Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.65/No.8 i Beijing Review

Moderate Inflation The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.9 percent year on year in January, down from the 1.5-percent increase a month ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said on February 16. A breakdown showed that food prices dropped 3.8 percent, a decline of 2.6 percentage points higher than that in December 2021. The price of pork, a staple meat in China, slumped 41.6 percent, compared with a 36.7-percent decrease a month ago. Non-food prices rose 2 percent, eased from the 2.1-percent increase reported in the previous month. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, gained 1.2 percent, flat with a month ago. The producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went up 9.1 percent in January. FDI…

Soon after graduation, Wu Mengwei, an electronic and information engineering major, followed his passion and became a writer contributing to online novel websites. He usually works five to six hours every night and jots down some 4,000 to 6,000 words. “I’m not really a social person. I enjoy letting my thoughts flow at night and write,” Wu said. “But sitting down for too long has admittedly made me gain weight.” Wu is among China’s 200 million who do not work for a company or any employer, a number recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). “Today, many people opt to work on their own or for themselves. They have more choices and can get more creative in their career pursuits, as well as can quickly respond to and…

The great revolutionary and philosopher Thomas Paine wrote on the eve of the American Revolution in 1776 that “these are the times that try men’s souls.” He might as well have been talking about the global challenges mankind faces today. The latest edition in the two-decade annual series of the globally fielded Edelman Trust Barometer (ETB), an annual survey of trust and credibility in four major institutions—government, business, media and non-governmental organizations, provides some answers to which nations are meeting today’s existential challenges. And which are not. High points While U.S. President Joe Biden and his allies have been banging their drums about the superiority of democracy versus autocracy, even hosting a “summit for democracy” last December and calling the defense of their versions of democracy “the defining challenge of…

What to do after exiting the athletic arena is a question many retired athletes ask themselves, including Chinese figure skating pair and two-time world champions Pang Qing and Tong Jian. Coaching is the usual go-to. But the partners-turned-couple are more ambitious: They want to turn retired figure skaters into performers and popularize the niche sport across China. Pang and Tong are two of the most decorated figure skaters in the country: They won second place at Vancouver 2010, reigned as world champions in 2006 and 2010, and gained five titles at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Bread and butter “We have been engaged in commercial skating since 2003,” Tong told Beijing Review. “As pros, we master the skating skills for both competing and performing. Our ice show has been…

Children from a kindergarten in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, take a try at floor curling on February 16. The kindergarten set up different games like floor curling and floor hockey on the first day of the new semester, giving the kids a chance to learn about the Olympic Winter Games and experience the joys of sports. The Beijing 2022 Games have boosted public enthusiasm for winter sports. Many schools use the occasion to cultivate their students’ winter sports skills. In areas without ice and snow, activities like floor curling are becoming popular.…

MEXICO The Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City is lit up in Chinese red on February 14 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Mexico diplomatic relations FRANCE A performer gives flowers to the audience at the Battle of the Flowers parade during the 2022 Nice Carnival in Nice on February 13. The event runs from February 11 to 27, themed King of Animals REPUBLIC OF KOREA Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung (center) of the Democratic Party attends a campaign event in Seoul on February 15. The election is set for March 9 BRAZIL A man removes silt from the streets following heavy rains in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro State, on February 16. The death toll from landslides and floods in the area rose to 78 that day…

During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday this year, which started on January 31, many Beijing residents chose to enjoy themselves in bookstores; but not just to uncover the latest in literature. PageOne Bookstore at Beijing Fun, a commercial and cultural complex in the capital city, became one of their most beloved haunts. Reading aside, visitors would have a cup of coffee and browse through the New Year picture exhibitions on display. Even on regular days, the store is an attraction. Different from its conventional peers, the place often hosts various activities like lectures, exhibitions and craft workshops, catering to the evolving tastes of especially young people. As domestic demand continues to upgrade, new business modes integrating sales, cultural activities and tourism both online and offline prevail, enhancing the overall shopping…

