Results tagged “elderly”

Today's Links: South China rains kill 20, displace 700K

  • South China rains kill 20, force 700,000 from homes [Xinhua] "Torrential rains and floods in southern China have left at least 20 people dead and two missing. More than 700,000 people have been relocated as downpours have destroyed houses, flooded crops, cut power, damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow, according to the latest figures from the provinces of Hunan, Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. "
  • SHANGHAI BUILDING COLLAPSE: Hundreds protest [Straits Times] "HUNDREDS of Chinese homeowners protested outside government offices in Shanghai demanding refunds after a 13-story apartment building in a complex under construction toppled over, newspapers reported on Sunday. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said the protesters marched on Saturday through central Shanghai, holding handwritten signs and chanting: 'Lotus Riverside, refund (our) homes!'"
  • China apologizes to Mexico for tough swine flu stand [AFP] "China's Health Minister Chen Zhu Friday apologized to his Mexican counterpart for failing to warn him about the tough measures Beijing imposed on Mexicans to combat swine flu. "I regret that I did not talk first" to Minister Jose Angel Cordova, Chen said on the sidelines of a meeting in Cancun about the swine flu pandemic."

Old woman found in Pudong home two years after death

What would have been a 60-year-old woman was found dead in her Pudong home last week - after rotting there for roughly two years.

Retired teacher gives "thank you" letter to people who offer their seats up on the bus

Being the upstanding citizens that we are, we're always quick to offer our seats on public transporation to the disabled and elderly. We rarely expect anything more than a quick thanks from our beneficiary. But according to Xinmin Newspaper (新民日报), one retired teacher has stepped his thanking up a notch and made a habit of giving a letter of gratitude to every person who's ever gotten up for him.

Today's Links: Chavez sucks up, Cars hit the web, and China cracks down on wiley 75-year-olds

  • Chavez says world 'center of gravity' now Beijing [AP] "The world's center of gravity has moved to Beijing, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told his Chinese counterpart Wednesday during a visit focused on boosting Chinese oil purchases. The frequent U.S. critic also praised China's response to the global financial meltdown that has sent prices of his South American nation's key export, oil, down sharply."
  • Auto Makers Flock to Web to Woo Chinese Buyers [WSJ] "Global auto makers think the Internet is the way into the hearts of a new generation of Chinese car enthusiasts. Both foreign and domestic auto makers here are pouring ad money into online ventures, even as their overall spending remains flat. Market-tracking firm iResearch expects outlays for online auto marketing to reach 1.75 billion yuan, or roughly $256 million, this year, up from 1.38 billion yuan in 2008."
  • Professor beaten ahead of Tiananmen anniversary [ABC] "The approaching 20th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown has brought tensions to a head, with a 75-year-old, retired professor brutally beaten for trying to honour the memory of a Chinese leader who supported the students in 1989."

Shanghai is getting senile

We all presumed that the one-child policy was going to lead to an aging population, but there's nothing like actual numbers to prove it: 96,700 babies were born in Shanghai last year, while 107,000 people died, according to an official report.

  • A 23 year old woman has been charged in Minhang District for attempted extortion for allegedly trying to extort 500,000 yuan from her boss after she saw a love letter on his computer.
  • Great news for families of migrant workers here: Children without a Shanghai hukou can now apply to the local education administration to receive education.
  • Over 100 fare dodgers on the Shanghai subway were caught and fined the maximum penalty of RMB45 during a four-hour crackdown yesterday. Maybe if the maximum penalty were a little higher, people would think twice next time.

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).

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).

In this video Al Jazeera reports on two elderly Beijing residents who tried to organize protests against evictions in the capital. For these women, who are both in their 70s, this has had far reaching consequences.

Our parents and sister just visited China for the first time. We won’t bore you with the details on what we did in Shanghai, but since many of you are hosting visitors and/or visiting China for the first time for the Olympics, here are some of the highlights from our travels to Beijing including suggestions for elderly and disabled (something we couldn't find anywhere else online).

... and that is a conservative estimate, writes Bernie Leo of Shanghai Daily.

