Reality of Urbanization Catching up to the Dream
China’s ambitious urbanization plan is getting results: the country now has 102 cities...
by Sophie Beach | Mar 21, 2017
China’s ambitious urbanization plan is getting results: the country now has 102 cities...
by Josh Rudolph | Apr 14, 2014
A roundup of online political cartoons from the past two weeks. Click any image to launch the...
by Sophie Beach | Apr 14, 2014
In his latest cartoon, Badiucao illustrates the water crisis in Lanzhou, where authorities have...
by Natalie Ornell | Apr 13, 2014
Reuters reports that people in Lanzhou have rushed to buy bottled water after authorities...
by Cindy | Jun 17, 2013
As Beijing plans to move hundreds of millions into China’s cities, Tom Phillips reports from Lanzhou New Area, a new city under construction in Gansu province for which 700 mountains were condemned to be flattened: Its...
by Samuel Wade | Mar 31, 2013
In nearly 9,000 words at The Globe and Mail, Mark MacKinnon recounts his recent 22-day train journey around China, loosely following the course of Mao’s Long March. He met officials and protesters, nailhouse residents and...
by Samuel Wade | Dec 14, 2012
Prosecutors have dropped charges of inciting subversion against Chen Pingfu, a former teacher who became a street musician in order to pay medical bills. Chen subsequently wrote more than 300 online articles about abuses by...
by Samuel Wade | Dec 7, 2012
Late last month, premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang declared that boosting the country’s urban population, which passed 50% of the total a year ago, was China’s most promising avenue for further development. From Caijing:...
by Samuel Wade | Jan 4, 2012
While China’s air pollution carries heavy costs for its economy and public health, a leading expert has warned that there will be no quick recovery. From Jonathan Watts at The Guardian: The cautionary note comes at the...
by Sophie Beach | Sep 12, 2011
In recent months, citizens have taken to social media to declare their independent candidacies for local election. As a result of the recent government clampdown on these candidates, none were elected as a district level...
by Jenny Leung | Jun 11, 2009
ChinaSMACK has captured a netizen’s response to vigilante justice against the abuse of “urban management” officials (chengguan 城管) in Lanzhou, a Hui Muslim dominated area: This weekend, due to the recent need to repair our...
by Sophie Beach | Mar 17, 2008
Update: In light of the treatment of foreign reporters trying to cover the Tibet protests (see below for details), the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has issued a statement demanding access to the area. The Age is...
by Wu Nan | Feb 14, 2008
When I was in elementary school, our geography teacher told us how Lanzhou city in the northwest desert area of China had suffered from a water shortage. He said the city relied on the water cart system which supplied water...
by Paulina Hartono | Dec 11, 2007
“Parenting Official (Fumu Guan) (父母官)” is a term that was often used in Chinese dynasties to call officials whose role was “to parent” the people they ruled. This is the political heritage of the official Confucius education. However, this political heritage is slowly changing in today’s China. When interviewed on CCTV’s program “From Decision Makers […]
by Mo Ming | Dec 23, 2006
A woman and her painter in an underpass in Lanzhou, via www.fengniao.com ”
by Xiao Qiang | Nov 22, 2006
From The Useless Tree blog: Call me skeptical. But I get a bit nervous when I see stories like this (Xinhua version): LANZHOU, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — The first international forum on Lao Tzu, known as China’s “father of philosophy”, opened Tuesday in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu province.[Full Text]
by Sophie Beach | Nov 19, 2006
The Yellow River flows through Lanzhou, one of China’s most polluted cities, via travelblog
by Michael Zhao | May 6, 2006
From the EastSouthWestNorth blog (link): In Lanzhou, the new city leader decided to clean up the city image by making the persons in charge of the various city departments appear on television to answer questions. “It is not acceptable to squat on the toilet space but refuse to defecate!” At the end of March, Lanzhou […]