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Now a Chongqing Mall is Offering Pink, Extra-large Women Only Parking Spots

Posted: 10/16/2014 10:32 am

pink parking for ladies shopping mall sexism discriminationChina’s attempts at gender equality certainly take interesting forms, such as 10 pink parking spots at a shopping mall in Chongqing.

The boldly colored pink parking spots read: “Parking for the exclusive use of Women”. The spots are wider to make parking easier, and are located closer to the mall entrance for convenience.

READ: Check Out This Pink, Extra-Wide “Women’s Only” Parking Spot in Dalian

This isn’t the first time women-only parking spaces have shown-up in a mall parking lot. The spaces also exist at a shopping mall in Dalian. Yet when accused of discrimination, the Chongqing mall manager, Yang Xiangdong, said: “The main position of this mall is to provide service to women.”

pink parking for ladies shopping mall sexism discriminationPutting gender equality aside for a moment, the women-only spots clearly make good business sense. With women comprising the majority of Chongqing’s mall traffic, Yang’s simply catering to the mall’s most important demographic.

However, as a number of astute commentators have pointed out, the ten pink parking spots are mostly occupied by luxury cars. The shopping mall isn’t just catering to women, it’s catering to rich women.

Netizens quickly chimed in with their thoughts on the special spots:

茱麗葉改行做尼姑:
Wow. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi… these are all European brands.

雅美only:
How is it that these are all luxury cars?

Belli-勇哥:
These are all luxury cars! Chongqing women don’t have any face!

擒熊熊:
So then you’ve got a problem. Whose the best at teaching how to park a car? (referencing a recent meme involving a trade school with outlandish commercials)

iuer柳儿飘飘pp:
Women think that this is something they don’t have to be afraid of being discriminated for.

劲武门:
(This is something )I can accept.

魔王威武:
On one hand, say that men and women are equal, while on the other creating special circumstances for each of them.

pink parking for ladies shopping mall sexism discrimination

Related:

Photos: Shenzhen Police

Haohao

PM2.5 Glasses And Paper Bags – Environmental Chic for Smog-battered Chinese

Posted: 10/13/2014 8:30 am

Beijing’s air quality index has registered above 300, or “hazardous”, over several days last week, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Many residents braced themselves for the “airpocalypse” by wearing face masks and cranking their air purifiers at home. Some Chongqing residents were even spotted wearing PM 2.5 glasses and paper bags with blackened lungs to raise environmental awareness.

On Saturday in Chongqing’s Foreigners’ Street, a popular tourist attraction, a number of shop owners wore the glasses and paper bags emblazoned with, “we need fresh air”. Others held signs shaped like a hand that read, “we need to protect our environment like our home”, and “protect environment, quash PM 2.5″.

However, not everyone was complaining. Retailers selling face masks, air purifiers, and any other smog resistant products made a pretty penny. In the last few days, the average price of an air purifier in Beijing went from RMB 40 to as high as RMB 20,000, while the price of face masks rocketed to nearly RMB 100, up from RMB 2.5, according to the report.

Whether those products actually protect residents remains debatable, however. State governments in seven provinces, coupled with 35 local government bodies are working to formulate regulations on air quality related products. The regulations are expected to be released in 2015.

Photos: China News

Haohao

Chongqing Doctor Claims Child Abuse Can Cure Children of Autism

Posted: 07/17/2014 10:24 am

autism therapy chongqing he xiaoyan hate therapy autistic children cureMental health in China is mostly a taboo topic, one that must be hidden rather than addressed publicly. And yet, a Chongqing doctor has attracted controversy not just because of her unorthodox methods of treating mental illness, but because she seems to be getting results.

The prevailing view is that autism is incurable, but a 36 year-old Sichuan native named He Xiaoyan claims she can do it, reports the Chongqing Commercial Report.

He operates the Leyi Amalgamated Kindergarten in Geleshan County. Throughout the past ten years, the school has taken in 960 children, some of which are autistic. He says she has “cured” ten of them.

He uses forceful and violent methods to treat these children using what she calls “hate therapy”. She uses a simple idiom to describe the treatment: ”If violence is used by the child, then violence will be returned on the child.”

