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Money Money Everywhere ... But Stock Slippage in China Incites Worry, Doubt
August 24, 2008 - 11:25am
In a dramatic text message sent in June, China’s financial insiders likened the trends marring the Shanghai Stock Exchange to an earth-shattering natural disaster. “More than 100 million investors have been buried in the ruins of the stock market by the earthquake in China's capital markets,” the text message read. “Most of them are dying.”
In a country exuding yuan — or so it seems — from the banks of the Yangtze River, such a debacle might seem surprising, even out of character. Especially in the wake of this summer’s Olympics for which China spent a whopping $42 billion, making history as the biggest Olympics budget to-date. Greece’s $16 billion expenditure on the 2004 games, in comparison, left the country ridden in dept.
Intra-Country Culture Shock: A Journey to The Rural Countryside of China
June 15, 2008 - 11:29pmFar from the fluorescent lights of Shanghai and the history-laden streets of Beijing lies a starkly different China — a China where bicycles are more prevalent than cars and where private family homes with adjoining small farms are more common than sky-high apartment buildings.
Watching the Olympic Flame As It Lights Up China
June 4, 2008 - 9:51amLike a waving silk ribbon, the crowd flowed up and down, up and down with a rhythm of passion and consistency. There were infants, parents, students, grandparents, workers, vagabonds, sports teams, security guards, corporate sponsors, ambassadors and too many other attendees to count or describe.
A Look Into China, A Glance Back Out
June 1, 2008 - 5:34pm“Adversities only make our country stronger,” the leadership of the All-China Students Federation told the Ivy League Student Delegation in a heartfelt recap of the devastation caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake – a natural disaster that has since left over 65,000 Chinese residents of the Sichuan Province dead, over 4.8 million homeless and over 23,000 missing.
Univ. Trustee Leads First-Ever Ivy League Student Delegation to China
May 28, 2008 - 8:05pmThe air was damp and the view clouded by smog, but at about 10:30 p.m. on May 27, 25 students from eight U.S. colleges and universities entered the Capital Hotel in the central city of Beijing, the capital of China. After travelling for 13 hours before landing at the ultra-sustainable Beijing Airport, the students, part of the first-ever Ivy League Student Delegation, enthusiastically began their 10-day excursion through Mainland China.
Childrens' Clothes, Gas Stoves and "Polos"
January 11, 2008 - 2:49pmThe influence of American culture in China is clear, from conversations about the very popular Prison Break to the plethora of KFCs and McDonald's. As many people in China have embraced a more consumer culture, American-style malls have grown up in cities.
In Beijing and Shanghai we were shown large malls with American, European and Chinese stores. The prices were generally lower than the same item would be at the same store in the U.S., but much more expensive than goods outside the malls.
Holding Up the Cornell Banner
January 11, 2008 - 11:10am
The Cornell Connection.: Monica Huang M.S. '03, Samuel Chen M. Eng '02, and Adrien Desbaillets '04 peruse copies of The Sun at a dinner with members of the Cornell Club of Shanghai and Sun editors. Photo: Matt HintsaThinking of moving to China after graduation and wondering if you’ll be in good company? Many Cornell alumni living in Shanghai have come together to create an active Cornell Club. (One also exists in Beijing.) The Club in Shanghai does not have a building like the more populous club in New York, so they meet about once a month in different restaurants around the city.
Universities Transform With Changes in Chinese Government, Society
January 7, 2008 - 11:14pmChinese society has undergone major changes in the past 30 years and universities have not fought the trend.
Due to the exponential growth in the number of universities — there are about 2,000 today, compared to a few hundred previously — 18 percent of high school students become university students now, according to Southeast University Vice President Yuepu Pu.
Building China
January 5, 2008 - 9:55am
City in Transition: Construction cranes are everywhere in Beijing as the city continues a trend of rapid growth. Looking at all the construction in Beijing, we were left to wonder how any of the buildings could possibly be finished within six months (construction will be halted a few months before the games to allow time for the dust to settle). China apparently has developed methods for building incredibly quickly, as we toured a college campus built in a year and a half. 15,000 of Southeast University's 30,000 students now live and study on an approximately $220 million, 93 square mile campus that did not exist in 2006.
Was This Built in 1507 or 2007?
January 5, 2008 - 9:45amOriginally published Jan. 4, 9:25 a.m. EST
Now and then: From Beijing's ancient Summer Palace, once the summer residence of the emperor and his family, visitors can see a recently built TV tower.
The day we visited the Forbidden City, home to the emperor and his family in the center of Beijing, all visitors had to leave by 4:30 p.m. As we walked through the expansive grounds, we wondered how the guards possibly got everyone to leave on time. Sun Associate Arts and Entertainment Editor Rebecca Weiss '09 made a joke that they might have an intercom system in the ancient grounds. We got our answer about 15 minutes before the grounds closed, however. There is a public address system in the Forbidden City.