ZGBriefs

ZGBriefs | February 25, 2016

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ZGBriefs is a compilation of news items gathered from published online sources. ChinaSource is not responsible for the content, and inclusion in ZGBriefs does not equal endorsement. Please go here to support ZGBriefs.

 

Featured Article

The Golden Generation: Why China’s super-rich send their children abroad (February 22, 2016, The New Yorker)
The children of wealthy Chinese are known as fuerdai, which means “rich second generation.” In a culture where poverty and thrift were long the norm, their extravagances have become notorious.


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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

New Chinese Rules on Foreign Firms’ Online Content (February 19, 2016, The New York Times)
China is taking another step to restrict what can be posted on the Internet in its country by issuing new rules barring foreign companies or their affiliates from engaging in publishing online content there without government approval.

China Labels Protesters ‘Radical Separatists,’ and They Agree (February 20, 2016, The New York Times)
Days after Hong Kong’s worst riot in years, the Chinese government’s top official in the city said the violence was the work of “radical separatists” — the sort of label the Communist Party has applied to its opponents from Tibet to Taiwan whose real motive, it says, is to divide China. Chinese dissidents routinely deny such accusations. But at least one Hong Kong protester said he had no problem with those words, used by Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Central Liaison Office.

Xi Jinping’s News Alert: Chinese Media Must Serve the Party (February 22, 2016, The New York Times)
The Chinese news media covered President Xi Jinping’s most recent public appearances with adulation befitting a demigod.

Why Xi Jinping Made the State Media Rounds (February 23, 2016, China Real Time)
For Xi, the illness isn’t economic, it’s political, and the prescription is ideology. Success at governing China, in Xi’s view, rests on his skill in quelling the smoldering dissatisfaction in society, and in his ability to deal with disillusionment in the party rank-and-file.

Is China installing a high-tech radar system in the South China Sea? (February 23, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
Satellite images show radar construction on China's manmade island above Cuarteron Reef. And one US think tank says this is even more threatening than missiles. 

China Deploys Fighter Jets to Contentious South China Sea Island (February 24, 2016, TIME)
China has reportedly sent fighter jets to a disputed island in the South China Sea, seemingly bolstering the surface-to-air missile batteries spotted there earlier this month.

Religion

Thoughts on Theological Education for Chinese Believers (February 19, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
Certainly Chinese church leaders need theological training. Here are some thoughts about the current situation of theological education for Chinese believers.

Director of church-run nursery released after two years in prison in China (February 20, 2016, Christian Today)
The director of a nursery run by a church in China has been released from prison after serving two years for "engaging in illegal business operations", the charity China Aid reported.

Going Home (February 22, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
One speaker at our summit shared that as many as 80% of those who profess Christ while abroad do not continue walking in their faith upon their return. Probably more than anything, this highlights the need for those ministering to Chinese to be thinking much more intentionally about how to help prepare Chinese believers to live out their faith when they go home.

To My Daughter Leyi (February 23, 2016, Chinese Church Voices)
Last week we featured excerpts from an article that he wrote reflecting on his experience in prison. This week, we feature an article he wrote reflecting on his daughter’s life. 

Chinese Media Interviews Guangzhou CCC&TSPM Chairman about Topics of Chinese Christians, Science & Bible (February 23, 2016, China Christian Daily)
On January 28, Guangzhou Channel of Phoenix New Media, one of the popular media in China, interviewed Rev. Feng Hao, the president of Guangzhou CCC&TSPM. The interview covers the following topics: the number of Chinese Christians, building churches near Confucian temple, science and the Bible, religions and wars.

Why does China have women-only mosques? (February 23, 2016, BBC)
The Islamic world is wide and various, its points of view almost as numerous as its people. And Islam in China, with its long tradition of women-only mosques, provides a good illustration, says Michael Wood.

Why Divorce Is on the Rise in China (December 24, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
Helping couples recognize the importance of this missing component, and then to find in Christ the emotional resources needed to love one another, is essential for building the marriage and overcoming the odds in China’s rapidly changing marital landscape.

Society / Life

For China’s upper middle class, driving for Uber is a cure for loneliness (February 17, 2016, Quartz)
Uber is filling an empty niche created in an upwardly-mobile generation that finds itself far from extended families, or with lots of time on their hands after retirement. Many of them have no siblings and few cousins because of China’s one-child policy, so few relatives their own age.

