All everyone cares to know about APEC '14

APEC is an abbreviation of Asia-Pacific Economic Conference. The 2014 summit will take place in Beijing in a few days from today to Nov 12, 2014.

The Seagull gathers the most authoritative list of all everyday person cares to know about this conference. In order to present a neat and ordered city, residents and travellers are advised following policy changes:

• Transportation:

  Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin and Shandong implement traffic control. Vehicles are allowed on the road according to their license plate numbers. Air travel will be delayed at major airports. Subway will skip certain stations, and limit capacity by deploying manned entrant doors. Vehicles with out-of-town licence plates will not be allowed into Beijing. Mail delivery to Beijing will be partially suspended, started Oct 20th, 2014.

  

  The first APEC casualty was a 33 year-old girl who was pinned in between the security gate and the carriage door at the Huixinxijienankou (South Side of West Huixin Ave) of Line 5 in the evening rush hours of Nov 6. Because the subway system was running under human overwrite mode to handle unusually high volume of passengers driven by traffic control on the ground, automatic safety measures did not kick in when the passenger was stuck between two doors.

  While enjoying the clear deep blue sky, the most beautiful autumn color of Beijing, foreign visitors should bear in their mind that the sacrifice Chinese people made for this damn conference. Remember to wash your hands before heading home, because they had been stained with blood.

  The girl's name is Xiaomei Pan.

  Beijing residents are advised not to open their street-facing windows. The notice warned them, otherwise they risk being mistakenly shot by snipers of the security forces from 'multiple countries'.

  A fleet of Hongqi (Red-flag L6) with $1 million unit cost is deployed to transfer conference attendees.

• Eat:

  Beijing will halt milk delivery, close restaurants and food stores in certain areas.

  The conference center guarantee the last dish to the furthest table will be delivered within 4 minutes and 35 seconds after it was taken out of the wok.

• Living:

  Beijing and Tianjin will postpone centralized heating by 15 days despite cold weather.

• Life:

  Beijing will entertain dinners for the conference goers with extravagant fireworks in the middle of the city. Tianjin, on the opposite, will prohibit fireworks throughout the city.

• Death:

  Funeral homes in Beijing will not be allowed to cremate closeth of the deceased.

  

  The centralized appointment making service for all hospitals in Beijing will be shut down to discourage patients seeking medical help during the conference period. Hospitals will not treat outpatients unless its emergency. Among all the bizarre, this one is in particular hard to digest. Pictures on the right is the official 'holiday' schedule of Xuanwu Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Beijing.

• Industrial:

  Factories in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shangdao, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi were ordered to adjust or suspend production in the duration of the conference.

• Work:

  The entire city of Beijing received a one week vacation time from Nov 7 to Nov 12. Residents are encouraged to travel to other places to leave an orderly city to the visitors.

• Cultural:

  A book "Xi Jinping Talks on Ruling a Country" in multiple languages was published and provided at the Press Center.

• Architecture

  A $1 billion conference center was constructed specifically for this conference. Hundreds of small shops in adjacent areas were converted to tourism shops.

The Great Leader Chairman Mao ignited Chinese people's aspiration with a famous saying, 'Man will conquer nature'. Apparently Beijing has accomplished just that, in terms of air quality and pollution control. By all means, this APEC 2014 is poised to surpass the Olympic 1936 as the most magnificent show of power in modern mankind history. After all, Socialists in Germany did not command the weather. Xi Jinping in China did.

Heil, Chairman Xi!

English Learning Downgraded in China

The Beijing government just announced a plan to downgrade English learning for Chinese students. English test which used to be a 150 points component of the College Entrance Examination is downgraded to 100 points. Also, English testing is moved out of the National College Entrance Examination. Students can take English tests at local test centers multiple times a year and submit their highest test grade to be used as their English score for college entrance consideration.

Because the entire Chinese education system is fully geared towards the once a year National College Entrance Examination, this change essentially discourage students to spend as much time in English as before.

The move has legitimate rationale: most college graduates in China do not need English in their work. Studying English is a waste of time, which can be better used in learning other more useful skills.

Critics are concerned that the change may further hinder Chinese's capability to communicate with the outside world, which is blocked by the Great Firewall. The next generation Chinese will rely more on Chinese edition of knowledge and facts, which is often subject to surveillance, censorship and propaganda. It is considered more troublesome for kids from poor families, as those from well-off families will learn English no matter what.

The Scariest Scene

Journalist turned writer Li Chengpeng held a book signing event on Sunday in Beijing to promote his new essay collection 'Everyone in the World Knows'. This was the second leg of his campaign for the new book. Last week in Chengdu, he was told not to say a word during the entire process. He was even denied to say 'Good morning' at the beginning of the event. He also was not allowed to say 'thank you' to his readers. That was a scary scene.

