07.08.08
Posted in Beijing, Money / Banks, Olympics, Rumors at 17:42 by SHTig
Who doesn’t love the feel of new money? On July 8, exactly one month before the start of the Olympic games, the People’s Bank of China issued 6 million 10 yuan notes. They are 29th Olympiad Commemorative notes (see pictures)
This article says that you can exchange old notes for new ones at any of China’s Big Four banks in Beijing, but that there may be problems doing so in other places. Why? “Because of the earthquake.” My initial scan of the Chinese blogs suggests that there are shortages in availability of these notes and that some cities don’t have any at all. Hoarding could take place. The picture in this story shows people in a long line waiting to exchange bank notes. Heaven help you if you have any real banking to do in China this week.
Of note, this is the only bill in circulation that does not have Mao Zedong’s image on it. From this I predict Mao will be largest fazed out of upcoming Chinese currency (but not eliminated). This is a very logical first step toward achieving that. It will also be interesting to see if a larger denomination Chinese note is brought into circulation. There have been rumors in the past of an RMB 500 note. The current top valued note is only RMB 100 (less than US$15), though personally I like that and don’t hope to see an RMB 500 note any time soon.
10 July - edited 60million to 6 million notes that were printed (600万). nator emailed me to point out that is only one bill per 200 people.
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06.16.08
Posted in Beijing, Law and Order, Olympics, Rumors at 14:35 by Nator
I haven’t seen this anywhere in English yet, but it’s a pretty hot topic among many university students in Beijing. On June 12, announcements similar to the one below were posted at dormitories in several universities (my sources have asked me to delete information that indicates which university this announcment came from):
It says that all students in certain areas of the school have to move out by July 5. (It’s “for the safety of the dormitories”, of course.) Certain areas will be cleared out completely to make way for various Olympic teams and officials, and all students will need written permission with the seal of various school bodies in order to stay on campus. The application process to stay on campus is detailed for students who have work related to the Olympics (most likely as volunteers), as well as for any other students with “special reasons”. No one who does not have special permission will be allowed to stay on campus.
This has come as a surprise to many students. Although many were notified months ago that facilities at their schools would be used for the Olympics, it was not stated that students would not be allowed to stay in the dormitories over the summer. Even though many students will in fact be doing volunteer work for the Olympics, and even though many others will choose to go home for the summer break, there are surely tens of thousands of others who want to stay around: graduate students writing dissertations, science majors doing labratory research, and students doing summer work internships, to name a few. Most of these students would have difficulty renting an apartment in Beijing during normal times, and rents will likely be unusally high this summer as landlords look for wealthy visitors coming in for the Games.
I looked around for links online, but most had already by blocked, so here is a screen capture from the ChinaRen online forums instead (click for full size):
Quick summary (Again, I don’t have time for the full translation right now): The author pasts part of an IM chat with a friend who is attending graduate school in Beijing. The friend mentions that all the students in his school are being kicked out to make way for a team of Olympics “representatives” from the US. The author complains about the forced evictions (rough translation):
This is going too far. . . We’ve already done so much — building the Olympic village, all the stadiums and gymnasiums, and all the infrastructure improvements. What else do you want from us?
My sources tell me that that only certain schools have made such announcements, but that others are likely to do so soon. Notably, nothing yet has been heard from Peking University and Tsinghua University, but if students there are asked to leave, you can be sure that there will a lot more talk about this. And if no more students are asked to leave, those who have been asked to leave are likely to be even more angry that some of their peers at other schools that will get to stick around in their inexpensive dorm rooms all summer.
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05.26.08
Posted in Law and Order, Media/Internet, Rumors, The Wenchuan Earthquake at 11:17 by SHTig
The allegations of dishonesty by Chinese Red Cross societies are rampant. Last week Truth from Facts reported on a QQ rumor alleging that Red Cross officials were feasting on donation money. Subsequently there have been stories alleging that a Red Cross society in Hainan, China, was demanding a 5% “management fee”. That story apparently had legs, as the local vice director of that chapter was trying to find an official-sounding way to pilfer funds, and she has since faced administrative sanction. Perhaps stories like that are what is leading to the spate of rumors of dishonesty by the Red Cross, like this one I received this morning from a colleague (English translation and original Chinese below):
Please help pass this around! Two people from the Zhongjiang Red Cross came to my pharmacy today to buy RMB10,000 worth of medicines, but demanded that we issue an invoice for RMB50,000. We (First Pharmaecuticals Manufacturer of Chengdu) did not comply, resulting in the management of the neighboring Tonghua Yijia Pharmacy giving it (a receipt) to them. These people are terrible! According to State regulations, all donations go into a fund, and they can legally take 10% of this fund for administrative expenditures. Under the current law this is considered legal! Therefore, of the several billion in RMB already raised, several hundred million has already been taking out. If you don’t believe it, you can ask the fund official right here. Now of the 90% remaining of donation money, are the materials being purchased done so at the lowest market price? Are they being bought at bulk price? Is the purchase receipt showing 50 RMB or 500 RMB? Who knows? Our media and great people should now demand that that the purchase receipts from each day should be made public! Don’t just make public the receipts of donations collected, we want to see the purchase receipts! Where are these trillions of RMB going each day!! It’s Chinese people, please forward this! If the people won’t take pains to investigate the government, then the government will tend towards rot!
