CHINA, NATIONAL, LIFESTYLE, FEATURE: Five Mascots for Beijing Olympic Games

By Ellen Ji

The Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games in Beijing recently launched the five Mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They took the images of the fish, the panda, the Olympic flame, the Tibetan antelope and the swallow, named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini, and as a whole "Beijing Huanying Ni," or in English, "welcome to Beijing," showing the gracious invitation of the Chinese people.

The Five Mascots, based on the colors of the five rings, applied traditional Chinese art, representing the best wishes of the Chinese people, and the close relationship with ocean, forest, fire, land and heaven. Each of the five mascots symbolizes a blessing, according to Chinese tradition, and will bring blessings to the people of the world. Beibei represents the blessing of prosperity, Jingjing the blessing of happiness, Huanhuan the blessing of passion, Yingying the blessing of health and Nini the blessing of good luck.

They spread good hope for friendship, peace, the Olympic spirits and harmony between humans and nature.

Beibei:


Takes the look of the fish, which symbolizes prosperity and harvest and also the realization of dreams in Chinese tradition.

Jingjing:


Is a lovable panda, a precious animal on the level of a national treasure. From the vast forest, Jingjing, a symbol of co-existence between humans and nature has gained people's preference all over the world. It's honest and cheerful, always full of strength.

Huanhuan:

Is the big brother of the five mascots, representing the holy Olympic flame. It's the embodiment of sports and passion, spreading the Olympic spirits--Swifter, Higher, Stronger--to the world. It shows the gracious hospitality of Chinese people to the world.

Yingying:

Is an alert and agile Tibetan antelope from the vast expanse of the Tibetan Plateau, western China, delivering the wish of health to the world.

Nini:

Is the messenger from heaven, a swallow spreading its wings and flying in the sky. It's created from the swallow--shaped kite in the tradition of China, which will bring hope and pleasure to people wherever it flies.
　

CHINA, NATIONAL, SPORTS, COMMENTARY: Falling

By Christina Liang

A body of one hundred and seventy pounds fell on the tatami like a straw--with it went our belief in the sporting spirit.

October 13, 2005, in the women's 78-kg judo final of the 10th National Games, former Olympic champion Sun Fuming (from the Liaoning team) fell on the tatami, under the eyes of all the audience who supported her, after being stricken by a young player Yan Sirui (from PLA team). The audience was astonished by the way she fell--ordered by her coach, she pretended to be beaten by Yan's slightest push, like a jackstraw. Sun lost the gold medal in a most incredible way--she gave it up.

"I saw the coach from Liaoning province gesture at Sun, and then she gave up the competition," said Ms. Zhu, a member of the audience.

However, Sun was not a good actress. The committee pointed out the fake performance, punished the coach and announced a replay on October 15, 2005. But Sun lost again. She used another inevitable failure to end up the replay, end up all the ups and downs, and end up the whole farce.

The loss of sport spirit

After the final, Sun Fuming's coach, Liu Yongfu protested that, "Both of them are from Liaoning province. No matter who wins the gold medal, it's the same. If it had been a harsh battle, it would have hurt them. Giving up the game was to protect the players. That's nothing special."

We are shocked. How can these words come from the so-called "gold-medal" coach? Does he teach the players in this way? Where is the sport justice or sport spirit we have been after for so long before?

Sport, it is not just a word about competition, achievement or glory. What's more important is that it symbolizes justice, purity, peace and friendship. It gives us a chance to praise the beauty of the human body and also a chance to show our will of transcending ourselves. That's why we can find the love of sports throughout human history. So the meaning of the competition is not merely who is the winner of the medal, but a performance of the sporting spirit. Nonetheless, the coach and the two competitors took it as a private game within their own group, neglecting the spiritual effect they should deliver to the public. This kind of neglect leads to a very dangerous condition that all the participants are merely longing to win the game, or say, gain their own interest, no matter adopting what kind of methods. And the victim who suffers the most is the sport itself because it would not be the original one people have always loved.

They've been hurt.

Not only was the sport spirit hurt by this farce, but also people's hearts.

Sun Fuming was hurt. As an old player who won the 1996 Olympic gold medal and the 2004 Olympic copper medal, she really wanted to end her career with this gold medal of the National Games. After the final on October 13th, Sun cried out with regret.

"But I have followed Coach Liu for a long time. I understood his suggestion at that time (during the final). I can't disobey his will."

In China, a player is inculcated with the idea that an individual's success, to a large extent, owes to the coaches' effort and the cultivation by the nation. Lacking these, he or she will never reach the peak of their careers. So at some critical time, the player should obey the will of the coach, caring nothing about its rightness, or he or she would be taken as ungrateful and selfish--"individualism." This absolutely doesn't go with what we advocate: collectivism. But this collectivism neglects both the real meaning of sports and the feeling of the players--two of the most important things we should respect. It has already pushed famous Ping-Pong player He Zhili to Japan because of a similar case. From then on, the authority of the Ping-pong field strictly banned this kind of fake behavior, lest other excellent players get hurt and leave. How can the same thing happen on the tatami again?

Yan Sirui was also hurt. In the whole farce, the coach was the director, Sun was the leading actress, but Yan played only a minor role, maybe only an unwitting minor role. The dramatic effect of this play has diluted the gold medal of Yan. All the effort Yan has made seems to be ignored or regarded as part of the play. Even though Yan won the replay, people can't help doubting the real worth of this national champion.

And the audience was hurt.

"I bought the ticket to see the presence of the Olympic champion and looked forward to a wonderful competition. But I feel cheated," said Mr. Zhang who works in a foreign company in Nanjing.

The public feels cheated. Besides the somewhat "ideal" sports spirit, there is also a more realistic thing we should obey: the sports rule. The rule is we can't betray our audience. Only by meeting our audience's needs, can we prolong the lifetime of sports. The public needs honesty, transparency, justice, and a good performance. They don't want to be cheated, even fooled.

However, such cases damage the credibility of sports. If they can't believe their eyes anymore, why will they still pay to see the competitions?

Some people may think that we can still win Olympic gold medals without the audience so it doesn't matter. Maybe we can, because nowadays these kinds of Olympic sports rely on support from the government. It won't bother them if people don't buy tickets, because they still have food. But what if one day they are thrown to the market to feed themselves?

Let's look at the professional Chinese soccer. Now that they live on the market, they can't cheat the public anymore. The soccer market, at present, is decreasing throughout China. It is very "natural" that there are a large number of vacant seats in the stadiums. The behavior of Chinese soccer has really disappointed soccer fans.

The Olympic sports don't want to hurt the potential market, do they?

Who was the writer?

Who was the writer of the farce? What was the real purpose of giving up the gold medal? Did the coach only want to protect the players from a harsh battle? If there had been no interest, who would rather lose a gold medal?

According to the evaluation system of the 10th National Games, if a player from the PLA team wins a gold medal, both the PLA team and the home province of the player will be given a gold medal. In this case, if Sun had won the match, only Liaoning province would have gotten a gold medal. So why not act as a "kind" person? What's more, Sun's days have passed but Yan is a rising star of Liaoning. Obviously, cultivating a new star has more benefits than helping an old player write a full stop of her career.

Besides, this case was not the only one. In the men's over-100-kg judo competition on October 13, player Wei Xiangjun of the PLA team (the output province is Shandong) met player Shi Huayong of the Shandong team. Wei beat Shi, who intended to give up, in no more than one second. Another judo player said, "Obviously, this will save Wei's strength. It is the same for the Shandong province no matter which one of them enters the final."

Then who is the writer of these farces? The answer is the maker of the rules. The players, the coaches and the teams are just playing by the "rules" of the game. It is the rule-makers who leave the loopholes for them. While criticizing and punishing the players and the coaches, can we perfect our rules or systems first?

The body of 78kg has fallen on the floor.

We don't want our belief and love of sports to fall with her.

CHINA, ENTERTAINMENT, COMMENTARY: What Can Film Classification Do?

By Louise Liu

Films have never been distinctly and strictly classified in China. We do label some films as "Unsuitable for Children." Unfortunately, its good intention has been taken advantage of for vicious purposes. Somehow the label "unsuitable" has become an indicator of violence, nudity, and sex, which caters to the appetites of certain people. So these films are promoted to attract particular audiences even when they are actually suitable for the general public. In such cases, these audiences feel cheated after seeing such films. Some producers even deliberately add nude scenes into a film to make it "unsuitable." All of these behaviors are in defiance of the classification system.

In contrast, in many other countries films are strictly classified.

In America, according to the MPAA (Motion Pictures Association of America), there are 5 categories of movies: G (General Audience); PG (Parental Guidance Suggested), PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned); R (Restricted), NC-17 (No One Under 17 Admitted). They are classified according to the proportion of nudity, violence, bad language, terror, etc., in the content.

In Britain, 6 categories are classified as Universal, suitable for pre-school children, Universal, under 12, under 15, under 18, and R18. In Hong Kong, films are classified into three levels: for the general audience, unsuitable for children, and for adults. The classification systems are different but similar in the purpose of protecting children from bad influences.

In Mainland China, there are no such strict restrictions, which doesn't mean that the films being shown in our cinemas are all proper for the general public. For example, the blockbuster Saving Private Ryan was put on the silver screen years ago in Mainland China and no special introductions were given. Many parents took their kids to the cinema. As a result, the audience, especially the children, were stunned, or horrified by the bloody scenes, not mentioning the frequent usage of dirty words. The film was graded as an "R" in the states, but it met no restrictions at all in Chinese markets. And its DVD is available to everyone in supermarkets or video stores.

Nowadays, the children are encouraged to learn English through watching English-speaking films. A very interesting phenomenon can be noticed among the children: Having been exposed to lots of English films, they've made quite limited progress in their language studies, but they become more and more familiar with taboos such as shit, damn and fuck.

That's an important reason why so many people are appealing for classifying films in China. At the same time some suspect the effectiveness and practicality of setting film classifications in China.

Wang Jing, a famous commercial film director in Hongkong, holds the opinion that classification will not solve the problem. In China, pirate activities are so rampant that almost all kinds of films are available on the pirate market. Thus restrictions in cinemas are almost useless as the kids have easy access to the forbidden ones anyway.

Besides, many people still wonder whether film classification will become a sign of permission for pornographic films. Actually, the classification means to categorize films and ensure that they be in accordance with mainstream moral standards. The final standards for classification will by no means overthrow social moral standards. And the content of sex and violence should be in accordance with the plot, and within the limit of appreciation by the general audience.

But even a perfect classification system will not solve the problem once for all as long as the pirate market still exists, which means all the efforts made for regulating the film industry are bound to be meaningless.

CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, SOCIETY, NEWS BRIEF: Are We Ever Supposed to Own Our New Bicycles?

By Li Zhen

On October 6th, after having lunch in NongYuan Cafeteria, Tracy put her new bicycle in the rack in front of the Guanghua Management School building, at Peking University, locked the chain, went in and began her preparation for the Postgraduate Entrance Examination. After a whole afternoon's study, she left the classroom and could not find her new bicycle anywhere. Suddenly she realized it was stolen.

Tracy, a fourth-year student of HuaQiao University, Fujian Province, came to Beijing this past summer vacation to gain access to the teachers and lectures of the renowned school. She rented a dormitory at DaoXiangyuan, which is not far away from the university. Since the campus is a bit large, she bought a bicycle several days ago, and it was quite convenient for her to travel by bicycle to study everyday, especially when she carried her laptop and lots of books.

She was quite disappointed the moment she realized that her bicycle was stolen. After a night's sorrow, however, she said to one of her good friends the next morning: "Just forget about it, after all, we have much more important work to do. Tomorrow is another day."

On October 8th, Jane, a student of BFSU, went to Peking University to listen to a lecture given by Jing Yidan, a very famous anchor on CCTV. She put her bicycle where she always did with all the others in front of the Science Building, and carefully locked it together with her friend's bicycle. Although a bit worried that it might be stolen because it was new, cool and expensive, she fitted it with two new locks and reminded herself of her belief that people were in essence good.

When the lecture finished, she found that she was not only naive but had greatly underestimated the skill of the thieves. The lock was cut off and her new bicycle was gone forever. It was her second bike--the first one stolen only a week before. Frustrated and heartbroken, she swore never to buy a new bike again.

This kind of phenomenon is quite normal in the Haidian District, a university-centered area in Beijing, especially at Peking University, where lots of people come in and out every day. Most of the students interviewed were quite used to the situation. When every new semester begins, there is a great demand for bicycles, especially used ones. Out of the south gate of Peking University, you can easily find people selling stolen bicycles along the street, with broken locks but quite cheap prices.

"Using the ordinary locks, it is almost useless in preventing bikes from being stolen," said one of the bicycle repairers at the university. "Nowadays the thieves have become more and more skillful and it is a piece of cake for them to unclench or cut the lock off if your lock isn't strong enough."

When we walk around the campus, we can easily find people selling new bicycles. But many of them are actually used ones. People fix-up the secondhand bikes, or recondition them, paint and sell them as new ones.

There is a great demand for secondhand bicycles on the campus because the thieves steal so many only to turn around and sell them back to students. Students are afraid that their bicycles will be stolen, however, they keep on buying stolen bicycles from the thieves even though they know the source. It is a vicious circle.

It is so easy for thieves to enter universities since a university is a public place. The flow of people is large and it's hard for police to keep a close eye on every corner of the campus.

Under the circumstances, we cannot help wondering: when we are ever going to really own our new bicycles?

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, NEWS COMMENTARY: Panic Is Caused by Covering Up Truth

By Li Shuting

"I know that bird flu is striking our province and several infected people died in other provinces. What a big deal? We just fight against it. Actually, I feel sorry for the thousands of poor chickens that were killed," my 74-year-old grandmother said in an easy tone yesterday.

I can still remember that two years ago she was in a panic about SARS, but now she is so calm and confident; she even feels sympathetic with the chickens.

Why is it so different? My grandmother gave me an interesting answer--what always causes panic is not truth, but fear in people's hearts resulting from rumor, ignorance and distrust.

In the early spring of 2003, I first knew about SARS from a neighbor who came back from Guangdong Province, where SARS first attacked. He described the disease in a very horrible way and said hundreds of people had already died from it. I couldn't help panicking then, and now I know why many people were panicking.

Firstly, at that time no news came from any official source, only frightful rumors spreading in the public. People had no chance to know the exact number of deaths from any trustable media, and the number was various in different versions. In some rumors, the numbers were terribly large.

Secondly, being ignorant of the knowledge about the disease, people feared SARS but didn't know what to do or how to protect themselves. The government was busy covering up the truth; no authority gave any suggestion about precautionary measures.

Thirdly, since the government was not honest but attempted to conceal the truth, people began to distrust it. Hence many people felt that they had lost their spiritual support.

Remember or imagine the situation: people were threatened by an infectious fatal disease without knowing how to protect themselves. What's more, they felt that they were cheated by and were disappointed in their government. What could they do? Panic.

Some officials were afraid of causing panic if they informed the public about the disease. But what happened when they finally told the truth? People became calm and seriously adopted the precautionary measures; the cooperation between government and the public became a sharp weapon, and with it we defeated SARS.

Facts tell us that the public can be rational and powerful. To conceal the facts can result in nothing but panic.

Admittedly, government is doing a better job coping with bird flu now. Not only is it adopting more effective measures to prevent the disease from spreading, but also it is being honest with the public. Sometimes attitude means even more than methods.

TV, radio, newspaper and websites...various sources not only update the public on information about the disease, but also passes experts' suggestions about precautionary measures to people.

Though we are informed that bird flu is spreading to more and more regions everyday, we stay calm. There is no reason to panic--we know what's going on; we know how to protect ourselves and we trust the government.

Just tell us the truth, and people will say, "What's the big deal? We'll just fight against it."

Panic is caused by covering up truth.

CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, SOCIETY, NEWS BRIEF: Drivers' Training Is a Fever

By Dong Yinglei

Drivers' training is becoming more and more popular in China with the rapid development of a private car economy.

It is 7:30 on a Saturday morning in Beijing. It is still quiet in the community as a young lady rushes out of apartment Number 3 with bread and milk in her hands.

"I hope I can get to school on time," Zi Xia said. The 25-year-old girl, working as a purchaser in a private-owed electronic company in Beijing, began drivers' training this October. Taking an hour and a half bus ride to drivers' training school every Saturday morning has became a part of her weekend life.

"Female drivers contribute another perspective to the private car economy. They can bring feminine factors into cars, which now is so masculine," Zi Xia explained. "It's a wonderful match. And how cool it is when you drive your own car to the suburbs and smell the fresh air," she said with shining eyes.

"Driving is no longer only a man's thing, a man's skill. Women are no weaker than men. I can afford to buy a car," she said. Owning a private car is no longer an extravagantly high hope. And white-collar females who share Zi Xia's opinion make up a major portion of people going to drivers' training school.

