OLYMPICS: The Shani and Sven show heads to Vancouver

Posted: Feb 4, 11:27a ET | Updated: Feb 8, 11:13a ET

NEW YORK (Reuers) -- Speed skating has produced Olympic heroes from invincible American Eric Heiden to triple champion Johann Olav Koss of Norway and the 2010 Games have candidates who could command the Vancouver stage in similar style.

American Shani Davis , who in 2006 became the first black man to win an individual Winter Games gold medal when he took the 1000m title, holds the world record at that distance and in the 1500m and will compete in four events -- the 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 5000m. 

Davis decided to pass on the 10,000m, the marathon race that crowned the five-gold haul for Heiden in 1980 -- something that now seems a difficult target in an age of specialisation in events whose demands range from explosive speed to muscle-burning stamina.

The Americans almost struggled to get to the starting line as US Speedskating lost its sponsor when Dutch bank DSB went bankrupt in October.

To the rescue came comedian Stephen Colbert, host of the mock cable television news show "The Colbert Report." He adopted the team as a cause and through his viewers raised more than $300,000 as "Colbert Nation" became the official sponsor.

Looming as favorite to dominate the distance events of 5000m and 10,000m is 23-year-old Dutchman Sven Kramer , world-record holder at both distances and winner of the last three world allaround titles.

The powerful Kramer likes the Vancouver ice and holds the Richmond Olympic Oval track record over 5000m and 10,000m, but bagging a clutch of world records the way Koss the Boss did in 1994 in Lillehammer is not on the cards.

The stylish, new, $178 million speed skating arena, with a "wood wave" roof enclosing an environmentally sensitive design, is unlikely to feature world-record times given the relatively heavy, sea-level air of Vancouver.

Impressive showing

Asians are fancied to figure in the 500m as South Korean Lee Kyou-Hyuk won the world sprint championships in Japan, ahead of compatriot Lee Kang-Seok with Japanese Keiichiro Nagashima third.

Other men capable of taking multiple medals include Italian Enrico Fabris , the 2006 1500m champion, and Norwegian Håvard Bøkko , a leading middle-distance skater.

The depth of talent and nature of Olympic competition could lead to surprises.

"This is an event where special people come out from nowhere and have a performance of a lifetime," American Chad Hedrick , the 2006 Olympic 5000m champion, told Reuters Television in an interview.

"This isn't a World Cup, a world championships. This is a different ball game."

On the women's side, the home country fields a strong team coming off an impressive showing in the last Games.

Cindy Klassen led the way for Canada in 2006 by claiming gold in the 1500m, silver in 1000m and bronze in the 3000m and 5000m as she became the most decorated Canadian Winter Games athlete ever with six career medals.

Germany's Jenny Wolf has been the world's leading sprinter, while Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic, winner of five world championship golds, has been dominant at distance races.

Up-and-coming skaters tipped for success in Vancouver include Canada's Christine Nesbitt and 20-year-old American Trevor Marsicano , who took four medals in four days at the world single-distance championships at the Olympic oval.

View Article on NBC Olympics

OLYMPICS: Ohno gunning for Olympic greatness in Vancouver

Posted: Feb 4, 10:46a ET | Updated: Feb 4, 11:30a ET

With two more medals, short track star would be the most successful U.S. winter Olympian ever

LONDON (Reuters) -- Mix a bandana, goatee and some razor-sharp blades and you get short track speed skater Apolo Ohno , who can become the United States' most decorated winter Olympian at this month's Vancouver Games.

Short track skater Apolo Ohno enjoys competition more than any result.

The 27-year-old has five medals from appearances at two Olympics, one short of speed skater Bonnie Blair's American record. With four men's events being contested at the Pacific Coliseum he has every chance of overtaking Blair.

"First and foremost I do my sport because I love it ... but to know that I could be up there with some of the greats of Olympians is amazing," he told NBC's Today Show.

Ohno, who cuts a distinctive figure with his bandana often poking out of the bottom of his helmet, won three medals in Torino in 2006 (one gold, two bronze) and two at Salt Lake City in 2002 (gold and silver).

Since Torino he has added another title to his collection by winning reality television show Dancing with the Stars in 2007.

With triple Olympic champion Ahn Hyun-soo of South Korea having failed to qualify for Vancouver after an injury layoff, Ohno will fancy his chances although he faces stiff competition from another Korean, world champion Lee Ho-Suk .

In the women's events, which feature the 500m, 1000m and 1500m like the men's but a 3000m relay rather then a 5000m, China's Wang Meng is expected to dominate.

Since winning Olympic gold in the 500m, she has been overall world champion twice and is the world-record holder in the 500m and 1000m.

Wang missed the national championships in January because of a cut to her hand but local media have reported that she will recover in time for the Games.

Short track speed skating can seem chaotic and crashes are common as skaters jostle for position between the tight turns on an ice-hockey-sized rink.

It is not necessarily the fastest skater who wins, as Australian Steven Bradbury found when he won gold in the 1000m in 2002 having been well behind the leaders before a mass pileup on the last corner.

He coolly passed them all as they were sprawled across the ice, with Ohno and Mathieu Turcotte scrambling to desperately hurl themselves over the line for the other medals.

Bradbury was lucky to even be in the final in the first place, having progressed through the rounds thanks to other skaters being disqualified or crashing.

View Article & Video Clip on NBC Olympics

BEIJING, CHINA: The Great Wall

Compiled by Heather Hopkins Clement

One of the major “must see” destinations near Beijing is The Great Wall, and there are several areas from which it can be accessed.  Below is a sampling of what some travel guides have to say on the subject:

WIKIPEDIA:

The Great Wall of China (simplified Chinese: 长城; traditional Chinese: 長城; pinyin: Chángchéng; literally "long city/fortress") or (simplified Chinese: 万里长城; traditional Chinese: 萬里長城; pinyin: Wànlǐ Chángchéng; literally "The long wall of 10,000 Li (里) is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during various successive dynasties. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty.

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

^{READ MORE}

PETER GREENBERG:

The Great Wall isn’t actually in Beijing, but it’s within reasonable traveling distance and is inevitably on every Beijing traveler’s itinerary. Most people end up going to the section at Badaling, which has been fully restored and outfitted with cable cars and other tourist trappings. Badaling offers really nice views and it’s easy to get to from Beijing, but it’s choked with people and certainly isn’t going to offer anything approaching a private experience.

But there’s no reason you have to visit the wall at Badaling, or at other developed sites such as Mutianyu or Simatai. Remember that the Great Wall is really, really long, and that most of it remains in a ruinous state.

If you want to go to a non-touristed section of the Wall, it’s as simple as finding a driver who will take you there. You should be able to locate a willing chauffeur anywhere taxis congregate. You could ask to go to Huanhuacheng, an un-restored section of the wall popular with hikers, or you could get out a map and point your finger randomly at someplace that looks remote.

Remember that crumbled sections of the wall can be very dangerous to climb on, and beware of local “entrepreneurs” demanding illegitimate tolls around the wall’s periphery (no matter what they say, they’re probably just making it up). If you hire a driver for the day, pay no more than half the fare up front to ensure he doesn’t take off without you, and if he’s reasonably pleasant to be around, invite him to lunch with you.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC:

Great Wall at Simatai or Jinshanling
Two rugged, relatively unrestored places to view the Great Wall, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Beijing. Simatai has steep climbs on crumbling stones, often without handrails; you're rewarded with stunning vistas. Jinshanling is less gravity-defying, but visitors can camp there overnight. It's 5.6 rugged, lovely miles (9 kilometers) between the two stations—doable in about four hours. tel. 86 10 6903 5025.

