Tag Archives: China

Technological achievements in China, such as big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, have laid a solid foundation for the transformation of Chinese media as the industry seeks better development amid a changing environment, media profes… read more

As soon as Hu Xiuping steps out of the taxi, a bag of dog food under her arm, hundreds of hungry mouths bark a chorus of greeting for the woman who saved their lives.

Hu Xiuping with her dogs at her farm. [Photo by Zhu Lixin/China Daily]

Over the past 18 years, 62-year-old Hu has rescued numerous lost, abandoned and injured dogs－even some that were on the verge of being butchered for meat.

She now lives with 560 of them on a grape farm in Hefei, Anhui province, but could not afford their upkeep, which stands at about 40,000 yuan ($5,990) a month, without a little help.

“Thanks to donations from across the country, I am able to keep them here, though sometimes there are still food shortages,” she said.

Though Hu seldom speaks of her own upbringing, the retired hospital accountant remembers the back story of almost every animal in her care.

Born into an impoverished rural family, Hu had a tough childhood. Her mother died when she was 6, to be replaced by a stepmother “who treated me badly”, she said. She would often sleep in the kitchen of her home with the family dog.

Even after moving to the big city, Hu still pined for canine companionship, and would provide food to the homeless dogs she saw around her neighborhood.

Her first rescue came in 1999, when she brought home a dog that had been badly injured after being hit by a car. “After that, I started bringing back more dogs－and also some cats－to my apartment, to protect them from danger,” she said.

Running an ad hoc animal shelter in her apartment building didn’t go down too well with the neighbors, however, and she was the subject of numerous complaints. So, after amassing 32 dogs and a handful of cats, Hu eventually moved to the countryside in 2006.

“You can’t say my neighbors had stony hearts, they had tolerated me and my animals for seven years,” she said.

In 2009, a group of animal welfare advocates rented a grape farm in Dawei township of the city’s Baohe district and offered it to Hu as a place to keep her dogs.

The township has hundreds of such farms and is a well known for grape growing.

“They thought we could grow grapes and keep dogs there at the same time, but we later found we couldn’t keep the business running with so many dogs,” Hu said.

Every time she spots a homeless dog, Hu brings it back to her farm, which has become something of a haven for castoff canines. Even the local police, who find it difficult to humanely deal with strays, have been known to approach Hu for help.

“The farm is firmly fenced-in and considered the best place for them. Dogs keep coming in, but we will not let them go out,” Hu said.

“People want to kill them and eat them, I don’t understand,” she said, pointing at two golden retrievers with tear in her eyes.

“At least I can be happy knowing there are caring and understanding people out there, who volunteer to join me in helping these lovely animals.”

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One of China’s most-wanted fugitives, suspected of smuggling ordinary goods valued at 438 million yuan ($65.7 million), was captured and returned from Indonesia to face trial, according to the General Administration of Customs on Sunday. Ji Wenhong … read more

A newly published book of the seven years that President Xi Jinping spent at a poor village four decades ago has gained popularity soon after its debut, with many analysts saying the book is encouraging and enlightening.

A customer reads Xi Jinping’s Seven Years as an Educated Youth in Wangfujing Bookstore in Beijing on Sunday. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

The book, Xi Jinping’s Seven Years as an Educated Youth, was a collection of interviews with people who used to live and work with Xi when he was a zhiqing, or educated youth, in Liangjiahe village, Yanchuan county, Shaanxi province, from 1969 to 1975.

Zhiqing refers to urban youths sent to the countryside for “re-education” amid late chairman Mao Zedong’s campaign for urban youth to experience rural labor during the “cultural revolution” (1966-76). Xi was only 15 when he was sent to Liangjiahe in early 1969.

The book was brought out by the Publishing House of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

He Yiting, executive vice-president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said Liangjiahe was Xi’s first stop to get into society, and his life in the village had a great influence on him.

After its debut last week, the book became so popular that the publishing house staff has been working around the clock to meet demand, he said at a seminar on Sunday to discuss the book.

The book is a vivid text for young people to set up a positive outlook on their lives, and it also tells Party officials of all levels about how to act in accordance with the Party’s discipline, he added.

In the book, 29 people were interviewed, including some other “educated youths” who worked with Xi in the village and Liangjiahe villagers who worked with Xi for years. They recalled how Xi strove to help farmers and remain optimistic about life in the difficult period.

For example, Zhang Weipang, a Liangjiahe farmer, said in the book that “no matter how bad the food was, Jinping would have a good appetite, and no matter how poor a person was, Jinping would never despise him”. In another story, a villager recalled how Xi helped him find a lost pig－the most valuable asset of the poor family.

During his time in the poverty-stricken village, Xi led villagers to accomplish various things, such as building the first methane-generating pit in north Shaanxi to improve the peoples’ livelihood. His down to earth spirit won the recognition of and compliments from the villagers.

“I found myself easily traveling several kilometers of mountain road while carrying a shoulder pole weighing more than 50 kilograms,” Xi said in a previous interview with China Central Television.

Tao Haisu, who used to work with Xi as a zhiqing at Liangjiahe, said at the seminar that “the sweat that Xi shed with the people” has deep and great influence on the president’s thoughts.

“If you understand Xi’s experience at Liangjiahe, you will understand the measures he had taken after the 18th National Congress of the Party, and you will know why he deeply hates the corrupt officials who bully the people,” he said.

Xuan Yong, Party secretary of Zhejiang International Studies University, said at the seminar that the book is enlightening for young people, and the university will arrange for students to read the book.

The university also will dispatch volunteers to Liangjiahe during next year’s summer holiday to elaborate on the stories of Xi for those who visit the village, he said, adding that the president’s spirit of keeping firm belief at difficult times should be learned by the nation’s youth.

Liu Dawei, assistant minister of education, said that by looking back at the history in the book, readers will be much more confident about the future of the country.

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The new chairman of Taiwan-based Kuomintang acknowledged the one-China policy and firmly opposed “Taiwan independence” on his inauguration ceremony and the party’s 20th plenary congress on Sunday in Taichung. “Upholding the foundation of the 1992 Cons… read more