SHTig adds (5/26 5:00pm PRC time): This rumor led the Red Cross chapter in question to issue this formal statement on the Zhongjiang government website, saying this rumor is bunk and beckoning people to report names of those who are damaging the reputation of the Red Cross without warrant. Also, since I first posted this article, I learned that Tonghua (the location of the factory that was supposedly next door to the Chenghua store that refused to give out the inflated invoice) — is in Jilin province, some 3 hours away by plane! But none of this stops the non-thinking hoards to pass along dumb messages like this…
Read the rest of this entry »
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05.24.08
Posted in Olympics, Rumors, The Wenchuan Earthquake at 11:28 by Nator
The silliness continues online as China’s citizens struggle to find an explanation for the horrific earthquake in Sichuan:
Gossip sites are full of speculation that four of the five cartoon mascots have fulfilled prophesies of doom with one more, connected to the Yangtze River, still to come, the South China Morning Post said.
Jingjing, a panda, is the animal most closely associated with Sichuan province where the earthquake struck.
Huanhuan, a cartoon character with flame-red hair, is being linked by bloggers to the Olympic torch that has been dogged by anti-China protests on its round-the-world tour.
Yingying, an antelope, is an animal confined to the borders of Tibet, which has been the scene of riots and the cause of international protests against China, the bloggers say.
Nini, represented by a kite, is being viewed as a reference to the “kite city” of Weifang, in Shandong, where there was a deadly train crash last month.
That leaves only Beibei, represented by a sturgeon fish, which online doomsayers suggest could indicate a looming disaster in the Yangtze River, the only place where sturgeon is found.
Also see here for further discussion of the fuwa connection, along with alternate explanations involving numerology and feng shui.
MUL adds: Great theory, but isn’t Nini a sparrow rather than a kite? What does Weifeng have to do with birds?
SHTig adds: Never realized this before, but Yingying is kind of hot.
MUL adds: Do we know if Yingying is male or female?
SHTig adds: umm, according to this, Yingying is male, and a minor. I hereby recant my previous statement. Not that there would have been anything wrong liking a little boy.
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05.22.08
Posted in Media/Internet, Rumors, The Wenchuan Earthquake at 20:48 by SHTig
Why do so many people believe a bunk QQ rumor?
Here is a wow story (重庆渝北区红十字会否认用救灾款吃喝). To summarize the story:
The Yubei, Chongqing Municipality Red Cross made an appeal for donations after the May 12 earthquake in nearby Sichuan province. And for the past few days, a message has been passed around on QQ that says (translation): “On May 16, the Red Cross of Yubei District, Chongqing City got a great response to its appeal for donations of cash and goods to area hospitals for disaster relief. However, at noon today, all of the Red Cross members hand lunch at the best restaurant in Yubei, occupying 6 tables at RMB 6,000 per table, having both lunch and dinner there.”
The QQ message led many “netizens” to question whether the Red Cross used donation funds to whoop it up, and to attack the Red Cross by saying that even if it wasn’t misusing funds, this is no time to be whooping it up at a feast. Read the rest of this entry »
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05.18.08
Posted in Food, Hong Kong, Rumors at 21:12 by Mul
I posted with excitement a few months ago (back in February) about stumbling across a soon-to-be opened Fatburger on Queen’s Road East, across from the Hopewell Centre. This is, or was, to be Fatburger’s first outpost in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Fatburger was originally announced back in November last year.
Here we are, it’s mid-May and … nothing. No change whatsoever. Timeout Hong Kong, which by the way just began publishing in Hong Kong this month, informs that there’s been a snag with government approvals. When will the Fatburger open? No one knows.
SHTig Adds: Wikipedia says the Fatburger is still “upcoming” for Hong Kong. But personally I’m more interested in Wikipedia’s mentions that there is already a Fatburger in the Venetian Macau. Ever been to the Venetian? I don’t know if it’s exactly like the one in Vegas or not, but either way it’s tacky despite its grandeur. A Fatburger there fits in perfectly. Win a bunch of money, celebrate at the Fatburger. Lose your shirt, and hopefully you still have enough dough for a Fatburger.
