Emperor Cuckoo: Human interest in China

Sky-high price for "Panda tea" ... Is it hype or is it actually effective?
天价“熊猫茶” 炒作还是确有其效? 
Tiān jià “Xióngmāo chá” chǎozuò háishi què yǒu qí xiào?

March 27, Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, An Yanshi, the creator of "Panda tea," formally has begun marketing tea leaves made from plants grown in the organic wastes of pandas, and the sales price has reached 220,000 yuan per jin [$35,000 per half-kilo, or about one pound] --
3月27日，四川省成都市，安琰石所创始的“熊猫茶”正式上市销售，该茶叶由熊猫粪便种植培育，售价高达22万元一斤—--
3 yuè 27 rì, Sìchuān shěng Chéngdū shì, An Yǎnshí suǒ chuàngshǐ de “Xióngmāo chá” zhèngshì shàngshì xiāoshòu, gāi cháyè yóu xióngmāo fènbiàn zhòngzhí péiyù, shòujià gāodá 22 wàn yuán yī jīn—--

Photo: An Yanshi demonstrates his skills pouring tea 
安琰石在表演茶艺  Ān Yǎnshí zài biạ̌oyǎn chá yì 

Recently on the internet, "Panda tea," a kind of "Pure Brightness" tea [traditionally, tea leaves picked on certain days at the very beginning of Spring, before the "Tomb-sweeping" celebration in China when ancestors are remembered and honored], has stirred up a lot of discussion.  The inventor An Yanshi has said publicly that Panda tea is made from the organic waste of pandas, and he relies on "intuition" for his belief that the tea prevents cancer ...
最近，网上有种名为“熊猫茶”的明前茶遭到众多网友热议。开发者安琰石公开表示，熊猫茶是由熊猫的粪便培育而成的，他“凭直觉”认为其具有抗癌功效。。。
Zuìjìn, wǎng shàng yọ̌uzhǒng míngwéi “Xióngmāo chá” de míngqián chá zāodào zhòngduō wǎngyǒu rè yì. Kāifāzhě An Yǎnshí gōngkāi biǎoshì, Xióngmāo chá shì yóu xióngmāo de fènbiàn péiyù ér chéng de, tā “píng zhíjué” rènwéi qí jùyǒu kàng'ái gōngxiào...

A jin of Panda tea sells for the sky-high price of 220,000 yuan, and he will apply for the Guiness Book of World records; part of the profits will be donated to environmental protection agencies. If you calculate three grams of tea leaves per cup of tea, that's about 1,000 yuan per cup of tea ($160.00).  But some experts believe the claim [that the tea prevents cancer] is debatable, and that hyping the precious reputation of "national treasures" is not desirable.
熊猫茶每斤更是卖到了近22万元的天价，还将申请吉尼斯世界纪录，把部分利润捐给环保志愿者联盟。按每次放3克茶叶计算，一杯茶的成本也已过千元。不过专家认为，这种说法目前尚无依据，利用“国宝”名声炒作的做法不太可取。
Xióngmāo chá měi jīn gèng shì mài dàoliǎo jìn 22 wàn yuán de tiān jià, hái jiāng shēnqǐng jí ní sī shìjiè jìlù, bǎ bùfen lìrùn juāngěi huán-bǎo zhìyuàn zhě liánméng. Àn měi cì fàng 3 kè cháyè jìsuàn, yī bēi chá de chéngběn yě yǐguò qiān yuán. Buguò zhuānjiā rènwéi, zhèizhǒng shuōfa mùqián shàng wú yījù, lìyòng “guóbǎo” míngshēng chǎozuò de zuòfǎ bụ̀tài kẹ̌qǔ.

Source: 《中老年时报 》2012-03-30 第01版: 天价“熊猫茶” 炒作还是确有其效?  online

"In the Mind's Eye" Movie Theater
 心目电影院  Xīnmù diànyǐngyuàn

"Wu Lao Gui has emerged from the water, he is stuffing a blueprint into a fish that a young man has just caught."  Wang Weili is holding a microphone, and as he sits in front of a TV screen and looks at a scene from "Reconnaissance Across the Yangzi" [1954], he is describing its details.  More than 10 blind people in the "audience" sit by his side and concentrate on "seeing" this film.

“吴老贵从水里冒出来，把一张图纸塞在了那小子刚钓上来的鱼里。”王伟力拿着话筒坐在电视机旁盯着《渡江侦察记》的画面，描述着里面的细节。十几个盲人“观众”坐在他旁边，聚精会神地“看”着电影。
“Wú Lǎo Guì cóng shuǐli mào chūlai, bǎ yī zhāng túzhǐ sāi zàile nà xiǎozi gāng diào shànglai de yú lǐ.” Wáng Wěilì názhe huàtǒng zuò zài diànshìjī páng dīngzhe 《Dùjiāng Zhēnchá Jì》 de huàmiàn, miáoshùzhe lǐmiàn de xìjié. Shíjǐ ge mángrén “guānzhòng” zuò zài tā pángbiān, jùjīnghuìshén de “kàn” zhe diànyǐng. 

[Photo: Wang Weili (on right) describes details on the movie screen to a blind "audience"   王伟力（右）为盲人“观众”描述电影画面的细节。Wáng Wěilì (yòu) wèi mángrén “guānzhòng” miáoshù diànyǐng huàmiàn de xìjié.]

This is taking place in a small, 20-square-meter room off a courtyard on Gulou street in Xicheng district [Beijing]; there is a flat LCD screen, a DVD player, and a few chairs ... But for the blind persons, this is "paradise" ... In 2005, Wang Weili set up a specialized movie theater for the blind, "Xinmu [In the Mind's Eye] Movie Theater."  Over the past seven years, Wang Weili has "shown" more than 300 films to blind people.
这是西城区鼓楼大街的一个四合院，20平方米的小屋里，一个液晶平板电视、一台DVD、一些座椅……却被盲人朋友们称作“天堂”。2005年，王伟力在此开设了一个专门给盲人讲电影的影院——“心目影院”。近7年的时间里，王伟力让盲人朋友们“看”到了300多部电影。
Zhè shì Xīchéngqū Gǔlóu dàjiē de yī gè sìhéyuàn, 20 píngfāngmǐ de xiǎowū lǐ, yī gè yèjīng píngbǎn diànshì, yī tái DVD, yī̠xiē zuòyǐ……què bèi mángrén péngyoumen chēngzuò “tiāntáng”. 2005 nián, Wáng Wěilì zàicǐ kāishèle yī gè zhuānmén gěi mángrén jiǎng diànyǐng de yǐngyuàn—— “Xīnmù yǐngyuàn”.  Jìn 7 nián de shíjiān lǐ, Wáng Wěilì ràng mángrén péngyou men “kàndào" le 300 duō bù diànyǐng.  

In 2005, a blind friend was a guest at Wang Weili's home, and it just so happened that Wang Weili was watching "The Terminator," the English CD-ROM version.  As he watched the film, he also described the details of the movie to his friend, and when the film was over, he was so exhausted he was out of breath, but his friend was totally enthusiastic.  Afterwards, his friend embraced him and whirled around the room, and said this was the happiest day of his life, for the first time in 36 years he'd been able to "see" a flim.  From this, the idea of a movie theater took root.
2005年，一位盲人朋友到王伟力家中做客，刚巧王伟力正在播放电影《终结者》的英文版光盘。他一边看，一边给盲人朋友介绍情节，描述画面。一部电影下来，他累得气喘吁吁，盲人朋友听得着了迷。最后盲人朋友将王伟力抱了起来在屋里转圈，说这是他一生中最幸福的一天，36年来他第一次“看”了电影，还是部大片。由此，心目影院成立了。
2005 nián, yī wèi mángrén péngyou dào Wáng Wěilì jiāzhōng zuòkè, gāngqiǎo Wáng Wěilì zhèngzài bōfàng diànyǐng 《Zhōngjiézhě》 de Yīngwénbǎn guāngpán. Tā yī̠biān kàn, yī̠biān gěi mángrén péngyou jièshào qíngjié, miáoshù huàmiàn. Yī bù diànyǐng xiàlai, tā lèi de qìchuǎnxūxū, mángrén péngyou tīng dézháo le mí. Zuìhòu mángrén péngyou jiāng Wáng Wěilì bàole qǐlai zài wū lǐ zhuànquān, shuō zhè shì tā yī̠shēng zhōng zuì xìngfú de yī tiān, 36 niánlái tā dì-yī cì “kàn” le diànyǐng, háishi bù dà piàn. Yóucǐ, Xīnmù yǐngyuàn chénglì le.  

"Lack of information prevents blind people from blending into society," Wang Weili said, films are like an inexhaustible museum of science, technology, politics, economics, culture ... they touch upon all these aspects, and can furnish blind people a huge amount of information.  By narrating movies, he hopes to be able to fill in a little of what they are missing.
“信息闭塞让盲人很难真正融入这个社会。”王伟力说，电影就像一个取之不尽的博物馆，科技、政治、经济、文化……方方面面都涉及，能为盲人提供大量的信息。通过讲电影，他希望能为盲人朋友们补上缺失的一部分。
“Xìnxī bìsè ràng mángrén hěn nán zhēnzhèng róngrù zhège shèhuì.” Wáng Wěilì shuō, diànyǐng jiù xiàng yī gè qǔzhībụ̀jìn de bówùguǎn, kējì, zhèngzhì, jīngjì, wénhuà……fāngfāng-miànmiàn dōu shèjí, néngwéi mángrén tígōng dàliàng de xìnxī. Tōngguò jiǎng diànyǐng, tā xīwàng néngwéi mángrén péngyou men bǔshang quēshī de yị̄ bùfen.
 
