This week you have been warned the consequences of laughing, and it might be time for you to learn how to control yourself! Having trouble converting video files into different formats? Read the latest "Freeware Pick" and you will become an expert!! Got a creative mind? Come and participate in the Photo Caption Competition.
All these on the new blog - http://happymichael.tk
Hi all!! It is a great day for everyone - on one side, it is the opening of the Beijing olympics. Also, the new happy's blog will be open today as the opening ceremony starts - that's local time 8:08pm on 8th August 2008. (GMT 1208 8th August 2008).
The address is happymichael.tk
When the blog starts, all new posts will be posted on the new wordpress blog. However, for your interest, there will be a weekly update on the content of the blog here!
Hope I will see you at the new blog soon!!
Hi all! Sorry that I haven not been updated the blog last few days because I have some difficulties connecting to vox. This brings us only 3 days left to the Olympics!!
It seems like there are always mascots in big events - and this includes the Olympics. This year, Beijing has "Fuwa" as the mascots.
The Fuwa literally means "good-luck dolls" and they were designed by a famous Chinese artist, Han Meilin.
There are five Fuwa: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. Together, the names form the sentence which means "Beijing welcomes you".
Just photos today:
More @ http://www.flickr.com/happymichael
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With seven days to go, I will keep blogging about my trips to Provence every day, with a little bit of information and my opinion about both China and the 2008 Olympics!
I received an email yesterday from one of the readers and he wants to know more about how Hong Kong works in China, so here it is:
Hong Kong became part of the United Kingdom since 1842, after winning the Opium War ( Opium was a popular drug at the time and it is imported from the UK, and even the "queen" was addicted to it. One of the Chinese officials in Hong Kong burnt the Opium coming from the UK, so the war started.) The treaty lasts for 100 years. (it is a bit more complicated that..)
Since then, world war started and many Chinese came down for protection, hoping that the UK can defend Japan, but unfortunately not.
Margaret Thatcher, representing the UK, started the meetings in 1984 about Hong Kong's future after 1997, when the treaty ends. The "Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong" or "Sino-British Joint Declaration" in short, was signed in 1985.
In the treaty, "One Country, Two Systems" was introduced to reduce the change Hong Kong needs to face. This basically means that Chinese Communist system will not be applied in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong just carry on as it is. The PRC has promised that Hong Kong's capitalist system and its way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years. (but still no one knows will happen after then..) Being a "Special Administrative Region", the PRC Government is responsible for the territory's defence and foreign affairs, while Hong Kong maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organisations and events. That means, in the coming Olympic Games in seven days, there will be teams representing "China", "Hong Kong", "Macau" and "Chinese Taipei" (<--That's because of complicated history, again.), although they are technically the same country.
On 1st July 1997, Hong Kong was handed over to China. After 10 years of Chinese rule, I don't think there are great changes in Hong Kong, except the fact that there are more and more Chinese tourist - which is one of the policies to help Hong Kong get its economy back on after SARS in 2003.
There are so many different street markets in the Provence and we only visited 3 of them! There are so many interesting things to see, although you can probably find most products in all of them!!
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With eight days to go, I will keep blogging about my trips to Provence every day, with a little bit of information and my opinion about both China and the 2008 Olympics!
Some says the history of China is very difficult and complicated, and I suppose that's true - when I was in my school in Hong Kong, I had never done well in Chinese history. I suppose that's because China has over 4000 years history, and at the same time, there are so many different "nations" from parts of China, and they want to be independent. Famous examples are Taiwan, Tibet, and perhaps Hong Kong.
I bet you haven't heard of Xinjiang provence (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) before. This place has gone famous a few days ago, because East Turkestan Independence Movement released a video clip saying that they will launch attacks to Olympic venues if China hold the games. They also claims the responsibility to bus explosions in China these few weeks, and even a factory fire in "Guangdong".With days to reach the start of the games, the government had said "no" to them.
Facts that might interest you - many people doubt the "truthfulness" of the clip, because it has made serveral mistakes, including some of the dates they mentioned are wrong and the fact that there was no factory fire in Guangdong, but there was one in Shanghai. Some people have said that there are many muslim groups in that area, so they want to be proud and more superior than others.
