesting to note that a lot of psychologists, and people who you would think know a lot about this sort of behavioural phenomenon, they’re not really on board with the whole thing. [Clinical psychology professor Todd Kashdan says] “When you’re bashing glass or hitting a telephone or a TV set with a baseball bat, you’re going to attack some inanimate object. That just increases your arousal and thus makes you even angrier”, and I agree with Wu You, perhaps not on the housework front, but I do agree that I think that there are better outlets for this sort of thing. If I was feeling like this and I went out for a ten-mile run, I think when I came back I’d be feeling considerably less angry. Lincoln: I agree with both of you from that sense. I still think it does have some sort of – well, a short-term kind of release, but that being said, I also agree with you – it just seems like fun. Michael: If I was really stressed, and considering we’re in China, why not try taking up Tai Chi, so you can be at peace with yourself? Yoyo: Yin and Yang in your body can balance, and you have the inner peace. Lincoln: Yeah, I mean, if you’re feeling that rage, that anxiety building up, maybe just talk to someone, go for a run, something like that.

20160525ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 考古证明--中国五千年前就会酿啤酒研究人员在西安市米家崖遗址处发现了5000年前酿制啤酒的证据。这是迄今在中国发现的最早酿酒证据。Michael: We all know that China has 5,000 years of history and culture, but now a recent discovery suggests there might be a little more to ancient China than we first thought. Researchers revealed earlier this week that residue on some pottery from an archaeological site in China has revealed the earliest evidence of beer being brewed in the country, left from a recipe dating to around 3,400-2,900 BC. The artifacts showed that people from that era had already mastered what was termed an advanced beer brewing technique that contained elements from East and West. Now, what’s particularly interesting about this is that this discovery indicates that barley had made its way to China some 1,000 years earlier than previously believed from more western regions, in what is now probably the Middle East. I’m surprised by this, because I thought ancient China was more synonymous with tea. Yoyo: Yeah, normally tea, but also, the white liquor in China is also quite popular, because you can see from many historical books, you can see there have been stories about the kings, the emperors or the servants, they are having the white liquor, the Chinese white liquor. Michael: Some experts said that [this beer] was actually brewed in very similar ways to those that beer is brewed [in] today. A bio-molecular archaeologist called Patrick McGovern, who is also known as the “Indiana Jones” of ancient beer, he said that there would probably have been very stringent controls on temperature for this kind of beer, as the Chinese brewery was said to be underground, which would, of course, have kept conditions cool. He also said that the introduction of barley, which presumably came from the Middle East, or from further west, into a Chinese drink, suggests it was a somewhat exotic drink, which would have appealed to the elite individuals of the time. Lincoln: I think it’s very interesting, as well, especially when you bear in mind just how interesting and unique the Chinese beer market is, and it’s very heavily, heavily segmented. You can go from one village to the other and people drink completely different kinds of beer. Michael: I agree with that sentiment – you get different beers in different cities and everything like that – but they all taste the same. [WY: No, Michael!] In my experience, it’s all very watery and very tasteless. I put it to you that if you did a blind tasting of several different Chinese beers made for the Chinese market – so for example, Snow, Tsingtao, Yanjing, Harbin – I doubt you’d be able to tell much of a difference, to be honest with you. Yoyo: Michael, you might be a sensitive person, but your tongue is apparently not that sensitive to beer! Michael: I’m just saying what I see, Wu You, or rather what I taste. Yoyo: OK, let me tell you something about Chinese beer. Apparently, China is the world’s largest consumer of beer by volume, and some beer that I can introduce you too is Snow Beer, the best-selling beer in the world [and] it is from my hometown. Thank you, I’m feeling so proud. As of 2008, it’s the best-selling beer brand in the world. Lincoln: But, we should stress, only sold in China. Michael: You mentioned there, Wu You, Snow Beer is the best-selling beer in the world; Tsingtao, also Chinese, is number two; Yanjing, also Chinese, is number six, and they’re all terrible! Lincoln: Maybe we should move onto something else as well, because there’s been a really vibrant development of the craft beer scene here in Beijing, Michael. Michael: The rise of craft beer in places like Beijing and Shanghai over the last few years, I do think that’s directly related to the fact that mass-produced Chinese beer, like Tsingtao and Snow and Yanjing, is very weak, and it caters for what has traditionally, I suppose, been the Chinese taste, and I think, as more people become more cosmopolitan and go abroad and try different kinds of beer, I think Chinese people are coming back to China with raised expectations of what they want from a glass of beer, and I think that directly contributes to the rise of craft breweries in Beijing. You see a lot of them in Beijing and Shanghai, and maybe a lot of them are set up by foreigners, you know, people from America or the UK or wherever else, who want to recreate an American style of craft beer, and that’s all well and good, but you’re only going to survive as a business model if you cater to the Chinese market too. If you look at any of the brewpubs that you see in Beijing here, I think you’ll see a roughly 50:50 split, or even more Chinese people in there than foreigners, and I think this is a reaction to the Snow and the Yanjing and the Tsingtao and whatever else, which is very cheap, but also very weak and very tasteless. I think it’s a reaction to that.

20160524ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 男人跟哥们泡吧 就能减压？ Lincoln: Now, scientists say that there might be a scientific reason behind boys’ nights out. Michael, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit. Michael: So this is a survey conducted by anthropologists at the University of Göttingen. They have proved, seemingly incontrovertibly, that men need to have a lads’ night out, and they did this by studying the behaviour of macaque, Barbary macaque monkeys, which proved that male bonding is a crucial method for creating a feeling of security and for reducing stress among male Barbary macaques. Levels of male stress hormone went up quite significantly when male macaques were with their partner or with other family members, and it went down when they were in a group simply with other males. Lincoln: Yoyo, what do you make of this? Yoyo: OK, it seems like if they’re simply talking about the macaques, the monkeys, I still remember when I was watching [the Discovery Channel] or all those kinds of documentaries, it showcased all the male monkeys, they stay together and they pick out the bugs on each other’s backs, and they just touch [each other’s] fur, and they will calm each other down, so does it mean that we still have human behaviour testing from monkeys? Michael: Well, I mean, you could sort of translate or transpose that to, then, a bunch of guys having a pint in the pub, but there’s a suggestion that lad culture has perhaps been unfairly maligned. Yoyo: What is the age when you are referring to the word “lad”? Michael: I suppose it’s the 20s. It’s the gap between adolescence and, I would say, full-blown adulthood, you know, when you’ve got kids and a mortgage and wife and car. [Yoyo: Simply, responsibility] Exactly, yeah, Lincoln: Quite understandably, because it’s quite important for a person’s development to not just go straight from being a teenager, or a very young adult, and go straight into having all of life’s responsibilities thrust upon you immediately, so this kind of latency period actually has some value. Yoyo: But the question is: do you really want to make a bridge between the two parts, or do you simply want to go back to [childhood]? Michael: That’s a very good question. I think you could argue that there’s a certain infantilization of adulthood now anyway. Lincoln: I do love playing video games every now and again with my friends. Now that I think about it and I am grown up, never – never going to stop doing that! Wu You, what about women? Yoyo: We do not actually have that infantilization of adulthood, because we stay forever young. For girls, we go out, and we go shopping together, while we give suggestions to each other about make-up, about dresses, and also we gossip about men, we always have different topics, and we have a nice dinner together, and then we go to KTV. Michael: See, this study is all about the fact that men need a nice time together, but I don’t see why you can’t apply that logic to women as well. Lincoln: 100 percent. Female time together is often much more constructive, because I have friends that I’ve known for years that I know nothing about. One of my best friends, who I’ve known for two years, I fairly recently found out that he has more than one sister. It’s something that you never really engage with people, necessarily. Yoyo: So you mean that you get together first of all because you want to relax, you want to [relieve] stress, but actually when you do get together, you didn’t talk about problems? [Lincoln: I think so] You’re avoiding problems! Lincoln: It’s Friday, you know, we all have our problems. I came here to forget mine, I didn’t come here to take on yours. Yoyo: Or do you think that men tend to save problems for themselves and solve it by themselves, instead of talking about it loudly with their friends? Michael: I definitely do that. Lincoln: Which is also not necessarily the best way to go about it, because it can all run together on you.

20160523ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题：剁手党的福音来了！ 再买就电！ 电手环帮你解决买买买成瘾的问题~Lincoln: Some of us might have some trouble saving, some of us may be spending way too much, but actually there could be a “shocking” way to fix that, Yoyo. Yoyo: Exactly, it is a shocking way. A recent report says that a new bracelet has been invented to help wearers quit over-spending habits, so this wristband will give you an electric shock if you overspend. It says that the wristband would reduce people’s cravings to help put [the] brakes on one’s shopping sprees. It [is] connected to bank accounts. Once the bracelet detects a drop below a threshold that the user has previously set, it will then trigger a harmless zap to the wearers. Michael: Another thing – I mean, you talked there about the fact that it was linked with people’s bank accounts and everything, ok. I get that – you set a certain threshold, and if you go beyond that threshold, it’ll give you a zap, or whatever. Why would a bank actually encourage you not to spend money? They want you to spend as much money as possible, because then, especially if you’re paying back a credit card, then it’s more interest and everything like that. Why would they want to do that? Lincoln: Well, I think, Michael, what it is, actually, is it’s the idea that if a bank would provide this as a product, like if you were going to different banks, and you could choose one, you know maybe you have a little bit of trouble saving, and this bank says, “You know what? Actually, we have this thing for you that might actually help”, maybe you’ll choose to bank there. Michael: It’s a bit patronizing isn’t it? Lincoln: It is very patronizing! You know what it’s called? Michael: It’s called the Pavlock, I think. Lincoln: The Pavlock! Yoyo: The name is inspired by the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov, who was known for his work in classical conditioning. Lincoln: I love that, that’s a great name, though, very clever. I’m just looking at the website for the company right now, and apparently it says it’s a bolt-emblazoned bracelet – that’s fun to say – that promises to turn your resolutions into reality by zapping you with an electric shock every time you get into a bad habit, so it’s not necessarily just over-spending, it’s actually also all the other bad habits that you have. It’s not cheap, it’s more than $250. Yoyo: That is already overspending! Lincoln: Oh, really? Yeah, maybe you should… Michael: Maybe once you buy it, you’ll put it on and then immediately you’ll get a shock for being foolish enough to spend that sort of money on a bracelet in the first place. I’m looking at the list here, and so in addition to overspending, you’ve got sleeping in, or spending too much time on certain websites, if it’s linked to your IP address, and maybe it’ll give you a short shock to remind you of what you should be doing instead. There’s another one here: overeating. I’ve no idea how that would possibly work, unless it’s linked up to your stomach somehow, like measuring your stomach acid levels. Lincoln: Yeah, this is a difficult one, because I think if it works according to an app and it’s connected to your smartphone, you have to physically [input] what you’ve eaten incorrectly, or how you’ve strayed from your diet. It hinges on you then still having the discipline to write into the app. I would put it to you that if you need this pavlock in the first place, then maybe discipline isn’t your strong point!

20160520ou 锵锵三人行今日话题：聊聊那些你追过的美剧的评分Lincoln: Something very interesting has come out that shows that men have a disproportionate amount of influence on how series, music or films are reviewed on the internet. Statistics site FiveThirtyEight took a look at exactly how review scores are aggregated. IMBD is the major one. You see the number “7.1”. They found that men influence that number is disproportional compared to women. There is a little bit more to it Nick, maybe you can help us out. Nick: I think the big example of this theory is the show ‘Sex and the City’ which I think everyone has heard of or seen at least one episode of. Most people would agree that this is a show aimed predominantly at women and women tend to like it more than male viewers. If you look at the online score, it only gets seven out of ten in the rating which classifies it as ‘average’. However only 60 percent of the people who were voting for it were women, which means that 40 percent of them are men. You could argue that they are not the intended audience of the show. Lincoln: What they found was that if you take away the male votes, that on average it goes up to 8.1 percent. They also found that on average male voters only assigned it a 5.8. percent, which is ‘average’ to ‘mediocre’. What’s happening here is that the people, who the show isn’t mean for, are having a disproportionate amount of say in how that show is reviewed and how that show is considered. ‘Sex and the City’ by the way is a really successful show, it won seven Emmys it won Golden Globe nominations. Yoyo: In China the IMBD equivalent is Douban. Many people read it before they want to start watching a television series. Many people want to comment on the shows that they really liked. That can form a positive circle because more people comment on it on new media and more people see the positive comments and they want to see the TV show. That is how the ratings can be so high. Lincoln: Which is actually not the case on IMBD or other rating websites in the West. What we found was that when they split shows along gender; the very top shows (the ones that have 9+ ratings) for the most part men and women watch it together. They all give positive comments. When it went down below that and when shows broke down into gender; what they found was that more women watch males shows, than male watch female shows but men comment more on female shows and women don’t really comment on male shows.

马云取消反假联盟大会演讲 谁的错？Alibaba founder Jack Ma has canceled a speech at an anti-counterfeiting conference in the United States after the trade group behind it suspended the e-commerce giant's recently gained membership.At least three members of the Washington-based International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, or IACC, including board member Tiffany, quit the group in protest others threatened to leave after Alibaba was admitted as a member in April.A week ago, the IACC suspended the new category in which Alibaba was admitted, effectively terminating its membership.For a further look at the story, CRI's TU Yun talked to Einar Tangen Cao Can, both CRI's financial commentators.

中国人6000万英镑购买阿斯顿维拉 值吗？The English football club Aston Villa has confirmed that Chinese businessman Tony Xia has agreed to buy the relegated club.Villa's American owner Randy Lerner put the club on the market in 2014.The takeover deal is reported to be worth 60 million pounds, or nearly 90 million US dollars, following Aston Villa’s relegation from the Premier League last month.For a further look at the issue, CRI's Tu Yun talked to Mike Bastin, director of the China Business Center at Southampton Solent University in London, and Liu Zhiqin, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.

20160519ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题 - 城会玩啊： 网游玩的好，竟还能把工作找？！ 近日，在江苏的某场招聘会上， 会打网游竟成为了应聘者的一个加分项。 Lincoln: Now video games have long been seen as the past time of children or man-children or women. The idea is that if you’re still playing video games maybe you don’t necessarily have everything together in your life. In recent times there has been competitive gaming and games have become some of the biggest selling entertainment titles in the world, and it seems now that I might even help you get a job. Yoyo: At a recent job fair, some prospective employees were surprised to learn that some employers would also value their online gaming skills. This is at a job fair in China’s Eastern coastal Jiangsu province. With 5000 job seekers and 200 companies joining the fair, one job-seeker said that he was shocked when he was asked if he plays ‘League of Legends’, an online game that is quite popular in China. He told the employers that he plays in a server that hosts the most players that have already been part of the company. Lincoln: Now this is an interesting thing here. Now I’m starting to think that doesn’t actually have much to do with what video games adds to you in terms of your personal skills, what it does add to is an ability to network well. So you see what I mean here. It’s not that he’s a more employable person because he was on this gaming server, it’s because when he was on this gaming server, he was able to meet people who were in the company in the first place. I think that’s quite interesting. I’m in my twenties now so a lot of the people my age also grew up playing video games. You can make some really good contacts playing video games [Nick: Really?] Yeah. These are people who are in business or whatever, and if you engage on a platform like that you can make some good contacts. So from sense I can see the merit. I still can’t see how that would make you more employable. It used to be golf or tennis, maybe now it’s video games. Yoyo: Maybe for this game it depends on forming a team, and that means you need to have the ability to co-ordinate a team and for problem-solving. Maybe that is the part new employers are interested in. Lincoln: I disagree. I think this is purely a case of this being one of those ‘who-you-know’ things. We always see these articles about what makes someone hire-able. Most of the time people have the minimum requirements of the job, but the one thing that you can’t really write down is this thing called ‘fit’. Will someone fit into the office, or the team or the team culture? Someone can be very good at their job, but if they don’t fit companies find that they run into trouble. You always find these weird little metrics on the side, and I suppose video games can be as good an indicator as anything else.

20160518ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 夜深了，你为何还不睡？ Nick: A lot of research and science has been done on sleep. I turns out that a lot of it turn out to be things about theory, things that we think, things that seem logical. Some of this new research seems to suggests that might not be the case. The data that has been used in this new study comes from an app that can be used to help users overcome jetlag. People who travel a lot for their job or for whatever reason, find themselves traveling between different time zones, and their internal body clock becomes messed up, because when you’re traveling between different countries the times are obviously different. So they have developed this app that people can download where you would put in the time zone that you usually live in the time that you would normally go to bed; your normal sleeping pattern. [You would then enter] the time zone that you would travel to and for how long. The app would then come up with a time zone, a recommended sleeping schedule, alter your sleeping pattern or have a nap or go to bed earlier or later.It calculates it for you to minimize the disruption on your sleeping cycle. An option was included to share the data that they put in, with scientists who are working on sleep. 8 percent were happy to share the information. Which is a disappointingly small number for the scientists I imagine but there was enough of a number for the scientists to do some research. These 8 percent were the sample and the study which was done at the University of Michigan came up with some predictions. They found that from the time the sun rises and sets has less effect on people’s sleeping pattern that we previously thought. Yoyo: Also I think the point is that people always value their inner body clock. If they usually wake up early then they would wake up. If they don’t feel tired in the evening then they will delay their bedtime. With the development of modern technologies and sometimes with all these gadgets they have a light and peoples’ bodies would react to the light which might mistake it for sunlight and [your body] might think it is day time and your body will try and stay awake. Nick: I think you’ve made a separate but very important point, which is that technology is influencing our sleep and keeping us up later. There are so many things that you could do now that you have technology and all of these gadgets. Hundreds of years ago, there was nothing that you could do because it was just dark and you couldn’t see anything.

20160517ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 挑食原来不怪你Nick: An anthropologist who has done a study at the university of Pennsylvania has done some research and she has asked a lot of different qualities about the texture the flavor, other qualities of the food. Things like the color or more hygiene related questions, like how is the food served? The study found that selective eating (or picky eating) is especially common among children. Almost 50% of children are reported to be picky eaters. There may be good evolutionary biological reasons for this, because when children are young they are not always aware of what is around them. Obviously in the modern day environment you are not going to surround your child with things that are going to poison them if they eat it. Lincoln: It’s a leftover mechanism from much more primitive times. Nick：Back in the day there were a lot of things that you could come into contact with a lot of things that would make you sick or do you harm if you ate them. Children have evolved this picky eating mechanism that would stop them from getting sick if they ate certain foods. Lincoln: There is also the fact that children tend to have more taste buds than adults and you lose those taste buds as you become older. Just to give an example of this; when I was a child, I absolutely hated broccoli. I could not stand it. My parents were at the dinner table for hours on end because they would say that no one is leaving the table until we finish this broccoli. And I said to them, ‘settle in guys, I’m not eating broccoli’. Now I absolutely love it, I don’t even know why I decided that I now like it. Yoyo: Another scientist at Yale said that people who avoided strong tasting foods like alcohol or anything else actually have more taste buds than non-choosy people. Lincoln: The idea is that those people actually experience flavors more. We drink. We have alcohol and really spicy food that burn your taste buds, so maybe you’re not able to taste those subtle little flavors. Little dollops of sauce; you can’t taste it as much because you’ve burned them all of with spicy Sichuan hot pot. So something to keep in mind Wu You. It is very true that children often much more fussy in terms of what they like to eat. A lot of parents can get very annoyed with these things but you have to understand that there are reasons for these things, even if we don’t understand them fully.

20160516ou 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 百鸟朝凤， 能否一跪解千愁？ Yoyo: So during the week one of the hottest topics- In a live streaming interview on Weibo, a Chinese film producer knelt down to ask cinema managers to increase the screening quota for the amount of theatres his movie will be showing. This is Fang LI a 63-year old man who was doing a favor for the daughter of the late film director Wu Tianming to help promote the film. Fang Mi is the producer . After this controversial video many film directors and celebrities have voiced their support. Fans pleas and the support worked. The Box office hit 14. million yuan or around $2.1 million on May 14, a leap from 3 million yuan reported two days ago. Nick: Now this isn’t answering the question; is the film any good Yoyo? Have you seen it? Yoyo: I haven’t yet but i have seen the trailer and some articles about it simply because of the hot video thing going online which attracted my attention. If it was not for this I would not have been able to notice it. The film Sound of the Phoenix revolved around a double reed home performer who tries to pass on the art from despite its falling popularity in China. That is the story and many people believe that this is more like an art film. Which is why many people believed it may be for the minority of people. Lincoln: There are almost about 300 cinema chains in China with more than 5000 movie theaters and with more than 24 000 screens. This is over 2 years ago, I imagine that now there would be even more. The interesting thing is that with this desperate plea, where I think the producer was coming from was that if the big commercial theatres did not pick up his movie, no one would see it. In Europe and America you have an art house circuit so if a movie doesn’t make to a big theatres there are all these film festivals where producers come and watch things Yoyo: or art house theatresLincoln: yeah,Cinemas for the more discerning viewer. Where you can go and watch something if you don’t want to watch a minion falling off a cliff. The idea here is that the Chinese film industry is still growing, so for the most part if you want to see films as they come out, the only real option is to go to a theatre. Nick: In terms of what they can do instead. I mean we’re talking about it right now; this has opened up the question of how these films are doing? What can be done to promote them more? Maybe we’ll see some kind of recognition for film of this kind. Perhaps [it will encourage] a slot available for this or a specific cinema to encourage people to continue making films like this that aren’t necessarily the big block buster su

20160513ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 为职业妇女推出新的emoji表情 Brian: What do you do when you find yourself unable to express your..something in words? You use an emoji, of course, especially if you’re a young, digitally-active type. They’ve been around for a while, but their degree of inclusiveness has prompted some questions. Now, in response to such concerns, Google will be adding more professional emojis of women. So what exactly is the deal here? Nick: Well, yes, we’re talking here about the little pictures that you can send in digital messages via your messaging apps, in text messages, on your phones. People have started to notice that when it comes to the activities that people are doing in these emojis, there is a bit of a difference in terms of the gender split between the emojis. So there are not many – or, in fact we can’t seem to think of any at all – of women doing things other than traditional feminine activities like dancing or painting their fingernails, and people have started to complain about this. Yoyo: When it comes to emojis you can always see that there are emojis with women being brides or princesses, getting a haircut, or even going dancing with a red dress – in high heels! Brian: In high heels, of course! Because clearly, this is a symbol of femininity. Yoyo: And then you can see some men emojis, they are doing a lot of activities: going boating, surfing, and some of them wearing suits, they are being so professional! Some of them are wearing different hats, just like they are policemen, they are wearing a police hat, and some of them they are the guards, they are wearing that kind of huge, black hats in the UK. Brian: Ah, yes, the guards of Buckingham Palace. I think they are actually exclusively men, although our British colleague here can tell me if I’m wrong. Yoyo: The US First Lady Michelle Obama also responded on Twitter, saying she would like to see an emoji of a girl studying. Nick: Users of emojis may remember that last year they introduced smiley faces of various different skin colours, so instead of the default Lego-yellow little man that they had, there’s now a range of different skin colour smiley face emojis that you can choose, to make it more representative of you as a user when you’re sending them, and a number of people of various different backgrounds felt that that was more fitting for them to be able to send. Yoyo: Not long ago there has been a list about the ‘word of the year’ from the Oxford Dictionary, and the word of the year is the laugh-out-loud-with-tears emoji! Nick: There are also other uses for emojis – the invention of emoji passwords for your phone, or your various devices, because there are so many of them, there’s something like 700 unique emojis, whereas obviously – at least in English – there are only 26 letters, and there are 10 digits on the number pad. So there are so many more combinations that you could come up with that it’s a lot harder to crack that password if someone were to come across your phone. Yoyo: But also I have to say that with these emojis coming out, it represents rapid development of modern technologies, and everyone is using it. When people are talking online, sometimes you can’t see their body language. And these emojis come to help, because they can help you make yourself better understandable. But sometimes, this is also a double-edged sword, because you can see, if I didn’t use emojis in my language online, people might guess that I can be angry or upset when talking with them without emojis, so it can be a coin with two sides. Brian: Right, you’ve hit the nail right on the head of an interesting point, Wu You. If people get used to emojis and you don’t use them, then it’s like, is something going on there? So, magical emojis! Certainly they are a tool, and like any tool, if used widely, they can bring great benefits to mankind.

20160512ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题：女生一定要穿高跟鞋咩？ Brian: Of the high variety of shoes that many women, and, originally, men, actually, used to wear. They’re quite popular, to a certain extent, but they’re also, in some ways, quite harmful to one’s feet, among other things. Heels. Yoyo: A recent report says that a London receptionist has been sent home for not wearing high heels. This is at the finance company PwC, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The 27-year-old Ms. Thorp was told that she had to wear shoes with a 2-inch to 4-inch heel. She refused and complained that male colleagues were not asked to do the same, and then she was sent home without pay. Brian: Oh, that’s a wonderful story, there. People think that there’s a certain aesthetic value, or appeal, to them. They’re also often linked to a lot of problems with your feet. Nick: I think one of the key points in this story, as well, is that it’s very unclear what role her shoes play in her ability to perform her job as a receptionist, which was something that I think she pointed out herself, but that wasn’t really taken into account, here. Clearly it’s kind of an image thing, they want her to have a certain appearance in front of their clients, but there’s no real reason why a client would think less of them. I can’t personally imagine a client entering this company and thinking, ‘the receptionist is not wearing heels, I shall not bring my business here’. Brian: Well, perhaps you don’t come from the old sort of money that would appreciate that sort of thing, there. Nick: This is true. Yoyo: Well, actually Ms. Thorp also said, “I was expected to do a 9-hour shift on my feet, escorting the clients to meeting rooms. I just won’t be able to do that in heels”. I can totally understand that! After standing in high heels, even for one hour, it can be so, so painful. Brian: Yeah, it’s absurd. Yoyo: And the question is, whether or not wearing high heels has impaired her ability to do her job. If not, why should the company fire her? Brian: Exactly, exactly. And that’s the thing. Yoyo: In the past fashion week, Victoria Beckham was snapped on the runway in sneakers, claiming that she can’t do heels any more. So if one of the most fashionable women also thinks that flats can be better, and high heels are so painful, why shouldn’t other people just change a little? Brian: Exactly, and bravo to her for doing that. Nick: Yeah, it does seem that more and more people are taking a stand on this, as it were – pardon the pun – but it’s certainly been attracting attention in the UK, so this particular story has led to the setting-up of a petition for the government to change the law so that women can’t be forced to wear high heels by a dress code by their company, and it’s got more than the 10,000 signatures that it needed for the government to have to produce a response to it. I struggle to see how they will maintain the current rule that a woman can be forced to wear high heels for work, but we shall see. Yoyo: Let’s just think about it. Let men put their feet into women’s shoes. Brian: Yes. [Clapping] Yoyo: As we always say, let’s put our feet into other people’s shoes and think about it. So, if you think it is really comfortable, let’s all wear it. Brian: Yes, very well said, Wu You. As China had a long time ago, you know, binding women’s feet to make them “look better”, this is the modern version. High heels are the bound feet of the modern era, and women should stop inflicting themselves with it, and so should society.

20160511ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题--- 法国拟立法：下班时间，不回邮件 Brian: So, who likes dealing with email, or other parts of work, after work? Nick: As you said, it is something that’s sometimes unavoidable, and it seems more and more so, as technology progresses. We’re all attached to our emails and our various other forms of communication, even on our phones these days, so it’s very difficult, if you have your emails on your phone, or anything like this, to disconnect from work sometimes. But France is taking a stand; they’re saying that according to new regulations they’re introducing, companies with more than 50 employees, larger companies, will be obliged to draw up a program in which they set out the hours in which the staff are not supposed to send or respond to emails. So there will be times outside of the working hours when, regardless of what you are doing, you shouldn’t be responding to your work emails. yoyo: Most people, of course, don’t like sending emails or receiving emails after work, because they enjoy their freedom, but if it is for some salesman, if they are really eager to get more clients, if their clients email them after work, you think that they would not like it? They will just run away from it? Of course not! Nick: Well, this is a key part of the problem here; it very much depends on the industry and your job within your company. For many, many people you’re just replying to things out of a sense of urgency, when really it could wait until the next day, or the Monday, or whenever you’re next at work. Brian: Right. Yoyo: But sometimes it is really difficult to draw the boundary of how urgent it is, or whether it is urgent or not. I can totally understand that, but my question is, should the government be involved in this? Brian: That is a good question. Nick: I think in a lot of cases, it’s kind of the culture within the company that you’re expected to do this even if it’s not in the rules, or your boss hasn’t said so. Yoyo: Exactly. If the authority and the government really want to write it in the law, to forbid a company to give after-work emails, so they protected the benefits from the employees, then let’s make it a fair play – what about the company? Did the government also made another rule to make some subsidies or beneficiary policies to the company, to compensate, sort of, the harm that the company will face because of this? If it is a company full of salesmen, if they didn’t reply to the emails instantly and then they lost a certain amount of clients, would the government compensate the company because of this? Nick: I think if it’s a company that relies so much on people being able to respond to things twenty-four hours of the day, then they should have shift workers or something, workers that are actually at work during those hours of the day, rather than relying on their existing workers to work 100% of the time, because that’s just not a feasible scenario. Yoyo: That is what the workers’ union is made of. And also, workers benefits, of course, should be protected, as always, but I have to say that the company, as for a fair say, rationally, the company is benefit-oriented. If a worker really cannot do the job, if it is really in the selling industries, what do you think that company should do, and the employees should do? Brian: Actually, treating our workers better, whether it’s by improving their conditions, giving them less hours, giving them more time off, or actually real time off, you know, after work, or increasing their pay, often leads to happier workers and better workers who get more done and actually bring in greater profits for companies.

简介：联合调查组公布调查结果，百度竞价排名须整改。 JN: China's regulators have imposed limits on the number of healthcare adverts carried by Baidu, China's biggest Internet search engine. The restrictions follow publicity surrounding the death of a student who underwent cancer treatment which he found using Baidu. It's estimated such adverts account for up to 30 percent of the company's search revenue. MB: Now, Baidu's Nasdaq-listed shares dropped by more than 3% on Monday, and the company has also set aside around 150 million dollars to be paid out in compensation, so how will this investigation and its result influence Baidu, both financially and in terms of its reputation? Victor Gao: Well, I think Baidu has been hit hard, and while there are many parties in this whole incident which eventually may need to be held responsible, Baidu has been singled out in a more prominent manner, at least in the Chinese-language media and in Chinese society, mainly because Baidu is not only well known in China but also globally known, and it has deep pockets, it has very large capitalization, and its chairman and founder Mr Li is well known in China. Therefore, while there is a lot of anger and indignation about the unfortunate passing away of Mr Wei, it is natural for the public anger to be focused very much on Baidu. However, I would say Baidu also needs to learn a big lesson from this unfortunate incident, and the regulators, on the other hand, need to check out the more substantive nature of this case, and Baidu is actually a partial party to this whole incident. The real culprits should be the doctors, the medical assistants, the clinic which performed the treatment on Mr Wei. [It needs to be discovered] whether they have licenses, whether they have made falsified or fraudulent representations to Mr Wei and the family members et cetera. To really just focus on Baidu is a little bit partial and unfortunate. LK: But it was Baidu who was the company who listed the service there, so do you think there’s anything Baidu should have done previously to prevent this kind of advert from being published in the first place? Victor Gao: Well, the unfortunate death of Mr Wei is not the only or first incident involving Baidu in a negative manner, as far as its predominant reliance on paid-in advertisements for medical providers. As a matter of fact, Baidu should have known earlier enough, many years ago, that a good, reputable hospital in China does not need to run such kinds of online advertisements, or at least, you know, to pay a high sum to have a higher ranking. A good hospital in China has its own reputation travel far and beyond by the quality of the services, the reputation of the doctors, the credibility of the medical services, et cetera. You really do not need to run such advertisements, so Baidu should have asked itself the natural and logical question: why there are so-called medical service providers who are so eager to pay high sums to get their ranking beefed up to the top of the listing, and some of these so-called medical service providers are not real medical service providers, and while we need to learn more information in the investigation process, of course, I think evidence seems to present the case that some of these doctors do not have licenses, some of their representations are completely falsified, and I think it becomes a dangerous game for these providers to use fraudulent means to sell their services to patients, whereas Baidu, unfortunately, has become party [to] this kind of scheme, at least, or even a fraudulent arrangement. In that sense, I think Baidu should have known better, and their legal services, their corporate services need to really beef up their scrutiny of these advertisement seekers who actually may have illegitimate purposes to beef up their ranking in the category of service providers in medical services.

20160510ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 大学食堂给有礼貌的学生打折 Brian: Now we are seeing some meal discounts for polite students in China. Tell us more, Yoyo. Yoyo: So one recent report says that Chinese universities are offering students a 50% discount in the canteen. This is under one condition, of course: if they are polite and show common courtesy to staff. This is from Anhui Normal University. Nick: This is obviously ridiculous. You shouldn’t have to reward people or incentivize people to say please and thank you to staff in a canteen. Brian: Admittedly, but let’s look at reality, how many things including our pleases and thank yous should be done but are not done? Furthermore what do we feel about this and how ought we rectify any situation that requires improving? But first, how often does this sort of thing happen, where people do things or they don’t do thing that they ought to? Nick: All the time. I think obviously there are a lot of things that maybe you just don’t realize you should do, or things are important to different people and you don’t realize how it’s coming across to somebody else, but something as basic as saying please and thank you to another person when they’re serving you food, I don’t think warrants financial reward. Brian: Well fair, but let’s say that it’s happening a very small amount of the time. What then should we do? Nick: Very few people are not saying please and thank you? Brian: No no no, very few people are even saying it. Let’s say out of every 100 students at this cafeteria, or any other cafeteria in the world, […] are saying please and thank you, what should we do? Nick: I would say that this is probably a sign that we need to, within the education system, address manners and courtesy. Yoyo: I think Brian, your point is more like, who has this common courtesy to the staff and who has not but what Nick has mentioned is that this is not a thing that a university should be ruling students to do. So both of you have points, but you have different angles. I can totally understand the intention from the university’s side but in this way I think they need a second thought. My question is should the canteen be a place to educate the students? Brian: Yep, that is a fair point. yoyo: The teachers can of course mention this. However university students are adults, to tell them about common courtesy, this is what the students’ parents should do. But this news can raise people’s awareness, and this is the good side, but the way to do it is just like rewarding a pet to let them know if you do it right I will give you some food. Brian: Well, that is the thing there, because again, it goes back to, again, should we really be rewarding people for doing things they ought to be doing, like we had a discussion a while ago I think about rewarding criminals for not committing crimes which is very counter-intuitive. yoyo: And also some online comments, someone said online that using politeness as a bargaining chip reduces its value. Brian: Yep, that’s a fair thing to say and it goes back again to why should we even be in this position, it does reduce its value. Nick: We’ll have to let them give it a try and see how it works out.Brian: Right, right then perhaps in a couple of weeks we can come back and tell the world of their great success here, hopefully.

20160509ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 致最爱的也是最爱我们的那个女人 -- 妈妈 妈妈 母亲节快乐 Brian: Today, or yesterday, depending on where you are in the world, is Mother’s Day, so Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there. Yoyo: Yeah, Happy Mother’s Day! It is a celebration to honor the mother of the family and the influence of the mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many countries around the world, but most commonly in the months of March or May. In China people celebrate the day on the second Sunday of May, which is the past Sunday, May 8th. Nick: You said it’s on a different day in different countries, in the UK it was a couple of weeks ago, and it always catches me out when the second one then comes around and I see adverts everywhere saying “Mother’s Day is coming up, don’t forget”, and for me, it just happened already. Yoyo: So, when is it in the UK? Nick: It’s not a fixed date, but it’s always within the Lent period, coming up to Easter. Brian: Two Sundays before Easter. Yoyo: So how is it celebrated in China? We can see that there has been various commercialization of the day, and there can be flower stores or even people on the streets selling carnations. Right now I have some numbers about that. Americans will spend over 2 billion US dollars on flowers this year, with carnations. And also, over 4 billion US dollars on jewelry and 2 billion dollars on flowers and 2 billion dollars on gift cards. Nick: There is a value to that, in that it reminds you that the holiday is coming up, and you can’t forget about it, but it does risk all the holidays becoming very similar. Brian: Putting money in someone else’s pocket. Yoyo: That’s true, and also besides simply buying gifts, I think the most precious gift to mothers is simply to spend more time with her. Brian: Exactly, well said. I think pretty much every mother out there, that would probably be the one thing they would most want. Yoyo: So let me ask you guys a question. What do your mothers like the most for Mother’s Day celebrations? Nick: I would usually get a card, like we’ve talked about - Yoyo: Gift card? Nick: You mean, like a greeting card? Yoyo: You write a touching sentence on it. Nick: I’m not going to be writing poetry, yoyo, that’s getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Yoyo: As a British people, I thought you might. Quoting Shakespeare or something. Nick: I’m sorry to disappoint you. Brian: As the inventors of the English language, clearly they must all be Shakespeares. Yoyo: Yeah, and what about you, Brian? Brian: I’ll describe somewhat of an ideal day for her. She would wake up very late, very late, having slept in, and then after having awoken, relax in bed, and then when she is ready, maybe ring a bell – Yoyo: Ring a bell? You’re living in Downton Abbey? Brian: Not quite, but the doors open, and two sons, either myself or my brother, comes in carrying a tray of a wonderful breakfast, perhaps French toast or waffles or pancakes, some freshly-squeezed orange juice, some blueberries, these sorts of things, Hallmark. Yoyo: Having asked you guys, so I’ll give you the answer from me. I have a strategy. I ask her in advance, in the beginning of this month. I just ask her, “So Mom, what kind of gifts, or what kinds of things do you like the most, if you might receive a kind of possible gift from anyone?” Brian: Oh, that’s not transparent at all, that’s not obvious.Yoyo: It’s very vague. Nick: Very vague. Subtle, some would say. Yoyo: And she asked me, “Is it from you?”, and I said, “Possibly”, and then I kind of imagined she would say a new computer or a bag or something, but she said “Maybe a grandson?” and I said, “Really? That might take time, you know.” It might take time! You know Chinese moms? Nick: I think we’re working to a bit of a tighter deadline than that. Yoyo: And then finally I bought her some technical stuff, so she spent her Mother’s Day with a carnation in her hand, of course, and also I have to point out that the most kindhearted and nice, sweet gift a mother really wants is just simply for you to spend more time with her. Put down your cellphone while eating with her. Treat your mother as your beloved woman in the world and also care about her to phone her to talk with her. You can make it Mother’s Day every day. Brian: There we go, that’s a nice little thing, there.

转基因食品 - 亲，你到底了解多少呢？ZCG: We understand that GMOs are currently very controversial in China. Beyond China, the US for instance embraces GMOs while the EU forbids them. So why are both sides, you know, have this mixed opinions towards GMO?ZYN: I think natural is not always good, and natural is not always not good, because there’s always evolution. For thousands of years now, human beings have been trying to improve the food production, and quantity and so on, so they have this selective breeding or cross-breeding, so on. Now they have go one step further, so this is a new area. But don’t be afraid. It is a technology we have to look into very carefully, but chances are, if you use them properly, for example, they can produce more food, better food, food with better nutrition. United States, of course, is a country very careful about the health of its own people, but they allow GMO to be used in the States. I would not say, because we don’t know enough about it, we say let’s stop it. On the contrary, we should pay attention to have follow-up studies, and, so who knows, in 20, 30 years to improve the efficiencies, or everything can be improved in GMO food, but let it go. China has already started its own research in GMO, so we should face up to it, and use the best of it.ZCG: Maybe the policy makers are also trying to think about the general public’s view towards this policy, the public concern. Is that the main issue here?ZYN: I think the greatest enemy is not telling the truth but ignorance. We have a new technology, GMO and so on – we’re not giving a blank check. We have to follow through and make sure it can be further improved, so we study the issue, technology, its implementation, its results. For example, GMO they say its, bad aspect…That happens! Any system is not perfect! Democracy is not perfect! So, it’s still better systems than many other systems. So the same is true, apply to GMO – that’s what I think. When the government is cautious not to make decisive statements, that’s good; it depends on the information you share would prove to be true later on, to build the trust from the Chinese people. For example, if every time you say one thing you do something else, so eventually, when you’re telling the truth, nobody will believe in you.BK: What do you think people, especially in China, should be worried about more: genetically modified food, or food with pesticides and other chemicals?TSH: In my opinion, the latter, because unsafe food can give direct negative impact on people’s health, but GMO’s not certain, it’s not sure at this moment.BK: Right. Mr. Zang, what’s your take?ZYN: Safe is safe, good is good, better is better. There are so many natural food, you know, they are detrimental to your health. So I would look into the product itself, GMO or not, and decide what is good or not for you, not because its label.BK: And Dr. Bansal, what would be your take?UB: Yeah, I would prefer chemical free food, pollution free environment, and I think that will lead to [a] healthy nation. Otherwise, if food is polluted, and how many chemicals we are eating every day, and the air we are breathing is full of chemicals as well – you can imagine what effect it would have on our health.ZYN: Let me mak[e] one more important point: I think, in China, in the past, when it have this milk problems, when it have this baby formula problem, it’s because of many things, including management, including policies, so we should take care of the whole process, suppliers, producers, the transportation and distribution, so everything, looking as a total package to enhance the safety of food produced, GMO or not.

20160506ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 今日话题： 吃一片药就能不害怕，你吃不吃？ Lincoln: Now, if you could take a pill to cure all your fears, would you take it, yoyo? yoyo: No, I would not. Lincoln: Alright, well, this might be something that’s happening in the world of psychology as well. Maybe you can explain to us a little bit more about it. yoyo: A recent report shows that now experts have made the cure for fear, which is a single pill. Merel Kindt is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Amsterdam. Kindt has devoted her career to understanding human fear and memory.She has developed a revolutionary treatment that could neutralize fear memories with a single pill. She hopes that one day she might help millions of people who suffer from PTSD, phobias, and other anxiety disorders. In her clinic, she has seen it work in hundreds of cases, and yet she still marvels every time when she sees someone feel better after a trauma after a short procedure. I think this is quite important for the people that are suffering from PTSD, but with a single pill to conquer the fear, do you want it, Michael? Michael: I think fear is actually quite an important human emotion and sense, if you like. It’s almost like a handbrake in the brain stopping you from doing stupid things. Lincoln: wuyou , what are you most afraid of? Do you have any phobias? yoyo: Lots of phobias! Lincoln: OK, well, let’s start with your phobias. yoyo: I’m afraid of spiders. Lincoln: OK. yoyo: Rollercoasters [Lincoln: Rollercoasters] Heights [Lincoln: Heights] Taking a flight. Lincoln: Taking a flight. That’s a lot of phobias! yoyo: That’s the top of my list. Lincoln: That’s at the top? Wow, there’s an actual list! So if you could take a pill to get rid of some of those, would you? yoyo: No [Lincoln: Really?] I think a healthy amount of fear is essential for survival. Lincoln: A healthy amount of fear? Do you think it’s healthy to be afraid of all of those things and have a list? yoyo: I’m afraid of it because I will be so alert and I will protect myself. Lincoln: Spiders I can understand – spiders are scary, Michael, spiders are scary. Agreed? Michael: Don’t like them, don’t dislike them. I’ll do that thing with the glass and the sheet of paper. [WY: No way!] I won’t pick it up with my hands, but I’ll do that thing with the glass and the sheet of paper. Lincoln: Heights? Michael: Not a massive fan of heights [Lincoln: OK, alright] I don’t think I have vertigo, or anything like that. Lincoln: Rollercoasters? Michael: Oh, yeah. No, big red flag for me. Lincoln: Oh, wow! I love that, I love that! This is one of my favourite things, if we had to draw a Venn diagram between the two of you, spiders would be out of it, but rollercoasters [would be] right in the middle. Michael: But here’s the thing. If rollercoasters are built to sate people’s desire to be scared like this, if you had no fear, there’d be no need for rollercoasters. Lincoln: Absolutely, yeah. I’m pretty fine for most things, I think. yoyo: Snakes? Lincoln: No, no. If I could take…no, because I feel like snakes are dangerous. Michael: I’ve got a soft spot for snakes, I quite like snakes. Lincoln: So now, if Michael and I are to draw a Venn diagram that would be completely outside of it. Michael: You never pick up a snake, never hold a snake? Lincoln: No! yoyo: How can you hold a snake? What for? For fun? Michael: Yeah, the same way you pick up a cat and you pet it. I mean, I wouldn’t pet a snake. yoyo: A cat is quite different from a snake. Michael: You can’t stroke a snake. Yeah, I think, not just for PTSD but for other phobias, actually, it is OK to talk about this, and it’s OK to be emotional about it, and just reducing all those years of nuance and study into a little pill, it feels like it cheapens it. yoyo: And also, scientists have mentioned that it is not really for erasing all those memories, it is simply to neutralize that phobia, to neutralize the bad memory, it is not really [like] you can suddenly stop it and suddenly erase all of them. Michael: So the idea is it sort of compartmentalizes it, or it allows you to compartmentalize something, rather than be overwhelmed by it? [WY: Exactly] Lincoln: I think one of the joys of life is actually having a fear and then overcoming it, and then, you know, either through doing it [which is] probably the only way to really do it, but then finding a way to live with it, and then, just for that fear to be gone, just like a little black spot that’s gone out of your mind. I think that’s something that we should cherish.

17岁“中国超人”登陆DC漫画Lincoln: Now, a very different kind of superhero might be gracing our screens, or our comic books, very soon. Wu You, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about that. WY: People are familiar with Superman and Captain America, but this time we have a “red” superhero; that is, a Chinese Superman. The Chinese Superman is wearing red tights. Michael: I think it’s a very interesting trend, and I think this points to a wider aspect of modern society and culture, in that you’re seeing increasing amounts of Chinese references in modern Hollywood blockbuster films, you know, like in Transformers. I think the fourth film in the franchise was set partly in Hong Kong and partly in Beijing. Skyfall, I think, was set partly in Shanghai and partly in Macau, and it seems to me that whenever you have a big movie blockbuster or comic book franchise like this, it seems like they want to tap into the major world power at the time, and increasingly, now, you can see elements of Chinese culture and society being included into things like this, so I think that’s quite an important step. Lincoln: Yeah, I think so, too, as well. I can’t, off the top of my head, think of any Asian superheroes, necessarily – none of them come to mind easily, but it is interesting that they’ve decided to do this. How exactly has this come to be? Is it a teenager who wrote this, or is the superman a teenager? WY: [The superman] is a 17-year-old Chinese, but details on how the 17-year-old Kong will attain his superman-like abilities and impact the DC universe of superheroes were not released, but the comic book did say the process of inheriting powers will be a struggle, so possibly, he will have more kung fu abilities, as [is seen] in Chinese movies. Maybe he will fly easily? There are a lot of guesses like that. Lincoln: Well, that’s very interesting as well, because I’m looking here at the release for it, and they said they wanted to tell a story that was about Superman, but tell it in a different culture. Now, I think that, actually, if you…I will go on record as saying – and I might get some hate for this – Superman is by far one of the most boring superheroes, for me. [WY: Boring?] He’s boring! You know, he does everything, so… The only thing that can stop him is a little piece of rock, the kryptonite, so I would like to see how you have that superman in a different culture. You can also, then, maybe just change some of his powers, maybe he doesn’t acquire all of them at once, but now the other question is the original Superman came from an alien planet. How are they going to do the origin story now? Michael: The thing is, if you look at the mythology behind Superman, you compare it with, say, Batman and Spiderman, Batman is Bruce Wayne and he becomes Batman; Spiderman is Peter Parker and he becomes Spiderman, but Superman is Superman, he starts out [like that], and Clark Kent is his disguise. It’s a reversal of the superhero process, so it’ll be interesting to see which way round this Chinese Superman, so to speak, which way round it is, whether he starts off as a regular Chinese guy and attains these superpowers. This guy is known as Chinese Superman. That’s not his name; he’s not being sold as Superman. Presumably this is a new Chinese superhero. There may be influences that are taken from Superman, and from other popular DC and Marvel superheroes, but at the end of the day, this is a new character. Perhaps that is a method of connecting with the likely audience, and making it an easier character to relate to. WY: I’m more curious about [whether] he speaks Chinese or English!

土耳其公民或将免签游欧洲ZJN: The European Commission will back visa free travel for Turkish citizens inside Europe’s passport-free Schengen area. BK: What makes visa liberalization so important for both the EU and Turkey? GB: Well, in the short term it’s all about getting Turkey to agree to its plan of taking back people who don’t qualify for asylum and are currently in Greece. On an exchange deal, they would be able be all the same people who qualify for asylum, who are Syrian nationals, on to the EU for settlement there, but Turkey’s not going to hear a barrow of that, despite an offer of six billion Euros to assist, unless it gets this condition of visa-free travel. Now, it’s not benefit for people coming from Europe, but the way things are in Turkey at the moment, the benefit really in the short medium term is largely for Turkey, and it taps into a larger story with Turkey for decades working to become an applicant member of the EU, and being rebuffed repeatedly, so it’s a matter of pride, as well as practical economic assistance for Turkey that they will be given indeed a fair access, and it is the dealmaker or the deal-breaker when it comes to this thing to return people from Greece to Turkey. BK: There are both humanitarian and legal concerns over this scheme, in particular over the safe third country clause that is necessary for repatriating refugees, but for migrants who are rejected to stay in the EU, and are sent back to Turkey, what may happen to them, and how well would their well-being be taken care of by Turkish authorities? GB: That’s a very important question, perhaps the most important question at the moment. Presuming that Europe can find of processing these people and determine that they don’t meet asylum requirements and had their right to appeal met with, and they’re returned to Turkey, presumably that would mean that they would be sent back to their countries of origin, because they wouldn’t be regarded as genuine refugees, but in the meantime they’d be stuck in Turkey. Turkey is dealing with around three million refugees already. It’s economy has been declining these last couple of years, and there’s also very serious questions about the decline of human rights in general and rule of law in Turkey, so it’s never easy for somebody being in a refugee camp. The Turks have been remarkably generous in catering such a large number of people, but for those who have been sent back from Europe to Turkey, there’s real reasons to be concern they could find themselves in a certain way kind of an indefinite detention without any clear way forward. ZCG: The deal comes with strings attached by the EU. The EU says that Turkey must still meet EU criteria, such as freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial, and the revising of terrorism legislation to better protect minority rights. Are you optimistic that Turkey can meet these goals in the near future? GB: In an absolute sense, no – it depends really, frankly, how low the barrier is dropped. So Turkey has to meet basic human rights accords. At the moment, freedom of the press has declined to an all-time low in Turkey, there are eighteen hundred people that have been charged under kind of a strange law about insulting the president, there are major press organizations by the government, there’s really no free press at the moment, political opposition leaders have been arrested on charges of being terrorists or whatever – Turkey does have real problems with terrorism to be fair, but there’s just a deterioration. Turkey, which had been the great hope of the Muslim world in terms of democratic transition has slid back and lost most of the gains it’s made over the last fifteen years, so, realistically there’s no way it can meet the standard that the EU is requiring, so if they are seen to have met the standard, it means that basically, that they’ve dropped the standard to a very, very low level. BK: Well then, what would you say are the prospects then, for the future? When do you think Turkey really might make its way towards progress on a lot of these fronts? GB: Look, Turkish politics, more than at most times in its history, this is a country where it has strongman individuals have always played an important role, but more than most times in its history, the personal role played by former prime minister-now-president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seems to be the pivotal point in all these discussions. He’s exercising extraordinary personal authority that on paper he doesn’t have. When at some point, as happens to everyone, he passes from the scene, you get the sense that his own party, the AK Party, AK Parti, would very much like to reverse some of the moves he’s instigated, and that things might begin to return to normal, but it really depends on one individual.

与水果共浴Lincoln: Now, an odd beauty ritual has tongues wagging on social media. Wu You, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit about what is going on here. WY: OK. Some people love bathing, some people are fond of fruits. Now, you may combine the two [Lincoln: Unbelievable] A recent report says that some Chinese tourists have spent the May Day holiday soaking in hot springs filled with apples, oranges and lemons. In this hot springs resort in Luoyang, Henan province, the fruit bathing is introduced from Japan and South Korea. It is very popular in Japan and South Korea. Michael: This is bizarre, So, hang on. You’re in the hot spring [WY: Yes] so it’s about, I don’t know, 40 degrees, it’s nice and warm [WY: It’s hot!] yeah, it’s hot, and you’ve got all these apples and oranges just floating around? [WY: Yes]. Lincoln: You’re telling me that in this warm bath… [WY: It’s a hot spring] in this hot spring, people are taking… notwithstanding the fruits themselves, but everyone else in there, doing…who knows what they’re doing?! WY: They are simply taking a bath. Lincoln & Michael: With fruit?! WY: Yes. Michael: OK, so why are they bathing with fruit? What’s the benefit of doing this? WY: OK, here comes the resort’s response. It claims bathing in fruit can moisturize and whiten the skin, and also, hot spring bathing with these kinds of fruits is good for your skin. Lincoln: You know what else is good for your skin? Moisturizer. If you have to moisturize, you can just do it from a bottle, you don’t have to drive to a spa thing. Michael: I mean, you see all sorts of moisturizers and skin creams with fruit extract and things like that, don’t you? I mean, I can see why there might be some sort of method in the madness. Lincoln: Yeah, but you don’t have a compulsion to go and sit next to it. Michael: I don’t know. Maybe it’s organic. Lincoln: Yeah, but how many fruits? Can I just lie in my bath and have one apple? Is that not enough? Do I need to have all of these people around me? Every now and again you get these weird beauty rituals and stuff. I know it’s commonplace now that some people, women would put cucumbers on their eyes. I still think that’s weird. I still think it’s a weird thing to put a slice of cucumber on your eyelids. WY: No, that’s not enough [Lincoln: What?] I just chop my cucumbers and then use the slices of cucumbers and just put it on my whole face. Not only the eyes, but also the whole face. Lincoln: The whole face? And what does this do? WY: That will be very good for your skin, making your skin smooth and light. Lincoln: Why is everything good for your skin?! What else is good for your skin? WY: Milk, tofu [Lincoln: Milk?!?] seafood. And last but not least, you can see there has been hot news not long ago along the coast, and you can see many women just swim with special protection on their head, a mask. Michael: Oh, the facekini! WY: Yes, the facekini, and those can protect your skin from being tanned, and also protect [against] the sunshine. Michael: Actually, that started in Qingdao a few years ago, because people like to swim in the sea in Qingdao, but there’s a lot of jellyfish, so actually, if you’re wearing this protective covering on your face, not only does it stop you getting a tan, which a lot of Chinese women don’t want to get, but it also helps to protect against jellyfish stings. Lincoln: Have you ever tried the facekini, Wu You? WY: No way! Lincoln: No way? Why not? You said that quickly, maybe too quickly. WY: It looks silly! Lincoln: It looks silly, I know. In China, we see people, often on very sunny days, have their umbrellas out and wear quite long sleeves and stuff like that. [WY: Yeah] Is that something that you find yourself doing? WY: I would not. I would simply put on a hat. Lincoln: Simply put on a hat. See, how easy is that? Michael: Not when you’re swimming, to be fair, not when you’re in the ocean. Lincoln: I’ve seen people swim with a hat on. Michael: If you’ve got one of those big, floppy hats on it would go all over the place. Lincoln: Yeah, but if you tie it together with a little string. Michael: What, like a little bonnet, like Bo Peep? Lincoln: Yeah, like a little bonnet at the bottom, Michael. I can see you right now, I can see you bobbing around in the ocean!

受累于季度营收十三年首跌消息的影响，苹果公司股价经历了八连跌，终于3日企稳回升。苹果公司的神话即将破灭吗？请听中欧国际工商学院市场营销学教授蒋炯文(Chiang Jeongwen)的解读。Shares of tech giant Apple have eventually begun to go up after suffering their longest losing streak in 18 years. Its share price closed at 95.14 US dollars on Tuesday, up some one and half percent from the previous session.Before Tuesday’s trading, Apple’s stock fell for eight consecutive days. The losing streak came after the company reported a fall in quarterly sales for the first time in 13 years.The company cited a weakness in sales in China, its second-largest market, as one of the main reasons its iPhone sales were down. Sales from its Mac computers and iPad tablets were also down on the quarter Tu Yun spoke to Dr. Chiang Jeongwen Professor of Marketing at Shanghai-based China-Europe International Business School. Tu Yun: Talking about the Chinese market and the lower end market. Doctor Chiang the lower end model, the SE, is reportedly gaining ground as the more price competitive alternative to the iPhone’s success. [In the process] managing to squeeze out Chinese smart phone makers. What is you evaluation of Apple introducing such a model? Dr. Chiang Jeongwen: I am somewhat skeptical about the success of the SE in the Chinese market, I have two reasons. I think that many Chinese players like the Xiaomi, Huawei and whatnot, they have continuously come up with better machines and headphones. In terms of the price to quality ratio; they are superb. If you look at the price range vis- a- viz, Apple’s SE, the domestic brands are not too shabby in that regard. The second thing is that the SE is taking the old model and reverted to the smaller screen, so in terms of technology; you don’t have that ‘wow-factor’. I think it’s caught in a ambiguous position; it’s pricy and relatively to the high end iPhone it’s cheap, but if you look at the medium to lower end consumer-side, I think it’s still pretty pricy. People can easily get a Huawei smart phone in the 2000 RMB range and for Xiaomi even cheaper. So for Chinese consumers unless they are really dying to get their hands on the iPhone I suspect that they will be following the same fate as the iPhone 5c a couple or years ago; which was a miserable failure. Tu Yun: The company has also projected that revenue in the quarter will fall far short of expectations. Whats the outlook for Apple for the rest of the year. Dr. Chiang Jeongwen: Tim Cook mentioned that its overblown, over reacted because they do have a bumper year last year. He said the year to year comparison seems not fair. He says that if you look at it over a two-year period the Apple sales climbed by over 70 percent. So it’s a stunning number if you look at it that year. This year they probably projected that revenue was going to go down. We need to look at two factors. Chinese competitors are getting strong. I look at my students for example. My students are pretty high end users. I just did a quick poll and surprisingly more and more people are using domestic brands like Huawei. Don’t forget that the Chinese government imposed an unofficial rule that the Chinese government officials cannot use Apple phones. So there are all these other constraints plus I think that Apple if they don’t come up with something that knocks-you-socks-off so to speak (and they do have a very rigid schedule in their new phones) based on the technology and based on the competition and the fact that people are getting a bit tired of Apple, it is fully expected to have this projection going down.

Gucci不满——我们的产品设计不是给死人用的Michael: Now, it turns out that one luxury brand is not happy with some very unusual knock-off replicas in Hong Kong. Wu You, maybe you can elaborate a little more on this rather strange case for us. WY: A recent report says the luxury company Gucci has sent a letter to six shops in Hong Kong, and it has warned them to stop selling paper products with the Gucci logo. So, what are these paper products? OK, in China, people who bought them will burn these paper products in the belief that the deceased relatives can use them in the afterlife. It seems that this time, Gucci is really hunting down the knock-offs, even to the grave. Michael: [The] theory is that your ancestors will then receive this money in the afterlife, so it seems like now people are taking this one step further, and you have paper iPhones, and paper cars, and things like that. QD: More than cash, right? Michael: You know, people today in China really want to make sure that their ancestors are materially wealthy in the afterlife. Does that seem to be the case? QD: I think it’s an extension of the good feeling of taking care of each other. I think there’s nothing wrong with that feeling or that concept, you know, basically – deceased ones, family members or ancestors, we still want to take good care of them, and then, when society is getting better off, people are looking at other creative ways of taking care of their deceased ones. For me, personally, I think that’s a bit too much for me. I think it’s better, if you want to express your filiality to your parents, we do it when they are alive [WY: That’s a very good point] and try our best to take good care of them. Michael: [There is also] the Qingming Festival, or the Tomb-sweeping festival, and Wu You, maybe you can tell us more about this. WY: So, in China, in early April, you can see that there is a Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping festival. Just literally speaking, the tomb-sweeping festival means you will sweep the tombs. Chinese people will go back to their hometowns, the family members will be united, and they will have the ancestral worship ceremonies. As for these ceremonies, you can see that it is a time for the older generations to tell the family history to the younger generation. Michael: Yeah, I mean, I’ve seen some very strange cases here. You can buy and sell just about anything on Taobao, and I’ve seen adverts that you can actually hire people to sweep the tomb. It seems like it’s incremental; the more you pay, the more reverential this person is. Maybe if you pay 100 kuai, they’ll just sweep the tomb; if you pay 500, they’ll sweep and they’ll cry very loudly; if you pay 1,000, maybe they’ll kowtow in front of the tomb. QD: Right, it’s been commercialized, it’s not exactly a positive trend in terms of marking this special festival, and I understand, you know, for some people, they are working in the big cities and they are far away from their hometowns, from their ancestral tombs. They would love to be there personally and express their love to their ancestors, but the thing is, they can’t do that, so they hire somebody to do that. The thing, for me, is it seems very fake. Too fake, you know? Michael: I know in Beijing and Shanghai and some other places in China, real estate is becoming very, very expensive indeed, and some people actually say it’s too expensive to die. QD: That’s true, and I think not only in China. Basically, I’m just back from Australia a few weeks ago. I was in a lecture [where] a guide was talking about the public cemetery in Melbourne, then people shifted the topic to another issue – that is, [wanting] to buy a plot for when you die, but then the problem is that it’s getting more and more expensive for a lot of people – you have to go to a suburban area far away from the city centre. WY: They can’t afford to live in the city centre when they’re alive, and they can’t afford to sleep in the city centre when they die. Michael: Indeed, it’s a bit of a problem. In the UK, a lot of people tend to have their ashes scattered at sea, but from what I understand, in the Chinese culture, that’s not really the done thing. QD: But that’s also a practice encouraged by the government, to save some land.

长安无人驾驶汽车完成2000公里征程LK: Earlier this month, a driverless car by Changan, a Chinese auto company, completed a 2,000km journey from the carmaker’s headquarters in Chongqing to Beijing, marking the longest road test of a self-driving car ever completed in China. Yale, what does it tell [us] about Chinese firms’ capacity to produce self-driving technology? Yale Zhang: Well, that may mean China is leading this technology among the local carmakers, so that should be a [chance to say] congratulations to them, but, however, if you look at all the major foreign carmakers, you name it, everybody can do this, because to have this kind of self-driving car on the highway is not that difficult, actually. The difficult technology is to have urban driving, like Google is actually testing that [kind of] small vehicle, but even Google has had two or three small accidents already in urban areas. The ideal situation in the future will be connected; over the longer term, every car will be connected to the internet, which means we have a small telematic control unit in this car and this car can be online all the time, so you think about every car in the world 20 or 30 years later are connected to the internet and all of the cars are controlled by a mega matrix system, and then by this time, together you have this ITS, Intelligent Transportation System, and then you will reduce the traffic accidents to a minimal level, because all of these cars are handled by a computer, a mega-huge computer in each country, and human beings will be relieved from [the] driving burden, and that will be the ultimate solution for this kind of autonomous driving, but between now and that kind of ideal future, we probably have several decades to go, and there is still this very complicated technology issue, as well as an even more complicated legal issue. If your car is an autonomous driving vehicle, but the other is a human being-handled vehicle, and then there’s bicycles and a lot of e-bikes on the street in China’s urban cities and if there’s a very unfortunate accident, then who’s responsibility is also a legislation issue. Greg, is there some kind of [dialogue] about this in the US? Greg Morrison: The Federal government in the United States has ruled that autonomous driving cars can be treated as a legal driver, but that means that whoever owns that autonomous driving car, or who is controlling it is then liable, so in theory, if a Google-owned vehicle is involved in an accident, then Google, in theory, could be cited or punished if the vehicle is operated improperly or caused an accident or injury. The question is, how do you put a whole company in jail? And the other questions that’s come up in the US is since automotive insurance is required here in almost every state, if there’s an accident, who’s insured? Is Google insured, or is Greg Morrison insured because Greg bought the car or is leasing the car? But I wasn’t driving, I was sitting in the passenger seat just riding along. Those are things that are still being wrestled with. Yale was spot on about that. This is a legal quagmire, this is a legal mess that we’re wading our way through and trying to figure out.

WiFi、ATM、充电、空调一个都不能少，如此厕所你敢信？LW: Bathrooms in Beijing have gotten an upgrade. Wu You, why have we decided to talk about bathrooms? WY: So you can see this is a digitalized era, and they are making the toilets digitalized. LW: Why? Why have they decided to do this? This is a ludicrous idea. WY: Beijing has launched a campaign to improve the city’s public restrooms. It is aimed at renovating and upgrading over 19,000 public washrooms across the city. So what are the improvements? The new measures include that users can browse their smartphones in a completely WiFi signal-covered area. LW: Why do you need WiFi in the toilet? WY: People might need to see a movie. LW: How long are you in there for that you need the WiFi? NL: A toilet has a very clear function in my mind. It is a place where you go not to spend extra time. WY: You know, nowadays we seem to be very busy, not only with computers but also with phones. Maybe they are so busy they want to do multi-tasking inside the washrooms. LW: Okay. Let’s break this down. So obviously this is addressing an issue. There were certain public toilets that needed to be upgraded, that needed to be made more hygienic, as it were. Those are the ones that are being fixed. That’s not the only upgrade, is it? WY: There could be even better ones. You can see there may also be ATMs in the toilets. LW: Unbelievable. Why? Why do you need the ATM there? Nick? NL: I cannot answer this question. I mean, what is there to buy? WY: But you can have the cash. LW: What, for if you run out of toilet paper? You can use it for that? WY: But I have to say that other facilities, like charging facilities, are also available on the site, for cellphones and also electric vehicles. LW: So hang on, the way I’ve been looking at it is, I’ve been seeing a regular Beijing toilet, just with WiFi and an ATM in the corner. I haven’t built this whole new Matrix-esque system. So this is a completely new and different complex altogether? NL: So what I’m now imagining is a facility which has car-charging facilities, WiFi, ATMs, and also just happens to have a toilet. WY: The toilet can be the main task. NL: But it’s not! That takes the least time out of all the things we’ve just listed. WY: So this is more like a luxury toilet. NL: So let’s picture the scene. I’m out and about, in my electric car. I roll up at this public toilet, I think ‘great, there’s a toilet here, I can plug in my car’. I get out, I go into the toilet, I plug in my phone, I get out some cash, I’m surfing the internet … LW: Yeah, you’re not going to the toilet. You don’t need that any more. WY: And I’m not finished. LW: Oh wow. How is this possible?WY: You can see, by the door, there are vending machines selling bottled drinks. NL: At least this answers the question of what we need the money for. LW: Exactly!WY: Furthermore, an air conditioning system will be installed to ensure a stable temperature of at least twelve degrees Celsius in winter and no higher than thirty degrees Celsius in summer. NL: These public toilets sound better than my house. LW: You might have to move in there, Nick, get a bed out. NL: I can just sleep in my electric car! LW: You can sleep in your electric car, outside, you have everything! You have all the amenities of home, in fact even better. I bet the WiFi’s cracking, as well, it’s much better than my WiFi. It’s so slow, I have to refresh everything all the time. NL: It’s subsidized by the local authorities! LW: Unbelievable. I guess I’ll try one over the weekend and let you guys know. I don’t know about you guys, but my weekend is sorted.

“液体黄金”大红袍的前世今生LW: Now Yoyo, there’s a very interesting story that you have for us. I don’t know much about it, but maybe you can explain to our listeners. Yoyo: Okay, first of all people know about gold, but do you know what liquid gold is?LW: Liquid gold? Very evocative. Yoyo: Okay. So that is the Chinese tea. Original Chinese tea, dahongpao, doesn’t just cost its weight in gold but also costs more than 30 times its weight in gold, almost 1400 US dollars for a single gram, can you believe it? And over 10000 US dollars for a pot. It is one of the most expensive teas in the world. NL: So this particular botanist called Robert Fortune - which is a fantastic name, I think... LW: Great. Already I’m on board with this entire story.NL: He came to China in 1849 to look for this particular dahongpao tea in Wuyishan mountains because Britain was growing a lot of its tea in India, but obviously a lot of the tea originally came from China, so they were looking to move some tea plants to India where they could grow it themselves. It was difficult for foreigners to get into China in this period of time so he had to disguise himself as a Chinese person to get in.LW: Surely this disguise would fall apart as soon as someone said Ni Hao? It wouldn’t work at all!NL: Well he hired a servant, who presumably did the talking for him. So he sticks on his pigtail, crosses the border unnoticed and in the mountains he’s exploring, looking for this tea, and finds that it’s growing in a monastery. LW: How did he know what he was looking for? NL: I think people had previously sent stories, or pictures, or mythical tales, if you will, of how wonderful this tea was, but when he managed to get it back and take some of the plants elsewhere he found that in fact because of the soil conditions and other factors it can’t actually grow anywhere else except in this particular place. LW: In this particular region of China? This is the only place where it grows? Old Robert Fortune … NL: Not so fortunate after all. LW: How disappointed must Mrs. Fortune have been! Her husband has been away for two years, all of a sudden he comes back with tea that no one can grow? NL: He came back [to China] and stayed for a long time in the temple underneath where the dahongpao tea grows and he wanted to learn from the tea masters of the monastery how to grow this tea so that he could take the knowledge back with him. It seems that despite all the knowledge and wisdom that they could impart he never managed to export this tea elsewhere which is why it’s so expensive today. LW: Have you ever tried the tea? Or come across it, at least?Yoyo: I think I came across it long ago but I’ve forgotten the flavor. LW: It’s not worth ten thousand dollars, then! Yoyo: I think it must have been very good because it is very expensive. LW: No. That doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily very good, it just means that it’s very rare. If this tea was growing everywhere else maybe it wouldn’t be as expensive. Yoyo: Back in 2002, a very wealthy buyer paid 180,000 yuan, almost 28000 US dollars, for just 20g of Chinese dahongpao tea. LW: When do you drink that? You can’t just break that out for breakfast!NL: That is a very special occasion.

中国农村地区竟成为肥胖“重灾区”ZCG: According to a new report, obesity is on the rise among rural Chinese children, as a Western-style diet high in sugar and carbohydrates, gains in popularity. Researchers found that 17 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls were classed as obese in 2014, up from under one percent for both genders in 1985. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in March 2015 says three out of four people in China suffered from poor cardiovascular health. In addition, the prevalence of diabetes has more than doubled in 10 years. A major survey in April, published in The Lancet medical journal, has predicted that one in five adults in the world could be obese by 2025. MB: Now, why is this happening particularly in China’s rural regions? Is there an easy way to explain this? Bob Gilbert: The very first question one asks is to what extent can this be due to the genetic, as distinct from environmental effects. A couple of years ago, when the diabetes study emerged, it was not obvious [whether] the big increase in diabetes [was] due to diet or lack of exercise, or less of diet, combined with genetic effects. However, in the cases that have been discussed just now, [it] is very clearly an environmental effect, and because one can easily distinguish the environmental effect from genetics, because if one looks at young Chinese who have a western diet in countries like Australia, for example, where we have quite a significant population of young Chinese now eating western diet, obesity is not nearly as bad. It’s about the same as the general Australian population. There’s a clear environmental cause. As to whether it is the introduction of more western-style foods, that is harder to pin down. MB: What measures would you suggest to tackle this problem, then? Bob Gilbert: China is in the rather fortunate situation, compared to countries like Australia and the US, of having a more centralized government which can take initiatives that can be beneficial. If one then looks at what preventative measures might be taken, one can’t just say, “Oh, we’re going to make high sugar soft drinks much more expensive.” That may or may not be the case, but before public health measures are taken by governments, it’s very important to establish the right statistics. For example, to what extent are high sugar soft drinks, or tea, or whatever, much more widely consumed in a rural area now than they were, say, a decade ago? To what extent is western junk food more widely consumed? So one does need to establish the statistics of things that may be causative in this, and there certainly is no one single cause. I’ve mentioned the two very obvious ones. There may be others, but that opens it up, indeed, if it is found, for example, [that] high sugar soft drinks are quite significant, as is certainly the case in the UK, then a great increase on tax on those, as has been done in the UK, can certainly have a beneficial effect.

救护车5月1日起按里程收费LW: Now, some ambulances in China are charging fares. Nick, I was not aware of this. NL: Yes, this was news to me as well, but beginning from May 1st, so this weekend, some ambulances in Beijing will be installing meters, like in a taxi. That’s going to be in 580 Beijing ambulances, and again, my first reaction when I read this headline was: “why would you have to pay for an ambulance?” But in fact, apparently this is to better regulate the price that people already have to pay, and in fact to make it cheaper in some cases. LW: So, let me get this straight. People have to have a meter put in because before, it was too expensive? NL: Not necessarily too expensive, but it was confusing and it was not transparent, the way that the cost of the journey was calculated. It was up to the ambulance driver to decide, or to calculate, the fare for the journey, and then charge the patients, and people felt that there was no accountability for how that figure was arrived at. LW: Qinduo, what do you make of this? XQD: I think you are not alone when you talked about not being aware that you have to pay for the use of an ambulance. I think a lot of comments from Chinese internet users, when they are commenting on this story, basically they say, I would say the majority of them say, I’m not aware that I have to pay for the ambulance service. LW: I’ve seen some comments. You mentioned there some comments online, and one of the more interesting ones, I think, which might actually be a pretty good middle ground, is someone who said that the taxi-hailing app Didi Kuaidi should launch an ambulance dispatch service! So you fall down, you break your leg, you hold out your app and see how far away they are. XQD: To introduce some competition to 120 or 999? LW: Yeah, maybe that’s the key, something like that. NL: Uber ambulance? XQD: That’s a new idea! LW: Uber ambulance! Maybe we shouldn’t be giving out these ideas on air, we should be working on our own startups. XQD: Well, also remember, you know it’s getting easier and easier to pay your bills, including, of course, the taxi service here, like you can use Alipay or Apple Pay, or simply WeChat. NL: So now we’ve got WeChat ambulances as well? LW: I love this little business corner that you guys have managed to carve up for yourselves here. Well, at the same time, let’s talk about the effect this will actually have, maybe on potential patients. Most people don’t call for an ambulance willy-nilly, it’s not a frivolous thing, but is there a chance that knowing there’s a fare now will make people less likely to phone for an ambulance? What do you think, Qinduo? XQD: Well, I tend to agree with you, I think that with increased awareness that you have to pay for the ambulance service, if it’s not a real emergency, I’d tend to say, let me find a taxi maybe. Or just wait for a while to go to the hospital to see the doctor. You know, when it’s not a real emergency. Before that, probably I would have wanted to use the 120 or 999 service. You know, it’s painful, I need to see the doctor immediately. LW: To me, emergencies happen. By their very nature, they are accidents; they’re not necessarily things that you can plan for. My only hope is that the fee gets tacked on at the end, with your hospital stay, and not actually before you have to go … XQD: On the spot, right? NL: A few other commenters online, as well, are very sarcastic about the whole thing, and are worried that the ambulances drivers might start taking detours now that there is a meter in the ambulance, to make the journey longer. XQD: Hopefully not! It’s an emergency, it’s not like the usual taxi service. LW: Let’s hope not, let’s hope not.

20160422ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 话题：April.23rd世界读书日 & 莎士比亚逝世400周年 Lincoln: Now, tomorrow, Yoyo, is international [World] Book Day. [yoyo: Yes, it is] Tell us a little bit more about that. Yoyo: This Saturday April 23rd is a special day. It is the World Book Day, and it commemorates the 400th death anniversary of two of the world’s best, and maybe the most famous writers: William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. [Lincoln: Alright] So, talking about that, we know that it is [currently] an era of mobile technology, and more people prefer reading on their phones or online, so recently, the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication has released a survey of Chinese reading habits ahead of World Book Day, so based on the responses of 45,000 people in 81 cities, it found that Chinese people, on average, read about eight books in 2015, and [there is] a small increase over previous years, so of those eight, three were in digital form, so that means reading online or reading on their cell phone, and the most popular genres being urban romance, history and fantasy. Lincoln: I actually bought one of those Kindles fairly recently, as well, and it’s kind of changed [my thinking] because I used to be very much against them, I used to be very much against Kindles, because it’s like you want to have the book in front of you, and feel the pages turning, and have a bookmark and stuff, but the reality of modern life is that you don’t want to be constantly carrying a book around with you, or maybe you’re reading more than one book at once, so, you know, in that case, the Kindle actually does wonders. Michael: You can’t stack all the books on your Kindle on the shelf, though, can you? Lincoln: That is a big problem. Michael: Well, it’s actually also incredibly convenient [Lincoln: Yes] but it doesn’t make you look very well-read. Lincoln: Yeah, this is a big problem. Although I have books on my shelf that I have not read, they do make me look well-read. Michael: Well, exactly, that’s the whole point. That’s the only reason anybody has a bookshelf. You know, you’re not going to read every book on the shelf; it’s just rows and rows of books that you don’t read, but it makes it look like you do read them. Lincoln: A bit like Great Gatsby, just have all those books on the wall but never actually read them, but, yeah. This is very interesting. World Book Day, William Shakespeare, the anniversary, or the commemoration of his death, as well. How familiar are you with Shakespeare, Wu You? Yoyo: My favourite one is the Sonnet 18, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Lincoln: Oh. I remember going to watch Macbeth, the Scottish play. The Chinese people went to go and see it for the first time; they weren’t familiar with the text. Now, I’ve seen Macbeth performed multiple times, and we studied it as well, so I know the story, but it’s all about the interpretation of the story, and the actors, and all sorts of different things, but the Chinese people didn’t actually know what the plot was going to be, so when someone died – I won’t spoil it in case there are any Chinese listeners – they were incredibly shocked, they couldn’t believe it. Michael: Macbeth is a great play, but it’s quite an ensemble cast, as well, it’s quite a big cast. Yoyo: Shakespeare is particularly popular in Asia, and his plays are frequently adapted, so for many Chinese audiences, and for Chinese readers, and for our listeners, do you have any kind of suggestions [as to] what kind of preparation they should have before [going] to see a play from Shakespeare? Michael: Well, that’s an interesting question, because as you said, Lincoln, a lot of people for whom English is a first language, and who have studied Shakespeare at school will have a solid grounding in the plot of the main plays, Macbeth, Hamlet, Midsummer Night’s Dream [Lincoln: Merchant, Othello] and will know what’s going on already, but I wonder if maybe [not having prior knowledge] makes for a better viewing experience? Lincoln: I actually think it probably does, to be honest with you. I’m actually quite envious of that, that you can go and watch Othello, or Macbeth, or Merchant of Venice, and you have no idea, you can just, kind of, be grabbed by the plot, as well. I think, actually, don’t do anything. Just go and watch it and enjoy it, I think, but do go and watch it live. I think it takes on a different element when you go and watch it live.

0421ou 一中两外锵锵三人行 Topic:健身 你准备好了吗？ Lincoln: Now, last month was the International Health, Wellness and Fitness Expo in Shanghai. Although it’s a relatively minor event, it still prompted magazine That’s Beijing to run a feature on bodybuilding in China. Now, Michael, I know you like to keep fit [Michael: Absolutely] but this is something a little bit different, isn’t it? Michael: Yeah, this article was really all about how bodybuilding has grown and evolved in China over the last…well, I suppose, over the last 30, 40 years to become what it is today. I mean, when you think about bodybuilding, I suppose that really started in the US in the 50s and 60s, you know, Venice Beach and things like that, people very concerned with their fitness and being as physically fit and as muscular as they could possibly be. So, I mean, in China, obviously, in the 60s and 70s, they had very different views on certain things from the US and the west, and so bodybuilding wasn’t really a thing, but afterwards, it actually developed quite quickly. China developed its first formal bodybuilding competition in 1982, called the Hercules Cup, [and] it joined the International Federation of Bodybuilding in 1986. Nowadays, in the present day, there are 10 national-level competitions every year, and around 40 more provincial-level events. If you add that up, that’s around 50, and that’s an increase of 60% in terms of the number of competitions in China in just the last two years, so it does suggest that there’s been quite a rise here, as well. Lincoln: But there are competitions, and people kind of judge how well you can pose, and how well you can flex your muscles, but Wu You, what do you know about it? Yoyo: I just know that bodybuilding possibly [equates] to muscles, so my question is does it mean that bodybuilding is simply about appearance? Michael: Yeah, I think it is. Lincoln: For the most part, it is, yeah. It is, Michael, yeah. Well, you have things like Strongman competitions and stuff like that, and most people who are genuinely strong – and see who can lift the most of this thing – they tend to look a lot different, but in China it seems like it’s very interesting as well, because while the sport has kind of taken off, it’s not necessarily that professional. Michael: It seems that in the women’s category, the less extremely toned people are the ones that are more popular. It almost seems no different from women who just like to work out. Yoyo: So what’s the difference between bodybuilding and modeling, in that case? Simply talking about the female bodybuilding, you talk about bodybuilding [is] equal to appearance, and then modeling is also about appearance. What’s the difference? Michael: That’s a very good question, and actually, some might argue that in terms of women’s bodybuilding, there isn’t much of a difference, or there isn’t enough of a difference. I think the whole point about bodybuilding is, as you say, Wu You, it’s about appearance, but it’s about being as muscular as you can possibly be, and I think a lot of people feel that way, and feel that, actually, women’s body building – well, it doesn’t go far enough. Lincoln: And one of the female bodybuilders has complained in the past, saying that, well, it’s who looks the prettiest, it’s not… Yoyo: But that is more like a beauty contest! Lincoln: Yes, but a beauty contest and bodybuilding are different things, though. Yoyo: [The] growth of bodybuilding in China really points to an increased interest in health and fitness. For some, I think they simply want to be fit, or want to try to be more healthy. My questions is [would] you really like to be those kinds of people in [those] pictures, where they have shoulders as big as people’s legs, and they have lots of muscles on their bodies? Do you think that is beautiful, and do you want to achieve that level? Lincoln: Well, I don’t think it necessarily matters. I think, for them, they want to achieve in this way, but what I will say is this kind of increased focus on your muscularity and stuff like that, it can actually lead to some sorts of disorders, you know, you’re never quite big enough. It might also be the underlying body issues feeling that.

20160419 一中两外锵锵三人行今日话题： 缩缩papi酱到底肿么了 Lincoln: Now, a Chinese celebrity has been told to revise some of her content – it turns out she’s had a bit of a potty mouth. Now, explain that to us a little bit more. yoyo: A recent report says that China’s top media regulator has ordered the revision of an internet star’s videos, due to her rough language and vulgar content. Papi Jiang is her nickname, and all the videos are very short and funny, considered by many, and Papi Jiang has rocketed to fame in recent months. She has a series of videos offering observations on daily life, proving an unprecedented internet sensation, and then her microblog has over 11 million followers. Lincoln: What is it about her videos that makes her so interesting? yoyo: First of all, her videos are funny, [Lincoln: OK, that’s good] at least I think so, and Papi Jiang sometimes uses sarcastic expressions to criticize or mock the social phenomenon in her videos. Lincoln: So what type of subjects does she talk about? yoyo: As an example, I’ve watched one video talking about during the Spring Festival, you know, Chinese parents and family relatives sometimes will push or press the post-80s generation to get married soon, and “why didn’t you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? What’s wrong with you? Do you need some help? Why have you still not had a baby?” These kinds of questions. Her family relatives are asking her: “You have participated in so many weddings. How come you’re still not married?” And then she responded like, “So, you have participated in so many funerals. How come you’re still not dead?” Lincoln: Oh, wow [Michael: Zing] Nice little zinger, there. Yesterday we spoke about the reality TV show with the children actually not being allowed to be in it for their own best will. Now, this seems two-for-two a little bit here. yoyo: It comes only a day after. Lincoln: Only a day after. I wonder what the idea is with this, because that sounds, that specific example that you gave, that sounds quite innocuous, it doesn’t sound particularly…It’s got a bit of a sting to it, in the tail, but for the most part, it seems fine. What specific content has been deemed too vulgar? yoyo: She did swear a lot, and those parts have actually been beeped out, but everybody knows what she’s talking about. Lincoln: OK, and is there some sort of… There’s no ratings system, there’s nothing that warns people about the actual content, is there? yoyo: There have been lots of online comments that say we actually need a ratings system in China. Lincoln: OK. Do you reckon they do, Michael? Michael: Well, we’ve talked about it before, certainly in the field of cinema. You know, there’s no ratings system like there is in the US, or the UK, or other countries. Everything that’s screened in a Chinese cinema has to be suitable for pretty much everybody. Lincoln: Yeah. Usually the things that get cut down a little bit are things like violence, or things like nudity and sexual things, so [for] swearing [to be cut], she must have been saying some pretty bad things. yoyo: Basically, she has accepted the criticism, and also, she said an apology, and also said [they] would revise the videos, and also, Yang Ming, the CEO of Papi Jiang’s team, also said that they have been made aware of their shortcomings and will heed the authorities’ call for revision. I think they accept it, but what is really interesting is that just last month, in March, she received [an investment from] venture capitalists for over 12 million Yuan, so that’s a lot of money, and how will they feel about this? Lincoln: Yeah, imagine you’re a venture capitalist, Michael, and you put 12 million behind someone, and now you see they’re going to have to change exactly what they were doing that [made] you put 12 million behind them in the first place. Michael: Yeah, but conversely, you’ve put 12 million RMB behind someone who is now a whole lot more well-known than she was a few days ago. [WY: Exactly] Lincoln: This is true, too. It’s sort of why it’s called “venture capitalism”. It’s an ad-venture, isn’t it, yoyo?

20160418 一中两外锵锵三人行 这老爸，玩儿子玩的也是没sei了！话说，一个老爸带着4岁的儿子轮滑14天，1000多里从河南到北京，只为让其学会坚持。林肯: Now, a father has taken a, let’s say a rather extreme approach to teaching his son what, in his mind, is a very valuable life lesson. Now, Nick, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit more. 尼克: Yes, I think ‘rather extreme’ is putting it a little lightly. This particular father, who’s a 39-year-old truck driver surnamed Zhang from a city called Puyang in Henan Province, decided that his son needed to learn a very valuable life lesson, which is that life is hard. And although the son was four years old, he thought there was never too early a time to learn such a lesson, and so he devised a plan to teach his son this lesson, which was to take him rollerblading. It doesn’t sound like that much of a difficult lesson on the surface of it. He took his son rollerblading to Beijing, which is a distance of 540 kilometers. And the best part, I think, is that he did it all WHILE his wife was AWAY in her hometown.悠悠: He HAD to! 林肯: That IS probably the reason he did it, in the first place, because she left. 尼克: So father and son set off on their journey, on roller skates, along the China National Highway 106, which took fourteen days. They started at 8 a.m. every day, and they stopped every so often to eat, have a drink, have a rest, and by the time they made it to Beijing he had snapped more than 600 pictures of his son next to all of these highway signs. We don’t know if he was actually that happy; Mr. Zhang said his son was in tears several times along the route. 悠悠: Of course he was!林肯: Of course he was! He’s four years old! 尼克: But he never gave up, and that was the purpose of the journey. 悠悠: He doesn’t dare! 林肯: Do you know what the sad thing is? Odds are, this kid’s not going to remember this journey. He’s just going to remember fourteen days that have kind of all blended into one. 悠悠: Why must he do it in this way? If simply to travel for a distance of 540 kilometers, why not simply to challenge this kid to read 500 books? 尼克: This is a very good question. 悠悠: I mean, that&`&s more meaningful than this. 林肯: If you’re going to try and teach your child the harsh realities of life, which is, I think, fair, that’s a fair thing to do, because life is tough, maybe, you know, real life skills would be more applicable. 悠悠: Exactly. 尼克: Again, he’s four years old. 林肯: Yeah?尼克: I mean, the range of real life skills that he has at this point are probably fairly limited. 悠悠: As similar stories go, back in the year 2012, there has been an Eagle Dad from Nanjing. He gained fame online when a video surfaced of him forcing his four-year-old – still a four-year-old–son to run down the street in the snow wearing simply shoes and underwear. And the dad shot and posted online video clips showing his four-year-old son running down a snow-covered street, wearing only shoes and underpants. The boy chased his father, sobbed and begged to be picked up. 林肯: Wow. I’m always shocked at the idea, because these four-year-old kids, he’s four years old. 尼克: He probably just wanted to sit down by this point.林肯: He wanted to sit down. You know what four-year-olds like? Chocolate. They love that! 尼克: The best part is that the running down the street in the snow happened while they were on holiday in New York, so the kid probably thought he was going to have a great time, but look what happened. Then, when they returned to China later that year, they went to Qingdao, on the coast, and the son, who was still four, or I guess maybe five by this point, was sent sailing in the sea on his own. 悠悠: That was "Lesson Two"? 尼克: That was lesson number two. Apparently it was okay, because there was a sailing instructor in a separate boat nearby, who could rescue him, had there been an emergency. 悠悠: Do these dads want to raise their kids in a way that Bear Grylls was featuring in the show‘Man vs Wild’? 林肯: Something like that! I mean, what’s going on there?

W: Now, would you want to go to a “texting-friendly” theater? Bluntly, Brian, the answer is no, but I’m sure there’s a little bit more behind this. So this AMC theaters, which is actually owned by China’s Wanda, and now the biggest theater chain in the US. They are considering making quote “text-friendly” theaters. The details are not clear yet – there was a kind of an interview with the magazine “Variety” with the CEO Mr. Aron, and he was talking about how he might be thinking about that, they could do something but it’s not gonna be an immediate thing, and they’re only gonna do it if they’re sure they can satisfy the needs of all customers. I think there’s a way that this can work, not that it necessarily would, but it seems possible. LW: Wu You, what do you think? WY: I think this is simply a promotion, so, other than that, I still remember last time I saw the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, that was a good movie, but I saw someone in front of me in that row, they keep playing their cell phone, and was so bright, and they keep on doing it for ten minutes, and that was the fantastic part of the movie when they were fighting in the forest [LW: yeah], and they just keep seeing their WeChat moments, and whatever [LW: Ughhh] and so annoying [LW: This is very annoying to me]. And also, I want to add another point is that, sometimes I can understand there can be some emergency situation when people really got important things to do, they need to text back at this moment. [LW: Leave.] I can totally [LW: You can leave the theater] understand that. Exactly. They can just stand up and just use [LW: Just go] another corner or just, without [annoying] other people – that can be done. LW: If there’s something so pressing that it could be an emergency, either it can wait an hour, or you shouldn’t be going to the movies. Actually, on Monday, Zootopia, which we then spoke about, watching the little – ‘cause they have the little warnings, the little cartoon warning: “please be quiet”, “please be respectful of others”, and one of the warnings was “please don’t bring any stinky food with you”, please don’t bring any foul-smelling food into the theater, and I thought, how many times did this happen in Chinese theaters that this had to be a problem, that someone was sitting there, watching Zootopia, eating their stinky tofu, making it hard for other people to concentrate on the thing. I thought that was so interesting. I’ve never seen a warning like that. But in South Africa, a big problem is when people bring in their own snacks. So is that a thing that people do in China, in the cinema? Is that allowed, or is it not? WY: It is allowed to some extent, if you’re simply chewing some candy or something [LW: Yeah], I think it is allowed, but not those kind of huge cuisine or [LW: No] chicken wing, or something. LW: No, if you bring in your chicken – if you’re bringin’ in your chicken wing and all of that nonsense, that’s not going to work, but I remember in South Africa, specifically people got very upset if you, for example come in, and you had like a, like a big bag of crisps, and they were rustle a lot when you ate [BK: Yeah, yeah]. Or like a bag Doritos or nachos and you would crunch loudly while Will Smith was running across the screen, so that always was a big problem. WY: You know, another situation I come across is that, people are talking, but not about other things, but about the movie, behind me, and they were loudly enough that I could hear them when I was watching “Fast and Furious 7”. People in the back, simply talking about like, “Okay, in the next minute, they will do that ([LW: Ohhh…]). Oh, in the next minute, ([LW: Oh wow…]) they will do that. In the next minute ([LW: Wu You]), that car will fly!” [LW: Wu You, no] I was so annoyed! LW: You are, you are allowed in that point in time, to get up behind them, and give them a stern talking to [WY: Live broadcast!]. I’m enraged on Wu You’s behalf. I’m so angry that this thing has happened to her, and it hasn’t even happened to me. I’m so incredibly upset by this nonsense. The other problem is also, is kids: I love watching animation things, and that’s a problem, ‘cause kids have trouble being in a theater sometimes. It’s very difficult for them. Like I – like, again, when I went to go watch on Monday, there was kids there, and I was like, it’s ten o’clock on a Monday night, like what are you – shouldn’t these kids be in bed? Why are they running around ruining my movie? I paid a hundred and fifty kuai to go see this thing, they didn’t pay anything! They just…

LW: Zootopia came out about two weeks ago, and it’s already the largest grossing Chinese animation film in Chinese box office history. Maybe you can give us a small synopsis of what exactly happens in the film.BK: Sure. So I guess, unfortunately, if you want to avoid spoilers, you maybe want to miss out on part of this discussion here but, [LW: Okay, don’t, don’t…] part of it may come out in this discussion. So, we got this rabbit, who was bullied as a kid and then she decides, you know what, I’m gonna grow up, I’m want to be a police officer, and she works hard, goes through all the rigorous training, comes out, goes to the big city, Zootopia, like utopia there, ready to take on the world, and she gets there, and she’s set to do parking tickets, a meter maid. So disappointing, but she actually finds herself wrapped up in a missing person disappearance thing [LW: Okay], a crime case and it goes from there, to quite a few twists and turns.LW: Yeah, it’s very interesting, because one of the kind of the central allegories of it is that she is a prey, she’s not a predator. Obviously, all the animals are living together, so for her to be a police officer, this has never happened before, so you can clearly see, like there’s, whether it’s built along long-standing racial or gender discrimination as well, and this is kind of like one of the more subtle things in the movie.WY: There are some scenes very interesting. First of all, there is a sloth in the movie, whose name is Flash. But actually he can work very slowly, even in talking. And also, the other point is that the rabbit just have the feeling that anyone can make it, so it’s very optimistic, Judy Hops [LW: OK], but fox is more cynical, but they can cooperate at last. But after all, they play with the words: the Zootopia actually is a combination of the word zoo and utopia.LW: Now this is the interesting thing here. It seems that you – there can also, from certain parts, it can be the reading that, this kind of just, if you were more cynical, that this is just a representation of – a kind of rote one at that – of the American dream.BK: I think that wasn’t necessarily the intention there – that does kind of figure in, ‘cause, you know, I’m gonna go to the city, you know, make it there, that kind of thing. Zootopia certainly is not a utopia, that’s for sure, you know, the main themes of prejudice and whatnot, as well as other sorts issues there.LW: There’s inevitability in it that she’s going to be successful, whereas in real life, it’s not always the case. Sometimes you don’t always overcome those obstacles because, more often than not, you don’t always see that they’re there.BK: Right. It’s – it’s a tricky thing. Everybody, you know, you start out and if you work hard you’ll make it, and if you don’t make it, that means you didn’t work hard. But that assumes that everybody’s starting from the same place, and one of the things that societies try to do, some harder than others, and it’s difficult thing to do, is ideally to get everybody starting at the same place. Not that you want everybody to end up in the same way, that everybody, you know, everybody has an equal amount of income or whatever and that such thing – obviously, life is often not like that. A lot of people just – they don’t even have the chance to succeed. Maybe you’re born into a family with just one parent who has to work a couple jobs, who doesn’t have time to, you know, raise you the right way, and you know, maybe you’re born into poverty and things can just be hard.WY: I can totally understand what you’re saying, but from the other side, nobody can really start at the same place. It’s not overall purely equal for everyone [BK: Right]. After all, you need to aim high to achieve high. Even though you can’t achieve it, but at least you achieved something.BK: Right, right. I would say on an individual level, that’s absolutely what you need to do, but on a societal level, you know, the government, society needs to work to give everybody that equality of opportunity.LW: Also, the point being is, we got all of that from a movie that has the picture of a rabbit.

Lincoln: Now, when you go shopping, how much attention do you pay to the expiration dates on your purchases? Now, Michael, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit here. Michael: Well, that’s an interesting question, Lincoln. Now, it seems that in many cases, there’s actually no need to abide by expiry dates or things of that nature at all. So, almost all the products that you buy in shops and supermarkets are stamped with dates, but according to dieticians from the US medical research group the Mayo Clinic, the only items required by US federal law to have an expiration date are actually infant formulas and some baby foods. So, the Mayo Clinic goes on to say that most of the markings on foods are simply suggestions, rather than hard-and-fast rules. Lincoln: Wu You, how seriously do you take your expiration dates? WY: I have to be frank that I ate some very delicious chocolates. After I finished eating it, I noticed that the expiration date was last month, but I’m so glad that I ate it before I noticed the expiration date! Michael: Yeah, but did it taste…you said it was delicious. Lincoln: In fact, maybe you should eat all your chocolate a month after the expiration date from now on, if it was that delicious. Michael: Because chocolate can last for a very, very long time, presumably, then, a month later, it was still perfectly ok, and perfectly safe to eat, which is why you didn’t notice the difference. WY: So, would you double-check the date when you open your refrigerator and get food out? Would you look at the expiration date on each of the items? Michael: Probably. WY: What about you, Lincoln? Lincoln: No. Usually, things don’t last long enough in my house! I tend to consume most things before they get a chance to go off. The thing we haven’t spoken about, as well, with these best-before dates and things, is that actually, it might lead to a lot of food waste. It might lead to a lot of people throwing away food that is perfectly good. Michael: Yeah, and that’s the thing, like I was saying earlier, I don’t think you should take that as gospel. I think if it’s blue and furry, that’s probably quite a good indicator that perhaps you shouldn’t eat it. WY: I suddenly had a thought: if a supermarket can sell food based on its expiration date, if it’s near the expiration date, can it sell it at a cheaper price for someone who really needs it but has less money? Michael: That’s a really good point actually, Wu You, because when I was a student, I worked a part-time job in a department store in the UK, Marks & Spencer’s, and they have a food court, you know, like a little supermarket, and what they used to do, all the stuff that was going off that day, they would put that up in the staff shop on the top floor, and you could buy everything at a quarter of the retail price, because it was going off that day, so it was still perfectly alright, but they couldn’t sell it in the shop any more. So, I remember, I got some lobster, or some really elaborate and ostentatious seafood platter for about £6, and it should have cost me about £20. WY: That’s nice, especially for students who have less money, and also for the families who are really in need of this food. Lincoln: Yeah, I remember, I’ve seen in a shop in Beijing as well, I’ve seen a best-by date for honey, for example, and if you know a little bit about this, it’s almost impossible for honey to go bad. Michael: What I find, as well, is when you get things like honey, or jam, or things like that, and what I’ve often seen is there’ll be an expiration date, like “This is going to expire on the 18th May 2021”. Lincoln: Yeah, like with milk as well. It’s not like the cow knows, the cow doesn’t know when the milk is going to go off. All these are guesstimations and sums that are made, it’s not like the cow is tipping off the people who are milking it, that’s not how it works! But what I was going to say is this place was selling honey, and they were actually selling it at ridiculous discount prices because it was supposed to go off. The chances of that happening are really quite small. So, you know, if you want to have a bit of a bargain, a bit of a top tip from us, there. Michael: Is your cupboard now full of honey, Lincoln? Lincoln: If I can finish all the honey by the end of the month, that would be great!

Lincoln: Now, Cao Wenxuan became the first Chinese author to win the Hans Christian Andersen award for children’s literature. Wu You, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit further.WY: The Beijing-based author Cao Wenxuan has won the the Hans Christian Andersen award. This award is also called the Little Nobel Prize for Literature. This time, the jury also said Cao was a unanimous choice for the prize. Actually, Cao is a professor from Peking University, and he is drawing from his own childhood experiences.Lincoln: That’s quite interesting. So he’s drawing on these childhood experiences – it says he grew up in backbreaking poverty in Jiangsu province, and he was the son of a principal for rural primary schools, so that’s quite interesting that he’s made it all the way there.WY: He also recounts his childhood to record that he often had nothing much to eat, and would look forward to having a meal of rice gruel once every 15 days.Lincoln: Oh, wow. For a children’s book, that seems to be quite a complex and quite an adult themeMichael: Well, I think maybe he’s writing about these experiences, about how tough his childhood was, but maybe writing about it in quite a romanticized way, maybe through rose-tinted glasses – “the way things used to be”, and maybe harking back to a simpler time. I mean, I can’t imagine, if it’s a children’s book, if it’s aimed a fairly young children, I don’t imagine you would have great themes of poverty and hardship there.Lincoln: You know, I think we often don’t give young people and children enough credit when it comes to the themes in books and stuff like that. They grasp these ideas, you know, this idea that children shouldn’t or can’t understand or comprehend or appreciate these quite heavy themes, as it were, but I think they can, for the most part. I think they can.Michael: Yeah, I mean, if you look at Hansel and Gretel, for example, that’s absolutely horrifying.Lincoln: That’s a horrifying story.Michael: That’s two children being abducted by an old woman, and then cooking her in an oven.Lincoln: Yeah, it’s pretty terrible, and also, just a little bit later than that, Harry Potter. Harry Potter’s got themes of death, and multiple characters die in the books as well.Michael: Well, I mean, you could argue, with Potter, that there are seven or eight different books, and each is one year after the other in his school life, so you could argue, the older that he himself gets, the more serious and the more death-orientated the books become, and its almost like it goes from children’s literature to young adult.Lincoln: Yeah, I do think you can definitely see it becoming a little bit darker, but I think those themes were already there in the first and the second books somewhat, but let’s get back to this. So, I’m quite interested now in what actually entertains young Chinese children. So this is what young kids are reading, and this is what is being presented to them, and from the outside, at least, there’s an acknowledgement of some sort of merit, some sort of artist merit. Now, what did you watch? What did you read when you were growing up, Wu You?WY: As a little kid, my mum would read me some books, like Hans Christian Andersen’s books. That was in Chinese – it had already been translated.Lincoln: Was it western books, or was it also Chinese books? [WY: Both] OK. What were the Chinese books like?WY: In Chinese we have the [Four] Great Works, the Monkey King.Lincoln: OK, the Monkey King. That’s something that we still see today, yeah.Michael: I think one of the reasons this is such a big deal is it’s the first time a Chinese author has won the Hans Christian Andersen prize.

LW: Now, an American city has chosen an unusual way to fight crime here, Brian, and we know that, the old aphorism is, that “crime doesn’t pay”. But it looks like it actually might in this case.BK: Right, it might there. There’s a plan in Washington DC, which has certainly a problem with violence, murder, homicide, et cetra, to actually pay residents, or pay potential criminals or actual criminals, to not commit violence, specifically to not shoot and kill each other. This is actually coming from a program in Richmond, California, which was, in 2007, the country’s sixth deadliest city per capita. In the 20 years prior to that, they had 740 who were killed by guns, and more than 5,000 people had been injured by bullets. They ended up getting this consultant who came up with this idea to give money to the worst of the worst, pretty much, and they’ve seen some results actually.LW: So, the idea is here, is that if these people don’t commit crimes, they get a certain amount of money, is that – like, very simply, and perhaps too simplistically, that’s the idea. [BK: That’s half of it] OK.BK: The other half is they’re part of this program which is why they get eligible to get this money. You go, and you get mentored pretty much.LW: Alright – Wu You, what do you make of this?WY: I think according to the description from Brian, it is not really like the subsidies or something; it’s just like an exchange. The requirement is like if they engaged for six months of different lessons, with the help of psychologists or some experts, and then they possibly will get the money. But a question is, what if they continue to use the money or get accumulated lots of money and buy another gun or something.BK: Yeah, and that, that is possible there, you know. And it could be for guns, it could be for drugs – they don’t know.WY: Is there any other alternative measure? Because all these kind of course is to help them better engage in life again. And what about to give them some vouchers or some shopping cards that can only be used in certain places, and also give them some cash, some money, and also helping them apply for jobs.BK: Yeah. And I – the program does actually some of that there.LW: I can step in here: for me, it’s very certain is – there’s certainly people who commit – do bad things because they are bad [BK: Mm-hmm]. But then there’s also definitely I think the majority of the time, at least in my time, is people who are desperate. Now, the other question is then, is that thousand dollars not collectively best served by addressing the root cause of why people would be desperatein the first place.BK: That’s a very fair point. You talk about economic issues [LW: Yeah], people not having jobs, and that’s, that’s something that I think does need to be addressed.WY: Actually, data can talk: so this is not the first time that America certain state has been doing this, right? And another state has also been doing this, and is it effective?BK: That is the thing there. With Richmond, with this program there, it admittedly is small, and they, they’ve had 88 who’ve gone through it. 84 of the 88, first of all, are still alive, which sounds like, well, of course they should be, but there was a feeling that, for a lot of them, they wouldn’t necessarily be.LW: But now, this other thing: this program, it doesn’t have any sort of close relationship with law enforcement.BK: That’s right. In Richmond, they do have the support of the police – they do think it’s innovative – but they don’t actually work with law enforcement, to kind of maintain their credibility, ‘cause the fear is that if these people know that you’re working with the police, they’re not gonna wanna be involved.LW: I’m looking at some of the notes here as well – it says here that they may have allowed suspected killers in the stipend program to evade responsibility for homicides. Is that, is that ethical?BK: I mean, that’s the thing. And on the other hands, after reaching a record low of 11 homicides a couple years ago, they’ve been on the rise in the past couple years, so there is that. If you’re one of those places like Richmond was about ten years ago, and things are just absolutely horrible, I think it’s worth giving it a try.

LW: Within hours of becoming operational and left to its own devices, a Twitter bot became racist and offensive. What does this tell us about artificial intelligence? Brian, maybe you can walk us through this one a little bit.BK: Well, I think it might tell us more about human nature than artificial intelligence, but those are quite related. So AI like this be just as captivating in a radically different cultural environment, and they created this one for 18 to 24 year-olds, intending to kind of mimic millenials for entertainment purposes, so it’s – the feeling was kind of like, ideally, like talking with a 19-year old woman over Twitter or whatever.LW: They created this bot and, but what has actually happened is, there was a concerted attack by a certain group, and because the bot kind of learns - it’s socialized somewhat, learns from other peoples’ behavior, and I read through some of them, and we won’t repeat them, because a lot of it isn’t broadcastable. So, Wu You, what do you make of this? What do you – what do you think, what does this tell us about ourselves…that within hours of having this new and exciting toy it just goes completely wrong and we just have to take it off completely.WY: It’s more like a little baby, that has been learning from the people around her, because it is a piece of white paper, and it all depends on what you draw on it. And it quickly reminds me the Chinese version of Siri, Xiao bing (小冰), and Xiao bing is also developed by Microsoft, and used by about 40 million people in China. It is known as delighting with its stories and conversations in China. Lot of boys who especially prefer staying at home, would like to chat with her. But that is also reminds of another famous movie – Ex Machina [BK: Mm], which creates the stories of a robot that has been developed by human beings, and then she actually killed the one who invented her, and escaped.LW: That’s against the First Law of Robotics. Brian…[BK: Yeah, yeah…]…you can’t do that. First do no harm.WY: And people just feel it might be a little bit scary because she can think. And that is what the artificial intelligence that human beings have been trying for so long.BK: Right. They’re trying to create robots or artificial intelligence that can think. Obviously, this one couldn’t…LW: No, exactly. That’s – I think that’s the point there [BK: Yeah, very, very clear] I think that’s what we can take away from it. It actually couldn’t think.WY: And this attempt just showcase if you make something, and then you might be losing control of it and then [BK: Very true, yeah] what do you do.LW: Yeah, but now this interesting there is you’re talking about who made it. And Microsoft actually issued out an apology, claiming it was a coordinated attack, which is in line with at least one media report suggesting that an online forum actually did it. Now, they also – some other people, some other developers have actually criticized Microsoft saying that they actually acted quite recklessly, in, in letting this bot out without properly testing it, and knowing that the world is what the world is like.WY: I think this could be another step for people to better understand the internet. If it is not for this chatbot, if it is the internet in all other kind of blogs, in all other kind of websites, there will be tons of cyber-bullying, cyber-abusing. If it is not for this, there will be those kind of actions somewhere else. So I think this can be another attempt for people to understand if you have developed similar algorithm or similar websites or similar robot, this is what might happen.BK: Right. And, actually, like with anything, this is an experiment, and with any experiment, you know, if it’s a good experiment you actually learn from failure. Obviously, you’d like success, but you’ll-you get a failure and you figure out what went wrong, how to do better, how to avoid making the same mistakes again.

Lincoln: Now, would you eat food that’s been dropped on the floor? Michael, tell us a little bit more about this.Michael: OK. Well, I’m sure you’ve both heard of the “five-second rule”. So, there’s this mythical rule that any food picked up from the floor is perfectly fine to eat within five seconds of dropping it, so to find out whether this is true, or whether this is an old wives’ tale, the BBC recently put this question to some scientists who specialize in microbes and bacteria and things of that nature. So, to give you a bit of context and a bit of a backgrounder, it’s not like there’s a swarm of bacteria lying on the ground, just waiting to pounce on any food that falls from the table. You know, bacteria is absolutely everywhere, even if you’ve just mopped and bleached the floor and you can see your face in it. There’s bacteria absolutely everywhere. At any one time, there are about 9,000 different species of microscopic creatures in the dust in your home and everywhere like that, 7,000 of which are different bacteria – you know, they’re on your hands, on your face, on your skin, and in fact, each person emits around 38 million bacterial cells into their environment each hour. One of these scientists, a man called Jack Gilbert who is a microbial ecologist at the University of Chicago, he said even licking your floor or toilet seat is unlikely to make you sick. However, he did say that it’s probably not clever to do that if someone in your household is sick or if you are in a country with poor hygiene records.Lincoln: I do think it depends on what you drop. If you drop something dry and you pick it up immediately, I wouldn’t mind as much, but if you drop something wet [Michael: Like smoked salmon] some salmon, or tuna, then you should probably just let that one go. Wu You, I see you smiling over there. What do you think of this?WY: It quickly reminds me of a cartoon that I saw not long ago. It says that one piece of chip fell on the floor, and the bacteria cell is talking to his peers: “Don’t anybody touch that chip yet! One…two…three…four…”Lincoln: Yeah, kind of making fun of the whole idea, as well. But in China, as well, I remember the first time I came here, if you’re eating at a restaurant, I was told that if something falls off the plate, it’s dead to you. You never pick it up and eat it – it’s gone forever! But one thing I’ve also noticed, just about putting things on the floor is I’ve noticed that a lot of – it seems – foreigners don’t mind putting their bags and stuff on the floor, and Chinese people would never do this.WY: Never do that! Never ever!Lincoln: I’ve put my backpack on the floor in the subway, in the office, everything. [WY: That’s the worst] You see? But it’s just like, I’m not wearing it, so in my head, it doesn’t make a big difference to me, I’m not wearing it.Michael: You know, when Chinese people go into the house, they immediately change out of their shoes and into slippers [Lincoln: Yeah, that’s interesting] and I wonder if, maybe because China generally is a little bit more dusty and dirty, like when you’re walking around…WY: No, because people believe that on the streets outside there has been more bacteria on the floor, but inside of your house, you clean it every day, so you need to change your shoes in case you bring the bacteria from outside onto your clean floor.Lincoln: Yeah, well, that’s something that’s not a big thing in South Africa, never do that. No one’ll ever ask you to take off your shoes going into a house. In fact, if you go to someone’s house and you have to take off your shoes, you might as well just go “you know what? Actually, I don’t want to visit you”. [WY: Is it that bad?] It’s a bit crazy, it’s a bit weird.WY: Sometimes, especially for some families who have babies, and the babies are just crawling on the ground and just lying down on the ground, if someone else brings the bacteria from outside and didn’t change shoes, maybe the shoes will bring some bad bacteria into the floor and then the baby might touch it.Lincoln: Well, I think babies need to encounter as much bacteria as possible, because that’s necessary for them, they need to actually build up their immunities and stuff.

