This is a heartbreaking story about a couple trying to find their son and parents after the earthquake in Sichuan Province. So many similar stories are still happening there. My heart is with the people in my home country.

A list of ten cities that are most polluted.
Two are Chinese cities: Linfei and Tianjin.

China’s second manned space mission.
Timeline of China’s space history [ source: The Associated Press ]
September 1955:
Chinese-born Tsien Hsue-sen, an American-trained rocketry expert and co-founder of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, leaves the United States for China. His departure comes after five years of virtual house arrest following accusations of communist sympathies. He becomes the leader of China’s rocketry program.
1956-58:
Soviet Union provides intermediate-range ballistic missile to China for study.
1960:
China launches its first rocket despite a cutoff of Soviet aid amid a political falling-out.
1968:
Research center established to prepare for manned space flight, with 1973 target date for launch. Program later canceled because of lack of money and political support.
1970:
China becomes the fifth country to launch a satellite into space, sending up the Dongfanghong-1 — the name means “The East is Red” — aboard a Long March rocket.
1991:
Tsien retires.
1992:
Human spaceflight program launched under code-name Project 921, with target launch date of October 1999. Qi Faren, trained in Russia, named chief spacecraft designer.
1995:
Russia agrees to assist China with human spaceflight technology and training of Chinese astronauts in cosmonaut academy near Moscow.
Nov. 20, 1999:
Successful test flight of the unmanned capsule Shenzhou 1, or “Divine Vessel.” Three further unmanned test flights follow.
Oct. 15, 2003:
Shenzhou 5 launches with one astronaut aboard, making China the third nation capable of putting a human in space on its own, after the former Soviet Union and the United States.

Do in China as the Chinese Do: An Overview of KFC’s Localization Strategies in China

Abstract

Kentucky Fried Chicken has been one of the most household international brands in urban China since it opened its first Western-style quick service restaurant in Beijing in 1987. As the present largest fried chicken restaurant company in the world, KFC aims China as the most promising market and succeeds in its localization strategies in the huge China market. The most prominent success of KFC in China is not only the outcome of KFC’s persistent tenets “quality, service and cleanliness” but also the achievements of its keen perception of cross-cultural marketing and its understanding of Chinese culture. This essay aims to investigate the process of KFC’s entry into China’s market and analyze its particular localization strategies towards China. A series of KFC commercials in China would be analyzed from the perspective of cultural values. Related issues and debates would be discussed as well.

Read the rest of the entry…

The current headline on CNN, titled Taiwan’s President Chen shot. So far I failed to find any coverage of the event on news Web sites in mainland China. I’ll keep watching the event and pay attention to the reaction of Chinese media.

This is a series concerning the relationships between China and her five neighbors produced by National Public Radio. I will offer the transcripts when I am free to transcribe them. Anyway, you can follow the links below to listen to the programs yourself.

Part 1: Japan Feb. 16, 2004

We begin a series on how China is viewed by its neighbors: Japan sees both opportunity and threat in the rapidly growing Chinese economy. It’s a huge market for Japanese goods, but it is also taking away Japanese jobs. For most of the Cold War, Japan could concentrate on its own economic development and ignore China, but no more. One analyst says some Japanese feel a kind of jealousy toward China and a desire to see the country fail. NPR’s Rob Gifford reports.

Part 2: Vietnam Feb. 17, 2004

Twenty-five years ago this week, China invaded Vietnam. The invasion came after months of tension between the two communist neighbors. The Chinese attack was prompted by Vietnam’s decision to invade Cambodia and remove the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge. The 1979 border war between China and Vietnam was over quickly, with the Chinese retreating after heavy losses.

But as NPR’s Michael Sullivan reports in the second part of a series examining how China is viewed by its neighbors, relations between the two countries have improved significantly since then. The two countries are bound by culture — and increasingly by economics. Trade is growing rapidly and Vietnam has become a popular vacation spot for Chinese tourists. And the Vietnamese Communist Party looks to the Chinese Communist Party as a model for opening up its economy while maintaining tight control over politics.

Part 3: India Feb. 18, 2004

In October 1962, Americans were glued to their TVs and radios as the Cuban missile crisis unfolded, worried about the prospect of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. But halfway across the world, high in the Himalayas, India and China were at war over a disputed border region. The war ended with a large swath of the area under China’s control, and thousands of Indian troops dead. China’s unexpected aggression had a profound psychological effect on the Indian political and military establishment for several decades, but today, the war is all but forgotten by many Indians.

As the 21st century opens, tensions seem to be subsiding between the two Asian giants as both countries devote their energy to economic development. In the third part of a series examining China’s relationship with its neighbors, NPR’s Michael Sullivan reports on the view from India.

Part 4: South Korea Feb. 19, 2004

South Korea’s links with China go back centuries, but in the 1950s the two were on opposite sides in the Korean War. Today, China is starting to have increasingly more in common with South Korea than its communist neighbor in the North. In the fourth part of a series examining China’s relationship with its neighbors, NPR’s Rob Gifford reports on a China craze that’s going on in Seoul. China’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. And with that prosperity comes power. Some in Asia are calling China the new America. But others worry that South Korea’s economic infatuation with China has blinded Koreans to Beijing’s longterm strategic aims.

Part 5: Russia Feb. 20, 2004

Russia, the world’s biggest country, and China, the world’s most populous, frequently clashed during the Cold War. The two giants spent decades engaged in an ideological rivalry and border skirmishes, but have since put much of that open hostility behind them.
Russia and China now officially call their relationship a “strategic partnership.” But many Russians retain a mistrust of China, especially in light of its increasing economic and political might. NPR’s Lawrence Sheets reports from the Far Eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk.

AllAfrica.com, Africa:
Chinese Space Mission a Success, With Namibian Help

Christian Science Monitor : A hero returns to a land without heroes

Daily Yomiuri, Japan: What is China’s ultimate aim in space?

New York Times, USA: China Sends Man Into Orbit, Entering U.S.-Russian Club

Can you spot the nuances???

It was such a long trip that I even started to suspect I would have to spend the rest of my life on the airplane, or… at the airport. Wuhan — Shanghai — San Francisco — Chicago — Milwaukee. I am still alive.

The journey told me one thing — I can beat time!!! I started off from Shanghai at 12:55 pm and flew ahead of time to arrive at S.F. at about 8 amo. Gee! I stole 5 hours from God! Waitwaitwait… it was way too early to cheer for the victory.

In the following six hours I was taught a good lesson about the usage of letter Q. Our flight queued for arrival; I queued for SEVIS; I queued for UA staffs to process my missed flights… It turned out I spent one more extra hour for the five hours I stole from God. Anyway, it was not too bad that at least the only thing I didn’t have to queue for was queue itself. I had learned so much about Q. My only question was — when would the lesson for R(EST) start???

The lesson for R began at 7:45 pm at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Unfortunately, it was not REST but RESTART. My sense of direction was ruthlessly challenged by the layout of O’Hare. What a labyrinth! I was curious about how more than 190,000 smart travelers make O’Hare their airport of choice every day and how those passengers find their way out. Maybe I was the 190,001st???