Briefly about East Turkestan independence movement. The provence of Xinjiang is part of China since 1934. This part has been influenced by Russia very much and other countries nearby. However, the one that we are really interested in Pakistan, one of the 8 neighbouring countries. Apprantly, this group was turned into muslims and related to Bin Laden, and not surprising, became terrorists.
China has set up a lot of military defense in order to keep the game safe, including building anti-missles factilites. Found a news clip on youtube: (there is no commentary)
Believe it or not, China has lots of problems to deal with! One of the biggest ones is control these people in Tibet and Xinjiang, so you can see how harsh action they had done last time in Tibet. Also, Chinese history is really complicated - if you want to be challenged and you love history, this might be the subject you might want to study later on in your life!!
Just in case you cannot be bothered to read these all, here is the bbc clip for it:
Here is the question of today - do you think anyone will attack the Olympics and will China be able to defeat them?? Tell me what you think!!
Sunset there is beautiful!!!
More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/happymichael/sets/72157606080148134/
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With nine days to go, I will keep blogging about my trips to Provence every day, with a little bit of information and my opinion about both China and the 2008 Olympics!
Perhaps the second argument is the air quality of the city. I admit that the air is really polluted. According to the BBC readings, the indexes are 3 times higher than the WHO standards. I went to Beijing some years ago, and I can tell you that it was far worse.
I can find a definite reason for its pollution - according to wikipedia, Beijing has a population of 17.4 million, while London has 7.6 million. And the trend is each family has at least one car in Beijing. So you can imagine the pollution to be at least "double London".
However, there is no doubt that China has done a lot of work to try to get its air better - every factories and most gas station is closed down for the past 3 months, and Beijing has banned half of the cars on the street. THe most significant change is that its sulphur oxide concentration has decreased from 71μg/ m3 to 47μg/ m3 in 7 years. Organisations, such as GreenPeace, have recognised the work done by the government, yet it hasn't meet the standards.
I doubt the government can introduce any more measures to help clear up the air because they have done everything they can. Let's hope wind will blow the pollution away from the Olympic city.
Latest update: According to the BBC News records, the pollution level in Beijing finally meets the WHO interim target for developing countries yesterday. (28/7/2008)
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With ten days to go, I will keep blogging about my trips to Provence every day, with a little bit of information and my opinion about both China and the 2008 Olympics!
I think I should start off with the points which people has said the Beijing should not hold the Olympics. Today, perhaps this has been the most popular topic of all few months ago - The Human Rights in China. Many people abroad said that China was wrong and Tibet should be independent. However, I don't think so. China might have done wrong but I am sure that the government has done it in a much better way than in 1989. Tibet has been part of China for hundreds of years and there is no reason for independance in this particular occassion. As I said in one of my blog posts before, this is partly western media's fault. Also, I feel that there was a trend to protest for Tibet and against China. You might be wondering why I said that - anyone realise that after 5.18 earthquake in Sichuan, people all around the world seem to have forget Tibet all together! There is also a clip on YouTube about a news reporter asking the protestors the location of Tibet - unfortunately, no one answered it right!!
One of the leaders in Czech Republic has said that he will wear a Tibet badge when attending the opening of the Games. What I am thinking now, is what China going to do if an athelete shows a Tibet flag when he is getting his medal?? Tell me what you think!!
Yep, the best bits of the web is back. This time, I am going to introduce you the "dancer around the world on the web". In 2003, Matt quit this job and travel round the world, while recording a short of him dancing in each place. The video was very popular on Youtube, so he did it again 2006. In 2008, sponsored by a new chewing gum brand, Stridegum, Matt travelled around the world again and been to 42 countries this time. Before he set off, thousands of people has signed up on the website to dance with him! Here is what he has done in 14 months, in 4:30 minutes.. (http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/index.shtml)
For better quality, click here - that means you need a fast connection though.
We had an overnight exercise in the "farm area" in the Nescliff Camp - we were meant to sleep under bashes. Unfortunately (or luckily), the wind is so strong that we are allowed to sleep in a ammunition store during World War 2!! It was so dusty and cold (but overall, it is really fun!!)