FODOR’S:

Great Wall at Jinshanling

• Address: 110 km (68 mi) northeast from Beijing, Beijing
• Phone: 031/4883-0222; 0138/3144-8986

Though it lacks the rugged adventure of Simatai, Great Wall at Jinshanling is perhaps the least restored of the major Great Wall sections near Beijing, as well as the least visited. Besides being the starting point for a fantastic four-hour hike to Simatai, Jinshanling also serves as one of the few sections of the Great Wall on which you can camp overnight. A starry night here is a gorgeous and unforgettable—go with a tour group such as Cycle China. Don't forget to pack a piece of charcoal and paper to make rubbings of bricks that still bare the stamp of the date they were made.

• Cost: Y30; Y50 for overnight stays. If you hike to Simatai, you will have to buy another Y5 ticket at the border.
• Open: Daily 8-5

Great Wall at Jinshanling

• Address: 110 km (68 mi) northeast from Beijing, Beijing
• Phone: 031/4883-0222; 0138/3144-8986

Though it lacks the rugged adventure of Simatai, Great Wall at Jinshanling is perhaps the least restored of the major Great Wall sections near Beijing, as well as the least visited. Besides being the starting point for a fantastic four-hour hike to Simatai, Jinshanling also serves as one of the few sections of the Great Wall on which you can camp overnight. A starry night here is a gorgeous and unforgettable—go with a tour group such as Cycle China. Don't forget to pack a piece of charcoal and paper to make rubbings of bricks that still bare the stamp of the date they were made.

• Cost: Y30; Y50 for overnight stays. If you hike to Simatai, you will have to buy another Y5 ticket at the border.
• Open: Daily 8-5

FROMMER’S:

Even after you dispense with the myths that it is a single continuous structure and that it can be seen from space (it can't, any more than a fishing line can be seen from the other side of a river), China's best-known attraction is still mind-boggling. The world's largest historical site is referred to in Mandarin as Wanli Changcheng ("10,000-Li Long Wall" or simply "Very Long Wall"). The Great Wall begins at Shanhai Guan on the Bo Hai Sea and snakes west to a fort at Jiayu Guan in the Gobi Desert. Its origins date back to the Warring States Period (453-221 B.C.), when rival kingdoms began building defensive walls to thwart each other's armies. The king of Qin, who eventually conquered the other states to become the first emperor of a unified China, engaged in large-scale wall building toward the end of his reign, although tales of 300,000 conscripted laborers are embellishments of subsequent dynasties. During the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), the Wall was extended west, and additions were made in completely different locations, according to the military needs of the day.

Although many tour guides will try to persuade you otherwise, the Ming Wall you see today is unrelated to the Qin Wall, which lies far to the north. The Ming even went to the trouble of calling their wall Bian Qiang (Frontier Wall) to avoid comparisons with the tyrannical first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi. The original Wall was built almost entirely from tamped earth, and often crumbled away within decades of being constructed. Talk of satellite mapping the current Wall is fanciful -- for most of its length, the structure is barely visible from the ground. This, and the fact that there is no single "Great Wall," makes it impossible to pin down the Wall's precise length.

Those with an interest in exaggerating Chinese xenophobia portray Wall building as an essential part of the national psyche, but after the Han, few dynasties bothered with Wall construction, and relied mostly on trade, diplomacy, and the odd punitive expedition to keep the peace. Even during the inward-looking Ming dynasty, the Wall was viewed by many at court as an ancient version of the Star Wars missile-defense idea -- ineffective, absurdly expensive, and successful only in antagonizing China's neighbors. With the Ming wracked by internal rebellion, the Qing armies simply bribed the demoralized sentries. The Qing left the Wall as a monument to folly, and while early Western visitors were awed, it became a source of national pride only recently. Sun Yat-sen was among the first to view it as a symbol of national strength, an idea the Communists adopted, including it in the National Anthem.

The Wall's most easily visited sections are Ba Da Ling and Juyong Guan, while Mutianyu, Jin Shan Ling, and the vertiginous Simatai require a full day's outing. Appealing options for overnight stays are The Red Capital Ranch at Mutianyu and the more basic Simatai YHA.

On the Wild Wall -- Travelers with time and the inclination to explore beyond the typical tourist haunts are strongly encouraged to join a trip to the crumbling "unofficial" sections of the Wall that snake through more remote areas north of Beijing. William Lindesay, a Briton who has been walking along and writing about the Great Wall since the mid-1980s, organizes excursions for the company Wild Wall. Joining one of his tours is the best way to learn about the Wall's construction and destruction, both by human and natural forces, from a knowledgeable source.

Wild Wall is based out of two modernized farmhouses, the first and more fully outfitted just north of Beijing, and the second somewhat more primitive (but still comfortable) in Hebei. Wild Wall's most common weekend trips run 3 days (Fri-Sun) and cost $450 (prices are quoted in U.S. dollars), including guided hikes, two nights' accommodations in a farmhouse, six meals, drinks and snacks, research and conservation contribution and book. Although pricey, these weekend trips are highly recommended and typically take place two or three times a month. Day hikes and strenuous "Extreme Treks" are also available. For details see www.wildwall.com.

The Great Wall at Juyong Guan

59km (37 miles) NW of Beijing

Just before you get to the madness of Ba Da Ling, the most touristed and tacky section (we don't recommend it), lies this relatively peaceful stretch of the Wall. The most conveniently accessed section of the Wall is also the most historically significant. Guarding one of the two crucial passes to Beijing (the other is to the northeast, at Gu Bei Kou) and the vast North China Plain, Juyong Guan (Dwelling in Harmony Pass) was the site of pitched battles, involving Jurchen, Mongol, and, more recently, Japanese invaders. There may have been fortifications here as early as the 6th century, before Beijing existed. Climbing the steep section to the left offers marvelous views of Ba Da Ling, snaking up the mountains to the north, and south toward Beijing (in the event of a clear day). Restorations from 1993 to 1997 created over 4km (2 1/2 miles) of wall, but railings mar the effect; there's little feeling of antiquity. All the construction must have eaten into the advertising budget, as crowds are thinner here than at Ba Da Ling.

It's worth stopping at Juyong Guan to view the ancient and remarkable Yun Tai (Cloud Platform), which once stood astride the old road running northwest into Mongol territories. Dating from 1342, it was the base for three Tibetan-style stupas, which were toppled by an earthquake and replaced during the Ming dynasty by a Chinese-style Buddhist temple, also destroyed (by fire) during the early Qing. The central tunnel is carved with elephants, Buddha figures demonstrating different mudra (hand positions), the four heavenly kings, and six different scripts. Facing north, the languages on the right-hand wall are Chinese, Xi Xia (the script of a vanished Tibetan race, decimated by Genghis Khan's armies during the 14th century), Uighur, and Mongolian. The top script is Sanskrit, with Tibetan below.

Visitor Information -- The ticket office at Juyong Guan (tel. 010/6977-1665) is open daily from 8am to 5pm. Admission is ¥45 ($6/£3) in summer, ¥40 ($5.35/£2.65) in winter.

Getting There -- A round-trip taxi should cost less than ¥200 ($27/£13).

Where to Stay -- Giving the Red Capital Ranch a run for its money is the newly opened The Commune (tel. 010/8118-1888; www.commune.com.cn). This hotel's stunning architecture and location near the Great Wall make it a perfect place to retreat from the city. The 12 original villas designed by international architects are often rented for lavish parties while copies of the homes have been subdivided into more affordable hotel rooms. A large kids' club offers free babysitting and an outdoor wading pool. Doubles run for ¥1,650 to ¥2,600 ($220-$347/£110-£173) and include breakfast. Exit at Shuiguan, Ba Da Ling Highway.

The Great Wall at Mutianyu

90km (56 miles) NE of Beijing

The Great Wall at Ba Da Ling proved so popular that authorities restored a second section of the Wall to the east in 1986. Mutianyu is slightly less crowded than Ba Da Ling, but it does have its own traffic jams in summer. Located in a heavily forested area, it's especially photogenic in rainy, misty weather. You can hop over a fence to see more tempting, unrestored sections, but those planning to survey the entire length of restored wall will find themselves with little energy remaining. There is a cable car to help those who need it.

