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Cool Down With Nine New Water Parks in Guangzhou

Posted: 06/12/2014 10:50 am

Those suffering from the stifling heat in Guangzhou will be able to find relief after nine new water parks and six beach swim facilities open in 2016, the city announced on its official Weibo account.

The nine new water parks include the second stage of the Haizhu District water park, Zhihui City East Central water park in Tianhe District, the Changzhou water park in Huangpu District, and the Zengcheng water park. The new water parks will cover 10 square kilometers.

The Longtou Lake beach swim center is one of six such facilities planned for Guangzhou. Construction has already begun on the Pazhou Bay beach swim facility and the Western swim center.

In addition to these projects, the city will build eight new city reservoirs including Tianhe Zhihui East Lake, Liwang Wanhua Lake, and Phoenix Lake.

Photo: Sohu

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Shenzhen’s New Metro Line 11 To Be Longer Than First Planned

Posted: 06/11/2014 4:33 pm

subway workersThe Shenzhen City Railway Office announced that the future Shenzhen Metro Line 11 will be even longer than first planned, reports Southern Metropolis Report.

Line 11 will now be extended eastwards along Shenzhen South Boulevard to the Shanghai Hotel region. Upon completion, another public assessment will be made. If deemed suitable, Line 11 will then be extended further over to Luohu District.

Line 11 was originally planned as an express line from downtown Shenzhen to Airport Xinhang Station within a span of 40 minutes. It currently has a planned route 51 km long, consisting of 17 stations, and will reach an operating speed of 100 km/h.

RELATED: Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou to Share Extended Subway Network 

The City of Guangzhou recently announced the construction of a new subway line that will connect Guangzhou South Railway Station with the Guangzhou Airport and allow commuters to cover that distance in 35 minutes.

These maps are now out of date, but they provide some scope of what the Shenzhen Metro may look like in the future. Here’s Line 11:

shenzhen line 11

And here’s an old map from 2012 that shows us what Lines 7, 9 and 11 will look like in 2016:

shenzhen metro line future map

Related:

Photo: Baidu, whtsgc, Shenzhen Daily

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Goodbye, Ludan Village: Shenzhen Residences Demolished

Posted: 05/30/2014 5:30 pm

ludan village demolition chaiqian

Goodbye, Ludan Village. You were just 14 years old.

Hello, New Ludan Village. You’ll be receiving new residents just three years from now.

Yes, the long-awaited time has come, and today marks the last day before demolition begins on the old Ludan Village in order to make way for New Ludan Village. Now deserted, Ludan Village, Shenzhen will be rebuilt as 56 original high-rise residences, each towering at 120 meters tall.

With this gallery we’ll take a look at Ludan Village before it is no more. Meanwhile, of the 1,002 families that must relocate from their homes, 938 signed an agreement that transferred their residences over so far.

Well, for now, we’ll have our memories.

ludan village demolition chaiqian ludan village demolition chaiqianludan village demolition chaiqianludan village demolition chaiqianludan village demolition chaiqianludan village demolition chaiqianPhotos: QQ, Weibo, People’s Daily Online, TeTimes, Sofun, Jingme, CCWQTV

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HK-GZ High-Speed Railway Hit With More Delays, Won’t Commence Until 2016

Posted: 05/16/2014 12:58 pm

Once you take off all the red tape from the packaging, it’s sure to go really fast.

An independent panel has been convened to examine the delay to the Hong Kong construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, said Acting Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in a report from the Standard.

The announcement was made after legal arbitration was raised as a possibility to settle the disagreement over whom should pay for extra construction costs between the local government and MTR Corp, the developer of the Hong Hong-based section of the high-speed railway.

An announced delay to the completion of the project moved back the opening schedule to 2016 due to unforeseen complications. As such, MTR Corp put the new cost of the railway at HK$68.4 billion, $3.4 billion more than originally estimated.

Though the Hong Kong government had sent a letter stating they did not intend to cover this additional cost, MTR Corp cited a 2010 entrustment agreement whereby the government will fully reimburse contractors and consultants. However, in the event of a “material increase”, both sides are to negotiate the difference in the project management fee.

So yes, a potential legal delay caused by a construction delay may be solved with this independent panel, which won’t issue a report until November. Until then, there’s always the option of walking, or just staying put.

Photo: Gov.cn

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Accident Leaves Guangzhou Man with Wire Pierced Through Brain

Posted: 05/16/2014 11:34 am

brain pierce wire eye guangzhouA Guangzhou man is lucky to be alive after a wire pierced his right eye and embedded itself deep into his brain during a construction accident, reports the Yangcheng Evening News.

