the awesomest house
Nanfang Daily has found Gansu’s most awesomest private house:
甘肃文县：“最牛民房”历震弥坚 用木质材料间隔或是抗震原因
Wen County, Gansu: “Awesomest private house” still stands firm after the quake Is it’s use of wooden materials why it withstood the quake?
位于甘肃文县，继续居住无碍，用木质材料间隔或是抗震原因
Situated in Wen County, Gansu, still inhabitable, perhaps its use of wooden materials at interals reason for surviving the quake.
5·12地震后，甘肃文县碧口镇几乎百分之百的房屋倒塌或被损毁而无法居住，然而在碧口镇窦家坝村，有一栋两层民房却屹立不动，除了轻微的墙壁裂纹，这栋砖木结构的民房与往常无异。
After the May 12 earthquake, almost 100% of the buildings in Bikou Township, Wen County, Gansu collapsed or were too badly damaged to be inhabitable, but in Bikou Township’s Doujiaba Village one two-storey private home stood steady as a rock. Apart from a few slight cracks in the walls, this brick joisted private home was no different from normal.
碧口镇完好民房仅此一间
Almost the only intact private house in Bikou Township
甘肃省重灾区文县，在震后90％左右的房屋倒塌或成为危房。文县以碧口镇受灾重最，这里与四川省青川县木鱼镇紧邻。离5·12大地震震中汶川距 离不到200公里。在碧口镇窦家坝村紧邻212国道的这栋二层民房，是村民任兴平在1998年建起的。当初仅花了3万多元，他没有想到，10年之后，这栋 房屋在经历8级地震和多次余震后仍然坚挺不倒，几乎毫发无损。
In Gansu Province’s Wen County, heavily affected by the disaster, around 90% of the buildings were toppled or rendered dangerous by the quake. Bikou Township was the most severely affected area in Wen County, being a close neighbour of Muyu Township, Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province. It is less than 200 kilometres from the epicentre of the May 12 earthquake in Wenchuan. This two-storey private home next to State Highway 212 in Doujiaba Village, Bikou Township, was built by villager Ren Xingping in 1998. At the time, he only spent a little over 30 thousand yuan, and didn’t think that ten years later this house would go through an earthquake of 8 on the Richter scale and numerous aftershocks and still stand firm, seemingly not damaged in the slightest.
“我当时在外面干活，地震后心想家里的房子都完了。”房主任兴平说，5月12日地震后，他立刻赶回家中看自己的房子，没想到建于1998年的两层房屋从外面看毫发无损，仅掉落几个瓦片。进房之后，也仅在二楼南侧一间房内见到一丝很小的裂纹。
“At the time, I was working outside, and after the earthquake I thought the house would be destroyed,” said the owner Ren Xingping. After the May 12 earthquake he immediately hurried home to check on his house, and didn’t think that his two-storey house built in 1998 would seem from the outside to have not suffered even the slightest damage, only losing a few tiles. After going inside, he saw one very small crack in a room on the southside of the second floor.
“我自己当时也奇怪。”任兴平说，房屋建于1998年，是砖木结构的，而旁边自己的兄弟建于2003年的两层砖混结构楼房已经摇摇欲坠，多处严重受损，成为无法居住的危房。
“I thought it strange myself at the time”, said Ren Xingping. The house was built in 1998, it’s brick joisted, and the two-storey brick and concrete houses built in 2003 on either side were shaking, with serious damage in several places, and had become to dangerous to live in.
像任兴平这样几乎完好无损的民房，在碧口镇没有第二家，堪称此次地震中碧口镇灾区的“最牛民房”。
There is no other house in Bikou Township intact and undamaged like Ren Xingping’s house, which can be declared “The awesomest house” in this earthquake’s Bikou Township disaster zone.
省地震局前来考察当样板
Provincial Seismology Bureau comes to inspect the prototype
这栋“最牛民房”引来了甘肃省地震局应急处处长景天孝详细考察。连日来，景天孝带领地震局专业人士到甘肃省各灾区考察房屋损毁情况，在沿212国道行至碧口镇窦家坝村时，任兴平的房屋立刻引起了他的注意。
This “awesomest house” brought head of the Gansu Provincial Seismology Bureau Emergency Department Jing Tianxiao to conduct a detailed investigation. Over several days, Jing Tianxiao lead experts from the Seismology Bureau through all Gansu Province’s disaster zones inspecting the damage to buildings. As they were going along State Highway 212 to Bikou Township’s Doujiaba Village, Ren Xingping’s house immediately grabbed his attention.