The Bamboo Bicycles of Chengdu (February 18, 2016, China File)
Two bikes in particular, with chromed aluminum parts adorning a golden bamboo frame, catch the eye and hold it spellbound. The bamboo is striking the way finished hardwood lights up the interior of a luxury sedan, the way exotic high-gloss flooring warms the conference rooms of Silicon Valley start-ups.

China teenagers jailed in US over kidnapping and assault (February 18, 2016, BBC)
Three Chinese teenagers living in the US have been jailed for kidnap and assault, in a case that has sparked discussion in China about unsupervised children studying abroad.

Chinese Communist Party explains wedding and funeral rules (February 19, 2016, BBC)
The theme was frugality when the party's disciplinary watchdog issued a raft of tweaked guidelines for its 88 million members last October. Even though the wording was vague, Wednesday's statement on how these guidelines should be enforced remained well within the spirit of the party's ongoing austerity drive. It is all in the name of stamping out corruption, but the perceived intrusion into life's most significant rituals sparked a backlash online.

China Moves to Halt ‘Weird’ Architecture (February 22, 2016, The New York Times)
China is home to at least 10 White Houses, three Arcs de Triomphe and one Eiffel Tower. But 2016 might signal the end for China’s more grandiose architecture. A directive issued on Sunday by the State Council, China’s cabinet, and the Communist Party’s Central Committee says no to architecture that is “oversized, xenocentric, weird” and devoid of cultural tradition.

Beijing takes bite out of Big Apple's claim to 'billionaire capital of the world' (February 24, 2016, The Guardian)
The Chinese capital has overtaken the Big Apple as home to the most billionaires, 100 to 95, according to Hurun, a Shanghai firm that publishes a monthly magazine and releases yearly rankings and research about the world’s richest people and their spending habits.

Economics / Trade / Business

Why Money Is Pouring Out Of China (February 19, 2016, NPR)
China used to have a booming economy. Now money is rushing out of that country. Last year, Chinese people and businesses sent an estimated $1 trillion overseas, and that's forced China's government to spend a fortune, trying to prop up the value of the currency, the renminbi. What's happening? What does it mean for the rest of us?

China’s Excess Production Has Intensified Slowdown, Business Group Says (February 22, 2016, The New York Times)
The failure of Chinese leaders to tackle the problem of excess industrial production has intensified an economic slowdown in the country and threatens to wreak havoc on global markets, a prominent European business association said in a new report on Monday.

China To Shut Down Hundreds Of Coal Mines In 2016 (February 23, 2016, NPR)
China is the world's top coal consumer but slow economic growth and pollution concerns are lessening demand. Chinese energy officials say more than 1,000 coal mines will be closed this year.

Education

Class Consciousness (February 3, 2016, The New Yorker)
Less than a decade ago, there were no Waldorf institutions in China; now there are two hundred kindergartens and more than thirty elementary schools. In a country that is still searching for its national identity, the movement is quickly becoming one of the most influential countercultures.

Health / Environment

Lung Cancer Deaths Soar in China’s Steel Country, Report Says (February 19, 2016, The New York Times)
The death rate from lung cancer in the heavily industrialized province surrounding Beijing has more than quadrupled in the last four decades, with researchers pointing to worsening air pollution as a likely culprit, according to a local cancer hospital and a report published Friday in an influential Chinese news outlet.

Research: Antibiotics Make China’s Children Heavy (February 22, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
A new study based on research in East China finds evidence that exposure to different antibiotics is a cause for obesity in children.

Blowing in the Wind: Beijing’s New Cleanup Plan for Bad Air (February 22, 2016, China Real Time)
The country’s environmental minister recently announced plans to unify the standards Beijing and surrounding areas use to declare emergency measures to reduce smog. The upshot: the threshold for triggering a smog alert in the capital is being raised.

Science / Technology

Inside China’s Nuclear Core (February 24, 2016, China Real Time)
China is on a quest to reshape the world’s nuclear industry and play a big role in new projects globally. A trip inside the country’s oldest large-scale nuclear power station near the southern metropolis of Shenzhen reveals the great heights of its ambition.

History / Culture

I was the most wanted man in China (February 11, 2016, Literary Hub)
How scientist Fang Lizhi became an enemy of the state.