Ah Wei (a pseudonym), 22 years-old, had fallen from a ladder while trying to construct a canvas rain shack in Pingshan village in Huadu District, Guangzhou on May 14.

After falling, Ah Wei continued to lay face down on the floor for three to four minutes before finally saying, “It’s no problem, I just need to rest a bit, and I’ll be fine.” It was only when his cousin Ah Hui turned Ah Wei over did he see how serious the situation was, and he notified emergency services right away.

At the hospital, it was determined that the wire had passed through the optic nerve, the eye muscle nerve, the passage to the brain stem, and the edge of brain stem before finally stopping at the back of the skull.

A five-hour operation successfully removed 18.5 cm of wire from Ah Wei’s head.

Wu Taihua, neurologist at the Guangdong Three Nine Neurology Hospital, said that Ah Wei is somewhat lucky (to put it mildly):

The welding filament missed a major vein by two millimeters, and an artery by 5 millimeters…if any one of these blood vessels were damaged, the victim would be dead at the scene.

The patient is currently in stable condition, and is conscious and lucid. At the present, Ah Wei has mobility to the right side of his body. He seems to have trouble remembering the incident, but it’s at the back of his head.brain pierce guangzhou eyebrain pierce guangzhou eye

Photos: Yangcheng Evening News

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Guangzhou to Tax Construction Sites emitting too much dust

Posted: 04/18/2014 7:45 am

Taxing heavy polluters and coal-fired plants are common solutions to tackling China’s worsening air quality. Guangzhou, however, has opted to focus on a more unusual pollutant – flying dust.

Guangzhou Daily reported on April 17 that the city plans to levy a tax for excessive dust stirred up at construction sites. The policy will be introduced this August as part of Guangdong Province’s new fiscal measures to curb PM 2.5 emissions. The province vowed to lower its annual PM 2.5 concentration 15% by 2017.

Dust particles have become the latest subjects of taxation following research which demonstrated that they constitute 21% of the city’s total PM 2.5 emissions. Dust is a type of particulate matter, and when these particulates measure 2.5 micron or less, they are classified as PM 2.5.

RELATED: Expert says people in Guangzhou already have black lungs

PM 2.5 particulates are small enough to enter the lungs or bloodstream of humans and cause health damage including lung cancer, the leading cause of death in Guangzhou.

In December last year, Guangzhou had 792 ongoing construction projects, and 8 of them were singled out by the city’s environmental protection department for causing flying dust pollution and discharging excessive amounts of dust, the report said.

Compared with a RMB 8500 ($1,370) fine for these infractions, the environmental protection department believed the financial punishment was too lenient. The city has yet to finalize a set of standards for the fines, but according to the report, it will be based on the construction site’s size, its operational period and protection measures taken by its development company.

RELATED: China’s Pollution Wreaking Havoc on International Weather Patterns

The department said that any construction site measuring larger than 100,000 square meters should install CCTV cameras to monitor the amount of dust discharged and increase the frequency of spray surrounding roads with water to avoid raising dust.

Several construction sites will be selected to test out the results by August. If successful, the policy will be more broadly implemented by 2016.

READ MORE:
Cantonese Speakers the Most Susceptible to Nose and Throat Cancer: Report
Smog? What Smog? Guangzhou Expert Says it’s All Fog… Really
Dusty, Grimy Smog Blankets the Pearl River Delta 

Home page: Dongchu Evening Post 

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Hong Kong-Guangzhou High-Speed Rail Delayed Until 2016

Posted: 04/16/2014 2:38 pm

The Hong Kong-Guangzhou high-speed railway hit a snag recently when Hong Kong Transport Secretary Anthony Cheung Bing-leung announced delays would force the high-profile project to delay completion until 2015 and not be in operation until the year after, the SCMP reported.

Cheung revealed that he was “totally caught by surprise” when he learned of complications that arose from the rain storm last month and geological difficulties incurred at the digging site. This construction delay could end up costing Hong Kong taxpayers millions of dollars, although Cheung didn’t speculate on an amount.

With the project first scheduled to be completed next year and now very much behind schedule, Hong Kong’s elected officials blasted Cheung for the delays.

Michael Tien Puk-sun of the New People’s Party criticized Cheung for being irresponsible and told the SCMP, “Last year, he told us it was OK but now he expresses surprise. That means he did not cross check what the MTR Corp told him.”

Wu Chi-wai criticized Cheung for gross negligence: “I was surprised that he expressed surprise. As the principal official in charge of transport it is his job to monitor the MTR to ensure the project is delivered on time.”

Maybe there’s something about sitting in a freezing air-conditioned room all day that makes you burn with anger, but Hong Kongers should know that there’s an easier way — the Mainland way.