Lincoln: Now, a man has made a ratings scale about texting responding speed in order to choose a girlfriend. Now, Wu You, can you elaborate on that a little bit? WY: The man worked as an actuary. He thought that he might need help, especially in finding out if a girl is really interested in him. He made this kind of ratings scale. Lincoln: OK, and he posted it online? WY: Yes, [he did]. He has made a mark sheet and a ratings scale about girls’ reactions to him, to test if she is really interested in him. The sheet is really complicated, but let’s take one category as an example. So, one section is called text messages. He made this marking sheet to see if she responded [to] the text messages quickly enough. If the girl quickly responded [to] the text message, she can get three points. If she responded after half an hour, two points; after an hour, one point; after 12 hours, minus one point; no response, minus five points. Michael: I think this guys’ missing the point, quite spectacularly, of having a girlfriend. I think if you have to come up with an algorithm and a spreadsheet in order to find a girlfriend, maybe you haven’t quite got the right end of the stick when it comes to the fairer sex. Lincoln: Yeah, it’s quite strange, I think. Michael: If he finds a girl who ticks all the boxes and gets the most points, or whatever, when they go on a date, is he going to tell her that he picked her largely on the basis of having fulfilled all his spreadsheet requirements? Lincoln: “Well, darling, as you sit across from me, I can see that you’re actually on six, six points, which is better than someone else, who’s only on five points. If you continue to do this quite well, you will be allowed to have a second date.” But he might take minus off. I would love if he let you know, if he actually let’s the woman know exactly what her score is, because I feel like he might find himself dateless, as it were. WY: But actually, when you’re talking about if he meets a girl, he also keeps points on other things. He will keep in mind what the girl wore when they met, and [whether] the girl put on any makeup, and the number of sentences the girl said on that day, and how many times the girl laughed when they met, and all of these will also be given marks on his rating scale. Lincoln: One of the things about this is it assumes, or presumes that he is the perfect one. All of his actions… the women’s actions are only relevant to his actions, or relative to his actions, so I think that might actually indicate a lack of self-awareness there, Michael. Michael: I actually think the more I’m thinking about this, the more I quite like this guy. Yeah, I’m just reading this a little more. When you send a text message to a girl that you like, it’s true that the quicker she responds, the more likely she is to be into you, and the more this potential relationship has legs, and I’m reading another one here which says if she sends messages at night, the scores are higher; if she sends a message asking about going for a movie, or going for dinner, that’s also quite a high score, or if she’s just messaging about something boring like work, then the score is lower, and I think there’s some method behind this madness. WY: He gave his reason that he believes all these are reasonable, and he says that he gathered lots of information online about love [and] relationship experiences. They are both from online information or other people. He also said that if he thinks that the girl is really nice, but he has no idea if she likes him or not, so he is afraid of failure, so he thinks this could be a better way to count it. I can totally understand him. It’s just maybe a lack of confidence. He meant it. I mean, he has a pure heart, so maybe he needs a helping hand. Lincoln: Ah, he’s afraid of failure! You can’t do that, mate. You’ve got to put yourself out there.

TY: People tend to compare these two because the trading volume of Alibaba is about to surpass that of Wal-Mart, and some say it is online shopping platforms like Alibaba that have pushed traditional retailers like Wal-Mart into a harder situation. Does that make any sense to you?CJH: I would say it’s called disruptive innovation or disruptive construction; it will destroy some businesses, but it will create many other business opportunities. In order to evaluate such platforms, let’s look at consumers’ welfare. Does Alibaba improve consumers’ welfare? As any consumer would agree, it does improve consumers’ welfare. How about job creation? Does Alibaba create more jobs, or destroy more jobs? I would say it creates more jobs. It’s something like when the train came into this world. The traditional horse-drawn vehicles were kind of worried, I would say, but just because they were worried, the train still continued to grow and even grow faster. Same for the internet: I would say definitely, it will affect traditional shops and businesses, and the question is what the traditional shops and businesses should do to improve, to compete with e-commerce, not just to stop e-commerce – of course, they cannot stop it – for their own growth.TY: Some argue that this e-commerce business model is affecting or even damaging business culture that’s been there for hundreds of years. What’s your take on that?CJH: So what’s the definition of business culture, first of all? Right? Any culture is changing. Even business culture is changing. Can we say that today’s internet shopping culture is not part of business culture, or new business culture? Or that we should keep the traditional one? I would say, yes, it may be creating a new business culture, a new shopping culture: that is online shopping together with some offline shopping or other shopping. I don’t think it’s a negative thing. I would say, maybe it’s creating a new culture.TY: Despite the fast growth in the number of online shopping transactions, analysts say the marginal efficiency of those online platforms’ demographic dividend is on the decline. How so? What is demographic dividend marginal efficiency? CJH: Actually, this is the first time I’ve heard that term. I think maybe it’s broadly related to demographic dividend, which means that in the past, China’s dependency ratio was very low. We know that the population is ageing, and that we’re getting more older people, and we know that older people tend to shop less online. That might mean the demographic dividend is declining. However, I think that for this younger generation, and those in their middle age, now they are used to online shopping, even when they go into their mature age or old age, I would say they have learned the skill, learned the rules of online shopping. They will continue their shopping habits online. Then we have the younger generation. We know that this younger generation in their twenties, and teenagers, they grew up with the internet. They do almost everything online. This generation definitely can make the internet shopping, the e-commerce, grow faster. I do not think this demographic dividend, and its decline, will affect online shopping that much.

Lincoln: Now, you may need a little bit of luck during the divorce in Shanghai. Wu You, what exactly is going on down there?WY: In China, if a couple wants to have a divorce, they need to go to the local marriage registration office to apply and sign a divorce certificate to untie the legal marriage relationship. But here in Shanghai this time, the marriage registration office has announced new changes on the process. There has been a little lottery. You need to…Lincoln: Hang on, hang on now. There’s a lottery for when you can get divorced?WY: OK, so in the past – we can compare this – before this, there has been 70 couples come to apply for the divorce in one day, this has happened, and now they only accept about 50 couples maximum, for one day’s divorce applications, so that means they have deducted [the] applications maximum.Lincoln: OK. I’m still a little bit confused.WY: They need to bid for the chance to successfully apply for that divorce certificate, so it’s not that big [a] lottery, it’s just like you need to be [in] the 50 out of 70 couples, or you might wait longer, but it doesn’t mean that they stop you from getting that certificate.Michael: I think it’s a bit disingenuous to call it a lottery. I mean, you still have a five in seven chance of getting it, you still have a better chance of getting it than not.Lincoln: What do you make of that, Wu You?WY: I think you guys’ comments are totally understandable, but here in China, we have an old saying. As it goes: “It is OK if you want to destroy ten bridges, but never separate one couple”. [Lincoln: OK] So we value marriage a lot, and here, nowadays, in the modern society, maybe someone rushed into the decision of getting a divorce. In the past, there was no marriage counseling, this kind of business. People are just considering it as a domestic case. They would not want to talk about it, they would not want to go to some experts for counseling. I think they might need a little bit of help, but they’re so shy to ask. I think this is a nice intention from the bureau, but maybe there should have been more business or helping hand in China.Lincoln: There’s also been an idea that maybe – the divorce, maybe you could bring it down or maybe you could amend it somewhat [with] the idea of having a seven-year expiration date. If you don’t want to stay married after about seven years, you have to renew it.WY: Oh, talking about that, imagine if, instead of saying “until death do us part” during the wedding vow, the bride may also say in the future: “I will take you to be my lawfully wedded husband, but only for seven years.” So at the end of 2015 last year, someone in Shanghai has come under fire by net users for proposing that Chinese marriage certificates should start having a seven-year expiration date.Lincoln: What do you make of that, Michael?Michael: It sounds like a contract, doesn’t it? So when the seven years elapses you choose to either renew the contract, presumably for another seven years, or go your separate ways. I think that’s maybe a little bit of an excessively pragmatic way of dealing with what’s supposed to be a loving union of man and wife for the rest of their lives.Lincoln: If two people, after seven years, realize that they don’t want to go further, maybe they would have found out five, six, seven years later? That’s looking at it as a failure. Maybe after six years you decide, “well, my goals are different, we’re different people, let’s just go our separate ways.”Michael: The notion of a seven-year stretch hanging over you all the time?Lincoln: Well, if you view it as a stretch, then it’s a little bit different.Michael: No, if after six years it’s not working out and you’re not compatible and you have different interests and you want to go your separate ways, then I think that’s all well and good. I don’t think having a seven-year contract, as it were, is really going to help. That’s basically admitting that it’s doomed to failure from the outset.Lincoln: No, you see, it’s not a get-out, ends after seven years. You have the option of renewing it. There’s no reason you have to. It opens up a different avenue, potentially.Michael: The happiest administrative procedure of your life.Lincoln: Yeah, although I know the seven years is very arbitrary, though, which is the one thing I would say. Why not make it three years? Why not make it five years? So the seven years is a very arbitrary number, for me, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea. I think most people are quite romantic at heart, and having a contract that says seven years, I think most people would reject that.

Lincoln: With blossom season now in full bloom in China, many couples are now taking the opportunity to get married, with some doing so in more ostentatious ways than you might imagine. Michael, maybe you can fill us in a little bit here.Michael: All the trees, all the blossoms are coming into bloom now and it's very pretty, so a lot of people – because you have this very pleasant climate – a lot of people are taking the opportunity to get married. So, to exploit this wave of weddings, with wedding season opening now, [there was] a rather eye-catching wedding gown, with a 101-metre-long train. [Lincoln: That's crazy!] So, to put that into context, that's the length of a football pitch, just the train of her dress.Lincoln: That's the length…? I can't even believe that.Michael: Yeah. So this gown, made of white lace and adorned with lots of jewels and other things of that nature cost 300,000 RMB to make, which is $46,000. They had to hire a troupe of small children to carry it at various intervals.WY: How many children did they hire?Michael: I wasn't sure exactly. I saw a picture, and I counted at least 20 or 30 children just holding it up and stopping it from dragging on the ground. In case you missed it, Lincoln, the actors Nicky Wu and Cecilia Liu had their traditional wedding tea ceremony at the weekend. Their wedding cost a reported $3.2 million, and the couple are due to hold a feast for 350 guests at a resort in Bali. It's not just the weddings themselves when people spend a lot of money and put a lot of effort in. It's actually…in recent months, in China, we've actually seen quite a lot of very extravagant proposals, not even the weddings, so a few months ago there was one proposal from a man in Sichuan Province, and he arranged a big proposal "flash mob" on the street, so all his friends got together and they did this sort of dance, and by the end he knelt down on one knee to pop the question, but much to his girlfriend's disappointment, the ring was less than one carat in size, and when she saw this, she was so disappointed that it was so small, she just turned around and left without saying a word, and that was the end of that, and I think that, really, to me, that's quite indicative of the high expectations that some young people have. Looking at a few more, which went a bit more successfully, so there was a fine arts student from Wuhan who created a one-and-a-half metre-tall sand sculpture of his girlfriend before he popped the question.Lincoln: Now, that's impressive.Michael: Yeah, and she said yes. Poor chap – a guy from Xi'an proposed to his girlfriend by painstakingly arranging lychees on the road to form the shape of two hearts pierced by Cupid's arrow, and then the word "love" written underneath, and it's worth noting that in August, in Xi'an, lychees are actually quite out of season, so it cost him 2,000 kuai to get all these lychee together. And then – I'm going to read this verbatim from the article I took this from, just because I think this is brilliant: "The woman was stunned, and without knowing what to say, she ate one of the lychees and then abruptly fled the scene".Lincoln: Wow. Stunned silence! She just ate one, and then left? [Michael: Yeah]WY: Maybe she's so touched.Lincoln: No, maybe the lychees weren't good! Maybe it was out of season.Michael: Well, apparently he proposed by saying something along the lines of, you know, "I have no money, I have no house, I have no car, but I have love for you. Will you marry me?”Lincoln: He spend 2,000 kuai on lychees, which makes it even worse! If you're saying that, you should have been saving up! Wu You, what do you think?WY: And also, I saw one live NBA match, and on the field someone proposed, and suddenly the girl is so stunned, and she's so surprised, but she would like to say no, but because of being in front of thousands of audience members, she just got mad and walked away.Lincoln: I've seen that clip, actually, as well, and it's very awkward. [WY: Yeah, very awkward] And also, it seems like maybe the fact that he thought she would like that and the fact that she clearly doesn't, maybe suggests that he maybe doesn't know her as well as he thinks he does.

CG: It seems that there’s nothing that can really stop AI from being applied to a wider range of fields, but do you sense any limitations of what AI can do at this moment? TPZ: Yeah, so the successful Alpha Go indeed states that AI can do certain things, for complete information games. “Complete information games” means that people can see what’s going on here, so it doesn’t really apply to incomplete information games, such as poker. So if you play Texas Hold’em poker, you have two cards hidden, right? So the robot and both of the players cannot see what’s entirely going on in the game, so for these kinds of games, AI has its limitations. ZCG: Professor Zeleznikow, where will AI be in the next five or ten years’ time? If human-like artificial intelligence is a realistic possibility, how long will it take to emerge? What about “super-intelligent” AI? JZ: Well that’s interesting, first of all I don’t think human-like artificial intelligence is a realistic possibility, nor do I think that’s where we’re wanting to go. Emotions, intuition: you can try and model those via computers using artificial intelligence, but I can’t see the sense in doing that. Where we, for example, are superb at using AI is in planning. If you’re driving a car and you go through a red light or you exceed the speed limit, then there are automated cameras or automated machines that in fact take a picture, record how fast you’re going, find out who owns the car and then produce a fine to the owner of the car. Now, all those sorts of planning are really quite simple and well-known, so we’re coming along, and in five years’ time we’ll be further advanced and we’ll have better robots. I’m not too sure that one can use the word ‘super-intelligent’, because our idea of what AI does and where it’s going really depends on the time. In ten years’ time we will have more services at home, we will have more automated services in public transport, on the roads, at airports and things like that, but it still won’t be super-intelligence that can read people’s emotions or minds. It will progress, but it will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. ZCG: Critics of AI do argue that if the technology becomes too sophisticated, it might one day challenge human pre-eminence, in a scenario some call an ‘intelligence explosion’. How likely is it that such a sequence of events may one day occur? JZ: Well, we are moving more and more towards computer systems – artificial intelligence – modeling human decision-making and human understanding, but there are certain cognitive features, there are certain emotional features that in fact are very, very different and difficult to model. That’s why I don’t think we’re ever going to quite get to that stage.

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: Terrill how far away are we from the technology of self driving becoming a reality and reaching consumers? As we’ve spoken about before; Tesla has its Autopilot system, Google has been experimenting with driverless cars and GM has also stepped in and made investments. Which company is best placed to be able to take advantage of the technology and bring it to a mass market? Terrill Frantz: The reality is its here now. Theses cars are here now as we know from the recent Google crash. I think the governor of this idea is really going to be the legal system. I think legally this presents far more issues than the privacy of a smart phone. I think that’s going to be the limiting factor here. Zhao Yang: One of the issues that car hailing companies have been having is in terms of classifying drivers in terms of what roles they play in the companies. Taking drivers out of the questions could potentially solve this problem. What are your thoughts? Liu Baocheng: To respond to your previous question. Now we have a whole list of questions about when the autonomous car can be used on a massive scale. Some have forecast by 2020. Baidu by 2019. The Toyota will make a car available by 2020. So it seems like it is really something that is on the horizon already. Terrill Frantz: One of the things that is special about this driverless car thing is that, in least in my experience, people enjoy driving. So you’re actually taking something away [Zhao Yang: That is why there is a car culture right?]. Yeah people collect cars and all that but, in the United States at least, driving on the highway fro two hours can be quite relaxing, believe it or not. So I’d say that it’s a large number of people, in the United States at least that enjoy driving at least to some extent. So you’re actually trying to take something away which actually adds more challenges when you’re trying to disrupt the industry. Liu Baocheng: To that I have a slightly different opinion. People are actually very vulnerable to changes that are presented by businesses. People used to enjoy fighting. Now instead of going to war they design games to play ball. People have online games. Individuals are very vulnerable to the directions of businesses. The culture will change and the habits will change.

LW: A high school is using an interesting solution to what seems is a very specific problem. Now, Wu You, what exactly is going on here?WY: The high school has separate[d] female and male students in the dining hall to prevent from feeding each other food. A red line has been drawn on the ground as a notice of separation: boys on the left, and girls right.LW: Alright. So we have these two – we have boys and girls, they’re together, and what’s actually happening here is, the principal, it would seem, has decided to draw a line saying, “No, boys eat this side, girls eat this side. You guys are not meeting over lunch time”. Is that exactly what’s happening here, Wu You?WY: Yes, it is. And also, do you know what’s the punishment if they sit in the wrong spot?LW: What is the punishment if they sit in the wrong spot?WY: So people who work as monitors in the dining hall will take a picture of them, and then criticize them in public.LW: Criticize them in public?BK: Yeah. That’s interesting, but not shocking. I mean, this is a place where, some schools actually post everybody’s class ranking in public there, so this kind of public shaming, if not public awareness of everyone’s standing, does seem to be a thing.LW: I will say, seeing that sort of, public display of affection, it can be a bit sickening [BK: Yes], seeing people feed each other all the time, and making gooey-gooey love noises when you’re trying to eat your lunch, but does it really – is drawing a red line in the middle of the cafeteria, is that really the best way to solve that, [BK: Literally drawing a red line…] literally drawing a red line in the middle, is that the best way?WY: Actually, the school says this is just in case of young love. And there has been situation that students who fall in love, they would eat together in the dining hall and they would feed each other, and headmaster of the school says they would remove the line if there was less young love in the campus.BK: See, now my question is how much love is there in the first place, because I know a lot of Chinese parents actively discourage their, their kids from doing that, not that that necessarily stops them in all cases, but there’s that. And then furthermore, China is generally more conservative than the west or whatever, so I feel like there’s not going to be that many people who would not only date publicly, feed each other publicly – that’s a bit step too far. Now, admittedly, post-90 generation kids, they’re a little different supposedly, but still.WY: But that go to the direction of puppy love and young love, should that be prevented in middle school. And people would argue that if this happened in a dining hall, but how can they really monitor the students outside of school campus?BK: Yeah. No, that’s the thing here. They’re looking at this problem, which may be a big issue, may not be, and they’re just, they’re doing it in this one location. If they really want to cut down on dating, I guess, maybe they should forbid that, which again, I don’t think is – not especially useful or necessary. But again, I wonder: how often is this really happening, and how much of an effect is it going to have? It might just annoy people more than anything else.LW: I have to concur with Brian to an extent here. I just wonder how many times were people actually feeding each other in the cafeteria before it became a problem. Before this extreme measure was taken – was this the first measure taken? Were other steps taken instead of it? Were the kids being addressed, saying why this is perhaps a little inappropriate? Which I can understand. I do think it’s somewhat inappropriate at the very least. I don’t think it’s – I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong; I just think it’s not – you know it’s – you’ve got to have some sense of decorum, you can’t, you can’t [BK: Decorum’s the word]. Yeah, you have to have some sense of where you are when you do things like that. How much, you know, will drawing a red line and then shaming the children, how much will that actually solve the problem, if in fact, if in fact it was a problem in the first place, Wu You.WY: We can go deeper in that question. [LW: Oh by all means] So what is really the problem. Is it really simply for feeding the food? I don’t think so. It’s just the school is worrying about the kids’ studying [LW: Ah, okay.] So if it really affects the kids’ daily work and academic performances, that’s a problem.LW: So what they’re treating here is a symptom, not necessarily the cause of the, the cause of [WY: Exactly] the phenomenon [BK: Right, right].

LW: But before you go on, Jin Yong – he might not be very familiar to a lot [LK: I know], a lot of western – I know, certainly this morning was the first time that I heard him, even though it seems he's influenced a lot of the films and a lot [LK: Oh, he is…] the Chinese media that I’ve consumed over the course of my young life, so maybe you can just explain why he is, he is so revered.LK: Yeah, well, you may have never heard of him, but I mean a lot of westerners may have watched the Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon [LW: Oh, certainly] and also the Kung-fu Panda. A lot of the moves, the scenes, and the, like, how the martial art sects are structured, actually based [on] ideas from Jin Yong's novel[s]. So [LW: Oh really?] he’s like the guru [LW: Okay, understandable] or the founding father of this specific genre.LW: Okay, I get it – it's that I absolutely love, it’s a genre that I've spent a lot of my youth watching. I didn’t actually read anything, I didn't know that that was…I assumed that they were based on some sort of text, but for some reason it never occurred to me that these were novels that were actually adapted to the screen.LK: His famous one's is perhaps the Condor Trilogy. It's three novels, and the most famous one is “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”. It's about…some man, some men fighting each other during the Song Dynasty. Well, two men – like, let's say Brian and Lincoln, you fought together against some invaders [LW: Okay], and then you became so close that you decided that, if you have kids, they're either going to get married or become close brothers. [LW: Okay…] But, your sons turned out really different – have different personalities, and it didn't really work out as you would expect it to happen, so the story was all about that.LW: Okay…BK: So the story was just a disappointment that your children didn't become best friends?LK: Mm, sort of.BK: I'm guessing it had to do to a little bit…greater conflict than that.LK: But, yeah, it was preceded by…LW: Also, I was, I was just disappointed in Brian's son. Wasn't even worried about my own, just got disappointed in his.LK: Yeah, it's, it's huge. Like, maybe not everyone – I wouldn't say everyone in China would actually know the author's name but the mention of any of these novels, or movies, or TV series would instantly ring a bell among average Chinese. In a lot of his novels, there's a sect called the Beggar's Sect [BK: Ah, yes, right], so all the beggars are interestingly like free, they have free mind of spirit, and they like save people, and they cook really delicious chicken.LW: Okay. That's a very…BK: Is there like a Beggar's Chicken? Yeah.LK: Beggar's Chicken is really a dish [LW: Does it…] – a famous dish [LW: Oh wow]from Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province.LW: Well there you go. I'm looking – I'm so intrigued.

K: Now that Sharapova faces a ban of up to four years, considering that she’s already 28, is it likely that this might be her career ending, now? HW: I think that’s up to her. I mean, if you look at the peak performance range of elite tennis players, very rarely do tennis players peak beyond thirty. Only those who keep themselves in extremely good shape, like Serena Williams and Roger Federer, for example, can extend their careers beyond the young up-and-comers. So purely based on a factual assessment, yeah, I think, how can you keep up four years of not playing, knowing that your best years are already behind you? For what reason would you continue to work for four years without being on court, not knowing if you’d ever be a top ten player again? Having said that, she may decide that her best years are still ahead, and that she is going to go for four years of non-competition. BK: Well then, do you think her business career, or the possibility of coming back during the future, is that over now, as well? Or do you think she still has a chance, maybe after this has passed, to regain some of the sponsorship or business ventures? HW: In particular with those players whose image and profile, in Maria’s case, has been built on a combination of extremely skilled athletic performance, extremely popular global sport, extremely attractive physical appearance, an incredible marketability in terms of ability to communicate across a range of target sectors but with a very strong focus on the adolescent or young adult market, and on the female market as a further specific focus, the brand damage and the reputation damage that is done by basically putting a question mark over two of those incredibly marketable characteristics and the credibility and integrity that that person has to achieve that, it’s going to damage their brand significantly. If you’re talking numbers, if her marketability at the moment is thirty million a year, she might return to a marketability of three million a year, for argument’s sake, because she still has a number of those features available to sponsors to associate with, and people in years to come will be forgiving and forget about this. But the one thing that she will miss is her principal platform, which is tennis at the highest level. If you cannot associate your commercial sponsorship to that elite performance at a global level, then the value of your investment in such matters will be greatly diminished. She will never, ever reach the heights that she’s just fallen from again.

Lincoln: Chinese authorities revealed plans to set up its first rock music academy. There’s an idea, there, that we might actually be seeing a school of rock! It’s very strange. Michael and I are smiling at each other across the monitors here, because this is all very strange to both of us.Michael: It seems like a very…what’s the right word? A very sanitized approach to rock music. You know, when you think about rock music, you maybe think of a rather hedonistic kind of lifestyle.TY: It’s all spontaneous.Michael: Well, exactly, and not something that’s been talked about at a seminar with some Chinese authorities. I think it’s certainly a very different way of looking at the genre.Lincoln: Rock music, again, like Michael said, is hedonistic, all-things-go, you know, people living this heavy lifestyle, and then to just have it in a seminar with a lecturer, it seems very strange, to us at least.TY: It’s probably the same [as] any other music school, it’s just called a school of rock. It probably teaches everything, from classical music to pop.Lincoln: Those schools exist already, I think, but it didn’t necessarily say here that it was teaching all those variants of rock and roll music.TY: How do you think that singer, the singer Tan Weiwei got those rock songs worked out and written in the first place?Lincoln: Because you just play it. You pick up a guitar and you know a guy who has some drums and you know a guy who has a bass…TY: No, you have to learn how those instruments work together.Michael: Sure, but I would argue there’s a world of difference between taking guitar lessons and sitting down and entering into a diploma of how to learn how to read and how to play and how to write rock music. I think the original genesis of rock music is that you come up with it on your own – you have this creativity, you know how to write songs, and it comes easy to you. You write the lyrics, you write the tune, you write the melody [Lincoln: All yourself] all yourself. I think the idea is that it should come from within, and I think you can always take influences from elsewhere, from other musical styles, but to me, it sounds a little bit sterile just sitting in a classroom and learning about this.TY: I think, probably to Chinese, everything can be acquired through training or learning.Lincoln: I think there’s a legitimate point there. Who’s to say that rock can’t be taught, and commodified into being an actual science where you can go to an academy and learn it? I don’t think it’s been tried before.TY: If you don’t learn, how can you come to know this in the first place?Lincoln: Because you hear it, and you try it, and you fail, but you fail in a unique way, and then you come up with your own thing.Michael: If this is like an actual registered course and diploma that everybody joins, and everybody does the same sorts of modules, won’t everybody just end up producing the same kind of music? Isn’t the whole point of rock music finding your own voice and your own style? Like you said, Lincoln, you might fail, but you might fail gloriously, and that might lead to something else unique, and I think it would take away some of the individuality of it, for me.Lincoln: I do think it is a strange idea, but I don’t necessarily think it is a bad idea.Michael: I would be fascinated to see what the curriculum actually entails, because all we’re doing here is speculating over what it might be, and I would be very interested to see exactly what the balance is of music theory, music history, or a practical element.Lincoln: Perhaps stage-diving 101, perhaps something like this?Michael: I’ve no idea how that would work, and I would actually be fascinated to see exactly how it goes.

Lincoln: Yesterday was International Women’s Day, and it’s still going on in some parts of the world, and actually, what it was a lot of – on March 8th – a lot of women all over the world, and not just women, actually, honoring the role of women in society, and looking back on how far women have come, and how far [they] still need to go. One of the interesting things I saw was there was a lot of interesting messages from a lot of state leaders and important people from around the world. Tu Yun, maybe you can kick us off with some.TY: From Vladimir Putin, he said: “Dear women, you possess a mysterious power, you keep up with everything, juggle a myriad of tasks, and yet remain tender, unforgettable and full of charm.” How nice!Lincoln: That’s a lovely thing to say. “Tender, unforgettable”.Michael: “A mysterious power”(!)Lincoln: A mysterious power! Very interesting.TY: But can you two feel that?Lincoln: I feel I can feel that. I think there’s a mysterious power about certain women.Michael: Yeah. I think, as a major world leader, that’s a strange choice of words, but, you know, each to their own.Lincoln: The think it, also, presumably, it was also translated, so we’re not necessarily sure if it was lost in translation, but yes – mysterious, yet tender. Unforgettable and full of charm.TY: Anyway, it’s a compliment.Lincoln: Yeah. Go on, what about some other leaders, Tu Yun?TY: Well, the UN head Ban Ki-Moon, he said: “For more than nine years, I have put this philosophy into practice at the United Nations. We have shattered so many glass ceilings we created a carpet of shards. Now we are sweeping away the assumptions and bias of the past so women can advance across new frontiers”.Lincoln: Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, there, of the UN. That’s very interesting, that one, and also quite a positive statement there, Michael.Michael: Yeah, I liked the imagery with the glass ceiling being shattered, as well. I think that’s a good message.TY: I doubt [it]! There’s a lot of it still existing.Lincoln: Absolutely, and maybe we haven’t shattered it, maybe we’ve just chipped away at it. That may be a fuller metaphor, as it were. Maybe you can kick us off with some other ones, Michael.Michael: Yeah, so we’ve talked about some potentially positive messages, there. One that I would argue is a little more negative, maybe a bit backward-looking, is from the Turkish President Erdogan, who says: “I know there will be some who will be annoyed, but for me a woman is above all a mother”. Now, I would argue that President Erdogan has somewhat spectacularly missed the point of International Women’s Day there. You know, it’s supposed to be a day honouring the achievements and the empowerment of women over the years, but you know, there is, as Tu Yun mentioned just now, there a certain… I mean, there’s a journey still to go and still to be made there, isn’t there, in terms of equality in the workplace and wherever else, and I think maybe President Erdogan’s comments maybe make that a little clearer than it ought to be.TY: Probably I wouldn’t blame him that much, because he’s internationally recognized as some IBM – International Big Mouth(!) He would say whatever pops up into his mind.Lincoln: That’s interesting. I mean, again, we must stress that we don’t know all the context around the entire speech, as it were, entirely, but it does seem a little bit strange to say that on International Women’s Day, when we know that womanhood, as it were – not being a woman myself, I’m going to be very careful in all of my statements, but there’s so much more to it. If you’re not a mother, you’re still a woman – it doesn’t go that way, so I think he might have missed the point a little bit, there.

ZCG: March 8th marks the 106th International Women’s Day, a day marked annually to celebrate the achievements of women around the world and to campaign for gender equality.DH: I know many people say you are an expert on Chinese issues among all your country’s diplomats, so in terms of China’s gender equality situation, what do you think are the changes taking place here, because I know you came to China as early as the 1980s?BW: Yes, I first came to China in 1986 as an English teacher, and I’ve had the privilege and the pleasure of spending a few years in China, but China is a large country, it’s a very beautiful country, it has a very long history, and it’s very hard to understand fully if you spend only a few years here – but I have seen a lot of changes in the position of women. Of course we start from the point where Chairman Mao said, “women hold up half the sky”, but what we’ve seen, I think, in more practical terms in these last thirty years of reform and opening up is women beginning to take leading positions in business, in academia. We’ve just been talking, earlier on, to Dr. Deng Yaoping, who was, of course, a world and Olympic Ping-Pong champion, so women are taking a more prominent role in society and in the media, but I think there are still areas where it would be nice to see more female leaders emerging, so there are some areas at the top of business where we haven’t got, perhaps, as many [female?] Chinese business leaders as would be beneficial for the economy, and I think in the government it would be very good indeed to see more women taking part in leading positions. DH: So, in order for these changes to be further taking place, what do you think remains to be done here in China? BW: I think giving women the opportunity to emerge in society, in a variety of roles, comes from a number of push and pull factors. So of course you need legislation around equality, but you need role models and mentors, you need people who are willing and able to encourage women, and you need women, too, to have the confidence and the ambition and the opportunity to do some of these things. So around all of those things, you also need an understanding in society that provides childcare, for example, that supports women in the very many areas where they need to see support if they’re going to be truly successful.

LW: Now interesting things happening here in the world, Wu You. Maybe you can enlighten us about what’s going on.WY: A recent report shows that a primary school has divided students into different classes according to their scores. The primary school is located in Guangxi Province, in China, and they have divided students into different classes simply by their exam results. Students with lower grades have been gathered to form one class, and some top students have also been gathered in one top class. So now some students’ parents have reported this to local authorities, and they say that if was put into practice, it feels like some kids with lower grades have been abandoned by the school. And then lower scores classes have also been assigned with different teachers.LW: Now I know the Chinese educational system is notoriously competitive, I often find that teenagers especially, they kind of, they act up to the labels that people put on them. So if you tell kids, you’re not as gifted as these other kids, very often they just leave it.WY: And also, that reminds me of an experiment. One scientist and also a psychologist has also made an experiment. They divided different students into different classroom, and that is simply random. And they told the students in one classroom, saying that, okay, after our test, we found out that you are the most gifted students. Actually, they are not – they’re just chosen randomly. They also told the other students, this has been separated by your scores, and by your IQ. After like one year or two years, they found out that the students who were told they are the best actually did better in scores. So that is how this says, motivation is really important [LW: Yeah] and students do act accordingly.LW: There’s also the idea that what if, what if some kids aren’t as gifted naturally, and they maybe need a little bit more time.BK: One thing you can do, in that case is, you take the people who finish first, and then have them go help out the people who haven’t finished yet. That way…WY: You mean ask the students to help the students?BK: Right, right.LW: I remember very – I used to get very frustrated because I took – my English class, I used to write these essays, and I’d always get the same mark, regardless of how much effort I put into it, which made me very angry, because I kept thinking well this person is not even marking it. And so, I was all, I was in my head then, and I was like, this person, this person is clearly not even, this person has an image in their head of what I am, what type of student I am, what type of student this person is. Wu You?WY: I can see that from the reports, the school’s headmaster has explained why they would to like have this kind of divided classes, is that they would like to design tailor-made classes for students with different talents, so to some degree that I can understand his initiative, it’s just like, for the top class students, maybe the class would be faster. And then for the students with lower scores maybe, and they will have more help, and probably they can just lower the speed of teaching, and then probably they were assigned with teachers who can explain everything and help every students. To that degree, I can understand, but I think there is a better way to do this. If they really want to made a tailor-made classes, they shouldn’t have start to do like this. They should have smaller classes, so that they can be more patient, and they can have more time with these students if each student would want more from the teacher.LW: But what we actually said is they wanted to, you know, legislate for students that have different talents, so maybe the idea that, you know, maybe that’s a little bit of a shift there, in thinking, from this, from this specific school. Maybe that’ll go wider than that.WY: I can see both ways has their own charms, but also in the Chinese way, I could understand the headmaster’s concern, because not only to better help the student but also for the final examination, that was the college entrance examination. We have like millions of students fighting together to get through this examination, and everything in middle school or in primary school is all according to scores. Maybe they have other kind of classes that were designed to better help the student, but if the final route doesn’t really change, nothing else could actually change in front of it.BK: Right.LW: We won’t know until this runs its course and we can compare the scores, but, yeah, I think Wu You hit the nail on the head there. Until the end result doesn’t change, we can’t really expect much changes in the process leading up to it.BK: Right, but one, actually going on what Wu You said. I do think there should be smaller classes. In the US, this is something too. They don’t have as big of classes, but ideally you’d have about twenty students, for a primary school class. In China, obviously there’s – it’s a huge population, so you need bigger classes, but there’s also more people who can become teachers.LW: Yeah, they should definitely pay teachers more. It’s a very thankless job.

LW: A woman was fined for jumping the turnstile at the Shanghai metro. Brian, what exactly is this story here? What’s going on?BK: Well, as everybody probably or at least should know, you go on the subway you have to swipe in and then swipe out or whatever, you have to pay. [LW: Seems reasonable] right, right, and this woman tried to not do that. She tried to duck under the little gates on the exit, and she got caught. She said that she was – she had lost her ticket, but like any – like everybody, you get caught, you have to pay the 84 RMB fine there. She should have – what they told her what she should have done was just go buy a new ticket if you lost it, pretty simple stuff. [LW: Yeah] The interesting thing is, the reason why we’re talking about this is because she was blue-eyed, blonde-haired and white. That’s right, she was not a Chinese person, she is a foreign national.LW: Now this is – that’s interesting, because I doubt that that would – would that even be a story if, if it were that…‘cause that seems like – I’m pretty sure that happens all the time, surely…BK: Yeah, I’ve seen that, yeah, with, with, with local citizens, yes.LW: Yeah, I would assume that if it was a local citizen this wouldn’t, this wouldn’t have even made it to us.BK: No, no. And this actually happened again in the Shanghai metro, last year. It was a male foreigner, probably also a white person who did the same thing.LW: Yeah, that’s quite strange. You mentioned that it’s foreigners as well, but we do want to stress that everyone behaves badly. [BK: People.] People behave badly, and laws are there to, because people are, people, you know, if left to their own devices, you know, will, a lot of people will take shortcuts and try and find ways around it or behave poorly.WY: And also, there has been several news, for one of them, a couple years ago a foreign punched a bus driver in Chengdu, after missing his own stop and refusing to pay the full fare. I think this is ridiculous, and that has been reported, and also, I think all these kind of behaviors, maybe just people in another country, they should be responsible for themselves and also being behaved. So [BK: Right] that is why I think these kind of news has been reported by social media could be a good thing, so that letting people just have the awareness of this.BK: Right, right. You should always be on good behavior, but especially when in a foreign country, I mean you’re a guest I guess you could say. So…LW: Yeah, I would, I would, go a little bit further than that as well Brian, and say that you have a responsibility as well. When you, when you’re in a different place and in a different culture, you have a responsibility to behave in a certain way, maybe above and beyond what would normally exist, [BK: Yeah, I would agree] what would normally exist [BK: More respectful], because even if you don’t…WY: Another case, which is quite famous is that two years ago, a foreigner driving an unregistered motorbike hit a woman and then claimed that she was trying to scam him and cursed at her, and this has been videotaped by many people around them. And also, it has went viral online at that time. And then someone said, is that woman really a scammer, and is that man really hit her? People didn’t know, but after investigation that people found out, this man and his dad were working in Beijing without a permit, and it was him hitting the woman.BK: Right, right. And the reason why this is more interesting is because, we do see this kind of scam sometimes where, because people don’t have legal protection like a good Samaritan where you help someone and you’re in good faith, some people will pretend to get and then blame you and try to scam you out of money.WY: I would simply say that, no matter it’s a foreigner or a local citizen, they just need to do the same thing, that’s like obey the law, obey the rule, and if they break the law, if they trying to scam others, they will get certain responsibilities, they will face the consequences. Everyone is equal.LW: What happened to this woman, this woman that actually, that jumped the turnstile, what was her fine?BK: It was just 84 kuai [LW: Really?] yeah.LW: Was that the fine?BK: Yeah, it’s, I think it’s like, what, five times the amount of the regular ticket plus a replacement ticket.LW: Seems like a reasonable [BK: Yeah, yeah] fine.

LW: And traveling might be getting a little cheaper than you might think, or possibly, than you might like. Wu You, can you enlighten us a little bit? WY: So you’ve all heard about the first class on the plane, [LW: First class? Yeah, that’s the goal] first class [LW: Dream, dream], and now here is last class. LW: What? WY: So now a new class of service has come to an aircraft. It’s the “basic economy”. It’s also dubbed by consumer advocates “economy-minus” or “last class”. It is really competitive on price with ultra-low cost carriers. And it has cut all possible services in order to satisfy bargain-hungry passengers and boost profits. Other legacy carriers in the United States, like American Airlines or United Airlines, say they are on the verge of introducing their own versions of basic economy fare. LW: Alright, so it’s getting a little bit easier, a little bit cheaper possibly, but let’s not say easier just yet, [WY: Just cheaper] it’s just cheaper to travel. It’s being introduced by, possibly by Delta Airlines, which is a [WY: Yes it is]. But let’s start with what we do have, Wu You. WY: Let’s do a comparison, yeah. So the normal economy class, as we all know, is all with the services like this: at least 30 inches of space between them, a rough measure of legroom, and the ability to change a reservation after paying a fee, and also the option to upgrade a better seat, and also free snacks, and one free carry-on, and also I believe there are some certain kind of entertainment services, like little [LW: Yeah, you can play some video games] some right in front of you, so [LW: Or watch some series], yes. With the basic economic class, some of this, of course, will be lost. Let’s see. So first of all, the industry’s smallest airline seats between 28 inches and 30 inches of that pitch. LW: 28 to 30 inches [WY: smaller seat], right. Next one, Wu You. WY: No itinerary changes or refunds. LW: Now that’s a tough one, and if you book sometimes on certain websites or use certain websites, also that is a thing that happens as well. But, especially if you have to do things last minute, that could be a bit of a problem. WY: Yes it is. And also, no free carry-on bag. LW: Now this is absolutely ridiculous. This is one thing that I think would be really difficult [WY: But if you want a cheaper price] to manage, yeah. But I don’t understand that – what space, how much money are you saving denying people carry-on bags, where do you – BK: Fuel. It does save fuel costs, and it will provide more room so that other people can take that,. So they can charge other people for a second bag. WY: But that was the room above your head. LW: That’s what [BK: It is.] I’m trying – no one’s sitting on the roof, that’s what I don’t understand… BK: No, no, no, no. It’s – so, again, it’s the fuel, because that weight, that adds up, just like, you know, if you save one dollar here, you save one liter of fuel, that adds up over time… WY: I really want to say you save one dollar here, and then you go to the dollar store, and then you can buy something else. LW: Yes, you can buy a new bag. WY: Okay, really. BK: Yeah, right, right. WY: And next one, no meals, no snacks, sodas and no entertainment. LW: That’s a tough one. That is [WY: That’s the tough one] a difficult – you don’t think so, Brian. BK: No. I mean, again, if you want just the very basic stuff, especially if it’s not a long flight, then yeah, I mean it – pretty much, you should be packing, if you want food or drink, you should be packing some already. It is good to have it, I do appreciate that, but can’t expect too much these days anyway, well, in the US… LW: ‘Cause I know, if you take Beijing to Shanghai, there’s no entertainment on that flight. You have to sit there, and look at the seat in front of you. BK: Right. WY: The last point is that no advance seat assignments. I don’t think that really matters. BK: At this point, it really wouldn’t, because – LW: If you’ve read the previous four points and you’ve [BK: No] decided, this is not going to be the one [BK: True, true] that makes you go off the bus. WY: And also I need to say that it’s just pay more for more, and this time, for this minus class, it’s pay less for less. LW: That’s a good point there, Wu You, and I don’t really – I don’t think if you ever take one of these you have much to complain about. But, yeah, there’s to note – contact Wu You for your travel arrangements.

LW: Today is the implementation of the first anti-domestic violence in China. Wu You, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit more?WY: So this is China’s first law on domestic violence. The new law defines domestic violence as both physical and psychological harm inflicted between family members. It includes beatings, injuries, restraint or forcible limits on physical liberties, as well as recurring verbal threats and abuse. Victims and those under immediate danger from domestic violence can file for a personal protection and restraining order.LW: Now, for the most part countries already have some sort of domestic violence law, in that the people live together, so there’s a more immediate threat and there’s, you know, there’s all sorts of emotional things involved as well, so it’s not just physical violence, it’s also emotional abuse as well, which makes it a bit difficult either to legislate for or to police. But Brian, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit more.BK: Right, right, and it’s not just – the most common thing that we’d be thinking about would be of husbands against wives – it’s the other way around too. It’s also violence against children, against elders, and possibly even roommates. And, of course, violence against unmarried couples living together (, all those kinds of things).WY: And this new law not only referred people who are married but also covers cohabitation, that means those who are not related but live together are also included.LW: Alright, so there doesn’t even have to be a relationship between the people, it’s just people who live together. But this is obviously a move in the right direction, this move.WY: There has been this discussion about this, because people believe this is more like a private shame for the family if they talk out loud about this. There has been a long discussion, and recently there has been more and people’s awareness about this, and then it was issued on December the 27th, in 2015. It take effect today.BK: Right, so again, like Wu You said, it’s traditionally kind of like a private matter sort of thing a couple things that have helped changed that, there was a TV show about – actually almost fifteen years ago called “Don’t Talk With Strangers”. It was about how abuse in a home for a newlywed couple was gradually figured out by strangers, family members and others, so there was that. Another big incident, a big case was Kim Lee, whose husband is Li Yang, the founder of Crazy English. She was beaten by him, and actually when she first went to the police, they told her just, you know, calm down, go back to your husband.WY: That was back in the year like 2012. She’s an American woman, she married to a famous Chinese English teacher whose name is Li Yang, and then suddenly there’s been really a news in the spotlight because she has put many pictures, photos online with her faces bruises, and her featuring her injured cheek, bleeding ear, and also wounded knees because of domestic violence by her husband.LW: And this is something that’s also a problem in South Africa, as well, and, I just [did] a little bit of research quickly, and that says that South Africa only really enacted its first domestic violence law in 1994, so fairly recently, after the end of apartheid, and then the act of itself came in, in 1998, and it seems that the kind of the thin edge of the wedge, the things that make this law effective is the issuance of a protection order, or a restraining order, which the Chinese law also has. But in South Africa, we found that [the] problem with that is, as well, is that something often needs to happen, or there has to be an immediate threat, or other clear signs of physical violence, and it’s often much more difficult to show emotional violence, so this is something often that’s made it quite difficult, whereas, you know, people would go and report something and then they’re like, we can’t really do anything until anything happens, and by that time it’s often much too late, so that’s something that I would imagine or I would predict that the Chinese law would have to also be able to address fairly consistently.WY: As under the new law, it says the courts have to decide within 72 hours whether to issue the injunction, but if the authorities decide the case is urgent, the court will render a decision within 24 hours.LW: So there’s definitely a need for the law to be enforced. I wonder, is there sort of indication about if found guilty, what the perpetrators, what type of sentence they would be facing.WY: So once the order’s granted, the court can order the abuser to move out of the home, or adopt various other measures to protect the safety with the victim, and also the order can last a maximum of six months, and it can be revoked or extended based on the situation. But anyone who violates the protection can face fines of one thousand yuan as well as fifteen days detention, but they can also face criminal charges in more serious offenses. And also, I need to mention that in China, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 12338. So if needed, please pick up the phone.LW: Yeah.

ZCG: As part of the plan, public transportation trips are also to be increased by 2020. In cities with a population greater than five million they are supposed to make up at least 40 percent of all trips, in cities with a population greater than 1 million the target is 30 percent, and for medium-sized and small cities it is 20 percent. So how will and should this be achieved? DA: Within China, Guangzhou is already about 50 percent, so I think they should be more, but I think they should also be aiming at restricting automobile usage. Congestion charges are a great idea but go farther than that. If enough public transportation is provided on the large arterial roads that separate out all the superblocks, people will be able to give up driving cars much more easily. SY: Also, it takes the other part of the equation, which is to limit parking in the city area, so that people need to choose other modes, for example public transit and bicycling and so on. And also it needs to have a value change, through education and other programs, for example from TV and other social media programs so that people would bicycling as a trend, and as a fashion. DA: We can’t expect people to bike if the air isn’t clean. And clean air is certainly one of the most fundamental elements of livability. Clean air, clean water, shelter – the basic needs of life. Of course, it goes much beyond that, but when it comes to air pollution, I think it’s going to have such an effect on people’s choice of travel that it first – can’t expect to the kingdom of bicycles, which I think would be a wonderful goal, until people have already gotten out of their cars and probably into public transit or something that will produce less air pollution, so it’s a two-step process. BK: What do you think should be the most important goal in improving livability for Chinese urban planners? DSF: The most important thing is for planners to design using wisdom, not just using knowledge. This is the big thing, because for the past decades, it has been too easily that planners just follow what the regulation does, and doing in an engineering way, and that really forgets about who is living there, what is the biggest aim for the society really works. And I think people needs to think about who is actually using it and if they themselves want to live in it. ZCG: The guidelines also stated “Bizarre architecture that is not economical, functional, aesthetically pleasing or environmentally friendly” is not to be constructed. So who can say what is or is not aesthetically pleasing? How do you define weird or bizarre architecture? DA: This is, a very subjective thing. Frankly, I don’t think this guideline is very helpful, but I do understand where it comes from, I think. But it really doesn’t matter if it’s strange. If it’s innovative, and it’s economical, functional, environmentally friendly, if it works, then it’s fine. You don’t want to restrict creativity if it serves a purpose.

LW: A short video clip of a Chinese singer’s lip-syncing instead of singing on TV has gone viral online. It’s the folk singer, Sa Dingding. Here’s one of her most famous songs, ‘Wan Wu Sheng’.[Audio]LW: Chinese folk singer, Sa Dingding. It’s been found out that she was lip-syncing instead of singing. So, you know, people found out that she was lip-syncing instead of singing live. Wu You, I don’t know, what’s going on? What are people saying? I’m very concerned. Let’s hear what the people have to say.WY: So in the show, she was brandishing her microphone the wrong way around.LW: Oh no.WY: The singer was performing at the Lantern Festival Gala broadcast on China Central Television, and the video shows that Sa opened the song with a section of dance, and then she began singing. She realized that she was holding her microphone upside down.LW: Oh, my word.WY: Then, Sa smiled, and she quickly corrected her mistake before carrying on with her performances.LW: I urge everyone to have a look at exactly how she does it. It is incredible. It looks like she choreographed that thing. It looked really good.WY: It looked like part of the performance!LW: It did look like part of the performance! As far as mistakes go, I will say that that is, if you’re going to correct a mistake, that is, that almost in and of itself was a moment of brilliance to me.WY: After the broadcast ended, Sa mocked herself on her Weibo account, telling her 1.6 million followers, “Next time I will sharpen up my acting skills”.LW: I think that’s good. But are the people letting it go? Or is there actually some outrage on the back of this? WY: Some of the online comments go like this. Someone online named @Zong Zi Duo La Jiang said, “We can’t blame Sa for lip-syncing. It’s the Gala director who made this decision. As a performer, Sa had no choice but to follow orders.” LW: Do you think, actually, that that’s the case? Do you think that the Gala director said it? Either Sa said it or the Gala director said it, what do you think? WY: We don’t want to make assumptions.LW: We don’t want to make assumptions.WY: But sometimes, I should say that not long ago, we had the Spring Festival Gala. All the singers and performers on it were pushed, they were told: “you can make no mistakes”. So that means you either just need to do a pre-record, and then you perform well. But sometimes they do have their reasons because sometimes in the performances, the performers also need to dance, and need to move quickly. If they moved that quickly, it would be very difficult for them to breathe smoothly. LW: 100%.WY: And that would affect the singing.NL: It does lose something from the performance. I think in this case, they’re just focused on the perfection of the performance because of the sheer number of viewers. I think, is it the New Year Gala that bills itself as the most watched TV program in the world, or something like that?WY: It is. It’s sort of a tradition in China now, you need to watch the Spring Festival Gala when you have your family reunion in China.NL: So the sheer number of viewers means they want to get the performance right, and they feel that the best way to do that is to pre-record the song, and then have the lip-sync over it.WY: I remember a perfect example: Beyoncé. One year she was singing the national anthem.LW: That was at the inauguration for Barack Obama. WY: That was quite a serious occasion, when she was singing the national anthem. I like her, and her singing in that performance was fantastic. I almost cried. But after that, something interesting happened because people found out she was doing lip-syncing.LW: Yeah, a day later, or a couple of days later, she went to a press conference, and held a press conference.WY: To talk about that?LW: To talk about it, and she just sang a cappella, she didn’t really talk about it at all. She just kind of sang to prove that she could sing. It’s easier, to kind of control the variables, to control the things that might go wrong. I’m just saying, if you do it too much, you know, you could miss out on the things that could go spectacularly right.

JN: China is planning to further boost potato production to make it a staple of the nation’s diet. BK: So, first of all, what exactly is behind the government’s decision. Why make potatoes a staple food? ZHZ: I think it’s the need, out of food basket concerns and also it’s part of the country’s effort to ensure the long term sustainability of China’s agricultural sector, because potato yield is much higher than that of cereal, rice and corn, and wheat, so promoting the production of staple food contributes to the official premise of absolute self-sufficiency in staple. BK: Well talking about the amount of food available, a year ago the agricultural ministry denied the idea that the decision was made due to food shortage. How accurate is that statement? TY: That’s – accurate statement to a certain extent. It’s not due to the food shortages at the present, but it is also concerns the long-term food shortages [in] China. Right now, China does not have any food shortage problems, but the challenges will be how to ensure self-sufficiency in stables in about ten or twenty years’ time given the rising demand and the shrinking land and water resources. So, the decision made last year was to prepare China for the future food shortages, and also to address the problems of these green land and water pollutions, and also water shortages in China’s north and west provinces. TY: Then why hasn’t the potato become a staple in China since it was first planted in the country four hundred years ago, it’s the Ming Dynasty? ZHZ: I think the reason is quite simple. It’s because China has a long tradition of eating rice and bread, which is inside Chinese culture or in China culture, and potato was always considered eating products from western countries, so it’s very difficult to change the consumption habits of the Chinese people, even over four hundred years, and it also points to this problem right now how can we persuade Chinese consumers to consume potato if we haven’t done that in the past four hundred years. TY: And, in China, potatoes used to be associated with poverty, so how easy do you think the task would be for authorities, say if you’re the one to convince persons like me to eat potato as some staple food, what would you do? ZHZ: Of course, as we’ve said, it’s very challenging, but there are approaches to do that, for instance, nowadays people are more and more concerned with, you know, a healthy, balanced, nutritional diet, with Chinese consumers consuming more and more meat, and they are worried about poor weight and problems with obesity, so they want to consume more vegetables. Potato, even though we can’t persuade the consumer to consume potato-made steamed rice - noodles or steamed bread, one possibility is that we can convince the consumer to consume more potatoes and vegetables. It’s much healthier.

LW: Japan celebrates Cat Day. Nick, maybe you can expand, there, about exactly what is Cat Day and why it is worth celebrating.NL: Cat Day is, well, very much what you’d expect from the name, it is the celebration of cats.LW: Where is this happening?NL: Japan.LW: All right.NL: The date was yesterday, the 22nd February, and there’s a reason for that. Let’s take a quick poll. What noise does a cat make? Lincoln?LW: Meow.NL: Wu You?WY: Meow.NL: I would also say meow. Apparently, in Japan, a cat says “nyan, nyan, nyan”.LW: Japanese cats speak Japanese?NL: Apparently so, yes. And the date of the twenty-second day of the second month, in Japanese, is “ni, ni, ni”, which sounds like “nyan, nyan, nyan”. Some people have been taking photos of their cats, posting them online, selfies with your cat, take a photo of your cat in a costume, in a funny pose, generally do whatever you can with your cat and put it on the internet, seems to be the theme here. Lincoln, you look absolutely disgusted.LW: I don’t like cats.NL: You don’t like cats?WY: Why is that?LW: I know I’m going to get a lot of dislike from some of our listeners, who I assume love cats, but I don’t like cats that much. I find them quite smug. I feel like they’re always trying to be better than you. They always walk into your place, or whatever, and look like you are a visitor in your own house. So for that reason, me and cats have not, historically, gotten along. Wu You, I don’t know about you, what do you think?WY: I prefer dogs.LW: Me too. Dogs are noble creatures, handsome, most of them …WY: Cute …LW: I feel like dogs are always happy to see you regardless of when they see you.NL: They are. The history of Cat Day, as I’m sure you’re really, really interested to know, Lincoln, is that in 1987, an Executive Cat Day Committee …WY: Wow.LW: Unbelievable.NL: … carried out a survey of 9,000 cat lovers across Japan. Who appointed this committee, I’m not sure, but that exists.LW: Can we just stop for a moment and just think about the fact that there’s an Executive Cat Day Committee? Before that, there was an informal Cat Day, people were clamoring for an official Cat Day. NL: But cats are a big thing in Japan in general. Japan is where the concept of the Cat Café took off. Is this something we’re aware of?WY: There is another Cat Café in the Nanluoguxiang area in Beijing.NL: Have you been there?WY: I passed it, I didn’t enter. I just looked at it and thought it was interesting but, yeah. I passed.LW: I saw it, as well. I breezed past it on my way to something else.WY: There is a strong love and demand for cats in Japan. Japan has a very famous brand. Japan is the home of Hello Kitty!NL: It’s not actually a cat. The designers didn’t intend for it to be a cat, when it was made.LW: Well then how have they called it Hello Kitty?NL: I really wasn’t behind that decision.LW: I actually have the article up in front of me, about why Hello Kitty is actually not a cat. Do you want to know?NL: I’m on the edge of my seat.LW: The creator, Sanrio, said that it’s actually not a cat. It’s a little girl. She’s British. She’s a Scorpio. She loves apple pie. She has a twin sister.NL: What are you talking about?LW: And she’s a forty-year-old third grader. Her name is Kitty White. That’s a thing that’s happened; I don’t know why it’s happened, but that seems to be the case. I think Japan is not the only culture that has this kind of affinity for felines. It’s also in Egyptian culture, I think in Egyptian culture they worshipped cats, and you’ll see a lot of old statues and things like that. Cats were also very highly regarded in that culture, as well.NL: I think that was something to do with the afterlife. The cats went with the emperor, the pharaoh, into the afterlife?LW: It seems to be that it’s not too strange; it’s not unheard of, for people to have this kind of love for cats, as it were.

LW: Now, this is a special time of the year. We just came out from the Spring Festival, a lot of people are returning back home, starting work again, a lot of people are heading back to where they came from, so this is also now the Lantern Festival. Now, I’m pretty sure that a lot of foreigners, or a lot of people outside China might not actually be aware of this, so maybe, Wu You, you can enlighten us a little bit.WY: Happy Lantern Festival, in the first place! The Lantern Festival traditionally ends the Chinese New Year period, and all the New Year taboos are no longer in effect. The Lantern Festival is also the first full moon night in the Chinese calendar, so that marks the return of spring and symbolizes the reunion of the family. Usually, people will eat sticky rice balls on this day.NL: There are lanterns being hung up on people’s buildings, in their homes, also just along the streets, I’m sure you’ve seen them outside on the lamp posts, so Lantern Festival is in full swing.LW: But Wu You, you mentioned something that was quite intriguing to me, that was the rice ball. Why is it happening now?WY: Oh, there are various kinds of stories about it, and here is one of them. So, a long, long time ago, like 770 BC, there was an emperor, the emperor of the state of Chu. One day, when he was walking along the Yangtze River, he saw something floating on the river, and it was a kind of rice ball, white outside and red inside. The king went to see Confucius and asked him what it is. Confucius said, “This is a sign. If you got this, that symbolizes that you will have a prosperous kingdom and the country will be successful and wealthy from now on.” That day was on the 15th day of the first lunar month, so right after that, every year on this day, both the king and also the ordinary people in the kingdom would eat this kind of sticky rice ball, and it has been passed along from generation to generation and has become a tradition in China. LW: That’s lovely, a sticky rice ball tradition.NL: One of those things that you would eat on the occasion, and I actually learned how to make them yesterday, so I can be something of an expert on making sticky rice balls.WY: Tell us how!NL: It was a lot simpler than I was expecting. You get the sticky rice flour and water, and just literally mix it together into a ball. Or at least, that’s what I did, maybe there’s a better way to do it if you’re making industrial quantities. And there are different fillings you can choose, so one of them was sesame, I think..?WY: Black sesame?NL: That’s right, yeah. One was red bean paste, which is quite a controversial food among some foreigners, who don’t tend to like red bean paste.LW: I don’t, I’m afraid. Not one of my favorites. But go on, Nick.NL: And the third one was some kind of nuts.WY: Oh, that’s nice.NL: So you choose your filling, pop it into the inside of the rice ball and then just boil them for a few minutes until the outside is the sticky consistency that they normally are when you eat them.WY: That’s nice!LW: Wu You, are you impressed by this?WY: Yes, I am!LW: I’m not impressed at all. He didn’t bring any of it in this morning, so he’s made it and he’s left it at home, I’m not impressed at all.NL: It’s obviously a sign that they were tasty, if I ate them all myself.LW: Well, Nick’s done a good job there, but we can’t judge if he’s done a good job or not. Maybe in the future. When does the Lantern Festival end?WY: Only on this day.LW: It’s only this day! So he can’t even bring them tomorrow.NL: I’ve got out of that. Next year?LW: Next year. We’ll have to wait and see if Nick’s glutinous rice balls actually do the job.

Lincoln van der Westhuizen: Mark it seemed like all the news over the sports media and all the other media has been about the way that Chinese have spend in the transfer market. From your perspective is this something that you find surprising? Mark Deyer: It’s not surprising that China is getting the attention, but what is surprising is the numbers involved; the amount. There was as story coming out of the Manchester evening news (which generally has a pretty good handle on news when it comes to Manchester United) which said that Wayne Rooney could be the next person to China. When you have stories of that kind of size, people are really going to sit up and take notice, if they haven’t already. Its the numbers that are being spent. The Chinese transfer record has been broken thee or four times, not so much the world transfer records, but it is still staggering amounts of money being spent by Chinese clubs. That’s why they are getting the interest. Lincoln van der Westhuizen: Where is the money coming from? Where are Chinese clubs getting this kind of money from? Is it some sort of other funding, sponsorships for example? Mark Deyer: The way I see it there are some short-term factors at play and also some longer term factors. The more short term factors would be the broadcast deal which was negotiated toward the end of last year That was a twenty times increase from the previous year, so clearly clubs know that they have a lot of money coming in, in the very near future so they are able to spend. We’ve seen that in other countries, we’ve seen it in the UK people when TV revenue goes up then transfer fees go up. The larger factors at play I think are two-fold, last year in March announced some very wide ranging reforms for the soccer industry targeting the grass roots [but focusing on] all the way up and that is very much believed to have the backing of President Xi Jinping. When that happens in a place like China people think, ‘ok, this is politically a very good place to invest in, so this is politically smart and a good area to invest in’. So look at the stock market, people thought that the government was not going to let it fall so that’s why they jumped in. There is a belief that the government can sort of indicate the way forward, so that is one of the reasons. The other one is the sports industry in China. The government has targeted this as a significant contributor to the GDP going forward. Particularly as the economy has slowed through manufacturing and areas like that. They are looking for other drivers of growth. The sports industry and specially the soccer industry has been something that they’ve targeted.

LW: Researchers have established a worrisome link between social media usage and sleep. Now, Wu You, all the time, every week, every day, we’re told that social media is bad for you, that if you’re on your phone too much, it’s bad for you, that you’re not going to be healthy if you’re on your phone all the time, you’re not going to find a suitable partner in your life if you go on social media all the time. NL: You’ll get square eyes. LW: You’re going to go bankrupt if you’re on social media all the time. What is it this time, about social media, that you’re not allowed to do? WY: This time, the study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that young people who spent significant time on social media get less sleep than those who use social media less often; they are saying this may affect your sleep, and sometimes people even spend 121 minutes, on average, on their social media. But this was carried out in America; I believe that the situation can be more severe in China, because more young people would love to check their WeChat moments and talk with their friends on WeChat and see if anything else is coming out. LW: I’ve got a list here of signs that you might actually be addicted to social media. You guys can tick off what you get. So the first one is: you find yourself accessing social media sites first thing in the morning and last thing before you go to bed at night. Nick, are you guilty of this? NL: First thing in the morning, probably yes. LW: What are you checking? NL: WeChat. LW: Okay. 100%. NL: Because you wake up, my phone is my alarm, so your phone is there in your hand, there are messages, and you check them. Last thing at night, maybe not so much. LW: Okay. Wu You? WY: I’m 50% guilty. I will check it first thing in the morning, to double-check my WeChat moments, any news that’s come out, and then at night, probably I’ll listen to podcasts or other kinds of audio. LW: Next one. You become angry or agitated when unable to access your social media sites. WY: I’d be angry, yeah. LW: Wu You’s jumped straight in, it wasn’t even meant for her! All right, this one I quite like as well. You regularly spend time on social media sites while you’re alone … which is a stupid one, because that’s usually when you spend most of your time on social media. You spend time on social media sites so you can not be alone. NL: I would say it’s more of an addiction if you’re on social media sites when you’re not alone. LW: This is another one we see. You check the numbers of friends, followers or connections you have more than once a day. We should check afterwards, just in case we’ve lost any. And this is an interesting one – more than once, you’ve had conversations with people online, while they are within your line of sight. So you’re with the person, and instead of actually talking to them you send them a little WeChat. All right, this is another one. At a family and/or a business gathering, you’ve hidden the fact that you’re looking at a social media site from others in attendance. So you’re having a little look under the table, or just a hand-held quick look, and then you put it back, but you’ve tried to hide it. Has anyone done that in this room? Nick, I’m looking at you. NL: I probably have, at some point in my life. LW: You do look like you’d do that. NL: I look like a covert social media user? LW: A covert social media checker. NL: Thanks. LW: What about you, Wu You? WY: I do. LW: Oh wow, no shame, she’s gone straight. WY: I have to confess, I have to admit. LW: Now this one I think is a little bit more interesting. You’ve lied or withheld information about the amount of time you spend on social media sites. What about you guys? WY: Why do people need to lie about this? LW: Well presumably someone’s thought that they needed to address you, and told you, well, this is getting a bit out of control. Nick? NL: I feel that would have unraveled over the course of this conversation, if that were something we were withholding information about. LW: Well, we don’t know! We don’t know! You guys might be withholding information. I’m looking at the both of you, I don’t know. Then the other one is this: your family has asked you to stop, but you can’t. NL: No. LW: No, think we’re all right for that one. But as long as you’re happy and you’re safe and you’re well, I think that there’s nothing really to worry about.

LW: Now we take a look at some of the last markets standing in Beijing. Wu You, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit here about what exactly we’re going to be talking about.WY: Many people believe that some flea markets, or street markets, are must-see spots in Beijing for foreigners, and they are considered as an authentic Beijing cultural experience. However, due to relocation and refit reasons, Beijing’s markets are fast vanishing.NL: They are certainly an institution, as you said, and very much something that you go to visit in Beijing and one of the experiences of haggling with the sellers there.LW: One of the reasons I think they’re starting to close down, as well, is that China’s becoming more developed. That’s the way progress works! Foreigners practice their Chinese, they go bargain for very menial things, they go and argue for about an hour with someone over a portable charger. It has its value, and when it does get changed, what happens is the prices are raised for a lot of the vendors, and that obviously gets passed along to the consumers. You see a lot of these signs now that say “No Negotiation” and you lose that bargaining experience. Wu You, give us some tips on how to strike a good deal.WY: Sure. First of all, don’t get frazzled. Remember it’s all a game.LW: Don’t get frazzled. No panicking and running away.WY: Don’t start crying when they’re shouting at you! Remember, this is a bargaining process.LW: What’s your secret technique, though?WY: Never reveal how much you like the item.LW: Yeah, that’s a big one. Often look for defects that aren’t there. Okay, Nick. We’re not done with Wu You yet. But Nick, do you have some of your own tips, as well?NL: Well actually, I have a question.LW: Oh wow, even better!NL: Is this something that happens to Chinese people, where the vendor doesn’t actually want to speak to you and say prices, and instead whips out their little calculator and is typing in numbers to show you? Or is this just because I’m foreign?WY: They simply want to negotiate with you about the prices much quicker.NL: But they won’t say the number, they will just type it in.WY: If you don’t understand their English, it is much better for you to directly see the number. And it’s the fastest way!LW: I thought it was kind of like a modesty thing, you don’t want to actually say how exorbitant the price is so you just kind of show it to the person.WY: When they are typing it on their calculator, they don’t want the next vendor to hear it, so they don’t say it out loud.LW: Wu You, you want to be low, so that you can bargain to what you actually want to get to, but you don’t want to be too low?WY: That’s an insult.LW: It insults the person, and then the whole thing is pointless to begin with. So what exactly, in terms of your opening bid, what are you trying to do?WY: Usually they are selling the same or almost the same item in the same street so actually I will ask maybe three of them, so in that case I can compare the prices, and I will tell the first one, so the lowest price that I asked in the streets is like ten kuai, and then for you, probably nine kuai or ten kuai.LW: Okay.WY: So is that okay? And then he will say “No, not okay” and then I will fake walk away.LW: Okay, let’s talk about that, because that is by far the most powerful weapon in your army if you’re trying to strike a good deal, it’s the fake walk away.WY: But remember, walk slowly!LW: You don’t want to go out there and just run away!WY: I failed once!LW: Have you done that? What happened?WY: I walked too fast! And then I was waiting for him to call me back, and he gave up calling me back, it was too late.LW: Oh dear, Wu You, you do have to have a good walking pace. You want to be brisk enough that they know you’re serious, but not too slow. Yeah, but if you walk too slow he’s going to think you’re an idiot.WY: Giving them some time to reflect, to think! You know, it’s respect, mutual respect.LW: If all of those markets start closing down, that’s the experience that you’re going to be losing. I don’t think it’s something that will go away overnight, but maybe eventually, in a couple of years …WY: It’s more like an authentic Beijing cultural experience.LW: Yeah, so take some of those tips from Wu You, you know, give a good opening bid, walk away but not too quickly, all of that, and keep in mind that it’s just a game.

I think this may be difficult for Apple. I wouldn’t say that the market is competitive in China but there are two incumbents. Alipay and Wechat Wallet that will be difficult if not impossible to dislodge. I think Apple has no choice but to be in China with Apple Pay and wallet services. With the entrenched position of the incumbents it will be interesting to see how much headway apple can make. Zhao yang spoke to For more on this, Liu Zhiqin,Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China;Andy Mok Managing Director, of Red Pagoda ResourcesZhao Yang: And Andy, Apple is currently has a bigger global presence than both Tencent and Alibaba, will Apple Pay be able to take its global goodwill and export some of the experience it gains in the Chinese market? Apple Pay has already hired key staff from Alibaba so we can see quite an aggressive move toward Alipay’s market share. Do you think Apple Pay will actually change the landscape of this sector in China?Andy Mok: I think they certainly have that intention but I think one of the differences in the payment side of the world is that it is volume driven and market coverage driven and while Apple own the lion-share; more than 90 percent of mobile phone profits. In terms of market-share, Android is much bigger. Without being able to reach the broader China market I think they have a bit of an uphill battle. I think Apple has done an amazing job with iPhones and all their other products. I think they have their work cut out for them. Zhao Yang: And Zhuqin, in many ways China leads the world in the developing of the mobile payment market how have China’s companies managed to foster this vibrant new industry and what led to this boom in the mobile payment companies? Liu Zhuqin: I think for this new payment companies they consider new strategies and new technologies. I think the mobile phone payment system has a good future all over the world. It’s very convenient. Secondly they have to follow up another policy or strategy that secures the security of the customers.

LW: And a Wall of Kindness has run into trouble. Now, Nick, not all of us will be familiar with this phenomenon, necessarily. Can you maybe elaborate on what exactly a Wall of Kindness is?NL: Of course.LW: And why a Wall of Kindness is running into some trouble?NL: Well, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that not everyone is familiar with a Wall of Kindness, I wasn’t familiar with it myself, and it’s quite a new thing. It’s a designated wall, somewhere in a city – usually a wall, hence the name Wall of Kindness, but it can be another place as well – where people can donate their unwanted items of clothing by hanging them on the wall. So there are hooks or pegs on the wall, where you can hang up your old clothes that you don’t need any more, and those clothes are then free for anyone in need – a homeless person, someone who can’t afford to buy new clothes – to come along and take what they need. And the motto is “If you don’t need it, leave it. If you do need it, take it”. The first Wall of Kindness appeared last year in Iran, in response to a worsening social situation there – many people had become homeless, and the winter was coming, they have very cold winters – and in order to provide people who were without clothing or heating to keep themselves warm. People donated their old clothes that they didn’t need any more and the idea has spread; so, via social media, people post photos of their walls, a lot of them have got decorations and paintings on the wall, it looks like a real focal point that you can come and carry out an act of charity. So, the idea has now spread to Pakistan and other countries, and it’s also reached China – a number of cities in China. But, the Wall of Kindness in Kunming, in Yunnan Province, was closed down a few days ago, just ten days after it was opened, because the authorities were receiving complaints that there were just so many clothes being dumped at this wall that they were literally blocking the street. People couldn’t get past, people were complaining that it just looked like a rubbish dump rather than a charity point, and the clothes were all cleared away. TY: One thing not so good is what you’ve mentioned already about turning the whole thing into some sort of dumpster. And one question I’m wondering is, why do we see good things turning bad, or ugly, or at least undesirable after they are adopted in China? I’m not saying it happens every day, or to everything, but you can see it every now and then. Say, I think Lincoln will be familiar with this idea, the circuit breaker mechanism. It was introduced to prevent sharp falls on the stock market but it turned out to be something checking the liquidity on the Chinese bourses and was eventually suspended. Probably it’s because it doesn’t fit the so-called “environment with Chinese characteristics”, but in this case, the Wall of Kindness, I think it’s just some good personality traits that we lack under certain circumstances.LW: But maybe educate a little bit more.TY: Yeah.LW: Maybe, you know, give out information, as it were.NL: I think it’s important to note, as well, that not all of the Walls of Kindness have met this fate.LW: Thank you! Thank you, Nick, for stepping in.NL: There have been walls that are still running successfully, there’s one in Zhengzhou, there’s one in Qingdao, and those ones seem not to have run into the same kinds of problems as the others.TY: That’s good.NL: So perhaps it just depends, as we’ve said, on how much people know about it in the given city.LW: Yeah, it’s also very individual, there’s no way of exactly knowing how these things will work out. But hopefully we will see more Kindness Walls standing up and providing a really important service, it seems. It’s a good thing in the world, so if we can keep it going for as long as possible, I think that would be great.

LW: Would you like a temple job? Wu You, what exactly is going on here? It seems that temples are stepping up their recruitment game, they’re trying to get online, they’re trying to create a market presence, they’re trying to reach all different audiences, they’re trying to diversify, they’re trying to get more information across, what exactly is happening here? WY: This is about a temple sending out an employment notice. In China, the Lingyin Temple in Zhejiang Province has recently released a job recruitment notice. They are looking for an official WeChat account operator, which is a Twitter-like Chinese social media. LW: What they are actually trying to do is, they’re trying to increase their digital presence. NL: Yes, it seems that the Buddhist temple has got its own official WeChat account, or they would like to have their own official WeChat account, presumably to reach out to more people, to visitors, I think it’s quite a big tourist attraction, as well as just being a temple. They’re looking for someone to be their official WeChat account operator, to create a bit of a brand identity. LW: It feels so strange, using all these terms “social media”, “brand identity”, “new media”, we’re talking about a temple! We’re talking about a place where people go and be religious and go and worship. NL: Well, it says that the ideal candidate will be good at editing, photography and video production, so it sounds like it’s a pretty hefty task to promote this temple. They’re looking to create more of an image for themselves. WY: Yes it is, and also, it has triggered hot debate online, and some online comments are like this: “Do people who are employed need to cut their hair?” LW: Referring to the monks, there? WY: Yes, and they do have this kind of concern, but actually they don’t need to, because the temple is simply hiring someone who should be a new media specialist. And also someone else said “Is there WiFi? Can I use the internet?” Of course you can! NL: You are the WeChat operator. WY: This is a WeChat operator! And also, someone else, named @Wang Bu Liu Xing Wang Fei Yan, says “I need a link to post my resume!” But actually, now the temple’s HR staff says that recently the job has been filled, so the job opening on this official account was deleted. NL: It does sound like it was a very popular position, it created a lot of response. WY: And also there has been some explanation from the temple’s side, because the abbot from the Lingyin Temple says that working inside the temple, in cultural communications, is beneficial to people’s temperament, and people who work there will become “calm and patient”.NL: Wow, so a job that’s good for you. LW: I’m looking at a different one, the Donghua Temple, which is in Guangdong Province. It became a hit online after an advertisement for recruiting new media talents also received more than a million clicks and 4,000 applications worldwide. WY: Wow! LW: So that’s quite interesting, and apparently the thing that made it stand out, the advert for it, was actually very well done, it had music, cartoons, it was humorous, and all these things. So they’re a bit savvy there too, the old Buddhist temples, in terms of presenting themselves as a viable employer. NL: Well it does seem that they are considered to be a viable employer. As you said previously, Wu You, it seems that people consider it to be a calm environment where maybe it wouldn’t be like a stressful office job in a city, and people seem to think that it would be a better choice to go and do something like this rather than a city job. WY: I think that if you’re simply talking about whether these people are very fit for the job, I think they can simply care about the environment and the salary, but if they can achieve something I think maybe later on they need to really be loving it. If, later on, they believed in Buddhism, I think they can better carry on and pass on the culture and the traditions, as this PR person or WeChat account operator specialist. I think the most important thing is whether you really love this career or you simply take it as a job position.

LW: Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. What can you tell us about Valentine’s Day, specifically this year? NL: So the traditions of Valentine’s Day are well known in Western countries, it’s one of the biggest card-sending festivals other than Christmas in most Western countries, so it’s become a big, big thing, maybe not so much elsewhere. But the traditional story is that there was someone called Saint Valentine back in the Roman time, who was performing marriages despite the fact that they were outlawed by the Emperor, so he became associated with the ideas of love, and love prevailing despite all the difficulties, and nowadays we have, named after him, Valentine’s Day on February 14th, so yesterday, as you said. There have been a lot of stories going around, news stories about various different celebrations around the world. LW: Hang on here; I know a little bit about it, but maybe some other people are left in the dark. Why exactly February 14th? NL: Well, apparently the date comes from the idea that in the Middle Ages, people thought that mid-February was the time when birds would choose their mate for the season. LW: Very interesting. NL: So this was the day to celebrate love for human beings as well. WY: That’s lovely. LW: That’s great. Well, how did you spend your Valentine’s Day, Nick? NL: Yesterday was Sunday, as you said, and as we’ve just discussed, last week was the Spring Festival week here in China, so we’ve had a whole week off. So my girlfriend and I actually rescheduled Valentine’s Day to earlier in the week, during our time off. WY: That’s nice! LW: Very progressive, very modern. NL: Yes, we decided that we are no longer going to be bound by when birds choose their mates - LW: Yes! NL: - and we would choose an earlier date in the week, so we were in Hangzhou in the south of China, it was a beautiful, sunny day, we went to the West Lake scenic area and then we went out for dinner. LW: That’s fantastic. WY: We have a special Chinese Valentine’s Day here, it’s called Qixi. “Qi” means “seven”, it falls on the seventh day of the seventh Chinese lunar month, around half a year away from February 14th. It has a beautiful story as well, it is said that a cowherd from the mundane world and a weaving maid from heaven fell in love with each other. They were separated, by the Milky Way - LW: What? WY: - at the order of the Queen Mother of the Western Heaven, and then the Queen Mother finally agreed and the two of them were permitted to meet only once a year, on Qixi, which is the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.LW: Now see, I like this one more, because this one seems to have an actual story behind it. WY: Thank you! LW: Whereas in the previous one, the Western Valentine’s Day, it’s just birds, it doesn’t even say which birds! It just says that some birds were meeting together. So I like that this one has a story, but is it much the same as the Western one in terms of the traditions of gift-giving and card-sending? WY: Many cinemas are promoting for Valentine’s Day movies, and restaurants are promoting special Valentine’s Day cuisine, and I can say those are more celebrated in China. LW: I think it’s quite strange that you just pick a day because, you know, some birds wanted to meet or something and you decide that that’s the day of love! Every day should be the day of love, Wu You. WY: Well said. Also you can see that Valentine’s Day falls on February 14th, which is the last day of most people’s Spring Festival holiday. So that was the same day for the post travel rush, many people have been celebrating it on the train! Some of them even commented that they will be celebrating on the way back to their working places by watching a love movie together on the train, so I think that’s very romantic. LW: I think that’s very romantic, you sit on the train, share the train noodles, the train food, and then you make it back home. I think that’s a fantastic way to spend it.

Lincoln: Wu You, one of the highlights of the Spring Festival, as it were, is the Spring Festival Gala. A lot of people tune in, obviously, and I’ve tuned in before – I’ve found it quite entertaining, but maybe you can tell us a little bit more about it.WY: Yes, the Chinese New Year Gala, also known as the Spring Festival Gala, the Chunwan, is a Chinese New Year special shown on the eve of Chinese New Year. You were talking about lots of people tuning in; actually, a report says about 690 million [people] watched the Spring Festival Gala in February 2015.Lincoln: Wow, that’s incredible! A little bit of the history of it as well – the first Gala, the CCTV News Gala was held in 1983, and it was held irregularly before that as well, but the idea of having this gala kicked off in 1983, and we mentioned the amount of people who actually watch it, close to a billion, and actually, there was research commissioned by China Television Research Centre, and it said that an estimated 93.6% of families watch the gala on television. That’s incredible! That’s incredible, in terms of everyone watching it, that’s astonishing. But yeah, tell us a little bit more about it.WY: So the gala has been described as among the most watched television programmes in the world, because everyone looks at it as more of a ritual in the family. There are family reunions in China, and then everyone sits around the table and watches the Spring Festival Gala, and it is a variety show, featuring musical, dance, comedy, and drama performances.Michael: And it can really make or break people, can’t it? I mean, if you appear on the CCTV Spring Festival…WY: Yes, it is, and because it is one of the most watched television programmes (Michael: Yeah, it must be) so even if you just appeared on it for three seconds, everyone will notice you, and many chunwan performers have emerged as household names in China solely as a result of their appearances on the programme.Lincoln: So, yeah, that’s quite interesting. In South Africa, we’ve got nothing like this. I think we’ve tried before to get a New Year’s Eve broadcast off the ground; it’s not worked.Michael: Is nobody very bothered about New Year’s Eve?Lincoln: No, no one’s really bothered about it, because no one’s at home, because you’re off at the beach, aren’t you? It’s summer, you’re outside.Michael: So it’s the middle of your big summer holiday?Lincoln: Yeah, it’s the middle of the big summer holiday. You don’t want to be around the television, you want to be outside.WY: You’re outside, partying.Lincoln: You’re outside, cooking food, you’re doing all sorts of stuff, so you don’t really have much of an incentive to stay indoors and watch a television broadcast, but be that as it may, the Chinese New Year’s Gala – whoa, what a show! What a show! Michael, are you tuning in this year?Michael: Erm, well, this is actually going to be the first year that I’m in China for the New Year, so, yeah, I might have to give it a watch. I’ve never seen it…Well, I’ve seen snippets of it, and I wrote about it a little bit last year and the year before, but I’ve never actually seen the whole thing in its entirety. I wonder, actually, if anybody’s seen the whole thing in it’s entirety, because I think it’s probably fairly long. But yeah, I’ll certainly tune in, give it a watch.Lincoln: Wu You, are you tuning in?WY: Yes, I am. It’s a must!

ZCG: Gao Hongbo has returned as provisional coach of the Chinese men’s national football team, following the departure of Frenchman Alain Perrin last month. BK: First of all, what’s the thinking behind the Chinese Football Association’s decision to reappoint Gao? Is he the best man for the job? DJ: Well, because the CFA is under tremendous pressure, they couldn’t let Perrin, the outgoing – or the previous – coach, hang around any more, but they needed a replacement. At this time, I think, judging various elements and criteria and looking at a number of candidates, I think the safest choice is an indigenous coach. Gao Hongbo is probably the only one with a high profile and also, more importantly, with the courage to take it over. TY: We’ve seen a series of reforms being taken in Chinese football, which include a separation of the Chinese Football Association from the government to give the body financial and administrative autonomy. With the appointment of Gao Hongbo, how do you assess China’s chances of qualifying for the next World Cup in 2018? DJ: You know, with so many repeated failures over the past few decades, nobody can really predict the prospect facing a head coach of the Chinese national team, but the country should know that it’s a mid to long-term project for the country to cultivate a broader fan base, a bigger population of players from amateur to professional, and then higher and higher up on the hierarchy. You can build various levels representing the country, and you need patience, and you can’t rely on someone like Mourinho, or the biggest coaches in the world, to turn a second-tier national team into a World Cup team within just a few months. So I still like the idea of counting on a learning, local, native Chinese coach, of serving talent based on their progress made with their professional clubs, coached by international coaches.

Lincoln: Chinese New Year! Wu You, we love the food, we love to eat at Chinese New Year, Spring Festival. It’s a good time to eat. What exactly is happening here in terms of food, and quickly, before you get started, what’s your favourite dish?WY: Oh, fish.Lincoln: Fish – you said that immediately, you had that at the top of your mind.WY: That was like my instinct!Lincoln: Great – go ahead, tell us a little bit more.WY: Chinese food is very delicious, and every food in China has its own symbolism deeply rooted in the Chinese culture, and different kinds of food have different meanings, so they express people’s good wishes for the New Year.Lincoln: Alright, like your favourite food is fish, what does fish mean?WY: Chinese people give it many kinds of meanings. Fish has its Chinese pronunciation as ‘Yu’, which means “more”, and extra and surpluses, so that means every year you will have surpluses and a bountiful harvest, so that’s a good wish to you.Lincoln: Quite good for saving money, maybe being a bit more frugal going into the New Year. What else have we got, Wu You?WY: And also dumplings. You have to mention dumplings.Lincoln: Oh, I love the jiaozi, one of my favourite things in the world.WY: So Chinese dumplings enjoy worldwide popularity, and its history can be traced back to South and North Dynasty, and also it is very popular to eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year dinner, and sometimes there will be a very interesting tradition: people will put something in the stuffing, in the fillings.Lincoln: Oh, something? Something what? I would hope there would be something in it.WY: Like a coin.Lincoln: That seems like it could be potentially dangerous. Do people swallow the coin?WY: Depends on how much it is.Lincoln: OK. Must be a pretty big coin if it depends on how much it is! I’m quite worried about that one, Wu You. I don’t know if I’m on board with that. Michael?Michael: I think we used to do a similar thing, I think, in the olden days. People don’t do this now, for reasons of health and safety and other things, but I think in Christmas cake or Christmas pudding, people used to put coins in that, and whoever got the coin was going to have a very prosperous new year, that sort of thing.Lincoln: I’ve heard of that.WY: And some families, they put peanuts in it, instead of coins. There will be only one dumpling that’s filled with peanuts, so whoever eats it, luckily, they will become wealthier in the New Year.Lincoln: Can I ask a question, Wu You? Traditionally, in my culture at least, where I’m from, the women take care of the food. (WY: That’s true) It’s the mothers, the sisters, the aunts, they bake up a storm two days ahead of time.WY: Yes, it is. They wake up very early in the morning.Lincoln: So is this something that happens in Chinese culture as well? (WY: Yes, it is) It usually falls on the women to do this kind of cooking?WY: Usually they really enjoy it, because they can cooperate so [well] while they were talking, they were preparing the food, I think it is sort of [binding] the family. (Lincoln: This is absolutely true) It is smoothing the relationship, and everyone is so happy.

Zhao Yang: Well China’s central bank announced that their planning to reduce the down payment requirements for new home buyers in most of China’s cities. So Victor why did the authorities make the policy changes now? Victor Gao: Firstly, I would say that the policy change is long overdue. I would say the sluggishness in the Chinese economy over the past couple of years has been one of the reasons, but one of the [other] reasons might be the misguided policies of the government in the property market. First of all, the property market is very local and the policies of the property market needs to be localized for the specific nature of the property market in each different city. Whereas in the China, the central bank is very much accustomed to issuing one policy which covers the whole of China, and China is very big. And of course it creates a lot of mismatches in the market, and right now this new change in the government policy creates flexibility in those cities within which commercial banks can exercise more discretion and judgment in adjusting the mortgage rate for the new home buyers when they want to borrow. Zhao Yang: Robert how do you see this reduction of the down payment requirement; is this another way to ease restrictions that were added during the high growth years, or is this in line with the de-stocking themes within the property market here in China. Robert Whitelaw: That’s a great question. There are two ways to look at this. One is that the regulators are taking the measures that they need to take that are stimulating the areas that need to be stimulated; that they are being responsive to some of the slow downs that we’ve seen, some of the house price decreases. And also hat they are being responsive to some of this access inventory which is in line with the de-stocking theme. I mean there’s no doubt that excess inventory is a problem, and that if they can stimulate the market and increase the demand, increase the number of new-home buyers then reducing this excess inventory (which clearly has a downward effect on house prices) makes sense. That’s the positive spin. The negative spin is that this is somewhat of a move of desperation which is that they are looking for whatever lever they have to stimulate the economy and because they feel like they have a lever in real estate and the housing market in particular, that they are willing to push that lever to try and stimulate the housing market. This is even though, part of the reason the economy got into trouble in the first place is the over stimulation in real estate.

ZCG: Two new cases of the Zika virus have been reportedly detected in two Australian patients who had recently returned to Sydney from the Caribbean. The news comes just a day after the World Health Organization declared the virus an international emergency. TY: Currently we know there is no vaccine or medication to stop Zika, and the only way said to avoid catching it is to avoid getting bitten by the mosquitoes carrying the virus. What does that mean for curbing the spread of the virus? ST: Well, it’s not glamorous stuff, but we’ve had long experience in avoiding mosquito bites globally. I mean, at the individual level, using insect repellent, covering up with appropriate clothing, obviously in homes, installing insect screens. Of course, for public health authorities, the issue is actually removing breeding grounds such as stagnant pools and water in which mosquitoes can breed. We have a long term experience in dealing with mosquitoes and this is essentially the same sort of thing. TY: Professor Phelan, on the government level, do you think travel alerts are needed now? AP: Absolutely, it is very important, in communicating any risk like this, that the public is made aware of the risk so they can make changes to their travel. For example, the CDC [Centers for Disease Control], the Canadian Public Health Authority, a range of different public health authorities around the world, have issued alerts to pregnant women to avoid travel to these areas. The WHO, in their - in the Director General’s - declaration, she advised that there should not be any restrictions on travel to, or trade with, countries with Zika virus transmission, but it is really important that the information about where people should or should not be travelling is communicated, even if it doesn’t amount to travel bans.

Lincoln: We’re talking about the Year of the Monkey now. We know that the Western zodiac is more tied up with constellations.WY: There are 12 animals in total. This year is the Year of the Monkey, and next year is the Year of the Rooster. People who were born under each zodiac sign were believed to have different personalities. Suppose this year is the Year of the Monkey, and people who were born in this year will have all those kinds of special personalities, such as [being] creative and energetic.Lincoln: And this Zodiac has got to do with a story: the monkey ran into the goat, and then the goat fell over, and then there was a horse. It’s got more of a narrative to it; I’m being very ignorant there, of course, but it’s got a lot more narrative to it than you would imagine otherwise.WY: There has been a long story about that, but quickly, that was a race for 12 or more animals. [Once] they have run to the final ending point, the rat goes first, and then the ox, and people are always wondering why there isn’t a cat in this kind of zodiac. The rat actually tricked the catLincoln: Oh, OK. So this is a really big story.WY: Yes, and then the cat didn’t make it to the final point, and then the cat was so angry, and remembered this kind of cheating from the rat, and that is why they [became] enemies, so they were born to be enemies.Lincoln: So, there’s all these different… we don’t have a lot of time for it, necessarily, but I would definitely urge everyone to have a look at this fable, who cheated on whom and who did what. It’s very, very interesting – the rat and the cat. I would definitely recommend everyone have a look at it.WY: And also, you know, here in China, there has been a special thing when people talk about zodiac, because people who were born [under] different zodiac [signs] were believed to have different personalities and when, sometimes, people also consult with their zodiac signs for compatibility before getting married.Lincoln: So in that sense, it’s much like the western zodiac calendar. (WY: Astrology) Astrology, there’s personality attributes ascribed to your specific sign or your specific animal. (WY: They’re similar) What exactly, for the Year of the Monkey, what are the attributes, for a person, that you would attribute to them if they were born in the Year of the Monkey?WY: So, for the monkey, they are quick-witted, they are charming, they are lucky, they are bright, and because monkeys move a lot, they are energetic, and very creative.Lincoln: That’s quite interesting. In African folklore, the monkey’s always seen as the trickster animal. The monkey and the rabbit are the ones who have that kind of connotation there. I’m a horse – let’s see what horses do. Horses are adaptable, loyal, courageous, ambitious. Very strong, as well. (WY: Intelligent) Intelligent, yeah. That’s interesting. So we’re going forward into the new year. You mentioned the Monkey King. What exactly is that?WY: Some of the films, they are based on simply the great Chinese novel, Journey to the West, and people always imitate the special Monkey King, and especially in the Spring Festival Gala.Michael: So, the Spring Festival Gala that you were talking about, that’s a huge deal in China, isn’t it?WY: It is a huge deal.Michael: From what I gather, it’s something of a family tradition that everybody gets together and watches the Spring Festival Gala on Chinese New Year’s Eve.WY: Yes, it is.Lincoln: I would highly recommend you have a look at it. I remember watching it, not last year but the year before, and even if you don’t understand what’s going on, it’s just a fantastic production. It’s huge, and such a huge variety of acts. There’s magicians and acrobatics and all sorts of things going on, so I thoroughly enjoyed it when I did watch it. Yeah, I’ll definitely be watching this year, and hopefully it’ll be as big and as entertaining as it always is.

LK: Why did they decide to reduce the previous eight command areas, or theater commands, into the current five? DF: You shouldn’t get focused on the number of commands, because the roles and mission of the old military region commands and the new five war fighting zones are very different organizations for very different purposes. The old military regions were not just focused on war fighting, they had all sorts of administrative, logistics and support issues to deal with, administrative issues – these war zones that have been set up, war zones, that’s the better translation in English, are focused strictly on joint war fighting, so they’re not going to have any of the, or very few of the administrative burdens that the old seven military regions had. So it’s not the number, it’s the functions that are important, the function has changed.

Lincoln: In China, some young people have started to rent a girlfriend or a boyfriend to go home with them for the New Year festival. Wu You, you’re going to have to explain to us exactly what’s going on here. WY: The Chinese Spring Festival is approaching, and at this time, lots of Chinese family relatives will always ask young people these kinds of questions: “Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? Why do you still not have a boyfriend or girlfriend? So when will you have a girlfriend or boyfriend? Why have you not got married yet? You see my neighbour, he has already got a grandson. Why haven’t I got a grandson? So when will you have a girlfriend or boyfriend?” So all those kinds of questions really drive young people crazy, and this time, a new service has come up: the rent-a-partner service seems to be a business during this New Year festival time, when some young people are pressed by their parents and their relatives to bring their girlfriend or boyfriend back home. However, lawyers in China warn that such kinds of deals are not protected by law, and recent years have witnessed many related disputes. Some young people are renting a stranger to appease their relatives’ endless questions. Lincoln: To be honest with you, this sounds like the plot of quite a generic romantic comedy from the late 90s or something, with Meg Ryan. Michael: And Hugh Grant as the disinterested boyfriend. Lincoln: Who’s constantly babbling! This is quite a strange life-imitating-art thing. Michael, what do you make of it? Michael: I’m quite interested by this. I’ve heard of this happening before. You know what, I find this absolutely fascinating. I would love to be a rent-a-boyfriend for Chinese New Year. I would love to see what that’s like, and what that entails, because I’ve heard of agencies being set up where they can put you in touch with people who want to fulfill the role of boyfriend or girlfriend for the sake of appeasing people’s parents, and I wonder if there’s different categories, you know, if you can specify where you want your boyfriend or girlfriend to come from. I wonder if there’s some people who would be quite taken by the idea of an exotic rent-a-boyfriend. WY: In your advertisement, you can say: “Do you want a foreign boyfriend to take home?” Michael: Well, exactly. Lincoln: I think Michael could make quite a good bit of coin on the side for himself there. Michael: Exactly, and because I don’t speak Chinese, I’ll never have any direct questions to answer. Lincoln: Even better. That’s quite interesting. Everyone, good luck going forward into the new year, especially if you are single, if you’re out there looking for love, Michael has very graciously offered himself up. Michael: Don’t say it like that! Sounds like you’re putting me on a plate. It’s all hypothetical, it’s all hypothetical. Lincoln: Hypothetically, Michael, how much are you charging? 3000 yuan? Is that on the low side? I think you can go for four thousand. Michael: Yeah. I mean, I’m imported. I’m imported goods. Lincoln: We’re looking at a discount. He’ll give you a fapiao as well.

Guest: Feng Zhongping, Director of Institute of European Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. BK: So first of all, Angela Merkel has said that she expects most of these refugees, as we just heard, to return to their countries of origin, namely, in particular, Iraq and Syria, once peace has returned to the Middle East. How realistic is this kind of expectation, this plan she’s putting forward? FZP: Well I think, you know, the most important thing for the German leader, Chancellor Merkel, is to reduce the popular fear, or in other words you could say the pressure from all kinds of political forces. I think, to be frank, in theory this is something that can be done – you could send back people to where they are from, if the circumstances were different. In terms of the Middle East, as Chancellor Merkel herself said, when peace has returned, you can go home – but in reality, I don’t think this is going to be a very short period of time. This temporary resettlement in Germany, or in other countries in Europe, I’m afraid it will become permanent. I’m not optimistic about peace in the Middle East – in fact, a lot of people like me are pessimistic about the conflict in the Middle East. LK: Talking about returning the refugees to the Middle East, Merkel cited the refugees from the former Yugoslavia as an example, saying that 70% of those who arrived in Germany in the 1990s returned home once it was safe to do so. Do you think it is accurate to draw a comparison between 1990s Yugoslavia and the current situation in Syria and Iraq? FZP: It is not, actually. You know, first of all, the number of migrants or refugees is hugely different. In the early 1990s, the migration of refugees from Yugoslavia to Germany or other European countries, the size was much smaller than this one. Secondly, a more important factor is that the people in the former Yugoslavian countries expected that sooner or later they would become part of the European Union, and some countries already have done so today. So this entire environment of the countries involved, their future, is different. I don’t think that any Middle Eastern countries will one day become part of the European Union! So this is a big difference: people who left the former Yugoslavia for Germany knew one day their country would become part of the European Union like Germany, so that helped them, when peace returned, to go back to their country.

Lincoln: Spring Festival is coming, Wu You.WY: Happy New Year!Lincoln: Thank you very much, thank you very much. I hope you’ll be enjoying your hongbaos.WY: That is a Chinese tradition from senior people or people of a higher rank. [They] will give out the hongbao – or red envelope with money in it – to the kids in the family. But if the young people have started working, that means they won’t receive hongbao any more.Lincoln: That’s part of growing up.WY: But it also means that you have to give your niece and nephew hongbao from now on.Lincoln: Wait, what? Why?WY: Receive and give!Lincoln: Oh, OK.Michael: Circle of life.Lincoln: Circle of life. “Nasi kwenya”, innit! [But] it’s not just that. You’re also given other sorts of gifts, aren’t you?WY: Another thing is “Benmingnian” red belt or underwear.Lincoln: Hang on – red belt or red underwear? Are you…Are you supposed to give…?WY: From your close ones!Lincoln: OK, alright, because it could be strange if you’re giving a bunch of strangers some red underwear.WY: So maybe your friends or your other family relatives, they can give you a red belt (Lincoln: OK.) Why is it so special? Because “benmingnian” in Chinese means the year of the animal in which you are born, so that means if this year is the year of the monkey, and you were born in the year of the monkey, this is your benmingnian.Lincoln: Oh, OK.Michael: So you only get red underwear once every 12 years?WY: That’s true, and people who were born in the year of the monkey are expected to receive some gifts [such] as red belts from their family relatives. (Lincoln: OK) And do you know why it’s in the colour red?Lincoln: Because that’s good luck in China, isn’t it?Michael: Symbolises prosperity and luck and fruitfulness and things like that, doesn’t it?WY: Yes it [does], but that is only part of the story. The other part is that the colour red is supposed to ward off evil spiritsLincoln: Ah, ok. That’s good.WY: Because people call it, in this year, it is “fan tai sui”, which means you have the conflict with this year’s animal, so that means you need to protect yourself, and then you wear those kinds of red stuff to protect yourself.Lincoln: That’s good – it’s good that evil spirits are scared of the colour red.WY: And also, you know, in ancient times, soldiers [were] in the war. If they won the war, they would carry a flag in the colour red to tell other people that “we won the war”.Michael: So it’s like the opposite of waving a white flag in defeat?WY: Yes, it is.Lincoln: Alright, that’s fantastic.WY: And also in China, the fruit basket is a ubiquitous symbol of good fortune, and also of Chinese New Year. Whenever you are visiting your friends, you can send the fruit basket.Michael: But what fruits should we avoid?WY: There is one taboo. You shouldn’t give a family, especially a couple, the fruit of pear.Michael: Because in Chinese, “li” has the same pronunciation as “divorce”.Lincoln: You don’t want to give people a box of divorce.WY: And there are some taboos indeed. Avoid sending gifts of clocks in China.Lincoln: Oh, that’s interesting.WY: Because in Chinese, giving a clock has the same pronunciation as when you’re talking about to give proper burial after death, or funeral presents. Those have similar pronunciations. (Lincoln: Interesting)

: Our first topic is about a bit of an outcry over hospital tickets. NL: So in this case we have this woman who was queuing at the hospital. She wanted to buy a ticket for her mother to be able to see a doctor, and she found that even though she was third in the line, she wasn’t able to get a ticket. The price for a normal registration at the hospital would have been 300 yuan. She found out there’s scalpers who had already bought up all the tickets and taken all the slots were trying to resell them for 4,500. BK: Even though it’s not good to pay for scalping, I think the issue may lie elsewhere. One of the interesting things is the woman claimed, or she accused the hospital, in particular the security guards, of working with the scalpers there, something the hospital has denied. WY: Many people believe whatever kind of disease they already have, they want to go to the best hospital in Beijing or Shanghai, and they believe by seeing the best doctor, they can solve the problem. Not long ago the country encouraged people if you have only a toothache, just a not that serious disease, you should better go to the community hospital or the hospital nearby. But, at the same time, does it mean that procedures need to be changed? If the scalpers buy the tickets with the other patients’ name, so what about directly set up another machine, and they can directly take ID to verify if this is the person who registered it. That will directly just kick the scalper out. NL: This is something that I’m surprised there isn’t already. As far as I understand it, you do have to show some ID when you register, but then it isn’t checked when you go and see the doctor. WY: The doctor, yes. And also, nowadays with the development of modern technologies, we can see in some best hospitals in Beijing like the 301, you can scan your ID card with all the results being printed out automatically for you [BK: Right, right]. So what about when you go to see the doctor you can directly scan your ID card so [NL: Technology saves the day again] Yes! BK: It does, but technology is also not cheap there. But that’s also part of the thing though with the prices there; if you were to let that – those prices rise a little bit, the hospitals would have more money, there would be less of an incentive for people to go to the scalpers because - you’re now paying a little bit more, so if you don’t need to go these, this type of special expensive hospital to go see a doctor, you can go to another one that is cheaper there. But without prices being able to move around like that, you don’t have that flexibility, and it’s easier for scalpers to take advantage of that. WY: I couldn’t agree with that frankly, because you can’t simply raise the price to solve these problems. You can make another machine to double check if this is the real person who already paid for the registration fee. But you cannot simply raising the registration fees price to ease the strong need. BK: Right, you can’t ease the strong need, but if you let prices vary at different places, again with the market, people will pay only what they’re willing to pay, like… WY: If this is for the capitalism market, or other kind of private companies, you can work like that because that is already in the market, but this is we’re talking about the public hospitals. They are totally different issues. BK: They are run differently, but they don’t have to be. Again, if we’re – if we want people to be served and to not have their prices gouged by scalpers, because again, if you’re paying for a scalper, that’s also not fair to people as it is, so it may be more fair for people to pay what is worth it to them. You may have to pay a lot – obviously if you don’t have that much money, that’s not great. So what should be done is you let the prices rise in a market sort of way, but you give subsidies to those who are not able to afford it as well. WY: The topic we are talking about today is how to eliminate the scalpers situation, not to decrease the need from the patients. BK: Well, but how else are you going to do that? If there’s – WY: If you can put a machine there to verify if this is a patient who pays for the registration fee, in that case, you kick the scalper out. BK: Partially, but they’ll find other ways. That’s the problem. You need to attack the demand, I think. They need to pay a little bit more, because paying three kuai to see a doctor is great, but that’s ridiculous to have it so cheap. If it’s - different places should be allowed to price things differently. WY: In that case, you are talking about some of the methods for the private hospital, not the public hospital. BK: Okay. So there are downsides to all of these, but clearly, something needs to be done about the scalpers there, because the current situation is not going to solve itself.

BK: A recent report shows that in China a primary school has sent out a homework assignment – stop using computers and cellphones for a month. The students really worry if they can actually complete this homework. And so this is actually happening now just before the winter holiday, and not just one month during the school year, it’s one month during your winter break, so it’s a little difficult for some of those students it appears. WY: So now some primary school students in China are supposed to be enjoying their winter holiday. But some students in the city of Chongqing seem to be having a hard time figuring out how to finish their homework. This second grade primary school students were asked to pick out one card out of a set of poker, which can decide their winter holiday homework assignment. And the eight year old girl Zhao Yimei’s one of the students who picked out the card of staying away from all digital gadgets for a month. And then the little girl burst into tears. And this assignment also suggests students can replace internet surfing and computer games with reading books or talking with classmates, et cetra. BK: What a concept. WY: And the mother says that I would like to try finish this homework together with you, so in that case, I will stop using my cellphones and digital gadgets for a month to accompany you. BK: That is supportive parenting there. It’s not like you get home and the parent is either – they’re saying haha, you have to do this [WY: And now you’re doomed] and I’m going to do my stuff. They’re, they’re doing it with them, which is good, you know. It’s good for parents to be supportive of homework in general, but especially for something like this. WY: And also the school has explained why they want to carry out this kind of assignment. Some of the teachers survey out of 1,100 students in the school, and they figure out about 95% of all these primary school students are playing computer games or reality TV games at home. Also, they will take their cellphones with them to go to the classroom, so in that case, some of the teachers come up with this kind of new experimental trial basis to let the students stop using the cellphone for a month and also trying to read more books or just invent some new hobbies, communicate more with your family members. BK: And that’s not just a Chinese thing, it’s not just an American thing – I think they have it in the UK and most of the developed world, and other places too. NL: Yeah, I think it’s definitely something that’s as you said, in all of the developed world but, I mean the question is, does an eight year old really need a smartphone? What are these eight year olds doing with the smartphones…? WY: Sometimes the reason they explain is that I need to receive this call from my mom and to make sure that I’m safe. BK: Calls and texts, and they do have phones like that, but beyond that, it doesn’t seem as necessary. NL: I was going to say, maybe you need a computer for some of your homework assignments, but also for keeping in touch with other people, that’s just the way people do things nowadays. WY: And also sometimes this class assignment is for each student to carry out a speech for something and also by using PowerPoint, which is PPT. So that is done by your computers, laptops; so in that case, students need to learn something of the computers. [BK: Right] And also, some of the online comments - someone named zuo ye meng said: Every day my wife has repeatedly told our son to stop play computer games, but still it doesn’t work. But this time, the teacher has told him only once - it worked. Brilliant! NL: And someone else called JinQing1990 said: Most adults have the need of using digital gadgets. But kids really don’t. WY: And Rijibao said: Cells and computers, they all have advantages and disadvantages. Why on Earth do they need to come up with this kind of homework? NL: And finally someone called Yi Chen said: I feel like I’m missing out if I don’t use my cell phone. If I only go online after a month, I won’t even be able to understand what people are talking about online.

Guest: Prof. Dominic Dwyer, Medical Virologist at Westmead Hospital, Australia ZCG: The World Health Organization says the Zika virus is likely to spread across nearly all of the Americas. It has already been found in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North and South America. MB: For the benefit of our listeners, who are maybe not very familiar with the Zika virus, could you first start by giving us just a general overview of it? I mean, how does it spread and who does it affect? DD: The Zika virus, it’s been around for quite a few decades, it was first detected in Africa, in Uganda, and then it spread to a number of countries, particularly in the Pacific, and of course now a very big outbreak in the Americas. It’s spread by mosquitoes, a particular type of mosquitoes – the same ones that spread yellow fever and dengue virus, as well. So it’s another addition to the mosquito-borne viruses that cause concern in the Americas. MB: And so how does it affect people? What sort of symptoms do people have, and how serious is it? DD: It’s not a terribly serious illness. The people who get sick get a fever, a rash, aches and pains, headaches and so on, and usually recover within a week or so. About 80% of the people who become infected don’t actually develop any symptoms at all, in other words they don’t know they’ve got it, and of course that’s one of the things that contributes to the spread of the virus in the community, you have all those people wandering around who have the infection but are unaware of it. TY: You mentioned there that this virus has been existing for decades. Why haven’t we developed any vaccine for it earlier?DD: Well that’s a very good question; I guess the attention has been on what have been the more important viruses to date, things like yellow fever and dengue infections, and there are vaccines certainly for yellow fever now and one that’s being developed for dengue. Zika hasn’t been as big a problem until recently, so I guess the attention of people was not on Zika, and that’s why we don’t have a vaccine. I do think, though, that the activity in Central America and potentially in North America - and South America, of course - will drive people into producing a vaccine. MB: There have been reports of the vaccine causing birth defects, and women have been warned not to travel to affected areas, and in some cases, like in El Salvador, even not to get pregnant. So how necessary are steps like these?DD: Well this is one thing that is different with the Zika virus compared to some of the others – it looks as though, although we’re not sure yet, that pregnant women who become infected with the Zika virus have an increased risk of birth defects in their babies. Now this has not been described with the other viruses, such as yellow fever and dengue, so there’s something different about Zika. One of the difficulties is we don’t yet really know if it’s the Zika virus, or indeed is it some other virus that might be circulating, or another cause of these birth defects. You must remember that a lot of the areas where these effects are being described have not necessarily the best healthcare systems in the world, and the best environmental protection, so there might be other causes. Anyway, people are very interested in this and are actively researching to try and show the link between Zika infection and bad outcomes in pregnant women. That is why a number of countries have developed suggestions about pregnant women traveling to these areas and so on. TY: Then how likely is it to spread to countries like the United States and beyond the western hemisphere, like developing into an epidemic or pandemic? DD: I think it all depends on what mosquitoes are present. So one of the difficulties in the US is that the mosquitoes that are transmitting the virus in Central America and Brazil, and other countries in South America – those same mosquitoes exist in parts of the United States as well. So it would be quite logical that they would expect to see the Zika virus then occurring in the USA. For other countries, for example Australia or New Zealand, it’s not likely to be a problem, because we don’t have that particular species of mosquitoes.

LW: Now we’ll take a look at some unusual theories. Have you ever walked outside and thought, man the Earth looks pretty flat? You probably then realized that it doesn’t make sense and went on with your day. But unlike you, there are some people, including a semi-famous rapper, B.o.B. who beg to differ. Like birthers and other truthers, these flat earthers think what you think – they think what you see is what you get. Now, Brian, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit here. What exactly is this theory? Why should we care about it? BK: Well, the second one is a little more difficult, but the first – flat earth is what it sounds like. The earth is not a sphere, it is just flat, which – LW: That’s not true. BK: Exactly. But again, it’s like you said there, it’s – they think what you think you see is what you get. Because you think that you’re seeing flatness. Like you go outside and you look and say no, I don’t see any curve there, the earth is flat, the world looks flat to me, and on – in practical terms, on a daily basis, yeah, the ground right in front of you is flat. But, if we’re talking about the earth as a whole, as a planet, which it is, then that’s of course not true. WY: I just have one question: He lives in the US, so can he see China? BK: See, and that’s the sort of thing there. Because if the Earth is flat, you should be able to see everything else there pretty much, ‘cause the reason why we can’t see things is because – like, you can’t, for example - we can’t see the Empire State building or the Statue of Liberty from here in China because the Earth curves. WY: I think sometimes the people are so drawn to it, it’s just that they believe or they choose to believe what they want to believe. BK: Yeah, that is a lot of what’s going on here. Conspiracy theories often happen when things are not very clear, like when there’s some sort of murkiness, like for example 9/11. That was a very hectic time those attacks there, and no one was there watching everything exactly as it happened at all these points so people get to thinking maybe there was this sort of thing happening or whatever. WY: And also, another very famous example is like the end of the world theory. LW: What I can’t really understand is why people believe in them that much then. BK: Again, I think we’re seeing more of it these days because there’s a growing at least disappointment or distrust or dissatisfaction with authority so that’s you just think, oh – you’re just less likely to trust them. But there’s a political scien[tist] out there, Michal Barkun, who has some ideas there. So one of his things is that they claim – that these conspiracy theories, they provide a pretty easy explanation to more complex sort of things. Like you got some sort of confusing, complex thing going on, complicated stuff, it’s like, okay, this is what it is, a pretty, relatively simple, pretty understandable sort of thing. The other thing that they do is they say it’s very much a, we’ve got the good guys here, the bad guys here, and all these bad things are happen[ing] because one evil person or group is doing this sort of thing. LW: One of the ones I hear very often is the one that says the moon landing was faked. BK: Yeah, you do hear that. The idea is that it was all filmed in a Hollywood studio, but when you think about this, you would have to have all these different pictures faked – okay maybe, and all these people going in and lying, like these astronauts, they were just not lying to their… LW: Not just the astronauts. The people who worked on the rockets [BK: Right], the people who built it, the people who outsourced the parts, the [BK: Yeah] secretary who answered the phones, everyone would have to be [BK: It is]. The sheer level, the sheer level of organizational capacity for that is incredible, as well as just everyone would have to be in on it, just human nature, no one would break ranks. BK: No, exactly…study here that came out on BBC analyzing this, saying that for a conspiracy theory to work, for all these people to be in on it, and keep it closed, is so unlikely, ‘cause people just talk, and that’s how it is. LW: Yeah, I don’t know. And you know, B.o.B. kicked us off with this, so I do want to close with him. I don’t quite understand it. I hope he comes to his senses sometime soon.