“这个房子怎么没事？”他脱口而出。从外观上看，这栋房屋完好无损，为了能详细了解情况，他进入房屋，对各个房间和墙壁仔细察看，最终只在二楼的南屋发现 一点裂纹痕迹。在重灾区经历了8级地震和6.4级余震后仍然如此完好，专业人士们唏嘘赞叹：“房子完全没有问题，可以继续住。”
“How come this house has no problem?” he blurted out. Looking from outside, this house seems intact and undamaged. To get an in-depth understanding of the situation, he went inside, and carefully examined every room and wall, ultimately only on the south side of the second floor finding a few traces of cracks. Having gone through an earthquake of 8 on the Richter scale and a 6.4 aftershock in the serious disaster zone and still as intact as this, the experts gasped in admiration: “The house has absolutely no problem. You can continue living here.”
随后他向任兴平了解了房屋结构等详细情况，据任兴平介绍，这个房屋在1998年建造时没有过多考虑抗震功能，也不是什么框架结构，就是普通的砖木结 构房屋。与其它房屋不同的是，房顶仅以木椽青瓦覆盖，质轻。至于其它方面，任兴平介绍，一楼完全用优质实心砖，二楼用的空心砖；而各间房间之间的间隔并非 砌以砖墙，而是用木质材料隔开。
Then he questioned Ren Xingping to understand the detailed situation of the structure. According to Ren Xingping, when this house was built in 1998, he didn’t think too much about its anti-seismic function, and it’s not some kind of frame construction, just an ordinary brick joisted building. The difference with other houses is that the roof is only covered in wooden rafters and grey tiles, naturally light. As for the other aspects, according to Ren Xingping, the first floor is made entirely of fine quality solid bricks, and the second floor from hollow bricks; and the intervals between the rooms are not really brick walls, but are made of wood.
“可能木质材料比较有弹性吧，不像砖墙那样缺乏缓冲。”任兴平说。“我们除了统计房屋损毁情况，也对地震中比较坚固的房屋考察，对以后建筑防震方面提供参考。”景处长说，这栋房屋他们会记录在案，综合研究。
“Maybe wooden materials are more flexible, not lacking cushioning like bricks,” said Ren Xingping. “Other than collecting statistics on damaged buildings, we’re also investigating buildings that were more stable in the earthquake, to supply references for the earthquake resistance aspect of construction later on.” Director Jing said, they will record this house in the files and comprehensively research it.
My apologies for the atrocious translation. In my defence, I’m kinda tired having woken up at around 5 the last two mornings, I’m not so familiar with construction terminology, and the resources I have weren’t overly helpful at clearing up all of my questions. What, for example, is 砖混结构楼? I wound up having to decipher this Baidu Baike article and then trying to make up some term that seemed to fit.
And I have heard that wood is actually a better building material for earthquakes because it is both strong and flexible, and therefore can roll with the punches, whereas bricks and concrete, although strong, are rigid and resist the shaking, and therefore crumble.
Oh, and on the subject of awesome earthquake stories, check this out:
“地图上的直线距离才25厘米，不远，走!”14日凌晨1时许，在一个“赴四川救灾可行性分析紧急会议”之后，山东莒县洛河镇东皂湖村的10位村民，提上50公斤山东大煎饼，开着一辆农用三轮车，颠簸了四天三夜，走了3000余公里，终于抵达四川参加抗震救灾。
“On the map it’s only 25 centimetres as the crow flies, not far, let’s go!” At around 1 am on the 14th, after an “Urgent Meeting to Analyse the Feasibility of Going to Sichuan for Disaster Relief”, 10 residents of Dongzaohu Village, Luohe Township, Ying County, Shandong, carrying 50 kg of Shandong pancakes, driving an agricultural tricycle, jolted their way for four days and three nights over 3000 km, finally reaching Sichuan to take part in the earthquake relief.
Now that is awesome.
gr
Posted by wangbo in tilting at windmills on May 27, 2008
only one r because it only irks instead of irritates:
Why does the writer this article feel the need to implicitly criticise China for not leaning heavily enough on the Burmese junta to allow foreign relief in to the areas hit by Nargis? Is this person really completely unaware that China has its own disaster of an at least equivalent scale to be dealing with right now? Seriously, two quotes:
Western powers’ offer of humanitarian help, and the hands-off approach of China and India toward the crisis, may continue to frustrate relief efforts, particularly if Burma’s neighbors fail to stay engaged, say regional analysts, aid officials, and Western diplomats.
and:
Strident calls for China and other Asian allies to pressure the junta or else prepare for a possible outside humanitarian intervention appeared to go unheeded, though, as China insisted that Burmese sovereignty must be respected above all.
