And here she is, the 1800 RMB ($262 USD, 167 Euro) Fuloong Mini computer:
Jul 11
Loongson Lives: Release of Linux PC with Chinese processor
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:News | Tags:computer, fuloong, loongson, processor, technology
36 Comments » newest
36 Comments » newest
One of the most controversial high-tech projects in Chinese history took a respectable step forward this month, with the commercial release of an actual shipping PC based on the Loongson 2F processor.
Jul 11
翻译：对人民币的高期望
Written by: opersai | Filed under:-chinese-posts, Analysis, News | Tags:translation, 中国, 中文, 人民币, 八国高峰会
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No Comments » newest
[原贴 Original Post]
总结 Francesco Sisci 的 “看法：八国高峰会到底想要中国的汇率人民币怎样”：
＊他们希望人民币飞速上涨由此减慢中国便宜货进口的速度
＊但是，他们又希望避免接下来因为变的更贵的中国货而导致的国际通货膨胀
＊其外，他们更不希望中国用变强的人民币吃下更多的石油和原材料
你不觉的这些让你想起那个说法么？ “小心你许什么愿，它或许真会实现。”
Jul 10
Ted Koppel on the People’s Republic of Capitalism
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:media | Tags:media
10 Comments » newest
10 Comments » newest
Most Chinese and Sinophiles are probably already aware of this, but here’s a reminder that Discovery channel is broadcasting a 4-part series, hosted by Ted Koppel, on the People’s Republic of Capitalism. (Part 2 will be broadcast tonight, Thursday July 10th.) The general consensus (from both Chinese and overseas viewers) seems to be: interesting, reasonably well-done, but not especially shocking or ground-breaking.
Courtesy of the Shanghaiist, here is Ted Koppel talking on Charlie Rose:
UPDATE: Courtesy of AC, here’s the full video of Ted Koppel on Charlie Rose. I believe his interview and comments are very interesting, probably better than the actual Discovery documentary itself.
Jul 10
Chinese president Hu Jintao’s brief appearance on the Strong Country internet forum might be more significant than most of us originally thought. There have been other signs in recent weeks that the PRC government is reconsidering its approach to Internet speech. I translate a story (原文), just published in the China Youth Daily (中国青年报, operated by the Communist Youth League).
Zhuzhou Discipline Party Secretary goes online with his real name – Angry enough to smash his keyboard, but too afraid to curse.
Yang Ping is party secretary of the Discipline Committee, in the city of Zhuzhou, Hunan province. Recently, he got a new nickname. It all started on an internet forum he started to frequent. The netizens there began to call him “classmate Yang Ping”. Gradually, even his friends began to refer to him this way.
He never thought that he’d get this kind of nickname at the age of 47. He also never thought that, since he started going online with his real name in May, he would be seeing changes beyond his nickname.
Jul 10
Here is a quick summary of Francesco Sisci’s take of what the G8 want with China’s currency RMB: Continue reading »
Jul 09
The fanciest Chinese village banquet in history!
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:culture | Tags:banquet, food
61 Comments » newest
61 Comments » newest
Images from a village banquet from Shunde district (Foshan city, Guangdong province), courtesy of China.com (连接), :
Jul 09
Fool’s Mountain just became a multilingual blog
Written by: admin | Filed under:aside, culture, language | Tags:blog, language, translation
6 Comments » newest
6 Comments » newest
Well, sort of, and I know the danger of “Translator Server Error,” but machine translation is a convenient tool to remove language barriers. Continue reading »
Jul 09
Chinese police adopt new form of self-defense
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:News | Tags:crime, police, reform, Shanghai, transparency
66 Comments » newest
66 Comments » newest
The other headline story in China over the last week has been the murder of 6 police officers in Shanghai. Yang Jia, an unemployed man originally from Beijing, attacked a public security office building, stabbing to death 6 officers.
All of this happened just as the Weng’an riot story itself became white hot, and the Chinese internet response was predictably extreme (and in my opinion, disgusting). After seeing local injustices, some Chinese netizens basically celebrated the attacks on the police. Yang was often described as one of the Robin Hood-type heroes forced to rebel in Outlaws of the Marsh (水浒传). Many simply assumed Yang acted for a reason, that previous police abuse was the reason for his anger; a rumor was spread that Yang had been beaten so badly his sex organs were injured.
The Shanghai public security ministry has been placed on the defensive, forced to explain whether Yang Jia was “justified” in his attack. Yesterday, Shanghai issued a 6-hour recording from an encounter last October, apparently the seed of Yang Jia’s anger (连接). Part of the transcript is translated below:
After a series of horn blasts, a middle aged man with a Shanghai accent (police officer) begins a dialog with a young man with a Beijing accent (Yang Jia).
