Via Daily Mail: “This is the dramatic moment a Chinese student cheated death after being hit by an express train travelling at 90mph while posing for ‘artsitic’ pictures beside the railway tracks.”
Weekend is here! As is Spring Festival. Hope you have plans instead of just reading these links.
Comforting. “We are not advocating giving up the Sino-North Korean friendship. Instead, we believe the strategic significance of a friendly relationship is special. But Pyongyang shouldn’t misread China. China won’t put its relations with Pyongyang above other strategic interests. China must not fear disputes with Pyongyang if it is to maintain the traditional bonds of friendship.” (Global Times)
Bad business is bad for policy. “Upwards of 60% of restaurants have faced cancellations since the austerity push began, according a report released on Thursday by the China Cuisine Association, which surveyed 100 restaurants and hotels across the country to determine the economic impact of the government’s belt tightening.” (WSJ)
Spring festival rush time. “But that growth has come at a tremendous personal cost thanks in part to a household registration system called ‘hukou.’ // The hukou is akin to an internal passport that divides the population into rural and urban residents. As such, migrant workers are prevented from accessing social services in the city they’re working in. // The deeply discriminatory nature of China’s hukou system came into clear focus last month after the fatal collapse of a bridge in Henan. Local media reports said victims’ families with an urban hukou would receive 400,000 yuan in compensation compared to 180,000 yuan for those with a rural hukou.” (CNN)
Scary. “A young man was stabbed ten times on Feb. 2 after he tried to stop two men from harassing his girlfriend as he was walking her to a bus station in Shenzhen, according to The Daily Sunshine. He is in stable condition and police in Baoan District are looking for the attackers.” (The Nanfang)
Well that settles it. “China has sentenced 16 people to up to a year-and-a-half in prison for involvement in an environmental protest last July when a crowd of thousands ransacked government offices, the official Xinhua news agency reported.” (Reuters)
Belated but good: Japanese vs. Chinese kid. “Perhaps there will people who will read this and say, ‘Never forget national humiliation, this is exactly how children should be educated from when they are small!’ But for some reason, in the face of a nice little Japanese kid, who wanted to befriend us so much with his cute blushing face, our Chinese children’s hatred has made us elders completely ashamed.” (chinaSMACK)
Shanghai E-motion 2012 interlude:
Finally…
Reasons we shouldn’t worry about Sino-Japanese war possibility. (Trefor Moss, The Diplomat)
“Hong Kong is the most expensive location in the world to rent a high end three bedroom apartment.” (Property Wire)
Hong Kong’s poor living in cages. (AP)
Sad story of a jailing just before Spring Festival. The cruelest cut. (SCMP)
Minimum wages from different cities compared; Beijing is low. (Agenda)
Finally, finally…
Man pays 100,000 yuan to have emperor-style bath; the look on the woman with her hands crossed says it all (pic via Sohu, story via Shanghaiist):
The link to Property Wire contained a malicious url, according to Avast.