1 Talking Point 6 Week in 60 Seconds Week in China 7 China Consumer 8 Media 9 Rail and Infrastructure 12 Society and Culture 17 Sport 25 October 2013 20 And Finally Issue 213 www.weekinchina.com 21 The Back Page

What’s on the agenda? m o c . n i e t s p e a t i n e b . w w w

At their November meeting China’s leaders are expected to

announce sweeping economic reforms Brought to you by Week in China Talking Point 25 October 2013

A November to remember? Economic reform is top of the agenda as elite meet for Plenum

About to get together with 200 of their friends for a small but earth-shaking plenary session

yndon B Johnson once said of Jinping’s economic agenda as the relate to the selection of the key Lhis political brethren on Capi - innocuously named Third Party Party and state leaders (Xi Jinping tol Hill: “Now I know the differ - Plenum meets to discuss what was named as General Secretary of ence between a caucus and a could amount to some of the most the Party and chairman of the Cen - cactus. In a cactus all the pricks are significant changes to economic tral Military Commission last No - on the outside.” policy for well over a decade. vember, for instance, while he and The former American president So what is the Third Plenum and Li Keqiang were both approved for was something of a master when it what should we look out for? the top jobs of state president and came to earthy asides, but his words premier in the second plenary will have rung true for House The third meeting of what? meeting in February). Speaker John Boehner this month, The Third Plenary Session next But then the third session turns who found himself trying to mar - month is a meeting of the leader - to policy, offering a first chance to shall his unruly Republican col - ship of the Chinese Communist put forward a formal direction for leagues as they played chicken with Party comprising the Politburo’s the country over the years ahead. America’s credit standing. seven-member Standing Commit - Once the Party has indicated its As we reported in last week’s tee, plus the 200 or so members of priorities, the government is tasked Talking Point, the Chinese watched the Central Committee below it, with coming up with the details and events in Washington with a mix - that were selected at last Novem - putting the plans into action. ture of glee and disgust. But there ber’s Party Congress. P h o t o has also been some serious ‘caucus - Gatherings of this type are nor - We can expect some significant de -

S o u r c ing’ going on in Beijing too, albeit a mally held annually during the cisions? e :

I m

a good deal less public than the bick - Politburo’s five-year cycle and run There won’t be an exhaustive blue - g i n e

C ering in Congress. In November the for about four days. Traditionally print or a timeline for implement - h i n a public will get its first glimpse of Xi the first two plenums in the cycle ing it. But the Plenum is important 1

Week in China Talking Point 25 October 2013

Legacy issues: will Plenum steer China’s economy in a bold new direction?

in highlighting the key themes ing to get the awkwardness of the ensure economic reforms were likely to filter down into more con - Bo Xilai trial out of the way first. launched there in 1978. crete government action in future. But others are more hopeful that Xi senior chose to retire to Shen - The Third Plenum also has his - the unusual timing could stem zhen (the pioneering special eco - torical pedigree as far as economic from the complexity of preparing nomic zone) too, which is reform is concerned. Almost all of the reform package, as well as the sometimes taken as a sign of his re - the coverage in the media of next need to consult more widely than formist leanings. Notably, his son month’s meeting has mentioned usual on how best to implement it. visited the same city last December, two key sessions of the past: the a move viewed as a symbolic first 1978 meeting at which Deng Xiaop - So China might be on the verge of trip after being inaugurated as ing enshrined the “reform and some major economic changes? Party boss (see WiC176). opening up” era, and the 1993 ses - The leadership seems to be making Truth be told, Xi’s policy instincts sion, generally seen as the starting an effort to suggest continuity with have been hard to make out since he point for the launch of the ‘social - reform initiatives of the past. This took office. He has preferred to talk ist market economy’ under Zhu extends beyond references to the rather vaguely about the ‘Chinese Rongji, China’s hugely influential key meetings of 1978 and 1993, with Dream’ (see WiC192) and the longer- premier of the late 1990s. Wang Xiangwei wondering in the term goal of delivering a “moder - In both cases the plenary meet - South China Morning Post this week ately prosperous society”. At the ings had huge implications for the if there is similar intent behind the same time Xi has burnished his rep - development of the economy, so the eulogising of Xi Zhongxun (Xi Jin - utation with the public by leading a suggestion that this year’s session ping’s father), following a series of campaign against waste and extrav - might be considered in the same events held to commemorate the agance in officialdom, as well as ap - grouping could be a significant in - birth of the former vice premier pearing to support a series of dicator in its own right. who died in 2002. investigations into senior-level offi - Indeed, the last time that the One motive is demonstrating cials suspected of corruption. Third Plenum was delayed from current president Xi’s lineage back Generally that has gone down October to November was in 1993, to one of the early leaders of the well. But the rhetoric has also been P h o t

o inviting further comparison with People’s Republic, he says. But Wang laced with a message about the

S o u r the Zhu years. Admittedly, some also picks up on the emphasis being need for further economic change. c e :

R e China-watchers dispute this, sug - given to Xi senior’s stint as Party The Chinese Dream is achievable u t e r s

gesting the delay is related to want - boss of Guangdong, and his battle to only with “comprehensive and 2 Week in China Talking Point 25 October 2013

deepening reform and opening up”, Xi has warned, while the state - ment accompanying the announce - ment of the delayed Third Plenum emphasised that “there is no way out for China to stop or even re - verse the process”. Li Keqiang told last month’s World Economic Forum in Dalian something similar: that “China is now at such a crucial stage that without structural transformation and upgrading, we will not be able to sustain economic growth.” Currency reforms top his agenda: central banker Zhou Xiaochuan Is Xi Jinping a reformer? A plus point for those calling for Premier Li, who heads up the econ - “Should we assume that all is change: Xi has experience as a mar - omy portfolio, have been waiting well in the Middle Kingdom?” ket reformer from his time in places for their moment. On the other Huang asked, when discussing the like Fujian, Zhejiang and Shanghai, hand, despite the supposedly new latest GDP data. “Not really. China’s writes Cheng Li from the Brookings thrust of ‘Likonomics’ (see WiC204), massive 2008 stimulus programme Institution. This could serve him the suspicion is that the old ways of pushed the economy off its former well in boosting the private sector thinking persist. For instance, crit - growth path. This deviation is partly and liberalising the financial system ics claim that some of the stronger a cyclical problem. But China also – two causes the previous adminis - GDP growth announced last week faces a structural issue in transi - tration did not advance. (7.8% for the last quarter versus 7.5% tioning from middle to high-in - Xi and his number two Li Ke - for the previous one) was purchased come status. No economy can grow qiang are also supported by an im - with policy mainstays like a burst in at 10% a year all the way to high-in - pressive team of technocrats, government spending and a further come levels so a decline to the 7-8% including Zhou Xiaochuan, the expansion in credit. range is inevitable, as it was for the longest-serving governor at the Peo - previous Asian Tigers. Their success, ple’s Bank of China and an experi - Does China even have a choice? however, was predicated on being enced economic reformer in his Here the argument is that after a able to ratchet up productivity so own right. Another key figure is Liu ‘lost decade’ in which Hu Jintao and that they could continue to grow at He, the new deputy director of the Wen Jiabao tried relatively little in a fairly rapid rate even as invest - National Development and Reform the way of reform, China’s develop - ment levels declined.” Commission. Liu was involved in ment model is running out of road. Huang’s warning is that without the publication of a World Bank re - Hence Xi and Li have little choice a new direction from next month’s port last year that pushed for the re - but to take a new direction Plenum, China won’t be able to form of state-owned monopolies The discussion links back to the climb much higher up the eco - (see WiC140 for how it became part World Bank report last year and its nomic ladder. of the economic debate) and he has warning that the Chinese could be overseen the drafting of the report caught in the ‘middle income’ trap So which areas will get most focus that Xi will deliver at the Plenum. because they lack the economic at the Plenum? The contrary argument is that tools to transition to a more devel - A research piece from HSBC offers Xi’s team has spent a year talking oped economic status similar to a roadmap of the types of meas - about reforming the economy but Japan and South Korea. ures that will be required to rebal - has failed to deliver any real change The theme was addressed again ance China’s economy. Theoreti - to speak of. While it’s true that there in the Financial Times last week by cally all of these could be addressed P h o t

o haven’t been groundbreaking an - Huang Yukon, a senior associate at at the Plenum.

