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| 报刊文摘 |
| City Guide 系列--Shanghai(July) |
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Money for a good cause
Shanghai could soon have an extra 20 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) from a fund to help in its preparations for the 2010 World Expo. This fund would be backed primarily by the city’s treasury, major Chinese insurance companies and some Shanghai-based, state-owned enterprises. The central government seems to have approved the plan, which would make Shanghai the second Chinese city to have a locally issued industrial fund, after Tianjin. The money is expected to pay for big infrastructure projects such as bridges, tunnels and expansions of the ports and airports. It would also help develop the Pudong area.
Death in KFC
A seven-hour stand-off at a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in the Putuo district, in western Shanghai, ended with the death of the hostage-taker. On June 6th Tong Jiansheng had grabbed a four-year-old girl from the restaurant’s play area while her mother was ordering food. He held her at knife-point and reportedly asked for flowers and a taxi during negotiations, leading some to speculate he was mentally ill. Up to 100 police surrounded the restaurant; some made rescue attempts while disguised as employees. In the evening, when Tong raised his knife to the girl’s neck, a sniper shot him in the forehead. The girl was unharmed; Tong’s motives have not yet been established.
Sporting dangers
A teenage gymnast is beginning to recover after a terrible accident at the National Gymnastics Championships in Shanghai in early June. During a routine on the asymmetric bars, Wang Yan fell, broke her neck and entered a coma. Doctors initially feared her injuries would be fatal, or at least permanently paralysing, but after major surgery her conditions improved by late-June, leading China Daily to report on her “amazing recovery”. Miss Wang has regained some mobility in her arms, legs and hands. Three days after her injury, Tang Miao, a Shanghai-based member of China’s men’s volleyball team, also suffered a broken neck, while practising in St Petersburg, Russia. He may be permanently paralysed. These injuries have provoked public debate about whether the country is pushing its athletes too hard.
Quiet on the roads
It's getting quieter on Shanghai's roads. In July, a month after the local government banned the honking of horns in the city centre, officials announced plans to resurface roads with noise-reducing asphalt. Two new surfaces are being considered for the 1.8 billion yuan project—one made partly of rubber, the other of a more porous material. In laboratory testing, both reduced road noise by five decibels and proved more durable than existing asphalts—though each is 40% more expensive. The new surfaces are being tested on a section of road between the Lupu and Nanpu bridges.
Travel spotlight
China will probably scrap two of its three “Golden Week” holidays by 2009, according to China Daily newspaper. The plan is to make public holidays of more traditional festivals by 2009, to ease burdens on transport and tourist attractions. Each “Golden Week” actually includes just three days of holiday. Under the proposal announced in July, the May Day holiday would be shortened to one day, and the National Day holiday to two days; the Lunar New Year festival would stay the same. Three traditional Chinese festivals would become public holidays to make up the shortfall.
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| 责任编辑： lance 来源： 中青网采编 |
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