When Ding Li, a 26-year-old sales manager in a real-estate company, walks out of the bank's door he is one large stride closer to his dream. The way to the Bank of China could not be more familiar to him. He goes there every two months to deposit part of his salary in a personal savings account. After three years accumulation, Ding Li has saved enough money to buy a car.

"I decided to buy a car this year. My favorite car is in my mind. But the problem is I haven't yet learned to drive," Ding Li said with an embarrassed smile. "I must learn to drive before buying car. It would be ridiculous if I buy a car without using it. I'm really hoping the training course starts as early as possible."

Xiang Lu, a sophomore in Zhejiang University, is learning to drive in her spare time this semester. "Actually, I didn't intend to learn driving so early," she said somewhat surprisingly. "But there are reasons behind it. My parents have a car and they hope I can help to drive when they are tired. And possessing another skill can provide more chances for me to find a job after graduation."

"Though I'm a member of the drivers' training class, I'm a little confused about my decision," Xiang Lu continued. "Environmental pollution caused by waste gas discharge, the soaring death toll of naive drivers, traffic jams, etc., all these are problems you can't avoid when you go on the road. Even though you finally pass the examination and get a drivers license, it only proves you can drive, not that you can drive well."

"To be a good driver, you have to spend much time behind the wheel. You should consider carefully whether it's the right choice before queuing up for the team," Xiang Lu concluded with a sigh.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, NEWS FEATURE, EXAM SYSTEM: The Comprehensive Assessment System - Is It Fair?

By Dan Ran

"So many young people, with excellent intelligence and beautiful future dreams, are ranked by this ridiculous score, showing who is better than whom, and who is superior to whom! I will never believe that I am valued by this mere 80 score!" On his personal weblog, a Grade Three student of the Diplomacy Department at Beijing Foreign Studies University, expressed his anger. On October 25, 2005, the result of the annual Comprehensive Assessment of BFSU students came out, arousing strong, numerous responses.

The Comprehensive Assessment system was adopted by BFSU more than a decade ago, having quantified the performance of countless students, those currently studying and those who have graduated from the university. Comprising three parts, namely, moral education scores (20%), intellectual education scores (70%), and P.E. scores (10%), the system aims at annually evaluating and ranking the performance of all the students in a comprehensive way.

"The system is the best we can adopt," said Miss Guo, an adviser at BFSU. "It contains the three main elements involved in a student's college life with a rational proportion of them."

However, about the "three main elements," some students see more than just what Guo said.

"The system is far from being rational as the three parts of the scoring hardly reflects the real ability of a student," said Jingwen, a Grade Three student in the School of International Business at BFSU. "For example, many students who have rich knowledge and broad horizons do not necessarily get a high score in exams. But the exam scores, ironically, are the only thing related to the intellectual education score."

"On the surface, it seems fair enough to simply add up the three scores to have the final score. But how can this show the strong suit of each student?" Weiwei, a Grade Two student in the Law Department at BFSU, said. "Some students are particularly talented in P.E., yet they only do moderately in the other parts, thus their total score ranks only in the middle or even the last in the department. In this way, how can their P.E. talent be recognized and appreciated?"

In response to this, a school officer in charge of the Comprehensive Assessment replied, "As to those who have particular excellence in certain fields, the system has taken them into consideration in the form of awarding them with extra points."

Yet the rule of awarding students with extra points does not satisfy everyone.

"It is often the case that the extra points play the decisive role in the ranking of the total scores, as we don't have a very big disparity in the intellectual education score," said Zixian, a Grade Two student in the Journalism Department.

According to a school official document published in August this year, there are rules regulating the extra scores. For example, those who get first place in a school-level sports competition can get 1 point added to the final score, and those who get second place can have 0.7 extra points, etc.

"There are so many kinds of different competitions concerning all fields, held by such a large number of organizations, that it is almost impossible to cover all the awarded students with detailed regulations," Zixian said after reading the published official document.

The P.E. scores aroused strong controversy.

An official document, "Guide For Conducting P.E. Courses in Universities," issued by the Ministry of Education in August 2002, required universities to put more emphasis on P.E. courses. Thus, the P.E. score takes up a considerable proportion of the final score, 10%, which is not considered fair by all of the students.

"The proportion's just too high," said Zixian, "I spend so much time reading books and preparing for my exams that I rarely have time for physical exercises. And I don't feel the necessity of such a harsh demand on P.E. performance in universities. We're no longer children, after all. We should choose our own emphasis in life."

Xiaoyun, a Grade Two student in the English Department, smiled in appreciation of the P.E. score proportion. "It's just good to see the school realize the importance of P.E., as the intellectual education scores can hardly be completely fair, while the P.E. scores can," he said.

Though much doubt has been cast on the system, there are many students who feel contented and appreciate it.

Cailan, a Grade Two student of the Diplomacy Department said: "I'm happy to see such a system that evaluates students not only by their academic performance but also by their performances in morality, P.E., extracurricular activities. Compared to the system in the middle schools, this is already big progress."

"There must be a standard to quantify performances," said Shuang, a Grade Two student in the English Department. "I don't see much trouble with it. I especially appreciate the moral education part, as the score of this part usually reflects a lot, such as the general reputation and personal relationship of a student."

The Comprehensive Assessment system works not only in BFSU, but also in a large number of other universities in China, including elite universities such as Tsinghua University.

Pingyi, a student in the Architecture Department of Tsinghua University summed up the position of those who favor the status quo:

"I don't think there is any system that can evaluate every student with total fairness. Every system has its loopholes and fallacies. The Comprehensive Assessment system has shortcomings, of course, such as not being objective enough. Yet I appreciate the core principle of it, that is, viewing a person from multiple angles, manners, social work participation, leadership, artistic talent, and of course academic achievement, rather than one perspective only. This is the most important thing."

CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, SOCIETY, NEWS BRIEF, Is the "Right" Job Worth a Life?

By Tian Yuan

Five Peking University students committed suicide in the past seven months, a death toll far greater than any previous year. It has aroused a lot of attention at what is often considered to be China's premier university.

On April 22nd, 2005, a girl undergraduate student majoring in Chinese jumped from the 9th floor of building no. 2. On May 7th, a male doctor majoring in mathematics jumped from the same building. On July 26th, a male undergraduate student majoring in psychology jumped from the veranda of the 5th floor of building no. 33. There were two other deaths with no exact time and place.

Blood clearly rang the alarm bell for all the students. They have begun to reconsider the meaning of life.

The most typical reaction was from Lian, a postgraduate student studying Chinese, "It's your own business. Nature provided us the choice of life, how to live it, or whether we live it or not, is a private thing." To such students, living and dying are natural acts therefore should be private choices.

Other students argued that being a member of China's top university, they should be more responsible for family and society than others. Life was first and for the most part a social process rather than a natural one. Therefore they should not treat current difficulties as too important, but to devote themselves to studying well and working for the country in the future.

What's more, their gaining a successful living was also an important source of their family's happiness. To them, the students who committed suicide were cowards who could not face or overcome the hardships of life and were irresponsible to their parents.

There were some students who had thought about killing themselves because of the "unbearable" pressure on their shoulders. With the proliferation of college graduates, it's become very difficult for students to find the good jobs they and their parents had expected after graduation. Even students of Peking University cannot avoid it. Which is why the students there are thinking and talking about the value of life. And death.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, NEWS FEATURE, The Cruelest Choice

By Yu Zhijuan

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) carriers often encounter extreme frustration in finding a mate and a job, even though people in China now have a better understanding of the disease and its prevention.

Each weekend, Xiao Huang dates his girl friend Xiao Lv, taking her to their favorite restaurant. In people's eyes, they are young lovebirds envied by others. However, few really know that their love is being severely tested.

"My mother is still against us staying together. Our future is full of darkness," said Xiao Lv, who told the writer their story.

Four years ago, Xiao Huang and Xiao Lv both entered Beijing Jiaotong University and became classmates majoring in computer science. When their friendship turned into love, Xiao Huang revealed to his girlfriend that he was an HBV carrier.

"As soon as my mother heard this news, she tried every means she could to prevent me from seeing him," Xiao Lv said. Her mother ordered her to come home to Shi Jiazhuang (capital city of Hebei Province) as soon as she graduated from Beijing Jiaotong University. Her mother tried to arrange for her to meet guys she'd never heard of before.

"I could understand all that my mother did," Xiao Lv said. "She meant well. But it is ridiculous that, to avoid these things, you make every boy have a physical examination before you fall in love with him."

Xiao Lv revealed that actually she, like her mother, had worries about their future. "I am afraid that once we are married and have children, the hepatitis B virus will be transmitted to our kids."

Xiao Lv complained that she often quarreled with her boyfriend over the problem. "I don't know what to do next. On the one hand, our love is not likely to ever get permission from my parents. On the other hand, since we have known each other well for about two years, I cannot simply say goodbye to him."

Besides the pressure from Xiao Lv's family, Xiao Huang also has to face the difficulties of finding a steady job.

As a computer major, Xiao Huang first applied for a job as a network controller at a college in Beijing. Although he was more qualified for the work than other candidates, personnel officers of the college refused his application as soon as they found out he was an HBV carrier.

At last, in September 2005, Xiao Huang found a job in Beijing Western Railway Station. However, Xiao Huang kept his health problem a secret. "I'm afraid he will lose his job again if his boss learns about it," Xiao Lv said in gloom.

It is not Xiao Huang alone that faces these intense dilemmas. Statistics show that there are about 130 million HBV carriers in China, which makes up 10 percent of the Chinese population. And like Xiao Huang and Xiao Lv, many of them will experience similar cruel choices in love and career.

INTERNATIONAL, COMMENTARY: A Wailing Land Calls For Cease-Fire

by Song Rui

With the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraqi war now well over 2000, anti-war protests have swept through America. I believe there are a number of reasons for this intensified round of protests in America.

First of all, the Americans have obviously come to realize that they have paid too much for this war. American soldiers in Iraq continue to die every day, and terrorist bombings and kidnappings have never ended. Besides those killed, thousands of soldiers are suffering from heartaches. Among the protesters is Cindy Sheehan, the arrested "anti-war mom", who lost her son last year in Iraq. And many people in America share her sorrow. Having lost so many, they cannot bear loosing more sons, brothers and husbands.

Second, the American soldiers are unwilling to continue the war. From the death notes of the American soldiers, we can feel their love for life and abomination for war. In those notes addressed to their loved ones, they talked about the new computers they would never buy, the courses they would never take, the Christmas presents they would never open and the lovely kids they would never kiss. Every word of theirs urges their families to earnestly request President Bush to call off the battles early, so as to avoid more tragedies.

Besides the sorrow for the huge loss, there are still other reasons for anti-war protests in America. High technology and large defense budgets were meant to reduce casualties. But the low--or even zero--casualties the American people had expected proved to be unrealistic, bringing more pain to their sensitive emotions. Moreover, there's hot debate on the justifiability and the necessity of the Iraqi war. The public began to doubt the reasons for going to war.

Last but not least, hurricane Katrina awakened the Americans to the fact that their most urgent affair is to improve the security situation within the nation rather than sending countless troops to other countries to promote "democracy". When people in the richest country in the world are crying for food and water, who could continue believing in President Bush's agenda as announced on March 19 2003, that America would start "military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger"?

Therefore, the anti-war protest in America is stronger than ever. The war has to be stopped; otherwise, the dual power of it will wound both sides.

But war continues on this land, the land that gave us the wheel, writing and mathematics, where the people first divided time into units of 60 and where they first divined the God of the Old Testament. This land is wailing, not only for its people, but also for the American soldiers who have died there.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, NEWS FEATURE: When Going to School Is a Matter of Life and Death

By Liu Liting

Late last August, a country girl in Xiejiaying village, Gansu Province, jumped off a cliff because she was too poor to continue her education. Her father, using a trick of "drawing lots," made the decision that she give up her chance to study so that her younger brother could have his.

Yang Yingfang was 18 years old and attended the same senior school as her brother. Yang's father, the 53 year-old Yang Yuxiang, spent most of the year working in the field; the rest in big cities doing labor work to support the family.

The family worked 27 acres of farmland, 3 acres of which was turned into forests, following the policy of the government. So most of the family's income was from the other 24 acres. Last year, they sold all the paddy and wheat they got from the fields--some of which had been saved for 3 years--for 1700 Yuan. Yang Yuxiang did urban labor work for two months and brought home a little more than 1000 Yuan.

The money wasn't enough for tuition and living fees at school for two children. Yang Yuxiang said he needed at least 7000 Yuan per year to continue both his children's education. And that was only 90 Yuan per month for Yang's and her brother's living expenses: enough to sustain their lives but not enough for their stomach's to ever feel full. The father felt he had no choice but to stop Yang Yingfang's study,

At noon on August 24, Yang's family returned from the field after half a day's hard work. Yang and her brother were gulping their lunch when their farther came up to them with two paper clumps in his hands. With no expression on his face, their father said: "We don’t have enough money for both of you to go to school now. One of you must quit. We will decide who will quit by drawing lots. Here are two paper clumps. Whoever gets the one with no words on it will leave school."

Yang's brother, Yang Dong, said he wouldn't draw lots over such a thing. He added that if his sister quit school, he would quit, too. Yang also didn’t want to 'lot.' Instead she told her father to pay for her brother's tuition fee first and keep her fees in arrears. She did not realize it was her father's trick to make her stop her study.

Yang Yuxiang put on a smile and said: "Just try one. Try one and let's see." Saying this, he deliberately stretched his hands out to his daughter. Seeing her father was determined, Yang took a clump. She opened it. There were no words on the paper. Yang lost all feeling and strength. At the same time, the father, Yang Yuxiang, with another empty paper clump in his hand, remembers feeling remorse and pain for cheating his daughter.

When Yang Yingfang woke up the next day, her parents had already gone to the field. Feeling so sorry and guilty towards their daughter, they did not return home at noon. Yang prepared lunch and then sat on her bed, thinking for a while. In the afternoon, her brother went out and herded cattle. She took out her math book to read but could not keep anything in her mind.

"I busied myself by doing some farm work but it didn't help. I still felt so desperate and annoyed. Then I decided to go out for a walk," Yang later told a journalist. "When I arrived at a cliff, I sat down on a big rock and began thinking. It was already dark at that time. I felt a little bit afraid. I was thinking of what I could do if I did not go to school. I did not want to go home. But, I had no money with me and couldn't go anywhere. Suddenly I lost all hope of life and jumped off the cliff."

The villagers searched for Yang for two days and three nights before finding her at the foot of the mountain on August 28, alive and conscious. After she was saved the only thing she cared about was whether her brother had gone to school. During her recovery time in bed, she read her textbooks all day long.

When asked whether she regretted having attempted suicide, without hesitation, Yang replied: "No! If I couldn't go to school, the only one chance of changing my life was lost. What could I do with a meaningless life?"

Talking about her future, she wept. She still did not know whether she would be able to go to school even after attempting suicide. "Money is a really big problem. I do not have hatred for my father; he really had nothing else to do. I can understand him," Yang said through her tears.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY: Confession of a 'Ghost Examinee'

By Lin Lin

Ghost examinees, nicknamed "gunmen," are people who take exams for other people. Some take this job for money, but more often they take it for the sake of their friends. However, what is waiting for them is: once caught, dismission with no exception.

Most ghost examinees are very talented students. However, in today's China, leaving university without a bachelor's degree and a stain on school records, it is like a death penalty. Thus many people feel the authorities have overdone the harshness in dealing with these students. On the other hand, the school authorities insist upon the efficacy of 'fairness and seriousness' in examinations; the tough crack down on any form of cheating in exams is to protect the reputation of Chinese academia.

Regulation or compassion? When faced with these youngsters, which shall we choose?

~ ~ ~

I was said to be the first student ever expelled from BFSU.

BFSU was not my first choice. Before coming here, I'd always been a top student, but my inertia urged me to come here as a recommended student. I was interested in linguistics studies, but what was taught and the way of teaching here failed me completely. I began to fall.

Sadly enough, in my sophomore year, the Arabian word atom bomb was always on the tip of my tongue while the word egg was not in my vocabulary. I was totally at loss and could not find a way out. Rock n' roll, skateboarding, computer games, girlfriends took almost all my time. All my ambition, my promise and the top position I'd gotten used to had died away in the smelly dormitory and smoky internet cafes. The decadent life eventually led to the fall of my morality.

The first time I took exams for others was in my freshman year. Altogether I've done it three times, all for the sake of my friends. As for the pay, nothing for the first time, then 700, and the last time 600--only half of the street price. As friends, they paid as much as they wanted or even nothing and I never cared.

Frankly, I seldom suffered a financial crisis--my 800-Yuan monthly income as a tutor was enough for my spending habits. I took the jobs 25% for money, 25% for friends and 50% for fun. It was a way to release my excessive confidence and get a sense of achievement. I could do the listening and reading comprehension simultaneously, and finish the test within one hour, and then sleep for another. And of course, I got the marks my client wanted each time. I never saw the job as a risk, but as a stroll in the park on a sunny Sunday in May. I did it to play with the national-level tests and to mock these rubbishes. In some ways, I am not really a ghost examinee.

