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No Smoking in Cabs

 

Beijing has banned smoking in the city's 66,000 cabs as part of its efforts to help create a "non-smoking" Olympic Games in 2008.

The ban, enforced from October 1, 2007, imposes a fine of 100 yuan to 200 yuan (US$13 to $26) on drivers if they are caught smoking in cabs.

Passengers are also prohibited from smoking in cabs. "If they violate the regulation, their names will be exposed through media," said Ma Yanjie, deputy head of the Taxi Management Department of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Administration Bureau.

A striking, green colour "No Smoking" sign has been posted inside most of the cabs to remind drivers and passengers.

Most of the drivers and passengers interviewed by Xinhua, the State news agency, expressed support for the ban.

 

Beijing—Shanghai Express Railway to Be Built

 

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the building of the Beijing—Shanghai Express Railway has been approved by the State Council.

The designed speed of the express will be 350 kilometres (km) per hour. During trial operation, the train will run at 300 km per hour.

There will be 21 stations along the 1,318-km railway, and the trip should take about five hours. The railway will handle about 80 million passengers per year.

The total investment on the project, now in its design phase, will be more than 160 billion yuan (US$21.3 billion).

Construction is expected to begin after the State Council approves final plans for the project.

The century-old Beijing—Shanghai railway was completed in 1912; it is China's busiest railway because it passes through China’s most prosperous economic corridor.

 

Qianmen to Unveil Ming-Era Look

 

Pedestrians and free trolley buses are expected to lay exclusive claim to the new-look Qianmen area before the end of 2007, when extensive renovations now under way are completed in the historic neighbourhood.

The area's main street will be paved with green and white marble, replacing the narrow cement lane that currently serves as its central thoroughfare. When the work is finished, the area, south of Tian'anmen Square, is expected to evoke the Ming Dynasty (1368—1644) with its ambience.

Dozens of traditional shops, such as Quanjude, famous for its Beijing roast duck, and Yueshengzhai, which has been selling pickled beef and mutton for more than 230 years, are expected to return to the area.

Officials said the street will be for pedestrians only and will serve as a showcase for Chinese culture.

Qianmen has been a commercial centre in Beijing for nearly seven centuries, boasting a wide range of shops selling everything from traditional medicines to fine silks.

The 300-million-yuan (US$40-million) redevelopment project is part of the city's efforts to refurbish its old areas ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.

 

New China Science and Technology Museum Ready in May 2008

 

The new China National Science and Technology Museum, a main supplemental facility for the 2008 Olympic Games, will be finished in May 2008, according to China Association for Science and Technology (CAST).

The 4.8-hectare new museum is located in the Olympic Park in northern Beijing and will be run by CAST, said Song Nanping, an official with CAST.

Construction began in May 2006 with an investment of 1.09 billion yuan (US$144.94 million).

During the Olympic Games, the museum will host a big exhibition of inventions made by the ancient Chinese to "display the wonderful scientific and technical achievements of ancient China to guests across the world," Song said.

After the Games, the museum will prepare for full operations and will open to the public in October 2009, he said.

The new museum will have an exhibition area of 3.1 hectares with five main parts, including one for children under 10.

"The museum will be the biggest of this kind that seeks to promote a knowledge and awareness of science among ordinary people," Song said.

The present museum will be handed over to the Beijing Municipal Government two years after the new one is put into use.

 

E-Ticketing will Limit Forbidden City Visitors

 

An e-ticketing system is under development inside Forbidden City in Beijing to cope with the large number of visitors.

"The initial e-ticketing plan has been formed," said Feng Nai'en, office director of the Forbidden City, also known in China as the Palace Museum.

Feng said the museum's managers decided to make the switch because manual sales of tickets failed to monitor visitor numbers accurately.

"Once adopted, the museum will stop selling tickets if it reaches full capacity," Feng said. The museum can handle a maximum of 50,000 visitors a day.

Tourists swamped the Forbidden City during the recent National Day holiday, exceeding the museum's capacity for four days of the seven-day holiday.

"The floor was worn down with the excess of visitors," said Feng, "and the vermillion walls have faded due to exposure to a great amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors."

