Caixin Photo Galleries offer a selection of the day's most important news photos and cultural images.
- Ruins of Illegal Real Estate in Fuzhou
- After a new road opened outside Fuzhou in southern Fujian Province, many passers-by noticed a strange sight: massive heaps of rubble covering the surrounding farmland. According to local residents in the nearby Wufeng Village, the rubble is from an illegal real estate development that the local Bureau of Land and Resources shut down and demolished in 2008. But in the three years since, there has been no effort to clean up the 20 acres of rubble that remain. When asked by a local reporter, officials from the administrative district responsible for the area said a lack of funds, as well as personnel changes, had delayed the cleanup. The officials promised that the rubble would be cleaned up, and that they would station guards around the rubble to prevent people from entering dangerous areas.
- Changsha Cattle Graze on Garbage
- On November 6, reporters made a disturbing discovery at a landfill on the outskirts of Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province: more than a dozen cows grazing on rotten garbage. An expert quoted in the local media said that mold and heavy metals present in the Heimifeng landfill could render beef from the cows toxic to humans, and that local law prohibits livestock grazing at garbage dumps. But according to workers at the landfill, cattle from a nearby village are often allowed to graze on trash there. Ever-expanding landfills have become increasingly problematic in some parts of China, as they grow to encroach on cities and farmland. The Heimifeng site first opened in 2002 as the largest of its kind at that time, in China. According to an article in the state-run People's Daily, the site is outfitted to be environmentally-friendly, by trapping gas emissions given off by garbage and recycling it for heating, power generation and irrigation.
- Officials Begin Destroying Millions of Fake Goods
- On November 6, officials began destroying 25 million counterfeit products seized over the past year from 182 major cities across China. The seized items covered the full spectrum of anything that could be copied: agricultural products like pesticides and seeds, industrial materials, designer brand clothing, food, drugs, books and CDs. Since November 2010, Chinese authorities have closed down over 22,000 counterfeiting operations and broken over 6,700 counterfeiting rings. In total, officials have seized over 18 million yuan in fake goods, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
- "Villages in Cities" Torn Down for Affordable Units
- Earlier this year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced plans to build 10 million units of affordable housing in 2011, as part of a larger commitment to construct 36 million low-cost homes in the next five years. By the year’s end, reconstruction of sub-standard housing in cities (also known as “villages within cities”) as well as properties in state-owned industrial, mining, forestry and reclamation areas will yield four million new units. The slum reconstruction project commands a 500 billion yuan pricetag, 40 billion of which will come from the central government. The effort has come under scrutiny, however, because some local governments have also turned to tearing down and reconstructing regular housing in high-value locations, for the sake of raising funds. Some residents in Harbin's 18-year-old Youlian community, for example, have questioned why the government is tearing down their reliable homes, in the name of upgrading slums.
- Photography Feature – The City Flows
- In the instant of a moment, the city changes. Beijing-based photographer Mo Yi has traversed the landscape of China's new urbanism by documenting both the integration and estrangement of its residents. Mo Yi's photography goes beyond capturing the expressions of urbanites, often tinged within difference in moments of movement, but also the experience of the city coded in black and white tonal contrasts. Photos Courtesy of Three Shadows Photography Art Centre
- Shenzhou-8 Spacecraft Blasts Off
- In the early morning of November 1, China's unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiaquan Satellite Launch Center, which is based in the desert of Inner Mongolia. Soon after the launch, the commander-in-chief of China's manned space program declared it a success. Propelled by an upgraded Long March-2F rocket, the Shenzhou-8 reached its designated orbit as planned. Up next for the Shenzhou-8 is a rendezvous with the Tiangong-1 space module for a trial run at China's first in-orbit space docking. If the docking proceeds successfully, it will show that China's space program is capable of difficult in-orbit docking maneuvers, and enable Chinese scientists to proceed with plans to launch and dock the Shenzhou-9 and -10 spacecrafts in 2012 and finish a permanent space station around 2020. A spokesperson for the manned space program announced on October 31 that at least one of the 2012 missions will be manned, sending Chinese astronauts back into space for the first time since 2008.
- Heavy "Fog" Cancels Beijing Flights
- A thick haze rolled into most of northeast China on October 30, lowering visibility and cancelling or delaying more than 150 flights out of Beijing Capital Airport. While state media quoted China's top environmental ministers as saying the air was “slightly polluted” that day, the U.S. embassy in Beijing went to the other extreme and posted issued its two highest air-quality warnings ("very unhealthy" and “hazardous”) via Twitter . Additionally, a local environment bureau advised citizens to stay indoors, if possible. The discrepancy in air quality readings and the state media’s use of the word “fog” to describe high levels of pollution led many to question just how polluted China really is. In response to the public outcry, an editorial in the state-affiliated Global Times on October 31 said that both local governments and the media must stick to accurate reporting when it comes to discussing fog and air pollution. "Local governments need to establish absolute authority over monitoring pollution without concealing information," the editorial said.
