Need2LearnChinese Blog

SEXUAL transmission was the cause of about 72 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases in China last year, while infection among gay and bisexual men has increased to 32 percent of new cases.

These alarming figures were released in Shanghai yesterday by officials from the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS.

The actual numbers could be much greater as the statistics only include cases reported by medical facilities.

By October 31, China had reported 319,877 cases of HIV/AIDS, including 102,323 AIDS patients.

The Ministry of Health and UNAIDS estimated that there will be up to 920,000 Chinese people living with HIV by the end of this year.

About 48,000 people were infected with the virus this year in China, according to official estimates.

Between January and September last year, the ministry reported 44,839 new HIV/AIDS cases.
The officials unveiled the 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update and UNAIDS Outlook Report 2010, the first time the annual reports have been formally released in China.

UNAIDS officials said though new HIV infections were down 17 percent over the past eight years, the epidemic had gone in new directions.

Prevention efforts were not keeping pace with this shift, including the rise of HIV/AIDS due to unprotected sex and the spreading even among people with stable sex partners, they said.

"For instance, it is an important statistic that men who have sex with men have accounted for 32 percent of the new HIV/AIDS cases in China, while heterosexual groups covered 40 percent," said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS.

He said these things must be considered while launching HIV prevention initiatives.

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Anyone who’s been trawling through the China-related web this week will surely have stumbled across the ‘Nine Nations of China’ map that surfaced on Atlantic Monthly. Patrick Chovanec, from Tsinghua University, posted his map amidst the inescapable excitement of Obama’s visit to China, reminding the US President that China is "a mosaic of several distinct regions, each with its own resources, dynamics, and historical character."

The regions Chovanec feels China could be divided into:

• The Frontier, made up of Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Tibet represented the mysterious desert-filled and mountainous bulk China’s land, inhabited by only 6% of its population.
• South of that lies the Shangri-La region of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, a so-called paradise on earth consisting of kaleidoscopic forests, diverse ethnicities and, sadly, a front-door for illicit drugs, as it borders Burma’s Golden Triangle.
• China's Back Door, meanwhile, holds on to Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, and Hainan for its lush jungles and economic successes
• ... whilst the neatly tucked-away Refuge on Sichuan, Chongqing remains an area with little investment but substantial brain drain.
• The Crossroads, covering Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan, remain China’s transport and communications hub, neighbored by
• The Straits of Fujian and Taiwan.
• Up along the eastern coast is the likely Metropolis of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, followed by...
• The Yellow Land, or China’s political heart (Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi),
• And finally, the elusive northeastern wilderness of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang. A.k.a. The Rust Belt.

As blogger Jeremiah Jenne pointed out, the idea is hardly earth shattering; not only due to the wonderful Wikipedia age of enlightenment, but also thanks to the efforts of an anthropologist by the name of Skinner, who produced a similar map in 1977, and whom Chovanec failed to cite. Jenne shows here just how similar the ‘Nine Nations’ and ‘Nine Subregions’ of China are. Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn and Shanghai Scrap’s Adam Minter also responded with a gentle reminder that Chovanec could have cited his predecessor. Chovanec responded later to note that the regional descriptions were his own and that he had cited Skinner, but the citations were edited out by The Atlantic under space considerations.

Attribution/citation grappling aside, both Chovanec and Jenne’s (and even Skinner's) basic argument is that we still tend to view China as one giant power, irrespective of the obvious diversities within its borders. However, Dan of China Law Blog, took a slightly different view:

"My problem I see with this map is that it is exactly that. A map. And as a map, it distinguishes among regions geographically and that is not how I view many aspects of China. Just by way of an example, I see Beijing having commonalities with Shanghai just because they are two powerful and relatively sophisticated big cities."

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On his first visit to China, Barack Obama has won hearts and minds with a simple gesture – by carrying his own umbrella.

He had it clasped firmly in his left hand, a large black umbrella protecting him from a downpour as he stepped off Air Force One on arrival in Shanghai on Sunday evening. In a country where officials often have flunkeys to hold their umbrellas, the image of a U.S. president keeping his own head dry was poignant. Xinhua and other prominent Chinese media all captured the moment.

“I felt unaccustomed to this — Obama holding the umbrella on his own,” said a commentator on the Web site of the Wuhan-based Changjiang Daily. “There was nobody crowding round. The Chinese public puts up with a culture in which government officials have their umbrellas held for them. Officials enjoying themselves under an umbrella don’t even think they are doing anything wrong.”

“Why don’t we learn from the spirit of umbrella-holding by Obama?” asked a blogger called Nanshan Fangma. “The United States is not a heaven, nor is it a hell. At least there are some examples we can learn from at this stage”.

The “umbrella performance” of Chinese officials has long attracted criticism from the Chinese public, and invited unfavorable comparisons with official custom in the West. In one set of photos widely circulated on the Internet, a Chinese girl student is shown holding an umbrella for an official as he delivers a speech on Children’s Day. Others show the British Queen holding an umbrella aloft; former U.S. President Bush and former Russia President Putin shielding their First Ladies; and Bush struggling with his umbrella on a windy day. “Being a government official in our country is truly awesome and glorious,” says an online commenter.

