Yōko Kubota and Liyan Qi, 从抚顺看中国老龄化城市的困局：年轻人外流、新生儿锐减。 (subtitle 抚顺这座曾经充满活力的城市正日渐沉寂。一半的年轻人已经离开，养老金账户严重赤字，大约三分之一的人口年龄在60岁或以上。去年，这座拥有170万人口的城市新生儿数量仅为5,541名。 华尔街日报, Dec 11, 2024 https://cn.wsj.com/articles/从抚顺看中国老龄化城市的困局-年轻人外流-新生儿锐减-050a6d91
(locked behind paywall)
, which is translated from
Yōko Kubota 久保田 洋子 (WSJ's deputy bureau in Beijing) and Liyan Qi, In China's Aging Cities, Young Flee, Babies Are Few; Fushun, where roughly a third of the population is 60 or above, offers a view of the nation's future. Wall Street Journal, Dec 11, 2024,at page A1. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/ ... re-born/ar-AA1vyZeD
Note:
(a) "Last year, only 5,541 babies were born in the city of 1.7 million. By comparison, Michigan's Wayne County, which includes Detroit and has a similar-size population, logged more than 20,000 births. * * * This Lunar year, the year of the dragon [which began on Feb 10, 2024], is seen as an auspicious one for marriage and births in Chinese culture. Nonetheless, 2024 births are expected to drop below 8 million [for the entire China excluding Taiwan], less than half the number in 2015, the last year of China’s one-child policy. China's fertility rate [the official term in statistics is Total Fertilit Rate (TFR)] is hovering just above one birth per woman, well below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. China is now trying to promote a 'birth-friendly culture.' * * * 'Double miracle' * * * Japanese occupiers built the backbone for extracting Fushun’s oil and coal resources in the early 20th century. When China's growth took off, Fushun became known as the country's 'fuel supplier [燃料供应部; according to the translation in cn.wsj.com, which Google provided a snippet],' at one point accounting for 50% of China's oil production and one-tenth of its coal. Fushuns economy in the mid-1980s was bigger than several provincial capitals. Many of China's leaders, starting with Mao Zedong, visited its West Open Pit mine [辽宁抚顺西露天矿 (煤田; 1901-2019)], at one point the biggest of its kind in Asia, stretching more than 4 miles from end to end and a quarter of a mile into the ground. * * * Liaoning province, where Fushun is located, embraced the one-child policy with particular zeal, boasting of a 'double miracle' of effective population control and higher economic growth."
(i) Wayne County, Michigan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_County,_Michigan
(Population (2020 [census]) 1,793,561, Estimate (2023) 1,751,169; "It was named for the US general 'Mad Anthony' Wayne," Anthony being his first name)
(ii) NOT "birth-friendly culture."
The correct term in China is "生育友好型社会 birth-friendly society."
(iii) "Double miracle" 双奇迹 is the sectional heading.
(b) "On a fall day near the Laohutai mine [老虎台矿 (井工煤矿, meaning underground; 位于辽宁省抚顺市东洲区虎万路虎台街], one of Fushun's last standing coal mines, 38-year-old Wu Guolei waited for customers at his small canteen. * * * 'Dancing Grannies' [which is sectional heading in print that does not appear online] The mood among Fushun’s retirees wasn’t one of gloom during recent visits. In the city's Laodong Park [劳动公园] on a warm day, groups of 'dancing grannies' blasted folksy dance music. Some elderly played foot badminton, a game similar to hacky sack that is popular in China. A few older women practiced hula hoop, while near them a slow-moving group did tai chi. * * * In November, at Fushun's 'Elderly People University' 抚顺市老年大学—which offers seniors courses"
(i)
(A) canteen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canteen
(may refer to: "Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution [usually but not necessarily military[ in which there is little or no waiting staff table service")'
A prison sore may be called prison commissary or canteen. See en.wikipedia.org for "prison commissary."
(B) canteen (n): "a small cafeteria or snack bar" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canteen
(c)
(i) The print version differs in the last several paragraphs from the online version.
(ii) In the sentence " 'As long as we cope with [the demographic situation] properly, our city's economy and population will interact in a more positive way in the future' city officials said about its plan in 2019" the insertion is original -- by WSJ not me.
抚顺这座曾经充满活力的城市正日渐沉寂。一半的年轻人已经离开，养老金账户严重赤字，大约三分之一的人口年龄在60岁或以上。去年，这座拥有170万人口的城市新生儿数量仅为5,541名。 华尔街日报, Dec 11, 2024