Travelers with Disabilities -- Exploring the Great Wall is tough enough for people in good shape. For those with disabilities, the Wall is a nightmare. At Mutianyu a cable car provides access, but there are still steps to negotiate up to the cable car, and steep steps up to the Wall. There are no elevators or wheelchair assists at any of the sections.

Visitor Information -- The ticket office (tel. 010/6162-6505) is open from 7:30am to 6:30pm. Admission is ¥40 ($5.35/£2.65); the cable car costs ¥50 ($6.65/£3.35) round-trip.

Getting There -- Mutianyu is not as easy to reach as Ba Da Ling. Most hotels can arrange guided group tours for around ¥250 ($33/£17). The you no. 6 combines a trip to Mutianyu with visits to a temple and a lake; it leaves from the northeast side of the Xuanwu Men (206) metro stop (Sat-Sun 6:30-8am, every 30 min.; ¥50/$6.65/£3.35). The bus stops at Mutianyu for about 3 hours. A taxi will cost between ¥200 and ¥400 ($27-$53/£13-£27).

Where to Stay -- A popular Great Wall resort lies in a quiet river valley close to Mutianyu at the Red Capital Ranch (tel. 010/8401-8886; $190-$200 including breakfast, plus 15% service charge; Apr-Nov). Similar to the Red Capital Residence, all 10 rooms are thoughtfully decorated with antique furnishings. The oddly shaped Yan'an room has considerable charm and a very firm bed. The Ranch sits next to a dramatic section of the wall that is good for a challenge; there's a steep drop towards the end to the last tower that should only be attempted by advanced hikers. (Tip: You may also choose to hike this section of the wall without staying at the Ranch -- arrange your own driver and grab a post-hike tea in the Ranch's lodge.) Fishing, bike riding, and even a Tibetan essential oil massage are offered. A twice-daily shuttle bus connects with the Red Capital Residence.

The Great Wall at Jin Shan Ling

130km (81 miles) NE of Beijing, 90km (56 miles) SW of Chengde

Located in Hebei Province, this is the least visited and least spoiled of the Wall sections listed in this chapter. Jin Shan Ling is 10km (6 1/4 miles) east of Gu Bei Kou (Old Northern Pass), through which Qing royalty passed on the way to their summer retreat at Chengde (Jehol). The Wall here is in good condition, as it was a recent (after 1570) rebuild of an existing Ming wall, and construction was overseen by the outstanding general, Qi Jiguang. The defensible pass, whose heart lies to the west at Gu Bei Kou, was 27km (17 miles), stretching all the way to Simatai in the east. Bricks are smaller, reflecting advances in wall-building technique. The Wall features unusual circular towers and elaborate defensive walls leading up to towers. Management dreams of tourist hordes -- a cable car has been built, along with gradually rusting amusements -- but the remoteness of the site makes large-scale tourism unlikely. The walk to Simatai is reason enough to visit.

Visitor Information -- The ticket office (tel. 010/8402-4628) is open 24 hours. Admission is ¥50 ($6.65/£3.35).

Getting There -- Appealingly, Jin Shan Ling can be reached by train from the Beijing Bei Zhan (North Railway Station), just north of the Xi Zhi Men metro stop (201, exit A). A special tourist train for Gu Bei Kou, the L671 departs daily from mid-April to October at 7:25am (2 1/2-hr. trip; ¥20/$2.65/£1.35). The rest of the year, the slower L815, departing at 8am, will take you there (4-hr. trip; ¥10/$1.35/65p). Returning trains depart at 3:05pm and 4:15pm, respectively. Walking down from the station, you can either find lodgings in the village of Gu Bei Kou Hexi Cun, or take a minivan directly to the Wall (25-min. trip, ¥20/$2.65/£1.35). From Xi Zhi Men bus station, some buses to Chengde (daily 6am-5:30pm, about every 20 min.; 2 1/2-hr. trip; ¥46/$6.15/£3.05 for an Iveco or similar) also pass the turnoff, where you face either a 6km (3 1/4-mile) hike or haggling for a minivan (¥10/$1.35/65p).

Where to Stay -- Standard rooms start at ¥140 ($19/£9.35) in the dull but clean Jin Shan Ling Binguan, to the right just inside the entrance of the wall. Staying at one of the simple courtyard houses in Gu Bei Kou Hexi Cun, just below the railway station, is a cheaper and more appealing option; accommodations are usually ¥10 ($1.35/65p) per person, and home-cooked meals are similarly priced.

The Great Wall at Simatai

124km (77 miles) NE of Beijing

Somewhat tamed after a series of deaths led to the closing of its most dangerous stretch, Simatai nevertheless remains one of the best options for those who want more of a challenge from the Great Wall. The most harrowing portion, steep and unrestored, is on the east (right) side of the Miyun Reservoir. Several gravel-strewn spots require all four limbs to navigate. The endpoint is the Wangjing Ta, the 12th watchtower. Beyond this is the appropriately named Tian Qiao (Heavenly Bridge), a thin, tilted ridge where the Wall narrows to only a few feet -- the section that is now off-limits. Despite the danger, Simatai can get rather crowded on weekends, especially since a cable car was installed, and souvenir vendors can be a nuisance. Those who speak Chinese would do well to pretend otherwise, or risk listening to hard-luck stories ("I've walked all the way from Mongolia."). The round-trip hike to Tian Qiao takes 3 hours at a moderate pace. The section of Simatai west of the reservoir is initially better restored and connects to another section of the Great Wall, Jin Shan Ling, in Hebei Province.

Visitor Information -- The ticket office (tel. 010/6903-1051), a 10-minute walk away in a village south of the reservoir, is open 8am to 7:30pm in summer and 8am to dusk in winter. Admission is ¥40 ($5.35/£2.65). The cable car runs from 8am to 5pm, April to November; a round-trip ride to the no. 8 Tower costs ¥50 ($6.65/£3.35), or ¥30 ($4/£2) one-way. Those walking west to Jin Shan Ling will be charged ¥5 (65¢/35p) to cross a bridge.

Getting There -- The best no-hassle option is to visit with one of the Youth Hostelling International tours (tel. 010/8188-9323); these leave the YHAs daily between 7 and 8am and cost ¥150 ($20/£10) for simple transportation. The you no. 12 travels to Simatai from northeast of the Xuanwu Men (206) metro stop (Apr to mid-Oct Sat-Sun 6:30-8:30am, every 30 min; ¥70/$9.35/£4.65); you get about 3 hours at the site. A round-trip taxi ride should cost less than ¥400 ($53/£27).

Where to Stay -- Responding to the popularity of the Jin Shan Ling to Simatai hike, Simatai YHA (tel. 010/8188-9323; standard room ¥288/$38/£19) opened in 2004. Courtyard-style rooms are basic, but the coffee is world-class, and the view of the Wall from the patio is wonderful.

The Great Wall at Jiankou

70km (44 miles) NE of Beijing

This is our favorite part of the Wall. Few tourist buses make the journey here, and there is no cable car shuttling out-of-shape tourists to the top. Even more amazing, there are no touts selling knickknacks and there is no admission fee (though it's possible that unscrupulous villagers may try to collect one). We've spent plenty of time near here, since we rent a house in the nearby countryside. This section is for serious hikers only. Start at Xin Zhai Zi Cun where the road dead-ends into a parking lot, following the trail up to the Wall. Turn left once you reach the wall, and prepare yourself for an intense five-hour hike. The tallest watchtower in the distance is Jiankou, and just before you reach it, there is a turn-off point that is marked by a flat, paved section of the Wall that leads you back down to the road. From the road, it's a 20-minute walk back to the parking lot.

