“Naked” wedding: a blessing or a disaster?
For the last few weeks everyone has been putting together their own ‘best of the year’ or ‘best of the decade’ stories and events. One story that seems destined to continue into this year is the trend in China for Naked Weddings.
The rising cost of property in China is forcing young couples to get married without having the usual house, car, wedding ceremony or ring. Having just had my own ‘Half Naked Wedding’ in Beijing I have first hand experience of the pressures these couples feel.
BEIJING, Dec. 24 — “Naked wedding,” a popular catch phrase in China coined amid the background of skyrocketing property prices, reflects the reality of many young people in China today. It refers to a marriage without a house, a car, diamond ring, and fancy wedding ceremony – just a nine-yuan marriage certificate.
China’s 245mph train service is the world’s fastest…
Freezing temperatures this week in Beijing have brought temperatures as low as -15C. Most of Europe and the UK have also been suffering, with the unusual cold weather and heavy snowfall causing havoc on the railways.
Its been a long time since I took a train in the UK, probably 10 years or so, but from what I hear from family and friends the service is still terrible. Despite being one of the world’s leading countries (who invented the steam train) we do have a run down and antiquated rail service. The best rail system I have ever experienced was in Japan, but this new Guangzhou to Wuhan line looks pretty impressive.
In the week that Britain’s high speed rail link closed down because the wrong sort of snow interfered with the engine’s electronics, China unveiled the world’s fastest train service on one of the coldest days of the year.
Days after thousands of passengers were left stranded when Eurostar services were cancelled, China’s new system connects the modern cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 217mph – and it took just four years to build.
“Avatar” smashes China opening-day record
Cinema attendances have been dwindling in China for many years due to cheap availability of pirate DVDs and people downloading movies from Bit Torrent file sharing sites. The high cost of movie tickets RMB 70 yuan (US$10) is another barrier the industry needs to overcome.
However, the opening this week of Director James Cameron’s Avatar in China has brought people back to the cinema for a 3-D experience. Despite tickets costing RMB 12 yuan (US$17.50) for the 3-D version, the film looks like it will become most successful film in China.
Science – fiction blockbuster Avatar took in more than 33 million yuan (US$4.8 million) on its first day at the box office in China this week, setting a new record.
James Cameron’s ground-breaking 3-D epic, which has already grossed one billion U.S. dollars worldwide, opened on Monday in China to enthusiastic crowds of film goers. The state media quotes a spokesman for distributor China Film Group Corporation as saying Avatar is likely to surpass disaster flick 2012 as the top-earning film in China.
China currently allows 20 foreign films to be shown in local movie theatres every year on a revenue – sharing basis.
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I live in the UK and British Rail is still crap!