salaries can’t match GDP
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news on February 20, 2008
It would seem that, in Guangdong at least, salary growth won’t match GDP growth. Not good news considering all the talk of inflation, and I don’t see why this phenomenon would be limited to Guangdong. This is from Nanfang Daily:
居民收入为何涨不过GDP？市发改委主任潘建国：这是体制问题
Why won’t residents’ incomes rise higher than GDP? Chairman of the Municipal Reform and Development Commission Pan Jianguo: This is a systemic problem
市发改委主任潘建国解释这是体制问题，广州正在建立工资正常增长机制
Chairman of the Municipal Reform and Development Director explains that it’s a systemic problem, Guangzhou is establishing a system for regular increases in salaries.
2008广州两会
2008 Guangzhou “Two Conferences”
“在今年的经济和社会发展预期目标中，为什么居民收入的增速低于GDP的增速？”在昨天的人大分组讨论中，频频有代表向广州市发改委主任潘建国发问。潘建国解释，广州在三年前就注意到了分配格局不合理的问题，目前广州财政局已经在研究公务员的工资正常增长体制。
“Among this year’s expected objectives for economic and social development, why is the speed of increase for residents’ income lower than that of GDP?” representatives in yesterday’s People’s Congress group discussions repeatedly asked Guangzhou Municipal Reform and Development Commission Director Pan Jianguo. Pan Jianguo explained, three years ago Guangzhou noticed the problem of the unreasonable pattern of distribution, and currently Guangzhou Department of Finance is already researching a system for regular increases of civil servants’ salaries.
城乡收入差距可能扩大
Urban-rural income gap likely to grow
在昨天的人大分组讨论中，广州市发改委主任潘建国也是荔湾区代表团的第一组成员，因此代表们在审议计划报告时十分活跃。
In yesterday’s People’s Congress group discussions, Guangzhou Municipal Reform and Development Commission Director Pan Jianguo was also the first member of the Liwan District delegation, and so the representatives were fully active in their deliberation of the planning report.
王跃林代表首先发问：“潘主任，在今年的经济和社会发展预期目标中，为什么居民人均收入的增速低于GDP的增速？城市居民人均可支配收入10％的增速会不会太低了？”
Representative Wang Yuelin first asked: “Director Pan, among this year’s expected objectives for economic and social development, why is the rate of increase of residents’ per capita income lower than that of GDP? Won’t the 10% increase in city residents’ disposable incomes be too low?”
统计显示，去年广州市城市居民人均可支配收入增长13.2％，农村居民人均纯收入增长10.6％，分别低于GDP增速1.3个和3.9个百分点，城乡居民收入差距由上年的2.55：1变为2.61：1。
Statistics show that last year per capita disposable income of Guangzhou urban residents grew by 13.2% while rural residents’ per capita disposable income grew by 10.6%, the difference being 1.3 and 3.9 percentage points lower than GDP growth, the gap between urban and rural residents income changing from last year’s 2.55:1 to 2.61:1.
容小梨代表也提出，今年城市居民人均可支配收入的预期目标是增长10％，而农村居民人均纯收入的预期目标是增长9％，这势必造成城乡收入差距进一步扩大，发改委在这些指标上的制定，是不是应该对农村居民有所倾斜。
Representative Rong Xiaoli also pointed out, this year’s expected goal for increase in per capita disposable incomes for urban residents is 10%, while the expected goal for increase in rural residents’ net income is 9%, and this is bound to cause the urban-rural income gap to widen further. In drawing up these targets, shouldn’t the Reform and Development Commission lean towards the rural residents somewhat?
正在研究公务员工资增长体制
Currently invesitgating a system for regular increases in civil servants’ salaries
潘建国承认，目前广州的GDP、财政收入和城乡居民收入的增长速度的确存在不匹配的现象。“从经济学的角度来说，这三者之间应该有一个合适的比例，但现在 从国家到省市，这三个数字的增长都不相匹配。比如近五年来，广州的GDP年均增长14.5％，财政收入年均增长17.6％，但城市居民收入的增速为 10.9％，农村居民收入的增速更是只有8.1％，城乡收入差距还呈现拉大的趋势。”
Pan Jianguo acknowledged that the current growth in Guangzhou’s GDP and fiscal revenue, and and urban and rural residents’ incomes are quite distinct phenomena. “From the point of view of economics, these three should all be in suitable proportion, but now, from the national down to the provincial and municipal levels, the rates of increase of these three figures all fail to match. For example, over the last 5 years, Guangzhou’s GDP per annum has grown by 14.5%, fiscal revenue has grown by 17.6% per annum, but urban residents’ income growth has been 10.9% and rural residents’ income growth has been a mere 8.1%, and the gap between urban and rural incomes still seems to be increasing.