In his book, he pointed out absurdities in some seemingly normal every life. It encourages readers to reflect on simple facts, and tell right from wrong. It is not political, not even toughing any ongoing events. However, it tries to bring out people's own judgement and feeling, independent from politics.

Readers lined up for 3 hours to get book signed. It is a very cold winter day, single digit in Fahrenheit. It is also a 'crazy bad' smog day, with PM10 number shooting 1,000.

Half way through, one Maoist punched Li when he was signing for a reader, then disappeared. There were dozens of uniformed police and security at the scene to monitor Li and intimidate readers. Police did not do anything to stop the attack or the attacker. It was a scary scene.

Towards the end, another Maoist threw a chef's knife at Li. The knife barely missed Li. This time, the attacker was subdued by readers, and handed over to police. The attacker was let go by the police, no charge was filed. It was a scary scene.

However, the most scariest scene of all, was that over 1,000 readers showed up in that police trap, in a prohibitive cold and polluted day to support Li, with over 7,000 book signed. Frankly, it's not that a great writing, or even not some great subjects to be read. There was nothing really intriguing, provoking, or even any where sensational. Li himself is a soft-spoken thinker advocating for evolution rather than revolution. Li campaigned for a lower level delegate two years ago. However, when the Party passed a message of disapproval, he immediately abolished his campaign. Over 1,000 readers showed up in defiance, despite police harassment and harsh weather, only because Li was perceived to be a person with value. Over one thousand ordinary people waited more than three hours outdoor to support a fairly moderate writer, just because it was 'a different voice'. It's a vivid testimony on how hard people's resentment has been looking for a vent.

That, is the most scariest scene.

The Beginning of Aftershocks

One ordnance issued by the Central Propaganda department amid the Southern Weekend incident was demanding all news media to publish an editorial drafted by the official Global Times to denounce the rebellion as being manipulated by 'overseas enemy forces'. Most media complied, some reluctantly.

Some media did not bend over to the ordnance the first day. However, authorities issued a final notice, news media must either comply today, or be taken down.

Li Ning of New Capital Weibo-ed that he was awaken by phone calls from colleagues who were rushing to the newsroom in the middle of night to defend the newspaper as human shield. A vote was cast at the scene with unanimous support to refuse publishing the aforementioned article passed down from the Propaganda Department. However, authorities published the article by brute force. The publisher of the paper Mr. Dai Zigeng tendered his resignation in protest to Mr. Yan Liqiang, a Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department on Beijing. Chief Editor Mr. Wang Yuechun also offered his resignation in protest. It may sounds ironic, but in theory the Propaganda Department is the owner of all media in China.

According to New Capital Daily staff, the raid was ordered by the Director of Propaganda Department Mr. Liu Qibao, and was approved by Mr. Liu Yunshan, one of the seven standing committee of the Politburo, and carried out by Mr. Yan Liqiang on behalf of Mr. Lu Wei, Director of the Beijing Municipal Propaganda Department.

The New Capital Daily was specifically target partially because of its past. The paper was founded as a joint project between the Bright (Guangming) Group and the Southern Group in 2003. Because of Bright Group's national status, the paper had permit to cover stories outside of its registration city Beijing. Its first chief editor was jailed in 2004, and the successes chief editor along two associate chief editors were fired in 2005. In 2011, the paper was realigned under the Beijing municipal Propaganda Department and consequently lost national reporting permit.

There is a saying which had been passed down in generations among journalists in China. If you can't tell the truth, in the least you could shut your mouth instead of to lie. In China, they will make you lie one way or another; when necessary, they will lie on your behalf, and there is nothing you can do about that.

Tonight, the Propaganda Department made an even horrifying scene in many newsrooms across the nation by coercing them to publish the official article using physical forces. It made the triggering event itself a pat on the wrist. The move could not be justified by any practice reason or logistic necessity. It is nothing but a pointless and resentful show of force after Don Quixote having been crushed to pieces.

Update: Wall Street Journal Chinese has a detailed account on the night of sorrow by a New Capital reporter at the scene. The Journal inaccurately stated the New Capital was operated by the Southern Group.

Tianjin Becoming the World Capital of Internet Censorship

FT Nov 4: While Tianjin, the traditional financial center of northern China failed to attract any foreign financial institutions in the past few years, it had made progress in an unexpected direction and earned itself an uninspiring new role: The World Capital of Internet Censorship thanks to its low labor cost.

Despite technical advances, online censorship is still a labor intensive task. An examiner needs to make a decision to delete or keep a post in a matter of seconds, often a split of a second, considering the population and enthusiasm of Chinese netizens. A net cop's base salary is $650 in Beijing, $600 in southern city Shenzhen, and only $480 in Tianjin. Because of skyrocketing housing price in Beijing and Shenzhen, companies would have difficult to find qualified net cops even if they double or triple their current offering. Anything higher than that would be economically suicidal.

