13 August 2006 (Lunar July 20)

A River Lifeguard

The Nanjing Bridge is the first bridge to be built on the Yangtze River. It has double decks to accommodate both highway and railway. Stretching 6736 metres across the waterway and takes an hour to cross by foot, it is entirely designed by Chinese engineers and completed at the height of the Cultural Revolution, which brought a lot of hype at the time. But since it was built in 1968, it has become known as a death spot, as nearly 2000 people came here to plunge 80 metres into the river below. About three years ago, a volunteer lifeguard emerged. Mr Chen Si, a local resident, spent every weekend inspecting the bridge and so far has saved lives of 99 would-be suicides. His action is widely praised and supported. But not everyone likes what he’s doing - a medical expert threatened to sue him for offering unqualified psychological advice.

• Meet in Historical Nanjing

What Makes for a Happy Marriage – A Chinese View

A study by Marry Me Website, Zero Point Consultant and Tianjing Nankai University reveals the secret formula that makes for a happy marriage. It is the first study ever done on the topic with Chinese people. Below are some of their findings:

1, Couples who share similar views and outlooks in life, and have compatible personalities, have a better chance to make a more harmonious marriage;

2, Couples who take different roles in family life (i.e. one leads and another plays a supporting role) are more like to form a smooth relationship. Two stronger characters cause frequent conflict while two weak personalities lack the ability to hold the family together.

3, An emotional-stable husband who is tolerant and caring and a traditional wife who puts the family first make the best marriage partners.

4, Family income level also plays an important role in making or breaking a happy marriage. So does wives’ educational level - a well-educated wife would find more ways to stimulate the marriage from time to time.

The study also find the majority urban Chinese are quite satisfied with their partner, only 25 percent women and 20 percent men say they would rather to marry someone else if they had another chance.

A young Chinese couple adopt the tradditional wedding ceremony
(Source of photo: xinhuanet.com)

• A Wedding without the Bride

14 August 2006 (Lunar July 21)

Jobless College Graduates in China

The number of China’s college graduates grows rapidly by the year, from 1.15 million in 2001 to last year’s 3.8 million. So does the number of jobless rate among the graduates - in four years it has jumped from 340,000 to 790,000. Lately the Chinese government announced a new social welfare program to help the unemployed and low-paid graduates. But 70 percent graduates who were surveyed said they would not apply for the financial assistance under whatever circumstances, because they feared they might be seen as losers.

Revival of Han Chinese Custome

More and more young people in China are expressing their interest in the traditional Han costume, a style of dress wore by the Han Chinese people in thousands of years. The long tradition was brutally halted when the Manchurians entered China 300 years ago, who forced Han Chinese to adopt their straight gown along with the pigtail hairdo, and killed anyone who dared to be defiant. Until very recently the only places to see the Han costume were opera theatres. But now some young Chinese start wearing it as fashion statement.

A girl wearing traditional Han costume sitting in a park

• Confucian's Portrait

15 August 2006 (Lunar July 22)

Demon in Water

August 3 was a hot summer day. After work Mr Qi along with his wife and two kids drove to a river site, outside the Nan county town near Chongqing city, to catch some fresh cool winds. The water was calm and shallow, so the family jumped into the river swimming. Then all of a sudden, the water surged and the family was washed away in the strong current.

It was not the first time an incident like this happened in this river, however. In June, three children crossing the river to return home after school were also found drowned when the level of water suddenly rose. Is there a demon in the river that caused the water to surge from time to time without warning? Well, if there is a demon, it is earthbound – a private hydropower station. Three families of the victims brought the case before the district court but failed to convict the company. Many people pointed out that despite the company may not break any laws or regulations, its lack of respect to life certainly has reflected widespread problems with current business practice in China.

Death Threat from the Internet

A 13-year old Chinese boy lately logged onto a website and was greeted by blood-dripping words "The Death Clock". In the backdrop there was a black tomb, and next to the tomb a clock is ticking. Following the instructions on the website, he filled in a form with his birth data and got a Death Notice displayed on the screen. Unfortunately in his case, the expiring date of his life was remarkably near – eight years late, which meant he would die at the age of 21. That put the boy in a grim mood ever since.

And he was not alone. A great number of teenagers in China have visited this site and requested a Date Notice, and many have shown similar symptoms of depression when told they would die young. Some started wagging school.

• Hacker Is Here, Catch Me If You Can

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