潘建国认为，这主要是现在的初次分配和再分配存在体制上和实际操作上的不合理，广州在三年前就已经注意到了这个问题，但这是体制上的问题，也是全国性的问题，并非地方的行政手段可以解决的。而发改委在制定预期目标的时候，也要考虑到这些客观存在的因素。
Pan Jianguo believes what is important is that the currently existing system for primary suballocation and reallocation and actual operation are unreasonable. Guangzhou already noticed this problem three years ago, but this systemic problem is also a problem at the national level, and can’t be solved by local methods. And when the Development and Reform Commission was drawing up the expected goals, it also had to consider these objective factors.
[note: what the hell is this about: 这主要是现在的初次分配和再分配存在体制上和实际操作上的不合理????]
“十七大的报告明确了要改革收入分配制度，现在从中央到地方都在努力调整分配格局。”潘建国说，“今年广州市政府工作报告中，就提出要着力改善收入分配关系，加快建立健全包括公务员、事业单位和各类企业职工在内的工资正常增长机制，提高企业职工最低工资标准。”
“The 17th National people’s Congress very clearly reported that the income distribution system needs to be reformed, and now everybody from the central government to the regions is working hard to revise the distribution system.” Pan Jianguo said, “This year’s Guangzhou Municipal Government Work Report raises the need to work hard to improve income distribution relations, accelerate the establishment of a system of regular salary increases including civil servants and workers of public institutions and every kind of enterprise, and raise the minimum wage for company employees.”
潘建国还透露，目前广州也在逐步采取一些措施，比如市财政局已经在研究公务员的工资正常增长体制，但改革的效应不可能马上显现出来，这需要一定的时间。
Pan Jianguo also revealed that at present Guangzhou is progressively carrying out measures, for example, the Municipal Bureau of Finance is already investigating a system for regular salary increases for civil servants, but the effects of reform would not be immediately apparent, this would take some time.
This is followed up with a table setting out increases in urban residents’ per capita disposable income, rural residents’ per capita net income, GDP and fiscal revenue for 2007 with their projections for 2008.
And really, please, if you spot any mistakes are find any way I could improve my translation, tell me. So long as your criticism is constructive and helpful, I will be happy and grateful. This is done as a language learning exercise, after all.
Oh, and like all language learning exercises, this is x-posted to my much-neglected Chinese study blog.
legal aid?
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news on February 19, 2008
So I opened up The Beijing News/新京报 as part of my continued efforts to get more real-world exposure to written Chinese (beyond menus and road signs, of course), and the first headline that grabs my attention is this:
Beijing will establish a judicial aid fund.
Yeah, I know, perhaps that should be “legal aid”, but let’s read the article first, and find out. It’s subtitled:
信访案件将纳入救助范围，北京高院正调研救助基金发放标准和范围
Petitioners’ cases will fall within the range of aid, Beijing High Court is researching the aid fund and providing a standard and scope.
I went with “petitioners’ cases” for 信访案件, because it seems that 信访 (literally ‘letters and visits’) refers to the traditional, established system of petitioning to a higher level of government when one has a beef with the local officials.
The article is by TBN’s own 王殿学/Wang Dianxue.
昨天上午召开的北京法院院长会透露，北京市高院将建立司法救助基金以扩大司法救助范围，信访案件将救助范围，生活困难的诉讼当事人也将得到救助。
The meeting of Court Presidents of Beijing convened yesterday morning revealed that the Beijing Municipal High Court will establish a legal aid fund so as to expand the scope of legal aid and the scope of aid to petitioners’ cases. Litigants from difficult financial circumstances will also receive aid.
Alright, so I decided to run with “legal aid” instead of “judicial aid”. And I inserted “financial” into that last sentence to prevent any confusion over how “difficult” could be interpreted in English.
