Results tagged “children”

The Chinese government has kicked itself into gear finding the hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of children that go missing in China each year, thanks probably in part to the sudden media attention the issue garnered last April when hundreds of parents set to the streets in a peaceful march, begging local and national bureaus for help. As part of the government-sponsored efforts, they've set up this website: "Babies Looking for Home", which cycles through pictures of 60 children who were kidnapped from their families and were recently recovered in police stings.

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

Kids these days and their hippity hop. This girl doesn't look more than 10 or 11 years old but she's already got some crazy moves on the dance floor. Of course, if she's anything like the members of China's female gymnastics team, maybe she's already had her Sweet 16.

Remember when text messaging wasn't that big of a deal? Way back before touch screens and T9, when your elders had barely gotten used to having a cellular phone on them? Well, the halcyon days of instant communication technology are long gone - if you're one of the "after 90" generation, you've grown up in constant contact with friends, family and the rest of the world.

We're sorry to have inundated you guys with all this 60th anniversary news. Don't worry, once everyone else stops reporting on it, we will too. In the meantime, here's something decidedly NOT 60th anniversary related to wash the taste (of patriotism?) out of your mouth:

• When I grow up I want to be a corrupt official [Black and White Cat] "On the first day of term, Southern Metropolis Daily asked primary school children in Guangzhou what they want to be when they grow up. Here are some of the answers."
• China pupils told to love nation [BBC] "Chinese children are being told that the first lesson they must learn this school year is "love your country". The ministry of education has produced a special TV programme to encourage patriotism among the nation's youngsters. It is being broadcast as tens of millions of children head back to their classes after the summer holidays."
• U.S., Australia to Ask China to Exercises - Report [Reuters] "China will be asked by the United States and Australia to join military exercises to repair ties after a diplomatic row between Canberra and Beijing, a top U.S. military official said on Thursday. Following a meeting between Australia's military chief Angus Houston and U.S. Pacific Command head Admiral Timothy Keating, both countries agreed to approach China's defense ministry about joint naval and land exercises, Keating told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in an interview. "We are anxious to engage with them," Keating said."

• China's founding legend may not be true [USA TODAY] "China's founding dynasty may just be a myth, say archaeologists. In a news report in the current Science, writer Andrew Lawler surveys a decade's worth of discoveries suggesting ancient China sprang from distinct regions, rather than possessing a single national culture some 4,300 years ago. "How China became China is no mere academic topic; it goes to the very heart of how the world’s most populous and economically vibrant nation sees itself and its role in the world," Lawler writes."
• Beijing puts giant media marriage on the rocks [Reuters] "China's leading Internet portal, Sina Corp is likely to call off its planned $1.4 billion purchase of Focus Media's core assets if the government fails to bless the marriage by a September deadline. Since Sina unveiled the deal in December — the largest in China's opaque media sector — China's commerce ministry has repeatedly put off reviewing the deal, asking for additional documents, frustrating both Nasdaq-listed companies."
• China: U.S. and Chinese Generals Clash [NYT] "A meeting on Thursday in Beijing between a Chinese military leader and a visiting American army general turned rancorous as the Chinese leader gave a sharp lecture on the failure of the United States to respect China’s interests, according to a witness at the meeting and a report by Xinhua, the state news agency. The argument took place when Gen. Ge Zhenfeng, deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, met with Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the chief of staff of the United States Army. "

• Chinese sex toy market explodes [Sydney Morning Herald] "VIDEO: Chinese sex toy manufacturer, Sweet Secret, trains sales staff ahead of the opening of its first Beijing store."
• More Chinese Astronauts Prefer Volvos [Wired] "Four pioneers in Chinese space exploration have made it their mission to purchase Volvo S80L sedans. That’s one small step for man, one giant sedan for the garage. After returning safely from the Shenzhou 7 space mission, taikonauts Yang Liwei, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng purchased matching luxury cars. According to Volvo Cars China, the quartet decided on the Chinese-exclusive S80L for three reasons: the car is safe, built locally, and the “brand image expresses premiumness and is not ostentatious.”"
• Don't Mess With China's Kids [Forbes] "Given China's habit of punishing individuals who protest against the government, it takes a lot of courage-or rage-for comrades to come forward. What gets Chinese people out in the streets demonstrating every time? Forcing parents to abide by a one-child policy, and then letting someone kill the one child to save a buck."

Despite the warm reception it got in the apparently more sexually open city of Nanjing, Shanghai's first sex-ed camp for kids fell flat. The course, which opened yesterday for children aged eight to 13, only managed to attract six male students and absolutely no females. It seems many parents were put off by the high cost: 2,880 yuan for just three days and others commented that this style of frankness “conflicts with Chinese people's cultural traditions.” Still, parents of the children who did go said it was worth it. “It's an information explosion age and there is much misleading information on the Internet,” opined one mother. “It's better for kids to be instructed by professionals.” Source: Shanghai Daily

• Here's a 4-year-old girl who loves her beer [People's Daily Online] "A 4-year-old girl in Penglai, Shandong province, loves beer so much that she wants to have a glass of the alcoholic beverage with each meal. The toddler first tasted beer about a year back, and has since refused to eat if there wasn't a glassful beside her plate. Her careless parents are now desperately seeking help to get their daughter give up the habit."
• Kids Put The Heat On Police Exam Cheaters In China [CBS News] "Police officers contemplating cheating on promotion exams met their match this week in northwestern China _ 18 serious-faced fifth-graders walking the beat. The students were decked in blue and white school uniforms, and photos on the local government Web site showed them standing behind podiums and sauntering up and down aisles of various classrooms to monitor 265 police test-takers in Liangzhou county in Gansu province."
• Xu Zhiyong: Destined To Fight For Social Justice [China Digital Times] "It is very unusual for a human rights activist to be profiled by official media in China. The Economic Observer recently published a profile of Xu Zhiyong, a legal scholar and activist who relentlessly seeks social justice. Excerpts translated by CDT’s Linjun Fan."

