Escape in Hangzhou » Random

Evangelist to preach to 20,000 in Hangzhou – Update

SWG — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:14:36 +0000

Over the 2 day period March 20/21, 14,000 people came to hear Evangelist Luis Palau and the Rev. James Meeks preach in Hangzhou Chong Yi Church. The aim had been 20,000, but the rain didn’t evaporate on the way down and dampened the spirits.

http://www.palau.org/news/story/china_trip_successful_344

Ground-breaking yo-yo tech to be used for Shanghai Hangzhou Maglev.

SWG — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:46:39 +0000

China’s crown rail project is in trouble again a mere 4 days after the 8th approval for go-ahead as ‘Netizens’ and pregnant mothers doubt financial wisdom of the project and repeat health concerns caused by electro-magnetic radiation. So the government plans to use a controversial new tech in the flagship train – the yoyo, which was apparently invented in China about 3000 years before Christ. This will reduce the cost of construction and remove any fears of radiation poisoning.

The technology has been used in the United Kingdom for the last thousand years or so, but is relatively new in China. Energy is redirected from the ferocity of the debate about whether or not a project should go ahead and fed into especially converted yoyo engines. The engines contain sophisticated one-way valves so that whatever way the argument goes, the ferocity (f) can still be used to create velocity (v) in the right direction using the formula:

where o is the number government officials in the debate, n the number of netizens, g is the guanxi levels of each debater, and of course f the ferocity. You can see the output of the new yoyo train engines in the chart below. (Courtesy Tsinghua University Debating Society)

Of course, a major problem of a pure Yoyo style engine in a modern functioning society is that they never get built due to a lack of agreement on how they should be built. The likelihood of a yoyo engine ever being built is dependent upon the following truth:

As you can see, the likelihood of a yoyo engine getting built is dependent on l > 0 and given the large number that is n, this is highly unlikely. Unless of course n and g can be reduced to nearly nothing, like in the good old days, by blocking the internet and locking up people. But then the Yoyo engine wouldn’t produce very much power and since it is n that is blocking the current maglev, with a low n factor, the maglev would get built and there would be no need for a Yoyo. Where are the good old days?

Debate stories showing f factor

Date	Note		f factor
12 March 2004	Official Denies Report on Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev - just thinking about it	China.org.cn	-5
9 Mar 2004	Maglev planned between Shanghai, Hangzhou	China Daily	4
22 Apr 2004	Pudong Shanghai Maglev Running Smoothly	China.org.cn	6
2 Dec 2004	Maglev may link Shanghai Hangzhou Yangtze River Delta Economic Forum says - 26 minute journey	China.org.cn	3
26 Jan 2005	Work to start on Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev line	ecnext.com	5
30 Sep 2005	China, Germany to start talks on Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev rail link	Forbes	3
14 Mar 2006	High-speed rail links approved: Wheels from Beijing to Shanghai, magnets from Shanghai to Hangzhou. 35 billion yuan project completed before 2010 World Expo Shanghai	China Daily	3
22 May 2006	Germans-Chinese working closely to increase speed of Maglev to 500kph says Angela Merkel	Poeple.com.cn	5
22 Dec 2006	Transrapid train crashes in Germany during tests, killing several	CNN	-10
11 Aug 2006	Fire breaks out on Pudong Maglev		-8
26 May 2007	Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev project suspended ... amid radiation concerns of expectant Ms Wang	China Daily	-5
29 May 2007	Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev axed - Shanghai-to-Hangzhou magnetically-levitated (maglev) train link has been canceled, according to state media reports. The official reason has been that the project is incompatible with the current political leadership's "harmonious society" push to create a China less riven by wage inequalities and social tension, AFP reported.	China Economic Review	-10
1 Mar 2008	Controversial maglev line given environmental green light by Shanghai authorities - minimal impact on local environment. Wang Qingun "It's still hard to say whether the maglev will be built, but if it is it won't be possible to complete it before 2010."	Xinhua	3
	Riots and protests against Maglev		-8
17 Aug 2008	E. China Maglev Project to Start in 2010. Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev project will now be 199.434 km long, nearly 25 km longer than previously reported. Of the total, 103.553 km will be inside Zhejiang. 450kph rural speeds, 200kph urban	CRI.cn	7
5 Nov 2008	Shanghai-Hangzhou express railway approved by the National Development and Reform Commission	Caijing	-3
6 Mar 2009	Shanghai Suspends Maglev Project - The maglev railway project adds questionable value, in light of an equally fast express train that will run on a similar route.	Caijing	-4
	Shanghai-Hangzhou express railway begins construction	Caijing	-3
14 Mar 2010	Maglev extension given green light - The Ministry of Railways chief planner, Zheng Jian, said yesterday China had agreed to build a Maglev line between Shanghai and Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province.	Shanghai Daily	7
20 Mar 2010	Netizens’ doubts over new Maglev	People.com.cn	-4