Before taking the job, though not 100% sure, I pretty much knew that once caught both students would be expelled. However, in my experience, the fake ID card can get through at first sight, but I never expected that the client's enemy would disclose it and I was caught. Blank-minded, I'd rather believe it was only a nightmare.

Ironically, when I took the job, some of my friends followed, some appreciated and some sat by, but no one ever persuaded me not to do it. People are numb. Sad for the society.

After what had happened, Mom immediately flew to Beijing, visiting the superiors one by one. Her emotion was too vulnerable to bear such a shock. She wept and couldn't sleep every night. This was what I felt most sorry about. Dad never said what I did was right or wrong, but instead gave me many suggestions, both short-term and long-term.

My calm reaction astounded my roommates. Without tears, my parties, computer games, band rehearsals still went on. I spent my last days like nothing had happened, preparing for final exams, queuing in the 3rd dinning hall for kong pao chicken and talking about plans for the next semester's classes.

No outsiders could see I was in trouble. No one knew that when class was over, I went to all departments concerned, knocked on every door and talked with every teacher, in the hope of finding remedies.

I paid for what I've done. Regrets cannot help. As for the future, it's either going abroad or finding another university. But no matter which way I chose, I knew clearly that my family wouldn't give me any financial support. All of my family members are well educated, and you can see how embarrassed I would be not getting even a bachelor degree.

Now I am studying in Europe. Despite the hasty preparation, the process went smoothly. I love the environment here, the challenges along with the opportunities. Striving abroad gave me back a clear mind; I found myself and my drive for life again.

I've paid such a high and painful cost--losing my student identity. It means that I have to pay twice the efforts and an additional 2 or 3 years to get back to the same starting line. Also, I had to leave my best friends and familiar environment to start from nothing in a foreign land. But above all, my life has been blemished forever.

On the other hand, it's also a priceless experience for me. I've always believed that the ultimate goal of life is to experience. Though this case is an extreme one, it enriched my life. It also dragged me out of the sense of loss and made me find myself again. For the first time in my life, I thought seriously and deeply into morality, ethics and people's values systems, things that I'd never bothered to think about before.

It was also my first time to experience the power of the State, which made me more realistic and rational. As for the future, I believe the past will not influence it too much. After all, our life depends on our ability and ambitions, though the ways might be different.

I believe that the current policy towards ghost examinees is only a temporary solution. It can hardly affect a permanent cure. The authorities' attitude is really tough, but I have no objection to what they've done to me. I don't like bureaucracy and support their directness. But whether it is legal to deprive students' identity still needs further discussion. There was a lawsuit concerning the issue, which ended up with a triumph of the student side.

You know, almost all the university students in China are patients, and they need a thorough treatment. The fall of my, or rather our morality, is only superficially owed to the social environment, but it is deeply rooted in our sense of loss. As the elites of the country--allow me to address myself this way--we live without drives and goals, and the decadent campus life finally leads to the fall of morality.

Besides, the inadequate education system as well as the general fickleness among students accounts for much of the frequency of cheating and plagiarism. When I took the job, many friends had the same intention and came to me for consultation. They all seemed so excellent and innocent; but if the conditions permitted, they would do the same thing I did.

I don’t feel as guilty as I appear on my self-examination report. Don't take me as stubborn--I know I have nothing to argue about: But should you not forget that while I was polluting the society, the society had already polluted me. I was a pest, but I was also a rotten leaf gnawed by pests. While I shoulder my responsibility, the society should take its own responsibility as well.

We are ill. Seriously. What we need is a thorough treatment rather than some superficial work. I hope that my case is the beginning of this thorough treatment by society, not just like spoiled meat sliced off and thrown into the garbage bin.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, COMMENTARY: Chinese Media and Homosexuality, a Marriage of Opportunity or Idealism?

By Lou Li

A gay university student came on the screen talking about his relationship with another young man and how he was infected with HIV/AIDS from unsafe sex.

A gay couple was interviewed about their relationship and their plans for the future.

On August 9, in a 45-minute program titled In the Name of Life, CCTV (China Central Television), China's biggest and most widely received TV station, scored big ratings talking about homosexuality. Chinese homosexuals, after being hidden in the dark for so long, are finally occupying a prominent presence on Chinese official media.

CCTV was not alone in giving a special focus to homosexuality in China. A month before, Tianjin TV aired another program on homosexuality, titled Under the Same Sky. Beijing News Radio's franchise program Life Hotlines ran live talk shows on homosexuality for three days beginning August 29. At the same time, China Newsweek, one of the three biggest news magazines in China, published a story on lesbians in China, a more mysterious group of homosexuals.

The news that Fudan University scheduled a course called Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies, the first of its kind ever offered to Chinese undergraduates, was a common headline in all newspapers across China on September 7.

Statistics show that news about homosexuality popped up on Chinese websites almost every day in 2005, which was certainly not the case only a year before.

Thus, some conclude that 2005 was a turning point in Chinese media's attitudes toward homosexuality, marking the end of the invisibility of homosexuals in China. The epochal fact that homosexuality is gaining tolerance and understanding gradually in Chinese society can be distinctly tracked through the voice of media.

CCTV's program In the Name of Life took many people by surprise when it aired and soon created a huge stir all over China.

"In the past, this topic was surely locked in the forbidden zone--and minefield--of Chinese media," said an editor with a government newspaper.

Xiao Li, a reporter, was sorry that he missed the broadcast time of the program. But he said that it wasn't the content of the program that was so important. "That a program on this issue can be broadcast on a state-owned national TV station is the biggest news." He that that his reporting on China's first film festival featuring homosexuality in 2001 was "killed" immediately by senior editors due to the "sensitiveness" of the topic.

Professor Zhang Beichuan with the medical school of Qingdao University, who gives his professional opinion on CCTV's program, said that CCTV actually produced a program on the same topic as early as 2002. But under the social environment then, it was not allowed to be shown to the masses.

The number of homosexuals in China remains unclear. From one source, the number of homosexuals is between 360,000 and 480,000. The World Health Organization has confirmed that homosexuality is a natural preference shared by a minority of people. But in China, it has long been a sensitive and taboo topic, hard for the mainstream society to understand.

Since it was a traditional obligation in China to bring children into the family, homosexuality was considered a threat not only to families but also to society.

Though there are no laws against homosexuality in China, Chinese homosexual life has existed solely underground for many years. Media, who are supposed to take the responsibility of reporting the real world, also turned a blind eye or a deaf ear to this topic for decades.

However, things began to change in recent years.

Homosexual behaviors were decriminalized in China's New Criminal Law in 1997, and the new Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Mental Disorders removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses on April 20, 2001. At the end of 2004, for the first time, China's Health Ministry reported publicly on the number of gays infected with the AIDS virus in China.

An Internet survey in 2000 showed that Chinese people are becoming more tolerant towards homosexuality: among the 10,792 surveyed, 48.15% were in favor, 30.9% disapproved, 14.46% were uncertain, and 7.26% were indifferent.

Professor Hu Peicheng, the secretary general of China Sex Study Association, says it's social progress when homosexuality can be discussed openly. "It's actually conducive to the settlement of social problems brought about by homosexuality when we put it in public discussion."

No one is happier to see the change in the attitudes toward homosexuality by media and public opinion than homosexuals themselves. After watching In the Name of Life, Juan, a gay, broke down and cried. He later wrote to Professor Zhang Beichuan, "Finally there came people willing to speak for us." Professor Zhang has received hundreds of letters like this in recent months.

Films are usually regarded as the pioneer of all forms of media in dealing with homosexuality. However, homosexual characters in earlier Chinese films appear as victims. In Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine, for example, a young actor with the Beijing Opera is condemned to be a sexual plaything of a lustful mandarin. Or else they try to understand their "problem" as shown in the confrontation between a proclaimed homosexual and a policeman in Zhang Yuan's film East Palace, West Palace.

Released in 1999, Men and Women, directed by Bingjian Liu, was the first Chinese film that depicted homosexuals as normal people living normal lives. Cui Zien, a professor with the Beijing Film Academy, is openly gay and has an important voice on homosexuality across the media spectrum, wrote the script. "I wanted to show how we live day by day," Cui said. The film is set in a rapidly changing urban society where different lifestyles coexist. In this context, the line between male and female sexual roles is blurred. "Encouraging people to think in these terms could be more effective than waving banners," he said.

Lan Yu, a widely acclaimed film about two men's love, reversed many people's view on homosexuality. "For the first time, I got to know that same-sex love can be as strong, melancholy and touching as any heterosexual love," said Wang Lei, a college student in Beijing.

But how far can China's media go in helping alter the public opinion toward homosexuality and win the rights that homosexuals deserve?

Lacking a film rating system, the Chinese government forbids gay movies on TV or in theaters because they are "inappropriate." Despite having received much attention in Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places, the movie Lan Yu is still forbidden in the mainland although the actors are all Mainlanders, and the story is based on a quite popular Internet story written by a mainland netizen. So far, the authorities have not allowed Cui Zien's film Men and Women to be shown in China.

When dealing with the issue of homosexuality, China's media often attaches it to AIDS, finding that leveraging the rising alarm over the spread of AIDS wins them more 'maneuvering space,' including more tolerance from the government. CCTV's In the Name of Life started and ended with an appeal for HIV/AIDS prevention in the gay population.

Meanwhile, many acknowledge that the media's strategy of using AIDS to broach homosexuality issues carries a risk that homosexuals will be blamed for the spread of the disease.

Zhou Dan, openly gay and an activist in promoting the rights of homosexuals in China, said, "Always attaching homosexuality to AIDS would probably leave an impression on the public that homosexuality is dangerous and equal to AIDS."

Xian, a lesbian and the owner of a les bar in Beijing, said the media may function as a double-edged sword: although they need more public awareness, she worries that the media will fail to present the real living conditions and problems of homosexuals and thus produce even more social misunderstandings about gay life.

CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, SOCIETY, Commentary: Classism in Beijing?

By Yu Feng

This is supposed to be an enlightened age, but you wouldn't think so if you could hear what the average citizens of Beijing city think of the people who come from other provinces. We all know that everybody should be treated equally and with friendliness, however, in Beijing, the Capital of China, and a civilized metropolis of the world, most people from other cities are not treated justly. They contributed a lot to the development of Beijing, yet they are a group of people who are always being neglected. If you look around purposefully, you will find they are some of the loveliest and most respectable people to be found anywhere.

Mr. Ren and his wife Mrs. Zhang are gatekeepers of a playground in Beijing Foreign Studies University. When I went to the playground and wanted to have a chat with them, they were sweeping up the fallen leaves. "We spend five or six hours cleaning the fallen leaves everyday, it gets harder when it snows," Mr. Ren said.

Mr. Ren and Mrs. Zhang came to Beijing from Shangqiu city, Henan Province, two years ago. Before that, Mr. Ren was a carpenter in his hometown and Mrs. Zhang worked in a milk factory in Ningbo city. To find a better life, the couple got their present job through the introduction of one of their friends.

Everyday they get up at 5:00 o'clock in the morning, eat breakfast hastily, open the gates and begin cleaning the playground. They must finish cleaning before PE classes begin in the early afternoon. During the PE classes, they are responsible for supplying various PE apparatus to students and to help them look after their clothes and bags. They can't leave the playground until 10:00 at night. Besides a ten days' Spring Festival Holiday, they have no weekends and holidays off the rest of the year.

"It seems like an easy job, but actually it is not," Mr. Ren explained. "Some people show their contempt when we ask to see their identity cards at the entrance. Facing these misunderstandings, we will forget those unhappy things soon," Mr. Ren added with a smile. "We believe that if we treat them kindly, they will cooperate with us."

Mr. Ren and Mrs. Zhang have two children, a son and a daughter; because the couple can't look after them, both children attend a boarding school in their hometown. When I asked about their future plans, Mrs. Zhang said that she hopes they can earn enough money here to afford for both children to study in a university in Beijing.

* * *
Mr. Yuan is a seller at a fruit stall; the fresh fruit and his good service earn him many repeat consumers. Eight years ago, he came to Beijing and sold fruit from a tricycle, and then he got a job working for the owner of a fruit stall. He has three children; because his children can't enter a primary school in Beijing and they can't afford the high-standard life, Mr. Yuan and his wife also have to leave their children in their hometown.

"Life is full of hardship, I have to stay outside day after day, and the housing condition is bad. However, I have to sustain my whole family," Mr. Yuan said. When it is not busy, Mr. Yuan likes to read novels next to the fruit stall. He said his biggest wish is to have his own fruit store one day.

According to statistics, there are about 3.595 million people from other provinces now living in Beijing. Some of them work in companies as white-collar employees, or mechanics; most of them work in the service industry, such as a detail seller, baby-sitter, milkman, postman and cleaner. They are an inseparable part of the city. It is reported that when people from other provinces return home for unity during the Spring Festival Holiday, two-thirds of the citizens of Beijing city have no fresh milk to drink and no newspaper to read.

However, most of the people from other provinces don't lead an easy life in Beijing. The local people often trick them; their children have no equal rights to go to school; they are not even allowed to enter certain public places. Yet they truly contribute themselves to society; they are worth our attention and respect.

Recently, in the newly revised "Norms of Behavior for Primary and Middle Students of Beijing City," some new contents were added, including the admonition not to despise people from other provinces; not to insult them; not to laugh at their pronunciation and appearance; and not to play tricks on them. This is a good beginning. It will be even more sensible when these basic norms are carried to a larger extent.

An energetic city firstly should be a harmonious city; everyone should respect each other like family members. Only in this way can our society continue developing in a promising direction.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, Commentary: Love Beijing, Love its History

By Lylian Chen

I told one of my foreign friends, as we were wandering around HouHai Lake, that there were many Hutongs in the area typical of the ancient Beijing city. But he replied: "I am afraid this area is too commercial now. Beijing is no longer what it was like twenty years ago."

I felt embarrassed. What kind of Beijing city should we have? Beijing is one of the most prominent ancient cities in the world and a symbol of Chinese culture. But what kind of appearance should this city exhibit to the modern world?

In the latter half of the last century, China changed rapidly, resulting in changes to its capital, the city of Beijing. The city wall, which used to be known as "the necklace of China," was totally torn down. More and more Hutongs were replaced by lifeless skyscrapers. Except for the Forbidden City, sitting lonely in the center of the city, Beijing has become increasingly similar to many other cosmopolitan areas at the expense of its own charming features.

Many renowned architects tried to prevent this. Liang Sicheng was one of them. He claimed the old city was a treasure owned by the entire human race and shouldn't be demolished casually. But what they did proved to be of little help. The ancient remains disappeared, together with their place in Chinese history and Chinese culture.

However, we have to thank the 2008 Olympic games. It will not only boost our economy, but also give us a chance to reconsider our traditional culture, especially the magnificent character of Beijing, and present it to the whole world. In this way, what will follow are the projects best reflecting the city's history, such as reconstructions of the YongDing Gate and the Yu River watercourse, and even renovations of the Palace Museum.

It seems that Beijing City is gradually taking on a look of what it was decades or even centuries ago. Some people have begun to doubt: If we are going to rebuild the Hutongs and such, why are we demolishing them at the same time? Some experts have pointed out that no matter how exquisite the reconstructions are, they are no longer historical relics, but comparatively valueless reproductions. Some even argued that such projects should not have been started at all. They said if we could not recreate history, then keep it as it is like the Old Summer Palace.

Such debate will continue throughout the rebuilding process. It's hard to tell who is right, but it is a good lesson for us. How do we balance the modernization process with cultural identity? A distinguished German historian once said: "In the future you (Beijing city) will own everything we have now, but we can never obtain what you own at this moment." Obviously, we still have a long way to go.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY: China’s Top Muckraker Wants To Tell It Like It Is

By Li Mu (Lianne)

"Probe the Truth: News Probe."

On the screen, Cheng Kejie, Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, confessed to taking 41 million RMB worth of bribes, which was soon followed by a court decision imposing the death penalty--the highest-ranking official since the foundation of the PRC to receive a death sentence.

"Who gossiped? I will take care of him!" the head of a county raged in the face of a reporter who enquired about the misuse of public funds of an irrigation construction program.

"I shall appeal to justice till the end of my life," Wailed Li Yufeng. Her son, Fan Li, was wrongly sentenced to death by local authorities.

Every Monday at 10:35 a.m., the real-life investigative TV program News Probe is shown on CCTV 1. Since the first broadcast in 1996, the 45-minute news program has made history in the field of investigative reporting in China. Modeled after CBS's 60 Minutes, it was the first TV program in China to be labeled "investigative," focusing on reporting corruption, injustice and assorted other social problems.

"In our concept, truth stands for facts concealed by power, special interests, prejudices, and is sometimes limited by our social circle and collective conscious," declared Zhang Jie, executive producer of News Probe.

