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Posts tagged ‘Beijing’

Jan 25

Shougang

Wastelands of Beijing

About 20 km outside Beijing, tourists sitting in tour buses from Beijing north-eastwards towards the Badaling section of the Great Wall can spot the apparent remains of a medieval castle some distance from the expressway. Its concrete spires rising above a muddy corn field, the eerie shell remains as a relic of the grandiose ideas of once-powerful men who’ve since passed through the grinding mill of elite politics, corruption and prison in China. All around Beijing, architectural artefacts of previous decades remain, many decayed and going to ruin.

This article is a tour through some of the more spectacular wastelands of contemporary Beijing, places that will surely be developed into something entirely different at some point in the future – when the interest groups that control the land and construction finally make a deal they can live with.
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Oct 11

Beijing Chenbao 11 Oct 12

Beijing Morning Post investigation reveals horrid state of pet dog market in the city

It has often happened in China that buying a dog can turn into a nightmarish experience. The same little puppy that looked so lively in the shop window would suddenly become sick beyond help and die. The front page of the Beijing Morning Post today features a harrowing investigation into the dirty secrets of the pet dog market in China.

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Aug 24

Xin Kuai Bao 24 Aug 2012

Guangzhou pays best

The front page of the New Express (新快报) from Guangzhou today reports on new statistics released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showing that Guangzhou in 2011 had the highest average salary among 22 provincial capitals and four municipalities in China, namely 57,473 yuan. Read more

Aug 18

Puyi and Li Shuxian in front of their still-standing residence.

Puyi’s former home demolished — but when?

Puyi’s final residence is no more. A house formerly occupied by last emperor of the Qing Dynasty was so badly damaged in the rainstorm that flooded Beijing at the end of July that it had to be pulled down, The Beijing News reported on August 15.

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Aug 11

Majiapu Zhonglu

The life of other people

This is the 1510 Digest, a weekly roundup of recent essays and articles published in Chinese on My1510.cn, with links to translations on the Marco Polo Project.

This week’s digest proposes three personal reflections on urban life in contemporary China. All three posts are well-crafted pieces of creative non-fiction that explore relationships, interpersonal feelings and a sense of place, from a male and a female perspective. All three were published over the last month on 1510.

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Jul 28

CNOOC building

Sinica Week of Floods

This is the Sinica Week, a summary of the most important China stories from the last seven days. Sinica is a weekly podcast about current affairs in China, hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn.

On each week’s Sinica podcast, guests discuss and choose the top stories about China published in English over the past week. Read more

Jul 27

imgres11-115x115

Beijing rainstorms, a revelation for Chinese people

This is the 1510 Digest, a weekly roundup of recent essays and articles published in Chinese on My1510.cn, with links to translations on the Marco Polo Project.

After the recent floods in Beijing,1510 opened a special section to cover the topic; this week’s digest echoes some of the discussions exchanged on this platform. For more on the Beijing floods you can read this post on danwei.

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Jul 27

Screen shot 2012-07-26 at 8.00.34 PM

Death count of Beijing’s rainfall reaches 77

The front page for today’s Beijing Morning News shows a candlelight vigil against a black backdrop. The headline reads: “The death count from the July 21st rainstorm has risen to 77.” Sixty-six bodies have now been identified; they are still waiting to confirm the identities of the remaining eleven.The front page then says “may they rest in peace,” and printed the names of all sixty-six identified dead. Read more

Jul 23

Beijing deluge

The Beijing deluge of 2012

Xinhua reported on Monday morning that the death toll after torrential rains pounded Beijing on Saturday had climbed to 37.

The report said that “Among the victims, 25 were drowned, six were killed in house collapses, one by lightening strike and five were electrocuted.” Read more

Dec 23

Leopard Cat

The uncertain return of Beijing wildlife

Outside a cafe in east Beijing, a small bird fluttered to the ground and hopped and pecked at the concrete. Beijing Bird Watching Society member Li Ming cracked a smile and said “Passer montanus.” A humble sparrow, which Li says is the city’s most common bird, with the magpie a close second.

