13 August 2006 (Lunar
July 20)
A
River Lifeguard
The
Nanjing Bridge is the first bridge to be
built on the Yangtze River. It has double
decks to accommodate both highway and
railway. Stretching 6736 metres across
the waterway and takes an hour to cross
by foot, it is entirely designed by
Chinese engineers and completed at the
height of the Cultural Revolution, which
brought a lot of hype at the time. But
since it was built in 1968, it has become
known as a death spot, as nearly 2000
people came here to plunge 80 metres into
the river below. About three years ago, a
volunteer lifeguard emerged. Mr Chen Si,
a local resident, spent every weekend
inspecting the bridge and so far has
saved lives of 99 would-be suicides. His
action is widely praised and supported.
But not everyone likes what he’s doing
- a medical expert threatened to sue him
for offering unqualified psychological
advice.
What
Makes for a Happy Marriage – A Chinese
View
A
study by Marry Me Website, Zero
Point Consultant and Tianjing Nankai
University reveals the secret formula
that makes for a happy marriage. It is
the first study ever done on the topic
with Chinese people. Below are some of
their findings:
1,
Couples who share similar views and
outlooks in life, and have compatible
personalities, have a better chance to
make a more harmonious marriage;
2,
Couples who take different roles in
family life (i.e. one leads and another
plays a supporting role) are more like to
form a smooth relationship. Two stronger
characters cause frequent conflict while
two weak personalities lack the ability
to hold the family together.
3,
An emotional-stable husband who is
tolerant and caring and a traditional
wife who puts the family first make the
best marriage partners.
4,
Family income level also plays an
important role in making or breaking a
happy marriage. So does wives’
educational level - a well-educated wife
would find more ways to stimulate the
marriage from time to time.
The
study also find the majority urban
Chinese are quite satisfied with their
partner, only 25 percent women and 20
percent men say they would rather to
marry someone else if they had another
chance.
A
young Chinese couple adopt the
tradditional wedding ceremony
(Source of photo:
xinhuanet.com)
14
August 2006 (Lunar July 21)
Jobless
College Graduates in China
The
number of China’s college graduates
grows rapidly by the year, from 1.15
million in 2001 to last year’s 3.8
million. So does the number of jobless
rate among the graduates - in four years
it has jumped from 340,000 to 790,000.
Lately the Chinese government announced a
new social welfare program to help the
unemployed and low-paid graduates. But 70
percent graduates who were surveyed said
they would not apply for the financial
assistance under whatever circumstances,
because they feared they might be seen as
losers.
Revival
of Han Chinese Custome
More
and more young people in China are
expressing their interest in the traditional
Han costume,
a style of dress wore by the Han
Chinese people in
thousands of years. The long tradition
was brutally halted when the Manchurians
entered China 300 years ago, who forced
Han Chinese to adopt their straight gown
along with the pigtail hairdo, and killed
anyone who dared to be defiant. Until
very recently the only places to see the
Han costume were opera theatres. But now
some young Chinese start wearing it as
fashion statement.
A
girl wearing traditional Han costume
sitting in a park
15
August 2006 (Lunar July 22)
Demon
in Water
August
3 was a hot summer day. After work Mr Qi
along with his wife and two kids drove to
a river site, outside the Nan county town
near Chongqing city, to catch some fresh
cool winds. The water was calm and
shallow, so the family jumped into the
river swimming. Then all of a sudden, the
water surged and the family was washed
away in the strong current.
It
was not the first time an incident like
this happened in this river, however. In
June, three children crossing the river
to return home after school were also
found drowned when the level of water
suddenly rose. Is there a demon in the
river that caused the water to surge from
time to time without warning? Well, if
there is a demon, it is earthbound – a
private hydropower station. Three
families of the victims brought the case
before the district court but failed to
convict the company. Many people pointed
out that despite the company may not
break any laws or regulations, its lack
of respect to life certainly has
reflected widespread problems with
current business practice in China.
Death
Threat from the Internet
A
13-year old Chinese boy lately logged
onto a website and was greeted by
blood-dripping words "The Death
Clock". In the backdrop there was a
black tomb, and next to the tomb a clock
is ticking. Following the instructions on
the website, he filled in a form with his
birth data and got a Death Notice
displayed on the screen. Unfortunately in
his case, the expiring date of his life
was remarkably near – eight years late,
which meant he would die at the age of
21. That put the boy in a grim mood ever
since.
And
he was not alone. A great number of
teenagers in China have visited this site
and requested a Date Notice, and many
have shown similar symptoms of depression
when told they would die young. Some
started wagging school.
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