LW: You probably have a lot of friends on Facebook, WeChat or other social media platforms. But how many of them can you actually count as your close friends? Now Brian, I’m guilty of this as well. There’s people on there who are probably my friends, and there’s probably also people on there who I’ve not really met, and I wouldn’t be able to tell their faces if I had to see them in real life. So what exactly is the science behind this? BK: Exactly. That’s the key thing there – the difference between real friends, whatever you want to call that and other Facebook friends. There’s this guy, Robin Dunbar, who studies friends, and he’s just done a study recently saying that most of your friends on Facebook are not friends in real life. So, in the study, the average person had about 150 Facebook friends, but only 14 of them would actually express any sympathy, say they’re sorry to hear that if something bad happened to you. And if you were in a really serious situation, only about four of your friends on Facebook would actually come to help. LW: So how many friends would you have to begin with? Or friends friends? BK: Friends friends? Well that’s the thing… LW: No, I mean like, let’s say the study says 14 of them. So how big was the sample size? BK: So – they had about 2,000 people, with the average person having about 150 friends on Facebook. LW: OK. It’s a lot of people. Wu You, what do you make of this? WY: I think first of all, people make wrong expectation of Facebook friends. Because Facebook, it is about a virtual world. It is after all your internet friends on it. LW: If you really take a hard look, and you’re brutally honest with yourself, a lot of the people on there, they don’t really know you, care about you in that way. If I’m not mistaken, when you run your timeline, it has different settings in terms of, you have your close friends, and then that’s a level beyond that, where it goes acquaintances, and then there’s, quite vaguely, people you know. Like that’s the third level [BK: Right], the third level of that. So even then, if you are the kind of person who – you take your friendship really seriously, what you can do is you can change your privacy settings, and you know, you wouldn’t see all those things, and you’d like have the connectivity of it, but you wouldn’t have any sort of expectations of intimacy. WY: What matters is just people need[s] to know what they want out of this. Rarely, people will count how many friends they have on Facebook or on social media like WeChat. They just know this is a virtual world. But if they want to have real friends, go to call them, go to contact them, go to meet them, have these face to face interactions. So if people really know what they want out of this, there won’t be all those kind of cynical communities. LW: Right, Wu You. This is the other thing though. In China, people don’t tend to use Facebook - WeChat. [WY: Yes, WeChat] Alright, now. But what I’m interested in is if we take this same study and we apply it to WeChat, we see exactly how many friendships you actually maintain. But there you go. So, at the same time, you know, you don’t have a lot of your friends on there, a lot of your good friends on WeChat. Would you agree? WY: I agree. Because that is simply social media platform. They are the same. [LW: OK] They are all the same social media. To link with other people [LW: OK], to communicate with other people. [LW: Yes] That’s it. [LW: Alright] So don’t expect too much, and don’t be too cynical of it. BK: What I have seen is where people will send out a message just checking to see if other people - if you’ve cleared them from your friends list. People will sometimes, like, kind of go through their friends, and kind of clean out people who, like we’re talking about, they’re not really friends with, they haven’t like ever exchanged a message with or whatever. And so they’ll go through, they’ll delete those people, and then you’ll get these messages, sending them just to see, OK, which ones bounce – which ones of these bounce back, who has actually deleted me, who’s still my friend on there. WY: I think that’s really boring… LW: That’s really sad. BK: Have you guys not seen those? LW:…really sad. BK: I’ve seen those once or twice. [WY: Wow.] Just like, checking, alright, have you deleted me, like, just seeing… WY: I don’t think that is really necessary. If people really need this kind of procedure to find out who has deleted me, I think they have too much leisure time.

Lincoln: Recently, a post about ten things that increase the risk of early death has gone viral. It is from a survey of 100 people and their daily habits. Wu You, maybe you can actually enlighten us a little bit here. WY: Here is the list. First one: prolonged use of computers. I mean, on a daily basis, nowadays most people at their workplaces, right? Michael: Yeah, I’d say it’s pretty hard to ignore prolonged use of computers. WY: And the second one on the list is “go to sleep after 11pm” Lincoln: Wu You, when do you go to sleep? WY: I have to confess that I go to sleep every day at around midnight. Lincoln: You don’t have to confess to that, you haven’t done anything wrong! Michael: I would argue here, this says, all right, going to sleep after 11pm is bad. Now, presumably it’s bad because you’re not getting a lot of sleep, but it’s only bad if you’re also getting up early as well. You can only say that going to sleep after 11 o’clock if you’re also getting up at, maybe, five or six o’clock in the morning. If you’re getting up at seven or eight, I think going to sleep after 11 is perfectly acceptable. WY: Next one: insufficient sleep, so that is connected with the last one. Lincoln: This is a bit of a one-two here, I think they were starting to hedge their bets. Next one. WY: Lack of exercise. Lincoln: Now this one I can get behind. Obviously, we all know you have to live a healthy lifestyle. Michael: The oldest woman in the world who was from France a few years ago, and she attributed her longevity to drinking brandy and smoking cigarettes, so it’s not an exact science, and what was the name of that guy in America in the 80s who used to run everywhere? You know, he really popularized jogging in America in the 70s and 80s, and then he actually died of cancer. Lincoln: I have no idea. I was going to say Forrest Gump, but that’s a fictional character. Michael: No, no, well, Forrest Gump is based on him. WY: And number five: seldom go to see a doctor when sick. Lincoln: Now this is something that I have to confess myself, I might be guilty of. Men of a certain age, they don’t want to go to the doctor. My father, he would very rarely go to the doctor, he would just tough it out, because if you go to the doctor then you’re not manly, or something like this. WY: And then number six: prefer strong flavour – salty or spicy food. Lincoln: OK. WY: Think about the people who are living in Sichuan Province. In that province, most foods are spicy, so what about them? Michael: Yeah. It’s probably hard to find food in Sichuan that’s not spicy, I would imagine, such is the predilection for spice and things of that nature. Lincoln: Wu You, what’s the next one? WY: And the next one is: Don’t wait until starving before you eat, and don’t wait until you’re exhausted before you rest, and don’t wait until you’re sleepy before you go to bed. Lincoln: Now that’s quite an interesting one there, Michael. Michael: So, that’s essentially just “do things in moderation”, isn’t it, if we round up the true meaning of that. Lincoln: If I go to bed and I’m not necessarily very tired, I’ll always [think] maybe I’ll read this little article quickly before I go to bed, maybe watch that little clip of a cat falling off a roof, or something. And then in the end, I’m dog tired, it’s one o’clock, and then I don’t have enough sleep. So the next one is quite an interesting one. This is more, I suppose, about your emotional and your spiritual health – a lack of communication with your family. Michael: I’ve noticed this about Chinese families, and Chinese boyfriends and girlfriends in particular. They do seem to call each other really very often. WY: They love each other so much. Michael: But I’m wondering, if you’re calling each other three or four times a day, what is there to talk about? I mean, are you just live-tweeting your lunch to them? I don’t understand. WY: To keep everyone on the same page. Michael: Yeah, sure, but, I mean, is it really necessary? Lincoln: I don’t know if it’s necessary, but I can say I do the same thing. Not necessarily calling, but over text, just to be checking in on the minutiae of my everyday life. “Oh, I had a sandwich. Now I’m not having one.” So that’s kind of the idea, I think. WY: And the next one is: spend too much time on the cellphone. Lincoln: Wu You, is that one for you? WY: Yeah, it is! Nowadays, I’m kind of bound with my cellphone. Every day, in the morning, the first thing I look at is my cellphone, and the last thing I look at at night is my cellphone as well. Michael: Yeah, I have to confess, a cellphone is a large part of my daily life as well. Something which I’ve done, which I think is a little compromise, here, is if I’m struggling to get to sleep, I’ll go on YouTube or whatever, and I’ll look up relaxation and meditation exercises that people have put on YouTube and on the internet, and I’ll just listen to that for ten, 15 minutes or so. WY: Does it work? Michael: Well, yeah, I find it does. You often have some… (WY: Sounds of the water?) Yeah, some waterfalls, or some rainwater, and then there’s a soothing voice in the background saying: “You are calm, the waves gently lapping at your feet.” Lincoln: And the last one that we see here is irregular diet or irregular meal times. Now, I’m not very guilty of this. I’m very, very strict in terms of my mealtimes. If I have a meal ten minutes after I was supposed to have it, I get very grumpy. WY: I have to say that I didn’t achieve number seven. I only eat when I feel hungry, but I was always hungry at a specific time, because I always get hungry at about seven o’clock in the morning, and then 12 o’clock midday, and around five o’clock. Michael: I wonder how you would apply number ten to somewhere like Spain, for example, where I used to live, and where the mealtimes are very different from how they are here in China. So, lunchtime – I mean, you wouldn’t really see anyone having lunch before about 1:30, I wouldn’t think, and then dinnertime is notoriously late. People eat dinner at maybe around nine or ten o’clock at night. WY: But does it mean they get up late in the morning? Michael: Well, in Spain, traditionally, or culturally, you have the notion of the siesta, so you’d go to bed in the afternoon. WY: Don’t they need to work in the afternoon? Michael: Well, it’s changing a little bit now. I mean, if you’re working for a big, multinational company, then yes, you have to do normal working hours, but – and this is true of little shops, as well – they’ll just shut for about three or four hours in the afternoon, especially in the height of the summer. Lincoln: All right, fair enough. Michael: I think this list is quite depressing, to be quite honest, to read all of this. Everything on this list is basically just saying, “do everything in moderation, don’t do anything to excess”. Lincoln: Don’t pay too much attention to this list. Just have a healthy, reasonable lifestyle, and you should be fine.

Lincoln: The recent death of a Chinese teacher has sparked hot debate online about whether the students are too “cold hearted” focusing on their exam. Wu You, maybe you can explain a little bit about exactly what happened here. WY: During the final examination in a middle school in China, one test monitor’s sudden death was not noticed until the end of the exam. She was supposed to remind the students to hand in their papers at a specific time. But at the allotted time, students did not hear anything from that teacher, and then several students approached her to ask her if it was time to fetch their papers. It was not until then she was found sitting in the chair without any response. Then the students immediately called the headmaster, and then the teacher was rushed to the hospital, where doctors said she had died from a sudden cardiac arrest. Lincoln: So, quite an unfortunate story there. What people are a little bit outraged about is that the students didn’t actually take notice of this at all. Was the teacher by herself? WY: She was the only test monitor in the classroom, and reports say that there were two teachers patrolling the hallway. Lincoln: Michael, what do you make of this? Michael: Well, it’s obviously a very sad story to hear about somebody dying in what are very unusual circumstances, I would say, but I think a lot of the negativity coming out of this is the fact that, as Wu You mentioned, the teacher was found to have died actually in the examination room. All these students were taking their exams, and they seemingly either didn’t notice something was wrong, or, for whatever reason, chose not to offer any sort of assistance. So a lot of people are saying that – obviously, we know that China’s education system is very rigorous and is very test-based, but a lot of people are saying, you know, that maybe the students are too focused on their tests. Lincoln: Wu You, what do you think? WY: The teacher was actually sitting in the back of the classroom. She was sitting in a chair, without walking around. She was found still, sitting in the chair, without any kind of response, so actually, that happened quietly and suddenly. Michael: Well, I think if you were looking at this from a slightly more cynical point of view, you might say that, I mean, in China in recent years, we’ve often seen several social problems, whereby people who go to help others, you know, people trying to be good Samaritans, are often scammed by the people that they’re trying to help, for money or whatever. Now, I’m not for a second suggesting that that’s what’s happened here, but what you often find, when you have this culture of, you know, people trying to help are then suffering and paying the price for helping, maybe that sort of mindset waters down into other areas of society. WY: Well, I don’t agree with that, I don’t think that is a culture, and also, passers-by, if they notice someone fall down on the street, they directly saw it. But this time, it was a totally different situation, because the teacher was sitting at the back of the classroom quietly, they were all sitting in the classroom focusing on their examination, so in that case, I don’t think it is quite the same situation. And also, I think the students, if they learned, somehow, about the first-aid knowledge or emergency dealing skills, they probably would have a second thought. Someone said that although she was sitting in the back of the classroom, some did hear the groaning, and they thought the teacher was asleep snoring, so that is the only time when they probably noticed that something might have happened. My concern is basically to the teaching in the middle schools. They lack life skills and emergency knowledge. If they have been taught about first aid or emergency dealing skills knowledge, they would have noticed, but in this kind of situation, for most Chinese students, what they often hear is: “You keep focusing on your studies. Everything else is not that important. You focus on your studies.” With all these kinds of focus, the students wouldn’t have learned all these kinds of life skills. I think that’s the problem. Lincoln: Let’s talk about what some people have been saying online. WY: Some of the netizens, just like @moujiadesitushuli said, “We should think about what made the students become ‘cold-blooded’ test machines”. But [others] have different ideas, like @Angel-yanqingjiu, who says, “We’ve all taken exams, who has ever stared at the teacher behind you?” Michael: Yeah, well, another one that I’m looking at here, this commenter says, “The only reason for looking at the teacher is that the students intend to cheat,” Lincoln: Yeah, certainly a very sad story, and very unfortunate as well to see what happened there. Our condolences to all of those affected.

Lincoln: China is in the midst of a cold snap. Now, Wu You, this is possibly the coldest I have ever been in my entire life, and it’s possible that it might actually get colder as we go on into the next coming weeks. Actually, as I’m here, I’m not as cold, because the heating is very lovely, but as soon as I go outside, it feels like my face is going to freeze off. How are the rest of the country dealing with the cold? WY: Beijing may witness its coldest week this winter, as the highest temperature will be between zero to minus five degrees Celsius this week, and the lowest temperature could reach minus 14 degrees Celsius. Even talking about this makes me feel freezing cold. And also, in other cities in northeast China, such as Shenyang, Jilin and Harbin, temperatures could reach as low as minus 20 degrees, and in some other parts of north China, the cold has brought snow with it and is causing traffic chaos. The traffic has even been restricted on some of the highways in Hebei, as they were completely frozen. Lincoln: Yeah. It’s pretty crazy. For those who aren’t here in Beijing, or may be not in China at the moment, it is incredibly cold, it is rather tough to deal with. Michael, how are you coping? Michael: Well, Wu You said just now that Beijing’s expecting lows of minus 14, and I’m going to give you a live weather update right now. I’m looking at my phone, and actually, the lowest temperature on Friday night is going to be minus 17. (Lincoln: Minus 17?!) Minus 17 degrees. I can’t even imagine that cold. I don’t know what that is, I don’t know what that feels like. Lincoln: I tell my parents now – they’re down in South Africa, so they’re actually in the middle of summer, so for them, it’s 35-40 degrees Celsius every day, and for me, I have to convince them that actually, you know, when it goes below zero, things do actually freeze. That actually does happen. They didn’t know that; I had to confirm that for them that, you know, if you throw some water on the ground, if you come back in two minutes, it will be frozen. This has, again, been another one of my series of having to adjust, and I’ve been in Beijing before when it’s been pretty cold. Michael: I mean, I’m looking at the weather for London now, and obviously, it’s winter in the UK. This weekend, it’s going to be a balmy 13 degrees Celsius in London. Lincoln: Oh, look at that! It’s the high summer in London. WY: Some people seem to be enjoying this cold weather. In Beijing, some people are having these carved beautiful frozen sculptures, but in some other parts, people prefer winter swimming. Can you imagine that? Lincoln: OK, so, Wu You, there’s people out there who have decided, “Now, it’s very cold, I know what I’ll do. I’ll cut a hole in the ice – because presumably the water’s still frozen – I’ll get my kit off, all right, I’ll go into the smallest thing I own, and I will jump into this water and I will swim in it.” Is that what’s happening, Wu You? WY: Yes, it is. Lincoln: Wu You, why is this happening? WY: Some people just have different kinds of hobby. Like you like skiing, and some people like winter swimming. Lincoln: OK. Just a couple of things. Those two things are very different things. I feel like swimming in the water, Michael, that’s not just a hobby, that’s a statement that you’re making. Michael: If it’s minus 20, minus 25, then surely the ice is actually very thick, and you’d need something like a circular saw to actually get into it. Lincoln: Yeah, it’s crazy! WY: Some people were saying it’s very good for the blood circulation, it’s good for your health. Lincoln: Now, that’s something that I’ve heard, I’ve heard that. Michael: There may be health benefits to having a cold shower, Lincoln, but I would argue that that’s a world away from stripping off into your smalls and plunging headfirst into a lake and having a swim when it’s minus 20. I think that’s taking it a little bit too far in my book. Lincoln: Yeah, but it seems like this is a thing we see every single time it gets cold! Drink a lot of hot water, that’s a thing you should do. WY: Or having hot pot, in China. Lincoln: Yeah, have a lot of soup, that’s what I would suggest. Have a lot of soup. Michael, what would your advice be? Michael: Well, even if you don’t like hot pot, Lincoln, I would argue when it’s minus 20 outside, anything with the word “hot” in the title is probably good, it’s probably worth trying.

LW: It’s Oscar season again, and while some people are getting excited, others are disappointed again. Now, Brian, maybe you can tell us a little about this? BK: Right. So there are four acting categories, there’s Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress. And for the second year in a row, all of the nominees, five for each, are white. LW: That’s very interesting. Last year I remember, it was a much bigger deal as well because one of the films in the running for Best Picture, Selma [BK: Right] which dealt with civil rights issues, and this is something that’s quite interesting because there’s two sides of the argument. The one side of the argument is that the Academy as a big institution, has a responsibility to acknowledge diversity in their nominations and in their awards. But at the same time, if the five best nominations, if all twenty of the best performances were by white actors, then all twenty of them should presumably be rewarded for that. But for me it’s actually quite difficult to see that happening. It’s not that is just, you know, as cut and dried as the best people should win. There’s also the issue of well you have to address historical ideas as well and have a idea of exactly what awards shows stand for. BK: Right, that is a fair point. And some people talk about whether or not the awards are really even that relevant anymore. LW: Yeah. Wu You, what do you think of this? WY: I have to mention there is someone that they still need to pay attention to this year - that is Leonardo DiCaprio. And this year the biggest movie is like “The Revenant”. I think it should win and finally Leonardo DiCaprio is getting something. BK: I think what Wu You is feeling, what some other people might feel is that Leonardo DiCaprio has been in a lot of movies that people thought he did a good job in. He’s probably gotten some nominations… WY: It’s a fantastic jobs. [BK: Right, right] Think about “Titanic”, think about “Catch me if You Can”, [LW: Okay] and “The Aviator”, The Wolf of the Wall Street… LW: You shouldn’t, you shouldn’t – that’s not the one he should have won for, but he deserves it. WY: He deserves it. LW: I agree. BK: Right, and but that’s the thing, people feel like, OK, he’s done all these things, he hasn’t really won so much, so, you know, maybe give it to him for this one, maybe not because this was actually an Oscar-worthy performance, but kind of like a lifetime achievement. WY: No, the thing is as well with these award shows and these nominations is that it’s not sport, so there’s not an empirical way to show who was the best. It’s all subjective. Which is fine and that’s the nature of a lot of award shows. At the same time, these things are subjective; people say, well, the criteria that you used to measure the performances for means that some things can be manipulated, some things can be changed, which means that maybe, maybe if someone put in a better performance than someone else like, like that that performance was in a greater historical context or societal context more important, so, it’s actually really difficult when it comes to that. What I do think it – the nominations are the one thing we can have a look at, but when it comes to actually winning, it’s very difficult to kind of say who deserves it more.

Can changing your meal times make you healthier? Many people want to eat more healthily, but find it difficult to change their diet. So what happen when altered not what people ate, but when they ate? Now I know it’s January as well, a lot of you are sticking to your New Year’s resolutions I hope. A lot of people have made a pledge this year that this is the year I eat healthy, this is the year that I avoid all those chocolate bars, and all those big potatoes, this is the year I actually get clean with the eating. But maybe that isn’t what is necessary, maybe you shouldn’t necessarily change what you’re eating, although you probably should, but maybe what you should change is exactly when you’re eating. Brian, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit more. BK: That’s a fair point, although I wonder if Lincoln isn’t talking to himself here about this. What’s happened here is the BBC partnered up with the University of Surrey, over in the UK, and they built on some other studies in the past with mice where they restricted the time windows where they ate, for example ten hours a day versus twelve or fifteen or eight hours, and the previous studies had found that with mice, if they ate in a shorter time window, for example like nine to five or whatever, then they actually were healthier and slimmer than mice that just ate whenever they felt like it. So the BBC does this with a bunch of people, and turns out that the same thing is also true. These people, quote un-quote “lost more body fat and seen bigger falls in blood sugar levels and cholesterol than the control group.” It does seem to be, from these limited studies, that not eating in a huge span of time throughout the day and limiting it to some extent might be better for you. LW: Wu You, what do you think of this? Do you think this has any sort of merit? WY: I really want to try practice it, but I couldn’t, because usually the time for breakfast isn’t depends on me, it depends on my work, because I need to be in the office at 8, that means I need to eat at seven. So [BK: Right, so that makes sense] in that case, it doesn’t change. BK: But what you could do, you could eat that at seven, and then you could make sure you don’t eat after seven o’clock at night, keep it within twelve hours. WY: But if I’m hungry… BK:…then you should eat earlier and control yourself. [WY: …I need to eat] You don’t need to eat if you’re hungry - you want to. All of us do – WY: But sometimes… LW: Wait, that’s what hunger is, Brian, [BK: No, no, no, no] is you’re supposed to eat when you’re hungry. BK: We’re – okay, if you follow that then that may not be especially healthy. WY: I believe the research, but usually research depends on several samples, but [BK: Very true] people’s body, they really varies, because you can see some people’s bodies, they can digest quite fast. And if they are, and then the research doesn’t really fit them, so I think it varies on different people. BK: It does vary on individuals, but it’s often valid for humans as a class of organisms. This is one study on humans, although actually the correspondent, the person who wrote this up for BBC, the journalist, actually did the study, a similar study on themselves. WY: I believe in it, and I think it is totally scientifical research. But what I want to say is that it is a kind of dilemma: you should believe this kind of study research and do exactly what they told you to do, or you should obey your body’s feeling – which way do you want to go.

W: This week has been an interesting one for the lottery. Massive prizes went unclaimed in China, the US and the UK. The US prize has now gone up to a world record size, more than a billion, am I correct Brian? [BK: That is correct.] That is intense. Brian, if you get that lottery ticket, what are you doing with it? BK: Pay off – I have some college debt, that would be nice to get rid of. Help out my family with other debt they have, invest a ton of it very safely… LW: Boring! Shaowen, what would you do [LSW: How much, how much?], you’re getting a billion, what are you doing? LSW: The livelihood of my family, the children, and the rest keeping it in an account. LW: Nothing, no Lamborghinis [BK: No, no, no, no], nothing, nothing excessive? BK: No, no, no. Do it for us, Lincoln. LW: No, well, what you gotta do first is, there’s a way to this and, be winning it, you can’t just win it and do all of those things. I feel like you have to do one – at least one ostentatious thing, just to, you know, just to be that guy. BK: And what would it be for you? LW: I – probably a Lamborghini or something, I don’t know. Or a really big vacation, to an island somewhere, and then after that I’ll do all of the things you mentioned. BK: Okay, so just want to get it out of your system? LW: Just want to get it out of your system – buy a ridiculous car or go on a ridiculous holiday. LSW: I’ll be still myself. LW: You’re still yourself, but you can be yourself in a Lamborghini. Think about that. LSW: No, I don’t need a Lamborghini. LW: But maybe I’m mistaken, Brian, ‘cause some people do kind of go down, they don’t necessarily handle wealth well. BK: Right, exactly, just like you said. But it’s not just that. Like, if you have an actually – they’ve figured out that, when you win the lottery, yeah, you get a ton happier because, you know, oh my gosh, so much money. But your happiness level actually returns after a few months to what it was beforehand. So you might now be rich, but if you were unhappy before you’d just be rich and unhappy. LW: So if you were happy before you got rich and then you got rich you’d just be happy afterwards. So… BK: Yeah, and you’ll be happy with more money, but, I think I’m gonna quote – this is horrible here but, “more money, more problems”? LW: Wow, you’re quoting Notorious B.I.G. That’s a very interesting quote there. BK: It is. But honestly, that does seem to be the case here. And it’s not just winning the lottery – they talk about if young people in their twenties or thirties get inheritance, it does the same kind of thing. You talk about pro US football players, when they suddenly sign a huge contract, get tons of money – if you’re suddenly rich when you haven’t been, that is just too hard for a lot of people to deal with in a rational way. LW: That’s interesting that you mentioned that. And Chris Rock actually, the famous comedian, once said that “mo’ money mo’ problems” is actually the best song in the world that most people don’t understand, because that’s actually the truth, is that the more money you have, the more money you have, now you have to, well, now I can’t lose. BK: And so a lot of people think that, you know, what you’ll just be you with lots of money after win, but what it seems to be is, you suddenly go from being whoever you are to “that guy who won the lottery”. And that’s just your identity now. LSW: And one more point is that easy come, easy go, right? If you say work hard and earn the money, you’ll be careful of how you should spend that. If it’s easy money, you tend to go quickly spending those on luxuries items, even unnecessary items. That’s why we see, live a normal life and the happiness in achieving success is in the process of achieving it.

Zhao Yang: Einar the P2P industry is relatively young but it seems that the Chinese P2P sector is the biggest one in the world. What actually makes it and which aspects of the P2P industry will authorities be looking to regulate? Einar Tangen: Well they’re looking to regulate the part where people get their money back! That’s basically it. These shops sat up one week and they close the next and the money is gone with them . There are a lot of parts of the industry which are fine and the government actually approves of it. What we are looking at is an inefficient manifestation of shadow banking. It came about because the inability of banks to fulfill their functions at the local level. The banks in China are too large and they are nationally based. They don’t care about small loans and they’re not set up to service them, they don’t have that man-power they aren’t geared that way. The question is if there is a better way to get provide this banking service which gets this risk and the policing; and by policing I mean the collateral policing. How do I know I am going to get my money back? Is this asset backed, do they put up a house or a car do they put up a guarantee how do I know I am going to get my money back. Zhao Yang: So Winston do you think we need [this]? How can we supervise this P2P industry here in China? Can this really work to control the risks? Winston Wong: I think this is an area all over the world that governments are struggling to get a handle on; how to regulate it. It’s just emerging with new technology. In the beginning as people are thinking this is just insecure, this is just something that is between the lenders and the individual borrowers. It’s their business. It’s not posing any systemic risk in the beginning. As long as that’s the way the policy makers probably don’t see any need to supervise them because it’s something that just happens between individuals they are willing to make the transaction and they are not posing any systemic risk. But now as it develops I think it’s growing significantly because as Einar just pointed out the larger banks are unable to meet all the demands of the economy. As their size becomes much bigger, its impact on the rest of the economy has also been felt. And we’ve seen a lot of it. I really don’t see how the government is going to regulate and which part to regulate. It is something that is going to have a lot of trial and error and its something that you are going to have to [find a ] handle on.

China's securities regulator has suspended its new circuit breaker mechanism.This comes after the Chinese stock market witnessed its shortest trading day on Thursday. I spoke to Cao Can the CEO of Shengya Capital. Lincoln: Cao Can what do you think. What do Chinese regulators of the stock market, what are they going to do, what would you suggest they do? Cao Can: The free market is definitely not perfect. The free market can go completely awry if left completely unregulated let’s bear in mind the regulations and that the regulators are imperfect too. When push comes to shove I’d rather that the free market has the final say. And let’s not forget that if we look at western history if you look at their stock market, for instance if you look at the Dow. The Dow begins in the 1980s is barely below 1000 and it ended above ten thousand so it’s a ten-fold increase. But still we have stock market crash of 1987 which scared a lot of investors away. If you look at famous investors like Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway their stocks has declined at a 50% correction almost three times throughout history. That’s 50% correction. So in any healthy market you could see these wild swings it’s just the health of the market. Why? Because a lot of investors who are looking for capital gains are basically gambling in the stock market. Cao Can: They would be scared away by these kind of price declines and if they are then they aren’t really suited for investing in the stock market they are just trying to increase profits and that is not [helpful for] the health of the market. So these wild swings can actually can actually squeeze the bubbles out of the market and if the regulators do want to restrict the level of swings in the market, the price swings, they still have a lot of measures at their disposal that are a lot more effective. For instance they can control the level of leverage a lot of these investors can use; so basically limit the margin trading and the amount of debt that they can use to acquire securities. So far this has not been implemented very well, because we still see a lot of leverage being implemented in the stock market right now from many investors. These kinds of swings are not really anything for concern for investors. Investors are sophisticated they basically voice their concerns about price declines and regulators feel that they have to take some action and cater to the concerns of the investors. When in reality these kinds of declines should be welcomed by value investors who are looking for bargains to buy.

Lincoln: The people in China are running. Wu You, they’re running long distances, they’re running short distances, they’re running competitively, they’re running by themselves, they’re running in the winter, they’re running in the summer, they’re running in the rain, they’re running in the wind, they’re running in the snow, they’re running in the fall, they’re running in the summer. Why exactly is everyone running in China, Wu You?WY: There seems to be growing participation of runners, and it is said that once you are economically independent, you think more spiritually. People are saying that is why we want to run, and also a recent survey conducted in China says that 80% of those asked had bought sports shoes in the past year, and 30% took out a gym membership, and 60% downloaded a fitness app to their smartphones.Michael: Yeah, and I think it’s interesting to see the growth of marathon running, both competitively and recreationally, here in China. The recent Shanghai marathon, which took place in November last year had over 120,000 people registering for just 35,000 places, so, you know, it’s oversubscribed nearly four times [over] there, and they actually had to draw lots just to allocate the places.WY: And talking about marathons, back in the year 2014, there [were] 50 marathon events held in China, and [the Chinese Athletic Association] has predicted that marathon events in China will hit 500 by the year 2020.Lincoln: Maybe there’s some other examples, as well, of this. Maybe other sports are growing too?WY: When I was running in the morning in the park, I can always see people are playing badminton, or playing ping-pong, people are [practicing] taichi, and some of the interesting examples are someone simply hitting themselves – that I find very interesting.Lincoln: Hitting themselves?! With what?WY: Simply by their fist or by their hands, and they were saying that is good for the blood circulation, and one weird example is when I was running under the bridge in the park, and then there was a grandpa behind me in the dark, and then suddenly he shouted! I was shocked, and when I looked back, he was actually practicing singing.Michael: I’ve seen this as well, old Chinese people in the park. I love old Chinese people.Lincoln: I want to go on board with this, with Michael. I think old Chinese people are the absolute best.Michael: I used to go running in a park in Shanghai, and I used to see lots of old Chinese ladies walking backwards, and somebody told me that there’s a sort of belief among the older generation in China that walking backwards helps turn back the years.Lincoln: Oh, that’s lovely. I look back at some of the old people in South Africa, and I would ask my gran, “Oh, what did you do this weekend?”, and she maybe [just] sat at home. If you ask an older person in China what [they did], they flew a kite, and they went dancing with their friends. That’s fantastic! (WY: Square dancing!) They went square dancing with their friends, they maybe played checkers – Chinese chess – really loudly.Michael: Which is a spectator sport in China as well, which I find amazing.Lincoln: Exactly. I really love it, I think it’s fantastic. But as we always talk, we always talk about the good with the bad. China, we’ve spoken [about it] a bit, has a little bit of a pollution problem, some would say, and I’m quite intrigued that marathon running [is popular] – a sport that, you know, is really quite endurance based, and you have to use your lungs quite a lot. But, you know, as we always say, long-term, it looks like the pollution is getting a little bit better, that the authorities are taking steps to bring that down, so Wu You, next time there’s a marathon, or a 5 or a 10k, would you be up to maybe training with me, and then maybe we could run together? I want to join your running club. (WY: Yeah, sure!) Because, you know, the thing is I’m a very competitive person, so I’m going to need to run faster than you.WY: I think you must run faster, because you are a rugby player.Lincoln: That’s not true – I haven’t played rugby in a very long time – I haven’t done any sort of competitive sportWY: Then you should eat black pudding before the race!Lincoln: Alright, so this is what we’ll do: we’ll run one kilometre, we’ll get some black pudding in, we’ll get some frozen pig skin jelly, we’ll get all of the things that we spoke about on our first topic.WY: In the last round, the bone marrow – bottoms up!Lincoln: Yeah – third [kilometre] we’re sucking down bone marrow at the side of the road. Michael, you’re welcome to join in if you’re keen.Michael: If there’s some black pudding at the end – I need a carrot at the end of the tunnel.Lincoln: Yeah, well as long as we can eat the carrot, that would be fine.

Zhao Yang: Einar do you think there is any confidence left on the market and do you expect any measures or polices and the securities regulator will take maybe later today or tomorrow or later this year. Einar Tangen: Expect something talking about a rate rise more targeted investment initiatives that will put more money into the system. The government has already been pumping money in and allowing local governments to borrow to finish projects they’ve accelerated that. They have number of targeted programs, including more fast rail going throughout the country [concerning] long term value in terms of return. These are projects are done and it’s not reactive. I agree that people are trading on emotion but that’s exactly the opposite of what you want. I don’t think the regulators should plan a system that’s always going to be about how people feel that particular day. Or some small policy change or something like that. The discipline for the market is understanding value. What is the future value of this company and why should I invest in it and that is where China needs to go and get away from all this emotional nonsense. Zhao Yang: And Zhuqin do you expect the securities regulators to take any measures? Liu Zhiqin : Yes I think they would like to suggest, one thing should be considered. Maybe we should set u a new emotional index to test the emotional level of the people and how that is changing. In China its different from the more developed counties; the stock market. Now China is an emerging market and we have too many individuals in the stock market. About 80 percent of the investors are individuals not institutions or companies. That means that these individuals have emotions and they are changing all the time according to the internet news and take actions. They don’t have real advisers or real supervisor to support their activities in the stock market. The regulator should set up an emotional index. The second point is that the so –called American circuit breaker should be carefully [applied]. We should have our won Chinese breaker to stop any problems in the future.

Lincoln: New York is to build city-covering wifi. About 500 hot spots will be installed by July, and eventually roughly 7,500 units will be replaced. Michael, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about this. This sounds very interesting. What exactly is the story here? Michael: OK. So, I’m sure we’ve seen in many major cities all these disused payphones. Obviously, everybody used to use them back in the 80s and 90s, but then, obviously, with the advent of mobile phones and internet and wifi, they’ve fallen into disrepair, nobody really uses them any more, and they’re just a target for vandalism and graffiti, and things like that. So, what New York has tried to do – this is a project called LinkNYC, and what these kiosks aim to do is take the place of these former payphone booths. It’s got a built-in touchscreen tablet for making video calls, and two large screens for displaying advertisements. According to the New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, he said the city is not contributing any taxpayer money at all to the construction and operation of these so-called Link kiosks. [Operating company] Intersection plans to generate about 500 million dollars over the next 12 years. It’s the same sort of technology that you see in football stadiums nowadays. Lincoln: Wu You, what do you make of this? WY: I think it is a very good idea, because nowadays we can still see the public facilities, just like the free bikes that you can borrow and then put back, or the free umbrellas, and this time it is free wifi. I think it is very convenient. Lincoln: I’m a little bit more skeptical in terms of how these things are going to be maintained. I know a lot of foreigners in Beijing love to complain about the Chinese wifi situation, which they say is quite bad, but to me, it’s like a wifi utopia. It’s incredible to me! I remember the first time I was on a bus in Hong Kong, I could get access to wifi, and I thought, “This is amazing! This is what we can do, this is amazing!” WY: In Taipei, there have been free wifi hotspots since 2011, and also in the Chinese Mainland, there have been lots of buses that provide free wifi, and subways provide free wifi, and even nowadays, for Chinese airlines, there has been free wifi on the plane. Michael: And Chinese people love wifi, don’t they, Wu You? (Lincoln: It’s true.) WY: Yeah, we do! Nowadays, [around] 80% of the restaurants I’ve been to all have wifi, free wifi. Michael: But in terms of – when you’re taking free wifi in a restaurant, it’s not really free, is it? Because, you know, you’ve got the wifi in addition to the meal that you’re paying for. WY: That’s true. I can still say that it is a kind of advantage for the restaurant. If you can choose between two similar restaurants, you’d better take a restaurant that provides free wifi. Michael: I have to confess that what I’ve sometimes done is I’ve gone to a restaurant, and I’ve had my meal and I’ve logged onto the free wifi while I’m there, and then, if I’m in the neighbourhood nearby [later], just hang around outside the restaurant and access the free wifi without actually going in. Lincoln: Yeah, to me, this kind of thing is actually amazing, because this seems like the future to me, because in South Africa is nowhere near as good as this, it’s actually quite dire, in many ways. Michael: Oh, really? So how do you get online in South Africa? Lincoln: Well, you don’t! No one has wifi, really. No one that I know actually has wifi, to a large extent. You use little data bundles that you put on your phone, or on your tablet, or whatever, but that’s the only way you can get wifi. Michael: Just using your phone to get online? Lincoln: You use your phone to get online. We don’t have streaming services, really. To put it into perspective, we still have DVD stores, and if [the movie you want] isn’t there, well, then you don’t watch that movie, so this, to me, is actually quite unique. Michael: I’m going to tell you about the situation in Helsinki, in Finland, because in Helsinki, there’s a free hotspot almost everywhere (Lincoln: Oh, wow!) and this hotspot is fast enough to allow video calling and HD streaming, and you don’t even need to sign up. You show up, and you get online, and according to the news source Quartz, this free hotspot service is actually faster than the home broadband provided by Sky in London.

Lincoln: A Chinese junior student in college has caused a stir on social media after she gave birth to a second child recently. She got pregnant when she entered the university and had her first child a year after. Now she is a mother for the second time, some online comments say congratulations, while others doubt if the mother will still have time for studying for various exams in college. That’s a very interesting response, that people are concerned not necessarily about the welfare of the children and her ability to take care of them, but actually if she’ll have enough time to study, which is quite unique there. Wu You, what is the deal with this story here? WY: The college student had just given birth to her second baby, and about her background, she’s a Broadcasting & Hosting major in Guangzhou University. She’s married. (Lincoln: She is married?) She got pregnant when she entered the university, and had her first child one year after, and now she’s a mother for the second time as a junior student in college, and she says that many people suggested and urged her to have an abortion. This time, she chose not to. Her reason is that she lost her father when she was in high school, so since then, she really wanted to have a complete family of her own. Lincoln: But from my background, a teenage pregnancy isn’t something that, generally speaking, reaches the headlines at all, so why is this such a big deal in China? WY: Pregnancy at a young age in China is a big deal because we can see that we talk about the college entrance examination. A lot of students, they are focusing on studying until they graduate from school, and then when they enter into the college, students are focusing on examinations, and all those kinds of social activities with their classmates, and this time, the student [made] her choice of having a second baby, but to have a baby, that demands a lot of time and energy. She might have focused on the baby more than her study. That is why a lot of net users have been concerned about this issue. Lincoln: Michael, what do you think of this? Michael: Well, I would agree with Wu You, from the point of view that, obviously, we know that the Chinese education system is very rigorous and very competitive, and we hear all these stories about pressures that people are under in middle school, and then in high school, but I think an interesting aspect of this story is the timing as well. Now, we’ve just seen, very recently, that China has abolished the one-child policy, and now everybody in the country is allowed to have two children. Not only the fact that she’s had two children while she’s still studying, but the fact that she’s had two children to coincide with the end of the one-child policy is another significant aspect, too. WY: From one online comment, @Potato_xiangxiang says: “The student is so pretty and brave! Giving birth to a child is easy, but taking responsibility for the child is not!” Lincoln: Well, I wonder if @Potato_xiangxiang is a man, there. That was a very broad statement, there, about giving birth! Michael: Another one, whose handle is @I_am_a_Little_doctor: “I think the girl is doing the right thing! She has accomplished two of most important things in life, getting married and having a child. In comparison, most of us are just having fun in college.” So the implication there is that having fun in college is very much secondary to getting married and having a child. Lincoln: Yeah, and also, those are two of the most important things you can do. Michael: Exactly, but I don’t think those two have to be mutually exclusive, you know. I would say the vast majority of people who study would go through college and enjoy themselves and have all the advantages and trappings that that sort of lifestyle would bring, and maybe, you know, several years after that, maybe think about getting married and having a child. I don’t think you have to think of them in terms of either/or, here. Lincoln: I think I can quite agree with that one. If she is happy and she’s living a full life, and she’s able to take the responsibilities and joys that come with having two children and all of that, then I really feel that we shouldn’t… there’s not really much we can say about it. WY: Another one, @YiRanWeiYi, says: “She's having a second child in college while I am still worrying about my final exam. Talk about difference!” Lincoln: Yeah, it’s all relative, isn’t it? To that person, I’m sure it’s also very important.

Zhao Yang: Victor so what are the main factor behind yesterday’s market plunge on the mainland and what caused this decline? Victor Gao: There are several ways to look at it. On a Marco-level there are all kinds of negative economic information. And I think this caused a negative softening of the expectation of the economy in becoming year or so. This provided the background for the stock price collapse yesterday. From a technical point the introduction of the circuit breaker which worked for the whole month is actually another reason. The circuit breaker worked against the background that each listed share would suspend its trading if it goes up or down by ten percent anyway. So in a sense it’s a kind of a double insurance. Zhao yang: And Baocheng actually what we talked about yesterday, the main factors behind the market plunge or slump we talk about it both from the technical perspective as well as the macro-economy factors some said the down bid market sentiment stemmed from weaker than expected manufacturing activity in December. And a steep fall in the Yuan exchange rate on the day. How do you see this macro-economic factor playing role in yesterday’s marketing slump? Liu Baocheng: I think the most important indicator would be the purchasing index in the management circle which is the PMI. It has dropped by a continuous basis. So far the drop was 0.4 percent which is far below the benchmark of 50 percent. That’s the general economic picture and if you look at the real economy side of it at the manufacturing activity its very depressive and that really caused a whole chain reaction. Down to the extraction industry and to also many other related areas. Another technical reason is really the anti-sort of reaction toward the circuit breaker because people were not used to it and it is newly introduced, and that really sends a strong signal to the investors that now the economy and the performance and the stock is down already. Another one that I view with mixed comment…Because China is going to shift from the approval system into the registration system for the companies to IPO and this policy is going to be rolled out in March so therefore people are having hope that why don’t I keep more of the money to bet on the new options so therefore they are rather sensitive with this type of operation and then they would like to wait for more opportunities

Lincoln: A recent report shows that in China people who live in the southern part live longer than those who live in the north. Now, Wu You, this is a very provocative statement. Why is this so? Please tell us a little bit more. WY: The report shows that southern Chinese, on average, have lived at least five years longer than their northern counterparts in recent decades. They have listed several reasons: first of all, northern Chinese drink too much. Lincoln: Wow, that’s the very first reason they gave! They did not shirk away from that. WY: And they were saying overdrinking undermines health, and it may be the main cause of stomach cancer, and also they eat too much meat and the food contains more salt, and [they] also eat less fruits and eat faster. Lincoln: There’s a lot there to take in at once, but let’s run through them. Northern Chinese drink too much. Do you think, in your experience, is that something that you can see holding some water? WY: I think that is true, because in the northern part of China, especially in northeast China, it is very cold – it can reach minus 30 degrees Celsius. People need to drink, or need to maintain their body temperature, so in that case they need to drink more in winter. Lincoln: Alright. The next one: eat too much meat. Do you think that’s true as well? WY: Meat can be heavy food to keep [the body] warm, so in that case, I think that is understandable. Michael: Yeah, I would agree with Wu You there, up to a point. Here in Beijing you see this as well. I mean, it gets pretty cold here in the winter, you know, one of the favourite roadside snacks is the barbecued lamb (Lincoln: Oh, delicious!) It is delicious, but it’s also extremely fatty as well, isn’t it? (Lincoln: The best part!) I agree, it is glorious. But the whole point of eating fat, or just eating a big globule of fat like that, like you see on a stick, that’ll keep you warm. In the olden days, you ate to live, and if it was very cold, you ate what you needed to eat in order to survive, and so I can see why in northern parts of China, especially where you’re from, Wu You, where it does get very cold indeed, I can understand why, culturally, that sort of diet is more accepted. WY: The report shows that people in the southern part of China, they eat slowly, and in that case, if you eat slowly, you have more mouth water to better digest the food. Michael: That, to me, sounds like a very tenuous variable. Lincoln: Quite specific, isn’t it? Michael: I don’t imagine eating more slowly or quickly will have too much of a bearing on life expectancy. Lincoln: And when you look at it, even from a global perspective as well, if you look at the countries that actually have some of the higher life expectancies, like Japan, Switzerland, Australia – very developed countries with good healthcare systems, and perhaps a higher average income, and then way down at the bottom is lowly old South Africa at 180. Fifty! Fifty, Michael. What am I going to do?! 84, 83, Australia’s got 83, the UK’s got 80. South Africa? 51. Michael: 51. So this is literally your mid-life crisis! Lincoln: Yeah, I should probably get married now! Get married, save myself – I’m in the middle of a mid-life crisis as we speak. And maybe, at that point in time, there’s a minimum level of quality of living that you can expect. Regardless of that, your diet doesn’t really enter into it, I don’t think. WY: But can I ask you a question, Lincoln? Do you drink? Lincoln: I do, I do, yeah. WY: Do you eat too much meat and fat? Lincoln: Oh, absolutely. WY: You need to quit all that, and eat more fruits. Lincoln: I eat lots of fruit! You see me eat fruits every day, Wu You! I eat very fast, though. This is a big problem, this is true. I do eat very fast. WY: Eat slowly from now on! Lincoln: It’s something that I am working on that I will try and rectify, going forward. As we always say, just try to have it in moderation. WY: And try to be happy. Lincoln: Try to be happy, try to enjoy yourself, try to enjoy the people around you. Michael: Take it with a pinch of salt, but not too large a pinch. Lincoln: A pinch of salt, thank you very much!

ZCG: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has outlined his government’s priorities for 2016 during his first news conference of the year. BK: First of all, what were your overall impressions of the New Year’s press conference? What stood out to you the most? Dr. Teng Jianqun: I think this was a key speech delivered by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and he, of course, highlighted his efforts in domestic affairs and international affairs. To some extent it was a conclusion of his work done in the past few years, and also a clue to the coming year, the year of 2016. TY: Abe is talking about wanting Japan to be a so-called normal country, and he also advocates Japan’s initiation of some institutions that could involve big powers, like Russia or the United States. But what we’ve seen over the past year is, it looks like he’s following in China’s footsteps, or imitating China at every step: following Chinese leaders to countries like India and Mongolia, trying to draw Russia closer. What is your evaluation of his attempt to make Japan a so-called ‘normal country’? Is that achievable? Dr. Teng Jianqun: It’s not easy for Japan to become a ‘normal country’ while facing the current situation, for example the military deployment of the United States in Japan, thousands of US troops staying in the territory of Japan. This is the main obstacle. And the second, I think, is Japan is going to really have a good relation with its neighboring countries, for example China. Shinzo Abe paid a lot of visits to the neighboring country of China, but they are the two largest economies in the Asia-Pacific region. How can Japan show its respect to the history and to the territorial disputes? This is another challenge for Japan to become a ‘normal’ state. Without such respect to the history, or to the territorial dispute, I don’t think Japan will be accepted by the international community as a normal state. BK: One of the issues that Abe mentioned at the press conference was Japan’s hosting of the G7 meeting this year, and some of the issues said to be on the agenda include the so-called Islamic State and global terrorism, as well as the global economy, among others. So what are Abe and his government’s biggest goals for the meeting? Dr. Teng Jianqun: Of course, the G7 conference this year will be a most important occasion for Japan to show its contribution to peace and stability, and even to environmental protection. This is a good occasion for Shinzo Abe to show his efforts and to show his contributions, but I think sometimes it’s not only a meeting for the sake of a meeting. We should have the fruits and results of any important meeting. If the G7 countries can make some fruitful results this time, I’m sure the international community will welcome such a conference, but if Shinzo Abe prefers to only have such a meeting for the sake of a meeting, to show his capability to organize such a meeting, I don’t think the Japanese and other countries will give a very positive response to this meeting. TY: Abe also said he wants a trilateral China-Japan-South Korea summit to take place after the success of last November’s summit. What do you think we may look forward to for the next one? Dr. Teng Jianqun: As we all know, the trilateral meeting among the three Northeast Asian countries has been a very important forum, starting from 1999 and then suspendedafter the dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands and other issues. So I think last November’s resumption actually just showed the good starting point for the three countries to continue the momentum to talk about the cooperation: in economy, in security and in other challenging issues we are facing today. But as we have witnessed in recent developments, without any compromise form China from Japan from South Korea, I don’t think such a resumption will give any important achievements for the region and for the countries concerned.

So Winston actually my colleague said he bought Australian beef after the tariff cut which is cheaper than before. What else can consumers here in China buy from the Australian imported ones which are cheaper? Winston Wong: I think a lot, beef is probably the largest one because Australia is already the largest supplier of beef for China. I think dairy products where we can just see that the tariff will probably lower to zero in a short while; formula milk for children. Wine and all other alcohol will be lowered as well shrimps and crabs from Australia. We’ve seen a lot of them. Previously it was iron ore and steel but it is going to be a wide range of products. Some say that 90 percent of the product in the trade, The China and Australian trade will be lowered to zero over the next five to ten years. Zhao Yang: In the report our reporter said it will be easier for Chinese direct investment in Australia, but what areas are Chinese direct investing actually focusing on. Winston Wong: If you look at what’s going on here, a lot of Chinese have already gone to Australia to buy property. They love the local air quality and the local education quality and also a lot of Chinese are going there to buy the farms and the wineries. We will see. If you look at the SOEs, they are buying the iron ore or the energy and the mineral assets. Zhao Yang: So Einar what are the business opportunities after this China Australia FTA is implemented? What areas are Chinese direct investment focusing on and how will it benefit the Australian economy? Einar Tangen: It puts Australia finally head to head with New Zealand, its smaller neighbor, in terms of buying all the things we were talking about in terms of the dairy and all the things enumerated by Winston. The real opportunities are that they are getting additional opportunities, investments and agriculture. A lot of this isn’t necessarily welcome, the rise in housing prices are being blamed on Chinese investors in the major cities and things like that which is increasing the cost of living in those areas. Overall China and Australia, it’s their largest trading partner and this is absolutely right. They are looking eastward and if you look at this from a geo-political level, if you look at Australia which has always been close to Europe and the US, is now clearly economically tied its future to ASEAN and in particular in China.

CG: China’s military reform continues, with the establishment of the Rocket Force and the Strategic Support Force of the People’s Liberation Army. BK: Professor Shen Dingli, would you say that this is a break away from the Soviet model – an attempt to “Americanize” the PLA, as some observers are putting it? Prof. Shen Dingli: It’s neither of them, it’s not a break away from the Soviet model, in the Soviet model the Party leads the military, and actually through this reform the Party would reinforce its control over the military, but also it is to use American advantages to conduct a whole area, I mean global-wise, ability to operate our military. Therefore, the military need to be more professional, need to use different divisions; army, navy, air force and rocket force, to conduct effective operations. They are a credible deterrence, so it combines the merits of the Soviet and US military to create a Chinese version. TY: And Dr. Finkelstein, from your perspective, what is so special or peculiar about the reforms to be carried out this time compared to the last major military overhaul China took some 30 years ago? Dr. David Finkelstein: Well, there are various dimensions of this that are very different and very significant. First of all, past reorganizations of the PLA have either been about downsizing the force or about creating new tactical level units or about adding new national level headquarters to the legacy organizational framework. This current reorganization is significantly different. What this is doing is basically changing the entire framework of the national and theater level systems to something very different. So this is not just about downsizing, it’s about recreating and redefining the command-control relationships and authorities between the central military commission, the services and the soon-to-be-established joint theater command and I’ve got to say that from an operational perspective, this very massive, sweeping and potentially dislocating reorganization of the PLA really is a tacit acknowledgment by the military leadership and the Party leadership that the legacy organization of the PLA was ill-suited and incapable of conducting joint operations as they aspire to conduct them. So this is a major significant corrective where an organization that was irrationally organized and commanded is being radically changed in order to fight modern, joint operations. BK: Well talking more about those details there, we’re now seeing three new military divisions established, the General Command for the army, the Rocket Force and the Strategic Support Force. So Dr. Finkelstein, why exactly have these three been established? What is the special significance going on there? Dr. David Finkelstein: It looks as if the four General Departments as we have known them, the General Staff Department, the General Armaments Department, the General Political Department and the General Logistics Department, are going to go away. So in the case of the ground forces, traditionally it has been the four General Departments under the CFC that have been responsible for leading, managing and modernizing the army. But now the army, the ground forces, are going to have their own independent headquarters, in fact they haven’t used the term headquarters, they have used the term ‘leading organ’. So the army is going to become a stand-alone service and be cut loose from the four General Departments, so that’s pretty clear. The strategic Rocket Forces; of course, the second artillery, since its establishment in the 1960s, has been a branch of the ground forces. Now it’s been elevated to an independent service in recognition of the national-level strategic mission that it has. That’s pretty straightforward. I think one of the big unknowns, really, because there’s been so little officially said about it, is the establishment of the Strategic Support Force. Very little has been said about it officially by the Ministry of National Defense or the official PLA press, but there’s a lot of speculation that this reorganization will have the responsibility for outer space, cyber space, and what the PLA generally calls new-type operation forces. It will also have responsibility, it seems, for civil-military integration, in other words trying to bring the best of civilian off the shelf of research and development into the military more efficiently, as well as some logistics. We just don’t know at this point, it’s really too early to tell what this organization is going to do. BK: Obviously we are seeing this anti-corruption campaign going on both across the country and within the military. What do you think its role is, very briefly, to the military reforms? Prof. Shen Dingli: This would eradicate the cancers within the armed forces. That would not harm the morale of the armed forces, but rather make it upright. In the meantime, the military would have more resources saved through such a kind of anti-corruption. It would be more able to dedicate additional resources to improving officer and soldier welfare. Dr. David Finkelstein: I think this is a very important point about the anti-corruption campaign, by the PLA’s own press it’s very clear that the PLA has not had independent oversight of its own operations and that the lack of independent oversight is a major systemic shortcoming, self-admitted by the PLA, that had resulted in the rapid corruption across the officer corps, and within its upper legions as evidenced by the high-profile cases made public over the last couple of years. So with the establishment of an independent audit agency, the establishment of an independent political and legal office directly under the CMC, and not part of the old General Political Department, there are aspirations, at least, that some of the systemic lacuna in the system that allowed some of this corruption to go unchecked will now be checked, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Lincoln: A new social media campaign was launched in the Balkans recently to raise awareness about the dangers of the custom of celebratory shooting ahead of the New Year's celebrations. Michael, could you tell us a little bit more about what exactly is happening here? Michael: Yeah. So, this is the practice of, you know, when a happy event or occurrence happens, you know, taking your gun out and impulsively having a bit of a shoot. (Lincoln: Oh really?) Yeah, you know, just to make a bit of noise and have a bit of a celebration. Now, this social media campaign was launched in the Balkans, so, you know, the former Yugoslavia, around that sort of area. Now, this was abandoned during the Cold War and communist period, and it experienced something of a dramatic comeback in the 1990s. Now, the organization behind the campaign is called the SEESAC. They say that celebratory shooting takes place across the Western Balkans to different extents and for a variety of reasons, so you’ve got weddings, after the birth of a child, religious festivals, holidays and New Year's Eve, and apparently this is a big deal on New Year’s Eve, which is why this campaign is coming out now, and it’s also culturally accepted in parts of the Middle East, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of Northern India, as well as Latin American regions. It’s also practiced somewhat illegally in parts of the US and Puerto Rico on New Year’s Eve as well. Now, this organization said that every year, many people end up wounded or even dead as a result of celebratory gunfire. Lincoln: It seems like the countries where it’s taking place themselves are actually criticizing it also, [that] they’re also trying to take steps to try and prevent going forward, Wu You. WY: I think so, and also this is culturally accepted in parts of the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and also Northern India, as well as Latin American regions, and I can understand that this is sort of the tradition of the country, but [considering] the injuries and wounds it may cause, I think it is quite dangerous, and if it is only used during the celebrations, anniversaries, or all those kinds of festivals, I think it works the same way as the Chinese fireworks. Ten years ago, or even longer than that, it was very [commonly] seen in China that during the Spring Festival, there can be various fireworks lit up, even by little kids, and then we can see there are several injuries caused by the fireworks, and after that, the Chinese authorities strictly regulated the use of fireworks during the Spring Festival Lincoln: So, yeah, we’re talking a little bit more about dangerous celebrations – there’s an element of danger to these things, especially when you’re working with fireworks; more so when you’re working with firearms, in many ways, but especially fireworks, because it’s a combustion – something’s exploding, that’s very dangerous. Fireworks are necessarily very, very strictly enforced, but it’s also something that seems to be having a very clear negative effect. I’m looking at some of the figures here – 23 people were electrocuted after celebratory gunfire brought down a power cable. That was during a wedding party in Saudi Arabia in 2012. And then we’re looking at other things as well – at least four people killed and 17 others wounded in Baghdad, following a [victory] of the Iraqi national football team. Michael: There was the Balkans War in the 90s. Obviously the Middle East is a particularly volatile part of the world, and we’re talking about places where, maybe, firearms and guns are more readily available than they are in other parts of the world, and maybe aren’t regulated as strictly as they ought to be, and more than 20 people were reported killed in Iraq following celebratory gunfire [after] the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay in 2003, when that was announced. Lincoln: It seems that the authorities, they’re taking steps, they’re trying their absolute best to stop this happening any more, but it’s the start of the process and we should give it a bit of time. Maybe, in the future, going forward, this is something that we can leave behind in the past.

Lincoln: A British consulting company rolled out a list of predictions for the coming year. Nick, maybe you can take us through some of them?Nick: Yes, so as you said, the New Year is coming, and Juniper Research, this consulting company, has rolled out their technology predictions. So there’s a top ten that they’ve given us a list of, and they’re a varied bunch. Starting from the bottom, at number ten, one of the ones they’ve drawn attention to is the growth of crowd-funding, which is a very interesting development in people gaining money from unconventional sources for whatever projects or business plans they have going, and the internet has really facilitated that. Is that something that’s big in China, Wu You?WY: I think it is big, and also I’ve heard of someone who had a lack of money to open a café, but as soon as she put that news online, lots of people would just directly go crowd-funding, and they will donate money to her, but they will be shareholders.Nick: So that’s really helping people to gain access to capital that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. Moving up the list, they’ve also mentioned that there will be developments in the security sector of technology, so we’ve heard a lot this year about hacking problems, or cyber crimes, things like that. They’re predicting that there will be big developments in the security sector when it comes to technology, which maybe there isn’t so much regulation on currently.Lincoln: I think one of the most interesting ones I’ve actually seen here, as well, e-sports. I’m a big sports fan, as we all know, I try to shoe-horn it into every conversation in my life, and one of the interesting things I see here is the idea of competitive video games, people actually playing against each other. I remember a while back, we did a story about a young man who was actually making a living like this, and I actually know some people who love this, who actually love doing this, who play video games, and I think that’s a very interesting thing. It will probably only get bigger, as well. And one of the interesting ones, I also saw, was wearables, wearable technology. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about that, Nick. Nick: So this is something, again, that’s already begun to be developed, but that they think is really going to take off in the coming year: wearable technology. Things like smart glasses, smart watches, all of these products that you wear on your body but are pieces of technology. So there are all kinds of things, like headsets, for you to be able to have your phone attached to your head, as it were. You can just answer a call by just speaking to the machine yourself. And fitness devices, as well, so it can track your heart rate, and things like that. And that’s also got big implications for healthcare devices.Lincoln: What about the other thing that I think everyone wants to speak about, which is consumer robotics? How can we get more robots into our lives? Wu You?WY: I think it’s talking about when people can buy robots directly in the supermarket, and I think when that year comes, people can do the jobs demanding high intelligence and let the robot do things like washing dishes, cleaning the floor, washing your clothes…Lincoln: To be fair, a robot technically already washes my clothes, it’s called a washing machine.WY: But dry it for you, pack it together for you …Lincoln: I want everything. I want a robot to make my bed. I want a robot to take out the trash …Nick: I think there’s a very fine line between this and what we discussed yesterday, which is robots taking our jobs.Lincoln: Okay, okay, so now we’re moving on to which jobs we would like robots to take! That’s actually what we’re moving on to. I’m pretty sure, in 2016, that technology won’t advance fast enough that we can actually get a robot to make my bed.

Lincoln: We’re going to look at something a little bit more light-hearted. If I’m actually correct here, Nick, we’re going to lose our jobs to robots. Is that what you’re saying?Nick: That is a conclusion that you could draw from reading this story. So, a TV station in Shanghai has “employed” an artificial intelligence robot as a weather reporter for its live breakfast show. So this robot is called XiaoIce, and she – it has a female voice – was developed by Microsoft, and is clever enough to be able to present the weather forecast during a live TV broadcast. Questions?Lincoln: I have a lot of questions, because I don’t know how clever you need to be to necessarily present the weather?Nick: Well, it analyses the patterns from the images.Lincoln: Oh, I see.Nick: So it’s actually reading the data itself, it’s not just reading an autocue.Lincoln: It’s actually reading the data; it’s not just doing that thing where they vaguely point at a part of the screen wherever something’s happening.Nick: A major point that people have picked up on here is how natural its voice sounds.Lincoln: Like some radio anchors, perhaps, even. Wu You, what do you think of this?WY: I think it can’t really take the place of most jobs, because it is not interactive.Lincoln: Thank you, thank you. I don’t want to watch a robot read the news to me! I want to have a person with actual emotions and things.WY: Yes, it can be a book-reading type, but how can it just directly have a conversation with you with in-depth thinking? So that is why we are talking about when robots can be used in news-writing. Another famous case is that in China, one university has been introducing a robot teacher. She is dressed up in clothes; she has shoes, even a scarf on her neck! And then she plays the PowerPoint, the PPT, and plays some audio to the students. But she cannot directly interact with the students; she cannot answer the questions from the students. So basically it’s the same as when you are teaching yourself in front of a computer, playing some audio and videos. So the difference between a real teacher and a robot teacher is that the robot teacher cannot answer the questions from the students.Lincoln: That’s true, but I’ll tell you what, there were some teachers that could do with a lot more robot in them in my experience.Nick: Some jobs are in danger of being taken over by robots, in many countries there are already self-checkouts in supermarkets. I’ve never seen one in China, but they could be a thing here.Lincoln: Let me tell you something. I was at McDonald’s the other day, and they have it in McDonald’s. It was the best thing in the world, Wu You, let me tell you. I was in McDonald’s, you ordered on the screen, you touched the screen, you ordered, you paid, everything. Then you just walk up to the front and you collect it, and one of my thoughts was “Oh, we probably don’t need these people now”. All they have to do is give us the food, and that was it!WY: That is like a more low-skilled job. Because at another university in Shanghai, in the dining hall, a lot of students, when they pay the price for the food, they didn’t go to someone who will collect money, they will directly put the plate of food onto a machine. The machine can calculate the whole price of the food that you need to pay. And these kinds of jobs can really be replaced by robots.Lincoln: But what about some jobs that can’t be replaced? WY: When people are treating the kids who are suffering from autism, they have problems with talking with real human beings and with other kids. But they will be interested in talking or communicating with a robot.Lincoln: Yeah, that’s interesting; I would not have expected that. Another job where it seems that robots, or artificial intelligence, do particularly well is actually in the job of match-making. You’d think that actually, when it comes to making people fall in love, or have a relationship, putting them together, that robots would have no clue about it. But actually in terms of creating algorithms, that’s something that seems to have been quite successful, Wu You.WY: Data collecting, or all those kinds of data analysis. That can be an advantage of robots, but for other kind of interactive, demanding jobs, maybe the human being with assistance from the robots.

Lincoln: The end of the year is approaching, and Chinese employees are starting to look towards their end-of-year bonus. This is a tradition in China, but it has two sides. Will the boss finally give out that promised bonus, or do they have to wait for another season? It can be a stressful time if you don’t know. Wu You, maybe you can walk us through this a little bit? WY: So this is like a year-end bonus, it more serves the purpose of a red envelope in China. It’s from the boss to the employees. The Chinese Spring Festival is coming, and people can usually use these kinds of year-end bonuses to buy gifts for their families and relatives. Lincoln: Also, these aren’t small numbers! I’m looking at the numbers now, and within the 80% of employers who paid those end-of-year bonuses, 77% pay more than 5,000 RMB and 4.1% pay more than 30,000 to each employee, although the bigger numbers, we are assuming, are for people in the fields of commerce, and automobiles, or aviation, and things like that. This is quite a generous bonus, it seems like. But what about in the UK, is this something that’s a trend at all, or is this something that you’d see? Nick: Well, it’s not like it’s in your contract, it’s not a regulated payment, I think it’s very much up to the company. It became quite a big issue in terms of bonuses for the top executives of banks and financial companies when there was the financial crisis, and people were very unhappy about the fact that despite the fact the banks were receiving loads of taxpayers’ money to help them out in the crisis, the chiefs of the banks were still getting their bonuses. Lincoln: Yeah, and in certain places, as well, in certain sectors of society, especially when it comes to if there’s been a scandal or something like this, it’s on top of what is seen to be quite a big salary, as well, Wu You. WY: I think no matter what kind of bonus it is, whether it is money or an ordinary gift, I think if it’s a bonus, people will be happy, and people will appreciate it. Maybe what people like the most is money, but still, if they receive some kind of nice gift, they will still be very happy, because it varies in different companies. In a company based in finance, or e-commerce, or automobiles, those are high-profit companies. Maybe their bonus is higher than in ordinary companies. But in some non-profit companies, I think, even though they are giving out ordinary gifts, people still appreciate it. Lincoln: But what about when the bonus is given out? Is it given out at the end of the financial year? Is it given out at the beginning of December? When exactly would the bonus actually be given? WY: Usually, in China, it’s at the end of December, because that’s near the end of the year, and also near the Chinese Spring Festival holiday. Lincoln: Well, I’m thinking, as well, in terms of people being entitled to a bonus … in South Africa, it’s not just your employer; it’s not just the person who you actually work for. It’s also everyone who does a little bit of a service for you. We spoke in the past about tipping culture, and how different it is in other parts of the world. But for example, if I go to the barber shop, and the barber cuts my hair, who’s the same man who’s been cutting my hair for two years, at the end of the year, I often give him something extra, because you think ‘Well, he has a family as well’, and it’s the festive time, it can be quite expensive, and you know, it’s a time for giving. WY: Maybe they’re the same thing. The tips work in the same way, showing you appreciate others’ work for you. And then you can decide how much you give people. So in that case, it is more like appreciation of other people’s work. Nick: I think that’s something which, as you say, does happen around the world. Everyone’s in a good mood coming up to the end of the year, it’s the festive time, and if you want to show your appreciation for, as you said, someone who has been performing a service for you the whole year, why not? WY: It’s more like a Christmas gift! Lincoln: It is a Christmas gift, and I know in certain parts of the world, it’s called a Christmas bonus for that reason, because Christmas can be quite expensive. It’s a nice way to end the year, as well.

JN: China's leading climate-change official says that in order to meet its targets for non-fossil fuel energy consumption, China will further develop nuclear power. MB: China aims to increase its proportion of non-fossil energy to 20% of its total energy consumption by 2030. Now, what exactly is the significance of this target? Why is 20% so important? Jiang Kejun: Based on the original calculation, if we want to reach 20 percent by 2030, to reach the target, that means the existing annual allowance for renewable energy – for example, solar, wind and hydro – will go further than today. So, for us, so far, it’s quite a huge target, because if you look at the global data, China already dominates one-third of newly-installed capacity per year, in the world MB: China is due to launch a nationwide carbon emissions trading market by 2017. For the benefit of our listeners who are maybe not so familiar with this concept, could you explain a little bit more about how this might work? Jiang Kejun: Just like a “pollute-and-pay” principle, and we want to give carbon CO2 emission a price. That means if somebody emits CO2, they should pay the cost. So the emission trading is based on the economic principle like carbon pricing. Both carbon tax and emissions trading is a way to implement carbon pricing. From 2011, China already launched a pilot programme for emission trading, and seven provinces and cities started emissions trading. So far, they are doing a good job, so this could give a very good basis for a nationwide emissions trading to start in 2017, and also, hopefully, in the coming decades, we want to use carbon pricing, emission trading or carbon tax to play a key role to lead the Chinese economy to go to low carbon. And this will be very high efficiency, because for the last few five-year plans, we did a lot of common control policies. Now it’s getting to be much less efficient, and the government is very tired of that. So, in this way, emissions trading or a carbon tax will be a good choice for China to go to a low carbon economy in the future. Michael: So what sort of an effect emissions trading will have on China's energy consumption, and on its economy in general? Jiang Kejun: OK, this is a good question. So, if we want to go directly to carbon pricing, so far, in the seven Chinese cities, emission trading has not yet played the role of carbon pricing. Hopefully, in the coming nationwide emission trading, we will go step-by-step. For example, the first phase of national emission trading will be from 2017 to 2019, and after 2019, there will be no free allowance, and play the role of carbon pricing. So, this is the future of carbon pricing or emission trading in China.

Lincoln: It's Christmas in China! Or at least, it's Christmas Eve, but we're celebrating it as if it is, we're all very excited. Wu You, tell us a little bit more, what is Christmas like in China?WY: Most Chinese people who celebrate Christmas do so as a happy occasion for get-togethers with friends, relatives and couples, without any kind of religious attachment. On the streets and in the shopping malls, there are Christmas trees, lights and decorations. And you’ll hear Christmas music playing from the end of November, even. And then Christmas carols can be heard over the noise of the crowds shopping for the Christmas season sales and promotions. And there will be a Chinese Santa as well, which helps to make the scene complete!Lincoln: What?! A Chinese Santa?!WY: Yes, there will be, in the shopping mall.Lincoln: Okay, yeah, Wu You, it seems like Chinese people have taken the kind of familial aspect of Christmas, they’ve taken it to heart.WY: And also what is unique here in China, as well, is that on Christmas Eve, there are performances, and also congregations putting on dance and drama performances. It is called the “peaceful evening” in Chinese, “平安夜”, from the translation of the words “silent night”. And also there’s an unusual apple-eating tradition as well.Lincoln: Hang on, hang on here. Apple-eating tradition?WY: Yes, yes. Because the word “apple”, “苹果”, sounds like the word “peace” in Mandarin, so people eat apples on Christmas Eve.Lincoln: Very interesting. Apples on Christmas Eve. Nick, what do you have planned for Christmas Eve?Nick: I hadn’t planned to eat any apples, but I might have to change my plans now!Lincoln: Yeah, you might have to get some in!Nick: I think it’s going to be necessary. Christmas Eve, not too much, my plans are mostly for tomorrow, Christmas Day. So I’m going to attempt to cook some form of Christmas dinner.Lincoln: Get in, Nick, he’s going to attempt to cook. What are you cooking for us, Nick?Nick: We have got chicken on the menuLincoln/WY: Wow(!)Nick: It was as adventurous as I could get! And various vegetables, etc. etc, all the extra things that go with it. Lincoln: Nick, you’ve skipped over a lot of that meal there.WY: Are there any kinds of special desserts or special food for Christmas in the UK?Nick: Yep, so we have Christmas pudding, which is like a kind of rich fruit cake, and it often has brandy or other alcohol in it, so that when you serve it out you light it on fire before you bring it out, and then all the alcohol goes up.WY: Wow, that’s nice. Lincoln: We don’t do that, but I do know that one.Nick: That’s probably all that spending Christmas at the beach, no fire available. We have mince pies, which are little, cupcake-sized pastries filled with currants and spices, and things like that, and lots of chocolate-related things as well. Lincoln: We share a lot of that, as well. And as Nick mentioned very briefly there, in South Africa, being in the southern hemisphere, we have Christmas by the beach, because it’s summer for us. So on the 24th, you’d probably get off work – you wouldn’t necessarily get off work but your boss would know that you’re not very motivated, you’ve got one eye on the clock, so for the most part, most bosses just kind of wave you off. The 25th is a holiday; the 26th is a holiday as well. So in that time, you’re usually at the beach, you’re with your friends, you’re with your family, it’s the school holidays, so everyone has a lot of free time.WY: Do you know what the top three Chinese Christmas songs are?Lincoln: No I don’t know. Something by Adam Lambert, probably, I don’t know.WY: Yeah, I like him! But they are: We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Silent Night, and Jingle Bells. Lincoln: Okay!Nick: And are we talking about translations here?WY: Sometimes the original songs, sometimes they are the Chinese versions of these songs.Lincoln: Also, is there a tradition of gift-giving, for Christmas?WY: Oh, there is. Usually people will give out Christmas cards, or different gifts, like chocolate, or dresses, or just a simple apple, as we mentioned before!Lincoln: An apple, fair enough.

Lincoln: At a job fair, people noticed an advertisement that says “Join us to get a job for life!” Wu You, what exactly is the story there?WY: At a job fair in northeast China’s Shenyang city, people noticed an advertisement for a shipping company that says “Join us to get a job for life!” The recruiter of the company says that the so-called lifelong employment means that when the person is recruited, they will never have to worry about being laid off. And this policy is intended to give the employees a sense of security and belonging. It is better to motivate them to work harder. But nowadays there have been different opinions online, the advert has sparked hot debate, some believe that the job with the ultimate job security could help employees better plan long-term career development, some others doubt the company’s credibility and others say that they attach higher importance to a competitive salary and good career prospects over job security.Lincoln: That’s interesting you used the word motivate there, the company says that they were tying to motivate potential candidates as well to work a little bit harder, but it seems that the enemy of motivation is kind of complacency, which is if you had a job which you presumably couldn’t get fired from, or wouldn’t get fired from.Nick: Well it’s quite ambiguous, “a job for life”, some people could see that as job security, then there’s the question of, can you leave if you want to? Are you stuck there for life whether you like it or not, once you’ve accepted this job?WY: To put it into context, in China we have talked about a phrase, “the iron bowl”, people believe this is more steady and with more security, and in the old days, the traditional wisdom is more likely inherited from the country’s era of a more planned economy, and the best career choice is to obtain an iron bowl job. All those kind of iron bowl includes civil servants or jobs in public institutions or state-owned enterprises.Lincoln: The employers promise that they won’t fire you, can you imagine how hard it would be to manage somewhere like that, Nick?Nick: Exactly, how would you manage?WY: I think this is more just like a job advertisement, they are giving people this sense of they will not fire people out of the blue, but it doesn’t secure that you can do anything to the company. I don’t think that’s the fact. Even though couples, like a marriage, you vow “until death do us part”.Nick: So there are conditions attached.WY: There are conditions attached.Lincoln: What are some of the comments online?WY: @jiang su nan jing tao sheng yi jiu said:“Life-long employment is really alluring considering the bleak employment picture.”Lincoln: Yeah that’s true, that’s a good point to that. Nick?Nick: And a second person agrees, saying "the company has made the right decision, only when the employees feel secure, can they work efficiently and plan for their future."WY: And someone else, who is against it, said "Who will watch the employer to keep its promise? If not, don’t pin too much hope on this commitment, it could be a joke." And about the working environment in China, since the implementation of the reforms, and also opening up policy, over the three decades ago may state-owned enterprises and public institutions have also adopted contract employment similar to those fond in the private sector. In recent years, the number of people applying for civil service jobs has been declining. The total number of applicants for the civil service examination had surged from about 4,000 in 1994 to over 1.5 million in 2014, but the trend appears to have possibly peaked, with the total number of applicants this year at about 1.4 million. More than 500,000 people didn’t even show up for the examination.

Lincoln: Now we take a look at beauty contests. The host of the Miss Universe competition, Steve Harvey, announced that the winner was Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, before being forced to admit that he had made a mistake. Now this was a big gaffe, the whole world saw this, the whole world saw him make this mistake, and then have to actually announce the real winner to be Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. But besides the silliness of the mistake of the beauty contest, I actually thought it raised an interesting point about whether or not beauty contests are still a thing. Is that something that, in 2015, we are actually still going to continue to have and promote? Wu You, what are your thoughts about beauty contests?WY: Frankly speaking, if it wasn’t for this mistake news, I wouldn’t even watch the beauty contest.Lincoln: For the most part, to you, this seems obsolete, this seems like something that’s a relic of the past?WY: Yes, but to some good aspects, simply for argument, I would say that this kind of contest still has some good aspects because sometimes the winner does a lot of fundraising or donations, or volunteer work around the world. Beauty contestants would eventually go to remote areas or developing countries suffering from poverty. And as an example, back in the year 2014, Miss Guatemala sells cupcakes for educating kids in her local region, because in that country, some kids don’t even go to school because they didn’t have enough money, and then they would never be able to work. With the help of Miss Guatemala in 2014, 38 children have benefited from this and they have an education for a better future. Lincoln: Okay, so obviously there is the charity aspect of beauty contests as well, and that’s often used to defend their existence. Nick, what do you think?Nick: Obviously, charity is a good thing, and we can’t say that any of these individual –Lincoln: Nick’s taking a stand on this issue – charity is a good thing!Nick: But obviously we can’t say that any particular charitable efforts made by any past winners of any of these competitions were a bad thing, of course they weren’t, but my position would be, there is so much money involved in these competitions to start with that could, perhaps, be better redirected if that is the aim of the whole thing. It’s a hugely expensive procedure that they have to go through in order to take part in the competition and then who is to judge who is the most beautiful? As it’s been pointed out, this is female-focused; there isn’t necessarily a male version of this.Lincoln: Okay, that’s a good point.Nick: It could be considered to be degrading to women; it’s not really compatible with equality. It’s quite damaging to the body image of many young women. These kinds of contests are being replicated, in the US, for kids!Lincoln: Okay, I agree with you, when it comes to making them for kids. All of these women are adults, they’ve made the decision to compete in it, and who are we to say that their decision is worth less? Wu You, what do you think?WY: Rationally speaking, the market for it is actually decreasing. We can see the audience ratings – that’s the data that will not lie. And different cities are also hosting this kind of beauty contest, with the purpose of promoting the city’s tourist scenes or tourist spots. But how many people would actually be attracted to visit a city simply because there has been a beauty contest? I mean, the market will finally choose. Maybe not only the people will judge, but also the real factors and data.Lincoln: That’s true, audiences have been declining, and as you mentioned at the top of this discussion, Wu You, if it wasn’t for this mistake we would not have noticed [the competition] at all.WY: I think for all these questions, maybe their first intention was good, they just wanted to choose who is the most beautiful, most intelligent as well, but the media attention it’s created has decreased. So maybe in the future, the market will tell whether this kind of beauty contest will still exist or not.Lincoln: Beauty contests have always been market-orientated, but perhaps we’ve been a little bit shortsighted in assuming that this isn’t going to be the case.

Michael: Well, just to continue the discussion on the housing front a little bit, it was also announced that China would help rural migrants obtain urban residency and then cultivate the housing market among these new residents. So how do you think they will be able to guarantee that these new residents will be able to actually afford the house prices in the areas where they choose to settle down? Zhang Jun: Well, these are very comprehensive issues. Over the past ten years, a lot of rural populations have moved down to the towns, and they are not given the same social status as the local residents. The problem is that they can easily return to the farming land, this is the problem. So I think, in terms of the urbanization process and the housing reform, once they got settled in a city where they’ve got jobs and they’ve been given the urban residence status, there should be no way they can return to farming land, so that the government can get a lot more land which they can transform from residential land to farming land. By doing so, China can save a lot of urban land, actually. As I said, we’ve really got an oversupply of housing, so we could actually encourage the migrant workers who got the residence status, they can actually access the housing market with government aid. For instance, they can get mortgages from commercial land, from the commercial banks, according to the policy, so that is something that the government should do, I think – encourage a lot more migrant workers to get housing with the financial support. LK: Well then, if you encourage migrants to settle down in cities and you encourage the government to change residential land into arable land, who would be left to the task of really farming there? Would there be enough labour force in the rural areas in the country? Zhang Jun: Well, this is actually the issue related to the modernization of Chinese agriculture, you know. I think, a couple of years ago, there were government policies that came down to tackle those issues, because we should let the land be tradable, so that some people who really specialize in farming and have a human capital accumulation over the last 20 years, who can specialize in the farming activities so they can actually acquire more land so they can specialize in this agriculture, which I think would improve the Chinese agricultural productivity. So, you know, all the reforms in different areas are quite interrelated, so we can move in that direction – urbanization, but at the same time, we should let the land be tradable, so that people can get access to arable land and specialize in farming activities.

MB: Well, as we heard in our report, one major breakthrough made at this meeting was the decision to abolish agricultural export subsidies, which leaders said would allow developing countries to better integrate themselves into the global market. So, in your opinion, how significant is this agreement, and why was there not such a rule in place before? DM: This is a highly politicized subject and it’s very important in terms of a very sensitive area in agriculture. This was the hardest topic at the WTO to come to any agreement on, and the fact that they made any progress is quite significant. It’s also very high value for the governments involved and for the economies and the producers themselves. The sector worldwide, well, it feeds the world, so there’s a lot at stake, a lot of politics, and the fact is that this is a very significant breakthrough. The reason there was no such rule before was, it’s just very difficult to do. LK: What’s holding the countries back? What are their worries, if they open more to other markets in the agricultural sector? DM: It’s not so much what the worries are. There are a lot of questions: why? How? And when? LK: Can you elaborate on that? DM: Some countries may be concerned about opening up quickly to allow their markets to adjust and their producers to be able to fit in. Some are worried about their level of development in terms of the ability for them to compete in the 21st century agricultural market. Do they have the kind of services available to them that will make their agricultural markets competitive? Do they have the kind of technology available that will allow them to grow the kind of crops that will be competitive in a global market? All of these questions are rather important when you want to join that club, when you want to open things up and allow the world to, basically, make its choices on a market based system. LK: Well, the US Trade Representative, Michael Froman, has lauded the move at this Kenya meeting as a turning point for the World Trade Organization. What does that mean? What is the turning about? DM: Well, your prior question really hit it; it’s agriculture. Agriculture has been a huge sticking point, a huge problem, for the WTO and making a deal and being able to move on agriculture is incredibly significant. It means that the organization has the ability to move forward.

Lincoln: A new study shows that too much sleep might be bad for you. Wu You, this sounds – frankly – very suspect. I don't know if I/m convinced by this. Please tell us what's going on here. WY: A new study in Australia revealed that too much sleep is bad [for] people's health. Scholars from the University of Sydney found that those who sleep more than nine hours a day and lack exercise are more than four times likely to die early. Lincoln: All right. Well, first of all, they said nine hours a day, so we're going to assume they mean nine hours a night; you're not sleeping nine hours in the middle of your day, presumably, but I don’t understand this. This seems to be quite spurious. I mean, I'm not a researcher, and I’m sure the researchers have been doing their job very well, but it's very hard to believe that sleeping well and sleeping long is actually bad for you, Nick. Nick: I think, for me, it all hinges on that little part at the end, there, where it says “and lack of exercise”, so I think – I mean, we all know that lack of exercise is bad for you. I mean, maybe it’s a fact that you’re spending so much time sleeping that you just don’t have time to do your exercise, and that's what's bad for you. Lincoln: Well, perhaps the fact that you sleep so much is symptomatic of something else. Maybe you have some sort of iron deficiency, or things like that. Those are symptoms that could lead to or are root causes for sleeping longer, so maybe a little bit of confirmation bias there. Who knows? WY: The study also found that lack of sleep – less than seven hours a night – also increases people's risk of early death four-fold, so can I say – is it a fact that it's only safe for you to sleep for eight hours a night? Lincoln: I put it to you that it's actually very difficult, as a modern person, as a working person, to sleep eight hours a night, every single night. That's… you know, you're living a very disciplined life if you do manage to do that. WY: But it also says that the sleep of around seven hours, and then combined with smoking or a high alcohol intake could possibly lead to an early death, so in that case, they are combining the different factors together, not only the sleep thing. Lincoln: So, this person is living… the person, you know… (Nick: The hypothetical person) Let’s call him Patient X. That person is drinking a lot, smoking a lot, not sleeping very much, and what the study’s saying is that this person is actually at risk. Nick: And it's the sleeping that's the problem! Lincoln: I put it to you that there's nothing in the world where drinking more and smoking more doesn't put you at a higher risk factor. WY: It varies [according to] different [people]. Someone, just like Maggie Thatcher, sleep only four hours a night. These kind of factors that the study has revealed is only talking about people who live sedentary lives. It probably has more issues to do with this, and I think they are encouraging more people to do exercises and sleep around eight hours a night. Lincoln: Yeah, whenever we talk about these kinds of health issues, it always comes back to the idea of just having a good balance, just having a good – you know – exercising, trying to eat as well as you can and getting as much rest as you can. WY: And also, another study holds much significance for people in China that struggle with overtime work and insufficient sleep. Data from Peking University's Institute of Social Science Survey Center shows that Chinese people sleep 7.33 hours on average in a day, and work for around 8.66 hours per day on average. Lincoln: Oh, really? That's very interesting. My mind goes back to this story during the World Cup, of Chinese workers staying up very late, and some people actually dying. Look it up again – during the World Cup, there were people that would, you know, go to work, stay up very late, and then come to work the next day. I'm actually going to get up very early tomorrow morning for that very reason, getting up at four o'clock in the morning to watch a football game, so we'll see how I am during the day tomorrow!

Lincoln: Now we take a look at some of the most important words from 2015. Wu You, maybe you can enlighten us a little bit there.WY: One of the most popular words of 2015 for this magazine has [been] the 'hands-chopping people'. As e-commerce booms in China, many shopping addicts swear to chop off their hands if they buy any more goods online.Lincoln: That sounds very strange. What is the next one?WY: The 'Face score', which is a word that describes one’s facial beauty, so they will not directly say, “OK, you’re cute”, or “you’re pretty” – they will say “OK, you have a high face score”.Lincoln: And do you know the word 'bae'? (Michael: Oh, right, yeah) It’s spelled B, A, E, and it’s supposed to stand for 'before everything', so if you really like a person... name a person you like, Wu You. Who’s your favourite singer?WY: Favourite singer? Adele.Lincoln: OK, so then you can go, “Oh, Adele is 'bae'" – Adele is before everything else, or you can presumably use it for your significant other.Michael: I thought 'bae' was like a contraction of babe?Lincoln: A lot of people think that, but no. It’s actually just 'before everything else', so you can just [say] “Oh, something is bae”.Michael: Oh, well, that’s me told.Lincoln: Yeah, that’s the thing. I tend to keep up with social media.Michael: Clearly I’m out of touch.Lincoln: 'On fleek' – have you heard this one?Michael: Absolutely not. What’s that?Lincoln: If something’s 'on fleek', it’s particularly on point, it’s very well done.Michael: How do you spell that?Lincoln: F, L, E, E, K. On fleek. There was a video of a young woman saying that her eyebrows were on fleek, and people were like, “Oh, that’s really nice”, so that’s a really big on as well. Wu You, what are some of the other ones on the list?WY: OK, the other very interesting one is 'Brain hole'. Do you know anything about this?Michael: “Brain hole”. It sounds…I don’t know – it sounds negative, if you have a hole in your brain. I don’t think I’d want to be called a brain hole.WY: So don’t be scared or offended. It actually means you are very creative. It means you have dug a hole in my brain and you have inspired me a little bit.Lincoln: That sounds really scary. [You’ve] dug a hole in my brain, in which you’ve inspired me?WY: That means you made spare spaces in my brain!Lincoln: Do you need any spare spaces in your brain, Wu You?WY: Just think out of the box!Lincoln: OK. What else have you got?WY: Something else, just like capricious or willful, which is often used in the sentence, “A rich man is absolutely capricious or willful”. The term was made popular during a press conference at this year’s annual Two Sessions period.Lincoln: One of my other favourite ones that is used on social media a lot is 'basic'. To refer to something as basic means it’s quite low status, so if someone doesn’t have particularly good manners, you [could say], “Oh, that person’s a bit basic”.Michael: Is that a buzzword, though? Or is it just the original meaning of the word having been transposed to now mean something else?Lincoln: Yeah, well, it’s usually tacked onto another, more offensive word, but basic is the one where you usually refer to people: “Oh, that behaviour’s a bit basic, innit?” What are some of the things that you’ve become quite annoyed by, Michael? I know you’ve got quite a grumpy disposition towards social media, it seems. What are some of the words that have jumped out to you, either confusingly or annoyingly?Michael: "Confusingly or annoyingly”(!) Erm – since I’ve been in China, I’ve been quite fascinated by some of the “Chinglish” words and phrases that you see on the internet. One that I particularly like is “No zuo no die”.WY: What does it mean, in your opinion?Michael: So that basically means, if you don’t do stupid things, they won’t then come back and haunt you. I just find it interesting that this is pervading in Chinese culture.WY: And then there have been some other kind of Chinese phrases that were directly translated into English and been made popular.Michael: Yeah. One of these: “Long time no see”. That’s actually a direct translation from Chinese into English. (Lincoln: Oh, that’s good) I never realized that until quite recently. I assumed it was, I don’t know, native American or something, but it’s a direct transliteration of the Chinese into English. Been using it all these years and I never knew that.Lincoln: Well, hopefully this weekend will be 'on fleek', hopefully it won’t be 'basic', hopefully we’ll all enjoy ourselves.

BK: Is there any particular reason why those sizes were chosen, and at the same time, how exactly are there efforts to limit population going to work there, other than just kind of hoping people will go along with the hukous?Du Peng: The policy try to encourage people to move to central China or western China, not just coastal areas. Not from northeastern parts to Beijing and Shanghai. But the key driver behind that is the job opportunity, the resource allocation. There are more resources in the big cities, megacities. If we can’t change that, it’s not easy to say you just go to the small cities. They need the young people they need job opportunity to develop. That’s the key.Kam Wing Chan: It’s the job that determine where people go.ZCG: Recently, as part of the reform plan, migrant workers will be allowed to apply for residence permits. They will now allow access to basic social services. But given the conditions required and the services provided, how would you rate this move?Du Peng: I would say that’s a good start, but not enough, because it’s only benefit a small part of the population. Maybe about ten percent of that, but for the majority of the ordinary, not the high skills part, still they can’t have a clear path how to merge into the local hukou system.BK: Under this system, what do you think are going to be the biggest challenges for it to work out as it is hoped to achieve?Kam Wing Chan: It will depend very much on the local condition. I think some cities may be a little more creative, a little more tolerant, so they may do well. Some cities may turn out, turn this whole thing into really, a very restrictive kind of system, and may not really function as Chinese central government wants to achieve, so you may get a resident permit, but it doesn’t really get you very much.BK: What do you think of this plan so far? What do you think are the main advantages and disadvantages of a points based plan like the one that’s been described for Beijing?Kam Wing Chan: I am not too optimistic about how the Beijing system is going to really make a huge change in anything, because it sounds like it’s going to be really restrictive and even more so than in the system that we’ve seen for example in Shanghai.BK: For those people who are not going to be getting a hukou right away or who won’t even be eligible to get one at all how do you think that these people can be provided with the necessary services that they ought to be getting?Du Peng: I suggest the effect from social policy, we can come back to the realization, realize the contribution of these migrants. If we don’t have these eight million migrants, what will be the city? And then we think why we should provide social services for them. Because we recognize their contribution, and their children’s development, and that will be part of that. Then maybe you change the mentality. It’s not the trouble you give the city, but it’s part of the city’s development.ZCG: If one day, let’s say the megacities like Beijing are able to provide all these social services or welfare to the migrant workers, does that mean that is it possible to dismantle the hukou system altogether in big cities?Kam Wing Chan: If one day, everywhere in China has roughly similar services and so on, people can vote with their feet, just like what happened in the US and in many other countries. People can choose based on their own characteristics, based on their own preferences and based on their own strengths. They can choose whatever city they want to go to, and then you don’t need a hukou system to regulate the population migration.ZCG: How do you think that their children should be provided with necessary social services like education and healthcare in large cities like Beijing?Kam Wing Chan: I would definitely argue that they should provide education for those children. In many other medium cities, for example in Suzhou, they are providing a nine-year education for every migrant’s children. I think this is important because children are, ultimately, China’s future. If we want to reform we should also bring in the market, we should not use a points system, because a points system is very static and very difficult and it may not really work.BK: Outside of using the hukou system to kind of restrict movement or restrict access to services, what are other ways the government might achieve these goals here, of increasing urbanization but not leading to overcrowding?Du Peng: Personally I think the hukou system will exist but the function will be separated from the current system. Hukou is just for registration, but not attached to so much welfare. So that is the point, if we have more balanced welfare policies between rural and urban areas, or between big megacities and smaller cities, then people will have a more balanced distribution among these areas.

Zhao Yang: But China's burgeoning market for online to offline market has thousands of small players providing everything from messages to food delivery and a recent HSBC report says this market could eventually be worth $1.6 trillion. But Einar will this market be dispersed to those thousands of small players or will it be swallowed by the giants BAT who are consolidating who are going after those smaller players which may struggle to service on their own? Einar Tangen: Let's clarify for those who don’t know what BAT is. Baidu is ‘B’, ‘A’ is Alibaba and ‘T’ is Tencent. These big entities have a lot of money and things like that. Will they be dominant in the markets? Well they certainly are trying to but I doubt they will succeed. Everything looks good on paper if you are a big entity who can do distribution and can do all of these things unfortunately, it doesn’t work in real life because you lose focus. Google is doing this already; they are reforming their internal structure into what they call the alphabet. Different companies that can focus on different areas. I think a lot of this has gotten people wondering. Alibaba just picked up a newspaper, ‘South China Morning Post’ and paid quite a bit of money for it. What do all of these things mean, can you be all things to all people? I would argue no. I think companies that people should be watching are these small to medium companies who come up with innovative ideas, who come up with innovative ideas to get them into the market, to really satisfy these market needs. Not only the part of it is just desire; whether it is entertainment or shoes or fashion the other part is efficiency, how can this make things better. How can this make things better, how can I get products directly to you, cutting down the middle man, cutting down the warehouse [time] cutting down all the other parts of this thing to make it as efficient as possible.

Lincoln: A recent report says China's capital city of Beijing is to pilot a bonus scheme starting next year to reward citizens who practice their own garbage sorting. Wu You, can you maybe tell us a little bit more about what is happening here? WY: So, this is all about garbage recycling, or garbage classification, so it means in the future, when people living in Beijing are dumping garbage, the garbage collectors will be equipped with QR code technology, and then people can directly scan the code, and get bonus points from it, and the bonus points can be converted into, probably, a shopping card. Lincoln: A shopping card? OK, but you don’t actually get money back, you just get vouchers and things like that. (WY: Yes) OK. This is something that – I have to be 100% honest – I have no concept of, the idea of recycling on such an advanced level, where it seems, in South Africa, we’ve struggled to implement it on any level, really, so something like this is quite unique. What about you, Michael? Is this something that you see a lot of in the UK? Is this something that you could see taking off there? Michael: Well, it’s interesting you said about South Africa being a bit slow on the uptake here. I think the UK has actually been accused of, you know, not recycling as much as it could be. If you look at countries like Germany and Austria and Switerland, I think they’re really streets ahead, and you see public bins in those cities – they’ll maybe have four, five, six different compartments – just an ordinary public bin on the street. In the UK, we’ve actually been a bit slow on the uptake, and we’ve actually been… I think we’ve come in for a bit of criticism from other European countries for not doing so. I mean, once I was in Germany, I was in Hamburg, and obviously in Germany they have a very big culture of recycling, and making sure all the rubbish goes in the correct bin, and I remember looking at this group of punks who were just loitering on a street corner. This one punk, he’d finished his bottle of coke, his plastic bottle of coke, and he actually crossed the road to put it in the correct bin with the correct compartment, and then crossed the road back to rejoin his friends, and I can’t imagine ever seeing a sight like that in the UK. Lincoln: Yeah, just because you’re a punk doesn’t mean, you know, you don’t care about the environment. It’s important. WY: It is a very advanced measure to better protect the environment. People are being encouraged to do this kind of garbage recycling, and also, we can see that with this kind of new technology, it is through the Wechat account, and we have been talking about the Wuzhen summit. The CEO of Tencent, Ma Huateng, also said before this Wuzhen summit that people should have more discussions on the internet industry, and also, to explore areas where they can take more responsibilities by providing technologies and services. I think this is one of the services that they could provide. Michael: I think anything that uses the internet to enhance people’s lives and to, you know, introduce green initiatives like this is a good idea. What I would say is that, obviously, this scheme at the moment is somewhat in its infancy WY: Most people have realized that burning garbage might cause a different kind of air pollution, and by this kind of garbage recycling, we can make the situation a little better, and then that is good for us all. And at the same time, someone has been arguing online that these kinds of mechanism is very difficult for senior people, because most of them do not have this kind of Wechat account, and then they cannot get the account number on that. Someone named Xing Hua, he also said that for senior people, if it is so difficult, it is them who are doing the housework, and they are dumping the garbage, so how can they know the proper procedures? Michael: In Beijing and Shanghai and other places throughout China, there actually exists a scheme at the moment where you often see people of a certain age on the metro or in public places, and they go around collecting empty plastic bottles, and as I understand it, they can take those to a recycling centre, and they’ll get a small amount of money. If a system like this was implemented, then would that negatively impact these people as well?

Lincoln: In South Korea, some companies have been making their employees take part in their own pretend funerals. Now, we should say that it’s not “some” companies; it’s a specific company that’s chosen to do this. Michael, I saw this story – it looked rather odd. Can you tell us a little bit more? Michael: It is rather odd. So, you’ve got what’s called the Hyowon Healing Centre, which is in Seoul somewhere, and what this offers is the opportunity for people to come in and stage their own funerals. So, there was a case study that was covered by BBC recently which said that staff from one particular recruitment company in Seoul were taking part in this exercise – they were dressing in white robes, they were sitting at desks and writing final letters to their loved ones, and then sitting next to these desks are a load of coffins – so, you know, each desk has its own particular coffin. You then get in your coffin, you lie down, you hug a picture of yourself draped in black ribbon, which I think is a particularly bizarre element of this rather macabre ritual. The boxes are then banged shut by a man dressed in black with a tall hat, who is supposed to represent the angel of death. (Lincoln: Wow) And the man who runs this healing centre says this is all designed to help people come to terms with their own problems. Now, it’s probably worth noting at this point that his previous job was actually with a funeral company, so maybe that’s where he got all his coffins from – maybe he got them at a wholesale price. (Lincoln: Maybe can’t return them, or something) Yeah, well, can’t return them. (Lincoln: Better find a use for these!) Put them to good use. But a lot of people seem to view this quite positively. There was one participant who said after this experience, he realised that he should try to live a new style of life, and he said that he realised that he had made a lot of mistakes, and he hoped to be more passionate in all the work that he did and spend more time with his family, so, you know… Lincoln: Was his boss in the room when he was asked that? Michael: That’s not made clear, that wasn’t clear. But the boss in question, who made his employees undergo this rather strange ritual, said that his company has always encouraged employees to change their old ways of thinking, and that he thought that going inside a coffin would be such a shocking experience that it would completely reset his employees’ minds for a completely fresh start in their attitudes. Lincoln: All right. Wu You, what do you think of this frankly ludicrous display here? WY: OK, so, first of all, probably having this kind of fake funeral will raise their awareness of how precious their lifetime is. But, frankly speaking, those kinds of fake funerals are more like a special meditation to them, but it doesn’t solve the real problem in their lives. All this kind of meditation, or all this kind of fake funeral, they cannot solve a thing. Michael: Do you think this would catch on in China, and if not, why not? WY: It is rarely seen – lying in a coffin or near to that. I think it represents bad feng shui Lincoln: I think that’s almost universal. I think, almost universally, lying in a coffin represents… (Michael: It’s not a good look, is it?) It’s not a good look, it’s really not. I’m fascinated by this idea of corporate – not hazing rituals, necessarily, but kind of, team-building things. I remember, when I was younger, it was something that happened quite a lot – people went on retreats, team-building retreats, or whatever, these kinds of things. But it seems like nowadays it’s not as common, doing these rituals like trust-fall exercises or those kinds of things. WY: I have to say that in lots of companies, we still have the culture of having these kind of team-building, or just get together and have a party. Michael: But I have to say, Wu You, there’s a world of difference between getting together and having a party, and doing all these morale-team-building exercises!

Lincoln: In China, a group from Hebei province have petitioned with joint signatures against a ban on paid extra-curricular classes. Wu You, what exactly is the story here?WY: First of all, [the] Ministry of Education in China has announced a new regulation that bans any paid make-up classes, or the so-called extra-curricular classes in China. We need to know a little bit about what the extra-curricular classes [are], because in China, we all know the very important examination is the college entrance examination, or Gaokao, and that is a very important period of time for senior high school, and that is the three years before college, which is grade 9 to grade 12 in the US, and that is when a lot of schools will give this kind of extra-curricular classes, when students need to pay, and usually it was held by the school itself. And then, students and parents, some of them, they are not happy about this, and they are saying students are under a lot of burden and pressure – they are lacking [in] exercising time, and their own leisure time. And then we can see all these kinds of classes, they were taking place every day after 6pm to 9pm, and also on Saturday, so that means students got less time of their own. And then they have been protesting about this, and finally the Ministry of Education has announced a regulation banning all these kinds of extra classes. But in Hubei, this time, some parents are petitioning to the local education department, with all their signatures, against the ban. They were saying it is not fair if some of the students are banned from taking this kind of make-up classes, and some of the students are not. They were saying it is not fair to their kids, because if you want to ban this kind of policy, everyone else shouldn’t be taking these classes. You couldn’t ban some of them for taking this when someone else is not.Michael: So, essentially, you’ve got some kids who, actually, are complaining that they’re not allowed to study any more… (WY: Yes) ..even though this policy is arguably for their own benefit, in order to give them, you know, a better work-life balance, or more time for exercise. A lot of them seem to think, “Well, actually, I want to do these extra classes, because I feel like I’ll get left behind if everyone else is doing them, and I’m not,” which I find quite extraordinary.Lincoln: Wu You, so what we have here is, who decided exactly to ban these extra-curricular classes?WY: The Ministry of Education in China.Lincoln: So we’re talking about the big national ministry? (WY: Yes) So what has the response been from the rest of the country?WY: Some of them are for it, some of them are against it. (Lincoln: OK) Because there has been a mixed feeling about this, because some of the parents were saying the students should have lots of leisure time, but others were arguing that if the final college entrance examination still exists, this kind of banning doesn’t make sense, because after all, the students need to get to that final examination. The only thing that they can do is just to study hard.Michael: Well, we know that the Chinese education system is notoriously competitive, you know, students will have very long school days, so it seems like this is a measure introduced by the Ministry of Education to protect the children, protect them from themselves, if you like, so that they’re not working too hard. But it seems to me that you have students themselves who want to take these extra classes, you have parents who want their kids to take these extra classes, the schools themselves are happy to put the extra classes on, and its only the Ministry itself - the big, over-arching education monitor in China - that’s actually saying, “No, you can’t do this”. But I think, you know, people will find a way. If people want to study this badly, I’m sure they will find a way to do so.Lincoln: And what is at stake here, Wu You, if schools get caught actually offering extra-curricular classes?WY: If violated, the school involved will be stripped of any honours or titles, so that is the punishment.

China’s sports industry is reported to have grown by $62 Billion and added value of close to 400 Billion Yuan in 2015.Feng Jianzhong, deputy director of the State General Administration of Sport of China (SGAS), said that China managed to reach the goals it set for itself in the 12th annual five year plan.According to Feng, the SGAS has reformed the administrative procedures and granted sports subsidies of 870 Million Yuan as well as building over 1200 venues for free of charge or low charge use by the public.This comes after Chinese companies have increasingly moved into foreign sports markets with real estate group Wanda buying a stake in the Spanish La Liga champions Atletico Madrid as well high profile investment in Barclays Premier League team Manchester City.E-commerce giant Alibaba recently bought a stake in a fifty percent stake in Guangzhou Evergrande, China’s most successful football club as well as becoming a FIFA World Cup partner. Lincoln van der Westhuizen caught up with John Ross, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University and Cao Can CEO of Shengya Capital Lincoln: Cao Can what are your thoughts why do we see all this money flowing out into foreign sports organisations Cao Can: I largely agree with John, I think this is going to be a long term trend in China’s economic story. These billionaires have a lot of money to invest. They’re not necessarily investing in these sports teams for economic gains; they simply want to be a participant. They want to learn their technology and they want to bring those expertise to China in terms of management and talent. As John mentioned, as China’s economic growth continues, China’s people simply have more money to spend in terms of learning their skills and the time to do so. Many sports industries are still in their infancy. So there’s still huge potential for development but not just for the sports itself but in terms of monetary rewards it will create many opportunities for these billionaires. Lincoln: John in your opinion why has China decided to step in here, take on the mantle of hosting the 2022 winter Olympics or something like this? John Ross: Because China is in the beginning of the development this process. Firstly I think the talk of people wanting to move away from staging these big events is considerably exaggerated. Tokyo for example which is one of the richest places in the world really desperately wanted to stage the Olympic games again and succeeded in doing so. My actual view is that you get some moaning and groaning from various people but the competition to stage these kinds of things is actually very big. But for China its got to build up its position in the world. These events are global events, the world cup is the event that most united the whole of humanity it might sound strange. Lincoln: Cao Can at the same time as well we’ve seen that in hosting a global event, we can look at for example the Beijing Olympics; that there are still sport facilities that are leftover that aren’t being used or really expensive assets that lots of money has been spent on but past the Olympics there isn’t a big use for them. Do you think that economically at least that it’s a good way to spend money? Cao Can: Yeah I think it is a good way but I think it’s also a good long term investment. You mentioned a lot of venues are being unused they are being unused. They are being unused as of now but many industries are still in their infancy. The Chinese people are not playing hockey for a long time, but they will be playing hockey once they get more leisure more money more curiosity and those venues will eventually be utilized. Just because they are not being utilized now doesn’t mean they will not be utilized in the future.

ZJN: Well Catherine, about the impact of smog on human health, do you have anything to add? CW: The PM2.5 kills you, and what happens is, it sets up an inflammation response in your lungs and then precipitates a heart attack. 7 million people per year die of PM2.5 exposure around the world, 70% of those are in Asia, and a large portion of those are in China. ZJN: But do we have direct proof? CW: Yes, we have direct proof. We have proof from epidemiological studies and short-term studies all over the world. We also have intervention studies: there was a steel plant in one of our Mormon states, where they don’t smoke, they don’t drink, they don’t have any indulgent lifestyles. When the steel plant closed, the death rate went down, and the hospital admissions went down, and when the steel plant opened again, the health effects all showed up again. It was the clearest evidence we’ve ever seen of the power of reducing emissions. Filters with HEPA? Those don’t work either, the paper filters with HEPA, because the force of your inhalation is stronger, and it pulls the particles around the filter and into your mouth. The only ones that work are the ones that look like a gas mask. They cost about $300 apiece, but you don’t need to wear any filters. The filters should be on the industrial facilities, not on human beings, and that’s what we need to do: get filters on the vehicles and get the strongest possible emission controls on industrial sources. ZJN: Coal burning is considered a large contributor to air pollution in China. Coal consumption accounts for around 70% of China’s total energy consumption, with natural gas only accounting for 5%. So Dr. Qi, how long do you think it would take for China to shift from coal to oil and gas? QY: In most of the developed countries, also, there is a shift from coal, to oil and gas, and then to clean energy. I think what is happening now is, we will probably have that short period of shifting to oil and gas, but I think the real solution is really shifting to clean energy; to wind, to solar, to biomass and other clean energies. And actually, that is what is happening right now in China. Since 2009, China has been the largest investor in clean energy in the world, and now just about 30% of the world investment of clean energy is from China. China is going very, very fast on that already; the problem is that China is so big, and the coal use is such a big share, that I think any change, even as fast as China’s clean energy development, does not keep up with how we really want the clean energy to develop. I think overall, now, we have seen the peak of coal consumption in China, and it may last for a while and plateau. Eventually it will decrease. This is a very critical moment and it is in a very good direction. ZJN: Catherine, you’re from Los Angeles, and you said Los Angeles is quite comparable to Beijing, so when it comes to clean technology development, what experience do you think Beijing could learn from Los Angeles? CW: You have to withdraw the subsidies for fossil fuels, so that cleaner technologies can compete. It does take time to install them, and there’s no question that that is a very ambitious target, but the economic signals are wrong if you’re propping up fossil fuels.

LW: A new video has surfaced highlighting the plight of the so-called Instagram Husband. Now Wu You, what exactly is that? WY: A Instagram video’s made by a husband has gone viral online. It has been viewed for more than 1.7 million times. And a video is highlighting the poor partners who are stuck miserably photographing their loved ones. [LW: Okay] Just like the wives are telling the husbands take a photo of me again, and again. And the husband said in the video that “My name is Jeff, and I am an Instagram Husband.” He added that “behind every cute girl on Instagram is a guy like me.” BK: “Hi, my name’s Jeff, and I am an Instagram Husband”. It’s like, it’s like Alcoholics Anonymous. LW: Yeah, except you don’t do it, you’re just taking the picture aren’t you? [BK: Yeah…] I love that they also aren’t in the picture. I love that the wives have said no, you don’t get to be in this one, they haven’t asked someone else to take it – they’re like, no you take a picture of me. BK: Yeah, I – we should say that this video is a joke, and the point, I think, that they’re going at is that this whole Instagram stuff gets ridiculous, not that women are the culprits here, it’s that this whole thing is. And I’m sure they could do a video about Instagram Wives - [LW: Could they?] I bet they could. Maybe, you would be harder pressed to find as many people; maybe women are more guilty than men, but it’s not a gender thing overall – it’s a social media narcissism that we face. LW: You know, within any joke there’s a kernel of truth there, so maybe he is somewhat resentful of the fact that he always has to take the photo and never gets to be in the photo, which is a sad thing for me, because we both went to – have this amazing meal, but only you get to say that you went there and… WY: And what’s more, one of the husbands said that I have to delete all the apps of my cell phone just to make more room for more photos. That is really sad… LW: How sad is that? I’m starting to feel sad for this guy… WY: But, but someone loved it. In the video, another husband said that he’s more positive. He was asking his wife to pose for a shot and also shouts “I love my wife so much”. LW: I think it’s very interesting, just looking at Instagram culture as well, because it takes – I know we spoke a while about a young Instagram model who actually said that, you know – [WY: She want to quit.] yeah, the behind the scenes stuff, when it comes to this is not always as glamorous as you finally see, and – so I think it’s interesting that we’re seeing increasingly people are not just satisfied with whatever’s scrolling down their timeline, their also, you know wanting to see exactly how it got to the timeline. And then the people who are on the timeline – people are saying like no, actually I just took this photo. ‘Cause I often wonder about that. It seems like really lovely photos of maybe couples in a like, very passionate embrace, intimate embrace, and I’m always like, who took this photo. Who took that? WY: To answer your question, that man we were saying deleted all the apps from his cell phone, he also said that “I am basically a human selfie stick”. LW: If your job can be done by a selfie stick, that’s really sad. WY: If they were enjoying it, what’s wrong with it? LW: Yeah, obviously there’s a fair bit of humor in this, but I am actually seeing a couple of comments, a couple of online comments, and people have actually wanted to talk about the gender politics surrounding it, as well, which seems to have – oh, your rolling your eyes now Wu You, you’re not very impressed by that [WY: Come on…]. No, I feel it’s interesting, because there’s been some female commenters online saying that, yeah, well, I thought we were focusing on male gender, but I can see that already, you’re stating that women are crazy and narcissistic. There seems to be there’s two extremes of people saying this is just a classic men painting women as being a little bit crazy, and then the other side is this thing, well, yeah, women just use men for their own personal gain. So it seems to be like a large spectrum, and it’s a large, as usually the case with the internet. BK: You’re curating your own digital museum of yourself, trying to paint this absolutely wonderful portrait to show to the world that is not necessarily very real at all.

