Results tagged “poorpeople”

China’s August Consumer Price Index is out: a whopping 6.5 percent higher over comparable period last year, much higher than the 5.8 to 6 range economists were forecasting. The number, which measures inflation at the retail level, further breaks down to a 6.2 year over year price hike in major metro regions; but out in poverty stricken rural areas, goods and services are 7.2 percent more expensive than they were 12 months ago. In other words, poor people, who are always disproportionately hurt by rising inflation, are hit with the double whammy of even faster price escalation. While there is no golden standard for the CPI, most central bankers and economists are uncomfortable with a number above 2.5 percent. China has been trending between 3 to 4 percent for the past several months. The latest reading is a ten year high.

If part of your New Year's resolution is to pick up smoking, well here is yet another reason why you have just made an awesome decision (as if prospect of tarred teeth, permanent bad breath and lung cancer aren’t enough to look forward to): Your new habit will help fund education for many underprivileged children in China. Last night at dinner, while enjoying some fine second hand smoke, we noticed this message prominently displayed on the pack of Zhongnanhai Lights our friend was holding (yes, that Zhongnanhai):

We came across an article about a guy here in Shanghai who recently got into some trouble on the internet because of a photo where he appears to be burning money with a cigarette. Some people found the image objectionable, with some even saying that the image, which was posted on the man's blog (he has a company selling luxury items and the blog is used to communicate with customers and clients), showed a contempt for the poor.

Photo by Shanghai Sky 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.

Photo by Shanghai Sky taken from the Shanghaiist photos page. To see your photos on our photos 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.

Photo of students in Shaanxi Province lining up to buy train tickets back home for Spring Festival from Xinhua.

Recently the website of a Chinese "beggar" caught our eye. Titled “Give me one RMB to make me rich”, this site was launched November 8 by an internet user whose real name is Liu Feng.

Shanghaiist, filing this from the media center at the HSBC Champions golf tournament, is sleep-deprived and feeling kind of lazy right now, so instead of trying to be original we will copy and paste from something we wrote last night for ESPN.com:

What is Shanghai's answer to an overcrowded subway system? Make the poor people walk!