Officer: Hey pal, please stop your bicycle for an examination!
Yang Jia: There are so many people on the road, why are you picking on me?
Jul 08
Building Envy – Chinese and American government offices
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:Analysis, General | Tags:america, corruption, government spending
66 Comments » newest
66 Comments » newest
Many discussions involving China and the West end up being a competition: you have this, but we have that.
Here is one very popular competition, passed around in different forms on numerous Chinese internet forums for many years. It’s about the glory of our government buildings. The captions below are translated from the Chinese original:
The city hall in Marion, Iowa. In China, this kind of building would’ve been torn down long ago.
Government offices for the Fangshan District of Beijing. It’s far from the downtown area; a relatively poor mountain area!
Jul 07
Wall Street Journal gets it wrong on Weng’an
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:Analysis, media | Tags:media, wengan
43 Comments » newest
43 Comments » newest
A few days ago, an assistant working for the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong emailed me an inquiry, asking for my thoughts on the Weng’an story. They were working on a story about the significance of citizen bloggers like Zola, and were interested in my input.
Unfortunately, the version they finally went to press with is simply wrong. I usually am more politic on this blog, but I feel entitled to judge this article, especially after they asked me for my opinion. The title and introductory paragraph from the article tell you all you really need to know about the rest:
Chinese Bloggers Score a Victory Against the Government
Firings Indicate Growing Power; Exploits of ‘Zola’
Aggressive Chinese bloggers make an art of challenging Chinese government propaganda. This week, they can claim a victory.
…
That change in stance appears to be a direct result of pressure brought by journalists and Chinese bloggers such as Zhou Shuguang, a self-styled “personal news station,” who didn’t allow the issue to drop, posting to the Internet unofficial reports along with photos and pleas from the family of the dead youth.
Jul 06
Translation error
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:aside, culture | Tags:language, photo, translation
28 Comments » newest
28 Comments » newest
The danger of relying on automated translation (and why Fool’s Mountain is better):
Jul 06
The challenge in Taiwan
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:Analysis | Tags:taiwan
78 Comments » newest
78 Comments » newest
Ties between the two sides of the Taiwan strait are growing warmer and warmer. This should be no surprise, as its exactly what ROC president Ma Yingjiu promised in his campaign leading to a landslide victory earlier this year. With the arrival of mainland tourists in Taiwan representing another new milestone, we are clearly living through an inflection point in cross-strait relations.
But where will cross-strait relations go from here? That’s where the difference in opinion lies. One expat commentator in Taiwan offers this analysis (courtesy of A-gu’s blog):
Most KMT party members and supporters seem not to believe that China actually means any harm to Taiwan– and especially not now that there will be a unified KMT government. They believe that the anger of China and the rest of the world is directed solely at Chen Shui-bian and the DPP. They think that if Taiwan’s government can just behave, quietly cooperate with Beijing and give up the quest for de jure independence, that China will reciprocate by allowing Taiwan to indefinitely maintain the “status quo” of de facto independence.
So far, so good. I believe that to be an accurate statement on pan-Blue beliefs, and I also believe it’s an accurate statement of what most Chinese (certainly myself) firmly believe. However, he follows up with this:
Jul 05
As far as unhealthy nationalism is concerned …
Written by: DJ | Filed under:aside, News | Tags:nationalism, News, US
11 Comments » newest
11 Comments » newest
Shanghaiist highlighted some interesting news: “selling Chinese-made American flags within Minnesota is a crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a US$1,000 fine.”
What’s going to be the next, penalizing a bare lapel?
Jul 05
Happiness levels in mainland China, Taiwan, Hongkong, …
Written by: DJ | Filed under:News | Tags:happiness, rank, statistics
11 Comments » newest
11 Comments » newest
Many of the headlines have focused on Denmark being ranked the happiest country in the world after a U.S. funded global survey was released at the beginning of this week. So where are the Chinese people ranked? And what about the two countries often used for comparison/contrast with China (i.e. Russia and India)?
Rank, Score, Country/Region
48, +1.83, Taiwan
54, +1.64, mainland China
63, +1.16, Hongkong
69, +0.85, India
89, -1.01, Russia
Note: a negative value means a majority of the population being unhappy. And remember, these are just statistics…
Jul 05
David Peng made a prediction in his blog An Anachronist’s Life on July 1st, thee days after the Weng’An riot:
… I predict, the “Hu Jintao style” government response [which emphasises on proactive reporting the news and guiding the public discussion/opinion in order to restore/maintain stability] is going to be followed by acts in the “organizing department style” , that the entire local leadership team is going to be summarily dismissed.