司法救助范围将扩大
The scope of legal aid will be expanded
北京市高院院长池强介绍，建立司法救助基金是为了解决部分当事人的经济困难，对一些经常信访的人，以及生活困难的当事人，都将进行救助。
The president of Beijing Municipal High Court, Chi Qiang, said the legal aid fund would be established to resolve some parties’ economic difficulties. Aid would be extended to some people who petition often and parties from difficult financial circumstances.
参会的北京市委副书记、市政法委书记王安顺表示，要最大限度地对经济确有困难的当事人提供司法救助，并做好司法救济专项基金设立工作。池强说，北京高院正在对救助基金的发放标准、发放范围等问题开展调研，司法救助的范围将进一步扩大。
Vice-secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee and secretary of the Municipal Legal Committee Wang Anshun, who took part in the meeting, stated, legal aid would be provided to parties facing the greatest economic limitations and difficulties, and the work of establishing the fund specialising in legal aid would be done well. Chi Qiang said the Beijing Municipal High Court is starting to research the provision of a standard and scope for the legal aid fund and the scope of legal aid would be expanded further.
据北京高院工作人员介绍，司法救助制度是指法院允许当事人缓交、减交或免交诉讼费用，减轻经济上困难的当事人的负担，保证其能够正常参加诉讼的制度。
According to a worker of the Beijing High Court, the legal aid system will allow parties to the court to postpone, reduce or exempt the costs of lawsuits, reducing the financial burdens of parties in difficulty and protecting their ability to take part in the system of normal lawsuits.
今年全力实现平安奥运
Going all out for a safe and sound Olympics this year
[yeah, I know, big liberties taken with that heading]
北京市委副书记、市政法委书记王安顺还表示，今年首都政法工作的中心任务是全力实现平安奥运目标。
Vice-secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee and secretary of the Municipal Legal Committee Wang Anshun said the central responsibility of political and legal work in the capital this year was striving to implement the goal of a safe and sound Olympics.
北京高院院长池强表示，北京法院将明确各类涉奥纠纷的受理意见、相关工作要求，确保立案标准统一；建立健全奥运期 间立案工作机制，进一步强化案件请示汇报制度、信息通报制度，确保奥运期间重点纠纷立案审查信息渠道畅通；加强与奥组委等有关部门的沟通协调，确保涉奥案 件稳妥及时处理。
President of the Beijing High Court Chi Qiang said the Beijing courts would unify the acceptance of ideas for clarifying every kind of dispute related to the Olympics and related work requirements and the guaranteeing of standards for filing cases; establish robust work mechanisms for filing cases during the Olympics, further strengthen instructions on reporting systems for cases and information reporting systems, guarantee the unclogging of channels for investigating cases filed that involve key Olympic disputes; strengthen the communication and coordination with the Olympic Committee and other related departments and guarantee the reliable and timely handling of cases connected with the Olympics.
No, I don’t know why that second section was tacked on or what the official waffling has to do with the establishment of a legal aid fund.
Anyway, constructive criticism of my translation is, as always, most welcome. I’m sure I’ve stuffed something up big time, especially that officialese.
[exasperated sigh]
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing on February 18, 2008
Well, I was going to go into the office this afternoon, but lunch with T. dragged on a bit longer than usual- and mostly not in a bad way. In fact, lunch was a cool hanging out with one of my better colleagues right up until some nutjob decided to start hurling abuse at us.
Here’s the situation from my point of view:
We’re sitting at our table sipping our beers, picking at what’s left of lunch (lunch with T. and M. when he’s available tends to last a few hours) and chatting. There’s a bit of a commotion at the front of the restaurant, but I, and apparently T., just assume it’s the usual settling of a newly arrived customer. Then I notice what the newly arrived customer is saying:
操你妈！
But repeated over and over again. I look up, thinking a disagreement between staff and (arsehole) customer has erupted. No, customer is looking towards the rear of the restaurant while repeating his rather coarse phrase, while the staff are looking perplexed. It took me a while, right up until he switched to very slurred English “Fuck your mother!” before I realised he was hurling his abuse at T. and I.
What we had done to merit being sworn at in such a coarse fashion in two languages (note: The Chinese and English swearings were direct translations of each other) neither of us could figure out. We took note of this guy’s presence and attitude and did our best to continue our conversation.
