Junjie’s China blog

China’s space program

Recently China has put more effort in building a independent space program. While not as huge as those from the USA and Russia, China has made substantial progress and might be major player in this field soon. With this article I want to give a quick overview about everything You have to know about China’s space program.

1950 - 1959

In this timespan lies the birth of the Chinese space program. As nuclear weapons became popular among the leading world superpowers, especially the USA and Russia, Chairman Mao wanted to have an similar program of strategic weapons.

During the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee meeting at January the 15th 1955 he announced his ideas:

我们不但要有更多的飞机大炮，而且还要有原子弹。

在今天这个世界上，我们要不受人家欺侮，就不能没有这个东西。

He said, that it is not enough to have artillery and bomber aircrafts, China also needs The Bomb (read: nuclear bomb). He went on, that in today’s world, if one doesn’t want to be bullied, one must have it.

Soon after the launch of Sputnik 1 (人造卫星) at the 4th October 1957 Chairman Mao wanted to put more effort in this program. In May 1958 he announce China should launch its own first satellite before 1960.

1960 - 1969

China didn’t reach the space with a rocket before 1960, then in 1960 they made it for the first time to launch a rocket capable to reach the lower border or space, however yet unable to deploy any satellite. 1960 also was a year of change. Before there was a substantial technology transfer from Russia to China, then with the era of Khrushev this cooperation had a rather abrupt end.

During the following years the China’s space program evolved, yet there was only few scientific value in it. The main goal was to build rockets for the nuclear warheads.

With the space race going full speed between USA and Russia Chairman Mao decided 1967 that China needs a human space program as well. Base 27 (二十七基地) today known as Xichang Satellite Launch Center (西昌卫星发射中心) was built to accommodate these plans.

1970 - 1979

At the 24th of April 1970 China deploy its first satellite named 东方红一号 (The East is Red) into space using a Long March-1 SLV.

With the political changes of the 70s and the death of Chairman Mao in 1976 the Chinese space program saw some rather calm times. New developments were deemed unnecessary. However more 东方红一号 satellites were launched during the 70s, 80s and 90s.

1980 - 1989

in 1981 the technology of sending more than 1 satellite with a rocket into space was mastered.

In 1986 the next human space program was proposed which included even a space station. Initial plans presented 2 years later were rejected and a more simple design using a capsule design was chosen. Althoug not successful, this plan led to the next Chinese human space program started in 1992.

1990 - 1999

In 1992 a new human space program was selected. The Shenzhou program (神舟) which would later be China’s first successful human space program. Although it was planned to make the first manned launch in October 1999, before the new millennium, the unmanned test flights took place in 1999, 2001 and 2002.

2000 - Now

In October the 15th 2003 the first Chinese astronaut, 杨利伟 Yang Liwei, started into space with a Shenzhou capsule. This is the first time China brought a human into space without help from other nations. This flight had a duration of 90 minutes in orbit.

The 12th of October 2005 is another date to remember. A 2 man crew was launched into space with a Shenzhou spaceship. This time the capsule was heavily improved compared to the first version. Even sleeping bags were included as this flight lasted more than 4 days in orbit.

In October 2007 Chang’e-1 (嫦娥一号 Cháng’é Yīhào) a unmanned probe was sent to the moon, returning high resolution images from the moon’s surface. Initially a lot of media coverage including the release of pictures sparked hope that this project would be very open. However after the initial moments, new pictures or scientific results were published.

The future of China’s space program

A lot is planned for the future.

October 2008: Shenzhou spaceship manned with 3 astronauts will orbit the Earth.

A model of a future Chinese space station. This picture might be outdated as new developements are being made.

Expected around 2010 China wants to put a first space station consisting of 3 parts into space. Shenzhou 9 will be unmanned and bring food and other working materials into space. A main spacestation module labled Project 921-2 will be launched as well and docked together with Shenzhou 9. Soon after that a third spacecraft, Shenzhou 10, will bring 3 astronauts to the spacestation. This can be seen as the Chinese attempt to have a permanent spacestation.

A rough plan for Moon exploration is also made. Initially orbiters should explore the moon. In 2012 we can expect to see a Chinese moon rover. In 2017 a Chinese moon sample return mission is planned. A manned landing on the moon could occur around 2024, although this might sound a little over optimistic.