While the Chinese press has reported the news of the construction delay without the criticisms, they have gone one step further today by commemorating the reopening of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong railway. Yes, it’s time to acknowledge the benefits of the railways system that we have, and not the ones that don’t exist. At 35 years-old, this railway system has provided such valuable service despite not being any older than the “classic rock” music genre.

Who needs to arrive at their destination in under an hour when you can do it in under two-and-a-half hours? On a train that’s actually running? You’ve come a long way, baby!

No need to fret. Relax, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Photo: SCMP

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Guangzhou to Construct 12 New Subway Lines by 2016

Posted: 04/9/2014 11:42 am

You’ll be making your morning commute from the exotic locales of Guangzhou’s far-flung suburbs and satellite cities in the near future. PRC National Development and Reform Commission have announced that 203.9 billion yuan will be invested towards the construction of 19 transportation lines, Guangzhou Daily reported. Of these, 12 will be new subway lines or extensions of subway lines, and are to be completed by 2016

This new transportation infrastructure will lay a total 416.33 km of new track. Of note will be the implementation of a new electric trolley circuit that will connect Haizhu District, Guiguangtie Road, and Nanguangtie Road. Construction on this trolley circuit will begin building this year.

The 12 subway lines to be completed by 2016 will include the following. Check to see if these include your neighborhood:

  • Line 6 Phase Two (Changban–Xiangxue)
  • Line 7 Phase One (Guangzhou South Station–University City South)
  • Line 16 (Fenghuang Xincheng to Wenhua Park)
  • Line 9 Phase One (Fei’e Ling–Gaozeng)
  • Inter-continental Guangzhou–Foshan line (the Guangzhou portion from Xilang–Lijiao)
  • Line 4 South Extension (Jinzhou–Nansha Passenger Port)
  • Line 8 North Extension (Wenhua Park–Baiyun Lake)
  • Line 13 First Stage (Yuzhu–Xiangjingling)
  • Inter-provincial Dongguan–Shenzhen line from Xintang–Hongmei (Guangzhou portion)
  • Line 14 Phase One (Jiahewanggang–Jiekou)
  • Line 14 Subsidary Zhishi City Branch (Xinhe–Zhenlong)
  • Line 21 (Tianhe Park–Zengcheng Plaza)

Three more lines to be added in 2017, and the Inter-provincial Dongguan–Shenzhen line from Baiyun Airport–Guangzhou North Station to be completed in 2018.

Finally, there will now be more places to play with your phone and ignore your fellow commuters.

Photo: GZDaily

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In trying to clean up the environment, Guangdong cracks down

Posted: 09/27/2013 11:00 am

In recent years, policymakers in China have moved beyond the single-minded pursuit of GDP to tackle other key issues such as the environment.

According to Live Science, the country’s top six environmental concerns are air pollution, water pollution, desertification, biodiversity, cancer villages and population growth. Policies introduced to tackle these problems include the introduction of Green GDP and reducing the annual growth target to ease the pressure on the environment.

Another approach has been to target officials who have violated environmental laws. In the first 8 months of this year Guangdong Province probed 440 officials on this basis, more than three times the total of previous years.

China Daily has more:

Lu Yingming, then the director-general of the Guangdong Land and Natural Resources Department, was removed from his post and detained in April after he was investigated for illegally approving sand excavation in the Pearl River, destroying and damaging the ecology and environment along riverbanks and in the riverbeds.

Lu was investigated on suspicion of accepting bribes of more than 20 million yuan ($3.27 million) from local river-sand traders.

“Lu will soon be transferred to the judicial department for prosecution,” Zhang said.

Lu was deputy director-general of the Guangdong Water Conservancy Department and was in charge of river-sand excavation before he took office in the Land and Natural Resources Department in March.

The officials under investigation come from industries such as sewage treatment, forestry, gardening, garbage disposal, construction, land and natural resources.

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Hotel in Guangzhou collapses, thirty-five homes nearby evacuated

Posted: 04/15/2013 3:47 pm

Thirty-five homes were evacuated in Guangzhou’s Huadu District late on the night of April 12 after the interior of a nearby hotel collapsed, Sina News reports. Apart from one member of staff who stepped on some broken glass while escaping, remarkably nobody was injured.

The 96 people who have had to leave their homes were put up in the nearby Huilong Hotel. Traffic police closed Yunshan Avenue for several hours on April 13 and the hotel was demolished that afternoon.

The cause of the collapse is being investigated, but it is thought to have been shoddy building work. Residents had been complaining about how noisy the hotel’s construction  had been.

But most importantly, nobody was killed, unlike in the sinkhole incident in Shenzhen last month.

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