As difficult as this is for parents to accept in the beginning, they usually come around to it. Here are a few cases of autistic children and the treatment they received:

  1. Four year-old Xiaoxiao was prone to biting, both herself and other people including students and teachers. To remedy this, teachers first tried slapping Xiaoxiao’s hand. When that didn’t work, He purposely provoked Xiaoxiao in order to incite her to bite. When Xiaoxiao bit someone, she was bit herself, sometimes even by He. Xiaoxiao was told, “Whether you bite yourself or others, it will hurt.” Half a year later, Xiaoxiao stopped biting people.
  2. Five year-old Tongtong was prone to falling on the floor whenever he was angry, thereby hitting his head and causing it to bleed. To treat Tongtong, He wrapped up Tongtong’s head in protective material and allowed him to repeatedly fall on the ground. This way, He allowed Tongtong to hurt himself, but not harm himself. Also, because Tongtong was afraid of heights, He suspended him from a tree a meter off the ground as part of his therapy. After screaming for three minutes, Tongtong was let down. A month later, Tongtong’s behavior changed.
  3. Six year-old Feifei was prone to running into walls. If there was no one to prevent him from doing so, Feifei continues to run into walls until he was bloody. He treated this case by provoking the child to run into a wall in the presence of a parent. He then took the child’s head, and rammed it into the wall with the parent watching. Next, He asked for the parent to comply, but they refused, causing the parent to further cry in front of the child. After two months, Feifei’s behavior changed.
  4. Six year-old Liangliang loved playing with water to the extent that he would get his entire body wet. He took Liangliang to a pool where he immediately jumped in. As part of his therapy, He took Liangliang by the head, went to the deepest part of the water, and held his nose and mouth underwater for an extended period of time, twice. Later, if Liangliang was seen playing with water at the kindergarten, he was pelted with water from head to toe. A year later, Liangliang changed his ways.
  5. Five year-old Shuaishuai was prone to throwing things around. At first, striking Shuaishuai’s hand with a chopstick proved to be useless. Then, He devised a treatment: Shuaishuai was given a ball and allowed to to throw around. Later, when Shuaishuai reached out for the ball, He hit his hand. Shuaishuai then changed his behavior so that he only threw objects when no one was watching. At this point, He would hide and jump out whenever Shuaihshuai was about to throw anything. Six months later, Shuaishuai stopped throwing things altogether.

He Xiaoyan graduated in 2003 from Serious Medical Clinical Pediatrics. She also qualified as national second-tiered psychological consultant in 2012. In 2013, she received her PhD in teacher management studies from Beijing Normal University.

Credentials aside, He addresses the controversy against her treatment of autism in this interview:

Reporter: When undergoing your “violent” educational practices, have parents criticized your techniques?
He Xiaoyan: (laughs) Each time I’m about to employ a technique, I always notify the parents to ask if they have any suggestions. If they agree with me, I will execute the procedure. If they have any worries, I will not do it.

Reporter: Through your procedures, will the children suffer any harm?
He Xiaoyan: At the present time, there is no clear drug available that will cure children with autism. I am a doctor as well as a national second-tiered psychological consultant; one must have a firm grasp, not too hard and not too light, in order to apply the principles of these special education techniques. “Hate therapy” must be an organic synthesis of medicine and psychology which must be focused and creative in its application.

Reporter: Whenever you “get angry” and you hear a child cry afterwards, what is your feeling?
He Xiaoyan: Cruel, just mercilessly cruel. But, the goal is to cure them.

Reporter: How do you deal with all the criticism?
He Xiaoyan: So long as I have the parents’ approval, I will implement these procedures. They are the source of all my actions. I feel that by doing this I can save the children, save the family unit, and even the entire extended family.

autism therapy chongqing he xiaoyan hate therapy autistic children cureOne such child that has been successfully “cured” of autism is nine year-old Chunchun. Chunchun is currently enrolled in third grade at a regular school and was able to answer all of the reporter’s questions, even if she was a little shy.

Chunchun was rated on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) at 16, in which a rating of 30 is judged to be autistic. Chunchun was also judged to have an IQ of 40.

Though details of Chunchun’s treatment weren’t revealed, he is said to have progressed so far at the school that he was able to sing the songs The Agreement of the Rainbow and Only Mother is Good in This World as well as perform the Cow Dance at the kindergarten graduation ceremony.

Because of successful cases like Chunchun’s, He has the support of her patients’ parents. Over 90% of the parents approve of  He’s procedures even though they consider them to be “cruel”. The parents believe as long as the child is cured, any method to achieve it is acceptable.