Visitor Information -- This is pure, unadulterated Wall, so there is no ticket office. Villagers charge ¥5 (65¢/35p) for parking, and may tack on ¥10 to ¥20 ($1.35-$2.65/65p-£1.35) per person, but you can decline to pay all but the parking fee. Open 24 hours. Bring your own lunch. Bottled water is usually available at the parking lot -- bring plenty of water for the hike.

Getting There -- Since it's a remote location, you'll have to arrange a private car. Have your hotel concierge arrange a driver, or have them call one of two drivers: Mr. Liu (tel. 0/13661162308) or Mr. Zhang (tel. 0/13501189730) (neither speaks English, so you may need your concierge to help ring them up). The return trip takes 4 hours (plus figure in 5 hours of wait time for your hike) and will cost ¥500 ($67/£33), more if arranged by your hotel.

Where to Stay -- Many small peasant homes at the base of the mountain (near the parking lot) offer accommodations, but we don't recommend any in particular as the area is rather rustic. If you'd like to overnight, your best bet is to head to Mountain Bar Lodge (tel. 010/8989-7738; Hong Zun Yu Yi Tiao Gou; www.ourshanba.com), 30 minutes away from Jiankou, on the return trip to Beijing. The Chinese resort offers small chalets perched on a hill and excellent fare at its massive, meandering restaurant that serves up to 1,000 people per night. Try the excellent barbecued pork ribs (kao zhupai) and the mixed eggplant, potato, and green peppers (disanxian).

LONELY PLANET:

China’s mandatory, must-see sight, the Great Wall (Chángchéng) wriggles fitfully from its scattered remains in Liáoníng province to Jiāyùguān in the Gobi Desert.

The ‘original’ wall was begun over 2000 years ago during the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC), when China was unified under Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Separate walls that had been constructed by independent kingdoms to keep out marauding nomads were linked together. The effort required hundreds of thousands of workers – many of whom were political prisoners – and 10 years of hard labour under General Meng Tian. An estimated 180 million cubic metres of rammed earth was used to form the core of the original wall, and legend has it that one of the building materials used was the bones of deceased workers.

The wall never really did perform its function as an impenetrable line of defence. As Genghis Khan supposedly said, ‘The strength of a wall depends on the courage of those who defend it’. Sentries could be bribed. However, it did work very well as a kind of elevated highway, transporting people and equipment across mountainous terrain. Its beacon tower system, using smoke signals generated by burning wolves’ dung, quickly transmitted news of enemy movements back to the capital. To the west was Jiāyùguān, an important link on the Silk Road, where there was a customs post of sorts and where unwanted Chinese were ejected through the gates to face the terrifying wild west.

During the Ming dynasty a determined effort was made to rehash the bastion, this time facing it with some 60 million cubic metres of bricks and stone slabs. This project took over 100 years, and the costs in human effort and resources were phenomenal. The investment failed to curb the Manchu armies from storming the Middle Kingdom and imposing over two and a half centuries of foreign rule on China.

The wall was largely forgotten after that. Lengthy sections of it have returned to dust and the wall might have disappeared totally had it not been rescued by the tourist industry. Several important sections have been rebuilt, kitted out with souvenir shops, restaurants and amusement-park rides, and formally opened to the public.

The most touristed area of the Great Wall is at Bādálǐng. Also renovated but less touristed are Sīmǎtái and Jīnshānlǐng. Not impressed with the tourist-oriented sections, explorative travellers have long sought out unrestored sections of the wall (such as at Huánghuā) for their more genuine appeal. The Chinese government periodically isolates such sections or slaps fines on visitors. The authorities argue that they are seeking to prevent damage to the unrestored wall by traipsing visitors, but they are also keen to direct tourist revenue towards restored sections.

The wall has suffered more from farmers pillaging its earthen core for use on the fields, and for its bountiful supply of shaped stone, stripped from the ramparts for use in road and building construction. A recent outcry over drunken summer raves and ‘orgies’ at Jīnshānlǐng has upped public concern over the fortification’s sad decline.

When choosing a tour, it is essential to check that the tour goes to where you want to go. Great Wall tours are often combined with trips to the Ming Tombs, so ask beforehand; if you don’t want to visit the Ming Tombs, choose another tour.

Far more worrying, some tours make painful and expensive diversions to jade factories, gem exhibition halls and Chinese medicine centres. At the latter, tourists are herded off the bus and analysed by white-coated doctors, who diagnose ailments that can only be cured with high-priced Chinese remedies (supplied there and then). The tour organisers receive a commission from the jade showroom/medicine centre for every person they manage to funnel through, so you are simply lining other people’s pockets. When booking a tour, check such scams and unnecessary diversions are not on the itinerary. As with most popular destinations in China, try to avoid going on the weekend.

NEW YORK TIMES:

View NYT Slideshow

SAPPORO, JAPAN: Annual snow festival begins in Sapporo

Thu 2/4/2010 9:01 PM

An annual snow festival began Friday in Sapporo in Hokkaido, featuring some 240 snow sculptures at three sites in the northern city. Organizers expect more than 2 million people will visit those sites during the festival through next Thursday. Among the sculptures are those of polar bears and penguins from popular Hokkaido zoos and that of the Church of Our Lady in Dresden, Germany, which is the highest on record in the annual events at some 26 meters high.

View Article in News on Japan

N. KOREA: Reports of food shortages, inflation in North Korea lead to firings, South Korea reports

Thursday, February 4, 2010; 9:07 AM

By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service

SEOUL -- Amid accounts of starvation, food shortages in the army and runaway inflation, senior economic officials in North Korea have been fired in recent days, according to reports in the South Korean media.

The dismissals were reported during a week in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Il made a rare admission of his state's failure to provide citizens with an acceptable standard of living.

"I am most heartbroken by the fact that our people are living on corn," Kim said in a report monitored by Yonhap, the South Korean news agency. "What I must do now is feed them white rice, bread and noodles generously."

Kim made a similar admission in January, mentioning white rice and meat soup. But the likelihood of his being able to improve short-term nutrition in his country seems small.

South Korean officials have said that a poor harvest last fall has set up North Korea for a possible severe food shortage this spring.

North Korea unilaterally canceled an aid agreement last year with the United States that would have delivered 500,000 tons of food. For the past two years, South Korea has refused to deliver large amounts of free food and fertilizer, pending a move by the North to get rid of its nuclear weapons.

These moves have left the U.N. World Food Program and other aid operations in North Korea short of food and have put millions of children and elderly at risk, according to U.N. officials.

The capacity of private markets to supply food in the North has also taken a major hit because of a government-ordered currency revaluation in December. It disrupted market trading, while driving up the price of rice and nearly every other commodity. It also infuriated many North Koreans who saw the value of their cash savings plummet -- and reportedly triggered some riots.

Two people a day have been dying of hunger in South Hamgyong province, according to a report by Good Friends, a Seoul-based aid and human rights group with informants inside the country. It also said that North Korean army commanders met with government officials Jan. 20 to discuss how to obtain more food for troops.

The army, with 1.2 million men and women in uniform, normally has first dibs on food grown in state-owned cooperative farms -- and takes as much as a quarter of the crop before distribution to civilians.

The apparent scapegoat for last year's disastrous currency revaluation is Pak Nam Gi, head of planning and economy for the Workers' Party. He has been fired, according to the Chosun Ilbo, a newspaper in Seoul, which cited sources based in China.

Pak had often traveled with Kim across the country on his inspection of army and industrial sites, but intelligence officials in Seoul have told the South Korea media that Pak "has not been visible for some time now."

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Thursday that North Korea has now recognized the social upheaval caused by the currency revaluation and is easing curbs on black market trading, Reuters reported.

"To quell public discontent, controls and the crack down on markets places have been eased," an intelligence official told Reuters. "Discontent is high."

The head of "Room 39," the government bureaucracy that focuses on making money for the Kim family, has also been fired, according to Yonhap, citing an unidentified source. It said that Kim Dong Un, head of the department that controls operations ranging from insurance fraud to legitimate trading operations, had been replaced by his deputy.