S o u r nouncements, that in itself could be the Carnegie Endowment and a for - The study – which was headed c e :

R e due to the rhythm of Chinese poli - mer country director for the World by Qu Hongbin, HSBC’s chief econ - u t e r s

tics outlined above: i.e. that Xi and Bank in China. omist for Greater China – focuses 3 Week in China Talking Point 25 October 2013

on reforms in six key areas. One of the most important, reckons Qu, is Planet China to free the private sector from Strange but true stories from the new China state meddling (and there are indi - cations policy is already moving in PIECE OF CAKE? Impressing your future mother-in-law can be a tricky that direction with the need for of - task. But for a young man from Guizhou, the effort backfired so badly that ficial approvals in 221 business she ended up calling the police. areas having been either relaxed or According to Caijing magazine, the man in question (surnamed Qin) met cancelled in the last six months, his girlfiend (surnamed Zhao) in an online chatroom. The pair from Guizhou Qu says). province soon fell in love and decided to get married. So Zhao suggested HSBC also adds there are five that her boyfriend pay her family a visit during the Mid-Autumn Festival to other critical areas: rethinking ask for parental permission. funding for local governments (i.e Qin showed up promptly at Zongping village, where Zhao lived with her fiscal reforms that make them less family. To make a good impression, he walked into a small shop to pick up a reliant on land sales, and more on gift for his future in-laws. But after selecting a box of mooncake, Qin took new types of tax and municipal advantage of the crowded scene to sneak out without paying. bonds); accelerating financial re - Alas, what he didn’t know was that the store was owned by his girlfriend’s mother. Shortly after Qin left the store, his potential mother-in-law checked form, including further liberalising her inventory and discovered that a box of mooncake had been pilfered. interest rates and looser cross-bor - And when she returned home, she found the exact same item sitting on her der controls on the renminbi; dinner table as a present. She quickly rang the police. pushing towards market-oriented In the face of police inquiries Qin confessed to his crime. Unfortunately pricing for resources and power; he was led off to the police station before he had the chance to ask Zhao’s relaxing the household registra - parents if they consented to the match… tion system (the hukou ) to allow 260 million rural migrants to set - tle permanently in the cities in and action was essential. Today, it’s the World Trade Organisation in which they work; and opening up different. Last year, the hundred or 2001 as a policy lever for shaping its sectors like energy, finance and so leading firms overseen by state- commercial competitiveness, and telecoms to more international in - holding supremo Sasac generated helping it to become the world’s vestment, thus improving the abil - Rmb1.3 trillion ($213.7 billion) in largest trading nation. In issue 152, ity of Chinese companies to profits and are said to have pro - Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell compete overseas. duced at least 40% of Chinese GDP, University and formerly the head of “Some measures will involve according to various estimates. the IMF’s China Division, suggested short-term pain but if the major re - There’s also the sense that the something similar to WiC about Bei - forms are implemented, this rapid growth of the Chinese econ - jing’s hopes for internationalising should help sustain annual growth omy has created powerful new the renminbi, claiming that the of 7-8% in the coming years by un - fiefdoms more inclined to resist push to promote the currency over - leashing private sector demand for Beijing’s directives – and that’s seas also has the “collateral benefit” investment and consumption,” the not just bosses at the giant state of overcoming vested interests at report concludes. companies but also the decision - home and drives reform. Nonetheless, HSBC also acknowl - makers at provincial, city and edges that some of the thorniest other local government levels Can China change? challenges are likely to be put to one who have carved out their own Twenty years ago, Zhu made trade side. One example is the effort to re - commercial empires. a key focus for reform. Will it, as duce the influence of the state- That’s made the strongman style Prasad suggests, be the currency owned enterprises, where the of government practiced by Deng, this time round? One thing most agenda is unlikely to be as con - and even Zhu to some degree, less analysts agree on is the desired frontational as Zhu Rongji’s in the applicable today. outcome: a China that less waste - late 1990s, when thousands of SOEs Instead Xi looks likely to focus on fully allocates capital and which is were closed or sold, and more than making progress at the margins or driven by consumer demand and 40 million workers laid-off. by using more indirect means. Even a thriving private sector. That’s because in the 1990s the Zhu recognised this as a tactical ap - Zhu was famously tenacious (he state sector was basically bankrupt proach, using China’s accession to once told the press that he was 4 Week in China Talking Point 25 October 2013

readying coffins for his enemies, themes including more competition and saving one for himself – just in in banking with the discussion of case he lost). new licences (see WiC196), an ex - Xi’s team still needs to convince plicit warning from the central bank some of the public that it has the to overleveraged lenders to reduce stomach for the battle ahead. “I’ve their credit exposure (WiC199), and met a lot of people who do not the launch of a pilot zone in which have high expectations for the some of the rules on cross-border Third Plenum,” warned one neti - lending may be relaxed (WiC202). zen this week. “They believe that The meeting next month could for - the way that the system is set up malise some of these trends, as well makes it unlikely to tap the privi - as signpost how other policies are leges of the interest groups. If you being prioritised. are elected by these people, how Of course, the reform effort can you have the nerve to move Zhu: fought for reforms could also turn out to be con - their cheese?” tentious, especially for those who Another commentator on weibo the netizen suggested. “What peo - benefit from the current system. focused on the more specific meas - ple most want from the session [the Somewhat surprisingly the specific ures needed to remedy cases of un - Plenum] is to introduce new regula - dates for the Plenum have yet to be fair privilege, one being the tions showing the property of pub - confirmed. One interpretation is introduction of a property registra - lic officials. We need a clear that Xi and Li are working extra tion system (see WiC182 for more timetable for opening up informa - hard to secure internal support for on why a database has been de - tion on their personal assets and a reform agenda. layed; one allegation is that too making sure it can’t be hidden.” This is no easy task. As the Re - many public servants would be re - Elsewhere work is already under - publicans so ably demonstrated ear - vealed as owning property beyond way in a number of areas in which lier this month, a single party can their paygrades). the need for reform has been high - hold a lot of diverse opinions – and “To rebuild social justice, we have lighted. Take changes in the finan - not all are to the liking of their got to contain privilege at source,” cial sector, where WiC has covered leader. n

Mission accomplished

Clearing out bee and wasp nests in China is a task nor - mally handled by the fire brigade. But when a plague of Asian Giant Hornets struck Shaanxi province this month killing 41 people and injuring more than a thousand more, the locals decided to take on the job themselves. Working under cover of darkness – when the highly venomous insects are asleep – the villagers donned padded overalls and motorcycle helmets before attempting to destroy the hornets’ homes. Their weapon of choice was a homemade flame thrower, dubbed the ‘divine gun’, which enabled them to incinerate the insects without get - I l l u s t r ting too close. blasting a 1.5 metre tall nest with a heavy-duty military a t i o n : In the case of the largest nests, mind you, the army was flame thrower. w w w . b called in. They employed similar tactics, but on a bigger The authorities in Ankang municipality – the ground e n i t a e scale. An online video of one attack became a big hit when zero of the insect attacks – say some 7,000 nests were p s t e i n it showed soldiers in full camouflage gear and gas masks destroyed, by soldiers and locals alike. . c o m

5 Week in China The Week in 60 Seconds 25 October 2013

The air just gets filthier The major news items from China this week were...

The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Pur - 1chasing Managers Index rose to 50.9 in October, compared with a final reading of 50.2 in September. An - alysts say the small uptick is a mildly positive sign. “China’s growth recovery is becoming consolidated into the fourth quarter following the bottoming out in the third quarter,” HSBC economist Qu Hongbin said in a statement. “This momentum is likely to continue in the coming months, creating favourable conditions for speeding up structural reforms.”

