Found this delightful picture over at engrish.com. In case of fire please use this hand grenade… although the Chinese is normal enough. I wonder how they ended up with a translation into English that funny. Maybe a disgruntled employee?

Still I suppose if you were really hungry you could try fishing with it!

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Here is what they posted on facebook:

EF English First would like to offer free flights and relocation assistance to all former NOVA teachers who are qualified to work in China for a year.

You can check out applications at the English First website here: English First Registrations

I looked into working for them a couple of years ago before we went to China. From my understanding there is a little more flexibility within their system than Nova has. They have branches throughout China, including even Urumiqi in Xinjiang. There a lots of other options besides English First, but I think it is very good that company to extend a helping hand at this time. In the end I went with a much smaller school: Circle English in Korla as I preferred what the owner had to say during the hiring process (hiring being a two process after all). I am very glad I went with Circle English as it was a fascinating experience.

Of course you wont earn anywhere near as much in China as in Japan, however cost of living is much much lower so the effective standard of living is much better. Imagine if you were earning 3 times the average salaryman wage here in Japan!

UPDATE (29/10): English First have a posting on the Tokyo section of Craigslist with more detailed information about what they have to offer: Interesting Job Opportunities for Nova Instructors from English First on Craigslist Tokyo.

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Check it out – one of the best blog designs I have ever seen: The Humanaught: A China Blog On Suzhou Expat Life.

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This first one shows the differing attitudes to lining up to buy tickets. If you have been to China you will know that those scrummaging skills developed on the rugby field are highly valuable:

The second image is more interesting, being a depiction of the self:

The blue sections of the images refer of course to German culture, with those in red denoting the Chinese equivalent. Interestingly, Japan would be German in the image of the people lining up, and Chinese in the image depicting the self.
It is difficult of course, to pare down cultures as diverse as German or Chinese into simple images, but these I think are very effective.

We went to Germany for one night a few years ago and I remember being quite surprised as to how relaxed everyone was. When we went through immigration there were two immigration officers having what must have been to them quite a fascinating discussion. They didn’t even look at us as they stamped our passports!

On our way back out it was much the same, except we saw them round up a person of middle eastern descent. Ah, the joys of being white. I guess some stereotypes are true after all.

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A few people have asked us about where we are living, and bemoaned the paucity of material about the Xinjiang Region. So using the limited resources available here, Lonely Planet’s China, Tour in Xinjiang published by the Xinjiang Peoples Press and a couple of Japanese guide books I have collated the following. Any mistakes or inaccuracies are of course my own.

Xinjiang – an overview

Xinjiang is located west of the original setting off point for the Silk Road – Xi’an and in ancient times was known to the Chinese as the "Western Regions." Xinjiang’s full name is the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and it is the largest province in modern China. Situated as it is, in the far west of China, or in the far east of the Middle East, Xinjiang is as much a bridge between two worlds today as it was a thousand years ago when it was part of the Silk Road.

The current borders of Xinjiang link the place to not only Gansu and Qinghai in the east, and Tibet in the south, but also to eight countries: Mongolia in the northeast, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kurgizstan and Tajikistan in the northwest, as well as Pakistan and India in the south. Of these the borders to Kazakhstan, Kurgizstan, and Pakistan are easily traversable and then Pakistan only during the warmer months.

This province has borders of 5400 kilometers and a land mass of 1,600,000 square kilometers, and with the exception of salt water, seas and oceans, Xinjiang offers a variation of natural geography almost unparalleled in the world. At one-sixths the total territory of China, Xinjiang is three times larger than France, 7 times larger than the United Kingdom and four and a half times larger than Japan. The regions oil, coal and metal reserves have resulted in significant development over the past few decades.

In the same way that the Southern Alps divide the South Island of New Zealand, the Tianshan Mountain range, one of the largest mountain ranges divide Xinjiang north and south.

To the north of the Tianshan Mountains lies the Zhungar Basin – the second largest in the region. Hundreds of millions of years ago the basin used to contain a vast sea fringed with wetlands and forests. This past has left the region with large areas of petrified trees, dinosaur fossils from the Mesozoic era as well as large coal and oil reserves.

With the prefectural capital of Urumqi at its heart, the Zhungar Basin is the most heavily populated region in Xinjiang. Other towns in the Basin include Changli, Manasi, Jimsar, Fukang and Qitai along with the recent addition of the oil base at Keramay and Shihez.

To the north of the Zhungar Basin lie the Altay Mountains where murals depicting what may be the earliest known pictures of skiing have recently been found. The Ertix (Erqisi) River in the Altay region is also the only river in China to flow into the Arctic Ocean. The grassland and mountains in this area are reminiscent of the vistas to be found in parts of Siberia. For tourists the main attractions in the area include Kanas Lake and the hot springs at Alashan.

More heavily travelled are the parts to the south of the Tianshan Mountain Range. This area includes the largest basin in China – the Tarim Basin and the great and mysterious Taklamakan Desert.