LW: Take a look at the aftermath of the red alert smog warning in Beijing. Now I'm looking out of the window in Beijing, it's somewhat clearer, you can see the sky. If you could look out the window, see the blue sky, see some clouds maybe, if you're lucky. Can you maybe just talk a little about the colors warning system. WY: The red alert for example, the most serious warning on [the] four-tier system, adopted in the year 2013 means the authorities have forecast more than three [consecutive] days of severe smog. LW: Right, that’s a red alert. WY: Right, that’s a red alert. BK: We have red, orange, yellow and blue. And actually, unfortunately, last week we only got an orange alert when the air was six hundred in most of Beijing, going up to maybe even a thousand in one place at one time. So, I’m not sure how they came upon the decision to do it this time but the fact that they are doing it when it seems necessary, is a good step, so good for them. LW: Yeah, it’s a step in the right direction in many ways. It’s acknowledging the problem, it’s taking steps to address the problem. Wu You, what exactly is the story? WY: So the red alert, which took effect on Tuesday lead to registrations on car use and also the limited constructions and industrial activities in [the] Chinese capital. And at least two million private cars [have] been taken off the road in Beijing. This time the coal-powered winter heating system are seen as a big cause of the smog, especially in northern part of China around this time of year, and some people are questioning maybe it is not that necessary for some indoor central heat to be so hot, because we can see that in Beijing or in northeast part of China it’s very cold in winter, but the indoor heating system can be above 30 degrees Celsius. LW: The central heating, the indoor heating, which is given – you know, kind of made the scapegoat for the, a lot of the really bad pollution or smog that we’ve experienced. It, some people are saying it’s a little bit too hot, and this, we’re actually wasting a bit of energy here and maybe we could, energy that could have lowered the pollution somewhat. WY: Not only this for the heating system, even if in summer, we can always see that inside the shopping malls that I experienced in Hong Kong there can be very strong air conditioning, it can be very cold inside. It doesn’t necessarily need to be that cold. BK: Right, exactly. And you see this in the United States, too. It’ll be hot outside, maybe pretty humid as well, and it’s unpleasant, and you go inside and, you know, you want it to be not so bad, but you go in, and it’s so cold you actually want to wear a jacket, which is obviously not, not an ideal sort of situation there. LW: I’m going to go on the record there and say Brian that it is, it is very much too hot in my house. It is very much [BK: Interesting]…I have no way of changing, I have no idea how to change it. Maybe I’ll have to invite Wu You over to show me exactly how to… BK: Well but is it hot enough to walk around in like shorts and a t-shirt? LW: It’s hot enough, but at some points in time it actually gets too hot and might have to do with less than that. BK: Wow. Okay, that, that sounds like one of those episodes of Friends where like the heater has gone wrong or something, and it’s just dangerously hot. It’s not, for most people’s apartments or whatever, they don’t feel too hot, it’s often a little bit cold, so you walk around with, you know, maybe a jacket on as well there. WY: It is understandable that there initiative is good, but after all we need to adjust it. And also, on December the 2nd, the State Council in China, the Chinese cabinet, has decided to upgrade the coal-burning power plant[s] nation-wide to reduce pollution by sixty percent in the next five years. LW: Yeah, as we’ve said, these measures are being taken and people are, the authorities have recognized the problem…and that’s something that people have to realize at some point. Definitely something to keep an eye on and let's hope the good weather or at least the pollution stays away until at least the weekend.

LW: Marriage contracts have attracted a lot of online. Now, Wu You, I’m a little bit confused here, because as far as I was concerned, marriage is a contract. But, were talking about more than this now, something else. WY: The Chinese author Lu Guoping’s comment that marriage certificate should have an expiration of seven years has triggered hot debate online [LW: Interesting.] and the author is saying that marriage should have those kind of contract license. LW: It’s kind of like an exit clause where both parties kind of split amicably, like an exit, on the highway of marriage. BK: I think, well, I think the idea here of the clause isn’t so much that there’s a clause there but it’s, you know, okay, it’s seven years and then you have to renew, otherwise it automatically end. I think that’s [LW: I see] – Mexico City a few years ago, they decided they wanted to make sure newlyweds, you know, avoid, the quote un-quote hassle of divorce by giving them temporary marriage licenses, the idea that, okay, you get married, but it’s [a] temporary sort of thing, and if you want to keep going, you have to actually do something, you don’t just slide into being married and continuing being married, you have to agree again in some years time to stay married. LW: Now I think this is actually a pretty good idea. For a lot of things, when you get a license, like you have to get a car license, but before you get a license for your car you have to get a learner’s, there’s a temporary period where you can see if you’re cut out for this. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to have this kind of temporary arrangement to kind of figure it out. WY: Okay, Lincoln, so what if your girlfriend or your wife is asking you, so we have this kind of temporary license, and we agreed that we will have the contract, and then by the end of three years, probably I will dump you if you don’t behave well. Does this sound loving to you? LW: No – no one’s – that’s also, that, you know, that a marriage of seven years, or that a marriage of ten years, that it’s not necessarily a failure if it ends, you see what I mean? BK: Well that is an interesting idea, that… LW: That for ten years, these two people were together and they grew together and then they grew apart and then for some reason, that wasn’t what they wanted anymore. I’m coming off as very unromantic now – Wu You, now don’t roll your eyes at me like that. I’m just trying to be pragmatic. WY: Let’s see the nature of marriage. A vow during the wedding, and we will say until death tore us apart. You have the… LW: …rights and obligations. WY: You have the responsibility, and then after you were saying that shall we change the vow into death or a three year contract do us apart. LW: No. We can just say from death, or maybe until we just don’t like each other anymore? [Uproar] I don’t know, I don’t know. WY: If a husband and a wife choose to terminate a agreement after five years or three years, then simply move into different directions, is it fair to their kids? BK: That is another point. I would say that if you’re just two people without kids, then, again, it’s not good, but people generally should be allowed to what they want. If there’s kids though, I do think that you should really put extra thought. WY: And if you have this kind of contract thoughts, you shouldn’t have got married in the first place. What about moving in with boyfriend or girlfriend, and that’s it. What is the core reason for you to get married, right? LW: Yeah, that’s what I’m asking: why get married at all, if it’s only the logical next step? WY: And also I want to point out a unique situation in China; in the old days, most couples they were introduced by their parents. They haven’t met until their wedding day, so [LW: That happens in India and other civilizations], so why most of that marriage lasts, they haven’t got divorced is people are not even concerning about the divorce. And nowadays, it is their own freewill choice, I can totally understand. If you want to choose to have this kind of contract or so-called licenses temporarily you just directly do not get married. If you want to get married, go through the ordinary life. This kind of temporary marriage licenses, it shouldn’t exist at all. LW: Mm, something to keep in mind as we go forward on this day.

Host (ZY): Well, Professor Liu, so what is the central source of air pollution in China and especially for Beijing? Most of the pollution, it seems, is being blamed on coal-fired power plants, vehicle emissions and construction and factory work, though in this case, what can be done? Guest (Liu Baocheng): Well I think one is with the Chinese industrial pattern, because China, as the world’s largest factory, is doing the dirty work for the whole world. The other, of course, is the heavy concentration on coal burning for the power supply. If you look at the world average for coal burning, each nation is below 30%, whereas China is relying on 63 or more on the coal burning, and also the coal grade is really questionable, so we do not really have the right washing technology and cleaning technology, despite the fact we employed the Electricity to the East program. We burned more of the coal in the Shaanxi area and supplied electricity to the Eastern coastal area. That will not really completely solve the problem, so now it’s basically the need that, still, we are going forward towards mature industrialization and modernization, which requires huge power. That’s something that’s inevitable. Guest (Jean-Marc F. Blanchard): This is a long-term process and it is not going to be easy, but there are two things that need to be done very soon, and one is that more market-based pricing needs to be applied on energy, so that it is not used in such a wasteful fashion as it is in many different cases. Raising the prices of energy is always tough, because it hits people hard who don’t have income, or it might hit businesses that are treading water, but this is the only way to encourage more efficient usage. The other thing, too, is that really there is a need to cut back on overcapacity, and so this is definitely a strategy to hit two birds with one stone. One is, China does have overcapacity in a number of areas, and Premier Li Keqiang has said that he really wants to move seriously on it and get rid of zombie enterprises and the like, and then the other is that by removing these industries, you get rid of their wasteful energy uses, so changing the prices of energy and then also dealing with the overcapacity problem are two things that I think need to be done soon. However, it’s very difficult to do in the current economic environment, because of the re-jiggering of the economy to a different kind of economy, and the slowing that has been witnessed in accordance with that, but it just has to be done. The pollution levels are really too high and there’s a hidden cost associated with that, which is very hard to quantify but very real, I mean peoples’ health is being affected.

LW: It seems cars are getting smarter and smarter. A recent hit and run car crash ended with a twist: the offending car called the police to report the crash. Brian, tell us exactly what happened here. What’s the story behind this? BK: Well, not to hit on them too hard but it comes from a particular state in the southeast of the States. It’s a little infamous for wacky things – Florida. And so we got this person, driving down the road, rear ends another car, and then runs off, just drives off. The person gets [LW: Shameful] yeah, the person gets injured. Right after that, her car, which has this system that automatically does these things, it calls 911, and says I’ve been – this car has been in an accident; press zero if you’d like to talk to the person. And the person on 911 presses zero, talks to the person, and the driver denies it: no, no, no, there was just a car who came out in front of me too quickly, and they went home. Later on the police goes to the driver’s house, finds her car’s beaten up, has paint on the front of it that matches the paint on the car that was hit, and then she tried to deny it still, but eventually said, yeah, okay, it was me. And apparently this system probably had actually been installed by her at some point, because, again, it seems like a good safety idea. LW: It ended up being her undoing. It gets a little kinkier towards the end as well, there… BK: Oh, yeah, it was bad. So the person she hit ended up going to the hospital, nothing too serious it seems, but [the] driver themselves, after they were arrested, also went to the hospital and walked by the person they had hit [LW: Oh my word], which is, awkward, to say the least. WY: I think it is better for men to directly control the car, but with the better assist[ance] of the modern technology. LW: Yeah, and definitely as well, I mean, if you don’t – we love cars, I love cars specifically… WY: But after hearing your guys’ debate about it, I would choose whether I want to drive by myself or choose those kind of cars that can drive for you. BK: That can drive with you or for you. LW: In South Africa you have to have a different license for, like if you have a manual license you’re allowed to drive an automatic; if you have an automatic license you’re not allowed to drive a manual. Is that the case in the States? BK: It is not, and that actually makes a certain amount of sense, because if you only know how to drive automatic, you cannot drive stick, like that’s just not going to work there. But in the US, it’s just a license, [LW: Really?] if you can drive a car, you have a license to drive a car, that’s it. LW: That’s very interesting. WY: But to the second face of the story, we talk about automatic driving; we must come to the story about complete self-driving. So, Lincoln, are you for or against it? LW: Oh, I’m 100% against the self-driving car. BK: Well, whether or not you’re for or against it, it’s probably going to be here at some point. LW: It’s probably going to be here at some point. I don’t think it’s going to be here anytime soon – I think the technology is not, it’s maybe a bit too expensive at this… BK: It’s not ready yet, either. Like they, like for example, Google and other companies, they have cars that can self-drive, and they actually had a couple accidents with them. But all the accidents they had were when it was the person driving the car, and the car’s computer was turned off. So the cars are actually pretty darn good there, they’re better than the people. LW: Yeah, but the problem with that is, even if the car is at its best, it doesn’t account for that the fact that not everyone’s going to do that, you know what I mean. You could have, maybe ten self-driving cars, but everyone else is not going to be driving self-driving cars, because the thing is this, and this is, this is what my father always told me about driving, is you have to assume that the other person in the other car is an idiot. They might make a mistake and then you, you’re gone with that person, even though you didn’t make a mistake. BK: Exactly, and that’s why you have to wear a seatbelt – regardless of yourself, other people are not, and you have to assume they’re not necessarily going to be any good there. WY: And also some comments online saying maybe in the future if all those kind of complete self-driving cars are in the market, people can release their hands, they can read a book while they are in the car and they can make the phone call and they can… LW: Okay, please Wu You… BK: Oh but see that’s the thing – it would be like you’re just taking a taxi without a driver. WY: Yes. LW: Well, we’ll find out more about that in due time, and whether Brian or not will actually learn how to drive.

Lincoln: Confinement nurses in China can now earn up to 23,000RMB a month. Wu You, what exactly is the story here? WY: First of all, I need to explain a little bit about the Chinese tradition of yuezi, which is also known as “stegmonth”. It is a period of time for the new mum when they finished the childbirth. It is becoming the gold standard in postpartum recovery, inspired by a Chinese confinement custom known as “sitting the month”. New mothers must stay indoors to restore their energy, and yuesao, which you call the confinement nurse, they are serving the month, which means they will [teach] the new mums about breast-feeding techniques, and they can also be a chef, to cook those kinds of diets or special cuisine with high qualified nutrition. Lincoln: This isn’t the same as a midwife, this isn’t someone who actually assists in the birth – this is a kind of aftercare thing, Michael? Michael: Yeah, this is – I don’t think we really have this sort of thing in the west. We’re talking about somebody here whose job is specifically to look after the mother in the month or so after childbirth. As Wu You explained, in the traditional Chinese culture, it’s customary for new mothers to stay indoors for about a month or so. WY: This kind of confinement practice was done strictly at home, under the care and help of grandmothers and aunts who banned bathing, fresh air and certain foods. Lincoln: I think that’s something that exists across the world, historically, as well, women assisting each other. But it seems like this specific thing here, it seems a very specific skill for a good confinement nurse. WY: Well, talking about skill, I think it is not easy to earn the money. There has been some levels or standards, because this is more like a modern industry or booming industry recently. The Chinese government has already published new standards for this industry. The administration says the regulation that takes effect in this year divides these nannies or confinement nurses into six levels based on their skills and experience. To attain the highest "gold medal" level, or gold medal confinement nurse, you have to satisfy all standard requirements and undergo various training sessions and assessments, and hold a junior high school or even college diploma, and they need to hold those kind of senior certificates for household service, and infant care, as well as intermediate [dietician] certificate. In the city of Shenzhen, which is an industrial hub in South China&`&s Guangdong province, it is more like in the coastal regions of China, or in the first tier cities.Michael: A lot of people who live in Shenzhen are not actually from Shenzhen. You know, if you give birth in Shenzhen, you live there, maybe your aunt or your grandmother… [WY: They couldn’t go there.] Exactly – they might not be there, so I’m wondering, is that one reason why there has been such urgent demand for yuesao there? [WY: Exactly.] So is it the case that these yuesao are actually employed by a company who specializes in this sort of care, or do they work freelance?WY: In the first place, this is more like freelance nurses, but after all, it is better regulated, and if you are hiring some kind of professional nurse, you won’t directly go to the freelance work, because you will directly find some agencies who will employ and double-check about the backgrounds of these nurses for you. And, talking about that in China, the administration issued this directive to access and rank these kinds of confinement nurse agencies, and also, these agencies are required to register their business, [and] hire at least three employees with high school diplomas.Michael: So, you’ve got this situation where you’re lying down in the dark, in what might be a very small room. I don’t think that would be a very pleasant environment to be in.WY: That demands a lot of efforts, but I need to say that this [was] the requirement in the old days in China. My understanding is because in the old days, the environment situation and condition are limited. People [were] not allowed to bathe because they didn’t have too much heat in the old days, and in ancient times, they [were] not allowed to wash their hair. They thought it might trigger some cold inside your body, and that is because they did not have this kind of hair dryer in the old days, and they cannot dry it, and then they might easy get cold. And we do not face this kind of situation any more, so I think those requirements, they are dying out a little bit.

Lincoln: A recent report shows that a potential anti-aging drug is soon set to begin clinical trials to see if it can extend the human lifespan. Some tests of the drugs’ effects on worms suggest that human beings could live healthy and well to 120 years old. Now, Wu You, what exactly is going on here? Who is living to the age of 120? Who is working on this seemingly “fountain of youth” drug? WY: “Fountain of youth” – that’s a very good name. Last year, a study of more than 180,000 people showed that those being treated for diabetes with this kind of drug lived longer than a healthy control sample. So, are you guys dreaming of having this drug that can enable you to live longer than 120 years old? Michael: I can’t say I’ve ever dreamed of living that long. I mean, if you’re talking about living to 120, in China, the retirement age, I think, is 60. You know, you’re talking about half your life in retirement there. WY: But if most people can live that long, the retirement age might be prolonged to 80 years old. Michael: That’s true, you know, if you can live a fitter and healthier and happier life for longer, maybe you can work until 70 or even 80 years old. Lincoln: Possibly spending more money, so maybe that’s more prosperous. Michael: But, conversely – and this is especially significant in China, where there’s an aging population – if people are living until the age of 120 years old, presumably that means that people are not afflicted by as many illnesses and diseases and things like that. WY: I mean, with the modern development of technology, in the old days, when people can only live to 40 or 50 years old, but nowadays, with the help of the medical services, and also drugs and other kinds of equipment and people are becoming more healthy, the life expectancy, on average, is 80 or 90 years old. It has already doubled the old number. Lincoln: Yeah, and also, the more important thing is the quality of that life. Wu You, is this something that you would be interested in? Is this a drug that you would take to make it all the way to 120? WY: Frankly speaking, I wouldn’t care if I have this drug or not, if I can live to 100 years old, or 80 years old, or 120 years, because what is really meaningful is today. Michael: You see, the danger of living for today too much is that you kind of forget about tomorrow, My dad, for example, retired two or three years ago, and he had a plan, and he’s always been very into choral music and things like that, so he retired and he bought an organ, so in my parents’ house at the moment there’s an organ. So, he’s learning the organ, learning to play at various sorts of levels, and so, eventually, he wants to get to the stage where he can be a church organist. [WY: That’s nice!] You know, some people buy a yacht, or a sports car. My dad bought an organ. Lincoln: My dad cleans the pool for hours on end. Everyone has their little hobbies! Wu You, what about you? Do you have members of your family who have made it that deep in the game? WY: My grandma has lived until 94 years old. She is quite an optimistic woman, and I have to say that she smokes, she drinks a lot, and then she’s always optimistic. She once told me, “Just have fun in your daily life. Live life to its fullest.” Michael: Is cigarettes and baijiu the officially approved plan for living until 94?! Lincoln: Perhaps that’s the key! Perhaps we’ve all missed out. WY: I don’t want to say that, but I think that she is satisfied, and then what is more important is that you can be satisfied with what you are doing, you love what you are doing. Michael: I remember reading a story a little while ago about this French woman, who at the time was the oldest woman in the world – I think she was about 112 – and when asked what was the secret to her long life, her answer was something like, “cigarettes and brandy”. Lincoln: Yeah, I think I’ll have a look at Wu You’s nan’s policy of cigarettes and baijiu. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

Host (ZCG): As China prepares to observe the World AIDS Day, health and research organizations have raised concerns over an increase in new infections among high school and college students. Host (BK): First of all, what would you say is the state of HIV/AIDS in the world today, and in particular in China? Guest: HIV and AIDS is probably, overall, one of the biggest pandemics in the history of the world. Something like 35 million people have died of AIDS since the disease was discovered in 1984. However, the world has really come together for a concerted effort to both treat and prevent HIV and AIDS, and increasingly, across the world, in developed countries, people living with HIV are living much longer. It’s becoming more of a chronic disease, rather than a death sentence, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Host (TY): What would you say is the most worrying feature of the latest findings, especially in China? Guest: In China, especially, we’ve seen an increase in the prevalence among young people, which is particularly disturbing. As the lead-in to this segment correctly stated, this is particularly seen in high school and college age individuals. Most of them are men having sexual relations with other men, and so this identifies an area that needs to be targeted for both prevention and treatment campaigns. Host (BK): As we’ve seen, there are higher rates of sexually-transmitted HIV; do you think that then China needs to improve the standard of sexual health and education in schools and universities? Guest: Absolutely, I do. This has been shown to be effective in other countries, especially in countries where stigma is a big concern. If you target young people, and you give them the tools and the education that are necessary to both prevent the disease and also to identify it early, through screening activities, you can make inroads into the epidemic. Host (TY): According to statistics, from 1985 to 2005, around 30% of HIV infections in China were caused by blood transfusions, but this figure is now virtually zero. What has China done to combat this problem? Guest: Well, it’s done a much better job at screening the blood supply, and then those units of blood that have HIV antibodies present are culled from the pool, so that now, they’re not used to transfuse to individuals. This is really a success story for increasing the funding to laboratories and the use of more sophisticated laboratory screening techniques, and consistently doing the screening, so as to improve the quality of the blood supply in China.

Lincoln: A recent report shows an organization was shut down after being criticized for a post that features a woman being ridiculed for breastfeeding in public. Wu You, what’s the story here? WY: A microblogger has posted a photo of a woman breastfeeding her baby on a subway and then commented, "Please do not show private parts in public", "Is this appropriate on the subway?" and "May I remind you this is the Beijing subway, not a bus from your village." And then, after the posting, many net users criticized the website and also the original microblogger. Most net users supported the mother, and then the website deleted the post and released an apology, and then the original microblogger also apologized to the mother for taking the photograph. Lincoln: It’s a controversial issue in various places around the world. Other people are saying, well, you know, there’s issues of appropriateness, and of, you know, decorum – how you’re supposed to act when you’re in public, and things like that as well. Michael, maybe you can tell us a little bit about what the case is in the UK. Michael: Yeah, well, in the UK, this is an issue that has cropped up quite a lot in recent years, actually. A group of mothers, actually, at a major shopping centre in the UK, in Manchester, actually fed their babies all en masse in front of a group of rather stunned shoppers, and that was to promote the launch of National Breastfeeding Awareness Week in June, which is backed by the NHS, the National Health Service in the UK, and I remember reading a story that featured in newspapers about a woman who was in quite an upmarket restaurant, and she was breastfeeding her baby at the dinner table, and the waiter came over and asked if she would, you know, be so kind as to drape a napkin over herself in order to protect her modesty. And, similar to the incident here that Wu You was just talking about, this went viral. I think the mother went to the newspapers to talk about this and say how embarrassed and ashamed she’d been made to feel, and a lot of people sided with her. So, you were talking about, on the one hand, people have the freedom to do this versus, on the other hand, there are standards of decorum and modesty, and it seems, in the UK, overwhelmingly, people are voting in favour of the former – you know, that people should be allowed to do this, that it’s nobody else’s business, you know – it’s a perfectly natural thing to do. I think, really, the issue is, on the one hand, yes, mothers should be able to perform what is a perfectly natural act, but I would question whether a lot of people actually want to do that, actually feel comfortable doing that in a public place. WY: I think maybe the mother doesn’t have a choice, because she’s already in the subway, and then the baby is quite hungry, and earlier this morning, Michael also told me a story that in some buses, there has been a curtain especially for the new mums with their babies – they can directly use the curtain to cover one seat. Lincoln: But the other thing is, then, why should there have to be a curtain? Why should there have to be a separate area for this person? If she is comfortable enough in public, and she’s doing something – you know, she’s not doing anything wrong; it’s a natural act. So why should she have to be made to feel ashamed for that? I think that’s the thing that people are questioning here. WY: Yeah – directly about this, to make it more socially acceptable, this year, in May, in China, more than 80 mothers were seen breastfeeding in public in Fuzhou city in order to promote the benefits of breastfeeding, and also allow the practice to become more socially acceptable. I think that is the argument: whether the mother really wants to do it, or she doesn’t have a choice, the other people should accept it. Michael: And I suppose this is an issue of necessity, as well. I mean, if your baby is hungry and crying, then, you know, you have to feed your baby, and sometimes there’s no other place to do that. I think, you know, when we’re talking about these curtains on buses, then yes – if you feel comfortable enough, and you think there’s no reason that you should be ashamed to do what’s a perfectly natural act, then yes – by all means feed your baby wherever suits. But, you know, for some people, maybe they feel a little more embarrassed, they don’t want to do this sort of act in public, then the option is there for them to maybe cover themselves.

LW: A recent report shows that a 12-year old Chinese boy video game player has become a controversial figure online. It’s reported that he earns 30,000 yuan, or around 4,700 US dollars, a month simply by playing video games. Wu You, what’s the story here? WY: Here is a 12-year old Chinese boy so apparently he can earn a lot of money by simply playing video games. And now the boy has signed a contract with Panda TV, an online streaming platform, and also he will play game[s] for online viewers as well. The average number of viewers of his live-gaming show can reach 50,000 [LW: Wow], and the peak number could reach one 140,000. And some other professional gaming clubs even approached him for possible contracts as well. LW: So what exactly is the problem here? It seems that this young man is a resounding success. He seems to have found something he’s really good at, and he’s, you know, prospering from that. Why are people so upset about this? WY: There have been the same worries as his parents in the first place, that playing video games might affect the boy’s studies. But later on the parents found that he had a gift in this area – not only can he earn lots of money, [the] boy’s mother that it’s really a surprise, they’re so proud of him. You know the Chinese parents when they’re saying that they’re worried that games might affect the kid’s studies is because they’re worrying that they may not find a good job if they didn’t study hard and study well. But this time, if the boy can prove that finding a job is not a hard thing for him anymore. He can earn even more than a white collar did in modern society, and he always have lots of contracts, so the mother and parents doesn’t worry about it anymore. BK: Well, so this is all well and good, but the question is does the boy have a future in this? Obviously he’s doing great now, he’ll probably do great for a while, but where’s he going to be in ten years? This industry is pretty new, like it’s, it hasn’t really been big until recent years. You know, for a lot of people it’s a limited time kind of thing – you play pro for a while, and then afterwards, you know, you’re kind of done with that and you gotta find another job, so if you’re doing this and skipping out on school, it’s, you know, okay for now, but after you’re done with that, whenever that is, that might make it a little hard to find a real job. WY: Even you are saying what will he become after ten years, my argument is that ten years ago can anyone predict how e-commerce might be a booming industry like nowadays? So nobody can really predict what will happen within ten years. Maybe nowadays some industry might exist, but after ten years they might died out again. BK: That is true. I think this industry’s gonna be around in ten years, but are people…like, again, it’s very different than pro-sports in that that’s actually very hard on your body, whereas this is not. WY: If a kid is an exceptional piano player or excels at chess, then you should call him a genius; but if a kid is super-talented at video games, you would say he’s not studying hard, so that’s just not fair. BK: Well, it does sound interesting to say that, oh yeah, my child is super talented at video games, because traditionally that’s not seen as a skill like playing the piano or playing chess. And this raises the question, you know, at some point, as society gonna decide that video gaming is a skill that’s worthy of respect or something like that? I heard of a story about a guy who was playing – it was either League of Legends or Defense of the Ancients, one of the two really popular ones in the US that are played pro, and he was the top player overall, in the whole world for this game. And the way he did it was, he did like all of his waking moments playing this game, like to the point where he would go shower and he would like strap an iPad or two iPads to his hands and put plastic wrap around it so that he could continue playing while in the shower. WY: There has been the news talking about some of the internet bar in China can see some teenagers, they were just obsessed and addicted to the video games. There has been also a news featuring some kids can playing video games for two days without drinking, without eating, without talking to other people around him, so in that case it’s quite dangerous. But to him I think this is quite different is because he was good at it, and he was liking it. Not like the story that Brian has talked about, when he was just taking a computer into a shower. I think that boy’s more like controlled by the game, not really controlling the game. LW: Yeah, I can understand. And like, this guy, this boy is not just good at it - he’s probably the best at it, for him to be this successful. He’s gotta be better than good.

LW: Running is becoming more and more popular around the world, especially here in China. In particular, you might even say China’s experiencing a bit of a marathon craze. At the same time, the average person probably doesn’t like running too much. So how is this happening? And what’s all the fuss about? Brian, what’s going on here? BK: Well, so, obviously, there’s a lot of people here in China and now we’re finally seeing a lot of them going to get – get running, and running marathons in particular. So we look at the Chinese Athletic Association, a couple years ago, it took five months for the Beijing Marathon to get fully signed up, whereas last year they got thirty thousand people in a day. So clearly this is a big trend here. We see, for example, last year about forty urban marathons were held across the country with 750,000 participants whereas this year we’re going to be seeing fifty-five marathons. So obviously, it’s a bug that’s spreading. LW: Yeah, people are running a lot. I’m going to come straight off the bat with it and say: don’t like it. Hate running – it’s awful, it’s awful. Hurts your knees, you get all tired, and it’s not as much fun – I don’t like it at all. Wu You how about you? WY: I’m a fan of running, [LW: OK, alright] and I have to say that the maximum length I have finished is ten kilometers [LW: Ten kilometers, alright]. It is not as long as what Brian has participated… LW: Yeah, Brian, you’re a bit of a runner – you like pounding the pavement. BK: I was. I haven’t really been a runner for some time, but I was in school, and, yeah, well, it seems to me that for a lot of people, again, you know, a lot of people don’t like it, and it’s not really fun once, once – when you get started there, it takes a while to kind of build up to a point where it’s not, like, unpleasant all the time and you can actually, you know, relax a little bit and start to enjoy it. LW: Alright Brian, sell me on running. Sell me on it - some of the other more skeptical or lazy listeners out there, sell us on why you like running. BK: That is too difficult of a task, because again, most people just aren’t going to like running. I will say though, if you can push yourself through it, there are rewards. It is great for your health, it is good for your overall health, good for your muscles, good for your heart and lungs, which are super-key to living longer and living, you know, well, overall, and if you do it with friends it’s a way to get all that at the same time, as, you know, it’s killing two birds with one stone – you get your health stuff, you get to hang out with friends, all at the same time. LW: But now, but before you’re saying it’s quite healthy but there’s also been reports that a lot of people are saying it’s actually quite unhealthy as well, in terms of, you know, the injuries [BK: It depends], living shorter lifespans in certain studies. BK: That, that’s not running, that tends to be more marathoning, or rather ultramarathoning… LW: OK, so what’s the difference between that would you say? BK: Right, so, running, you know, can be any sort of length or whatever. A marathon is 26.2 miles, or 42.2 kilometers, whereas an ultra-marathon is technically anything beyond a marathon but normally it’s either fifty or hundred miles or kilometers. [LW: No, no] So it’s way longer than most people could ever have any good reason to ever think about running. LW: No – if something is a hundred kilometers away I won’t even drive there. That’s so far…[Laughter] hundred kilometers away, and someone’s running there. How long does that take? WY: Just try whatever you can, just within your capability, just have fun. Not to push yourself too much, and also last but not least, like in the famous film “Forrest Gump”: so, run, Forrest, run. LW: Yeah, well Brian and I will go running later and we’ll see how enjoyable it is.

LW: Today is the fourth Thursday in November, which means it is Thanksgiving, for our friends in the United States, anyway. It is a time of celebration, it’s a time to be with family. So, Brian, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about Thanksgiving, where it got started, what does it mean to you.BK: Sure. So Thanksgiving is pretty much just a North American kind of thing, and when I say that I mean pretty much just the US and Canada. Two different days – today’s the US Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday of the month. The Canadian one is the second Monday of October, and, (I’m) not from Canada, but from what I’ve heard there’s a couple different theories as to where that come from. One is that there was an explorer who was trying to make this passage, like, over the north of Canada, like the Northwest Passage or whatever, and all the way from England and it was very difficult; finally got there and decided, you know what, you know, give thanks for making it all the way here. Another one goes that there were some French settlers that had came over to Canada and they had a good harvest and were very thankful for that. But that’s all I know about the Canadian one. For the US one, the traditional account of what it is, is you had the Pilgrims, these settlers over from England, coming over there about four hundred years ago, and they were having some difficulties, so the native people, the Native American Indians helped them out, they teached [taught] them how to do some things, they give them some food, and they end up having a good harvest, and not, you know, gonna die for the winter or anything like that. So, they have a big celebration where, again, you got the Pilgrims and the native people, and I’m not sure how true that is – there’s debate over that, but that’s what you learn in elementary school anyway, and so it was that, and there was originally a bit of religious part to it, you know, giving thanks to God, that sort of thing, [be]cause all the settlers were Christian and what-not, and it’s been a national holiday since at least the Civil War in the US, where President Lincoln declared it to be one there.WY: I regard Thanksgiving more to the Mid-Autumn Festival in China [LW: Okay], because both of them, they are those kind of harvest festivals, and also they are celebrating the harvest. And also in China we have the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is maybe similar, and also the Dongyuan and Xiayuan Festivals, and winter solstice. And during Mid-Autumn Festival there has been the family reunion and people will eat the mooncakes, and that symbolizes the same must on dinner as the turkey. BK: During Thanksgiving, you’ll probably eat too much, but people…. LW: You’ll probably fall asleep afterwards as well, after eating all that food. BK: This is very true… LW: There’s no way you can eat that amount of turkey and make it through the afternoon. You have to have at least one or two naps… BK: Well, it’s usually, it’s usually Thanksgiving dinner, so… LW: Thanksgiving dinner? So you have in the evening? BK: Right, [LW: Ooh], right so it’s…and unlike other times, when people don’t like leftovers, this is like, an attraction. It’s like, yes, this was a great meal, we’re going to have it again tomorrow and the day after. LW: In South Africa, there’s something very similar as well. It’s the day after Christmas, which is Boxing Day, which is not celebrated in the U.S. as much… BK: It’s not, it’s not an American thing [LW: No], it’s a Commonwealth thing. LW: In the Commonwealth, you celebrate Boxing Day, and usually on Boxing Day, the twenty-sixth of December, you have a big lunch, a big lunch that seems like it lasts for days, it’s a big feast, because at the first of January, if you had a really good Boxing Day, you’ll still be eating the food the first of January. WY: It’s more like the Chinese Spring Festival, when people would just stay up at night, and watch the Spring Festival gala, and also everyone together, all together, will eat snacks or eat all the delicious food, and it is a mass amount of that on the table, and then people would just stay up until like 2 a.m. in the morning, and to get the red envelope from their senior, and parents. LW: Well I can say at the office at the moment, there’s some lovely snacks on the table, which I think we’ll all be enjoying over the course of the afternoon.

LW: In China, a recent report says that girls can be more filial than boys. In Confucian philosophy, filial piety is a virtue of respect for one’s parents, elders, and ancestors. Wu You, can you maybe talk us through what exactly the report says here? WY: Mm-hmm. Because once people are saying it is better to have boys, especially in China because, most reports show that in rural areas of China people prefer boys than girls, since people believe that boys can do all the farm work, and once girls are married they join the other people’s families. And there has been a saying that the girls, once married, they are the same as the water that has been poured away. [LW: Oh my word.] They were saying that, in rural areas, when the girls are married, they become part of the boy’s family. In the modern society, view[s] have been changed, because once you have a girl, once she is married, we are seeing more husbands are working for their mother-in-law, so in that case, the situation has been overall changed, because the boy can become part of the girl’s family. LW: Yeah, a bit of modernity clashing with traditional values there, I think. There’s something quite similar in South Africa as well, where in certain ethnic, you know, places and cases, there’s still a very strong dowry culture, where, if the girl being married then the girl’s family is paid a certain amount by the husband’s family, or the husband-to-be’s family as well. And in the past this used to be cows, like, before, you know, used to pay in cows. But now it’s sometimes money as well. And it goes up and down depending on whether the girl’s very well educated or very well beautiful, all of these kind of things as well. WY: Oh, there has been a similar culture in the, in China, in both the old days and nowadays, because we’re calling it the betrothal gifts. That was the betrothal gifts from the groom’s family, from the man’s family, to the bride’s family. So in that case we can see the betrothal gifts can be both cash, gold, or even sometimes a banknote. LW: Brian, we’ve also talked about now taking, putting the elderly in these nursing homes and taking care of them. But often, the taking care of them part is quite an emotional issue because you’re saying to someone, listen, you’ve reached this time in your life now where, maybe, you can’t, you know, be completely independent on your own. My family still has, you know, there’re still people who live with my family as older generations as well. And, but that’s something that’s starting to change a little bit now as well, so you know, it’s not something that happens overnight it’s definitely, it’s a cultural thing. It’s something that, if done and handled well it could make a big difference to the elderly in their later years, a lot. BK: Right, and I guess what you’d ideally do is you’d have, well ideally both the parents and the kids would live in about the same place, the same city so that it’s not, if the parents were going to be moved to a retirement home, it would be not too far away where you could see them relatively often. If the kids and the parents are living in two different places, which is not uncommon these days then, it would either be you put them in the retirement home back home, or perhaps you get them to move towards your city and live there, which is good in that then you could see them more frequently but bad in that, you know, they’re moving to this new place, it’s not their home, they don’t necessarily know any people, so it’s a, it’s a difficult sort of choice, but either way, obviously the ideal would be you’d visit your family a lot or at the very least, you know, things like, video calls, there’s all sorts of things you can do in modern society that weren’t available even twenty years ago; call them more often, video call, you can, you know, buy them stuff online very quickly, you know, buy it now, be at their door tomorrow. So there’s ways of taking care of your parents without necessarily physically being with them.

LVdW: Chinese social media app WeChat has launched a Child Safety Emergency Response System. It is initiated by Tencent’s WeChat and Zhongshe Social Work Department Foundation. It is said that people can report the loss of their children in the system and the information will be instantly sent out on WeChat to the public account. Wu You, what exactly is happening here? What are people thinking, what are they saying about this particular thing? WY: So this is initiated by WeChat. The company has initiated a new public account. If you report loss of your children that, it will send out messages to all the other WeChat users have logged on this public account. And also take the missing spot as the center of the circle, and the loss information will be spread out in concentric circles, and within the speed as follows: within the first thirty minutes, one mile per minute, and then for the following hour two miles per minute, within the golden saving period of time, within about three hours it will send out all the information to the person who are living within that circle. Nowadays in China, WeChat now has about 600 million active users, so it has a large amount of users which can actually help to do some public activities. LVdW: So, you’d have to register for the app and if a child goes missing someone would report it immediately and then you would find out if you were, you know a member of the app itself. WY: And also if someone near that – the loss spot – and can directly report some information if they saw anyone suspicious. And also the system can report child missing to the local police with a simple one click on their cellphone. Simply you need to log on to this public account. That is what goes to some kind of debate area, someone argues that you need to put all your personal information into this public account, just like your real name, your identification card number and your cell phone and other kind of detailed information. And then people argue online that are having the privacy concern: what if all these information has been misused? BK: If you were in that situation, you wanna do whatever you can, and, if it’s, you know, a little bit of your privacy it would probably seem worth it. If it’s done well, and there’s a lot of users there, that might be a worthy trade-off. But again, though, you would hope that information collected is only what is really needed by this app or whatever, and that it’s controlled and managed carefully, because obviously we live in a time where there’s all kinds of cyber-attacks and your information is not often as safe as you think it is. WY: Well Brian, you are from the United States. The US has a similar child safety emergency response system right, the Amber…? BK: Right, the Amber Alert, which are named after a young girl who was kidnapped or at least taken away in somehow – Amber. It – the way it works is they can also send out an alert system like this. Some phones actually have it automatically enabled, so you don’t sign-up, just if you’ve bought a phone that’s like this, if the local police department or whatever sends out the message, you just get a text message there. So it avoids the issue of privacy and giving away your information, but I’ve heard some people have found issues of it not being really that necessary or useful and kind of just unwanted messaging in some ways, because if you’re there, in that area, yeah, that might be a good thing, but if you’re really far away or especially if you’re out of town at that moment it’s not really that useful, and could be kind of annoying. LVdW: Well, now we’re not talking in this particular one, the Chinese version of this one, it’s not the police that’s making those Amber alerts, it’s users as well. So, you know, now are you going to see a lot of false kind – not false reporting but maybe a little premature saying, Oh, this child’s been missing, meanwhile two hours later shows up perfectly fine. And you know what, if that happens, that’s fine too, because if that’s the case, surely that’s, again, a very small price to pay, a small inconvenience of getting a text message versus, you know, potentially losing their child.

Lincoln: Breaking up in the digital age can be rough, but Facebook has made the process a bit easier with a new tool that hides posts made by people's ex-partners. Now, Michael, what exactly is going on here? Why is Facebook so concerned for your emotional well-beingMichael: OK, well, at the moment, if you decide you don't want to be reminded of someone's existence on Facebook, you need to either unfriend them or block them. If you're looking to maybe get with a new partner, for example, you might not want that new partner to see so many photos of you with an ex-partner. If you have someone who you see on a fairly regular basis, who you're not really keen on their Facebook page – maybe they post lots of inane chatter that you're not really interested in, and the easiest way of getting rid of that from your feed is just by unfollowing them.Lincoln: Well, let's hope none of them are listening to this, and they'll know why you haven't been liking or commenting on any of their statuses(!) Wu You?WY: I mean, this is a very good promotion for Facebook, but for the unfollow part Michael mentioned, I think that is an old function, so in that case, we can see that it has already been existing for a long time, and then suddenly, Facebook said, "OK, we are now bringing you a new function that you can do this [with]," but that was more of an old wine inside of a new bottle. They just gave it a new name. Nowadays, we are seeing we are living in a digital age, so there has been a tailor-made or personally-designed news feed, so this time, Facebook has provided you with some kind of tailor-made functions, so that you can unfollow or untag someone, and then it will help you avoid reading his news again, so I think it is a very good idea.Lincoln: Just looking back at relationships on Facebook, a lot of people are very… It's kind of an extension of PDA, public displays of affection. It's an extension of that, digitally, at least.Michael: Now, that's an interesting point of view, Lincoln(!)Lincoln: No, I think so! I feel like we've all seen couples on Facebook, on various social media. Now, Wu You, can you maybe, for some listeners who aren't as clued up as the rest of us on Chinese social media, can you maybe talk a little bit about the Chinese version of Facebook? What would that be? [WY: Wechat!] Would you refer to Wechat as the Chinese version of Facebook?WY: It's a little bit different, because we can see that usually people will use Facebook on websites, on their computer, and we will use Wechat mainly on our cellphone. And then we have the Wechat Moments, which is more like a microblog, and then you can see my posts, but you first need to be my friend, and then we can also do the untagging and unfollowing function in our Wechat, and also, another very popular social media is QQ, in China. It has a huge amount of users in China, and also in overseas countries, and then we can see QQ is very convenient – when people are communicating with them, they can suddenly send them messages, or even have video chatting.Lincoln: But does QQ have this Facebook-like quality, where you put together a timeline and people can look through your life, or is that more Wechat Moments?WY: I think there has been this kind of QQ space, where you can post your blog articles or your pictures on it. It's more like a combination of Facebook, those chatting social media, and also blog. It has all the combination of these functions.Michael: I would argue Wechat's more like a hybrid of Facebook and Whatsapp, and there's also "Lucky Money", which is a particularly Chinese application. [WY: E-red envelope!] Exactly.Lincoln: Now, Wu You, would you put your relationship status on Facebook?WY: I wouldn't. I think nobody would care about that, and I don't want to expose too much information on that! You know what is more serious? When your parents want to follow you on social media.Michael: Yeah. I know my dad's on Facebook, but we've got a tacit agreement that we won't friend each other.Lincoln: Ah, I have no choice – both my parents are on Facebook. They're clued-up enough to follow me or to find me, but they're not clued up enough to do anything more harmful than that!

Zhao Yang: China's biggest online search engine Baidu is ready to collaborate with China CITIC Bank to build a direct banking business. It would offer investment products and loans online. The move marks the Internet company's latest push to better compete against its rivals in the rapidly growing space for online financial services. Baidu's rivals Alibaba and Tencent have already successfully acquired licenses for private banking by forming alliances with different partners. So, Faizal, China’s Internet giants have raced to offer users online financial services such as money-market funds, consumer credit and small loans in an effort to attract more users. What are their advantages in providing financial services compared with the traditional banks? Faizal Syed: Well, I think we need to back up just a little bit here, and understand the debate we’re having is the owning of the customer, because we’ve seen an evolution where – particularly – financial services is the big game. We’ve particularly seen an evolution in cellular phones, and it started with the idea that a cellular phone provider owned the customer. Then the idea was to try and see whether the handset maker owned the customer – this is what Apple has been trying to do – and then, in the background, you’ve had companies come up on the internet, and so what we’re seeing is an evolution of having people’s time – there’s only a limited amount of time we all have – and then how then to monetize that, and financial services is the big game, because it’s what drives us every day, from the time we get up to the time we go to sleep, and what’s in here is the ability to move money, and that’s what you’re seeing in terms of this relationship. Baidu has a relationship with its customers, but as does the bank, and so the bank now wants access to those customers, and somebody else has to provide it because they’re a licensing requirement. Zhao Yang: But, actually, Alibaba and Tencent have already made forays into the financial services and online banking, so how are these faring so far? How different is Baidu's partnership with CITIC Bank from those financial affiliates of Tencent and Alibaba? Faizal Syed: Let’s just send this in – these are completely different services, as I understand. Baidu is your Google of China; Tencent is your Whatsapp, because it has the Wechat platform, and it has a relationship with JD.com, who competes with Alibaba; and Alibaba is a platform for products. So, everybody has their customer, and they now want to have access to their customer’s wallet, because through that, you get fees, and the more you have people using your platform, the stronger your revenue base will be, and the stronger your stickiness with customers. So, first, the businesses are different, they address different parts of how we spend our days, whether sending messages, or looking for news, or purchasing something, but in the end, it’s a financial transaction. As I recognized long ago, financial services, as they say, are the holy grail, because once you control that, you have very sticky clients who don’t move, and your revenue base goes up.

Lincoln: The former Hangzhou residence of one-time Chinese Nationalist Party leader Chiang Ching-kuo has been turned into a McDonald's. What is the outrage? Why are people so upset? Michael: Well, to give this story a bit of context, this is a two-story western-style brick and wood villa, built in 1931. It’s situated near Hangzhou’s West Lake. Now, this is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This proposal – initially, there was a hail of controversy, lots of people were worrying about the preservation of such a historical structure, and to – in some ways – appease people’s concerns, McDonald’s promised that they wouldn’t operate a traditional McDonald’s eatery, but instead, they would open a McCafe, so that’s the McDonald’s café outlet, perhaps a slightly more classy establishment than the traditional outlet, in order to perhaps uphold the sanctity of the original building. WY: This quickly reminds me, not long ago we have been talking about some [people] who were so angry that a Starbucks had entered the Forbidden Palace, and we are seeing that more fast-food chains or coffee shops, they are always wanting to enter into those kinds of tourism sites, and then people are arguing that all these Chinese tourist sites or historical buildings, they shouldn’t enroll those kinds of foreign shops or fast-food chains, it will break the overall beauty pattern. So, what about in South Africa and in the UK? Has there been any kind of fast-food chain or coffee shops being built near the historical sites, or in the historical sites? Michael: If you look through central London, where rent and maintenance costs are really very, very expensive indeed, you’ll very often find that the bottom floor is a shop front, so I think, really, this is just indicative of the times we live in. These are incredibly expensive places to maintain, and to maintain the upkeep of. Renting it out to a commercial enterprise like this is very often the only way it can keep going. Lincoln: I know, with a lot of these UNESCO World Heritage sites, there’s a lot of regulations and things surrounding what you’re allowed to do, and what you can do to the building and with the building. I wouldn’t imagine that, structurally, the building would change too much. It feels like people aren’t necessarily concerned about the look of the building, of that being compromised, but more a symbolic, metaphorical concern about how good is it, you know, this paragon of commercialism. Michael: Wu You, you mentioned earlier that there had been a Starbucks outlet here in Beijing at the Forbidden City. Now, this opened in 2000, actually at the invitation of the managers of the Forbidden City site, because they needed to raise money, but seven years later, in 2007, there was a campaign, and the public outcry was such that Starbucks actually decided to close the store, so as of 2007, there’s nowhere that you can get a skinny latte(!) WY: There has been different comments on this issue, and most critics said that a coffee house diminished the Chinese culture in the Forbidden Palace, but someone else argues that: “If I can get a cup of coffee or a cup of warm tea somewhere else when I was visiting the Forbidden City, it would be nice, but I couldn’t find it, so if there was this kind of coffee shop, it would be very convenient for me when I was having a tourist sight-seeing.” Lincoln: Yeah, so, also, you know, tourists are ultimately a big part of this. You want to attract people, you want people to come and see these sights, so if you upgrade, then maybe they’re more likely to do that, as well, and with this McDonald’s being here, this whole controversy, at least what we can say is that there’s been a little bit of publicity, you know, we’ve been talking about it for ten minutes now, so maybe people will actually go and visit it. Michael: But conversely, you could argue that some people would go to a historical or culturally significant site precisely to get away from all this commercialization of modern life. Lincoln: Ah, that’s true, and that’s something that we also have to keep in mind.

Lincoln: The regional health authority in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang has announced that condoms are to be provided free of charge in all universities and colleges in the region. Now, Michael, could you tell us a little bit about exactly what is happening here? Michael: OK, well, as you said, condoms are going to be provided free of charge in all universities and colleges in the region – I think that’s over 120 of them altogether. The way it works, students will be able to get a free box of condoms simply by swiping their student ID card on the machine. So, basically, there’s a split down the middle, really, between people who think that this is nothing more than government-sponsored promiscuity in China, which still has largely conservative attitudes towards sex, or whether it’s a logical and effective public health measure. I have to say, I’m in the latter camp here. TY: I think I belong to the group who share the concern that this might be encouraging students to try [than earlier], when there were no free condoms at hand. Lincoln: Why do you think that though, Tu Yun? What leads you to believe that? TY: Well, when you get something for free, it always stimulates your desire to have more. Michael: I don’t really agree with that. I mean, we’re talking about university students here, we’re talking about people over the age of 18 years old, you know, consenting adults, and there’s a quote here from the Beijing-based sociologist Li Yinhe, who says, “We can’t tell university students to stay away from sex. It’s better to tell them to have safe sex rather than let young people fall victim to venereal disease and accidental pregnancy.” If we look at statistics that have come out [from] university students in Guangzhou, in the south of China, quite recently, the rate of HIV infection is growing at an annual rate of 46 percent, so, obviously, that’s quite a considerable amount. TY: Well, I totally agree with that, because besides, it seems to be a trend, globally. On the one hand, it’s protection for women. You mentioned the statistics, and according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, roughly 13 million abortions are performed in China annually. Condoms can obviously help reduce unexpected pregnancies, which may lead to abortions, which are most certainly harmful to women’s health. But I think girls on university campus, mainly aged between 16 and 23, is it really good to have sex at such an early age? Michael: Well, I mean, according to the Chinese law, the age of consent is actually 14, so in the eyes of the law, it’s perfectly acceptable. TY: Oh, that’s physically speaking. [Michael: Yeah.] I think why the law stipulates the age of consent as 14 is that most girls reach the age of puberty at the age of 12 to 14. Michael: Well, I think part of the problem here is maybe there’s not adequate education – it’s important to educate people about these sorts of things as well. Lincoln: Yeah, so what we’re looking at here is kind of a tension between when the emotional age is right, and also the physical ramifications of not having condoms, which seems to be the problem.

Lincoln: A recent report says a well-known Chinese singer, Yin Xiangjie, has been arrested by the Beijing police for drug offences. This is the second time this has happened. Now, Wu You, for some of us who might not be as familiar with this singer, could you maybe tell us a little bit about his background? WY: Yeah, sure. Yin Xiangjie is a 45-year-old Beijing native. He shot to fame after singing “Boat Tracker’s Love” in 1993, and then, ironically, he was once appointed to the publicity volunteer for an anti-drug campaign in the year 2007. [Michael: Oh dear.] And then last year, Yin Xiangjie was detained for drug abuse in December, on Christmas Day, and then was only discharged from prison this July. Michael: Yeah, well, I mean, talking about China, the son of the famous martial arts movie star Jackie Chan, Jaycee Chan, he was prosecuted in Beijing over drugs charges, I think, last year. [WY: Last year, in December.] Last year, yeah, and the actor Gao Hu was also arrested for possession of marijuana and methamphetamine, so… Chinese authorities, I think they’ve talked about waging war on drugs as well, so that’s clearly an area that they’re trying to crack down on as well, in recent years. WY: Well, this case is the latest addition to the series of such incidents involving entertainers in China in the past two years, and besides Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee Chan, and also Gao Hu, that Michael has mentioned, also, in March 2014, Li Daimo, a popular reality TV star, was sentenced to nine months for hosting crystal meth [parties]. Previously, back in the year 2011, in April, Hong Kong actor Mo Shaocong was arrested in Beijing for smoking marijuana as well. And also, Zhang Mo, the son of actor Zhang Guoli, was found smoking marijuana in his villa. Michael: What’s it like in South Africa? Is it as strict as it is over here? Lincoln: Off the top of my head, I think it’s definitely not as strict, it’s probably closer to the UK’s approach to it. It’s definitely not as liberal as it is in the Netherlands, which is kind of the other end of the spectrum, but it’s also something that is very much, you know, the police will treat it properly. Michael: It’s been a bit of a hot topic in the UK over the past ten or fifteen years. So, there are different classifications for different types of drugs in the UK. You’ve got Class A, which, obviously, heroin would come under that sort of classification, and then Class B – at the moment, cannabis sits in Class B, and then Class C is for, maybe, abuse of prescription drugs, that sort of thing, but cannabis was actually declassified from B to C about ten years or so ago, and this actually led to quite a big outcry, so much so that a few years later it was then reclassified up to B. So it’s a suggestion that, certainly in the UK, I don’t think people are ready for it to be decriminalized further just yet. Lincoln: Yeah, certainly, there’s lots of opinions around things like this, as well, but I do want to return, just for a moment, to maybe the idea of the sons and daughters of rich celebrities having this kind of thing happen more often, it seems, than with other people, or perhaps we just know about it more because they’re the sons of celebrities. There’s lots of examples in Hollywood of people who are young and who’ve picked up quite debilitating drug habits, as well.

: Let’s talk about another social problem that has been maybe – maybe – caused by this policy: the skewed sex ratio. Dr. Zheng, how much should we blame the single-child policy for the current gender imbalance? Guest (ZZZ): Well, I think that there has been a lot of research on that, and we can see that it’s partly due to the policy; but largely, we see that sex selection is very voluntary, and limiting family size is also voluntary, so I don’t think the loosening of the policy will help with that a lot. When we observed sex-selective abortions, they happened mostly to the second birth. In summary, we cannot expect too much from this policy change.

Lincoln: Alibaba has broken its sales record by five billion. That’s also around a fifty-five percent increase from last year. Wu You? Wu You: Alibaba this year has made the largest shopping day in history, and also Alibaba has the gross merchandise volume of over fourteen billion US dollars. But, to make people understand that better, as a comparison, the highest gross merchandise volume in history is set by the American Thanksgiving weekend sales, which is six point five billion US dollars, and this time Alibaba has made it to fourteen billion US dollars. Lincoln: Wow. Brian, that is an amazing amount of money. What, what does that tell you? Brian: It is shockingly large, I mean clearly, this, this is unprecedented. Obviously, this, this Single’s Day sales event has been going on for several years and they sold billions in the past, but this is certainly quite, quite a bit more than years before, you know, not a hundred percent more but a lot more there, and it’s not just Alibaba. You know, obviously, they’re the biggest player here, but JD, Amazon, other smaller competitors so, this, this – if you talk about Alibaba, you’re only getting to part of the whole thing. Lincoln: Shaowen? Shaowen: Well, it’s, to me it’s good, both good thing, but with concerns, of course. After all, it’s a holiday-like festival. Figures there, there’s supply, there’s demand, and buyers and sellers. Some of them were celebrating, say, a symbolic way, like a carnival. After all, it’s (a) good, of course, it’s not panic buying, it’s not sluggish demand, nor sluggish supply. So, people are buying what they need, and, or sometimes buying what they don’t need, but they enjoy the procedure – some are say, say, frustrated. But you know, say remember that when we’re talking about the downward pressure or trade sluggish, think about the previous National Day holiday, so many people going outside and buy buy buy, and going inside tourism places and pay and pay and pay, and then see crowded places. It’s also a – with concerns. When Premier Li Keqiang yesterday’s had a meeting, said that we were still continue to encourage people to go outside and to go to various places (in) the country, to continue buying whatever they choose. Second thought, you know, on the positive side, we saw Alibaba’s chairman CEO or chairman Jack Ma, very often the person who accompanies the president in his state visit, and seeing foreign dignitaries and political leaders, state leaders or government heads – this is good, but, this time, the platform is only provided in English. If for potential buyers in other countries who don’t speak English or who – potential sellers with advertisements not in English available, then what if they provide a more universal language so that every, those more buyers and sellers can be involved, and from a Chinese carnival to an international carnival involving all. It catches attention of the whole society, even of those who don’t buy, and catches attention of the, the media worldwide, even if, when they are not directly involved. It’s media involved, it’s entertainment stars that are involved – it’s like a created holiday. Wu You: But I just come up with an idea - so is this quite a competition of the prices? In that case, online shopping or e-commerce giants, if they are only attracting people with the charm of discounts, so does it go to the passive competition? I mean if everyone is competing of the lower prices, in that case, no other shop will produce goods with high quality anymore. So who benefits from it? The merchandise(rs). And who will be harmed by this? The consumers. That is my concern. And then I have a hope, I have a dream, as Martin has said. Maybe in the future, more certain supervision or more monitor role should be involved to better regulate this kind of market. Lincoln. Mmm. Shaowen, your thoughts on that? Shaowen: Yeah, definitely we need say…regulation first, or temporary regulation first, before we can introduce laws, regulations in a better way to make sure that the online market is a healthy market.

Lincoln: Today is China’s biggest online shopping festival, the Single’s Day, or double eleven. Retailers, online shopping malls and express delivery services across China have all geared up. For the seventh year in a row, Alibaba will again mark Single’s Day with online sales. Now, this is a really big shopping holiday, almost impossible to avoid. Wu You, the question that everyone wants to have answered is: what have you bought? Wu You: I’m so excited because this is more like a carnival for me. I bought nutrition pills for my mom, gloves, clothes, dress for the family and then trip package, and books for myself. Lincoln: You bought a trip package? [WY: Yes.] Where’s the trip to? WY: Different places. Actually I bought two packages, and one inside China, one abroad. Lincoln: That’s lovely, that’s lovely. What about you, Brian? Brian: Well, I guess I’m the anti-Wu You here. [WY: What!?] I have spent absolutely nothing so far [WY: No way Brian.], and I think I’m probably going to make it through the day without spending anything on online shopping. [Lincoln: Nothing whatsoever.] Probably nothing. Lincoln: Nothing has tickled your fancy, you haven’t seen anything…? Brian: Obviously I know this thing is going around. As you said, it’s hard to avoid. Like, whether or not you buy something is one thing, but hard to avoid mentioning of it or, seeing it, you know whether it’s people talking about it or advertisements all over the place; you know it’s happening. WY: By knowing all these news can you really sleep tight last night? Brian: Who, who needs to shop? Lincoln: So, Brian, now what you’re saying is, because you’ve kind of – you’ve put yourself outside of it, now maybe there is a great deal for something that you would want, or possibly need, but because you’ve put yourself in this little, “outside Single’s Day bubble” – might pass you by. I am excited for it, but then last night I completely forgot and I fell asleep [Brian: Nice.], so I wasn’t able to make to twelve. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try and make up for it for the rest of the day. In fact, I’m looking at flight deals as well, and Wu You, you’re going to help me out with that later? WY: So that is why you brought it up. Brian: Yeah, your travel specialist here. Lincoln: Yeah, that’s my hope as well. It’s very interesting to see, just kind of how quickly and how trustful young people are of these online commerce sites and these things. Brian: Right, right. It’s – I think it’s two, two things. One would be the technology aspect, and the other is the financial aspect, because in general younger people tend to be, you know, better, with technology than older people. WY: And I think when you’re talking about technology and it is not only from the consumer’s concern, but also for the company. Alibaba’s said it has expanded the volume of its cloud computing system. It enables four million orders for a single online retailer on a daily basis. Brian: Right, right, so you need to obviously be able to do it as a consumer but as, as the business there you need to make it very accessible and easy to use as well. WY: Talking about that, we can see starting from the midnight last night, during the first ninety minutes of the shopping spree, nearly thirty-two billion yuan or some five billion US dollars worth of merchandise was settled on Alibaba’s Chinese and international marketplaces. Lincoln: That’s an enormous amount of money. WY: Seventy-two percent of sales were settled via mobile platforms. So that means a lot of people owning mobile phones, but in the old days, not everyone had a mobile phone, right? So in that case, what has made this come true is that people have the better lives or the upturn of their living standards. And also China has obviously saw a turbulent last century, and then the amount of consumption today even outside of this “holiday” would have been completely unthinkable even 15 years ago. Lincoln: Yeah, that’s true, and many have also said that the Chinese economy is slowing down and all these kind of things, but, if you look at events like this, you know, these people are buying these things with money that they have, so, you know, there’s definitely growth there, there’s definitely a certain level of affluence. Just, before we go, Wu You – and yeah, Wu You, you and I will be looking at those plane tickets for me later on today, hopefully.

Zhao Yang: SO Cao Can actually a lot of enthusiasm or frenzy for online shopping for the 11/11 singles day. Online shopping sector will witness a dramatic increase here in China. So in which way do you think this online shopping will change people’s lifestyle here in China? Cao Can: Well it makes their lifestyle much easier. For instance, today in Beijing it’s very cold and it sometimes rains they can just stay in their house and click a button and get their product. So this is how technology has just enhanced people’s livelihood. Especially with a lot of internet usage in China and mobile internet usage their lives just becomes easier and easier. But what strikes me most about this news is that fact that Alibaba, the amount of goods they sold last year more than tripled the total amount of sales revenue in the US, I meant his data should tell you something about the strength of the Chinese economy. Just Alibaba alone not even counting dangdang [or Suning or JD]. Just Alibaba alone. They’re sales is triple all the merchants combined in the US. I don’t know whether that should tell that the Chinese economy is booming, or the US economy is still in recession. But it tells me that the Chinese economy is doing just fine otherwise where are people getting all this money to shop. I meant the data can’t lie. The sales quotas can’t lie. That’s people actually spending real money. And Jindong also, even thought they might be taken advantage of by Alibaba a little bit Still their sales revenue increased 100% it doubled just in one year I meant hats sky-rocketing growth. Zhao Yang: What does last year’s general figure tell you about the big picture? Cao Can says it tells him the story of economic boom in China, but what does it tell you, does it mean the Chinese people are more willing to buy online than the Americans? Jean-Marc F. Blanchard: That’s a good a question. We have to remember a couple of things. One that the internet population of China is much larger than the entire population of the US, so certainly that’s part of the story. Another thing too is that buying on the internet is a way that many people outside the big cities in china can get access to things that they might not otherwise get. The internet offers a path to consumption that isn’t needed in the US. And then partly if you look at some of the way that software applications have accommodated mobile purchasing in china and a lot more people have cell phones than computers it’s been a very sophisticated way to get people to purchase different kind of services and goods.

Lincoln: A couple swayed from living off the grid in the Italian mountains. In Italy, a couple willingly lived in the remote mountain area. They’ve returned to civilization after six months. The fifty year old man and his twenty-four year old girlfriend began living in the remote area in order to escape from modern society. Wu You, tell us a little bit more about what’s going on here, please. Wu You: Okay, this – in Italy, this couple – they willingly lived in the remote mountain areas. They were saying that they want to run away from the modern society. They quite enjoyed their time in the wild for six months, and then they returned to the city. They (were) reportedly given a ride to their hometown and then they(’re) still planning to return to the nature. I think this couple is quite brave and that is their free-will choice. Lincoln: Well that is your choice, to have that opinion, and I, wholeheartedly disagree. I think this is, this is quite silly. I find the whole idea – the fact that they had to survive in the wild for six months instead of just live. WY: I think they’re willingly lived in the remote mountain - it shouldn’t be survived. They quite enjoyed it. Lincoln: Well how do we know they enjoyed it? They came back. Brian: They – my personal, vision, of how this happened, which may be totally inaccurate, is that these – this couple, they go live out in the wild, and they’re able to do it for six months. And, if you’re only just barely surviving, I don’t think you’d get by that long. Yeah, sure you can, you can live for a while, but they, they were living – they didn’t have a lot of stuff with them, did not appear to be in any sort of immediate danger. Lincoln: Wu You? WY: Well, it quickly reminds me – recently there has been a quite popular TV show, which features Bear Grylls, a former British Special Air Service member. Nowadays, and he has been having adventures in the jungle, in the forest, and then that is a reality TV show. And apparently he has been taking some, female celebrities here in China or some, TV stars with him, and then they were eating bugs in the forest, and then the female celebrit(ies) were crying and we can see the, whole procedure. But apparently, we can see - he is capable of doing that. Lincoln: Yeah, I’ve seen Bear Grylls’ show – it’s one of my favorites. It’s on the, Discovery Channel, I think it is, and it’s basically, what it is is Bear Grylls going in to “the wild” and narrating his kind of sort of survival process, which is really fun. It’s really interesting as well. But at the same time, I should mention that Bear Grylls always has a medical team with him, as well as also hav(ing) medical support and food [Brian: That’s cheating.] and things. It’s cheating, but it’s also kind of the, it would not be a good show to look at [Brian: No, no] if he didn’t have a proper [Brian: That wouldn’t be responsible to do this in public there.] whole camera team. I think it also has to do with insurance and things [Brian: Liabilities, probably.] Bear Grylls, even though he has the ability to survive in the wild, he doesn’t live in the wild. He lives with all the – and if he wants to do that, he goes out and he does that. I don’t – that’s why I don’t understand the impulse. Brian: Well, well, again, it’s like, what was his name – Thoreau, back, back in the 1800s in the US. Some people want to go out and, you know, they want to get away from society, you know get away from all this hustle and bustle, and again, people like Thoreau – that was, you know, nineteenth century, a hundred and fifty years ago – think about, you know, what they would have thought of society being, you know, just too much at that time. And now with – we have, we have TVs, we have airplanes, we have smartphones, you know, there’s always something, there’s always way too much to get at you, at all times, there. WY: And I mean if they really want to “quoted” escape from the modern society, if they want to get away with the TVs or cellphones or all those kind of digital gadgets – I mean, they don’t need to actually living in the wild. They directly cut off their Wifi and then throw away their TV and shut down all the electricity. They can do that in the house. Brian: But, but how, but how easy is it to do that in this society? Yeah, if you want to do that, and you just want to not talk to anyone, sure that’s fine. But for most people, for most jobs, having most friends, having these things is, if not required, is something you kind of should have at least, otherwise it’s kind of inconvenient and awkward.

The Chinese stock market showed signs of growth after months of market volatility. The Shanghai Composite Index has gained more than 20% since late August. According to Reuters the trade volume of Chinese shares in Shanghai reached more than 500 000 transactions, their highest level since late July. Lincoln van der Westhuizen caught up with Terrill L Frantz Assistant Professor of Management & Director of Global Development Peking University HSBC Business School as well as Cao Can CEO of Shengya Capital. Lincoln: Incredible numbers there. Something like a 20 percent recovery if I recall correctly, Terrill what do you think of these numbers. Terril: Well pretty incredible you know, the market has a short memory sometimes. I think, my suspicion is that it is not the individual players getting back in now. It’s the more professional and institutions getting back in the market. Which is good thing. I think most of the individual investor have learned their lesion and don’t have a lot of cash to play with at this point. In my view the market going up is a little bit better than what we experienced early last year. So it remains to be seen whether it was good or bad. The valuations particularly in Shenzen I believe are still extremely high by world standards so it’s an interesting rebound nonetheless. The China A-share index AH Premium Index is back up to its old norm which is about 134 . Which basically says the shares in Shanghais are trending at 34% premium compared to those in Hong Kong. So in think there’s some debate whether this is just a locally/domestic driven rebound and whether foreign institutions are not playing with it. There’s just not enough info to get a good handle on whether or not this is a strong move to the upside or whether this is just a quick little bounce here. Lincoln: A lot has been said about the Chinese government, or the Chinese financial authorities and their ability to communicate to global markets and to reassure them. Do you think that they have gotten better at this Terrill? Terrill: Yeah. I mean they’re getting better they’re learning, and I’ve made this point in the past on the today show I think what also needs to happen is that the is that the receivers of those communications start to understand it and I’m talking about Wall Street in the US in particular. They need to understand that the Chinese environment is different and so when the government does communicate, the New Yorkers are still listening with their New York mindset so the listeners of the communications that China does also have to learn as well. That’s something that’s going to take a few more years at least till we kind of get comfortable with one another but they’re learning and getting better from my perspective.

Lincoln: Today sees Beijing see its first snow in 2015. I am absolutely ecstatic. I love the snow, I can’t wait, I was very excited this morning, I took loads of photos coming out of the subway. I don’t know how you guys feel. I love being in the snow, I feel like I’m in the movies! I’ve only ever seen it on the screen [WY: So glad to hear that] I’m so excited! Michael: I wish I shared your enthusiasm, Lincoln. I’m from the UK, so we do see a certain amount of snow, but more often than not it turns into sleet, which is kind of the worst of both worlds. It’s got all of the negative aspects of rain and none of the positive elements of snow. You know, you can’t even do anything with it, it doesn’t look pretty. Actually, I’d maybe be more enthusiastic about this if the heating was on! Because, you know, it’s only the beginning of November, and, you know, in the north of China, where we are, there’s the central heating, which goes on, I think, in a couple of weeks’ time. [WY: Yes] So it’s cold enough that it’s snowing, but the central heating is not on yet. If you live in an old-style hutong house, like I do, it can get pretty cold at night. Lincoln: Maybe some more blankets, Michael, maybe an extra blanket. I think it’s fantastic. I really enjoy it. I remember, specifically, I think it was last year, the snow came quite late, if I’m not mistaken, I think the first snow came in February Michael: I don’t think there was a lot of snow last year. Lincoln: There was, and it came quite late, I was quite surprised by that. WY: So that is why people are so excited, because in China we have a saying that “a timely heavy snow promises a good harvest”. Lincoln: That’s fantastic. I mean, like I said, I’ve only ever seen it in the movies, and it never snows for long enough and for heavy enough to actually cause an inconvenience to my life, so for me, I feel like I get the best of both worlds. Michael: Is this unusual, Wu You? I mean, does it normally snow in the first week of November in Beijing? WY: For the usual situation, it should be, and especially in my hometown, after talking about South Africa and the UK, in my hometown it can reach minus 35 degrees Celsius in the northeast part of China, in Liaoning Province, we enjoy heavy snow every year. When we talk about that, we need to mention the Chinese solar terms, because in Chinese culture, tomorrow, which is November 7th, it marks the beginning of winter in the Chinese lunar calendar. (deleted sentence) Michael: So, when it gets to minus 35 degrees, how do you cope? What do you do to combat the intense cold? WY: Oh, first of all, inside, especially in the north part of China, and when you’re outside, you wear a lot of clothes. Michael: But then, if you’ve got to walk from your house to work or something like that, and maybe it takes 15 or 20 minutes, what do you wear? I mean, how do you keep warm in that sort of intense cold? WY: We wear a lot of clothes, and that leads to my next question: have you ever heard about the “Chill Cool” in Chinese, which also means long underwear? Lincoln: Long Johns, yeah. WY: That has been widely used in my hometown, because in minus 35 degrees Celsius, that can be quite enjoyable. Michael: Enjoyable?! [WY:Yes] Minus 35? I think that the coldest I’ve ever been was, I was in Moscow in December one year, and I was wearing my dad’s big, huge coat that he’d bought, and I had this big, massive coat on with a huge hood, and I was walking down the street, and I couldn’t feel my face, I couldn’t move my face. It was very, very unpleasant, so I can’t imagine what minus 35 degrees is like, Wu You. WY: You can always see the snowflakes or the little ice flakes in your eyebrow. [Michael: Wow] Because when you are breathing you can see the steam directly go to your eyebrow. Lincoln: I know, I have a lot of British friends as well who always complain about the snow. It seems that the British, or the English, specifically, have a bit of a battle with snow, in that it basically shuts down transport every single time it happens, even though it happens every year. Michael: We’re talking about a country where the rail network was once shut down, and I quote – this is the actual reason – it was “the wrong kind of snow”. [WY: What?!] Yeah. You have incredible reasons. The rail network’s been shut down for the wrong kind of snow. “Leaves on the line” is another one.

Lincoln: Recent news about an Antarctic research station recruiting an expedition team chef has been widespread online. It seems that over here, a chef can earn up to 250,000 RMB per year, which is a pretty penny. Wu You, what do you think? Could you tell us a little bit more about that? Wu You: Yeah, sure. So, nowadays, if you’re a chef here you can have a tour in the Antarctic research station and earn about 250,000 RMB, which is about $40,000. And also, in this Antarctic research station, they are recruiting some other technicians and electrical engineers, and for some requirements, the chef needs to have rich Chinese cooking skills. They can apparently enjoy the beautiful scenery in the Antarctic, and also see penguins, and they can play basketball and badminton in the room. Lincoln: You don’t think that’s a bit much, though? 250,000 yuan per year for a chef? Michael: Well, I mean, maybe that’s a test of his ability, what limited ingredients he can work with. So they spend the whole year there? Even in winter? I mean, is it even possible for humans to stay in Antarctica in the winter? WY: The Antarctic cold temperature, the winter temperature would be around minus 40 degrees Celsius, and the highest in summer could only be about minus 2 degrees Celsius. Lincoln: Really? I’ll tell you what – 250,000 yuan might not be enough! Michael: Yeah, OK. So you have to spend five months of the year in a building? It’s like being in space. WY: But that was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Michael: Yeah, I think five months might be a bit much. I think I’d probably get a bit sick of it after a week or two. Lincoln: This person would obviously have to be incredibly highly-skilled. WY: And maybe they come from different parts of China [Lincoln: Yeah] and we all know that Chinese cuisine demands skills, because we’ve got different flavours, and also the chef needs to cook and take care of everyone’s taste in the expedition team. Michael: So one week he’ll be cooking spicy hot pot from Chongqing, and the next week they’ll be having… [WY: Dim sum] dim sum, or something like that, and the next week they’ll be having baozi from Beijing. [WY: Yeah, apparently!] Lincoln: I’ll tell you what, that’s pretty amazing. WY: And also, it reminds me of a similar Japanese film which is called “Antarctic Food People”, or “The Chef of South Pole”, so that is exactly the same topic as what we are talking about here, and that was more about the expedition team [who] went to the South Pole, and they are making the ingredients directly from the Antarctic area, and they are taking fish out of the ice and then cooking them directly. But in reality, it is quite different, because there has been some environmental protection rules in the South Pole, so, in reality, they cannot do that. Michael: Oh, so you’re not allowed to go fishing? [WY: Apparently not!] Oh, no. So you can’t even get any sort of fresh food. [Lincoln: No.] It’s all got to be canned or processed. WY: Or someone who has those kinds of morals, to live life to its fullest, because when you come back from there, you can always tell this story to your younger generations, and to your family relatives. Michael: I think, part of me thinks there’s a reason it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. WY: Nowadays, to the Antarctic, tourism should be at least 150,000 RMB, so maybe that is why a lot of people, they wish to go there, but they do not have the chance. Michael: I think, you know, whenever you see wildlife documentaries, or anything like that about the Antarctic, they always go there in the summer – well, summer, such as it is… WY: The beautiful time! Michael: Well, OK, the beautiful time, but the time when you can actually see. For five months of the year, as I’ve been going on about for the last ten minutes, it’s completely dark. Lincoln: Wu You, do you think you could do it? WY: If I have the capability, I will go there. Lincoln: Do you think so? What about you, Michael? Michael: You mean would I go there, or would I apply to be a chef? Lincoln: Well, notwithstanding, let’s say, if you had the qualifications, would you apply to do it? Michael: (sigh) If I really needed the money, then I think that would be a big draw. You won’t exactly be going to the pub every Friday night in Antarctica, will you, so you’ll probably save quite a bit as well. WY: And then the final question can be: Are you good at cooking Chinese cuisine? Michael: Absolutely not, so I think it’s a moot point anyway. Lincoln: Well, fair enough. I don’t think I could do it, I’d miss my friends and family too much.

Lincoln: A new study shows that professional footballers' teeth are not in the best state. A study on players at eight football clubs in the UK showed that nearly four out of 10 footballers surveyed had cavities, compared with an average of three in ten across the entire UK population. Michael, so what exactly is the story there? Michael: Well, nearly half the players surveyed said they had been bothered by poor tooth and gum health, while 7 per cent said that bad oral hygiene had actually directly adversely affected their training. Now, there's several possible reasons for this. The first one is that they're perhaps drinking too many of these sugary sports drinks. Now, nearly two-thirds of the players surveyed said they consumed these drinks at least three times a week, and, you know, as you can imagine, in a professional sporting environment, you want to get ahead, and recover and replenish your fluids and energy as best you can, and often, these sugary drinks are the best way of doing that. Another possibility is that, for some of these footballers, maybe they've grown up in developing countries where they've had access to, you know, not much in the way of education or dental care as children, and that they’ve been snapped up, maybe, by English clubs from quite a young age, so when they get to England, they maybe still have these long-standing medical problems, or that they simply don’t have an adequate knowledge of how to take care of their teeth. It does seem really strange. You know, you have all these incredibly fit, young athletes, who have access to all the wealth that they could want in the world. How is it that they've got such bad teeth? I mean, no matter how much you have in the world, do you just need somebody to remind you to do this? Lincoln: That's interesting. Michael: A player called Ravel Morrison, who was playing for the Premier League club West Ham at the time, he was actually sent home from a pre-season tour to have seven teeth removed. (WY: Wow!) Now, club officials were initially preparing to fine him for having missed a training session. He didn't want to have to miss it, but it got to the point where he was in such great pain that he couldn't train any more. WY: When you're talking about the pain, I mean, the tooth pain is much more serious than the usual one, because we always know that for the sports athletes, even though they have got some wounds during the daily training or exercises, it is not that serious, and you can be cured within two days. But if you've got a tooth pain, that is quite serious, and sometimes you cannot really stand it for even one minute. That's really like "an ant can kill an elephant". Lincoln: That's very true, and I know some professional sportsmen as well, and a lot is always made about making sure they become full human beings holistically, so they don't just look at your performance on the pitch. They look at your financial wealth, or they look at your physical health and things like that, so that you make good long-term decisions. They try and make sure that you are, overall, a more fully-developed person, and one of these things that I would think they have to start looking at now is actually making sure that people take care of their teeth. WY: Do you think that when they are recruiting players, do you think they need to do those kinds of teeth checks before they enroll them? Michael: Well, that's an interesting point, because, you know, obviously, there's so much at stake, there's a lot of money changing hands these days, you know, whenever professional sportsmen, footballers join big clubs in the Premier League, and clubs like that. They often go through a very thorough medical, making sure there's nothing wrong with their joints or muscles or bones or anything like that, but I wonder, maybe, if oral hygiene has up to now been neglected somewhat.

Lincoln: The most widely used child surveillance app in South Korea has been pulled from the market after security concerns. Officials from the Korea Communications Commission said that "Smart Sheriff" has been removed from Google’s Play store, adding that the Korean government planned to shut down the service to existing users as soon as possible. A Korean law passed earlier this year that says all new smartphones sold to teenagers to be equipped with software which can be used by parents to check on their kids' social media activity.I wonder what you would think of that, Wu You. Is this something that you think would ever take hold in China, this kind of child-following app that they have here? WY: If it is for surveillance purposes, we can see the question can be “How much surveillance is too much?” It’s more like a surveillance app, and it serves the purpose of protecting the kids from seeing all those kind of pornography or all the bullying sentences on their cellphone, but does it really work? Because nowadays, the kids, they can also log on the internet, they have computers, they have ipads, they have all those kinds of digital gadgets. Even though at home you can forbid the kids by using this kind of app on their cellphone, what about in school? What about outside? They can always log on the internet, and the internet has everything on it. Michael: I think it’s worth pointing out, as well, I mean, we’re talking about Korea, and, Wu You, you were talking about things relating to China, there. This part of the world is known for being very tech-savvy, and I wonder, you know, for people who have grown up with this technology, who’ve had it all their lives, if you’re ten, or eleven, or twelve years old, and you’re being confronted with this sort of blocking technology, if you like, surely, for some of them who are extremely tech-savvy, it wouldn’t be too difficult actually to disable it… [Lincoln: Yeah, that’s true] [WY: Yes]..and to get around these restrictions that have been imposed on them. When we’re talking about ethical concerns, it’s important to mention here, you know, the Korean government passed this law that said, if you’re under 18, you have to have a smartphone installed with this sort of software. Lincoln: I’m sure that it exists, as well, for the safety aspect, which, of course, has now been undermined, so we don’t really know how good that is, exactly, but, yeah. I don’t know what you think, Wu You? WY: The more you say that, “I want to protect you, and you are forbidden to watch all those kind of websites”, I think, especially for the teenagers, if they are really at a very sensitive age, they would be quite aggressive on that. Lincoln: That’s true, and I do think – we’ve spoken about this before, as well, and we’ve talked about how being too strict with teenagers can actually be counter-productive, by keeping them away from something that might harm them, or something like that, you’re actually pushing them towards it, and it’s natural for teenagers to want to flex at their boundaries, they want to test the limits, they want to see how far they can go. But if you set the limits so much in stone, then are you not actually harming their personality, as well, or their growth as a person? Michael: If I was sixteen, and I was being told I couldn’t do something, even if I had no intention of doing it, I think I would then immediately at least give it a try, just to spite whoever was telling me I couldn’t do it. Lincoln: Yeah, and, I mean, this “stalker app”, as it’s worded, the smartphone app, it’s a digital manifestation of that. Michael: Well, yeah. That phrase “stalker app”, that rather negative epithet there, is sometimes used by suspicious spouses to catch their significant others cheating, you know, as a method of private investigation, and, you know, these have also drawn ethical concerns internationally, as well.

Lincoln: Chinese teachers are calling for education reforms after two incidents in which Chinese students’ international test scores were rejected. Last month, test results of over 350 Chinese students writing the Upper Level Secondary School Admission Test were rejected. Similarly, Chinese students writing the International English Language Testing System in August and September were informed last month by the British Council that their scores would be withheld indefinitely. Although the exam Test Board and the British Council have not released specific details for the refusal to accept the scores, Chinese tutoring experts suspect the decision is a result of the common Chinese practice of rote memorization of test answers in advance. We seem to be having a little interesting story here about the way Chinese students are dealing with global education systems. So, it seems like the Chinese students are not actually learning the skills, they’re just learning the answer to the test, Wu You. WY: First of all, I think this is kind of a short-term solution, even though they are memorizing the answers. What about in the future? They are actually entering into the university and they cannot talk in English fluently with their peers and their teachers, so in that case, it doesn’t really help. But I need to say, I have a different opinion about the solution, because they were saying that probably they will refuse to accept these scores. First of all, the students didn’t violate any kind of rules or regulations. They didn’t just directly copy the other people’s answers during the tests. I mean, after all, for the long term, this is not a very good action, but in the short term, this is not illegal, it is not violation of any laws, so I don’t think they should be refused. Michael: It might not be illegal, Wu You, but do you think it’s in any way immoral, you know? Or is it just perfectly legitimate gaming the system, here? WY: Even you are saying it is immoral. I think if it is obeying the rule – they didn’t violate any kind of rule, so they shouldn’t be kicked out of the game. Michael: What I find is interesting, though, is the fact that it’s Chinese teachers themselves that are calling for these reforms, so, in a sense, the teachers themselves are saying, “OK, we know that this is a problem, and we know that something needs to be done about this,” so although, as you said, Wu You, by the letter of the law they haven’t necessarily done anything wrong, it does indicate, you know, that those within the system clearly see that there’s something wrong, and that a solution needs to be found here. WY: Those teachers, they really want to help the students, because they were thinking that they are achieving the short-term goal, and it doesn’t help in the long-term, so after all, these teachers really have a very good intention. And also, if the students use this kind of method, simply by memorizing the questions and answers, even though they successfully gained the admittance into an international university or school, they would not be likely to cope with their peers and the level of English required to compete at such kind of school.

Michael Butterworth: Tomorrow is Halloween, which for many means haunted houses and spooky decorations. But is there such a thing as going too far? One house in the US has received much attention over its Halloween decorations, which are highly realistic and feature gruesome fake dead bodies. In other news, there are haunted houses so frightening that you have to sign a waiver before you can even experience the horrors or even abuse, that you might be subjected to in, indoors. So what do we think guys: is this all just a bit of hijinks and fun and games, or have things gone too far, and if they ha ve, just where do you draw the line here? Brian Kopczynski: Well, I mean obviously the point of all this is to have fun, right? But when you get to the point where you can't distinguish between if something is a, a real dead body or a fake one, I say you’ve, you've crossed the line there, which, and that's, that's what we've seen. MB: Wu You what do you think? I mean, like, Halloween does seem to be gaining traction, gaining popularity in China. [Wu You: Yes.] I mean, how, I mean how, how recently has this, has this been a case. I mean ten, fifteen years ago did people celebrate Halloween, or is this quite a new thing in big cities here? WY: I think it is quite a new thing in the first-tier cities, especially during the recent years, we can see more and more western culture and western festivals has been better adopted in China especially among the young people. Both of the Halloween and also the Valentine's Day and for Christmas. We can the young people are always taking this opportunity to go on the streets to celebrate. Maybe it's just been a chance for them to have fun, and for some shopping malls, especially, and some theme parks, they are taking this chance to do the better promotion. MB: Yeah, it’s obviously a good way to tie in with several promotional activities. I was actually in a restaurant last night, and, at the table next to me, about four or five of the waiting staff were, you know, busy carving pumpkins, obviously to put outside for this weekend. So, it obviously, you know, is somewhat pervasive throughout, well, Beijing and I would imagine throughout other, other big cities in China. But, you know, do people dress up Wu You? …Do you, have you ever celebrated Halloween in that manner, you know dressing up? WY: Last year, last year I dressed up and especially around Sanlitun area we can see we go to the bookstore and there has been a lot of interesting lectures, people would read books and talk about the history of Halloween. And also some other people would directly walk on the streets and dressed up a costume of white clothes and then put on some fake blood on it, and then they suddenly come to the passers-by to scare them, and said I have a good excuse because today is Halloween. MB: It seems like it's certainly gaining traction here but I'm not sure if China ready for one of those, you know, haunted houses where you have to sign a waiver before you enter. I can't imagine that just yet. BK: Right, no, I think there's been similar sorts of things like, I think there are haunted houses here in China now, like you have those escape the room sorts of challenges, which isn't quite a haunted, that’s usually not a, that's usually not necessarily a Halloween sort of horror thing, but I think there’s a bit of a crossover and there are some things now. Because, this horror stuff is clearly not just a western thing. There's a pretty strong and, well, strong tradition of, of horror in East Asia as well, you know China, Japan, and Korea. There's all these kind of very interesting sort of ghost or supernatural stories, in Chinese culture that are shared throughout the region, that provide the basis for that. MB: And Wu You, is there – you've obviously grown up here in China, when you were growing up did people tell ghost stories and things like that? WY: Exactly, I just wanted to mention that, because in China we have the similar history or culture about that because we the ghost stories collection, we call it Liaozhaizhiyi （聊斋志异）, in history, it is a famous collection of sort ghost stories, more about the foxes, immortal ghost devil, to summarize social relationship reflects the seventeenth century Chinese society. MB: So whether you're simply throwing a bedsheet over your head, or whether you're signing a waiver going to a haunted house, or whether you're just snuggling up with a scary movie, we'd like to wish everybody a very happy Halloween.

Michael Butterworth: A rather wacky new video on China's thirteenth five year plan. Earlier this week, Xinhua News Agency posted an animated clip called “Song of Shi-san-wu” on Twitter. The three and a half minute song explains China’s thirteenth five year plan, which is a series of economic and social guidelines that is currently being discussed at the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee. The cartoon has gathered over three hundred and fifty thousand hits on Youku.com, and includes several cartoon characters performing on the top of a van asking the question “Hey, have you guys heard what's going on in China?” Now let's take a listen. [Song plays] MB: Well, it's ah, certainly made a rather potentially dry and difficult topic to talk about rather, you know, fun, and vibrant and interesting. What did you guys make of it? Wu You: I think this is a so creative, and this is the video clip that was made by some foreigners talking about the Chinese issue. Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: I think it's very interesting, yeah, it's certainly very well made. Very catchy, I know I've been humming it for the past couple of minutes as well…that doesn’t give the full picture, though. If you, you go online you'll see the full video as well and all the graphics and things like that. It looks very, very interesting. MB: And it seems to have gone down pretty well online, hasn't it Wu You? WY: Yes, it is. And what I'm curious about is this, many Chinese net users has been so surprised that foreigners nowadays can understand so much about China. So my question can be to both of you, how would find out things about China? LV: Well, I, I certainly used to use forums and things like that before, and, you know, text people, message people who've been here before, but that is, you're definitely right – it's definitely a thing that a, a trope among my Chinese friends or, if you just meet a Chinese person, very surprised that you know anything about, about China. That's something that happens quite a lot. WY: What about you Michael? MB: Ah, well I didn't really know too much about China before I moved here. I think I started to learn more about it just, you know, when I was here, when I was living here. Apart from the obvious, you know, reading books and newspapers, and things like that, you know, if you want your, sort of, information, you know, more contemporary and more bite-size, there's lots of funny publications. One of my favorites, actually, is, it's a sketch comedy series, and they do lots of short videos about five minutes long, satirizing aspects of, you know, modern Chinese life. They do one video which I quite like – things that Chinese people say to foreigners. And it's just a list of people saying things like, you know, “Why are you so tall? (you know) Where are you from? What's your job, what's your salary?” You know, very, very direct and things like that. And, there are other videos they do, you know, things that, things like, for example satirizing interracial relationships, you know, Chinese girls in relationship with foreign guys and vice versa. And, those are quite funny, sort of bite-size things that, I really enjoy watching those sorts of videos, and so I think that's a good way of finding out.

到今年10月25日，上海首批持证街头艺人在试点上街表演已满一年，一年中，已有46位正式持证上岗的上海街头艺人。演出类型包括吉他弹唱、小丑气球、口琴排箫、水晶球、人体雕塑、阿卡贝拉合唱队等，种多样、风格迥异。 今年8月份，继上海之后，深圳的街头艺人也合法化了，他们可以在市民中心广场凭证上岗。 然而我们的歪果仁主播Michael说在北京没有看到过街头艺术家表演，和公园里大妈大爷们的自娱自乐舞蹈，傻傻分不清楚。那么外国的街头艺术表演是什么样的呢？ 听听来自Today网文热议的精彩讨论片段吧！ Michael Butterworth: So, I'm wondering Lincoln, what’s this sort of thing like in South Africa? 'Cause, when I think of South Africa, I think of quite a sort of rich and vibrant culture, and I can imagine, lots of sort of dancing and street performers there. Is that the case? Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: Yeah, it is the case as well. In very certain places definitely it's, street performing is quite a vibrant, quite a vibrant culture. You’d find a lot of university towns as well, we'd have strong drama departments and these kinds of things would happen a lot. Just looking back at this though, it says here performing arts, visual arts and also creative craft, I wonder to what extent, like visual art for example, I wonder if things like graffiti would be acknowledged as visual art, 'ause in certain parts of Cape Town, that, graffiti is seen as – actually people have asked street artists to actually to, to graffiti certain trains and things like that. So I wonder if that extends, if that extends to that kind of regulation as well. MB: I mean, in London and the UK we've got the, obviously the famous graffiti artist Banksy, who made his name in London and Bristol, going under the cover of night and painting often very satirical, you know cartoons and graffiti, you know satirizing modern society, and…the excess of modern life and things like that. And some of those, if you walk down streets in London now, you can see walls which have Banksy graffiti on, and some of them have actually been protected by sort of plastic or Perspex, and these have obviously been put there by the local government, the local council, to prevent people tampering with them. So it's now seen as, a form of modern art almost. And, it’s interesting when you talk about, sort of, performing arts, and, I mean, in China, here in Beijing, there's obviously several public parks. You often see, you know, musical groups, people getting together; you could, you could argue also if they are performing with their instrument in a public place that it is, you know, a public performance, so where do you draw the line here? That's what I'm asking. WY: Um, simply I don’t think there can be a clear line for that, but people, usually you can see if they're asking for donation or not. This time, China actually want to better regulate those street artists who are asking for donations, and because, not long ago, back in the year 2014, local traffic police in Beijing has also working on to establish a database on beggars in the subways in Beijing. So in that case, there can be a differentiation between the beggars and street artists, who are asking for donations. MB: And you do see quite a lot of beggars on the Beijing subway who often, you know, come in with one of those traditional Chinese instruments and, and begging has become something of a problem. We've seen the possibility of organized begging rings as well. Maybe that's another reason why authorities, trying to regulate this quite tightly.

Michael Butterworth: The World Health Organization's cancer agency has said that processed meats can lead to colon and other cancers, and that red meat is another likely cause of the disease. Researchers from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer have released an evaluation of over eight hundred studies from several continents about meat and cancer. Based on the evaluation, processed meat is classified as carcinogenic to humans, and is put under the same category as tobacco, asbestos and diesel fumes. However, this isn't said to mean that processed meat is as dangerous as smoking. Well, I must admit that my heart sank a little bit when I heard this story because I personally do love red meat. But, Brian, I wondered if you could start by just telling us what exactly is processed meat? What does this consist of, this category? Brian Kopczynski: Sure. So a lot of things that you're going to think of first would be things like sausage, bacon, hot dogs and beef jerky. It's anything that's… MB: Delicious? BK: Perhaps there. Ah, certainly things that are smoked, things that are cured, or have salts or other preservatives added to them. So, if it's just like, meat that, you know, you go slaughter a cow and then, you just, you know, cut that up and you cook it, that's, that's not processed meat. If it's add, add[ed] through this extra, well, obviously processing of some kind that means it's [processed] meat. Of course, a lot of these also are red meats as well, so potentially a double whammy here. MB: And so, I'm just wondering how accurate these headlines [can] really be. Is there an element of scare-mongering here? You know “red meat causes cancer” and I just, I mean, I'm not sure really how much I believe, how much I believe all this, to be quite honest. BK: How much you believe or how much you don't want to believe? MB: Well, well, quite. But, I mean, how accurate are these headlines do you think? BK: Well, so it depends on the headlines you look at, if it's saying, if you're seeing something that tells you, red, eating red meat will give you cancer, that's obviously scare-mongering. That's, you know, it might do that, but there, no one is actually scientifically suggesting that is going to happen. What it's saying here, what, what they've said, is that, they've determined that it is carcinogenic, for example processed meats, like things in tobacco, do cause cancer, which does not mean that, like smoking cigarettes, if you do this, you have a very high likelihood of getting cancer. It’s just, it is, you have a certain likelihood by eating processed meats, and for red meats they think there's probably a link there. They're not certain, but they think red meats probably do cause cancer at some level as well. MB: And I wonder Wu You, what you make of all this? Wu You: I strongly protest. I'm a meat lover. And I need to protect about that because meat, especially red meat is still a good source of protein, and also B vitamins and minerals, such as like iron and zinc. I also read other reports which says, one minute of climbing stairs can extend the lifetime of four seconds. So does it mean that I can eat more barbecues and bacons, and at the same time climbing stairs to counterbalance the harm that was caused by the meat? MB: I would like to think so. BK: Yeah, yeah, you just, every, every time you need to eat some of that you just make sure you eat as you're going up a flight of stairs, right? Yeah, that, that might do something for [it].

Zhao Yang: The Chinese government has been trying to push money towards innovative, micro-, small – and medium sized business and away from fixed asset investments in secondary manufacturing. If there is so much money around, why isn’t it flowing toward these groups? What are the specific issues here Winston Wong: There are a lot of challenges I think number one is the mechanism of where money is flowing in the system and most of the system is controlled by large SOE banks and these banks have no incentive to finance these low and medium sized businesses. Because it s very costly to make loans to make loans to small- micro --medium sized business. Just think about it if you are a bank operator; if you can make a loan of one billion dollar to some giant company and you can charge them an interest rate. Or you can make a loan to a small restaurant operator for say $50 000 how much are you going to ear from that? Naturally, its human nature, you would try to go to larger clients so that’s understandable. But then the whole SOE structure makes it more challenging. Winston Wong: Then there is the challenge of the burden of the cost burden of the small and the medium sized enterprises I know Einar [Tangen] is going to disagree with me, but I always believe that’s one big factor in affecting the situation. If the government… I just feel that they need to rethink their strategy of allocating their resources. They need top relieve the burdens of the small and medium enterprises and I think the overall taxation burned of small Chinese companies is just too high. If you add on all the VAT taxes the income taxes the various fees the social security insurance all those kind of costs on the small and medium enterprises, they are probably one of the highest in the world. I don’t think that is a wise policy. While on the one hand you are pumping money into the market without being able to see it flowing to the right place, and on the other hand you see small and medium enterprises struggling. This is just wrong. Einar Tangen: Well I’m not going to disagree with Winston. There’s too much red tap and over taxation is not a good thing. But this idea that you can just do away with government regulation is I think where we probably disagree, there’s got to be sensible regulations in there that make the market…I mean look at shadow banking, the government is going to put in a clause where they are going to take off the upward limit of the bank lending, this is wonderful because you are going to see now its not necessary for these banks to create these shadow lending entities they can just do the business and this can make things open up. These are the types of things; adding capacities to actually do the business. What Winston spoke about the one billion dollar client vs the $50 000 client, you need people who are capable of making these risks assessments and doing these deals very efficiently so you can get the money to micro- medium and small-sized enterprises who are really going to be the future of China.

Michael Butterworth: A new trend of employees being allowed to take unlimited days off is sparking heated debate. Companies like Virgin, Netflix, GE and Twitter all allow employees to take as many vacation days in a year as long as they meet their deadlines. While some have called the practice revolutionary, not everyone is on board with the policy. Last year a US based publishing company tried out the policy only to scrap it after complaints from employees. So, is this the future of managing successful employees, or is it just too far-fetched to work? Well, it certainly sounds great, doesn't it, having unlimited days off within a year, but is the reality not as rosy as it seems, Lincoln? Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: Well, it seems that some employees would actually say so. In terms of actually just going against the, kind of the work culture that a lot of people are most used to. What happened in the Chicago-based publishing company was actually that the employees were very used to having a certain number of days at the end of the year where they can actually be paid out for them and that kind of goes out the window, its rendered redundant, if you have unlimited vacation days. So, in that way employees were complaining as well. There has kind of been a kind of a cynical viewpoint of it, as well, because most, most employees actually end up taking less vacation days, which is actually quite interesting because psychologically people think, oh, is it okay if I can take enough, and you know, whenever you're in a meeting, in a really long meeting, and you wonder, what is the opportune time to excuse myself. Imagine that over the course of a year, when is the opportune time that I can take two weeks off. Michael Butterworth: But maybe, it should, it should be pointed out that you can't just…take the afternoon off because you feel like it. [Lincoln: No, no.] You do still in many of these cases, you do still have to request the leave, and I believe it can be denied as well. Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: It can be denied and, most employers that, most employers would actually ask you a day ahead of time as well to kind of apply for it. And they also have the right to deny it and it's not like something that you just get all the way, [be]cause I think you have a base pay, you don't have necessarily your full salary during the time that you are taking the vacation. But, the idea's kind of to put the onus and the responsibility on you. Michael Butterworth: And it's interesting that we're talking about this in China, because China's in the national, you know, statutory holiday allowance, is among the smaller of countries allowances. I think Brazil has the most with about forty, if you include all the public holidays. What do you think Wu You? Do you think this sort of scheme would work in Chinese companies, or would it just be too difficult to implement? Wu You: I think it depends on which area it is in, because we can see the companies like Virgin, Netflix, and Twitter besides the General Electric, all these other three companies, they're all tech companies or IT companies, so in that case their working hour[s] can be more flexible. And, Lincoln has mentioned, I'm so curious about that. You said people end[s] up taking less vacation than they usually would, after this policy is implemented, right? Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: Yeah, and that's because it has to do with, kind of the social pressure of working hard and being seen to work hard by your superiors as well. Which, obviously has a lot to do with, how much money you get to take home at the end of the month. But, I'd actually disagree with you. I'd say that it’s actually more prominent in results-based companies. If the only goal is, [the] task is done at the end of the day, then the employer would really not care how long it takes.

Brian: A study a few days ago shows that 30-35% of people suffer from some sort of allergy in their lives, and that this is likely to increase. With people avoiding certain foods altogether, and meticulously preparing their food, our immune system might be missing the workout it needs. Are we worried too much about our health, and is this causing us to become even more unhealthy? Well, that's certainly an interesting sort of irony there, but certainly one worth exploring. Lincoln: Yeah, I think the idea is that by avoiding all these certain foods, and by being so focused on your hygiene, you're kind of missing out on the natural, healthy antibodies that your body needs, the kind of things that gives your body the workout that it needs to fight viruses and allergies and things, when these things pop up. WY: And also we can see that if we're talking about being too healthy and being too clean, I have a case – once I read a report about a mum who was very cautious about being clean for family members, and one day her son came back home after playing with friends, and then she directly took out the alcohol for medical use, and then used the alcohol to clean the son’s hands. Each time the son came back from playing with friends, the mum would just directly clean his hands with the alcohol, and after a few times, the hands, all the skin has been burned. The body actually has a self-protection system. If we are being too clean, does it mean that we will possibly harm our own body protection system? Brian: Well, that certainly seems possible. Lincoln: I’m very interested in what kind of impulse fuels those kinds of actions and things like that. Even a lot of these allergies and things, they're not perfect, the studies are not by any means exhaustive, and they don't have any definitive results, necessarily, but there’s things like, I don’t know if you guys know about the gluten allergy, have you seen that? Brian: Or gluten intolerance. Lincoln: Gluten intolerance, which is very strange, because a lot of doctors are saying that most people who are staying away from gluten, from these kind of things, they don't have any sort of allergy for it, but there's, kind of, almost a trendiness attached to having this kind of weird intolerance for a thing that we didn't know about ten seconds ago. It’s very strange, I think, that kind of impulse to be super-healthy, almost hipster in the way that you go about doing that. Brian: Yeah. Well, certainly, you have to wonder how much this might be of, you know, people making gluten-free food enjoying this extra attention they're getting there, because the idea is, there is a disease – coeliac disease – where, actually, if you have gluten, it causes serious problems to your body, just like some people who have very severe allergies can even die from contact with the things that they are allergic to. Most people, it's not quite that severe.

Brian: Beijing has announced a plan to promote ecological burials in the city. They want them to make up at least 50% of all burials by 2020. They currently only account for 20% of the total. In addition, 33 commercial cemeteries in Beijing have announced ecological burial plans. Other burials that are ecological include burying under trees, flower beds lawns or in an ossuary niche. Some cemeteries have even allowed the scattering of cremation ashes over the sea, and more and more families are choosing this method there. Obviously, it’s the 21st century, and things are being done differently in many ways, and so instead of having the traditional option of merely burying someone in a coffin or a casket, you know, beneath the ground, there are many other ones. Not that all these are necessarily new, but I guess the rate of adoption, and how common they are, and the multitude of options is certainly quite different than how it was ten or 15 years ago. WY: Back in 2014, last year, about 2% of families opt to scatter the ashes of their loved ones at sea. In Chinese culture, we call it入土为安（ru tu wei an）, which means the Chinese traditional culture considers that honorable burial in the ground. It reflects filial piety, in order to have a flourishing population. Brian: Well, actually, I think, I would guess that most traditional cultures in the world did prefer burying people in the ground. I know, in the west, that is traditionally how it’s done – we do see more people doing things that are more creative, in some ways, nowadays, but traditionally, that’s how it’s been, obviously, here in China, and in the west. WY: And also, in Tibet, there are those kinds of sky burials, which are also like celestial burials. The body was only covered in a piece of white cloth – they put the body on the mountaintop. The vultures are waiting around him, and then they will eat the body. People consider this as a kind of method to return the body back to nature, and they say, “From the nature, to the nature”. Brian: Mm – from dust to dust, ashes to ashes, there. But certainly a rather unique way of doing it. Lincoln: Yeah, that’s true, and I know, for example, in certain southern African societies, there’s quite a big premium placed in people being buried where they’re from, near their ancestors, and things like that. So, especially with urbanization increasing in areas like that, as well, you’re seeing the situation where people might live their entire lives, basically, their entire working lives in one part of the country or the city, and they would actually still be buried where their ancestors were from, or where their grandparents were from, so even in that kind of way, we’re also seeing tradition butting up against the grounds of modernization. WY: And when you talk about near their ancestors, I think there has been a similar tradition in China as well, and we have the ancestors’ tomb, or ancestral grave, when there’s a time during the year, the Qingming festival, which is the tomb sweeping festival, people will come back to their hometown, and then all the family members will be united. They will have those kind of ancestral worship ceremonies, and that is why people just value this kind of tradition so much, because that was the time when all the family members are united, and then people will tell the younger generations about the story of their ancestors, and the family history. Lincoln: Yeah, I know that in southern Africa there’s also a really big, kind of, market for it – of getting the body from one part of the world to the other, and there’s actually quite a lot of money exchanging hands in trying to get people back to their ancestral homelands.

Emotional Child Abuse May Be As Bad As Physical Harm Brian: “Our notions of childhood mistreatment need to be broader and need be more holistic than they have been. There are no hierarchies when it comes to child mistreatment.” Certainly, it is a problem there, because usually when you talk about child abuse, the first thing you think of is, you know, beating or kicking a child in some way. Clearly it is not limited to just that. Lincoln: That’s true, and in a lot of countries around the world, as well, when it comes to punishment, morals and attitudes are changing a bit, whereas in the middle of the century it wasn’t a big deal, or if it was, it wasn’t as big of a deal as it is now. It seems like that’s something that’s changing in the modern society, and not just in one country, but globally. Globally, parents and teachers are thinking of different ways to discipline children, maybe because we are actually having to see the effects now – that this leads to depression and anxiety and a lot of other mental health problems. WY: If we are simply talking about discipline, in the old days, we can see more Chinese families had four generations living under the same roof, and usually they would have, like, six kids in the house. The parents are really exhausted during the whole day’s work, and finally, if they want to discipline their kid, there would be simply a slap on the face, or directly kick the child – but slightly – on the butt. So, in that case, they were calling that as a simple punishment. Brian: Well, it is, but actually, that’s a very interesting point you made there, given what you mentioned that you had families which were quite big, had quite a few children, that, you know, after a hard day of work it’s hard to take care of that, necessarily, having to deal with all that, so maybe the number of children, and having to do hard, physical labor might be related to, you know, seeing no better option than hitting your kids. In the U.S., in many places, like in China, a hundred years ago, you did see a lot more agricultural workers, a lot of physical labor and whatnot, and you saw larger families, so maybe these are somehow related there. But as Lincoln mentioned, as things have changed, say, in the 1950s, in the U.S., I would say probably most households, most parents would hit their kids in some way as a form of punishment. Now it’s a little bit different – yuppie types of parents in the U.S., especially parents who are young, who are well-educated, or, you know, middle or upper-class, that sort of thing, they tend to not hit their kids at all. It’s quite uncommon, and seen as a bad thing to do, and might actually be child abuse in the views of a lot of people. WY: We’re seeing some report shows in the U.S., they will ask the kid to go to the room to think about what they have done, or directly ask the kid that you might be grounded, right? Brian: Right, right. So, what you see then if you’re not doing physical punishment in the U.S., a lot of parents will do like you just said – they’ll put kids in “time-out”. In the UK, it’s called being put on the naughty step, or whatever. Basically, it’s – OK, you’ve done something wrong – you need to go to your room, or whatever, and sit there, ideally – well, theoretically, you’re not supposed to do anything; you’re supposed to sit there, you know, think about what you’ve done, all the bad, the harm that you’ve caused, sort of thing. Lincoln: And I think that, again, goes hand-in-hand with the conversation that we had about more agricultural families or poorer families having less. So, for your privileges to be taken away, you need to have privileges to begin with. Brian: Right, very true.

Brian: Ex-Paralympian sprinter Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison into house arrest. Pistorius was found guilty of manslaughter after shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013. The ex-Olympian was sentenced to five years in prison but served only ten months before becoming being released. Under certain sections of the South African Criminal code, a prisoner sentenced to five years or less only has to serve one-sixth of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Pistorius will be subject to electronic monitoring and have to report to his local police station. In an unusual turn, prosecutors have chosen to appeal the original verdict of manslaughter, and seek and want Pistorius to be re-accused of murder. Has his fame led to him being prosecuted in a less than fair manner, or is it potentially working against him now, with the prosecution looking to re-open the case? WY: If Pistorius is convicted of murder by a panel of five judges at the appeal, he faces going back to prison for 15 years, and that is the minimum sentence for murder in South Africa. And also, the state has appealed to manslaughter, changed to murder, and will argue their case at the Supreme Court of Appeal in November later this year. Lincoln: That’s quite an interesting turn of events, because you don’t often see the state, or the prosecution, actually appealing the verdict. Usually, it’s the other way around, so it’s quite unique. Brian: Right, that is the question here, because most murder cases, or most, any kind of criminal or civil cases at all, legal cases, are not known to the public. Lincoln: Arguably, it’s actually quite strange that the case itself was actually being broadcast, because in South Africa, you have this difference in media law between public interest and what’s in the public’s interest, and the difference between the two is if it’s in the public’s interest, it usually has something to do with policy or law, or if someone’s being tried and it would have an effect on South Africa as a whole, in terms of who you vote for. But when something’s just interesting to the public, there’s no real reason for the case to be broadcast. Actually, the judge decided that the case would be broadcast in the interests of fairness, but that, in and of itself, might have placed a bias in terms of the news streaming in and people getting access to the trial itself. I also think it’s interesting that the prosecution has chosen to appeal. Usually, South Africa has double jeopardy laws, and this basically means that you can’t be tried for the same crime twice with the same evidence. But the judge has decided they’re allowed to appeal for a new criminal trial. Arguably, that wouldn’t happen if Pistorius wasn’t famous. Brian: Because people follow this stuff. The fact that people are being treated differently because they’re famous, people are willing to buy those magazines, or click on those articles online and look at that stuff, you know. WY: Mm. And also this case quickly reminded me of the Simpson case, and also on social media that Donald Trump has also tweeted that “Oscar Pistorius will likely only serve 10 months for the cold-blooded murder of his girlfriend – another O.J.” Brian: Right, that’s Donald Trump there, comparing it to the O.J. Simpson trial in the 90s in the United States, where, also very controversial, he was also accused of murder, and I believe he got off as well. Both of these cases, no matter what the outcome was going to be, it was going to be a controversial sort of thing. Lincoln: People are often quite emotional and quite outraged. Actually, Pistorius was supposed to be released in August already, but there was a protest against it because August is women’s month in South Africa, it’s the month that has National Women’s Day. A lot of the reactions are quite emotional, and a lot of people have reacted really, really emotionally.