Mars is another destination for the Chinese plans. In 2009 a unmanned satellite named 萤火一号 should be launched on a Russian Soyuz-2/1b rocket aiming to Mars. The Russian Phobos Grunt mission is also scheduled to launch with the same rocket. As the Russian mission saw countless delays so far it is questionable if the launch 2009 is feasible.

Longterm China already announced interest in bringing humans to Mars in the time of 2040 to 2060. A quite ambitious goal.

The Solar System will be discovered by the Chinese space program as well, however no missions have been announced into this direction.

Conclusion

The Chinese space program has been driven and still is driven be military goals. The swing into more scientific goals has only been a recent change. As it doesn’t make sense to send humans into space for military reasons, the human space program of China can be seen from a more scientific viewpoint. At the same time China’s space program is a program of huge propaganda as well, showing the people how powerful the Middle Kingdom is.

I appreciate the efforts of China sending people as I regard this a good way to achieve great goals. Hopefully the China will release more data, especially pictures, from its program to the public. The next big step will be in October 2008 with the next Shenzhou spacecraft.

Posted in Hong Kong, Various stuff | 3 Comments »

Collect all Hello Kitty Messengers in July

Just today I recognized, there are new Hello Kitty Dolls for collection at MC Donalds Hong Kong with each menu. 2 weeks ago my coworkers and me agreed: Who goes to MC Donald first is a loser. This was fine with me…. until I saw the Hello Kitty. I just had to get one!

I went for the green psycho looking Kitty. Even the cup features Hello Kitty. Awesome!

All 16 collectible Hello Kitty Dolls, these are labelled Hello Kitty Messengers.

As I’m not that crazy about MC D’s I will only get those Kittys that interest me most. Namely the Schoolgirl Kitty wearing the short skirt in the top row, left side. Then I will get the almost white innocent looking one, and one of the pinkish Kittys. Maybe one or two others for friends I think these are great items to bring as a present. These are just as Asian as Asia can be and are the most original presents You can bring home from Asia among green tea, other green specialities and fake products.

Posted in China in General, Hong Kong | No Comments »

10 days until Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing

All preparations are made, the tickets are sold, Olympic tourists slowly arrive in the big city. What will we see during these Olympics? After the Olympics it will be easy to make a review, but let’s look into the future and make a preview instead. Here are my predictions:

Blue sky and air quality

Beijing wants to make sure that people can see the blue sky during the Olympic Games. They are willing to take measures to just achieve that. At the moment only 50% of all private cars are allowed to use the roads. One day car owners with an license plate ending with an odd number may drive, the next day even ending license plates enjoy a ride. Those who may not drive have to rely on the public transport system, which is almost bursting from all the passengers forced to use it.

Companys have been closed because of producing to much pollution. If they get compensations is unclear, I have my doubts. I have even more doubts, that those who enjoy some forced holidays get paid during this period. If not, they are in serious trouble obviously.

Still the air quality has only slightly improved, the blue sky cannot be seen. Measurements have shown, the air is much to polluted for more sensitive lungs. The sun is still deep red when rising in the morning and at the evening instead of shining in a glaring yellow.

The Sun is rising over Beijing. Red in color due to a staggering air pollution.

My opinion on the air quality: China’s measures are far less than necessary to achieve adequate and required levels of cleanness for the Olympic Games. Producers of microscopic dust particles, smoke and environmentally unfriendly gas must be removed not only in the inner city, but also in a wide area around the outskirts of the city. The amount of cars has to be reduced further. A strong course of actions is necessary especially since the time until the games begin is so short. And it does take some time until the stinking brown cloud vanishes above the roofs of the Olympic Village.

However Beijing is not ready for this kind of massive forced shut down. The public transit system is almost at is capacity limit already, people need to earn money to put bread on the table. While such extreme measures wouldn’t hurt the national economic statistics, they do hurt the local population. We have to see how Beijing decides. Olympic Games or the fellow countrymen? But Beijing must do something pretty soon. I don’t think they will do it on time and we will see a blue sky only a few days during this sports event.

Freedom of speech

When Beijing was awarded the Games they promised any reporter can report anything related in some way to the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. So far we can only see this is not working at all. Reporters in many places have been disturbed while reporting. The HK reporters incident is only one example of many.