U.N. sanctions intended to disrupt North Korea's arms and smuggling operations were beefed up last year after the country detonated a nuclear device.

The chief of Room 39 might have lost his job because he had been blacklisted by the European Union and he could no longer travel freely in Europe, Yonhap said.

View Article in The Washington Post

JAPAN: Denial is a familiar road for Toyota

Jim Lentz, president of Toyota's U.S. division, is on a full-scale PR offensive. Above, Lentz in a televised interview in New York. (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg / February 1, 2010)

February 4, 2010

By Michael Hiltzik

In 2002, when a condition in some Toyota and Lexus models turned oil to sludge and ruined engines, including in a vehicle owned by this columnist, Toyota at first denied there was any sludge problem.

Here's my Toyota sob story.

Back in 2002, a number of Toyota and Lexus models developed a condition in which their oil congealed into sludge and ruined the engine. My Sienna minivan seemed to be one of them.

Toyota was, shall we say, less than proactive. The company at first denied there was any sludge problem. Then it blamed the problem on the owners' failure to get the oil changed on schedule, as though owners of $30,000 Toyotas and Lexuses, among all U.S. motorists, were uniquely slipshod about their regular engine maintenance.

My case wasn't resolved until it went up to a regional service manager. He insisted at first that I prove all the required oil changes had been approved. Eventually they backed off demanding paperwork, since they'd all been done at the dealership. The fix was approved and, if memory serves, I was given the opportunity to put in a claim for a few bucks for the necessary loaner.

Suffice to say that Toyota did not evince a desire on that occasion to be "No. 1 in the hearts and minds of our customers," which is what Jim Lentz, the president of Toyota USA, assured Matt Lauer on Monday’s “Today” show is always the company’s goal .

Toyota did, however, evince an approach to customer service that might explain how it managed to turn a new engineering problem -- episodes of unintended acceleration by its vehicles, many blamed for causing injuries or fatalities -- into a complete reputational train wreck.

Toyota's handling of the new problem hews closely to its game plan on the sludge issue. Back then it denied there was a problem, implied motorist error and acted as though it hoped the whole thing would go away. Therefore, no one should be surprised to learn that the first complaints of sudden acceleration syndrome arose at least nine years ago.

Thanks in part to the indulgence of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nothing was done about them then. That was so even as the toll of fatalities involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles from the subject model years reached at least 19 and thousands of complaints reached NHTSA.

The acceleration problem finally surged into public consciousness after the Aug. 28 crash of a 2009 Lexus, which took the lives of its driver, Mark Saylor, an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, and three members of his family. The doomed family's last moments were captured in a 911 emergency call, as Saylor's brother-in-law relayed the frantic efforts to brake the car.

Toyota executives and dealers are undoubtedly hoping that this week's full-scale PR offensive by Lentz will end the public uproar. His goal is to assure the marketplace that Toyota has finally contrived a permanent fix for the throttle surge. Toyota this week will start modifying or replacing the gas pedal assemblies on affected vehicles so they won't jam, which it now says is the cause of runaway acceleration. Yet this is already the automaker's second explanation for the acceleration surges, and may not yet represent the last word.

Its first explanation was that the driver's side floor mats on certain vehicles had a tendency to slip under the accelerator pedal, gunning the engine. So late last year it announced a recall that grew to more than 5 million vehicles to remove some carpet padding under the accelerator, replace floor mats and alter the pedal. Replacing the pedal units -- the fix for explanation No. 2 -- involves the recall of 2.3 million Toyota vehicles; some cars will get both fixes.

Yet suspicion persists that the cause isn't mechanical, but electronic. Acceleration complaints skyrocketed after Toyota switched to electronic throttles in some models -- that is, throttles that work not by direct linkage to the fuel system, but by electronic relays, sensors and software. Although Toyota has steadfastly maintained that it hasn't found a fault in the drive-by-wire system, the company's credibility is shot. Congress and NHTSA are investigating that issue.

Even Lentz sounds unconvinced that Toyota has solved the acceleration mystery. When it was pointed out on "Today" that some of the complaints predated the gas-pedal units it's planning to replace, he acknowledged, "There are a lot of different issues around unintended acceleration -- it can be transmission-related, it can be cruise control-related."

As it happens, that perhaps unintentional disclosure conforms to what other Toyota executives told the staff of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce behind closed doors Jan. 27, when they acknowledged that the causes of unintended acceleration are "very, very hard to identify."

NHTSA, obviously, is a big part of this saga. Who does this agency work for, exactly? It's hard to avoid the impression that NHTSA bent over backward for years to avoid causing Toyota any intestinal discomfort. It systematically excluded whole categories of complaints from its inquiry, and then concluded that the residual cases were too small in number to warrant further investigation.

Some of these decisions have backfired like an aging Corolla. For example, the agency deliberately ignored cases in which motorists asserted that they had applied the brakes but failed to stop their runaway cars. NHTSA's reasoning was that the cars' brakes would always override the throttle. This was an incorrect assumption. How do we know? Because on Nov. 25, Toyota announced an electronic "fix" to make sure the brakes would always override the throttle.

What's most disturbing about Toyota's handling of a potentially lethal flaw in its engineering is that it seems focused on avoiding a PR problem more than addressing its operational problem. Its interactions with NHTSA over the years were apparently aimed at defining the condition so narrowly it would stay off the public's radar.

That may have protected the company's reputation for quality for a few years, but as strategy it was as dangerous as an upturned rake. Eventually that rake got trodden on, and now the largest car company in the world is seeing stars.

View Article in The Los Angles Times

TRAVEL: Facebook, Twitter aid tourists

2009-12-26

By Anne Wallace Allen

ISAHRAI Azaria is heading to Austin, Texas, next month and thanks to Facebook she already has 40 acquaintances, an invitation to go water tubing, and a line on the best vegetarian lunch place in town.

"It's been unbelievable," says Azaria, a singer who lives in San Francisco. "It was just a quick post on Facebook, but one of my Facebook friends is friends with some people in Austin," and those friends sent her tips on everything from yoga studios to local bus service.

Social media is changing the way Americans travel. It is replacing recommendations from experts and strangers with a targeted selection of information from acquaintances and their networks.

 
"Social media and travel are a perfect fit, because they both are built around this idea of sharing experiences and storytelling," says Mary Madden, a senior researcher at the Pew Internet and American Life Project in Washington, DC. "Content, whether that's a blog post about your favorite restaurant or the story from your latest trip to Greece and photos of that trip, is a form of social currency that you share with other people who frequent your social media space."

Travelers have used the Internet for years to find hotels, restaurants and other attractions. Some Websites offer recommendations from guidebook writers, critics and other experts, while others, such as TripAdvisor.com, Yelp and Chowhound, offer feedback from individuals about their personal experiences. Credibility can be a problem. A good review could be written by the business owners themselves or their friends, while bad reviews could come from their competitors. A destination Website might only list businesses that pay to be featured.

In contrast, a recommendation from a Facebook connection or your Twitter feed may feel more trustworthy and less random than something you stumble across on a Website -- even when the tweet or Facebook message is from someone you do not know.

"I see my social media network as a big focus group, a big travel guide," says Jessica Flynn, who owns Red Sky Public Relations in Idaho. "I don't know all the people directly who I follow on Twitter, but I just find them interesting."

Last summer, Flynn let it be known on Twitter and Facebook that she and her boyfriend were headed to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. She heard back from the owners of cheese shops, wine bars and bed-and-breakfasts.

"It is commercial, in a way, but it also gives me a connection that I would never have had," says Flynn. "I wrote back, 'I'll be 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of you. What do you know about that area?' And then they responded and gave me something."

Azaria, who does not drive, looked on mass transit Websites when searching for a place to stay in Austin. She got bus schedules, but could not tell which neighborhoods were safe for waiting at a bus stop.