The TV program produced its catch phrase, "Probe the truth," in 2000, when the program reset its mission as independently investigating acts transgressing the public's interests. That is when the program took shape as an independent investigating entity. Before that, its journalists chiefly assisted investigations carried out by the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection and judicial institutions.

"The inspection of the Yuncheng irrigation construction program in 1999 was the first time we supervised local power as an independent media. Since then we have been ever stressing the independence of working journalists," said Zhang.

In 2003, News Probe underwent another transformation that consolidated its position in investigative reporting. "We have raised the motto of 'Doing real investigations,'" Zhang said. "Along with our regular social reporting, we directed our energy to muckraking. Our competition strategy is to make at least one influential investigative program every month with the journalist as the leader. To achieve our goal, we have reformed our evaluation system, encouraging journalists to oppose authorities and do original reporting."

Zhang argued that although the ideology and industrial level of China is different from western countries, it has the same goal of constructing an independent fourth 'power' to supervise society, to safeguard democracy and prosperity. He believes investigative reporting can serve the same role in China.

But tight censorship does not often concede that point, adding to the obstructions of independent investigations. A News Probe director said that the authorities canceled some of their investigation programs. "We are running into a catch-22 between marketing strategy and restraints coming from our state-ownership," Zhang said. "I personally think everything will be better, with the market becoming more open. Freedom of media is something every journalist should strive for."

In an open talk in 2003, Zhang told his listeners that he became a father of a newborn baby. He also told them, "I see in him the future of myself and my country. I do not wish for him to grow up in a country that is still corrupted and polluted."

CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, SOCIETY, MIGRANT LABORERS: Just Making Do, Selling Fruit in Beijing

By Zhu Chaoli (Julia)

Though only 37, Wu You seems older than her age. She, together with her husband, has been running a sidewalk fruit stall outside the southern gate of BFSU for more than ten years.

They both come from a small village in southern Henan Province, which is considered to be one of the poorer areas in today's China. "It is by chance that my husband and I came here," Wu said. "Life in our hometown was just too hard. So one of our relatives already in Beijing suggested we come to seek a chance." And they came. With a small tricycle, the couple stocked themselves from the Fruit Wholesale Market of Mingguangsi and packed up a small stall.

It was not easy in the first few years. The couple rented a small room more than ten miles away from where they ran the business. "Our first daughter was still small then, so I had to care for her at home and it was my husband who managed the stall and earned the money."

Wu was referring to the years when a large amount of rural laborers began to flood into big cities. At that time, the city's regulation of private stalls, especially those set up by people from outside of Beijing, was very strict.

"When selling fruit, we had to keep an alert eye so that we could quickly notice officers of the city administration and run away from them," Zhang Jing, Wu's husband, explained while displaying goods on the shelves. "For once caught, one would be fined about 200 Yuan and worse still, one might be sent back to the police station of his hometown, waiting for a family member to bail him out," Zhang said. "But one can never be too careful. I was still caught about two times per month. And the money I had earned went all for that."

In recent years, as the government began to pay attention to the development of rural areas and the life of rural laborers, the supervision over owners of the small stalls was relaxed. "Now we don't have to worry about the officers as much as before, though they may still come on special days, such as the days around Spring Festival," Zhang said.

But the relaxation of policy also provoked an enormous increase of fruit stalls. The number of similar stalls in the area of Weigongcun, once reached over one hundred. This added greatly to their difficulty in earning a living.

"The competition was more and more fierce. Therefore we had to cut the price," Wu said. A number of the other fruit vendors couldn't meet the increasingly tight competition and gave up. But Wu and her husband stuck it out.

"It is not easy for people like us to find a job. Even if you find it, it may be as laborious as the present yet with lower pay," Wu sighed. "It is really toilsome to run this small stall, but we have no better choice. The good thing is that the stall can narrowly support the family."

As thousands of rural laborers rush into the city and compete for the very limited labor jobs, the opportunities are few. On the other hand, to go back to farming is also not a good option. "As peasants, you make great efforts but gain little," said Zhang. He went on to give an example of his experience growing legumes. After spending great efforts on tilling the fields, scattering seeds, watering, fertilizing, and later reaping and packing, they only earned a gross profit of 30 Yuan per day. "That is far from enough for the whole family," Zhang said.

Luckily for them, their honesty, integrity and hard work through all these years gained them a good reputation among their customers, which ensured repeat business. "You feel assured buying fruit from them. They never cheat me on the weight and their fruit is usually fresh," said Ms Liu, a resident living nearby.

"The quality of their fruit is good and the price is also reasonable, much lower than that on campus," a BFSU student said as he was buying apples.

"They are warm and kind. And sometimes they will give some other kind of fruit to you for free," said Miss Li, who identified herself as a senior student in BFSU.

However, life is still hard for them. Here is what Wu said about a day in their life:

"My two children get up at 6:30 a.m., prepare breakfast themselves and then go to school. I start out at 8 o'clock in the morning. My husband has gotten up much earlier since he has to stock the goods. I pull the tricycle out and start the business.

"There are two rush hours in the day. The first is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. when students finish their morning’s classes. As we have to care for the customers, our lunchtime is not fixed, sometimes 11 a.m., and sometimes 1:30 p.m. The content of our lunch is instant noodles or steam bread (steam bread costs about 0.5 Yuan), or fast food (3 Yuan each).

"It is not very busy in the afternoon until 5:30. My daughter often prepares our supper when she comes back from school. Then my husband and I will go separately to sell goods. He will go onto the streets, constantly changing locations, sometimes as far as Sanyimiao (more than half an hour ride from Weigongcun). After 10:30, when there are few students passing by outside the university, I go into the street, too."

The very nature of the business means instability of income, yet for a family that includes three generations, there are certain fixed expenditures. According to Wu, every new term, the family has to hand in a total of 1,000 Yuan for their two children’s education. Every month, they pay 600 Yuan for rent, 60-70 Yuan for electricity and water, and send several hundred back to their hometown for their grandparents. Though they have tried their best to save money, such as cutting down on the cost of their meals, and seldom purchasing new clothes--most of their clothes, including the children’s, are donations from the nearby residents--they have great difficulties meeting just these basic living costs.

As typical a country wife as Wu You is, she has something special of her own. As the fourth child of her family, she enjoyed a comparatively happy childhood. Her parents didn't put much farm work or family chores on her and, instead, sent her to school, which was very rare in the countryside at that time. She was very hard-working and insisted on continuing her schooling until she finished senior school.

Restricted by the unenlightened village education and the awkward financial situation of her family, she didn't make it to university. "I am very regretful about that. Even to this day, I constantly dream of the days of studying in school and admiring the famous works," she sighed. "Now it is too late for me to go back to school. Therefore, all I wish now is that my children make good use of their chance, work hard, and realize the dream I couldn't."

When referring to her children, she is proud as well as deeply concerned. "The teachers think highly of my daughter and keep saying she is doing well in her lessons. But I don't think so. I think she still has a long way to go and shouldn't be slack."

Wu has a Chinese mother's typical expectation for her children. "I am sorry that all we can give them is so little. My daughter even has to help us after coming back from school. I just hope they will change it themselves! I hope they can work hard, go to a good senior school, attend a good college, and thus find a good job. As for their education fees and living costs, I, together with my husband, will pay for them so long as we have the capability, and we will try our best."

CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, EDUCATION, One of the Two "Devil Teachers" at BFSU

By Li Shuting

Not every student in BFSU knows his name, but every student in BFSU knows his nickname--"One of Two BFSU Devil Teachers." Lu Xiaoke, who teaches Main Thoughts of Mao Zedong, is famous for his strictness, or rather, harshness.

Mr. Lu is from Jiangsu Province; he graduated from Nanjing University with a major in History. When talking about his personal experiences, he said no one in his generation grew without frustration.

He was born in 1954; when he graduated from primary school in 1966, the Cultural Revolution broke out. As a result, he had to stop studying until the year 1968. Then, in 1970, he graduated from junior middle school and later joined the army.

"Chairman Mao said the People's Liberation Army was a large school, and the youth could be trained there. However, I was shocked by some phenomena there," Mr. Lu said.

"Because of the abnormal political atmosphere, many soldiers felt depressed and even got some psychosomatic diseases at that time." Mr. Lu felt obliged to inform his superiors, and he never stopped doing so. His letters didn't reach high authorities, but he did finally irritate local authorities who were always trying to cover up the truth. Hence, during the following years, Mr. Lu was treated unfairly in the army.

He knew his behavior might cause him trouble beforehand, but he couldn't stay silent because of his strong sense of responsibility. "Though I had a number of complaints about the unfairness, and the whole system, I've never felt regretful for it. I just did what a soldier should do." Mr. Lu said he was a serious person, and he always had a strong sense of responsibility.

In 1973, Mr. Lu left the army and entered a factory. Four years later, he entered Nanjing University and majored in History. After graduation, he came to BFSU and taught the History of the Communist Party for some years. Then he began to teach Main Thoughts of Mao Zedong.

Mr. Lu has loved history since he was very young, but the aim of his studies in history was not to study history itself, but to find out the truth from historical events and improve the present social situation with its help. He believed that Main Thoughts of Mao Zedong was the essence of Chinese modern history, and it could direct China towards the right path. So he was happy to teach that course and believed that it could help China become a better country.

Mr. Lu said he was deliberately strict with students, and he felt obliged to do so. "Some students want to relax themselves in college," he said. "But we teachers should warn them against decadence. Being strict with them is an effective way, and it's out of responsibility."

Mr. Lu knew that many students don't like his course. However, he believed that if he kept on trying to improve his way of teaching and relating the course to reality, more and more students would love it.

"I heard that students gave me a nickname--'One of two BFSU devils.' Instead of being irritated, I feel happy to know that. Many students greet me when I am walking on campus; many graduates still keep in contact with me... . All of this shows that students can understand me and accept my way of teaching. I am gratified for it, and the nickname sounds to me as if they're praising me for my strictness," Mr. Lu said and smiled.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SPORTS, The Sporting Farce - Who is Really Being Cheated?

By Liang Liang

A body fell on the tatami like a straw--with it went our belief in the spirit of sports.

October 13, 2005, in the women's 78-kg judo final of the 10th National Games, former Olympic champion Sun Fuming (from the Liaoning team) fell on the tatami, under the eyes of all the audience who supported her, after being struck by the younger player Yan Sirui (from the PLA team). The audience was astonished by the way she fell--ordered by her coach, she pretended to be beaten by Yan's slightest push, like a jackstraw. Sun lost the gold medal in a most incredible way--she gave it up.

"I saw the coach from Liaoning Province gesture at Sun, and then she gave up the competition," said Ms. Zhu, a member of the audience.

However, Sun was not a good actress. The committee pointed out the fake performance, punished the coach and announced a rematch for October 15, 2005. But Sun lost again. She used another inevitable failure to up-end the rematch, up-end all the ups and downs, and end up the whole farce.

After the final, Sun Fuming's coach, Liu Yongfu protested that, "Both of them are from Liaoning Province. No matter who wins the gold medal, it's the same. If it had been a harsh battle, it would have hurt them. Giving up the game was to protect the players. That's nothing special."

We are shocked. How can these words come from the so-called "gold-medal" coach? Does he teach the players in this way? Where is sports justice or the sporting spirit we have been after for so long?

Sports, it is not just a word about competition, achievement or glory. What's more important is that it symbolizes justice, purity, peace and friendship. It gives us a chance to praise the beauty of the human body and also a chance to show our will of transcending ourselves. That's why we can find the love of sports throughout human history. So the meaning of the competition is not merely who is the winner of the medal, but a performance of the sporting spirit.

Nonetheless, the coach and the two competitors took it as a private game within their own group, neglecting the spiritual effect they should deliver to the public. This kind of neglect leads to a very dangerous condition wherein all the participants merely long to win the game--or to say, gain their own interests, no matter what methods they adopt. And the victim who suffers the most is the sport itself because it is not the original that people have always loved.

Not only was the sporting spirit hurt by this farce, but also people's hearts.

Sun Fuming was also hurt. As an older player who won the 1996 Olympic gold medal and the 2004 Olympic copper medal, she really wanted to end her career with this gold medal of the National Games. After the final on October 13th, Sun cried out with regret: "But I have followed Coach Liu for a long time. I understood what he wanted me to do. I can't disobey his will."

In China, a player is inculcated with the idea that an individual's success, to a large extent, is owed to the coaches' effort and the cultivation by the nation. Lacking these, he or she will never reach the peak of their careers. So at some critical time, the player should obey the will of the coach, caring nothing about its rightness, or he or she would be taken as ungrateful and selfish--"individualism." This absolutely doesn't go with what we advocate: collectivism.

But this collectivism neglects both the real meaning of sports and the feeling of the players--two of the most important things we should respect. It has already pushed famous Ping-Pong player He Zhili to Japan because of a similar case. From then on, the authorities in the Ping-Pong field strictly banned this kind of fake behavior, lest other excellent players get hurt and leave. How can the same thing happen on the tatami again?

Yan Sirui was also hurt. In the whole farce, the coach was the director, Sun was the leading actress, but Yan was only a minor player, maybe only an unwitting minor role. The dramatic effect of this play has diluted the gold medal of Yan. All the effort Yan has made seems to be ignored or regarded as part of the play. Even though Yan won the rematch, people can't help doubting the real worth of this national 'champion.'

And the audience was hurt. "I bought a ticket to see the Olympic champion and looked forward to a wonderful competition. But I feel cheated," said Mr. Zhang who works in a foreign company in Nanjing.

The public feels cheated. Besides the "ideal" of the sporting spirit, there is also a more realistic thing we should obey: the sports rule. The rule is we can't betray our audience. Only by meeting our audience's needs, can we prolong the lifetime of sports. The public needs honesty, transparency, justice, and a good performance. Sports audiences don't want to be cheated, even fooled. Such cases damage the credibility of sports. If they can't believe their eyes anymore, why will they pay to see competitions?

Some people may think that we can win Olympic gold medals without the audience so it doesn't matter. Maybe we can, because nowadays these kinds of Olympic sports rely on support from the government. It won't bother them if people don't buy the tickets, because they still have food. But what if one day they are thrown to the market to feed themselves?

Let's look at professional Chinese soccer. Now that they live on the market, they can't cheat the public anymore. The soccer market, at present, is decreasing throughout China. It is very "natural" that there are a large number of vacant seats in the stadiums. The behavior of Chinese soccer has really disappointed soccer fans.

The Olympic sports don't want to hurt the potential market, do they?

Who was the writer of the farce? What was the real purpose of giving up the gold medal? Did the coach only want to protect players from a harsh battle?

According to the evaluation system of the 10th National Games, if a player from the PLA team wins a gold medal, both the PLA team and the home province of the player will be given a gold medal. In this case, if Sun had won the match, only Liaoning Province would have gotten a gold medal. So why not act as a "kind" person? What's more, Sun's days have passed but Yan is a rising star of Liaoning. Obviously, cultivating a new star has more benefits than helping an old player write a full stop of her career.

Yet this case was not the only one. In the men's over-100-kg judo competition on October 13, player Wei Xiangjun of the PLA team (the output province is Shandong) met player Shi Huayong of the Shandong team. Wei beat Shi--who intentionally gave up--in no more than one second. Another judo player said, "Obviously, this will save Wei's strength. It is the same for Shandong Province no matter which one of them enters the final."

Then who is the writer of these farces? The answer is the maker of the rules. The players, the coaches and the teams are just playing by the "rules" of the game. It is the rule-makers who leave the loopholes for them. While criticizing and punishing the players and the coaches, can we perfect our rules or systems first?

The body fell on the floor like a straw. We don't want our belief and love of sports to fall the same way.

CHINA, NATIONAL, MINORITIES, SOCIETY, Being Tibetan at BFSU

By Shi Rui

When their peers are worried about what to eat at noon, what to wear to the party, several Tibetan girls have already considered their future and their people's future a thousand times.

On their way to the dining hall, some students of Beijing Foreign Studies University saw girls in traditional Tibetan dresses in front of a pile of books. A poster was up that read "They Need Your Help."

The girls were Tibetan students, and they were holding a donation program to collect books for Tibetan children. As a minority, they are more conscious of the future of their people, though they are far away from home.

Qiong Zhuoma, 21, a Tibetan student of BFSU majoring in English soon accepted our interview, and unfolded her life story over the next four hours to all of the gathered Han students, her schoolmates.

Zhuoma is the most typical name for Tibetan women, it means Bodhisattva. Her grandfather was a rich businessman, but gave up his fortune during the time of liberation.

"My mom always told me the story of her throwing Tangkas (pictures painted with the powder of gold, rubies sapphires and emeralds) into the river," Zhuoma said.

She went to primary school in Lhasa where her family lived; the graduation exam of the primary school changed her life--she got such a great grade that she won the chance to study in Shanghai.