Anhui Television has uncovered the story of Tao Xing (陶星), a 16-year-old student from Yueyang, Hunan Province, who has recently come under the spotlight for his loving care of his mother.

The couple promised to pay Ma 100,000 yuan as reward for a child and 150,000 yuan if there were twins and they paid Ma 3000 yuan every month after they made the agreement. Ma tried artificial insemination in October 2006 but this failed and the doctors said she was probably not suitable. However the doctors said they would try once again later.

A 29 year old Japanese man, Saitou Takuya (斋藤卓也) who is madly in love (so he thinks) with a girl he saw on the Beijing subway has put up a video of her (that he secretly took with his cell phone, he admits) and asked the public to help him in his search for her. He looks and sounds very desperate to find her in his video uploaded on Youku (we are beginning to LOVE this website!) which includes the following message:

  • Killer bashes, knifes victim. Local prosecutors yesterday charged a 71-year-old man with killing a 76-year-old woman by bashing her with a spade, trying to suffocate her with a quilt, and then attempting to strangle her. Finally he knifed her in the face and neck, prosecutors allege. Messy, messy!
  • U.S. avoids labeling China 'manipulator'. China is not intentionally manipulating its currency to gain an unfair trade advantage but its massive buildup of foreign reserves raises risks for the global economy, a U.S. government report said Wednesday.
  • Wikipedia unblocked? Every version of Wikipedia that is, except for the Chinese version. We're just keeping our fingers and toes crossed it doesn't get blocked again by tomorrow. It gets a bit tiresome after a while.
  • Gymnast Falls, Likely Paralyzed. Wang Yan, whose age was given as 15 or 16, fell from the bars headfirst during Sunday's final in Shanghai, breaking her neck and losing consciousness. Doctors said she was fortunate to have survived her injury, the Shanghai Daily reported yesterday.
  • Google Shanghai R&D center to open at end June. Google Inc's engineering research centre in Shanghai will open towards the end of June, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.
  • Old 'worms in the eyes' trick comes back in city. A man is playing an ancient trick called "worms in the eyes" to cheat elderly people in a street in downtown Jing'an District, Shanghai Morning Post reported today.
  • Honor for the vein glorious. On World Bood Donor Day, the city honored 103 top blood donors, and a collection of stamps with the images of 17 people who have donated platelets 25 times or more was released.
  • China to apply brakes again after economy speeds up. China's economy is set for another round of measures to prevent overheating, premier Wen Jiabao said as official data Thursday showed industrial output had defied cooling efforts in May.
  • Shanghai cracks nearly 1,500 commercial bribery cases in 16 months. Discipline inspectors and law enforcement agencies in Shanghai dealt with 1,468 commercial bribery cases, involving 495 million yuan in this leading metropolis of China in the 15 months ending April this year, authorities said on Thursday.
  • Guanxi website promises links. Since its founding in March, Zhike.com has been seeking out the kind of connections that can help people enroll a child in the right primary school, get help from the government with business and even meet a celebrity - for a price.
  • Patrol team reports 46 cheating cabbies. A team of officers tasked with patrolling the entrances to 27 of the city's top hotels to keep an eye out for taxi drivers who try to cheat foreign passengers has reported 46 drivers since going on duty earlier this year.
  • KFC in deal to open more restaurants along expanding Shanghai metro. KFC has formed a strategic partnership with the Shanghai Shentong Metro Assets Management Co Ltd to build more of its fast food stores around Shanghai's growing number of subway stations over the next several years.
  • Bodies related to Ming artist found in Shanghai. Four bodies found in two ancient tombs unearthed at a construction site in Jiading District are probably the relatives of Li Liufang, a famous artist during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), archaeologists said yesterday.