"When I have a friend of a friend tell me on Facebook that it's kind of sketchy in this area, I think about a different area," says Azaria.
Airlines, hotel chains, tourism agencies and companies like Orbitz also use Facebook to keep fans up-to-date on specials and deals. Facebook applications like Dopplr let users share travel plans and add reviews.

Outside of Facebook, trip-sharing Websites such as Everlater provide a way for travelers to post their stories and photos.
Twitter has become a medium for travel-related businesses to provide quick messages about coming events, promotions, even weather conditions. It also provides a way for these entities to identify regular customers and reward them with discounts. Other travel businesses use Twitter to build relationships with customers and promote visitor satisfaction by answering individual queries through Twitter with on-the-spot advice.

View Article on Shanghai Daily

CHINA: China Shows Little Patience for U.S. Currency Pressure

February 5, 2010

By EDWARD WONG and MARK LANDLER

BEIJING — A senior Chinese official said on Thursday that China would not bow to pressure from the United States to revalue its currency, which President Obama says is kept at an artificially low level to give China an unfair advantage in selling its exports.

The official, Ma Zhaoxu, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at a regular news conference here that “wrongful accusations and pressure will not help solve this issue.”

Mr. Ma was reacting to remarks on trade that Mr. Obama made on Wednesday when he met with Democratic senators in Washington.

Mr. Obama stopped short of saying China manipulates its currency, but his words on China’s economic policies were harsh — the United States, he said, had “to make sure our goods are not artificially inflated in price and their goods are not artificially deflated in price; that puts us at a huge competitive disadvantage.”

Economists agree with that assessment. They say that the Chinese currency, the renminbi, is undervalued by 25 to 40 percent compared to the dollar and other currencies. The gap is wider than at any time since July 2005, when the Chinese government, under pressure from the Bush administration, decided to the do away with the renminbi’s peg to the dollar and allow the currency to float in a narrow band against the dollar and other currencies.

The renminbi appreciated 21 percent, but since July 2008 it has remained at the same value — today, one dollar equals about 6.83 renminbi, also called the yuan.

“Judging from the international balance of payments and the currency market’s supply and demand, the value of the renminbi is getting to a reasonable and balanced level,” Mr. Ma said on Thursday.

The sharp exchange over China’s currency is only the latest symptom of rising tensions in American relations with China. Internet censorship, hacking attacks directed at American companies, arms sales to Taiwan and the pending visit of the Dalai Lama to Washington have all cropped up in the last month as points of conflict. China is exhibiting a brash sense of confidence as its economy continues to boom while much of the world remains mired in a recession.

On economics, Chinese officials now regularly lecture their American counterparts on the need to maintain the value of the American dollar. China, which has more than $2.4 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, is the largest holder of American debt. On Wednesday, Xinhua, the official state news agency, .the official state news agency said Chinese economists were concerned that the American government, suffering from a record budget deficit, could print more dollars and issue more bonds, eroding the value of the dollar.

The finger-wagging from the American side is almost certain to intensify too. With midterm elections this fall, Mr. Obama is under pressure to alleviate the high unemployment rate in the United States. Mr. Obama said last week in his State of the Union address that he hoped to double American exports within five years.

In China, the export industry is a large employer in the coastal regions and draws hordes of migrant workers from interior provinces. Exports have slowed considerably since the global financial crisis began, and Chinese leaders and economists have been saying that domestic consumption should become a larger part of the economy.

Last year, the Chinese economy grew by 8.7 percent, surpassing the 8 percent benchmark set by the government and indicating that China was managing to push through the global recession with little damage. A large driver of the growth was domestic spending — the Chinese government announced in November 2008 a stimulus package worth $585 billion.

But the spending, along with in-flows of foreign currency through private investments and speculation, what some economists call “hot money,” is fueling inflation. The consumer price index in the fourth quarter of 2009 rose 1.9 percent. Fears of an overheated economy could lead the Chinese government to revalue the renminbi later this year to help contain inflation.

In late January, Jim O’Neill, the chief economist at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg News that he expected the Chinese government to make a one-off revaluation of the renminbi, letting it appreciate by at least five percent before the end of 2010. He said the revaluation would happen suddenly, without any warning from Chinese leaders.

Reopening the battle with Beijing over its currency may pay political dividends for Mr. Obama at a time of double-digit unemployment and growing fears that China is stealing American jobs. But experts say the president will have even less leverage over Beijing than President George W. Bush did. Mr. Bush prodded China for years to adjust its exchange rate with little success.

China, they say, is determined to reignite its export machine after a global recession that sapped demand for Chinese goods. A cheap currency is vital to that goal. And as indicated by Mr. Ma’s statement on Thursday, China’s leaders have grown impatient with lectures on economic policy from their chief debtor, the United States.

“It will be like water off a duck’s back,” said Nicholas R. Lardy, a China expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “They’re puzzled by the criticism. They think they should be praised for keeping their currency stable at a time of global turmoil.”

Criticizing China’s policy, however, is likely to worsen a relationship already frayed by irritants on both sides.

In two weeks, Mr. Obama is expected to meet with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, over the objections of the Chinese, who condemn him as a subversive. The administration forged ahead with sales of weapons to Taiwan, drawing an angry blast from Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized China for censoring the Internet, in the wake of Google’s allegations about hacking.

For its part, the United States is frustrated that the Chinese will not back tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. And China has resisted American initiatives on climate change policy, turning the recent climate meeting in Copenhagen into a diplomatic drama.

The administration has struggled to prevent the ill will from any single issue from contaminating the broader relationship. “We can’t pick the timing of when an issue becomes important,” said a senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the matter.

Exchange rates are an arcane subject, harder to explain than a meeting with the Dalai Lama. But they influence easy-to-understand issues like the competitiveness of American exports and job security.

“The currency issue has the potential to become a very hot political issue,” said Kenneth G. Lieberthal, who worked on China policy in the Clinton White House. “We’re in significant danger of hitting a very rough patch in trade relations, in the latter part of this year.”

Edward Wong reported from Beijing, and Mark Landler from Washington.

View Article in The New York Times

JAPAN: Toyota admits design woes in Prius brakes

2010-2-5

By Yuri Kageyama     

TOYOTA acknowledged design problems with the brakes in its prized Prius, adding to the catalog of safety woes at the Japanese auto maker as it reels from massive global recalls involving faulty gas pedals.

Toyota Motor Corp, which yesterday reported a US$1.7 billion profit for the October-December quarter, said it had corrected problems with the anti-lock brake system in the Prius models sold since late last month, including those shipped overseas.

But the company was still deciding what steps to take to fix the problem in Prius cars sold in Japan and overseas before late January.

Complaints about braking problems in the Prius - the world's top-selling gas-electric hybrid - have been reported in the United States and Japan, combining to some 180, and come against a recall of nearly 4.5 million vehicles for faulty gas pedals.
The Prius was not part of the recall spanning the US, Europe and China over sticking gas pedals in eight top-selling models, including the Camry.

Toyota for the first time gave an estimate of the costs of the global gas-pedal recall. The US$2 billion total represents US$1.1 billion for repairs and US$770 million to US$880 million in lost sales. Toyota is expecting to lose 100,000 in vehicle sales because of the recall fallout - 80,000 of them in North America.

The Prius flaw, which requires a software programming change to fix, makes the brakes momentarily unresponsive. Toyota was checking if there were reports of similar problems with other hybrid models though they use a different braking system from the Prius.
Whether a recall is necessary for the Prius was still undecided, according to Toyota Executive Hiroyuki Yokoyama, but Japan's transport minister urged the auto manufacturer to consider it and is ordering an investigation.

According to Paul Nolasco, a company spokesman, the time lag for brakes kicking in felt by drivers stem from the two systems in a gas-electric hybrid - the gas-engine and the electric motor.

