Los Angeles Times

choi

(1) China: Round trip to Shanghai for $840 on American Airlines. LA Times, Jan 22, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/travel/de ... n-airlines-20120120,0,504743.story
(LAX-Shanghai; including tax; Tickets must be bought by Jan 30; departure by March 30, return by Aprl 30)

(2) Barbara Demick and John Lee, Must-See Chinese TV Becoming a Snooze. New censorship rules are driving viewers away from the hours-long New Year's Gala, long a staple of the Chinese holiday. LA Times, Jan 21, 2012.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nati ... -new-years-20120121,0,7652854.story

Quote:

"Last year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued a series of guidelines that limit programming it deems too frivolous, too sexy or too irreverent, reducing much of CCTV's content to blandness.

"To drive home the point [against censorship], many of the refuseniks appeared this year on a rival show that aired Jan. 17 on Hunan Provincial Television, a feisty regional broadcaster.

"It is a crazy phenomenon," said Alison Friedman, a Beijing-based dance and theater producer. "Everybody complains about the gala, but they still watch it and then they talk about how bad it was."

Note:
(a) snooze (n):
"1: NAP
2: something boring or uninspiring"
(b) pastiche (n; French, from Italian pasticcio):
"2a : a musical, literary, or artistic composition made up of selections from different works : POTPOURRI"
(c) The "kit" in the sentence "Dancers kitted out as Mongolians, Tibetans, Uighurs and other minorities twirled to a song called 'Big Happy Family'" is a transitive verb that means
"chiefly British: EQUIP, OUTFIT —often used with up or out"
(d)
(i) riff (vi; "to perform, deliver, or make use of a riff"
(ii) riff (n; probably by shortening & alteration from refrain; First Known Use 1935):
"a rapid energetic often improvised verbal outpouring; especially : one that is part of a comic performance"


(3) David Pierson, US Website Blackout Draws Praise in China. Internet users in China speak admiringly of the public rebellion against anti-piracy bills in Congress. Such a display would be nearly impossible in China. LA Times, Jan 20, 2012.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-internet-20120120,0,31035.story

My comment: There is no need to reasd the report.

(4) Jonathan Kaiman, Rich Family With 8 babies Raises Cries of 'Unfair!' in China. LA Times, Jan 20, 2012.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nati ... na-octomom-20120120,0,136930.story

Two consecutive parasgraphs:

"Chinese hospitals have been forbidden to carry out gestational surrogacy procedures since 2001. However, surrogacy agencies seem to be booming in China, as evidenced by a profusion of websites and advertisements offering the service. An estimated 25,000 children in China have been born using surrogate mothers in the last 30 years, according to Southern Metropolis Weekly, a southern Chinese magazine.

"Procedures typically cost more than $50,000, about 140 times the average monthly salary for a university graduate in Guangzhou.

My comment: There is no need to reasd the report.

(5) David Pierson, Chinese Fume Over Train Ticketing System as Lunar New Year Nears. The new online booking service has buckled as an estimated 250 million Chinese scramble to go home before the national holiday begins Monday. LA Times, Jan 19, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/business/ ... in-tickets-20120119,0,3683911.story
(A website was "introduced several months ago in an effort to reduce long ticket queues")

Quote:

"Critics say the new system has made it even tougher for China's poorest and least educated workers to snag coveted train tickets. Buying a seat online requires an e-banking account [to pay for a ticket] and access to a computer or smartphone, still rarities among the migrants who toil as construction laborers, custodians and maids in China's urban areas.

"Nearly 90 million train tickets were sold between Dec 28 and Jan 13, a period considered the busiest for bookings. Ten million were sold online, 11 million were sold over the telephone, and the remainder were sold in person at ticket booths. An estimated 235 million train tickets are expected to be sold during the spring festival period, up 6.1% from last year.

"A new rule that requires ticket buyers to register with their national identification card is credited with squeezing out scalpers.

"In another move, the Ministry of Railways added automated voices on its telephone ticketing system. Users reported not getting through after repeated calls. Others found the process confusing, requiring up to 15 steps to complete a booking.


(6) Marc Lifsher, California and US Wine Exports Hit Record in 2011. LA Times, Jan 18, 2012.
http://www.latimes.com/business/ ... rd-in-2011-20120118,0,3075981.story

Quote:

"California grape growers, wineries and exporters account for 9 out of every 10 bottles of US wine sold overseas, the San Francisco-based  [California Wine Institute] said.

"sales to third-place Hong Kong jumped by 48.4%, fourth-place Japan by 42.3%, and fifth-place China by 38.3%.

"California is the fourth-biggest wine producer in the world