近年来，焚烧秸秆这种破坏环境的行为往往被推上公众舆论打的风口浪尖。禁止秸秆焚烧，政府年年强调，然并卵。 那么，这个问题怎样治理最环保呢？ During the past few days, heavy smog has again coated most area of the north China, with straw burning mostly blamed, since the central heat hasn't started. Brian: Recently, China’s north has been blanketed by a bunch of smog. This is supposedly due to a lot of straw being burned during the harvest season in northeastern China. China’s State Protection Bureau says that they have detected possible crop straw burning in 20 provinces during the past two weeks, and the latter half of October is believed to be the peak time for crop straw burning in the northeastern part of China. So, certainly an issue here, and one that comes up every year, and people felt it not just in the areas where the burning was going on, but in other places, like in Beijing, of course, and that air certainly does not taste well. But what exactly is going on here, and what can be done about it? WY: I mean, first of all, to explain a little bit about the information about burning straws, because straw is generated by the burning of crop plants, such as wheat, rapeseed and cotton. And also because in China, some farmers in northern China traditionally burn the leftover straw after the autumn harvest, then plough their land. They believe that the ash will act as a natural fertilizer. Brian: Well, that is, actually, not just a view, I think, native to China. I’ve heard of a lot of traditional agrarian societies doing that as well – what they’d call “crop rotation”, where first you plant this type of crop here, in kind of a circle sort of patch. Now, though, there’s a lot more people who can be affected, and a lot more crops that are being burned, so, obviously, this is much more of an issue now. WY: Well, it’s, kind of, quite serious these days, because from the 15th to the 17th in this month, massive smog has swept north, east and central China. And also, testing by the central satellite, over 800 straw burning places have been found, which number is over 6% higher than last year. Lincoln: Well, presumably, Wu You, there’s different ways to rotate the crops, and this is just the most cost-effective way for the farmers. WY: Some experts from the Agricultural Bureau say the straw can be buried, but first of all, you can directly shred it, and then, buried deep, it can be an excellent fertilizer. But another expert also mentioned that the high costs associated with shredding straw is just too much at this point. Lincoln: Already people are burning straw because they don’t necessarily have the money to deal with the more expensive methods of crop rotation. WY: And furthermore, the county has already allocated some 10 million yuan to set up a special office to this, and those are all the help, and those authorities decided to step in to implement some burning bans a few years ago. I think all those actions can actually help to change the situation. That’s why, from time to time, we can actually see there has been some changes – we can see more blue skies in Beijing. Brian: And that’s certainly right – we certainly have seen a lot of improvement here. In Beijing, for example, we have seen a lot more blue skies, and better air quality overall, and in particular, since this year. Lincoln: What we also might be seeing is, kind of, a clash of traditional ways of doing things, as well as modern concerns and modern technology and modern developments; whereas maybe this is the way these farmers have been operating for years and years now. Suddenly to come in and say, “Oh, there’s this new thing that we have that we also need to be cognisant of…” To just, kind of, expect that to change overnight is, I think, a little bit unrealistic, so it’s not just slapping of fines and educating, but also, kind of, having patience, and being able to have finesse in the way that you bring across these messages, and to, kind of, bring across the bigger message, which is, “This is for all of us; we’re not just punishing you.” Brian: Mm. So, obviously, again, we’re seeing some hopeful results here, so hopefully, when this comes round next time, maybe the problem won’t be gone, per se, but hopefully it'll be much smaller than it was.

Jingnan: Mr. Barua, it has been reported that in 2014, only about 12 million people escaped from poverty in China, compared with about 43 million in 2011. So do you think the number shrink because there are fewer and fewer people still in poverty, or does it indicate that the final step in the next five years, for China – that is to lift all the remaining 70 million out of poverty – will be a very tough job? Dipal Barua: I think any poverty alleviation in the country we see the soft portion of population we can easily take out of the poverty, but the harder portion, the communication on a hilltop, or in a flood area, in the context of Bangladesh, so I think China, because I know there are some areas very in the mountain, so no access of road, and other infrastructure is not available, so it’s not the, only blaming the approach of the government but it is hard to raise them. But we need a kind of innovative and creative approach how to go to the last mile. Jingnan: Mm, well, Professor Liu, Mr. Barua sounds very positive. How about you, how do we address this last mile issue? Liu Baocheng: It is, easier for the first mile, because, when we introduce the household responsibility system, and the, every farmer are incentivized to work very hard and to decide on their crops, and now, the next step that we really require more of institutional reform by putting more of the farmers into a more dynamic and efficient way of, say, farm cooperatives and, to introduce more machineries and to make a more accessible of the information technology to the farmers, so these require actually innovative thinking at the government level, and also at the organizational level. It’s not simply, to, give more impetus for famers to work on the same plots of land, to work harder. Jingnan: So poverty relief will be a major issue for a key meeting later this month to set the course for China's development over the next five years. So what’s your suggestion for the 13th Five-Year Plan period in terms of further reducing poverty? Chen Xiaohua: Yeah, so one suggestion I have is transparency. So Chinese government spends every year, and four hundred billion of dollars in the poverty reduction program. We have to know where those money goes and what is the impact of the, spending. So the one thing, is, easy to do, based on the other countries’ experience is the transparency. If every, every project, every place, how much money you got and how much you spent in the each of the program, and in the each of the household. If you have all of those information public[ly] accessible, you can think about, and that will bring the efficiency and also, like what the use and the scandal happen in the Masan county and that will avoid, so that’s a big thing that we have to do.

US-based beverage brand Pepsi-Cola is set to release its first smartphone in China on October 20.The smartphone will be priced at around 1,300 yuan or 210 U.S. dollars.So Baocheng, what is the motivation for Pepsi here for entering the Chinese market?Baocheng: This is insane, Pepsi has always been attacked its arch competitor Coca Cola for being less loyal to its customers and shooting in every direction. They seem to be going through more diversification strategy and they’ve become a more investment company than manufacturing and catering company. The other is that they may see a synergy in dealing with a diversification with more of the contact with different groups of customers and hopefully they can leverage on their brand value and they can be mutually reciprocal and mutually promote different type of customers with a different portfolio of their products. Other than that I do not see much of a justification for them to get engaged in the mobile phone business. Zhao Yang: So Paul so what do you think? Why is Pepsi only selling this phone in China Paul Gillis: Firstly I don’t think this is Pepsi that’s selling the phone. I think it’s a manufacturer in China that makes cheap mobile phones that has licensed the right to use its name. Pepsi is into it because it’s able to use its brand to help this company. It’ll make some royalties undoubtedly. Pepsi big brand in China is its link to entertainment to music and media. I expect that this phone will be loaded with applications that will enhance that brand. It’s particularly not a big deal for Pepsi and the market for cheap cell phones in China is huge, this is not a brilliant strategy but it’s not a bad strategy.

小费，该不该给呢？该怎么给呢？ 有人认为该给，是因为可以提高服务生的主动性。 有人说该怎么给？为什么不能在账单里直接包括呢？ 来听一听吧！ Transcript: Michael Butterworth: In China, tipping's not really considered to be a common practice, but in some western nations, forgetting to tip someone after they provided you with a service is considered a big social faux pas. What do we think about this guys – should we tip? Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: Myself, I'm not a big fan of it, but I think we probably should. And the reason I say that is because it has to with kind of motivation. I've worked in service industries before, and very often the only thing motivating you to get through a very long shift is the fact that, somewhere at the end of it you might actually get a good financial reward at the end of it. Tipping in South Africa is, you pretty much do it for everything. You tip at the hairdresser, you tip the taxi driver, you tip the waiter, you'll even tip the person who puts the fuel in your car. Wu You: But if it is a better motivation to the waiter, why didn't they directly point it out in the receipt, saying like ten percent or fifteen percents go to the tipping or the services charge? Michael Butterworth: I think I am with Wu You here on this one. Obviously, I'm from the UK and there's not really a tipping culture there, and if I'm supposed to pay a certain amount, I would just like to see how much that is written down and then I will pay that amount. I don't like to have to work out this sort of social contract, or code as to how much that should be. I mean in China, tipping isn't really expected either. Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: One thing I've also seen in China for example, which I think might be a kind of middle ground for that is, for example, if you go to the bank, you have the little machine near the teller, and you can kind of rate the person's service one, two, three, four, five stars. In my head, I would like that if, if I rated five stars, the person would see some sort of reward for, out of it. And that kind of takes away any sort of money changing hands, any sort of awkwardness. Michael Butterworth: There are similar things when you go through immigration at the airport in China, you know there's those four buttons, you know, “Rate My Service”: “Excellent”, “Good”, “Poor”, or “Taking Too Long”, or something like that. And I often wonder, if you had one of the immigration officers who got too many complaints that, of poor service, or that he'd been taking too long to stamp people's passports, I often wonder what would happen to him. Wu You: Apparently, those are kind of, a, certain, evaluation, to the staff and officers. If they are making someone waiting too long in the queue, apparently people will complain to it. And then, this is a, sort of the automatically complain to their boss, this time it is by electrical devices. It is not simply by the, consumer itself. Michael Butterworth: No, I often wonder if there's some sort of promotion and relegation system there, that, if you get too many negative reviews then you’ll be bumped out and somebody else with some positive reviews in another part of the office will come in and take your place. Certainly an interesting aspect of tipping culture here in China and around the world.

一项针对中国本土的最新研究指出，祖父母带孩子更容易导致儿童肥胖：在被调查的500个孩子中，将近一半由祖父祖母照顾生活起居，而这些孩子肥胖的风险是仅由父母照顾的孩子的2倍，且这些被爷爷奶奶、姥姥姥爷照顾的儿童，相比于跟着爸爸妈妈的儿童，更少做家务，也会进食更多不健康食品。 Studies show that Chinese children who are mainly cared for by their grandparents are more than twice as likely to be overweight. According to a recent study China is now one of the fattest countries in the world. China ranks only second behind the United States in terms of obesity. The WHO has called childhood obesity one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century, and it seems China seems to be no exception. 为什么会这样呢？ 来听一听吧！ Transcript: Michael Butterworth: And studies have shown that Chinese children who are mainly cared for by their grandparents are more than twice as likely to be overweight as those cared for by their parents. According to a recent study, China is now one of the fattest countries in the world. The World Health Organization has called childhood obesity one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. So, is this purely a Chinese phenomenon? Wu You: When it talks about fattest countries, I don’t think so. Because it is how you look at it. Because China has a large population, we all know that. Fifteen percent of those obesity cases come from China and India, it’s because these two countries has the largest populations. We can see here in the list, even the top twenty you can’t see the name of China. It’s because that when you compared with the obesity percentage, China is not high on the list. Michael Butterworth: Chinese society has changed a huge amount in the last forty years, and even before that. It’s natural to assume that if you have, maybe a five year old or five or six year old child being taken care of by say, someone in their seventies or eighties, you know, when these people were that age they didn’t have a lot. You know, China wasn’t a country of, you know, prosperity, as it is at the moment. So, you know, perhaps there’s an instance, not only of grandparents inherently wanting to indulge their children slightly, but also that they want to give their grandchildren what they didn’t have. Wu You: Yeah, to make up for that. Yeah, I think, for each child they didn’t have the ability to choose what they eat until a certain age, and that was chosen by their parents and their grandparents. And when Michael you mentioned about the grandparents want to make up for what they didn’t have in the old days and that is why they want to give the best to their grandkids. And usually the grandparents are meeting all their neighbors, and when they see a kid is very skinny and they will say “Mm, is he okay? Why is he not fat?” And they believe that the fat kids can be more healthy. Michael Butterworth: Well this, this sort of touches on something we discussed earlier before the show about, about how, in some societies, being fat is considered desirable. You know, there isn’t the stigma attached to it that there is in many developed countries, where, you know, if you’re from a poorer country and yet you are a bit overweight, the implication there is that you know, you’re wealthy enough that you can afford to feed yourself enough and maybe not have to do a job toiling in the fields for hours or something like that. Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: Yeah and in certain African cultures as well it’s very important and very often the leader of the tribe or the leader of the clan would be the fattest man. Wu You: And at the same time in China, we can see a lot of primary schools, they are promoting more physical education in classes, and also some more football teams for the kids. There has been a calling on a healthy diet both in China and also in the western world as well. I still remember that the American first lady Michelle Obama has been promoting the campaign of healthy food for the primary school students as well.

美国芝加哥一个公司专门设计生产一款零功能手机，专治低头族。为什么呢？因为这手机上什么功能都木有！！ 真的什么功能都木有！ 就只是形状看着像手机。 这个二次元公司的目的为了就是打破现代人的手机控，电子设备控。 Chicago Start up NoPhone may just have the cure for your tech addiction. A phone that does nothing at all. The ZERO has no features at all. No sound, no network connection, not even a screen. It consists of a solid brick roughly the dimension of an iPhone. The ZERO is the prototype of tech start up NoPhone, a satirical company committed to breaking consumers of their mobile phone addiction.

Public Shaming: Why are we so eager to see others fall 据BBC报道，因猎杀了津巴布韦最有名狮子而在社交媒体上引发全球网友攻击的美国牙医将不会受到起诉。 然而，强大的舆论声讨再次成为人们的讨论话题。舆论声讨的动机和心理是什么呢？人们是否有权利在查证真相之前发起舆论声讨或是人肉搜索呢？ Transcription: Michael Butterworth: Zimbabwean authorities have decided not to charge Walter Palmer, the dentist who killed a lion earlier this year. Authorities have decided not to pursue Palmer, saying he had obtained the legal documents and permits allowing him to legally hunt in Zimbabwe. Palmer has faced a barrage of online hate for his actions. But now, the scale and intensity of some of the online has raised new questions about the practice of online shaming. So, are we too quick to judge and convict people online before we know all the facts? Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: His practice was protested…notwithstanding the ethical and moral questions, legally, he has been found to have done no wrong. Wu You: His family has faced intimidation...And in Chinese we have a phrase, human flesh searching. Apparently, the next step will be the public shaming. And in China not long ago there has been a quite popular film, which is called “Caught in the Web”. It is about people suing a human flesh search engine by publicly shaming a woman on the bus. Michael Butterworth: And we’ve seen, I would say, similar instances to this in the west recently. There was the Ashley Madison hack. There was no way of knowing if they had actually had an affair or if the email addresses were correct. Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: But what I’m more interested in is the kind of, I’ve made a public mistake like Walter Palmer has, and we’ve all kind of gotten together and judged him now. What I’m interested is what do you think makes people have their compulsion to kind of, stand mob mentality, but to kind of create this situation where I’m not the one being shamed. Wu You: The other people assume that they are standing in the moral high ground. Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: This is true. Wu You: This also quickly reminds me of a famous photo about the vulture is waiting for the girl to die and then to eat her. The photograph was taken by a South African photojournalist Kevin Carter, and then he took his own life a couple of months later due to depression because he received those kind of public shaming, and lot of people would write letters to criticize him that why didn’t you save the girl. He committed suicide due to depression. Michael Butterworth: That could have been a contributing factor, having that sort of weighing on his mind. Another one, last in November a similar sort of thing happened with members of the KKK, the Klu Klux Klan. Lincoln Van der Westhuizen: I find myself actually engaging in public shaming as well because I actually think that they should be fleshed, because that’s a decision they’ve made. I think you lose the right to your privacy once you engage with such, with a hateful group like the Klu Klux Klan. And I think that’s also something to keep in mind as well is this kind of nuanced look at the issue of big game hunting, that gets lost whenever there’s big public shaming. And even if the things that are being said towards Walter Palmer – “he deserves to be shot”, that all get lost in the white noise of this kind of moral paradox. Also there’s no subtlety in that kind of debate, which is something that I think also is a big part of public shaming. Michael Butterworth: Another aspect is, there was a question mark over, you know, the game keepers in Zimbabwe, whether they had acted in the right manner, and whether they had deliberately drawn this lion out into an area which maybe wasn’t where it ought not to have been hunted.

首先中国的贫困线为2300元/年，你觉得合理吗？Prof. Thomas Pogge thinks that:The poverty line of 2300 Renminbi/Year is very close to the international poverty line.You might say, given China’s fantastic economic growth over the last 30 years. China could be a little more ambitious. People who have that amount of money are still quite poor. (But) We do want to focus on the poorest among the poor. So I think it is a good ambition for China to try to get everybody above that line at least by 2020.你觉得这个贫困线怎么定才更合理呢？3000, 1万，10万？Prof. Thomas Pogge’s idea is “What you should do is you should focus on the needs of people. For example the needs for food, the need for shelter and for clothing. And you should then say how much money do I need in the particular location, in order to meet the basic need of human being. ”为什么发展那么多年，贫困的人还是辣么多？We could easily eradicate poverty today, both in China and the world, if we didn’t have so much inequality. This is very obvious in China. After the Deng Xiaoping reforms, you have had some fantastic economic growth that has been the envy of the world. But inequality has also increased and so the share that goes to the bottom 30 - 40 % of the Chinese population has been shrinking and shrinking. 那么多贫困人口2020年能实现7000万人口脱贫吗？Absolutely yes, it is definitely an achievable goal. Poverty in that very severe sense of 2300 RMB is already relatively small in China。China can focus on these pockets of povertyand so China can definitely achieve this. But I think China should be more ambitious and also worry about people who live above the 2300 RMB threshold, let’s say between 2300 and 5000 RMB, and should try to work hard to reduce the number of people who are poor in that somewhat less severe sense.

Zhao Yang: Talking about this interbank payment system this CIPS people say its an important in the yuan’s internationalization so Einar can you explain specifically how it will enhance efficiency of the yuan’s cross border settlement and promote cross border use. Because we know that previously cross border yaunn clearing had to be done by the off shore yuan clearing banks done in the Hong Kong or London. But how about from now on. Einar Tangen: From now on what it does is it decreased transactional risk which in turn decreased the cost of doing the transaction itself. So it’s a very direct market operation where it’s completely transparent and its time sensitive so it’s happening right away. Whereas if you were going through their previous process it would have to book the value of what they were dong in advance and cover it. So it’s a completely different kind of thing to kind of normalize the world in where foreign exchange is and it will be a massive boost to China because china does so much international trade both in terms of incoming and resources but also resources and outgoing goods. Zhao Yang: Well Winston, what does it mean for individual companies and investors?Winston Wong: I don’t think it will directly impact the individual and companies with the immediate and sort of visible effect. I agree with Einar it actually costs out the layers of transaction and facilitates the transfer and payment of rmb much easier, so the cost benefit will be more on a systematic level and will be spread out to hopefully a lot of players but not in a visible way in my view. At least not in the near future.Einar Tangen: When this is expanded, because of the amount of small and medium sized enterprises both within China and around the world ,who will be engaging more directly, there will start to be more direct benefits. If I’m a small company in Shenzen, or someplace and I want to do a transaction overseas, right now it’s very difficult and you have to go through a lot of steps its costly and time consuming and basically it’s a barrier to transactions because the other side has to do it too. This will allow it to be transfer to be very very quick; just a transfer of payment of money coming in and out. So I think down the line it will have a very very big impact.

What's up with Chinese Men and Smoking? The vast majority of men in China smoke, and nearly half of young men will die from it if they don’t stop. This is according to a new study published in the Lancet that also shows female smokers are a scarcity in the country. So what’s the deal – if it's killing them, why do they do it? CRI's Michael Butterworth moderates the discussion between Wu You and Lincoln Van der Westhuizen. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DISCUSSION The discussion started with a question about why smoking is so common in China. Our Chinese panelist thought it was due to two factors: first, because everyone else is doing it! Besides that, it also serves a social purpose: offering someone a cigarette is often meant as a gesture of hospitality (though we’re not sure offering lung poison is the most hospitable thing you can do for someone…). Even Michael Butterworth, clearly not a Chinese man, has been offered cigarettes by Chinese men after just stepping in a bar. Of course, cigarettes play different roles in different countries – as our western panelists pointed out, school-boys often take their first puff as a result of peer pressure. For some, the illicit activity is even a rite of passage of sorts. Whatever the reason, it does seem to be mostly a part of social culture for men, and not so much for women. China's capital is trying to do its part and has updated its somewhat out-dated smoking ban. Now you have to pay 200 RMB, so for chain-smokers on the streets Beijing the cost of lighting up in public isn’t just pocket change anymore!

One of Beijing’s most famous cuisines must be the Beijing Duck, or Beijing Roast Duck. Now we have a museum to showcase the culture of this dish. In the museum there are also photos of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon eating Peking duck in Beijing.

In Qingdao from China's Shandong Province, a Chinese customer had an unforgettable dish of prawn which costs him over 1,500 yuan.What happened?The dish appeared to be marked at 38 yuan ($6) on the menu.But he was later told the menu had specified the price was for each prawn, and was asked to pay over 1,500 yuan, about 250 US dollars for the dish.When presented with the bill, which came up to 2,700 yuan including the cost of other dishes.He confronted to the restaurant owner, who pointed to a line at the bottom of the menu which say "seafood listed above is priced per item". Then he refused to pay and the owner pulled out a stick and threatened to beat him up.After negotiations, with the police called in, he paid 2000 yuan.The story has triggered strong criticism online.Follow up news:This morning, local authority and the police have intervened. The restaurant has closed. It has also been fined for 5000 yuan the unstandardized food price.Why is it so expensive? What's the owner's explanation?The unnamed restaurant owner reportedly said that he charged such high price because his prawns were freshly caught.

First up, in Asia,India and Germany have signed a deal to fast-track approvals to make it easier for German firms to operate in India.The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has demanded that Indonesia take action against companies responsible for illegal forest fires blanketing the region in smoke.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Nauru's government has promised to process 600 outstanding asylum seekers within a week and open up the center, effectively ending detention.In Australia, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says the government is in negotiations to find new third-party resettlement options for refugees.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,Oscar Pistorius must remain in jail and cannot be transferred to house arrest after a decision to grant him parole was again delayed.In Kenya, millions of pupils have returned to school after teachers suspended their five-week strike over pay.(BK)And in the Middle East,Turkey has again summoned the Russian ambassador after a second violation of its airspace by a Russian warplane operating in Syria in two days.Two Palestinian youths, including a 13 year old boy, have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces, amid a surge in violence.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,The organizers of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are making cutbacks of up to 30% to avoid going over budget.Chile has announced that it will create two new marine conservation parks in its Pacific waters.(BK)And in Europe,German media have reported that the number of people seeking asylum in Germany this year will be as high as 1.5 million - almost double the previous estimate.In France, two Air France managers have had their shirts torn by angry workers as they were forced to flee a meeting on job cuts.(LK)And finally in North America,In the United States, a leading gun-control group has called for the resignation of the man leading the investigation into the deadly mass shooting in Oregon.Staying in the country, California has joined four other US states that allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives with a doctor's supervision.

Basketball is enjoyed by millions of Americans and millions of Chinese people too. So, how does the sport bring the two countries together?The Chinese Basketball Association is the top men's professional league in China, and there's a women's association too.The team names usually have three parts – city, sponsor, and nickname… usually an animal.In 1995 Chinese basketball got a boost when the home and away system was introduced, allowing the transfer of players and managers into and out of China. This allowed Chinese players to join the NBA – including Yao Ming, He Tianju, and Wang Zhizhi.American NBAers also play in China, including Randolph Morris and Stephon Marbury of the Beijing Ducks.So, when it comes to international friendship through sports, it’s a slam dunk for basketball!Leave us a comment on Facebook @China Plus news and you could win a prize from Beijing’s Forbidden City.

(MB)First up, in Asia,Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Facebook's headquarters in California, hailing the political power of social media in the modern world.Nepal has started imposing restrictions on vehicle use due to growing fears of a fuel shortage, as protesters vowed to keep blocking a major border trade route.(LK)Turning to Oceania,The U.S. singer Chris Brown has been told he is unlikely to be given a visa to perform in Australia because of his record of domestic violence.Staying in the country, Cricket Australia has said it would seek security assurances from its Bangladesh counterpart over a possible militant threat before going on tour there.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,Somalia's parliamentary speaker has withdrawn an impeachment motion brought against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud accusing him of abuse of office and "betraying the country".In Central African Republic, at least 21 people have been killed and around 100 others were wounded in deadly clashes after a Muslim motorbike taxi driver was killed.(MB)And in the Middle East,Iran's supreme leader is calling on Saudi Arabia to apologize for the deadly stampede during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.France has carried out its first air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,Bolivia's Congress has voted to amend the constitution to allow the country's President Evo Morales to run for re-election again in five years' time.The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is suing the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras for investment losses due to corruption.(MB)And in Europe,Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling for a regional "co-ordinating structure" against the Islamic State group.In Germany, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has rejected allegations that she plagiarized portions of her doctoral thesis, a charge that has brought down other German leaders.(LK)And finally in North America,US Speaker of the House John Boehner will resign from his leadership position and give up his seat at the end of October.Staying in the country, Pope Francis has celebrated a large open-air Mass in Philadelphia, ending his six-day visit to the US.(MB)That's the global headlines survey.

今天的节目呢，我们来看看月饼界的十大明星。Full of joy and happiness, friends and loved ones gather to celebrate a time when the moon is at its fullest and brightest of the whole year.Eating mooncakes is a not-to-miss part of Mid-Autumn Festival.But people are quite tired of eating traditional mooncakes. Instead, people are trying innovative mooncakes with special flavors.Let's have a look at the 10 weirdest mooncakes.10. Chocolate mooncake with spicy beef filling（巧克力香辣牛肉）9. Sour（酸） and spicy mooncake(酸辣)The sourness of the mooncake filling is from pickled vegetables and hawthorns（山楂）. The spiciness is made from a chilli sauce（辣椒酱） like the famous brand Lao Gan Ma.8. Fermented bean curd mooncake （豆腐乳）This is a variant of a kind of pastry made with fermented bean curd popular in Chaoshan, Guangdong province. The pastry is usually used as a sacrificial offering（祭品） by local people on the first day and the middle day of each month.7. Mooncake with fillings of cream, truffle and goose liver（奶酥松露鹅肝）The "Louis Vuttion" of mooncakes is made with expensive ingredients（原料） of truffle（松露） and goose liver（鹅肝）. 6. Mooncake with leek egg filling（韭菜鸡蛋）Scrambled egg（炒鸡蛋） is a popular filling for Chinese Jiaozi (dumpling). But for the first time, scrambled egg is being used for the traditional Mid-Autumn day dessert（甜点）.5. "Shiren" mooncake　十仁月饼"Shiren" mooncakes have 10 kinds of nuts, doubling the traditional "Wuren" mooncake with 5 kinds of nuts. It's four to six times larger than traditional mooncakes, and implies（蕴含着） best wishes of "perfect in every respect".4. Mooncake stuffed with braised pork and preserved vegetable in Soya sauce（梅菜扣肉）Braised pork with preserved vegetable in soya sauce, or "meicaikourou" is a famous Chinese dish. The one made this special filling for mooncake must be a super fan of this dish.3. Bamboo charcoal mooncake （竹炭）This mooncake is made by putting bamboo charcoal powder（竹炭粉） into the mooncake when baking. It's said to have the function of absorbing toxins（毒素） inside our bodies.2. Instant noodle mooncake（方便面）Putting instant noodles into the traditional mooncake will surely give you a special experience. The mooncakes are also marked with Chinese characters, "Diao Si".1. Mooncakes with bean-taste filling fried with tomatoes（月饼炒西红柿）The canteen of Civil Aviation University of China had put forward a dish which fried mooncake pieces stuffed with sweet bean taste and tomatoes before decorating them with caraway（香菜）. The dish became a hit on the Internet and is called the weirdest mooncakes.（最怪异月饼）你有没有想尝试一下的品种啊？

(BK)First up, in Asia,Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a week-long two-nation tour of Ireland and the United States.In Thailand, a court has approved an arrest warrant for a new suspect in last month's Bangkok bombing, bringing the total number of arrest warrants issued in connection with the incident to 14.(TY)Turning to Oceania,Australia has made a stuttering start to their Rugby World Cup campaign as they failed to earn a bonus point in their win against Pool A rivals Fiji in Cardiff.Staying in the country, more than a dozen asylum seekers attempting to get to Australia from Indonesia have been placed in immigration detention after they were forced to call for help when their boat ran into bad weather.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,Glencore's Zambian unit Mopani Copper Mines has notified the government that it plans to lay off more than 3,800 workers due to lower metal prices and high production costs.An airplane belonging to Democratic Republic of Congo's new national carrier has been released by an Irish court after it was grounded over a debt row with two American investors.(BK)And in the Middle East,There have been clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces in the West Bank after the funeral of a woman shot at a checkpoint earlier this week.In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned 100 prisoners including two Al Jazeera journalists.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has extended an anti-smuggling crackdown on the country's border with Colombia, and denied his government's troops are threatening neighboring Guyana.In Brazil, former Volkswagen employees have filed a civil lawsuit against the German carmaker, alleging that it had allowed them to be tortured under military rule.(BK)And in Europe,Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn has resigned following the revelation that the firm manipulated US auto emissions tests.Swiss authorities have approved the extradition of Venezuelan football official Rafael Esquivel to the US, as part of a probe into corruption at Fifa.(TY)And finally in North America,A Canadian court has sentenced two men to life in prison for plotting to derail a train from New York to Toronto.In the United States, a US federal judge has ruled the company collecting royalties for the song "Happy Birthday To You" does not hold a valid copyright.(BK)That's the global headlines survey.

(MB)First up, in Asia,The new leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mansour, has called for unity and hinted he is open to peace talks with the government if a security deal with the US is scrapped.Staying in the country, NATO's top commander there has denied reports that the Pentagon ordered US troops to overlook the sexual abuse of young boys by Afghan security forces.(LSW)Turning to Oceania,Australia's major banks are closing accounts of bitcoin companies, forcing at least 13 digital currency providers out of business in response to tougher financial crime rules.Staying in the country, investment bank Morgan Stanley said that Australia's housing market has "peaked", increasing the risk of a recession.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,The Republic of Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso has announced a referendum on changes to the constitution that could allow him to run for a third term.Burkina Faso's coup leader has defied an ultimatum to step down, saying his forces will retaliate if attacked.(MB)And in the Middle East,Yemen's president has returned to the southern city of Aden after six months in exile.The Palestinian unity government has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks on maintaining the status quo at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque of being fallacious.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,The leaders of Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to "a progressive normalisation" of their common border.Chilean Deputy Interior Minister Mahmud Aleuy said that his country is considering a ban on the construction of buildings lower than 20 meters high in the coastal areas.(MB)And in Europe,Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front, has been ordered to stand trial in October on charges of inciting racial hatred.Three young Dutch start-up entrepreneurs have launched a website to find temporary accommodation for refugees fleeing to Europe, modelled on the popular Airbnb home rental site.(LSW)And finally in North America,US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she opposes a Keystone XL pipeline which would carry Canadian oil to the US.Staying in the country, a US drug company that faced a backlash after raising the price of a drug used by Aids patients by over 5,000% has said it will lower the price.(MB)That's the global headlines survey.

Today’s key word isLegendA legend is a very old and popular story thatmay be true. If you refer to someone as a legend, you meanthat they are very famous and admired by a lot of people.传奇；传说。The 2007 American science fiction film “I AmLegend” is really cool. 言归正传，今天呢，我们来扒一扒最近闹的沸沸扬扬的消失黄金列车。This train is definitely a legend.Recently, Poland has confirmed the discoveryof an armored(装甲的) World War II Nazi train that local legend says is fullof gold and other loot(战利品).波兰表示，这事儿9成9是真的。这火车还要从二战说起。After Adolf Hitler became the GermanChancellor, 他就开始抢夺各种奇珍异宝。据说，希特勒当时拥有的战利品价值5亿美元左右，放到今天就是46亿美元。无数的黄金被融化，铸成12公斤金锭藏在了这辆火车上。除了各种名画，黄金，珠宝，古董之外，我们上次提到的 the amber room is reportedly also hidden inthis train.And we all know that Allies win the World WarTwo and Hitler shot himself.但胜利的盟军并木有找到这辆传说中的黄金列车。Someone said that the train has disappearedlike a ghost in Polandin a spring in the year of 1945.Actually, there were no evidences to provethe existence of the train. Until, two young men told the world that they foundthe train!为此，波兰还专门成立了一个突发事件委员会调查此事。在新闻发布会上，波兰当局公布了一张雷达探测到的火车照片。虽然不清晰，但还是有火车的轮廓。到底这个火车存不存在呢？Let’s wait and see.

文稿 Today’s key word is Amber Amber is fossilized (变成化石)tree resin（树脂）, which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty。 琥珀 Here is an example: Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday? 你过生日的时候想要一条琥珀项链吗？ It is also a very popular name for foreigners. But the Amber that we are going to talk about today is a legend(传奇). 它就是旷世奇珍---琥珀屋 The Amber Room Long long time ago, 生活在德国一位土豪国王，命令当时最有名的建筑师，建造琥珀屋， the amber room, 以彰显皇家气质。建好以后，这位土豪国王the Prussian King Frederick William I看着这个耀眼的珍宝，一拍脑门，唉，这个当礼物不错啊！ 于是，这位土豪就把the amber room 送给了俄罗斯的彼得大帝当信物。 The Amber room is decorated(装饰) in amber panels backed with gold leafs and mirrors。 坊间传言，此屋墙面镶嵌有无数的被称为“美人鱼的眼泪”的琥珀，此外壁板还以精湛的意大利珠宝镶嵌工艺饰以钻石、祖母绿和红宝石等等各类宝石，这些宝石加起来据说有6吨重。整个房间闪耀着从柠檬黄到金红色等人类可以想象的黄色系中一切的色彩。 Before the room was lost, it was considered an "Eighth Wonder of the World"（世界第八大奇迹。） 这么珍贵的屋子，就这样被送人了。只能说，土豪的世界你别猜，你猜来猜去也猜不明白~~~ 被拆开送到彼得大帝的Catherine Palace 凯瑟琳宫。 The Amber Room was reworked in Russia in a joint effort by German and Russian craftsmen（工匠）. 就这样，the amber room 静静的在俄罗斯闪耀了几个世纪后，德国人来了。 纳粹军队入侵前苏联时，苏联人想着决不能给敌人留下一口粮食，一粒子弹，于是就准备把这屋子拆了带走。可发现，这些“人鱼的眼泪”早就干了，bia在了墙壁上，根本没时间一点点拆下来。 The Amber Room was therefore hidden behind mundane（普通的） wallpaper, in an attempt to keep German forces from seizing（夺） it. 然而这并没有什么卵用。 纳粹将军以迅雷不及掩耳到铃儿响叮当之势，就把琥珀屋打包带回家了。 那么问题来了，这个被抢去德国的宝贝，怎么就不见了呢。 话说，那是一个1945年冬天，Hitler has ordered the movement of the amber room. But before the army had the chance to move the room, the royal air force bombed the whole area. And no one ever see the Amber room in public. 这么多年来，关于琥珀屋的去向，传言颇多，但至今也没有人发现this mysterious Amber Room. 但是，but ，重点来了，上个月，有两个外国童鞋说他们在波兰找到了传说中的纳粹黄金列车，据说琥珀屋就在车上。怎么发现的呢，说是一位老人临死前说的，这位老人曾经是参与埋藏列车行动的士兵。 唉，这可信度就高了很多。波兰当局也出来说话了： ‘More Than 99% Certain’ Nazi Mystery Train Find Is Real！！ What’s the story about the Gold Train? 这个黄金列车又是什么情况呢？ 下次接着扒！ Don’t forget we will hold the China-US University students’ dialogue on September 16th in NUY Shanghai, 上海纽约大学9月16日晚6点，记得来玩哦！ See you next time!

节目标题：Birth-英国小哥的坐月子体验文稿Today’s key word is BirthWhen a woman gives birth, she produces a baby from her body. 出生；诞生。一个人类宝宝到底是从哪里来的呢？这个我们之前在讲到Egg这个词的时候说过哦。不记得的童鞋，可以找找那期节目来听。今天呢，我们一起来研究一下，坐月子这个“惨无人道”的活动。话说，一个充满好奇心的英国小哥前不久不远万里来到中国，体验了一把坐月子。用亲身经历再次证明一个宇宙真理：No zuo no die, why you try!?At first, the British Guy though that 坐月子就是 Sitting in the month! 这充分证明了，这个天真的英国小哥并不了解事态的严重性。坐月子光坐着可是不行滴。Confinement 才是更加正确和适合的表达。Confinement除了坐月子之外，还有监禁，限制的意思。这个英国小哥，第一天就被要求先带上 fake boobs.(C cup 哦)但这仅仅是一个开始，一个开始，开始~~~~He had to learn how to feed the babies, how to bath the babies, how to comfort the babies when they cry, and many other how to~~~~在他终于完成一系列任务后，小哥激动这期待享誉全球的Chinese food。排骨？烤鸭？烧鸡？NO NO NO红豆汤，小米粥，白水猪蹄汤。估计当时小哥的内心是崩溃的，还不如回去吃Fish and chips.为了让体验更为真实，热心的中国工作人员，还免费让他体验了一把产后疼痛，用加衣服的夹子把这哥们的肚子夹的色彩缤纷。After he escaped from this “hell”, the British guy wrote a very very long article.向世界哭诉了自己的经历。Here are some sentences from his article:“I had a "devil baby" section where it drove me crazy crying for half an hour straight.'”哭半个小时，小哥你也太夸张了。“I get red bean soup for dinner (the staff get McDonald's) ”我晚饭喝了红豆汤，他们竟然吃了麦当劳！麦当劳！It seems like this British guy had lot to say during the 24 hours experiences.中国妈妈们为了孩子承受了多少，可能只有亲身体会才能真正了解的到。So give your mom a call and tell her you love her.By the way, 我们9月16日晚6点会在上海纽约大学举办中美大学生对话。大家有空的话都来玩啊。

节目标题：Dialogue-和歪果仁对话吧文稿Today’s key word is Dialogue Dialogue is communication or discussion between people or groups of people.对话。我们今天为啥要说这个词儿捏？我们要办对话会了！We are going to hold a Dialogue in Shanghai on September 16th.中美大学生对话作为一档高端严肃的节目，英文名字那是一定要有的2015 "University to the World" China-U.S. University students’ Dialogue.What does this dialogue look like?Q：这个对话会将会什么样子呢？A：这是一场木有底线，但又节操的聊天大会。Q：那是什么样的呢A:就是我天朝大学生和美帝大学生们一起，看雪看星星看月亮，从诗词歌赋谈到人生哲学……Well, a lot of issues will be mentioned in the dialogue. For example: 美帝大学生是不是天天开party 不上课？ 中美大学生谁比较聪明凌厉？Q:这么诱人的活动，怎么围观？A：这个要严肃的回答，恩恩，9月16日周三，晚上8点，上海纽约大学。带上自己来就能围观了。上海的朋友们，嗨起来吧！！！Join us in Shanghai!9月16日周三，晚8点，上海纽约大学。

First up, in Asia,Violent protests in north-western Nepal over a new constitution have continued as security forces remain deployed to enforce a curfew.In Afghanistan, a series of explosions at a gas terminal in the western city of Herat has killed 10 children and an adult.(TY)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, hundreds of residents south of Sydney have been forced to flee their homes because of rising floodwaters.Staying in the country, the Sydney Theater Company has named Jonathan Church, a man who led a major turnaround in UK theatre, as its artistic director.(JN)Moving on to Africa,A South African court has granted bail to one of Nelson Mandela's grandsons who had been charged with raping a 15-year-old girl earlier this month.A 25-year-old man from Ghana is believed to have left his country to join the Islamic State group.(MB)And in the Middle East,Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he is confident about continuing support from Iran and Russia.Lebanon's cabinet has failed to reach an agreement on how to tackle the country's waste crisis.The US and Turkey have reached an agreement which will see Turkish jets join the air campaign against Islamic State militants.(JN)Looking to Latin America,A court in Guatemala has ruled that former military leader General Efrain Rios Montt must face retrial for genocide despite suffering from dementia.In Colombia, four miners have been killed in a methane gas explosion at a coal mine in central Boyaca province.(MB)And in Europe,A court in Russia has jailed Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov for 20 years over allegedly plotting terrorist acts in Crimea.Four people have been killed in a shootout at a Roma camp in north-eastern France.(TY)And finally in North America,Two men in the United States have been detained on suspicion of trying to smuggle drugs and pornography into a prison in Maryland using a drone.Staying in the country, Hawaii's most popular beach, Waikiki, has been closed due to massive sewage spills triggered by heavy rains.(MB)That's our global headlines survey.

Over 400 Chinese citizens have set a new Guinness World Record by having breakfast in bed together in Beijing. The act has been mocked by many netizens over the meaning of winning such a record. Do we really need to have such meaningless world records?

Now, our global survey of headlines,(MB)First up, in Asia,Violent clashes at a protest in western Nepal have killed at least seven police officers and a child.A Hong Kong photojournalist is out on bail in Bangkok after he was held for carrying body armour and a helmet while reporting on the recent bomb blast.(TY)Turning to Oceania,Tony Abbott has become the first Australian prime minister to visit the resting place of Indigenous land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo.Staying in the country, an Australian woman wrongfully jailed for a decade has been awarded more than 2 million Australian dollars in compensation.(Brian)Moving on to Africa,In Kenya, the Supreme Court has said that the government should abide by a lower court's decision to give teachers a pay rise of at least 50-percent.The World Health Organization says Sierra Leone has released its last known Ebola patient.(MB)And in the Middle East,The UN cultural agency has said the destruction of the ancient temple of Baalshamin in Syria's Palmyra is a war crime.In Yemen, at least 14 civilians have been killed by rockets fired by Houthi rebels in Taiz, as the battle for the country's third city intensifies.(Brian)Looking to Latin America,Colombia has condemned deportations of its citizens from Venezuela during a Venezuelan crackdown on smugglers and criminal gangs.Peru says it will not host the 2016 Dakar Rally due to concerns about the El Nino weather phenomenon.(MB)And in Europe,German Chancellor Angela Merkel has strongly condemned violence at an asylum seekers' shelter that injured dozens of police officers.The Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague has ordered Russia to pay damages to the Netherlands over its seizure of a ship protesting against oil drilling.(TY)And finally in North America,Police in Canada say two individuals associated with the leak of Ashley Madison customer details are reported to have committed suicide.Staying in the country, Canadian authorities has confirmed the death of six people in a plane crash in a wooded area in Quebec province.(MB)That's our global headlines survey.

(MB)First up, in Asia,China plans to let its main state pension fund invest in the stock market for the first time.In Japan, a U.S. Army depot outside of Tokyo has been hit by an explosion, triggering a fire but no apparent casualties.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Dozens of firefighters from Australia and New Zealand have departed for the US to help crews battle deadly blazes that have scorched the country's parched west.In Australia, a British tourist lost for two days in a remote area has described being rescued after writing an SOS message in the sand.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,About 4,400 migrants were rescued from boats off the coast of Libya on Saturday, in one of the biggest single-day operations mounted to date.In Nigeria, suspected Boko Haram militants have ambushed a convoy carrying the new head of the Nigerian army, killing one soldier and at least five militants.(MB)And in the Middle East,A British national being held hostage in Yemen has been released following a military operation.Islamic State militants on Sunday have blown up the temple of Baal Shamin, one of the most important sites in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,In Brazil, the International Sailing Federation has warned that events at the Rio Olympics in 2016 could be moved out of the polluted Guanabara Bay.In El Salvador, at least 14 gang members have been killed in a prison as a result of a suspected feud.(MB)And in Europe,At least one person has been killed after two small planes collided mid-air during an airshow in northern Switzerland.Thousands of migrants have resumed their journey north through Macedonia and into Serbia after Macedonia reopened its border with Greece.(LK)And finally in North America,The Finnish government has said that two American military aircraft allegedly violated Finnish air space on Sunday.In the United States, "Black Lives Matter" activists have released a 10 point plan to address abuses by US police forces after critics said that the group has lacked direction.(MB)That's the global headlines survey.

A post-doctorate student has won a free plastic surgery in a reality show organized by a cosmetics organization. He said the surgery has fulfilled his long-cherished wish, which has triggered criticism from netizens. Is appearance really that important for everyone, including highly educated top talents?

（Today/Global survey）0818 Global Survey (Brain)First up, in Asia,Thailand's chief of police has said that the bomb attack that killed 20 people at Bangkok's Erawan shrine on Monday was carried out by a "network".Chinese internet giant Tencent has taken a 50 million dollars stake in Canadian mobile messenger Kik Interactive. (LK)Turning to Oceania,Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that seven young Australians have been stopped on their way to join terrorists in the Middle East.Staying in the country, Australia's government is seeking changes to environmental laws which could make it harder for green groups to challenge development projects. (MB)Moving on to Africa,South Africa's justice minister has blocked the early release of athlete Oscar Pistorius from prison on Friday.In Central African Republic, UN peacekeepers face new allegations of sexually abusing three young females, including a minor.(Brian)And in the Middle East,A top UN official warns that months of conflict in Yemen has pushed the country to the brink of famine, with millions in urgent need of help.In Turkey, gunmen have fired on police outside an Istanbul palace and a bomb has killed eight soldiers in the southeast Siirt province.(MB)Looking to Latin America,A Bolivian police officer is killed as security forces try to evict local people from a gold mine they have occupied north-west of La Paz.In Venezuela, germs spread by opossums in a maternity hospital are believed to have led to the deaths of 17 babies.(Brain)And in Europe,Google says data has been wiped from discs at one of its data centres in Belgium - after it was struck by lightning four times. Two people in Poland say they may have found a Nazi train rumoured to be full of gold, gems and guns that disappeared in World War Two. (LK)And finally in North America,US health officials have closed a portion of Yosemite National Park after it emerged that a second tourist might have contracted plague.Staying in the country, a West Virginia man has been charged with making a fake bomb threat, which led to the evacuation of the Statue of Liberty in April.(Brain)That's the global headlines survey.

(Brain)First up, in Asia,Video footage has emerged showing a man leaving a backpack inside the Bangkok shrine where a bomb exploded on Monday, killing at least 27 people, including 6 Chinese nationals.Sri Lanka's ruling United National Party has won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, blocking former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's attempt to return to power.(LK)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, a maximum security prisoner is back behind bars after staging an audacious escape.Staying in the country, Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told his joint party room that ministers have been "read the riot act" for having public spats in the wake of last week's messy gay marriage debate.(MB)Moving on to Africa,Reports in Nigeria say as many as 60 people may have been killed after a raid on a village in the country's north-east by suspected Boko Haram militants.Rebels have accused South Sudan's government of resuming military attacks, a day after President Salva Kiir failed to sign a peace deal aimed at ending the civil war.(Brian)And in the Middle East,Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has dismissed as worthless a parliamentary report blaming him for the fall of Mosul to the Islamic State group.In Syria, IS militants have beheaded an antiquities scholar in the city of Palmyra and hung his body on a column in a main square of the historic site.(MB)Looking to Latin America,Nicaraguan Fifa official Julio Rocha, who was detained in Switzerland in May over corruption allegations, has been charged with money laundering.In Ecuador, hundreds of thousands of people living south of the capital Quito, are said to be at risk from an eruption of the Cotopaxi volcano.(Brain)And in Europe,A man who hid from the Charlie Hebdo gunmen is suing French media for revealing his whereabouts.Spanish police are looking to fine a woman who photographed officers parking in a disabled bay, under a controversial new "gag law".

A recent story shows that Letv.com has unveiled a new product: Super Bicycle.What's so special about it?The bicycle includes an array of convenient smart functions such as a music player, an emergency call capability, as well as a navigation system and social networking.It can also act as a super health tool allowing the cyclist to monitor different health indicators.The bike is designed to look like a bird in flight, boasting a high level of fashion as well as functionality.More details:Functions:-The majority of the bicycle's features are accessed via the touch screen on the center of the handlebar.-Smart features the bike includes are social networking functions, which allow the users to post his route and status via the Super Bicycle.-It also has GPS navigation and fingerprint recognition and a wide variety of music platforms such as FM radio and the popular Chinese music database Xiami.-All of the above runs on the bicycle's operating system, Bike OS, developed by Letv. A new operating system means a whole new world of opportunity for third party developers.

(Brain)First up, in Asia,Police in Bangladesh have filed charges against 13 men who allegedly filmed themselves laughing and jeering as they beat a teenage boy to death.The United Arab Emirates and India plan to create a 75 billion US dollars fund to invest in Indian infrastructure, according to a joint statement at the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on Monday. (LK)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, the Senate has again rejected a bill for greater oversight of unions, setting up a double dissolution trigger for the Federal Government.Staying in the country, a controversial bill to legalize same-sex marriage bill has been introduced to the parliament, amid heated debate about whether to change the law or put the matter to a plebiscite. (ZCG)Moving on to Africa,For the first time since the Ebola outbreak was declared in Sierra Leone, the country has recorded zero new infections. In south Africa, prosecutors have filed papers calling for Oscar Pistorius to be convicted of murder, days before he is due to be released on probation.(Brian)And in the Middle East,Turkey's prime minister said no agreement was reached at a last-ditch meeting with a nationalist party to form a coalition alliance, leaving Turkey with little option but to hold new elections.The UN's humanitarian chief has said Damascus should allow greater humanitarian access to people in need inside Syria, after his first visit to the country. (ZCG)Looking to Latin America,Peru’s El Comercio newspaper deleted two articles by Lima's archbishop and says it will not publish his work again, following allegations of plagiarism.In Nicaragua, at least two police officers and three voluntary policemen died after being ambushed by an armed gang in the city of Bluefields. (Brain)And in Europe,London 2012 Olympic 1500m champion Asli Cakir Alptekin has been stripped of her gold medal for doping. In Spain, bulls have gored seven people to death during festivals across the country since the beginning of July.(LK)And finally in North America,In Mexico, regional human rights investigators say they have been denied access to military personnel who may have witnessed the disappearance of 43 students last September.In the United States, a nuclear site in South Carolina was reopened from more than two hours in lockdown , after a bomb-sniffing dog over-reacted and halted a delivery truck.(Brain)That's the global headlines survey.

(Brian)First up, in Asia,The wreckage of an Indonesian plane carrying 54 people has been found in the country's remote western Papua region.In Sri Lanka, voters will go to the polls on Monday, with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa aiming to return as the country's prime minister.(TY)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, Sydney Water says it is waiting on test results to decide the next stage of its clean up in Botany Bay after a spill of million litres of sewage.Staying in the country, federal parliament cleaners have launched a week-long strike in a bid for higher pay.(Michael)Moving on to Africa,An audio message has emerged of Nigerian-based Islamist militant group Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau, in which he denies he has been replaced.Rival armed groups in northern Mali said they briefly exchanged fire in the first apparent breach of a peace accord they signed with the government in June.(Brian)And in the Middle East,Syrian activists say at least 80 people have died in government air strikes on a marketplace in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus.An Iraqi parliamentary panel has called for former PM Nouri Maliki to face trial over the fall of the northern city of Mosul to Islamic State.(Michael)Looking to Latin America,Ecuador President Rafael Correa has declared a state of emergency over increasing activity at the Cotopaxi volcano near the capital, Quito.Jamaican narcotics agents have seized over a 1.000 pounds of marijuana found hidden in two shipping containers at wharves in the capital.(Brian)And in Europe,Dozens of migrants on the Greek island of Kos have begun registering on a passenger ship which will be their temporary shelter as they seek asylum.The International Association of Athletics Federations has denied blocking publication of a study indicating a third of top athletes admitted doping.(TY)And finally in North America,US Vice-President Joe Biden has said the killing of four marines and a sailor in Chattanooga was the work of a "perverted jihadist", despite no official determination of motive.Staying in the country, presidential candidate Hilary Clinton has hit back at remarks that the decision to withdraw U.S. troops in Iraq led to the rise of the Islamic State group.(Brian)That's the global headlines survey.

Today’s key word is Goddess.仰望过男神，我们这期再来探讨一下女神-这个神奇滴物种。女神Goddess在这里，即不是慈爱的观音菩萨，也不是智慧的雅典娜（Athena）。她是男生看了无比欢喜，女生看了无比恨自己的--------女性 woman。As the handsome British Gentleman said in ---- Manners Maketh Man.Now let’s talk about what makes woman a goddess.现在我们就一起扒一扒女神的各种属性。(要是觉得这一句话 说出来跟上下文不连贯 就可以省略)要成为一名合格的女神，首先------你要是个女的。（此处可以有笑声。哈哈哈哈）严肃严肃To be a goddess, one must have a great figure.**********Figure 体形 身材完美的身材是一个女神的标配。Talking about body or figure, Megan Fox is definitely a perfect model. Megan Fox 在变形金刚中修车的镜头不知到多少人鼻血横流。Her curvaceous figure makes her a sexy goddess.除了美好的肉体外，颜值也是十分重要的。**********Scarlett Johansson （斯嘉丽约翰逊），the black widow in the movie is a live explanation of lovely face.复仇者联盟中的斯嘉丽约翰逊就是活生生的对高颜值的诠释。She is a heavenly beauty.Besides Sexy and gorgeous appearance，wisdom is absolutely a plus.*************Wisdom 智慧 智慧 智慧 重要的事情说三遍For most beauties, beauty is all they have.美女如果只有美丽的外表，那绝对无法称作女神。In my opinion, a goddess must also have wisdom.For example, me. 当然除了我，卷福的wife,卷嫂也是可以称作女神的。Sophie Hunter graduated from oxford in the UK.She is elegant, graceful and cultured.如果你在生活中遇到了，像主播本人一样，身材颜值俱佳，有教养又有学识的女子。请珍惜，这类物种并不多。Anyway, I believe every girl has the potential to be a goddess.So love yourself, 回家后请镜子高呼 我是女神！I am goddess！

（Today/Global survey）0813 Global Survey (Brain)First up, in Asia,A South Korean man has set himself on fire outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul during a large protest over Japan's forced recruitment of sex slaves to service military brothels during World War II.Myanmar's President and Vice President will not run in the general election scheduled for November 8th.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Australian Authorities are investigating claims the Islamic State group has published information about Australian officials, urging attacks on them.Staying in the country, Australia's biggest bank, the Commonwealth, has reported a five percent rise in full-year net profits to a record 6.6 billion US dollars.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has sacked the mission chief in the Central African Republic, saying "enough is enough" after a string of allegations of child sex abuse by peacekeepers.In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a measles outbreak in the copper-mining Katanga province has killed 315 people and infected at least 20,000.(Brian)And in the Middle East,Croatia says it fears the worst for one of its nationals abducted in Egypt but cannot confirm he has been beheaded by militants affiliated with the Islamic State group.Egypt's health ministry says a heatwave there has killed at least 61 people in three days, as temperatures soared to 47C.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,El Salvador's attorney general has issued about 300 arrest warrants for gang members suspected of "terrorist acts" and a gang-imposed public transport strike.Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has launched a 53 billion U.S. dollars Investment Program in Electric Energy to expand the country's power grid.(Brain)And in Europe,Swedish prosecutors will drop their investigation into sexual assault allegations against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange because of statutes of limitation.The European Union says escalating attacks on government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine violate a February peace deal.(LK)And finally in North America,Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced plans to track foreign homeownership and raised the possibility of eventually enacting limits on buying.In the United States, former President Jimmy Carter says recent liver surgery revealed that he has cancer and it has spread to other parts of his body.(Brain)That's the global headlines survey.

ecent news shows that police in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province have created a Zodiac sign chart for those jaywalkers.After analyzing data collected from group, the Shenzhen police find out that Libras, Virgos as well as Scorpios came up to the top 3 zodiac signs among all the jaywalkers accounting for about 10%, 9.9% and 9%, respectively.Arieses and Tauruses have the least number of people violating traffic rules.On Aug. 3th, it is reported that the Shenzhen police have come up with a creative way to punish those who jaywalk.Violators of traffic regulations are asked to wear green vests and caps and help traffic police direct traffic and supervise pedestrians.Since the rule is implemented on August 3, a total of 9,511 were punished by the traffic police within a week.

上期呢，我们讲的是如果形容男神，How to describe prince charming or Fresh meat.Let’s have a review.-Fresh meat 小鲜肉Netizens call swimmer Ning Zetao, fresh meat.-Mr. Muscle 肌肉男Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Masculine guy.-Six-pack abs 6块腹肌Tightening a beer gut (啤酒肚) into a six-pack is not easy.-Apollo's Belt 人鱼线Girls find Apollo's Belt (or V muscle) very attractive.Pectorals or pecs 胸肌My boyfried has rock-hard pecs.大家在生活中多多使用这些词哦。如果说上期，我们主要讨论的是男神的身材，那么这期，我们就一起来分析一下男神的颜值。说到颜值，必须要提到 花~美~男~If you met a guy who is incredibly handsome and charming and cute, you can use Metrosexual to describe him.这个词我们上次也提到过的哦。David Beckham就是对这个词的最好解释。David Beckham was hailed as the ultimate “metrosexual”*******当然，韩剧里的很多OBA也是当之无愧的花美男！！！！！作为一个合格的OBA首先，必须拥有逆天的大长腿。Leggy比如，想形容李敏镐满屏都是腿的画面就可以说： Lee’s physique is leggy.*******除了大长腿，面瘫脸也是霸道总裁们的必备技能。Aloof 原意是指冷漠的，远离的。但在这个也可以形容总裁们，没有表情，却帅的我们一脸血的样子。比如《星你》里的都教授：Prof. Du depicts appears to have an icy exterior and seems very aloof. 剧中刻画的都教授表面上十分的高冷。*******学了这么多词，所谓实践出真知，我现在就为大家形容一下one of my favorite character, Thor!!!!!Look at Thor!When he smiles he is incredibly handsome, charming and cute.And look at the muscles, he is so attractive. He not only has six packs abs, the Apollo belt, the pectoral, he also has very long legs.His physique(体型) is so leggy.Thor can rock a mountain. His appearance can rock every girl’s heart.*******That's all we have for this edition of A-Yo English.If you want to learn some words or expressions, feel free to leave me a message.Wish every girl to meet your Prince Charming.And wish every boy to become the Prince Charming. (We will talk about goddess 女神 next time，stay tuned!)

(Brain)First up, in Asia,A Taliban suicide bomber has attacked a checkpoint near the entrance to the international airport in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing five people.Malaysia says it is sending a team of experts to the Maldives to investigate reports that debris from the missing Flight MH370 has washed up there. (TY)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, more doubt is cast on the future of one of the world’s biggest coal projects as UK bank Standard Chartered pulls out of the project.Staying in the country, vegemite sales will not be limited in remote Australian communities, amid reports the spread was being used in home-brewed alcohol.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,Sahara-based Islamist militant group al-Mourabitoun has claimed responsibility for a hotel siege in central Mali at the weekend in which 17 people died.In Cameroon, military police have raided a house and freed around 70 children who were being held captive and were suffering from disease and hunger. (Brain)And in the Middle East,Six members of the security forces have been killed in a series of attacks in Turkey amid rising tension between the government and Kurdish militants.In Iraq, at least 42 people have been killed and many more injured in two bomb attacks. (ZJN)Looking to Latin America,Early results in Argentina’s primary polls suggest Daniel Scioli of the governing Front for Victory coalition has won a comfortable majority.In Colombia, a pilot was killed when a Costa Rican plane crashed in the western jungle area near the Pacific Ocean coast. (Brain)And in Europe, In Germany, a study has found that the Greek debt crisis has saved the German government more than 100 billion US dollars in lower borrowing costs because investors have sought safety in German bonds.In Sweden, two people have been killed and another seriously injured in a knife attack at an Ikea store in Vasteras. (TY)And finally in North America,In the US, Tyrone Harris, shot by police in Ferguson during the Michael Brown anniversary events, is charged with assaulting officers as a state of emergency is declared.Staying in the country, a toxic leak of wastewater that has turned a Colorado river mustard yellow is three times larger than US officials had originally estimated. (Brain)That's the global headlines survey.

Freshmeat-形容男神的正确姿势（上）文稿Today’s key word is Fresh meat.看见自家男神，应该用什么词来形容呢？什么样的形容才能配的上小鲜肉，fresh meat 呢？一起Get√起来，妹纸们请备好纸巾擦口水~ ********* 肌肉男：穿衣显瘦、脱衣有肉 Mr. Muscle “雷神Thor”Chris Hemsworth就是典型滴肌肉男，英文形容男士肌肉发达可直接用masculine。“肌肉男”则可以直接说a masculine guy ~作为一名合格的小鲜肉，首先要具备 *********六块腹肌 Six-pack abs 为啥不是八块？因为，在英文中使用six packs要更常见些，例如：Tightening a beer gut (啤酒肚) into a six-pack is not easy. *********除了腹肌，人鱼线也是相当重（you）要(ren)人鱼线 Apollo&`&s Belt 有了N块腹肌，要是再有两条“人鱼线”简直堪称完美了有木有？除了Apollo&`&s Belt之外，你还可以亲切地称它为sex muscles *********形容完腹肌和人鱼线之后，再来看看用什么形容那充满安全感的胸肌。“胸肌”在英文里是pectorals，简称为pecs，可与rock-hard搭配形容厚实、坚硬的胸肌。请自行脑补那如岩石般坚硬的肌肉… *********如果遇见一个颜值，身材俱佳的男神该如何是好？那么，你就可以用metrosexual这个词啦！该词为metropolis和sexual的合成词，指注重外表的都市硬汉形象，近似花美男和肌肉男的结合。比如说David Beckham。 这样的人我们就可以称之为男神，Prince Charming For more words that we can use to describe our Prince Charming，下期接着聊！If you want to learn some words or expressions, feel free to leave me a message.See you next time!

Today's key word is WeekendA weekend is Saturday and Sunday.周末Here is an example.Why don't you and I go away this weekend? 不如咱俩这个周末出去度假吧？Is there anyone who don’t like weekend?I don’t think so.Most of people have the feeling that two days are far from enough.This kind of feeling becomes stronger when it comes to the Sunday afternoon.But now we might have the chance to have half day more for the weekend.Recent news shows that the Chinese government is encouraging employees to have two-and-half-day weekend during hot summer days.This encouragement comes with the understanding that the weekend will start on Friday afternoon.In an ongoing survey conducted by sina.com, nearly 80 percent of the respondents(受调查者) believe a two-and-half day long weekend is feasible. What do you think about this two-and-half-day weekend?What do you usually do during the weekend?

(Brain)First up, in Asia,Two passenger trains in India have derailed minutes apart on a flooded bridge, killing at least 24 people.In Afghanistan, a UN report says that nearly 1,600 civilians were killed as a result of armed conflicts and war in the first half of this year.(TY)Turning to Oceania,An Australian court has overturned government approval for Indian company Adani's giant coal mine in Queensland.Staying in the country, the University of Sydney has rejected allegations it unreasonably failed hundreds of international business students.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,Rescuers are searching for survivors after a boat carrying as many as 600 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya.Cote d'Ivoire's government has fixed October 25th as the date for a presidential election, key for overcoming a decade of political turmoil and civil war.(Brain)And in the Middle East,The implementation of US plan to build a moderate fighting force in Syria has been criticized by a key commander trained under the programme.An online video purportedly from the Islamic State group's Egypt affiliate has threatened to kill a Croatian hostage if Muslim women in Egyptian jails were not freed.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,Venezuela's government has rejected what it described as "intervention" from the U.S. State Department in upcoming legislative elections.Argentina's president has defended her Cabinet chief against a report implicating him as the mastermind in the killing of three alleged drug traffickers.(Brain)And in Europe,A deal has been agreed in which Russia will receive compensation for France's decision last year to cancel the sale of two warships.The EU and Vietnam have announced a free trade deal that would remove nearly all tariffs.(TY)And finally in North America,The US Department of Defense is sending 450 soldiers to Kuwait for a one-year deployment to aid the fight against the Islamic State militants.Staying in the country, Jon Stewart, host of the wildly popular and influential news satire program "The Daily Show", completes his 16-year run.(Brain)That's the global headlines survey.

First up, in Asia,The head of the Afghan Taliban's political office in Qatar has resigned, the latest sign of a split in the group following Mullah Omar's death.In Myanmar, the government has appealed for international aid amid floods which have killed at least 46 people and affected more than 200,000.(TY)Turning to Oceania,Australia's Prime Minister has rejected a proposal to consult Aboriginal people first about recognizing them in the nation's constitution.Staying in the country, Australians flying in and out of Bali will again experience disruptions due to a volcanic eruption.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,In Libya, authorites are investigating a video that appears to show former leader Muammar Gaddafi's son and other prisoners being beaten in jail.In Cameroon, at least eight people were killed and about 100 others were kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants in an overnight raid.(Brain)And in the Middle East,Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni held talks with officials in Tehran, as a series of European officials seek closer trade ties with Iran.In Syria, a Pentagon spokesman has confirmed that US air power has been used for the first time to defend US-trained forces.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,A Black Hawk police helicopter has crashed in a remote jungle area of Colombia, killing at least 16 officers.Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has thanked Cuban doctors for boosting healthcare services under a programme called "More Doctors".(Brain)And in Europe,Germany's justice minister has sacked the country's top prosecutor, who had accused the government of interfering with a treason investigation.Britain's four police forces have been investigating separate claims of historical child sexual abuse involving former Prime Minister Edward Heath.(TY)And finally in North America,Former governor of the US state of Texas Rick Perry will not be one of the 10 participants in the first Republican presidential candiate TV debate.Staying in the country, evacuation orders have been given to 13,000 people in California as firefighters struggle to contain some 20 wildfires.(Brain)That's the global headlines survey.

First up, in Asia,India's government has signed a peace deal with a leading Naga separatist group, bringing one of the country's oldest insurgencies to an end.The Afghan Taliban has released a video which they say shows members pledging allegiance to Mullah Mansour, amid divisions over his new leadership.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Australia's first female Indigenous MP has said the country cannot recognise Aboriginal people in the constitution until its racist past is acknowledged.Staying in the country, the Prime Minister says up to 2,500 shipbuilding jobs will be safe for "all time", ahead of a new fleet-building announcement.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,A UN reports says that a British oil company paid hundreds of thousands of dollars which went to senior Somali civil servants.In Nigeria, the military says it has "besieged" and dealt many casualties Islamist militant group Boko Haram and freed nearly 200 hostages.(Brian)And in the Middle East,Israel says it could use harsh interrogation methods to tackle violent Jewish extremism, after the death of an Palestinian infant in an arson attack.In a surprise visit to Iraq, the UK's Defense Secretary has announced that it would extended air strikes against the Islamic State group to March 2017.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,Police in Brazil say they have arrested Jose Dirceu, who served as chief of staff under then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from 2003 to 2005.( 路易斯•伊纳西奥•卢拉•达席尔瓦)Bolivian President Evo Morales is to enforce a law requiring all government officials to speak one of the country's indigenous languages.(Brian)And in Europe,Greece's main Athens stock index, the Athex, ended the day down by more than 16% as trading resumed after a five-week closure.Staying in the country, an island volunteer group that was feeding nearly 1,000 migrants a day says it is closing after running out of time and money.(LK)And finally in North America,Security forces in Mexico have discovered an underground drugs tunnel aimed at crossing into the United States.US airline Delta has banned the shipment of big game trophies on its flights following international outcry over the illegal killing of a Zimbabwean lion.(Brian)That's the global headlines survey.

Today's key word is Blind dateA blind date is an arrangement made for you to spend a romantic evening with someone you have never met before.This explanation is given by Collins English Dictionary. But I’m not sure if it is true especially in China now.At least, in today’s news, the blind date was definitely not romantic at all.But before we go to today’s blind date, let take a look on how to use this phrase properly. Me and my boyfriend first met on a blind date arranged by my colleague. 我和我的男朋友是由同事介绍相亲认识的。If you think the blind date is always one on one, then you will be surprised by this special blind date.In the city of Hangzhou, more than 3000 single men and women have attended an untraditional blind date.All the single ladies in this event have to wash away all their makeup.And they need to let men to measure their chest size.It is said to be aiming at finding a potential boyfriend, who doesn't a judge a woman based solely on their appearance (外表).What do you think about this blind date?If you are single, do you want to have a blind date?Or have you attended any blind date before?

First up, in Asia,The new leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, has called for unity in an audio message, saying that the group will continue fighting.Malaysia is asking other Indian Ocean islands to be on the lookout for more possible MH370 debris after a wing part washes up in Reunion.(TY)Turning to Oceania,The speaker of the lower house of the Australian parliament, Bronwyn Bishop, has resigned over an expenses scandal.Staying in the country, social media users have been rallying around footballer Adam Goodes, after he became embroiled in a racism row with fans.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,A top general and close aide of Burundi's President has been killed in an attack on his car in the capital.South Sudan will compete at Rio 2016 after becoming the 206th member of the Olympic movement.(Brain)And in the Middle East,An Egyptian court has again delayed a verdict in the retrial of three al-Jazeera journalists convicted of aiding the banned Muslim Brotherhood.Two Turkish soldiers have been killed and 31 wounded in a suicide attack by suspected Kurdish PKK militants.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,A Colombian air force plane has crashed in the north of the country, killing all 11 of those on board.Argentina launched a new plan named "Qunita" to help new mothers, especially those from low socio-economic backgrounds.(Brain)And in Europe,In Russia, a Mi-28N helicopter has crashed after a fatal accident at an air show, killing one of the two pilots.In Serbia, 11 people are being questioned by police after a television graphic appeared to predict a winning lottery number before it was drawn.(TY)And finally in North America,Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced parliament will be dissolved and called a parliamentary election for 19 October.In the US, civil rights campaigners have begun a 40-day march to highlight what they say is a fresh attack on equal rights for African Americans.(Brain)That's the global headlines survey.

Internship-暑期实习要不要工资文稿Today's key word is InternshipAn internship is the position held by an intern, or the period of time when someone is an intern。Here is an example.I'm applying for a summer internship at China Radio International.我正在申请中国国际广播电台的夏季实习。Internships are important since you are provided with the opportunity to learn and gain experience. Use this as an opportunity to explore and learn so you are prepared for the real world when you graduate.Here are some tips on how to be a successful intern.1.Be on Time2.Stay PositiveNo one wants to work with a grouch(心怀不满的人). “The three most important things in getting or keeping a job are attitude, attitude, attitude,” 3.Ask questions4.Be a human sponge. Soak in all of the new skills and knowledge you are gaining. 5.Do not be afraid to fail. 6.Find a mentor who is willing to help your career growth, perhaps the most beneficial learning experience.Generally speaking, Make an effort to shine and constantly challenge yourselves.In today’s news,An online survey shows that a log of the college students in China plan to have their summer interns.Some say that although they can’t make much money in their internship, it is still important for them to have more internship experience for the future.Should intern get paid from the employers? And what can intern get from the employers if money is not one of them?Let’s listen how our intern Monica’s idea.

First up, in Asia,Officials are investigating whether a plane part that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion is from missing flight MH370.India's Supreme Court has rejected a final plea for reprieve by Yakub Memon who was convicted of financing the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings, clearing the way for his execution.(TY)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, House of Representatives Speaker Bronwyn Bishop has delivered an apology to the public over her travel expenses claims, but says she will not bow to pressure to resign.Staying in the country, a 68 year old man will face court charges over a series of bombings and shootings, targeting Family Law Court judges in Sydney in the 1980s.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,A hunter accused of helping a US tourist kill Zimbabwe's most famous lion has been released on 1000 US dollars bail.Nigerian President has begun a two-day visit to Cameroon on Wednesday in a bid to seek closer partnership against Boko Haram.(Lin Shaowen)And in the Middle East,Israel gave final approval for plans to build 300 new homes in a Jewish settlement, as it carried out a court demolition order against two vacant apartment blocks in the same area.In Yemen, a car bomb exploded outside an Ismaili mosque in the capital Sanaa, killing four people and wounding six.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,Colombian street vendors clashed for hours with Venezuela's National Guard, leading authorities to briefly close the main border crossing between the two countries.The president of Brazil's construction giant Odebrecht has been charged with corruption and money laundering.(Lin Shaowen)And in Europe,Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has told rebels in his Syriza party he will have to call early elections if they continue to oppose a bailout deal.France is to send extra police officers to Calais, as migrants say they will keep trying to reach the UK despite the deaths of nine people since June.(TY)And finally in North America,In the US, a white police officer has been charged with murder after shooting dead a black driver during a traffic stop over a missing car licence plate.Staying in the country, a 911 dispatcher has resigned after telling a caller who was trying to save the life of a shooting victim to "deal with it yourself".(Lin Shaowen) That's the global headlines survey.

A woman was killed in an escalator accident at a shopping mall last Sunday. A one-year-old boy got stuck by an escalator in Guangxi, seriously injured his left arm.A 30-year-old woman was killed after being stuck and swallowed by an escalator in a shopping mall in Jingzhou, central China's Hubei Province on Sunday morning.A seconds-long security camera footage of the incident posted online shocked the public and stirred up heated discussion over escalator safety.The victim was holding her son in front of her as they went up the stairway, being the only passengers on the ascending escalator.Several female mall attendants were waiting on the end of the escalator as they approached the upper floor.The mother then lifted up her son and pushed him forward as a nearby shop assistant dragged him to safety. Nearly at the same moment, the panel she stepped on collapsed. The woman's lower body was immediately stuck by the running escalator.The escalator continued rolling, and several seconds later she was seen disappearing downwards into the mechanism, despite one of the staff briefly grabbing her hand.Fire fighters spent four hours cutting open the facility to set free the woman. But she was already dead when her body was pulled out.The accident was one of the top topics on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo with more than 6.6 million views.

(Lin Shaowen)First up, in Asia,Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has replaced his deputy amid a continuing financial scandal.In Myanmar, police have seized methamphetamine tablets with an estimated value of more than 100 million dollars in an abandoned truck.(TY)Turning to Oceania,Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is in New York to push for an international criminal tribunal into the MH17 crash.Staying in the country, The New South Wales government will audit public school prayer groups because of concerns that students are being exposed to violent ideologies.(ZJN)Moving on to Africa,In Libya, a court has sentenced former leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to death over war crimes linked to the 2011 revolution.Cameroon will send an additional 2,000 soldiers to its northern border with Nigeria to fight militant Islamist group Boko Haram.(Lin Shaowen)And in the Middle East,In Egypt, at least 25 people have died in a fire at a furniture factory north of the capital Cairo.Iran's foreign minister said "high-level" talks will soon be launched with the EU, after meeting with EU foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini in Tehran.(ZJN)Looking to Latin America,The Peruvian army says it has rescued 39 people from a farm where the Shining Path rebel group kept them as slaves.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to ask for support in finding a solution to a territorial dispute with neighboring Guyana.(Lin Shaowen)And in Europe,Some 2,000 migrants have tried to enter the Channel Tunnel terminal in Calais in an attempt to reach the UK.In France, farmers have used tractors to block the border with Germany and chucked foreign vegetables off trucks in protest of cheap imports.(TY)And finally in North America,An American jailed for 30 years for spying for Israel is to be freed in November after the US granted his parole.Twitter's revenue and earnings for the second quarter have beaten expectations, but co-founder Jack Dorsey has said he is "not satisfied" with its user growth.(Lin Shaowen) That's the global headlines survey.

节目标题：Wedding-梦中的婚纱照文稿Today&`&s key word is WeddingA wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. 婚礼，婚宴。Here is an example.I hope you&`&ll be able to come to my wedding.希望你能来参加我的婚礼。Actually, most single women have secretly started planning their weddings.A survey did in Britain shows that six out of ten single women have already made up their minds about some parts of their big day.Millions who are still waiting to find Mr. Right have nonetheless picked out their venues(场地), flowers（捧花）,songs and even hair style.And almost every bride wants to have some perfect wedding photos before the ceremony.But the bride-to-be in today’s story obviously not satisfied with her wedding photos.Miss X and her boyfriend went to Bali to shoot the photo.However, the couple was infuriated after they received their photos which cost them nearly thirty thousand yuan.Miss X said "If you didn&`&t tell them it was Bali, no one would be able to tell. "The couple even found cows in background in some of their photos.Notes:-3万元巴厘岛婚纱摄影之旅，变成了乡村爱情。-照片背景还能看到几头牛在吃草。-你的婚纱照是什么样的？-你梦想中的婚纱照是什么样的呢？

Beijing municipal legislature is now mulling a so-called "Good Samaritan Law" to encourage people to help others in need.If the draft bill was to be passed, people who offer a helping hand to others in Beijing will be protected by law, they will not be held responsible for causing harm when trying to help others.Those who accuse the do-gooders must provide evidence to support their claim, and those who wrongfully accuse the Good Samaritan will be penalized.This is in light of a recent incident where a student was wrongfully accused of running over an old man.Earlier this week, an old man in West China's Sichuan province fell down his bike while crossing a street. A student passing him by stopped to look after him, only to be later accused by the old man of knocking him down.Later, surveillance camera recording revealed that the old man did fell down by himself, and he was criticized by the police and the public.With a "Good Samaritan Law", the old man would have to provide evidence when making an accusation against the student.

First up, in Asia,Three people were killed as a light plane crashed in Japan, setting fire to several houses.In Afghanistan, more than 100 police have surrendered to the Taliban after the militants captured their base.(LK)Turning to Oceania,The first Australian to return home after allegedly joining Islamic State in Syria has been charged with terrorism offences.Staying in the country,the accused weapons supplier for the Melbourne Anzac Day Terror plot Mehran Azanum has pleaded guilty..(ZL)Moving on to Africa,A girl aged about 10 has carried out a suicide bombing in Nigeria, killing at least 16 people.In Cameroon, at least 19 people were killed in a suicide bombing, just three days after suspected Boko Haram twin bombings.(Lin Shaowen)And in the Middle East,Shelling has been reported in southern Yemen just as a humanitarian truce came into force.Protesters have closed the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon over the country's trash crisis.(ZL)Looking to Latin America,Colombia's President has suspended air strikes against camps belonging to Farc rebels, in a fresh bid to deescalate the conflict.In Brazil, prosecutors have presented kickback and bribery charges against the CEO of Latin America's largest engineering firm.(Lin Shaowen)And in Europe,More than 100,000 people have signed a petition against the closure of a beach on the French Riviera to allow Saudi King Salman to holiday in private.Staying in the country, French police has opened fire on a car that tried to break though a security barrier for the Tour de France.(LK)And finally in North America,US President Barack Obama is in Ethiopia for the second leg of his African tour as the first serving US leader to visit the country.In Mexico, the search for 43 missing college students has turned up at least 60 clandestine graves and 129 bodies over the last 10 months.(Lin Shaowen) That's the global headlines survey.

节目标题：Obesity-长胖了 怪我咯文稿Today's key word is Obesity Obesity is a medical condition in which excess(额外的) body fat has reached the level that it may have a negative effect on health.肥胖，肥胖症。Here is an example.Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖.In Western countries, people are considered obese when their body mass index or BMI exceeds 30 kg/m2. Some East Asian countries use stricter criteria.BMI is a measurement obtained by dividing a person's weight by the square of the person's height,体质指数（BMI）=体重（kg）÷身高^2（m）Commonly accepted BMI ranges are Underweight: under 18.5, Normal weight: 18.5 to 25, Overweight: 25 to 30, Obese: over 30.Now let’s learn the word in the news.A recent report concluded that grandparents are a significant factor in the growing level of childhood obesity in China.They tend to over feed youngsters in their care and excuse them from taking part in physical exercise. Notes:-近期，一项调查报告指出中国儿童肥胖率增加的重要原因是爷爷奶奶和姥姥姥爷。-他们认为，老人照看小孩时让孩子吃得太多，运动太少。-不止是儿童，成年人的肥胖率也逐年上升。-不仅仅中国，欧美国家也存在此类问题。-你对自己的身材满意吗？-有用过什么有效的减肥方法吗？分享一下吧！

Today's key word is SpartaSparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece.Now we also use it to describe someone who is very strong and brave.斯巴达There is a film related to Sparta called 300.（斯巴达300勇士）It tells a story about Sparta King, who leads 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian "god-King" and his invading(入侵) army of more than 300,000 soldiers. Now let’s learn the word in the news.On Wednesday, dozens of foreigners appeared in Beijing's Chaoyang district delivering food dressed as Spartans.They were wearing Spartan-like straps(皮带) and capes(披风).They traveled around central Beijing to promote a new restaurant product in Guomao subway station, overhead bridges in Sanlitun and Jianwai SOHO in Beijng's CBD.Later, some of them were detained by Beijing police, accused of disturbing public order.Notes:-近日，微博上传出众多“斯巴达勇士”在街头进行营销宣传时的图片,引来众多网友关注。-数十名外籍美男，身着斯巴达式衣服，在地铁站等地方列队行进。-虽然饱了路人的眼福，但由于围观人员过多，被民警叫停。-你怎么看？在街上看到如此多肌肉发达的帅哥你做何感想呢？

First up, in Asia,In Japan, Toshiba's chief executive and president Hisao Tanaka has resigned after the company said it had overstated its profits for the past six years.A man in China has admitted stealing more than 140 paintings by Chinese masters from a university and replacing them with his own forgeries.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Australia could earn up to 1.5 billion US dollars a year in cattle exports to China in a deal being negotiated between the two countries.Staying in the country, Lower house Liberal MP Don Randall has died following a suspected heart attack in his home state of Western Australia.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,The World Bank has pledged about 2 billion US dollars to help rebuild north-eastern parts of Nigeria.Underage African footballers, some as young as 14, are reportedly being trafficked to Asia and forced to sign contracts.(Lin Shaowen)And in the Middle East,The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on three Hezbollah military officials and a businessman in Lebanon, saying they were key players in the group's military operations in Syria.In Yemen, a UN aid ship carrying food supplies has docked in the city of Aden for the first time since fighting broke out there in March.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,Brazilian police in the Amazon city of Manaus are investigating a wave of 35 killings reported over the weekend.In Venezuela, two retired military officers have been arrested for drug trafficking.(Lin Shaowen)And in Europe,A French prosecutor has recommended the closing of an investigation into the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.Ukraine and pro-Russian militants have reached a preliminary agreement to extend a pull-back of weapons in eastern Ukraine to include tanks and smaller weapons systems.(LK)And finally in North America,In the US, Ohio Governor John Kasich has announced that he is running for the Republican nomination in the US presidential race.Staying in the country, a US air strike in Syria has reportedly killed Muhsin al-Fadhli, the alleged leader of the al-Qaeda Khorasan Group.(Lin Shaowen) That's the global headlines survey.

Today's key word is PassionPassion is a very strong feeling about something or a strong belief in something.激情，热情。Here is an example.He had a passion for music. 他酷爱音乐。In today’s news, a couple apparently showed their passion in their love realtionship.Recently, a photo of a young couple having a passionate kiss on a subway in Liaoning province of Northeast China has gone viral and invited a flood of criticism for the couple's behavior.Some people say that it’s a private thing; we don’t need to put so much attention on it.Others argue that it is a public place, it is not appropriate.Well, there are different kinds of passion exist. Let’s talk about another passion that is much more complicated than a kiss.Hope it can inspire you a little. Here is something said by Professor Randy Pausch.He was an American professor of computer science.In August 2007, Pausch was given a terminal diagnosis(最终诊断)：“3 to 6 months of good health left”.He then gave a lecture titled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams".Let’s listen it together. (Prof. Pausch)It is not the things we do in life that we regret….(on a death bed)It is the things we do not.Cause I assure you I’ve done a lot of really stupid things. And none of them bother me -all the mistakes and all the dopy(愚蠢的) things and all the time I was embarrassed. They don’t matter. We don’t beat the reaper(死神) by living longer. We beat the reaper by living well and living fully.After inspiring millions of people from all around the world, Prof. Pausch died on July 25, 2008.Here is another inspiring speech made by one of my favorite actors Will Smith.(soundbites 2 Will smith)As a child, my parents always told me you can be whatever you want to be, you can do whatever you want to do. But I didn’t totally believe it.Yet when I went out into the world and I carried myself and I held my head high and I stood there and I looked people in their eyes and I talked to people as if I was deserving of everything that this planet has to offer. He who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right.And I want you keep in you heart just know that you can.## I want to the world to be better, because I was here. ##What is your passion? Have you lost your passion yet?你的梦想是什么？你是否已经没了曾经的激情？

Today's key word is DinnerAny meal you eat in the middle of the day can be referred to as dinner.正餐，主餐；晚餐.I'm going to dinner with this girl I have a crush on.我要去和我喜欢的女孩吃一起吃晚餐了。现在我们来看看一些关于饭的表达。-Let’s start our day with breakfast. (早餐)What did you have for breakfast?I had a full english breakfast with a sausage, baked beans and tomato.-Would you like to have lunch with me?午餐）Yes, I left my lunchbox home. Thank you for asking.-Where would like to have supper?(晚餐)I'm forever on a diet. So I am not going to have supper.Now let’s learn the word in the news.A recent survey shows that in the first tier cities (一线城市), only less than a half of the people will go home on time for dinner.In Beijing, about 40% of the people will go home for supper. That's the least among all other cities.And people born in the 1970s --- more than 60% of them will go back on timeThose born in the 1990s---only 40%.Notes:-最近，中国新闻网的一项调查报告显示，中国人，特别是生活在一线城市的人很少回家吃晚饭。-北上广深四大城市，准时回家(晚上6点-7点)的比例，分别为北京38%、深圳45%，广州44%，上海45%。-其中，北京人下班后不回家的比例最高，而上海准点下班的比例最高。-你会经常回家吃饭吗？不回家的理由是什么呢？

(Brian)First up, in Asia,The lower house of Japan's parliament has approved two controversial bills that change the country's security laws, despite protests in Tokyo.India has summoned Pakistan's envoy to the country and lodged a strong protest over ceasefire violations along the international border.(TY)Turning to Oceania,Australia is to hold a memorial service to mark the anniversary of the MH17 air disaster, in which 298 people, including 39 Australians, died. Staying in the country, the Reserve Bank of Australia has urged the government to reconsider tax concessions for property investments.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,Two explosions at a market in Nigeria's north-eastern city of Gombe have killed at least 49 people and injured dozens of others.Cameroon has banned the wearing of full-face Islamic veil, including the burka, in the Far North region, following two suicide bomb attacks.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Several ministers from Yemen's exiled government have returned to the country for the first time since being forced to flee by Houthi rebels in March.Islamic State-affiliated militants in Sinai say they have carried out a missile attack on an Egyptian naval vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. (ZCG)Looking to Latin America,Prosecutors in Brazil have opened a formal investigation into allegations of influence-peddling by a former president.The presidents of Argentina and Bolivia have unveiled a statue of Bolivian war of independence heroine Juana Azurduy. (BRIAN)And in Europe,Greek banks are due to reopen on Monday after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised the level of emergency funding available. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed opposition to the formation of an international criminal tribunal for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.(TY)And finally in North America,Four Marines in the United States were killed when a gunman attacked two Navy buildings in Chattanooga, Tennessee.Staying in the country, former President Bill Clinton has admitted his "three strikes" crime bill contributed to the problem of overpopulated prisons.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.

Today's key word is fitting roomA fitting room is a room in which you can change clothes.试衣间，化妆间。dressing room, changing room 也可以用来表示试衣间。优衣库的试衣间用的是哪种表述，大家可以亲自去看一看哦。If you want to try some dresses in a shop, you can ask the shop assistant---May I try this on? Where is the fitting room?我可以试试这件衣服吗？试衣间在哪里？Now let’s learn the word in the news.The "hottest" shopping destination in Beijing is the Uniqlo in Sanlitun.In a viral smartphone video posted online, a young couple can be seen having passionate sex in what appears to be a Uniqlo store fitting room.The footage went viral overnight, attracting millions of views and thousands of comments.Beijing police announced online that they had received complaints about the video and would investigate the case.Notes:-近几日，微博，微信被“三里屯优衣库试衣间”刷屏。-原因想必大家都知道的哈。（一对情侣在试衣间不雅视频流传网上）-有人认为是优衣库的营销手段。-目前该店已成为新的热门景点。-警方已经介入调查。

First up, in Asia,Former chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress Wan Li has died at the age of 99 in Beijing.In Pakistan, the army has claimed to have shot down an Indian spy drone for violating territorial boundaries.(TY)Turning to Oceania,New Zealand has finalized its accession to the WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement, and will open contracts to international competition.In Australia, a company criticised for conducting tours of a forest where a serial killer buried his victims has cancelled the tours.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,Nigeria's government has vowed to shut down an illegal radio station operated by people sympathetic to the breakaway state of Biafra.NGO Global Witness says that European timber companies have helped fund war in the Central African Republic through lucrative deals with militia groups.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,In Yemen, pro-government militiamen have made further advances against Houthi rebels in the city of Aden.The U.N. envoy for Libya is urging the Islamist-led government to sign a peace deal that would establish a unity government.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,Cuban President Raul Castro has said his country wants to forge new ties with the U.S., as the two countries move to re-establish diplomatic relations.Brazilian police probing corruption at oil giant Petrobras have launched raids against several politicians, including former president Fernando Collor de Mello(费尔南多•科洛尔•德梅洛).(BRIAN)And in Europe,A German court has convicted a 94-year-old former guard at the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz of being an accessory to the murder of at least 300,000 Jews.NATO and its allies will hold their biggest military exercise since 2002, deploying 36,000 personnel across the Mediterranean.(TY)And finally in North America,In the US, taxi booking app Uber has been fined more than 7 million dollars in California for not giving regulators enough information about its service and operations.Mexico has opened up its oil industry to foreign investors for the first time in nearly 80 years, selling off 14 exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.

First up, in Asia,A suicide car bomb in Afghanistan has killed at least 33 people near an ex-CIA base.In Bangladesh, thousands of people are demanding justice for a 13-year-old boy whose gruesome murder was filmed by his jeering attackers.(LK)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, the Department of Defence is considering a major scientific review on whether exposure to toxic jet fuel caused birth defects in children.Staying in the country, a team of researchers has unexpectedly discovered four extinct underwater volcanoes off the coast of Sydney.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,Nigeria's President has replaced the army, navy and air force and defense chiefs, following an upsurge in Boko Haram attacks.Two Moroccan women have been acquitted of indecency charges after they went on trial for wearing short skirts.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Ten Libyan soldiers were killed fighting Islamist groups in the war-torn city of Benghazi.In Yemen, an international aid agency said the fuel shortages could cause more deaths than the continuing conflict.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,In Mexico, authorities have met to work on a plan to prevent a surge in violence following the escape of top drug lord from jail.UNICEF said that the death rate for minors in Brazil is higher even than for warzones, with 28 minors murdered every day.(BRIAN)And in Europe,A section of a Russian military barracks near the the city of Omsk has collapsed, killing 23 soldiers.In France, police are hunting for three armed men who stormed a Primark store in a suspected robbery attempt north of Paris.(LK)And finally in North America,US President Barack Obama has commuted the prison sentences of 46 drug offenders as part of a renewed effort to reform the criminal justice system.Staying in the country, Wisconsin State Governor Scott Walker has announced his bid for US President, becoming the 15th Republican candidate.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.

Today's key word is Unique不是优衣库，也没有试衣间哦！（优衣库—UNIQLO）Something that is unique is the only one of its kind.唯一的；独特的；Here is an example:Everyone's fingerprints are unique.每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。Now, let’s learn the word in the news.Chinese parents always rack their brains when trying to come up with a baby name.A journalist recently conducted a survey by collecting more than 3,000 pupils' names from 16 elementary schools in Hangzhou. A list of the most unique names has since been widely circulated on Chinese media.The most eye-catching one is 谢主隆恩 (xie zu long en), which means "Thanks for your great mercy", and it was only used to express gratitude to emperors in ancient China.It is said the owner of the name has a sister called 谢祖圣恩 (xie zu sheng en), which means the same. They are dubbed as "the Noblest Names".

First up, in Asia,A suicide car bomb in Afghanistan has killed at least 33 people near an ex-CIA base.In Bangladesh, thousands of people are demanding justice for a 13-year-old boy whose gruesome murder was filmed by his jeering attackers.(LK)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, the Department of Defence is considering a major scientific review on whether exposure to toxic jet fuel caused birth defects in children.Staying in the country, a team of researchers has unexpectedly discovered four extinct underwater volcanoes off the coast of Sydney.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,Nigeria's President has replaced the army, navy and air force and defense chiefs, following an upsurge in Boko Haram attacks.Two Moroccan women have been acquitted of indecency charges after they went on trial for wearing short skirts.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Ten Libyan soldiers were killed fighting Islamist groups in the war-torn city of Benghazi.In Yemen, an international aid agency said the fuel shortages could cause more deaths than the continuing conflict.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,In Mexico, authorities have met to work on a plan to prevent a surge in violence following the escape of top drug lord from jail.UNICEF said that the death rate for minors in Brazil is higher even than for warzones, with 28 minors murdered every day.(BRIAN)And in Europe,A section of a Russian military barracks near the the city of Omsk has collapsed, killing 23 soldiers.In France, police are hunting for three armed men who stormed a Primark store in a suspected robbery attempt north of Paris.(LK)And finally in North America,US President Barack Obama has commuted the prison sentences of 46 drug offenders as part of a renewed effort to reform the criminal justice system.Staying in the country, Wisconsin State Governor Scott Walker has announced his bid for US President, becoming the 15th Republican candidate.

Chinese parents always rack their brains when trying to come up with a baby name, in order to make it more distinctive.A journalist recently conducted a survey by collecting 3,548 pupils' names from 16 elementary schools in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang province. A list of the most unique names has since been widely circulated on Chinese media.The most eye-catching one is 谢主隆恩 (xie zu long en), which means "Thanks for your great mercy", and it was only used to express gratitude to emperors in ancient China.It is said the owner of the name has a sister called 谢祖圣恩 (xie zu sheng en), which means the same. They are dubbed as "the Noblest Names".

First up, in Asia,Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the Islamic State militants in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region, has been killed in a drone strike.In Indonesia, the airport on the island of Bali has been forced to shut again due to ash from a volcanic eruption.(TY)Turning to Oceania,New Zealand's footballers have been thrown out of their Olympic qualifying tournament for fielding an ineligible player.In Australia, a cold front will bring severe weather to much of south-east Australia this week after a weekend of heavy snow falls.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,In Niger, suspected Boko Haram militants have launched an attack on a prison in an apparent bid to free fellow members held there.Burundi's presidential election has been postponed to July 21 from July 15 amid worsening violence.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Fighting near the southern Yemeni city of Aden has killed 35 people, in breach of a temporary humanitarian truce brokered by the UN.Israel has released a Palestinian prisoner after he went on hunger strike for 55 days in jail in protest at his detention for one year without charge.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,Cuba has received two million foreign tourists so far this year, an increase of 16 percent over the same period in 2014.Venezuela said it would ask the United Nations to help resolve a border dispute with Guyana over an area where a new oil discovery has been made.(BRIAN)And in Europe,Russia is considering supplying Greece with natural gas via a direct pipeline, to help prop up its economy.Defending champion Novak Djokovic beats seven-time champion Roger Federer in four sets to win his third Wimbledon title.(TY)And finally in North America,Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman has used an elaborate tunnel to break out of a maximum security prison for a second time.U.S. and partner-nation military forces have carried out 16 more airstrikes against the Islamic State forces in Syria and Iraq over the weekend.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.

Today's key word is EggHere, an egg is a cell that is produced in the bodies of female animals and humans.卵子If it is fertilized by a sperm, a baby develops from it.当一个卵子遇到一个经济，就诞生了一个小宝贝。（When sperm meets egg,-----made by Nucleus Medical Media ）Let’s learn the word in the news.There has been a spurt in the number of women seeking advice on egg freezing ever since a 41-year-old Chinese film actress and director Xu Jinglei said that she had stored nine eggs in the United States so that she can have a child in the future.In the Chinese mainland, while sperm banks are legal, egg banks are not.

节目标题：Standard—月嫂标准都那么高了？文稿Today's key word is StandardA standard is something that you use in order to judge the quality of something else。标准，水平。Here is an example.What's your standard of choosing a boyfriend?你找男朋友的标准是什么？Now, let’s back to the point.A recent report says that China has published new standards of Yuesao.It says that Yuesao has to be between 18 to 55 years old. And they need to have received at least middle school education. No criminal recordsThe top level or the so called Gold medal Yuesao has to meet the standards such as: - With the certification and training of Advanced Nursery Teacher, and Senior Nutritionist.-have the capability of provide psychological service to the mother-help the mother to do fitting physical exercises-be very familiar with the common baby infections and illnesses

Lecture Room No Longer PopularLecture Room, one of the most popular academic shows on TV, tends to lose its glamour.Data shows that Lecture Room has suffered fiasco both in book publishing and ratings. It seems that academic stars cannot save the old-line program from withering anymore.Lecture Room has been one of the most popular academic programs since its establishment in 2001.It has always devoted to conveying the complex and abstract knowledge to something ordinary people can understand through interesting ways.Thanks to its relaxing style, Lecture Room provided platforms for many talented scholars and created a lot of academic stars such as Yi Zhongtian, Ji Lianhai, Yu Dan and Yuan Pengfei, many of them even earning as much appearance fee as entertainment celebrities.

Today's key word is Luxury It means -Something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary.奢侈品 正确读法：-Prada普拉达，1913年，PRADA在意大利米兰的市中心创办了第一家精品店。-Hermes 爱马仕，1837年由Thierry Hermès创立于法国巴黎.- Cartier，卡地亚，1847年闻名遐尔的法国珠宝金银首饰制造名家。-Louis Vuitton路易威登，于1854年成立于法国巴黎。-Fendi 芬迪， 1925年芬迪品牌正式创立于罗马。-Chanel香奈儿，创始人Coco Chanel于1910年在法国巴黎创立香奈儿品牌。-Versace范思哲，1978年创立于意大利，品牌标志是神话中的蛇妖美杜莎（Medusa），代表着致命吸引力。-Giorgio Armani 阿玛尼，1975年由时尚设计大师乔治•阿玛尼（Giorgio Armani）创立于意大利米兰。Here is an example:She is rolling in luxury. 她过着奢华的生活。Now let's learn the word in the news:LV has bought over Chinese food brand Luxury giant LV's branch LVMH is spending more than $100 million for 90% of Crystal Jade shares.Why companies like LVMH are expanding into other markets? Is luxury business not good enough, or is diversification a standard practice?LVMH has purchased the Singapore-based Cystal Jade restaurant chain for $100 million. The deal will give LCapital Asia, the private equity division of LVMH, a 90 percent stake in the restaurant group.Crystal Jade currently operates 117 outlets, with locations in Singapore, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. There are plans to open 12 more outlets in Asia and the U.S. soon.

Today&`&s key word isNaked （adj.）裸体的，裸露的名词形式为Nudity裸体; 裸露Someone who is naked is not wearing any clothes.Here is an example:The baby went naked on the beach.这个小宝贝在沙滩上光着身子。Now let&`&s learn the word in the news.Recently, some pictures online showing men swimming naked in the River has triggered public debate.The group of men has been seen swimming naked in Ganjiang River in the city of Nanchang.Along the river, there are also some tourists walking for sightseeing and taking pictures of the city. From time to time, some female passersby feel uncomfortable about it.Notes:-江西南昌一群男子在赣江中裸泳。-经过该处的女性看到赤裸男子后倍感尴尬。-如此“返璞归真” 如此与大自然融为一体 如此“坦诚”-你能接受裸泳吗？

节目标题：Recruit—清华北大“抢人”大战文稿Today's key word isRecruit It means: To enroll someone as a member or worker in an organization or as a supporter of a cause招聘，招收The company has planned to recruit more staff later this year.公司在今年晚些时候还计划招聘更多新员工。to recruit students 招生Now let’s learn the word in the news: With the scores of China's college entrance examination officially being released, the country's top universities including Tsinghua University and Peking University are vying for recruiting the high-score students. The two universities have vied for top middle school graduates of this year's exam in several provinces across China. Teachers of both universities even travel to high schools nationwide to try to convince potential applicants. (嘉宾：-David Moser, Visiting Academic and director of CET in Capital Normal University in Beijing)Notes:-清华北大负责招生的部门在微博上掀起“骂”战。-互相指责对方用钱“买”高考状元。-广州一名高考状元被清华和北大的招生老师堵在楼道里动弹不得。-有消息指出，招生老师曾因为“好”学生被抢走而扣奖金。-中国两大最高学府这样“骂来骂去”真的好吗？

Life Expectancy Map in BeijingA health report released on Monday reveals that the average life expectancy of Beijing citizens reached 81.81 year's old in 2014, with female citizens in downtown Xicheng District reaching the highest life expectancy at 86.82 years' old.The Beijing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission released the 2014 health white book on Monday.According to the report, the average life expectancy of Beijing citizens reached 81.81 years' old in 2014, 0.30 years' longer than that in 2013. The figure for male citizens is 79.73 years' old, while the figure for female citizens reaches 83.96 years' old.On the new life expectancy map, Xicheng and Dongcheng Districts which are in the center of Beijing, top the rankings, both surpassing 84 years' old. While the districts in the Beijing suburb have lower figures.Experts say the average life expectancy in Beijing has already reached that in developed countries, like Germany and UK in 2012. And the figures in the core functioning areas, Dongcheng and Xicheng that have high-level social economic development level, are similar to the figure of Hong Kong and Tokyo (2013).

Today's key word is:Tailor It means a person whose occupation is making fitted clothes 裁缝He was wearing a sports coat which had obviously been tailored in London.他穿的运动上衣明显是在伦敦定做的。It also means to make or adapt for a particular purpose or person迎合arrangements can be tailored to meet different individual requirements.可以修改安排以满足个人不同的要求Now let's learn the word in the news: A Chinese high school student has got a personal tailored class schedule after he skipped many classes for his WeChat business. He opened a cosmetics shop with friends on WeChat last October. After discussion, the school made a special decision. They offered Yu a personal tailored class schedule, letting the student choose the subjects he needs to learn. The schedule includes English and Information Technology which Yu likes, and Geography which Yu needs to pass the exam this year to get his graduation certificate.

-Raising Money Online to Pay Social Compensation Fee for Out-of-wedlock BabiesA woman and her ex-boyfriend have started an online project to raise money to pay for a social compensation fee charged for their out-of-wedlock child, because they're reluctant to pay for the "unreasonable" charge.Should unmarried couples be charged for social compensation fee for their kids born out of wedlock?Note:Wu Xia got pregnant last October. She and her boyfriend Shen Bolun looked forward to the baby. However, the two broke up this January.Wu Xia gave birth to the baby on June 21. Although that's her first child, she was still asked to offer a paternity test of the baby and the father, and also pay for a social compensation fee of over 40 thousand yuan, because the parents didn't get married, and the baby is an out-of-wedlock baby.The parents thought the charge is unreasonable. But the baby couldn't get a household residence if they don't pay the fees.Getting married and divorce later seems to be a shortcut to solve the problem, which was also recommended by staff members in the family planning office. But they didn't think it's correct. They thought it is a topic worth public discussion.Therefore, they started a money raising project online called "Raising compensation fees for a baby that couldn't get a household residence", which sparked heated debate.

节目标题：Stock—当“股神”还是做“学霸” 文稿Today&`&s key word isStock股票，证券；Stocks are shares in the ownership of a company, or investments on which a fixed amount of interest will be paid.Here is an example:She built up her fortune by cannily（用心的） playing the stock market.她炒股有方，发了大财。Now let&`&s learn the word in the news.Stock trading is not just a business for adults. Influenced by the prosperous aspect of the Chinese stock market, some high school students in Beijing have set up a stock club in school, trying their hands in the market.Qin Han, a high school student from Beijing National Day School, said he started to learn stock trading from his father when he was in the middle school。Now he could earn 200 to 300 yuan per day. Notes:-炒股不仅仅是大人的特权。-一些中学生也在家长或其他人的帮助下，开始炒股。-9岁开始“摸”股票、初二开账户进入股市、高二已有15万股票资产……（6月22日《北京青年报》）-“就是觉得好玩。当时看《继承者们》的时候，看到李敏镐他们同学在拿着手机炒股，所以就这么愉快地去开户啦。”-那么问题来了，中学生炒股会不会影响学习呢？

Recently, during the 12th anniversary of JD.com, customers placed more than 15 million orders, which double the figure during the same period last year. Nevertheless, due to the comparatively stagnant domestic economy, JD's anniversary sale in 2015 is considered to be unsuccessful, according to some economists.Is JD's anniversary sales not as good as expected?How about JD's salesThe retailer often uses anniversary to promote sales. The retailer offers discounts through its mobile apps and more than 60 percent of Thursday's orders were placed through mobile gadgets. Tencent took a 15 percent stake in JD prior to its IPO last year and allows JD access to 500 million users on its instant messaging app WeChat.The retailer did not disclose the total value of goods sold on Thursday but said in a press release that imported products sold well. Imported infant care products such as diapers and milk powder sold nearly 20 times than average. Imported cosmetics grew by a similar amount while sales of imported food quadrupled.JD.com launched a site in April exclusively selling imported products ranging from cosmetics and clothing to fresh farm produce and meat.

A new report shows that Minhang district in Shanghai has ruled out a rating system of square dancing and a city's cultural management committee.It is in a move aimed at ending a surprising public conflict and at the same time better organizing activities for those Chinese square-dancing grandmothers.200 committee members are from the leading square dancers.At the same time, it is announced that some new choreographed routines will be created by expert panel, to help grannies learn how to dance properly.If anyone from the district has any questions or suggestions towards the dancing, no matter it is the dancing grandma or neighborhood residents, they can always go to the committee for mediation or solutions.Before the announcement, the local municipal bureau of culture has held public hearing and meeting by inviting more than 500 residents, dancers and representatives.All together they draft a thorough regulation or a so called "The game rule". This is to make sure that everyone is on the same page and it meets the all the standards and could satisfy both sides.

Today's key word isJaywalk乱穿马路,走路不遵守交通规则The word jaywalk is a compound word derived from the word “jay” and “walk”.The word "Jay" has an archaic(古代的) meaning in American slang （俚语）.It means a person who chatters impertinently. And It also means a fool or a gullible（易受骗的）person.The term jaywalking is coined to label those people who cross a busy street carelessly and becoming a traffic hazard.Here is an example:I saw you jaywalking this morning. What was the rush?我早上看到你乱穿马路了？你在急什么呢？Now let's learn the word in the news.Recently, an experiment done by Xiamen University students shows that unique warning signs seem to have mysterious effect to stop people from jaywalking.In the experiment, students put 3 different warning signs in a green belt near an overpass one after another.The first one says "Please walk through the overpass", the second says "It only takes 9.4 seconds more to walk through the overpass than jaywalk", the last says "Ugly people jaywalk".The result shows that the first one almost did nothing to stop those from jaywalking, while the special "Ugly people jaywalk" sign lowered the jaywalking rate by nearly 30 percent, which is more than 3 times of the "only 9.4 second more" one. Notes:-厦门大学的学生完成了一组实验:在同一路口摆出不同语气的交通警示标语.-1.“请走人行天桥” 2.“走天桥比横穿平均只多花9.4秒” 3.“你丑你横穿”.-实验结果显示，“你丑你横穿”的标语效果最好，横穿率直降三成。

The Chinese Forbidden City has started to use apps and QR code to entice and better help visitors.Its latest app is "forbidden city porcelain hall" or "gu gong tao ci guan" 故宫陶瓷馆in Chinese.Audiences can use their cell phone to scan a QR code and then get the information of the exhibit on the phone.It provides pictures and information of over 300 porcelain relics at the Forbidden City. It also offers a great 360 view of the ceramic works of the Forbidden City.The information has also been categorized in a certain format which is easy to read for the audiences.2. Similarly, the Natural History Museum of Shanghai also has an app as well as a bar code system that highlights the exhibitions.The bar code system offers the same effects for patriots that may not have had the chance to download the app and get a more detailed experience.They allow the viewers to see which sections of the museum are most popular, their contents and then design a personalized route through the museum, focusing on their areas of interest.Smartphone apps and bar codes are increasingly changing the way Chinese audiences interact with their rich cultural heritage in museums.

A soldier in Afghanistan has been greeted as a hero and presented with keys to a new home for killing six of the seven insurgents who tried to storm parliament.Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has been heckled during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, over the presence of US troops on the island.(TY)Turning to Oceania,Australia says it will reveal new laws stripping citizenship from dual nationals engaged in terrorism.Staying in the country, the Australian government is trying to confirm reports that two of its citizens who went to fight for Islamic State have been killed in Iraq.(LK)Moving on to Africa,In Central African Republic, UN peacekeepers have been accused of sexually abusing street children in the capital of Bangui.Nigeria's president has vowed to recover billions of dollars allegedly stolen by officials and restore financial "sanity".(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ruled out a long freeze of sensitive nuclear work and said sanctions should be lifted as soon as a final deal is reached.In Iraq, a report has indicated that more than three million people have been displaced by the conflict since the start of 2014.(LK)Looking to Latin America,In Venezuela, the National Electoral Council says elections for the country's National Assembly will be held on 6 December.The first movie theater to operate in the Haitian capital in years has opened its doors off a renovated downtown square.(BRIAN)And in Europe,A strike has forced the suspension of services through the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France, as hundreds of migrants tried to board UK-bound lorries amid the chaos.In Hungary, the government has suspended a key EU rule that says it must take back asylum seekers who first enter Hungary but travel on to other countries.(TY)And finally in North America,In the US, Legislation key to US President Barack Obama's trade agenda has passed a key hurdle in the Senate, two weeks after it appeared to have failed.In Mexico, a fire that broke out early on Tuesday at a home for the elderly in border city of Mexicali has killed 16 people.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.

These days, campus bullying behavior is increasingly attracting people's attention.One latest news on June 22nd is that a video online showing several teenagers beating a primary school student has led to public outrage.In Southeastern China's Zhejiang Province, 4 middle school students have kept a primary student in a dark house while beating and using cigarette to burn the kid for a long time.Now the police have intervened, and all the four middle school students and the primary school kid have been found.Similarly, last April another bullying video clip went viral on the internet.In the video, a middle schoolboy is beaten up by at least 4 students. The bullies also put instant noodle bowl and water bucket on the victim's head and pour coke at him. The boy never fights back. He just cries, but the bullies don't stop.

First up, in Asia,South Korea has reported two MERS fatalities and three new cases, taking the country's death toll to 27 as the outbreak may be winding down.In India, the death toll from alcohol poisoning in Mumbai has crossed 100.(TY)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, a rugby league player seriously injured during a Queensland Cup match has died in hospital.Staying in the country, Australia will hold services on July 17 to mark the first anniversary of the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines plane with the loss of 298 lives.(LK)Moving on to Africa,Rwanda's intelligence chief Karenzi Karake, who is wanted in Spain for war crimes, has been arrested in London.In Nigeria, at least 20 people have been killed after female suicide bombers attacked a fish market.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Al-Jazeera says one of its reporters held in Germany after an extradition request from Egypt over torture charges has been freed.In Iraq, bomb attacks have killed at least 8 soldiers on Monday hours after gunmen shot dead two Interior Ministry intelligence officers in Baghdad.(LK)Looking to Latin America,Chilean authorities have declare an environmental emergency in the capital, Santiago, as air pollution reaches "critical levels" ahead of the Copa America quarter finals.In Colombia, 4 soldiers have been killed after their helicopter landed in a minefield.(BRIAN)And in Europe,A Europe-wide police team is being formed to track and block social media accounts linked to the Islamic State group.The name of a Spanish village that translates as "Fort Kill Jews" has been changed following a referendum and local government approval.(TY)And finally in North America,In the US, the governor of South Carolina has called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol's grounds.In Mexico, dozens of undocumented migrants say they have managed to escape from an armed gang that abducted them.(BRIAN) That's our global headlines Survey.

During every Summer Solstice, the locals of the remote Chinese city of Yulin will held a celebration by eating dog meat.Around 10,000 cats and dogs are butchered and eaten by the locals of the city, in the name of which literally translates to 'jade forest'.It is believed there that eating dog meat allows the diner to muster up the internal heat to keep the cold of winter at bay.This festival comes around every year, since the 1990s.

Recently, pictures that call for "death penalty for all child traffickers" have gone viral on Chinese social media.At the beginning, some media publicity accounts on Wechat have posted several pictures and miserable stories of trafficked children. Then the posts have been forwardly widely by net users.In the end, lots of comments and posts started blaming the current law for being too lenient on child traffickers.And pictures that called for death penalty for child traffickers and immediate execution have gone viral online.

"Contracted Urban Management personnel"In Southern China's Yunnan Province, a transport service company in the Malong County has carried out the work as the urban management personnel. They can not only write parking tickets but also tow vehicles with a trail car with the mark reads-"Law enforcement".A recent report shows that the private transport service company is owned by a local urban management officer's wife.Then 80percent of towing car's fee is said to be going to the local urban management agency and 20percent to the transport service company.What happened there?In Malong county, local urban management agency has illegally consigned the private transport service company with some city management and patrolling work Private transport service company is not so familiar with the rule of law and is lack of control, which means they can easily abuse the power There has been conflict between the workers from this transport service and car owners. Some workers from transport service sent out fine tickets on their own and were took in custody The company will sponsor local urban management agency with vehicles annually

Do Traditional Cinemas Only Have 5 Yrs' Golden Time?Recently, a founder of a Chinese online video website says the golden time for cinema has reached the last five years, while the online video websites may still have 50 years of golden time.Do you think traditional cinemas are declining? Is it too extreme or too early to jump to such a conclusion?