"It's an aid-Tibet program run by the government," Zhuoma explained. "I stayed in Shanghai for four years for my junior high school, free of charge. I didn't go back home even once, because I was too young and my home was too far away. It was just impossible for me to travel alone"

"All the lessons in my primary school were taught in Tibetan, and we did not start learning Pinyin until grade 4, so when I first arrived in Shanghai I could not speak Mandarin," Zhuoma said. "We began to learn 'ABC' in the second semester of grade 8, in Shanghai. I feel lucky that my major is English now. Some of my friends were put into the French or German departments."

Another crucial exam was given to Zhuoma and other Tibetan children in Shanghai in 2000. Losers would be sent back home. Zhuoma passed again. She then came to Beijing for senior high school study. The tuition fee was 1500 Yuan ($183.6) per semester and she studied there for 3 years.

Zhuoma took the national college entrance exam in 2003, and was enrolled by BFSU. She admitted that there was a preference policy for the Tibetan graduates--they got a 100-point bonus when applying for universities. (The full mark of the college entrance exam is 750 points.)

When she first entered the university she felt regretful.

"Both of the high schools in Shanghai and Beijing were for minorities only, so it was my first time to stay with so many Hans when I came here," Zhuoma said. "I thought I should go to the Tibetan University. I was so lonely; I missed my parents and friends. I made long telephone calls every day in my freshman year."

"My classmates and I had little in common. Sometimes we simply could not understand each other. I told jokes but nobody laughed, or they laughed together at a joke that I could not get at all. So I just avoided talking."

Apart from the differences, Zhuoma also experienced discrimination; she thought all the biases were rooted in people's unfamiliarity with Tibet.

"I was surprised at people's ignorance about my hometown!" she said. "When we had PE lesson people would ask me whether I had ever seen a basketball before and some classmates even asked me whether I had lived in tents."

"Once a teacher praised me, 'your English is much better than I expected.' I felt happy at first, but then I was depressed and a little bit angry. She had judged me as a poor-English student even before she heard me speak English."

"Some of my Tibetan friends were doing part-time jobs as English tutors, but it was common that they got fired as soon as the parents knew they were Tibetan."

As a college student in grade three, Zhuoma thinks a lot about her future. She wants to go back to Tibet, but she also has some worries. Her brother was once a student of Tibetan University and he majored in water conservancy. After graduation he was assigned to the administration office of a small county where he did the "fussy" work and forgot his water conservancy day by day.

"All my friends want to go back," Zhuoma said. "But we need to know we can get the right job for our majors. I cannot waste what I learn in college. The government spent a large sum of money to educate us and I cannot let it sink. If an administration office is waiting for me, I'll have to flee."

"I did not like English in the past, but now I do, because it enables me to bridge two different kinds of culture," Zhuoma said. "There are many people who can speak Mandarin and Tibetan, or English and Tibetan, but few can speak all three. I can. I want to become the 'culture ambassador' to introduce the great foreign works to our people, and the great Tibetan art to the world. That will be the best usage of my major."

At the end of the interview, Qiong Zhuoma complained about the fallacies of the current education system in Tibet.

"All the lessons are given in Mandarin now, even math. Little children take pride in speaking Mandarin. Some of them refuse to learn Tibetan! How sad it is! If the language dies, the nation dies."

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, Commentary: The Day the Light Went Out

Ba Jin 1904 - 2005


By Deng Jing

He witnessed the rise and fall of a century; we witnessed the conclusion of a time.

A light extinguished: And with it the last fragile connection between the present and past century broke. The umbilical cord attaching us to classic Chinese literature was cut by the death of one man. We became lost at 7:06 p.m., October 17th, 2005. At that moment, Ba Jin died.


Ba Jin, whose original name was Li Yaotang, was born November 24, 1904, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province--101 years ago. Being the fourth son of an official in the Qing dynasty, at 19 he ran away from home under the influence of the May 4th movement. China at that time was at the edge of complete collapse, which spurred Ba Jin's generation to seek desperately the means for her survival and revival.

Suffering from the pain and restrictions in a federal family, Ba Jin embraced the idea of anarchy. His penname, Ba Jin, was the combination of the sounds of two anarchists' names. He went to Paris and in a shabby room with little sunlight began his first novel in gloom and loneliness.

Returning home in 1928, Ba Jin was at the height of his literary powers. Among many excellent works, his trilogy, Family, Spring, Autumn, influenced a whole generation. The trilogy is partly autobiographical, depicting the fall of a feudal family--especially the different fates of three brothers.

Ba Jin, distressed by his elder brother's suicide (as expressed in the novels), devoted passion and indignity to his work, which aroused a great uprising among Chinese youth to break away from the smothered family ideal and search for a new way of life.

He said he wrote with blood. And his peers felt the sincerity. Numerous youths,
modeling the characters, decided their fate themselves rather than their parents. To them, reading Ba Jin's books was the turning points of their lives. He was admired as the intimate friend of youth and the witness of a time.

All the glory a writer aspires to--at only 27, he joined the first rank of Chinese writers with the trilogy that changed a time--became fatal in the Cultural Revolution. Together with his beloved China, Ba Jin confronted a ten-year nightmare. In the nightmare he saw his friends betray him, his wife beaten to death, his faith distorted, and his country retreat into darkness.

Against all odds, Ba Jin argued that the cause of the Cultural Revolution should not only be attributed to the "gang of four" but to everyone who spoke falseness and bushwa. Everyone, being both victim and participant, must take responsibility for their own tragedy.

Among the voices of accusation against the "gang of four," Ba Jin's was the most direct and piercing. He picked up his pen to cry out as soon as he could. In the 80s, he began to write Confessions, which grew to a total of 420 thousand words. With unbelievable courage and frankness he confessed his inner mind from those days, and to the flam he spoke to survive.

Again his work--at intervals of half a century--aroused great emotional reaction among readers. This kind-hearted gentleman flintily uncovered the scars of his generation, which others wished to forget forever. He forced them to look into its face.

And that wasn't enough. He was the first and the only person who openly appealed for the construction of a Cultural Revolution museum, which, due to 'this and that,' is still under discussion.

"Speaking flam led to the Cultural Revolution. What I say is not necessarily the truth; but truth comes into being on the foundation of words out of one's own will."

To face bravely the stain and distortion of our nature, Ba Jin took himself as the example. This move gained him respect again, along with libel.

Some critics accused Confessions of seeking only fame, sniping against the government for that sake only, or advocating "liberalism," employing a skill popular in the revolution.

Ba Jin replied: "Speaking out what I want to say, I can leave the world with relief." It is acknowledged that if his former works encouraged youth to break the manipulation of traditional morality, then this book--written after he was 60--was a perfect breakthrough from his own restrictions.

It took him eight years to complete Confessions, largely due to health problems. In 1999, Ba Jin in fact lost the ability to write. As a writer he was nearly driven mad: "Soldiers always die on the battlefield; why can I not die holding my pen?!"

Disease not only deprived him of writing but also his contact with friends. For fear of infection no one except doctors were allowed to enter his sickroom before the end was near.

"Today we all gather at his bed, watching for him," Ba Jin's grandson told journalists. In his last hours his kin and friends surrounded Ba Jin in silence. They had not seen him at a close distance for a very long time.

Living for more than a hundred years and seeing the passing of friends one after another, Ba Jin said: "It's a punishment to be a macrobian."

In 1999, he demanded euthanasia rather than an operation. Death seemed a relief to him. However, with the endeavor of doctors he survived and his first sentence was: "Thank you; I shall live for you all."

Indeed his existence was mitigative for us in this noisy world; a reminder of the passion, idealism, true love and faith that his generation died for but we abandoned. He was the conscience of China. We relied on him as children do a guardian, selfishly putting all the responsibility on his shoulders to wallop, knowing confidently that he would call us back from the abyss.

But now there is no one to watch over us.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, LIFESTYLE: Behind This ‘Door,’ New Beijing is Waiting for You

By Hou Dong

As usual, Steve Kuhn and his working team are having a spirited get-together in his temporary apartment in central Beijing to discuss their newly-built website. Their heated discussion is mainly in English, with fragments of some Chinese words. A visible flow of enthusiasm and excitement run through their conversation.

They are setting up a new website about Beijing to make the formal black and white image of China in American minds colorful. That is Beijinglives.

Beijinglives is a newly born baby of a multinational team led by Steve Kuhn (Chinese, American, Canadian and hopefully more soon). They want to build the best website available about life in Beijing. Their aim is to have accurate and relatively complete listings of bars, clubs, music, restaurants, art, fashion, community, health, real estate and more, in order to present a vivid picture of China to a global audience. Though it is still a work in progress, it has already attracted nearly 2000 people per day to look through the site.

Beijinglives encourages its audience to participate in the contribution of the website, inviting one and all to put up their thoughts about life in Beijing, for example: their best and worst experiences in Beijing; their thoughts about the city changing; their favorite bars and restaurants and why; their favorite places to live, and why, etc. It also wants to act as a stage for the many amazing talents in this city to showcase their art to the online world.

The website looks promising. More and more features and information bases are going up on the site. It is still in its infancy, with much of the content produced by the staff. But Steve Kuhn said that he and the other editors want to showcase other voices; they hope to have people of many nations and perspectives write for the site.

The energetic and ambitious founder, Steve Kuhn, does live up to his reputation as a can-do person:
- Graduated from Harvard University with degrees in both economics and applied mathematics.
-A vice president and portfolio manager of Goldman Sachs of Wall Street;
-An expert in trading;
-A professor at Peking University
-The founder as well as the teacher of Mortgage Workshop, the aim of which is to furnish the excellent finance students of Peking and Tsinghua University with opportunities to learn about U.S. mortgage-backed securities, a knowledge of which is in great need nowadays in China. It is free with its only aim to enrich students’ skills and knowledge so they can be successful mortgage traders in the future.

Mr. Kuhn's true passions lie in starting http://www.beijinglives.com/ and teaching.

"I started http://www.beijinglives.com/.com because I felt the information available online to an English reading audience about Beijing and China was often nonexistent, biased or difficult to find. I wanted to create a well-designed site that could help English speaking people living in Beijing find out more about their new home," Mr. Kuhn said.

"For example, we have an event calendar with a very complete listing of events for today and every day in the future. It is easy to find out what is going on, where it will occur and how much it will cost," Steve Kuhn explained with his signature enthusiasm. "No other Internet information source about Beijing is as complete or as simple to use."

After an informal get-together with Steve and his staff--that ended up with us hearing this great underground acoustic guitar band from Xianjiang--he has further revealed his intentions and features of his website through E-mail. He believes too many Americans have a very biased and simplistic view of life in China. U.S. images of China are in black in white. He thinks there should be someone to show how colorful life truly is in Beijing.

Mr. Kuhn wants to be able to document the changes happening here every day. If they do their job well, they think people, years from now, will look back at their archives of words and pictures from this period and be amazed at all that had changed. They want to be like a capsule to capture this moment in time.

"I also want to bring Chinese writers' thoughts on events in China and throughout the world to the English speaking audience," Mr. Kuhn continued. "Most Americans read about China through the eyes of a foreign journalist writing news for a home audience. And while there are certainly many fine foreign correspondents doing amazing and important work here, that should not be the only viewpoint heard and understood. I want to bring intelligent and articulate Chinese writers to a Western audience," he said thoughtfully.

When asked about why he came to China, he said with a big smile on his face, "I think China and Beijing might be the most interesting place to be in the entire world right now. Daily, you see changes here that are very large and significant. It is interesting to see this happening in front of your own eyes. So I came to learn about this city, this culture and to study Mandarin." He is really a big fan of Chinese culture.

When he is not working feverishly on the website, you will find him playing Xiangqi, reading, watching DVDs and very soon appearing playing badminton. In his spare time, he is an energetic big man bursting with energy.

He is well educated and knowledgeable, creative and efficient, treats everyone with respect; he is easy-going, and values time, never leaving today's task to tomorrow. More important, he is the kind of person who thrives on ambition and high goals. All in all, he is an amazing person leading a colorful life. He is one who is here to show the whole world a new image of China.

Considering Steve Kuhn and his group’s never-ending toil for what they love, we believe Beijinglives will prosper in the near and far future.

CHINA, NATIONAL, NEWS, BEIJING, SOCIETY, QUEER AS FOLKS: A Study of Homosexuality on Campus, Part Two

See Part One

(Editor's note: To protect the right to privacy, all names in this study are aliases.)

By Lin Lin

In the lesbian world, females are divided into two kinds: T and P. T stands for tomboy, those who dress, act and behave like a male. P stands for Po, or wife, who is more feminine. The difference between T and P are becoming blurred as many lesbians transfer from one to the other.

T
"Homosexuality is just the same as heterosexuality. There are actually no differences other than we love people of the same gender."

Tutu found her homosexuality in junior two. She fell in love with one of her close friends then who was straight. Since the girl was the superintendent's daughter, Tutu dared not confess to her for fear of infuriating her mother and destroying their friendship. Thus with great pains, she'd carefully hidden her emotion for years.

Because of her talent for playing soccer, Tutu became a professional soccer player in senior high and played for a club. "Most girls in the soccer club were lesbians, and it was the first time in my life I found a sense of belonging." There, Tutu made a great many friends and found her first partner.

"I used to feel ashamed about my homosexuality. I had no one to talk to and I lived in disguise. Life was such a misery for me. But now I have a large circle of friends who can really understand me. It's their friendship that gives me the peace of mind and the courage to face my life. I still don't tell people my sexuality on my own initiative. But if they ask me, I will definitely tell the truth."

Tutu is now studying in Beijing Sport University. Last year, through the military training course, she came to know Joe, a sophomore from BNU, and fell in love with her. "Joe had just broken up with her boyfriend when we met. She'd never had relationships with girls before, so I wasn't sure whether she would accept my love. I had a really hard time trying to hide my feeling towards her. Luckily, when I finally made up my mind to confess to her, she accepted me."

Tutu admitted that most lesbians are emotionally sensitive. "Joe is bisexual (as are most Ps) and I'm jealous whenever she goes close to the boys. We are a perfect couple, but still we quarrel, because of those boys who never stop approaching her. She says that's pure friendship but I'm always unhappy. I feel threatened by those handsome boys."

"But I know I have to be realistic. Joe and I still don't have the courage to tell our parents about our relationship. If Joe's parents find our love totally unacceptable, I'll let her go, though I'm so scared of the idea of losing her. Still, I'm satisfied as long as she lives a happy life," tears rolled down as Tutu explained.

"But if my parents find my sexuality unacceptable, I can do nothing except apologize, because I'm born this way. If I marry a man out of their will, the marriage would be a disaster to everyone."

P
"We won't hurt anyone. We just want to fight for our basic right to love as a human. Is that really so wrong and unacceptable?"

Joe has astounding beauty, a head turner of both sexes.

"100% heterosexual and 100% homosexual are two extremes. Aware of it or not, all of us are somewhere in between," Joe said. "No one is 100% heterosexual. When you get the message of love from the same gender, you may naturally react to it."

"I know that many girls nowadays become lesbians simply for fun or fashion, but I'm not one of them. I take this relationship seriously. After all, it is not a game," Joe said.

In Joe's school, seven girls share one dormitory. The room became more crowded when the eighth one--Tutu--moved in. Putting up a curtain around Joe's bed, she and Tutu finally found their little private space. "We two are grateful that all my roommates and friends are very understanding and supportive," Joe said. "I guess that's partly because I major in psychology and people around me can treat homosexuality rationally and professionally."

"One of my friends in our school who majors in philosophy was driven out of her dorm and told never to come back again, because her roommates think homosexuality is something disgusting and sinful. Whenever Tutu or I go by their room, they throw things at us as if we are sinful creatures."

"Many people cannot understand why I choose to be with Tutu. I've been hurt by men before and I constantly feel insecure. Tutu is caring, considerate and, above all, she loves me as if I'm her everything. The sense of security and intimacy she gives me was such that I can hardly live without it."

"Most people don't take the lesbian issue as something serious, at least not as serious as gays. I guess that's because of the AIDS things. Most people don't feel threatened by lesbians, only gays. However, if this is why they don't take lesbians seriously, that's ridiculous. None of my ex's believe that I'm a lesbian now even when I tell them many times. They think I'm just kidding."

"I love Tutu. But to be honest, I'm not positive about our future. Whenever I go back home, my parents are always eager to know have I found a new boyfriend and when am I going to introduce him to them. I don't know how to confess to them. I dare not see their furiousness and disappointment."

"I'm bisexual," Joe said with emphasis. "And I know clearly that I'll marry a man one day for the sake of my parents. But I really don't expect there will ever be a man who treats me better than Tutu. The intimacy between women can never be found between a man and a woman."

* * *
Through Internet chatrooms, we interviewed several gay students. The following is some of what they had to say about homosexuality.

Ted: "I'll soon graduate from the college. I don't know how much difficulty is waiting for me in the future. Though I have always kept a eager heart for true love, yet, facing all the pressures, how long can I persist?"

Alan: "Hugo said man's mind is wider than the sky. I am thankful to those who have given me love and care. Thus I am going to use my knowledge to serve the people just like me."