Weibo (Chinese knockoff of Twitter), Youku Tudou (Youtube knockoff) all had their censoring department moved from Beijing to Tianjin. More are joining the trend.

What Else One Can Not Do When the Sparta In Session

Under the tightened Internet censorship, 'Sparta' was used in place of 'the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China' because of its similarity in pronunciation.

We verified following activities had been prohibited in Beijing:
• Any cooking knives were removed from the shelf;
• RC airplanes buyer must register at toy stores;
• Taxis were ordered to steer away from important streets, back seats rollers were removed;
• Buses running on important streets were replaced with models without openable windows;
• All touring boats, except two ferries in the North-Sea Park and the three dragon boats in the Summer Palace Park, were ordered to stop operation;
• P.E. classes in schools were suspended;
• All construction sites suspended; all painting jobs banned;
• Pigeons must be contained in cages;
• The Annual Beijing International Marathon was canceled;

The expected one-a-decade power transition had been delayed due to the intricacies of handling the Bo Xilai case, triggered by the attempted defection of Bo's henchman Wang Lijun to the US General Consulates in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Gary Locke's Car Attacked in Beijing

According to UK's Telegraph, around 50 Chinese mob attacked Gary Locke's car right at the entrance to the US Embassy in Beijing. The car was damaged, but Locke was able to escape after Chinese guards intervened.

The attack took place under the backdrop of China's dispute with Japan over Diaoyu Islands. A State Department spokeswoman reaffirmed US's position that the islands were covered under Article V of the security treaty between US and Japan, a stance seen by China as bias. A few days earlier, the US Defense Secretary Panetta visited Japan on an unscheduled stop on his Asia trip, and announced deployment of one more anti-missile system. Although Panetta stressed that the system was targeting North Korea, the timing clearly was very sensitive in the height of the Sino-Japanese dispute. Panetta also is extending his China stop from 2 days to 4 days.

While evidences had surfaced that violent protests against Japan and Japanese interests in dozens of cities across China were led by official securities forces disguised as mobs, rumor has it that the attack on Locke was a job done by the same group of people. It's revealing to notice that anti-Japanese protests, which had caused damages of billions of dollars in dozens of cities, 'evaporated' all in a sudden without major police crack-down. And then it came the attack to US Ambassador.

In Rain, Beijing Government Compared to Japanese Occupation

Several days after a sudden thunder storm in Beijing, human casualty number remains a national secret. The deputy major of Beijing said the government would release the number 'at a proper time'.

Chinese people are comparing the handling of heavy rain by the communist government of Beijing to that by the Japanese occupation authority in 1939 in Tianjin, a neighboring port city 80 miles east on the coast of Bohai Bay.

Tianjin was the second largest city in China, and the manufacture, economic and financial center of the North. At the time, two years after the city fell to Japanese invasion, large part of the city was still under control of the western concessions, which were surrounded and blocked by Japanese army. When a historic flood attacked the city, the Japanese army worked with western authorities in the rescue effort. Commander General Masaharu Homma set up a commission with representatives from China, Japan, Great Britain and France. General Homma deployed IJA 27th Division to battled the flood. In addition, he ordered all hospitals to open to public without charge, all boats were expropriated for rescue mission. Gross root organizations were encouraged to help. A detailed report was released 7 days after the water receded.

On the night of July 21, 2012, unknown number of Beijing residents perished at their homes and in their cars. Mr. Ding Zhijian was driving home when his car was stuck in water under Guangqumen Overpass. Mr. Ding called his wife at 7:40pm, and ask her to get help because he couldn't reach the police hotline. In the next 20 minutes, with the last call registered at around 8:00pm, he would call his wife several more times because he couldn't open the door. Mr. Ding even broke his skull when trying to break the window. Mrs. Ding set out from their house at Ganluyuan, which is 5 miles to the east, rushed to the scene at around 8:30pm. She was stopped in traffic, and ran half of the course on foot, with a hammer she took from home to break the door window. Mr. Ding's co-works and colleagues from partner company also arrived.

At the time, police, fire fighters and military police were already lined up. Not surprisingly, because this was at the very center of Beijing only minutes from the Tiananmen Square, and it was a section of main road, the 2nd ring beltway. Beijing has a six ring beltway road system. However, despite Mr. Ding's repeatedly begging, officers and soldiers refused to do anything. They even refused to take a look. Some officers told Mr. Ding's wife, they would wait for senior officers and the TV station. Two hours later, after senior officers and TV crew arrived, they started the rescue and pulled Mr. Ding's car out. The video footage was aired as a propaganda message of how senior officials and military fight the flood.