Might I suggest that Chinese hands are off Burma because they’re too busy dealing with Sichuan?
But finally, we get:
Analysts say that China, which fears instability on its borders, had exerted quiet pressure on Burma, at least until its priorities shifted to earthquake relief in Sichuan. But its sway may be limited, as is Beijing’s patience with an ally that ignores its advice, says David Mathieson, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. Exiled Burmese opposition groups say they have channels to Beijing officials, whom they claim are worried that the junta could collapse, undoing China’s economic interests.
So China does get some token sympathy…. but no, it’s all down to cold, hard, political and economic interests.
Alright, Ford does give China a fair-ish go, especially if we include the ending:
Facing its own natural disaster, China can be forgiven for disengaging from Burma’s crisis. But it may have missed a chance earlier to put a humanitarian face on its rising power in Asia, for example by sending military teams, says Steve Tsang, a professor at Britain’s Oxford University. China could have been the acceptable face of foreign help in the crucial first week.
“There’s a lot China could have done, and they missed the opportunity,” he says. “They could have done it in a way that wasn’t threatening to ASEAN, or even in conjunction with ASEAN.”
But analysts say such an operation would have stretched China’s military, as its Navy lacks the force projection of the US Pacific fleet, which has deployed aircraft carriers near Burmese waters in recent weeks in expectation of clearance to deliver aid.
But really, we’re a little over two weeks too late to be talking the politics of China’s apparent non-intervention in Burma. Once that quake hit, China was excused from the process- more pressing obligations of its own towards its own people, you see. It had to do the job governments are generally expected to do, and it did that, and is still doing so, and admirably, too.
So, lean heavily on India and ASEAN and whoever else you may suspect of carrying some weight in the distant and secretive halls of Naypyidaw, but lay off China, please. China’s got its hands full taking care of its own people right now without being expected to solve the rest of the world’s problems.
big scary machines
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing on May 27, 2008
Our water is off during the daytime today and tomorrow. I’m assured it will be on overnight. See, the water company wants to do maintenance on our pipes, and so last Thursday they put up a notice saying that the water supply to each building in our community would be cut off some time between the 23 and 30 for pipe maintenance. I asked the guys at the gate- they’re not security guards, I believe they’re from the neighbourhood committee, and they assured me that the water company was going to work building-by-building and that the water would be off for probably only a day, and that a notice would be posted the day before our building would be affected. Cool. And then yesterday morning the notice was put up on our building’s doors, and I scrawled a quick translation of the essentials on the notices on doors housing foreign teachers, because most of my colleagues don’t speak or read Chinese- and many of them seem to have made no effort to learn whatsoever (although there is a significant group that is actively studying Chinese). Fine. Pipes need to be maintained, and we had fair warning. Hopefully nobody complains.
Anyway, seeing the machinery that was piling up outside yesterday in preparation for today’s and tomorrow’s work made me glad they were cutting off the water. I mean, that’s some big, hefty machinery they’ve got out there, the kind that is towed behind a large truck. I’m thinking, if they didn’t turn the water off they’d stand a good risk of blowing out our bathrooms and kitchens.
Actually, I have absolutely no idea what this machinery is and what exactly they’re doing. All I know is it’s pipe maintenance. I’ll be interested to see what kind of water comes out of our pipes this evening and tomorrow evening, though. Our water supply here is pretty good, cleaner than other parts of the city. Hopefully this maintenance will make it even better.
The Big Pain in the Arse is that this maintenance work required them to dig a hole right in front of our door, which is slightly less than convenient.
Ah well, they’ll be finished by tomorrow evening.
random tv stuff
And not for the first time, as lzh has been watching the soap 《男人底线》, which seems to have acquired a Chinglish title along the lines of The Bottom Line of the Man (although I’m not sure about that… glimpsed it for two seconds and thought huh?), I’ve heard the background music start up some kind of tune that sounds incredibly like U2’s The First Time, but with a slight Kenny G’ing to it. But every time the lyrics start flowing…
I have a lover,
A lover like no other,
She’s got soul, soul, soul sweet soul…..
And no, it’s not a love song. It’s an apostate’s song, and yet there is something in it, some kind of kernel of faith that can not be thrown away with the key.