Malaysia's three-party opposition alliance, once an alternative to the country's long-ruling coalition, has collapsed over policy differences.Stores, businesses and schools slammed shut across Indian-controlled Kashmir after separatists called a strike to protest a series of killings over the past week.(LY)Turning to Oceania,Warren Buffett has made his first investment of 500 million Australian dollars ($386m) in one of Australia's biggest insurers, Insurance Australia Group.A new report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia said almost 40% of Australian jobs that exist today could disappear in the next 10 to 15 years thanks to advances in digital technology.(ZCG)Moving on to Africa,Liberia has launched a five-year study to unravel long-term health effects on Ebola survivors.Kenya's president has vowed to keep troops in Somalia to fight Islamist Shebab rebels.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,The UN Security Council has urged Libyan factions to quickly reach a government agreement aimed at ending months of chaos and accept the latest proposals of mediator Bernardino Leon.The United States has called for a "greater commitment" from Iraq's government in the fight against Islamic State.(ZCG)Looking to Latin America,Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, has blown up a pipeline leaving at least 16,000 people without water.Brazilian police have said they are trying to identify two men who attacked an 11-year-old girl as she left a party.(BRIAN)And in Europe,Hungary has said it was building a four-meter high fence on its border with Serbia to keep out migrants.Swiss banks have reported possible money laundering in the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups biddings.(LK)And finally in North America,Multiple Canadian government websites including those of Canada's spy agency and its parliament have gone down for several hours in a hacking attack.US President Barack Obama and top Republicans in Congress have joined forces on a quick, bipartisan rescue attempt for the administration's trade agenda.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.Now it's back to Zheng Chenguang with our next story.

First up, in Asia,Bangladesh's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a top Islamist party leader for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the independence war against Pakistan in 1971.The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines has handed over dozens of assault weapons to reinforce a peace pact.(LK) 中方主持人Turning to Oceania,Australia will have to leave out two "unbelievably unlucky" fast bowlers from their Ashes cricket series roster.Ron Clarke, The Australian running legend, former world record holder and Olympic medallist, died after a short illness this morning aged 78.(ZCG) 中方presenterMoving on to Africa,Chad's President Idriss Deby has vowed there would be no impunity for those behind twin suicide bombings.Saudi Arabia has beheaded two of its citizens for murder, meaning that Saudi Arabia has now executed over 100 people this year.The International Organization for Migration has said the remains of 30 migrants who died crossing the Sahara desert have been found in Niger.(BRIAN) 国际方主持人And in the Middle East,At least 16 people, including 13 children, have been killed after the Syrian air force bombed a town in Deraa province.Afghan roadside bombs have struck two vehicles filled with passengers, killing three people and wounding 15 in a volatile southern province.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said the unity government will resign as its Hamas rivals would not allow it to operate in Gaza.(ZCG) 中方presenterLooking to Latin America,Suspected smugglers have been searched by Paraguay's border guards, as the government cracks down on black market trading, to spur legitimate growth and modernize the economy.Brazilian prosecutors have called for a stop to the eviction of at least 2,000 families living in an area of the Amazon jungle, where a huge dam is being built.(BRIAN)And in Europe,EU ministers have failed to agree on a plan to share the burden of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea.The European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has accused the Greek government of misleading voters by claiming creditors were trying to "humiliate" the country.(LK)And finally in North America,Five Irish students and one other young woman have been killed after a fourth-floor balcony collapsed at a US apartment.An 18-year-old teenager in the US was sentenced to life in prison without parole for charge with killing an Australian college baseball player.Property billionaire Donald Trump has announced he will run for the White House in the 2016 election.(BRIAN) That's our global headlines Survey.

At a Barbeque Night Market, there&`&s a loudspeaker fight between the venders and residents living in the neighborhood.(Soundbite/ 0616 loudspeaker) (00&`&08")The residents part says: "The government should do something to stop the market!Say no to the garbage food!"The venders: "We need to support the family!We need to survive!"In Central China’s Henan Province, a popular Food Street, which is more well-known as a Barbeque Street, is drawing people out in the summer night. The number of the customers coming to this Barbeque Street can peak to over 10 thousand.The Barbeque Market will run from 5pm till the next morning. Over 20 Residents in the neighborhood have been complaining about the noise and smoke from these barbeque stalls. Starting from last summer they could not bear it any more so that they used loudspeaker to broadcast their words, which has somehow affected business downstairs. The venders are using bigger loudspeaker to fight back.

Four children, the oldest 14 and the youngest 5, committed suicide by drinking pesticide in Bijie, Guizhou Province, which shocked Chinese society.Left-behind children's mental health has become a serious social problem that cannot be neglected anymore. What can society provide for them apart from material help?

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,Nepal has reopened most of the cultural heritage sites that were damaged in earthquakes, hoping to lure back foreign tourists.North Korea will return two South Koreans who Pyongyang accused of illegally entering the country last month.(LK) 中方主持人Turning to Oceania,An Australian inquiry into institutional child sex abuse is to focus on the entertainment industry.Australian Olympic 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson will miss the World Championships and feared she might have had her left hand amputated after falling in Rome.(ZCG) 中方presenterMoving on to Africa,Haitians and other non-citizens have stood in long lines across the Dominican Republic in last-minute bids to secure legal residency.Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has flown out of South Africa on Monday, defying a court order for him to stay.(BRIAN) 国际方主持人And in the Middle East,Saudi Arabia's stock market has opened up to direct foreign investment for the first time, as the kingdom seeks an economic boost amid low global oil prices.Reports from Yemen say that the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, has been killed in a US drone strike.(ZCG) 中方presenterLooking to Latin America,Brazil's top credit information bureaus estimate that more than 55 million Brazilians were behind on paying off credit cards or loans as of April.In Mexico, residents in the southwest of the country are preparing for the arrival of Tropical Storm Carlos.(BRIAN)And in Europe,The UK government says the referendum on whether or not the UK should remain in the European Union will not take place on May 5 next year.In Georgia, up to 20 people are missing after a deadly flood swept through its capital Tbilisi, with some zoo animals still on the loose.(LK)And finally in North America,In the US, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has officially launched his US presidential campaign, promising to "take nothing and no one for granted".And the retailer Gap is to close 175 stores across North America over the next few years as it attempts to turn around the business.(BRIAN) That's our global headlines Survey.

With great power comes great responsibility！Since 2007, cuaa.net published annual reports on top scorers of college entrance examination from 1952 to 2015. According to the 2015 report, top scorers&`& career achievement and contribution fails to meet people&`&s expectation.Most of the top scorers would choose majors with possible the highest income in the future, such as Business Management and Administration, Economics and Electronic Information. They have a quite a promising future as a white collar or even so called gold collar in the company, however, they are rarely seen as the Pioneer or the leading figure in their field.

First up, in Asia,Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have overrun police checkpoints in southern Helmand province, killing at least 20 officers.In India, a woman who was gang raped in Gujarat has been ordered to face "purification tests" by her community's local courts.(TY)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, the Federal Opposition has requested an investigation into claims that Australian authorities have paid bribes to people smugglers to return a boat to Indonesia.Staying in the country, cleaners at the Parliament House in Canberra have gone on strike in protest over cuts to pay and conditions.(LK)Moving on to Africa,Libyan officials say a top Islamist militant who ordered a deadly attack on an Algerian gas plant two years ago has been killed in a US air strike.In South Africa, a key figure in the football World Cup bid suggests it might be true that a 10m US dollar bribe was paid to secure the 2010 tournament.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,The Israeli government has issued a report into the 2014 war in Gaza, saying that its military actions were "lawful" and "legitimate".In Iraq, Islamic State militants have set up giant television screens in the city of Ramadi to proclaim that they will seize more Iraqi territory.(LK)Looking to Latin America,The Colombian army says it has killed a top commander from the country's second largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army .Mexico's electoral body has confirmed that President Enrique Pena Nieto's ruling party emerged as the strongest force in elections last weekend, which will enable it to retain control of the lower house.(BRIAN)And in Europe,The latest round of talks between Greek and EU officials in Brussels has failed to reach an agreement.The European Space Agency says its comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth.(TY) 中方主持人And finally in North America,The United States and Venezuela are reported to be in a high-level meeting in Haiti.Staying in the country, a man suspected of attacking the Dallas police headquarters with guns and explosives is said to have "snapped" under personal pressures.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.Now it's back to LK with our next story.

Today's key word isGhostwriterA ghostwriter is someone who writes a book or other published work instead of the person who is named as the author. 代笔者， 受雇代作文章的人在高考中，ghostwriter也指替别人考试的人。Here's an example： He was refused because he used to be a ghostwriter in the postgraduate exam of 2008. 他因为在2008年研究生考试中替考而被拒绝。Now let's learn the word in the news.Recently, an underground organization of Gaokao ghostwriters, who use other students' identities, has been exposed to public by undercover reporter. Even though cheatingis abhorred（痛恨） by so many examinees and strictly banned by laws, some parents are stillseeking for ghostwriters, even willing to pay millions for it to make sure that their children enter the top universities.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,In South Korea, the government has started to track the smart-phones of those under quarantine as part of the effort to control the MERS.In China, Leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with Chinese leaders in Beijing this week.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Australia's ambassador to Indonesia has returned to Jakarta five weeks after he was recalled in protest over the execution of two Australians in the country.An Australian energy market analyst firm has suggested in its latest report that Australia has been overstating its emissions for years.(TY)Moving on to Africa,Kenya's authorities have banned over 120 teachers for "gross misconduct", mostly for sexual abuse of their students.In Egypt, police say they have stopped an attempted suicide bomb attack at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, which is one of the country's most popular tourist sites.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,In Turkey, President Tayyip Erdogan has hosted a senior opposition lawmaker at his residence who said the president appeared to be in a mood for coalition solutions.In Lebanon, Hezbollah said its battle with the Islamic State gunmen has started in the Lebanese-Syrian border region.(TY)Looking to Latin America,A draft UN report says, UN peacekeepers regularly barter goods for sex with people in the countries the world body is meant to be helping.Brazil legend Zico intends to stand for the presidency of Fifa after admitting the corruption crisis in the sport's governing body has saddened him.(BRIAN)And in Europe,In the UK, new restrictions have been proposed on work visas and a higher salary threshold to crackdown migrants from outside the EU.And three Polish ministers and the country's parliamentary Speaker have resigned amid a leak scandal.(LK) And finally in North America,In the US, Two convicted murderers on the run for five days after breaking out of prison in New York may now have fled to Vermont.Staying in the country, the Obama administration said it would regulate greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.Podcast: To hear this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes you can download our podcast by searching for World News Analysis

Today's key word is : Masses民众， 劳动阶层If you talk about the masses, you mean the ordinary people in society, or the common people generally. Masses 在这个语境下是指普通群众。 Let's put the word in the sentenceHis music is commercial. It is aimed at the masses. 他的音乐走商业化路线，针对的是一般大众。 最近有一个热词叫朝阳群众 Chaoyang Masses Now let's learn the word in the news.A drug suspect was found dead after a fall from his eighth floor residence.He is thought to be a popular TV host.The drug taking host was reported by the so-called "Chaoyang Masses" to the local police.The phrase "Chaoyang Masses" has been very popular recently with the aid of the Internet.

First up, in Asia,Indonesia&`&s capital Aceh province has imposed a partial curfew for women to reduce sexual violence, but critics say it is discriminatory.In China, 4 people were killed, including two police officers, and five people were injured in a shooting in a rural area in Hebei province.(LK)Turning to Oceania,19 people have been injured after a pickup truck smashed into a cafe in northern Australia, sparking a fire that engulfed the building.Staying in the country, the Australian government has reported about 40 foreigners who appear to have breached residential real estate investment laws.(TY)Moving on to Africa,In Burundi, hundreds of people have gathered to mourn a student who was shot during a protest against the president&`&s plan for a third term.A court in Egypt&`&s capital Cairo has sentenced a TV broadcaster to one year in prison for insulting an Islamist politician.Islamic State militants in Libya have carried out another kidnapping targeting a large group of Eritrean Christians who were traveling to Libya hoping to board a migrant boat to Europe.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,An alliance of rebel forces in Syria has seized a key army base in the south of the country in a new setback for the regime&`&s embattled troops.In Iran, a government spokesman has said the country will not tolerate demonstrations against the presence of women at male sporting events after threats from ultraconservatives to disrupt any loosening of restrictions.(TY)Looking to Latin America,President of an Argentine sports marketing firm and indicted FIFA official Alejandro Burzaco has turned himself in to police in Italy. Burzaco is one of 14 officials indicted over the FIFA corruption scandal.In Panama, the Supreme Court has launched an investigation into allegations that ex-President Ricardo Martinelli ordered illegal wiretaps.(BRIAN)And in Europe,The bodies of 44 victims of the plane crash in Germany this March have arrived in Duesseldorf, where they will be returned to families for burial.In France, the Senate has passed a data collection bill giving its intelligence agencies new powers to monitor phone metadata and online activities.(LK)And finally in North America,Police officer in the US state of Texas has resigned after being caught in a video throwing a black teenage girl to the ground and waving his gun at other partygoers.In Mexico, the government says teachers&`& testing will go on as planned despite objections and possible disruptions.(BRIAN) That&`&s our global headlines Survey.Now it&`&s back to Tu Yun with our next story.

Composition-奇葩作文Today's key word isComposition When you talk about the composition of something, you are referring to the way in which its various parts are put together and arranged.A composition can also be a piece of written work that students write at school. 作文，作曲。Here is an example. We have to write a composition on the topic of “My Classmate”.我们要就“我的同学”这个题目写一篇作文。Now let's learn the word in the news.This year's National College Entrance Exam or Gaokao has concluded except for few provinces.Over the past few years, the topics of composition, which is the final section of the Chinese test, has always been a highlight that attracting people's attention.This year, some composition topics are regarded as unique, difficult, and even weird. Here are some examples that have triggered heated discussions:1.(噩梦模式)In Hunan, the topic tells a story about a tree's unique way to accomplish its travel dream.2.（地狱模式）Composition Topic for the Examination Paper in JiangsuMany net users have expressed that the composition topic for the Jiangsu paper is one of the most difficult ones to compose so that they even describe it as 'hell mode'.Students are required to write an article talking about 'wisdom'.3.（脑洞模式）Topic in north China's Tianjin: Chinese word 'Fan'r', or 'styles' in English, especially those graceful and elegant ones.

First up, in Asia,In Pakistan, the execution of a man convicted of manslaughter has been postponed hours before he was due to be hanged.In China, the Shanghai transport commission has said owners of private parking spaces will be entitled from July 1 to install charging facilities for electric cars on them.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Australia has shelved its bid for the 2023 Women's World Cup pending an "overhaul" of FIFA as the global football governing body reels from a corruption scandal.Staying in the country, a man has been arrested for allegedly using a stolen bulldozer to crush four vehicles and a house in New South Wales.(TY)Moving on to Africa,A British naval officer says there are still as many as 500-thousand migrants waiting in Libya for the journey to Europe.Nigeria's military has begun moving its headquarters to the northern town of Maiduguri which is close to the centre of the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,In Syria, at least 49 civilians have been killed in air strikes by government forces in the country's north-west.In Iran, state media say the trial of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian on spying charges has resumed.(TY)Looking to Latin America,In Colombia, a new law is allowing transgender people to change their names and sex on identification cards without undergoing intrusive physical and mental examinations.In Peru, a tipper truck carrying schoolchildren has fallen into a ravine in a remote area of the Andes mountains, killing 17 people.(BRIAN)And in Europe,Italy's government has criticized leaders in the north of the country for their refusal to host any more migrants rescued from the Mediterranean.In Spain, air traffic controllers have started a strike protesting the punishment of dozens of them who were involved in a 2010 strike.(LK)And finally in North America,In the US, the Army has shut down its websites temporarily as a result of a hacking attack to ensure no breach of military data.In Mexico's ongoing election for members of the lower house of Congress, polls show the president's party is predicted to win around 30-percent of the votes.

Today&`&s key word isMoment瞬间; 时刻You can refer to a very short period of time, for example a few seconds, as a moment or moments .Here&`&s an example： Treasure every moment that you have!珍惜你拥有的每一刻！We can also call 微信朋友圈-- Wechat moments.Now let&`&s learn the word in the news.A ten-year-old girl&`&s diary complaining that her mom keeps taking photos of her and posting them on Wechat "Moments" recently aroused heated discussion. Many parents like showing off photos of their kids on WeChat. I think for a little kid, they don&`&t learn about disciplines or privacy.Usually the moms and dads are making decisions. But for some moms, they were saying they simply would like to create memory for the children&`&s childhood. So if you just feel tired of it. You can simply don&`&t look at them.Great. Keeping a beautiful memory of you kids for your family. Fine! But not for everybody else who is on your friend list. Why can&`&t you just do that in your private time? And instead of showing it to everybody else and really creating Notes:-一个10岁的小女儿在日记里抱怨妈妈总是给她照相，然后把这些照片分享到朋友圈里。-刷手机，刷朋友圈成为很多人的日常习惯。-你也会经常在朋友圈里分享自己的生活吗？

irst up, in Asia,South Korea has seen 14 more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome confirmed and a fifth person has died.In Singapore, this Monday will be a day of mourning after eight of its citizens were confirmed killed in last Friday's earthquake on Mount Kinabalu.A report from the London School of Economics suggests that China's greenhouse gas emissions could start to decline within 10 years.(TY)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, a young man and woman have been found dead inside a makeshift cabin north-west of Sydney, potentially from carbon monoxide poisoning.Staying in the country, at least 13 former Australian Defence Force personnel had killed themselves by the end of this May in worrying trend.(LK)Moving on to Africa,In Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir has formed a new government a month after winning the elections which had been boycotted by the main opposition parties.The European Union has summoned the Gambian ambassador for an explanation after its representative to the country was expelled.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,At least 45 people have been killed in Yemen, including 20 civilians, in Saudi-led air strikes on the rebel-held armed forces headquarters in the capital.In Israel, the country's aircraft bombed the Gaza Strip on Sunday after a series of rocket attacks from Palestine.The near-complete election results in Turkey show the governing AK party has lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 13 years.(LK)Looking to Latin America,In Venezuela, former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez has arrived in the country's capital, Caracas, to help with the defense of jailed opposition politicians.A new ruling by a US judge has increased the total Argentina owes holdout bondholders to 5.2 billion US dollars.(BRIAN)And in Europe,Hungary has become the first European country to sign a cooperation agreement for China's "Silk Road" initiative which aims at developing trade and transport infrastructure across Asia and beyond.In Russia, scientists have staged a rare anti-government demonstration amid fears that they will be next to be targeted by Kremlin crackdowns.(TY)And finally in North America,People in Mexico have voted in mid-term elections which are seen as a test for President Enrique Pena Nieto.In the US, the escape of two murderers from a maximum security jail in New York has been described as a "crisis situation" by the state's governor.(BRIAN) That's our global headlines Survey.

Being a pet owner means much more than just having a cute little animal as a companion in China. You also have to take them to the vet for health care and beauty care, etc.Millions of pet owners are turning China's pet care industry into one of the fastest growing in the world.

First up, in Asia,In India, at least 20 soldiers have been killed and 15 injured in an attack on a troop convoy in north-eastern state of Manipur.Also on India, Google has apologized after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photos started appearing in the image search results for "Top 10 criminals".In Cambodia, the first refugees to be resettled in the country from the Australian detention centre on Nauru have arrived in Phnom Penh.Turning to Oceania,Australian police are investigating corruption claims surrounding payments linked to the country's failed bid for the 2022 Football World Cup.Also on Australia, OECD has cautioned the country to keep further interest rate cuts "in reserve" and that the country's booming housing market could be at risk of a "sharp correction".Moving on to Africa,In Ghana, at least 150 people have died in a fire at a petrol station the capital, Accra The fire is believed to be have been caused by a two-day heavy rain and the flooding that followed.In Kenya, five men have been charged with 162 counts of terrorism following the deadly assault by militant Islamists on Garissa University College in April.And in the Middle East,The UN has warned it may be forced to shut down or reduce more than half of its critical aid operations for those affected by conflict in Iraq.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the French telecom giant Orange for looking to pull out of a deal with an Israeli partner.Looking to Latin America,In Colombia, the government and Farc rebels say they will set up a truth commission if a peace deal is reached between them to end more than 50 years of conflict.In Brazil, seven new species of tiny frog have been discovered on seven different mountains in the south-eastern region of the country.And in Europe,German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the EU may have to consider treaty change if that's what it takes to keep the UK in.An EU-wide campaign to stop laboratory experiments on animals has failed to persuade the European Commission to impose a ban.And finally in North America,In the US, doctors say the first skull and scalp transplant has been performed in a 15-hour operation.The former governor of Texas Rick Perry has launched his campaign to earn the Republican nomination for US president.That's the global headlines Survey.Podcast: To hear this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes you can download our podcast by searching for World News Analysis

(结尾有彩蛋！)Today's key word isrobot 机器人A robot is a machine which is programmed to move and perform certain tasks automatically. Here's an example： She worked like a robot. 她工作起来如同一个机器人.In the movie, Avengers2: Age of Ultron. Ultron is, to some extent, an intelligent robot.在大片复仇者联盟2：奥创时代中，奥创，从某种程度来说，就是一个智能机器人。Now let's learn the word in the news.In China's Jiangxi Province, a robot teacher is now taking lesson at university.The teaching robot "Xiaomei" is a product of the university's research team, which takes a month to make.It is the first time for schools in Jiangxi to use a robot teacher.She is all dressed up. She is wearing a long light yellow dress part of which is with lace, and a white suit as top. And a silk dark blue scarf around the neck as well.*How to do a robot voice?Can you do a robot voice? (The tip is from Maker.TV)Notes:-一台美女机器人“小美”在江西九江学院的一间教室里为学生讲课。-据“小美”的研发团队张广顺老师介绍，机器人是由该校信息学院智能机器人工作室耗时一个多月研发出来的.

t's that time of year again here in China. The streets empty, millions of children disappear and even big cities like Beijing turn quiet for a weekend. We are of course talking about the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, known simply as the gaokao.Almost nine and a half million students will begin their trial this Sunday. Like the preparation for it, the test is long and grueling, but the rewards can be great. For many, a good result is seen as the main ticket a better life. At the same time, its imperfections and the sheer mass of pressure it brings to these students raises questions.So, how important is it really? Can it be improved and reformed? And what should it and education's role(s) in society be? These questions and more on this edition of "Today" where we talk about China's gaokao.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,Polio cases in Pakistan have dropped by 70-percent this year as troops make territorial advances in the north against militants who opposed to vaccination programmes.In Myanmar, more than 700 migrants found adrift on a fishing boat six days ago have disembarked in the country's western state of Rakhine.In India, authorities in the capital have banned the sale of Maggi noodles for 15 days after high levels of lead were found in batches tested in Delhi and the state of Uttar Pradesh.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Australia's economy has grown by 0.9-percent in the first quarter of 2015, compared to the previous quarter, better than expected.Staying in the country, carbon dating used by archaeologists has revealed a natural pearl older than 2-thousand years unearthed in Western Australia.(TY)Moving on to Africa,Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari visits Niger to discuss the Boko Haram militant group.In Senegal, singer Thione Seck has been charged with money laundering after fake banknotes worth millions of euros and dollars were found in his house.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,U.N.-led talks aimed at ending the conflict in Yemen will begin June 14 in Geneva.The US says more than 10-thousand Islamic State fighters have been killed since an international coalition began a campaign against the group.(TY)Looking to Latin America,In Colombia, lawmakers have passed a bill which will impose tough sentences for hate crimes against women.And also in Argentina, thousands of people are taking part in a march in the capital Buenos Aires condemning violence against women.(BRIAN)And in Europe,Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says talks in Brussels on Greece's debt crisis were "constructive" and he believes "an agreement is in sight".Dutch politician Geert Wilders says he will show cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a TV slot allocated to his party. He is known for anti-Islamic views.(LK)And finally in North America,Former top FIFA official Chuck Blazer has admitted that he and others on the executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the choice of South Africa as 2010 World Cup host.Staying in the country, former senator and Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee will seek the Democratic nomination for US president in 2016.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.

A post office in China's Henan province has adapted a set of pictures featuring multiple ways of showing respect for the family elderly into stamps.It is a sheet of stamps with pictures of the "Modern 24 Stories of Respect for the Elderly".Starting with the word "Modern" is because there's famous "Twenty four stories about Filial Piety", which is an analogue to the ancient ways passed on by Chinese tradition.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,Two brothers who lost their father on Malaysia Airlines' flight 370 have settled their negligence case out of court in the first such case since the plane went missing last year.Philippine President Benigno Aquino has embarked on a four-day visit to Japan. The visit will see him court investment and seek support in maritime disputes with China.In Thailand, a court has issued an arrest warrant for a senior army officer accused of being involved in the trafficking of Rohingya migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.(LK)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, severe storms that hit the country during April and May have led to more than 1.55 billion Australian dollars in insurance losses so far.Staying in the country, the Reserve Bank of Australia has kept interest rates at 2.0 percent after slashing them to a record low last month.(TY)Moving on to Africa,In Nigeria, the country's Islamist militants have released a new video and, unusually, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau fails to appear in it.In Morocco, a concert by pop star Jennifer Lopez has led to calls for the country's communication minister to resign over the "breach of public decency".(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Armed tribesmen in Yemen have killed 18 Houthi fighters in an ambush in the central province of Ibb in one of the deadliest ground attacks in over two months of war.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran will back Syria's President Bashar al-Assad until the end following major gains by Syria's armed opposition factions in recent weeks.(TY)Looking to Latin America,The once-powerful Peruvian rebel group Shining Path has been designated by the US treasury department as a "significant foreign narcotics trafficker".27 former leaders from Spain and Latin America has called on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro to free political prisoners and create a climate for political dialogue.(BRIAN)And in Europe,In Germany, former Chancellor and the architect of the country's reunification Helmut Kohl is in intensive care after intestinal surgery.In Russia, a defense firm has said Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was brought down by a missile it used to manufacture and is said to be used by the Ukrainian military and not Russia's.(LK)And finally in North America,In the US, Boston police have shot and killed a man who was under surveillance as part of a counter-terrorism case.Stay in the country, President Barack Obama has awarded two World War I army hero, one black and one Jewish, with the Medal of Honor. The two men were denied their medals almost 100 years ago possibly because of discrimination.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.Podcast: To hear this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes you can download our podcast by searching for World News Analysis

A recent survey from Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences says that about 49.5 % of parents want their children to have an ordinary life, instead of the traditional wish of training kids to be successful.The survey polled 2000 families in 22 cities.Now, the results may come as a surprise to many, since it is believed by many that Chinese parents act in line with the Chinese idiom "望子成龙,望女成凤"- meaning hoping for sons to grow into dragons and daughters into phoenix, or that their children will be outstanding. Now it shows that parents stress on kids' personality education.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,In China, a ship carrying more than 450 people has sunk after being caught in a storm on the Yangtze River.Two people in South Korea have died of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS, becoming the country's first fatalities from the disease.AndOver the Pacific Ocean, sun-powered aircraft the Solar Impulse 2 has landed in Japan after being forced to abort a Pacific crossing due to deteriorating weather.(LK)Turning to Oceania,Australia is planning to remove citizenship from dual nationals suspected of terrorism, but not everyone is convinced the changes are needed.Staying in the country, the opposition Labor party has introduced a bill aimed at legalizing same-sex marriage, adding pressure on the Prime Minister to allow a vote on the issue.(TY)Moving on to Africa,The United Nations has condemned the expulsion of the UN humanitarian co-ordinator in South Sudan.In South Africa, a tourist believed to be from the US has been killed in a lion attack at a game park.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,At least 45 police Iraqi officers have been killed in an attack by IS militants in Anbar province.In Yemen, one of four Americans held by Houthi rebels has been released.(TY)Looking to Latin America,In Paraguay, ex-head of the South American Football Confederation Nicolas Leoz has been put under house arrest.A retired police general in Colombia is going on trial for his alleged role in the 1989 murder of presidential candidate.(BRIAN)And in Europe,Georgian ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili says he is giving up Georgian citizenship as he becomes governor of Ukraine's Odessa region.France and Germany say an EU Commission plan to redistribute 40,000 asylum seekers across the union needs revision.(LK)And finally in North America,The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who was denied a job because of her headscarf.In Canada, a court has ordered three tobacco companies to pay 12bn US dollars, the largest award for damages in the country's history.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.Podcast: To hear this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes you can download our podcast by searching for World News AnalysisNow it's back to Tu Yun with today's top story.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,In Nepal, thousands of schools damaged during the devastating earthquake last month have begun to re-open. More than 25,000 classrooms in some 8,000 schools were destroyed.Over the Pacific Ocean, Swiss aeroplane Solar Impulse 2 has begun its bid to cross the ocean, from China's Nanjing to Hawaii, powered solely by solar energy.(TY)Turning to Oceania,Australia has welcomed a draft decision by the United Nations to keep the Great Barrier Reef off its endangered list, but environmentalists are warning of ongoing risks to the natural wonder.A leading Islamic leader has said that Australian Muslims are living in trauma because they had been singled out for political purposes.(LK)Moving on to Africa,East African leaders have urged Burundi's president Pierre Nkurunziza to postpone elections due in June, after the president's decision to stand for a third term sparked violence in the country.In South Africa, local media say the country paid 10million US dollars to a football body led by Jack Warner, a figure at the centre of Fifa corruption allegations.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Six world powers have agreed on a way to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran if the country breaks the terms of a future nuclear deal, meaning a major obstacle to an accord has been cleared.In Syria, Islamic State group jihadists have demolished a well-known government prison in the historic city of Palmyra on Saturday, as barrel bombs dropped by regime helicopters killed more than 70 civilians in Aleppo.(LK)Looking to Latin America,In Venezuela, thousands of Venezuelans have held a peaceful march through the streets of the capital Caracas, calling for the release of opposition leaders who have been in jail for more than a year.Police in Argentina have arrested four men who appear to have been trying to steal more than a tonne of meteorites in the northern province of Chaco.(BK)And in Europe,In Ukraine, Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been appointed governor of the country's southern Odessa region.The European Union has responded angrily to Russia's entry ban against 89 European politicians, officials and military leaders.(TY)And finally in North America,The US Senate is meeting in a rare weekend sitting to try to avert the expiration of anti-terrorist laws that let security services collect phone data.The US military has ordered a review of how it handles anthrax after discovering more cases of live samples being accidentally sent to a total of 24 labs in the US, South Korea, and Australia.Staying in the country, Former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the son of US Vice-President Joe Biden, has died of brain cancer.(BK) That's the global headlines Survey.Podcast: To hear this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes you can download our podcast by searching for World News Analysis

oday is June the 1st. Happy International Children's Day!The Hit Chinese reality TV shows "Where Are We Going, Dad?" "Dad is Back" have been criticized of making the children early mature.A recent report from Xinhua net says that some Child stars from the TV shows are very young. Some TV reality shows may make self-centred.At the same time, some audiences are leaving comments online calling on a little girl to be the girlfriend of another boy in the show. Even during a press conference of the reality show, the boy jokingly called the little girl "wife".

A driving school in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, has announced a plan that encourages college students to learn more about Chinese literature.You will be able to take the driving lessons for free. (The original price for a full course is 3,800 yuan, or 613 US dollars.) If you can recite more than 8,000 characters, you will get a discount of 1,500 yuan. And more than 1,000 characters, a discount of 200 yuan.So far, many college students have taken on the challenge. Le Yanyan, a senior majoring in Chinese literature, even managed to win the free lessons.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,Singapore authorities say they have detained a 19-year-old who was about to join Islamic State and was planning attacks on public targets.In Afghanistan, four gunmen have been killed after trying to storm a guesthouse in a diplomatic area of the Afghan capital, Kabul.(LK)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, the children of terror suspects could be taken into state care, as the government proposes changes to citizenship laws.New Zealand will be opening an Embassy in Baghdad, which will be headed by career diplomat James Munro.(TY)Moving on to Africa,In Kenya, a court has ordered a hospital to pay 48,000 US Dollars to a woman who became pregnant despite having a contraceptive implant procedure.Madagascar's President has challenged an impeachment vote against him in parliament, where critics say he has dragged religion into politics and failed to deliver on his promises.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is to stand down from his role as Middle East envoy representing the US, Russia, the UN and the EU.In Yemen, Saudi-led air strikes have killed at least 80 people near Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia and in the capital Sanaa.And in Iraqi at least 17 soldiers have been killed in a series of suicide attacks by IS militants in Anbar province.(TY)Looking to Latin America,In Brazil, several hundred protesters gathered in the capital Brasilia to demand the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff after they completed a 1,000-kilometer march.Cuba and the United States are expected to formally announce the re-opening of embassies next week.(BRIAN)And in Europe,The European Commission has called on EU member states to take in 40,000 asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea who land in Italy and Greece over the next two years.Denmark's Prime Minister has called a snap election for 18 June, when her centre-left coalition is expected to face a tough challenge from the opposition.(LK)And finally in North America,In the US, the military accidentally sent live Anthrax samples to as many as nine labs across the country.Staying in the country, the death toll from storms in Texas and Oklahoma has risen to 19.(BRIAN) That's the global headlines Survey.

Some recently reported studies indicate that whether or not you cheat may be partially explained by genetics.A study on Finnish twins and their siblings found that a presence of a single gene was linked to a significant variation in infidelity among women.Incidentally, this gene appears to have no effect on promiscuity in men.The idea that men have a biological and evolutionary impulse to cheat- because that could increase the chances of passing on genes to offspring – has been around for a longer time.Many scientists maintain that cheating has never been "just about"procreation, and that it can be pleasurable as it triggers release of multiple hormones and activates the brain's "reward circuit."These senses and memories may be enough to influence the person to cheat again.In addition, humans are one of the very few mammals that practice monogamy.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,India&`&s extreme heatwave has now led to the deaths over 1,000 people, with temperatures nearing 50C in some areas.In Malaysia, the government has begun exhuming bodies suspected to be migrants buried in 139 grave sites close to the Thai border.(ZJN)In Oceania,New Zealand&`&s Prime Minister has dismissed calls to pull troops out of Iraq as Islamic State insurgents advanced to within 100 km of their base.In Australia, up to 50 Australians fighting overseas with terror groups could lose their citizenship under new government rules.Staying in the country, Treasurer Joe Hockey is to ask state and territory governments to remove the consumption tax on tampons and other sanitary products.(LK)Moving on to Africa,Libya&`&s Prime Minister has said that he has survived an assassination attempt by gunmen who attacked his car in the eastern city of Tobruk.In Nigeria, Boko Haram militants have killed at least 43 people in a five-hour assault on the town of Gubio in northeastern Nigeria&`&s Borno state.(BRIAN)And in the Middle East,In Iraq, pro-government forces have formally launched an operation to drive Islamic State militants out of Anbar province.In Iran, the trial of a Washington Post journalist detained for almost 10 months on charges that include "espionage" has opened in the capital Tehran behind closed doors.(LK)Looking to Latin America,In Brazil, an Italian organized crime boss convicted for more than 20 murders has been caught after 31 years on the run.In Colombia, a senior Farc rebel commander is believed to be among five guerrilla fighters killed in a bombing raid.And a volcanic eruption on the Galapagos Islands has raised fears that the ecosystem that inspired Charles Darwin&`&s theory of evolution may be under threat.(BRIAN)And in Europe,The UK will not be part of any EU plan to relocate thousands of African migrants who have arrived in Italy and Greece.In Austria, a 14-year-old boy has been convicted of terrorism offences, including a potential plot to bomb a railway station in the capital, Vienna.(ZJN)And finally in North America,In the US, the Cleveland police department, which has been criticized for aggressive tactics against African Americans, has agreed to strict federal reforms.Staying in the country, authorities are investigating the death of blues legend BB King after two of his daughters claimed he was poisoned.(BRIAN) That&`&s the global headlines Survey.

"Today" is CRI's first news magazine show. With in-depth panel discussions on domestic and global news and current affairs, Today gives you the story behind the headlines. Our expert guests share their views and debate the issues - a locally produced program with a distinctly international flavour.

Now, our global survey of headlines,First up, in Asia,In Nepal,one month after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the United Nations said that there was still a need to focus on providing relief rather than reconstruction.Bangladesh has banned an Islamist militant group accused of attacking and killing three secular bloggers.(ZJN)Turning to Oceania,In Australia, the government appointed two new counterterrorism coordinators on Monday to increase cooperation between its security agencies against the threat of the Islamic State group.Staying in the country, an inquest has found that the gunman behind last year&`&s deadly attack on a café in Sydney led a complex and secretive life.(LK)Moving on to Africa,In Guinea, six people have been put in isolation in prison after being accused of moving the body of an Ebola victim in a taxi.And Nigeria&`&s fuel wholesalers say they have reached a deal with the government that should soon see the end of the crippling fuel crisis.(BRIAN)In the Middle East,In Iraq, the Prime Minister said that the city of Ramadi could be taken back from IS "in days".In Saudi Arabia, tens of thousands of people turned out at a mass funeral in the part of the country for 21 Shi&`&ite Muslims killed last week in a suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State.(LK)Looking to Latin America,A prison riot in northeastern Brazil left eight inmates dead after a fight between two gangs quickly escalated.In Colombia, negotiators for the Farc left-wing rebel group said that they want to push ahead with peace talks after dozens of their fighters were killed in a bombing raid.(BRIAN)And in Europe,In Spain, the anti-austerity Podemos movement vows to win the national polls this year, after its dramatic gains in Sunday&`&s local and regional elections.And Senior British and Russian officials are to meet to resume efforts to find a solution to the Syria crisis.(ZJN)And finally in North America,A pair of US fighter jets has escorted an Air France airliner bound for New York City after the flight was the subject of an anonymous threat.And in Mexico, at least 13 people have been killed by a tornado that hit the northern border city of Ciudad Acuna.(BRIAN) That&`&s the global headlines Survey.

Cannes you wear that? Women without heels refused entry to film festival. The Cannes Film Festival has been making a lot of headlines recently, but not for its movies.Last week, several women reported being denied entry to the event on the basis of their footwear. The festival requires "elegant" dress, which some decided meant high heels, meaning the flat-heeled women were not let it.Several of the women were reported to be older with medical issues –including one who is an amputee – that prevented the wearing of heels.While the organizers later stated there was no official band against flats, the incident has sparked widespread outrage on and off the web.The incident also comes amidst efforts by organizers to increase the representation of women at the film exhibition.

A US university has started the course of teaching the culture of selfies.It is about the study of selfies, self-portraits taken on cellphones, to analyze its cultural meaning and self-expression.The course began this semester at the University of Southern California under the title "Writing 150: Writing and Critical Reasoning: Identity and Diversity."It is known among students as #SelfieClass.At the class students have to take five self- portraits and analyze the background, their clothes, their gestures and any objects in the image.They will also compare their selfies with other students and well- known celebrities.For more about that the now joining us live on the phone is:Mark Marino, Associate Professor of teaching in writing programme, at the University of Southern California in the US. He is directly the teacher of this selfclass.

Running errands for others has not been seen as an enviable job in China, but not so much now. Using mobile internet technology, doing little tasks for others and get paid has become popular in China following the emergence of TaskRabbit in the United States in 2008.TaskRabbit style apps provide a peer-to-peer online marketplace that allows users to outsource small jobs and tasks to others in their neighborhood. Users state the task they need done and the price they are willing to pay, and a network of pre-approved contractors bid to complete the job.Similar operations like TaskRabbit have attracted investments from quite a few funds in China. Jimaisong.com (即买送), which offers online supermarket shopping, has obtained investment of 15 million yuan (US$2.41 million) from angel investors since it launched.Epeizhen.cn (e陪诊), which recently obtained 10 million yuan (US$1.61 million) in angel investments, offers services for patients to hospitals (e.g. take your child to the hospital when you don&`&t have the time).

Weight-你减肥，我买单！Today's key word is – Weight.（weight. n.重量，体重; vt.加重于，使变重; 使负重，使负担或压迫; Eg: Do you worry about your weight? 你担心自己的体重吗？）WeightThe weight of a person or a thing is how heavy they are.重量What is your weight? 你的体重是多少？ If someone loses weight, they become lighter. If they gain weight or put on weight, they become heavier. Loses weight 体重减轻gain weight or put on weight 体重增加Let's learn the word in the news: Students at China’s Chongqing University could get pocket money for losing weight.The school's student union has launched one-month campaign called "You Lose Weight, I Pay the Bill."It is to encourage students on the campus to stay in shape amid the school year.So far, over 400 students have signed up to participate in the fitness effort.Now let’s see the rules. The amount of money a student can receive depends on the weight he or she can lose in one month. If a student loses less than 2.5 kilograms, he or she will get 10 around yuan for each half-kilogram.Likewise, students that start running early in the morning will receive a five-yuan voucher for breakfast at the school cafeteria (食堂). If he or she continues running in the mornings for a week, the person will also be given a free bottle of milk with breakfast.Notes：-重庆大学展开一项新的活动，“你减肥，我买单”。-1个月的时间内，减重5斤以下的，每减一斤奖励10元；减重5～10斤的，每减一斤奖励20元；减重10斤以上的，每减一斤奖励40元。减重最多的学生可获得平板电脑、小冰箱等奖品。-此外，参与晨跑的学生还可以获得5元早餐券。连续一周参与晨跑了还可以获得免费牛奶。

Today's key word is Advice （advice n.劝告，忠告; （商业）通知; 建议; （政治，外交上的）报告; Eg:We've all heard this advice before. 我们都曾听过这个建议。）If you give someone advice, you tell them what you think they should do in a particular situation. advice建议， 忠告， 劝告。 Here are some phrases:Seek advice 征求意见give advice 劝告,忠告Now you can give me some advice. 现在你可以给我一些忠告。As I mentioned in the last episode, the Chinese student who won about half a million scholarship. We have talked with one of his teachers. Today we directly talk with him about his advice for other high school students in China. Do you have any other high school students here in China that would like to apply for overseas universities.My advice would be to find the university that fits for you.So when you say universities in America, everybody knows Harvard University,Yale University and Princeton University.But maybe those univeristies are not for you.First, you have to know who you are? What you want? What's you are aiming for?Then you have to choose between the universities which one fits you better? Which one can offer you the opportunity you want?That would be my advice.

Today’s key word is--scholarship(n. 奖学金;学术;学识.Eg:I can 't continue my study without this scholarship. 如果没有这份奖学金我就没有办法继续学业。) If you get a scholarship to a school or university, your studies are paid for by the school or university or by some other organization. 奖学金 Now let's learn the word in the news. A Chinese high school student has won a half a million dollar scholarship from an American University. The student named Liu Yutong is a senior student from High School affiliated to Beijing Normal University. One of his teachers named David Dauthier. He is a teacher of Latin of English Composition and Literature. I've also talked with him.

马尔科·安东尼奥·鲁比奥，美国律师、政治人物，美国共和党成员，曾任佛罗里达州众议院议长，现任美国参议员，2015年4月13日宣布投入2016年美国总统选举。

A girl has reported her father to the police after he answered his phone while driving.The 23 year old daughter surnamed Chen sent two photos to the police via weibo, China's twitter-like social platform, showing her father talking on the phone while driving.After receiving the photos, police asked her why is she reporting her own father.She said, "My dad always answers the phone when he is driving on the highway. My family has told him not to do this many times but it did not work."Later, Chen told her father about the report.Her father was then investigated and given a warning.Chen received 100 yuan as a reward for reporting traffic violations.Whether Chen should report her father or not has sparked heated discussion on the internet.(Support)(John) Guo Xilin(郭喜林) comments on cjn.cn that,The daughter did the right thing. What her father did was not only disrespecting his own life, but also showed no respect to his daughter's life.On the contrary, the daughter was not only being responsible, but also expressing concerns about her father's safety.(Jingnan)Zhang said on qq.com that,I admire her for her bravery. She placed the law above paternal affection. Is it what we want from the society? Is it what the laws are made for?Although her father was punished by police, he should be happy that he taught his little girl well. And I think she should become a judge or policeman in the future.(Liu Kun)Qing He(轻荷) comments on weibo that,As her father mentioned, although he initially could not understand his daughter's actions, his daughter's move made sense as it showed she was concerned about the safety of her family. Well, since her father already understood the girl, what else is there for us to say? After all, she did nothing wrong according to the traffic law.----Notes:-Traffic statistics show that about 70 percent of Chinese drivers will answer cell phones when driving, and the risk of causing accidents is four times that of when people don't use their phones.-The daughter said in an interview that she wants to use the 100 yuan to buy a Bluetooth headset for his father. So he can answering the phone without breaking the law.-----(Against)(John)Cloudy Sky said on qq.com that,I can't say she did the wrong thing. But she did have many other ways to stop her father from doing so. For example, she can temporarily keep her father's phone while he was driving in the highway. The girl's actions had good intentions but were rather harsh on her father.(Jingnan)Witness Zhou comment on weibo that,Some people say that "look! She said she will use the 100 yuan (about 16 US dollars) to buy her father a Bluetooth headset. How filial and considerate she is! " While I am thinking why didn't she buy the headset earlier!? Is she really not have 100 yuan? No I don't think so! She is just pretending to be a good girl after all she did to her father.(Liu Kun)comments on 163.com that,I wonder how can she face her father after this. What was she thinking when she embarrassed him? Her father will become a joke among his colleagues and friends. It will be difficult and embarrassing for her father to go back to work. The daughter was too impulsive and childish.

Today's key word is – Mobile（mobile adj.可移动的; 行动自如的; n.风铃; 手机; ）It means able to move or be moved freely or easily可移动的We all have mobile phone-移动电话Before we go to today's section, let's listen to an audio about a foreigner speaks tongue twister. 妈妈骑马马慢妈妈骂马。红凤凰，粉凤凰，红粉凤凰，粉红凤凰~~~~~When I was trying, I stress on the word trying to learn Chinese.The first thing that I did was I actually went to Youtube. But I made a big mistake. I had like this introduction via Youtube of some who just taught me the basic phrases like "Good morning, how are you".And then they start to talk about tongues~~~ and then I start freaking out. Tongue seems to be one of the main difficulties, especially for a beginner.It is.Here is one foreigner who lives in Beijing talking about his experience of learning Chinese.Notes:--近年来有越来越多的外国人学中文。对他们来说，学习中文的一大难题就是四个声调。实现。（附一个英文绕口令，大家可以试一试：While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash Washington's windows with warm washing water. 当我们走路时，我们看着清洁窗户的人用暖水清洗华盛顿的窗户。）

Sun Haitaois is about to graduate from Anyang Institute of Technology with 65 certificates, 6 are of national level and 15 are provincial level. As graduation is around the corner, he has applied for jobs in 50 companies, but has been rejected by all.This left him puzzled as he has won so many certificates and proved to be a top student in his university. His credentials seem to fit the job descriptions these companies have listed. So, what went wrong?An alumni who faced the same predicament claims their 2nd rate alma mater is not attractive to employers. He himself got a master degree from top-notch university and later got an average job.Comments(John) Xin le Sinlock on Sina.weibo:"For us small private business owners, we are looking at the job applicant's experience, how they position themselves, and his/her attitude towards work. The university one graduated from is the last factor we take under consideration. My gut tells me this guy with too many certificates seems suspicious. He could be unconfident about his major, lack career planning and doesn't know what he wants."(HY) 小刚 on news.sina.com.cn:"Just as Sun is complaining about employers discriminating against him for his alma mater, he is making the mistake of equating certificates to capability."(LK) 水墨下寒on chinadaily.com.cn"Most graduates from first-rate universities are capable. Whereas only some graduates from second-rate universities are capable. So, employers are interested in hiring the former. Graduates from second-rate universities need to prove themselves valuable when looking for the first job. But after that, your abilities speak for yourself."*************(John) Zed2009 on ifeng.com"No company is not hungry for talent. Sun has no one but himself to blame. I think there is a fundamental mismatch in his expectation versus what's available for him. If he doesn't see this, no one can help him!"(HY) 信阳师院大学生心理健康辅导中心 on 腾讯weibo:"This student may not be familiar with the human resource assessment mechanism. Resumes without the keywords HR is looking for don't pass the first round. I suggest he have his resume checked by someone with HR experience."(LK) 蒋杰俊 on 重庆Morning news.com says:"Labeling himself a top student who deserves a good job (just because you've earned a few certificates) shows some students are blind to the job market reality. It is tough out there. But complaining doesn't solve the problem. Sun and many others like him should identify their weak spots and improve in that regard."

每周三期，学单词，练听力，说口语，一次搞定。A-Yo English!Today’s key word is primary.([英][ˈpraɪməri][美][ˈpraɪmeri] adj.首要的，主要的; (教育)初等的，小学的。n.第一位; 最好者; 要素; 候选人提拔会; Eg: Primary education is given to pupils between the ages of 5 and 11.)Of chief importance首要的Eg: A matter of primary importance头等重要的事情 Earliest in time or order of development (Brit.)a primary school 小学or relating to education for children between the ages of about five and eleven All children in England will be expected to know up to their 12 times table when they leave primary school. David Cameron&`&s Conservative Party(保守党) has won in the UK 2015 elections over the weekend.In his victory speech outside of number 10 Downing Street, David Cameron has called the Conservative party&`&s policy a manifesto（宣言） for the working people and mentioned some goals he hopes to achieve.(Soundbite/ David Cameron)"Three million apprenticeships（学徒们，学生们）, more help with childcare, helping 30m people cope with the cost of living by cutting their taxes（税收）. Building homes that people are able to buy and own. Creating millions more jobs that give people the chance of a better future. It means giving the poorest people the chance of training, a job, and hope for the future. It means that for children who don&`&t get the best start in life, there must be the nursery education（幼儿教育） and good schooling that can transform their life chances. ” That was his victory speech outside the house.UK Conservative party to announce re-sits（重考） for pupils who fail at the end of primary school examinations.From September 2016 pupils deemed to have failed to reach the required levels will have two chances to sit retakes（补考）.Education secretary Nicky Morgan talks about the tests students will take.(soundbite/ Nicky Morgan) Nicky Morgan is currently serving as Secretary of State for Education（教育大臣） in the UK.Notes:---英国首相卡梅伦领导的保守党赢得议会超过半数席位，得以继续执政，卡梅伦成功连任首相。他在首相官邸唐宁街10号发表就职演说。演说中提到了为了英国教育的发展。--他表示如果他连任成功，就要修改教育体制。任何小学生11岁毕业考如果英语和数学不及格的话，就要在中学第一年补考，考到过关为止。。。---此前英国教育大臣，也曾经提到将来在小学毕业考试中失利的学生可以获得重考的机会。这些关于教育的新措施将有利于英国本土人才的成长，和教育公平性的实现。

Today's key word is – Engine（engine[英][‘endʒɪn][美][‘ɛndʒɪn] n.发动机，引擎; 工具; 火车头; 机车; vt.给…安装发动机; Eg. Google is a search engine.）It means: A machine designed to convert one form of energy into mechanical energy.This car has a new engine.这辆汽车的发动机是新的。A web search engine is a software system that is designed to search for information on the internet.网络搜索引擎是专为搜索互联网上的信息的软件系统。Today, let's go to the UK and see there is a suggestion saying whether it is a good idea to allow student use search engines like google or baidu in the examinations.Mark Dawe is the head of the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations board.Dawe claims that schoolchildren only have limited time to use the search engine during tests and that it's like using a calculator in Mathematics examination.Very interesting topic and certainly generated a lot of discussion especially in the UK where this is being proposed. You are gonna hear some students kinda of saying this is a cool idea. Some educators are protesting it.Online comments:@Tama Kino from venturebeat.com comments (against)No point in having exams if they can just google the answers. The whole point of exams is to test retained knowledge but if they can use google there's no reason to study. Google will just help schools produce morons instead of academics.Notes:--英国官员提议考试中可以使用谷歌，百度等搜索引擎。他表示在有限的时间内，让考生通过网上搜索寻找答案，可以帮助考生提高搜索能力。--一些网友表示，这是一个很好的提议。因为，在未来的生活中，人们将会经常使用网络搜索来解决问题，所以这一能力的锻炼十分重要。--另外一些网友表示，使用网络搜索引擎来考试完全没有意义。这样只能培养处更多的傻瓜而非人才。

A 35-second video clip documenting the severe beating of a female driver has been viewed over thousands of times in just 2 hours. The video showed a man surnamed Zhang dragging Lu, the female driver out of her car and then proceed to beat her up savagely. Zhang claimed it was reaction to the appalling driving on the woman's part.Lu, the female driver, had cut Zhang off abruptly on a highway then began tailgating him.After forcing Lu to the side of the road, Zhang was seen attacking Lu through the window before opening her door and forcing her out. He then pushed her onto the ground and began kicking her in the face.The beating left Lu with broken ribs and a severe concussion. Zhang was arrested for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, which could send him to jail for as long as 5 years.The dashboard camera on Zhang's car recorded the whole incident.Comments(John) KAMAD comments on dailymail.co.uk'Wonder if he would have tried this if the person in the car had been a huge dude with big muscles? Wonder why a bystander didn't help her? Wonder why he thinks this response is acceptable? Wonder what he does at home to his own family? Even the most aggravating drivers don't deserve this!!!'(HY) 粉红色玩意儿 on Sina weibo says:"How can you teach horrible drivers like this woman a lesson? By courteously yielding the way? I don't think so. If you don't beat her up, she will never learn the lesson. There are lots of bad drivers like her. The more important question should have been if any of these bad drivers have been punished at all?"(JN) Farewell-oblivion on Sohu news says"The female driver is at fault when she cut off the guy first. But then the male driver was equally bad by chasing after her. Both are horrible drivers, as neither respected traffic rules. But nothing justifies a beating."Notes- Lu has become a target of human flesh search online that found she had 27 traffic violations.- Road rage (also road violence) is the informal name for deliberately dangerous and/or violent behavior under the influence of heightened, violent emotion such as anger and frustration, involving an automobile in use.- One factor that is often discussed is overcrowding. Creepy animal studies have supported this contention: rats are usually OK until there is one rat too many in an enclosed space and then they all turn on each other. There are far more people on the road than ever before. Crowding causes aggression.- And then there are triggering incidents, which usually means the driving habits of others. Tailgating seems to flip the mental switch of a road rager more than anything else, although it is also one of the ways that road ragers intimidate other people.- China's Ministry of Public Security reported last year that the country has 244 million licensed drivers, the largest figure in the world. And about 10% of the drivers have less than a year of driving experience. The MPS also estimates that the number of drivers in China will see continued growth in the coming years.- As drivers in China become more experienced, one might hope that tailgating and other types of "bad driving" might decrease.- Both were angry and started to race each other and verbally abused each other through their car windows. Zhang said he then decided to resolve the problem with violence.Comments(John) tearknows on ifeng.com:"The real problem is that the female driver will not be punished for her aggressive driving that risked the safety of pedestrians. It is not considered as a criminal offense?"(HY) Ling858 on mydrivers.com says"The man's wife and son were in the car as well. What kind of example is he setting for the kid? What kind of man puts his family at risk like this?"(JN) Yu Nan84 commented on Shang Hai Daily.com"We're all bound to lose our cool at some point, but we need to keep things in perspective, we can prevent our emotions from getting the best of us. Avoiding aggressive driving will help to ensure your own safety, as well as the safety of everyone around you."

Today &`&s key word is : wary (be wary of )（wary 英[&`&weərɪ] 美[ˈwɛri] adj. 谨慎的，小心翼翼的;警戒的，警惕的.Perhaps you&`&re a bit more wary now? 你现在是不是有点开始担心了？）It means feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems If you are wary of something or someone, you are caution or careful because you do not know much about them and you believe they may be dangerous. Here are some examples: He taught his daughter to be wary of strangers. 他教他的女儿提防陌生人。How could you persuade wary bankers to invest in this country? 你怎么能说服小心谨慎的银行家在这个国家投资呢？ In the UK, there is a recent report shows that Britain should be wary of borrowing education ideas from abroad. The UK education Policymakers are being urged to be careful of myths about foreign education systems.However, those who oppose the idea of benchmarking foreign systems and adopting them into local school systems claim that what works in other countries may not work locally.Another report published by Centre for Policy Studies advises governments examining reform to return to teacher-centered and knowledge-focused schooling and to employ market-based education reform policies.@coming to getchaNo. It&`&s OK to "borrow" ideas, provided that they are shown to work in context. Notes:--英国发布的一份报告指出，英国教育要想其他国家，特别是芬兰，新加坡学习。--此报告引发了广大英国网友的讨论，有人认为虽然借鉴其他国家的经验是好事，但还是要结合英国教育的实际情况来实行。--早前，英国教育官员曾到访上海，学习中国的教育经验，特别是数学的教育。也有一批中国数学老师到英国传授经验。

everal Unisex public toilets have been introduced in a number of Chinese cities including Beijing, Chongqing and Shenyang over the 3-day May Day holiday.Some of the unisex toilets are a private one-room stall while most of them are a set of cubicles.Unisex toilets are not unique to China.They are also seen in the Canadian city of Vancouver and some universities in Britain.Opinions are divided in China where some people praise the idea while others remain skeptical.--------------(John Artman)Cathy comment on Chinadaily.com.cn that, (Against)Toilets should be separated for men and women. As a woman, I would not want to share it with men. I would feel embarrassed. There are not enough toilets for women in public places but I don't see why we think we can solve this problem by making all the toilets unisex.(Liu Kun)Mrs. Chen said on people.com that, (Against)Although I agree that there are some advantages in using unisex toilets, it is difficult for me to overcome psychological hurdles. It makes me uncomfortable to use the toilet while knowing that a man is using the facility next to me. It feels like all the sounds, the smell and sanitary napkins will prevent me from doing my business easily.(Zhou Jingnan)Ratfink agrees on China.com that, (Agree)I don't have a problem with it in most situations, provided that the doors offer adequate protection from intrusion and high levels of privacy. Given that there are a few sick perverted twisted types out there who take pleasure in photographing women or men in toilets, there is a need for some pretty good measures to stop such behavior.--------------Notes:Most of them are in tourist attractions.It said to be used to tackle the issue of lack of women's restrooms in public places.Some of the unisex toilets are a private one-room stall while most of them are a set of cubicles which men and women are basically in the same room but different cubiclesA father surnamed Yang said in an interview that, he used to worried about his daughter when he has to send his 4 years old daughter to the toilet alone. But now he can safely wait outside the cubicle for his daughter.Unisex public toilets are not unique to China. In Canada, city officials in Vancouver have rewritten building laws to require the inclusion of unisex toilets. In Britain, some universities are switching to non-gender facilities.--------------(John Artman) Mark, who works as a paralegal comments on yahoo.com that,(Agree)The high-speed spread of so-called equality laws means that all forms of sexual differentiation automatically become illegal. Any type of single-sex facility will thus be discriminatory. Besides, business people must be delighted, as it makes property development cheaper.(Liu Kun)Jerry X comments on weibo.com that,(Agree)The unisex toilets will solve a lot of problems for all the "trans" people, like transvestites, transgender, transsexuals and the like. One of them once told me: "At the moment we can be arrested for using the wrong toilet OR the right toilet, which is a bit awkward."(Zhou Jingnan) Gary said on Chinadaily.com.cn that,(Against)The problem is not shortage of women's toilets but women spending too much time in the toilet. Ladies, please educate yourselves to get it done and exit fast; don't hog the toilet! So now as a man I would have to stand in a long line waiting for a cubicle just like we see outside women's toilets all the time. How counter productive is that.

Today's key word is compulsory.(adj.必须做的，强制性的;义务的;必修的.[例句]But compulsory licences for chronic diseases are more controversial.但在慢性病药品上使用强制许可则更具争议性。)If something is complusory, you must do it or accept it.Because it is the law or because someone in the position of authority says you must. Let's use compulsory in a sentence. In most schools, mathematics education is compulsory. 在大多数学校，数学是必修课。 I wish that someone could tell him that these things are not compulsory. 我希望有人会告诉他这些事情并不是他的义务。A subsidy of about 20 billion US dollars has been given to compulsory education mostly in rural areas.So, what's the age for compulsory education?China has a 9 year free compulsory education which requires every child to receive a formal education from age 6 to 15. The subsidy has risen by 1.2 billion US dollars from last year.The subsidy will mostly go to schools in the central and western part of the country for renovating school buildings and raising teachers' salaries.(Discussion)It means: 200 yuan per square meter for school renovation40,000 yuan more for each teacher's annual paymentThe statement also stressed that any embezzlement of the money will be severely punished.Notes:-为进一步提高城乡义务教育经费保障水平，中央财政日前下拨城乡义务教育补助经费1305.8亿元，比2014年增加约80.9亿元，增长6.6%。-今年中央财政将在落实好“两免一补”、学生营养改善计划、乡村教师生活补助、城市免学杂费等各项政策基础上，继续完善城乡义务教育经费保障机制有关政策，进一步提高经费保障水平。

Today’s key word is Innovative.(adj. 革新的;创新的;富有革新精神的;创新立异. [例句]We need to find innovative ways of managing health care.我们需要在管理医疗保健方面找到创新型途径。In China, an undergraduate student has an innovative idea to set up his own express delivery supermarket in his university.Zhu Jiuhu is from Wuhan University of Engineering Science.His major is International Economics and Trade and owns two delivery super markets in his University and the university nearby.He started the business when he was sophomore two years ago.Now he has hired more than 20 employees, and the overall business can bring almost one million yuan in annual revenue.Zhu was born in a humble family and doesn't want to spend his parents' money for college life.So from the beginning of his college life, he set up a stall to sell hard drives and fruits. He also took part time jobs, such as working as a travel agent. Since then he has no longer asked for a single penny from the family.Notes:-武汉工程科技学院西门外20米长的小巷子里有两家快递超市，间隔不到10米。两个店面背后的老板都是该校11级国际经济与贸易专业大四学生朱久虎。　　-除了自己学校的快递超市，朱久虎还将快递超市拓展到了临近的武汉纺织大学和湖北生态职业学院。年纪轻轻的朱久虎从大二下学期开始创业将近两年，不光成立了好帮手物流服务中心，手下有20多名全职员工，最近还新买了20多万的汽车，年收入近百万元。

Liu Guijuan, a famous Peking Opera performer, has become the center of controversy after showing off a kingfisher feather headdress, which is called "Diancui" on Sina Weibo.Liu posted her headdress, explaining the iridescent blue feathers decorated on the headdress were taken from 80 kingfishers and further processed to maintain their color and gloss.She also expressed her wish of buying the best headdress made from even more kingfishers.Bird lovers and netizens accused her for neglecting the cruelty inflicted on the birds.Liu later deleted her original post.-------------------------------------------------Note:- Liu is a member of the People&`&s Political Consultative Conference of Tianjin city, an advisory body, and enjoys a special allowance granted by the State Council, China&`&s cabinet, as recognition of her career achievements.- To make Diancui, the feathers have to been taken from living kingfishers as it is said the color of the feathers would fade very soon after the birds&`& death. Only 28 feathers of one kingfisher can be used for this.- Diancui was once banned in the Song Dynasty, which is about a thousand years ago, as it is too cruel. Zhao Kuangyi, the first emperor of the Song Dynasty even educated his daughter princess Yongqing not to use such decorations, saying this may cause massive killing of birds if women across the country followed the princess as a fashion.- Diancui was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty and lots of kingfishers were killed. The last workshop producing Diancui closed because there were no kingfisher feathers any more in the market.- In October 2014, police in Guangdong caught about 60 thousand dead bodies of birds illegally being transported as cooked food. Many of them are kingfishers.

Today’s key word is Youth.(n. 年轻;青年，小伙子;初期. 例句：In my youth my ambition had been to be an inventor.我年轻时的抱负是成为一个发明家。）Youth---the time of being young, early life.There is a saying in English that says youth is wasted on the young. How true! And I wish I can go back to.Talking about youth China helps Kenya’s youth to attend new job skills. China is providing Kenya over 120 million U.S. dollars in loans to help the east Africa nation’s youth.China has provided assistance to Kenya's National Youth Service, the country's premier vocational training institute, under the phase one of the bilateral cooperation that concluded five years ago.The Asian nation has agreed to provide equipment for the construction industry during the second phase.And also we have given support to 38 Confucius Institutes teaching Mandarin and Chinese culture at many of Africa's top universities.And China is one of the very few countries to increase the number of full scholarships for Africans to study in its universities, with a total of 18,000 anticipated between 2013 and 2015.

Dongguan Foreign Language School, in South China's Guangdong province, has come under fire for asking students to pay 2,180 Yuan ($352) for uniforms consisting of 18 pieces.Dongguan Student Club, a popular Weibo account, broke the story first.One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said most of the students are complaining that the price is too high. In comparison, another student from a different school said their 14-piece uniform set costs just 900 yuan.A faculty member from Gongguan Foreign Language School explained that the price of the uniforms was based on a bidding launched by Dongguan's education bureau and the uniform quality is much better than before.

Today’s key word is Destination.(n.目的，目标;目的地，终点;[例句]The stockmarket is a comparatively attractive savings destination.股市是一种相对有吸引力的储蓄目的地。) Nowadays, more and more Chinese students are choosing to go abroad to pursue their University studies.UK has proven to be one of the hottest destinations for these perspective students.Some students are also enrolled in international summer holiday camps, which may ensure that they are ready to study in the country.Last year nearly 60,000 Chinese undergraduates moved to the UK for their studies.The number of Chinese students in the UK far exceeds any other nationalities.So, it is just about getting on an airplane and simply traveling? Or are there some preparations to do before they leave?Now join us in the studio is Nick Scott,Founder of Visit University in London, UK.Notes:---英国高等教育统计局(Higher Education Statistics Agency)最新公布的数据显示，2013年至2014年共有87,895名中国学生到英国接受高等教育。占同年英国大学本科和硕士的总学生人数的4%。---英国《卫报》去年一篇报道称，2013到2014赴英国就读大一的中国学生几乎有6万人，已超过其他来自欧盟地区的学生人数.

The death toll from this weekend's massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Nepal has surpassed 25-hundred.Aftershocks from the quake are said to be hindering attempts to rescue those who may still be trapped under the rubble.Poornima Weerasekara has more.Reporter:Hundreds of thousands of people in central Nepal who were spending a second night outdoors were jolted by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock on Sunday night.The death toll from the quake has now risen to over 2,500 people according to the latest data from the Nepalese government. This figure is expected to rise as the search and rescue efforts – which are hampered by strong after-shocks and landslides – continue.The number of injured nationwide has climbed to 5,900 so far.Nepalese doctors have set up makeshift operating theatres as they work round the clock to treat the wounded.The 7.8-magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara early on Saturday.Many including foreign travelers are afraid to return to shelters.24-year-old Martin is a French tourist who was caught in the quake."(When the quake happened) we ran into the hotel courtyard to avoid being crushed and when we came back to Durbar Square we saw that everything was damaged. We started helping people, trying to move bodies out of the debris and so yesterday evening we slept here because we were afraid of aftershocks, because all those hotels have high floors. So now we are here and we're waiting for the situation to clear."A 62-member Chinese search and rescue team with sniffer dogs -who arrived in Nepal on Sunday afternoon - is continuing efforts to dig victims out from under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kathmandu.Fu Xiaoguang is the Director of the China International Search and Rescue Team."We are at the epicenter of the quake and we have been divided into three teams to carry out rescue work here. We didn't even have any time to arrange accommodation for the rescue team. We are solely focused on finding as many survivors as possible within the 72-hour "golden window".The Chinese government has also pledged 20 million Yuan in humanitarian aid to its Himalayan neighbor.Rescue missions and aid from around the world have started arriving to help cope with the aftermath of the worst earthquake to hit Nepal for more than 80 years.The UK has pledged close to 10 million dollars, while neighboring countries India and Pakistan have both dispatched teams of medics. Norway, Germany, US and Israel have all come forward to help.Meanwhile, powerful aftershocks that rocked Nepal on Sunday, has triggered fresh avalanches at Everest base camp with many foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides said to be trapped there.Groups of survivors are being flown to Kathmandu from the partly buried Everest basecamp.The quake has also dealt a heavy blow to Nepal's rich cultural heritage.The nine-story Dharahara tower, a major tourist attraction in Kathmandu with its spiral staircase of 200 steps, has been reduced to just its base.Other UNESCO world heritage sites in Patan and Bhaktapur have also been badly damaged.This has cast shadow on Nepal's long-term economic recovery that is dependent on tourism.------------------For more on this, we are joined live on the line byPrakash Babu Paudel, Chairman, Capital FM 92.4, Kathmandu, Nepal.

More and more Chinese students are choosing to go abroad to pursue their University studies.UK has proven to be one of the hottest destinations for these perspective students.Some students are also enrolled in international summer holiday camps, which may ensure that they are ready to study in the country.Data:• Last year around 59,000 Chinese undergraduates moved to the UK for their studies• Total of 57,190 came from EU countries, not including British students• More first-year Chinese students in the UK than from the whole of the EUA total of 310,000 non-EU students last year - up 3%The number of Chinese students far exceeds any other nationality at around 87,000.eighty seven thousandSo, it is just about getting on an airplane and simply traveling? Or are there some preparations to do before they leave? etc.Now joining us live in the studio is:Nick Scott, Founder of Visit University in London, UK.

A replica of the Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan, constructed in Hengdian, Zhejiang province, will open partially from May 10.Built to the scale of the one in Beijing which was destroyed in 1860 by British and French forces, it features 95 percent of the original architecture.The new garden covers an area of about 413 hectares with a total investment reaching about 30 billion yuan, or about 5 billion US dollars.Xu Wenrong, founder of the Hengdian Group which initiated the project said he hopes the reconstruction will enhance people's understanding of traditional Chinese culture.Note:However, the management office of Yuanmingyuan say that as a world cultural relic reservation, any replica of Yuanmingyuan should be arranged by the national government. The replica built in Hengdian may infringe upon Yuanmingyuan's property rights.Built in 1707, the Old Summer Palace served as a garden for the royal family of the Qing Dynasty and was known as the "garden of all gardens" for its architectural diversity, including classic western royal court-style buildings.

Today’s key word isDramatizeDramatize means: put into dramatic form, or represent something in a dramatic manner. One of the most famous works by Shakespeare is the tragedy of Macbeth.Macbeth is considered one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most powerful works. Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the damaging psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfill the ambition for power.Here is a clip from Roman Polanski’s 1971 film titled Macbeth.(soundbite/ Macbeth)LADY MACBETH: Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? The Thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now? What, will these hands neer be clean? No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting.DOCTOR: Go to, go to; you have known what you should not.GENTLEWOMAN: She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that. Heaven knows what she has known.LADY MACBETH: Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.

Today's key word isRecognition(n.认识，识别;承认，认可;褒奖;酬劳[例句]Facial recognition programs are used in police and security operations. 面部识别计划将用于警方和安全任务之中。)It means the action of identifying a thing or a person from previous knowledge. In a university in Chinese Henan Province, students are taking attendance by a facial recognition system.It is a computer application that automatically identifies or verifies a person from a digital image.The sign-in system is invented by a professor who works in the university as an anti-truancy tool.Notes:河南大学为了防止学生逃课 使用“人脸识别器”考勤打卡制度河南工业大学新闻与传播学院播音专业的大学生们上课前用“人脸识别器”签到。用高科技的“刷脸”设备进行上课签到，代替了传统的签到制度，有效避免了学生逃课行为，被老师称为“防逃课神器”。据实行“防逃课神器”的该院播音与主持艺术教研室主任李红光老师介绍，“人脸识别器”是他新推行的一种考勤打卡制度，主要针对播音专业的两个班学生早晨练声使用，自从使用了它后出勤率达到百分之百。对“刷脸上课”，很多学生亦表示赞同。

There have already been two recent cases of student suicide at the High school, one last October and another just last month in March. They are from Hengshui No.2Senior high school in Hebei province. Now the school has built up bars across its open hall ways for security precautions.

Students from low-income families in rural areas will receive preferential enrollment when applying to China's top universities, such as Tsinghua and Peking University.The Ministry of Education asked affiliated universities to admit rural students of a population of at least 2% of the whole enrollment quota that year. So with this program, about 50,000 rural students can be enrolled nationwide.Students from rural areas have to apply online first, then pass a separate test designed under the plan and be admitted by the university with gaokao scores lower than the regular admission score.

I. Chinese stock market at fresh 7-year highThe stock market frenzy on the Chinese mainland.The Shanghai Composite Index had its biggest one-day percentage gain since late January yesterday, rising 2.7% to a fresh 7-year high of nearly 4200 points.II. FDI into China accelerates in MarchThe latest stats released by the Ministry of Commerce show foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland rose 11 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year.Service industry FDI in the first quarter climbed about 24 percent year on year.But manufacturing FDI was down 3.6 percent during the period.Shen Danyang, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, says the numbers indicate foreign investment is not leaving China."Data in the first quarter shows the number of newly registered foreign-funded companies increased 22 percent while actual foreign investment distribution was up 11 percent. Compared with last year's data, the number of foreign firms which have ended their investments was down more than 17 percent and those which have reduced their investments decreased nearly 36 percent. This means foreign investment is not leaving the country since foreign investment inflow outnumbers outflow."Meanwhile, outbound direct investment by non-financial firms surged almost 30 percent to around 25 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter.China has become a net capital exporter for the first time, with ODI outnumbering capital inflows last year.III. Apple solar power investmentApple has announced plans to create a solar power project in a remote area of Sichuan.Apple has plans to create a 40-megawatt solar power project in an ethnic Tibetan and Qiang-inhabited region to give locals the access to clean energy.The project is expected to power 61-thousand homes a year.Apple is working with US-based SunPower, along with 4 other Chinese companies.The solar farm in Sichuan will be the first Apple has built outside the United States.

A primary school in southern China's Zhejiang Province is offering students bicycling licenses.Students over 12 years old have to take an exam organized by the school if they choose bicycles as their daily transportation tool to school.The exam includes getting on and off the bike, turning right-angles, passing a narrow alley, emergency stops and so on. After going through all the requirements, the students can get a license from the school.The initiative aims to educate students the awareness of traffic safety.

The central authorities have officially announced people from Shenzhen are now limited to travelling to Hong Kong only once a week on their multiple-entry permits.The new policy is part of the efforts aiming at cracking down on people smuggling goods from Hong Kong into the mainland.Our Hong Kong correspondent Li Jing has more.Report:Shenzhen, a border city in South China's Guangdong Province, introduced the multiple-entry scheme in 2009, facilitating its permanent residents to visit Hong Kong as many times as they want.Parallel traders have since taken advantage of the policy to buy duty-free products in Hong Kong and resell them in the mainland for profit. As a result, the increase in parallel importers has pushed up retail prices and disrupted locals' daily lives in border districts in Hong Kong.The decision was made by the central government after huge numbers of tourists from the mainland put a strain on Hong Kong's accommodation capacity.Chief Executive in the Special Administrative Region CY Leung."The Hong Kong government is very concerned over the recent period as a result of Hong Kong's ability to withstand this problem (the influx of mainland shoppers). So, last June, the Hong Kong government proposed to the Chinese Central government to cancel the policy of multiple visits passes and replacing it with the once-a-week travel passes."The new policy is welcomed by some Hong Kong residents."It will be less crowded, and if the rental fee drops in retail stores, we can buy cheaper products there."However, Lau Nai-keung, a member of the Basic Law Consultative Committee, says the new move will not reduce parallel trading activities."Hong Kong residents will monopolize the parallel trading business. We have been doing this business for hundreds of years. It cannot be stopped. "Statistics show that currently, more than half of the parallel traders are actually from Hong Kong.Hong Kong's Chief Executive CY Leung says the authorities will fight against the parallel trading business hand-in-hand with authorities in Shenzhen."We have to distinguish parallel traders that come to Hong Kong more than once a week from other visitors. The new measure is to target professional parallel traders. We are aware that Hong Kong residents will continue their business, authorities will strengthen the crackdown."Some retail insiders also worry that the new policy would further dampen the local economy. Lawmaker Vincent Fang is one of them."The retail sector will be affected. Pharmacies and stores selling daily necessities will be hurt first. We don't know what to do yet. "The tightening measure comes at a time when Hong Kong tourism sees a decline in the number of visitors and a slump in sales last month. CY Leung says Hong Kong continues to welcome all tourists."The new policy doesn't mean that we don't want to promote tourism development. As a matter of fact, authorities will adopt a series of campaigns shortly to attract visitors from all around the world."The one-visit-per-week permit would be issued from Monday, while multiple visit visas already issued remain valid.The restriction is expected to cut the number of visitors to Hong Kong by 4.6 million a year.

A 15-year-old girl has become an instant internet celebrity after undergoing extreme plastic surgery. Her pointed chin and snow-white skin has made her resemble a "snake spirit" which refers to a popular folk legend in China.Li, from Henan province in central China, has drastically transformed her appearance. She shared the process of "becoming beautiful" online with her followers. The teenager appears to have had surgery on her jaw, chin and eyes.Going by the name Li Enxi (李蒽熙Danae), she has 510,000 followers on her Weibo account - which states her birthday is May, 1999.

Hand-reared owls are going on display at a pop-up event in London. The sold out Owl bar show is meant to educate "London urbanites" about these normally reclusive birds.While more than 81,000 people entered a ticket ballot, causing the website to crash, many others were against the 5 day event citing concerns for the animal's welfare as the main reason.29,700 people signed an online petition imploring authorities to take action against the event.As well as this, the RSPCA has said it has serious concerns for the welfare of any owls used in a bar or cafe environment.The Annie the Owl pop-up show, which is running for five nights, was originally meant to be held in Soho, central London. However, following pressure from animal rights activists it had to be moved to a secret location.

On September 21, 2014, a group of rebel fighters calling themselves the Houthis captured Yemen's government in the captial Sana'a. On January 22 of this year President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns after a fragile ceasefire between the government and Houthis fell apart.Since then, Houthi fighters have advanced on the southern city of Aden, forcing Hadi to flee the country and ask for military support from neighboring countries. Leading the coalition to fight the Houthis, Saudi Arabia has already begun a campaign of airstrikes and has expressed a willingness to send in ground troops if necessary.Amidst all the fighting is an ongoing and desperate humanitarian crisis with Oxfam estimating that 10 million Yemenis did not have enough food to eat.So, who are the Houthis and why did they turn to violence? Is there a political solution to this civil war? And how the humanitarian crisis be ameliorated? These questions and more on this edition of Today where we explore the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has passed a regulation to allow body donors to bypass family consent requirements.This is the latest effort to alleviate a severe cadaver shortage in China's medical schools.The regulation has removed a provision that consent from all direct relatives must be obtained before a body is donated.The new rule states clearly that a donor can decide themselves whether they want their body donated or not.It also allows institutions, including nursing homes and residents' committees, to donate the bodies of elderly people who have elected donation but have no children or spouse to carry out their wishes after death.

The world's first interactive Barbie doll has raised concerns about privacy. The Hello Barbie doll uses wifi and speech recognition technology to hold conversations with its owner.According to executives from the dolls manufacturer Mattel, the doll should be able to respond with "thousands and thousands of things to say".However, this technology has raised concerns among parents who are worried about privacy, anti-social behaviour and mixed messages received from the doll impacting their child.Meanwhile, Mattel claims the toy will "deepen that relationship girls have with [Barbie] and they will become like the best of friends."Hello Barbie is scheduled to be released this fall.

News roundup:1. 'Little Eagles' are earning their wingsIn China, the quasi-military aviation training program has allowed for an extra one-thousand students to take part this year.The Chinese air force is hoping to select about 400 cadets from "Little Eagle Classes" when they graduate.2. Japan's Ministry of Education Ministry has released a review of new textbooks to be used in junior high schools next school year.The new texts include changes to the language surrounding the Nanjing Massacre, which critics say softens the impact of what the Japanese army did. It also change previous language connected to territorial disputes and the use of sex slaves, or so-called "comfort women" by the Japanese Military during the war.Yang Bojiang is the deputy director of the Institute of Japanese Studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences."An important revision connected to the 'comfort women' issue is an addition that states there is no evidence that these women were 'forced'. That's very close to the official stance of Prime Minister Abe's administration."Japan's relations with China and South Korea continue to be frayed over both territorial and historical disputes.3. Now let's turn to the aftermath of the Garissa University attack.The local service industry in Kenya is already starting to feel the pinch from last week's deadly attack on the university campus by al-Shabaab militants which left close to 150 people dead.At the same time, hundreds of Kenyans have begun a three-day blood drive for those injured in the attack on Garissa University.Four years ago, Garissa University College opened its doors as northern Kenya's first university.However, the university has been shut down after the attack.4. In Australia: CISA welcomes education strategyThe Council of International Students Australia has welcomed the draft national strategy for international education.The strategy, which aims to keep Australia in the world's top five education providers and promises two roundtable consultations with industry stakeholders.

A baby hatch is place where people can bring usually newborn babies and leave them anonymously in a safe place. While first coming to prominence in Medieval Europe, modern forms are usually consist of a door or flap on an outside wall which opens onto a heated or insulated bed. Sensors then alert hatch workers so that they can take care of the child.First introduced in China in 2011 in Shijiazhuang of Hebei Province, baby hatches have seen inconsistent use and support with some areas seeing overwhelmed hatches while others are underused. The discussion on whether or not to continue to support and fund these social welfare projects continues as the Chinese people and government decide the best solution for abandoned babies.So, does China need baby hatches? What social and moral problems do they pose? And what more can be done to address abandoned babies?These questions and more on this edition of Today where look at baby hatches in China.

1, The Chairman of Sinopec, Fu Chengyu, predicts China's demand for oil will peak within the next ten years or even as soon as 2017.Sinopec, the country's largest state-owned oil processing company, says the company is preparing for the future when retailing oil is no longer its core business.Sinopec has 30,000 petrol stations and 23,000 retail shops around the country.Sinopec's prediction is contrary to forecasts from big Western oil majors such as ExxonMobil and BP. They believe Chinese demand for oil will continue to grow in the future despite slowdown in Western markets.Data show the consumption of diesel in China dropped last year.2, The market value of merged Didi and Kuaidi, China's two largest taxi apps is expected to reach some $ 8.7 billion after new stake sale, a nearly 50% increase.That will be one fifth of the market value of U.S. taxi app Uber.This comes after Coatue Management-led consortium is planning to buy nearly $400 million worth of stake from the combined firm.Didi and Kuaidi, backed by e-commerce giants Tencent and Alibaba, announced their merger deal in February.Speculations are ongoing about whether Kuaidi will sell all its stakes and quit once the merge completes.3, China is already the world's largest market for industrial robots—sales of the machines last year grew 54% from 2013. The nation is expected to have more factory robots than any other country on earth by 2017. This is according to the German-based International Federation of Robotics.A perfect storm of economic forces is fueling the trend. Chinese labor costs have soared, undermining the calculus that brought all those jobs to China in the first place, and new robot technology is cheaper and easier to deploy than ever before.The International Federation of Robotics estimates about 225,000 industrial robots were sold throughout the world last year—27% more than the year before and a new record. About 56,000 were sold in China.

A recent video recording a quarrel on the street in downtown Beijing raised heated debate online. The video shows a junior middle school student being scolded by four adults after he took a photo of their car parking in the bikeway.The four people claimed the boy had no right to take a picture of their car. The student retaliated by arguing that it is wrong to park in the bikeway. A woman from the group went as far as insulting the boy saying he is stupid and knows nothing but study.

The Chinese government has announced it plans to implement the long-awaited bank deposit insurance scheme in May.The maximum compensation will be 500-thousand yuan.Authorities say the figure is roughly comparable to the compensation limits set by other countries' deposit insurance schemes.As part of the program, financial institutions will have to set-aside premiums into a fund that will be managed by an agency appointed by the State Council.It's designed to return bank clients' deposits if their bank goes under.

The Beijing Food and Drug Administration is encouraging restaurants to improve transparency and gain customer trust by becoming "open kitchens". In the latest bid to improve Beijing's food standards, Businesses are advised to install transparent windows or walls, or set up a video connection between the kitchen and the dining room.

In an effort to prop up the housing market, Chinese authorities are lowering the required downpayment for second home buyers to 40-percent from 60-percent.The minimum downpayment ratio for first-time home buyers who use the government's housing fund is also being reduced from 30-percent to 20-percent.At the same time, if buyers use the housing fund, the ratio for a second home purchase will remain at 30 percent, provided all their loans are paid off on the first house.

Twitter users have raised concerns after images appeared of wrists being cut under the hashtag #Cut4Zayn. This has sparked concerns especially among parents and health experts the world over.The tweets started trending after it was announced that 1 direction star Zayn Malik had quit the group mid tour after a concert in Hong Kong.Although many images were poking fun at the hashtag, other images were graphic and Twitter users as well as some celebrities took to their twitter accounts to advise people not to self-harm.One disturbed fan shared an image of her wrists, writing: "The faster you cut your wrists the faster Zayn comes back. Do it please!"Another captioned her horrifying picture with: "I can&`&t believe he&`&s left the band I want to die"Zayn Malik has not yet made a public comment addressing the issue.

China's sports and culture authority will introduce guidelines to regulate square-dancing in the country.The dance is wildly popular among elderly Chinese women and is performed in large groups at night in public squares.After authorities commented on the issues with venues and noise disputes, fitness authorities plan to introduce 12 authorized routines as well as permissible times and music volume.However, some netizens said the "dancing grannies" just want to dance freely and asked why the authorities are bothering to introduce guidelines for an exercise?**************(John )David Bosak comments on npr.org, (Against)"I witnessed the public dancing in China last summer. It was one of the most interesting things I saw during my stay. The beauty of this exercise is that all people including the elderly, kids and couples, can dance however they want. So why do they need some regulations to restrict their activities? I'm sure there are tons of other more important issues needing their attention."(LK) Patrick Kwon comment on weibo, (Against)"That's so funny. Dancing grannies are doing just fine so far without so called experts. I don't think they need "experts" to pick songs or teach them how to dance. They are neither students nor professional dancers. Come on! It's none of your business!"(JN)Fun Chuck comment on 163.com,(Against)"I agree the dancing grannies are sometimes really loud. But after years of discussion, most of the Da Ma (大妈) learned how to dance properly without affecting other people. It is just too late for authorities to step in. And Xiao Pingguo(Little apple) !? I have to say authorities have bad taste in picking songs."*********Notes:- Choreographed by an expert panel including dancers and fitness trainers, the 12 square-dancing drills accompanied by pop music such as Internet hit Little Apple will be introduced to local fitness sites in 31 provinces and municipalities in the next five months.-The use of public space for the exercise has led to tensions boiling over. In 2013, Wuhan residents made headlines after they showered faeces on a group of boisterous "dancing grannies".-The new guidelines on choreography will be put together by an expert panel.-"The unified drills [routines] will help keep the dancing on the right track where they can be performed in a socially responsible way," Wang Guangcheng, a fitness trainer and member of the panel, told China Daily.-The craze has even gone international - in 2014 groups were spotted dancing in front of the Louvre in Paris, and in Moscow's Red Square.- The chief of the General Administration of Sport's Mass Fitness Department, Liu Guoyong said that following complaints officials would "have to guide it with national standards and regulations".**********(John)GS comments on weibo,(Support)"It's a good thing. Finally, there's someone that can do something about the Guangchangwu(广场舞) or square dancing. The elderly ladies make so much noise in the evening in my neighborhood. It's so annoying!"(LK)Guang Mingding said on qq.com,(Support)"Since several experts will help compose dances, the overall fitness level will be improved significantly. I think it is definitely good news for mothers."(JN)Pitch Perfect comments on China.org.cn, (Support)"I couldn't help imagine what it will look like when Da Ma (Grannies) from different cities perform the same dance. It is not only a good way to do the exercise, but also they can organize some kind of competition to make square dancing more interesting. Like some officials said, to keep the dancing on the right track where they can be performed in a socially responsible way."

Wonderful Friends, a Chinese reality television show has been condemned by animal rights activists. The show features celebrities performing tasks with animals at a zoo in south China.Among the show's more controversial moments are scenes in which Huang Xuan, a Chinese actor, gives a pedicure to an elephant and another in which a chimpanzee is forced to dress up as Superman.Wildlife activists are calling for the program to be scrappedaccusing producers of exploiting animals to boost their ratings.The producer of the show stated nothing on the show ever goes against either animal protection laws or the wellbeing of animals.--------------------------(John) Wang Hui, an animal rights protector in Hong Kong comments on telegraph.co.uk,"If I had to cut all the inappropriate parts from the show, I don't think there would be much left. It is very painful for elephants to do headstands and chimpanzees do not need to wear clothes."(ZJN) Xiaolukou says on weibo.com,"I think it's OK. Really from the show I've learnt that animals and human beings could actually establish emotional connections. And I think audiences will try to protect wild animals with more effort after watching the show."(LK) Wanshuer says on weibo.com,"I am really sad to see the show come to an end. It warms my heart every time I watched it."---------------------------------------Notes:The weekly program premiered in late January and proved an immediate hit. More than 20 million people tuned into its first episode.The show, called "Wonderful Friends," is the latest programming success from Hunan TV. The broadcaster, based in Changsha, was behind the hugely popular talent show "Super Girl," which drew more than 400 million viewers for its season finale in 2005 when viewers got to vote for their favorite contestant.The winning "Super Girl" herself, Li Yuchun, is now a major pop singer and among the six stars on "Wonderful Friends." The new show was an immediate hit. An estimated 20 million people watched the first episode when it aired on Jan. 24. Seven episodes in, it has attracted more than 196,000 followers on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.In each episode, Ms. Li and her fellow participants are given zookeeping tasks that allow them to interact with wild animals at Chimelong Safari Park in the southern city of Guangzhou, whose website boasts of 20,000 rare animals and "the world's most enchanting white tiger performance for guests." The show's mission, Chimelong says on its website, is to bring humans and animals closer together.-----------------------------------(John) Leo Luojiayuan says on weibo.com,"Using animals for entertainment is wrong, especially when they are put into situations that are cruel, stressful, and unnatural. This television show is sending all the wrong messages, and should be stopped immediately."(ZJN) Xie Yan, a zoologist says on twitter,"Many people may think getting cuddly is an expression of love. What they don't realize is wild animals need space. Putting clothes on chimpanzees is not as adorable as you may think from the animals' point of view."(LK) May Mei says on twitter.com,"I guess their idea was to get their viewers to love the animals, which could be a promising start for conservation efforts. But we do not agree with their entertainment-oriented approach."

Politicians in France are considering passing a bill that will ban "too skinny" models from being featured in fashion shows and advertising campaigns, claiming that they promote anorexia.Agencies or fashion brands that hire models who are considered "underweight" could be fined up to 75,000 euros, and anyone responsible for hiring could face six months in jail.In order to be hired, models will have to present a medical certificate showing a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 18, about 121 lbs for a height of 5'7, before being hired for a job, and will be subject to periodic weighings.(Paul) David Ridsdale from msn.com commentsthis law is totally wrong....not for the idea of not using 'thin' models but that it sets a precedent of being able to change the law to ban men/women that don't fit the 'norm' of the moment...another way should have been found....no one should be banned from any job because people don't like the way they look or what they portray...they would have done a better job of it if they perhaps use a proportional representation of people...using what they say is the normal size of people as a yard stick and for every model 2 sizes or more below this matched to a model 2 sizes or more above...not ideal but a better representation....(LK) Alcox from dailymail.co.uk commentsFor heavens sake ! ............We need to give this a rest. ...............These skinny models KNOW what they are doing to their health. ............They are NOT stupid, and , just like the rest of us they have a choice as to how they live their lives. ......... Sorry, about the rant, but I'm getting sick of hearing about overskinny models.......... They are probably sick of the media having a go at them as well.(FA) Realist101 from cbc.ca commentsBy that mindset, they should also ban overweight models. No one should aspire to be either - and we shouldn't promote either as beautiful. The number of people who are in poor health because of extra weight FAR exceeds the number of people suffering from anorexia…most people are overweight its very bad they should also ban seriously overweight women if they ban the underweight women, then again i would rather young women want to be skinny than think they should be fat.(Paul) Jay Wiener from oregonlive.com commentsBanning over-thin women from modelling is a wonderful idea – it helps both the models and the public. However, the BMI is the wrong tool – it is too crude to be useful. Asian women tend to have smaller frames than other races, and an Asian Model could be very fit and healthy with a BMI of 17.0. On the other hand, a very tall model (of any race) could have a BMI above 20 and still be anorexic; tall people have high BMIs regardless of body fat. I'm a mathematician and I've studied obesity for years. In my opinion, if you want to find your ideal weight, you should use better tests than the BMI.(LK) WarIsPeaceHateIsLove from cbc.ca commentsThe plus size models that I have seen are actually quite healthy, they are not fat. But there isn't really a comparison between the two because plus size is fairly close to a healthy weight, while skinny can kill over dead at any moment from the lack of nutrition they get. There is also a difference in that the plus size models are used to advertise clothes to a specific audience and propped up as a standard of beauty that all girls/women are supposed to live up to. But I do agree that the best thing is to have healthy women all around.(FA) Ted FullName from npr.org commentsI just Googled the photos of Isabella the French model who died of anorexia. No one could claim that they were unaware that she had a very serious problem. She was 5'4" and weighed 70 pounds. Her BMI was 14.5. My first reaction upon seeing the headline was to wonder why they need a law to do what should be obvious. Not promote these people. After seeing her photo, and understanding that people WERE giving her assignments, despite her OBVIOUS illness, convinced me that people will ignore the obvious. France's law is not evidence of a nanny state run amok. It is a long overdue response to a sad plight suffered by too many women. And taken advantage of by too many corporations.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network published the second World Happiness Report in 2013.----- It provided the rankings of national happiness levels of 156 nations based on people’s responses to six variables, including GDP per capita, years of healthy life expectancy, social support (having someone to count on in times of trouble), perceptions of corruption, prevalence of generosity, and freedom to make life choices. How reliable do you find the six variables in evaluating how happy people are in a specific country?----- The report was based on a survey conducted in 156 nations worldwide. In the final rankings, the top five countries are Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Sweden, and the bottom five are Rwanda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Benin, and Togo. How do you interpret the result of this report?

7. China ranked No.93 in the 2013 World Happiness Report among all 156 nations. Meanwhile, China was the world’s second largest economy in the same year. Could you help us understand a little bit more about the contrast here?8. How much awareness do you think Chinese people have toward the concept of happiness?9. Zhang Yiwu​（张颐武）​, a scholar from China’s Peking University, is known for his critique on issues confronting Chinese culture and society. He once said in the media that it’s not new that Chinese are unhappy.----Do you agree?----Zhang also said a growing gap between rich and poor and the discrepancy between their economic aspiration and economic reality among China’s rising middle class are the two most prominent issues that are preventing China from becoming a happier nation. How do you comment on this?10. Media critics are also citing deteriorating health conditions, heavy work pressure and mental stress as important factors leading to the unhappy conditions among Chinese. How you comment on this?11. China Household Finance Survey, an academic institution has recently released China’s 2014 National Happiness Report.---By the category of provinces, Shandong in eastern China ranks the 1st in the country while Beijing and Shanghai tie for the 7th. What’s your take on that?---By the category of occupation, military officers have the highest happiness index while people who work in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery have the lowest. How do you interpret that?---On education levels people with doctoral degree are the least happy while those with primary school education are the happiest ones. How much does education level has to do with the level of happiness?12. Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the new governing concept of Four Comprehensives in December 2014. One of them is to “comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society”.----What does “a moderately prosperous society” mean to Chinese individuals?----Will “a moderately prosperous society” be able to enhance the happiness of the Chinese people?13. What should average Chinese people do if they want to become happier?14. From your experiences of life or study, if we ask you to give just one piece of practical advice to Chinese on how to become happier, what would you say?

Bhutan is the first country in the world that has been measuring its national prosperity not by GDP, but by gauging its citizens' happiness levels, known as Gross National Happiness. Bhutan’s GNH contains indicators such as psychological wellbeing, health, education, culture, good governance, community vitality, etc. The country has therefore been adjusting its policy decisions and allocation of resources to achieve a better GNH. But on the other hand, Bhutan remains one of the poorest nations on the planet. Also it is struggling with a rise in violent crime, a growing gang culture and the pressures of rises in both population and global food prices.----Could you please explain a little more to our listeners on how Bhutan’s GNH works?----So how effective do you think the Bhutan model is in terms of promoting a happier life for people?6. On a parallel development, other countries and international organizations are introducing their own happiness index system. The UN brought in Human Development Index. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has developed the global Project of ‘Measuring the Progress of Societies’. And Australia initiated the Australian National Development Index. Does this mean the Bhutan model is winning global attention?

On June 28 2012, the United Nations General Assembly designated March 20 of every year as the International Day of Happiness in order to recognize the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples.Since then, so-called Happiness Activists and Happiness Charities have organized events around the world with this years theme being "YOUR HAPPINESS IS PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER."So, what exactly is happiness and how can it be better incorported into government policies and development plans? These quesitons and more on this edition of Today where we explore the 2nd annual International Day of Happiness.On the phone:Mike SalvarisChairman of the Australian National Development Index.Mark D. WhiteProfessor and Chair, Department of Philosophy​,​College of Staten Island, City University of New York​.​In Studio:Gregory Yinnien Tsang,Current affairs commentator1. Happiness could entail many things. But how do you define happiness in the field that you are specialized in?2. The pursuit of happiness has been with human beings perhaps since forever. So why do people always want to be happy?3. On June 28, 2012, United Nations proclaimed March 20th every year as International Happiness Day. UN said it made such decision because it recognizes “the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples”.

Authorities in Kunming, capital of China's southwest Yunnan province, have banned restaurants from using firewood to cook a popular chicken dish.The move is aimed at curbing the increasingly serious air pollution.Local environment authorities have stopped approving new restaurants that serve Chaihuoji[柴火鸡], or firewood chicken, and asked the existing ones to replace firewood with clean fuel.The move has triggered heated debate online.(JN) Liao Bu Qi says on weibo.com,The firewood chicken should have been banned much earlier. I live in a neighborhood surrounded by restaurants cooking the dish. The air is SO smoky---the smoke goes straight into your eyes! It's truly horrible, simply unbearable for me. I fully support this new policy!(JA) Dan Wang Ru Si says on news.sohu.com,Our ancestors have cooked meals with firewood for thousands of years! The profession of "woodcutter" still exists to this day! Did it cause any air pollution in ancient times? No, because burning firewood in itself cannot directly lead to air pollution. The major cause of air pollution is industrial pollutants, rather than some kitchen smoke. The Kunming authorities simply put the cart before the horse, it's those polluting factories they should really pay more attention to.(LUO YU) While Xiao Zhuangzhuang agrees on ynxxb.com,If "firewood chicken" was not cooked by burning firewood, could it still be called this name? Different ways of cooking lead to different tastes of dishes. I don't think the "firewood chicken" cooked by burning natural gas can still taste the same as those cooked by burning firewood. The dish has lasted for hundreds of years, so preserve its original taste please.------------------------------------------------Notes:-- Kunming follows on the heels of Chongqing in its attempt to curb smog by asking restaurants to change the way they cook some of the traditional dishes. Earlier this year, Chongqing said no to smoked bacon and chicken cooked by burning firewood.-- 1.5 to 2.5 kg firewood is usually needed for cooking 2.5 kg chicken.--According to Chinese law, firewood falls into the category of "highly pollutant fuel".-------------------------------------------------(JN) Lao Yao says on ifeng.com,Those barbecue stalls and restaurants at the night market seem to spew more smoke into the air. Why don't the environment authorities regulate them first? The air pollution caused by cooking firewood chicken is really tiny compared with them.(LUO YU)Yao Fu Plus contributes his point of view on weibo.com,If firewood chicken is banned in Kunming, then Beijing should also stop cooking the renowned Beijing roasted duck by burning fruitwood. There should not be double standards in the country, right?(JA)While BID Shaw takes the issue differently on yn.yunnan.cn,I do support the administrative order made by the Kunming authorities. The firewood chicken indeed tastes wonderful but in the past there were truly not so many restaurants specializing in cooking this dish here. Such restaurants suddenly sprang up following the soaring popularity of this dish in Kunming. And then you can find such restaurants almost everywhere. Curbing the new restaurants from being built, in my opinion, can better promote healthier competition between the existing restaurants. Otherwise, the supply would surpass the demand.

(soundbite/ 0320 Harpsichord)This week marks Shakespeare week in the UK.Shakespeare Week takes place in schools, homes, museums and arts venues across the UK.The event is seen as a chance for schools to introduce Shakespeare to their primary students.And the music is the harpsichord which is a musical instrument widely used in the Renaissance era.Shakespeare is a named author on the curriculum in 65% of countries, studied by around half of the world's schoolchildren every year.He has been hailed as the UK's greatest cultural export, and the foremost reason why people are proud to be British.Yet many British children encounter Shakespeare only in their teens as a mandatory subject studied for exams.To celebrate all things Shakespeare, Shakespeare Week offers cross-curricular resources and activities to teachers and families inspiring them to explore Shakespeare in creative ways.Teachers can dedicate class time to introduce some story line of the plays or their favourite quotes from Shakespeare.

Several lawmakers have suggested that China should ramp up financial support for prenatal diagnosis to decrease the number of children born with birth defects.Nitizens have immediately begun debating on discrimination against birth defects and abortions.According to a report previously released by the Ministry of Health, about 5.6 percent of newborns in China have birth defects, with about 900,000 affected infants born each year.19.1 percent of infant death is attributed to birth defects making it the second-largest cause of infant deaths in China.Of the babies born with defects, about 30 percent die within 5 years after birth, while another 40 percent suffer lifelong deformities.Neural tube defects, congenital heart disease, cleft lip and hydrocephalus are among the most common defects.**********(Zhou Jingnan)Cong Cong said on weibo that, (Support)"Some people may think it is cruel to ask a mother to terminate the pregnancy. However as the expert said It costs an average of 174,000 US dollars to treat and raise babies with severe birth defects. In the long run, it could create a heavy burden for the society and impact "population quality".(Luo Yu)DaisyMoon comments on weibo that, (Support)"I agree with these political advisors idea. Some of the babies with birth defects wouldn't survive long after birth. All the family members will suffer great pain after losing them. So why don't we just prevent such tragic thing from happening in the first place. Mothers should terminate the pregnancy once they find such issue in the pregnancy test. "(John)Wan Xia Liu Hui(晚霞留晖) argues on news.qq.com that,(Against)"It doesnt matter if they are healthy or not. No one has the right to stop the birth of a living being! I mean you can't just kill a baby just because he or she has some defects. There are plenty of ways to help those kids out in society. What we need to do is to build a robust system, like a Welfare center to help them fit in. Just give them a chance. "*************Notes:-In fact, 90 percent of parents choose to terminate pregnancy once they find their baby have defects," an obstetrician surnamed Li in Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region told the Global Times.-Pablo Pineda (born 1974) is a Spanish actor who received the Silver Shell award at the 2009 San Sebastián International Film Festival for his performance in the film Yo Tambien. In the film he plays the role of a university graduate with Down syndrome, which is quite similar to his real life.-Pineda lives in Málaga and has worked at the municipality. He holds a diploma in Teaching and a BA in Educational psychology. He was the first student with Down syndrome in Europe to obtain a university degree.**********(John)Huan Bao said on 163.com that,(Support)"Not only will the parents suffer a lot, Children themselves will also be in pain for a long time even for a life time. I don't discriminate against disabled persons or newborns with birth defects. But we have to admit that those families have more pressure than other families mentally and economically. And some of the children can not go to school as other kids. Some of them can not lead a normal life. "(Luo Yu)Winter Lotus comments on weibo that,(Against)"Instead of an abortion, the government should build and improve the system to provide free premarital checkups and pre-pregnancy examinations, especially for the people living in the rural areas. If a mother did all the examinations and still finds out her baby has some kind of defects, then I think it is her responsibility and right to make a decision."(Zhou Jingnan)Giraffe in the zoo comment on xinhuanet.com that,(Against)"I don't think doctors have the ability to tell mothers whether their children suffer from severe birth defects or not. There are so many uncertainties in one's life. Take Pablo Pineda for example, He has Down syndrome which is a severe birth defect. But he is also the first person with Down Syndrome to obtain a major degree from a regular university on Spain.

PI DAY!!!Saturday marks Pi day! Pi day is marked every March 14th because it matches the first three numbers of PI. But this year is extra special because we&`&re going to have Ultimate Pi Day! This only happens once every 100 years where the most numbers of Pi correlate with the date.So instead of it being just 3.14 (March 14th) It&`&s going to be March 14 2015 so 3.1415 or PI!!! You&`&ll have to wait another 100 years for this to happen again!To mark PI day, some schools take the opportunity to celebrate all things maths! March 14 also happens to be the birth date of Albert Einstein -- which makes the day an extra special one for planning math challenges and math fun!

A new regulation released by the Wuhan government in central China's Hubei province stipulates that taxi drivers must at least have a high school diploma.Transportation officers said the move intends to lift the access threshold of the profession and therefore improve services.The new rule does not apply to any taxi drivers that are currently employed.A survey by cnhubei.com shows 73% netizens consider the rule unreasonable.---------------------------(JA) Zhu Feng, a lawyer comments on cnhubei.com,"The new rule does not contain any job discrimination because it does not specify anything on age or gender. But still it has no practical meaning. To drive a taxi, you need good driving skills and a good serving attitude and all these can be obtained by training from the company.(Liu Kun) "Bohan" comments on weibo.com,"Many entrepreneurs are actually only graduates from primary school. Higher education degrees do not guarantee anything. I think the most important things we should seek from a taxi driver are driving safety and good service. So I believe what should really be examined are his previous driving records and his people skills."(Luo Yu) Li Ya comments on cnhubei.com,"Our education has developed in such a big step that it is turning out hundreds of thousands of high school and even college graduates. Also fierce competition in the taxi industry is asking regulators to put education diplomas into the requirements of taxi drivers."--------------------------(JA) "Muzigan" comments on weibo.com,"In the future I will just tell my children: 'study harder because at least with a high school degree, you can get a job as a taxi driver'"(Liu Kun) "Xiaoxiaoxinba" comments on weibo.com,"The job has nothing to do with an education diploma. As long as you have good driving skills, then you are a perfect candidate. It's not about writing a dissertation or anything."(Luo Yu) "Longshejielu" comments on xinhuanet.com,"The importance of education diploma has always been over emphasized in China. It's a social disease that's prevalent in high education institutions, in the government, in companies…everywhere. Perhaps very few people would admit that they themselves favor those with good degrees, but in fact no one is completely deprived of its influence. So Wuhan's requirements on taxi drivers reflect deeper social problems than what we could see on its surface."

China's Shaolin Temple, famous for its martial arts tradition, confirmed that it has bought a piece of land in Australia and is planning to build a "Shaolin style" temple there.According to the Mayor of the Shoalhaven City, both the city council and the state government have approved the concept plan for the project. The plan is to include a temple sanctuary with resident monks, a live-in kung fu academy, a 500-bed four-star hotel and a 27-hole golf course.However, the spokesman for Shaolin Temple responded that the project in New South Wales is still in its planning phase. He added that instead of a complex, they will only build a Shaolin style temple.Meanwhile, Li Guangfu(李光富), Chairman of Wudang Taoist Association said that where Shaolin Temple is going abroad so does Wu Dang. Wu Dang, a place where TAI CHI originated, consists of a small mountain range in central China's Hubei Province, which is home to a famous complex of Taoist temples.***********(John)No signal said on sina.comthat, (support)I am living in the US for several years. I don't think there is anything wrong with the expansion of Shaolin Temple. As a matter of fact, I watched the kungfu show years ago, they were brilliant. And I feel very proud when my friend asked about the Shaolin Temple. It is always a pleasure to let more people know about Chinese traditional culture. It's a kind of soft power.(Liu Kun)Clover comments on weibo that, (Support)As Shi Yongxin, monastery head of the Shaolin Temple said "If Disneyland can come to our country, why can't Shaolin go to theirs?" Over the past decades, western and also South Korean culture have a great influence on China. So why can't we spread our traditional culture to the world?(QD)Yuna replied on weibo that, (Against)I think Shi Yongxin's idea is absolutely illogical. Disneyland is totally different from Shaolin Temple! The construction of Disneyland and all the characters in Disneyland are based on commercial films or business ideas. However,Shaolin Temple has more than 1500 year history. It is not a company. It is a temple where people can do some religious or spiritual activities! Shi Yongxin, as the monastery of the temple is destroying the history and Shaolin Temple!***********Notes:-Shaolin Temple has directly established more than 40 overseas companies. The Guardian once reported that the temple's annual revenue reaches 10 million pounds, most of which comes from overseas, including tuition, performance income and movie revenue.-A 2008 report from Zhejiang Online said Shaolin Temple has schools and organizations in over 50 countries and regions, with more than 3 million overseas disciples.-As a matter of fact, this planned project is not the first Shaolin temple in Australia. Back in 2012, the Shaolin Kungfu Meditation Temple of Australia Incorporated (澳洲少林禅武堂) was established in Cabramatta as the first meditation and Kungfu center run by Songshan Shaolin Temple.-Its official website introduces that the temple embraces "promoting Shaolin culture, benefiting the amplitude of living beings and raising people's physical and mental health" as the initiatives, and is a place provided for the Australians, where "Zen Dharma, martial arts fitness, and Zen medical treatment" could be carried out.**************(John)Tiger smells roses comment on 163.com that, (Support)I heard that Shi Yongxin is China's first monk with an MBA degree. After he became the head of the Shaolin Temple, he made quit a lot of new moves to promote the Temple around the world. I agree with his ideas. With the development of the world, it is necessary to manage the Temple with new ideas. There is no doubt that the Temple is making a lot of money, but he is also promoting Chinese traditional culture. So why not? You can't criticize people just because they are making some money while doing the right thing.(Liu Kun) Winnie and magician comment on weibo.com that,(Against)I think Shaolin Temple should change its name to Shaolin Co. . Do they have enough time to chant the Buddhist sutra or any other things that a monk needs to do when they are busy expanding their business? As a Buddhist believer, when I think about the Shaolin Temple, the first thing that comes to my mind is not Budda, but a bunch of businessmen. It is like the temple became their tool to make money. If they forget who they are in the process of making money, then the Shaolin Temple has lost its meaning of existence.(QD)Warrior16 argues on sohu.com that, (Against)On one hand, Shi Yongxin wants to promote Buddhism; On the other hand, he is doing secular business. It is a schizophrenic to do these two things together. And it is out of range if they build a hotel or a golf course in Australia. Why would a Buddhist temple need a golf course? That makes me wonder what do the monks really want? Practice Buddhism or enjoy the secular life?

A research finds that Pre-school study little help to childrenThe Shanghai Education Commission has been encouraging parents to stop sending children to academic training classes before their primary school years.It said too many parents in the city were pushing their children to attend the classes in the hope of making them more competitive.However, a survey by Shanghai education authorities has found that students who received academic training before entering primary schools were no more competitive than those "starting from zero."For more on the issue, I talked with Dr. David Henry Feldman,Professor at Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University in Boston.The survey concluded that there were no obvious gap in adaptability, learning interest, attentiveness and happiness in school between students who had academic knowledge before they entered primary school than those who didn't.

A new pilot property registration system has officially been launched in China.The details from our reporter Qi Zhi.(bjh/report/0302 Qizhi-Registration)Reporter:The Chinese government officially launched its long-awaited property registration system in over a dozen of cities on Sunday.Under the new system, new Real Estate Certificates will be issued if a home is sold, and the legal owner of the home will be registered on a computer system.There will be a transition period as the new system is put in-place.Wei Hong is the Director of Guangdong's Provincial Property Registration Bureau.(Act1, Wei Hong, female, Chinese)"From now on people will get new certificates when they buy a house. But The old certificates will remain valid as long as home owners don't trade them or change information on them."The creation of the pilot property registration system is the first step toward the creation of a nation-wide database.Liu Yanping is the deputy chief registrar with the Ministry of Land and Resources.(Act2, Liu Yanping, female, Chinese)"We need to set up a unified platform so we can share registration information. That work is currently underway. After the establishment of the platform, the information of every registered property can be shared in real-time among different regions, departments and industries at various levels."Authorities say the creation of this national data base should ensure the safety of real estate transactions and help protect the rights of the individuals.Right now there are 15 pilot cities involved in the pilot program.Wang Guanghua, director of registration with the Ministry of Land and Resources says they expect the nation-wide database to be operational in a couple of years.(Act3, Wang Guanghua, male, Chinese)"The property registration database will be put into operation in 2017. Once operational, the database will give both property owners and state agencies access to the information about the property."The Ministry of Land and Resources says the new system will help regulate the real estate market across the country.It's also expected to help in the implementation of a nation-wide property tax, as well as in the government's crack-down on corrupt officials who might hold properties in different parts of the country.

