A collapse in prices for solar components caused by global manufacturing overcapacity has resulted in US Department of Commerce proposals of anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese solar cells that could see many Jiangsu based companies face stiff tariffs imposed on their sales into the USA.
A Ferrari dealership has landed itself in hot water after a promotional event atop Nanjing’s ancient city wall was cancelled due to an “unauthorised” burnout leaving tire marks across the wall’s surface. Footage has been released on Youku of the car performing the burnout, followed by the damage being mopped up the next day.
The car in question, a Ferrari 458 Italia, was lifted onto the Zhonghua gate by crane the night of Sunday May 6th where the unnamed driver put the limited edition model through its paces. The tourist administration in charge of the city wall has been reprimanded for the incident due to “incompetent supervision and management” as well as the fact that the event was unapproved by archaeological authorities. The event cost Ferrari an expected ¥80,000 and required the wall to be closed to tourists for half a day.
Ferrari has issued an official apology on its blog (in Chinese), stating that they have “always respected Chinese traditional culture” and that the company “values the protection of historical and cultural relics”. However, it seems that an apology and a mop may not be enough to repair the damage done; it is believed that as well as superficial damage the internal structure of the wall may now be compromised. Yang Guoqing, an expert on ancient city wall protection was quoted as saying, “the damage may be invisible at the moment, but very detrimental”.
This could be a major PR disaster for the Italian automaker considering China claimed the wall as being the oldest standing in the world today in their submission for the wall to attain UNESCO World Heritage site status.
A telescope which has been installed at the highest point of the Antarctic Plateau, Dome Argus, has been done so with some help from Nanjing
The second Youth Summer Olympics are steadily drawing closer and with them your opportunity to contribute. Another step on the long road to Nanjing 2014 was the launch ceremony to kick off the global search for Opening and Closing Ceremony proposals, held on the 9th of April at Nanjing Radio and Television Mansion.
During his speech, the chairman of Nanjing 2014, Yang Weize outlined the search criteria for the upcoming contest. Most importantly, the Youth Games are in need of a clearly defined, distinctive theme, as well as proposals for the Ceremonies. Entries should engage young people by providing a memorable experience, whilst being cost effective at the same time.
The cost effectiveness of the games seem to be a focus of the organising committee, with their vice-secretary Liu Yian promising to budget as well as China
New information has been revealed concerning a yacht accident that occurred on 4th of April, the final day of the Tomb-Sweeping holiday, on Lake Tai, Jiangsu causing the deaths of four people. The investigation came to the conclusion that fault lies with the skipper, who was drunk at the time of the incident.
The accident happened in the city of Suzhou and claimed the lives of three college students from Shanghai Jiaotong University as well as their tour guide and left another four people injured. The cause was a cable running between two cargo ships on Lake Tai. While the main person responsible for the accident was the drunk skipper, who hit the cable with the yacht trying to race through the gap between the two ships, the captains of the cargo ships have also been blamed. All three remain in police custody.
After the accident a blood test exposed the skipper Feng Ke’er, whose alcohol blood content was almost three times higher than limits imposed by local navigating regulations. At a ratio of 54 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, Feng had passed the Chinese limit of 20 mg by far. Interestingly, the maximum limit for boating in the UK is four times higher, at 80 mg per 100 ml, making Chinese regulations seem quite strict. Although, in light of accidents such as these, one can see the authorities’ point.
What makes the situation worse, is a video circulating the internet which clearly shows the injured students realising that two of their companions are missing and must have fallen into the water. However, the skipper refused to return to the accident site to look for the two students, claiming that no one was missing. While the injured were rushed off to the hospital, the two remaining bodies were not found until the next afternoon.
Nanjing’s JOC Great Wall Corp. Ltd. is set to be honored by the presence of US federal health inspectors to determine whether the chicken jerky pet treats produced and supplied by the Chinese company are responsible for illness and deaths in hundreds of dogs in the US. The products in question Waggin Train and Canyon Creek Ranch, are sold in America by Nestlé Purina Pet Care.
Officials will visit a number of plants in China after at least 600 reports of illness, such as abrupt kidney failure, reached the authorities. It has been suggested that these problems occurred following the pet’s intake of chicken jerky treats originating in Nanjing.
The investigation was put into action after msnbc.com reported the high number of complaints made by pet owners and veterinarians in reference to the two aforementioned products and amid growing pressure on the FDA from consumers and lawmakers who demanded an inspection.
Robin Pierre, 49, from Pine Bush, N.Y., is one of the consumers urging the FDA to find out whether it is the Nanjing products that killed her pet. She is convinced that the disputed Waggin Train chicken jerky treats are responsible for the death of her 2-year-old pug Bella, who developed kidney failure out of the blue after Ms. Pierre fed her some treats. As a co-founder of Animal Parents Against Pet Treats Made in China, she has collected over 7,000 signatures pressuring the FDA into action.