List or articles and date of article showing progress of the Shanghai Hangzhou Maglev

Exploding popcorn man

SWG — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:26:46 +0000

First, I’ll answer the question that everyone asks. No, we didn’t see the Great Wall. China is a big country and we didn’t get within 800 miles of the Great Wall. But we did see the exploding popcorn man. [in Hangzhou]

Exploding popcorn man. (From Agriculture Online… 3rd March 2010)

Does anybody know where to find this geezer?

Maya Gav goes public with Sherpas

McE — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:39:20 +0000

Gav, pictured here at Maya Bar, is local to Hangzhou and even more local to the Maya Bar. Well-known around town for his impromptu gigs and other impromptu-ness has gone national with his song Sherpas Feed Me. Funny song set to Britney’s Baby One More Time, it really does sound like Gav. Read the full lyrics or stream the song from UrbanAnatomy, Sherpa’s Got Talent, or call Sherpas and hope nobody answers the phone for a while.

And here for Sherpa restaurants that VH has been too

nciku.com | n词酷

SWG — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:12:50 +0000

The link to NCIKU.com from this site has been up since the beginning and has had several thousand clicks. This is pretty cool as nicku is pretty awesome and anybody trying to study Chinese should definitely have it in their toolbox.

I first ran into nciku on Sinosplice.com, a site that, despite its obvious popularity, I find patronising. (I must be the odd one out.) The Sinosplice post is about how we should all say ‘NCIKU’, because it clearly isnt a pronounceable name. Pasden argues that it comes from the Chinese name for the site 词酷 or cíkù. The ‘n’ is for the nth number. n词酷 then means ‘cool gadzillion words’ or some such, and one should said ‘n-cíkù’. n词酷 is much more than dictionary though. It is a thorough language tool, and while they plan to expand into other languages, its power and versatility will probably shine most with Chinese.

The mobile search too – http://m.nciku.com

Please upgrade your browser

n词酷 is owned by Korean search engine market leader NHN, who, since conquering Korea want to colonise elsewhere. Rather than plowing on into Japan and China with their own brand, they are testing waters with a new product – n词酷. This helps explain the main interface on n词酷 – a search bar. There is no need to define what language you input – it will automatically recognise English, pinyin and of course both simplified and complex Chinese characters, n词酷 then simply runs a search of its daily updated database. Listed in the returns are definitions, translations, pronunciations both phonetic and spoken, and examples showing usage. Pretty much everything is clickable, wikipedia style, taking you onto public dictionaries, etymology and more.

Pretty novel as well is the handwriting entry tool. Nothing very special about that in itself but this one is built for us paleface who might not know the stroke order of a character. Just ‘draw’ it, and n词酷 will offer suggestions, then show you what the meaning is, how to use the character, and there is an animated pop-up showing you the real stroke order. No more conting srokes or trying to figure out the radical in order to look up a character.

n词酷only started in 2007 and already has an Alexa rank (in China) of about 1600 – ie the 1500th most visited website. In just 2 measly years. They must be getting something right.

Viewhangzhou mobile

SWG — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:18:45 +0000

Lose that address or phone number? Or just want to have a quick read in the cab? This website automatically detects most mobile browsers and shows you a page like this one. On some phones, even the maps work. Never lost again.

