Need2LearnChinese Blog

Qingdao has long been famed as a city of leisure and ease. Even its most famous product, Tsingtao beer, fits into this image and has boosted the coastal city's fame around the world. But what makes Qingdao a historical and cultural city is its architecture.

Qingdao, in Shandong Province, retains many buildings with a combination of German and Chinese elements in the city center.

Combine this with some German demographic roots and a large Korean population, and you have an atmosphere special to Qingdao.

The old city was essentially built by Germans during the colonial era.

This area of the city retains many buildings that were designed by Germans.

Every year many Germans still go to Qingdao to see the well-preserved German influence in the city.

Architecture can be considered a part of culture as buildings are living reminders of historical events.

Thus the German buildings in Qingdao are a gift, in a way, to world history and culture.

Zhanqiao Pier is an obvious destination for travelers as it is the symbol of the city. It will also help people understand the changes in Qingdao's fortunes during the past 100 years.

The 440-meter-long Zhanqiao Pier is in Qingdao Bay and connects with Zhongshan Road. The views from here contrast sharply with the towering modern buildings looking down upon the former German Concession with its church peaks and parks, the red clay tiles interrupted only by dark green pines.

During the full-tide season, tourists and locals gather together collecting seashells and enjoying the charming beach view. With the ebbing of the tide people can appreciate the brown reefs and yellowish sand.

Construction of Zhanqiao Pier started in 1892 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was completed the next year.

It was originally built by Li Hongzhang while he was visiting Qingdao. It was initially a military-specific artificial dock 200 meters in length and 10 meters wide. It had a gray-stone base and iron fence.

However, after Germans entered Qingdao, Zhanqiao Pier became a terminal dock.

From September 1931 to April 1933, the Qingdao government upgraded Zhanqiao Pier, extending it to its present length of 440 meters.

Ba Da Guan (Eight Passes) scenic area is another place that represents the combination of German and Chinese cultures in Qingdao.

Ba Da Guan is a major tourist attraction which is close to the Qingdao coast. It is made up of eight streets named after the eight great military forts from ancient periods.

What makes Ba Da Guan so popular is not just its natural scenery, but also its garden-like villas and Western-style buildings. Ba Da Guan scenic area used to be a place where people from more than 20 countries and regions, such as Russia, Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Denmark and Japan, constructed buildings with their national features during the colonial period.

Since the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties, Qingdao people have planted various flowers in Ba Da Guan so that in different seasons there are many flowers in bloom.

One of the most famous buildings in Ba Da Guan is Hua Shi Lou.

The building features a Gothic style with obvious Greek and Roman influences. The front steps are made of granite and the interior features loads of marble. There are five floors and the sea is visible from the top floor.

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Shanghai Morning Post reports that, according to Euromonitor International, by 2020, China’s middle class will expand to 700 million.

With China's impressive economic growth, the middle class in the country is expanding strongly.

China’s middle class currently accounts for roughly 23 percent of the whole population, based on comprehensive analysis of the 2005 1 percent National Population Sample Surveys, the China General Social Survey (CGSS) conducted by Renmin University of China and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2005 as well as General Social Survey data (GSS) by National Academy of Social Sciences in 2006.

The middle class in China is defined as households with an annual income between RMB 60,000 and RMB 500,000.

Euromonitor International’s study shows China's middle class has grown from 65.5 million in January 2005 to 80 million in January 2007. It is forecasted to expand to 700 million by 2020, driven by continued strong economic growth. According to the Research Report on National Population Development Strategy, in 2020, China’s population is to reach 1.45 billion. So in ten years China’s middle class will account for 48 percent of the whole society.

The Euromonitor report also mentioned that Chinese economy was expected to expand at an annual rate of 10 percent in 2007 and 9.8 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, inflation was expected to be relatively low, at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in 2007 and 2.2 percent in 2008. This means that the purchasing power of the Chinese consumer as a consequence of rising incomes and economic expansion will hardly be eroded by inflation.

The study found that the Chinese middle class is concentrated mainly in urban areas where greater jobs and business opportunities exist. It comprises entrepreneurs and managers in high-tech companies, foreign firms and financial institutions as well as some self-employed private entrepreneurs

Euromonitor also notes that although the government is also exerting efforts to reduce poverty and narrow the wealth gap, the middle class will continue to congregate in towns and cities in the medium term. Thus, market potential will likely be found in urban areas.

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As if being the first Apple Store in Shanghai wasn't enough, there's something even more unique about the flagship store: The Briefing Room, a special VIP place to learn about and try out Apple products.

Kept separate from the noisy hustle and bustle of the rest of the store, the room includes built-in monitors, a worldwide iChat function, and speakers built into the ceiling, making for the ultimate conference call. There are also other Apple products on hand in the room like MacBooks and iPods, so businesses can come in and train employees on how to use new Apple products.

We can assume that with this new addition to certain Apple stores, the company is trying a new business tactic to further promote its products. So far, the Briefing Room is a feature seen only in two other stores around the world, Chicago and Minneapolis. Being that this Shanghai Apple store is located in one of the busiest financial district in the world, we bet this Briefing Room will be seeing a lot of action - and soon!