China’s battle against air pollution persists with chok - What northeastern China looked like this week 2ing smog now shutting down Harbin, one of the northeast’s largest cities, this week. The smog forced CNOOC and CNPC, two of China’s largest energy schools to suspend classes and closed the airport. In 4companies, have joined an international consortium some parts of Harbin the index measuring PM2.5, or par - to develop Brazil’s Libra deepwater oilfield. The two Chi - ticulate matter with a diametre of 2.5 micrometres, nese firms each have a 10% stake, with Shell and Total reached readings of 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre taking 20% each, and Brazil’s own oil giant Petrobras the (a level above 300 is considered hazardous). The situation remaining 40% share. The cooperation is a rare example has added to public pressure to address air pollution. of the two oil groups working together on an interna - tional project. Analysts say the move is a significant step Meanwhile, prices of new homes in China continue in efforts to develop deepwater technologies that could 3to soar. Data from the statistics bureau, which tracks be used to exploit oil and natural gas in China itself. changes in the 70 biggest cities, showed that prices had risen or remained at their current highs in nearly all of China and Singapore will introduce direct trading of the sample in September. On average, home prices in the 5their currencies, bolstering Singapore’s status as an cities studied rose 9.1% from a year earlier, defying gov - offshore trading centre for the renminbi and adding to ernment efforts to cool the market. Home prices in Bei - Beijing’s efforts to internationalise its currency. The jing leapt 16% last month from a year earlier. Prices in move means that the Singapore dollar is the fifth cur - Shanghai also jumped 17%, and new homes in Shenzhen rency to have direct trading links with the renminbi. and Guangzhou were one-fifth more expensive. China will also grant Singapore-based investors a Rmb50 billion ($8.2 billion) investment quota in Chinese stocks and bonds under its Renminbi Qualified Foreign Insti - tutional Investor programme.

Xinhua has reported that the Beijing local govern - 6ment is planning to reduce the weighting of English in college and senior high school entrance exams. Eng - lish, Chinese and maths currently have the same weight - ing. In future, instead of starting English on the first day P h o t

o of elementary school, students will learn English from

S o u r third grade. Nevertheless, Xinhua added that English c e :

R e needs to be learned as it is important as China “opens u t e r s Home prices are still rising wider to the outside world”. n 6 Week in China China Consumer 25 October 2013

Trouble brewing Latest CCTV attack fails to harm Starbucks

ell people that their doctors are Volkswagen carried out its first- Tbeing bribed to prescribe ex - ever product recall in China after a pensive medicines and they might CCTV story on faulty brake trans - respond with concern. missions. The state broadcaster also Tell them that the car or phone ran several stories about foreign in - “It’s worth every penny” they have saved up to buy is sub - fant formula companies, with six standard, and there may be a con - such firms fined Rmb670 million and other Western brands”. sumer backlash. ($110 million) for price-fixing in Au - Starbucks responded to the re - But tell them that a chain of cof - gust. Then in September it told view - port by saying its prices vary from fee shops is pricing its drinks a bit ers that foreign milk powder pro - market to market depending on the higher in China than elsewhere and ducers were bribing doctors to cost of commodities and labour, as you’ll probably just get mocked. recommend their formula over well as real estate expenses. That is the lesson state broad - breast milk to new mothers. This led It added that the figure drawn caster CCTV is learning this week, af - to more apologies and a pledge to from its financial report didn’t ac - ter it dedicated a full 17 minutes of change such practices. curately represent the company’s its Sunday night newscast to a re - The public – or at least sections of Chinese operations because they in - port accusing Starbucks of over - it – were vexed in these instances. cluded results from 14 other coun - charging its Chinese customers. But the fact that a tall latte in Beijing tries in the region. But instead of the American costs some 40% more than one in The latest attack, however, will chain’s outlets being boycotted on Boston seems, thus far, to have left do little to lessen a growing feeling Monday morning, criticism was di - them wholly unmoved. among foreign business bosses rected at CCTV. Not that CCTV didn’t try to make that CCTV is being encouraged to “CCTV should care about REAL its revelations as dramatic as possi - bad-mouth their firms, in part be - problems,” wrote one user on the ble. The segment used shaky hidden cause local rivals are envious of popular microblogging website Sina cameras to film baristas on four con - their success . Weibo. “When we don’t have to worry tinents telling customers the price But if reaction to CCTV’s latest in - about air quality or healthcare, then of their drinks. It even interviewed vestigation is anything to go by, we can sit down and talk about the people in Beijing saying “they could - Starbucks can breathe easy. Indeed, prices in Starbucks,” she added. n’t afford to live if they bought a cup the report has even boosted sales at Another wrote: “You ask me why of Starbucks every day”. some outlets. “After watching the Starbucks is so expensive. I say: why The broadcaster then quoted news, I went to Starbucks to show don’t you tell me why the cost of Starbucks second quarter earnings my support, but ended up waiting in hospitals is so high?” report, suggesting that it enjoys a line 20 minutes. CCTV’s free ad Over the past year CCTV has 32% profit margin in the Asia Pa - rocks!” commented one netizen. mounted a series of attacks on cific region, versus 21.1% in the US Another wrote: “I never dared to multinationals, each of which has and 1.9% in Europe, the Middle East go into Starbucks before. Now I stirred up public sentiment against and Africa. know it’s only Rmb27 for a tall latte the companies concerned. How so? Wang Zhengdong, direc - I think I will go.” If that sort of new Apple chief executive Tim Cook tor of the Coffee Association of demand keeps up, China may even P h o t

o had to apologise for giving Chinese Shanghai, told CCTV that Starbucks overtake Canada as Starbuck’s

S o u r customers a shorter, less compre - has been able to charge higher prices largest overseas market this year, c e :

R e hensive warranty than their Ameri - in China mainly because of “the blind rather than next as many analysts u t e r s can counterparts. German carmaker faith of local consumers in Starbucks have predicted. n 7 Week in China Media 25 October 2013

Got their goat Violent change looms for cartoon industry

bout a century ago IBM was serve Imagi just as Mickey Mouse the father of the two victims blamed Amaking weighing scales and had earlier done for Walt Disney – violence in the show. Among his cheese slicers. Then it opted to helping it to become an iconic brand complaints: the wolf has been focus on computers instead. and thus enable the studio to grow whacked 9,000 times with a frying Decades later Nokia made a simi - in related areas. The business did pan (since the show first aired), larly radical switch, ditching paper reasonably well, generating profits. while making at least 800 attempts products and rubber boots to make By now Imagi’s shareholders himself to boil the goats alive. mobile phones. were used to a change of direction or Few netizens seem to think that Hong Kong-listed Imagi is lot two. But they were nevertheless per - Pleasant Goat is particularly terrify - less well known than either of turbed when it was announced last ing with an online poll on Sina these companies but has also been month that Pleasant Goat had been Weibo suggesting that less than half through quite a transformation. sold to a Guangdong-based produc - of the respondents see the cartoon In 2002 it decided to give up on tion house for HK$634 million ($81 as too violent (seeing it as more Tom making Christmas decorations million). The South China Morning and Jerry than Clockwork Orange ). and become the Chinese version Post reported that investors were But the authorities aren’t only of Pixar. For the world’s leading deeply displeased, not least because targeting Pleasant Goat . The broad - maker of plastic fir trees, it was a the trophy asset was offloaded for a casting watchdog has published a bold departure. fifth less than the price paid for it new rulebook and 20 cartoon com - Formerly known as Boto, the two years before. panies have agreed to eschew vio - company sold its core business in a But some are now wondering lent or uncivilised content. Instead deal that shareholder rights activist whether Imagi’s timing was smarter they have promised to “promote David Webb then described as leav - than it seemed after the censors good and lash out at evil”. ing investors “with a shrunken shell pulled Pleasant Goat off Chinese TV Ironically CCTV praised the now and a start-up graphics animator”. schedules last week, following criti - controversial ‘goat vs wolf’ cartoon Despite opposition from fund man - cism from CCTV’s Xinwenlianbo, the back in 2009 as “leading the creative agers, Boto became Imagi. country’s most-watched TV news culture industries”. But now Wong It took seven years for Imagi to re - programme. Wai-ming, a former director of Pleas - lease the film that it hoped to com - As WiC has reported previously, ant Goat , is worried that the restric - plete its reinvention. Dreaming of a the series tells the story of a herd of tions will suffocate a fast-growing blockbuster hit in the mould of Toy quick-witted goats and their battle market. As he told News Express Story , Imagi resurrected the popular with the wolf that hunts them (see Daily: “When Pleasant Goat meets Japanese comic book hero Astro Boy . WiC87). The censors say these con - Big Big Wolf, you can’t just have But he was no Buzz Lightyear and frontations are littered with “inap - them chitchat all the time.” the film flopped at the box office. propriate language” and “ap - What next for Imagi? It says it will Francis Leung, the managing part - pallingly violent behaviour”, while be developing new characters over ner of CVC Greater China, then CCTV’s claim is that the cartoon has the next two years, as well as pro - bought Imagi in 2010, rescuing it been encouraging copycat violence. ducing educational programming from the brink of bankruptcy. He For example, two young brothers for children and teenagers. P h o t o also brokered a deal in which Imagi were badly burned in April after be - Perhaps it will work out. If not