Private prisons in the United States have long been the topic of controversy, for example over their role in housing undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Several states have banned them, some banks have vowed to stop financing them and more than one presidential candidate has pledged to end them at the federal level. During his first week in office last year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order demanding the Department of Justice not renew its contracts with privately operated criminal detention centers. The directive only covers 13 private prisons with roughly 20,000 prisoners, but in fact, the U.S. houses over 200 of said facilities, holding more than 110,000 inmates—some 8 percent of the country’s total jail population. Private prisons can be both heaven and hell…

At least once a week, Xiao Lei takes his 7-year-old twins to ice hockey training in Haidian District in Beijing, host of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. “My boys have a lot of energy so this sport suits them,” the father told Beijing Review, adding the kids have been playing for half a year. The twins, together with millions of others, have helped China achieve its drive to engage 300 million people in winter sports, an initiative launched in 2015 in the bidding stages for the grandest of all athletic events. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, some 346 million people, almost a quarter of the Chinese population, had participated in ice and snow sports by October 2021. The 300-something million now familiar with skiing and/or skating will prove…

Before the Spring Festival, on February 1 this year, nobody could have imagined Bing Dwen Dwen, the roly-poly panda mascot of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, would become a breakout star. The chubby lucky charm wearing a transparent shell made its public debut in September 2019. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) had developed a series of licensed merchandise featuring the mascot, including stuffed animals, ceramics and throw pillows. However, it wasn’t until February 4, when the Beijing 2022 Games opened, that the mascot and its related products became a sensation. Bing Dwen Dwen-related merchandise sold out at the official Olympic flagship store on e-commerce platform Tmall. On the offline front, in cities like Beijing, consumers battled the freezing cold to line…

Timesaving Transportation With the completion of the branch line for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the capital city’s rail-transit system had expanded to 27 lines by late 2021, running more than 10,000 trains and transporting nearly 10 million passengers every day, according to the Beijing Metro Network Control Center (BMNCC). The data were shared with journalists from 36 domestic and overseas media outlets during a February 14 visit to the BMNCC, providing further insight into the Olympic host’s transportation network. Beijing’s first subway line, also the first in China, started operating in 1969. Since then, Beijing has gone on to establish a safe, convenient, efficient and green rail-transit system. Line 11, which opened in 2021 to provide transport to the different Winter Olympics venues, is a smart…

With the Olympic flame dancing to the drums of the Chinese Year of the Tiger, the Beijing 2022 Games—the first-ever Winter Olympics held in China and its second Olympics after hosting the 2008 Summer Games—concluded on February 20, to be followed by the Paralympic Winter Games from March 4 to 13. This edition featured many firsts: the first time all facilities were powered by green and renewable energy; the first time carbon dioxide transcritical direct cooling icemaking technology was employed so people could enjoy winter sports while protecting the ecosystem; the first time the concept of tech-driven sustainability was followed in its truest sense, an all-inclusive 5G network was set up and smart technologies such as service delivery robots were deployed; and the first time since the onset of the…

For some athletes, 17 is the age to make their Olympic debut. But for Chinese snowboarder Zhang Jiahao, it is the age at which he first took up the sport. Born in Beijing in 1995, Zhang had worked as a baker before becoming a professional snowboarder in 2014. At the time, he, having never imagined how far he would progress in the sport, only saw snowboarding as a hobby. However, after taking part in a number of amateur competitions, he set himself the goal of competing in the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. While Zhang failed to get enough points in the International Ski Federation (FIS) competitions to qualify for the Beijing 2022 Games, his fight for a dream once seemingly impossible has impressed and inspired many. Transformation After graduating…

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar—or February 15 this year. Marking the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations, the day fades into the first full moon of the year. People started celebrating Lantern Festival more than 2,000 years ago. The date marked a romantic occasion in ancient times, offering an opportunity for unmarried men and women to venture outside their households and meet their potential future spouse. Festival staples include boiled sticky rice balls known as tangyuan and yuanxiao. The former is made by molding rice flour dough into balls before adding the filling, the latter by rolling out fillings in a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour. In the evening, people partake in entertainment like guessing…