He lived to tell the tale

Coal mine worker in Xinjiang recalls horror of shaft collapse

Hoboksar, Xinjiang

Yong Chang is very clear about what he will not do in the future.

"I will never go down the shaft and be a mine worker again for the rest of my life, no matter how much they pay me," said the 28-year-old, who is still traumatized after escaping from a collapsed coal mine in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Yong, who is recovering in hospital, was the first to be rescued from Shajihai Coal Mine when the shaft\’s ceiling suddenly collapsed at about 10:30 am on Tuesday. The coalmine was under construction in the Mongolian autonomous county of Hoboksar, 500 km from Urumqi, capital of the region.

A total of 11 workers were rescued while 10 others are still trapped in the shaft filled with mud and sand. The trapped workers are between 20 and 51 and they are from Hebei, Shandong, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. Their families have arrived at the coal mine.

The trapped workers need a "miracle" to survive, an official with the rescue team told China Daily on Friday.

At about 3 am Friday morning, two special rescue teams equipped with search dogs and detectors arrived at the scene hoping to find any sign of survivors, but the teams later said the chances of the trapped workers surviving the accident are "extremely slim".

The local authority is drafting a compensation plan for the victims, said Zhang Hongwei, chief commander of the rescue mission.

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Beijingers richer but unhappier (4)

Wang owns two apartments in Beijing, both bought with loans, and an investment portfolio worth 2 million yuan, but said he still doesn\’t think he qualifies as middle class yet.

"Genuine members of the middle class are those with the money as well as other resources, such as leisure time, to maintain a certain lifestyle," he said.

"But many of my friends who make decent salaries at big multinational companies dare not buy whatever they like and make any mistakes at work," he said. "These people aren\’t genuinely in the middle class, because if they lose their jobs, they will immediately be poor."

Wang said even his friends who make enough money to not worry about being unemployed for a while don\’t have the leisure time that is a hallmark of middle class families in the West.

One of Wang\’s friends makes more than 700,000 yuan per year as a sales manager but still "lives like a dog," he said.

"In the past few years this friend\’s sales quota was 20 million yuan, but this year it surged to 200 million yuan, " said Wang. "He doesn\’t have any time left for fun."

It feels like a never never-ending struggle to keep from falling behind, Wang said.

He said his criteria for being genuinely middle class includes having enough time to be with family and to travel abroad during vacations, as well as having enough money to be able to donate to charitable causes and to take care of his health.

Wang said his definition of middle class life is that depicted on Desperate Housewives, an American television comedy-drama series popular with the well-educated young professionals in China – owning a big house surrounded by green lawns and beautiful flowers and having plenty of leisure time.

"So many Chinese are still struggling to get richer," said Wang. "We simply don\’t have enough time to fulfill our other needs."

Source: China Daily
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CCTV World Cup ads fetch 120,000-yuan-per-second price tag

Advertisers will be paying 120,000 yuan for a second of advertising during the South Africa World Cup. Additional ad space will be sold during "extra time," and the "penalty shootout," said He Haiming, the deputy director of the CCTV advertising department.

CCTV will be the exclusive broadcaster of the 2010 World Cup on the Chinese mainland.  So it comes as no surprise that a number of companies have placed bids on this highly-coveted ad space.

A wide variety of companies have shown interest in advertising during the World Cup, aside from just beer companies and sporting goods retailers. According to the meeting, sponsors of the 2010 World Cup come from diverse industries like telecommunications, apparel, automotive, home appliances, financial services, energy and so on.

According to He Haiming, CCTV"s ad time of 2010 World Cup will be sold in three parts. The ad resource sold on Tuesday was the second part. The first was sold in last November and the third will be sold in mid April.

At present, Castrol, as the official sponsor of 2010 South Africa World Cup, has signed to be the exclusive special sponsor for the 2010 World Cup"s live events. The exclusive title of "Shooterboard" is obtained by Sichuan Langjiu Group.

