Many of you probably already heard the shocking news about the Hong Kong tour bus hostage killings in Manila, Philippines.  On August 23, 2010, a former police officer Rolando Mendoza hijacked a tourist bus carrying 25 Hong Kong tourists.  Mendoza was dismissed from the force for involvement in kidnapping, extortion and stealing confiscated drugs.  But Mendoza said he had been set up and he held  the tourists hostage in order to demand restitution.

The incident ended with a police sniper shot and killing Mendoza hours into the  madness. But 10 of the hostages were already shot dead inside of the bus.

See the set of animated pictures of the news updates and mush more here on ESWN.

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When the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to include the China Danxia Landform in the World Heritage List at its 34th meeting in Brazil, it also gave rise to a wave of “heritage fever” in China. According to Ministry of Construction, China presently have 35 items including the West Lake in Hangzhou on the waiting list for world heritage recognition. There is even a saying that plenty more local intentions have lined up on the agenda for the next century.

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The following article published by Liberation Army Daily was made popular recently with hundreds thousands of comments pouring in.

(From Netease and other major Chinese media) Liberation Army Daily reported on August 13, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense made an announcement at a press conference recently, that the United States would send “George Washington” aircraft carrier to the Korean West Sea (Yellow Sea) in a series of joint military exercises. This was a 180 degree turn comparing with the Pentagon’s official position in mid-July.

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(PConline) Apple not only stands out from the crowd in innovation but also is a trend setter, its products attracted many companies in the world to make accessories for them, and even the well-known Sony could not escape. Recently a heavy-weight apple product accessory was born, when it was announced, which suddenly stirred up some huge waves in the Apple world, hitting everyone who pays close attention to the latest trend, making them to get ready to take out their wallets. However, this accessory was not welcomed by Apple, in fact it gave Steve Jobs headaches. It is a product that totally upsets the apple cart, so to speak. That is the “Apple Peel” that will turn iPod touch into iPhone.

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A big concern on top of urban transportation planner’s mind is how to speed up the traffic: putting more buses on the road will jam the roads even worse and deteriorate the air; building more subway is costly and time consuming. Well, here is an cheaper, greener and fast alternative to lighten their mind up a bit: the straddling bus, first exhibited on the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo in May this year. In the near future, the model is to be put into pilot use in Beijing’s Mentougou District (bjnews). (The official site of the high-tech expo put it as 3D fast bus, which I think is more confusing, for now I’ll just call it the straddling bus.)

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Shanghai World Expo Bureau held the press conference on April 23 to help testing Expo news center’s operations.  Unexpectedly an American female reporter from National Public Radio in Shanghai, Louisa Lim (Lin Mulian 林慕莲) shouted accusations that World Expo mascot Haibao was plagiarized from an American cartoon icon Gumby.  She also produced photos as evidence, the scene suddenly turned chaotic.

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Guangzhou Daily did a piece of news on April 6th comparing the change of Chinese tourists’ spending overseas in the last decade to that of their European, American, and Japanese counterparts, and came to conclude that the radical change reflects the change of status of Chinese tourists from being despised to being valued and respected.  Dissents on the conclusion soon followed, clearing the difference between being valued and being respected.

» » » » Continue reading ‘Chinese tourists are more valued and respected by foreigners after 10 years?’