A very large collection: Everyday Life in China in 1978 (February 17, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

A collection: Views of Shanghai in 1973 (February 18, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

Badass ladies of Chinese history: Princess Taiping (February 19, 2016, The World of Chinese)
Today we’re bringing to light some of the facts about Princess Taiping of the Tang dynasty. Although she never became an Empress herself, Taiping displayed a combination of ambition and cunning that allowed her to exert great political control from behind the scenes, but also lead to her death.

A trip to China and Hong Kong in 1981 (February 21, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

A documentary: Growing up in China under Mao late 1960s (February 22, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

A documentary: China in 1964 (February 23, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)
The video focuses especially on Chinese opera and had images from Wuhan and Beijing.

A 1961 newsreel: Red China’s weird food squeeze (February 23, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

IN PICTURES: Fascinating black and white images give a glimpse of China in the 1930s (February 23, 2016, Shanghaiist)
On February 19th, the Chinese Embassy in the US took ownership of a historical photo collection of 1930s China. Originally published by the Keystone View Company, the 24 black-and-white images offer fascinating glimpses into Republican era Chinese cities.

The Cultural Revolution at 50: a Q&A with four specialists (part one) (February 24, 2016, LA Review of Books)
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning, and the 40th anniversary of the end, of China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Despite the passage of time, the Cultural Revolution remains one of most controversial and least understood periods of modern Chinese history.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall (February 22, 2016, China Media Project)
Three years ago, launching a “mass line” effort to close the widening gap between the public and the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping urged officials to take stock of themselves. Leaders, he said, must “gaze into the mirror” and “straighten their outfits.” They must, in other words, seek constant self-improvement and purification.

Politically charged Chinese art show opens in Hong Kong (February 23, 2016, The Guardian)
The show is a chronological presentation of some of the most innovative works produced in China from the years of Maoism up to the present, and does not skirt around some of the more politically sensitive works.

Travel / Food

The Disappearance of Beijing Street Food (February 18, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
Over the last two years, Beijing has cracked down on its street vendors, leading to the slow disappearance of traditional street food in the city center.

7 Charts Showing Top Challenges Chinese Travelers Face in 2016 (February 19, 2016, Skift)
Chinese travelers are forecast to make more than 200 million outbound trips per year by 2020–that’s a 100% increase from the number of trips they took in 2015 (100 million) and they’ll face significant obstacles in coming years even as travel increases.

The path to Seda (February 20, 2016, The World of Chinese)
What’s interesting about going to a remote Buddhist enclave is dealing with the layers of illusions involved in such a trip.

The path to Seda, cont’d (February 21, 2016, The World of Chinese)
Founded in 1980, the Buddhist Academy today is home to nearly 10,000 monks both male and female.

The Other Summer Palace: A Weekend Getaway in Chengde (February 22, 2016, The Beijinger)
ust 250km northwest of Beijing, Chengde is the perfect distance for a weekend getaway. The Kangxi Emperor picked Chengde as the site for his summer retreat in 1701 and ordered the construction of an elaborate mountain resort, the Bishu Shanzhuang (避暑山庄, literally "avoiding the heat mountain villa").

What’s in your bingtanghulu? (February 23, 2016, The World of Chinese)
As a recent arrival to Beijing I hadn’t ever tasted a bingtanghulu (冰糖葫芦) before stepping off the plane, now the sugar coated snacks on sticks are one of my favorite treats.

Great Wall of China: A short guide to the 14 most popular sections (February 24, 2016, Sapore di Cina)This article contains a short review of fourteen sections of the Great Wall. The idea is to help you establishing which section fit better your requirements.

Books

Book Review: Unmade in China (February 28, 2016, AmCham China)
The book’s primary contention is that when it comes to China, metrics like GDP and trade balances are inaccurate and take our attention away from China's real threats and opportunities. Haft wants us to see China from the perspective of someone (like him) with an extensive history of working within the engine room of China’s economy because it is from this perspective that we will best understand China.

The Transforming Friendship: A Guide to Prayer, by James Houston (in Chinese) (ZDL Books)

美好品格的塑造》——决定基督徒形象的六种特质 Christian Character Formation, by James Houston (ZDL Books)

Image credit: David J. Laporte, via Flickr
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Joann Pittman

Joann Pittman

Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio