Author Archives: Barry van Wyk

Hybrid cars: BYD’s new Qin

In a confident move, BYD is offering 1,000 yuan to any driver that can beat the company’s pre-release Model Qin in 400-meter drag races. The Qin, a hybrid sedan, is being marketed mainly for two new features: a 0 to … Continue reading

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China Minsheng Bank to release high-interest debit card as competition heats up

Allied with Taobao and other online marketplaces, Chinese money market funds such as Yu’ebao are making inroads into markets traditionally dominated by banks (see previous Danwei post). Not only are these fund products more accessible for Internet users, their interest rates, … Continue reading

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It’s the law: Chengguan in Guangzhou now have to be nice

Better late than never: new regulations in force from today in Guangzhou require all chengguan in the city to be courteous in the enforcement of their duties and to use words like “please”, “thank you” and “I’m sorry”. The new regulations, entitled … Continue reading

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Shenzhen bans “skew weeing”

Errant weeing will no longer be tolerated in Shenzhen. From yesterday, new regulations made any instance of uncivilized behavior in public bathrooms in the city liable to a 100 yuan fine. As Shenzhen Evening Newsreports today, however, enforcing straight weeing is … Continue reading

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China’s football team fights back

This was a long time coming: finally there’s something to cheer about for Chinese football fans. It’s not a victory, but a respectable draw and – even more important – not a humiliation. With a summer of shame and three … Continue reading

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This is the Wuhan riot police

The Wuhan Evening News today informs us what some girls in Wuhan, Hubei province, exclaimed yesterday when they saw the newly-arrived riot police in full kit: “How handsome!”, and “I feel so safe now!” The black-clad, “handsome” and impressively armed riot police … Continue reading

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Terrorist attack and murderous rampage

At almost exactly the same time – around midnight on Saturday evening 23 June – two heinous acts occurred. The one was a terrorist attack in Pakistan that killed 11 people, including two mountaineers from China; and the other was … Continue reading

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David Beckham’s visit to Shanghai university ends in chaos

Global football superstar David Beckham is in China again in his new capacity as ‘global ambassador’ for Chinese football. Yet when he arrived in his Bentley for a promotional event on a Shanghai university campus yesterday, he proved too hot … Continue reading

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Humiliating defeat leads to more agonizing on China’s national football team

Today is a baneful, humorless day for some of the newspapers that ran front page headlines on another humiliating defeat of 5-1 at home on Saturday for China’s football team against an under-strength team of youngsters from tiny Thailand. There’s … Continue reading

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No-one turns up to welcome China’s football team in Hefei

China’s national men’s football team is so unloved that the only reason the media report their arrival in a city in China is that no-one turns up to welcome them. Thus the team’s movements around the country is such a … Continue reading

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