He was right. The following is a translation of an article titled “Party secretary and head commisioner of Weng’An county both dismissed”, coming from the Xinhua Net.
Guizhou provincial government continues pursuing officials responsible for the June 28th Weng’An incident. Authorities at various levels have decided on July 4th to dismiss Weng’An county party secretary, Wang Qin, and head commisioner, Wang Haiping, from their positions. [Note: these are the top 1 and 2 positions at the county level.]
Jul 05
Miniposts
Written by: admin | Filed under:aside | Tags:website
8 Comments » newest
8 Comments » newest
We have enabled miniblogs to share simple news, facts and thoughts. Continue reading »
Jul 04
“Direct” flights commence between Taiwan and mainland
Written by: Nimrod | Filed under:education, Environment, media, News | Tags:direct flights, taiwan, three links
20 Comments » newest
20 Comments » newest
Today, without too much fuss, regular direct flights between mainland China and Taiwan began, fulfilling a campaign pledge of Ma Yingjiu. The flights run Friday-to-Monday between Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Taipei. As you can see from the maps (from Sina & Chinanews) below, all flights still route near Hong Kong airspace so they are “direct” only in the sense of not having to actually stop in Hong Kong or somewhere else. Still it’s the start of something new — the “direct” flights put major mainland cities within a one- to two-hour radius of Taiwan, make it possible for day trips back and forth, for business or leisure. This is a popular move. Why has it taken so long and why is this significant?
Jul 03
What does it mean to be Chinese?
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:Letters | Tags:featured, identity, nationalism, overseas chinese
302 Comments » newest
302 Comments » newest
Seems like a simple enough question. Actually… while the question of what it means to be Chinese is very simple, it is all of the numerous, equally valid answers that make the issue complicated. We have to accept that there are different answers for different people.
Here is one answer, translated from a post written by an American-raised Chinese on MITBBS (原贴):
I was eating lunch with a good friend (both a colleague and a classmate) a few days ago. He’s a true Englishman, having lived in England from birth through university. Although he’s now attending school with me in the United States, he naturally does so with the identity of an Englishman. Whereas I, as an ethnic Chinese person raised in the United States, have in his eyes been categorized as an “American”. And I will often correct him by saying “I’m Chinese”. This time, when the topic popped up again, he laughed and asked: “From your point of view, what is a Chinese person?”
I believe “Chinese” has three different meanings.
Jul 02
Weng’an Riots: How the state media hurts China
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:media | Tags:censorship, featured, Guizhou, media, riots, wengan
129 Comments » newest
129 Comments » newest
The central government did many things right in response to the Weng’an riots. Beijing’s campaign to treat “sudden incidents” with more openness was also obvious; a full news conference revealing the government’s version less than 2 days after the riot is pretty unheard of by Chinese standards. Reporters from around the country and world flooded into Guizhou without limitation (according to one reporter on site, as many as 140 reporters were present for a banquet last night). Citizen blogger/reporters, like Zola, also reported from the scene. Senior provincial leaders were also sent to Weng’an to provide high-level attention; Shi Zongyuan, the Party chief for Guizhou province, was on the scene leading that first investigation team within two days.
By anyone’s standard, these should all be considered positive steps in the aftermath of this type of crisis. But it didn’t completely work; for many Chinese, online tempers still flared. Here’s one key, representative quote behind the public frustration:
Shi Zongyuan pointed out, “6.28” incident started for a simple reason, but was used by a small number of people with ulterior motives along with the participation of evil, organized criminals.
Jul 01
July 1st – Heartfelt thoughts of a Party member
Written by: Buxi | Filed under:Letters | Tags:communist, wengan
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41 Comments » newest
On July 1st, 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded by a group of students and intellectuals in Shanghai; that date has served as the official birth date of the Communist Party since. The 87th birthday for the Communist Party passed in very troubled fashion, however, as China was reminded yet again of the deep corruption and dissatisfaction in various corners of the country. This posting translated below comes from a Party member on the Strong Country forum, and represents his thoughts on the Weng’an (Wengan) riots (连接):
As a member of the Chinese Communist Party, I wanted to say a few things to the Party Central, about the Weng’an (Wengan) incident:
1. There is no Communist Party that fears the people. The magic weapon for the Communist Party’s success during the revolution was trusting in the people, depending on the people, and motivating the people. This will always be the Party’s greatest weapon. The Party should actively dive into the people, and respectfully listen to the voices of the people, rather than simply waiting for problems to erupt before trying to “stabilize” the people. The Chinese Communist Party used to have an unparalleled ability to motivate the people; has this ability or strengthened or weakened? Every Party member should think deeply on this issue.
Comments on Democracy and China
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