In order to provide the best possible service, Wang Weili must watch every film at least four or five times, and painstakingly put the narrative together.  His wife frequently will turn her back and close her eyes to "check" whether Wang Weili's explanations are good enough to allow blind persons to understand.   And Wang Weili will walk on the street with both eyes closed, leaning on his wife, and stopping to enter into and understand a blind person's thirst for knowledge in this world they cannot understand.
为了更好地为盲人提供服务，每一部电影王伟力都要观看四五遍，然后精心准备串词。他的妻子经常会背对电视闭上眼睛，“检查”王伟力的讲解是否能够让盲人们更好地理解。王伟力也时常会闭着双眼，由妻子搀扶着走上大街，一走就是几站地，去更深入地了解盲人对未知世界的渴望。
Wèile gènghǎo de wèi mángrén tígōng fúwù, měi yī bù diànyǐng wáng wěilì dōu yào guānkàn sì wǔ biàn, ránhòu jīngxīn zhǔnbèi chuàn cí. Tā de qīzi jīngcháng huì bèi duì diànshì bìshang yǎnjing, “jiǎnchá” Wáng Wěilì de jiạ̌ngjiě shì-fǒu nénggòu ràng máng rénmen gènghǎo de lị̌jiě. Wáng Wěilì yě shícháng huì bìzhe shuāngyǎn, yóu qīzi chānfúzhe zǒushàng dàjiē, yī zǒu jiùshì jǐ zhàn de, qù gēngshēn rùdì liạ̌ojiě mángrén duì wèizhī shìjiè de kěwàng.
 
A few of the blind persons, because they are busy at work, can't often come, so Wang Weili came up with another idea; he has set up a very basic recording room.  Whenever he has free time, he produces recorded commentary on the computer and puts it on a CD-ROM along with the film, and sends that to his blind friends. "It's also possible to use broadcasting, and allow even more blind people to watch films."
有些盲人朋友因为忙于生计，无法经常光顾，而王伟力又想出了新的办法，设立了一个简易录音室。闲暇时，他就对着电脑录制解说词，配着电影录成光盘寄给盲人朋友们。“还可以通过电台播放，让更多的盲人看上电影。” 
Yǒuxiē mángrén péngyou yīnwèi mángyú shēngjì, wúfǎ jīngcháng guānggù, ér Wáng Wěilì yòu xiǎngchū le xīn de bànfǎ, shèlì le yī gè jiǎnyì lùyīnshì. Xiánxiá shí, tā jiù duìzhe diànnǎo lùzhì jiěshuōcí, pèizhe diànyǐng lù chéng guāngpán jìgěi mángrén péngyoumen. “Hái kẹ̌yǐ tōngguò diàntái bōfàng, ràng gèngduō de mángrén kànshang diànyǐng.” 

To get these facilities going, Wang Weili sold his car and exhausted his savings to the point where he had to borrow money from his parents.  He hopes that the "In the Mind's Eye" Movie Theater now is as close to perfection as possible.
为了这摊事业，王伟力卖了车，用光了存款，甚至还向父母借钱。望着现在运行已比较完善的心目电影院。
Wèile zhè tān shìyè, wáng wěilì màile chē, yòngguāngle cúnkuǎn, shènzhì hái xiàng fùmǔ jièqián. Wàngzhe xiànzài yùnxíng yǐ bǐjiào wánshàn de Xīnmù Diànyǐngyuàn.

Source: 《京华网》  2011-11/16 第005版： "用声音打开盲人的双眼"    online          

Three inches shorter than the one in the Guinness Book of World Records
比吉尼斯记录中最矮的汽车还要矮8厘米 Bǐ Jínísī Jìlù zhōng zuì'ǎi de qìchē hái yào ǎi 8 límǐ

[Photo: Jiang Liying demonstrating the electric car he built himself  
姜莅营展示自己制作的电动汽车  Jiāng Lìyíng zhǎnshì zìjǐ zhìzuò de diàndòng qìchē]

Yesterday, Jiang Liying finished a vehicle he made by himself.  A middle-school science and technology teacher who lives on Machang Street in Hexi district [Tianjin], he used square iron tubing and spare parts from abandoned electric bicycles to make a one-and-a-half-foot tall environmentally-safe electric car; it is 3.15 inches shorter than the one in the Guinness Book of World Records; it uses 5 kilowatt hours of electricity to go 75 to 100 miles, and can run continuously for 6.4 hours.
  