Fortunately he expanded his vocab. Unfortunately, he got less and less coherent. He would periodically state loudly, as he was facing the door (away from us) something less than pleasant about foreigners, and I think he was at one point asking why the restaurant would stoop so low as to take foreign money. I say “I think” because his speech was rather slurred and somewhat less than coherent. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out whether he was drunk or insane (literally, legally) or both. Well, eventually he got bored enough that we could continue our conversation without constant, loud, vulgar interruptions, but we still kept an eye on him, and he still threw up the occasional, token round of abuse. Trouble with drunks and the mentally ill, especially the aggressive ones (who are, I must state, a small minority of the mentally ill), is that they’re unpredictable. So as he got his food and calmed down, I relaxed a bit, but, being the one facing the door and therefore facing Arsehole, I still kept an eye out. Just in case.
Well, surprise, surprise. We paid (the restaurant just wasn’t such a pleasant place to hang out in anymore, and we both had things we needed to be doing) and left. And as we were leaving, we walked past Arsehole. And did he even say anything even remotely untoward? No. I was worried about the possibility of him acting out, but, as I suspected, only his mouth was tough. His body just wasn’t so interested in following through.
Yeah, this time at least. What did I say about such people being unpredictable?
Anyway, just for the record, to make sure it’s clear to all who read this: Apart from the usual tourist-trap bollocks (which is targeted at Chinese as much as foreigners, just differently, and which is easy enough to avoid), I’ve only been targeted, I mean aggressively, because of my skin colour one or two times, three at most, in all the eight years I’ve been in China. Really, it is very, very rare for a foreigner to be targeted for abuse in this way.
Oh, sure, I’ve had idiots mutter things not-quite-under their breath or as they’re passing by, but that’s happened less than a handful of times and is only done because the idiot in question assumes I could not possibly understand, and therefore can’t possibly react. That doesn’t count.
I have only been targeted directly, aggressively, two, at most three times, and each time shrugging it off, ignoring the aggressor and moving on has worked like a charm.
What I’m saying is, I had a nasty encounter today, yes. T. and I were obviously targeted because we were foreigners, there’s no getting around that. This kind of thing is exceedingly rare in China, and the best method for dealing with it is to ignore the aggressor (but keep an eye on him in case he tries to take you from behind- and read that in every possible sense) and move on. This kind of thing is exceedingly rare in China. Two or three times in eight years, as I said.
comfort
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study on February 18, 2008
One key aspect to studying, and something I’ve been lacking over this winter holiday, is a comfortable place to study. Even before I decided to all but abandon the university-supplied big box of 麻烦 computer and just plug in the laptop, the computer desk wasn’t all that great. Somehow I could never rearrange stuff so that textbook, notebook and dictionary were all within easy reach and view, comfortably useable, and not overlapping each other. I’ve been trying the coffee table this morning, and apart from the extra posture-destroying leaning forward of it all, I’m still struggling to get those three books arranged properly. I’m looking over at the table the phone is on, and I’m not seeing that much better a possibility. Guess I’m just going to have to grin and bear it.
and just because..
Posted by wangbo in Uncategorized on February 17, 2008
Just because I felt like I’d done too many rough as guts translations of Chinese articles, I decided to open up Libé instead. And what did I find? That Muammar Gaddafi might be the son of a Corsican aviator…
Yeah.