My opinion on freedom of speech during the Olympic Games: What is happening is very clear. The upper management government of China gave a promise to the West: “You are allowed to report!”. But they missed one point. They forgot to tell the police. The police and other local authorities are obviously unaware what Beijing promised to the foreign nations sending reporters to the events.

The recent conflicts earlier this year in Tibet Provence led to a strong distrust towards foreign, especially Western, media. Chinese TV broadcasted all the faults of certain foreign media channels commenting pictures in a wrong way. However this is a gone story, but in the peoples head Western media is still evil. Somehow I get the impressions the locals want to do just what the central censored TV of China did. Teach the West. When Western reporters show up and make mistakes they have to face their local teachers.

The central government in Beijing has to take immediate and comprehensive measures to ensure everyone understands that Western journalists and reporters are allowed to report what they like. Only then they can have an embarrassment-free Olympics. And I’m sure we will see more police-journalist interaction. Let’s hope it won’t be too much, as entertaining as it is.

Pushing Westerners out of China

Recently visa restrictions have been put in place. Foreigners have a much harder time to get into China compared to previous years. For security reasons is the official explanation.

My opinion on visa restrictions: Why business visas were restricted with a reference to the Olympic Games is strange - Game visitors have a Tourist visa anyways. Also pointing to security reasons is more than strange. If someone does want to enter for a terrorist attack, he probably doesn’t think about the maximum length of his visa. If it is a suicide bomber he won’t leave the country later at all. Also other unwanted elements can do their evil deeds in one month.

At the same time China is hurting many foreign entrepreneurs and also students. China draws a bad picture regarding its visa policy. At the same time this is not only China’s fault. The WTO has asked China several times before to adjust it’s visa policy to international standards. While this is fair, they way they did it was not. They announced the changes at the day they actually came into effect, what is basically stupid. China, announcements should be announced before something happens. That’s why they’re named announcements. Visa problems won’t show up in the news anymore, as they have dominated the headlines for long enough. But they will show up in the hotel statistics: More than 20% of Beijing’s hotel rooms are empty.

Competitors below minimum age

Recently two competitors, namely He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan, both female Chinese gymnasts, showed up in newspaper columns. They might not be the minimum age for their discipline. Their passports clearly indicate they are 16, which would be sufficient, however different other sources show a different picture. On the website of the Chengdu Sports Bureau is a file dated from january 2006, He Kexin is born at the 1st of January 1994. The Olympic committee accepted the participation of these two based on their passports, however manipulation might have taken place.

My comment on too young athletes: While this issue is a minor one, it adds another negative point in the list of problems around the Beijing Olympics. China should investigate here in a honest way, however I have doubt they do. We might see the truth about this many years in the future, or not at all.

Conclusion

Questions if China is the right choice for the Olympics are asked often recently. While this is not a problem in itself, the amount of these questions is unsettling. It clearly indicates many are not confident that China is the right choice. Then this event might be a push in the right direction. I anticipate we can see more negative headlines during the Olympic Games, but China will learn from it. Once the event is over environmental issues will enjoy more public and governmental attention. China’s population will make more contact with Western people and they will learn about personal freedom and human rights that Westerners personify. A positive push overall. These Games might be not the best we’ve seen so far, but I do predict we will see a better China afterwards.

If You liked this article I would appreciate a Stumble or a bookmark in Your favourite social bookmark site. I would be even more happy if You write Your opinion on one or several of the issues mentioned. Just add Your comment in the comments section.

Posted in China in General, Hong Kong | 7 Comments »

China - A Private Members Only Club

I want to begin this article with a short quote of myself:

Maybe the Chinese just don’t want to tell anyone what’s going on inside the country.

Just 3 days have passed since I wrote this (see here, last paragraph). Yesterday I watched the news and what happened? Tada, it happened again! Journalists got their asses kicked for taking videos and images, but let’s start with the beginning of another sad story about the Chinese policy.

Some years ago, the Chinese applied for hosting the Summer Olympics. Some nice day they got approved, and now in Summer 2008 it is their great time to show the world how international, open and friendly they are. Things didn’t go well so far, foreigners got kicked out of the country, their health standards are still questionable, their pollution is incredible, human rights there are questionable as well and other things could be a bit better.

Yesterday was the day when a lot of the last available tickets were sold to the public in Beijing, a lot of people were fighting for them. However the police didn’t or couldn’t stop them. Their main concern was the media taking pictures…. and made themselves into fools.

Now everyone can see the stupidity of the Chinese police, uncensored and worldwide. The journalists have been beaten, their equipment has been broken just because they peacefully took some pictures and videos. Then I’m a strong believer in learning. It might take a while, maybe more incidents, but finally China’s government and their police will learn how to act. The Summer Olympics 2008 are more of a Chinese Olympics, foreigners seem to be more and more unwanted, they might even be seen as disturbance. But then I have to say, that Chinese people in general are nice and friendly. Just the Chinese government should go back to school. They should have a look at the freedom that is available in Hong Kong.

Posted in Chengdu, China in General, Hong Kong, Improve Yourself | No Comments »

Chinabounder teaches us: Be Controversial

Who remembers Chinabounder, the sex blogger from Shanghai? He wrote about how easy it is to seduce Chinese women and bring them to the bedroom and play with them. It has been a while since the last time You could hear a story about him, now he seems to be back. An article in the British newspaper the Guardian features some news about this guy who claims he has graduated from Cambridge University. In this article the real name of Chinabounder is revealed to the public for the first time: David Marriott.

His sexstory blog called Sex and Shanghai had cause some disturbance among traditional Chinese people two years ago, when he wrote about his sexual adventures with Chinese women in the western oriented Chinese city Shanghai. For others he was just entertainment, but then his blog at some point became private and only invited people could see it. From that point most people forgot about him and his adventures and now, two years later, Chinabounder writes a new book called 50 Reasons Why China May Never Be Great.

While the topic of his original blog was quite interesting and I enjoyed reading it, his writing style was lacking at that time. Hopefully he improved. So far I haven’t read his book, but I consider to have a look at it in the future.

Although criticised a lot, David Marriot aka. Chinabounder did something right. Getting a book deal is not easy today, so his initial effort paid of. First he wrote a blog people would criticise. By doing this he branded his name Chinabounder. Now people know if he writes a book it will be controversial. People still prefer controversial topics or controversial viewpoints instead of boring mainstream. 12% of all visitors of Yolearnchinese visited my only slightly controversial article A Chinese Woman will improve Your Chinese so far, some people commented as well. While I didn’t expect that when I wrote the article in the first place, I’m very happy that I did. Lesson learned. Be Controversial.

Notice to self: Write more controversial articles!

I can hardly understand why people disliked Chinabounder’s blog, which is open to the public again. He only wrote about things that happen every day all over the world. Sex blogs exist in the western world, far more explicit that Chinabounder’s blog, however no one really cares. Maybe the Chinese just don’t want to tell anyone what’s going on inside the country. In China everyone, especially women, tell You they’re traditional. Maybe traditional means shy on the outside, wild on the inside. So far I can backup this theory by my small knowledge about Chinese culture.

You don’t believe? Hook up with a Chinese woman and see for Yourself.

Posted in China in General, Girls, Hong Kong | No Comments »

Hong Kong Impressions

Hong Kong is a place that makes everyone happy who likes tall buildings and some nature around them. Indeed Hong Kong is more than only high rises. Even nearby the central areas forests can be found and these are beautiful relaxing forests with tiny paths within.

Causeway bay waterfront.

Many modern, expensive buildings can be found on Hong Kong Island for the upmarket people.

Once again I’m on the peak, always a nice view.

Posted in Girls, Hong Kong | 2 Comments »

Language Madness: to fail a test

This morning I read the paper copy of the Hong Kong free street newspaper The Standard. One headline at the last page stood out pretty much:

Duenas is country’s second Tour rider to fail test for EPO

Duenas is a bike rider for team Barloworld Team at the Tour the France. For those unfamiliar with the bike sport, Tour the France is one of the most famous and important races for any professional in this sport. Taking part in this race is a great honour. Winning this race is equal to becoming immortal.

Lets get back to the headline. This guy failed the test. I don’t know what You are thinking. For me a test asks for something, and then the participant has to deliver. In this very test, it was asked: Do You use EPO? According to the newspaper he failed. My first idea was, he didn’t use any EPO. I continued reading….

…. and found out he in fact did use EPO. A little confusing….

In fact to pass a test doesn’t always mean to archive the result that was asked for. Instead here failed meant, he got the result that was tested for. In this case this is still acceptable, as most people see it negative when someone uses a illegal body power enhancing drug. So far everything everything is fine, but lets add the cultural factor.

