The Sun in China

Money Money Everywhere ... But Stock Slippage in China Incites Worry, Doubt

Sarah Singer — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:25:13 -0400

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

Sarah Singer — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:29:32 -0400

Far 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

Sarah Singer — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:51:23 -0400

Like 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

Sarah Singer — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:34:39 -0400

“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

Sarah Singer — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:05:52 -0400

The 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"

Rebecca Shoval — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:49:01 -0500

The 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

Rebecca Shoval — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:10:41 -0500

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

Rebecca Shoval — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:14:57 -0500

Chinese 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

Rebecca Shoval — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:55:40 -0500

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?

Rebecca Shoval — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:45:42 -0500

Originally 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.

How Do I Use the Toilet?

Sun Staff — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:40:36 -0500

Architectural differences.: A squat toilet in China.

Bring your own toilet paper to China — but toilet seat covers are not necessary. With the exception of the bathrooms in the hotels and airports, the women's toilets did not have seats. Even in fancy bathrooms (many with motion-sensor flushing), there are squat toilets — ceramic holes in the floor with foot grids to stop your feet from slipping.

We were confused the first day, but the toilets are easy to use after a few times. There really isn't toilet paper provided in the bathrooms, by the way, so carrying your own around is necessary. Use of the squat toilets is described in detail here.

China Isn't Only Under Construction, It's Changing, Too

Rebecca Shoval — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:53:34 -0500

In his 30 years working and living on-and-off in China, Kenneth Jarrett ’75, consul general of Shanghai, has seen major changes. The plethora of contemporary architecture and nearly new buildings in Shanghai and Beijing speaks for itself, but almost everyone we met spoke about how different China was only five or 10 years ago. Jarrett described Shanghai in 1979 as “dark” and without much commercial activity, a stark contrast to today’s Shanghai — with a very bright night skyline, large florescent signs on may buildings and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Pollution Again

Rebecca Shoval — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:48:55 -0500

Movin' On Up: A view of high-rise buildings in Beijing through the city's polluted air. The air pollution levels in the city maximized the government's 500 point scale for air quality on this day.Pollution is still a major problem in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as places throughout China, but air quality has generally improved in the cities since the 1980s, when Beijing became one of the most polluted cities in the world. Emissions controls now exist for factories, nuclear plants are being built to lessen the country’s dependence on coal energy and better energy saving technology is being imported and developed there. Many factories have also been moved out of the city to prevent the build up of smog within one area. In Shanghai, there has been development of green spaces and tree planting to combat pollution and provide people cleaner air. Consul General of Shanghai Kenneth Jarrett ’75 attributes much of this progress to pressure from the population on the government, but acknowledges that air quality issues are still prominent. In Beijing, where license plate tags are much cheaper than Shanghai (5,000 yuan to 35,000 yuan, according to a few Shanghai residents), vehicle traffic creates much of the pollution. Furthering the problem is the 1,200 more cars and trucks that join the roads each day, according to The New York Times.

Refusing 10 More Times

Rebecca Shoval — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:13:11 -0500

In our five days in Beijing, which included visits to tourist sites and non-touristy businesses and restaurants, only two people approached us asking for money. We were regularly swarmed with people selling goods from fake Rolexes to Olympics swag (and once for a massage as we walked by a tattoo parlor at night), but there were virtually no visible beggars. Shanghai has been notably different. A short walk on the river front (the Bund) was filled with people asking us for handouts; some even tried to grab us to get our attention.

Recycle This, America

Rebecca Shoval — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:09:38 -0500

Mass consumption of bottled water has come under some recent criticism in the United States, partially because the empty plastic bottles often end up in the trash can instead of being recycled. Recycling our bottles (as Americans are advised to never drink the tap water) has been easier here than in many places in the US. Every public trashcan we saw in Beijing stood next to a container for recycling. This was so common, in fact, it seemed one would have to go out of their way not to recycle. The Shanghai Pudong airport even had separate barrels for inorganic and organic (compostable) trash.

Can We Take Your Picture?

Rebecca Shoval — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:52:41 -0500

While taking pictures at the Great Wall, a group of three tourists asked us to take a picture of them. It seemed commonplace, until we realized that they wanted us to be in the picture with them. Tourist sites are not as full as they would be in the summertime (especially this summer with the Olympics), and almost everyone is visiting from other parts of China. As we are often the only non-Asians in a crowd, people regularly stare at the four of us. Several have taken our picture, and many try to discreetly do so by standing close-by while another shoots them or holding up their cell phone as if text messaging.

Pollution in Beijing and Smiley Faces at Immigration

Rebecca Shoval — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:02:06 -0500

Smoggy Commute: With heavy industries within the city limits and more cars taking to the roads with each passing day, Beijing's air pollution crisis continues to worsen. When this photo was taken on December 28th, the city's air pollution scored a 500/500 on the city's 5When first touching down at the Beijing airport, there was so much pollution the air was white. Walking out of the airport was like walking into a cloud of smokers, intensified by the number of people smoking cigarettes as they waited in long lines for cabs and buses. For the first two days we were in Beijing, there was too much pollution to see the sky through it. The New York Times reported that Friday was a 500 out of 500 on the pollution scale. The air quality improved, however, after these first days.

The Capital Airport itself, however, as well as the Shanghai Pudong airport we landed at several days later, is very modern. At least two brand new terminals in Beijing and another in Shanghai are about to open.

The signs around immigration inform those getting off planes that the officers are very friendly. “Laws are fully enforced and service to passengers,” the changing electronic sign reads at one point. After the immigration officer processes your passport, they as you to rate their service. There are four buttons with English on them, demarcating your level of satisfaction. Happy and sad faces also illustration your feelings of satisfaction.

In Transition: China Reconstructs Beijing in Time for Olympics

Rebecca Shoval — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 09:59:56 -0500

Beijing is under construction. The city skyline is filled with construction cranes, and a drive down many streets features as many half-built buildings as finished ones. Visits to museums are commonly interrupted by renovations, while the ancient Forbidden City and Summer Palace - once the winter and summer homes of the emperor and his family - are being repainted despite remaining open. Construction is not the only constant reminder of the approaching 2008 Olympic Games. A large clock counts down to the opening ceremonies in Tiananmen Square, the site of the infamous 1989 student demonstration. Billboards and ads appear constantly, advertising both companies supporting the Olympics and the Olympic Games themselves.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Sun Staff — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 03:12:52 -0500

For the first time in the 127-year history of The Cornell Daily Sun, three editors and a photographer are currently on their way to China for a ten-day whirlwind trip. The Sun will be examining the University's historic ties to the Science Society of China, touring the offices of Chinese newspapers and magazines, speaking with Chinese and American students and diplomats and meeting Cornell alumni at the Cornell Club in Shanghai. The trip will be documented on cornellsun.com as well as in The Sun when print publishing resumes in January. We hope you enjoy this coverage.