Mr. Ding left behind his wife and a 3 years old daughter. At the funeral, it was overhead that Mrs. Ding was telling her daughter, father had become a star in the sky to look after you. The little girl then asked, 'with so many stars, how do I tell which one is Daddy?'

Ding might not have died if it were not his wife's complaint for his being late for home. On that day in the afternoon, Ding received a phone call from his boss for a business getting together with a partner company after work. Mrs. Ding was not happy and asked him not to go. Ding promised he would come home for dinner. When the meeting ended around 7:30pm, Ding insisted going home although a dinner had been arranged by the partner. 10 minutes later, when Ding reached Guangqumen overpass, there was already water on the road, but Ding decided to rush through, and failed.

It's impossible to imagine Mr. Ding's desperation when trying to break out from the black Hyundai Tucson. Mr. Ding told his wife he couldn't open the door because of the pressure from water. Some people also suggested the all electronic door locks might also have failed if the battery was short circuited by the water. If that was the case, then there was no way to open the door from inside.

While some people suggested going to the trunk for the lug wrench (to break the Window). This may not be easy either, on a company SUV. The opening of the spare tire compartment is towards the rear. The handler is hard to reach from front without part of your body blocking the the cover board from opening up.

It sounds surreal, but the story was first released by Mr. Ding's co-workers on Weibo, then confirmed by a newspaper investigative report.

Beijing Police Chief Fu Zhenghua quickly responded to criticism online. Mr. Fu told reporters anyone who criticizes the government or senior officials on the Internet would face severe punishment. Mr. Fu revealed that 5,007 individuals had been apprehended for improper postings online, 366 thousand posts had been deleted as of July 24. Fu announced the crackdown on online speech will carry on until August 31st.

Newspaper were ordered not to write about the rain. Southern Weekends was ordered to remove all 8 pages of coverage of flood coverage.

Most Polluted Cities in China

The 20 most polluted cities (PM10) in China in the first half of year 2011 are:

1. Lanzhou, Gansu
2. Urmqi, Xinjiang
3. Xi'an, Shannxi
4. Chifeng, Inner Mongolia
5. Hefi, Anhui
6. Yan'an, Shannxi
7. Xining, Qinghai
8. Beijing
9. Yangzhou, Jiangsu
10. Lianyungang, Jiangsu
11. Nanjing, Jiangsu
12. Jinan, Shandong
13. Chengdu, Sichuan
14. Harbin, Heilongjiang
15. Wenzhou, Zhejiang
16. Huzhou, Zhejiang
17. Jining, Shandong
18. Zhengzhou, Henan
19. Ningbo, Zhejiang
20. Yinchuan, Ningxia

As any numbers coming out of mainland China, the number should be swallowed with a grain of salt. Economically developed eastern provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang probably are more confident in releasing more realistic data; and cities within a same province are likely peer-pressured to fix its data to the positive direction.

PM10 is considered an old, obsoleted method of measuring air quality because it ignores small particles in the air, which are the major health concerns. However, the Chinese government did not provide and pragmatically forbid study of smaller pollutants.

The US Embassy in Beijing set up an instrument in its back yard, and release data automatically through Twitter. The reading often went off roof, with 'crazy' (quoted literally from Embassy brief) numbers such as 570. At this time of writing, the figure is 257 and 307 'Hazardous', read from two sensors MetOne BAM 1020 and Echotech EC9810, according to the Twitter account. One interesting observation after studying the Embassy Twitter data is that the worst readings usually came around 1:00 am after midnight, where there were fewest cars on the road. Residents believe it was caused by factories who secretly release chemical waste in the middle of night.

The Last Class for Migrant Workers' Children in Beijing

Students were comforting each other with hugs after they learned their school would be shut down by the Beijing Municipal authority to drive them out of the capital city.

The principle of East-Dam Experimental School in Chaoyang District was the only person who knew the school was shutting down on Oct 21, 2001. The school has resisted the pressure from government to close for months. Students, teachers and volunteering parents blocked the entrance with human shield to stop the government bulldozer and police.

The Beijing municipal government had long seen millions migrant workers a burden to the capital city. Their cheap labor is welcomed and well received, but they are not allowed to stay or bring their children. Migrant workers were told to leave their children and elders at their original residence place, not an option for many that both parents were in Beijing. Migrant workers' children were not allowed to attend public schools in Beijing. Migrant workers and individual charities set up dozens of affordable schools to provide education for these kids. Now the government wants to shut down these school to drive the kids out of the city.

After a public outcry, even from local residents for this obvious social injustice, the Beijing government promised to absorb all migrant kids into local public schools. However, it set up a bar with paperwork so high that few could qualify. For the few who actually qualify, they were plainly denied with no reason given.