In a surprising about face on the one child policy, authorities in Shanghai have launched a campaign to encourage couples to have a second kid, as long as both of them were only children themselves. The Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission said today that officials would be visiting these specific families, publicizing the policy for allowing a second child and providing consulting services. Why the change? It seems that Shanghai is getting increasingly worried about its growing elderly population and is hoping to prevent future labor shortages. So if you live in Shanghai, were an only child, and married someone else who was an only child, the government is now telling you to "Have Children." Source: Xinhua

We don't know if this is what happens every summer in this city, but it seems like this month there have been a lot of really depressing stories about children drowning. First, there was the woman who allegedly threw a two-month-old infant into the river. She has been detained and is rumored to be suffering from post-partum depression. Then a little boy fell into the river near the Yangjia Bridge last week. He has yet to be found. And now Shanghai Daily tells us that a toddler has drowned in a freak septic tank accident in Baoshan District. Someone left the top of a septic tank open and a 5-year-old girl fell in and wasn't discovered til two days later. Good god. So keep an eye on your kids, parents, especially if they happen to be playing anywhere near water.

Back when we were wee little children, we watched Nickelodeon's Guts with the same fanaticism our Gen-X uncles had for American Gladiators. The show, which pits kids against kids in a competitive sports arena was great for its messiness, its "safe" violence, and its schadenfreude (when that girl who looks a lot like the annoying kid in your math class falls off the giant yoga mat pyramid onto her face. ha!). We've grown up now, but we're happy to hear that millions of Chinese youth will be getting a taste of the childhood we remember - MTV's international division will be bringing Guts to China. Called 挑战小勇士 (tiaozhan xiaoyongshi), it'll allow Chinese kids their shot at athletic glory and humiliation on a giant foamy set, something the adults have been allowed to do for a while now. Source: Hollywood Reporter

We came across this alarming piece of "news" from the Parenting column at Cityweekend about hand sanitizers and your children (dun dun dun!). Apparently, they had just "heard" the following story about a young four-year-old named Halle who was rushed to the ER for being severely lethargic and incoherent in her classroom.

The thousands of children kidnapped every year and the ensuing media attention has led to China finally starting up a nationwide crackdown on human trafficking, which began on April 9.

When the People's Republic of China was first established in 1949, the State Council (Cabinet) designated a half-day holiday for all primary schools on June 1. This was later made into a full day's break in 1956 with The Announcement by the State Council to make June 1 Children's Day a One-Day Holiday.

Continue reading "Happy Children's Day!"

Every few months, someone in Hong Kong seems to be filmed having a breakdown. Last time it was Airport Auntie. This time, it's a new "Subway Uncle" who, in the era of swine flu, explodes into a rage when a little boy coughs without covering his face.

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

A Shanghainese woman who's lived abroad in the U.S. recently posted a blog entry on the stereotype of "Chinese Mothers" in the West that garnered a lot of attention from netizens.

    

Source: CRI Talk China

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

Counterfeit money in Asia is not just a fantasy fictionalized by that Jackie Chan atrocity film Rush Hour 2. It is a real situation. Very real.. and usually very problematic. One reason why you won't find denominations over 100RMB here: the government hasn't found a way to make sure it'll infiltrate the population without getting counterfeited up the wazoo.

To the fact that it's Monday and the weekend is so sadly over, we say...

• Primary school students expelled for gambling ring in Guangdong [Zhongnanhai] "There were many cars waiting outside the Huadong (Dongguan, Guangdong Province) Senior High School gate over the last two days. Parents were waiting to take their kids back home, permanently. Over a hundred students in grades one and two have been involved in basketball gambling. All of them have been expelled from school."
• Saint Laurent Chinese Qing Bronzes Fetch $40 Million [Bloomberg] "Both made 15.7 million euros with fees, or 14 million euros at hammer price. The sculptures had been expected to fetch about 8 million euros each, said Christie’s. They were bought by Thomas Seydoux, Christie’s international co-head of Impressionist and modern art, taking instructions over the telephone."
• China keeps wary eye on displaced migrant workers [International Herald Tribune] "Although the government has not released updated information about rural unrest, officials have been strategizing about how best to keep large protests and riots from spreading, should the dispossessed grow unruly. This week, more than 3,000 public security directors from across the country are gathering in the capital to learn how to neutralize rallies and strikes before they blossom into so-called 'mass incidents.' At a meeting of the Chinese cabinet last month, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told government leaders they should prepare for rough times ahead. 'The country's employment situation is extremely grim,' he said."

The mother of a 4-year-old girl who died in Shanghai No. 5 People's Hospital after suffering severe beatings was charged with child abuse yesterday. The girl was taken to hospital by her stepfather on Januray the 8, but had already died once they got there. Hospital staff noticed several cuts and bruises on her body.

When migrants move from their villages to look for jobs in the big city, they often don't take the kids. According to a recent press report, as many as one out of six children in China - 58 million - are left behind with town elders. This video is about some of the “left behind” children in the southern provinces of China. Source:McClatchy

Guess some kids get started on the ciggies a lot earlier than others. A lot earlier. Source: ZhongNanHai Blog

An 11-year-old girl has mysteriously jumped to her death at school this morning, the first day she returned from the Spring Festival vacation. At around 8:50am, right after her first class, the girl jumped off from the sixth floor of Shanghai Children's Dream Experiment School. A teacher told Xinmin.cn that the girl had been unhappy with her mother, and that the two had a “strained relationship” during the winter holiday. Source: Shanghai Daily