Guangzhou ‘octuplets’ severe violation of one-child policy

By Zhao Hongyi

A rich couple in Guangzhou birthed eight babies last year with the aid of artificial insemination and surrogate mothers, local media reported this week.

What the couple did flew in the face of national policies and regulations, prompting the provincial bureau of health to investigate and punish all who aided the couple in their effort to circumvent national law.

The scandal has highlighted national questions of morality, class equality and values.

Eight babies

The unnamed couple has only been identified as a pair of business executives in their  40s.

Work prevented them from starting a family earlier in life. After several failed attempts at artificial insemination, the two resolved to try again at the beginning of 2010.

The medical institute they used successfully fertilized eight eggs, but they were far too many to implant in his wife.

The couple opted to hire two women to assist them in carrying out the pregnancy.

The mother received three eggs, while two surrogate mothers received two and three respectively.

The three women moved to the couple’s villa in Fanyu, a city close to Guangzhou, for the duration of the pregnancy.

That’s when things went wrong.

Contrary to the doctors’ expectations, all eight eggs grew. Between September and October of 2010, the three women gave birth to all eight children: four girls and four boys.

The full procedure cost an estimated 1 million yuan, based on the price of artificial insemination and surrogacy, local media estimated.

The rich couple have recruited 11 babysitters to take care of the eight babies. They have to spend 100,000 yuan on the babies and their nannies each month.

Modernization can’t smash this village’s spirit

By Yao Weijie

The yearly dragon boat race is a major event for the villagers of Lianxi Village, a hamlet located on an island off the coast of Guangzhou.

Of course, hamlet is hardly an appropriate description for what has become a small city and folk culture resort – a change that forced the former villagers to resettle.

Each year, the villagers reunite at the site to carry on their tradition of dragon boat racing.

Dragon Boat records the story of Lianxi Village, beginning with the dragon boat burial that followed the 2001 Dragon Boat Festival.

Cao Dan, the director, was born in neighboring Guanghou in 1972 and graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. She immigrated to France in 1998 and studied Anthropological Filmmaking at the Paris Higher Education Experiment Collage.

“My parents had a house on the island that was a 10-minute walk from Lianxi Village, so I often played there. One day, I saw the villagers hiding their boat. I recorded the scene as a project for my anthropological film course,” Cao said.

“I was considering it as an anthropology project and planned to record everything related to the boats each time I came home. The government’s plan to turn Lianxi Village into ‘University Town’ was not announced until this year: that’s when I realized we needed to do something to record their lives,” she said.

But long before University Town, Lianxi was being torn apart by urbanization. The villagers were relocated in 2003, and while their living standards improved many traditions came to an abrupt end.

Still, Lianxi fared better than many of its neighbors: its ancestral hall and village center were preserved, and the village was reformed as a cultural tourism spot. The ancestral hall, however, remained the property of the villagers, who used it as a warehouse to store their dragon boats.

“In a way, that ancestral hall contains the spirit of the village. It comes alive again each year for the Dragon Boat Festival,” Cao said.

For the villagers, the yearly Dragon Boat Race is a way to test and maintain their unity.

The Dragon Boat Festival pays tribute to the ancient poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in 278 BC after the collapse of his country.

“The film explores how folk customs have survived to be handed down from agricultural society, and the meanings of their existence,” Cao said.

“Although the Pearl River Delta has long been open to the outside world, its old customs are surprisingly well preserved – especially the practices of racing dragon boats and maintaining an ancestral hall,” she said.

Guangdong free-ride plan cancelled

Passengers crowd a subway station on November 1, the first day for first free public transportation in Guangzhou. Biby Chan/IC Photo

By Huang Daohen

The Guangzhou municipal government, host of the 2010 Asian Games, announced on Monday that it has cancelled the free-ride plan, a week after its launch. Instead, the city will provide transportation subsidies.

Earlier this month, the government said it would make public transportation free during the month-long Games, which start today. The plan was intended to ease the city’s traffic congestion.

According to the plan, all Guangzhou residents and visitors were entitled to free subway, bus and water transportation services. The city also planned to take half of its 2.1 million private vehicles off the road, based on whether their license plates ended with an odd or even number.

The plan was met with unprecedented enthusiasm. According to a Xinhua report, the subway system saw a historic passenger inflow on the first day, as more than 6 million people chose to take the free ride. The average daily passenger flow during the past week was about 7.8 million, 3 million more than normal.