Foreigners Set Up Container School for Poor Beijing Kids

While the Beijing government is cracking down on low-cost schools in an effort to drive poor people out of the capital city, Compassion for Migrant Children (CMC), a charitable organization combining foreign and local volunteers, set up an after school park, with a name 'the container school', just outside the 5th Highway Ring of Beijing in a village 'Heiqiao (Black Bridge)' for the poor kids free of charge.

Kids from poor families usually don't have anywhere to go after school because their parents were working hard making living. Now they have a place to work on their homework, or safely play.

Gridlock in Beijing Tonight

It has been gridlock in Beijing tonight, because it's time again to bribe the government officials. The Moon Festival (Mid-Autumn Festival) give people a good excuse to visit government officials to pass the season's greetings...with bags of cash, etc. The otherwise traditional festival is on August 15 of the lunar calendar. It fell on September 12 this year.

Imagine that! The entire capital city would be sitting on stand still traffic for 5 days, all because of all the government officials busy taking bribe at the same time.

Seven Days Later, 14 Thousands Kids in Beijing Lost School

Only days before the Fall semester started, Beijing authority abruptly shut down 24 private schools for migrant workers who do not hold local residency cards. The action was believed an attempt to drive these kids out of Beijing. However, because their parents are working, usually on bottom level labor jobs, in Beijing, the consequence is 14 thousands school age kids are out of school.

Initially the Beijing Municipal Education Department said the shut down was carried by lower level authorities. After the incident was reported on news media, coincidentally while the Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department announced China would spent CND 2B ($300 million) to build schools in Africa using money raised up for rural education in China, the Beijing Education Department claimed all involved school age kids would be absorbed by public schools at free tuition. The Beijing Education Department published a step by step guide for migrant workers on how to enroll their kids to public schools. Seven Days Later, only a few dozens of parents were able to obtain all five certificates detailed by the Education Department. The other 14 thousands kids were unable to collect required certificates, because some certificates were impossible to apply. When the few dozens of parents who managed to jump through the hoops went to the Education Department, they were faced with locked doors. The Department said they were not ready to handle their applications.

The huge economic discrepancy between major coastal cities and inland areas is by and large contributed by the steady free labor force flowing east. Coastal cities used the labor at low cost, while the youth and elders live in inland areas. Coastal cities force older workers to go back to their hometown by not providing retirement and medical benefit, even though they must pay fees and taxes. Now, coastal cities are forcing their youth back by having their schools shut down.

Eyeing for a better image, China has been increased its spending on international aids. Do you believe a government who treated its own citizens this way would treat foreigners nice? They can pretend, but they can't disguise.

China's Fortune

An observation by an oversea Chinese who visited China this summer.

Key points: China's fortune was accumulated from two sources,
1) Exported oriented manufacturing;
2) Real Estate Development;
The skyrocketing housing price has made everything else, including personal cars, affordable to people armed with dollars earned in the world factory.

However, the country may encounter severe crisis because:
1) There is no real chance to withdraw their savings in the form of US bonds. Once this fact is made clear to ordinary people, it could trigger a stampede.
2) Land value contributed more than 90% of housing price. If the housing price drops, the entire domestic market is certain to follow.

The positive side is that even a crash landing may not hit the bottom level people's life, which is currently suffering from the ever inflating grocery price.

人说，不回国不知道钱少

当年的同事，还留在单位的都赶上了福利分房。有的分到一套，有的分到两套，在二三环之间；价值五百到一千万人民币。当年的同学，基本上都在房价还是3000到4000的时候买了房。很有几个同学手里头有几套，十几套房子，北京的房子啊！国企的朋友问了我的收入，掏出手机乘以6.5，然后告诉我还没有他的（全系统根据级别）法定年终奖多。我对他们说，把他们的房子卖了，到美国大农村，比如休斯顿那嘎瘩，买一栋同样大的房子，剩下的钱光是利息就够他们一辈子的吃饭穿衣。

故事的另一面

家在帝都，亲戚朋友各个年龄段的都有很多，也得以看到祖国的另一面：北京公布的平均工资不到4000元，真实的数字恐怕只能更低。大学毕业生的起薪在2000元左右（一个亲戚刚刚在北大的某个实验室找到一份技术员工作，经人事处发布审核录用的正式工就是这个价）。这个水平似乎比我十五年前出国的时候还低。“工资高了也没多大用”，一个在微软中国做主管的同学说。他说现在招不到合格的开发人员，每月就是多给一两万也不够在北京买房的。