“While I am happy that the FDA is in China investigating now, it never should have taken this long. Too many of our innocent and voiceless companions suffered horrific deaths and many will forever be dealing with the repercussions of falling victim to corporate greed. No animal should have ever had to die because of a ‘treat’”, she said.
Three warnings about the treats have already been made within the last five years by the FDA. Ever since, the products have undergone constant testing by agency scientists with the goal of finding dangerous toxins, including heavy metals, melamine, melamine analogs and diethylene glycol chemicals used in plastics and resins.
To the disappointment of the angry pet owners, the answer does not seem as obvious as they might have hoped. So far, no materials that would lead to the kind of illness affecting the animals have been found in the thoroughly tested treats.
The 21st and 22nd April this year sees the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and the Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT) once again host their Student Film Festival and International Symposium, as they have since 2008.
Visitors will have the opportunity to listen to presentations and panel discussions by famous directors, producers and academics. In addition, selected newcomers will showcase their talent at the fourth international student short narrative and animated film competition.
The program for the festival includes screenings of short films by international university students as part of the International Student Film Festival, while the International Film Symposium shall offer the chance to listen to presentations and discussions around the theme of the festival; “Longing and Inhibition in Film”. Furthermore, a featured director will introduce one of his or her films followed by a panel discussion. The festival will close with the Student Film Festival Awards Ceremony.
Topics for screenings and presentations will range from the repression of longings to changing or overcoming them. A focus will be acts of destruction against oneself in the face of our inability to satisfy our longings, as well as limitations in fulfilment. These issues will be explored from different critical perspectives, offering the possibility of excursions into areas such as love, intimacy and attraction; or the longing for recognition, social status and materialism, while questions of creative fulfilment and self-improvement shall also be tackled. Last but not least, visitors will be able to enjoy film submissions covering the themes of the discussions.
For further information, contact Marshall D. Willman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, English, NYIT Nanjing
Email: mwillman@nyit.edu
Location: Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT) Library, 4th Floor Auditorium, Xianlin Campus, 9, Wenyuan Lu, Xianlin
The Nanjing West Railway Station sent off its last passengers to Xiamen on the K161 at 10.17 pm on March 24. After over a hundred years of helping travellers reach their destination, last Sunday marked the end of transport operations carried out from the traffic-hub of the past. The Ministry of Railways has permanently rerouted all trains to Nanjing Railway Station.
Beloved by many Nanjingers, it got a grand send-off a week before its shutdown. On March 14, 800 travellers bought tickets for the 7102 train from Zhonghua Men station to Nanjing West, to say farewell to their old friend. Even on a weekend, the train usually sold half that amount at best.
The station, which opened in 1908, has been a witness to a period of conflict and turmoil. It carried out its duties through the fall of a dynasty, civil war, Japanese occupation and the Cultural Revolution. But Nanjing Xizhan has also left its mark on history as the oldest railway station in Nanjing and the starting point of the old Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, for which it was honoured with the presence of one Sun Yat-Sen, who arrived as the founder of a republic and the nation
Many of us have been impressed, overwhelmed, impassioned and inspired by speakers at TED (Technology, Education, Design – www.ted.com). Hundreds of inventors, artists, scientists and even (some) politicians have taken to the TED stage over the past few years to deliver lectures that are among the best on Earth. Now it is our turn with TED 2013 promising to choose over half of its speakers from the general public.
Auditions shall be held in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Doha, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, S
The Chinese Spring Festival incorporating New Year takes place over 15 days with many Chinese taking up to a month’s holiday and therefore the gaining popularity of the Christian festival Christmas takes some thinking about. Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself thousands of years old and gains significance on account of several myths and traditions, whereas, Christmas is barely 1,600 years old.
Christmas in China is a strange affair. The trappings of the festival are all around festooning the shops, offices and public spaces. We see the usual tat; glitter, greenery, ribbons, images of Santa, reindeer, Santa hats and snowy vistas, but who is it for? Surely not for the average Chinese man and woman on the street? They have a veritable smorgasbord of festivals of their own from which to choose, including of course Chinese New Year itself.
The celebration of Spring Festival goes back more than 4,000 years, originating from the time of Emperor Yao. According to the history of the festival, one day around 2000 B.C., Yao took the throne and led members of his court to worship the heaven and the earth. Since then, people began to take that day as beginning of the year and marked it the first day of the first lunar month. This, of course, is the simplistic version with many other myths and traditions coming together to make up the whole festival.
The modern Western Christmas also shares a quite convoluted history tied up in paganism and burgeoning Christianity. It was not until about the 4th Century that Pagan and Christian leaders agreed that the old festival of Saturnalia, held in December with its concluding day being December 25th, could also be used as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Thus, Christ