To his credit, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao bucks the umbrella trend in China. Mr. Wen, who cultivates a man-of-the-people image, often carries his own umbrella when he shows up to comfort victims of natural disasters.

The women’s section of popular Web site Netease.com has declared that the umbrella issue has become a vital standard in judging the character of a man. The site is promoting a feature that seeks “A True Man of Obama Style.” It said, “Obama is a responsible person. He is in a high position but he doesn’t abuse power. That little gesture of holding umbrella is very charming,” it said.

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Mickey Mouse and friends are on their way to Shanghai after long-awaited plans for a Disney theme park near China's financial hub got the thumbs-up from central authorities

The news was announced yesterday by both the company and Shanghai's municipal government.

The United States-based company and its Chinese partners will now begin detailed talks about the project, which will be based in Pudong New District, the government's information office said in a statement.

Walt Disney Co welcomed the news.

"China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and this approval marks a very significant milestone," said Robert A. Iger, the company's president and CEO.

The approval paves the way for Disney and its Shanghai partners to nail down a final agreement, detailing the construction and operation of the park, the company said.

The first phase of the project will include a "Magic Kingdom-style theme park with characteristics tailored to the Shanghai region and other amenities consistent with Disney's destination resorts worldwide", the company added in its statement.

Zhang Huiming, an economist at Fudan University, said the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama will help promote the project.

"For the US, it's a matter of the export of American culture," Zhang said.

And, on the streets of Shanghai, Donald Duck and gang already have their supporters.

"I'm thrilled to hear the news," said Lin Fuli, a 23-year-old student from Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. "I've been looking forward to this ever since my first visit to the Hong Kong park two years ago."

Lin said the Hong Kong Disneyland was smaller than she hoped and she expects the Shanghai one to be bigger.

The park in Hong Kong, at 1.26 sq km, is the smallest of Disney's five major parks, which are located in the US, France and Japan.

Previous media reports said the first phase of the Shanghai Park, which is expected to be located in Chuansha township, will cover around 4 sq km and cost about $3.6 billion. It is slated for opening in 2014.

"The landing of Disneyland will drive up prices of commercial property, which, in turn, will send local house prices rocketing to a new high soon," predicted Xue Jianxiong, an analyst at real estate services provider E-House (China) Holdings Ltd.

Experts predicted that the dense population of Shanghai and the proximity of other major cities, including Hangzhou, Nanjing and Suzhou, means the park will not have a problem attracting visitors.

"Unlike Hong Kong Disneyland, we expect the park in Shanghai will turn profit quickly," said Qi Xiaozhai, director of Shanghai Commercial Economic Research Center.

However, some were unhappy that the company is moving to town.

Min Guoyao, a resident at Zhaohang village of Chuansha, has lived with his family in a two-floor home for more than 50 years. He now expects his house will be demolished to make way for the project.

"Our family has been living here for many generations. I really have no idea how we'll be resettled in another place," Min said.

And workers at a brick kiln factory in the village also had concerns.

"Our boss will probably shut down the factory next year as he cannot afford the rising rental fee," said a worker surnamed Chen. "We have to find other places to work, which is very hard for us."

The two existing theme parks in Shanghai, Jin Jiang Action Park and Happy Valley, were philosophical about the arrival of Disney.

"We take the Shanghai Disneyland not as a competitor, but as a foreign counterpart that will inspire us to provide better services," said Cui Zhineng, general manager of Jin Jiang Action Park.

Shanghai Happy Valley, which opened to the public on Sept 12, is one of four parks in that group on the mainland. A spokesperson said the arrival of Disney will stimulate the tourism market.

"As a home-grown theme park, we have more products based on the Chinese culture and cater to Chinese visitors and we cost less," said Ren Kelei, chairman of OCT Enterprise Co, which runs Happy Valley

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More than a year after the Beijing Olympics, the Bird's Nest stadium has been placed under Chinese government management in an effort to stem financial losses, state media said Wednesday.

"Each time a major event is held at the Bird's Nest, there is pressure to prevent the venue from becoming a white elephant," the China Daily quoted Zhou Bin, the stadium's director of research and development, as saying.

"It is not an easy time for us... we are wracking our brains almost every day," he said.

An unnamed state-owned financial institution "quietly" took over management of the venue in August from CITIC Investment Holdings, which previously owned full rights to the stadium's commercial operations, the newspaper reported.

Operating costs for the stadium, the centrepiece of the Beijing Games, total 70 million yuan (10.3 million dollars) annually, or about 200,000 yuan a day, it said.

Only a handful of events have taken place at the Bird's Nest since the Olympics, including an Italian football match, a concert by Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan, and an eight-day run of Zhang Yimou's staging of "Turandot."

This week, the stadium has been turned into a track for the Race of Champions, featuring the world's top drivers, including seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

On Tuesday night, less than a quarter of seats in the 80,000-capacity stadium were occupied, according to an AFP estimate.

Now that the government has control of the stadium, it will be easier to get permits for diverse commercial activities, the newspaper said.

In the first year after the Olympic Games, the stadium earned 260 million yuan, 70 percent of which came from sales of tickets to tour the venue itself.

However, tour numbers have dropped from a peak of 50,000 people a day immediately following the Games to just several thousand daily, the paper said.

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