Trials, Hans, Gold, Earthquakes, Democracy, & Corruption

Some recent interesting translated Chinese internet content you should not miss:

2010 Shanghai World Expo trial run photos email

The 2010 Shanghai World Expo will open in a couple of days but on April 20, there was a test or preview and many people visited the World Expo. Security checks were long, many pavilions were not yet finished or open, food was very expensive, and there was a lot of trash.  Translated photograph captions from Lost Laowai (some are wrong but most are okay).

Criticisms of popular Chinese blogger Han Han

Although Han Han is extremely popular amongst many Chinese netizens, there are also many people who do not like him. One Chinese scholar says Han Han does not offer any “new knowledge or profound ideas.” Another Chinese commentator says Han Han is only popular because China does not have enough “academic intellectuals.” Two short translations of opinion articles from ChinaGeeks.

Chinese government official caught lying about his “gold” business card

Netizens discover that the Director General of the Dafeng Municipal State Taxation Bureau in Jiangsu province of China, Zhang Xuezhong, uses a “golden” business card. When asked, the government official denies it and claims it is a Photoshop. One Chinese blogger investigates and exposes the government official’s lie.  A translated news article from EastSouthWestNorth.

Earthquake rumors and Chinese netizens

Internet prediction and rumors of earthquakes to happen in Henan, Shanghai, Nanjing, and other areas of China have caused a lot of trouble for many Chinese people and the government officials who must try to control them. There are mischievous and gullible people everywhere. Several translated Mop news reports from EastSouthWestNorth.

Classroom democracy leads to 15-year-old girl’s suicide

At a middle school in Henan, China, two young girls had a fight. The teacher allowed the class to vote whether to punish one of the girls, Lei Mengjia. 12 students voted to give her another chance. 26 students voted for her to be suspended from school. She left school and then died after jumping into the river. A translation of a NetEase article and some netizen comments on Veggie Discourse. An earlier translated news report from EastSouthWestNorth.

How many corrupt Chinese government officials have fled overseas with how much money?

Since 2003, a popular statistic that many people (including journalists) have used is that there have been 4000 corrupt government officials who have fled overseas to other countries with 50 billion USD. Mei Xinyu from the Ministry of Commerce tries to explain that the reporter published false information. Translation of an ifeng article from EastSouthWestNorth.