So here it is:
Le colonel Muammar Kadhafi, fils d’un aviateur corse… Cette idée surprenante, qui circule comme une légende sur l’île de Beauté depuis des années, a aussi retenu l’attention de hauts gradés de l’armée française. Le site d’infos en ligne Bakchich a mené son «enquête corse» sur les traces d’Albert Preziosi, héros de la Seconde Guerre mondiale mort dans le ciel de Russie en 1943. Héros et peut-être le père du Guide libyen. Pour les habitants de Vezzani, en Haute-Corse, cette filiation est une évidence. D’ailleurs, comment expliquer autrement le soutien de Tripoli aux nationalistes corses dans les années 70 ? Problème : aucune trace écrite ne confirme la légende orale. Les archives de l’armée de l’air n’apportent que peu d’informations, si ce n’est une correspondance d’officiers supérieurs français datant de 1999, preuve que l’on s’était déjà interrogé sur la véracité de cette filiation. Si l’on examine de près le parcours de l’aviateur corse, il paraît crédible qu’il ait été en Libye au moment de la date présumée de la conception de Muammar Kadhafi. Mais si ses anciens compagnons de combat évoquent une liaison possible avec une Libyenne, ses descendants sont plus circonspects. En définitive, le meilleur argument des tenants de cette légende reste la ressemblance frappante entre Muammar Kadhafi et Albert Preziosi.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, son of a Corsican aviator… This surprising idea, which has been circulating as a legend on the Isle of Beauty for some years, has also attracted the attention of high ranking soldiers in the French army. The on-line news site Bakchich undertook its own “Corsican investigation” into Albert Preziosi, hero of the Second World War killed in Russian skies in 1943. Hero, and perhaps father of the Guide of Libya [???]. For the residents of Vezzani, in Haute-Corse, this parentage is obvious [?????????]. Otherwise, how can you explain the support of Tripoli for Corsican nationalists in the 70s? Problem: No written evidence confirms the oral legend. The air force archives provide only a little information, if it’s not correspondance between superior officers dating from 1999, proving that the truth of this parentage [????] had already been investigated. If one examines more closely the path [???] of the Corsican aviator, it seems credible that he could have been in Libya at the presumed date of conception of Muammar Gaddafi. But if his former brothers in arms speak of a possible liaison with a Libyan woman, his descendants are more circumspect. What is certain is that the best argument of the believers in this legend remains the striking resemblance between Muammar Gaddafi and Albert Preziosi.
Question marks mark where I’m really unsure of my translation; the more question marks the less sure I am. Corrections are welcome.
ah, just because…
Posted by wangbo in Uncategorized on February 17, 2008
Just because I’m using Chinesepera-kun for the first time and enjoying the added ease of access to written Chinese its giving me (it’s soooo much quicker than a dictionary), here’s another story, also from The Beijing News/新京报:
女子坠楼亡 居民绕路走
Woman falls to her death; residents make a detour
[yeah, shitty translation of the headline, good start]
事发新明胡同4号楼，死者身份尚在调查中
Incident happened at No. 4 Xinming Hutong, identity of the deceased is still under investigation
本报讯 （记者展明辉）前晚近8时，西城区新明胡同4号楼，一名年轻女子坠楼，当场身亡，吓得附近居民纷纷绕路而行。居民们表示，事发后，未有家属前去认领遗体，警方也未找到死者坠楼位置，其身份尚不清楚。
Dispatch from this paper (reporter Zhan Minghui) Towards 8 the night before last, at No. 4 Xinming Hutong, Xicheng District, a young woman fell from a building to her death, dying at the scene. The frightened residents one after another detoured around her body. The residents stated that since the incident, no family member has come to claim the remains. The Police have also not found the location she fell from, and her identity is still not clear.
事发地点位于新明胡同4号楼西侧第二个单元门前。据目击者称，前晚近8时，路过的居民发现，一具女尸趴在台阶上，身穿红色羽绒服，头部鲜血四溅，情况惨烈，遂立即报警，并绕行其他单元门回家。随后，民警赶到，封锁现场进行勘察，引得楼上数十居民围观。
The incident happened in front of the door of Unit 2, on the west side of Building Number 4, Xinming Hutong. According to eyewitness accounts, towards 8 the evening before last, residents crossing the street discovered the body of a female lying on the steps. She was wearing a red down coat, her head was splattered with blood, a horrifying situation. They immediately notified the police and went home via the gates of other units. Then the Police hurried to and sealed off the scene to conduct an investigation, leading to crowds of upper-floor residents looking on.
居民介绍，该女子20岁左右，“长得很娇小，乍一看以为是个小孩。”出事半小时后，一直不见死者家属赶来，也未找到其坠楼的位置，“只看见15层的窗户开着。”随后，警方将尸体运离。
A resident introduced the woman as about 20 years old, “She looked very petite, you’d think she’s only a wee girl from the first look.” Half an hour after the incident, still no family member had arrived and they hadn’t found from where she fell, “You could only see that the 15th floor window was open.” Then the Police took the body away.
昨日12时许，现场的痕迹已经被盖上沙土，但仍有大片血迹露出，周围布满溅开的血滴，以及四五个血脚印。该小区值班人员表示，大家都不认识死者，警方也未找到其身份证件，所以案件仍在调查中。
At about 12 o’clock yesterday [am or pm? Not clear to me], the traces at the scene had already been covered with sand, but a large bloodstain was still exposed, and the surrounding area covered in drops of blood, as well as four or five bloody footprints. The community duty officer said nobody knew the deceased, and the Police also hadn’t found her Identity Card, so the case is still under investigation.