For days, the subway stations in Guangzhou were crammed with people, the report said.

This prompted worries about security and public safety. As a result, the Guangzhou government called off the plan, and as a replacement will offer each household a 150-yuan subsidy for transportation.

The Asian Games will feature some 11,700 athletes competing in 42 sports. The event is taking lessons from Beijing and Shanghai, which respectively hosted the 2008 Olympics and this year’s World Expo, but how to ease traffic during big events is still a problem plaguing the organizing committee.

Guangzhou’s Hidden Skyscraper And Towering TV Tower

Over dinner last night, my potential client was talking about his life in Guangzhou and revealed an amazing fact. That Guangzhou has the tallest TV tower in the world, which is also the third tallest structure in the world. I was amazed and initially in some disbelief, as I have never heard or seen of this since I had been in the city. The next morning I Google searched and he was right. The Guangzhou TV Tower is 620 meters tall and the second tallest structure behind the Burq Khalifa, which I visited last year. More amazing as I looked out of my window I realised I could just see it just hidden behind another building. Well it didn’t look so big, and I am not sure if it is open yet. It’s designed by Information Based Architecture, from Amsterdam, with an interesting lattice design which is suppose to create a “female tower”.  Well it certainly looks interesting so next time I am in Guangzhou I will definitely go and take a closer look.

http://www.rayallychina.com/

In advance of grand gathering, a new Guangzhou

By Zhang Dongya

A couple of decades ago, Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, was criticized for not living up to its reputation as the “south gate of China.”

The city has come a long way since. After rapid urbanization, it won the rights to host the 16th Asian Games, which will be held from November 12 to 27. Guangzhou is the second Chinese city to have earned this honor, following Beijing in 1990.

Spurred by the upcoming games, Guangzhou has undergone further development and beautification and is now praised as the “Oriental Manhattan.”

A hub of new landmarks

Guangzhou’s major changes are partially reflected in the work of photographer Xu Peiwu, who started taking photos of Guangzhou in 1995 and has held several exhibitions.

One of the most notable images in Xu’s portfolio is of Zhujiang New Town, the city’s central business district (CBD), which was planned and designed in 1992. Located on Guangzhou’s central axis, it begins from Huangpu Road in the north and stretches south to Zhujiang River, and from Guangzhou Road in the west to the South China Expressway in the east. Its construction was considered symbolic of Guangzhou’s ascension into the ranks of China’s three biggest cities, along with Beijing and Shanghai.

In Xu’s early works 15 years ago, the main road in today’s CBD was only a broad street with few buildings around it. Now, high rises crowd the street, including seven landmark buildings, including the Guangzhou Center for the Performing Arts, the Guangdong Province Museum, the Guangzhou Library and a TV and sightseeing tower.

High-end hotels have also flocked in, among which is the Four Seasons Hotel, located on the 70th to 100th floors in CBD’s International Finance Center in CBD, making it the highest hotel in the city.

Hong Kong people rally to save Cantonese language

More than 1,000 protesters rallied in Guangzhou and Hong Kong on Sunday against what they say is China’s bid to champion the national language Mandarin over their local dialect Cantonese.

Hundreds of mainland police officers were deployed to disperse protesters who gathered in People’s Park in Guangzhou to call on authorities to preserve the Cantonese language and culture, Hong Kong broadcasters RTHK and Cable TV reported.

“Guangzhou people speak the Guangzhou language!” some angry protesters chanted as the size of the crowd grew to about 1,000, RTHK said.

Videos from Cable TV and YouTube showed that some of the rally participants were forcefully carried away. A number of Hong Kong journalists were taken for questioning, according to Cable TV.

Chinese authorities have been anxious to suppress the growing pro-Cantonese movement, sparked after a political advisory body in Guangzhou proposed this month that local TV stations broadcast their prime-time shows in Mandarin instead of Cantonese ahead of the Asian Games there in November.

Adopting China’s official language, also known as Putonghua, would promote unity, “forge a good language environment” and cater to non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese visitors at the huge sporting event, authorities were quoted as saying.

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Guangzhou, Hong Kong to redevelop horse racing venue

By Zhao Hongyi

Guangzhou, host of the 16th Asian Games starting November 12, is building an equestrian center for competition and training in Conghua, northeast of the city.

New facilities are under construction and investors, including the century-old Hong Kong Jockey Club, are expecting the event to jumpstart horse racing on the mainland.

The venue is nearly the size of 200 soccer fields, with total investment estimated at 700 million yuan. It includes competition fields, a training area,  supporting area, spectator area and stables.

Stables will include 140 permanent barns and 40 temporary ones for use during the Asian Games.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club did not disclose its investment amount. The club, according to the Asian Games committee, will renovate the venue to be used as racehorse training facilities and for international competitions following the Asian Games.

The Guangzhou city government and the club signed a memorandum last year to improve and operate the center after the games.

The club will rent the center for training and races.

Gambling on horse races was popular on the mainland, especially in Shanghai, before the founding of New China. The practice was dismantled in the years following the revolution.

However, racehorses have been a mainstay of Hong Kong for more than a century.

In 1997, when China reclaimed sovereignty of the island, Beijing promised not to dismantle its horse-racing program. Since then, horse racing has been a symbol of capitalism both in Hong Kong and on the mainland.

“Hong Kong has a long history and strong reputation for horse racing,” Edward Leung, a representative from the club, said. “But the limited land and high costs of holding the event in Hong Kong have us eyeing Guangzhou as a future training base.”

The Asian Games and gradual fusion of the island and the mainland may make it possible to host international competitions on the mainland in the future, Leung said.

Investors are looking to the venue as a site for commercial projects like hotels and restaurants, encouraged by the participation of the Hong Kong club.

Congdu International Convention Center, nearly finished, is the first project attached to the equestrian center. It consists of a holiday resort, ports park, spring hotel and a museum, and was scheduled as part of the facilities to support the Asian Games.

Kingold Group, the center’s investor, promised 8 billion yuan for the center. The first phase of construction consumed 5 billion yuan. All facilities are expected to be used during the upcoming Asian Games.

Another commercial project near the equestrian center is Conghua Huaxi Spring Hotel, operated under the Garden Hotel group. The hotel is also scheduled to open for the Asian Games.

Guangzhou ’shows off’ as Asian Games host at airport

By Huang Daohen

In eight months, billions of eyes will focus on Guangzhou, host of the 16th Asian Games. But the city decided to grab global attention early this Tuesday with a promotional campaign at Capital International Airport.

The campaign, “National Cultural Gateway, Asian Games Flavor,” contains 116 exhibition boards and 200 photos spread along a 700-meter stretch betweenerminals 1 and 2.

Airport passengers have had a chance to see preparation work for the Asian Games, including the Games’ emblem and mascots, venues and a tentative schedule of competitions.

The display will be up through March 22, the Games’ organizng committee said.

“Beijing Capital International Airport serves as the aviation gateway of China and more importantly as a window for international communication,” said Xu Ruisheng, vice mayor of Guangzhound executive deputy secretary-general of the Guangzhou Organizing Committee.

Xu hopes the display can tap into international traffic.

“In the wake of the Beijing Olympic Games, public expectations for the Guangzhou Asia Games are higher, which is a challenge,” Xu said. “We need to differentiate the Asian Games from the Beijing 2008 [Olympics] to arouse interest.

Winning the bid to host the Asian Games, the second largest sporting event in the world after the Olympics, has changed the landscape of the city. Many massive constructions are underway.

The games will require 70 venues and training centers. Some are being renovated and upgraded, and 12 are being built, the committee said.

To make access smooth, Guangzhou has built new subway lines: 80 percent of the stadiums are served by trains.

“The Guangzhou Asian Games will help drive the development of Guangzhou and ill bring new opportunities and vigor to the economy,” Xu said.

The city invested an estimated 200 billion yuan into the many projects that are part of the Asian Games, including a new train terminal and fast lanes on its highways.

The 16th Asian Games will run from November 12 to 27 in Guangzhou.

China Enforces Strict One-Dog Policy in City

 (AP) GUANGZHOU, China —  Residents in a Chinese city are trying to come to grips with a strict regulation on dog ownership that’s set to take effect soon.

Starting July first, families will only be allowed to own one dog — even if they currently own more than one.

It’s prompting many to protest what they consider a cruel regulation.

It appears to be aimed at controling the population of stray dogs in the city of Guangzhou, once known as Canton. Guangzhou is also preparing to host the Asian Games next year, and the feeling among officials is that fewer dogs means cleaner sidewalks.

But it’s forcing people with more than one dog to make a tough choice. One woman complains that she can’t be expected to keep one dog and get rid of the other when they are both considered members of her family.

Similar measures were instituted in other parts of China with reports of often cruel results, including allegations of authorities sweeping through neighborhoods and beating pets to death in front of their owners.