到的另一个城市是合肥。一个亲戚刚刚以二级教授退休，每月不到5000元。另一个亲戚有一家“高科技公司”，里面熟练工每月1000元多一点。公司食堂每月提供午餐，伙食费每月110元，工人非常高兴。这钱如果要养活一家三口，就只有量入为出。工人说他们从来没有喝过牛奶，你相信吗？我在科大对面的商店看到馒头1元1个，想起我上学的时候一天可以吃10个馒头。绿豆10元一斤。多数水果的价钱都比美国贵，但是具体数字不记得了，因为我的脑袋一直在想1元1个的馒头可怎么吃的起。

在天津路边的早点铺，一碗豆腐脑一根油条就是6元钱。我的饭量大，再来个鸡蛋，咸菜什么的就是10多元。这个以早点闻名的城市中，普通的市民还吃得起我从小吃惯了的早点吗？

从合肥到北京的火车上和几个比我小一轮的年轻人聊天。他们说，各地学术机构里40-45岁之间的人都是垃圾。我偷偷算了算还有几个月才过生日，暗自庆幸没有被骂。

薪酬困局

我毕业时如果进外企，比如摩托罗拉，工资大概是8000元。如果进合资企业或者中关村的公司，比如四通，工资大概是3000元。我当时进机关，工资很低，但是每月到手的也有2000元上下（相当一部分是科室组织的劳务收入）。那个时候宿舍每月5元租金，结婚就分房；大龄也分房。据我了解，机关里面98年精简机构，待遇有一个飞跃，处级干部拿到8000元；后来2002年以后停止科室一级搞创收，处级干部的薪水又降到4，5000左右。我的同事基本上都是2000年时提处长，所以这一块比较清楚。现在机关里面的预算审计都很严格，一般人员的工资外收入基本上没有了。

过去十年，公务员的收入在下降。过去二十年，外企员工的收入在下降；民营公司员工的收入在下降。央企一枝独秀，但是员工总数没有多少。换句话说，白领阶层的工资收入连跌了十年。

现在的问题是，大学生毕业以后靠工资买房子基本上是没有指望了。中共去年增加了204万党员，很好，这是维稳的生力军。但是去年毕业了670万大学生，其中的大多数都是阶级敌人，无论他们是工程师，技术员还是国家干部。让这批人更绝望的是民工收入大幅上升。中国到处民工荒。朋友家里装修找小工，每天200元。现在看起来是海外的华人最爱党，国内40岁以上的也爱党，国内30岁以上的无所谓。最令人担心的就是新出炉的大学毕业生。如果每年新增加600万阶级敌人，我们社会主义堡垒再坚固也顶不住啊。

最大的谜团：财富从哪里来

从表面上看，似乎同样的人们做着同样的工作，突然间整个社会暴富了十倍。终日不散的污染和日夜不停的拥堵都在证明着实实在在的财富。绝大多数同学同事和朋友们开的车都已经换过两轮，虽然很多还比不上我在美国开的车的配置，但是多数都比我的车更贵（不要说他们能付现金全款）。合作的伙伴们的项目钱怎么花都花不玩（现在管理上很严，项目开支的规定很死），结果不约而同地都买巨型计算机。

这个问题实在是超出我一个硅工的见识，请教了有关人士，大概有两个来源：
一是出口。几亿人以前和泥巴，现在造iPad2。同样的工时，几十倍的剩余价值。
二是房地产。又是同样的工程量，几十倍的价值。
房子的价钱上去了以后，和房子比，其它任何东西，包括高档轿车，都是小儿科了。

帝国的危机

帝国的危机可能也从这两方面出现。几亿人辛辛苦苦做工出口赚的钱都已经变成了美国国债。在美国赖帐或者美元变成废纸之前，中国在账面上暂时还拥有它。可是我们都明白，借用斯大林同志的话说，中国人再摸到它们的几率和看见自己耳朵的一样大。另一方面，房地产的价值中地价占了90%，一旦地价垮了，今天眼前看到的一切都可能在瞬间烟消云散。

钱是虚的，同时帝国的管理效率正在下降。新楼拆了又建，建了又拆，社会财富被反复浪费。白名单的互联网阻碍了整个IT行业的进步。凡是和网路有关的产品往往是劣币驱逐良币。我参观了一个GFW下的国家级项目，用谷歌地图监视异见信息。可是他们演示的时候却发现地图打不开，因为恰巧那天谷歌地图被另一个部门屏蔽了（用新的DNS污染）。我当年的同事现在都是机关里面的技术干部，最低的副处，最高的副司。我去看他们的时候发现他们的很大一部分工作还是开会讨论党团员先进事迹什么的，剩下的时间关起门来和我聊天。在北大上网，无论国内国外点哪里都半天出不来页面，连上美国VPN，立刻刷刷的。在科大上网，居然是校内网！FireFox也有中国版本，会温馨地告诉你买东西上那个网站，查资料上那个网站。这样的环境，怎么做研发？