Google Science Fair is now open to applicantsThe google science fair is an online science and technology competition and it's open to everyone from the age of 13 – 18. Individuals and teams can submit their experiments for a chance to win prizes and be part of a great learning experience. Here's more about the competition.

Hello and welcome to Education Today. I'm Wuyou. Joining me in the studio is Farrah.Today is International STAND UP to Bullying Day.International STAND UP to Bullying Day is a special semi-annual event in which takes place in schools, workplaces, and organizations in 25 countries across the globe.It falls on the third Friday of November to coincide with Anti-bullying week, and then again on the last Friday of February.A young Canadian blogger and singer named Anna Toth talks about her bullying experiences and her willingness to help and chat with the kids who suffer from bullying in school.(soundbite/ 0227 Anna Toth)Leading up to International Stand Up to bullying day is Pink shirt day which originated in Canada and falls on Feb. 25th.On this day, those who participate wear pink to symbolize a stand against bullying.Some girls at school talk about pink shirt day(soundbite/ 0227 school girls)There is a strong link between bullying and suicide, as suggested by recent bullying-related suicides in the US and other countries. Parents, teachers, and students learn the dangers of bullying and help students who may be at risk of committing suicide.•Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.•Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University•A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying(soundbite/ 0227 Christina Aguilera)And that's it for this Episode of Education Today.

Challenges facing potato farmers in Inner Mongolia as China gears up to make the Potatoes the fourth staple food. Anchor: After the Chinese government announced its plans to make the potato the fourth staple food here in China, farmers around the country have been encouraged to switch to potato cultivation. CRI's Poornima Weerasekara has been to Inner Mongolia to find out more about the changes happening on the ground. Reporter: The potato is only a side-dish in China, where rice and noodles made from wheat dominate the dinner plate. But now the Chinese government wants to turn the potato into the fourth staple food in the country in order to better utilize scarce farmland. China's Agriculture Ministry announced plans in January to double the land devoted to potato production from five to ten million hectares. I visited Xinfucun, a tiny village in Damaoqi County in Inner Mongolia, about 160 km north of the provincial capital Hohhot, where many changes are happening on the ground to make this ambitious plan a success.The village had set up a corporative society for potato farmers in 2012. Shang Jian Ping is one of the farmers leading this collective. (Bjh/Soundbite/0215 Shang1, Male, Chinese)"Each family must contribute 5 mu of land to the potato farming collective. About 100 households in our village are members of this corporative society. That means about 300 people are contributing to potato cultivation in the village. After establishing the cooperative society, the land area under potato cultivation has increased. We also get more technical support from the government. This has helped us to triple our income per mu from 500 yuan up to 1500 yuan with better yields." This increase in productivity is partly due to a new drip irrigation system introduced by the corporative society. But farmers are still struggling to sell their bumper harvest. (Bjh/Soundbite/0215 Shang2, Male, Chinese) "We don't have access to a well-developed distribution channel. We don't have any contracts with large companies that can buy our produce every year in large quantities."The increased production has also led to a supply glut. Potato farmers want a minimum guaranteed price for their produce to ensure a more stable income. (Bjh/Soundbite/0215 Shang 3, Male, Chinese)"There is no minimum guaranteed price for potatoes. Right now, the selling price is between 8 mao to 1 yuan per kilogram. But as more farmers start to cultivate potatoes the supply increases, and then the price falls. This affects our earnings. We hope the government can provide us with a minimum guaranteed price for potatoes, so that we have a more stable income." Local authorities plan to resolve this issue by various ways. Ai Jing is the local government spokesperson for the Damaoqi County. (Bjh/Soundbite/0215 Jing 1, Female, Chinese) "Although there is no guaranteed minimum price for potatoes, there are other ways to protect the income of the farmers. Since the potato is the main cultivation crop in this area, we are encouraging people to store and sell potatoes in the off-season. The government has built underground warehouse facilities to store the surplus produce. This way they can avoid the risk of prices collapsing due to a supply glut.”Another strategy is to build value-added food processing industries like making potato starch closer to potato cultivating areas, Aijing said.(Bjh/Soundbite/0215 Jing 2, Female, Chinese)“We are also hoping to sign contracts with larger companies like potato chip manufacturers to produce potatoes as per their quality standards. This will provide a more stable distribution channel. Finally, we want to sell organic potatoes without any pesticides, so the price for such potatoes will be higher." China is already the world’s largest potato producer, with an annual production of 90 million metric tons in 2013. But the country’s per capita potato consumption is still relatively low, as many people here regard the potato as a poor peasant's food. So, why is Beijing now keen to raise the profile of the humble spud? It has everything to do with food security. Potatoes require far less land and water to grow and contain more energy than rice, wheat or corn, the three other main staples here in China. As China gears up for a potato revolution, farmers like Shang Jianping in the tiny village of Xinfucun in Inner Mongolia will be at the forefront of it. for CRI, I’m Poornima Weerasekara.

Anchor: Hundreds of Mongolian herdsmen are now switching to tourism, in the steppes of Inner Mongolia, as climate change threatens their way of life.CRI's Poornima Weerasekara was in Inner Mongolia to find out more.Reporter:(Bjh/soundbite/0215 Sound_of_lambs)Flocks of bleating lamb greet tourists who come to stay in traditional Mongolian yurts and new homesteads run by Mongolian herdsmen in Inner Mongolia.It is part of a new local government initiative along with other private tourism companies to help Mongolian herdsmen to open up their homes to travelers.Wu Lan Hu is a herdsman turned entrepreneur. He and his clan have already set up 27 Mongolian yurts on the edge of the Durong grassland in Damaoqi County, which is about 160 km from the provincial capital Hohhot.(Bjh/soundbite/0215 Wu1, Chinese, male)"I took a government loan and built the yurts on this campsite in 2013. When I started I had only 7-8 yurts, but within a year I have expanded to 27 yurts due to the support from the local government." Travelers who stay on the campsite can ride horses, go on off-roading trips on four-wheel drives or go fishing in the shallow rivers.In the peak travel season from May to November, the steppes look as green as they must have done when Genghis Khan and his armies galloped across this land. That is also the time for the traditional Nadamu festival of the Mongolians.(Bjh/soundbite/0215 nadamumusic)Nadamu is a traditional summer festival, where Mongolian herdsmen come together for horse racing, traditional wrestling and the evening ends with music and dancing.During the travel peak last year Wu Lan Hu and his family made a profit of over 100,000 yuan.(Bjh/soundbite/0215 Wu2, Chinese, male)"In the peak travel period last year, I served over 5000 guests and I had to slaughter almost 60 of my own lambs, since it's a Mongolian custom to serve a whole roasted lamb to your guests. I usually raise about a 100 lamb to serve my guests with quality meat. During the peak period, other herdsmen can also sell their meat at the campsite."During the peak travel season, other herdsmen can also come to these campsites and work as waiters, cooks and even sell their traditional dairy products like dry cheese, fresh cream, traditional Mongolian cheesecake etc. Wu Lan Hu also plans to build a small museum to showcase traditional Mongolian arts and craft.(Bjh/soundbite/0215 Wu3, Chinese, male)"Earlier I was also a herdsman, I had 7000 mu of grassland, but over the years, the rainfall has become lesser and lesser, and we have faced droughts. We had to look for alternatives because we cannot only rely on our traditional way of life."According to Wang Cun Hu, Director of the community service center in Bayinaobao township in Damu county, over 60 percent of the herdsmen in Inner Mongolia have been relocated into permanent settlements, mainly after overgrazing led to the degradation of grasslands. Climate change and less rainfall have also led to desertification. But now the government gives a special subsidy to herdsmen, to encourage them to leave parts of their land fallow in order to rejuvenate the grassland. (Bjh/soundbite/0215 WangCun,Chinese, Male)"On one hand, the government has increased the compensation given to herdsmen to leave their land fallow. Now we give 6.5 yuan per mu of land left fallow without grazing and herdsmen are encouraged to grow grass in these areas. If you have 10000 mu of grassland, each year you can earn 65,000 yuan in compensation. This scheme was started in 2008 and will go on till 2017. On the other hand the government provides training to herdsmen to start alternative businesses like operating Mongolian yurts for tourists."The government also provides tax concessions and training for herdsmen who want to switch to tourism. They also give grants to the best entrepreneurs. This has encouraged more and more herdsmen to switch to tourism to supplement their income. For example, the number of Mongolian yurts and family-run guesthouses in the Bayinaobao area in Damu County has increased to 32 from just 7 within one year. The local government has issued a set of guidelines and standards, for the homestead operators to follow to ensure that travelers get a quality service.Ai Jing is the local government spokesperson for Damaoqi County in Inner Mongolia.(Bjh/Soundbite/0215 Jing1, Female, Chinese)"If someone wants to host travelers at their home or in their Mongolian yurt, they need to first register with the local government. Local authorities will first ensure that these operators adhere to a set of service and sanitation standards before they are given a business license. If they do not follow the standards they will not get the government subsidy and will find it difficult to access bank loans."The local government has also set a standard price. An entire house or yurt that can accommodate 4 to 5 people can be rented for about 200 RMB per night in the off- peak season. The price jumps up to 300 RMB per night in the peak season.Encouraging herdsmen to switch to tourism is helping to preserve the fragile grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia. The move has reduced the frequency of violent sand storms that had swept across Inner Mongolia and had even reached as far as the capital Beijing, covering everything in a coat of bronze dust in the last two decades. Ai Jing, the local government spokesperson for Damaoqi County(Bjh/Soundbite/0215 Jing2, Female, Chinese)"Although we've encouraged herders to reduce the size of their flocks, we don't want them the leave the grasslands. This was the land they were born in. We want to encourage them to utilize their unique skills and make a living here, while preserving their cultural heritage and their grasslands."With time it is hoped that this form of sustainable tourism will not only help popularize traditional Mongolian culture but also stop the Gobi desert from creeping into the Inner Mongolian steppes. For CRI, I'm Poo

Long Teng's Prairie Courier Station Anchor:Long Teng and her family are living in the vast prairie of Northern China's Inner Mongolia. Her family has been in this place for decades. As time passes by, their lives have changed a lot.Now they are not only herdsman, but they also own a courier station in Du Rong Prairie.Our reporter ** has more.(Today/Reports/ 0215 courier station for studioplus 3'36")(羊叫声)Long Teng and her husband Wu Lanfu have lived in the Du Rong Prairie their whole lives. They were married in 1998. Both of them grew up in herdsman families.They spend most of their lives shepherding on this land. But now, they are the owners of a beautiful courier station.Wu Lanfu tells us that he wants to develop his own life as well as his career path while he is still young.(Act1 soundbites wulanfu male Chinese)"In the past, shepherding is the main resource of our livelihood. However, the environment has been changed. Precipitation is decreasing and drought is becoming more and more frequent. So, besides shepherding, I want to develop my own business. Inspired by my friends, we opened this courier station. And all my family members support me for this idea."The Da Mao County government loaned Wu Lanfu 900,000 Yuan RMB or 146,000 US dollars for his business. A few months later, several traditional Ger were built in the land where he worked as a shepherd. Not far from the tent, you can find the vegetable garden and the sheepfold. All the lamb they prepared for tourists was from their own farm.Long Teng, the hostess of this courier station says tourists not only can live in those traditional round tents to experience herdsman's life, but they can also participate in all kinds of traditional activities.(Act2 Long Teng Female Chinese)"From July 1st to September 1st, it is the tourist season. Hundreds of people will travel to this prairie. During their stay, they can ride horses in the vast grassland, hike under a blue sky with drifting white clouds, or fish in the crystal clear river near the camp. We will be very busy during that time. My mother and other family members will all be here to help us. "Long Teng also mentioned that they don't need to worry about marketing issues as the government has set a website for all the courier stations. This makes it easy for tourists to find them online. In addition, if tourists have any complaints about the services here, they can directly call the local tourism administration. With a smile on her face, Long Teng said it took the family sometime to learn how to do the work properly.Although it is difficult for them to start a new business, they are glad that the income has been largely increased.Ai Jing, a local official in Da Mao County said the traditional culture could be a winning card for the local people.(Soundbite Ai Jing female Chinese)"Although we've encouraged herders to reduce the size of their flocks, we don't want them to leave the grasslands. This was the land they were born in. We want to encourage them to utilize their unique skills and make a living here while preserving their cultural heritage and their grasslands."Wu Lanfu and Long Teng are confident about their future. They are no longer living just to feed the sheep. By the river side, under the blue sky, they are welcoming everyone to come to the prairie to experience their traditional culture.For Studio Plus, I'm **.

An Air China passenger flying from Seoul to Chongqing complained in a microblog that passengers were made to wait five minutes after the scheduled boarding time before finally getting on the aircraft, after a stewardess arrived late carrying several shopping bags.The microblogger posted comments saying that Air China's Chongqing branch had acknowleged his complaint.The microblog has been forwarded over a thousand times on sina weibo. Many netizens expressed dissatisfaction towards the stewardess. At the same time, some were worried the stewardess may lose her job.--------------------------------(QD) Juan Shen (狷生) says on weibo.com:"Passengers pay for the service of stewardess as the service fee has been included in the ticket price. But they have to stand at the airport due to such personal behavior. The stewardess failed to meet the qualification of her job."(JA) wh8361 says on mop.com"The stewardess deserves criticism for being late. However, making this affair public is probably too much. Why not give her a second chance? There's no necessity for overreacting like this."(LY) Blue Ocean says on qq.com,"Being on time is one of the good professional virtues a stewardess should have. This is no good causing flight delay for personal purchasing."*************Note:However, Air China denied the claim, saying that the stewardess was actually back at work one minute before the first passenger began to board and the flight had never been delayed.Later, the microbloger deleted all complaints he posted.*************(QD) 刘天麟 says on weibo.com,"Oh? The stewardess was back at work one minute before the first passenger began to board? So she got on board together with the passengers? Does that mean the passengers have to do all the preparation work before the plane takes off?"(JA) Hatred of Thanatos says on mop.com,"I can tell the stewardess is going to pay a really high price for her purchases this time."(LY) "nukin" says on flyertea.com,"I've never seen a foreign stewardess buying so many bags of goods like the Chinese do. Let's blame the high cost and lack of resources of our domestic shopping environment. "

We talked about how technology is helping kids in the classroom as well as aiding in the learning process of children with disabilities.Today a young Michigan teen is using technology on a whole new level. After a car accident left him in a wheelchair while he recovers, he is attending all his classes at his high school thanks to an ipad and a segway.Here is Cole Fritz talking about his experiment.( soundbite/ 0226 Cole Fritz )There was a similar scene in an episode from the popular American comedy show: Big bang theory, where the character Sheldon creates a robot with his face showing on a computer screen mounted on a Segway which allows him to be mobile and chat with his roommate Leonard and other friends.( soundbite/ 0226 Sheldon as robot )

A 57-year-old Chinese woman named Zhang Yufen has caught the attention of international media after helping wronged wives collect evidence of their errant husbands' affairs.German Press Agency DPA dubbed Zhang Yufen "China's number one ladies' detective" while the Washington Post has traced her affairs-hunting history.Both reports cite a case in which Zhang unmasked a railway official who had 17 mistresses in different cities after his wife approached her in 2009.Such efficiency has earned Zhang the nickname "mistress killer".Comment:(JA) Ping Guo shi (平国时) posted on Xinhuanet.com,Well, getting the legitimate evidence needs several requirements. First, the way of getting it should be legal. Second, the evidence has to be subject to such formalities as prescribed by law. And third, the implementation of examination procedure is also needed. Otherwise, the evidence should not be regarded as legal. Private detectives have been banned in China since 1993 and what Zhang has done has violated the Chinese law.(QD) Yi xin mu shi (依心慕诗) posted on Weibo,I understand Zhang Yufen completely. Come on, according to a study by the People's University in Beijing, around 95 per cent of Party members investigated for corruption had at least one mistress. And Zhang Yufen herself is a victim of infidelity. Such people with such good deed should be protected by media rather than being exposed to public. How can she launch further hunting investigations on those men with extramarital affairs?(LY) Chilamnsh tweeted on Weibo,Why does Zhang love meddling in other people's affairs? A rich and powerful man can get a younger woman. It's called society, although it's immoral. Now Zhang's photo is released to public and what can she do?(QD) Pumi posted on jinghua.cn,Is she really a qualified detective? She is just an experienced extramarital affairs Chinese Dama (大妈) with hands-on experience. I think private detective services should probably be legalized and then standardized. We need professional private detectives like Sherlock Holmes.(LY) Kao pu de xing929靠谱的xing929 tweeted on Weibo,I'm just wondering are those German journalists' professionals? Why did they post Zhang's picture online? It's intruding on her privacy.(JA) Yi ge ren bu ke neng Y (一个人不可能Y) wrote on Netease.com,Judges have refused to recognize Zhang's revelations during divorce cases and on occasion evidence she gathered would mysteriously vanish after being submitted to the court. It's said that China is a paradise of extramarital affairs. It's time that our country promulgated laws to punish such misconduct.

Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

大年三十还听节目，绝对的年度好听众啊！赞一个！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

Today Team 祝你新年快乐！Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

Today Team 祝你新年快乐！

A group of young women have taken to the streets to protest against parental interference in marriage. They showed up carrying posters in downtown Shanghai.The posters read:" Association of non-violent and non-cooperative leftover women: mom, please don't start the pushing-me-into-marriage movement during spring festival. I am the one who's responsible for my own happiness."Amid the coming of traditional Chinese holidays, eligible young Chinese returning home are likely to face renewed pressure from their parents asking them to get married as soon as possible.----------------------------------------(QD) lishichengyao says on weibo.com,"My father was watching this piece of news on TV the other day. He said he somehow felt that I am like every young woman that is holding the posters on the screen. I was speechless about what he said."(JA) Hongfeng1298 says on weibo.com,"I support the parents. There's absolutely no need for these young people to protest in such a public way. I think it's right to ask people get married at an eligible age. Those young people procrastinating to get married are really not responsible of their own lives. And they are bad to society, too."(LK) Hulele says on szb.northnews.cn,"It's common in today's society to see late marriages. And probably parents forcing children to get married is common, too. I think the most effective way to deal with the tension is for both sides to talk to each other. There are no fundamentally conflicting interests between the two sides in this issue."QD) weiai2014 says on weibo.com,"Frankly speaking, if parents don't interfere with this, THEY are irresponsible. Many young people, especially girls, don't know much about society so they are not capable of making their own decisions about marriage. I think it's necessary for parents to interfere in this."(JA) Zhangzhang says on gzdaily.dayoo.com,"I think those tips for dealing with parents' pressure that are circulating on the internet will be pretty helpful to these young people. Here are some: one, pretending to be sick to avoid visiting relatives; two, acting as a busy and ambitious worker who has no time for dating; three, asking relatives questions about their work and kids first, don't give them any chance to start questioning."(LK) Lvpin says on bjnews.com.cn,"It's interesting that the two generations don't talk about love at all. All they are concerned about is marriage. Parents are very pragmatic and they only care about the practical need of pushing their children into forging their own families. These young people want an escape from traditional Chinese values. But on the other hand, they are not capable of establishing a value system of their own. So they are in a difficult position."

A proposed new law in Norway has caused global outrage. The new law will not only criminalise begging but anyone caught helping a beggar by giving them money, food or shelter could face fines and even imprisonment for up to one year.Rights campaigners have described the law as extreme and against Nordic traditions of tolerance.Norway's Deputy Justice Minister stated that the proposed law is necessary to outlaw begging networks.The bill is under consultation until the deadline of the 15th of February.-----------------------------------------------(JA) Glenn Holmgren from rt.com commentsFor me this is good. Not that I am harsh. Its just not a solution to let people beg then you give them food or shelter, because by that, you are just like spoiling a kid, give and give and they won't learn then they will beg more the next day and so on. The best solution to aid those people is by giving them a job, let them work and learn (like let them throw out your trash or cut your grass), at least by that they will be responsible citizens. DON'T SPOON FEED.(QD) natalie from nationalpost.com commentsThis sounds like a good law. Norway has social programs for people in need. Giving beggars money usually goes towards addiction, or in the very real problem they are having here, crime. The status quo is not working, there are still beggars even with social programs. Banning begging when you know there are other alternatives (that are probably also being abused) is sure worth a try.(FA) frank from dailymail.co.uk commentsIt's not evil to ban beggars! This last week I have witnessed two instances of people begging throughout a pharmacy for a 1.05 (subsidized) to pay for medication. Both were talking on iPhones, while trying to convince the Pharmacist they were too poor to come up with the minor amount. The begging man was able to find a woman to pay for him, because she was in a hurry. The begging woman, eventually needed to go to her car to get some cash. The Pharmacist said it happens multiple times a day, as many expect everything free and, she can't have anyone removed from the store unless they cause a 'major' disturbance.(JA) TSowell Fan news.nationalpost.com commentsThis law cannot be passed. Everybody knows that, without handouts, homeless people die in less than one week. Besides, if beggars didn't organize, they'd be an even bigger drain on the social welfare system. Relieving a few fat cats of their wallets and purses saves the rest of us having to shell out.(QD) lipsticks from dailymail.co.uk commentsNot offering them money I can understand, but food? Or shelter?? Come on people!!! spare some compassion and humility. I'm sure for most it's not a life style choice and they are down on their luck. I for one could not turn my back no matter what the consequences.(FA) Comrade Pootie from news.nationalpost.com commentsThis is so exaggerated. The truth is that because of EU-laws there was 5000-10.000 gypsies from eastern europe walking across the border and all of a sudden we had beggars on every street corner of all the bigger cities. Noone will go tio jail for giving them food or money, we don't even throw jihad-tourists who return from Syria to jail, people just wont put up with this situation. It has brought an enormous amount of crime with it.

Hello and welcome to Education Today. I'm Wuyou. Joining me in the studio is Farrah.Today we would like to do a roundup of Nicky Morgan's changes to the education system in the UK.Morgan is a British Conservative Party politician. She has served as Member of Parliament since 2010. She has been the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2014.Recently, Morgan has continuously made changes to the education system in various aspects.1. New GCSE grading system to start in 2017The GCSE grading system is being changed. When English and maths results are announced in 2017, and when the results of other examinations are announced the following year, instead of getting A*, A, B, C, D, E, F or G, papers will be given a 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 grading.The top three grades (9, 8 and 7) will replace the current top two (A* and A), with the top 20% of those being graded 9.Schools will begin teaching the new GCSEs in English, English Literature and maths in September 2015.2. New Science A levels will not be delayedEducation Secretary Nicky Morgan has said that the new science A-levels being taught in England's schools will not be delayed. Concerns were raised about the chemistry A-level after it emerged that it was not accredited by the September target.Ms Morgan's assertion follows news on Tuesday that reformed maths A-levels would be put back by a year to 2017.That announcement followed concerns that students would struggle to bridge the gap between the current GCSE maths and the new A-level.Appearing before the Commons Education Select Committee on Wednesday, Ms Morgan assured MPs that accreditation for chemistry would be done within weeks.She was also "confident" that teaching materials, such as textbooks, would be ready in time.Ms Morgan was quizzed about the potential knock-on effect of the maths delay on subjects such as physics.The new curriculum will be set to be taught in Sept. 20153. STEMIn November, Morgan encouraged more students, especially girls, to take up STEM subjects in preparation for studies at Uni. She argued that the UK is in need of more home grown talent and particularly engineers. Morgan also encouraged students to drop the arts subjects and keep students' options open by taking up STEM.Hook: The subjects that keep young people's options open and unlock doors to all sorts of careers are the Stem subjects. More is needed to be done to link schools with businesses and employers to give young people a better idea of what careers were available to them by choosing Stem subjects.Education secretary Nicky morgan has told teens that if they want to keep their options open and access the widest range of jobs, then its better for them to steer clear of arts subjects and take up sciences instead.She stated that the UK needed to recruit 83,000 engineers a year over the next decade in order for the country to compete economically.4. Times tablesMorgan also plans to boost the three R'sChildren will be expected to make quicker progress in mastering their times-tables in maths, as well as gaining a secure knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetics.Hook: She said the education system the Tories inherited was "chaotic, with Britain plummeting down international league tables and a third of all children leaving primary school unable to read, write or add up properly.5. Curricular Jan 20th- New research reveals increasing importance of extra-curricular activities in the university application processWhilst meeting academic requirements remains the most important aspect of university applications, institutions are increasingly placing emphasis on the demonstration of extra-curricular activities in personal statements, according to new research.More than half of universities (58.5%) believe that it is now more important for students to demonstrate experience beyond academic achievements in their university applications compared with 10 years ago, with only 4.6% saying that it is now less important.The findings come after Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's announcement that £5m in funding will be put into developing children's 'grit and resilience', following her insistence that expanding character is as important as good grades.6. Free schools Feb5- Nicky Morgan secures funding for 54 new free schoolsMore than 50 new free schools are expected to be announced this month, paving the way for an unprecedented number of approvals over the coming year.There was speculation that up to 150 new free schools could open this year if the Conservatives win in May.Together with the 4,400 academies that have already opted out of local government control, this would represent a significant shift away from traditional state education.And that's it for this Episode of Education Today.

Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang played down the expectation for him to compete at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing slated for Aug. 22-30 as the organizers launched 200-day countdown here on Tuesday.The athlete says he "really wants to compete at the World Championships, especially on his home soil, but the chances for him to compete in Beijing are very limited."Fans and Chinese media have speculated that Liu will return to the track and compete at the Beijing worlds, but the former world and Olympic champion chose to stay low-profiled, although Liu says he will participate in the event in any way he can.Liu underwent surgery in London after he limped out of the men's 110m hurdles for the second consecutive Olympics with a ruptured Achilles tendon in 2012 and is yet to return to competition following more than two years of rehabilitation.The 2015 IAAF World Championships will be held in Beijing's National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest".The last time Liu compete in the "Bird's Nest" was not a sweet memory for him as the Athens Olympic champion pulled out of the Games with an aggravated Achilles tendon injury. Four months later, he underwent a foot surgery in the United States and had four calcium deposits removed from his right foot.

Swimmer Ning Zetao and tennis superstar Li Na won the Best Male and Female Athletes of the Year resepectively at the China Central Television Sports Awards here on Sunday.Ning beat out other four nominees, including badminton superstar Lin Dan and 2014 Table Tennis Men's World Cup winner Zhang Jike, to claim the honor.The 21-year-old Ning claimed four gold medals at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea and also broke men's 100m freestyle Asian record.Li claimed both the Best Female Athlete of the Year and the Sports Special Contribution, for serving as a great milestone for the development of Chinese tennis.Li Na won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier in 2014 and ranked world No. 2, the highest ranking that an Asian player, male or female, has ever achieved, but she retired from tennis at the age of 32, citing injuries as reasons to force her out.Female skater Zhang Hong, who claimed China's first ever Olympic speed skating gold after winning the women's 1000m title with a large margin at the Sochi Winter Olympics, won the honor of Best Breakthrough of the Year, while the quartet of Chen Shiwei, Xie Zhenye, Su Bingtian and Zhang Peimeng, who broke the Asian record and won the men's 4x100m relay at the Asian Games, won the Best Relay/Pair of the Year.The volleyball legend Jenny Lang Ping and her Chinese national women's volleyball team became the biggest winners for the silver medal at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in 2014. Jenny claimed the Best Coach of the Year, the women's volleyball team won the Best Team of the Year, and the 18-year-old young star Yuan Xinyue received Best Rookie award, as well.Chen Penbin, who became the first Chinese to claim an international ultra-marathon title and also the first runner to compete on all seven continents, claimed the Non-Olympic Athlete of the Year.

A photo taken of New York City student and posted onto Facebook has turned into a viral fundraising hit.Brandon Stanton, who runs an online blog named Humans of New York (HONY), has over 11 million Facebook fans.Every day, he chronicles the lives of people living in the city through the pictures he takes of them. But last week a photo of a boy named Vidal especially caught his audience's attention.(soundbite / 0129 Vidal)Vidal was quoted on Stanton's site saying that his principal, Nadia Lopez (the principle of the school named Mott Hall Bridges Academy in New York), made the biggest difference in his life.(soundbite / 0129 Lopez)Vidal praised his principal on the blog saying that when they get in trouble, she doesn't suspend them.She calls them to her office and explains how society was built around them. And she tells them that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built.And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of them that they matterIn the post's comments, readers from across the globe wanted to support Ms Lopez, Vidal and the school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy.After consulting with Ms Lopez, Stanton started a fundraiser to help the students visit Harvard.Over 25,000 people have chipped in (or donated), while thousands more have followed the story online.The fund has raised over $800,000 enough to fund the Harvard trip and a summer school programme for at least a decade.Stanton is now directing all donations towards a scholarship in honour of Vidal, the student that started it all.

Anchor: The spat between China's largest shopping website, Taobao.com, and the country's commerce regulator has escalated as Taobao is filing a complaint over what it calls "improper supervision."The spat was triggered by a controversial quality inspection report which accused Taobao of failing to propoerly deal with vendors selling fake goods on its website.Our reporter Qi Zhi has the story.(BJH/reports/0129 Qizhi-taobao)Reporter:At the core of the quarrel is whether Taobao, the most profitable branch of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has been fairly treated by the regulator.The State Administration for Industry and Commerce or SAIC published a quality inspection report last week and gave Taobao the lowest rank in terms of its "certified product" rate.Sample testing showed that only about 37 percent of surveyed commodities sold on Taobao were authentic, well below the 59-percent average across all major online shopping platforms.Taobao fired back by saying the inspection was flawed in logic as a sample of only 51 items cannot represent the enormous trade volume on the platform.In response, an SAIC official Yang Hongfeng said the survey just aims to evaluate market risk.(soundbite: Yang)"The survey, like the one during the Double Eleven shopping carnival, was conducted by a third party which has its own plans of selecting samples. The results should not be over-interpreted."However, in a further response, the SAIC published a white paper regarding Alibaba on Wednesday, accusing it of allowing an influx of fake goods and illegal transactions.The regulator made clear that strengthening the supervision of online market is its legal duty.That stance is backed by Zhao Zhanling, a legal counsel for the Internet Society of China.(soundbite: Zhao)"The inspection aims to look for leads in illegal online shopping. The results may not be perfect in terms of how the samples were chosen or how it was conducted, but the move itself was intended to safeguard marker order and protect consumers' interests. It's a regulatory move, not personal."Although the SAIC and Taobao still remain locked in debate over the certified product rate, both sides agree that tough action against counterfeiting is needed.Taobao announced on Wednesday that it would establish a special force of 300 staff to cooperate with officials to crack down on fake goods.The SAIC has pledged to continue to take action against illegal activities in online shopping.Industry watchers, meanwhile, are calling for a sound interplay between producers, online platforms and regulators with all sides having responsibilities to safeguard market order.That's Qi Zhi reporting.

China's top social media platform Wechat has just launched advertising services inside one of its most popular functions.Ads for Coca Cola, Vivo mobile phones and BMW China are now being inserted into users Moments stream, known as pengyouquan in Chinese.The Moments stream is one of WeChat's most distinctive features, allowing users to share their thoughts, photos and links to articles and videos with some or all of their friends on the service.All three advertisements have received millions of comments from Wechat users as the move risks alienating many of the platform's users.Marketing staff of Wechat confirmed that they use intelligent technology to make sure that different users receive different advertisements. However,they refused to discuss the nature of the technology used.***********************(JA) "Together we go to Inner Mongolia" said on weibo.com,"Previously weibo has become a sea of advertisements, now it's wechat. Moments on Wechat is not a pure place where friends can share their experiences any more."(QD)"Liu Xingliang" wrote on siilu.com,"Some users might feel that their privacy has been violated because Wechat sent different ads to different customers based on the data they received from users. But actually this is not new when you look at it with a global perspective. Seven years ago, Facebook started such practices and its operation is way more accurate than that of Wechat. Say a user talked about a certain dress she saw in a TV series on Facebook, Facebook will then insert ads of the exact dress and the link to buy it on the webpage of this user. This Facebook user might feel that she has no privacy at all."(LK) "Yu Bin" wrote on news.pconline.com.cn,"Wechat has now more than 600 million users and that's huge. But remember it's always users' experiences that decide the future of social network platforms. We've seen so many social network platforms diminishing because of putting up ads. If Wechat continues to do so, I am afraid it will fall, too."***********************(QD) "Wang Jinxiao" wrote on lanjingtmt.com,"Actually according to my research, Wechat has long been considering putting up ads on Moments. And the reason why they were wavering are two folds: first, ads will damage users' experiences and might cause the loss of users; second, Wechat Moments is very influential because it is based on strong interpersonal relationships, so Wechat wants to keep its commercial value in their own hands."(JA) "RSTAR Juanzi" said on weibo.com,"This is the kind of life that you have to live in a modern day. It's ruled by mobile phones, advertisements and unnecessary information. If you don't like it, you can give up using the app. It's completely up to you."(LK) "J" said on wechat Moments:"Wechat inserted three different advertisements. It feels good to receive an ad of BMW China instead of Vivo mobile phones or Coca Cola. This means that I am a tuhao, not kidding."

The Chinese national soccer team received a warm welcome at Beijing International Airport early Saturday morning after their quarter-final loss in the Asian Cup.China qualified for the knockout stage for the first time since 2004 but failed to carry on their fairy-tale run, losing to hosts Australia 2-0 in the quarters.The team beat Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and North Korea in the four-team group stage.In contrast to negative feedback after their previous defeats, fans reacted with praises and encouragement this time around. Supporters showed up in droves at the airport lobby in Beijing, some of whom stayed there overnight in order not to miss the team.Wang Jianglin, a 49-year-old football fan, said he has been following China's national team for most of his life and after countless defeats, including the "Black 5/19" incident, he was once "totally disappointed" in Team Dragon.The Chinese team lost to Hong Kong 2-1 in Beijing on May 19, 1985 in a World Cup qualifier when they just needed a draw to earn the ticket to the finals. Fans in Beijing rioted after the match and the day was remembered as one of the darkest moments in Chinese soccer history.Even if heartbroken so many times, Wang would return to support the team at every glimpse of hope.Wang said he saw China's determination this time. A last-eight finish was good enough for him and he is looking forward to the coming World Cup qualifiers.The Chinese players were happy to see fans rooting for them, win or lose.Yu Hai, who scored the winning goal against Saudi Arabia, said it was moving to see so many fans welcome Team Dragon at the airport.. The footballer hopes to see such a scenes every time the team returns home.Defender Zhang Linpeng was being chased by supporters for photos and autographs.Despite the squad having an average age of just 25.39 years and averaging just over 26 caps between them, Frenchman Alain Perrin's team showed determination and resilience.China has only qualified for one World Cup in the last 76 years, failing to win a point throughout their 2002 campaign.

Now let's go to outer space。The growing space industry is looking for more postgraduate talent. It's much cheaper and easier to explore space now than it was 50 years ago because of innovations in engineering and the advent of satellites about the size of a shoebox. The UK's space sector, although niche, is hungry for engineers and technologists who understand the demands of designing and analysing within a hostile, demanding environment.UK technology is now in orbit around Saturn, Mars, Venus and the moon, as well as aboard numerous satellites orbiting the Earth. The sector contributes about £9bn to the UK economy.Part of its appeal is the breadth of opportunities, from building and operating spacecraft and ground-stations to using satellites for navigation, communications and remote sensing - which is gathering information from a distance.Universities such as Southampton, Cranfield, University College London and Surrey offer specialist postgraduate courses and research opportunities. About a quarter of Surrey's postgrads go on to further study, says Bridges, who teaches space avionics on the master's course; students can also cover the likes of space robotics, systems design and launch vehicles.And that's it for this Episode of Education Today.

Chinese technology giant Tencent has apologized for what they call a "technical error" in their mobile chat application that showered chat windows with American flagsThe apology comes after the local committee of the Communist Youth League in Fujian Province posted on Weibo that WeChat offered no such features when typing "National Day" or "China" but icons of the US flag could appear on the screen after typing "civil rights."The WeChat team said in a statement that their branch office in the US launched the new feature to honor Martin Luther King Day that just past.The post quickly triggered heated discussions among net users and some accused the company of catering to the US. Now the error has been fixed by the company.Comments:(John) learnEngrish posted on Globaltimes.com,&`&Maybe Wechat was just testing to see how Chinese people will react. Me and my friends like most wechat users were so pissed off. It&`&s great to know Chinese people&`&s patriotism is as high as ever.&`&(QD) Disqus posted on 163.com,&`&China has guidelines for using the flag, you can&`&t just use it for a joke. Also, if it was the Chinese flag falling, I think we would become a disrespected country. I think that Wechat hasn&`&t done anything wrong. There&`&s no need to apologise. Internationalization for a Chinese company is not an easy task.&`&(LY) Craig Reynolds, (maybe from the US), commented on en.people.cn,&`&Oh look! Another shining racist example of why our country (the US)is the most hated on Earth.&`&*********Notes:- The post quickly triggered heated discussions among Net users and has attracted 2,973 comments and 6,980 reposts as of press time. Some netizens accused the company of catering to the US.- "The feature was supposed to be only available for users in the US. However, it was opened for some other users due to a mistake in the settings. We apologize for the misunderstanding caused by the error," read the statement.- Qin An, a cyber security expert at the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy. says "The concerns among the Chinese will damage the company&`&s image in the domestic market.**********(QD) 其实ID是啥不重要 (Qi Shi ID shi sha bu zhong yao) commented on Weibo,The whole thing has been overblown. It&`&s just Wechat&`&s business strategy to win the market although I have not seen many international wechat users in the US. But when wechat had this idea to test their users, they should have concerned Chinese users. If we see US flags spreading on your screen, well, we don&`&t feel comfortable.(LY) 奇境记(Qi Jing ji) dreamland said on Weibo,The point is why the US flag rather than the image of Dr. King? Being a civil rights activist is individual behavior rather than a whole nation&`&s action. Narrow-minded nationalism can only hamper a country&`&s development.(JA) BaronR said on globaltimes.com,&`&I must say this sort of mistake should have not happened and those senior management should take full responsibility for such an insensitive mistake but having said that most Chinese nationals are educated enough to accept this innocent mistake and moved on.&`&

They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!

In China's Hubei Province, a 13-year-old girl has forced her mother to undergo an abortion.The 44-year-old mother ended her pregnancy at 13 weeks and five days, already past the first trimester.Xiao and her husband had decided to have a second child after China relaxed its one-child policy.But her pregnancy sparked strong objections from her daughter.The girl began to throw things at home and threatened her parents that she would skip school and not take the high school entrance exam. She even threatened to attempt suicide if her mother didn't end the pregnancy.The mother claimed that she found a knife when she cleaned her daughter's room and saw scars on the girl's arms.Fearful of losing her daughter, the mother decided on an abortion.-------------------------------------------------------------…Comments:(QD)@ Chun Liang Shao Xiao commented on Weibo.com:Her life was given by her parents as well. How can she be so selfish? I think we should think about the parents. To let a 44 year old mother have an abortion could put her life in danger. Has the kid ever thought about that? I'm so speechless.(JA)@miao wu had a different opinion on sina.com, she posted:Do not just say that the girl is spoiled. Has anyone ever thought about how the girl is taking it?Has anyone asked the girl's opinion? The parents can decide to have a kid whenever they want and expect the kid to respect their decision. But no respect has been given to the kid!…(LY)@Garfield_mr cat who can not find mash potatoes commented:To be honest, when I saw this topic, my first reaction was: the first born was not well educated, so the parents want a second child?!-----------------------------------------------------------> Notes:> The girl finally won when the couple discovered she had tried cutting her wrist a week ago. Being afraid of losing her daughter, Xiao ended her pregnancy in a hospital.> ----------------------------------------------------------…(QD)@Ma Dongzhao added on weibo.com:I hated my sister at the beginning, but now I like her more and more every day. We used to fight like cats and dogs. But now we've become friends.…(JA)@ Wang Haibo de hai posted a comment on sina.com:When my wife was pregnant with our second child, I told my daughter that the baby is your only family besides your parents. No one can treat you as well as your family members. And when your parents get old, there will be someone who will still love you and care for you. Now that the baby is born, she loves her little brother very much.(LY)@Hu Hongtao, a psychologist says on Chinadaily:Many single children lived in an environment where everyone yielded to them at home and parents had to be very patient with them.

The UK military has introduced a new rule stipulating that when joining the British armed forces, servicemen should specify their sexual orientation. This measure is not mandatory, however, and applicants will have the option to 'prefer not to say'. As well as this, the information is to be kept confidential and will not be visible on personal records or to chain of command or managers.The new measure, which was introduced in November last year, aims to promote tolerance and equality within the armed forces.Openly gay men have been allowed to serve since 2000.(JA) keith from pinknews.co.uk commentsThe army do not need to know what you do between the sheets and homosexuals do not need to be represented any more than red heads, midgets or the left handed people.If nobody answered these questions, fairness would prevail since homosexuals would be on an equal footing, as everyone else due to anonymity. Then, proportionately the odds are that they would be represented in their correct proportion to society, around 1%. Not that it makes for a better or worse army. It makes no difference and is an exercise in futility.(QD) Zack11 from the dailymail.co.uk commentsSo knowing the number of gay people will help them decide how inclusive they will make the armed forces? That's ridiculous. So if they're less than expected they won't do as much? It should make absolutely no difference and people shouldn't need to have to say they're gay because everyone should be getting treated the same anyway,(FA) Rose50 from dailymail.co.uk commentsSoldiers, as in all walks of life, will be bullied for wearing glasses, having ginger hair, speaking posh etc etc, the list goes on. To create something for gays is discriminating against every other perceived weakness or difference. It is now common for many official forms to ask about sexual preference. I always cross right through the question and write in capitals 'irrelevant'.Notes:The information will not be visible on individual personal recordsRecruits will have the option of not declaring their sexual preferencesMoD says the information will help create a 'more inclusive organisation'However last year, Stonewall, the lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity, named the MoD in the top 100 employers on its workplace equality index.It was only 15 years ago, in 2000, that the MoD allowed gay men, lesbians and transgender personnel to serve openly for the first time. In the previous year, nearly 300 people were discharged from the Army alone on the grounds of sexual orientation.An Army spokesman said: 'Any allegation of bullying is treated extremely seriously.The information will be held on personal records for the first time in British military history, reports the Press Association.This new move was introduced last November.The MoD proudly encourages diversity at all levels. Service personnel are now encouraged to declare their sexual orientationAlthough this is not mandatory, collecting this data will give us a better understanding of the composition of our armed forces and help ensure our policies and practices fully support our personnel.'Openly gay soliders have only been allowed to serve since the year 2000.James Wharton, an openly gay former soldier, published a bestselling memoir about being gay in the army called Out in the Army.He has been honored with the Freedom of the City of London in February 2014 and campaigns to end homophobic bullying in schools.(JA) Donald Perry from the gaystarnews.com commentsAll recruits are asked their sexual orientation and that includes heterosexuals. If the purported purpose is to promote tolerance and equality within the Armed Forces,, that is a worthy goal.However, there is a need to know how the data will be used and what procedures and safeguards are provided to ensure that individuals are protected against reprisal and further discrimination. Will the information be protected to ensure that it is not attached to documents which can be used to identify the individual?. Will the information be placed in any type of personnel folder and provided to any outside organization?(QD) Liam from pinknews.co.uk commentsIt's political correctness gone mad!! No, actually most major employers ask questions like this and you are perfectly entitled to not answer them. All they are doing is measuring to see if any particular groups are less represented, as people being put off means they will miss out on potential useful talent.(FA) David Brough from the gaystarnews.com commentsI can't really see a problem here. They are collecting data that will add to their statistics. What's wrong with this? Sure, it is a new question to be asking but, let's face it, we are being acknowledged as human beings at last.

Chinese singer Yao Beina has died from breast cancer in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province.She had been in a coma for days as a result of emergency treatment after the cancer had spread to her lungs and brain.The 33-year-old singer rose to fame through her appearance on the Voice of China.She has many hit songs including the theme for popular Chinese TV series – Legend of Zhen Huan.

If you are confident about your looks, why not try your luck at a free meal?A restaurant in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, is giving a free meal everyday to customers according to their looks. Customers have to have their faces scanned by a camera and are then judged by staff of a plastic surgery clinic who will pick the top five faces.Each half hour, customers' photos are grouped together and the five with top marks in the group get a free meal each. The big billboard which reads 'Free meal for Good Looks' was forced to be removed by the city government amid heated discussions nationwide. ----------------------------------------------------Comments:(Xu Qinduo)当一个人成了谜 (Dang yi ge ren cheng le mi) posted on Weibo,I think this is an insult to human nature. You can't judge a person just by one's appearance. What the restaurant did has hurt a lot of people's dignity. It's immoral. No one has the right to judge one's looks or make indiscreet remarks or criticisms. Inner beauty is the most important character. (Zhou Jingnan) Lily_ly commented on China Daily.com,I found that both the plastic surgery hospital and the restaurant have launched such a wonderful promotion program for their customers. Each promotion should be supported if it doesn't violate the law. Good looking people can not only get free meals in this restaurant. They get free ones in their daily life anyway. If you are beautiful, you are loved by your surroundings. (LY) Jing Pin Hui Long seems quite optimistic on Weibo.com,Haha, does this mean that each time I go to the restaurant I will eat for free? I'm really worried about those who are not good-looking. Do they have to pay service fees? Notes:- In 2014, a restaurant in south-west China offered discounts for overweight male customers, but only offered the same deal to women if they were thin. Most Chinese social media users are amused by this latest gimmick, although a few voice their disapproval.(Xu Qinduo) Xue He Xin, the owner of the restaurant said to 163.com, "Now the billboard was removed and the government says it's against regulations and impairs the city's image. Well, I have to comply with the regulations, right? Although I've spent more than 20,000 in making the advertisement board. Yet the sales campaign will continue, just in another way. Maybe via Weibo and Wechat.(Zhou Jingnan) Avysue said on iFeng.com, I'd welcome it if this restaurant closed down quickly. In light of this statement, ugly people should all live a miserable life? People should change their attitude towards their perception on looks. We need right social values. (Luo Yu) Pi Pa Tang posted on Tieba.baidu.com, It is not the first time that a Chinese restaurant has made such offers to attract more customers. I've heard that big guys can get discounts in a Chongqing restaurant. I do shed doubt on the fairness of the scanner and I think it's sort of insulting. But the whole idea of the restaurant 'Free meal for good looks' is just fantastic. I will try one day. Not the scanner but the food.

Kicking things off with football;In Asian Cup action down in Australia;China will take on Uzbekistan in Group B action at 6 p.m., Beijing time. A win over the Uzbeks would supplant Team Dragon firmly in the knockout stage of the tournament.And it's do-or-die for the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia, who face a North Korean team also in desperate need of a win to stay in the cup.In yesterday's football action down under;South Korea became the first team to make it into the knockout stage after eeking a 1-0 victory against Kuwait yesterday.(BJH/soundbites/0114 SK goal)South Korea took the lead eight minutes before half-time, when veteran Cha Du-ri's cross found Nam Tae-hee in the middle, whose header went past 'keeper Hameed Youssef for the single goal of the game.And hosts Australia joined South Korea after trouncing Oman 4-0.(BJH/soundbites/0114 Oz goal)The Socceroos were already up three going into the second half. Australia completed the rout in the 70th minute after Mathew Leckie crossed with a brilliant pass from the near side to set up a goal for substitute Tomi Juric, who knocked the ball in from close range.

Female models may no longer be seen at the Shanghai Auto Show scheduled for AprilSpokesman for Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Yang Xueliang, posted on his weibo account that his company had been told by the organizer that the girls will not appear at this year's Shanghai Auto Show.The organizer of this year's event says it is considering ending the presence of all glamour models at the show to "restore the essence of the exhibition and provide a more civilized atmosphere".Market industry sources say Shanghai may set an example for all future car shows and even for all trade shows in China.------------------------------------------------------------------------(JA) Lyu Sixian, a modeling agent told China Daily,"The models will not get any compensation. It is not only a huge loss for agents but also for models themselves. Most of the models live only on the car show every year. ... Some of them came to me this morning saying they do not know what to do next if their jobs at the car show are canceled. More importantly, it is not the models who want to wear the over-revealing clothing, but the companies that hire them."(QD) polyster posted on weibo.com,"I think it's the right decision. Every year I just can't understand whether people who are going to auto shows are there because of the cars or because of models. Plus, families usually show up all together because they want to purchase a car that satisfies everyone in the family. So a lot of parents are worried about their children being exposed to the scantily clad models."(LK) A model complained on xinhuanet.com,"Who wants to expose themselves among so many spectators? But we would get paid more if we reveal ourselves more. We worked so hard at auto shows. Why are we the ones to suffer from such policies? Plus, it's always the auto companies who decide what we should wear."-----------------------------Note:The Shanghai Auto Show is one of the country's most important auto showsCar shows in China have become notorious for scantily dressed models and have sometimes been described as "flesh shows".---------------------------(QD) a staff member from an auto company applauded the policy on xinhuanet.com,"I think it will help the company to sift those who came only for the models out of their potential customer list. Also, the policy helps to eliminate possible safety issues brought by a large flow of people."(JA) a model surnamed Cheng told Guangzhou Daily,"I think it's a good thing to cancel models at the auto show. The auto modeling industry has gotten from bad to worse in recent years. It's largely related to auto companies because a lot of them, especially small-scaled companies, are only concerned with attracting more spectators. I think the auto modeling industry needs a reshuffle."(LK) a part time auto model tells thepaper.cn,"In foreign countries, auto companies usually use their own creativity and designs combined with a display of models to market their cars. If car models are well presented, they will help improve the image of the auto brand."

2014 has proven to be a banner year for Chinese technology companies: Alibaba went public in the biggest-ever IPO, Singles Day surpassed Black Friday as the most lucrative sales event, and handset maker Xiaomi became the most valued startup company at 45 billion USD.However, not everything is rosy: Sina Weibo saw lackluster performance on their public offering, complaints over product quality and deliveries times mounted after Singles Day, and regulation looks to put a damper on the car-hiring market.So, was this a good year for Chinese tech companies? How have they capitalized on their successes? Will 2015 be as positive? These questions and more on this edition of Today, where we explore Chinese technology in 2014.

孩子们有昵称吗？有，但说出来会让他们难堪！当初怎么爱上贝克汉姆的？哒！！（这还用问？）**************

Tonight, kick off begins at the Asian Cup, and we'll take a look at all the teams heading into the tournament:First off, let's start China's own Team Dragon:(Today/soundbites/0109 China goal)China is no stranger to the Asian Cup, having made it to second back in 2004. However, the country's last two showings in the tournament saw them ousted in the group stage.But with a fresh Chinese team led by French coach Alain Perrin and boasting Guangzhou EvergrandephenomGao Lin, they are heading into this year's Asian Cup on a strong foot.If they make it into the quarter-finals, they will be facing the host-steam, Australia's Socceroos:(Today/soundbites/0109 Aussie Goal)Australia came in second during the 2011 Asian Cup and is looking to reach the top on their home turf this time around. They come in with A-League talent like Nathan Burns and TomiJuric, along with corner-post punching Tim Cahill.And if his knee injury is fully healed, Robbie Kruse could be what the Socceroos need in the striking department.But Australia's biggest test in their Group A bracket are the Taegeuk Warriors of South Korea:(Today/soundbites/0109 SK goal)South Korea has always been a top Asian team, boasting speed and technical ability. They are going in with 22-year-old wunderkind Son Heung-Min, who has been killing it in the German Bundesliga—notably scoring two goals for Bayer Leverkusen against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League.While Group A action will kick off the Asian Cup, the other team hitting the pitch tonight against Australia is Kuwait:(Today/soundbites/0109 Kuwait goal)Known as The Blue, the Kuwaitis have been referred to as minnows of the tourney by some, but they should not be underestimated, especially by the Socceroos. Kuwait won a 1-0 upset over the Aussies in 2009 in Canberra and are 5 wins and 2 draws against their hosts in 10 tries.But Kuwait's biggest obstacle is the last group A Team, which smashed them 5-0 in November—and that is Oman:(Today/soundbites/0109 Oman goal)The Red Warriors head into the tourney with Captain and goalie Ali Al-Habsi—a familiar face in Australia after playing for Wigan and the Bolton Wanderers. Oman also has French coach Paul Le Guen at the helm of their Asian Cup showing.Oman's other key man, Said Al-Ruzaiqi, pulled a hat-trick in the Red Warriors' dismantling of Kuwait during the Gulf Nations Cup.China will have its hands full when Group B action kicks off on Saturday, when Team Dragon face the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia:(Today/soundbites/0109 Saudi goal)The Saudis are being led into tourney play by Asian footballer of the year, Nasser Al-Shamrani. The Green Falcons bring an aggressive style of play that may be the key in exploiting the weaknesses of their opponents.Saudi Arabia are no stranger to the Asian Cup, either; having won the title three times and made the finals three times.An added note: Al-Shamrani may still have the ire of Aussie fans from back in the ACL final, when he spat at Syndey Wanderers defensive man Matthew Spiranovic.While there is big buzz around the Falcons, coming in with an air of mystery and intrigue are the North Koreans:(Today/soundbites/0109 NK Goal)That goal was against Portugal during North Korea's 1966 historic World Cup showing.North Korea is heading into the tourney with a disadvantage of not being as exposed to international football like their opponents. However, Chollima, as they are also known, are coming into the game with Jong Tae-se, who will be their leading striker; He boasts 16 goals in 33 international games.The team is also eager to redeem themselves after the 2011 tournament, where they failed to score a single goal.And Next on the list in Group B are the White Wolves of Uzbekistan:(Today/soundbites/0109 Uzbekistan goal)The Uzbeks took fourth at the Asian Cup back in 2011 and are led by two-time Asian player of the year—Server Djeparov. While this may be the 32-year-old midfielder's last Asian Cup, he still brings in a litany of skills and experience that could pull the White Wolves ahead of the pack.In Group C:We have The Reds of Bahrain;(Today/soundbites/0109 bahrain goal)Bahrain had a coach switch in November after a paltry showing at he Gulf Cup. But the team has been in the Asian Cup before, notably making it to the semi-finals before getting knocked out 4-3 in extra time by Japan. The Reds' Mohamed Salmeen was part of that team 10 years ago and is on the roster down in Australia.Also in Group C are the Asian Powerhouses, Iran:(Today/soundbites/0109 Iran goal)Team Melli have 34 wins, 17 draws and 7 losses in Asian Cup competition. The Iranians are also tied for the record 13 Asian Cup finals. The team is also led by former Man U assistant Carlos Quieroz and is captained by veteran JavedNekounam, who did a stint in Spain with Osasuna.A team to watch in Group C are the Gulf Cup winners, Qatar:(Today/soundbites/0109 qatar goal)The Maroon, as they are known, handled Oman and Saudi Arabia to take the Gulf Cup in November. They also boast a shutout win against Australia and a W over Uzbekistan. Twenty-seven year-old midfielder Khalfan Ibrahim and defender Bilal Mohammed will be key forces in Qatar's Asian Cup showing.Another rising-star team in Group C is the U.A.E.:(Today/soundbites/0109 UAE goal)Together since the 2010 Asian Games, the UAE is a young, cohesive force with one of the best players in Asia—23-year-old midfielder Omar Abdulrahman. Other top talent on the squad are striker Ahmad Khalil and midfielder AmerAbdulrahman—who is not the brother of the aforementioned Omar.Group D also has some staggering talent, like the Lions of Mesopotamia—Iraq:(Today/soundbites/0109 iraq goal)Iraq has reached the quarter-finals in every Asian Cup since 1996, clinching the title

More and more parents in China are making their kids wear a GPS-equipped wristwatch that also allows them to listen in real time to what their children are doing. The device has sparked complaints from teachers because parents use the watch to listen in on what happens at school.A mother of a primary school student in Pudong district of Shanghai has shared her child's teachers sound clip on Wechat. It has caused quite a stir on whether parents should use gadgets to monitor their children in school.However, some argue it is an effective way to keep an eye on their children for safety reasons.-----------------------------------------Comments:(JA) Hgj_Spartacus commented on china daily.com,Well, lots of teachers in primary and middle schools don't behave well in class, such as using insulting words to scold students or applying corporal punishment. The device can force them to improve their behavior in the class. Besides, the parents also have the right to know what their children are learning in the school.(QD) Ted180 shared his thoughts on ifeng.com,I'm 72 and have no children. But I do empathize with the anxiety of the parents. Many people feel that the world is a more dangerous place for children. Now, news spreads faster and it is exaggerated to gain viewers. That's how the networks sell commercials. If I had kids, I'd be curious of course. But I'd try not to spy too much. If you really know your kids, show them love and respect, you'll be able to teach them ways to be safer.(LK) PP lv you argued on Weibo,This device can not only be used in schools but outside the campus, too. If the children are facing any danger, the parents will immediately know and locate them. If the teacher takes her work seriously, there is no need to being disturbed by such a device.Notes:- In fact, parents can choose from several different apps on the market. If you want to monitor the sites and apps your children use, as well as what texts and calls they can receive, then Kytephone can help.- Kytephone gives parents the ability to block calls, monitor and control internet usage, as well as control all of the apps on your child's phone.- Or if you prefer to provide your children with more freedom, Kytephone also has a version for older teens that doesn't include the ability to block calls.- For those with younger children, there is the free app Playrific. The app is available for Android, iPad and also on the Web. This app is specifically recommended for 2 to 8 year olds, and provides users with a locked browser that offers only kid-friendly content, such as books, games and educational videos.-------------------------------------------(JA) Le guang jian qiang (乐观坚强) posted on news.qq.com,It's an abuse of technology. At least teachers should be informed of parents' using such devices. Teachers' privacy needs to be protected. Parents can send their children to other schools if they distrust teachers.(LK) ExileMick posted on China Daily.com,When teachers are in class or with students in some other places, I don't think they have the so-called 'privacy' because on such occasions they are on duty instead of doing some private work. The device can indeed make some teachers uncomfortable, and this will possibly do harm to the mutual trust between teachers and students as well as their parents.(QD) VibramHK100 posted on Weibo,What's the big deal? If the teacher is worth his/her salt, he/she would welcome such monitoring. However, there is the issue of students getting distracted, and of parents projecting a 'witch hunt' mentality onto their children. If parents do not trust teachers, how will the children? That would seriously impact classroom discipline.

UK Indepencse Party leader Nigel Farage has said his party would dismiss all foreign NHS staff who "cannot speak English properly".Farage says doctors and nurses who had not learned the language should not be given roles in the health service in the first place. He also says it was "scandalous" that Britain was not training enough doctors and nurses to take up these positions.Farage adds UKIP would make cuts in the NHS and identified "middle management" as a key target.He also says that those travelling into the UK would be required to have private medical insurance before being allowed in as he feels that Britain "has allowed the national health service to become the international health service".(JA) Spencer I. Mather from dailymail.co.uk commentsFarage is only telling it as it is, and I feel ashamed that my own country cannot train up enough doctors and nurses, when there are many graduates who cannot get a job, why don't they just train them to be doctors or nurses, or have our politicians lost all form of common sense, and this is another reason why I will be voting UKIP..!!!(QD) Linda Brazier from msn.com commentsI agree it is very hard when you are in a hospital trying to tell a doctor or nurse what is wrong with your child when they do not speak good English and you in turn cant understand a word they are saying. I have nothing against foreign people but I do think its fair to expect someone to be able to speak good English, especially when in such a profession as doctors and nurses.(FA) the Banffshire bushman from news.sky.com commentsI actually agree with Farage on this one. Sorry. But, I'd have to say forget about the job applications with "no English, no job with NHS" I'd be more concerned with "no English...what are you doing here in the first place?" It should be a given that if you enter the UK to live and work, you should be fluent in the English language. Would we get a job abroad if we entered a country and could not speak the language? NO.------------------------------------Notes:It is estimated that around 11% of the 1.3m workers in the NHS are not British born, which means UKIP's plans could potentially affect as many as 130,000 health service staff.Farage said: "If people don't speak English and they are dealing with English-speaking patients surely they shouldn't be employed in the first place."Farage revealed that over the coming months senior Ukip figures will use a series of speeches to set out a raft of new policies, to counter the impression that the party is a one-man band obsessed with immigration and Europe.speaking on Sunday he appeared unaware that two years ago the General Medical Council announced new checks to be carried out on the language skills of medical staff.All NHS doctors have to pass a language test. Amid a crackdown on poor language skills, it emerged in July that 43 per cent of doctors sanctioned by the GMC were from overseas.The GMC has released a list of the 476 doctors in the UK 'on undertakings' after concerns were raised about their conduct, seen as a 'final chance' rather than strike doctors off the Medical Register.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(JA) john ingamells from news.sky.com commentsThis guy is simply reinforcing our belief in his obsession in everything non english- racist and intolerant, He knows we have a major recruit and retention problem of doctors and nurses in the nhs, as a consequence we are dependent on immigrant workers. It is plain nonsense to suggest that there's a massive abundance of staff in the NHs with no english! Yes, we have foreign born staff, and thank god we do. I'm tired of Farage's lies about his intolerance towards other countries- dangerous and privileged, who like most tories never access the NHS because they are with BUPA or other private insurers!(QD) julsmc dailymail.co.uk commentsWhat's his plans to tackle the (very British) problem of, record numbers of diabetes, heart disease, lung cancers, methadone programmes, etc, etc that stretch our NHS resources to the limit... not to mention the biggest drain on my hard earned taxes!! I Don't care where you come from, if you are here to work and contribute to the public money pot.... you can stay!!(FA) Stephen Beaumont from msn.com commentsAs an ex senior nurse I can assure you that all nurses have to have passed a test in English as set by the British Council. Next I have seen more British Nurses who have faced disciplinary hearings because of lack of competence or negligence.

0106 Taobao sells annual reports/doneChina's E-commerce giant Taobao is once again showing its creativity in selling unlikely products—this time, it is workers' annual performance report.As the traditional Chinese New Year approaches, most employees are being required by their bosses to review their work performance in the past year and write annual reports.In response to people's demand for a neat report, Taobao is offering custom made reports written by ghostwriters at the price of 80 to 100 yuan per thousand words.Normally, an annual report includes 3000 words.(John Artman) "Dance with the Wolf" on 66ruian.com says:Taobao's idea should be hailed. I'm not saying annual reports are not important, but it is indeed a waste of time spending hours on cluttering up a report with trivial details about what you have done in the past year.(Qinduo) Deng Weiwei says on Ibenxi.com:I don't think asking someone from Taobao to write the annual report is a smart decision. What if my other colleagues also do that? Then we will probably end up submitting reports with the same template to say the very least, and that would be humiliating!(Liu Kun) "Sapling in Ruian"says on weibo.com:Even the sharpest writer on Taobao couldn't write me a satisfying report, because I am the one who knows my work performance the best. What's more, writing the annual report by myself would be a good way to prove that I am a responsible employee.-------------------Notes:1. The most successful seller on Taobao sold 1844 reports in December, 2014.2. The buyer and the seller would first negotiate on the price. After reaching an agreement, the buyer would pay half of the price to the seller. When the report is done, the buyer will then pay the rest.3. If the buyer is not happy with the quality of the report, he/she could ask the writer to revise the report for several times.4. The buyer has to provide his/her name, position in the company, name of the company, and the work review of his/hers in the past year.5. Usually, a report will be done in two days, but if it is urgently needed, it can be finished faster with a more expensive price.--------------------(Qinduo) Lawyer Wang Jiang says on news.enorth.com.cn:If you want someone on Taobao to write you an annual report, you will have to provide your name, your work position and certain information about the business of your company. That risks giving away the company secrets, so it is not an act legally suggested.(Liu Kun) Mr. Yang, a company manager says on news.sohu.com:I understand that some employees might turn to ghostwriters under great work pressure, but they are missing the point here. The only reason I ask them to write an annual report is for them to look back at the year and find out where they did well and where they could improve themselves. By buying a report on Taobao, they would simply lose the opportunity to conduct a proper self-evaluation.(John Artman) Sha Huizhang (莎会长) on weibo.com says:The only thing that Taobao sold before which is on par with this ridiculous annual report is the ticket to Noah's Arc.

Leading doctor Richard Smith has claimed that cancer is the best way to die and that researchers should stop wasting billions trying to find a cure.Smith, a former editor of the prestigious British Medical Journal has explained that dying from cancer will allow sufferers the luxury of time to set their affairs straight, be with family members, visit places and reflect on life before they die.While he had stated that most people wish for a quick death, he explains that a quick death can be very difficult for the deceased's loved ones to cope with.Dr. Smith also advised patients to stay away from overambitious oncologists. His comments were criticised with Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, Prof. Peter Johnson stating that cancer takes far too many people far too young.(JA) Joseph Spiteri from timesofmalta.com commentsNormally the aging process and the eventual frailty that comes with it would be enough to help people to reflect on their past, visit certain places etc. etc. One does not really need to get cancer to get into this frame of mind Mr Smith.(QD) R Mif sud from timesofmalta.com commentsWhilst I understand and respect his view and agree in part of his argument. It is very dangering suggesting to keep away from certain oncologist. Medicine has never stopped striving to find cure to illnesses. In some it managed, in others it managed to control it. Hope is always the last thing to die. The most important thing is to live every day that life gives us in serenity and in harmony with each other, than we should accept what fate has for us.(FA) AIM from express.co.uk commentsThis idiot shouldn't be allowed to practice as a doctor if those are his views. I hope he gets his wish and would dearly love to see how he handles a slow, undignified, painful death. He may have qualifications as a doctor but he certainly doesn't have any as a human being.-------------------------------------------------Notes:· Dr Richard Smith said disease was the best way to die in a blog post· Leading doctor said cancer was preferable to sudden death or dementia· Added researchers should stop spending billions trying to find a cure· Dr Smith's controversial views have split opinion on social media sitesHe said: "The long slow death from dementia may be the most awful as you are slowly erased, but then again when death comes it may be just a light kiss."Death from organ failure - respiratory, cardiac, or kidney - will have you far too much in hospital and in the hands of doctors."So death from cancer is the best ... You can say goodbye, reflect on your life, leave last messages, perhaps visit special places for a last time, listen to favourite pieces of music, read loved poems, and prepare, according to your beliefs, to meet your maker or enjoy eternal oblivion.This is, I recognise, a romantic view of dying, but it is achievable with love, morphine, and whisky.But stay away from overambitious oncologists, and let's stop wasting billions trying to cure cancer, potentially leaving us to die a much more horrible death."· Thousands die each year from cancer across the UK.· A similar case comes( in September last year) from a prominent US doctor(Ezekiel J Emanuel) credited as the architect of Barack Obama's healthcare reform for America, ObamaCare, has said longevity is overrated and that he hopes to die at 75.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(JA) mrs from dailymail.co.uk commentsI would rather go suddenly.we should stop finding a cure for cancer..making people live longer has meant there are more older people= more pensions to pay out but not enough money in the pot to give all the old folks. This is why we have to work longer. It will put pressure on family,people will live to100 and unable to look after themselves a 90 year old will have the body of a 60 year old due to cures and tablets but nothing can cure the mind once you lose it:not recognising family not know who you are or where you are.so continue to cure people and folks will be sat in nursing homes with no mind but with a younger body cured of ailments.(QD) betrayed from express.co.uk commentsHe's actually telling it like it is..there is no cure for cancer…months of painful treatment may get you a few more months or even years but there is no cure and probably never will be….every few months they announce a breakthrough but nothing ever changes…(FA) old jake from dailymail.co.uk commentsthe world is becoming over-crowded and more is spent on keeping people alive and live longer, eventually there'll be no room left for the healthy folks of this earth, and just for info I'm an ex cancer suffer after surgery almost 20 years ago and still suffer from the after-effects.

A series of photos showing doctors taking group selfies during an operation have triggered public anger on the internet. The photos show the doctors smiling and posing in front of an unconscious patient lying on the operating table. So far local health authorities in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have given harsh punishment to the hospital as well as to the doctors concerned. (QD) Yu Yunfeng says on bjnews.com.cn, I don't think these doctors take their work seriously enough. If it was their relative who was lying on the operation table at that time, would they still smile so happily and take selfies while the operation was still going on? (JA) David XH raises his question on weibo.com, Here I have a question. Operation theatre should be a sterile place, right? Why these doctors could bring camera into it? Was the camera also sterile? Or there was a dereliction of duty in the process? And where's is the patient's privacy when such a photo was taken? As far as I know, that hospital is a private one. Is it qualified enough for such an operation at all? (LY) Luo Lizhi says on news.sina.com.cn, No wonder nowadays the relations between doctors and patients are so tense. If I was a family member of that patient on the operation table and saw the photos showing doctors taking a happy group selfies during his operation, I would be rather angry too! Irresponsible doctors! ----------------------------------- Notes: -- Three of the doctors shown in the photos have had their administrative posts removed and the others given administrative warnings by local health authorities. --According to the investigation, the photos were taken on August 15 and was posted by another doctor on his weibo account. ----------------------------------- (QD) Zhi Feng points out on opinion.people.com.cn, Actually the public took the photos for granted in this case. According to what was just revealed by the media, the operation had come to an end when the photos were taken. And it was the last time that operation theatre was used, which would be abandoned after the operation with all the equipment being moved into a new building. The doctors took the photos as a keepsake of the last surgery held in the old theatre. It's totally understandable. Why the public cannot think further into the reasons behind it? (LY) Liu Chengxi says on ifeng.com, As far as I know, the camera used for taking photos belonged to the operation theatre. Usually doctors take photos of the body parts being operated as a way to collect research data. It's allowed and totally reasonable. The problem here is, these professional photos which should have been kept inside the hospital were put onto the internet by someone. I think the problem here didn't lie in those doctors. It was the fault of that person who first put them on the internet. It's him that deserved harsh punishments. (JA) Chen Fang adds on jinghua.cn, According to doctors at present in the photos, it was a really difficult operation, but they completed it perfectly. They felt very happy by the end of the operation and took group selfies together. What's wrong with it? Doctors are also human beings, who also have their feelings. At the moment when we're very happy, we also take selfies as a way of celebration and as a souvenir. Why cannot doctors do that?

Undergraduates Starting Business II China's Ministry of Education has allowed college students to suspend their studies and start up their own businesses. The notice from the ministry requires colleges and universities to set up a flexible education system allowing students to suspend studies temporarily to pursue business ideas. It is said to be a measure designed to help improve employment, given the increasingly more difficulties college graduates are in face of in the process of landing jobs. For more on this issue, I've talked with Ruben van den Boer, Consultant from RMG Selection, an international recruitment company.

Hello and Welcome to Education Today. I'm Wuyou. Now in China the Ministry of Education has allowed college students to suspend their studies to start up their own businesses. The notice from the ministry requires colleges and universities to set up a flexible education system allowing students to suspend studies temporarily to pursue business ideas. It is said to be a measure designed to help improve employment, given the increasing difficulty college graduates have landing jobs. Here's also some background information about number of graduates: Last year, 6.99 million students graduated from colleges and universities nationwide. The number increased to 7.27 million in 2014 and is expected to be 7.49 million in 2015. However, some experts and teachers suggest that schooling should be completed first. For more about that, now joining us live on the phone line are: Liu Baocheng, Director, Center for International Business Ethics, University of International Business and Economics. David Moser, Academic director from Capital Normal University.

Passengers who plan to take China's high-speed rail over the upcoming Spring Festival may want to change their plans. Recent ticket price hikes put a ticket from Beijing to Shenzhen as high as 4000 RMB. From January to mid-March next year, 8 additional daily high-speed trains will be set up between Beijing and Guangzhou, Beijing and Shenzhen, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and Shanghai and Shenzhen. The trains will run 6 days a week. All trains will depart in the evening and arrive the next morning without any stops with sleeper cars only.. The prices of the train tickets will range from around 700 yuan to several thousand yuan. As the Spring Festival nears, the prices will get higher. Many are higher than full-price flight tickets that get the passengers to the same destination. For a ticket from Beijing to Shenzhen, the price could reach more than 3,900 yuan in February, the highest among all its peers. The newly-released prices have shocked many people. Discussion and debate are ongoing over whether the prices are reasonable and whether these extra trains are even needed. Comments: (JA) Zhou Junshen(周俊生) writes on ifeng.com, "Transportation tools like high-speed trains are public goods, and they are under monopoly. It is a correct principle that prices are to be determined by the market. However, not every kind of good, especially public goods produced under monopoly, are applicable to this principle." (ZJN) Zhang Haiying(张海英) writes on sina.com.cn, "Obviously, with the diversification of people's needs, there will always be someone who is willing to tolerate the sky-high prices and take these trains. However, I want to raise a question: will these additional high-speed trains have a negative influence on the overall transporting capacity of the high-speed train system during the Spring Festival travel peak. After all, passengers on sleepers will take up more rooms. I wonder whether someone might not be able to get home because of these trains." (LK) Wang Zhian (王志安) writes on Sina Weibo.com, "For those to argue that some people might not be able to get home because of these trains, do you actually mean all passengers on trains should stand on their feet to save rooms for more people to get onto the trains?" ************* (ZJN) SongYang1985 posts on Sina Weibo.com, "In some cases, it is already a fact that taking a high-speed train is more expensive than taking a flight. Why do some people take it for granted that flight is always the most expensive tool for traveling?" (LK) linxin26888 comments on blog.sina.com.cn "Anyone who can think economically would soon come to realize that compared with spending more money to sleep a whole night on train, a better choice is to spend less money to fly home, which gets you home more quickly." (JA) An Dada(咹大大) writes on finance.qq.com, "Normally, high-speed trains depart in the morning and arrives in the afternoon or evening. If we're going to have high-speed trains that depart in the evening and arrives in the morning, that's really good news for business people."

Hello and welcome to Education Today. 1. The Education Ministry has announced its initiative reform the college entrance exam system, aiming to reverse exam-oriented education. University entrance will no longer be solely determined by students' Gaokao score. In addition to paper exam, students will also be evaluated on their morality standards, physical health, art cultivation and social practice. In the future, students will be allowed to submit the scores of three subjects from a pool of six -- biology, chemistry, geography, history, physics and politics -- together with their mandatory Chinese, math and English scores. Chenyu, head of China Institute of Occupation Research, Peking University, applauded the reform but he also stated his own concerns. (Soundbite/ 1217 Chen) "Now we are changing the way to test a student's performance from one final test into a 3 year process of evaluation. After the reform, we are looking at a student's performance both in knowledge and ethics moral standards for the whole 3years in Senior high school or even junior high school. I think this is a more fair and welcoming reform. But, now more people believe that only the exam score evaluation is fair and impartial rather than someone give a point on student's performance. " At the same time, China's Ministry of Education is bringing in a number of changes to the high school academic proficiency test. Li Guixi is headmaster of a Beijing High School. (Soundbites/1217 Li) "The biggest highlight is the changes will give students more choices. Students can pick three different subjects by themselves. This will encourage the students to explore areas that interest them during their high school studies. It will help students narrow their potential and give them a sharper focus for college." Instead of numerical scores, the results of the three subjects will be classified into letter-grades, ranging from A to E. The broader-based grading system should ease stress on students. The changes are part of the Education Ministry's attempt to overhaul the college entrance exam by 2020. The current 'gaokao' system has been criticized for its overemphasis on specific academic scores, rather than nurturing a student's potential in areas they might do well in.

Now about A Little Orange Lamp to Light the Hope of Literature A good way to expose students to poetry is to have a poem read or recited during breaks. And arranging their favorite poets to meet the young readers would by all means arouse interest among the kids in learning literature. This is the goal of an educational activity that recently took place at a primary school in Beijing. Xu Fei has more. Reporter: The primary school affiliated with Peking University has recently arranged Jin Bo, an experienced Chinese writer of children's literature since 1957, to meet his young fans. Wang Liping is the teacher in charge of this activity. 王老师1 female in Mandarin Chinese 30" "After lunch, students are allowed to take an hour of shut-eye at their desks. Then teachers are inclined to let them have a listen to recordings of many renowned writers' works. Today, pupils from a grade-two class expressed their strong desire to attend Jin Bo's lecture. Their Chinese teacher brings Jin Bo's works to their ears every day and asks them to recite it aloud. At the news of Jin Bo's arrival to our school, they felt quite excited about the chance to meet this respected writer." Nearing 80 years old, the author and Beijinger has won numerous literary prizes. In 1992, Jin was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award by the International Board of Books for Young People. The writer has many well-known pieces of literature, including "Light the Little Orange Lamp". Using poetic prose in "Light the Little Orange Lamp," Jin Bo describes his favorite pets and items in childhood, as well as his love for his mother. The day he visited the school, Jin Bo gave one copy of this book to every kid in the whole class as a gift to young pupils joining the activity. Jin also explains why he named the book "Light the Little Orange Lamp". 1209金波1 male in Mandarin Chinese 25" "I once made little orange lamps for kids. The light from orange lamps is very eye-pleasing. Making orange lamps by hand is something of an expression of gentle affection. As I found those lovely young faces shining in the light, the image is a truly beautiful inspiration." The educational activity reached its peak when the writer instructed pupils on how to write better. Jin Bo says he's gratified that his works are thought-provoking for school kids. 1209金波2 male in Mandarin Chinese 20" "I think I can have that sort of exchange in the depths of our soul. After they told me they got trouble in composing an article sometimes, I hope my guidance-advice would be helpful. I am filled with content at the moment of finding that they are enthusiastic about reading my writings." I think this type of exchange reaches the depths of our souls. After the students told me they sometimes get in trouble for poor writing, I hope my guidance helps them improve. I'm just touched to see their enthusiasm for reading my work. Wang Yanfeng, a pupil in a class of grade three, joined the face-to-face exchanges with the writer. 1209Wang Yanfeng female in Mandarin Chinese 18" "I've read Jin Bo's books; my favorite is a book titled 'Happy Chicken Feather,' in which I've found many vivid descriptions. After I heard the suggestions from Jin Bo on how to compose a story, I plan to prepare a notebook to write all the excellent phrases I've ever read in it." It's a common understanding that writing poetry can help kids become more eloquent and improve their linguistic styles. However, where to start remains a concern for teachers. Jin Bo's lecture sheds some light on the matter, as Wang Liping explains: 王老师2 female in Mandarin Chinese 30" "A student may encounter problems in composing poetry. A sample article is necessary for them to imitate and learn. Reading contemporary poetry, like the most excellent children's literature books from writer Jin Bo, may help cultivate an interest among students. They could also learn certain poetry-writing formats. All poetry by Jin Bo is well received by kids and children may start writing their own poems by analogy." The hall of the primary school is filled with the sounds of excited students reciting poems the entire afternoon. An elderly writer's connection to classrooms full of young school children through the book, "Light the Little Orange Lamp," also lights the shared passion for literature, now and into the future. Thank you Xu Fei for the report. And that's it for this Episode of Education Today. Education Today is aired at 11: 20 am from Monday to Friday Live on AM 846 in Beijing and other overseas stations. Thank you for listening.

For schoolchildren, being able to see the blackboard is imperative to their education. In China's countryside, many students who suffer from myopia lack the resources to improve their vision. Today, Doris Wang brings you the story about a Sino-American organization's insightful solution to this problem. In 2010, Sam Waldo left his home in Houston, Texas in United States to teach English at China's rural Yunnan Province. (SB 1,male, English) "I first came to China with Teach for China, to go to a rural area and to get to know the people and lifestyle there and hopefully to help some kids with their English-learning. I've been fascinated by Chinese culture and society ever since I started studying the language. I was really excited to get the opportunity to go to the rural areas in China." Throughout his stay in Yunnan, he found that it wasn't a lack of papers or books or even well-trained teachers that's standing between his students and their education. (SB2, male, English) "We discovered much to our surprise that many of our students, one of the main issues facing them in regard to getting a good education were extremely simple. They needed corrected vision and they weren't getting the proper treatment. We found a huge fraction of our students had horrible eyesight, yet the majority of them did not have eye glasses even though they clearly needed them." Despite China's incredible economic achievements over the past few decades, there is a growing gap in education between rural and urban students. Over 200 million children in rural China have limited access to quality education; 20 percent of which have vision problems, further reducing their chances of gaining the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the classroom. In 2012, Sam Waldo joined the Non-Governmental Organization, Education in Sight, which works to ensure that students don't drop out of school due to their vision problems. They partner with the local school administrations and doctors in rural communities to schedule eye exams at school, so that all students have an opportunity to get their eyes tested. After students are tested, Education in Sight delivers eyeglasses directly to students through corporate sponsorship and crowd funding. According to teacher Yang Xiao, who also volunteers for Education in Sight, the organization's work benefits both the students and teachers. (SB3, male, Chinese) "A lot of students, for various reasons, do not have eyeglasses which led to poor academic performance. After they received their glasses, there are clear improvements in their studies. For teachers like me, I don't have to worry whether or not my students could see the blackboard and rearranging their seats to accommodate them. I could just focus on my teaching." Not only are students' academic performances affected by their vision, the inability to see the blackboard also deflates their confidence in their abilities. According to Sam Waldo, students often lose motivation for learning as they think the reason they are unable to answer basic questions or read basic phrases is because they are not smart rather than the fact that their inability to see is getting in the way of learning. He says he has seen an immense change in the students' attitudes towards learning as a result of the program. (SB4, male, English) "The impact on our students was just like night and day. If you could imagine being in a classroom and needing glasses your entire life but either not being able to afford them or not having access to them or simply not knowing that glasses were something that were important. Then, suddenly, you're presented with the ability to see the world clearly. It was really a revelation for these kids." As for Yang Xiao, his work with the organization not only taught him about this crucial obstacle facing many students in China's rural area, it also gave him the courage to start his own organization. (SB5, male, Chinese) "I'm really interested in NGO's. However, I feel that based on my experience and current financial situation, establishing my own organization would be difficult. In the future, I would like to start a social enterprise." Through Education in Sight, 3500 pairs of glasses have already been shipped to Yunnan and an additional 4000 pairs are on their way there at the end of this year. Both Yang and Waldo says they hope to solve this problem in Yunnan by the summer of 2017. Even though they're from different parts of the world, Sam Waldo and Yang Xiao both share a passion for helping to change the life trajectory of people in poor communities. Through their work, classrooms are transformed and students are not only given glasses to improve their vision, but now are provided with more opportunities for their future. Back anchor: So good to hear that. The act is really like a great helping hand that supports these children in the rural areas on their education path. Thank you Doris for the report.

1.Osbourne announces post grad loans of 10,000 pounds in autumn statement George Osbourne has announced that the government plans to allocate 10,000 pounds towards loans for students taking on a post graduate degree. The announcement comes in the recently concluded Autumn statement (soundbite / 1205 George Osbourne) The government-backed loans, worth up to £10,000, will be available from 2016-17 and will benefit 40,000 students. The proposals expect to bring an extra 10,000 students into postgraduate study. No there's an age limit to students under 30 years. 2. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has said that the new science A-levels being taught in England's schools will not be delayed. Concerns were raised about the chemistry A-level after it emerged that it was not accredited by the September target. Ms Morgan's assertion follows news on Tuesday that reformed maths A-levels would be put back by a year to 2017. That announcement followed concerns that students would struggle to bridge the gap between the current GCSE maths and the new A-level. Appearing before the Commons Education Select Committee on Wednesday, Ms Morgan assured MPs that accreditation for chemistry would be done within weeks. She was also "confident" that teaching materials, such as textbooks, would be ready in time. Ms Morgan was quizzed about the potential knock-on effect of the maths delay on subjects such as physics. The new curriculum will be set to be taught in Sept. 2015

A 19-year-old boy committed suicide on Sunday in Southwest China's Sichuan province, after his online foreign girlfriend severed ties with him, ending their week long relationship. Surnamed Zeng, the boy posted dozens of updates on his Sina Weibo account from 10 pm on November 29 until 7 am on November 30, saying he planned to end his life due to the depression that followed the breakup. The heartbroken boy's tweets aroused many comments from users on Weibo. People desperately tried to persuade him not to take his own life. With the help of Weibo users and the information Zeng had left online, police in Luzhou were able to find him. The boy was sent to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was determined to be the ingestion of sleeping pills and carbon monoxide poisoning. ---------------------------------------- (QD) Liu Jian, a psychology consultant in Luzhou says "According to what we can see on his Weibo account, Zeng's lack of care from his family and friends made it impossible for him to express his anxieties. Posting tweets was a way to get the despair off his chest and to a certain extent, the attention his behavior generated may have relieved his feeling of deep emptiness. However, people cannot do this at the cost of their life." (JA) "Hold your hands" says on qq.com, "I have no sympathy for him. He is threatening his ex-girlfriend as he @ her on weibo announcing his suicide. He even posted on weibo that he will see her become a killer with a smile, indicating to others that the girl is fully responsible for his death. " (LY) "Stupid" says on 163.com, "If you have the courage to die, why not dare to keep living?" _________________________________________________________________ Note: Despite their efforts and those of his former girlfriend, Zeng said on his Weibo account at 7:48 pm November 30 that he had made up his mind. Around midnight, he posted a tweet saying he was going to die as the sleeping pills he had swallowed were taking effect. At 12:23 am, a tweet said, "Sorry, farewell", while at 12:31 am, he posted a message reading, "It is really over as there is little oxygen left", alongside a picture of a burning charcoal brazier. He posted his last tweet at 12:34 am, saying "You defriended me at the last minute (of my life)". According to Zeng's grandmother, who had raised him, his parents had divorced when he was two years old. His father left Luzhou for Shenzhen, a major industrial hub in Guangdong province, while his mother re-married and left Luzhou for Hainan province several years later. Netizens have responded in various ways. Most have revealed shock that a boy of just 19 ended his life in this way. Some called him a silly a boy, questioning his education and his inability to save his own life. ______________________________________________ (QD) "Hao Ren Jing Ge'er 好人敬哥儿" says on weibo.com, "I'm now waiting for the birth of my baby outside the delivery room. As a parent to be, I could imagine how his parents feel about his death. You couldn't know the parents graciousness." (JA) "Gap max" says on 163.com, "How delicate the young heart is! Anyway, wish decedents rest in peace. " (LY) "Huang Xi" says on qq.com, "I have experienced many momentums feeling lonely, desperate or at a loss, but never thought of suicide. Because there are so many sceneries I haven't seen and things I want to learn. And, I am still waiting to meet someone who loves me and I love. The possiblity will only be there as long as I am alive. "

In snooker: A major upset at the UK Championships. Chinese ace and world number-3 Ding Junhui has been sent packing from snooker's most prestigious tournament, going down 6-5 to 18-year-old James Cahill. Cahill, the world number 100, nearly blew a 5-1 lead in his 3rd round match. However, Cahill was able to hold on to upset the two-time tournament champion to reach the last-16. Ding's exit means Hong Kong's Marco Fu is the only Chinese player left in the competition. Marco Fu booked his place in the last-16 after knocking out Thailand's number one Dechewat Poomjaeng 6-3. Five time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is also through, despite his broken ankle, easily cruising past Ben Woollaston 6-2.

New figures reveal that the full cost of a new Scotland Yard inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will reach 10 million pounds by early next year. A Home office spokesperson confirmed that the Operation Grange inquiry received a special 2.6 million pound grant for the year 2013-14 which brought the total amount of money invested so far to 7.3 million pounds. Figures covering the inquiry in 2013-14 show 1.7 million pounds went towards police officer wages, 505,000 pounds in civilian pay, 210,000 pounds in overtime and a little over 200,00 pounds in transport , supplies and other costs. Madeleine McCann mysteriously disappeared in 2007 from her hotel room in Portugal where she was away on holiday with her parents. ------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) Neuronalnightmare from dailymail.co.uk comments The cost isn't really all that much (17p per person) and they might as well continue having gone so far. If they do turn out to be successful, it'll be a huge deterrent to other potential kidnappers. If it saves just one child's life it'll have been cheap. (QD) Brenda Mcneill from Madeleine McCann News as it happens facebook page comments I don't know how anyone can say anything about the McCanns, sure they're bound to have bad days when they say she must be dead, but honestly if it was you, you would never give up, I know I could never give up. All I can say is I hope some day no matter how many years they get her back. (Alive) (FA) jase from dailymail.co.uk comments I would rather the money is spent on these unfortunate people than many of the other ways our money is spent by government. Who knows how many other children may have been victims of the perpetrators and for these people it is an unending nightmare. What would you want if it were your child? ------------------------------------------------------------ JA) Tilly Divine from youtube.com comments Whether they simply neglected their kids or whether they actively harmed Madeleine, every single part of this tragedy is down to the parents. No one leaves three toddlers alone in a room in a hotel and swans off to have a fancy meal unless they're pond scum. I don't give a fuck what they do for a living or how many media advisers they can hire to spin it their way. Whatever happened to their child is entirely their fault (QD) Andrew Wakeman from the inquisitor.com comments I think the police need to look closer to home and question the parents and friends, but we know it will just be no comment all the way through just like when they were questioned in 2007. I think the best way if they did it of course is to flip one of their friends and put deals to them. You cannot say she was kidnapped when there was no proof that she was ever kidnapped and we have the dog evidence that points to one direction- death. (FA) Dave Johnson from inquisitor.com comments Why waste the airfare and another chunk of taxpayers money? The only people that could of killed her are right here in the UK stop the cover up and get the parents in

Beijing will ban begging, busking & flyer distribution in the subway starting from May 2015. Beggars & buskers in the subway will be fined up to 1,000 yuan, and those who distribute leaflets will be fined up to 10,000 yuan. The regulation was recently passed by Beijing municipal People's Congress. ************************ (QD) Mao Kaiwen says on nandu.com, "First, where will these beggars get the money? Second, what if they can not pay the money? Lastly, if the government will let it go when the beggars are not able to pay, then the regulation will just be a piece of useless paper." (PJ) Night melody says on weibo.com, Some beggars will ask for money after they perform a little. I'd say this group of people are earning their money, not begging. Rather, the government should think about their own management of the social welfare for these people, instead of just cracking down on them. (LK) xiaorenyu says on weibo.com, There are a lot of professional beggars on the subway. I once read this report which says some beggars do their job during the day and eat crabs and drink alcohol at night. So I do think the government should step in and try to manage these people. *********************** Notes: The Beijing News reports, some beggars on Beijing subway are pretending to be disabled. Others are from rural areas of the country where social welfare system barely exists and they rent children for months from villages to beg in Beijing. ************************ (QD) Liao Dekai says on news.sina.com.cn, "The identities of beggars are complicated. Some do this as a job, some do need help and some even are kidnapped and forced to do this. I think both the government and citizens need to distinguish between different kinds of beggars and treat them in different ways." (PJ) Dingxiaoqian says on weibo.com, "I often come across beggars when I ride the subway and not only within carriages, on platforms, outside the station as well. It's really a humiliation especially when you see the eye some foreigners give to those beggars. If the government doesn't take care of this, it would be a connivance of moral bankruptcy of this country." (LK) CCC Vc says on weibo.com, "There is absolute no need for the government to step in for this kind of issue. Begging on subways will disappear as long as the society could provide enough aid agencies and charity for the homeless and disabled."

Self proclaimed "dating guru" Julien Blanc has been banned from entering Singapore where he was due to teach a seminar on seducing women. Blanc, who is an "international leader in dating advice" for a Los Angeles based company Real Social Dynamics, travels around the world and teaches the seminars which have been branded as sexist and misogynistic. As a part of his tactic in dating women, Blanc encourages men to use physical violence and mental abuse. Singapore is the third and latest country to ban Blanc following Britain and Australia where citizens signed petitions urging their government to prevent Blanc from entering. Blanc was kicked out of Australia and denied a visa by Britain. In a statement about the decision to ban Blanc, authorities declared: violence against women or any persons is against Singapore law. ----------------------------------------------------------- (JA) Patrick from spiked-online.com comments This is an incredibly worrying turn of events. To think that a twitter-mob can actually get someone banned from the country because they don't like them is truly medieval. What precedent does this set? People today have no respect for freedom of movement, freedom of speech. (QD) Lawrence Newman from youtube.com comments His stuff works. There are videos available proving he can get beautiful women's phone numbers. You just hate the reality that 'game' works. Men have to approach women if they're going to find a girlfriend at some point. There's nothing wrong with what Julien Blanc does. He's not broken any laws and yet he's banned from the UK because of feminists. That proves how powerful a lobby group the feminists are, and how biased the media is for demonising him like this. If a woman did something similar on men to what he does to women, the media wouldn't have even mentioned it and the woman would not be banned from any country. It's typical of the double standards of feminism. (FA) dt089 from youtube.com comments What really saddens me is all of the HATE being generated in these comments towards Julien. Everyone that is insulting him, wishing death upon him because he was singled out by feminist groups. You're only generating more hate. Of course, you idiots are not focused on REAL issues and crimes like the sex slavery/murders in the Middleeast that ISIS is currently orchestrating. No, you're focused on a dating coach who is completely misunderstood, who has to my knowledge never been accused of forcing/raping a girl, or has never been charged/convicted of any crime. I have been following RSD and Julien for years. Their message is positive and in no way shape or form promotes violence against women. (JA) UngratefulDead from gawker.com comments This scuzzball's company features significantly in the book The Game, which is a pretty fascinating look at this subculture. The author gets a little too close to the whole thing but even despite that, the fact that these are intensely broken people often shines through. (QD) Kate Ware from change.org comments I am a survivor of sexual violence/intimate partner violence, and I believe the world must stand in solidarity and unilaterally CONDEMN abuse and violence of all kinds. I have three daughters, and I hope to create a world that is safer for them than it has been for women in previous generations (FA) Claudia Aubin from change.org comments Building a business around the promotion of violence against women (or against anyone) should be considered a felony.

Beijing is considering turning a temporary restriction to a long-term policy on private vehicles. Road restrictions on odd-even license plate numbers were used during the APEC meetings, and surprisingly, Beijing witnessed rare blue skies in those days, making "APEC blue" a popular phrase. A number of factories surrounding Beijing were also shut down during the meetings. Notes: - To control air pollution for the major international event, and by suspending the work of polluting industries and construction sites to control coal consumption. - The official index indicating the traffic situation showed that traffic flow was reduced during the period by 70 percent instead of the estimated 50 percent. - Three of the seven people whom China Daily interviewed at noon on Wednesday said they agreed with the proposed restriction because the reduced vehicle exhaust would bring cleaner air and traffic congestion would be greatly eased.

Breanna Youn is the latest sensation in the rising social media trend of wealthy toddlers. Youn, who is five years old from South Korea, has gained as many as 1 million followers on her Instagram account which was started by her 27 year old mother. A huge number of her fans hail from the United Arab Emirates, which is why the family decided to pack up and move to Dubai. Breanna has been featured on social media posing next to expensive cars, carrying Louis Vuitton and Chanel hand bags, as well as being driven around town in a limousine and dining in first class hotels. She has also reportedly been invited to appear on television shows across the Middle East and Asia. Breanna has beat Aussie toddler Pixie Curtis with as many followers on Instagram as Cameron Diaz. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) Jack Lemoine from opposingviews.com comments No, she is not living like "any normal kid." Far from it. Keep this in mind mother, just as fast as her " rise to stardom" occurs, it is her fall ( and it'll happen ) is what is going to affect her. (QD) The_silent_minority from the dailymail.co.uk comments Safe to say many 4-5 year olds do not have twitter so she is being "followed" by over a million adults!!! If anyone cannot see how truly disturbing this is then there is something seriously wrong. (FA) Melanie Gray from the dailymail.co.uk comments Thats just great isnt it? teaching toodlers to base importance on material things and looks... not good at all in fact terrible parenting at the least! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: · Aussie toddler Pixie Curtis, the daughter of PR impresario Roxy Jacenko has been dubbed the "Princess of Instagram". With her own Instagram account, sponsors and line of merchandise, she reportedly draws in hundreds in revenue from a single post. · Pixie and Breanna aren't the only ones either, there is a whole new trend in toddler celebrities who get driven around in luxury cars, wear head-to-toe designer clothing and jet-set around the world in private jets. · Since becoming big in the Middle East, Breanna, her 27-year-old mother Jocelyn, 34-year-old father Junghyun and seven-year-old brother Braxton have left their home and seafood export business in South Korea, converted to Islam, and moved to Dubai where they're being hosted by a wealthy benefactor. · her parents started out as seafood exporters in Busan, South Korea, working from a two-bed flat. · The family have also cast aside their Catholic and Mormon upbringings to convert to Islam. · Breanna's mother, who runs the five-year-old's Instagram account, told The National: "I don't know why people love Breanna so much. She does not have any special talent that she is good at like dancing and she does not do much on camera. She only does a little drama, a few smiles and poses. · "She has something inside her that makes people love her and makes them happy. She is just very sweet. Whenever I put her in front of a camera, she is a natural and loves posing." · Some followers even said they love Breanna 'more than my own children' · Parents face criticism for exploiting daughter but they enjoy the fame · Mrs Youn said: 'If we go to the mall, Breanna will ask why people are not taking pictures with her' · Her popularity started when Mrs Youn posted pictures of her daughter on her own Facebook page. Strangers begged her to set up a Breanna fan page so Mrs Youn obliged a year ago. · The Vine site was set up shortly after but it was only when she set up OfficialBreannaYoun on Instagram seven months ago - mainly to stop fraudsters from pretending to be her - that Breanna's fame rocketed. · She has attracted hundreds of thousands of fans from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) Kimberly Teo from Breanna Youn's facebook page comments If you are mature enough, you should take her off the internet and stop imposing this publicity on your child. Its really not right. You should know that many of netizens have condemned the idea of you exploiting your kid over the internet, posing with branded goods and all (QD) Justin Wong from youtube.com comments Seen this little girl all over the internet in the last few years. Adorable looking as she is, all here actions are so directed and fake, it makes her loose here charm........... Shame on her parents for exploiting her the way they are and for teaching her wrong values. (FA) Mr mysterious from youtube.com comments Why is it of anyones business what anyone else does? Go live your own lives, i'm tired of all these judgemental comments. Why is everyone so disapproving of anything that goes on in this world? are you guys that low in life that you criticise others just to cheer your self up for a minute? Breanna's cute, END OF!

Hello and welcome to Education Today. I'm Wuyou. Farrah: I'm Farrah. First of all, Shanghai-style maths lessons are promoted in UK. (soundbite / 1126 BG classes) The British Education Secretary, Liz Truss has also visited a Shanghai middle school and attended maths class there.She showed a great interest in the school's maths teaching method. (soundbite / 1126 Liz) Chen Zhuhui,one of the maths teachers from Shanghai, also known as "Mr Bean" by all his students, has started his Shanghai-style maths lesson. Chen joined St Vincent's Catholic Primary School in central London. He invites one student from each group to compete against the others to answers questions at the fastest speed. At first Chen appears to blend in very well with the students throughout the one-hour session. According to Chen, familiarity with his students didn't come easy. He said that the first week was the most difficult since he was new to the school. Li Dong, another Shanghai math teacher teaching at St Vincent's through an education exchange between the British Department for Education and the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, said that the biggest difficulty they faced was the language barrier. There was difficulty expressing math terms. He would ask English math teachers many English words he doesn't know how to say. For example, the plus sign. The school appears to be supportive in accommodating the two Shanghai math teachers. Marina Coleman, head-teacher at St Vincent's, said that she thinks having the Chinese teachers is an excellent opportunity for her school. Debbie Morgan, Director for Primary at National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, is very pleased with the outcome of the exchange program after observing the math lessons across England. He says that "They are better at times tables in Shanghai than they are here and that's perhaps getting in the way it's slowing our children down with their calculation. " Morgan also said that the the Shanghai approach is a very thorough one. "One of the other things that are coming through is that the Shanghai style is a very step-by-step, logical approach, with far more detail." But at the same time, someone in the UK held different opinions towards this importing Chinese Maths teacher idea. Jeanette Winterson, the British writer. (soundbite / 1126 Jeanette) —— Now let's go to Dubai. Dubai's new operations for private schools Dubai's private school sectore is showing record growth. There's an increasing demand for education in the UAE but especially in the quality of education. Quality assurance remains top on the agenda of regulating body Knowledge and Hum,an development Authority or KHDA. KHDA has recently announced its two business models for private school operations. Under the new "Branch school model" local commercial partners are allowed to be involved only in the commercial arrangements of the school land, buildings and finances, while the school is the sole owner. The "shared management" model prohibits the use of brands, logos or other collateral of a foreign provider if the local investment partner is responsible for any part of the schools operations. The main purpose is to attract international schools to provide high quality outstanding education in Dubai. Last year there was a 10% growth in private school operations and based on an annual growth of 9% the city is looking at hosting 96 private schools catering to 132,000 students by 2020. And that's it for this Episode of Education Today. Education Today is aired at 11 : 20 am from Monday to Friday Live on AM 846 in Beijing and other overseas stations. I'm Wuyou. Farrah: I'm Farrah. Thank you for listening.

Xiamen Institute of Technology at HuaQiao University has issued a circular prohibiting students from ordering takeout. The school's canteen as well as restaurants outside the campus are both on the blacklist. Takeout boxes are not allowed to be brought back to the dormitories. Those who can't go out to eat because of illness are required to get a sick note from their tutors. Meanwhile, cash transactions are not allowed in the school's canteen. The college claims they want to encourage students to leave the dorms more and embrace a healthier lifestyle. ******* Chen Keming(陈克明),vice dean of the college explained in an interview that, The students used to order takeout food online when they were still in the class. And the unrecyclable packages are harmful to the environment. As university students, they need to improve their environmental awareness and take more social responsibilities. Yi Ran (怡然),a mother agrees on weibo that, As a mother of a college boy, I totally understand the new regulation. My son told me once that, with food delivery, he and his roommates have stayed in the apartment for nearly one week playing games, watching movies and reading books. They stay in the dorm for an entire month without talking at all with anyone. This is obviously an unhealthy lifestyle. The regulation forces them to go out to have lunch, to talk to other people. I think it's a good thing. Xiao Huanhuan (小烜烜) comments on 163.com that, I saw plastic boxes, bags everyday in my dormitory. In summer, the leftovers and boxes make the whole building smell awful. And it takes a very long time for the cleaners to take out the garbage. So go out, have more exercises, talk with friends. Why not? **************** Notes: However, most of the students in this colleges were shocked when they heard the news. They didn't understand why they can't have food delivery in campus. This issue has rapidly triggered a heated discussion online, attracted both fans and detractors. ************* Jun Rong said iqilu.com (爱齐鲁.com) that, The new regulation can be considered as a monopoly. Students can't eat in other places except the school canteen. Universities and colleges are supposed to teach students to pursue their dreams and freedom. And they must not restrain students of their liberty. Besides, I think the environment issue is just an excuse. With their logic, should we cancel the whole food delivery business? It just does not make any sense. Yangli(杨荔) criticizes the circular on zhnews.net that, It is a college, not a kindergarten. Most of the students are adults and they know what they are doing. They have the right to choose to eat out or order food online. It is simply nothing to do with the college. If they want to encourage students to have more exercises, why not build more stadiums or organize more interesting activities. There are tons of ways to do the work, why do they have to choose the arbitrary way to do it. Meltings said on weibo that, When I was a university student, the main reason why I ordered the food online is that the food in canteen tastes awful. And there are so many students eating there during lunch time. I can't even find a seat. Will they improve the quality of the food in school canteen? If not, then what should the students eat when they don't have time to go out of the campus? And I am wondering, are the staff of the canteen related to this new regulation?

Three years ago, the story of a student who dropped out of Peking University to pursue studies in a vocational school caught the public eye. He is now in the limelight again after saying that he feels no regret. Zhou Hao entered Peking University in 2008 to study life sciences. He was one of the top local scorers of the college entrance exams in Qinghai province. He is now a student at Beijing Industrial Technical College. However, Zhou told local newspapers found himself unable to adapt to the theoretical study of life sciences and dropped out in his third year at Peking University. He subsequently began to study numerical control, something he really liked. ---------------------------------------------- Comments: (JA) Canghai jianke _SS commented on Weibo.com, "Well, I do respect his choice. Recently, I have been pondering what life means to a human being? We just follow without asking ourselves what we are truly interested in and what sorts of people we are born to be. We have to be motivated to fulfill our desire, and to create our own happiness. If one has a dream, he should try hard to pursue it. That guy followed his heart. I would say congratulations." (LY) Others called for more social attention to China's vocational education on 163.com, "Vocational schools are as essential as universities in terms of their role in the society and there is no shame in studies and careers. We should actually speed up the process of building several top vocational colleges and encourage more young talents to get into the vocational schools. Those talents are innovative and enterprising and they will bring about changes to China, the largest manufacturer in the world." (QD) Lovesisu2010 shed doubt on China.com.cn, "OH, my goodness. I still couldn't understand Zhou Hao's behavior. He is so smart and if he is interested in numerical control, he can switch his major in post-graduate study, and lots of Chinese students did so. Come on, life is not perfect, and you cannot guarantee a top school and a fine major at the same time, so face the reality. I don't think a postgraduate student with solid academic and practical experience is not as good as a technician. I am not being speculative but I cast doubt on the whole matter, which seems like an advertisement of the vocational school. I have a lot to live up to and I have a lot of dreams to pursue, yet giving up PKU is never on my list." ----------------------------------------------------------- Notes: - Now Zhou is one of the best students at the college. Even though there are still months to go before graduation, many companies have already made him job offers. - "I was very fortunate to make the choice six years ago. What I'm learning now is also very helpful to people's life," Zhou told China Youth Daily. "I believe everyone can become powerful if they find what best fits their interests and needs. - China unveiled a long-term plan to beef up the country's vocational education in June, saying it plays an important role in talent's training system. - Enrollment in Chinese universities has increased in recent years, offering students more opportunities to go to college. There will be more than seven million graduates this year and the initial employment rate is about 70 percent, according to China's Ministry of Education. ------------------------------------------------------- (QD) Aimimi put comment on cri.com.cn, "Many vocational schools are faced with 'student crisis', with fewer students' applications, although the employment rate of vocational students has been over 90 percent in recent years. I think fundamentally Chinese people look down upon vocational education, blue-collar workers and those graduates from technical schools. Why Germany and Japan could excel in precision manufacturing? Because they have talented technicians and best vocational education. It's high time that China unveiled a long-term plan to beef up the country's vocational education system." (LY) Wo bus shi Gu Tian le commented on Weibo, "We should choose the right thing to do, rather than the good thing. This principle applies to each decision making process. Those choose the right career can have passion and inspiration in their work. I support Zhou Hao's choice and meanwhile, I think people should listen to their heart and make every decision discreetly". (QD) xj108boy posed on 163.com form the US, "I wanted to study an arts major in college. However, my parents forced me to study engineering. Then I failed 11 courses, and I suck at all the maths related subjects. Unfortunately now I am stilling doing a phD in engineering and soon I will graduate. I am so fearful. If I were given a second chance, I would have chosen a different subject. I don't want to pin the blame on my parents, but they let me choose engineering. What can I say?"

his week marks anti bullying week. As well as playground bullying, many children are subject to online or cyber bullying. Online bullying has doubled in just one year. According to a recent study by internet security firm McAfee, currently one in three 11 to 17 year old are victims of online bullying. 35% percent of children say they have been exposed to internet bullying, compared with 16% from last year's findings. As well as this, 4 in 10 said they had been witnesses to others being picked on. This figure counts as almost double that of last year. Some of the sites where children are most vulnerable to online bullying are dating apps like Tinder and photo sharing apps like Snap chat. -------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) Maida Comment from the scotsman.com comments I left school in 1971, at least in that old wind up steam powered world, I could escape every night, weekend and holiday to the sanctuary of a quiet estate and home, where I could feel safe.... I honestly think that if the taunting morons who made my life hell could have violated that sanctuary, I doubt I would have seen my 18th birthday! do not underestimate the effects this can have on a person, even many years later! My heart goes out to the poor children who are the current victims of bullying who with modern technology do not have the sanctuaries I had!!! (QD) neill17 from bbc.co.uk comments Turn off the computer, don't use twitter or FB? So the victim is excluded from using social media; exclusion is a bullying tactic so you need to think that one through. (FA) inglewood jack from bbc.co.uk comments If you cannot find the off button, there is little hope that a school could help you.You can only be bullied by consent online. This comment will attract mean people to comment harshly at me hoping to make me feel bad. Watch how it fails to achieve their objective, proving I am dead right. If you feel bullied, it is because you want to be, get a new hobby, maybe forum moderation is for you. ------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: · In a poll of 11- to 17-year-olds, 35% reported that they have experienced cyberbullying – compared with 16% last year. Four in 10 said they had witnessed others being picked on online – almost double the 22% recorded last year. · The study also suggests that thousands of teenagers, including many aged 15 or under, are using messaging service Snapchat and dating app Tinder every day. · Some parents even helped set their children up with accounts, prompting fears that they are unwittingly putting them at risk. · Internet security firm McAfee polled 2,000 children and 2,000 adults with at least one child aged under 18 in the UK before antibullying week on Monday and compared the findings with a similar study carried out last year. · Cyber bullying rates have more than doubled over the past 12 months · Only one-third of parents are worried about their child being bullied online · One in six youngsters admitted using Tinder dating app every day •parents admit they helped their child set up an account on tinder or snap chat •a poll by ChildLine found when a youngster stated to an adult who had contacted them from a dating app that they were under 16, only 13% of adults terminated contact. •one in 6 of the youngsters polled reported using Tinder everyday •almost half of those are 15 and under ------------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) inanutshellfrom dailymail.co.uk comments this is bad parenting, have only one computer , put in a comunal room, encourage your children to respect THEIR privacy, set an example, do not sign up to social media, children do not need mobile phones until they are living away from home. This is how me and some of my friends brought up our children, eldest now 20, only had a mobile since he was 16 years. Never encountered any form of bullying. (QD) Cityslacker dailymail.co.uk comments They are CHILDREN and whilst as they grow older they should be afforded even more privacy, while they are at an impressionable age they should not be allowed unfettered access to the internet and parents should screen who they are talking to and what sites they are visiting. The internet is a wonderful place but for young minds it can be very dangerous and damaging. Bullying online is like bullying in the real world, ignore it and walk away from it. React to it and you feed it and them. (FA) Daniel Rober2 from the Scotsman.com comments I was surprised when my daughter, at age 9 got bullied online. Just like other bullying we had to have a chat about it. Still the internet offers wonderful opportunities for adults and children. Therefore online bullying just like poison pen letters in the past must be addressed in a sensible manner

Currently, in order to meet the demands of various primary school entrance exams, lots of kindergartens across the country have started teaching lessons only suitable for primary school students. As a result of this, China's Ministry of Education has issued a new policy banning kindergartens from teaching primary school lessons. According to the policy, kindergartens should be fully engaged in recreational activities with children. (QD) Qian Guifeng applauds this policy on xinhuanet.com, I fully support such a policy. The public have waited for this policy for a long time. The kids nowadays are simply much too tired. When they're as young as two or three years old, they have begun to have lessons at kindergarten. But the priority for kids should be to play around freely, right? Rather than sit in a classroom listening to teachers' preach. That would ruin their nature. (JA) But on news.sina.com.cn, Hong Hai Er is quite pessimistic, Ten years before I had heard about the idea of reducing burden for kindergarten kids. But now they're bearing an even heavier burden. The key issue here is not what new policies the Ministry of Education has made, but how to fully implement the policies it already made. That's the right issue the authorities should seriously think about. (LK) And Skyline_L expresses his point of view on news.qq.com, As a matter of fact, we really shouldn't blame kindergartens for teaching primary school lessons. They have no better choice at the strong requests from parents. The root cause here is the existence of primary school entrance exams. Primary schools are part of China's compulsory education system; actually there should not be any entrance exam at all, which is against the spirit of compulsory education! --------------------------------------------- Notes: -Currently around 67.5 percent of Chinese kids ranging from 3 to 6 years old are enrolled into kindergartens. It's estimated that the rate will reach 75 percent by 2016. -It's mainly kindergartens in the urban area that offer primary school lessons to kids. ---------------------------------------------- (QD) A netizen named Zhezhe's Mother says on weibo.com, I know the kindergarten should be a place for kids to play around. But the reality is cruel. There're too many kids in China. When my son's classmates are studying hard in preparation for entrance examinations of key primary schools, what can I do? Yes I want him to play happily every day, but what about his future? He can't lose out to other kids. (LK) Naruto Lim says on money.163.com, I don't care what new policies the authorities have made. What I care most is how my daughter can go to the best primary school in our district. So I would like to try every means to make her meet the standards of that school. Even if there's really such a harsh policy abolishing all kindergartens from teaching primary school lessons, I will still send her to remedial classes offered by commercial educational institutions to get her well-prepared. (JA) And Ba Gua Chuan Ren points out on bbs.ce.cn, Whoever the policymakers are, they're simply too naïve. Haven't they made clear the national conditions of China? There're a very limited number of excellent primary schools here compared with a large student base. So many kids want to pour into a few key schools. Thus it's the schools which enjoy full advantages and can pick kids in whatever ways they want. It's the uneven distribution of good education resources that directly leads to the high pressure on kindergarten kids as well as their parents, rather than kindergartens themselves.