A Chengdu parent said:

When a child is afflicted with autism, it’s the whole family that must bear the pain. By sending the child here, there’s a hope that Miss He will be able to cure the child.

autism therapy chongqing he xiaoyan hate therapy autistic children cureMr Liu of Dadukou, Chongqing, had once gone to the kindergarten only to see his child’s condition flare up. That’s when he saw Miss He take the child’s head and ram it into the wall. Regarding the incident, Liu said:

As I watched, tears flooded my face and my heart felt wrenched out of my body. However, Miss He used the proper amount of force and didn’t allow my child to come to any harm.

Liu supports He to do the necessary job at hand. Liu said:

If it happens at home, we wouldn’t be able to act (like Miss He does against our child).

He has been rehabilitating autistic children with her “hate treatment” for some time now, and it looks like she will continue to do so as expert opinion remains divided upon the proper way to deal with autism.

Mei Qixia, Deputy director of the Chongqing Pediatric Growth and Development, supports He Xiaoyan and encourages “brave and creative” responses:

In regards to autistic children, if medicine will adversely affect the outcome of treatment, a normal way is to adopt training as the main method. Drugs can still be used to complement treatment during the procedure. After undergoing “special training”, the IQ and speech ability of some children can be recovered to the level by which some of them will be able to read normally. Speaking from a medical perspective, the methods of “violent” teaching can attempt or even encourage bravery or innovation. However, specific needs must be determined for each situation. They must be individualized and not treated the same way.

autism therapy chongqing he xiaoyan hate therapy autistic children cureTaking the contrary opinion is Dr Zhang Zhongming, Secretary-General of the Psychological Teaching and Work Committee of the National Psychological Association. Zhang stresses caution and calls for more research:

The causes of autism are not clear and I am against this type of “violent” rehabilitation. Through this training, the child can easily incur more hurt and harm, and does not bring about an easy application. Even though some cases have gotten good results, but we must first research the evidence.

With so much controversy surrounding her, we are reminded as to why He Xiaoyan opened a school to treat autistic children in the first place:

After seeing parents with tears running down their faces and a helpless expression, I made my decision.

Photos: Chongqing Commercial Report

Haohao

Six Dead as Tour Bus Flips in Chongqing

Posted: 07/6/2014 10:11 pm

chongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accident[Warning: this post contains graphic images which may upset some readers]

Six people died when a sightseeing bus overturned in the mountains of Chongqing. A total of 36 people were injured in the incident, with five in serious condition.

RELATED: Arson Suspected in Hangzhou Bus Fire

The accident at 6:35pm on July 5th in Fuling, on the outskirts of Chongqing. The bus was coming down from Xiannu Mountain and heading towards the city. The bus was traveling so fast that when it flipped, it slid on its roof for another 200 meters.

chongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accident

The bus involved in the incident belongs to the Chongqing New World Public Transportation Company, but it was rented to the Chongqing Beautiful Journey Trip Company. It was carrying 51 people when it overturned.

chongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accidentchongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accidentchongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accidentchongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accidentchongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accidentchongqing bus overturns tourist traffic accident

Photos: People’s Daily (2),

Haohao

Shenzhen Good Samaritan Law inspiring some, but not all, to do good

Posted: 08/2/2013 11:00 am

The little girl in Guangzhou, image courtesy of Shanghaiist

Yesterday (August 1) was a big day for this country as its first Good Samaritan law was passed in Shenzhen. Even though the law only applies in that particular city, one must look for signs from around the nation as to whether altruistic behaviour is becoming more common and whether it still needs to be enforced.

Shanghaiist reported yesterday the heartwarming story of a little girl in Guangzhou who came to the rescue of a street cleaner who had fainted due to the heat:

A female street cleaner fainted on Huancun road on Wednesday due to the sweltering heat. Many passersby ignored the unconscious woman until a small girl, walking by with her mother, insisting on stopping and shielding the woman from the sun with their umbrella until help could arrive.

A man surnamed Fok told reporters that once he heard the little girl shout “Mum, quick, help her!”, he was shamed into doing so himself. He and several of his colleagues carried the woman into some shade while another passerby telephoned for an ambulance.

And a story from Nanfang Daily about a bus driver who came to the rescue of a nearby car crash victim showed that it’s not only those who are too young to be versed in the ways of the world who dare to be Good Samaritans.