You can find both species in the Illustrated Guide to Wild Birds of Beijing (北京野鸟图鉴) published in 2000. The book contains photos and descriptions of 276 species, but Li says he and his fellow bird watchers reckon there are now 430 species in the city and the surrounding countryside if you include migrants that only come for the summer. Read more

Dec 6

iPhone launch - image by Jonah Kessel

Teen digital habits in Beijing and Palo Alto

In August and September 2011, Danwei worked with the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) on a survey of the digital and media habits of high school students born in 1993 and 1994. The results were presented at the China 2.0 conference at Stanford Graduate School of Business School in September 2011. Read more

Nov 16

Legendale Hotel

Luxury consumption on Jinbao Street

Inhwa Chung and Lucy March are currently interning at Danwei. They have spent several weeks researching stores and consumers on one of Beijing’s luxury shopping streets by talking to sales staff and customers.

Jinbao Street screams wealth. Jinbao (金宝) means “gold and treasure” and the name is apt:

The Hong Kong Jockey club squats in the middle of the street, surrounded by stores that sell Bentleys and Ferraris with price tags in the millions (please refer to our previous research for more about the cars and background to Jinbao Street). Private drivers in expensive cars roll up to five-star hotels to pick up their customers. During lunch hour, men and women in designer suits come out from their offices suites and descend upon the street which is lined with stores offering luxury goods.

We asked sales staff at nearly all the stores on Jinbao Street what their most expensive and cheapest items were and for comments about their customer demographics. Some were more talkative than others.

The most expensive item on the whole street is a Pagani sports car that sells at 26 million yuan. Other products with outrageous price tags include:

• A password-protected cabinet with a price tag of 5 million yuan;
• A diamond encrusted watch for 6.6 million yuan;
• A medicinal fungus for 200,000 yuan;
• Men’ suits for a million yuan;
• A cell phone for  840,000 yuan.

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Oct 10

What do people buy from corner stores in China?

What do people buy from corner stores in China?

I spent China’s October holiday traveling across the country on a work trip. In each city I visited, I went to a small corner store (known in China as xiaomaibu 小卖部). Such stores sell a range of goods similar to convenience stores, but usually packed into a tiny space. Many xiaomaibu‘s are so small that you cannot walk into them, but have to ask the vendor for what you want through a window.

I asked the person manning each store to tell me the most popular item they sold, and then took a portrait.

Xiaomaibu Chengdu

Chengdu 成都
Population: 14.05 Million
Name: Fan Wei 范伟
Top selling item: Lottery tickets (彩票)
China’s has two major lotteries; one supports sports teams and training, the other funds state welfare systems. According to the Ministry of Finance, China’s lottery sales totaled 138.12 billion yuan ($21.58 billion) during the first eight months of 2011.

Xiaomaibu Shenyang

Shenyang 沈阳市
Population: 8.1 Million
Name: Gong Nanhua 宫华南
Top selling item: Uni-President Iced Black Tea 统一冰红茶

Xiaomaibu Shanghai

Shanghai 上海市
Population: 23 Million
Name: Tang Zaihua 唐仔华 
Top selling item: Mai Dong Energy Drink (Robust Group product) 脉动

Xiaomaibu Guangzhou

Guangzhou 广州市
Population: 10.182 Million
Name: Qiu Xinfu 邱心富
Top selling item: Double Happiness Cigarettes 红双喜香烟

Xiaomaibu Zhengzhou

Xiaomaibu Zhengzhou

Zhengzhou 郑州
Population: 8.63 Million
Name: Zhao Xinzhi 赵新枝
Top selling item: Golden Leaf Cigarette 黄金叶香烟
Ms. Zhao (top picture) requested a portrait of her grandson Feng Yi (冯毅 - bottom picture) appear with the Golden Leaf Cigarettes with this article.

Xiaomaibu Beijing

Beijing 北京
Population: 19.61 Million
Name: Dou Jiadong 窦家东
Top selling item: Huiyuan orange juice 汇源橙汁
Notes: This store is in a Beijing neighborhood where many foreigners live.

– Research for this report by Wang Miao 王淼 .

– Further photos by Jonah Kessel from the October holiday are on Danwei here, or see Jonah Kessel’s website for more. 

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