I like what a Chinese writer (慕容雪村）said: the flower season of the jasmine has not arrived yet, but this doesn’t stop us from reminiscing about the smell of jasmine. (茉莉花的花期還未到，但這不妨礙我們去想一想茉莉花的香味。)

He was speaking at an event taking place in Hong Kong. While he was speaking, more people were being arrested in the mainland for allegedly initiating and spreading the jasmine revolution messages on the web.

Yet, ordinary Chinese people will have to face tougher uphill battles in the coming Chinese New Year in order to get a train ticket to return home for festive celebration. Reason? As China develops express rail links, the regular train services have been cut and for those that can only afford regular train price, especially the migrant workers and the students, they are destined harder to get a train ticket.

How expensive are the tickets for the high speed train? Take the Guangzhou-Wuhan high-speed trains. A second-class ticket costs RMB490. And how much does, say a migrant worker earn? Here are some pointers. The minimum wage in Shenzhen is RMB1,100; and starting March this year, the minimum wage in Guangzhou will be raised to RMB1,300, topping the whole country. In the second-tier and third-tier cities, the minimum wage are significantly lower.

High-speed trains are a symbol of China’s technology advancement and economic might. But the fact is, they are also a symbol of benefiting the rich, leaving those ordinary and poor even more behind.

Tian Yu’s father is a man who has worked all his life farming land. Tian decided to follow her cousin who was working at a Shenzhen factory, after finishing vocational training in computer and failing to find a job. She found a place in Foxconn and after basic training, started her first job – inspecting computer screens. She was given only a few seconds to do the checking and this monotonous process continued for 10 hours a day.

And she was assigned to live with workers coming from other hometowns far from her own’s, and who worked different shifts. She had no friends there and stayed all the time in the factory. She had never been to the centre of Shenzhen during the first month of working in Foxconn.

After one month’s work, she was confused about how to claim her wages. She was told by her supervisor that she needed to go to another Foxconn plan, more than an hour’s bus ride away.

She then had only five yuen left in her pocket and a broken mobile phone. So she took a bus to claim her one-month salary, only to be brushed away by people there, asking her to go to someone else for help.

“I was so angry that my mind went blank,” Tian said. “Why was it so hard to get what I had earned? Why must they torture me like this? I felt so bad at the time, and I didn’t want to be insulted any more so I went home.” She told South China Morning Post.

In her dormitory, she was penniless and alone, as all others had gone on night shifts. She cried herself to sleep. The next morning, she jumped from the dormitory to escape from her desperation and helplessness.

“Why was it so hard to get what I had earned?” After reading the story, this line resonates in me. You must work hard for me, but I don’t care if you get what you deserve. That is the plight of migrant workers in China (and not to mention things like the military style management and the dormitory arrangement in factories like Foxconn).

According to the South China Morning Post, the award committee refused to reveal the girl’s background at a chaotic press conference.

The brochure handed out at the press conference says Lien Chan, former Taiwanese president, was selected by internet users as the winner. Asked when and on what website the online voting was done, a professor from Beijing Normal University, who along with two professors forms the award committee, said they failed to carry out the voting because of “technical problems”. So how has the winner been selected?

And, you must be wondering why then the girl turns out to be the winner, not Lien Chan as mentioned in the brochure. No answer either. She stands in for Lien Chan – that is what we are told.

According to the award committee, which claims to be a non-profit organization,  the Confucius Peace Prize, with the award of 100,000 yuan, aims to advance the “Chinese viewpoint of peace”. For the Chinese authority, it seems, our common values like human rights and peace, all denote differently for the Chinese. Or it claims to be.

When can China demonstrate not only its economic power, but also power of civilization its four thousand years of history has embedded in it?

I later read reports that people carrying iphones 4 or ipads into China will be taxed RMB 1,000 (value estimated to be RMB 5,000 so 20% tax is RMB 1,000 ). Any items, valued over RMB 5,000, even if they are for self-use, have to be taxed, according to the reports. If you don’t want to be taxed, you can place the items with the customs and take them back when you leave China. But then you may need to pay a custody fee as well.