S o u r c acquired the character copyrights to ing set alight by a nine year-old who there might be more than a few e :

I m

a Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf , a said he was imitating a scene from investors ready to do some seri - g i n e

C popular Chinese cartoon. the show. A court case ensued. ous damage with frying pans of h i n a

The goal was for Pleasant Goat to According to the Global Times, their own. n 8 Week in China Railway and Infrastructure 25 October 2013

Why fly? High-speed trains are proving a serious threat for Chinese airlines

ost airlines have in-flight Mmagazines and China’s high- speed trains offer similarly glossy publications in their seatbacks too. En-route to Tianjin earlier this month WiC picked one up, noting its English name, Fellow Traveller, with interest. Why? The title has peculiarly po - litical connotations. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a ‘fellow-traveller’ as “a per - son who is not a member of a par - ticular political party (especially the Communist Party) but who sympa - thises with the group’s aims and policies.” In post-war Britain, the term was derogatory. For example, in An - thony Powell’s cycle of novels A Dance to the Music of Time , the un - savoury politician Kenneth Wid - merpool is referred to repeatedly as a fellow-traveller and possibly a Communist spy. That makes it seem like an odd choice by the high-speed railway bosses. Or could a mischievious En - gish-language sub-editor be at work? Then again, there isn’t much else to find fault with in China’s Does Nora have red sympathies? An issue of the bullet train’s magazine bullet train service. When WiC has travelled on the trains, the journey sive job improving safety. There ing MIT mathematician Arnold Bar - has been clean, comfortable and have been no fatalities on bullet nett to calculate that the “mortal - impressively punctual. The net - trains since then, leading the New ity-risk” equals or exceeds that of work is proving popular with local York Times to observe: “While the the world’s safest airlines. passengers too. As the New York Wenzhou crash is still talked about The US newspaper also says that Times points out: “Practically every in China today, statistics suggest the bullet network is now carrying train is sold out, although they that China’s high-speed trains have twice as many passengers as do - leave for cities all over the country actually proved to be one of the mestic airlines each month (and by every few minutes.” world’s safest transportation sys - next year will be handling more In the wake of the Wenzhou train tems so far.” than 54 million people on a crash in 2011 (see WiC117), the rail - The trains have now carried 1.8 monthly basis). way’s bosses have done an impres - billion passengers since 2009, lead - In fact it’s the local airlines that 9 Week in China Railway and Infrastructure 25 October 2013

now experience the worst PR. Usu - ally the complaints are about the perennial flight delays, but earlier this month another type of incident dented the reputation of Air China, the country’s best-known carrier. According to the People’s Daily, a flight from Korla to Beijing on Octo - ber 6 was beset by a bout of mass food poisoning. One of the passen - gers who later fell ill noticed shortly after eating a beef pancake that it was beyond its expiry date. She told staff, but they said there was noth - ing they could do and carried on with the meal service. Within half an hour, two children were vomit - ing, 30 passengers were complain - It may look a tad overstaffed, but you can’t beat the welcome... ing of stomach ache, and long queues were forming for the toilets. service after loads dropped from That means creating new hubs in On touching down, one family 100 passengers per plane to 30, re - the interior of the country, estab - was taken to a hospital and diag - ports China News Service. lishing routes more competitive nosed with an ‘enteritis of un - One of the flagship routes – Bei - with the bullet trains (which typi - known origin’. jing to Shanghai – is proving a par - cally means distances of more than After an investigation Air China ticularly tough battlefield. Here the 1,200km too). said that the pancakes had not bullet train quickly started grabbing For example, the Economic Ob - passed their expiry date, but that traffic after its launch in 2011. Trav - server says that China Southern has mistakes had been made and it apol - ellers cite various benefits in letting identified the central city of ogised to passengers. the train take the strain. For one, it is Zhengzhou in Henan province as a It’s the kind of story unlikely to far more likely to be on time – ac - second hub. It already accounts for attract new customers at a time cording to a report last month by 36% of traffic at the airport but has when the airlines are already com - Hong Kong Commercial Daily 82% expanded the number of flights plaining that they are losing busi - of flights out of Beijing faced delays flown there by its subsidiary Xia - ness to high-speed rail. In their first while a slightly less miserable 72% men Airlines. Xiamen plans to dou - half results all three of China’s lead - were late in Shanghai (it’s a subject ble the number of aircraft based ing carriers blamed their sagging fi - we’ve touched on before, see WiC83). there to 14 by 2015, connecting cities nancials on the loss of passengers Another plus: businesspeople can in Fujian (such as Fuzhou and Xia - to bullet trains. still use their mobile phones or send men) with Lhasa in the west, Speaking to CCTV, a senior execu - emails on the journey. Urumqi in the northwest and tive with China Southern described The upshot: an air ticket between Shenyang in the northeast. the situation as “very challenging” Beijing and Shanghai can now be In China Eastern’s case, the strat - adding that ticket prices had been bought for as little as Rmb390, a egy is ‘two wings and one centre’. slashed to meet the competitive rock-bottom price (the rail fare is The centre remains as Shanghai, but threat. He then estimated that on Rmb553, or $91). the airline is building wings (i.e. fur - any route of 800km or less, the air - The rail revolution is forcing the ther hubs) in Kunming in the south - lines were vulnerable to losing half airlines to rethink their strategies. west and in the central city of Xi’an their passengers to the trains. One approach, points out the Eco - (a former capital of China). And according to the magazine nomic Observer, is to build hubs be - On September 20 it added five New Fortune, 50% of flights on yond the eastern and southern new routes from these new hubs, P h o t

o routes of less than 500km have al - coastal regions, where the three ma - the most eye-catching being a daily

S o u r ready been cancelled by local air - jors are concentrated (Air China in flight from Kunming to Taiyuan to c e :

R e lines. For example, Shandong Air - Beijing, China Eastern in Shanghai Hohhot, a journey that cuts right u t e r s lines grounded its Jinan to Nanjing and China Southern in Guangzhou). through the middle of the Middle 10 Week in China Railway and Infrastructure 25 October 2013