The paper reported yesterday that the driver, Mr. He, stopped the bus on Kaifa Road in Huangpu District after seeing a motorcyclists trapped under a car after a collision. He explained to the passengers what was going on, parked the vehicle and helped rescue the motorcyclist.

But as always, there was at least one particularly disturbing story.

Guangzhou Daily reported on its microblog that a man in his 70s collapsed on Walking Street in Chongqing. One young person tried to go up to help, but he was talked out of it by members of his family, according to an eyewitness account.

The old man’s corpse in Chongqing, image courtesy of Tianya

The elderly man was dead by the time paramedics were called to the scene.

Haohao

Back to the daily grind, we tell you what you missed

Posted: 10/7/2012 8:45 am

The last of China’s great weeklong holidays is done for this year, and we hope you celebrated in style. We’ve got a roundup of a few noteworthy events from the past week in the PRD, leading off with a story from Hong Kong that made international headlines.

Mainland and Hong Kong give conflicting accounts of rescue operation
China’s central government ordered Guangdong Province to send four salvage vessels to help after the Lamma Island ferry collision that killed 38 on the night of Oct. 1, according to CCTV.

However, accounts differ as to what extent mainland China contributed to the rescue operation.

At approximately 20:20, the Sea Smooth, a vessel that was taking power plant workers and their families to see a firework display, crashed into the Lamma IV on the port side. 38 people perished.

Hong Kong authorities were vexed by a claim made by China News Service that ships from the mainland helped rescue 95 people, saying that the ships were never used, according to Global Post.

Hong Kong Satellite TV slammed the agency for lacking “basic professionalism.” It seems that relations between Hong Kong and the Mainland are only going one way.

Fight over iPad causes miscarriage
A couple attacked a woman, causing her to have a miscarriage, after claiming to have lost their iPad in their store, according to Shanghaiist.

After the couple exited a toiletry shop owned by the woman, Miss Liu, around 3 p.m. October 2, they noticed their white iPad was missing. After a frantic search they took their anger out on Liu, including giving her a kick to the stomach.

It was later decided that a medically induced miscarriage was necessary and the couple was detained.

This proves once and for all that Apple products don’t so much have owners as host bodies.

Foshan Airport opens up four new journeys
Foshan Airport will open up new routes to Chongqing, Xi’an, Shantou and Zhanjiang, as well as an extra journey to Beijing starting Oct. 10, according to Nanfang Daily.

The planes used will be Boeing 737-800 and will have 163 seats.

Tickets to Chongqing will cost 1180 yuan, tickets to Xi’an will cost 1490 yuan, tickets to Kanjiang will cost 1070 yuan and tickets to Shantou will cost 970 yuan, according to the paper. The relative competitiveness of the prices may be down to the new railway lines we told you about.

Despite higher ticket prices, airlines do have one obvious advantage over high speed rail. The flights to Beijing Nanyuan will take 2 hours 30 mins, to Kanjiang will take 1 hour, to Shantou will take 1 hour, to Chongqing will take 2 hours 20 mins, and to Xi’an will take 2 hours 35 mins, according to the airport.

Unmarried woman sells her son for 50,000 RMB
A 21 year-old woman named Xiao Juan has sold her son for 50,000 RMB in Guangzhou, according to Nanfang Daily.

Xiao Juan, who is originally from Guangxi, was struggling financially after living in Guangzhou for four years. She decided to sell her son, who was born out of wedlock this year. After selling the baby to a couple in Foshan’s Xiqiao Subdistrict, the couple went missing before paying the whole sum.

Xiao Juan reported the couple to police on Sept. 24, and three were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. Xiao Juan will also face charges. This all reminds one of the phrase, “there are no heroes, only different shades of villain.”

Chinese-language contest for expats
Shenzhen Daily will host the third annual Shenzhen Expats Chinese Talent Competition in November. Applicants must be expats who live in the PRD and be at least 6 years old.

The competition, expected to be held at Shenzhen’s Futian Shangri-la, consists of two parts. The first part will involve a five-minute speech on a given topic, and the second part will involve a performance such as a Chinese song, poetry recital or stand-up comedy.

If you think you can mix it with the best, then apply before Oct. 26. You can print off a copy of the application form here.

Family of three drops to death from 12th-story window
A family of three fell to its death in Guangzhou on Sept. 27, a story found by The Nanfang’s Katei Wang here.