The latest news is that Chinese Customs has publicly defened its practice, saying that a tax of RMB 1000 on ipads is justified, which is in accordance with WTO rules and international practice. So be prepared to be taxed if you an ipad or a new iphone into China.

Liu’s reaction to it? “I dedicate the prize to those having died in the June 4 event.” And then he shed his tears, according to his wife Liu Xia who informed him about the news. It is a reaction that I would have expected from Liu, who keeps a low profile in his resilient fight for freedom of speech and democracy in China.

I wrote this post about Liu and his wife on 26 December 2009, and would like to copy here as my token of tribute to Liu:
 
“China’ most prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo was sentenced by the court to 11 years in jail on Christmas Day.

This is the fourth time he has been imprisoned because of his political position and his writings. He was researching in the US while the student democratic movement broke out in China in 1989. He rushed back to China and gave support to the students. He was jailed afterwards by the Chinese government.

But that marked only the first sentencing he, as a dissident, received of a series to follow. Each time he was released, he kept on writing and speaking his mind about how to make China a better and democratic country, and each time he was sentenced to imprisonment or a labour camp.

How Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, supports him is touching. She married him when he was in the labour camp. She sent him books when he was in prison so that he knew what her thoughts were and it was a way of communication between them, Liu Xia said. They also wrote poems to each other.

After the latest jail sentence was announced, Liu Xia told reporters in a clam voice: “If he (Liu Xiaobo) can persevere in the face of the ordeal, so can I.” Liu will be over 60 years old when he is released, she said.

She has had her head shaved. She is such a strong and steel-willed woman, just like her husband. “

The Shenzhen Visa Office at Lowu is immediately upstairs after clearing the Hong Kong immigration and customs. It is open 9AM-10:30PM seven days a week and accepts RMB for payment only. The visa is a five-day visa and costs RMB160. If you are a UK passport holder, you will be charged a much higher fee at about RMB470.

A friend has just got a Shenzhen visa for RMB160 at Lowu border. According to him, the whole process took about half an hour. You will first get your queue number, and when it is your turn, you give your passport to the staff for checking, followed by making payment at another counter. You will then have to wait again for your turn  to collect your passport, this time with the visa.

It was a Sunday when my friend applied for the Shenzhen visa, and the visa office, he said, was surprisingly not crowded with foreign travelers, but with Filipino domestic helpers working in Hong Kong and hoping to spend their only free day in a week in Shenzhen.

Note that the Lok Ma Chau border (the one connected by MTR) has no Shenzhen visa service. You can only apply for a Shenzhen visa at Lowu border or Huanggang border.

And they have power too – great power. The officials in the university have the biggest say on everything, from deciding which staff and courses to stay to funding distribution. So who is the top man in the university? You would think it is the President or Vice chancellor. Nope. It is the communist party secretary. Every public university, even now, has a communist party secretary who is the “decider” of the university.

For mainland’s universities to be world-class, they have a really long way to go. Not until there is revolutionary change in the society when it values free thinking and democracy.

For the information posted by the China Travel Services in Hong Kong, check out here.  Their information is dated 30 June, 2010. So it is pretty updated. And here is the information posted by the China Travel Services in Macau.

People from the following nationalities will have to pay a higher fee for a China visa: U.S.A.; Brazil; United Kingdom; Belarus; Panama; Ukraine; Uzbekistan; Kazakhstan; Armenia; Iran; Ecuador; Angola; Ethiopia; Congo; Gabon; Cameroon; Cote D’Ivoire; Macedonia; Bolivia; Venezuela; and Chile.

I’ve tried the interface of Travelzen website and I like it so far.

According to its website, the “Travelzen Group Limited is a joint venture between Shanghai Ever Bright Town International Travel Agency Limited (SEBTI), China’s largest private air ticketing wholesaler and a reputable international private equity group”.

This is the fourth time he has been imprisoned because of his political position and his writings. He was researching in the US while the student democratic movement broke out in China in 1989. He rushed back to China and gave support to the students. He was jailed afterwards by the Chinese government.  

But that marked only the first sentencing he, as a dissident, received of a series to follow. Each time he was released, he kept on writing and speaking his mind about how to make China a better and democratic country, and each time he was sentenced to imprisonment or a labour camp.  

How Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, supports him is touching. She married him when he was in the labour camp. She sent him books when he was in prison so that he knew what her thoughts were and it was a way of communication between them, Liu Xia said. They also wrote poems to each other.

After the latest jail sentence was announced, Liu Xia told reporters in a clam voice: “If he (Liu Xiaobo) can persevere in the face of the ordeal, so can I.” Liu will be over 60 years old when he is released, she said.

She has had her head shaved. She is such a strong and steel-willed woman, just like her husband.

To enhance the security in the run up to National Day on 1 October, a secret machine is now installed in each of the taxis in Beijing to monitor conversation, according to Hong Kong newspaper Mingpao. The machine is connected through satellite and GPS to the police intelligence centre so every word you say will be listened.

Naturally, the authority will not announce this to its people – keeping them in dark so that those needed to be caught can be caught.

Why is it that a country that calls itself People’s Republic can be so afraid of its people and so secretive towards its people?

During the golden week, many local Chinese will travel around in the country, making hotel booking and transportation harder to arrange. The major scenic spots will also be packed with visitors. Avoid it.

If you go sightseeing in China, look out for traps like this. 

This small wood bridge is in a park called Lu Hui Tou (meaning Deer Looking Back), a major tourist spot in Sanya, Hainan Province.

On the very top of the wood bridge are Chinese characters “Zou Yun”, meaning “walking luck”. Just for a bit of fun, you may be tempted to walk through the bridge in hopes of getting some luck. You can certainly do that. But after the walk, expect that some one will come up to you to ask you for money. Not much – RMB3 for walking through that one-meter long bridge.

Near the bridge lies a small sign which says RMB3 is charged because it represents harmony of heaven, earth and people.

After a flight lands on an airport in China, two guys in white medical uniform will board the flight. The first guy will walk through the corridor and take photos of the passengers. This is followed by the second guy who holds a laser machine to check the temperature of each passenger.

Well, at least this is what has happened to me when I took a Southern China airline flight to Sanya, Hainan province, from Hong Kong just days ago.

These are the precautions taken by the Chinese authority for containing the swine flu, as you may have guessed. And I guess the first guy taking photos of passengers is for keeping a record so that in the case of one passenger later is identified to have caught swine flu, those sitting next to him or her would be able to be identified and traced down.

The flower scene is breathtakingly beautiful.

Since the Park is in the busy “Hai Ding” Area (海淀区), transportation to the Park is easy and convenient.

How to get there:

By metro: get off at “Mu Xi Di” (木樨地) metro station, for entering the park at its Eastern Gate, whose neighbor is Diaoyutai State Guesthouse (钓鱼台国宾馆); or get off at “Jun Bo”(军博) metro station, for entering at the Southern Gate

By bus: many buses go to the park, including No. 320, 114, 717, 727, 13, 21, 37, 65 (for Eastern Gate); No. 1 and No. 4 (from Chang An Street 长安街 for Southern Gate); No. 300, 323, 374, Special Route 8 (for Western Gate, which is right across from the CCTV tower on the Xi San Huan Middle Road 西三环中路)

Currently, the average life expectancy in Guangdong province is 75. That means increasing one life expectancy age every year for the following three years. Can that be achievable? 

Btw, the Pearl River Delta region covers nine prefectures of the province of Guangdong in southern China, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, plus Hong Kong and Macau. It had a population approximately of 60 million people in 2008.

Under the current economic situation, however, prices at the restaurants have come down. The posh Spanish restaurant “Sadler”, for instance, now offers a business lunch for RMB160.

The reason I introduce “Legion Quarter” is not because of its chic streak, but because of its historical value.

The Quarter is very centrally and advantageously located at the south eastern corner of Tiananmen Square. The first US Embassy in China was located here (since 1903). After 1949, the founding of People’s Republic of China, the Quarter was converted for other purposes, including becoming the home of Dalai Lama and the office of Foreign Affairs Ministry. It was also here that former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met former China Premier Zhou Enlai during his secret visit to China in 1971.

For more info, check out its website here.

Btw, this upmarket dining/entertainment place was opened only last year, before the Beijing Olympic Games.