Kingdom (akin to flying from Phoenix to Tulsa to Minneapolis in the US). Meanwhile, Air China has adopted Chengdu as its western hub as it too seeks to capture traffic to compensate for business lost (largely in eastern China) to the faster trains. All of the airlines are banking on growing affluence in China’s sec - ond- and third-tier cities driving more leisure traffic, as well as in - creasing business travel by air. But the realities of the bullet train are also forcing the airlines to contem - plate a more cooperative relation - ship, including using trains to feed Now carrying twice as many passengers per month as domestic airlines traffic from nearby cities into their aviation hubs. plied that the project had been given The news was greeted enthusiasti - For example, CCTV says that the go-ahead by the State Council at cally on the Shanghai bourse, with 10 China Eastern has offered packages an estimated cost of Rmb70 billion. firms linked to high-speed rail, in - from Suzhou where the high-speed And aside from six runways it will cluding China South Locomotive and train fare to Shanghai is included in also have a 37km direct rail link to Rolling Stock (CSR), witnessing a 10% the cost of travel, if passengers then Beijing South train station, the high- daily spike in their stock price. fly from Shanghai elsewhere. speed rail hub for the city. The sector also seems to be grow - Similarly, Air China has inked an For a cluster of cities increasingly ing in confidence, with a source from agreement in which free rail travel connected to Beijing by bullet train, one of the major rail manufactur - will be offered between Chongqing, this will make it far quicker for pas - ers telling Century Weekly that Dazhou and Nanchong for passen - sengers to get to the new airport so China’s trains now rely on foreign gers flying on one of its flights to or as to catch international flights. For suppliers for very few parts, such as from Chengdu. example, residents of Tianjin could the wheels and bearings. The bulk The integration opportunities for probably do it in about an hour. of components are now locally high-speed rail and aviation were The demonstrable success of the made (the Chinese claim to have evident to WiC during its trip to high-speed network is also creating taken many core European and Tianjin. Although a large munici - opportunities overseas. While it is Japanese rail technologies and im - pality in its own right, Tianjin cur - true that the Wenzhou crash of 2011 proved on them). rently feeds a lot of international air and the imprisoning of railways However, the area in which the traffic into Beijing Capital Airport. minister Liu Zhijun (for corruption) local train executive thought that The bullet train between the two dented the sector’s early export am - Chinese firms most outperformed cities now takes just 30 minutes, but bitions, an announcement last week their international counterparts takes passengers into Beijing South suggests that this might have been a when competing for contracts rail station (a vast, airport-like ter - temporary phenomenon. abroad was less about tech and minus). However, to get from this During his visit to Bangkok last more to do with the sheer speed at station to the airport involves a jour - week Premier Li Keqiang signed a which they could lay track. ney around some of Beijing’s memorandum of understanding Following Li Keqiang’s visit, the busiest ring roads, which can take with the Thai government to build a Thai government has announced upwards of an hour. a high-speed rail system. In an inno - plans to build four high-speed lines Thus WiC grasped the logic of the vative approach, the Chinese will by 2022. P h o t

o new southern airport that Beijing construct the network in a barter ex - Should the deal go ahead, it

S o u r wants to build (see WiC180). Earlier change for Thai food products, a sounds like the Chinese will be eat - c e :

R e this year a newspaper linked to the move China’s press was quick to la - ing a lot more Thai rice over the u t e r s Civil Aviation Administration im - bel as ‘high-speed rail for rice’. coming decade... n 11 Week in China Society and Culture 25 October 2013

A little local difficulty Disbelief as US blockbuster runs into problems with Hong Kong gangsters

“ was just in the Forbidden City, Iand people were taking pictures of me,” Michael Bay told the New York Times in April, suggesting that the film director is a reasonably recognisable figure when he travels the world. “People know who you are,” he admitted. But Bay received a different kind of treatment in Hong Kong, where he has been filming the latest T rans - formers instalment. Last week two local men ap - proached the Hollywood director on the set of Transformers: Age of Ex - tinction in Quarry Bay. Allegedly, the two brothers demanded money, at - tempting to extort payment of about $13,000. In the ensuing argu - ment the older brother, wielding an air-conditioning unit as a weapon, tried to hit the director. Bay wrote later on his blog that he “ducked, threw the unit on the floor and Looking out for the triads? Candice Zhao stars in Bay’s latest movie pushed him away”. Then security arrived on the the Hang Fat Air Conditioner and failed to shake-down Bay’s film scene. “It was like a zombie in Brad Water Electrical Company). The me - crew, this time in To Kwa Wan. The Pitt’s movie World War Z – he lifted dia has speculated that they wanted 35 year-old man was also arrested. seven guys up and tried to bite a ‘compensation fee’ for the disrup - Andrew Lau, vice president of the them,” Bay wrote. Yet he sounded tion caused to local businesses by Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild, ad - unfazed by the experience. “After the filming. mitted that he was puzzled by last that, we had a great day shooting Bay’s trouble in Hong Kong didn’t Thursday’s attack on the Hollywood here in Hong Kong. The place could - end there. According to Apple Daily, filmmaker. “This is a very odd inci - n’t be better.” when filming moved to Shum Shui dent that I have never seen before,” he Then again, Bay was later spotted Po, a densely packed neighbourhood told the city media. “Who would dare at a local chiropractor, presumably in Kowloon, a flower pot and a plas - to assault a film director? This would to relieve some of the stresses and tic water bottle were mysteriously only happen maybe 20 years ago.” strains provoked by the incident. thrown onto the set from a nearby Hong Kong has become a Both his assailants were immedi - building. No one was injured but lo - favourite location for many Holly - ately charged with assault, with local cal onlookers blamed a “lunatic” in wood productions who want to use

P newspapers positing that the two the habit of throwing objects out of the city as an exotic backdrop and at h o t o

S brothers have connections to triad his windows. the same time appeal to the growing o u r c e gangs (although in court this week Then on Wednesday, another sus - number of Chinese moviegoers. Sev - :

C F P they said they were the owners of pected triad member tried and eral blockbusters have filmed scenes 12 Week in China Society and Culture 25 October 2013

in Hong Kong over the last decade, spotters may also notice newcomer portant,” observed President including Batman: The Dark Knight Candice Zhao. She is one of four per - Obama in a 2008 speech. “And we and Johnny English Reborn . The city formers chosen from tens of thou - are called to recognise and honour also made brief cameos in Battle - sands of hopefuls to play a support - how critical every father is to that ship and Pacific Rim (in both films ing role in Transformers 4 (they were foundation. They are teachers and it’s under siege by aliens, naturally selected via a reality TV contest coaches. They are mentors and role enough). Michael Mann was also in aired on CCTV’s Movie Channel in models. They are examples of suc - Hong Kong a few months ago to September). According to the Holly - cess and the men who constantly shoot his new film Cyber . wood Reporter, Zhao, a former win - push us toward it.” Wu Siyuan, the president of the ner of the 35th Miss Bikini Interna - Hunan Satellite TV seems to Hong Kong Filmmakers Association, tional Pageant China, will play a agree, having recently launched the now worries that the triad incident “sexy goddess” in the new film. reality programme Dad, Where Are could undermine the city’s global You Going . It follows five celebrity image. But he told NetEase Enter - fathers as they take their children – tainment that most Hollywood stu - without mothers, gadgets and toys dios hire local producers to help – to camp in the countryside. navigate issues relating to locations Daddy’s girl Hunan TV bought the format so these incidents are very rare. Hit reality show gets celebrity from South Korea’s Munhwa Broad - Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents dads to take kids camping casting Corporation two years ago. are looking forward to crossing But the Chinese version – which paths with Transformers A-list cast, “ f all the rocks upon which we shares the same title as the South including Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Obuild our lives, we are re - Korean original – took longer than Tucci, and China’s Li Bingbing. Star minded that family is the most im - anticipated to produce. One reason

FAST FOOD: For over five millennia, food has been at the heart of China’s culture.