Sponsors of the 2010 World Cup, such as Adidas, Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Sony as well as some Chinese companies including Tsingtao Brewery, China Resources Snow Breweries, Nike and China Mobile, have also bought ad space.

He Haiming said it is impossible to accurately predict the overall advertising revenue that will be earned this year during the World Cup. According to calculations, during the 1998 France World Cup, CCTV earned less than 1 million yuan and during the 2002 World Cup, it had advertising revenue of 4.5 million yuan.
　
The length of ads will be much shorter compared with the 2002 World Cup, He Haiming said. He indicated that CCTV would control the length of ad time strictly during the live competitions.

However, He added, the "extra time," "penalty shootout" will also be sold as "Advertising Resources." The base price of extra time turns out to be 550,000 yuan every 5 seconds; 800,000 yuan for 10 seconds and 1 million yuan for 15 seconds. The base price of the penalty shootout turns to be 1.8 million yuan every match, which means 120,000 yuan per second.

By People\’s Daily Online

http://www.marconimedical.com

Expo security tightened in Shanghai (3)

Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research center at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said security threats could come from anywhere, such as from "East Turkistan" terrorist organizations seeking Xinjiang "independence".

Shanghai has taken such measures as extending the X-ray scanning of passengers\’ hand luggage to all metro stations.

City officials are also hoping to close a deal with Swedish security services provider Securitas AB.

Taking a cue from Beijing\’s preparations for the 2008 Games, Shanghai has called on 1 million volunteers — many of them retirees — to patrol streets and detect any security hazards.

The combination of professional anti-terrorism forces and the public "forms an effective anti-terrorism module", Wu Heping, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, told a Tuesday news briefing.

"In general, China\’s security situation is stable," he said.

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SW China needs more water reservoirs, not less: official

China said Wednesday water reservoirs had not intensified the
drought
by draining natural waterways in southwest China, and more needed to be built to ensure grain production and supply of drinking water.

Liu Ning, vice minister of water resources, made the remarks in response to claims that the building of reservoirs in southwest China had drained the region\’s natural water resources.

"Without the reservoirs and other water conservancy projects in southwest China, the drought would have happened earlier and resulted in more loss," Liu said at a press conference.

"It is not right to say reservoirs have \’hijacked\’ water resources, and we need to start more conservancy projects in southwest China to ensure grain production and supply of drinking water," Liu said.

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http://www.gtrip.net

Artificial rain used to ease severe drought in SW China\’s Guangxi

Cloud seeding was initiated on Tuesday and Wednesday in drought-stricken Guangxi in southwest China, but did little to ease the lingering drought, local weather department said Wednesday.

The meteorological bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said it had carried out 29 cloud-seeding operations to enhance rain amid drizzly and overcast weather in the region.

A spokesman with the bureau said most areas of Guangxi received rain with downpours reported in 32 townships. However, the northwestern part of the region, suffering most from the drought, got little rainfall.

Wednesday\’s weather forecast showed more rain could be expected in Guangxi from April 1 to 2.

The region\’s drought relief headquarters said by Wednesday, 105 out of the 109 counties in Guangxi still suffered varying levels of drought. Nearly three million local residents still faced drinking water shortages.

The China Meteorological Administration said Sunday artificial rainfall had helped moisten parts of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chongqing Municipality, which had been hit by a once-in-a-century drought that began autumn last year.

Source:Xinhua

http://www.minamik.com

Artificial rain used to ease severe drought in SW China\’s Guangxi

Cloud seeding was initiated on Tuesday and Wednesday in drought-stricken Guangxi in southwest China, but did little to ease the lingering drought, local weather department said Wednesday.

The meteorological bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said it had carried out 29 cloud-seeding operations to enhance rain amid drizzly and overcast weather in the region.

A spokesman with the bureau said most areas of Guangxi received rain with downpours reported in 32 townships. However, the northwestern part of the region, suffering most from the drought, got little rainfall.

Wednesday\’s weather forecast showed more rain could be expected in Guangxi from April 1 to 2.