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05.15.08
Posted in Rumors, The Wenchuan Earthquake, USA at 20:21 by SHTig
This article (没有证据表明中国四川大地震是美国的地球物理武器的作用, “No proof that America’s global geophysical weapons are the cause of the earthquake in Sichuan, China”) is all over the Chinese blogs. Despite the title, its thesis is that you need to open your mind to accept the possibility that the US is using unconventional weapon technology to make the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), the snowstorm of February 2008 in China, and now the earthquake of May 2008 in Sichuan China. It postulates that only an advanced country like the US would be able to pull something like this off (though noting that dispersted Soviet scientists could do it too, and could be used by states like India, but ultimately concludes that it was the US). The article says it’s easy to understand why the US would want this - the earthquake would destroy Chengdu’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center, destroy Chengdu’s Aircraft Corporate, destroy the weapons program in Tibet and cause unrest in Tibet, would destroy many plants located in Sichuan, and would lower the global price of oil (by reducing China’s demand), would weaken China’s relations with Southeast Asian neighbors, etc.
SH Tig Adds: Update of 16May2008 - I see Sina took that article down. It is still findable elsewhere if you use the above Chinese characters in your search string.
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05.09.08
Posted in Chinese Nationalism, Food, Industry, McDonald's in China, Olympics, Rumors at 16:16 by SHTig
China’s chip over the monks (and Coca-Cola’s LIES about China)
True to our name, Truth from Facts weighs in on the Coke controversy sweeping the Chinese blogs.
Read the rest of this entry »
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04.18.08
Posted in Chinese Nationalism, Industry, Laowai, Media/Internet, Olympics, Rumors at 12:13 by SHTig
An email petition swirling around the internet (search the Chinese characters to see the dozens of Chinese blogs carrying this):
重大消息: 法国政府准备拿出二千万美金，家乐福自己再拿出五百万美金，用于五一降价促消，听说家乐福高层很狂妄，让中国人在五一降价中挤破家乐福，最好踩死几个人．法国电视台也在积极做准备，拍摄中国人到家乐福疯狂购物的镜像．让中国人自打自的嘴．
如你是爱国的中国人，把此信息传给你的亲戚朋友，不要到家乐福购物，不要为了丁点的小便宜，而丢了尊严，丢了民族志气，让外国人笑话．再不能让外国人把我们看作东亚病夫了.虽然我们的努力可能微不足道,但大家团结起来一定要让外国人看看我们的力量,有良心的中国人转发10个朋友
SHTig Quick Translation: Important Information: The French government is preparing US$ 20,000,000, and Carrefour is preparing US$5,000,000 for a May 1st sales promotion. It’s said that Carrefour’s senior management is insolently planning to cram pack its stores on May 1st with Chinese people, with the hopefully result of causing some people to be trampled to death. French television is also actively preparing to record the mad rush of Chinese shoppers at Carrefour stores, to show Chinese people smashing each other up.
If you are a patriotic Chinese, send this information to your friends and family, and don’t go shopping at Carrefour to chase some tiny discount that will cause loss of respect, national spirit and will make the foreigners laugh. We can’t let the foreigners once again make us the sick men of East Asia. Even though our efforts might turn out to be negligible, by us all uniting together it will show our strength to the foreigners. Good hearted Chinese people please send this to 10 friends.
SHTig’s Quick Comments:
1. I don’t believe this in full, especially the ridiculous part about trampling and wanting the Chinese to lose face. I did go shopping at Carrefour on April 13 in Shanghai. They had a very good promotion running (spend RMB500 on select items, get a voucher for RMB250 to be used within April). April 13 was a Sunday. The store was crowded, but not nearly as it usually is. The checkout line was shorter than normal. Anecdotal.
2. This note has an unnecessary pandering tone to “the foreigners” as it is. Are any of us foreigners really that important?
3. Carrefour is an unfortunate target in all of this (as is the Olympic torch). Can someone tell these petitioners that Carrefour is not a State-owned enterprise, so attacking it is not akin to attacking the French government?
4. One thing is universal with these spam requests — no matter what the language, they beckon you to forward them to others. Would be funny if they had added “send this to 10 people or else your daughter will hook up with a laowai”
NATOR ADDS: I got this letter, with ” 爱国的中国人转发50个 ” (”Patriotic Chinese people please send this to 50 friends”) added to the last sentence.
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04.07.08
Posted in Beijing, Olympics, Rumors, Travel/Tourism at 12:03 by Nator
On April 6 the South China Morning Post offered the most solid confirmation to date (subscription required) of the recent rumors that China visas are going to be harder to obtain until after the Olympics:
Beijing has stopped issuing multiple-entry visas, risking major inconvenience to foreigners who travel to the mainland regularly, especially on business. Hong Kong travel agents say the ban will stay in place until after the Olympic Games.
Travellers are now restricted to single- or double-entry visas valid for 30 days. Multiple-entry visas that have not expired are still valid. . . . Read the rest of this entry »
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