October 11th, 2009
Two new other sites are born, read more further down. This site will change over time… when I find the time that is.
There are several sections for you to explore! And don’t forget to scroll down! Some postings are for friends only. To have access, register and you will have access after login.
Sometimes you may experience loading delays, caused by the (slow and tricky) China Internet. The trick that usually works: wait just a little then click stop loading and the picture galleries are there to see. Seems caused by some links needed for the blog. If you are on a VPN or abroad there should be no delay.
I am a Rat!
Beijing air quality:
- see the pages in the right hand column to have background information on what AQI and API means, also the impact on your health;
- search for blog entries to have further comments on pollution in Beijing.
“Wat niet vrolijk gezegd kan worden is de waarheid niet.”
‘t Pallieterke
About me:
- see in the right hand column information about this blog
- see my brief – also in Chinese – and the article of a book talking about me
- “the” movie: http://blog.strategy4china.com/?p=2847
Posted in Letting steam off | No Comments »
February 24th, 2011
I mentioned earlier the report that I delivered to the Beijing Mayor, report that was widely circulated in the Government. At first I thought none of the remarks were taken into account.
Well, maybe they did listen to people like me.
One of my main recommendations was to improve driving manners. See here the article of China Daily, and below the mentioned “bad habits”. Sounds familiar?
Driving manners target of five-year policy, 21 Feb 11, by Chen Xin (China Daily)
As others already pointed out, the new policies should not give us too much hope as enforcement will again be the weakest point. Who will fine bikes who fail to stop for the red light? What is being done about all the cars without a license plate?
Other new positive measures intend to improve parking lots in buildings and related. Too many parkings in buildings are either difficult to use or have simply been converted for other use (like a KTV…).
10 bad habits on the road:
1. forcibly overtaking another vehicle;
2. dangerously weaving between cars;
3. not giving way to pedestrians on a crosswalk;
4. using a cell phone when driving;
5. not wearing a seat belt while driving;
6. freely using the horn;
7. throwing garbage out of car windows;
8. not moving to the curb following a minor traffic accident;
9. running a red light on a bicycle or tricycle;
10. not using a crosswalk or following signals when crossing roads as a pedestrian.
They better hurry up and do something. In the past days we had again AQI levels between 400 and 500. Fortunately today the pollution was blown away and right now we can enjoy a real “blue sky day”.
Tags: pollution
Posted in consumer & environment issues | No Comments »
February 16th, 2011
The IHT on 7 February 2011 published an article “E-book devices draw in a younger generation”. It also showed a picture of a young reader, shot by Joyce Dopkeen.
While the article was interesting in itself (thinking about my books that do not progress) I was touched by the black & white picture. It has something soft, sensual, retro and poetic that is hard to describe. Would merit a special prize. I went to see the picture online, only to find a reduced quality color pic. Was disappointing, the appeal was not there anymore.
The pic you see here is a scanned version of the hard copy.
Sometimes I feel nostalgic about the old B&W picture we took with our film rolls.
Posted in General | No Comments »
February 14th, 2011
According to Bloomberg on 4 Feb 2011, the Hong Kong API was recently “very high” at two of the roadside monitoring stations: 141 in the Causeway Bay District (where I lived before) and 107 in Central (one of my favorite spots). Now, could those sissies stop complaining? Right on Sunday 13 Feb, despite the snow, Beijing’s AQI had passed 180; then a good wind blew it all away and pollution dropped well below AQI 50.
Well at least in Hong Kong they talk about it. Here, all is well obviously. Thanks to different definitions of what “Very High” means.
We just need to wait till our Beijing drivers transform the city into a parking lot (this week?) and we can look for higher AQI. After short periods of under 50, we should be back in the familiar territory of 150 to 200.
Posted in Letting steam off | 1 Comment »
February 13th, 2011
As reported in the SCMP and other media, the mainland’s top censor, the General Administration of Press and Publication, has felt it necessary to ban the use of English words and abbreviations in the media, claiming the “purity” of the Chinese language was under threat. It is also proposing a ban on the use of English characters in building names and addresses. So, no more stuff like Block 5A or apartment 202B. Or anything. From now on, in Northcapital (capital of Middlecountry), get used to new building and apartment numbers.
This will for sure help Northcapital to become an international city. Thanks to the Northcapital 2008 Olympics, now most drivers can talk English. Their most common used conversation in perfect English sounds like this: “Ni qu naaaaar? Fukyu!”.
This is if the taxi driver does not run you over but at least stops 2 seconds. The Olympics have done a great job in improving the language capabilities and civility of our local friends.
Posted in Letting steam off | No Comments »
January 26th, 2011
On 17 January, thanks to Charles Dukes of “Beijing This Month” we were invited to their event at the Beijing Marriott Hotel City Wall. We were happy to have skipped other invitations for the same evening as once again BTM did a great job in organizing a flashy evening.
The evening was presided by Ms. Wang Hui, well known through her role as spokeswoman during the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
If you want to see some beautiful Chinese models – boys and girls, the latest Chinese fashion creations from Zeng Fengfei (designer and general manager of Xiamen Fengfei Costume Design Company), as well as the well-known fashion house Botao, sit back, relax and watch the picture gallery or click [Show picture list]. There are some impressive, elegant and tempting models. Makes us forget the pollution.
Also pictured are the ballroom dancers Liu Lei and Zhao Jing (I think they received the second prize in the national competition). Also the singer Ke Sen from the Bahamas and a group of international enthusiastic dancers.
Not to forget the obvious Chinese Opera group…
The evening ended with some dancing, Sun was invited by one of the dancers for a waltz and more; we could not resist to dance our Brazilian favorite swinging. Thanks Charles for the pics.
Posted in Beijing Life | No Comments »