 

First Kitchen Trash Treatment Plant Inaugurated in Beijing

 

Beijing on October 13, 2007, opened its first kitchen trash treatment plant. It will serve the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Kitchen trash from 122 participating hotels that have entered into partnership with BOCOG, along with the trash produced by 31 Olympic sports facilities, will be treated at the plant.

Located in Daxing District, southern Beijing, the 21.34 million yuan (US$ 2.67 million) plant covers an area of 0.39 hectares and is capable of processing 73,000 tons of kitchen trash a year.

There are more than 200,000 restaurants and canteens in Beijing that produce about 1,200 tons of trash daily.

"Before the Olympics open in 2008, a larger number of these restaurants and canteens will have their trash collected together and treated," said Guo Weidong, a publicity official with Beijing Municipal Administration Commission.

 

Chinese Traditional-Styled 'Courtel' to Open in Beijing

 

The Beijing Courtel, located in Dongcheng District, south of Jiexin Garden and west of Andingmen, opened in November, blending the traditional with the modern. The Beijing Courtel represents a new concept, the "courtel," combining a courtyard and hotel to provide tourists with a place to escape from the noise and fast-pace of urban life.

The courtel will include five elegant courtyards, each with its own characteristics. In Courtyard 8, for example, there are standard rooms on all four sides and a glass-wall bar in the centre of the courtyard, which will serve as a fashionable and relaxing meeting place for travellers and residents.

To meet the requirements of its high-end guests, Courtyard 5 is exclusive and luxurious. If you walk up the brick-paved path to the car port, and pass through the French-styled windows into the main set of rooms, you will find a master bedroom, study, kitchen, and two bathrooms. The courtel's interior design focuses on traditional Chinese style with traditional elements throughout. But, perhaps, the most delightful feature is a bathtub under a glass roof that allows guests to bathe in starlight.

In addition to its traditional Chinese theme, exquisite relaxation is the aim of the Beijing Courtel. According to chief designer Qi Xiaojing, the courtel aims to create a "courtyard home" in Beijing for global businesspeople. "Home should be a place where you can completely relax." Qi is known in the Beijing bar business for starting the Shichahai bar street.

With the upcoming Olympics Games, hotel business is bound to be prosperous. However, Qi hopes that the Beijing Courtel will keep a low profile: "I hope our guests don't regard it as a high-end hotel but their home in Beijing, where they can have a relaxing and enjoyable life."

 

Top IPR Official Pledges to Prevent Olympic Piracy

 

A top Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) official said that China has taken steps to prevent Olympic copyright infringement.

"We're confident of creating a sound environment in the IPR sector for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," said Tian Lipu, director of the State Intellectual Property Office, at a press conference during the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on October 18.

Tian, a delegate to the Party Congress, said the State Council, or Chinese cabinet, has issued regulations to protect Olympic symbols from copyright violations shortly after the country won the bid for hosting the 2008 Games.

Relevant government administrations, Tian's own office included, have issued more than 10 regulations in the recent years to protect the copyrights of Olympic rings, five mascot dolls for the Beijing Games, officially know as the Fuwa, the emblem and other IPR products related to the Games, he said.

Tian said he had consulted with Liu Peng, head of the State Administration of Sport, about Olympic piracy. "Liu said the overall situation is quite satisfactory, except for occasional copycat products," according to Tian.

 

China's Newly-Weds Spend Heavily

 

Weddings are so important in China that couples are willing to fork out on average 20 times their monthly income on getting married and everything that comes with it.

China’s newly-weds in urban areas spent 126,600 yuan (US$16,600) on average in 2006 when getting married, according to a survey by the Ministry of Commerce.

An analysis of 60,000 couples living in cities showed that about 64 percent of the spending went on apartment decorations, furniture and household appliances and the rest was spent on wedding ceremonies, photography, wedding dresses and feasts.

In contrast, young couples in rural areas spent about 40,000 yuan (US$5,300) on average on marriage-related issues, less than one-third that of their city peers, according to the report.

About 8.49 million couples got married in China in 2006.