View Article in Shanghai Daily

CHINA AT THE OLYMPICS: Outspoken Wang returns to Olympic spotlight

Chinese short track speed skater Wang Meng won the 500m title at the 2006 Olympics.

Posted: Feb 4, 12:50p ET | Updated: Feb 4, 1:08p ET

BEIJING (Reuters) -- China's Wang Meng is convinced only her own mistakes can prevent her from defending her Olympic 500m short track speed skating title in Vancouver this month.

World champion in the 500m and 1000m events, the uncompromising Wang has recovered from a hand injury and is raring to go for her second Winter Games.

"Unless I make mistakes, no one else will have any chance to win," the 24-year-old, who also won a silver and a bronze in Torino four years ago, told local media.

Unlike the mostly conservative products of China's state sports system, Wang's dyed ginger hair is a physical manifestation of her outspoken character.

Eschewing the usual platitudes of her compatriots, Wang said her main goal at the Pacific Coliseum would be simply to beat the strong South Korean contingent.

Saying last year that winning just one gold medal in Canada would be a disappointment to her also broke with traditions for Chinese Olympians, who generally downplay expectations.

Wang's outspoken views have got her into trouble before, most notably after the 2007 Asian Winter Games when she was expelled from the national team for criticizing head coach Li Yan.

'No tactics'

"The coach did not organize anything," she said at the time. "The national team has no tactics, no teamwork at all. I'm going to quit."

Having been sidelined from international events, including a world championships, for half a year, Wang returned to the team after making a written apology.

"In the beginning, you can say my relation with Li Yan was conflicted," Wang recalled.

"Now we have turned that hostility into friendship. She has placed great trust in me and given me great responsibilities."

"As I have got older, I have become better at communicating," she added.

As well as her title defense in the 500m, the 14-time world champion will race in the 1000m, 1500m and lead the Chinese challenge in the 3000m relay at the Feb. 12-28 Games.

China crossed the line third but were disqualified from the relay in Torino when Wang was ruled to have blocked a Canadian rival. "I am now more mature than four years ago in Torino," Wang said. "I hope as a team we can do better and get on the podium."

View Article on NBC Olympics

CHINA: China Increasingly Stands Up To U.S. On Global Stage

Chinese President Hu Jintao with President Obama after a joint news conference at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing on Nov. 16. Barely two weeks into the new year, U.S.-China relations have been strained by tensions over Taiwan, Tibet, trade, military modernization and cyberattacks.  Ng Han Guan/AP

February 3, 2010

by Tom Gjelten

In the past two weeks, Chinese leaders have tangled with the United States over the following issues: Iran sanctions, climate change, arms sales to Taiwan, the Dalai Lama, cyberattacks, military modernization and exchange rates.

A single sentence in the Pentagon's 105-page Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) this week even elicited a Chinese reaction. The QDR report said China's military development raises "legitimate questions" about its future conduct and intentions. Pentagon planners have regularly made that point in the past, but Beijing immediately announced its "dissatisfaction" with the comment.

Those comments followed China's denunciation Tuesday of President Obama's plan to meet the Dalai Lama and its furious reaction last weekend to the administration's announced plans to sell some weapons to Taiwan.

The increasingly harsh Chinese attitude toward the United States has left U.S. officials and China analysts wondering where U.S.-China relations are headed.

At the State Department on Monday, spokesman P.J. Crowley seemed almost baffled by the strident Chinese reaction to the pending Taiwan arms sales.

"We're doing nothing different today than we did in 2008, than we've previously done," Crowley said. "Based on our evaluation of Taiwan's needs, we do provide them articles that we think contribute to Taiwan's defense. What happened here was, I don't think, a mystery to China."

Similarly, the Chinese knew months ago that President Obama intended to meet with the Dalai Lama. They have long known that the United States wants tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. They are familiar with U.S. concerns over China's cyber-activities and climate change policies. But on each of those issues in the past few months, the Chinese have become more difficult.

Newfound Confidence

Kenneth Lieberthal, who advised President Clinton on China issues, attributes the country's increased assertiveness recently to a new sense of Chinese self-confidence, stemming from its strengthened position in the world economy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

"Some in the West have called it triumphalism," Lieberthal notes. "I think that's too strong a term. But [there's] some feeling that, 'In the last two years we've done very well, and it's hard to find anyone else who has. And now people are really paying attention to us.'"

Lieberthal, now at the Brookings Institution, says this new feeling of Chinese confidence follows decades of China feeling "down and out" and not fully respected as a global player. With the greater confidence, therefore, has come a greater willingness to assert Chinese national interests — on climate change policy, the global economy and security issues. And that means standing up to the chief Chinese rival on the global stage, the United States.

"The question is what they think they can get in that relationship," Lieberthal says. "Given that we want to work together, on balance, how much is that going to be the U.S. tilting toward Chinese preferences, and how much will it be the Chinese tilting toward U.S. preferences?"

The list of outstanding issues is long. An early challenge will be to work out a proper economic relationship. China's growth has been largely driven by its booming export sector. Chinese goods are relatively cheap, so manufacturing has shifted to China away from the United States. U.S. and Chinese economic interests could soon be colliding.

"We are coming into 2010 with 10 percent Chinese growth and 10 percent U.S. unemployment," says Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group. "And those two 10s do not add up to 20. They are going to conflict with each other."

As politicians, both Democrat and Republican, take greater note of conflicts with China, U.S.-China policy could become a hot election issue.

"[In 2008], we voted for Obama or McCain with no interest in their positions on China," Bremmer notes. "I believe that that will never happen again. This relationship is going to become politicized, and going forward it is going to be key in determining how we think about candidates, how we think about U.S. policy."

Related NPR Stories

• China Accuses Secretary Clinton Of 'Information Imperialism' Jan. 22, 2010
• Chinese Attack On Google Seen As Cybertheft Jan. 18, 2010
• In China, All Eyes On Google Jan. 18, 2010
• China Warns Internet Companies To Obey Controls Jan. 14, 2010
• Google May Pull Out Of China Because Of Censorship Jan. 13, 2010
• As China's Stature Grows, Is It Superpower Or Not? Jan. 8, 2010

View Article on NPR

CHINA: Survey on Chinese Twitter users

Posted On 2010-02-01 @ 15:23 pm

By Oiwan Lam

Kenengba conducted a Chinese Twitter user survey on Jan 27 2010. Apart from mapping out the background of Chinese twitterers, the blogger wants to find out why Chinese netizens take all the trouble to get around the Great Fire Wall for getting access to Twitter. He received around 1,000 responses and posted the finding in his blog.

^[1]

数据显示13%的受访者为女性，87%为男性。这与大多数人的预测基本吻合，中文Twitter圈子阳气过重，男性推友应该鼓励身边的女性朋友上Twitter，不然，按照这个比例，在Twitter上找到女朋友的几率不会很大。

According to the data, 13% of the respondents is female and 87% is male which is consistent to most people's observation. Chinese Twitter circle is too masculine. Male twitterers should encourage your female friend to use Twitter or else chance for meeting girl friend here would be very low.

^[2]

数据显示大多数推友的年龄在21-29岁之间，这部分推友占了将近70%的比例。…在接受调查的推友里，年龄最小的是12岁，最大的为55岁。下面是年龄分布直方图，很明显地，推友的年龄呈正态分布…

70% of the twitterers is between 21-29, the youngest twitterer is only 12 and the oldest is 55. Below is a bar chart on the age distribution. It is in normal distribution.

^[3]

持有或即将持有本科学历的占了中文Twitter用户的绝大部分，硕士学历的推友是Twitter中文圈的第二大群体，接下来是大专学历的推友。

同时我们也应该注意到，一群高中生正在向Web2.0拥抱。

若干年前，有着自由思想的大学生做了一件轰动的事。现在，掌权者怎么可能轻易让大学生上Twitter？

The majority of the users has bachelor degree and the second largest group is master degree holders followed by twitters with tertiary education background.