Damn, that’s just awful.
bad press for Yanqing?
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news on February 17, 2008
Uh oh. Seems like some people are bringing shame on my beloved Yanqing.
[Note: This time using Chinesepera-kun, my dictionary, and nciku all together]
本报讯 （记者张汉宇）近日，很多前往延庆龙庆峡景区观看冰灯的读者致电本报热线称，龙庆峡景区周边管理十分混乱，交通指示牌不明确、私设路障、问路收费等问题显 著，给前去游玩的市民增添了很多的不愉快。对此，延庆县相关部门表示，他们将对交通指示牌予以更改，但私设路障及问路收费的状况很难管理。
Dispatch from this paper [The Beijing News/新京报] (reporter Zhang Hanyu) Recently, very many readers going to Yanqing’s Longqingxia to view the ice lanterns have sent messages to this paper’s hotline to say that the management around the Longqingxia Scenic Area is totally chaotic, traffic signs are not clear, illegal roadblocks have been set up. Problems such as charging for directions are notable, greatly increasing the unpleasantness for travelling city residents. Toward this, the relevant departments of Yanqing County have stated that they will change the traffic signs, but the situations with illegal roadblocks and demanding money for directions are very difficult to manage.
交通指示牌不明确
Traffic signs are unclear
昨日上午11时许，记者驱车行至距龙庆峡1公里处的一个三岔路口时，道口交通指示牌显示直行即到龙庆峡，而 依此指示根本无法到达龙庆峡景区。据游客钱先生介绍，他前日到龙庆峡游玩时，同样遇到了此种情况。“下车问附近的村民，则要求交纳10元钱问路费。”随后 钱先生便拒绝了对方的要求，驱车行至通往龙庆峡的旧小路。“路口摆上了路障，周围村民称该条路是单行，需绕道才能进入景区。”钱先生依据村民指示，并没能 到达景区，而是来到了龙庆峡所属旧县镇。
At about 11 yesterday morning, as this reporter drove up to a junction of three roads one kilometre from Longqingxia, the sign at the intersection indicated to go straight ahead to reach Longqingxia, but relying on these directions you would absolutely not be able to reach the Longqingxia Scenic Area. According to traveller Mr Qian’s introduction of his previous trip to Longqingxia, he met exactly the same kind of situation. “To get out of the car and ask a nearby villager, the standard demand was 10 yuan for directions.” After this, Mr Qian refused the other party’s demand and drove along the old road to Longqingxia. “There was a barricade at the entrance to the road, and the villagers around it said this was a one-way road and you had to make a detour to enter the scenic area.” Following the villagers’ directions, Mr Qian couldn’t get to the scenic area, but arrived at Longqingxia’s Jiuxian Township.
钱先生回忆，当其终于来到景区大门前时，车辆又被几十人包围，并称车辆不能进入景区，在门外停车需收10元停车费。等钱先生进到景区才得知，景区可以开车进去，并设有停车场。
Mr Qian recalls, as he finally arrived at the main gate to the scenic area, the car was again surrounded by dozens of people, all saying the car couldn’t enter the scenic area, and that to park outside the gate would cost 10 yuan. It was only after he entered the scenic area that he found out that you can drive inside, there is a carpark.
警方称此种状况很难管理
The Police say this type of situation is very difficult to manage
昨日上午，前往龙庆峡观看冰灯的游客络绎不绝。每有车辆即将行至景区大门时，就有数十名男子招手拦车，并紧随车辆拍打车门。
Yesterday morning, there was an endless stream of tourists heading to Longqingxia to view the ice lanterns. As each car pulled up to the main gate of the scenic area, scores of men blocked the car with their arms and ran up close to the car slapping on the door.