  • "She said the gunman 'was just a normal-looking kid, Asian, but he had on a Boy Scout-type outfit. He wore a tan button-up vest, and this black vest, maybe it was for ammo or something.'"
  • "The 24-year-old man arrived in San Francisco on United Airlines on Aug. 7 on a visa issued in Shanghai, the source said. Investigators have not linked him to any terrorist groups, the source said."
  • "The gunman who shot up a Virginia university and killed at least 33 people including himself was an Asian student who had quarrelled with his girlfriend just before the shooting spree, a Taiwanese student said Tuesday."
  • "The gunman found dead today by authorities from apparently self-inflicted wounds was described by an injured student to MSNBC as a college-aged Asian with a maroon hat and black leather jacket." Just because his visa was issued in Shanghai does not mean he is from Shanghai.
  • "No Chinese students have been found among the dozens of victims in Monday's shooting rampage on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia." Except for, maybe, the killer.
  • "Shanghai's oldest luxury hotel, Peace Hotel, has been closed for a US$65m restoration and is expected to reopen in 2010."
  • "McDonald's China has promised to establish trade union branches in its 40 restaurants in the eastern Zhejiang province this year, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) said Monday."
  • "Some interesting variations by Chinese sports shoe companies on one of the world’s most famous logos." Also 'borrowed' from are Diadora and Mizuno.
  • "The bones are used for traditional Chinese medicine and the claws are worn by some men as pendants in the hope of increasing their virility."
  • "The Consumer Council in Hong Kong warns that excessive consumption of dried squid snacks could result in arsenic poisoning, leading to chronic pathological liver disorder." Good thing we can't stand the stuff.
  • "Google may face legal action after admitting to unauthorised use of data from Chinese internet portal Sohu in its own Chinese translation software."
  • "The U.S. government's accusation that China's market access restrictions on films, books and audiovisual products are leading to rampant piracy does not stand up," Wang told a news conference in Beijing.
  • "They said the fourth-year undergraduate was an introvert who was working as an intern in a local company. She was reportedly pessimistic about over the demanding job last week." Happened in Changning District around midnight.
  • "Zhu Jun, owner of Shenhua soccer club, is countersuing his neighbors in a dispute about a wall that allegedly blocks sunlight." On Xingguo Road.
  • "After This Our Exile, which tells the story of a gambling addict who forces his son to steal to make ends meet, won best film, director and screenplay."
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    Photo by sheniferous found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.



  • "The anti-pet brigade, angered over noise and mess from domestic cats and dogs, is lobbying the authorities for tougher restrictions on pet ownership, as the number of people keeping them without a license increases."




  • "FedEx's domestic China service will flow from its hub at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in east China's Zhejiang province. ... Domestic carrier Okay Airways will provide air transportation, using three Boeing 737 jets." Okay!
  • "A group of Chinese reporters came up with a novel idea to test how greedy local hospitals were -- pass off tea as urine samples and submit the drink for tests."
  • "The typical Chinese restaurant menu is a sea of nutritional no-nos, a consumer group has found. A plate of General Tso's chicken, for example, is loaded with about 40 percent more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day."
  • "A Chinese man bought carry-on wine and spirits worth a record 23,000 euros (15,600 pounds) at Paris airport's duty-free shop -- including a bottle of 1806 cognac that might have slipped through the fingers of Emperor Napoleon."
  • "The Los Angeles Lakers' star has the top-selling jersey there, while sales of Yao Ming's jersey in his home country continue to fall, according to results released by the NBA on Tuesday."
  • "FedEx will launch the next-business-day domestic express service May 28, with time-definite service to 19 cities and day-definite service to more than 200 cities across the country, the company said."
  • "A dean at one of China's most prestigious universities has been fired after criticizing the school's administration on his blog."
  • "Police in Hong Kong are investigating an elaborate device found embedded in the turf at a world-famous horse track apparently designed to shoot poison darts at the animals at the start of a race."
  • "Although it has been in operation for less than two years, Aoyou.com, a joint venture between China Youth Travel and Travelport, has reportedly suffered a loss of RMB60 million."
  • "Following the recent one yuan .CN domain name promotion in China, it has now turned its eyes to teenagers in China and is advocating them to use the .CN domain names."
  • "Oceanographers yesterday dismissed claims by a British journalist that rising tides will engulf Shanghai, Tianjin and other coastal cities by 2050."
  • "The average age gap between Shanghai women and their foreign husbands is 10.5, and 13 percent of the foreign husbands are 20 years older than their local brides, the report said."
  • "When the city's first sex hotline for the middle-aged and elderly opened in August, operators quickly found out that many of their callers' biggest problem was loneliness."
  • "While the local media could not publish about the most famous house in Chongqing, the stories kept on spreading on the internet, often hardly based on any facts. But that forced national media like CCTV to bring the story and Venture160 did a great job in translating the interview."
  • For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.