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China issued a new anti-corruption regulation Sunday to require officials to report changes in their marital status, the whereabouts of their spouses and children if they have moved abroad, personal incomes, housing as well as their family' s investments.

The new regulation was issued by the General Office of China's State Council and the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The regulation defines "officials" as those leaders holding official ranks of and above county level in government agencies, democratic parties, public institutions, state owned enterprises and state holding enterprises.

The new regulation requires officials to report changes in their marital status and the location of their spouses and children if they have moved abroad, within 30 days after such a change takes place.

Specifically, officials should report their ownership of passports or visas and their children's marital status if they are married to foreigners or residents of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Officials should also report any businesses their spouses and children are involved in, both within China and abroad.

The new regulation also requires officials to report their ownership of property, including property in their spouses' or children's names, their family's investment in financial assets and in enterprises.

According to the regulation, if officials fail to report honestly or in a timely fashion, they would face punishment to various degrees, even as harsh as removal of official ranks.

The regulation also ordered party organizations at all levels to strengthen management and supervision over officials to guarantee the implementation of the regulation.

This regulation is considered an important measure to ensure strict self-discipline for Party and government officials and to improve the intra-Party supervision system.

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More Chinese women are traveling to America to give birth

Beijing - Wang Rong, who is six-months pregnant, is about to leave Beijing for California so she can give birth to her baby in the United States and give the child its first gift - US citizenship.

The special delivery will cost Wang and her husband, both white-collar workers in the capital, 100,000 yuan ($15,000), but they say it is money well spent.

The expenditure will cover all costs, including services before departure, medical care in the US and a three-month stay there, thanks to the help of a Shanghai-based agency that specializes in taking mainland moms to North America.

"Given the quality of educational resources and employment prospects in China, where there is a huge population and harsh competition, I want my baby to win at the starting line by obtaining US citizenship," she said.

The cost to deliver a baby in the US is far higher than in Beijing, but still affordable for the couple, which makes nearly 250,000 yuan a year, she said.

The list of benefits runs long for babies born in the US, says Jiang Feng, the Chinese mainland partner of the agency, which originated in Taiwan.

Jiang said babies born in the US will, at the very least, be entitled to a place at an American public university, which is favored by many parents over domestic institutions, both for quality of teaching and cheaper tuition.

"The number of mainland customers has been skyrocketing since we opened the branch in late 2008, right after the US opened tourist visa applications to Chinese individuals," he told China Daily.

Most parents come from affluent families in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Hangzhou. Some are motivated by the chance to get US citizenship for their babies, others want to evade China's family planning policy, which restricts most urban couples to one child, he said.

Usually, parents use tourist visas to travel to the US when the pregnancy is in the sixth or seventh month. Typically, they stay for between three and six months, then return with their new arrivals.

Jiang said the agency trains couples to obtain visas and tells them how to handle themselves during US customs interviews.

"I got my visa, as they instructed, and insisted that I wanted to go to the US to travel when I faced the US customs officer," said Wang.

In rare cases, the customs officers might only grant a short stay, such as for one month, according to Jiang.

"But don't worry. The agency is actually experienced in handling that," he said, adding that it has contracted local lawyers who can help people apply for an extended period of stay. He said the waiting period such legal action buys, which is about four or five months, gives mothers enough time to have their babies.

Jiang predicted that more and more mainland parents-to-be will want to have their babies in the US after they learn about the benefits, but he said his agency is already helping about 50 couples a month.

"The Chinese are good at working the rules and, as long as it's not against the law in either country, no one can stop them," said Professor Wu Cangping, from the population studies department at Renmin University of China.

While the practice is relatively rare among Chinese people, Wu said it is well established internationally.

Jiang said women from Taiwan have been traveling overseas to have their babies, especially to California, for more than 10 years.

The US remains the largest country among about 30 worldwide, including Argentina and Brazil, that grants automatic citizenship to all babies born there, regardless of parents' nationality and status.

Experts estimate at least 400,000 babies are born in the US each year and given citizenship, despite the fact that they do not have a parent who is a US citizen or a permanent legal immigrant.

Most children getting US citizenship in that way are born to international students, foreign travelers, temporary foreign workers and illegal immigrants.

Such babies with families that largely live on welfare are known as "anchor babies" and are seen as a burden on the US economy, reports said.

Critics in the US have called for a change in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution's definition of birthright citizenship, claiming it is an impediment to stabilizing the US population. They say it also hurts environmental sustainability and is a potential incentive for illegal immigrants.

Others disagree.

Lockwood Young, a veteran doctor in Hawaii, said he has delivered babies to mothers from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.

"I like my foreign customers very much because they are usually very nice and, more importantly, they always pay cash so I don't have to deal with the insurance company," he told China Daily.

Jiang said he expects things to continue as they are for the foreseeable future.

"The fact that the US might end citizenship by birth is not my top concern because it would take years to amend the law in such a democratic country which highly respects legal procedures and doesn't allow for a change overnight," he said.

However, he said there is a chance that the Chinese government might end the practice with so many moms giving birth in the US.

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