昨日，延庆县交通支队人员称，他们已接到龙庆峡附近交通指牌不明确的举报，正在联系市政部门予以解决。并称通往龙 庆峡的道路并非单行线。对于景点周围私设路障、问路收费的情况，龙庆峡派出所值班人员表示，他们经常接到游客这方面的投诉，接报后到现场时，对方就已离 开，无法逮到现行。“这种状况很难管理。”
Yesterday, a spokesman for the Yanqing County Traffic Unit stated, they had already received reports about the unclear traffic signs near Longqingxia, and were contacting municipal goverment departments to solve the problem. He also stated that the roads to Longqingxia were not one-way roads. Regarding the situations of illegal roadblocks and the demands of money for directions in the area around the scenic spot, the Longqingxia Police Station duty officer said they had already received complaints from tourists about this, and after receiving complaints and going to the scene, the other party had already left and they had no way to halt the operation. “This kind of situation is very difficult to manage.”
Yes, I am a terrible translator. I’m also irritated that people in Yanqing would pull this kind of bullshit on tourists (yes, yes, I know, Badaling… but Badaling is to Yanqing what Queenstown is to Southland and Otago). But there you go: Should you be heading to Longqingxia in your own car: Be warned. Take your own map, and don’t listen to any bullshit spouted by any peasant on the side of the road between the G110 and the main gate to Longqingxia.
chinesepera-kun
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study on February 17, 2008
Partly because I should be studying, and partly because I wanted to check out the Firefox add-on recommended here, I opened up Nanfang Daily and the first article I saw was about an oil spill on the Xijiang. Yes, Guangdong has very imaginative, poetic names for its rivers, names like “West River”.
Anyway, I installed Chinesepera-kun yesterday, but didn’t try it out. Then, wondering about this new add-on and how exactly it works (it’s one thing to read somebody else’s review; it’s another thing entirely to actually use it yourself), I clicked “Tools” and started scrolling down to “Add-ons” when I realised that two new items had been added to the menu- “Toggle Chinesepera-kun” and “Look up using Chinesepera-kun”. Ok, so I opened up Nanfang Daily, like I said, clicked “Toggle Chinesepera-kun”, and started playing…
My first impression is that although it seems very useful and the definitions are quite good, I’m not yet ready to join KMM in describing the definitions as “often excellent”. Now, KMM provided screenshots showing how Chinesepera-kun works, so I won’t bother, I’ll just say I like how it deals with character compounds, be they danci or chengyu or whatever. It starts with the longest compound, say a standard four-letter chengyu, then gives a danci formed by the first two characters of the chengyu, then the first character of that chengyu. Pretty cool, pretty useful.
And I will second kmm’s advice: If this is going to be a study tool and not just some aid for navigating Chinese-language sites (and what the hell are you doing on Chinese language sites if you need some linguistic aid to navigate them but you aren’t studying Chinese?), then you need some way of noting down new words for future reference, otherwise you’re not studying. KMM’s method of pasting new words into an HTML document for future use as a kind of Chinesepera-kun flash card is cool, but I’d prefer a good old fashioned pen and notebook.
Now to put it to the test properly. Here’s the first section of that article, paragraph by paragraph, using only my knowledge (weak as it is) of written Chinese and Chinesepera-kun to translate it. If you spot any mistakes, let me know in the comments.
[But first, a minor tangent: Chinesepera-kun will interefere with selecting/highlighting things to be copied and pasted. Turn it off first.]
昨天上午7时许，西江高明水厂取水点附近发现一条长约2公里的较薄的油污带，覆盖范围近千平方米。为保证供水安全，佛山市高明区水厂在上午9时许停 止向中心城区及该区部分镇区供水，近20万居民的正常用水一度受到影响。直到昨天下午3时，高明区受影响的区域生产生活用水才全面恢复。
At about 7 o’clock yesterday morning, a comparatively thin oil slick 2 kilometres long, covering an area of almost 1000 square metres, was discovered near the Xijiang Gaoming Water Works intake. To guarantee the safety of the water supply, Foshan City’s Gaoming District Water Works stopped water supplies to the central city area and some townships at about 9 am. Nearly 200,000 regular water use was affected for a time. It was not until about 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon that water supplies for production and daily life were restored to affected areas of Gaoming District.
Notes: Chinesepera-kun does not help me translate the 许 in all those times, I’m just guessing there. And yes, I really fudged the 生产生活用水 in that last setence, but “water supplies for production and daily life” really was the best I could think of. Chinesepera-kun does not help me polish that up any.