Gou Bu Li

What is it? and travelled to Tianjin to be an Gou Bu Li , which translates as ‘the dog apprentice at a steamed bun shop. There, doesn’t care’, is a type of traditional baozi , he learned his dumpling skills before or steamed bun, filled with pork stuffing opening his own stall selling steamed and soup. Shaped like a chrysanthemum, pork buns. His baozi were so soft and the dumpling originates from Tianjin and fragrant that he quickly became very apparently even Empress Dowager Cixi popular and attracted many patrons. was a fan, sending a courtier to the Such was Gao’s popularity that he was northern city to bring back baozi for her. always busy at his restaurant and he had In 2008, in anticipation of the Beijing no time to talk to his customers. People Olympics, officials decided to give Gou Bu started to complain: “ Gouzi doesn’t talk Li a less canine English name – “Go when he’s selling his baozi ”. Over time, Believe” – to appeal to foreign visitors. people started calling him Gou Bu Li , This prompted ridicule among netizens. which means, ‘the dog doesn’t care’.

Why the name? Where to eat it? Folklore suggests that the baozi were Gao’s former baozi stand has since originally created in the 1850s by Gao spawned a chain of 15 restaurants in

P Guiyou, a young man with the nickname Tianjin. The flagship outlet is located on h o t o

Gouzi , which means ‘little dog’ in Chinese. 77 Shandong Road, Heping District, S o u r

c At the age of 14, Gao left his hometown Tianjin (Tel: 86-22-2730-2540). e :

C F P

13 Week in China Society and Culture 25 October 2013

is that so many celebrity fathers were reluctant to expose their chil - dren to the limelight. Others flatly turned the offer down after hearing that they would have to take care of their children for three days without assistance. In fact, the producers of the show say they only managed to convince the fathers by calling the experience a “character-building ex - ercise” for both father and child. Five celebrity dads – including Taiwanese heartthrob Jimmy Lin and former Olympic diving cham - pion Tian Liang – signed on. The first stop was a little-known rural area outside of Beijing, where the contestants had to spend three days completing a series of chores. The producers say the five duos will Now be a good boy and eat up: Lin on the show with his son Kimi move to different locations as the season goes on. ferent from other reality TV shows Viewers talking about the show Since it first aired early this because everything is unscripted. on weibo say watching it has led to month, the show has been domi - Here, the stars are forced to inter - moments of self-reflection. nating the primetime ratings. act with completely unreasonable “Even though I laugh at Tian Rival satellite networks are tak - and totally uncontrollable kids. Liang’s helplessness before his ing heed, predictably adding fam - They defy logic; they cry; they play daughter, I started reviewing my ily-based formats to their lineups and make mischief; and they chal - own parenting style and I clearly see for next year. lenge authority. All this combines some shortcomings as a parent,” So why is the series proving pop - to make the show so much fun to one wrote. ular? Partly, it’s because the children watch,” sums up the Beijing Times. Jimmy Lin says that appearing on who participate on Dad Where Are The series has also generated the show made him realise that he’s you Going are an absolute delight to widespread discussion about par - been neglecting his son: “I think the watch – strong and resourceful but enting methods, with many experts reason Kimi (his four year-old son) adorable too. saying that it offers tips for viewers is glued to me is because I am al - But perhaps the real highlight is on how best to communicate with ways away working. He is afraid that the fathers, with critics saying the their children and how to cultivate when he gets up I will have left al - show is successful because it reveals their sense of independence. ready,” says Lin, with some remorse. a more sensitive and vulnerable side “I recommend the programme to Kimi is not the only one who to the celebrity figures. all parents because it reveals a hardly sees his father. After Lin’s Take Tian. He may be the Olympic child’s inner world. Today, many honest confession on TV, other men gold medallist but on the show he is parents are so busy at work they admitted the same feeling. Even just another father trying to survive sometimes neglect their children. though working-parent guilt is parenthood. In the first two As a result, many kids grow up with - hardly unique to China, many rural episodes, the former “diving prince” out the presence of their parents, residents are forced to leave their appears totally helpless whenever and that is very detrimental to their young sons or daughters in the care his daughter Tian Yu breaks into a growth. In addition, watching other of grandparents or caretakers as crying fit (it happens fairly often). fathers interact with their kids may they make a living in faraway cities. P h o t o He tries to soothe her with a soft low prompt some parents to reflect on The number of ‘left-behind children’

S o u r c voice. After a while he gives up, look - their own parenting methods,” Tan has reached more than 61 million, e :

I m

a ing on dejectedly as she screams at Wei, a teacher, told the Southern according to government statistics. g i n e

C the top of her lungs. China Morning Post, a newspaper The hukou is largely to blame for h i n a “Dad, Where Are You Going is dif - from Guangxi. the phenomenon. This household- 14 Week in China Society and Culture 25 October 2013

registration system – an issue 10 must-reads, making for an that WiC has touched upon fre - illuminating list, although EL quently – makes it difficult for James will be disappointed to the children of migrant workers hear that the Fifty Shades tril - to receive state education and ogy missed out. PLA general medical care in cities. Newspaper Jin Yinan’s Pain and Glory , stories suggest that left-behind recommended by Xi himself, children are more likely to suffer topped the rankings by injuries and have a high rate of telling how the Party came to both psychological problems and power, while eight other Chi - juvenile delinquency. In July, two nese authors made the cut by children suffocated to death af - discussing history, political ter trapping themselves in a economy and geo-strategy. wooden box, with no adults Only one foreign title fea - around to supervise them. tures: The World is Flat: A Parents often justify their deci - Brief History of the Twenty- sion to separate their family on fi - First Century , of which Vice nancial grounds and with a view Premier Wang Yang is a big to giving their kids a better life in fan. The Yangtze Evening the longer term. “I want to save News says Wang once made more money to buy an apartment Thomas Friedman’s 2005 in the city so my girl can go to a bet - than The Pilot’s Wife and other bestseller a “New Year holiday as - ter school,” a migrant father who Oprah favourites. Premier Li Ke - signment” for Party cadres when works in Hangzhou told the South qiang recommends The Third In - he ran Guangdong. China Morning Post. “There’s noth - dustrial Revolution by Jeremy Rifkin, China’s wider reading culture ing I can do. I can’t bring her back to for instance, a description of how presents a major opportunity for Hangzhou – it’s too expensive. We new ways of generating power and foreign authors, despite problems wouldn’t save any money that way. innovative communications tech - with intellectual piracy across the Leaving her behind is just us think - nologies will lead to fundamental domestic economy. According to ing about our family’s future.” economic change. Anti-corruption the Huaxi Metropolitan Daily, JK tsar Wang Qishan is urging officials Rowling has earned $2.4 million in to read Alexis de Tocqueville’s The Chinese royalties for her novels Old Regime and the Revolution to about Harry Potter, while the New understand how a system can rot York Times has reported that earn - Fifty shades from the inside. (Meeting British fi - ings from e-books published by in - of red nance minster George Osborne in ternational authors grew by 56% 2010, Wang said another favourite is last year, with Chinese publishers New list reveals what Chinese Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility .) buying more than 16,000 titles elite are reading Xi Jinping told a class at the Cen - from abroad. That compares with tral Party School in 2009 that their 1,664 in 1995. etting into Oprah Winfrey’s reading material holds the key to The literary situation also looks GBook Club was “a blessing from the country’s governance. As a re - wholly different to the world de - the book gods,” the publicist Patri - sult, the Party’s Central Committee scribed in Yu Hua’s China in Ten cia Eisemann once noted. For more began sending suggested reading to Words . In the 1970s, works by the than 20 years, the titles picked by government officials twice a year likes of Shakespeare were labelled the chatshow queen were almost and more than 100 titles have re - as “poisonous weeds” and banned guaranteed stellar sales. Winfrey re - ceived its recommendation. Nor is it from libraries. Illegal copies still vived the concept last year on her just the Party’s 80 million members existed, dating back to private col - own network. who pay attention to the lists. They lections formed in the days before A continent away, China’s ruling are also made public, with many re - the 1949 revolution. They were se - elite also seems keen to pass down sultingly becoming bestsellers. cretly passed about, with many its own literary tastes. Some of the Last month, those 100 or so soon torn or missing pages. Yu re - reading looks a lot heavier-going books were whittled down to the calls that the first “fully intact” for - 15 Week in China Society and Culture 25 October 2013