The region\’s drought relief headquarters said by Wednesday, 105 out of the 109 counties in Guangxi still suffered varying levels of drought. Nearly three million local residents still faced drinking water shortages.

The China Meteorological Administration said Sunday artificial rainfall had helped moisten parts of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chongqing Municipality, which had been hit by a once-in-a-century drought that began autumn last year.

Source:Xinhua

http://www.nmgmzbwg.com.cn

SW China needs more water reservoirs, not less: official

China said Wednesday water reservoirs had not intensified the
drought
by draining natural waterways in southwest China, and more needed to be built to ensure grain production and supply of drinking water.

Liu Ning, vice minister of water resources, made the remarks in response to claims that the building of reservoirs in southwest China had drained the region\’s natural water resources.

"Without the reservoirs and other water conservancy projects in southwest China, the drought would have happened earlier and resulted in more loss," Liu said at a press conference.

"It is not right to say reservoirs have \’hijacked\’ water resources, and we need to start more conservancy projects in southwest China to ensure grain production and supply of drinking water," Liu said.

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http://www.kphy.com

Expo security tightened in Shanghai (3)

Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research center at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said security threats could come from anywhere, such as from "East Turkistan" terrorist organizations seeking Xinjiang "independence".

Shanghai has taken such measures as extending the X-ray scanning of passengers\’ hand luggage to all metro stations.

City officials are also hoping to close a deal with Swedish security services provider Securitas AB.

Taking a cue from Beijing\’s preparations for the 2008 Games, Shanghai has called on 1 million volunteers — many of them retirees — to patrol streets and detect any security hazards.

The combination of professional anti-terrorism forces and the public "forms an effective anti-terrorism module", Wu Heping, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, told a Tuesday news briefing.

"In general, China\’s security situation is stable," he said.

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http://www.cne.cc

CCTV World Cup ads fetch 120,000-yuan-per-second price tag

Advertisers will be paying 120,000 yuan for a second of advertising during the South Africa World Cup. Additional ad space will be sold during "extra time," and the "penalty shootout," said He Haiming, the deputy director of the CCTV advertising department.

CCTV will be the exclusive broadcaster of the 2010 World Cup on the Chinese mainland.  So it comes as no surprise that a number of companies have placed bids on this highly-coveted ad space.

A wide variety of companies have shown interest in advertising during the World Cup, aside from just beer companies and sporting goods retailers. According to the meeting, sponsors of the 2010 World Cup come from diverse industries like telecommunications, apparel, automotive, home appliances, financial services, energy and so on.

According to He Haiming, CCTV"s ad time of 2010 World Cup will be sold in three parts. The ad resource sold on Tuesday was the second part. The first was sold in last November and the third will be sold in mid April.

At present, Castrol, as the official sponsor of 2010 South Africa World Cup, has signed to be the exclusive special sponsor for the 2010 World Cup"s live events. The exclusive title of "Shooterboard" is obtained by Sichuan Langjiu Group.

Sponsors of the 2010 World Cup, such as Adidas, Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Sony as well as some Chinese companies including Tsingtao Brewery, China Resources Snow Breweries, Nike and China Mobile, have also bought ad space.

He Haiming said it is impossible to accurately predict the overall advertising revenue that will be earned this year during the World Cup. According to calculations, during the 1998 France World Cup, CCTV earned less than 1 million yuan and during the 2002 World Cup, it had advertising revenue of 4.5 million yuan.
　
The length of ads will be much shorter compared with the 2002 World Cup, He Haiming said. He indicated that CCTV would control the length of ad time strictly during the live competitions.

However, He added, the "extra time," "penalty shootout" will also be sold as "Advertising Resources." The base price of extra time turns out to be 550,000 yuan every 5 seconds; 800,000 yuan for 10 seconds and 1 million yuan for 15 seconds. The base price of the penalty shootout turns to be 1.8 million yuan every match, which means 120,000 yuan per second.

By People\’s Daily Online

http://www.chinacourse.com