Developers in Dubai have unveiled plans to build the world's tallest twin towers. The towers are to be part of the six million square metre Dubai Creek Harbour project which will feature six residential towers along with the rocket shaped buildings that designers say will be the twin towers. The venture, which will be three times the size of downtown Dubai, is designed to accommodate 39,000 homes and 22 hotels. The plans for the twin towers were recently unveiled by real estate development company Emaar properties late last month. Details on the height of the towers and a construction costs and start date have not yet been confirmed. Currently, the world's tallest twin towers are Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers, which measure 452 metres (1,483ft). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) JasmineIsDomestic from apartmenttherapy.com comments At this point I don't think any development of Dubai's waterfront should be celebrated, no matter how great the architectural design is. The way Dubai's natural landscape has been destroyed and altered in that area is terrible. The natural environment needs to be restored; green the desert, not desert the green. (QD) Michael ADAMS from nce.co.uk comments Although an incredible challenge for designers,constructors, suppliers and so many workers, it is an unbelievable waste of the world's resources when tens of millions of refugees need water- and homes. (FA) JayCee from dezeen.com comments Who cares? It's in Dubai which might as well be Disneyland. In 50 years when the oil runs out that place will be an empty sandbowl with ugly pointy ruins sticking out of the dunes. JA) john Merrick from gulfnews.com comments That's funny, wasn't the lagoons supposed to be built a few years ago and investors lost their money back then when the project collapsed? What's the guarantee they wont lose again? (QD) GoldMan7 from youtube.com comments Well Done Dubai , you did a pretty good job by erecting gigantic skyscrapers but I would like to advise you to provide better facilities and good amenities to the workers constructing the tall buildings in the Arabian Gulf.. (FA) AlJefferson from youtube.com comments No visit to Dubai is complete without a visit to the Burj Khalifa. It is truly jaw dropping, as is the rest of the city to be honest. It's landmarks like this that'll be great tourist attractions and keep people coming into the city. Way to go Emaar for keeping dubai on the map!

1. More Chinese families are considering perchasing real estates in the US for their children's acdemic stay in the country. Destinations such as Australia, Canada, the US and the UK can be perceived as a safe haven for investment, with some areas having also seen dramatic price reductions since the financial crisis first took hold. Australia and Canada as two areas in which there is major interest in terms of investment in real estate, alongside inflows of international students. The trend for wealthy families to buy property for use during study periods and beyond is nothing new, but it is becoming more noticeable. For more I've talked with Michael Zhang, Current Affair commentator and Lawyer in the US. (Today/reports/1117 stu property wy) Back anchor: That's Michael Zhang, Current Affair commentator and Lawyer in the US. Notes: Laws around visas and immigration factor in the decision as to study location. Property purchase percentage increases closer to the end of the study period, especially those students who know or feel they will be eligible to immigrate as a skilled migrant. 2. Language learning should achieve more than just phrase book competence Language teachers should aim beyond "functional phrasebook competence" and encourage self-expression in pupils, a leading headmistress is to say. Bernice McCabe, headmistress of North London Collegiate School, will say teachers should be "a thorn in the side of British insularity and reticence". Her comments will be made at the start of a course for language teachers run by the Princes Teaching Institute. The aim is to bring "new life" into language lessons, Mrs McCabe says. In her remarks to be made on Saturday, Mrs McCabe, who is also co-director of the Princes Teaching Institute, acknowledges that the obstacles "are many". She says a lot of schools are put off from offering language qualifications by "the perception that top grades in languages are harder to obtain than in many other subjects". She will welcome exam regulator Ofqual's plan to change the way language papers are set and marked, which it is believed may encourage a greater uptake of languages at GCSE and A-Level.

1, The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect system has begun trading. The Stock Connect will allow investors to trade eligible shares listed on either market through local securities firms or brokerages. There is a daily two-way quota of 23 billion yuan. In an effort to try to promote the new system, the Ministry of Finance has announced that individual mainland investors who purchase shares in Hong Kong through the program will be exempt from paying taxes on the income derived from the shares for the next 3-years. This will include QFII and RQFII traders. The Qualified Foreign Investor scheme are currently the only avenues available for foreigners to invest in Chinese stocks. 2, Group of 20 leaders have agreed to take measures that would boost their economies by a collective $2 trillion by 2018. Citing risks from financial markets and geopolitical tensions, the leaders said the global economy is being held back by lackluster demand, according to their communique following a two-day summit. The group submitted close to 1,000 individual policy changes designed to lift growth and said they would hold each other to account to ensure they are implemented. The IMF and OECD assessed the policy commitments and said they would raise G-20 gross domestic product by an additional 2.1 percent from current trajectories by 2018.

A senior middle school in Beijing was criticised on the Internet for an autumn outing they organized recently. Only students with high scores ranking in the top 80 of a recent monthly exam can join the visit to Tsinghua and Peking University, the top two most well-known universities in China. This caused other students who were not included in the tour to be very angry. They felt that every student should be able to enjoy the autumn outing. The school explained that the outing was a reward for students with high scores. They added that they have arranged another visit to the Great Wall for all students a few days later. (QD) A parent surnamed Zhu says on dahe.com, School is a place for study, not a travel agency. This kind of awarding is actually encouraging students to work harder. It is meaningless if every student can enjoy the award. (JA) "MAZH" says on sohu.com, The school is encouraging hard study. Stop talking about fairness. If you do not want to give effort, you would never be respected. (LK) " Curry melon " says on sina.com.cn, Students focusing on this issue are causing trouble themselves. The gates of Tsinghua and Peking University are always open. Why cant you go by yourself and enjoy? ************************************ Notes/Background information Spring outing and autumn outing is a common activity in primary and middle schools. Teachers will bring their students out of school to some interesting place for travel. The destinies are always places nearby. It is a chance for students to relax from daily study. ************************************ (QD) "Firearm rose" says on weibo.com, I think students with high scores should be awarded. Study is the main task of students. Those who are jealous for this should reflect their own behavior. Why cant they try to get what they want by working harder? (JA) "Lazy Dragon" says on qianhuaweb.com, High scores do not mean everything. But you can only be admired by proving your ability. As for a student, scores are important proof of ability. (LK) "Northern news "on weibo.com, Why are you unsatisfied? Tsinghua and Peking Universities are not an ideal destiny for an autumn outing. "Good students" can watch how the students of Chinese top universities study there. Let them go. Climbing the mountain and enjoy the beautiful scenery of nature is what we should do for an autumn outing.

British store Marks & Spencer has been criticised for abandoning its policy and selling genetically modified food in their stores. M&S is selling 6 food products from other labels which contain genetically-modified soya or corn. Meanwhile, other stores have also been increasingly selling food products from brands such as Oreo, Reese and Hershey's. Last year, M&S, Tescos, Sainsburys and the COOP have all abandoned their pledge to ensure that animals providing meat and dairy products were not on a GM diet. At the same time there was a public outcry when it emerged that Tesco was stocking American Lucky Charms cereal, which is made from GM corn and contains artificial colours that the Food Standards Agency has linked to hyperactivity in young children. A free trade agreement that is being negotiated between the EU and the US is set to further open the door to American GM foods. --------------------------------------------------------- (JA) Tracy Madlener from thespectrum.com comments People need to realize that genetically engineered foods do NOT have any long term studies that prove that it's safe. 90 days is tops and the chemical farmers tells us, "No problem, it's safe, feed it to your kids, don't worry..." Wether GMOs are safe or not, it is being questioned. Why not label it? Not everybody is interested in being the chemical farmer's lab rat. (QD) HighDesertPioneer from youtube.com comments Look at government labeling of sex offenders. That doesn't work or protect anyone either. If someone is so dangerous they need a label why would we let them out of prison or why is the penalty not death for child molestation? Otherwise people have paid their debt to society and should go unhindered. Just a thought on the extreme of government labels. Just like government labeled "gun free zones". Security or liberty. And you can't guarantee security. (FA) The Choujin virus from youtube.com comments There's a great difference between Genetic Modification and Chemical laced. People seem to get that mixed up when they try to claim about DDT and Agent Orange (they were chemicals, NOT GMOs) or using Rat-Tumor research when it got dismissed by 6 french academic studies. People's lack of understanding commonly come from conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones or crackpot "health gurus" like Dr. Oz. In a sense, they never truly understood about the benefits, only the fear. (JA) Amelia Jordan from coloradoan.com comments All the companies that are pushing for labelling do not use GMOs, so really, this is a marketing war and not an issue of safety or information. Government mandated labels should only be used to convey safety and nutrition, and whether a product is made through genetic engineering or not has nothing to do with it's safety or nutrition. (QD) Jason Walsh from coloradoan.com comments I am always opposed to more government and more regulation but I want to know what is in the food I pay for. I can decide for myself if it is good to eat bad to eat or whatever. As for as the cost of labelling well it is not like we don't already put safety labels on everything so I don't worry too much about the cost. (FA) phillipa from dailymail.co.uk comments It's simple.Read the labels,know the products.....and DON'T BUY THEM! M&S FOOD IS OVERPRICED AND OVERRATED ANYWAY....AND VERY FATTENING.

We have reported the news about a Chinese college has started offering an optional course on the popular computer game DOTA. Now similarly, a small university in the US city of Chicago has decided extending its sports scholarship program to include video gamers. Jinnan has more. (soundbite/ 1112 scholarship video game) In a specially designed training room, a Robert Morris university team is playing the game League of Legends. Once regarded as anti-social slackers or nerds in a basement, gamers have become megastars in the e-sports world. Hundreds of other colleges and universities have e-sports clubs, but Robert Morris, in downtown Chicago, is the first to make it a varsity sport under its athletics department. For this group of gamers, what was once a hobby is now putting them through college. The university is offering scholarships - up to a total of 19,000 US dollars - to cover up to half of a student's tuition and half of their room and board. The grants are for a single game, League of Legends. The university's Associate Athletic Director, Kurt Melcher says the game requires a lot of dedication and skill. "We think it is a sport. And it's an athletic sport. And it's something that should be rewarded with a scholarship to come and compete and contribute to the school." Training takes place in a revamped 100,000 US dollars classroom fitted with the latest computer technology. The Robert Morris Eagles will play other teams in two collegiate leagues, which include the likes of Harvard, MIT and Ohio State. They're all hoping to make it to the League of Legends North American Collegiate Championship, where the members of the first place team take home 30,000 US dollars each in prize money. After that it's onto the international championships, where the prize money is 1 million US dollars. Student, Derek Micheau, is one of the video game scholarship winners and says he can't believe his luck. "To think that video games could actually help put me through school is a dream come true. It really is." The game's developer, Riot Games says some 27 million people around the world play League of Legends each day. In the past, many parents and teachers feared that such games could jeopardise a student's study, but Melcher says that's all changing. "I think they feel that the game is validated now and that what their children are doing makes sense. The students, I think, and the players feel like it's their time. It's finally proven out that this game is a sport and it belongs in the athletic department and it can be played collegiately, competitively." Twenty one year old business management student Sondra Burrows is one of only two women in the group. She says the game is mentally demanding and takes a lot of skill. "It takes a lot of dedication, it takes time, you know, it takes a lot of learning, I mean-we have coaches! It's just like any other sport out there. And anyone who says it's not a sport.. it's a sport, it's just in a different field of expertise." The League of Legends championship matches draw tens of thousands of spectators. The play by play coverage is like any other professional sport, with hordes of fans cheering in stadiums. The Robert Morris team is busy training for next year, when they hope to take on their rivals at the 2015 North American Collegiate Championship.

A Chinese college offers course on DOTA game. (Soundbite/ 1110 BG dota begin) That’s a sound clip from the game of DOTA. Dota is an online video game. Short for the Defense of the Ancients A college in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has started offering an optional course on the popular computer game DOTA. Notes: This has also fueled Internet debate about the value of online gaming in academia. The course is named "Recent development of electronic sports and analysis of DOTA teams" Zeng Qingqing at Chongqing Energy College, says that it aims to improve students' teamwork spirit. A student surnamed wang says that "It's insanely popular and has become the hottest optional course in our college.” On Sina Weibo, Chinese Twitter, the topic attracted a flurry of comments, with gamers saying that they are "very jealous" of students at the college. Xiao Jian, deputy head of the college academic administration, says they will conduct a selective examination of students at the end of the school term to evaluate the worth of the course. 2. Now let’s go to a special grocery (soundbite/ 1110 shopping ) Do you believe that you could shop without spending a single penny? Now in Nanning's Xinyang Zhonglu primary and middle school, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, students can go shopping in the school grocery with their - credit points. They can change their credits into stuff such as books, stationary, rackets, or lollipops and so on. All these are paid by the school's education fund. Notes: Xiao Kong a student in the 4th grade, now has one hundred and eighty nine credit points so far. He bought a box of milk and a bag of cookies, which costs him 45 credit points. He has 144 points left. Pencils, exercise books, rulers are priced from 5points to 25 points. A Chinese dictionary or other reading books cost from 40 to 75 points. One of the students’ favorites must be the lollipop- it is 5 points each. The seller teacher says the best-selling goods are study materials and food. Most of them are imported from the local grand super markets. A dean teacher named Li Jianliang from grade 4 says that the school handed out a credit bank book to every student from grade one to grade eight. If the student doesn’t make any mistake on a daily basis they will earn 4 points. Disobey the rule or late for class will result in about 5 points discount. 3. Online learning at secondary schools prepares students for university a recent study conducted by the Institute of Education University of London has found that 16-19 year olds who study courses online are able to study independently, usue virtual learning programmes with ease and source relevant academic sources online. The data was taken from 100 students aged between 17-23 years from universities in 36 countires. 58 of those students have studied at least one 2 year course online as a part of the international baccalaureate diploma programme. 94% of these students surveyed said that the ability to navigate online resources was valuable and 78% considered it important to be able to use online tools to plan group tasks in university It helps them develop the idependence in their learning and other skills but it's also an imoprtant knowledge in this digital age. To ba able to conduct research online efficiently is very, very important for university studies. 4.side news: China and India are expected to propel the growth in postgraduate student mobility to all international leading institutions over the next ten years (according to forecasts by the british council). Nigeria is predicted to be among the increasingly important source markets and Nigeria, India and Pakistan are expected to show double digit growth. Nevertheless, China is expected to remain the largest source market for international postgrad students reaching 338,000 by 2024. And that's it for this Episode of Education Today. Education Today is aired at Eleven Twenty am from Monday to Friday Live on AM 846 in Beijing and other overseas stations. I’m Wuyou. Farrah: I’m Farrah. Thank you for listening. Coming up next is Sports Today with Mike Fox and Jordan Lee.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that they are among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among them, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than t right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity, which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is usurpations, all having in direct object tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasion on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolution, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsion within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws of naturalizing of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the condition of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent of laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their office, and the amount and payment of their salary. He has erected a multitude of new officers, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out our substances. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murder which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; For imposing taxes on us without our consent; For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury; For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses; For abolishing the free systems of English laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule these Colonies; For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely parallel in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domesti

China's TV watchdog has released tougher regulations for foreign TV shows that are available on online streaming sites. This has raised concerns among Chinese fans as well as the online video industry. The regulations, released by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, say that all foreign TV shows and movies must be reviewed by TV watchdogs before being made available online. The new measures mean that Chinese audiences will have to wait until a season is over to watch the shows and will not be able to follow them simultaneously with fans overseas. The discussion has hit the top 10 hot topics on Sina Weibo. ---------------------------------------------------- (QD) Xie'erduo Moonpie posted on the Shanghai Daily, "OMG, I think those people who made the regulation will ruin a lot of fun. I will be outraged if I have to wait for a long time to watch the latest episode. Come on, in this digital age, the internet makes our lives faster and better. Many people pick up a habit of watching the shows online because we can get updates as soon as possible and we enjoy watching them!" (LY) Leishen Sword said on Weibo.com, "Hopefully regulators will do a good job and if managed well, this initiative is actually not that bad. They help us filter the programs first and we don't have to spend time on judging what is good and what is not. But domestic series should be reviewed as well, such as those over-exaggerating anti-Japanese TV series! Like last time I saw a woman Kongfu master in a show, killing the entire platoon by firing off arrows." (JA) An insider from a popular online streaming site told China.org.cn, "It raised our concern about copyrights, which may lead to a loss of users. We have reached consensus at a recent hearing with the administration. However, based on the data we've got, the regulation won't hurt the site because foreign TV shows make up less than 5 percent of their shows." Notes: - Although all mainstream online video sites declined to comment publicly, confusion and concerns were raised among experts who spoke anonymously. - Some producers in South Korea — which makes many shows that are popular in China — hope to provide full demos in advance to be censored. - In April, four popular American TV shows, includingThe Big Bang Theory, were banned on mainstream streaming sites in China. (QD) Super-Bruce Lee commented on Weibo, "China is left far behind by its counterparts in TV and film industry, and the authority is definitely to blame. Ok, some foreign TV shows contain violent and erotic pictures and those would jeopardize our children or teenagers, which should be censored or banned. Yet, look at our domestic TV shows! People will become more stupid after watching them, such as our home-made cartoon Pleasant Goat and Bad Wolf. I really begin to worry about our kids' IQ now." (LY) fuhao80 said on 163.com, "So now the authority mainly wants to shift us to domestic TV shows? Implementing tougher regulations is simply not a good marketing ploy. However, it is just so hard not to notice that almost 80% of the Chinese TV shows are copycats from the foreign ones, do Chinese TV makers have no originality at all or they are just too busy making money to have their own ideas?" (JA) Ali-ali posted on Weibo.com, "Two months ago, regulators didn't clarify why they were banning shows like 'The Big Bang Theory' while keeping shows that actually could have negative influence on children. Now, they have laid out details of this plan but I just didn't get it. Rating system should be established any time soon, rather than delaying the entire season after censors' review. Regulators will begin to lose their credibility among the public."

Belgium Hello and welcome to Education Today. I'm Wu You in Beijing. Joining me in the studio is Farrah. Right here always. Let's continue the Education trip around the world. Today we take you to Belgium. That is the very popular theme song from the very popular Belgian cartoon "The Smurfs". It has both an English version and Chinese version and for more about the Chinese students in Belgium I've talked with Mr. _________ director of the International office University of Leuven in Belgium and it is also 600 years old, one of the first universities in Europe. " How many Chinese students are there now studying in Belgium? In Belgium I think thousand, more or less. We're a small country. Why do you think Chinese students should choose Belgium instead of other countries around the world? Well first of all, Belgium is in the middle of Europe, centre the headquarters of the European community is in Brussels. So you're in the centre of Europe that's the first thing. Second thing is, we're a peaceful country and we speak a lot of different languages. As you know, Belgium is a three language country. People speak German, Dutch and French. So that means our university, the University of Leuven, has a lot of international programmes. They're all taught in English but if you're in Belgium as a Chinese student you can learn a second or a third foreign language in the meantime. So that's another challenge, it's pretty challenging but still you can come back with knowledge of three languages. I think that's a good idea. What kind of major? Well there are a lot of majors. Most of them choosing Engineering or management business. These are the two majors that are most chosen let's say. What I want to say also is that we welcome Chinese students for own students. We think that if our Flemish, Belgian students study together with Chinese students, make projects together, writing a thesis together, there's an extra added value for the Belgian person. Later on when they graduate and they look for a job and on their CV it's written that they have done a thesis together with a Chinese fellow student it's fantastic. It's something attractive. The enterprise or company will at least invite them for an interview. I'm not 100% sure that he will hire him or her but for sure he has something special. My idea is we need Chinese students in Europe so we can better understand how to negotiate, how to work together with Chinese people. I mean that. So what can you offer to the Chinese students? Well we offer the studies. The engineering, the management, business management, business economics that's what we can give them. It's a one year master or a two year master. We warmly welcome them. So are there any latest new policies especially target Chinese students? No. Well we have scholarships already for long especially we call it ________ . I know the ______ in China is in middle school and in primary school, but we are the only one who have it in higher education, in bachelor or master. And these students, we come to China and select them and we invite them to come over and these students are the best students. They have been dreaming about such an opportunity to go outside to Europe to study and we give that only chance". That is _____ director of international office University of Leuven in Belgium. Well talking about education system in Belgium, it is regulated and for the larger part financed by one of the three communities: Flemish, French and German speaking. All three communities have a unified school system with small differences with one community to another. The federal government plays a very small role. It decides directly the age for mandatory schooling and indirectly the financing of the communities. And education in Belgium is compulsory between the ages 6 and 18 or until one graduates from secondary school. Let's move on to the Fullbright academic exchange that's happening. Fullbright first of all, is a scholarship programme from the United States and it gives around 8,000 grants per year to US students for them to go and take up university internationally. And this year 8 out of the 12 Belgian and Luxembourg based American grantees attended an orientation in Brussels on the 18th of October. And the grantees were briefed on life and culture in Belgium and on the role and responsibilities of the commission and then following their morning activities they had lunch and they also attended a lecture on Belgian politics so it was a day full of introduction to the city that they're going to be living in. They finished the day by taking a tour in downtown Brussels. So this Fullbright academic exchange scholarship is mainly targeting the students from which country? Well it's from the US but I think they had on the 29th of September they had their 30th annual Brussels college night and that's basically to also get students from Belgium interested in going to the United States. Attendees were introduced to universities that were taking part just to get an idea. And that's it for this episode of Education Today. I'm Wu You in Beijing. And I'm Farrah. Thank you for listening.

Hello and welcome to Education Today. I'm Wu You in Beijing. This week we are taking a trip around the world with a series of special episodes which cover education in different countries. Yesterday we looked at Israel. So what're we going to look at today? Today we're looking at the US. For more about the Chinese students in the US, I've talked with Eric Black embassy officer in the US embassy in Beijing. He works in the cultural affairs office as the education officer. "How many Chinese students are there currently studying in the US? Well every year in november, the state department with it's partner the international institute of education or IIE, releases a report called the open doors report. It's a report about student mobility , international students around the world that come to the United States. The report surveys of the 4,500 acredited US universities and colleges in the United States, they survey about 3,000 of them and ask them "Do you have international students? Are they there for graduate programmes? Are they there for undergraduate? Where are they from?" These kinds of questions. So the last report was November last year so I'll give you statistics on last year. We'll be having a press conference next month to announce the new results but last year the open doors report showed that there were 235,000 Chinese students in the United States studying in graduate programmes and undergraduate programmes and also taking advantage of something called OPT which is Optional Practical Training. It's basically the ability to stay in the United States for a year after you finish your degree to do an internship or to build your skills. It's an incredible number of Chinese students. I think it's actually the largest group of students anywhere to come to one country to study and last year alone it counted about a 21% increase over the previous year. It's amazing. So is there any new latest policies to attract more Chinese students to study in the US? The United States continues to welcome Chinese students and students from all over the world to come to our campuses. The United States has some of the very best universities and faculty in all kinds of fields and I think that's why so many people, particularly those from China, are coming to the United States to study. There are no new policies, just more of the same to help encourage people to make the best choices and that's why we're here at the fair. Education USA understands that sometimes the process of applying for college in another country, particularly in the United States, might be complex so we've simplified that process through our five steps to study in the United States. The first step is to research your options and we do free seminars about how to do that. Step number two is prepare your finances for it. On our website and also in seminars we talk about the financial aid and the scholarships that are available for Chinese students interested in studying in the United States. The third step is to prepare your application yourself. We teach that the first lesson of going to study in the United States is to do your own application not let somebody else write your essay or fill it out for you. You should do it just like American students. Fourth step in preparing is to get your visa and we walk through the process of how you get a visa at the US embassy to study. The final step is prepare for your departure and we find that parents particularly like this step because they're concerned at having their son or daughter go over to the United States and attend the campuses so we work about how you can prepare for that, what kinds of culture differences'll be and what kind of conditions you can encounter. So those are the five steps that we share at Education USA. More Chinese parents are sending their kids at a very early age to the US. So in your opinion, do you think it is very wise for the parents to send their kids to the US high school or senior high schools to study at a very early age? Let me first answer that question by saying that Education USA focuses on Higher Education. We don't offer services or advice about going to the United States at younger ages. Our services are to help people who want to go to undergraduate or graduate programmes. Now I'm a father. I have five children. My oldest is a sophmore in high school and we're starting to talk about college and it would be very hard for me to imagine her having leave my home to go study somewhere else right now because I love having her with us and so I think for parents you need to decided together with your child if that's what makes sense. There are some students, some children that are very independent and they're ready for that kind of a challenge and there're boarding schools in the United States, private schools and other options for those children. But it needs to be a choice by the parents. So since we all know that there's a latest incident that happened in the US in the Southern California's University, a Chinese student was beaten to death around the campus, not in the campus, the students and parents also worrying about that. Could you give us a very short explanation, or a very short introduction about how the education ministry or some certain departments or the campuses, they can make sure the students, especially the Chinese students going to the US, are safe? I'm glad you raised that question. Safety is a concern for every university or college in the United States. If the students don't feel safe, they can't succeed and that doesn't matter if they're American students or Chinese students or students from Africa. Almost every University president one the first things they consider after the equality of their academic programme is the safety of their students. One of the differences between the United States and China is that the safety component is organised locally by the individual universities. The

Hello and welcome to education today, I'm Wu You in Beijing. Joining me in the studio is Farrah. Ni hao. Hello. So let's continue our trip around the world. Today we will take you to Germany. That was a very famous rock and roll song from Germany and today let's talk about the latest information from Germany education field. Let's go beyond just simply uinversity entrance and international student support and talk about PhD programs in Germany. That's right. Getting your PhD is also as important as going in to do your postgrad etc. So how do you get in to a PhD programme in Germany? Great question. First of all you have to make sure that your Masters is endorsed or authorised so it's recognised by German education standards. And then you need to go to the DAAD website, which we've mentioned before in previous episodes The DAAD is German education student service? Correct. So you need to go onto their website, you'll find all the helpful information about universities in Germany and anyone from the DAAD office can direct you if you still need assistance. It also depends on what you want your PhD to be about. So there's a list of universities that are available and they'll give you the type of school, the location, which city they're in and how many semesters it'll take you to get your PhD. So what is available? Again it depends on what you want your thesis to be on. So go through the options available and make the right choice. Once you pick your professor, if you choose to do your PhD through a structured programme, then go ahead and just apply and best of luck. What options are available to do a PhD? There are two options that you can get your PhD in Germany. So first you can chose to do it on your own, completely independantly.Or you can go into a structured PhD programme, so that means you're attending classes and getting credits and things like that. So those are the two options that you can get you PhD. And does it cost anything to get your PhD in Germany? Yes and no. Again it depends. Like I said, there is that list and you can see all the universities and it depends on what you want to study. So some of them will ask for a minimal fee but some of them are tuition free. Well at the on going China International Education Expo, I've talked with some Chinese students who are planning to go to German universities soon. They're ...(name spelling at 2:55 please) "Actually I came here for...about the German Universities application. Do you need to learn German before you go to German universities because they can teach you in English? Actually, most Germans find it hard to speak English. You can't ask the professors to teach you in English because they're actually the original Germans so if you really want to talk to a professor, if you want to get a higher grade in German, got a good understanding of the entire classes then you've got to speak good German so they've got an assesment you should learn the German test and you should pass the test of DAF so it's all reasonable so you got to do these things before you do the application. So what kind of major have you chosen? Is that major only taught in German? Well actually if you want to apply to a German school the masters degree that means you should apply the major that you learned in China. If you learn the major you got in China is engineering for example you ought to apply for the same major in German. There is no cross major applying in Germany. They want the specific major skills. So actually it's very strict applying major in Germany. So how long does it take for you guys to study German? Do you study in China or do you need to study over there? Actually we've started only three or four months and we don't speak really good German but it's kind of hard but we got a good German here in Beijing and when we plan to pass the test in the end we've got a good German spoken language we just can entirely handle this language. Can you two show us a little bit? Guten Morgen, Gute Nacht. Guten Abend. Goodbye is aufWiedersehen" Guten Morgen. Guten Morgen! It's actually amazing to see that they're trying so hard to learn the language. I wish them best of luck because I studied German and it's not easy. But speaking of language, I just wanted to say about the PhD a lot of people are asking "What about my thesis? Can I do it in German or in English?" you can if you go on a structured programme you have the option to do it in English. As we reported from the DAAD, German student education service, I've also talked Katherine .... name!! :) Marketing director of DAAD Beijing office. "Around how many Chinese students are there studying in Germany right now? Around 30,000 Chinese students are studying in Germany right now. Since not long ago we reported news that Germany are offering free tuition fees to local students and also international students. Have you heard of that? Actually there are no tuition fees for German students and also for international students so there are no tuition fees. But actually now we only have scholarships for postdoc students. There are no scholarships for master or PhD students, only for postdoc. So after your PhD you can just apply for postdoc scholarship programme. This is a joint programme between DAAD and the China scholarship counsel, like the Chinese DAAD, and it's a joint programme. If you just go to a private university or take a special master programme which are taught in English or so on, there might be sometimes a tuition fee but mainly there's no tuiton fee for bachelor and for master programmes. Is DAAD offering scholarships to Chinese students and how can they apply for the scholarships like you talked about the post doc? Yeah we only have the postdoc programme and they can apply to our office in Beijing and also to the China scholarship counsel and there w

Hello and welcome to Education today I'm Wu You in Beijing. Joining me in the studio is Farrah. Ni hao. Hello. Today let's continue our trip around the world. Let's go to the UK. Well here are some international students, they're talking about their experience and also how they feel about their time in the UK. "Sir Mick Jagger" "Plan B to Adele" "When I was a kid I used to listen to nothing but British music" "I remember the first time I came to the UK, like it was 1998. To me that was like tadah: you made it!" "For me the greatest thing about Great Britain is the British ?? I just love how open minded the audience is here" "It's just such a diverese place. It's just so easy to be creative" "It's a place really connected to expressing yourself" About the Chinese students in the UK. I've talked with May Huang, Assistant Director Education Marketing of Culture and Education section of the British Consulate General. "So first of all are there any new beneficiery policies for the Chinese students to go to study in the UK? Yeah actually regarding to the education, the UK -all education sectors from the UK will offer lots of scholarships for the Chinese students. For example today, we have lots of head teachers from UK boarding schools, even the UK boarding schools will provide lots of scholarships to the Chinese students as well. Another point I need to mention is about the visa. The UK visa now is very transparent and very simple and students no matter if it's just teenage students or students from the university they can apply for a visa very easily. How easily? Could you further explain it? OK maybe i can share with you some data. Last year more than ninety six percent of students received the UK visa successfuly. So you can know almost all the students can get the visa to study in the UK. But that is a student right? So after their graduation is it easy for them to find a job? Or is there a period of time they can stay in the country until they find a job? I need to say it depends. It depends on the opportunities and even the students capacities. So I would like to share that we are hosting a UK alumni campaign this year. We can show that lots of students can get internship opportunities in the UK or even work in the UK as well. But to be honest, China is still a great stage in the world so we would like also to encourage students to study in the UK and to contribute to China as well" Well nowadays, more and more Chinese parents send their kids to study in the UK at a very early age. Some of them thought that it would be easier for the kids to adopt the language. About that, I've also talked with M.J. McLaughlin Headmaster of Durham School, a senior highschool in the UK. "Currently how many Chinese students are there in the UK studying in your high school? At the moment we have about twenty Chinese and Hong Kong students, we have around forty five boarders from overseas so the Chinese community makes up almost half of those. Since you work in the high school in the UK, more and more Chinese parents are sending their kids at a very early age to go to study in the UK or in another country. Do you think it is really wise for the parents to send their kids to study in another country, at a very early age? I think it depends on how early you're talking and I think it also depends on the people in the family. Like in high school. Right, well we have people as young as eleven who board with us most of whom aren't from overseas but we do have some thirteen year olds who board from China. One of the things which we noticed is that their language skills improve very, very quickly and to even though they may join us not speaking very much English, we put all the provision that's neccessary in place for them to learn English very quickly. Also every pupil has a guardian so there's somebody local to the school who looks after them, who's often known to the Chinese family. So for example in my school there's a big Chinese community nearby so some of those may act as guardians. So I understand why parents might be nervous at the thought of sending their sons or daughters a long way away but we do our very best to settle them into the school and make sure they're as comfortable as they possibly can be with all the local support that we can give" That is Mr. M.J. McLaughlin Headmaster of Durham school in the UK. Just now May has talked about the UK visa so Britain's visa rules have been relaxed as a coalition ministers step up efforts to build lucrative trade links with China during a three day visit to London by premier Li Keqiang. That's right and when he visited London it was during the summer so this's when that started taking place and the home Secretary Theresa May will unviel reforms designed to help the UK compete better with France and Germany for deals with firms from what has now become the world's second largest economy. So what they're doing is that they're trying to make it easier to give Chinese students student visas because they want more of these Chinese students to come in and study in the UK. Like your interview, she was saying about 90% get..that's actually really high. So that's a good amount of Chinese students getting visas. So why target Chinese students? Well, first of all the difficulties and the challenges of immigration rules placed by the Home Office in the UK have caused a lot of perspective students to look at other European countries such as Germany for their studies, and these are rival economies to the United Kingdom, so that's one reason. Another reason is the UK is turning to China for mutual interests and realises that Chinese students have the potential to be the business of the future and a part of a fast growing market such as China so they're trying to keep that relationship going by inviting students to come in and then hopefully in

Hello and welcome to Education today I'm Wu You in Beijing. Joining me in the studio is Farrah. Ni hao. Hello. Now let's continue our educational trip around the world. Today we will take you to France. France has a long history of higher education with more than 80 universities and more than 300 professional colleges and university research centres. Highly developed education system in France to ensure the quality of higher education. Chinese students who apply to enter the first phase to study in France need to pass a French exam through the French embassy. For more about France's new policy towards Chinese students, I've talked with Anthony ??? director of Campus France, a service of the French embassy. “Bonjour. Are there any new latest beneficiary policies to the Chinese students who might plan to go to study in France? Well yes, we have decided in this year of the 50th anniversary to reinforce the method of promotion and also we have decided that the visa should be delivered more rapidly which was not the case before, so this is something that is an improvement and also we have in China huge Campus France offices, we have the number one office in the world with 80 people and 15 offices of Campus France all over China. So give us a reason that Chinese students should choose to go to study in France rather than other countries. Well there are many reasons ofcourse, one is the excellent quality of higher education and the fact that the degrees have a very good reputation. Then ofcourse the fact that France is a country with a very strong cultural tradition and we know because we have made surveys that this is one of the motivation of the students, Chinese students n France too and I think that France also is a very friendly country and offers a very positive frame for studying and travelling all over Europe too when you are in France” That’s from Anthony ?? director of Campus France a service of the French Embassy. Well, there has been a programme that helps provide support for international students wishing to study in France right? That’s right and that has been put in place since 2005, and the programme to help international students that want to study in France was established by Campus France and it’s a procedure called CEF. Now my French is terrible but I’m going to attempt to try to translate this… OK It’s Centre pour les Etude en France. Tres bien! Merci! So these are available in 31 countries and about 231 higher education establishments are carrying out that test and basically what it is, it’s a way for international students to get into universities in France, you have to apply for this procedure and it usually starts with the creation of a personal electronic application file. So you have to do it online. And they’re saying if you’re living in Algeria, Argentina, China, Russia, Taiwan etc etc you have to do it online. They cooperate with the French embassy so you can kind of keep up with your application procedure and then ask them for advice as well. I was actually comparing it to the, if you remember we were talking about the DAAD… Oh yeah the DAAD In Germany right In the previous episodes we talked about the DAAD so what is the difference between CEF and also DAAD? Well, I mean these are both European countries trying to get international students to join their universities and they’re doing it in their own way. So the DAAD which has 15 branch offices, 55 information centres across 58 countries, when you go on there it’s kind of the same idea, you’re trying to set up an application and then if you need support or..the thing that got me actually is that for France it’s a requirement for you to have a French language examination if you’re not a French speaker but I believe in Germany it’s not exactly like that. If you remember, one of the questions that you asked me was is language important, well it depends on what you study. So if you want to do it in Germany then you have an option of wither doing it in English or in German but I guess France you have to have French language. Like I said the Chinese students that apply to enter the first phase study in France they need to pass the French examination. Right, so yeah different countries require different procedures but I guess the goal at the end is the same, to get international students interested and coming into those countries and then it’s nice to have programmes that help support the application process. Exactly. And also for the president of France Pays de la Loire Jaques ???? has also paid a visit to the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province in China and they together with the city officials from both sides, they have discussed topics on culture, new energy resources and vocational education. Loire covers 32,000 sq kiliometer area in the South Western France and has a population of about 3 million, which is almost similar of the city of Qingdao and they also discussed about the cooperation the city of Nantes which is the capital of Loire and it has the fourth largest economic zone in France, which is Loire. It is a home to many industries including ship building, wine production and agricultural projects and decided to set up a representative office in Qingdao to boost cooperation between the two. That’s a really interesting, I guess French language is going to help… Exactly If you learn French you know to bring it back to China you know. Language is important. Yes, and that’s it for this episode of Education Today. I’m Wu you in Beijing. And I’m Farrah. Thank you for listening.

Hello and welcome to Education Today I'm Wu You in Beijing. Joining me in the studio is Farrah. Ni Hao. Hello. Starting from today we will have an international Universities week. Everyday we focus on one country. For today we have Israel. Known as the 'start up nation', Israel provides a dynamic and stimulating environment for international students. Now Israel is also providing more scholarships to Chinese students. Most Chinese students who choose Israeli universities mainly because Israel excels in innovation and technology in a wide range of fields including internet communications technology, clean technologies and agritech. I've talked to Ambassador Martin ____ Israeli Ambassador in Beijing. "So what are the latest beneficiary policies from Israeli universities to Chinese students? The benefit for Chinese students first of all, they will come to a very old civilisation like your civilisation with a lot of wise people. It's a small country with huge amount with compared to the population of Nobel prize winners we can meet one of them in the campus if Tel Aviv _____?? just usually because they are used to teach there. And they will come to a very vibrant society with a lot of young people that are studying all over the world and they would like to have innovation all over the world and you can find a lot, not only the university but in the society that’s surrounding the university. So why the students should chose Israel to study compared with other countries around the world? Because in Israel we are small and therefore we are very well taking care of each one of the people and each one of the students, it’s important for us it’s not a huge amount of people, and secondly the society and the people of Israel are clever, they are smart and you can study from them not only in the classroom but in the day to day life and compared to other places in the world because we are small it’s better together. I would like to emphasise that one of the things that you can study in Israel, again not only in the classroom but wherever you will go, is the feeling, the mood of innovation and I know that in China the university is very important, I heard President Xi more than one time refer to innovation as a very important subject. In Israel it’s obvious and you can learn a lot about innovation when you come to Israel”. Most Israeli universities provide a diversity of programmes in English for international students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels ranging from summer courses to full degrees. There are about 20 undergraduate programmes in several disciplines such as civil engineering, transportation engineering, literature and linguistics and others. During this year’s China Education Expo, seven of Israel’s leading higher education institutions have come to China to promote study opportunities to Chinese students. One of them is Israel’s Institute of technology. ______ is the managing director of the International school. “So in your opinion, what are the main differences between Chinese students in Israel and also students from other countries of the world and what’s your suggestion to them? The Chinese students that we get in our undergraduate programmes are very strong technically. Their math and physics ability are very strong. They know how to solve a problem but usually they know one way to solve a problem. So if ten of our Chinese students will go to a problem the solutions will look exactly the same. Israelis or, most Israelis approach a problem in many ways so this, in my view, is the best thing that Chinese students can gain from studying in Israel is learning many ways to approach a problem, learning creativity and innovation”. ______ is the director of Culture Academy and Provincial affairs department from the Embassy. “How many Chinese students are there studying in Israel? At the moment we have few hundred Chinese students in Israel in various programmes starting from summer courses, exchange semesters, first degree, second degree, doctorate and post doctorate in many many fields. It can be Hebrew, it can be desert studies, it can be agriculture, it can be engineering, management, innovation, you name it. So are there any new beneficiary policies for the Chinese students who plan to go to study in Israel in the future? Generally speaking we encourage Chinese students to come to Israel. We think we can contribute a lot to the development of education to the average Chinese student. The government of Israel offers hundreds of attractive scholarships mainly for Chinese students. In which major? We have full scholarships for summer courses in engineering, management, innovation. We have scholarships for a first degree in engineering management, culture, history, desert studies and more. We have second degree scholarships for chemistry, for archaeology and more. So give us a reason, why the students should chose Israel compared with other countries? First of all your President Mr. Xi Jinping just said the direction of China should be the direction of innovation. Now, there is no better place to study how to be innovative and what is innovation than Israel. Israel ranks number one in the world in terms of innovative spirit, in terms of high tech, in terms of start ups and if there’s something that we are proud of is the spirit of creativity and innovation in Israel and we think that people who study in Israel in addition to the academic benefit that they have, they have also the benefit of enjoying living in a vibrant, free, open society that in many ways is different than any other place in the world”. There are more than 60 international graduate programmes in various disciplines such as Middle Eastern history, des

The city of Lu'an in China's eastern Anhui province has been criticized for setting a non-commercial advertising board along a road which reads 'Bury the son for the sake of serving the mother'. The title comes from a well-known story in 'The 24 paragons of filial piety' which originated from ancient Chinese society. The story takes place during the Han Dynasty and is about an impoverished man named Guo Ju who attempts to bury his infant son alive in order to save on food for his starving mother. As he dug a hole, he found a jar of gold buried two thirds of a meter under ground. An inscription on the jar read: "God gives this to Guo Ju and officials may not take it and civilians should not possess it." With the gold, he returned home and was able support his mother and foster the child as well. The notice board was later removed amongst heated debate nationwide, while other 23 boards of paragon stories still remain. ------------------------------------------------------ (JA) Lady Mu comments on Guangzhou daily, "Well, we have to discard the dross and select the essence of our tradition. Burying his son might be considered being filial in Han dynasty, it is definitely inappropriate in modern society. It is even committing a crime! The man named Guo Ju was murdering his son, his biological son! With the drastic changes in society during the past centuries, what were once considered virtues have become contrary to social ethics." (QD)Dapeng 8876 says on Weibo.com, "Given the declining respect for filial duties in some Chinese families, Lu'an has seemingly set a good example of promoting social morality. I personally think that it is our media that has become hyper-sensitive pertaining to the issue. OK, we are talking about the spiritual legacy of filial piety, not forcing other people to kill their sons. And you know what, the story itself has a happy ending. The God was moved, and both Guo's son and mother had been taken good care of." (LK)Bei Chuang Xiao Yu posts on Weibo.com, "What the local government wanted to publicize is good, yet they should have reviewed the ads to see whether they are in line with our core values in the 21st century, otherwise 'public benefit' could turn into 'public hazard'. The local authority just copied the story without making any changes. That is dereliction of duty, and distortion in passing down our traditional values." ----------------------------------------------------- Notes: - And local bureaucratism, including blindly following seniors' orders, should be banned along with the cultural "dross". - Xiao Fang, a professor in folk customs at Beijing Normal University, said The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars " is historic and had a positive effect on ancient society. But some do not match modern ethics and values and should not be advocated". - Li He, a philosophy scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "If people made the notice on purpose they are tarnishing the promotion of traditional culture; if not on purpose, they do not know how to advocate traditional culture." -------------------------------------------------------------- (JA)Xiao Qin says on Stackexchange.com, "In modern times, some stories in The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars are regarded as examples of 'blind filial piety' or even 'stupid filial piety' that should not be learnt from. Apart from Guo Ju's story, Wu Meng allowed mosquitoes to suck his blood, believing that they would not bother his parents if he did so; and Wang Xiang lied naked on ice in the hope of thawing the ice with his body heat so that he could catch the fish beneath the ice. How ridiculous are those people!" (LK)Famous scholar Ma Weidu comments, "Guo Ju said to his wife, 'children can be reborn but Mother cannot relive after death. It would be better to bury the son and save some food for Mother.' Although from legal perspective, what he did was plain wrong but the idea is to educate citizens to nicely treat and support their parents. I have to say some of those 24 classical filial piety stories don't fit today's society. Next time when we deal with this, we may just get some better stories that don't violate the law and then replace them." (QD)Lan Ting Yu debates on QQ.com, "Well, as the only child in my family living in the grassroots society, can anyone tell me the difference between me and Guo Ju. Because I am poor, and I can only afford to either support my parents or give birth to a baby and raise it. Now, I have no choice but to give up the idea of having my baby, right? I admit the story is inhumane and does not protect the children's right, but for people like us, we just have to sacrifice our children and take care of our parents. In nature, we are the same."

First up, 1, China's two major high-speed train manufacturers suspended share trading on Monday, reviving speculation that the two companies may merge to avoid adverse competition in overseas markets. China CNR Corp and China CSR Corp both said the share trading suspension was due to an important issue that is still being planned. The two companies said they will make a decision on the issue as soon as possible and will release the result and resume share trading in five working days. China National Railway Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Corp (LORIC) in 2000 was split into two locomotive companies which then became CNR and CSR. Since then CNR and CSR have mainly focused respectively on the northern China and southern China markets. 2, China is looking to build more Free Trade Zones in the country. Chinese President Xi Jinping has made the pledge at a working-group meeting. He said lessons learned after more than a year of operating the FTZ in Shanghai could be applied to other areas. The president's remarks came after media reports over the weekend that a plan to set up an FTZ in Tianjin had been endorsed by ministry-level regulators and was awaiting the State Council's go-ahead. China's first FTZ was launched in Shanghai in September last year as an experimental ground for more drastic economic reforms. Some 12,000 firms have been established in the Shanghai FTZ since its launch, and foreign trade in Shanghai FTZ reached 750 billion yuan, or above 120 billion US dollars) in its first year of operation.

At a symposium that was recently held in Beijing, experts have had a heated debate on whether or not China should have its own national outfit. Topics giving reasons to why the country should have a national outfit and how it could be designed were discussed. ------------------------------------------------------- (QD) General Zhang Donghui, an initiator of the symposium says, "National outfit represents the clothing culture of a country. It is a symbol of the nation and plays the same role as those of the national flag, national emblem and national song. It's been 65 years since the People's Republic of China has been founded and China has a population of more than 1 billion. It's such a pity for such a giant country not to have its own national outfit." (JA) Ziyunlanyue says on weibo.com "China is a unified country with many ethnic groups and it's inappropriate to use any of the outfit of these groups as the national outfit. And to use Sun Yat Sen style uniform or Qipao as the national outfit does not echo China's identity as an ancient country because these two have only emerged in modern times. So I don't think China should have its own national outfit." (LK) Lu Peixin, an ex-diplomat says, "China's entrepreneurs and government officials are attending more and more international events and overseas research or investment activities. And in China, there are more and more opportunities for Chinese to receive foreign guests. At important occasions, I think wearing national outfit will make one feel proud of being Chinese. A national outfit is the face and a silent business card of the country." -------------------------- Notes: Although Chinese fashion trend changes over time, there are several types that are popular till today both at home and abroad. 1. Traditional Han Chinese Clothing (Han Fu): It refers to the attire worn by the Han people from the enthronement of the Yellow Emperor (about 2698 BC) till the late Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD). It became known as the Han Fu ("fu" means "clothes" in Chinese) because the fashion was improved and popularized during the Han Dynasty. It is usually in the form of long gown, cross collar, wrapping the right lapel over the left, loose wide sleeves and no buttons but a sash. Although simple in design, it gives different feelings to different wearers. 2. Chinese Suit (Tang Zhuang): It is a combination of the Manchu male jacket of the Qing Dynasty and the western style suit. It is usually straight collared, with coiled buttons down the front. Its color and design are in traditional Chinese style but tailoring is western. 3. Cheongsam (Qi Pao): Originated from the Manchu female clothes, it evolved by merging with western patterns that show off the beauty of a female body. Its features are straight collar, strain on the waist, coiled buttons and slits on both sides of the dress. Materials used are usually silk, cotton and linen. Cheongsam is the most popular Chinese attire in the world today. 4. Chinese Tunic Suit (Zhongshan Zhuang): Also called the Yat-sen Suit, it is designed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen by combining the western-style suit and Chinese attire. It has a turn-down collar and four pockets with flaps. As Chairman Mao Zedong worn it quite frequently, it is also called the Mao Suit by westerners. It is the main attire from the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 till 1980's. The country's leaders still wear it today when attending important occasions, such as military parades. -------------------------- (QD ) Bangjinmeiduo says on weibo.com, "To improve the national morale, the point is not about whether China should have a national outfit. It's the learning of traditional Chinese culture that matters." (JA) "Live and study" says on weibo.com "Both Korea and Japan have their own national outfit. China doesn't. It's so ironic. I think as a large and ancient country, China should have its own outfit and it should combine the characteristics of clothing from both Han and Tang dynasties." (LK) Zihan says on weibo.com, "It's difficult to single out one kind of clothing for a country with so many different ethnic groups. And I don't think the inheritance of national spirit ever relies on what people wear. To really unite the nation and improve the national image on the global stage, we need to work on people's inner side rather than focusing on things on the surface such as clothes."

So yesterday saw plenty of action in the English Premier League. Newcastle picked up their second win in a row after they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 1 at White Heart Lane. Spurs lead though an Emmanul Adebayor header but Newcastle equalised shortley after half time though Sammy Ameobi. The comeback was complete when Pérez Gutiérrez headed in his first goal for the club with just over half an hour remaining. xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx Burnley are still looking for their first win of the season as they went down 3 - 1 to Everton at home. Everton went into a 2 goal lead before the break through goals from Sammual Et'o and Romanlu Lukaku. The Clarits were able to pull one back when Danny Ings slottled home but Et'o would restore Everton's two goals lead 5 minutes before the final whistle. xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx The big game of the weekend was at Old Trafford as struggling Manchester United took on leaders Chelsea. Didier Drogba scored his second goal of the week to put Jose Mourinho's team in front on 53 minutes but deep deep into injury time Robin Van Persie struck to give United a much deserved point. Here's United boss Louis Van Gaal. (today/soundbites/1027 Van Gaal) Well despite the last minute goal Jose Mourinho remains optimistic. (today/soundbites//1027 Jose) xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx On to Saturday's action now and West Ham United were shocked winners of Champions Manchester City at Upton Park. Amalfitano tapped in on 21 minutes to give the Hammers the lead and that was followed up on 75 minutes by Sakho's header to give them a 2 - 0 lead. David Silva scored a stunning concelation but despite all their pushing in the final 5 minutes that's all it would be. Mannuel Pelagrini blames City's bad luck in front of goal for the loss. (today/soundbites/1027 Mannuel) xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx Liverpool and Hull played out a goalless draw at Anfield. Despite a dissapointing performance in mid-week against Real Madrid , Mario Baloteli kept his place in the Liverpool starting 11 but was unable to find the net for his new club , wasting good chances through the game. Hull on the other hand were able to build on their impressive display against Arsenal last week to draw their fifth game of the season. Liverpool boss Bredan Rodger's praised his side's performance. (today/soundbites/1027 Brendan) xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx Southampton moved up to second in the league with a 1 -0 win over Stoke City at St. Mary's with Sadio Mane scoring his first goal since joining the club in the summer. xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx Sunderland's misery continued , losing 2 - 0 at home to Arsenal. Alexis Sanchez was able to capitlaise on first a mistake from Wes Brown that put him clean through on goal. Then just before injury time a dreadful error from Vito Mannoe gave the Chillian an easy tap in to make it 2 -0. xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx An injury time penalty gave West Bromich Ablion a point at home to Crystle Palace. Palace had lead though goals Brede Hangland and a Jedinak penalty. Albion fought back , first though Peter Anichbe and then Beraniho stepped up to score from the spot. xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx Swansea picked up their fist win in 5 matches with a well eanred 2 -0 win at home to Premier League new commer's Leicester City thanks to two goals from Wilfred Bony. xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx Yesterday saw the return of Luis Suarez as he made his debut for Barcelona against Real Madrid following his 4 month ban for trying to eat Geogeo Chillini in the world cup. His first game would end in disappointment as Barca were beaten 3 - 1 by the Champions of Europe. They had lead though Neymar's opener after Suarez was able to pick him out. But it was 1 - 1 before half time when Chistanio Ronaldo converted a penalty after Gerard Pique was judged to have handled in the area. Pepe put Real in front shortly after half time and the win was sealed when French striker Carim Benzema finished with 20 minutes remaining

1.Face Book CEO Mark Zuckerberg has come to Beijing. He visited Tsinghua University and joined a debate that was fully conducted in Mandarin. (soundbite/1027 Mark) Zuckerberg has also said that he would like to start the recruitment in China and would help Chinese enterprises expand to more foreign clients.

1,Authorities have announced the stock trading link between Shanghai and Hong Kong is going to be delayed for an unspecified period of time. The China Securities Regulatory Commission was due to launch the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stcok Connect today. No word on when the link might become active. While no official reason for the delay has been given, observers are suggesting it's due to regulatory concerns about a smooth launch of the program. The cross-border trading program was first proposed by Premier Li Keqiang back in April at his speech in Boao Forum. The plan is to allow international investors to trade selected Shanghai-listed A shares via Hong Kong with a daily trading quota of 1.7 billion dollars.

In golf, An 11 year old boy from Argentina is being hailed as an upcoming golf prodigy. Dylan Reales was raised in one of the country's most notorious shantytowns, Villa 31, a high-crime neighborhood in downtown Buenos Aires. Reales has started drawing attention for his performances in the local junior circuit, and many are saying he has the potential to be great. This week he'll team up with two –time major champion and Argentina's number on eplayer Angel Cabrera as part of the Americas Cup pro-am event. Dylan discovered golf by chance when a satellite TV randomly picked up a golf station and he saw Rory McIlroy teeing off. (today/sound 1023 Dylan) " I was just watching a Rory McIlroy tee shot. I saw it and although he was not the number one in the world (like he is today) but he was really doing well. I really liked it, I was drawn to it, how he hits it (the ball), the landscape, the peace. Everything about it." (broken broom first club, took part in free childrens classes in the city golf course, trains six hours a day, golf handicap of 25 and are trying to keep it high before he gets more tournaments under his belt)

The often overlooked world of youth boxing suddenly came into the limelight after footage of a horrific attack on a referee went viral. Croatian boxer Vido Loncar attacked a referee after a light-heavyweight bout at the European Youth Championships in Zagreb. The referee stepped into stop Loncar's fight with Lithuania's Algirdas Baniulis, because Loncar was deemed unable to continue. Both fighters returned to their corners, but when the final decision was announced Loncar pounced to attack the ref. He punched him repeatedly even while the official lay prone on the floor. Loncar didn't stop until he was forcibly removed from the ring. Croatia's boxing team director Zeljko Mavrovic attempted to justify Loncar's violent outburst. (today/sound 1022 Zeljko) "I believe that he is not a butcher or as bad as this act makes him look. This was part of his excessive ambition in that moment, a wish... I personally know how much he wanted to join the three other (Croatian) boxers who were winning medals at the big competitions. He could have been the fourth one during this competition, he was expecting a lot from himself, but at the end he allowed himself an act that is ugly, unforgivable and will harm him in his future (professional) life. Me personally, as a sportsperson, a boxer, somebody who was following the sport and the history of books - I don't recall any acts like that in the (boxing) ring.I haven't seen it before, nor in professional boxing, not among the boxers who had a reputation as aggressive (ones)."

A 9 year old boy has had his arm bitten off by a bear when he was visiting a zoo in central China's Henan province. The 9-year-old boy had tried to feed the bear through its cage, which is covered by steel net and surrounded by a 1.2-meter-high steel fence. Although a notice banning visitors from access was displayed near the cage, the boy climbed over the fence, walked to the cage, and fed a black bear inside. As a result, the bear bit off the child's entire right arm. (QD) LH-HH says on weibo.com, How stupid this boy is! He's already nine years old, in his third or fourth grade in primary school. Can't he read the notice on the bear cage? Furthermore it is common sense that animals in the zoo should not be fed at will, especially those carnivores like bears—they don't know where your hand starts and where the food ends. Did he watch too many cartoons like "Boonie Bears" and take bears as natural friends of the human being? In that sense he's really too naïve. I think this time every kid should draw a lesson from this boy's experience. Don't feed any animal in the zoo any more! (JA) Qian Qian Yin Chang says on news.163.com, I think animals in this zoo should be better taken care of in the future. In this tragedy there was indeed dereliction of duty for zoo managers. For example, the boy fed the bear through a hole on its cage, so no staff in the zoo ever noticed there were holes on the bear cage which meant a danger in potential? They should really pay more attention in the future to put those animals they're in charge of under their firm control. (LK) Solitary_animal says on blog.ifeng.com, The kid was accompanied by his grandfather when he visited the zoo. So he was monitored by an adult when he fed the bear. And I'm quite surprised that his grandfather would even permit him to do so. As a man at least fifty years old, he also had no sense that bear is a dangerous animal? Couldn't he read the notice hanging on the cage that bans visitors from feeding them? How could he allow his grandson to access them at will? I think all parents should also take a lesson from this boy's experience to better monitor their kids in the future. -----------------------------Notes:-- The zoo is part of the Pingdingshan Hebin Park located in Pingdingshan (平顶山) city.--The boy's entire right arm has been amputated. He still needs at least one more month for further medical treatment.--The zoo has made a pledge to pay for all medical expenses and already paid 5,000 yuan.--According to animal experts, bears are usually docile and afraid of people. But bears that have been fed or exposed to food from humans would see people as a source of food and can become aggressive sometimes. ----------------------------- (QD) Yun Shui Ge says on people.com.cn, It's such a strong boy! He didn't even cry after getting hurt by the bear and during the whole operation process in hospital. When he woke up from the operation, the first thing he did was consoling his parents and relatives not to worry too much about him, saying he would practice his left hand and arm after losing the right. What a good boy! His family is poor, and his medical treatment in hospital costs a high amount of money. I think all of us should do something we can to help him out of such a tragedy. (LK) But on weibo.com, Yin Lu expresses a different opinion, There's really something wrong with adults in this boy's family. When his parents were noticed of this tragedy, the first reaction of the boy's father was beating up the notifier, who is a middle-aged woman. No wonder they had such a son as reckless as to directly feed the bear! Eagles do not breed doves! And after the tragedy happened, all relatives of the kid put a harsh blame on the zoo. The zoo has already pledged to pay all medical expenses for the boy, right? After all, it's the boy who violated the regulation at first! (JA) And Wu Mingzhe points out on blog.sina.com.cn, The media is rather irresponsible and misleading on this incident. It's such a plain fact that it's the boy who violated the zoo's regulations at first, who resulted in getting hurt by animal. Why almost all media reports put the blame on the zoo? Yeah we should protect the children, but that doesn't mean we lose principle or take the black as white. The fact is very simple: it's the kid who did something wrong, not zoo mangers!

Abel Tarrat has hit back at claims by Harry Redknapp that he is 3 stone over weight and refuses to train. The QPR striker said in an interview with UK newspaper The Daily mail , that he is not over weight and in fact spends most of his time in the managers office. He goes on to say that coaches Glen Hoddle and Les Ferdinand love him but the 67 year old Redknapp doesn't know how to manage him. xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx Sad news coming from India to day . 23 year old midfleider Peter Biaksangzuala has died after landed arkwarly from a goal celebration whilst playing for his club Bethlehem Vengthlang FC in the Mizoram Premier League. The Indian club has retired his number 21 jersey.

The Beijing International Marathon concluded in heavy smog on Sunday in heavy with Ethiopian Fatuma Sado Dergo finishing first in the 42-kilometer run. (Today/Soudbite/1020 Participant) "I was upset after failing in the first lottery, thinking that I might not have the chance to run this year. But I made it in the second lottery. I'm quite excited." Despite participants' enthusiasm, the National Meteorological Center extended a yellow alert for severe smog and air pollution in the capital. PM 2.5 read 331, pushing pollution well past healthy levels. Some of the runners wore masks during the marathon. Although heavy smog has hit Beijing since last Saturday the contest went on as scheduled marking it's 23rd year. Notes: - However, authorities warned runners with respiratory diseases not to participate in the race. Ambulances and medical staff were prepared at the finishing point, with enhanced water sprays and some 140,000 pieces of cleansing cotton tissues for the competitors during the course. - On Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, netizens cracked jokes about the smog-shrouded event. "If an entrant finished the course in three hours, he or she would have inhaled 4.46 mg of particulate. With 2.23 mg remaining in the lungs, it would be equal to smoking more than 300 cigarettes," read one comment.

China's Ministry of Education has issued a guideline on ethics for university teaching staff which includes a ban on "improper" relationships between teachers and students. The guideline puts forward seven prohibitions for college teachers, and promises sanctions for those who break the rules. College staff are banned from sexually harassing students or engaging in improper relationships with them. The guideline called for good professional ethics from college teachers, warning that those in charge of colleges will be held responsible for staff violations. One day after the release of the guidelines, scandals involving Wang Xiaojian, a retired associate professor of southwest China's Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, sparked a heated debate online. Pictures circulating on the Internet show him forcibly kissing and sexually harassing two female students in a restaurant. -------------------------- (JA) Xiong Bingqi, Vice President of 21st Century Education Research Center says on xhby.net "Teachers harassing students is a legal issue, not a moral one. It demands the investigation of judicial authorities. Because we have treated the issue only on a moral level, several sexual harassment cases that happened on the Chinese campus have only been dealt within the school. Teachers involved in those cases were only purged from their positions. They haven't been asked for legal liabilities. (QD) Xian Jiaoping says netease "I think we need a definition of improper relationships. We must distinguish sexual harassment from normal relationships between teachers and students. It's impossible to ban both sides to have relationships. And whether in reality or history, relationships between teachers and students do exist and some even have become romantic anecdotes." (LY) Wu Dongping says on rednet.cn Sexual harassment cases have been happening in Chinese colleges and they have damaged the reputation of teachers. I think the guidelines came out very timely. ------------------------- Notes: Under the guidelines, favoritism; irregularities in enrollment, examinations and student recommendations; and asking for or receiving gratuities from students or parents will also be punished. ------------------------- (QD) Gu Yun, a commentator says on beijingtimes.com.cn "We need a special law dedicated to sexual harassment on campus. Wang Xiaojian has got his punishment from his school. But one thing I want to ask is: will the school act so promptly if the case hasn't been put under the media spotlight? So we need a law on this so that whenever such cases happen, students will know how to protect themselves and schools will know which law article they can refer to. (JA) Wang Jie, says on bjnew.com.cn "I am afraid that without any legal reinforcement schools would keep sexual harassment cases to themselves and wouldn't release relevant information to the public. So apart from the guidelines, the Ministry of Education also needs to establish mechanisms through which the public are able to report such cases." (LY) Dai Xianren says on bjnews.com.cn "Teachers are the stronger side on campus compared to students. To ban improper relationships between teachers and students is a good way to protect students."

China's Supreme Court has issued a new regulation outlawing the so-called "human flesh search engine", an activity that involves Internet users banding together to expose an individual to public humiliation. It states that local courts will support plaintiffs suffering damages from having their personal information published online. This includes their medical history, criminal records, home addresses and any other private activities. Information that has already been legally made public, or if it was done so to "promote social and public benefits", is exempt from the new regualtion. (QD) Wang Yaqin, a law professor, expresses her support to this new regulation on china.com.cn, In China, in recent years, human flesh search engines have been used in some pretty vile ways, similar to cyber bullying. There're a large number of criminal cases resulting from human flesh search engines. The Supreme Court's new judicial interpretation will no doubt purify the internet environment, which is the reason why it wins my full support. (JA) But Justiam Yigu disagrees on cnii.com.cn, The human flesh searches in recent years have shed a light on government corruption and incompetence, with Internet users outing officials for flaunting their wealth. It's definitely a double-edged sword. But this judicial explanation makes no difference from outlawing such activities. The authorities shouldn't have dealt with it in so simplistic a way. (LY) And Bai Xun points out on epaper.qingdaonews.com, The Supreme Court issued this judicial interpretation without adequate details. Therefore local courts as well as governments at all levels can make their own interpretations towards it. As such, it may be abused by the authority. There's no question that in effect this judicial interpretation is meant to punish online speech. ----------------------------------- (QD) Lei Lifan points out on blog.sina.com.cn, The new judicial explanation has already made it clear that exceptions will be made if individuals' privacy is revealed to promote social and public benefits. So the Chinese authorities are actually protecting such online activities as revealing corrupt officials or evil behavior of some individuals. (LY) Jiongshen 977 expresses his opinion on weibo.com, I think the Supreme Court is playing on words. There's too much blur in this judicial explanation. It should have differentiated the privacy of public figures from that of common citizens. Public figures, such as government officials, should be monitored by the whole society and sacrifice part of their privacy for that purpose. (JA) And on blog.ifeng.com, Yun Juan Yun Shu adds his point of view, I agree that civil servants should contribute part of their privacy to the public for better surveillance. But there should also be a limit on it. For example, addresses of the houses illegally owned by a corrupt official and the amounts of money he took as bribes should be made public, but the details of his family members should be well-protected. The Supreme Court should really release more clear details on this judicial explanation in the future.

A terminally ill cancer patient has moved to Portland, Oregon for doctor assisted suicide and scheduled her death for November 1st.. 29 year old Brittany Maynard, who moved to Oregon has stage 4 brain cancer and claims that choosing to take her own life is a far better option than succumbing to her illness. Oregon is one of five States in America that offers legal protection to terminally ill patients wishing to end their suffering. The 'die with dignity act' was introduced in 1997 and recipients of prescriptions tailored to be fatal once ingested, has been on the rise since. The subject of assisted suicide has been heavily debated as several countries have pushed to legalise it. In Canada, the issue is set to be brought to the Supreme Court next week. Meanwhile, an online poll has shown that around 84% of Canadians support assisted death, with great support coming from Nova Scotia and British Columbia. however, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has voiced his opposition to the issue claiming that he is skeptical about the measures proposed in legalizing assisted suicide. Other countries that have legalized assisted death include Switzerland, Germany, Colombia, Japan and the US states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico and Montana. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (JA) Gordon 7X from the globeandmail.com comments I have seen many people in their last days of life, most of them dying from cancer. Their only cure was death. Near the end they lose awareness of their surroundings and their faculties to see or hear. You can tell they're in extreme pain. There's nothing peaceful or restful about people dying from cancer. That is what death looks like by "natural" causes. Where "you" and your awareness go in that last hour and beyond is really a matter for you and nobody else. (QD) Malcolm ctvnews.ca comments Death with dignity - not just for those with terminal illness or in severe pain who choose to die but also those who have lost their dignity and depend entirely upon others for their every need - and who have decided that its time to end their mental and physical suffering - it is their decision and we should be able to help them. (FA) Glynn from dailymail.co.uk comments Stupid idea started off with just allowing the terminally sick, went on to the elderly on from there anyone who wants to die.. It's disgusting and wrong, I don't care less what others say about it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: • Oregon is one of five states with legal protections for terminally ill patients who want to end their suffering. • On October 27, 1997 Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act which allows terminally-ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act requires the Oregon Health Authority to collect information about the patients and physicians who participate in the Act, and publish an annual statistical report. • Since it was enacted in 1997, 1,173 people in the state have had prescriptions written for lethal medications. Only 752 of them have used the drugs to die as of 2013. • More than three quarters of Canadians in a new online poll supported doctor-assisted suicide, as the issue heads the Supreme Court next week. • Nearly 90 per cent of Nova Scotians and British Columbians in the survey agreed with the statement. More men agreed with it than women. • The assisted suicide poll was commissioned by Canadian charity Dying with Dignity. It was conducted online by Ipsos, a market research company, which surveyed more than 2,500 Canadians between August 21 and 29. • In March this year, the Prime Minister restated his opposition to assisted suicide, saying he is concerned that people will be unfairly pressurised to kill themselves if the law is weakened. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) mynameispatchon from youtube.com comments Don't doctors have to take the hypocratic oath? If you want to die, don't drag the doctors into it. they are supposed to save lives, not take them. This is flat out wrong on many levels.What is the difference if she is hanging or convulsing from a drug? She is still dead at the end of the day (QD) jhsass from theglobeandmail.com comments The assistance of a physician to short circuit the pain and agony during the end of life process is neither "assisted suicide" or "euthanasia". These terms are being bandied about by opponents of death with dignity to stigmatize compassionate treatment of terminally ill and suffering human beings. It appears this dwindling minority will stop at nothing to force dying individuals to endure the maximum amount of pain and suffering. (FA) Gord from ctvnews.ca Frankly, this issue is not for the politicians, religious leaders or even the families to decide. I watched my father die, slow and painful, it took six days the last two were horrible and a disgusting end of life for a good man, I also have put down several beloved pets, calm, peaceful. Both my father and the pets were never coming back from their illnesses, the difference my father had to suffer right up to his last breath, the dogs never suffered at all.

Autumn is considered China's golden travel season because of the mild weather that attracts both domestic and international tourists. During the Chinese national day holiday, numerous people here were busy traveling. Many of the tourist sites were crowded with people and along with it came great pressures for workers there. Emei Moutain, one of the most well-known tourist sites in China, has more than a hundred sanitation workers. 44-year-old Peng Wencai is one of those who has to collect rubbish outside the safety guardrail around and even under cliffs. It takes him three hours to climb down and back up to collect rubbish under cliff. Sometimes, he would also help saving the people who had accidentally fallen off the cliff. However, he was in a very unfortunate incident over the national holiday. A tourist threw some rubbish over the edge of the cliff outside the safety guardrail. Peng kindly reminded the tourist that the rubbish bin is merely 10 meters away. However, the tourist replied that had he not thrown the rubbish, Peng would be out of a job. Peng later expressed in an interview about the issue that he felt very hurt and would rather be jobless if it meant for the place to be without rubbish. (QD) "Amorous eyes" says on qq.com, Why didn't the person who said these words "If I don't throw rubbish around, you will become jobless" do somethign criminal, otherwise the police would become jobless. (JA) "Let the Wind Listen" says on sina.com.cn, No one throw rubbish everywhere doesn't mean the sanitation workers would lose their jobs. It only means their work could be easier so they won't be so tired. Such tourists should be fined and then they would know how to behave. (LK) "Miss.QCY" also on sina.com.cn, We should respect sanitation workers. Everyone is working hard and such words are just so heart-breaking. ----------------------- (QD) "Hai Jing Bu Zheng" says on weibo.com, I would feel a great guilty if I throw rubbish on the ground not in the rubbish bin. I may not control the others but I can behave myself. It makes me feel good though I know I am not good in all aspects. (JA) "Zheng Du" says on qq.com, Make the rubbish tourist jobless and let him to take the job as the sanitation worker. Will he say the same words? (LK) "DK Maimai" on weibo.com, It is such a dangerous work of cleaning rubbish outside safety guardrail around and even under cliffs. Even though the rubbish bin is full, you can put rubbish beside that. Please do not throw rubbish towards the cliffs. This is a big trouble and danger for sanitation workers. Meanwhile, animals living under the cliff may die if they eat rubbish by mistake.

Pujiang (浦江), a county in China's coastal Zhejiang province, has issued a new regulation granting bonus points to children whose parents have donated large amounts of blood. According to the regulation, people donating blood totaling above 4000 millimeters will enjoy bonus points ranging from 1 to 3 in the national high school entrance exam. The local education department says this policy is aimed at encouraging more people to take part in blood donation in order to save a tight local blood bank. (QD) Chu Zhaohui, researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, tells people.com.cn, What's most important in education? Fairness. Education has to ensure fairness in itself. But this policy makes no difference from discriminating against parents with poor health conditions who cannot make big donations of blood or even need blood transfusion. (JA) Tian Zhengping, professor at Zhejiang University, raises his doubt on thepaper.cn, As a matter of fact, the central government discourages any policy concerning bonus points grant so as to ensure education fairness. And governments at all levels across the nation are actively conforming to the guidance of central government. How this county government dare go against central government's policy?! (LK) And on xinhuanet.com, Shang Yiying says, Blood donation should be done voluntarily. But this policy has turned such a voluntary act into business. Every point in high school entrance exam is rather important. China is a country with such a dense population; one point can even play the role of changing a student's future. In order to get such a reward, lots of parents will flood into the local blood bank. But what they're doing is just an exchange of interests, rather than on a voluntary basis. ----------------------------- Notes:--Blood donation of 4000, 6000 and 8000 milliliters correspond to bonus points of one, two and three.--Currently, in Pujiang County, there're 24 people making blood donations totaling over 4000 milliliters, and only one person who've donated over 8000 milliliters of blood.-- This policy came into practice in August.--A survey done by China Philosophy Times of nearly 10,000 people shows 69 percent of attendants oppose such a policy. ----------------------------- (QD) Chunfeng Ruirui raises his point of view on weibo.com According to Chinese law, a blood donator can donate no more than 400 milliliter of blood at one time. And the interval between two blood donations should be no shorter than half a year. Therefore, one needs at least five years to reach the threshold of getting bonus points. If he/she wants to get the highest bonus points in exam, they have to donate blood insistently for ten years. How many people can manage to do that? If there're really people making it by donating blood for five or ten consecutive years, I think they really deserve such a reward. (LK) On thepaper.cn, Yang Jianhua, researcher at the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, shows his understanding towards this policy, I believe such a policy is made out of good intention. In Pujiang county few people are willing to donate their blood, which results in an acute short of blood in local blood bank. You must know that even a few drops of blood can save a sick patient's life. It's the harsh reality that force the local government to combine scores in major exams, which Chinese students value the most, with blood donation to enrich the local blood bank. It's totally understandable. (JA) And Cai Rang Duo Ji points out on ftchinese.com, In recent years, local governments at all levels have issued all kinds of stimulation policies to encourage blood donation. But the average blood donation rate in the mainland is still lagging behind the global level. In contrast, in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, though there's no official stimulation policy, the average blood donation rate sits high above the global level. I think we should learn from these places to make more active moral encouragements and make the public thoroughly understand the importance of blood donation, rather than attract the public to do so simply by granting them benefits.

White House officials have reassured the public that an Ebola outbreak in the United States is unlikely after the first Ebola case outside of Africa was identified in Texas last week. In Friday's briefing, White House spokesperson Lisa Monaco, defended the response to the country's first Ebola case claiming that the US is more than prepared to handle the virus both at home and in the affected regions due to a capable health infrastructure and the most capable doctors in the world. Monaco went on to say that every Ebola outbreak in the past forty years has been stopped. When faced with the criticism in the handling of the recent Ebola case in Texas, Monaco admitted to a flaw but urged for calm. However, she did not call for any change in the current guidelines for hospital procedures or heath officials, asserting that the ones currently in place are working. Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national who had come to America on a tourist visa, had allegedly lied on a form claiming that he had not been exposed to the Ebola virus before boarding his plane. Duncan tested positive for the virus on Tuesday and was placed in quarantine. His apartment was disinfected four days later by a hazardous materials team. ------------------------------------------------------------------ (JA) Bruce Hood from the guardian.com comments I would short airline stocks today because in two more months logical people will stop flying...an airplane seat is the perfect thing to spread ebola...the dallas victims plane is still is service...I would bet they did not remove the seat he was sitting in...as he sweat it out during his long flight. (QD) TheMightyGuns from the guardian.com The nations it is rampant in literally have no healthcare systems, and have traditions that make it much more likely that the disease will spread- not true in the west. (FA) Krisstea from dailymail.co.uk comments Obama is a miserable failure. Even if you stop all flights coming into our country we have wide open borders for them to walk right in from good old Mexico. But on the bright side perhaps the illegals will head back home in fear of catching this disease. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Notes: • Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage • Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva • Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 70% • Incubation period is two to 21 days • There is no proven vaccine or cure • Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery • Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host • Public health watchdog says Ebola patients could use ibuprofen to lower their fevers so that they can pass through airport checkpoints • Nearly all of the screening is done by staff in Ebola-stricken nations using hand-held temperature scanners • The scanners can be tricked with drugs that lower fever • The first U.S. Ebola patient, who arrived on a plane after flying out of Liberia, has sparked calls to tighten screening for the disease at U.S. airports • Thomas Eric Duncan lied on a form when he said he had not been in contact with anyone sickened with Ebola • Duncan arrived in the U.S. on September 20 and is believed to have come on a tourist visa in what was his first trip to America. • Up to 100 people including five schoolchildren were exposed to him while he was infected - health authorities in Texas now say that 10 people are of particular concern. • Duncan's neighbours in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, believe he became infected when he helped a sick pregnant woman, who later died of Ebola, a few weeks ago. It was not clear if Duncan knew of the woman's Ebola diagnosis before he departed for the US. • After getting progressively more ill, Duncan was taken back to the hospital on Sunday by ambulance, two days after his first visit. His Ebola diagnosis was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday. On Friday, the hospital said his condition remained "serious". • On Thursday, CNN revealed that his apartment had still not been cleaned. Two pickup trucks and a van, belonging to a local commercial hazardous materials clean-up company, arrived at the complex on Thursday evening. But the clean-up operation did not get under way until late Friday morning • Since Duncan's diagnosis, people have visited hospitals in a few states and were checked for Ebola symptoms. On Friday, Howard University Hospital in Washington said it admitted and isolated a patient with possible symptoms who had recently travelled from Nigeria "in an abundance of caution." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (JA) lucy from dailymail.co.uk comments If you start having recognizable symptoms then sound an alarm. Maybe the biggest problem we will have during this Ebola situation is dealing with people who don't seem to have any working brain cells. That goes for those in the health care field, too. (QD) Eryn-Jean Sargent from bbc facebook comments there are at least 4 other cases of Americans that have contracted Ebola from Africa because of working with the sick. They have come home, are being treated there, and I have read that they have recovered or are recovering. This is just the first case of it with an 'average' person. The CDC has VERY strict guide lines on how to deal with this. Important to remember that Ebola is contracted through body fluids and not through the air. (FA)Liam walker from bbc facebook comments America does have a good healthcare infrastructure. However, Mexico does not. Texas is very close to Mexico, if an outbreak happens there the infected will be entering the U.S in large numbers. Also, this infected man initially

Harbin, capital of China's northeast Heilongjiang province, has released a new regulation which bans domestic violence against women under any form. According to the regulation, among the multiple forms of domestic violence, "financial blockade" between husband and wife is regarded as one of them. Hence under this new law, it's illegal for a husband to refuse to grant financial support to his wife. ---------------------------------------------------- (QD) Li Ren Tao says on jschina.com.cn, What an excellent policy it is! In most Chinese families, the husband is the one making more money, especially in the rural area. China itself is a nation under deep influence of male chauvinism. Though the government promotes "women can hold up half of the sky", in reality it's completely different. We women desperately need more legal support to safeguard our financial rights! (JA) Key Abao cheers on weibo.com, Wow, from now on my husband will have no excuse to refuse to give me pocket money! I can quote the new regulation as my legal guard. (LK) While Li Hua says on gzdaily.dayoo.com, I think this new regulation is a little too much. Taking my family for example, my wife has a craze for internet shopping. The money she spends on Taobao.com every month is far beyond her salary. There was even one time she spent over 20,000 yuan purchasing her sleep masks! It was completely a waste of money! So do I still have to give her money under such a situation? I have every reason to refuse to do so. I believe the law is made out of good intention but it's just a bit too much in certain conditions. ---------------------- Notes: The regulation is called "Regulation on the Protection of Women's Rights in Harbin".--According to official statistics, in Harbin, 90 percent of people suffering from domestic violence are women. --In the past three years, the number of women suffering from domestic violence in Harbin increased by 2.7 percent year by year.--In China, the average annual income for women account for 67.3 percent and 56 percent of that of men in the urban and rural areas respectively. ----------------------- (QD) Richard 975 complains on weibo.com, I'm a husband under full financial control of my wife. My bank cards are in my wife's hands and every penny I earned is under her control. What if she refused to give me the money I need? Is there any law I can ask for help? Or will there be any law giving her any form of punishment? It's simply so unfair! (LK) Ren Xiaoyi points out on blog.sina.com.cn, As a matter of fact, absolute majority of Chinese women go to work and earn their salaries. And in most families, especially in the urban area, the financial power is controlled by the wife. So there's no need to make such a harsh law counting financial blockade against women as a form of domestic violence. As far as I'm concerned, it is men who should be the very group of people worth being better protected! (JA) And Li Junfei gives out her opinion on ifeng.com, I don't think this new law truly respects women and protects their rights. If the government truly wants to better protect women's financial rights, it should provide them with a better environment to make more money rather than ask money from others. This regulation makes no difference from encouraging women to financially depend more on men, which is completely wrong. Everyone should depend on his/herself.

It is 5:30 in the morning. Yanjiao, a small town in north China's Hebei province, and allegedly the closest town in the province to the country's capital Beijing, is woken up by continuous blares of bus engines. (ambience, bus engine) 57-year-old Liang Yaojun gets up and walks to the bus stop of route 814 next to the apartment block where his family lives. (ambience, street vendor calling) Walking past a line of street food vendors calling out to sell their products, Liang arrives at the bus stop and begins to wait for the next 814 bus to arrive. Bus Number 814 is one of the several major transportation lines that connect Yanjiao to downtown Beijing. When it does come, however, Liang doesn’t get on the bus. He is queuing up for his 27-year-old daughter Liang Yuanyuan who works in a banking office in downtown Beijing. In the queue there are other elderlies like Liang who are simply lining up for their sons, daughters as well as sons-in-law or daughters-in-law. They hope that by doing this their kids could sleep for 30 minutes longer in the morning and get a seat on the crowded, sardine-can like bus. The daughter Liang Yuanyuan seems reluctant to talk about how she feels about her father’s effort, but she does admit that it saves her a lot of time. (soundbite, Liangyuanyuan, female in Chinese, 49,0615) “It has saved me a lot of time in the morning. For example, now I am able to have breakfast casually at home, which in the past was impossible. My father usually queues for half an hour and then I could directly get on the bus when I am there.” Liang Yaojun has actually taken advantage of his daily 30 minutes waiting time and calculated the number of commuters in his community who take the bus to Beijing every morning. (soundbite1, Liang1, male in Chinese) "I estimated that about 7000-8000 people in my apartment block take bus 814 to Beijing every morning. They stand in a line of about 250 meters and wait for 30 to 40 minutes. And I haven't even taken those who share car rides into account yet." Initially a scarcely populated small town of Hebei province, Yanjiao has only been developed since the 1990s because of its geographical adjacency to Beijing. The direct distance from the center of Yanjiao to Tian'anmen Square in Beijing is just about 36 kilometers. In about 20 years its population has reached nearly 400 thousand and is estimated to reach one million in a few years. About 300 thousand commuters who work in Beijing live in several densely-built communities in Yanjiao. (ambience, street vendor selling corn) Every day, in an unpleasant symphony combining street vendors selling boiled corn and unlicensed taxi drivers calling "ten yuan for a ride to Guomao”， (ambience, unlicensed taxi drivers) this huge number of people hop on the number 814, doze off while the bus crosses the Hebei-Beijing boundaries in an hour's trip, and then they get off at the Guomao business district of eastern Beijing where they either stop and take up their jobs as bankers or businessmen in polished suits, or take another half-to-one hour subway ride to get to their working place in the giant city. But before they hop on the bus, they are all impatient and grumpy creatures. Anyone who ever attempts to jump the line will instantly stir angry shouts from the crowd, and sometimes, even clenched fists. (ambience, shouting) Liang Yaojun has been waiting for almost half an hour when his daughter Liang Yuanyuan shows up, clutching her bag while running out of breath. The two don't even have time to say goodbye and only nod to each other. Then with the beep sound accompanying her checking her transportation card, Liang Yuanyuan quickly vanishes into the bus. (ambience, bus card checking) Before retirement, Liang Yaojun taught physics in a local middle school and his wife was a nurse in a nearby hospital. Their son, having studied in Beijing and who later became a police officer in the city, is married and has bought his own apartment in the city with financial aid from parents of both sides. Their daughter Liang Yuanyuan studied in the neighboring Tianjin city and moved to Beijing to work for an international bank in the hope of seeking sibling support. To join his kids, Liang Yaojun sold his apartment in Chifeng city of northeastern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and moved to Yanjiao with his wife in July, 2012. He made the decision because the place is cheaper and close to Beijing. His daughter, a single lady, now lives with Liang and his wife and commutes every day to work. But when Liang Yaojun went to see his daughter off to work at the bus stop for the first time, he instantly fell into slight depression. (soundbite2, Liang2, male in Chinese) 45 0709 "I became so disappointed when I first saw the bus stop. I felt we were so ruined to have moved to such a place. People were queuing up in a line for 250 meters! When can we see the slightest hope? And by hope I don't mean for the future, but simply for getting on the bus. From that day on, my heart has been sunk with huge pressure." With an active spirit, Liang started to think about helping to solve the problem. He wrote to the bus company but received no reply. Then he shifted to the online mailbox of the mayor of Beijing and emailed him. Asking for arranging additional shifts of bus route 814, he wrote with the heart of a parent: (reading of a script from a letter) "I often queue to get a seat on the bus for my daughter and I know deeply the pain of Yanjiao people commuting to Beijing. I sincerely hope you would consider and understand parents' love for their child." To Liang's surprise, three days after he wrote to the mayor, the problem was solved.

Anchor: Beijing is an ancient city and has long been the capital of China. Its long history has left countless historical resources for people today. Thus far, after the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee 2014 of UNESCO, 47 Chinese sites have been approved as world heritage sites. Among them, 7 sites are in Beijing, including the magnificent Forbidden City and the mysterious Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. Now let's explore the historical version of Beijing and meet the 7 world heritage sites. (Today/report/0829 World Heritage) Reporter: Beijing, as an ancient city with a history of over 3000 years, has witnessed the change of China and carries many memories. It is the only city that has the most amount of world heritage sites such as the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. Since the beginning of last year, Beijing has offered foreign tourists from 45 listed countries a 72 hour visa-free stay. It is widely believed that it is a good time for tourists to explore the world heritage sites in Beijing. Our exploration starts with the Forbidden City. (Background Music + soundbite) Built nearly 600 years ago, the Forbidden City is not just one palace. It was the home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall, these buildings have not only housed the royal families but the stories of ancient China. Shan Jixiang(单霁翔), curator of the Palace Museum, said that there is a feminine world inside the Forbidden City. (Shang Jixiang male Chinese) "The Western part of the Palace Museum was called the 'female world' in the past, as it was the residential area of empresses and concubines. The area is mysterious to the outside world." After the visit of China ancient emperors' home, the Temple of Heaven makes the perfect second destination, as it is also located in downtown Beijing. The Temple of Heaven is where the ancient emperors used to worship heaven. Twice a year the emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties would travel with their royal retinue to the Temple of Heaven to perform very specific rituals. No ordinary Chinese were allowed to view this procession or the ceremony. Physically, the Temple of Heaven covers 675 acres, twice the size of the Forbidden City. It is one of the world's largest ancient structures used for sacrificial ceremonies. Echo wall is one of the brilliant buildings in the Temple of Heaven. Here is Mark, a British journalist in Beijing. (Mark Echo wall male English) "If you whisper at any point close to the wall, they say the whisper can be heard clearly on the other side, Zhu Hangan who is trying out the echo wall. His girlfriend is going to the other side----This is amazing, there two people are having a conversation now. They must be about at least 150 meters apart. ````` " The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. It was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design" which combines philosophy, history, mathematics, mechanics, aesthetics and ecology. The other UNESCO World Heritage Site related to the royal family is the imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty-- the Summer Palace. As its name implies, the royal garden was used as a summer residence by the imperial family who retreated to it from the main imperial palace-- the 'Forbidden City'. With more than 8,000 paintings on its beams, the long corridor is one of the most famous scenes in the palace. Eva is a tourist from Poland who enjoys looking at the paintings. (Eva long corridor male Poland 10") "The long corridor is so wonderful, nowhere else in the world have I seen such a breath taking corridor of marvelous paintings." With graceful landscapes and magnificent constructions, it is regarded as one of the most noted and classical gardens in the world. Another world-class attraction are the Ming Tombs which situated out near the Tianshou(天寿) Mountains, some 50 kilometers northwest of Beijing. The tombs, which took more than 200 years to construct, show the harmonious integration of remarkable architecture set in a natural environment. And, what makes this natural environment particularly fascinating is that it was selected to meet with the ancient rules of geomancy, or Fengshui(风水), thus making the imperial tombs a masterpiece of human creative genius. Mary King, a British journalist in Beijing shared her experience in The Ming Tombs. (Mary King female English 21") "The Sacred Way symbolizes the road leading to heaven. It was believed that the Emperor, who was known as the Son of the Heaven, came from Heaven to his country via the Sacred Way, and so it was thought that the emperor deserved to return to Heaven the same way." According to UNESCO, the Ming Tombs' area was worthy of being listed as a World Heritage Site because it offers a number of unique attractions. Speaking of all things unique, the Great Wall is definitely one of the world's most unique attraction. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus. In Beijing, there are several sections of the Great Wall, including Badaling(八达岭), Mutianyu(慕田峪) and Gubeikou(古北口). Dong Yaohui(董耀会), a famous Great Wall expert explained that although military defense was generally considered to be the purpose of building the Great Wall, it actually performed a peaceful rather than warlike function. (Dong Yaohui Great Wall) "The Great Wall was a means of reconciling China's nomadic and farming economies. The function of troops stationed on it was to maintain peace along the border. The Great Wall to some extent promoted the development of border trade. The Great Wall was built to avoid wars, and its solidity aimed to maintain peace. " With a history of more than

Anchor: Beijing has been offering foreign tourists from 45 listed countries with a 72 hour visa-free stay since January 1st, 2013. If you are interested in exploring a modern Beijing within 72 hours, the following is a specially designed schedule by our reporter Liu Kun. Reporter: (soundbite1, ambience) Beijing is known to many not only as a city of rich historical and cultural heritages, but also as a modern metropolis of openness and vitality. To experience a modern Beijing in 72 hours, the following are our suggestions. (soundbite2, promo day1, male sound) Day 1: The Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, Sanlitun, and The National Center for the Performing Arts. Two iconic buildings spurred by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube next to Olympic Sports Center station of Line 8, are on the top of the list if you're out to get a modern feel for Beijing. The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest served as the main venue for the track and field events during the 2008 Games. It's known for the innovative grid formation, built with 36 kilometers of unwrapped steel that has a combined weight of 45,000 tons. After the Games, the Bird's Nest has served as a recreation center, hosting activities such as winter skiing and concerts, like this one. (soundbite3, concert) The National Aquatics Center, a major venue for aquatic sports during the 2008 Games, also known as the Water Cube, is the world's single largest and most complicated structure of ETFE foil, a material of high strength and corrosion resistance. It is just to the east of the Bird's Nest and within walking distance. (soundbite4, cube ambience) Now that the Games are gone, the Water Cube has been converted into a water theme park, offering a place to cool off and have some fun in the summer. Sanlitun area is the next place you can't miss. Get off the subway at Tuanjiehu station on Line 10 and you are there. The area offers innovative architectural designs, international stores, numerous bars and restaurants and lots of entertainment. Occasionally you would come across street artists, like this flash mob group. (soundbite5, mob) Now if you still have time and energy, you could take subway line 1 and get off at Tiananmen West station to check out the National Center for the Performing Arts. The Center provides a great variety of performances, ranging from traditional Chinese operas to western modern dances. (soundbite6, NCPA) (soundbite7, promo day 2, male sound) 798 Art Zone, Wangfujing Street and Houhai Lake The second day tour starts from 798 Art Zone, a perfect hangout for art fans. Take any bus that stops at Dashanzi station and there you will find the 798 Art Zone. The original 798 was a state-owned industrial plant established in the 1950s. The plant was abandoned in late 1990s. Inspired by the SOHO area in New York City, some artists moved to the warehouse lofts in 798 in 2000. Today art studios, galleries as well as book stores, cafes and restaurants are abundant in the area and this is from a gallery manager. (soundbite7, gallery) Occupying an area of more than 600,000 square meters, the 798 Art Zone might take up an entire day. So don't be too ambitious if you want to cover more sites. The next stop of our second day is Wangfujing Street next to Wangfujing station on subway Line 1. Wangfujing Street is an up-market shopping center surrounded by traditional Chinese Alleyways. Here you will also find Wangfujing Snack Street, boasting a wide range of Chinese snacks. This man selling quick cooked tripe is demonstrating Jiaomai, traditional Beijing hawking art. (soundbite8, jiao mai) Also St. Joseph's Church on the Street is the second oldest Catholic Church in the city. The last stop of our second day is Houhai Lake, a perfect place for a night out. Get off at Beihai North station of Line 6 and you will find the Lake to the north of the station. (soundbite9, bar music) Lots of bars and restaurants are located alongside the waters. At night when the lights are turned on, you can wander around, enjoy the breeze and pick from a choice of restaurants to indulge in the atmosphere. (soundbite10, promo day 3, male sound) World Park, China Millennium Monument and Qianmen On the final day, we start from Beijing World Park next to Dabaotai Station on subway Fangshan Line. With full size or small scale copies of the world's original tourist attractions, the theme park offers you an opportunity to tour around the world without having to leave Beijing. The Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty…you can choose whatever you want. Plus, the Park also offers performances and parades featuring international folk customs. (soundbite11, parade) Our next stop is China Millennium Monument at the Military Museum station on subway Line 1. The Monument is dubbed China's symbolic and commemorative structure to usher in the Year 2000 the new Millennium. A pointer of 45 meters pointing to the blue sky is placed on the upper side of the monument. A gallery is located behind the monument, providing exhibitions on international art. The last stop of our 72 hour adventure is Qianmen Street, a historical commercial street of the city located near Qianmen station on subway Line 2. Business on the Street boomed during the Qing Dynasty. Today it's the place to shop for China's time honored brands such as Zhangyiyuan Teahouse, Shengxifu Hat and Ruifuxiang Silk store. The recently opened Madame Tussauds Wax Museum with all the wax sculptures of celebrities is also worth a visit. And before you leave Beijing, remember to try Beijing roast duck at Quanjude restaurant located just on the street. Those were our suggestions for an experience of metropolitan Beijing in 72 hours. By the way, you can also choose to take taxi for tours in Beijing. The basic price is 13 yuan in daytime. We hope you will like the city's modern vitality

Anchor: Beijing has been offering foreign tourists from 45 listed countries with a 72 hour visa-free stay since January 1st, 2013. But to many, scheduling a 72 hour travel map in a large city with a rich history and culture is not easy. One thing unique to Beijing is its perfect combination of imperial and civilian culture. Today our reporter Liu Kun offers you a carefully designed 72-hour schedule focusing on the best of the two. Reporter: (soundbite1, ambience music) If you are interested in exploring imperial China, Beijing is probably the best place to do it. The city served as the imperial capital for several ancient dynasties, therefore perfectly showcases how the imperial culture blends with the civilian culture in a Chinese city. And for things to do in the next 72 hours, here are some of our suggestions. (soundbite2, promo day1, male sound) Day 1: The Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and a bite of Beijing Roast Duck You could never go wrong when starting from the Forbidden City. As the seat of the supreme power for over five centuries, it is a priceless testimony toChinese imperial culture. Walking through courtyard after courtyard, you could get a sense of the imperial family's lifestyle through the architectural design, furnishings, living traditions and customs. For those who are not so familiar with the Forbidden City, an audio guide is available at the entrance for just a few yuan. (soundbite3, audio guide, female in English) Before walking into the Forbidden City, you could also wander around the Tian'anmen Square located directly in front of the City. For those who are ambitious to cover more than one site on the first day, the next place suggested is the Temple of Heaven. Walking out of the Forbidden City and south down the central axis of Beijing, you will come across this large complex of ancient buildings for emperors to worship Heaven. An exceptional thing you would see in the Temple of Heaven is people doing calligraphy on the ground with a gigantic brush and some water. (soundbite4, brush man, male in Chinese) That's enough for the first day. But before going back to your hotel, you could always treat yourself to Beijing roast duck in Quanjude around the Qianmen area, one of the most famous restaurants in Beijing. Just a few blocks north of the Temple of Heaven is the place where crispy duck skin and exquisite meat would provide a delicious local dinner. (soundbite5, promo day2, male sound) Day2: The Imperial College, Prince Gong's Mansion, and a taste of Beijing snacks On the second day, you are advised to visit Guozijian, or the Imperial College. Take subway Line 2 and get off at Andingmen station, the Imperial College is just to the southeast of the Station. It is the only site of an ancient high education institution that has been preserved intact in China. (soundbite6, ambience, ritual music) Performances of traditional Chinese ritual music are performed within the College several times a day. Lasting a couple of minutes, the performances provide a pleasant short stop in your trip. After a morning at the Imperial College, you can take the subway and stop at Beihai North station of Line 6. To the northwest of the station is our next stop, Prince Gong's Mansion, one of the most ornate and extravagant imperial residences in Beijing. It was built in 1777 by imperial minister He Shen in the Qing Dynasty. Here visitors will be able to get an exposure to classic Siheyuan, or quadrangle courtyards. Occasionally you will come across Beijing drum performances in the Mansion. (soundbite7, ambience, drum playing) An afternoon in Prince Gong's Mansion marks the end of your imperial visit. Our last stop on the second day is the Houhai Lake just east to the Mansion. (soundbite8, ambience, night music from bars) Small food shops alongside the Lake always provide visitors with a taste of Beijing snacks such as sweet pea cake and soybean paste noodles. And that wraps up your second day. (soundbite9, promo day3, male sound) Day 3: Nanluoguxiang, Wudaoying, Liulichang Antique Street and Souvenirs. The third day marks your experience of civilian culture in Beijing and on top of the list are two hutongs, or alleyways. Nanluoguxiang is the first one. Getting out of Nanluoguxiang Station on Line 6, you'll find yourself standing just at the entrance of the hutong. Originally built in the Yuan Dynasty, Nanluoguxiang is arguably the most ancient hutong in Beijing. The narrow alleyway now packs so much exciting discoveries including boutique shops, food stands, bookstores and more. Now after a morning walk through Nanluoguxiang, you will probably need to sit down for a decent lunch. In that case, you are suggested to head north for few blocks where the restaurants in Wudaoying hutong will treat you well. Compared with Nanluoguxiang, Wudaoying has a refreshing variety of businesses, including a tanning studio, clothing shops, home décor shops, specialty stores, western style restaurants and bars. Shopkeepers are engaging but not pushy, like this one who is showing how to appreciate wine. (soundbite11, wine lady) The last stop of your 72 hour adventure is Liulichang Antique Street where you could get a glimpse of the city's civilian art and market. Take Line 2 from Wudaoying and get off at Hepingmen Station and there you will find this area known for its business of traditional craftwork, artistry and antiques. Here's one selling Chinese calligraphy and paintings. (soundbite12, painting) Apart from soaking up the cultural atmosphere in the area, this final stop is also a good place to pick and choose your Beijing souvenirs. And with that, you have just gone through the gist of imperial and civilian Beijing in all wrapped up in 72 hours. We wish you a pleasant stay!

Alaska's KTVA news reporter Charlo Greene has left viewers in shock after she quit her job on live TV. Greene was running a story on the Alaska Cannabis club, a club which is currently campaigning to legalise marijuana use in Alaska. At the end of her report, Greene revealed that she was infact the club's owner and will be devoting herself to the efforts of getting a yes vote to legalise the drug in the state. She then subsequently announced that she will quit her current job, muttered a profanity and walked off camera leaving the main anchor stunned. A fundraiser was set up in the club's name to raise money for the campaign. So far the money donated has reached close to $11,000. Greene initially asked for $5,000. The vote is set to take place on the 4th of November. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (JA) ImmaWarEagle from youtube.com comments If multiple people going on shooting rampages and killing hundreds (if not thousands) of innocent people (including elementary schools) won't get the U.S. to have a serious conversation about gun laws, do you REALLY think her swearing and quitting on live TV will get us talking about pot?! (QD) futureboy from indiegogo.com comments Good for you! Let's ensure Alaska votes YES this November! We could potentially have 4 states and DC completely legal in 40 days: go liberty! (FA) concow from dailymail.co.uk comments If your ambition in life is to justify your next fix to yourself and the rest of the world, you might just be a pot advocate. Long live liberty. Notes: • One study found that youth (12 to 17 years old) who use marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than kids who do not use pot, and that 60% of the kids who smoke pot before the age of 15 move on to cocaine. • Because a tolerance builds up, marijuana can lead users to consume stronger drugs to achieve the same high. When the effects start to wear off, the person may turn to more potent drugs to rid himself of the unwanted conditions that caused him to take marijuana in the first place. Marijuana itself does not lead the person to the other drugs; people take drugs to get rid of unwanted situations or feelings. The drug (marijuana) masks the problem for a time (while the user is high). When the "high" fades, the problem, unwanted condition or situation returns more intensely than before. The user may then turn to stronger drugs since marijuana no longer "works." • Marijuana is sometimes combined with harder drugs. Joints are sometimes dipped in PCP, a powerful hallucinogen. PCP is a white powder, also available in liquid form, often used with cannabis. PCP is known for causing violent behavior and creating severe physical reactions including seizures, coma and even death. The harmful effects of marijuana: • The immediate effects of taking marijuana include rapid heart beat, disorientation, lack of physical coordination, often followed by depression or sleepiness. Some users suffer panic attacks or anxiety. • But the problem does not end there. According to scientific studies, the active ingredient in cannabis, THC, remains in the body for weeks or longer. • Marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke. One major research study reported that a single cannabis joint could cause as much damage to the lungs as up to five regular cigarettes smoked one after another. Long-time joint smokers often suffer from bronchitis, an inflammation of the respiratory tract. • The drug can affect more than your physical health. Studies in Australia in 2008 linked years of heavy marijuana use to brain abnormalities. This is backed up by earlier research on the long-term effects of marijuana, which indicate changes in the brain similar to those caused by long-term abuse of other major drugs. And a number of studies have shown a connection between continued marijuana use and psychosis. • Charlo Greene's campaign has so far raised around $10,000. More than the initial $5,000 she requested. • On her site she states: I'm Charlo Greene, the president and CEO of the Alaska Cannabis Club - Alaska's only legal medical marijuana resource. I just quit my news reporting job on live TV to announce that I am redirecting all of my energy toward helping to end a failed drug policy that has ruined the lives of far too many Americans. • As a member of the media, I've seen the dirty campaign tricks and lies that prohibitionists have been using over the past several months to sway Alaskan voters firsthand. Here's the sad thing: it's working. Polling shows the majority of Alaskans, who were in favor of the initiative at the start of the year, are now against it. • Her campaign started on Sep 22 and will close on October 07, 2014 • Marijuana is legal in Colorado and Washington • Her neighbor has taken a restraining order out against her after 'she smoked so much weed the fumes seeped through walls and made his child ill' (JA) Vick Varnadore from youtube.com comments Weed shouldn't be illegal if tobacco, alcohol, and prescription opiates are legal. It's a plant and by comparison to what it does to your brain vs alcohol, it's FAR safer. Ever heard of anyone OD'ing off weed?? Nope. Ever heard of anyone dying from Advil? Yup... How many people die each year from all the chemicals put into tobacco? Way toooo much money is spent trying to stop weed. If it was legal and taxed, look how much money our country could make, I don't think crack, meth, heroin, or any of that other crap should be legal. Do I think opium should be legal? Yes, but regulated as it's better for you than all the synthesized opiates used in pain meds. (QD) jaken40to50 from indiegogo.com comments Charlo Greene, What you did was legendary. If only more smokers in every day society were not afraid to make the same stand, then legalization

Another busy day at the Asian games, Chinese Taipei defeated China 2-1 in the womens team tennis competition, a surprise result since China was judged to be the stronger team with the presence of Zheng Jie and the other upcoming WTA tour players. At the Chungju Tangeum Lake rowing centre, the highlight of the day was the triumph of 27-year-old Lok Kwan Hoi of Chinese Hong Kong in the light weight men's singles sculls event. Kim Yeji made it a memorable day for the hosts as she won South Korea's first-ever gold in rowing - with her brilliant race in the women's singles sculls. In the cycling, Seiichiro Nakagawa had to beat his Japanese team mate Tomoyuki Kawabata in the men's sprint to win gold. // Over at the pool, Singapore won its first gold medal when Joseph Schooling delivered a record breaking performance in the men's 100 metre butterfly. The 19-year-old finished with a news Asian Games record of 51.76s. (today/sound 0925 Schooling) "I feel really happy. I wasn't really thinking about that, but now that you brought that up, it's always good to know that you are breaking records and you're always surpassing milestones and stuff and I think that's, that's one of the big reasons, one of the big things I think about before practice everyday, wanting to reach higher heights and do something special. So, I'm very pleased about that and I am very honoured that I could do that for my country." Duo Chen took gold for China in the women's 200m freestyle. And Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Balandin won the men's 100m breaststroke. Balandin also set a new Asian Games record with his time of 59.92 - the first and only swimmer to go under a minute in the 100m breaststroke ever at the Asian Games. China's Liuyang Jiao won the women's 200m butterfly with as Kosuke Hagino set a new record in men's 400m individual medley on his way to the Japanese swimmer's fourth gold of the games. Two more golds for China came in the pool as Yuanhui Fu won the women's 100m backstroke and the men's 4 x 100m freestyle. // There was more success for the Chinese gymnastics team when Zou Kai won the men's floor exercise. (today/sound 0925 Zou Kai) "My ambition is to set new records. I'm looking forward to winning a sixth or even a seventh Olympic gold medal. More medals, anyway." Unjong Hong of North Korea won on the women's vault with Masayoshi Yamamoto winning gold on the men's pommel horse. China's Jinnan Yao followed up her all-around medal on Tuesday with another on the uneven bars. Fellow countryman Junlin Liao won the men's rings. South Korea won both the men's and the women's sabre team gold on home turf. In weightlifting, China's Yanmei Xiang and Tao Tian were winners in the women's 69kg category and the men's 85kg respectively. // On the final day of Wushu competition, Iran's Mohsen Mohammadseifi won his team's first gold of the event with a 2-0 win over Rishat Livensho of Kazakhstan in the 65-kg category of Sanda. It was only the second of the seven events where a Chinese athlete did not qualify for the final and not win gold. //

Heading over to the Asian Games, a recap from yesterday, China is leading the swim tally after bagging six out of seven gold medals. Chinese star Sun Yang won the mens 400 meter with a time of 3 minutes 43.23 seconds. (today/sound 0924 Sun Yang) Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino, who upset Sun Yang in the 200 metres, won the silver medal, while Park Tae-hwan from South Korea reaped the bronze medal. Chinese Olympic champion Ye Shiwen won the women's 400m individual medley and set a new Games record. Also in the pool, China aced the race in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay, beating Japan and Hong Kong. The Chinese women were also successful in the synchronized swimming events. Here's our correspondent XuFei with more from Incheon. (today/sound 0924 XuFei) Chinese women provided a spectacular finale to the synchronized swimming events at the Incheon Asian Games, topping the scoreboard in the free combination event, taking the third synchronized swimming gold for China. Japan took the silver while Kazakhstan took the bronze. China's Chen Xiaojun says they had some advantages coming into the event. (音响1, 陈晓君 female in Mandarin Chinese 14") "Our dance composition is what we've been working on for our international events, so I think this was to our advantage. On the other hand, our team is relatively new, which has made for some problems with our collaboration." China also took gold in the team event. Japan, once again, took silver, while North Korea finished third for the bronze in the team event. China's first gold from synchronized swimming came from the Chinese pair of Huang Xuechen and Sun Wenyan. (音响2, music, The Butterfly Lovers) Huang and Sun performed to the Chinese melody "The Butterfly Lovers." Huang says the melody was interesting to work with. (音响3,黄雪辰 female in Mandarin Chinese 15") "We need to collaborate a lot in our show. Accompanied by slow music, we, however, had to create a swift and powerful program. We are good at exhibiting beauty in slow motion, which is a good elememnt to our combination." Huang's partner, Sun Wenyan, says she feels they can improve their performance. (音响4,孙文雁female in Mandarin Chinese 29") "We are shooting for a Swimming World Cup. As such, we want to put together a stronger performance on the international stage. Our program is a Chinese love story that almost everyone is familiar with. We will read a lot to develop our understanding of the background of this ancient story and probably make some changes accordingly." Synchronized swimming has been a competition at the Asian Games since the 1994 Games, with China and Japan dominating the sport since its inception.

Hefei: Innovative DNA Makes Learning More Fun Anchor: Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui province, has become a home for sci-tech innovation. In today's special report, let's take a look at how newly-developed speech technology is making learning more fun and interesting. Report: You may not know that the city of Hefei is the birthplace of the first DVD player and the first microcomputer in China, but you are definitely using these technologies in daily life. As one of the four biggest science and education hubs of China, Hefei hasn't slowed its transformation into China's 'innovation high ground'. Among its some 700 national high-tech enterprises, iFLYTEK is a company that may spark your interest. Let's check out its voice assistant mobile app - Ling Xi. (soundbite, Luo Yu, male, English) 'Anhui province has a long history. It has a rich cultural heritage, beautiful landscapes and a superior location.' (soundbite, Ling Xi, female, Chinese translation of the above sentence) Well, as a native Chinese, I can tell you the translation is perfect. Through a user's voice-command, Lingxi can complete a variety of tasks like make voice calls, send messages or look up weather conditions. It can even tell you a joke or hold a conversation, as if it were a person. What is also impressive is that it can even do math on command. (soundbite, Xie Jiajia and Ling Xi, female, Chinese) 'What is 3 squared plus 4 squared plus 10?' (female voice 1) 'It's 35.' (female voice 2) Compared with Apple's Siri, Lingxi is more localized and has partnered with many third-party service providers such as restaurant review site dianping.com and streaming music website douban.com, offering a wide range of services to make life easier. Feng Tao, deputy director of iFLYTEK's CEO office, maps out their future plan. (soundbite, Feng Tao, male, Chinese) 'To put it simply, the speech technology is one that enables machines or devices to understand a command and respond like a human. The technology mainly comprises of speech synthesis that empowers machines to speak out, and speech recognition that enables the system to understand what humans are saying. We are also in the process of evolving our business as well - to expand our territory from speech technology to artificial intelligence; that is to say, to make machines think like us humans.' Meanwhile, iFLYTEK aims to improve the quality of education nationwide with its interactive White Board—referred to technically as the Intelligent Speech Teaching Aid System. One thing the board can do is to conduct vocal language lessons. For instance, a user picks a male or female voice that will act as a native-English-speaking teacher. Then the user will be prompted to read a given sentence in English. (soundbite, English teacher, male and female, English) ' -Welcome to our school. -Welcome to our school.' If the user mispronounces a word, like the word 'cow' as 'coal', the system will give him or her a low score, then reveal the proper pronunciation. (soundbite, an English word) The White Board is also a wealth of information. Suppose a person want to know more about Huangmeixi, an opera originated form Anhui province and famous across the country. All one has to do is write down the Chinese characters for 'Chinese Opera' on the board, and a map of China will appear on the screen; then the user can just circle Huangmeixi in Anhui province. (soundbite, music) Currently, more than 70 million students have benefited from the 'White Board' teaching system in China, including those from rural areas such as Xin Jiang and Tibet. Xie Jiajia is an employee with iFLYTEK. (soundbite, Xie Jiajia, female, English) 'Education is a very important part of our company, so you can see this can read and also can listen to what you said. In Xinjiang and Tibet, their teachers cannot communicate with us very frequently, so this educational tool can help them to help teach students and then make them improve their oral English or oral Chinese.' The Intelligent Speech Teaching Aid System has completed trial operations and been used in 29 provinces. With leading speech technology and dedication to education, companies such as iFLYTEK will bring students a more convenient and efficient classroom learning environment. Founded in 1999 by a group of students from the University of Science and Technology of China, iFLYTEK is now the largest listed company in Asia specializing in speech technology, covering over 70 percent of domestic voice-related market. For Studio Plus, this is Luo Yu.