Author Archives: Barry van Wyk

Children chained to a wall by parents working at Guangzhou construction site

Posted on 2012-10-17 by Barry van Wyk

What do you do when you have two children but no-one to look after them and not enough money to put them in kindergarten? The New Express Daily (新快报) from Guangdong has a picture on its front page today showing what happened … Continue reading →

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Former Cambodian king and ‘old friend of China’ dies in Beijing

Posted on 2012-10-16 by Barry van Wyk

The front pages of China’s newspapers today are dominated by the death of the former Cambodian king and ‘friend of China’ Norodom Sihanouk (西哈努克国王), who passed away in Beijing yesterday from a heart attack. The People’s Daily (人民日报) has three related pieces … Continue reading →

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China’s front pages go to town on Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize

Posted on 2012-10-12 by Barry van Wyk

The face of the first ever winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature who is a Chinese citizen living in China, Mo Yan, is all over the front pages of China’s newspapers today alongside formulaic headlines. Most of the newspapers … Continue reading →

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Beijing Morning Post investigation reveals horrid state of pet dog market in the city

Posted on 2012-10-11 by Barry van Wyk

It has often happened in China that buying a dog can turn into a nightmarish experience. The same little puppy that looked so lively in the shop window would suddenly become sick beyond help and die. The front page of … Continue reading →

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‘Uncivilized tourists’ vandalize flowers at Sunflower Festival

Posted on 2012-10-09 by Barry van Wyk

Yesterday was the last day of the first ever Sunflower Festival, which attracted 200,000 visitors over 18 days to Pujiang (浦江) in Zhejiang province to appreciate these beautiful flowers. But as the front page of the Youth Daily from Shanghai laments today, when all the … Continue reading →

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“This year’s Golden Week was not relaxed”

Posted on 2012-10-08 by Barry van Wyk

Congested, overflowing, dirty and just not all that much fun – that’s what the front page of today’s Sanxiang City News (三湘都市报) from Hunan (湖南) province thought of this year’s Golden Week holiday that finished yesterday. A host of front pages today carry the … Continue reading →

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Nine out of ten high school students in Xiamen have bad eyesight

Posted on 2012-09-29 by Barry van Wyk

Kids in Xiamen are apparently some of the unhealthiest in China. As the Haixia Daobao (海峡导报) from Xiamen reports today, nine out of every ten children in Xiamen have eyesight problems, two out of ten are obese, and rates of malnutrition and tooth … Continue reading →

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“Most Chinese women don’t know how to use contraceptives”

Posted on 2012-09-27 by Barry van Wyk

The front of the City Lady (都市女报), a national newspaper focused on women’s issues, today makes the startling claim that most Chinese women don’t really know how to use contraception. Based on what it describes as the findings of a new investigation (the details … Continue reading →

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Two Billion Eyes, the Story of CCTV: Q&A with author Ying Zhu

Posted on 2012-09-26 by Barry van Wyk

Ying Zhu is the author of a new book on China’s state-owned television network, China Central Television or CCTV. Two Billion Eyes – The Story of China Central Television is the story of CCTV as the personal stories of the people of CCTV which … Continue reading →

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Flag raising ceremony held on China’s first aircraft carrier

Posted on 2012-09-24 by Barry van Wyk

Various front pages in China today feature glowing reports of China’s first aircraft carrier on whose platform a flag raising ceremony was held yesterday. Yet the fact that it happened is just about everything we know for sure about the … Continue reading →

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