007 Martini – Provence

McE — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:04:46 +0000

James Bond: Dry Martini.
Bartender: Oui, monsieur.
James Bond: Wait… three measures of Gordon’s; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel.
–
James Bond: I think I’ll call it a Vesper.
Vesper Lynd: Because of the bitter aftertaste?
James Bond: No, because once you’ve tasted it, that’s all you want to drink.

–

Sadly Kina Lillet is no longer available, but with a splash of absinthe instead, and perhaps a drop of angostura bitters, bingo. Yves does a wicked one in Provence.

Total Eclipse of the Sun | Hangzhou

SWG — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:58:30 +0000

Skype

C says: it was so emotional
Big K says: it was
Big K says: and I’m glad you were there with me
C says: plus the gravitational pull of the moon AND the sun played havoc with my inner wellness
Big K says: Me Too (hug)

Echelon Conspiracy

SWG — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:10:16 +0000

Echelon Conspiracy

“This was probably one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. Just inexcusably awful. The acting was painfully pathetic and the script was laughable. Indeed I did laugh quite a bit each time a line was delivered or every time the swiss cheese plot gave away another predictable turn for the inane. Clearly this film has been on the shelf for a reason and I can only imagine the putrid stench that shelf now has. I used to think that I’d see any any film with free screening passes and I’m reminded of all the good I could have done with that 1 hour 45 min that has left me. I would have rather watched a McConaughey romantic comedy in an endless loop than be subjected to this again much less know that noone was subjected to this”

“Sudden riches 1mmense power Unrimely death.
When the gifr arrives, all this is yours”

Has to be said though, it wasnt very good.

If you want more movies like this one, pop into the shop on corner of Wensan West Road and Gudun Road

Th8 Lucky Numb8r 8ight

SWG — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:16:51 +0000

My 8ntir8 lift door is cov8r8d with an ad for th8 Hangzhou 8xpo. All good. 8xc8pt that it starts 10.18 and finish8s 11.08.

I wont say anything about th8 start of th8 Olympics – this is alr8ady an in-hous8 jok8.

I hav8 to conf8ss that I hav8 a bit of an obs8ssion with th8 Chin8s8 obs8ssion with 8ight.

At first vi8wing, it would s88m that th8 pow8rs-that-b8 hav8 tak8n th8 last 1888-5888 y8ars (d8p8nding on who you talk to) of rath8r sophisticat8d, advanc8d and 8nlight8n8d philosophical d8bat8 and cond8ns8d th8 whol8 thing down to, yup you gu8ss8d right, 8ight. It is all rath8r 88ri8. (Try and gu8ss that word)

If it wasn’t so p8rvasiv8, it would b8 comical. Or p8rhaps b8caus8 it is so p8rvasiv8 it is comical.

I propos8, to pr8v8nt furth8r int8rnational ridicul8, that thos8 pow8rs-that-b8 simply add an 8ight to th8 8nd of 8ach tim8 notation. 12 o’clock thus b8com8s 128 o’clock. May b8com8s th8 58th month of th8 y8ar. (Out of 128 months) This way nobody has to go to thos8 rath8r obsc8n8 l8ngths to book th8ir w8dding / company op8ning / conc8ption / 8tc on a th8 statistically improbably and th8r8for8 8xp8nsiv8 day that th8 dat8 contains on8 or mor8 8ights.

Right now it happ8ns to b8 0128hrs, 25th S8pt8mb8r 2008. L8ts do 8v8rybody a favour and updat8 th8 cal8ndar (which was probably inv8nt8d h8r8 anyway) and call this tim8 018288hrs, 258th day of th8 098th month of 20088 AD.

Of cours8, und8r th8s8 n8w mandat8s thos8 silly dat8s lik8 thos8 of th8 Olympics b8com8 8v8n mor8 p8rv8rs8.

088:088:088 088,088,20088. But h8y! Th8 mor8 8ights th8 b8tt8r