eign novel he was able to get his China, but various sections have dis - foreign publishers are drawn to the hands on was La Dame aux appeared from original biography, monetary possibilities of the Chi - Camelias by Alexandre Dumas. It including passages describing how nese market. was so exciting that he and a friend Deng was so preoccupied with the Of course, the other option for spent a day and night copying it escalation of Beijing’s student Chinese bookworms is to look for out by hand before returning it to protests that his trembling hands international editions in their orig - the owner. let a dumpling drop from his chop - inal format. Li Keqiang is said to in - Publishing books from overseas sticks during a meal with then So - sist on reading foreign publications remains a politically-charged exer - viet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. in their English original, for exam - cise. Foreign offerings have to go Other details are missing too. The ple. For those with less privileged through layers of censorship – Chinese version is 53,000 words access, there is also the freer Hong both in-house and by state agen - shorter than the one translated by Kong market. The city’s bookstores cies – before making it onto the the Hong Kong publisher. are often filled with Chinese tourists shelves. Politically sensitive and During a China book tour Vogel looking for banned books. Some - erotic content is usually discarded. said that it is “better to have 90% of times they are even smuggled back Take Deng Xiaoping and the the book available here than zero”. into China at the request of mid- Transformation of China , Ezra Vo - And according to the New York ranking government officials curi - gel’s definitive history of the Chi - Times, such compromises are be - ous to read them, the New York nese leader. It has been released in coming increasingly common as Times says. n

World of Weibo: Liu Dingning

After scoring top marks in the gaokao , the besides, if she can’t adapt to HKU what national college entrance exam, Liu makes her think that she will adapt to Dingning could boast what many high Peking University?” school students could only dream of: a full scholarship to Hong Kong University (HKU). What are the comments on weibo? But just a few weeks into the semester Netizens are split into two camps. Some in Hong Kong, she has called it quits. accused Liu of “throwing away a Netizens are split on whether Liu is being financially enviable opportunity to study at brave or foolish. a first-class university” while others say she was “brave” for making such a What happened? difficult decision. Liu has dropped out of Hong Kong “Had she considered the matter more University’s School of Chinese. In an thoughtfully in the first place this wouldn’t interview with Chengdu Business Daily, have happened,” one netizen wrote she revealed that she had difficulty disapprovingly. adjusting to life in Hong Kong. Liu says she “Every year HKU accepts a lot of does not understand Cantonese (the outstanding students from China and they Chinese dialect spoken in Hong Kong), has HKU: not up to scratch, says Liu never complain about Hong Kong’s had trouble with her eyesight, and was not education system so I’m not sure why Liu used to sitting at a computer for extended China’s education system only permits was the only one who couldn’t withstand periods. Nor was she a fan of the city’s students to accept an offer from one the pressure,” another wrote. humid weather. school, demanding a resit of the exam if “An 18 year-old girl has the courage to But above all, Liu says she was they want to change institutions. walk away from what most people consider bothered by the fact that the courses Liu’s dropping out has led to a superior learning environment and a didn’t mesh with how she perceived grumblings at home. scholarship to study there, only to return classic Chinese literature should be taught. “I urge Liu to be patient and try to home to start over again; I have nothing but Liu now wants to apply to Peking adjust her attitude before making any admiration for her,” said another netizen. University back at home. decision. It is too early to tell whether you HKU says it respects Liu’s decision and P h o Straightforward? Quite the contrary. can easily adapt to life in a new city given is “liaising with Peking University to help t o

S o Such a move would require her to retake your stay in HKU was only for a little her pursue her studies where she is most u r c e the much-dreaded gaokao because interested in doing so”.

: while,” says Guangzhou Daily. “And

E r i k

L i

16 Week in China Sports 25 October 2013

Playing defence Ian Poulter reckons China has become crucial to golf’s future

Iron man: Poulter won last year’s WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in China

hinese spectators got their first Your triumph at the WGC-HSBC course to where I won last year but Cglimpse of Ian Poulter’s tartan Champions last year must stand Sheshan suits my eye and I have trousers and pink shirts at Shang - out, given you came from so far be - played well there in the past so I am hai’s Sheshan golf club eight years hind. Do you have high hopes of really hoping to end my season with ago. Since then he has teed off at defending your title at this year’s a win. courses as far apart as Jinsha Lake in event at Sheshan? There is no doubt when you stand Zhengzhou, Red Flag Valley in It was a great moment – winning a on the tee you stand a little bit taller Dalian and Sun Kingdom in World Golf Championship is a big when you are announced as the de - Chongqing (see WiC126). But Poulter deal and the WGC-HSBC Champions fending Champion. enjoyed his greatest success in is the biggest event in Asia so it was China last year when he triumphed pretty special. I love playing all How many times a year do you at the WGC-HSBC Champions at around the world but I must admit I travel to China to play or partici - Mission Hills in Guangdong. Next particularly love playing in China pate in promotional activity? Does week he defends his title at She - where the fans are so enthusiastic it feature regularly now as a desti - P h o

t shan. Poulter spoke to WiC about and grow ever more knowledgeable nation for you? o

S o u the growth of golf in China, the about the game each year. It really depends on my schedule r c e :

G

e chances of it producing top players So yes, in answer to your ques each year but I definitely look at any t t y

I m in future, and why he can find the tion, I do have high hopes for de - events in China that work given my a g e s greens but not the Great Wall. fending my title. It’s a different PGA Tour commitments. It has be - 17 Week in China Sports 25 October 2013

pretty different to an actual tour - nament and players will be a lot more relaxed. I think that, all in all, the crowds in China are amongst the best in the world. From the first event in 2005, they have become more knowledge - able each year and it is a pleasure to play in front of them. I love the buzz and the atmosphere at Sheshan. As for the mobile phones – that is a problem all around the world and you are just as likely to come across a phone ringing in America as you are in China!

Some very young Chinese players are now turning up on the inter - national tour, with Guan Tianlang getting huge attention at the Mas - ters in Augusta this year. Out of in - terest, when you were 14, which Poulter with HSBC’s Giles Morgan at last year’s event course were you playing most and what was your handicap? come a crucial part of the interna - to Shanghai and when you see what Guan’s scores at the Masters were tional circuit and that is illustrated has happened since then, you realise unbelievable considering his age when you realise that two of the how significant it was. The event has and the course length off the tee. four events that make up the Euro - developed so much from that first The fact that he went on to make a pean Tour’s Final Series are being year that it was awarded the status few cuts on the PGA Tour in the fol - played in China. of ‘World Golf Championships’ a lowing weeks shows what a talent couple of years ago and it is the only he is and I am certain there will be When did you first play in China? one of the WGC series to be held out - plenty more Chinese juniors com - Have you noticed much change in side the US. ing through the ranks. its golfing infrastructure? More broadly, each year it is I originally started playing golf at Well I played in Hong Kong first – I pretty amazing to see how many Stevenage Municipal and hadn’t think it was in 2004 but I missed new courses are being proposed in been playing long at 14 so my hand - the cut! My first event in mainland China, how many European Tour icap (if I had one) would be nothing China was actually at the 2005 HSBC events are being held there and, to write home about. At that age I Champions in Sheshan, funnily most importantly, seeing the partic - loved all sports, especially pole enough. I finished in the top 20 but ipation numbers growing so fast vault, soccer, cricket and snooker, as it was so different that first year – through all the grassroots initiatives. well as working a few weekends at the crowds were keen and eager to the local market. But I can tell you I learn all about golf and it felt excit - How about the crowd’s under - was down to a four handicap by the ing that it was all so new. standing and etiquette? Last year time I was 18 when I decided to turn Even then, the course and club it was reported that spectators professional. were in great condition but the area were grabbing balls off the prac - surrounding the course wasn’t built tice area as Woods and McIlroy You took part in the Shui On Land up and I remember the hotel we were warming up for their “Duel Golf Challenge, playing in seven P h o

t stayed in only opened on the day in Zhengzhou”! Not to mention Chinese cities with Lee Westwood, o

S o u that we arrived. constantly ringing mobiles... Rory McIlroy and Liang Wen- r c e :

G

e It felt like a pretty groundbreak - I can’t comment on the Woods- chong. How was that? t t y

I m ing move that HSBC was taking by McIlroy match but I would say that It was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime a g e s bringing such a big golf tournament watching an exhibition match is experience and really fun jumping 18 Week in China Sports 25 October 2013

have at Mission Hills. When Justin and I partnered each other in the World Cup on the Blackstone Course in Haikou we liked the bunkering and the rugged style of some of the holes and thought if we designed a course we could incorporate some - thing similar. When I won the Champions event last year at Mission Hills on the Olazabal course we thought that we should go for it. So we have done our best to create a similar set-up of tree-lined fairways, long vistas and plenty of changes in elevation around the course.

