Here’s wishing good luck to the group of pandas being released back into the wild this week. The six friends - Xingrong, Xingya, Gongzai, Yingying, Zhizhi and Qiqi - will be residing in “Panda Valley” and not “Central Perk” where they will not receive human intervention but will still be monitored under watchful care.
More scenes from famous Chinese scenic spot Jiuzhai valley (九寨沟; Jiǔzhàigōu) seen here in with winter plummage.
Here are some picturesque pictures of Aba (阿坝; pinyin Ābà) in Sichuan province (四川省; pinyin Sìchuān shěng), showcasing its multitude of farms, fields, and plains.
Breath-taking photos of the Irtysh River (额尔齐斯河; pinyin Éěrqísī hé) in the “number one county of the north-west”, Habahe county (哈巴河县; Hǎbahé xiàn), in Xinjiang province (新疆省; Xīnjiāng shěng)
“I’m a stationary object who can’t resist when someone puts a tacky sweater on me; what’s your excuse?”
Trees along a boulevard are decked out in colorful sweaters in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.
“Home is where the heart is, and a river runs through it.”
A rain run-off creek that diverts into the Luo River in the city of Luoyang (洛阳; pinyin Luòyáng) runs red as a result of illegal practices by two dye-making factories.
The first snowfall of the season has graced national tourist destination Zhangjiajie (张家界; pinyin Zhāngjiājiè) with a soft dusting of snow.
While China’s environmental record is decidedly mixed, the Chinese culture does place a lot of importance on nature and balance. Also, with expanding access to information and the means to travel, the Chinese people and their businesses are becoming more aware of their environmental impacts. This, and good old fashioned profit motive have led to a massive boom in the Chinese wind turbine industry. China has already surpassed the US with the most installed wind power capacity and while some of these advances have been marred by malfunctions, the government is putting more stringent regulations in place to improve reliability and quality.
Chinese companies are also preparing to expand into overseas markets. A planned wind power installation in Texas, which will be the largest in the world when completed, is looking at Goldwind, China’s top turbine manufacturer, to supply its turbines.
This is all well and good, but what does it have to do with your daily life? Well, here’s some Chinese about wind, the environment and POWER! I mean, electricity.
It’s so windy! - 风很大！- Fēng hěn dà!
The power’s out! - 停电了 - Tíngdiàn le
Global warming - 全球变暖 - Quánqiú biàn nuǎn
Now you can start a debate about whether or not global warming knocked out your power.
In the spirit of promoting environmental conservation, this boat - named ‘Simida - was made by a group of 4 students from Chongqing University of Science and Technology. The boat is made out of 1,504 plastic drink bottles and took two months to complete.
“This one has a scratch on it; might as well buy a new one.”
Billionaire philanthropist Chen Guangbiao (陈光标; Chén Guāngbiāo) is promoting National Car-Free Day in China by taking matters into his own hands by using an excavator to destroy a perfectly working BMW automobile.
Chen proposes that the price of gas be raised 50% with the resulting profits used towards public transportation. To deter more people from driving Chen also proposed that parking and car licensing fees rise.
To promote the alternative to using cars as a means of transportation, Chen has given free bicycles to his 200 employees and offered a 300-600 RMB subsidy if they continue to use a carbon-free method to commute.
BMWs are a very common status symbol in China; they are always black in color.