Cultures are different! We have seen, to fail a test doesn’t always mean the participant failed to archived what was tested for, instead to fail a test means he got a result that is perceived negative by bystanders. Problems arise, when 2 bystanders have a different cultural background. Someone might see a result as positive, while another person might see the same result as negative. Then to fail a test is no longer clear. Indeed When these 2 people hear, their friend failed, they might have different notion of the test result. The same problem arises with to pass a test. Let’s make an example to illustrate this:

Example: A man and a woman have sex. The woman wanted a baby, but the man still wanted his freedom and a life without obligations. A few weeks later the woman should have had her menstruation, but she didn’t. So they went to a doctor. Eagerly waiting the doctor finally came back to the couple and presented the result: You passed the test.

You can probably imagine, that the woman and the man from the example had different things on their mind, when the doctor announced the result. For the woman pass pass meant she has a baby, while for the man pass meant no baby.

Personally for me to fail a test means not reach the thing that was tested for, however for many people it means to not get a positive result. While positive is something based on their believes.

Conclusion: Language learning is not only learning a language, it also means to learn about the believes, prejudges and assumptions of the people who speak this language. Otherwise funny interpretations of what has been said can happen. This might be funny when in a bar, however not so funny during a business meeting.

For Chinese learners this means to actually go to China and not only attend a course in the West. A good start is to learn a semester in a Chinese university or get a job in China.

Posted in Improve Yourself, Various stuff | No Comments »

Chinesepod

I wanted to do a review for Chinesepod for a very long time. Then one thing has stopped me: Chinesepod is already so well known, it is hardly necessary to write a review. During the last few weeks however I bumped into some people who still didn’t know about Chinesepod, so this was a good motivator to finally write what the buzz is all about. So let’s get started.

What is Chinesepod all about?

Chinesepod is a website, that helps You learn Chinese. Their core product is a regular podcast, that serves lessons on Mandarin Chinese on a regular basis. As far as I can remember every day there is at least one new podcast. These podcasts are split up in various difficulty levels from Newbie to Advanced.The majority of the podcasts are in the lower levels, as the mass of all people is starting with Mandarin, or still in venturing in the lower levels. However advanced learners also can find a fair share of podcasts.

Around the podcast core there are several additions to create a helpful learning enviroment. Every podcast is accompanied with a pdf transcript to help the learner follow the Chinese text. Grammar and new words are explained in English in the lower levels, while in the higher levels concepts and new vocabulary is explained in Chinese.

Other helpful resources are exercises, tests, additional text with audio to memorize the key words of a lesson. There is even more on the website I haven’t mentioned, it’s just to much to mention everything they have.

Why is Chinesepod so much fun?

The podcasts are presented by unique characters, who bring a personality into the show. As I’m mainly still in the Elementary level of Chinesepod, my idols are John, Ken and Jenny so far. Other products I’ve tried before only showed me one side of learning: not fun. Chinesepod changed it. They approach basic topics, but also bring up humorous, embarrassing, personal and relationship topics, such as buying condoms or chit chatting about the neighbours husband. Things that matter to the learner in everyday life. As I have mentioned earlier, motivation is a key in learning. Chinesepod and the people that make it work provide just that. I could go on with the praise, but I think You just should check out the Chinesepod website and download a lesson. There is also a listening test to see what is Your personal level in learning Chinese, so You can grab an appropriate podcast for Your level.

How much is it?

You can try Chinesepod for free, sign up and get access for 1 week for free. After that You still have access to the podcast, however if You want to continue to use the extra features You need to buy one of their plans. These come at a fair price, the Basic membership which I think offers most value for Your money starts at $9 per month. If You order long term membership it becomes even cheaper and goes a slow as $5 a month.

I hope I gave You some idea about Chinesepod. If You are a Mandarin Chinese learner, You really should try this resource, because at the moment it is one of the best on the market. Although once in a while a few people on the Chinesepod Forum ask for a Cantonese podcast, none seems to be in the making and Cantonese learners have to stick to other learning resources. I’m also looking forward to see a Japanesepod, hopefully in the near future as I do want to make an attempt on Japanese this autumn, especially since Mandarin Chinese has lost a bit of its value due to the new Chinese visa policy.

At the moment it is absolutely free to get a one week trial at Chinesepod, check it out here: Chinesepod

Posted in Learn Chinese | No Comments »