高铁是中国的骄傲。我在火车上碰到几个跑通勤的老铁路。他们都有25年以上工龄，工资3000多元。他们每工作一天休息14天！他们跑通勤是到另一个城市建设高铁车站，但是他们居然不知道自己所在城市的高铁车站在哪里。就这样还在抱怨，因为本来什么工作都不需要做。

为什么温家宝总理会到处宣讲不进行政治体制改革就死路一条呢？他是怕这个社会的产出跟不上无度的挥霍。每个人都看得到政体已经严重限制了经济发展和技术进步，导致社会运转效率降低，政府管理效率也在降低；阶级敌人一到6月份就多出600万。怎么办？这个问题貌似没有解析答案。如果房价降了，8000万党员有7000万要造反。所以只有涨工资，先稳住这600万阶级敌人。

前面提到中国的经济两条腿：房地产和出口。现在出口这条路已经有点吃力了。进贡给美帝国主义的岁币年年高升。自身劳动力的成本也被高房价拉的不断攀升。然后只能还是要涨房价。去年大城市地方收入中卖地所得占了一半，中小城市占了一大半。为了保证GDP，为了多发工资，只有多卖地，卖更高的价。没有任何其它手段比卖地来钱更快了。威海的领导不知得到那个高人的指点，刚刚炸平了一个临海的山头。填海的地卖了40亿，原来的山头清理出来又是30亿。多快好省吧！所以说，中国的房价，还要再涨十年。

据说，未来十年中，还有3亿农民要进城，所以房子进一步涨价有合理因素。有一个小问题是目前的空房有多少。我的一个亲戚住在合肥的中国科大。那个楼栋12家住户目前仍然常住的只有3家。其他都在校外有别墅或者大房子。这3家中的两家也在校外有房，但是因为校内更方便而没有搬。中国的空房究竟有多少可能是国家机密。另外一个问题是向外移民。我弟弟的同学两口子都是北京某大医院的大夫，房子车子收入颇丰。去年妻子公派来美进修，今年丈夫带着女儿来探亲以后决定留在美国不走了。促使“成功人士”离开故土的主要原因是空气，水和食物。如果说以前以学生为主的对外移民是中国丧失的主要是知识，那么现在更多成功人士的离开使中国失去能力和活力，一种更可怕的失血。中国一年流出移民100万。随着人民手中财富（房子）的增加，这个数字有可能迅速增加。每年空出几十万套房子是多么令温家宝恐慌的事情啊！

开发房地产和增加出口都没有错，但是这两个招数都用老了，负面影响逐渐显现。现在最重要的提高社会生产效率，所以温家宝苦口婆心的告诫不进行政治体制改革只有思路一条。温家宝希望通过整体改革解放民营企业活力，促进科技进步，减少体制内的无端消耗和浪费。至少能也通过卖地和出口得到收入平衡。

回到原点

总理是一个爱国者，他怕它完了。

其实再想想，如果真的“完了”也没有什么可担心的。虽然眼下巨大财富记载在账本上，写在政府，利益集团和既得利益者的名下，但是即使最坏的情况发生，最糟糕的结局就是一夜回到十年以前：外地大学生毕业后可以留在北京发展，普通天津人重新吃上街边的早点，合肥的市民馒头管饱。

（郭沫若）
和平之乡呦！
我的父母之邦！

China is not Tracing the Korean Path of Development

Journalist Liu Jian revealed on his mirco-blog, the top regulatory agency of product, including food, safety the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine had an exclusive farm in suburban Beijing. The 800 acres farm produce organic produce only, and is fully funded by the agency's operating budget. Agency employees and their families are allowed to pick produce from this farm. As a matter of fact, all government agencies had their own agricultural bases. No wonder why the government had been turning a blind eye to the food safety issue.

Earlier this year, the website of the cafeteria of the Agricultural Ministry bragged they use organic food only and no transgene produce at all, which contradict to the campaign launched by the Ministry to promote transgene food.

Scholars had predicted China would follow the path of South Korea. Both countries started with totalitarian regime, bitter students movement and cruel crack downs, and both on the way to prosperity. Seoul held the Olympic Game in 1988, when the country of South Korea's economy was about to take off. Beijing held it in 2004, while China's GDP almost doubled in a couple of years.

Also evident to the observation were the mass building quality issues South Koreans saw in the 1990s, including the collapse of a major bridge on the Han River, and a busy department store in Seoul. Experts attributed the problem to the poor quality control in the fast expansion of the economy take off. In China, the poor construction quality was blamed for the severe death toll of students in the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008.

However, looking closely, the two paths are not really parallel.

Both countries made breakthrough on the international market by a few major companies sponsored by the nation, such as the Samsung and Daewoo of Korea. However, China's successful companies are mostly resource producer with not much technical component.