    Photo by jules_shanghai found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.

    Shanghaiist woke up at 6 this morning to a terrible noise outside our building. Two buses (#205 and #45) had collided at the intersection and plowed into the building directly across the street from us. The Taiyuan and Jianguo intersection is very busy, with traffic going south towards the Xujiahui area and a wet market right on the corner. One of the buses must have ran a red light, resulting in the freak accident. Of course, a crowd quickly gathered around the front of the buses and the boyfriend guessed that there was someone (or some people) pinned by the buses, although we didn't want to believe it. The cops, then firemen, and then finally rescue workers arrived on the scene and it was a full half hour before tape was wrapped around the buses to prevent rubberneckers from disrupting the accident further. Only a few people were taken to the hospital (what looked to be one of the drivers and an elderly woman, who wasn't badly hurt).

    Lots of juicy transportation news today:

    For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.

    Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court — Judge Wapner works over at No. 1 — recently began hearing the case of of a Chongming County woman, surnamed Huang, who admitted to killing an elderly woman who was in her care last may, Xinhua reports:

    China announced yesterday it is tightening its adoption rules for foreigners. Starting May 1, the following groups of people will not be allowed to take home a Chinese child:

    On the website, there's information about the hotel, world's highest observatory, shopping and business areas that will comprise the center. As for the name, we found this explanation:

    On Saturday, November 11, New York Times Foreign Affairs Columnist Thomas L. Friedman spoke at Three On The Bund as part of the Three Talk Lecture Series which was co-hosted by the Penguin Group, publisher of Friedman's bestseller The World Is Flat (TWIF). When the globe-trotter, Friedman comes to Shanghai, it is clear how much he travels by the fact that he seems to be unsure of exactly where he is, as in one instance, he spoke of Three On The Bund "here in Beijing." In all, Friedman spoke on his book for about 52 minutes and then followed with a 36 minute Q&A session at the conclusion of which he was presented with a bizarre statuette of himself standing atop a flat world with the words "GEO GREEN" affixed to a pink base and surrounded by the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.

    Photo by raincontreras taken from 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.

    If the only railway station waiting room you’re accustomed to in China is the grimy, smoky one with endless waves of humanity sitting on those red, white and blue striped bags of live produce, then you’re going to enjoy the South Shanghai Railway Station for a change. We were fortunate enough to pass through the gleaming, spotless and modern facility last night on our way back from Hangzhou (RMB 44 for soft seat; 1 hour 50 minutes). It’s everything that Pudong Airport is not.

    "The Japanese have the kimono and the Koreans also have their traditional.clothing. But not the Han people, although they represent the largest of China's 56 ethnic groups," said Liu, who actively promotes cuture.

  • Boy gains a dozen ex-wives via internet; hen electrocuted, causes blackout; elderly woman is actually elderly man; Scorpions in baggage scare airport security -- more weird shit than you can shake a stick at.
  • There are still North Korean refugees trying desperately to escape the Dear Leader via China.
  • Chinese philosopher Li Ming claims that he solved the famous four color theorem problem in mathematics (a proof of which came out in 1977) using the ideas of Laozi and German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Fang Zhouzi called him out on this, saying that if he had a proof that he ought to publish it in an academic journal. Li replied that he was willing to wage his life on this proof -- he said that the loser of this debate ought to commit suicide. Sounds like a smart guy.
  • A bishop from China's underground Catholic church was released after spending ten years in prison.
  • Hey, have y'all been using our new "Recommend this" feature at the bottom of each post? This week we're bringing you the "Most Recommended" posts from across the -ist world, as well as recommending some of our own.

    Sometimes you need to clean yourself up, get serious, and move in with daddie for a few months before you head to Latin America for a new gig. The District bid's Jenna Bush adios. D.C.-based television shows have an elderly audience and DCist has some suggestions to fix that. They're also throwing Butterstick the panda bear a birthday bash.

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