- Seven Dead in Henan Coal Mine Blast
- A coal mine explosion in Henan Province has left seven miners dead, with 11 still missing. The accident occurred in the early morning hours of October 27, when a sudden and explosive pressurized gas leak sent an estimated 1,500 tons of coal flying, effectively blocking the mine shaft and delaying rescue efforts. Run by the state-owned Henan Coal Chemical Industry Group Co Ltd., the mine is located in the city of Jiaozuo. The accident comes almost a week after China's top official in charge of coal mine safety announced that coal mine deaths are down this year, with 27 percent fewer fatalities through the first nine months of 2011, compared to the same period in 2010.
- Shanghai Homeowners Protest Price Cuts
- On October 23, about 300 early buyers of homes in a Shanghai real estate development gathered to protest at the developer’s office, following news that the company had dropped prices in the development by 6,000 yuan per square meter. After hearing that the company, China Overseas Property Group Co., would not cancel or refund contracts, the buyers scuffled with security personnel, causing minor damage to company property in the office. This latest markdown in real estate value is part of a general trend over the last few weeks, which has caused similar homeowner protests across Shanghai. Real estate prices in some parts of Beijing have also declined, and the government has hinted through its official news agency that further price drops may be necessary to curb China’s real estate bubble.
- Rail Project Investigated for Illegal Subcontracting
- Chinese railway authorities have halted construction on a portion of the 2.3 billion yuan Jinyu-Songjianhe rail line project in China’s Jilin province, in order to investigate allegations of illegal sub-contracting. According to the allegtions, China Railway No. 9 Group, which won the construction bid for a portion of the 74.1 kilometer Jinyu-Songjiahe railway project, subcontracted its work to companies like Jianxi Changsha Construction, who then in turn sub-subcontracted to a consortium of companies with very little experience and qualifications in railway construction. Instead of using concrete, one company responsible for building the Songhua River No. 2 Bridge used broken stones and sand, compromising the bridge’s structural integrity and posing serious safety risks.
- Photography Feature - Signs of the Times
- Beijing-based artist He Chongyue explores China’s population management through the lens of his large-format camera. In his “Family Planning Series,” he uses empty landscapes to frame cartoon road signs extolling the virtues of the one-child policy in the Chinese countryside. Offsetting these eerie scenes are portraits of rural village populations, nearly devoid of youngsters. Photos Courtesy of Three Shadows Photography Art Centre
- Crushed Child Ignored by Passersby Still Critical
Video footage of a two-year-old girl practically left for dead in the street after being struck by two different vehicles has inspired an outpouring of criticism, both at the drivers responsible as well as the dozen-plus people who ignored her as they walked or drove past. A surveillance tape of the accident, which occurred on October 13 in the southern Chinese city of Foshan, shows that the little girl was first run over by a minivan, then a truck--neither of which stopped after hitting her. The footage also shows that 18 people walked or drove past the little girl, identified by local media only as “Yueyue,” until an elderly trash collector stopped to pull her from the road, find her mother and take her to a local hospital.
The video footage had over 2 million views and over 12,000 comments on the video sharing site Youku, and more than 4 million comments in a single day on the microblogging site Weibo. Most comments expressed anger with the drivers of the vehicles, but many asked why so many people had ignored the obviously injured child. As of October 18, the toddler was still in intensive care at a local hospital, and it is not known if she will survive. State media has reported that the drivers of both vehicles have been arrested.
- China's First A380 Plane Takes Flight
- The world's largest passenger plane made its first-ever landing in China on October 15, making China Southern Airlines the seventh company in the world to offer the massive jetliner. After flying 10 hours from France, the plane arrived in Beijing and subsequently went through a round of inspections with China's Civil Aviation Administration. It took on its first batch of passengers on October 17, flying from Beijing to Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport. Designed and manufactured in Europe by a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V., the plane can hold up to 853 passengers in an all-economy class configuration, or over 500 in various other three-class layouts. China Southern opted for a three-class model with a total of 506 seats across eight luxury first class suites, 70 first class seats and 428 economy seats.
- A Prison Just For Party Officials
- With red flags and a giant national insignia behind them, hundreds of former government officials danced to and sung Red Songs at the Ninth Annual Conference for Improved Prisoners, as other party members watched in the audience. It could have been any other ceremonial Communist Party performance, except for one irregularity: all the men were inmates, donning prison uniforms. In Hunan Province, the Liufeng prison complex in Changsha is filled with hundreds of former party officials, including Li Dalun, who once served as Chenzhou Party Secretary, as well as Yang Zhida, the province's former highways administration director. On October 10, a group of inmates from the Liufeng prison took part in Hunan's Ninth Annual Conference for Improved Prisoners, singing songs, putting on plays, as well as auctioning off their own paintings and calligraphy to raise money for their prison charity fund. Overall, the conference honored 679 inmates in Hunan, including one who had patented an anti-theft technology while behind bars.
All copyrights for material posted and published on Caixin.com are the property of Caixin Media Company Ltd. or its licensors. Copying, reproducing, republishing, or any other use of Caing.com content without Caixin's permission is prohibited.
Registration Number: 1101050533
Registration Number: 1101050533