Both country advocate against luxury life style. In Korea, the government suspended building high standard-ed building in the 1990s. In China, the government banned newspaper and advertising mentioning words such as 'luxury'.

Fun Congressional Motions and Resolutions

It's time again for the annual week long congressional session of the top Chinese political body in name. The Seagull will assemble a list of funny draft resolutions for the amusement of readers. Understandably, no representative would propose to end the Party dictation, so some opt to suggest something 'meaningful'. Readers are encouraged to submit nominations.

Senator Wang Ping suggested farmer's kids should not go to college. She is concerned that once the kids learned about the outside world, they would be less likely to return to their rural home in poverty areas. Thus, they wouldn't be able to inherit and maintain the culture of the poor. Senator Wang is the Chair of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Curator of the Beijing Chinese Museum.

Senator Wen Ximei suggested to dramatically increase the price of chemical chemica, pesticide and fertilizer, so that farmers will have to resort to organic alternatives. Wen claimed cheap chemicals made Chinese farmers lazy. Wen is the vice president of South China Agricultural University.

Quotes

Min Weifang, the Party Boss of Beijing University, stated, 'we would absolutely forbid professors from spreading unauthorized ideas' on March 2, 2004.

Professors in several universities were turned in by their students for making comments not in line with Party policies.

Liu Jianchao, then Director-General of the Press and Media Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "(When the CCP) makes a law, (they) will spell out what can do by whom. What the law did not mandate, should not be performed. It is a simple logic. We do not need to write you can not do in the law." On the Foreign Ministry's news press in October, 2008.

Several foreign journalists were detained when reporting in a busy commercial mall on Sunday February 27.

Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier said (regarding real estate developers, 'I did not investigate your profit margin, but I think as a member of the society, you should take the corresponding social responsibility. Your body should also be circulating blood of morality.' Wen made the comment when chatting with netizens online on Feb 27,2011.

Ren Zhiqiang, a top developer replied via micro-blog minutes later, 'Mr. Wen thought everybody lacked morality because he himself lacked it.' Ren has been known for his big-mouth and cold-blood. However, Wen's remark on real estate developers were widely criticized as transferring attention from government monopoly and official corruptions which were the root of high housing price in China.

Jiang Yu, the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters 'do not cite law as your shield', when asked why foreign journalists were detained even though they had been abiding by Chinese law and guidance on March 3, 2011.

Jiang, a single mom, was known for her strong anti-Japanese sentiment. However, she was seen in photos frequenting Japanese fashion stores.

Beijing Ordered Grade School Students Solute the Party's Flag

The Seagull had heard of this for awhile, but thought it a, rumor. Even in the darkest days, never had elementary school students to regularly solute the Party Flag. Even Chinese people who had been used to live under the heavy hand Big Brother were shocked in disbelieve, Aha.... It is like living a surreal dream in real time, standing on top of tower, and you knew the next moment the tower would fall, but you could do nothing about it, as you knew, and so you stood there, and 'Aha'..

Beijing issued an order, effectively immediately until October, on the first Monday of each month, students of elementary, middle and high schools must rally to solute the Party's flag.

You felt the chill up the spine, and you taste the dryness behind the tongue. You can't close your eyes although you are not looking, and you can't close your mouth although you can't make a sound.

21 Years Ago

An illustration published by Southern Metropolitan, an influential newspaper 3 days before the anniversary. The author is Xiangma, a column cartoonist of the paper.

Some people argued the biggest lost of the Tian'anmen Massacre was the entire generation of those born in the 1970s. Elder generations were not impacted as bad because they had gone through many, such as the Great Cultural Revolution. Younger generations simply did not know, thanks to the brainwashing by the communist Party.

Among the 1970s population, they were exhausted and desperate. Some went oversea to hide themselves away. Some retreat to a life style with no moral value, but money value.

However, every year this time, some people still try to remind the world. There was a massacre happened when government used tanks and machine guns to kill hundreds of peaceful protesting students in the heart of the capital city, Beijing.

Vancouver to Lose $5 Billion on Olympics

City of Vancouver has spent more than $6 Billion on the 2010 Winter Olympics games held there, but the direct and indirect income was not expected to exceed $1 Billion.

Vancouver will not be the first city to be hit by Olympics deficit. $1.5 Billion deficit from the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics cost 30 years of local residents to pay back.

Even the historically profitable 1996 Summer Olympic in Atalanta left the southern capital with ghost streets and malfunction surveillance cameras that testify for the unhealable wounds from work of accounting genies.

Cities in China, however, always pocket in after holding international conventions, such as the Olympics and World Fairs, mysteriously. For example, Beijing Olympics committee announced last June that they had a pure revenue of $150 Million after holding the 2008 Summer Olympics.