Jie: "If there had been someone telling me what homosexual really was when I just had a rough idea of sex, I wouldn't have spent my precious youth in misery. Perhaps I would have learned how to face life and myself."

Brant: "How can you imagine telling someone that you are gay? I'm afraid people will never make friends with me. I even have a girlfriend to pretend that I am straight."

We also interviewed students on campus at BFSU who are straight to learn their thoughts on homosexuality.

"I hate homosexuals, and my family hates them, too. It's sinful, isn't it?" said Eric, a junior student and a controversial figure because of his big quarrel with a gay student on campus last semester. Though total strangers, he cursed the gay student to his face simply because of his sexuality when they came across each other on campus.

"In today's world, nothing is too odd. I think it's just a way of life, and their basic rights should be properly protected. Anyway, it's ok with me, but I will never live that way," said Vivian, a junior student in BFSU.

"Both Tutu and Joe are kind and loving girls. They should be wished happiness instead of being cursed. Their pursuit of love has no difference from ours. Prejudice cannot solve any problems, it only causes more," said Phoebe, Joe's roommate.

* * *
What statistics, publications and experts have to tell us:

According to Zhang Beichuan, Martin Prize winner (a prestigious international award honoring people who have made great contributions to AIDS prevention and awareness) and psychoanalyst of the Hospital attached to Qingdao University, 77% of Chinese homosexuals have suffered greatly, 34% have had strong motivations of committing suicide, 10% have attempted to commit suicide but failed. 66% feel lonely and greatly depressed, 50% feel their sexual orientation has affected their work. 38% have been insulted, sexually harassed, and beaten up or blackmailed.

In a nation-wide survey conducted by Professor Pan from People's University, he found that 6% of Chinese college students have had sexual contacts with the same sex during their college years. Gay students are more numerous than lesbian ones, in the ratio of 2.24 to 1.

According to China Daily in August, 2005, heavy social pressure has forced about 80-90% of the estimated 40 million homosexual Chinese into marriage, causing great personal suffering as well as ruining the lives of their spouses.

On Sept. 07, 2005, the Sociology Department of Fudan University started an optional course for its undergraduates--the Study of Homosexuality, by Professor Sun Zhongxin. The classroom is filled up inside and out every week, with eager students, journalists and social activists. "Everytime, I have to come to the classroom four hours earlier so as to get a seat," said Wang, a student from the Finance Department.

"Students are curious because homosexuality in China is still in an underground existence, something hidden in the cupboard," said Professor Sun. "Through this course I hope that discriminations can somehow be reduced among university students."

"It is very necessary to have related classes. The crucial thing is to promote science. On one hand, knowledge on anti-sexual-orientation-discrimination should be added to courses and lectures on love and sex to help build a positive living environment for gay students in college. On the other hand, the promotion of knowledge on the prevention of AIDS should be strengthened," said Dr. Wang, a specialized psychoanalyst for university students.

"This course surely marks a step forward in our education. But its unexpected popularity, on the other hand, also reflects our ignorance of homosexuality," said Sue, a senior student.

Fourteen years ago, Cui Zi'en, the vice-professor of Beijing Institute of Film, and a screenwriter, wrote and starred in a film on homosexuality: Men and Women. When he publicly confessed his sexual orientation in 1991, the school dismissed him from his post and he was not allowed to teach for the next 10 years.

"It is difficult to change people's stereotype merely through courses," said Professor Sun. "Now our courses on homosexuality still stay at the level of eliminating illiteracy. The unusual popularity of this course might be a joke in the future history."

* * *
The times are indeed changing:

Books on homosexuality studies by famous sociologists such as Li Yinhe have emerged on the shelves of all bookstores. Also, various non-governmental organizations have been founded, such as Tong Yu for lesbians and China Rainbow.

Laws have been revised to protect the basic rights of homosexuals in China. In 1997, China's Criminal Law was revised and decriminalized sodomy. In 2001, homosexuality was struck off China's long list of "mental disorders."

(Guo Kaiyu contributed to the reporting of this article. Lin Lin is this year's Chief Editor of the department's innovative print newspaper, First Mover – the Editors)

CHINA, NATIONAL, LIFESTYLE: The Forbidden City

By Ellen Ji

The vast territory of China is dotted with gorgeous scenery too numerous to name. Five thousand years of history has contributed an extraordinary, enchanting beauty to this poetic and picturesque land. Places of historic interest and scenic beauty in China have become tourist destinations, such as the Great Wall, the Palace Museum of Beijing, the terror-cotta warriors and horses in the ancient city Xi'an and the beautiful landscape of Guilin in the south.

With scarlet bricks and golden glazed tiles, the outline of the Palace Museum is portrayed against the blue sky. The Palace Museum, also called the Forbidden City, is crowned as the largest and most complete ancient wooden-structure building complex in the world. Having approached through the Tiananmen Gate, I see the grand plaza come into view, situated in the center of Beijing.

"The Forbidden City was built from 1406 to 1420 by the third emperor of Ming Dynasty, Yongle, who moved his capital from Nanjing to Beijing. In 1911 the Qing dynasty fell to the republican revolutionaries. The last emperor, Puyi, continued to live in the palace after his abdication until he was expelled in 1924," according to A Brief History of the Palace Museum on its own website, "twenty-four emperors were enthroned and living in this palace during this 500-year span"

Strolling on, the Meridian Gate (Wu men) on the south towers is aloft. The Forbidden City is surrounded by 10-metre high walls and a 52-metre wide moat. Measuring 961 meters from north to south and 753 meters from east to west, it covers an area of 720,000 square meters with 4 corner towers standing separately at the four corners of the city. Each of the four sides is pierced by a gate, the Meridian Gate (Wu men) on the south, the Gate of Spiritual Valor (Shenwu men) on the north, Xihua Gate on the west and Donghua Gate on the east. A moat, which is 52 meters wide and 3,800 meters long, surrounds the complex outside the walls. Thus the city was made a strongly fortified castle.


Walking through Wu men and Taihe men, straightforward to the north, I see the resplendent and magnificent Taihe Hall where the emperors held meetings for grand ceremonies with officials lined up according to rank in the vast courtyard. The interior of it is majestic. On a platform in the exact center of the hall stands a golden lacquerware throne carved with coiling dragons, backed by a golden screen, and flanked by six pillars entwined with coiling golden dragons. Directly above the throne, a huge silver pearl hangs from the mouth of another coiling dragon. It is so shocking and impressive to imagine sitting on the golden throne, having many officials kneel down at one's feet and ordering them what to do. How glorious and luxurious it is! No wonder so many people were desperate for the title, and more, the power.

In a row with the Taihe Hall, there are Zhonghe Hall and Baohe Hall. These are the places where the emperors met their ministers, discussed domestic events and issued orders.

What catches my eyes at the back of the Baohe Hall is the stone pavement with dragon and cloud decoration. Being 16.57 meters long, 3.07 meters wide and 1.70 meters thick, it's the largest carved stone in the palace. It was carved in the Ming Dynasty and recarved in 1761, the twenty-sixth year of Qing Qianlong's reign. It is said that only the emperor can walk through the stone pavement, all others through the side passages. One of the rules of the strict hierarchy in ancient China.

Compared with the area where the emperors dealt with domestic events, the places where he lived is much larger. It contains Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, six western palaces, six eastern palaces and the Imperial Garden.


In the Ming Dynasty, the Qianqing Palace was the emperor's bedchamber, and it remained so till the Qing Emperor Kangxi's time. Following Qing Emperor Yongzheng's enthronement, Qianqing Palace was converted for dealing with routine state affairs. Behind the horizontal board, inscribed in four Chinese characters, is "Zheng Da Guang Ming" above the throne. A box for testament on succession to the Qing throne was once cached here. It is said that in the reigns of Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang the emperors'statement regarding his choice of a son as his successor was secreted in this box.

The Kunning Palace was the bedchamber of the empresses in the Ming Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, only on the occasion of an imperial wedding did the royal couple stay in the heated east room of the hall for three days.

Six western palaces and six eastern palaces were the places where the emperors' concubines lived. They often entertained themselves in the Imperial Garden, appreciating flowers, playing chess or writing poems.


Their daily life was actually rather boring. But most of the emperors and their families were fond of opera. In the eastern section of the rear part, there is a three-storied building named Pavilion of Pleasant Sounds (Changyin), the largest of its kind in the Palace Museum. There is a stage on every level, from top to bottom: Stage of Fortune, Stage of Prosperity and Stage of Longevity.

The whole Forbidden City represents the lifestyle of the ancient emperors. Their life was isolated from the outside world by the tall red walls; their knowledge about the outside world was merely from the ministers nearby; their views about the outside world were only formed by reading the books written by the old generations. Thus, living a luxurious life in the city was like being bound in shackles. Maybe it's one of the reasons for the downfall of the feudal dynasties of China.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SPACE, NEWS, BUSINESS: Shenzhou VI - a Windfall for Advertisers and All

By Tian Yuan

The success of the Shenzhou VI spacecraft showed the great progress, both economical and technological, made by China in recent years and provided a windfall for the advertisers and the companies who paid for the advertisements.

On October 17, 2005, Shenzhou VI, China’s second manned spacecraft landed successfully in Inner Mongolia, after a 115-hour journey in space. It was estimated by Xinhua that 500 million people around China watched live programs of both the launch and return of the spacecraft. The price of advertising on CCTV 1 reached up to 8.6 million Yuan for a 30-second ad, and 4.76 million for a 15-second one. Still, there were many companies showing great interest in buying it.

Mengniu was one of the companies. Being a new comer in the milk industry, Mengniu tried every way it could to enlarge its market share. Two years ago, within hours after the landing of Shenzhou V, the advertisement of Mengniu saying that “Mengniu milk is the unique choice of Chinese astronaut” was shown on more than 30 TV-stations all around China.

This year, with the success of Shenzhou VI, Mengniu as the sponsor became even more famous. What accompanied the reputation were greater profits. In Beijing alone, the sales income of its milk reached 100 million Yuan this October. The achievement had much to do with its space strategy.

While referring to electrical household appliances, another famous brand, Kelong, also took advantage of the space industry. Having sponsored the Shenzhou VI with both money and products like bridges and air-conditioners, Kelong showed its advertisements on CCTV1, CCTV2 and CCTV4 and within every program related to Shenzhou VI, the audience learned that “Kelong bridges and air-containers have such a good quality that the space agency chose them as equipment on the spacecraft”. According to the statistics offered by Kelong, its sale raised 30% in October.

Sinopec also got a great share. After the successful launching of Shenzhou VI, Sinopec made new advertisements for its famous product, the Great Wall lubricating oil, saying that “forty years good cooperation with China’s space industry is the best proof”, in order to show that its quality had been good for all these years.

Even the bookstores and toy stores got handsome profits. The books on spacecraft or on outer space became bestsellers, as a result of which the Wangfujing Bookstore prepared a special counter for books of these kinds. The toys, such as models of spacecrafts and planes, were also well welcomed.

There were still other products which made advertisements showing that they became special or sole providers for the astronauts and got good sales.

The achievements of the space industry became a new mainstay of China's advertisement industry.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, HIGHER EDUCATION, NEWS: Their Unusual Student Life

They are not students included in the recruitment, but they lead a hard life on the campus with their everlasting goals.

By Yu Feng

It is 5:30 am in a dark room no more than 5 square meters near Qufu Normal University. The room is empty except for two bunk beds and a small table. Two girls live here; both of them are students preparing for next year's postgraduate entrance examination. They are reluctant to get out of bed, especially in the cool late autumn, however, they have to, if they are late, they won't get a seat in the individual study room.

"Life is not easy, but I enjoy it," said Weiling, a 25 year-old girl from Rizhao, Shandong Province. After graduation, she found a position in an import and export company in Qingdao City. "I worked very hard, and I earned my manager's appreciation. My friends thought I was lucky to get such a good job with considerable income. However, the desire to study never left my heart," Weiling said.

Suffering a fierce conflict in her mind, she finally resigned and pursued her dream. Qufu Normal University, established in the hometown of Confucius, is her ideal place to further her education. She went to Qufu in September and rented a small house near the university.

"The study life is not as easy as I thought it would be," she said. She used all her savings to pay for books, food and lodging, and her parents provide her with an allowance. Although she gets up very early, when she reaches the study room after a twenty-minute walk, there is already a long line waiting outside. After 10:00 at night, she goes back and continues to study till 12:00. She doesn't have access to the library, so it is inconvenient for her to refer to some reference books.

Her only entertainment is to pay one Yuan and watch a film on the campus. However, she never regrets the decision she made. "I am proud of myself, although the future is unforeseeable, I will try my best. Finding a job is not the only concern of studying, the process of pursuing knowledge should be appreciated," she said.

Wangjing also leads an unusual life at the edge of Tianjin University. The 23 year-old girl, who graduated from Qingdao Technological University, did very well in her postgraduate entrance examination this year. Unfortunately, she was kept outside the school gate because her score in English was inadequate. It's easy for students like her who majored in Urban Planning to find a decent job, but she said she would feel great pity if she gave up. So she rented a flat on the campus and began her study life.

Sometimes she feels lonely and isolated, because she is different from other students. At these times, she hides herself in her quilt, weeping quietly. When she thinks of her parents and friends, Wangjing is refreshed. "I am very lucky, my parents and friends give me great support, and my boyfriend studying in Liaoning often calls me to give me encouragement. Their support accompanies me when I am studying from dawn to midnight. I will not fail them," she said.

Although she can't use the library and computer lab at present, she is confident she will become a real postgraduate of the university next year.

In Shandong University, Jingfeng and his friends share the same experience with Weiling and Wangjing. He graduated from Shandong Technological University, majoring in Electronic Information Project. After leaving University, he went to the "talented people's market" every weekend, but to his disappointment, few companies needed graduates like him. So he decided to further his education.

Jingfeng and his friends rented a student's dormitory in Shandong University this July, paying 150 Yuan per month for each bed. "Actually, I don't know whether it is a sensible option, I believe I will be more confident in finding a proper position in society after improving myself." During the day, Jingfeng and his friends bury themselves in piles of books preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam, at night they will relax on the Internet for a while. Jingfeng said his favorite website is a forum where he can exchange his experience with friends holding the same goal.

Around us, there are a group of students like Weiling, Wangjing and Jingfeng. They lead an unusual student life at the edge of the university, and insistently hold that their dream will come true one day.

CHINA, NATIONAL, NEWS: We Only Want to Live a Simple Life Without Being Beaten or Impoverished

By Lv Zhou

"Am I guilty? Have I done something wrong?" the 16 year-old A Ping asked herself and the writer, eager to know the answer.

A Ping was forced to kneel before her boss for almost half an hour the day before. The reason was she helped a fellow worker get away from a factory in Nan Hai. In her shabby shanty, A Ping told the writer her story of misery.

In the afternoon of the day before, Xiao Fei, who is also 16 years old, told A Ping she wanted to leave the dark factory because she could not bare the overtime and low wages. But she couldn't leave the factory by herself, because the gatekeeper would not allow her to leave the factory with her baggage, unless she had the allowance of the boss, which was impossible.

Xiao Fei wanted A Ping to help her leave. She would leave the factory without baggage first and then A Ping could enter her dormitory and throw her baggage out of the factory through a window. Xiao Fei would then get her baggage and be free. A Ping understood Xiao Fei's difficulties, she decided to help her.

After Xiao Fei left the factory, A Ping entered her dormitory and packed her baggage. But before she could throw it out the window, two of the boss's relatives saw her and said she was stealing; they had the guards take her to the boss's office.

"Though I told them again and again that I was only helping Xiao Fei get her baggage, they didn't listen to me and kept on abusing and beating me," A Ping said.

The guards' unceasing beating made her sick. The boss came soon after he got the news; instead of stopping the guards, he began to beat A Ping himself, demanding that she tell him where Xiao Fei was. He tried to force her to kneel down and apologize to him. A Ping wouldn't do it, this only caused him to beat her harder. Finally, she couldn't bare the hard beating any longer and kneeled to the boss with tears rolling down her face. Half an hour later, the boss let her up to go back to her dormitory to await her punishment.

Two hours later, at a meeting of the whole factory, the boss declared that A Ping was against the role of the factory and would be fined 200 Yuan.

"My whole body is in pain," A Ping said. "I can't go to see the doctor for I have no money."

A Ping didn't tell her misery story to her aunt, who is her only relative in Nan Hai. But her aunt knew of the incident through other fellow workers and she was shocked by it. She couldn't stand what the factory had done to her niece, and decided to tell the incident to the media and the government.

A Ping is from Sichuan. She said when she came to the factory she was less than 16, which is against the law. The boss made her do hard labor and paid her less than 100 Yuan per month.

"Because of the hard work and low pay, no one wants to work for the factory. So the factory will not allow workers to leave after they enter," A Ping explained. "If you insist on leaving, you will not get your baggage or your pay." She said that many workers escaped the factory through many kinds of ways.