And U2 makes a lot of great music, but it’s never the big, stadium-filling, bombastic, Bono prancing around in silly glasses, bad, greasy hair and shiny, black leather, The Edge in the latest incarnation of his dodgy old man facial hair doing things with a guitar that would make Eric Clapton blush, Adam Clayton trying oh-so-hard to stay cool and Larry Mullen playing the drums music. It’s always the really quiet, contemplative stuff that really lifts U2 out of the ordinary rock band range- well, that and the fact they’re still together after 30 odd years. But really, it’s their quiet music that shows how good they are- or would be if they dropped the bombast and pomposity. In songs like October, 40, Bad, Running to Stand Still, Mothers of the Disappeared, Van Diemen’s Land, All I Want is You, One, The First Time, Wake Up Dead Man, Grace you have an exploration of faith, love, and humanity that is rare in rock circles.
And yes, I enjoy their “big” songs too, but really, it’s the quiet stuff that makes me a fan.
But what started this off was an odd riff I’ve heard a couple of times on a TV show my wife has been watching… and I suspect if I chucked a Zooropa on the CD player and listened to the song in question it would not actually sound like what was on TV…. Ah well, whatever.
ummm…. yeah, uh…. where was I?
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, random on May 26, 2008
Right, so I was going to write some long, hyper-intellectual post about my HSK score and what it reveals about me, but some Brazillian’s Google search that led to this blog led me on to this, and then this, and then…… and then…..
Thanks, anonymous Brazillian. That was a pretty good series of distractions.
Oh, and we don’t know how lucky we are….
Now, that HSK thing…..
So, umm, yeah. Well, I got this phone call about half past ten this morning asking “你是王博吗？” (Are you Wang Bo?), having no idea who was calling, I hesitantly responded “是” (yes). And then he said my HSK results were waiting at the front desk of the foreign students’ dorm. So I grabbed my stuff, slipped some sandals on, and went down there.
But I felt really nervous, ridiculously nervous. More nervous than when I even sat the test! That’s absurd! I’ve never felt that way about exam results before ever in my life!
Anyway, I got the results, got home, and opened the envelope.
Inside was a certificate saying in Chinese:
王博系新西兰人，于2008年4月27日参加汉语水平考试（HSK）获得汉语中等水平B级证书。
And in English:
Let it be known that Chris Waugh [yeah, I see no need to put my full name up here] from New Zealand took the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) administered on Apr. 27, 2008, obtaining grade B at the Intermediate level and is hereby awarded this certificate of proficiency in Chinese.
Two things: I am not entirely comfortable with the use of my Chinese name, which has no legal standing whatsoever, on official documents; and is it just me or does the English text seem amazingly pompous?
Whatever, there you go, I am Grade B at Intermediate level. Pretty cool, huh?
There’s a slip of paper that comes with it that gives what is perhaps a little more pertinent: A breakdown of my score and the various grades and levels and explanations of all that. My score broke down as follows:
Listening: 83
Grammar: 75
Reading: 85
Comprehensive: 71
Total: 317.
No surprises. I knew Comprehensive would be my Achilles’ heel, and grammar gave me two problems: words I didn’t know (naturally) and the fine, technical differences between words that most people normally treat as synonyms. I’m surprised my reading is so high (heh, years of teaching Chinese kids legal cheats test-taking skills helped with that), but not surprised with listening- that was very, very clear to me, and I probably would’ve gotten better had I actually prepared it (yes, I went in thinking, for crying out loud, my wife is Chinese and our default language is Putonghua, surely my listening must be good enough.)
This all translates into a level 7 on HSK’s 11-level scale. The graph is entirely in Chinese, and I’m more interested in finishing this post and getting dinner than checking the official website, so I’m not entirely sure of the official English translations, but anyway: 初等证书 (elementary certificate?) covers levels 3 to 5, a C on such a certificate translating to level 3, a B to level 4 and an A to level 5. 中等证书 (intermediate certificate) covers levels 6 to 8, with a C being 6, B (me) 7 and A 8. After that it’s 高级, the dreaded advanced….
And so now… Do I go straight on to advanced in December? Can I bump myself up two levels in that time? I will have a long, hot and largely empty summer, about half of which I plan on spending out in the countryside….. Time to pop down to Wangfujing for some book shopping, I think.
back, and skody
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing on May 26, 2008
So it was a good, if somewhat short trip up to Yanqing this weekend. The weather was beautiful up there, clear blue skies, sunny, hot but not uncomfortably so.
And it was quiet.
Very nice.