昨天，姜莅营自制的汽车研制完成。家住河西区马场街的姜莅营是一名中学科技教师，他利用方铁管、电动车废弃零件等制作了一辆仅有48厘米高的环保电动汽车，比吉尼斯记录中最矮的汽车还要矮8厘米,可用5度电跑120-160公里,持续使用6.4个小时。
Zuótiān, Jiāng Lìyíng zìzhì de qìchē yánzhì wánchéng. Jiā zhù Héxī qū mǎchǎng jiē de Jiāng Lìyíng shì yī̠ míng zhōngxué kējì jiàoshī, tā lìyòng fāng tiěguǎn, diàndòngchē fèiqì língjiàn děng zhìzuòle yī liàng jị̌nyǒu 48 límǐ gāo de huán-bǎo diàndòng qìchē, bǐ Jínísī jìlù zhōng zuì'ǎi de qìchē hái yào ǎi 8 límǐ, kěyòng 5 dù diàn pǎo 120-160 gōnglǐ, chíxù shǐyòng 6.4 ge xiǎoshí.

Source: 《渤海早报》 2011-11/17 第 18 版: 图片新闻 online

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Note:  For comparison, from the Guinness Book of World Records "Smallest roadworthy car":
"The smallest roadworthy car is "Wind Up," which measures 104.14 cm (41 in) high, 66.04 cm (26 in) wide and 132.08 cm (52 in). It was created by Perry Watkins (UK) and finished and measured in Wingrave, UK, on 8 May 2009."

See video of "Wind Up" on the road

(妙招 miàozhāo）
What to do when you wake up one morning and find that the manhole covers in your neighborhood have gone missing?  You could suffer in silence, you could call the local police, you could write letters of complaint to the government, or you could do what this residential area in the city of Harbin did: They figured out an inexpensive way to secure the manhole covers, and with that "clever move" 妙招 miàozhāo, have outwitted the thieves ...

In recent years, more than one hundred manhole covers in this neighborhood have disappeared ... According to local resident Lú Wěipíng 芦伟萍, earlier this month six had been stolen in a single night, then another three, then another two, all within a week ... The situation was becoming urgent: "Once a manhole cover has gone missing, residents returning home after dark have to be very, very careful," she said. “井盖一丢，居民傍晚出行都小心翼翼。”她说。"Jǐng gài yī diū，jūmín bàngwǎn chūxíng dōu xiǎoxīnyìyì. ”tā shuō.

[Note: the writer of this blog has a personal interest in missing manhole covers in China, having once fallen into an open manhole that had been concealed by a thin cover of cardboard ... Through the ordeal, which involved a trip to a local clinic, no one mentioned alerting authorities, suing, or fixing the problem -- but everyone involved showed genuine concern about  the injuries (some stitching of a gaping wound on the shin was required) ... Many weeks after the incident, the writer noticed the manhole cover had not been replaced, but the cardboard cover had been refreshed]...

The "inventor" (发明人 fāmíng rén) of the manhole cover lock, Lǐ Dōng 李东 , happens to be the residential property manager ... Of his invention, he said he had no choice but to act “这也是无奈之举” "Zhè yě shì wúnài zhī jǔ", since replacing each manhole cover costs more than 300 RMB (about $50), and the property management had already spent more than 30,000 RMB (almost $5,000) to replace missing covers ...

As the photo shows, the solution is ingenious -- and it is relatively inexpensive; the property manager had the idea of passing a thick steel cable 钢丝绳 gāngsīshéng through the cover's airhole, and drilling into the ground to attach the cable, this method cost 10,000 RMB (about $1600) to lock more than 170 manhole covers in the area ... Note: The solution seems to be modeled on the concept of a bicycle lock
-- stealing manhole covers no doubt is more profitable than stealing bicycles, another rampant problem in China's major cities  ... 

"At the beginning of this month, our residential area continually was losing manhole covers, but since the property management put in the 'locks', no more covers have been stolen," Lú Wěipíng said. “月初，我们小区连连丢井盖，自从物业给上了"锁"，井盖一个都没再丢。” "Yuèchū，wǒmen xiǎoqū liánlián diū jǐng gài，zìcóng wù yè gěi shàng le"suǒ"，jǐng gài yī ge dōu méi zài diū." 

She called the newspaper's hotline in the hope that the news would be spread of this "clever move" 妙招 miàozhāo ...

Source: 《新晚报》20110924 第10版， “脑筋一转 井盖上锁防盗了”