事发后，为确保居民用水，高明区停止了向工业企业供水，并紧急启动第二水源明城水厂、西安水厂和合水水厂向高明城区供水。高明区海事、环保、卫 监等多个部门接报后，迅速赶到现场化验水质、处理污油，并对污染源头展开调查。执法人员在沿江上下游巡查后，发现在高明与鹤山交界的西江江面也有大量油污 带。
Afterwards, to ensure water supplies for residential use, Gaoming District stopped supplying water to industry and enterprises, and immediately started supplying water to the Gaoming city area from the secodary water sources at Mingcheng Water Works, Xi’an Water Works, and Heshui Water Works. After the Gaoming District Maritime Affairs, Environmental Protection, and Health Inspection and many other Bureaux received reports, they hurried to the scene to test the water quality, treat the polluting oil, and carry out investigations into the source of the pollution. After investigations by law enforcement personnel along the length of the river, another large oil slick was discovered on the surface of the Xijiang along the border of Gaoming and Heshan.
据初步调查，污染源来自下游，受到江水回潮影响，倾倒在江面的油污倒漂至取水点附近，导致水厂被迫停水。目前，佛山市已将掌握的情况知会给鹤山 市环保部门。经过6个多小时的吸油清污后，昨天下午2时许，该水厂吸水口附近的油污清理工作完成，高明水厂开始恢复取水、制水。截至昨天下午3时许，高明 区受影响的区域，生产生活用水已全面恢复。
According to preliminary investigations, the source of the pollution comes from the lower reaches, and was influenced by the incoming tide, pouring out the oil pollution on the river surface and floating it up to the vicinity of the intake, forcing the water works to stop water supplies. At present, Foshan City has already passed its knowledge of the situation at hand on to the Heshan City Environmental Protection department. Having undergone over 6 hours of removing the oil and cleaning the pollution, the work of cleaning the oil pollution near the water works was complete at about 2 yesterday afternoon, and Gaoming Water Works resumed taking and treating water. By 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon water supplies for production and daily life in the affected areas of Gaoming District had all been resumed.
Notes: Why does Chinesepera-kun tell me 据 means “sickness of hand”?
该区自来水公司负责人表示，恢复供水后的水质没有受到污染。目前，该区环保、供水、海事等部门正密切关注现场情况，并保持与鹤山市环保等部门的沟通，做好污染源调查、清理及水质监测工作。
The person in charge of the district’s water supply company expressed that the water piped after the resumption of water supplies had not been polluted. Currently, the district’s Environmental Protection, Water Supply, Maritime Affairs and other bureaux are closely following the situation at the scene, and are maintaining close communication with the Heshan Environmental Protection and other bureaux, are thoroughly investigating the source of the pollution, and are monitoring the cleaning and water quality work.
Note: Surely 正 has more meanings than “Chinese 1st month of year”?
Alright, despite some obvious problems with its vocabulary, I would say Chinesepera-kun could be useful for reading, particularly when speed is important, and combined with some way of taking note of new words, could help to build vocabulary. I wouldn’t rely on it for more than a basic understanding of the article, though, and I certainly won’t be relying on it for translation. And after that “sickness of hand” incident, I’m certainly not using it as a replacement for the dictionary. Assistant to the dictionary, perhaps, but nothing more.
Now to try the “Look up using Chinesepera-kun” function. I’ll take a few random words from the article, past them below, and then add the definitions from Chinesepera-kun.
初步 Initial, preliminary, tentative.
记者 Reporter, journalist.
员工 Workforce.
推测 Conjecture, speculate, speculation, surmise.
发稿 To investigate.
Alright, not too bad. But I’m surprised, and pleasantly so, by how the “look up” function works. Notice all the words above are 2-character danci. Well, highlighting them then clicking “look up” causes a pale blue band divided into three sections to appear across the top of the browser. In the left-hand section is the definition exactly as it appears in the “Toggle Chinesepera-kun” function: At the top, a definition for the word. Below that, a definition for the first character. The other two sections are separate explanations for each character, including definitions, stroke order, Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciation (Hanyu Pinyin for the Mandarin, of course), and Unicode… code.
Conclusion: Don’t abandon your dictionaries, but give Chinesepera-kun a go. It looks like being useful, if somewhat limited and in need of some patching up in places.
freaks
And on some random variety show on CCTV 3 just now- a man playing two suonas, with his own throat serving as the third. Yes, through the course of his performance he was constantly switching between his two suonas and his suona-sounding throat to play his song. One wonders how he speaks with a throat like that…
And now it’s people dancing with raw noodles.