Of course, there had to be some problem in the getting there or getting back. It was getting there that was the problem, this time. The expressway was basically a series of intense traffic jams all the way from Juyongguan over to Badaling. Two problems: The trucks, as always; and bloody tourists, as always on a beautiful summer weekend. It got to the point where our bus driver consulted with a traffic cop sitting at the Shuiguan exit, then went off the expressway and took the backroad up through Badaling. Of course, this meant we quite literally went through Badaling instead of through the tunnel under it, so we did have to deal with the tourist traffic there, but that meant we were only delayed half an hour more than we’d already lost in the traffic on the expressway instead of easily another hour or more. Seriously, going through Badaling and looking back up at the expressway it was pretty clear that had we stayed on, we would’ve stayed stuck for a hell of a lot longer.
Anyway, we got off the bus at Nancaiyuan bang on 12, just in time for the next 920 out to the village. And so we got there, later than expected, but in time for lunch.
Coming back was much easier, no hassles with buses or traffic. Trouble is, we walked in the door at about half past seven, with the light starting to fade, and realised: No electricity! Dammit! Clearly the power was on in the rest of the building, just not our apartment, so a quick check of the meter, and: Yes, we ran out of power sometime over the weekend. And of course it was too late to run over to the cutely-named power saving office (the place that sells us our electricity- think maybe they’re trying to spread some subtle message?) and buy more. So by the light of cellphones we dug out some candles, then I said screw this, let’s go out for dinner.
As dodgy as the food may be, and as filthy as the tables are (and don’t even look at what you’re walking on), and despite the traffic just on the other side of the fence on Xidawang Lu, the new outdoor dining area that BeiGongDa’s Number 1 Restaurant has opened is a comfortable place to spend an evening, and certainly better than sitting at home twiddling your thumbs by candlelight. And although we timed our return too late to buy electricity (assuming the office is even open on the weekends- but judging by the other entries in the log it may well be), we timed it perfectly for a powerless night. After a leisurely-paced meal and an easy stroll home, the timing was good to heat up some water for a sponge-bath to at least get the worst of the sweat and dirt off us and then get some much-needed sleep.
And there’s the problem, and why I still feel skody: An electric water heater does not work without electricity. We had to heat water on the stove, and that’s no good for a proper wash. And no, it’s not because Yanqing is so dirty, rather because after getting off the bus in Madian, I felt instantly dirty. I could’ve easily gone another day or two without a shower had we stayed in Yanqing, because it isn’t dirty up there. It’s getting off the bus and stepping into all that extra heat and that thick soup of humidity and pollution that made me feel so horribly filthy and in desperate need for a shower.
Anyway, we plan to install a solar water heater next time we’re up there, which will make showering much more convenient. At the moment, it’s alright in the summer when a make-shift cubicle is set up in the northwest corner of the courtyard and one of those black polythene bag “camp showers” put on top, but that’s hardly ideal, and too cold for at least half the year. If we can get a good solar water heater and a stove or heater of some kind we can set up a bathroom in the eastern room that will be good year-round.
Enough rambling: We’re back, power’s back on, the water is probably heated by now, better go get in the shower.
Yanqing wetlands
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing, news on May 23, 2008
I find myself in an odd little emotional rut where nothing much gets my attention or grabs my interest, just shuffling on from day to day. This will pass, of course, but for the time being, that’s where I’m at. Perhaps our planned trip out to the village this weekend will help wake me up. I’ve been sitting here in southern Chaoyang far too long and I need some fresh air, especially that yet another summertime humid miasma has settled over the city.
But, as is probably clear enough already, anything with the word “延庆” in the title will get my attention, and today in 京报网 I found this article on Yanqing’s wetlands:
退耕还湖还林还草构建塞北生态屏障
Return tilled land to lakes, forests, and grass to establish a northern ecological protective screen
延庆11万亩湿地守护京城
Yanqing’s 110,000 mu of wetlands defend the capital
初夏，美丽的野鸭湖畔，草鹭、白鹭、苍鹭、野鸭钻入草丛、树林，精心地喂养着小鸟，黄鹂在柳间鸣唱，云雀在半空中欢歌。它们在此自由地繁衍生息，奏响了生 命之歌。妫水公园和夏都公园，时有黑鹳在上空盘旋，定居在龙庆峡的它们，常常进城散步，过得逍遥自在。延庆广阔的湿地，为鸟儿提供生存空间。
Early summer, the beautiful banks of Wild Duck Lake, purple herons, egrets, herons, and wild ducks enter the grass, woods, meticulously raising their chicks, the orioles sing in the willows, the larks sing happily in mid-air. They freely multiply here, singing the song of life. Guishui and Xiadu Parks sometimes have black storks circling overhead. Those that settle at Longqingxia often go for a stroll in town, living free and unfettered. Yanqing’s vast wetlands provide living space for the birds.