The corpses of the couple, 57 and 58 years old, and their daughter, 22, were found on the third floor of the Zhonghai Lanwan residential community in the city’s Panyu District the following day.

It was later discovered that the family was in considerable debt and this may have driven them to suicide.

Haohao

Dongguan man: ‘My kidney was stolen, I think’

Posted: 03/1/2012 8:27 am

No, you read that right. A man in Dongguan, identified by Southern Daily only as Shu, woke up last Thursday absent his left kidney. He got himself to a hospital, where he told doctors that it had been stolen, but the details of how and why, at the time, escaped him.

The newspaper visited Shu at Dongguan’s Machong Hospital the following day. No relatives or friends with him, Shu groaned with pain as he told police what he did remember. After arriving in Dongguan from Chongqing on February 15, Shu said his plan was to settle down first by renting a place to stay and then to find a job. As for what happened between February 19 and 23, when he checked himself into the hospital, Shu says he only remembers waking up with a pain in his abdomen.

Doctors confirmed that Shu’s left kidney was gone, but were surprised to find the removal had been done professionally and with care, with the incision stitched up properly. Shu’s refusal to call the police at the hospital’s insistence, however, led to their suspicions, shared also by police when Shu conveniently mentioned that he had also come into the possession of 20,000 RMB, the origins of which he could also not explain. Police began an investigation.

Over at China Daily, however, it was reported yesterday that Shu has since admitted to making the whole thing up: there was no memory loss, he sold his kidney to get the money, and

Most of those involved in the case have been captured, police said.

Cover photo from China Daily

Haohao

Canadian Prime Minister coming to Guangzhou next week

Posted: 02/2/2012 2:07 pm

The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, will be making one of his rare visits to China next week when he touches down in Beijing on February 9.

Harper has had rocky relations with the People’s Republic.  He has been known for publicly criticizing China’s human rights record and meeting with the Dalai Lama.  In fact, he didn’t visit China until a full three years after he became Prime Minister, and was berated for it by both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.  Nonetheless, with minimal growth potential in the US, Canada has realized it needs to look elsewhere for customers.

Harper will first stop in Beijing before flying down to Guangzhou on February 10.  According to sources, Harper will speak at the Canada-China Business Dinner in the capital of Guangdong, an event sponsored by the Canadian chambers of commerce in Shanghai and Hong Kong.  It appears to be his first ever visit to the Pearl River Delta (not including Hong Kong).

While full details of his visit haven’t been released by the Canadian Embassy as yet, it’s expected he will depart Guangzhou for Chongqing, where he is expected to finalize an agreement to bring a pair of pandas back to Canada.

 

Haohao

China neuters the Net Nanny…. in Chongqing

Posted: 06/25/2011 2:00 am

News this week that China has – finally – lowered the Great Firewall and permitted unrestricted access to the interwebs was greeted by cheers from China’s Internet glitterati — even if it is only in Chongqing.

Rock star and Baidu manager Kaiser Kuo greeted the news by tweeting: “Hells yeah, let’s all move to Chongqing!” (As if they need more people).

Many, many others shared in Kaiser’s enthusiasm, though, including me. When friends fly back to Europe or North America from China, one of the first things they notice is just how fast and responsive the “real” Internet is. We’ve become accustomed to no Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and others unless we have a VPN, which is often painfully slow.

So the experiment in Chongqing is a good sign. The government is setting up what’s called a Cloud Computing Special Zone which will offer unfettered and unrestricted access to the Internet. Several companies have already signed up to do business in the zone; they will mostly provide offshore data services. Details from the Global Times:

One factor that helped gain approval for Chongqing’s cloud special zone is that the Liangjiang New Area is important to the development of western China.

The Chongqing government also agreed to meet several requirements, such as data services for clients within China still under government administration, and relevant departments having the authority to carry out sample inspections on the data in the special zone, the report said.

Cao Yujie, consultant director of CCW Research, an IT market research and consulting agency in Beijing, told the Global Times that the cloud computing business is in its early stages worldwide, adding that there is great potential for its development.

“A special optical cable directly connected to the outside Internet is not necessary to run a cloud zone, but its installation in Chongqing could be attributed to demands of foreign companies as some websites are blocked in China,” Cao said.

China neutering the Net Nanny, even if just in Chongqing, is proof that money really does trump ideology.

Haohao
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