During the interview, the writer saw a small card hanging on A Ping's neck. The card had A Ping's photo and a number on it. The weird card aroused the writer's attention. A Ping said that the card was a method for the factory to escape detection by the government--the government won't allow children under 18 to work.

She said the factory makes the ID cards look as if they are an allowance to see one's relatives supposedly working in the factory. The factory authorities are not afraid when government officers come to make the duty check.

"There are many workers who are under 18. The boss told us to say we are seeing our relatives when there are duty checks," the escaped Xiao Fei said.

The boss and the guards wouldn't accept an interview about the incident. After some journalistic efforts, the boss did accept an interview over the phone. He denied they had beaten A Ping and said: "We never embarrass our workers. If the workers do something wrong, we will punish them, but we will never beat them." The boss refused to say anything about the ID cards.

Some workers who accepted an interview said that they saw when A Ping was beaten in the office and that she was forced to kneel down for a long time.

"We only want to have basic living rights; to live our simple life, but it seems so hard. We are all human and we all have basic dignity, but in the boss's eyes, we are only the slaves and tools to make money for them," A Ping’s aunt said.

CHINA, NATIONAL, EDUCATION, NEWS: Move Back or Leave Forever?

By Deng Jing

To many a college student, living off campus was and is thought to represent romance, freedom and independence. But from this year on, many students will have to reconsider their decision since the emergence of a new regulation may cause them to live off campus forever.

Early in 2004, the Guangdong Education Administration began an effort to ban college students from renting apartments off campus. Students who insisted on living outside the college walls would be punished.

The national Ministry of Education also suggested that college students not rent apartments outside their universities. If they do, according to a new prohibition in force this year, students must submit an agreement signed by themselves and their parents, or be dismissed.

"Do they have this right?" is the first reaction of many students when hearing the news, no matter if they live on campus or outside.

Some believed that the new prohibition was neither proper nor legal, since it contradicts China's constitutional law. "Almost all college students are adults, so the Ministry of Education has no right to restrict us on that point," many people echoed this opinion on the Internet.

However, the school authorities see the "right" in another light. Mr. Liu, head of the BFSU Student Bureau, cited national laws requiring universities to be responsible for the security of students and their possessions. Liu pointed out that the rocketing numbers of students living off campus had obstructed the school's management. From that perspective, the school authorities have the right to require students to live on campus, he emphasized.

It is clear that living off campus one cannot enjoy as much protection and convenience as living within. Though, the number of students living off campus grew rapidly in recent years.

"I understand why BFSU students choose to live off campus," said Henry Wang, a third-year student in the International Business School. The dorms are acknowledged to be too narrow for study and rest, but the vital reason that confirmed many students' choice to move out, as far as he knew, was the lack of Internet, which is "so unbelievable in this information-booming age."

Mr. Liu said the school is making efforts to enhance the facilities. He admitted that most dormitories are still in poor condition, but compared with the risk students may face off campus, he thought dormitories seemed a wise choice: "In fact, many students have learned a lesson from their inexperience." Liu said the new prohibition was made out of care for students, "why not avoid any unnecessary risk beforehand?"

His reference to the risk involved is not groundless. Accidents that hurt students living off campus have appeared in the press in a rising frequency, especially concerning girls. They were reported as inexperienced and credulous.

But to a student named Cathy, there is no need to worry as long as you are alert enough. Living off campus for more than 2 years, she is as cautious as possible. "I had to take responsibility for myself," she said.

Some girls rent off campus so they can live with their boyfriends. Cathy commented that those girls were taking a risk. Girls should consider more seriously before taking such action, or they might get hurt by uncaring men, or their own blindness, she said.

Having gotten her parents' permission, Cathy fit the requirement of the new prohibition. But what policy will BFSU adopt to deal with students renting off campus? She is still concerned about it.

BFSU authorities do not approve of students living off campus, said Mr. Liu. But they might not take so strict a step as Guangdong colleges, where the students were told to quit school or move back.

"We would rather persuade students back than dismiss them," Mr. Liu explained. "But a regulation is in force. At least they should get permission from their parents."

CHINA, INTERNATIONAL, BUSINESS, NEWS, Psst! Want to Buy a Piece of the Moon…Cheap?

By Li Jiajia

If land on the moon was priced at less than 8 dollars (U.S.) per 1000 square kilometers, would you to buy it?

This question is now being put before people who live in the Chaoyang district in Beijing.

In recent days, a "Great China Lunar Embassy" was set up in a building near the Anzhen Bridge in the Chaoyang District. This 'embassy' is said to mainly deal with businesses concerning outer space travel and moon exploration, an important part of which is the sale of real estate on the moon.

Isn't it still too abstract to talk about the ownership of land on the moon? Li Jie, the CEO of the 'embassy' told our journalists that considering the current scientific conditions, it is indeed too early for common people to truly own such land, but according to the "Certification of the Ownership for Land on the Moon," all of the land sold is marked out by the latitude and longitude. This, Li said, is not abstract at all.

About the price of the land, the 'embassy' gives out detailed information: the land is 19.9 dollars (U.S.) per acre, together with 1.5 dollars of tax and 10 dollars of commission charge--31.5 dollars will purchase about 4000 square meters of land on the moon. Owing to its cheapness, "They can be given to friends or other family members as a special present," said Li Jie.

A Mr. Chen agrees with Li, "200 Yuan for a certification is just for fun--if my girlfriend wants the moon in the sky, I can give it to her to show my love."

However, even if it is very cheap, there are still people who don't want to get into this business. A Mr. Wang said that no matter how beautiful the prospects seem to be, he would "never spend a single penny on this ridiculous thing and make a fool of myself."

When our journalist visited the "Great China Lunar Embassy," workers in the company were busy with their advertising and a lot of people were filling out forms. Mr. Jiang, one of the managers told us that their company had just gotten the license on September 11 and was busy recruiting workers. The company will probably start its business at the end of this month.

"A lot of people came to seek employment in this business, and also a lot came for consultation," a guard of the building told us, although he is also not very clear about what the company is actually doing. One of the workers who had just joined the company pointed out that people cannot yet land on the moon under current conditions, but "it is still possible that in the near future we may be able to live on the moon and make use of these lands, and that's why many people such as me choose to work here."

However, people will ask, what entitles the 'embassy' to sell land on the moon? According to the information on its official website, the "Great China Lunar Embassy" is one of the subsidiary companies of the "American Lunar Embassy." Denise Hop, its original founder and present executive manager claimed that his company is the only legal owner of land on the moon as well as the other eight planets except the earth, because he "has already signed an agreement for the ownership of land on the moon with the United States and Soviet Union twenty five years ago."

Our investigation shows that this agreement, named "Treaty on Outer Space," was co-drafted by the United States and the Soviet Union during the period of the arms race in the Cold War era and was agreed upon by all members of the United Nations.

Based on the information in the second chapter of the treaty, which says that the moon doesn't belong to any single country, Denise concluded that personal ownership is reasonable and legal. As for the registration of the "Great China Lunar Embassy," Li Jie claimed that since there is still no law regarding the sale of land on the moon, and that his company doesn't belong to the category that is forbidden by law, there is no problem with its validity. Li was so confident about the prospects of his career that he estimated he would sell at least 300,000 acres per year.

For all the declarations of the validity of the company, there are still doubts from many legal experts. Zhang Yanping, a professor in the chronometer department of Beijing Normal University thinks that land on the moon is a public resource. Although there is no law regulating the ownership of moon property at present, any single person still cannot trade it as he likes.

However, up to now, more than 3,000,000 people worldwide have bought land on the moon from this company, including many Hollywood stars and two ex-presidents of the United States: Ronald Regan and Jimmy Carter.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, Commentray: Should China Legalize Gambling?

By Liu Yeqing

According to statistics recently released, each year about 600 billion RMB flows to overseas casinos and horseracing games as well as those in Hong Kong and Macao.

Some scholars feel obliged to take measures to put an end to the money flow and one solution is to legalize gambling in Mainland China. However, opinions are widely divided over legalization.

Scholars on one side hold the opinion that we should remove the barrier of legalization and better restrict and supervise the gambling industry.

In the middle of December 2004, Wang Zengxian, a researcher with China Commonweal Lottery Research School of Beijing University, suggested implicitly in a proseminar that the gambling business in China should open up step by step. It was also Mr. Wang who released the 600 billion figure.

During the proseminar titled Gambling Industry and Commonweal Courses, Mr. Wang also pointed out that due to the ban on gambling and horseracing in Mainland China, the surrounding areas are dotted by casinos. Many Chinese travelers include visits to gambling houses in their agendas during cross-border journeys. The existence of this problem has directly exerted a negative influence on our domestic economic prosperity and the well being of commonweal courses. To make things even worse, in the meantime illegal gambling already runs rampant in Mainland China.

During the same proseminar, Jia Kang, chief of the national Ministry of Finance also agreed with Mr. Wang and said: "[with] a market economy, we have to face the reality and for the moment legalization will be an effective solution."

However, their remarks have aroused furious disputes. Considering the threat from foreign gambling interests, some scholars doubt that legalizing gambling in China is an ideal solution.

Doctor Lu Jianhua of the Academy of Social Science of China brings up four doubts regarding the legalization of gambling in Mainland China.

Firstly, if we legalize gambling, will those professional and amateur gamblers be as regulated as we would expect? A survey conducted in early 1997 showed that the amount of gambling money flowing overseas had reached 400 billion each year (the traveling and boarding fees were included as well). At that time, most of the cross-border travelers were from Beijing, the Zhejiang Delta and Yangtze Delta areas. These travelers were gamblers instead of common travelers. It's really doubtful whether we can recoup the 600 billion totally and insure the taxing of the industry after its legalization.

The second doubt is whether the positive impact will overshadow the negative impact? In many cases professional gamblers collaborate with criminal syndicates. Will legalization wipe out the illegal activities completely, such as dominating casinos and the trafficking in drugs with gambling money? For the common people, gambling is only an avocation. But once their avocation gets out of control, some will ask for loans or sell off their family properties to continue gambling. And once such runaway gambling occurs, it will spark other negative chain effects. The silver lining of legalization is that it will create more opportunities for employment. But will the government be capable of supervising the business?

The third doubt is to what extent we should control the gambling industry. After legalization, at the very least we should verify identities. But this is only an idealized model, not yet practical. If we cannot identify gamblers, we cannot control the business effectively.

The fourth doubt is how to start? We have neither the necessary means nor experience in this field. At present, the only forms of legal lotteries in Mainland China are welfare lotteries and sports lotteries. The knowledge we have acquired of the business is quite limited.

Since 1987, when the State Department granted the Civil Administration Ministry permission to emit welfare lottery, gambling has been legalized in part. What we are facing now is a further opening-up of the industry, which means legalizing the gambling games that already exist in our country. Also, the extent to which we adopt new games while finding effective ways to supervise and control the business should be of the utmost concern to us at the moment.

Some other experts also supported the latter by pointing out that legalization of gambling does more harm than good to our society. It will undermine the stability of our society, decay social morals and affect production activities. Legalization of gambling will inevitably involve more people entering into the business, which will probably cause serious problems for individuals, families and overall social security, for example, anxiety, insomnia, heart attacks, suicide, divorce, bankruptcy, sloth, corruption, violence and the thriving of criminal syndicates.

The profits produced by the gambling industry are not created by substantial productive activities. Perhaps one city can prosper from the business, but the special rule cannot be applied to the whole country. All in all, gambling is a cancer on society and should not be legalized in China in the near future.

To its credit, the central government hasn't made any moves towards the legalization of gambling.

CHINA, NATIONAL, SOCIETY, SCIENCE, Commentary: Should Science Reach Beyond National Boundaries?

By Gao Jie

People are divided and separated by national boundaries, but should science be too?

Guo Shenyuan, a young man from Shanghai, was one among the hundreds of thousands of Chinese students who went abroad pursuing further studies. One difference between the many students studying abroad is that some of them are lucky enough to study at public expense, which is definitely very few compared to the total. Most students abroad are taking courses at their own expense, which means they are financially supported by their families or themselves. Guo was among the latter. Actually, we see no problem with these knowledge or career pursuers, because most of them are hard-working and struggling for their dreams. But when things came to Guo, a young man who was just a little bit smarter than his fellows, there was a big difference.

Studying life sciences abroad, Guo earned the name of "a remarkable scientist," "Einstein the second," and so on, from top experts all over the world, in honor of his great contribution to research. They have even named his theory "Guo Theory," or "Guo Guess." The core of his DNA Helix theories is of enormous significance to conquering cancer. But just at the most critical moment, Guo was deprived of his young and promising life by cancer.

Then, in this context, came the embarrassment of "science vs. boundary": Chinese Scholarship Sodality in Boston expressed the idea of presenting a statue of Guo to his alma mater in memory of him, but it was refused by the school leaders; people who wanted to look up to him suggested putting his bone ash in a cemetery close to his hometown Shanghai, but again, it was refused by the authorities.

Why should this be so difficult? Thinking about the "reasons" for refusing to honor him again and again, we can notice an invisible boundary taking shape. The reason provided by the school leader was very simple: "Guo was not the kind of student who studies at public expense. What's more, his study achievement was harvested in American labs rather than Chinese ones."

The implication is obvious too: because it is a foreign fruit, it isn't worth our celebrating. But only five words can easily refute it: "science reaches beyond national boundaries." Achievement is not foreign, but for all human beings; otherwise, why should we commemorate Newton and Einstein?

As for saying that because Guo studied at his own expense in American labs, his research achievement should not be acknowledged by our government, it is a very Chinese characteristic. According to that leader, if a student is sent abroad at public expense, then he or she is entirely supported by the government, no matter how much, or how little he or she achieves or what contribution he or she makes. While for the students who study at their own expense, sorry, everything is on them, even if they turn out to be Einstein or Newton. But, to our confusion, now that sending students at public expense is glorious and privileged as such, and only the top ones can be chosen, then why wasn't Guo, as wise and brilliant as was, sent abroad to study at public expense?

The administrator of that cemetery asked directly: "what cadre was Guo? Was he a head of a bureau or a division or so?" When told, "He was not a cadre, he was a scientist," this administrator did not hesitate to decline the request. "He's not a Nobel prize winner, so he doesn't meet the quality to place his bone ash here."

At public expense or private expense, cadre or common person, prize winner or not, these are only IDs. We are used to identifying people by these so-called standards. But what we seem to have neglected is the real value of people themselves and the real value of their contributions. When did we begin to care more about all those useless things rather than their essences? Any scientist or scientific achievement should not be limited by national boundaries, and neither should they be confined by ideological boundaries. Of course, the social system and institution behind it that brought about all of these ideologies may be more to blame.

The problem is our government is advocating, "the official standard goes first," which misleads the society into a very abnormal concept: a government position is the most important of them all. One direct result is that in China almost all of the academicians or scientists are granted positions in the government, with an official title very much like "Knight," or "Duke," or something similar from the old times.

In fact, an official position is neither necessary nor the only goal for academicians or scientists. Science is worth far more than that. It is a gift from God providing opportunities to discover the secrets of the world. It is there for us all, and all of us share the equal right to enjoy every new finding.

CHINA, NATIONAL, NEWS, For the Love of a Prostitute

By Shi Rui

(This is an in-depth report of a previous article, The Editors)

It was the deep night of September 3, 2005. A prostitute was strangled to death with the brake wire of a bicycle in a rented room in Lanzhou city, Gansu province, China.

Later, the police found two volumes of diaries in her relics, imbued with her sincere love and profound care for her husband. "Amazing! It's hard to believe a whore can be so amorous, a whore can still have true love," a police officer said.

The victim's name was Gou Li, and her life story as a wife is told by her husband, Mr. Chen.

* * *
Gou Li and Chen met on the train at the end of 2003 and they fell in love almost at first sight. One month later they got married.

The couple's hometown was in the poor mountainous area of Linyou county, Baoji city, Shanxi province. Gou Li's father died early so her two elder brothers brought her up; she left the penniless family to work immediately after her graduation from a technical secondary school. Chen's family was in no better situation, since their income was only 2000 Yuan (about $245 U.S. dollars) per year.

"I told her I was skint before marriage but she said she would never complain about poverty," Chen can still remember Gou Li's words, "she said she was willing to stay at my side for all her life, as long as I did not abandon her."

In order to give the young couple a decent wedding, Chen's parents borrowed 30,000 Yuan (about $3672) to prepare food for at least three hundred guests. They expected to pay off the debt with gift money from the guests (In China people give newly married couples money instead of gifts). Only a few kin came on the wedding day, however, because Chen's home was too far away and too hard to get to.

To pay the heavy debt, Chen's younger brother went to Beijing to do manual labor, and his 60-year-old father went to a quarry to carry stones. Gou Li also wanted to go out and work but her parents-in-law asked her to stay home so that she could bear a baby for the family. She finally got pregnant in July 2004.