据延庆县湿地资源调查报告显示，目前，延庆县湿地面积已达11万亩，湿地保护面积已达15万亩，占到全县总面积的二十分之一以上。广阔的湿地净化了大气和 水源，为首都构筑了一道京北生态屏障。从空中俯瞰延庆县城，自妫河流域从东到西，东有金牛湖、中有夏都公园、妫水公园、西有野鸭湖湿地、北有三里河湿地公 园，三大公园两大保护区对延庆县城形成了包围之势，形成京北最大的湿地群落。
According to a report on Yanqing County’s Wetland resources, currently, Yanqing County’s wetlands cover an area of 110,000 mu, and the area of protected wetlands is 150,000 mu, occupying over one twentieth of the county’s area. The vast wetlands purify the atmosphere and water sources, giving the capital a protective ecological screen to its north. A bird’s eye view of the county, moving from the east to the west of the Gui River basin, shows that in the east is Jinniu Lake, in the centre are Xiadu and Guishui Parks, and in the west is Wild Duck Lake wetlands, in the north are Sanli River Wetland Park, with the three big parks and two big reserves encircle the county town and forming the largest wetland community in the north of Beijing.
Trouble is, I’m really tired, and I want to have enough energy to get back out to Yanqing as early as possible tomorrow morning, so I’m not going to translate the whole thing. I might do that when I get back, because it is pretty interesting, but that will have to wait until at least Sunday evening, or perhaps Monday or Tuesday.
scattered
Posted by wangbo in tilting at windmills on May 20, 2008
I had some thoughts to sure, but they got scattered, I’m not sure I can recover them….
I have to say, this is the most 感动 (moving, but moving just doesn’t seem to express it as well) period I’ve spent in China. Really, eight years here, arriving one year after the disastrous Yangzi floods, a few months after the bombing of the embassy in Belgrade, and being here through the spy plane incident, SARS, the anti-Japanese protests of 2005, last winter’s horrific blizzards,… what have I left out? Droughts, floods, sandstorms and typhoons, to say the least…
Never before have I seen The Chinese People so united and so focussed on a common goal. And you know what? It’s a good thing to see. An inspring thing to see. Some of the more nationalistic-seeming expressions of that unity and focus do make me uncomfortable, to be sure. People are people are people and that’s that. But still, it is utterly amazing to see an entire nation of 1.3 billion people so utterly focussed on getting the victims of the quake out of the rubble and back to life as soon as possible.
I am in awe of China. Utter awe. Incredible awe.
Inspired.
This is the human spirit.
And these soldiers, police, firemen, and other rescuers, mate, these are real heroes.
REAL heroes. These are the kind of men you kowtow to.
Chatting with my mum on MSN this afternoon, it was clear, the news is getting through big time to NZ. My mum sounded like she was crying.
And unfortunately the conversation turned to Cyclone Nargis. I can’t help it, I feel more for the victims of the earthquake, but that’s a factor of proximity. When it comes to sheer humanitarian Disaster, then Nargis takes the cake, and if I were capable of grieving on such a scale, I would. And then of course, there is Sudan, and malaria, and AIDS, and…..
But then again, the Chinese government knows its duty to its people.
But I’m sorry, I can’t handle all that. I have to choose my fights. I’m only one small man. But my heart bleeds right now. So many times this week I’ve been this close to crying in class.
All my hopes and prayers are in Southwest China, and Myanmar, and anywhere people suffer.
goodness
I can’t quite hear over the noise of lzh cooking, nor can I read the subtitles fast enough to catch everything, not that the subtitles cover everything that is being said, but….. it seems CCTV少儿 (China Central Television Childrens’ channel) has a programme introducing basic geology, with a focus on plate tectonics and seismology. And damn good timing, too, considering the nonsenes that has been spread about the lack of warning for the Wenchuan quake or last night’s (? or the night before’s?) Sichuan Seismology Bureau (correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s where the reports lead) “forecast” of an imminent aftershock.
So let me just add my two fen worth: Earthquakes can NOT be predicted. Earthquakes are caused by plate tectonics. They have nothing to do with weather or solar movements or anything else. Science, people, stick with it.