We should notice that a group of high school students is running towards Web 2.0.

Many years ago, liberal minded university students marked our history, the authority will never allow undergraduate using Twitter.

^[4]

将近一半的受访推友来自北京、上海、广东三地，接下来分别是：浙江、江苏、福建。。。这6个地区的推友占了总数的67%。从地图上看，这6个地区都位于沿海地区，经济相对比较发达。

More than half of the respondents come from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong followed by Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian… The 6 regions constitute 67% of the respondents. They are located along the coastal line and economically more well off.

从数据里可以看到，学生推友占了将近30%，然后是“计算机软、硬件”行业15%、“互联网产品相关”12.5%。如果将后两者归类为IT行业，那学生和IT人士占了推友的50%以上，他们是Twitter的主力军。

The data shows that about 30% of the respondents are students followed by computer software and hardware sector (15%) and then Internet related production sector (12.5%). If we group the two into I.T industry, then we can see that students and I.T professionals are the key player in Twitter community as they together constitute more than 50% of the respondents.

As for the question on why they choose to take all the trouble for getting access to Twitter, here is a list of their answer:

1、了解真相，开拓视野
2、用微博客随时随地记录生活、分享生活
3、获取资讯，关注民主政治
4、因为饭否被关了
5、每周要给火星同事扫盲（误），把twitter作为各种八卦消息来源
6、开始是为了follow喜欢的球星，后来渐渐喜欢上twitter的一切！
7、觉得twitter的交流方式很有趣
8、在这里信息无审查，信息最原始的传递逻辑得以在twitter保留
9、打发时间
10、看腿叔（@kcome）
11、我从可能吧知道这个东西，我觉得作为一名党员应该尽可能的多了解世界。
12、在这儿我想说什么就说什么。而不用去考虑，这句话我该不该说，该怎么说。会不会说过了而触犯了什么“法律”。 这就是自由的味道，我喜欢这种味道。
13、在政治灌输很严重的军校，Twitter让我能保持独立的公民意识。
14、大学老师介绍
15、这里说谎的人少
16、工作需要
17、新闻系学生的必然选择
18、仅凭对新技术的热爱
19、最早是因为某暗恋的女生在上Twitter，所以我也…
20、为什么不上twitter？

1. To know the truth and open the horizon
2. To record and share my life
3. To get information and show my concern about democracy
4. Because Fanfou has been shut down
5. To get all the gossips in order to clear information for my colleagues who live in Mars
6. Follow the planet that I like and later fall in love with everything in Twitter
7. The exchange in Twitter is very interesting
8. No censor here and we can preserve the primary mode of communication here
9. To kill time
10. To follow uncle leg (@kcome)
11. I learn about twitter from kenengba and feel that as a party member I should learn more about this world
12. I can say what I want here without considering whether I should say this or how I should say this. Whether or not I would violate any law. This is the taste of freedom that I enjoy.
13. In an army school where ideological control is very strict, Twitter allows me to keep my independent citizen conscious.
14. University teacher introduces me here
15. Less liars here
16. Job requirement
17. An inevitableness choice for journalist student
18. Passion for new technology
19. At first I come here because I have a crush with a girl who is using Twitter…
20. Why not?

View Article on Global Voices

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: Court rules de facto acquittal for 5 in wartime suppression case

Feb 3 10:16 PM US/Eastern

(AP) - YOKOHAMA, Feb. 4 (Kyodo)—The Yokohama District Court ordered the state Thursday to pay compensation to the relatives of five now-deceased men for falsely imprisoning them in the "Yokohama Incident," often described as Japan's worst case of repression of free speech during World War II.

Thursday's decision is deemed as a de facto acquittal because when the court dismissed the retrial case of one of the five in March last year without judging him guilty or not guilty, it said his dignity would be restored if the state compensates him for false imprisonment.

The former defendants, including three journalists, were convicted in August-September 1945 of pro-Communist activities based on a wartime law.

The relatives have said the case was fabricated by "tokko" political police officers and their confessions were forced using torture.

The court dismissed the retrial of Yasuhito Ono, a former magazine editor, in March 2009, without giving any verdict, while the Supreme Court dismissed the retrials of four others in March 2008.

The relatives of the five filed a suit with the district court in April-May last year demanding state compensation of some 47 million yen.

About 60 people were arrested in connection with the Yokohama incident. Some 30 of them were convicted.

View Article on Breitbart

RUSSIA: On this day: 4 February

On February 4, 1945, the leaders of the USSR, the US and Great Britain – Josef Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill – met in Yalta in the Crimea to work out the plans to completely defeat Germany and to discuss the international situation and the post-war future.

Roosevelt wanted to continue collaboration with the USSR. The world’s two strongest countries, the US and USSR, could regulate the system of international relations together. However, in spite of the collaboration, the US had informed Great Britain about the development of the atom bomb, but concealed the existence of the project from the USSR.

The main aims of the conference were to establish new state borders in Europe and to divide it into spheres of interest. All three leaders understood that after the war the union between USSR and the West would break up, so they needed to develop rules to guarantee the stability of the new borders. The US and Great Britain were apprehensive about the possible expansion of Soviet influence, so these rules were made to protect their spheres of interest from the USSR.

The “Big Three” decided to occupy Germany and to divide it into occupation zones. To make sure Germany was unable “to disturb the peace ever again,” the Big Three was going to disband the German army and to abolish its General Staff, to take the German industry under control and to “wipe the Nazi party off the face of the Earth.” When the Germans get rid of Nazism, the final protocol of the conference said, they would again rank high among the world nations.

The Germany was divided in 1949. The occupation zone of Great Britain, the US and France became the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Soviet occupation zone became the German Democratic Republic. The border between these countries went across the capital of Germany, and each republic got its own part of Berlin.

The question about Poland was more complicated. War turned Poland, one of the largest Central European states, into a small country in Northeastern Europe. In 1945, Germany had been occupying Poland for six years, but Poland still had its own government stationed in London. Both Europe and the USSR recognized that government as legal, so it had the right to came back to power after the war. Nevertheless, Stalin wanted to create a new government in Poland, and made Churchill and Roosevelt agree with his decision. When Churchill noticed that only a third of all Poles would support the pro-Soviet government, Stalin assured him that there would be several democratic leaders in it. Several years later, the USSR took Poland under its control and established communism.

The Soviet Union also agreed to participate in the military operations against Japan. According to the conditions of participation laid out by Stalin, the USSR was to take the disputed territories in the Far East – Southern Sakhalin, the Kurils and the fleet base in Port Arthur. The US, which carried out those operations, was interested in cooperating with Soviet Union, so Roosevelt agreed with Stalin’s conditions.

Stalin raised the point about reparations, but the sum of them was not assigned at that conference. The only decision about it, made by the Big Three, was that half of all reparations from Germany should be paid to the USSR.

During that conference the United Nations Organization was founded. This organization was to prevent the borders between states and spheres of interest from moving. On June 26, 1945, fifty countries signed the UNO charter.

In addition, Roosevelt presented a document called the “Declaration of Liberated Europe”, that determined the politics of the winners at the occupied lands. It said that the US, USSR, Great Britain and France should together help the European nations to get rid of the Nazi threat, to restore the economy and culture. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the declaration, but did not put the ideas described in it into action. Instead, after WWII ended, a conflict between the US and the Soviet Union broke out that lasted for about 50 years – “The Cold War”.

View Article in Russia Today

CHINA: Zhao Jue Monastery: Traditional, Modern & Christian?

 

Uploaded on: January 15, 2010
Total Views: 716,238
Thumbs Up: 18.8%
Comments: 2,432

Zhao Jue Monastery (昭觉寺) is promoted here in this paike video as a traditional yet modern one. Traditional in the sense that monks there practice Kung Fu and drink tea, modern as they chat online, use mobile phone and drive a car. Please note the background music is, for some reason, Christian.

CHINA: Chocolate Great Wall