What were the priority features Time for tee: Poulter will defend his title in Shanghai that you wanted to incorporate? We were very aware that Mission into a jet and dashing around China leading golfer] did say that next Hills has already got some superb with three great guys. I think they time that I am in Beijing he would courses, designed by some of the fixed the schedule really well which help me find it, so I am going to hold true greats of the game, so we enabled us to see a nice blend of dif - him to that. wanted to be a little bit different. ferent types of courses, with different Among the key features to our designers. We got to see what China China must be the Holy Grail for course that make it exciting for has to offer to the golfing world, as golf merchandisers – could you match play are that we have tried to well as meeting loads of amazing talk about how it features in your promote aggressive play by enlarg - people and golf fans. commercial plans, particularly ing the tee boxes and offering more your clothing line? variation on tee placements, as well From some of the tweets sent at the Thank you for asking. Obviously I as going for shorter par 4s to present time it sounded like you had some am very passionate about IJP Design a drivable opportunity and incor - fun nights out too, including with and as we build the brand and the porating various speed slots in the a tank full of sharks? business we would certainly hope to fairways and feeder slopes on the You know the saying what happens take it to key markets such as China. greens that roll the ball to difficult on Tour stays on Tour, right? Just I love the fashion in China – it is pin placements. There are also more kidding – it’s safe to say we all had funky and colourful and I would punishing penalties if you go offline an amazing time and were made to hope they would enjoy all of our at any point in the round. feel so welcome in sampling just a clothing range as I believe it caters to fraction of what China has to offer. everyone. I am sure the Ian Poulter Risk-and-reward thinking sounds tartans will be very popular! like a good investment philosophy In the documentary about the for China in general. So do you event, one moment saw you get Ahead of the tournament at She - have any other plans for the Poul - lost on a trip to the Great Wall. shan you’ll also be celebrating your ter brand in the Middle Kingdom? Have you managed to see it since? inaugural course design, with a As I said, I love visiting China and I was disappointed that I didn’t get match-play challenge against will play there any chance that I to see it as we got pretty far up one Justin Rose at Mission Hills in get. For now I have to find a bal - of the hills but then they said we Guangdong. What’s the back - ance between my golf career and P h o

t could only go up the rest of the way ground to this? building my business interests o

S o u on horseback, which we didn’t have Justin and I are very good friends without impacting on my per - r c e :

G

e time for. and have been for a long time. We formance on the course. But it is t t y

I m Unfortunately I haven’t managed thought we could add something ex - definitely a market I would love to a g e s to go there since but Liang [China’s citing to the existing set-up that they expand into in the future. n 19 Week in China And Finally 25 October 2013

Cartoon hero Will audience warm to film about boyhood Mao?

n Taiwan it is common for politi - a slim, wide-eyed boy, sporting a tra - Icians to use cartoon images of ditional Qing Dynasty hairstyle – themselves in election campaigns. shaved at the front, with a long braid The young helmsman These friendly-looking avatars are at the back. then emblazoned on billboards and “Children like to watch cartoons. hard work and the accumulation of keys rings in an attempt to win pub - The old and stereotypical style [of valuable experience. lic support. presenting leaders] can’t engage The five-minute clip traces Xi Jin - Politicians in mainland China them anymore. This is the 21st cen - ping’s path to power from county to have resisted such gimmicks, partly tury. We can’t be stuck in the old city and then provincial leadership, because elections are limited affairs ways. We need to be innovative,” Lu eventually rising to Communist but also because the practice would - Huasheng, art director at Qiushi (or Party general secretary and presi - n’t fit with the serious and sober im - Seeking Truth) – a Party journal – dent, a process in which Xi “experi - age that the ruling Communist told the South China Morning Post. enced 16 major job transfers and gov - Party likes to project. Another politically-orientated an - erned a cumulative population of But there are signs that this is be - imation even went viral this week. over 150 million in 40-plus years”. ginning to change as Chinese leaders The cartoon is about how to get All this hard work means that as - recognise the appeal of animation, elected as president or prime min - cending to China’s presidency is like even for adult audiences. ster in the US, the UK and China and the “training of a kung-fu master”, As the 120th anniversary of Mao was posted on the video sharing site the narrator points out, which is to Zedong’s birth approaches – which Youku by little known studio, Road say, there is no quick way to the top. will falls in December –a 3D cartoon to Rejuvenation. Featuring an ani - While it doesn’t claim explicitly on the Great Helmsman’s early mated Barack Obama, David that the Chinese method is superior, years is now being prepared (at a Cameron and Xi Jinping, it has been the video does cast an occasionally budgeted cost of Rmb30 million, or watched by upwards of 1.5 million critical eye at leadership elections almost $5 million). The idea is to people and fairly accurately d e- elsewhere. What are the key quali - have the animation in cinemas by scribes the democratic processes of ties needed to win the race for the the time celebrations of the an - the US and the UK. White House, for instance? The nar - niversary start to reach a crescendo None-too-subtly, it then makes rator tells us they are “a glib tongue, at year-end. the case that the route to the top in extraordinary stamina and, most Posters for the film show the China, while not exactly demo - importantly, an unending flow of young Mao, who was born in 1893, as cratic, is meritocratic – requiring greenbacks.” n

Beyond comparison

“Jobs was a great man. But to use him as a point of comparison for myself is completely inappropriate” P h o t o

S * Lei Jun plays down parallels with Apple’s founder in a series of remarks directed against the local o u r c

e media on his weibo. The boss of fast-growing smartphone firm Xiaomi was particularly annoyed by :

I m

a what he saw as journalists taking out of context his remark that “the users aren’t gods”. He said the g i n e

media had failed to include the second half of his sentence: “We will treat our users like friends”.

C Seriously not Steve h i n a

20 Week in China The Back Page 25 October 2013

Photo of the Week In Numbers 61% The percentage decrease in GlaxoSmithKline’s pharmaceutical and vaccine sales in China in the third quarter, suggesting that a high-profile bribery investigation – which it is the subject of – has hit revenues.

$593 million P h The amount that Bank of Chongqing, a city- o t o

S based commercial lender, is seeking to o u r c e raise through an initial public offering. The :

I m a lender is offering 707.5 million shares g i n e

representing a price-to-book ratio of 0.88 C h i n a to 0.99 based on this year’s forecast asset value, said the South China Morning Post. Quiet time: to deal with their anger management, patients receive “brainwave therapy” at a hospital in Zhejiang Rmb10,000 The cost of “Chairman Mao” porcelain, a ceramic style featuring peach and plum blossom that was once crafted for the Where is it? former Chinese leader. The maker of the Harbin Some of the places referred to in this issue porcelain says sales have dropped dramatically following the nationwide anti- extravagance campaign. Beijing Tianjin Rmb2.5 million The price that a man from Zhejiang is said China to have paid for a Tesla Model S sedan – or Shanghai $410,000 – according to Qianjiang Evening Hangzhou News. Tesla hasn’t confirmed the figure, for Chongqing Zhejiang Wenzhou Hunan what would be its first sale in mainland Fujian Fuzhou China. In the United States, Model S sedans Xiamen Guangdong are priced between $71,000 and $96,000. Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong

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