"She once asked me while shepherding 'Honey, do you know what is a woman's happiest time in her life?'" Chen said. "I did not know the answer so I just shook my head. 'It's when she is bearing a baby,' she said tenderly with a big smile on her face." Chen's eyes were filled with tears when he imitated Gou Li’s feminine voice.

Unluckily their baby was aborted by accident, so the young couple decided to leave their hometown and work in a big city to help pay the debt.

They arrived in Lanzhou city in May 2005. Chen soon found a job in a factory with a wage of 350 Yuan (about $43) per month and Gou Li was employed by the local dress market with a wage of 300 Yuan (about $37). Counting the rent of their shanty and food expenses, they would be able to save 5000 Yuan ($612) if they worked full-time for a whole year. Realizing they would never pay off the debt at that rate of income, both of them resigned their jobs half a month later.

Chen borrowed some money and bought a second-hand motorcycle to do transportation work. Gou Li went to work in a hairdressing salon where she washed the hair of guests (about half of the hairdressing salons in China are actually bawdyhouses and Gou swore not to betray Chen before she went to work there).

"Every night we would return to our shabby home. She never came back late. She said my job was more tiring so she always fetched water and washed my feet for me," said Chen. "We always listened to the radio, and our favorite song was Two Butterflies. She would lean on my shoulder and sing, "'My dear, come and dance with me. There is no dark night in the spring of love.'"

Life went simply on. Chen became busier and busier and sometimes he could not return home at night. Chen didn't know his wife had become a prostitute until their landlady told him that Gou almost never came back at night if he did not.

They had a big fight, and Chen even proposed a divorce.

"She cried sorrowfully saying she loved me and all she had done was to relieve the financial burden of our family. She said she could not bear seeing my father carrying stones of several hundred kilograms every day. I cried too. I felt wordless because I was so poor and so incapable that I did not deserve the name of a man."

After the quarrel Chen acquiesced in Gou Li's 'job'.

Gou Li was not able to 'work' long, however. The police in a severe governmental inspection aimed at striking down criminals and eliminating prostitutes caught her. The police sent Gou Li into the penitentiary where she had to stay for 6 months receiving moral education. It was in this penitentiary that Gou Li began to write the loving diaries.

After her death, people found that all her diaries started with "Honey...." In the diary she wrote of her steady love for Chen:
"I'm looking forward to staying in your arms."
"I miss you so much. Why not answer the call today?"
"No matter if you are rich or poor, I am yours. Both my body and my heart have been given to you."

She also wrote about her deep concerns for him:
"It's dark outside. Are you home?"
"Are you in lack of money these days?"
"I'm so happy because I saw you today, but you looked more emaciated."
"You must be very tired these days. Please take care of yourself. Do not wear yourself out."

Due to her good behavior, Gou Li was released from prison two months early.

To pay her cost of living in the penitentiary, Chen had sold his motorcycle and borrowed more money. Thus his effort to redeem his wife put them in even heavier debt, of which a sum of 1300 Yuan ($159) was the most urgent. So as soon as Gou Li came out they set a plan for making money. Chen would go to Beijing to earn 800 Yuan, and Gou would stay in Lanzhou and write to her own family to borrow 500 Yuan, then they would get together for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

At the train station Gou Li cried when she saw Chen off. Chen did not know it would be the last time he'd see his wife alive. He got on the train and left for Beijing.

Chen cannot figure out why Gou Li went back to her old 'job', "I guess maybe she felt ashamed to borrow money from her brothers, but was so anxious to meet me, so..."

The customer who killed Gou Li was captured on September 15, 2005. He confessed he didn't know Gou Li before and his motivation was to revenge himself on prostitutes as a group, for he was once robbed and beaten by a whore in another city.

"She came to say good-bye to me before she went to the rental room with that man," Gou Li's neighbor said. "She told me it would be her last time to do the job, because she had saved 500 Yuan. She said she would go to Beijing to meet her husband the next day. What a pity!"

CHINA, NATIONAL, NEWS, SOCIETY, Sex Education: Face It or Avoid It?

By Dan Ran

"Will I be pregnant? I kissed with my boyfriend yesterday!" A girl asked on a telephone call through a sexual knowledge hot-line.
"What's the big deal? I've got used to it already." A school girl who has just had the 10th abortion said indifferently.

These scenes are far from exaggerated; instead, they are typical enough. In China, open sexual knowledge finds no way into school campuses. Up till now, 41% of the middle school students in Nanjing know simply nothing about condoms. Even university students always find it a shame to talk about or to face topics like contraception.

Ignorance, however, is only one side of the story. On the other hand, we see that the sexual experience of some teenagers is stunning.

A recent survey conducted in Shanghai shows that more than 30% of the high school students have experienced marginal sexual behaviors such as hugging, kissing and petting. And a stunning proportion of 3.5% of them have had sexual behavior.

Another statistics shows 6% to 10% of middle school students in China have had sexual behaviors.

Yang Yu(anonymous), male,18, a high school student in Beijing, described that about 60% to 70% of his classmates have sex relationships. He himself first had sex with his girlfriend at the age of 17, and has sex once to three times a week now, which usually happens in his girlfriend's house.

Among these students, not a single one use condoms during sexual behaviors.
When asked about the channels through which they attain sexual knowledge, Zhang Ziqian(anonymous), a high school student in Beijing,said,"We simply teach ourselves, from DVDs, or those blue movies downloaded from the Internet. Sex education at school stopped since high school, and it is simply useless. They did not mention even a word about contraception or other concrete details."

According to the statistics from official documents, 70% teenagers in Nanjing gain sexual knowledge from blue websites.

Zhang said,"Both boy and girl classmates download blue movies online. Most of them get the movies from the BT downloading system.""Books about sexual knowledge are so expensive that we can't afford them. DVDs are much cheaper, about 8 Yuan each. We have watched those blue movie DVDs since junior school, a group of us boys together of course, without girls."said Zhang,"We do it simply for learning about sex."

Parents, according to the teenagers, are rarely the source from which they obtain sexual knowledge.

"How can I discuss such questions with my son? So disgusting and dirty!"A father severely responded when asked about why he does not teach his son some sexual knowledge.

"I find it hard to talk about sex face to face with my daughter. It’s something so elusive that it can only be learned through senses, not explained by words." A mother said expressing her problem.

Ignorance, added with the overwhelming popularity of sexual behavior among the teenagers, leads to disasters. Zhang said," Most of the lovers I know have sex relationships. And of course there are girls who have to have abortion."

According to a gynecologist in Guangzhou, out of every 10 females who come to her for induced abortions, 3 are girls under 18. And the proportion is increasing at a speed of 1% to 2% every year. Most of the girls hide the fact of having an abortion from their parents, and without sufficient restorative for better recovery which can only be provided by experienced adults, an increasing number of them are suffering from venereal disease.

Sex, in the eyes of a large number of parents, is connected with evil and even crime.

"If he (her daughter’s boyfriend) has any sexual desire towards my girl, I will definitely stop them from seeing each other by all means."A mother said when asked about how she sees her daughter's having a boyfriend.

"A boy should control himself, and a girl should restrain herself. Otherwise, their love is dirty and shamed." A junior school teacher said.

"When children enter their adolescence, there is an increase in the secretion of hormones, which results in the rapid development of sexual function."A sex expert said,"When this is mixed with the exterior temptation, children are most probably to have more intensive demand to express their sexual excitement and sexual nervousness. However, children lack the same living conditions as adults, and thus their sex demands are usually oppressed, thus adolescence sex anxiety ensues. Who can assure that children will not commit wrong doings in such a mental condition?"

"To face it or to avoid it, it is time to think it over."said the expert.

CHINA, NATIONAL, NEWS, BEIJING, SOCIETY: Queer As Folks - A Study of Homosexuality on Campus

By Wang Yan

"I can't see essential differences between boys and girls. They are the same. When you fall in love with someone, no matter what the person's gender is, it will be all the same to you." said Andy (an assumed name for privacy reasons), a junior student at Beijing Foreign Studies University, who is also a proverbial gay in the school.

Born in a southern province of China, Andy pursued his study in this famous university in Beijing. It was after coming to BFSU that he became gay, or rather, realized his homosexuality. As a freshman, he got to know a gay from a higher grade who later taught him many things. Before that, Andy knew almost nothing in this field, like gay films, etc. However, to be accurate, Andy is bisexual rather than homosexual, for he had some girlfriends in high school, who were all "immaculate, and quite different from girls nowadays." Saying such words, Andy displayed a clear dislike towards girls from his university. But it's not only this fact that accounts for his current sexual preference. Equally important is the intimacy he feels with boys. According to Andy, such a feeling is inborn.

"I became gay because I have the potential." Actually, the word "potential" was mentioned many times by Andy during the interview. He can tell gays from normal people and believes that most boys have the potential of being homosexual. Andy said that he had undergone a lot of things throughout his gay experience, not only having had four boyfriends, but that he had also dominated many other boys for casual sex, some of whom even had girlfriends. This gave him a feeling of superiority. When asked why these boys turned from girls to him, somewhat immodestly Andy said: "They have the inborn potential, but also I can establish intimacy with them by certain means, chatting for one. Then the feelings occur. It may take only a second for a person to turn from straightness to homosexuality, and vise versa."

Gays have their own ways to find lovers. They usually chat with other boys online and go to gay bars. "There are lots of gay bars in Beijing," Andy emphasized. In a gay-on-gay relationship, the one acting as the boy is called 1, and the other acting as the girl is called 0. But the roles are not fixed; whether one plays 1 or 0 depends on his initiative or passivity in making love.

"As gays, the most important thing is not feelings, but sex. Sexual demanding is the ultimate factor," Ashton said seriously. "You know, we call each other wives and husbands, and we're already used to this. But, it's very likely that any time you are absent, your lover will have sex with your good friend. Things are never in order here." In his opinion, this is also the major difference between gays and lesbians, for the latter do care more about feelings. To illustrate this point, Andy mentioned a couple of deeply in love lesbians who had been together for a long time but had never had sex.

Although people who are inherently gay do exist, there are lots of others who simply become gay for the purpose of playing, like Andy himself. In his daily life, Andy never minded behaving effeminately. To some extent, he did it deliberately; also, he liked being a girl. According to him, the pretending was easy. One can just add in some feminine interjections when he talks, and walk in a fashion model's way. Andy suggested that such behavior hadn't affected his life very much. Both his classmates and friends accepted it and respected his choice, though some boys joked when they first knew about it: "I would feel threatened if you like boys."

"I told them not to worry, for they were not my type at all," Andy said in a joking manner.

Mentioning his family, Andy said: "My parents do not know about my homosexuality. I once hinted at it to them, and my mother expressed her strong disapproval. She gave me a slap in the face. But I didn't really care. I have a younger brother. He can take over the responsibility of being a son, and for me, I will simply go on with what I want to do. However, things are different with my grandma. She loves me so much that she respects every decision of mine. She just wants me to be happy and free."

Though life as a gay has granted him much happiness, Andy does not regard his university life as successful. He believes that the school and he did not match, and because of his disapproval towards it, he did badly in some of his studies and didn't even pass an important exam on his specialized course.

At the end of the interview, Andy expressed his will to quit. "After all, I'm tired. Two years is long enough to make one feel weary. I've played too much...with everything. In the future I would like to form a serious relationship with some girl."

He believes that "under present conditions, many gays and lesbians will finally seek a normal marriage, mostly under pressure from their families."

CHINA, NATIONAL, NEWS, BEIJING: Tsinghua PhD Candidate Quits School

by Vera Chen

A Tsinghua University PhD candidate made his decision to quit school on September 22 after four year's study there.

Wang Yin, the dissatisfied PhD candidate who majored in computer science, posted a 10,000-word application to quit school on the school BBS and his MSN personal space. In the application letter, he expressed his disappointment with the university's education methods and the country's overall educational system. The application was later copied and posted all over the internet, which has aroused waves of controversy nationwide.

His largest dissatisfaction was the school's stipulation that doctoral students can only graduate after publishing at least four papers, some of which must be carried by the country's core academic publications.

According to Wang Yin, doctoral education is all about papers, while his aim is to "maximize self-development".

"Of course I can write papers, but those published papers are not what I'm really interested in. They are worthless as trash," Wang wrote in his application.

"The teachers make you publish your papers even if they know clearly that they are worthless. Because the government appropriates educational funds according to the academic results that the university has achieved, which is evaluated by the quantity of papers. So more papers, more money."

"In China, PhD candidates study for papers but not scientific research, and my creativity is fading away. I've wasted four years here; and I made the decision not to do this anymore," he concluded.

The school authorities of Tsinghua University declared that Wang has his right to make his choice. However, if he really quits school, according to school regulations, he has to take the consequences. A quitting PhD candidate is required to pay the school 30,000 RMB as a punishment.

According to Professor Hong, Wang's teacher at Tsinghua, the Computer Science Department has held a meeting especially for Wang Yin's application to quit. However, the result has not come out yet.

Wang's decision to quit caused great disputations among the students of Tsinghua University. One of his acquaintances disclosed that Wang chose to quit because he couldn't adapt to the atmosphere that students care only about papers.

"I've known him for 4 years. He is a hard-working and precise student and has high expectation of academic studies. He complained a lot, but I didn't expect that he would quit," the acquaintance said.

A classmate of Wang's said, "Wang seldom came to the lab and rarely talked with us. We didn't know what's in his mind. If I had been closer to him, I would have tried to persuade him. I think he's a bit immature."

According to a random survey of the Tsinghua campus, 30% of the students supported his quitting school, 50% had the opposite opinion, and the rest were indifferent. The supporters agreed that there are some problems with the current educational system, while the objectors showed great pity. They thought that according to Wang's article, he is not good at communicating with others and couldn't find a way to combat stress.

Wang's parents are both middle school teachers in Sichuan. His father said that it was inappropriate to post the application on the internet, but how they would deal with this quitting thing was their "private business within the family."

Wang entered Tsinghua University in 2001 after graduating from Sichuan University. He is planning to go abroad and find a good teacher for the "very kind of academic study" he really wants, just like the one he hoped for when he arrived at Tshinghua four years ago.

CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, NEWS: Murder On Bus 726?

By Milly Song

How Much Is a Life Worth?

No one ever imagined it could happen. A 14-year-old girl losing her life in a trivial conflict with a bus conductor. The conductor clutched her neck so fiercely that soon after the young girl died.

It was in the afternoon of October 4, Xiao Rong, the 14-year-old girl, together with her parents, went to Xi Dan Book Store to buy books. At around 15:15, the family got on the No. 726 Bus to go home. Xiao Rong would never get there.

In Beijing's public transportation system, it is regulated that a passenger must pay one RMB for every ten kilometers. If one rides more than ten kilometers, the fee will go up accordingly. Mrs. Zheng, Xiao Rong's mother, recalled that it took them just ten kilometers to go home. They got on the bus at the Xin Jie Kou Huo Kou bus stop. There were two women conductors on the bus. The younger one sold them three one-yuan tickets and asked them if they got on at that bus stop, and she was told "yes."

However, the elder conductor insisted that the family got on one stop before. That is to say, she accused the family of the intention to pay less by cheating. The elder conductor asked the younger one to add to their payment.

It is said that Mrs. Zheng did not want to debate a trivial matter, and was ready to pay three more Yuan. Xiao Rong refused to do so and grumbled a few words. Hearing the words, the elder conductor suddenly stood up, plucked Xiao Rong's hair and clutched her throat. Mrs. Zheng hurried to separate them, but it was useless.

Mr. Zhang, a witness, said that he saw a woman pluck a girl's hair and clutch her throat on the bus. Sitting beside them he heard a middle-aged woman cry out, "Don’t beat my child!" After the woman loosed her grip, the girl cursed something and then fainted.

Mrs. Zheng said she was so helpless and she begged the bus driver to send Xiao Rong to the hospital. Instead, the driver insisted that the family should be sent to the terminal to be fined since they intended to evade payment.

Later some kind-hearted men sent the girl to the hospital.

Zhang Zhuo, the doctor who was in charge of Xiao Rong, explained that when the girl arrived at the hospital, the nurse found trauma marks on her neck, and she had no life traces. On October 5, at 7:01 in the morning, after 16 hours in the emergency room, the young girl officially passed away.

Xiao Rong's father is a 74-year-old retired professor at Tsinghua University; her mother is a teacher in the high school affiliated with Tsinghua University. Xiao Rong was their sole child. The parents were very sad about their daughter's death. At the time, they arranged to stay in the same hospital to have a rest. Later in the day, the general manager and the secretary of the Beijing Bus Share Limited Company came to the hospital to apologize. They bowed to the mournful parents and assured them that they would arrange Xiao Rong's funeral and proper compensation.

The manager of the company explained that the elder conductor was not on duty when the accident occurred. She was just riding the bus to go home. "It is very execrable that conductors conflict with passengers," he said.

At present, both the conductor and the bus driver are under arrest.

Regardless, Xiao Rong will never return to her parents.