The Tarim Basin is encircled by some of the most formidable mountains in the world – to the west lie the Pamirs, the Roof of the World, to the south and south-west lie the Kunlun, Kara-kunlun and Alkin mountain ranges. Of the world’s 14 peaks over 8000 meters 4 are in Xinjiang including K2 which at 8611 meters is the second highest on the planet. 11 mountains are open to climbers although travel permits are usually required.

These great mountain ranges feed some 19,091 glaciers which in turn provide that scarcest of resources – water – to what is in many ways one of the most inhospitable on Earth. These glaciers and snow melt feed rivers throughout the Tarim Basin, including China’s largest inland river, known strangely enough as the Tarim River, as well countless lakes and nurture the string of oases that made the Silk Road a possibility.

The original Silk Road began at what is now known as Xi’an into Xinjiang through Hami and on to Turpan where the road branched, much as the railway does today. The northern route proceeded on through the current capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi to what is now Kazakhstan whilst a central route carried travellers along the north of the Tarim Basin through Korla (Kuerle), Luntai, Kuqa (Kuche), Aksu (Akesu) and on to Kashgar (Kashi) from where it was possible to proceed south to Pakistan or further west to Tajikistan or Kurgizstan and then onto Uzbekistan or Afghanistan.

A southern route skirted the Basin from the now ruined city of Loulan through Charklik (Ruo Qiang), Cherchen (Qie Mo), Niya (Minfeng), Hotan (Hetian) and up to Kashgar.

These oasis towns which supported the merchants and travellers on their travels developed and died with the rivers to the extent that over 40 ruined cities have been discovered so far in or alongside the Tarim Basin. The most famous of these is Loulan, with Turpan’s Jiaohe and Gaochang (Khocho) ruins also being popular with travellers.

Today Xinjiang remains an exciting place with an exhilarating range of landscapes for the eyes to feast on, economic development and the interaction of the growing Han Chinese population with the local Uighur, Kazakh and Mongolian minorities for the mind to ponder.

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In a bit of a Korla mash-up – a story from China Business Blog about the news that Xinjiang’s delicious fragrant pears will, after 13 years of negotiations be accepted for export to the United States of America.

China is to export fragrant pears specially grown in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the United State — after 13 years of negotiations.

More on the decision to export fragrant pears on the China Business blog.

And on another note, Michael, of The Opposite End of China fame has made it back safely from the Mt. Everest base camp. He has some beautiful pictures of the worlds highest mountain kingdom up on his blog with hopefully more coming soon.

On the subject of photos, this photo was stolen from Michaels blog by your truly and show my former Uyghur teacher in his family’s pear orchard. A great guy, and I am sure he is over the moon that his family’s produce can now be exported.

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Pakistan-China oil, gas cooperation rapidly growing: official

Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources of Pakistan Amanaullah Khan Jadoon has said that Pakistan-China cooperation in the oil and gas sector was rapidly growing for the mutual advantage, according to a petroleum ministry statement Tuesday.

He was talking to the delegation from China Xinjiang Petroleum and Allied Services headed by General Manager Youting Kou who called on him here Tuesday and discussed with him investment opportunities in the oil and gas sector, said the statement.

The minister said the government was providing attractive package of incentives to the prospective investor in the onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration and it would welcome China Xinjiang Petroleum’s investment in these activities.

Jadoon also highlighted the salient features of the investor friendly policies of the Pakistani government and oil and gas exploration activities in the country.

Kou briefed Jadoon on China Xinjiang Petroleum activities in the oil and gas and expressed keen desire to participate in the exploration activities.

Source: Xinhua

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New insurance company receives CIRC approval

Sep. 19, 2006 (China Knowledge) – The application of China United (Holding) Corp. Ltd. to establish the China United Property Insurance Co. has been officially approved by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), according to a press release.

The registered capital of the United Property Insurance is RMB 1.5 billion, out of which RMB 1 billion will be injected by China United.

United Property Insurance will conduct a range of business activities within the insurance industry including property loss, liability, credit and guarantees, short-term health, casualty, and reinsurance of the above mentioned insurance businesses.

China United plans to set up a property insurance firm as well as a life insurance company and operate them as two subsidiaries. The proposal to establishing the China United Life Insurance Co. is still on the waiting list and subject to approval by the CIRC.

The company is also hoping to set up its own asset management firm following the establishment of the life insurance firm.

China United was incorporated on Jun. 11, 2006 from the former China United Property Co. Currently, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp. owns 61% of China United.

Urumqi State-owned Assets Management Co. Ltd. has a stake of 21%, while the Xinjiang Union Co. holds the remaining 18%.

(source:Â New insurance company receives CIRC approval, China Knowledge.com).

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Such a link would be a massive engineering undertaking. The pass between Xinjiang and Pakistan rises to some 4733 meters, meaning the line would rival the 1,956-km-long Qinghai-Tibet railway, which links Xining, Qinghai’s capital in northwest China, with Lhasa, capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Qinghai-Tibet railway records the highest elevation of any rail line in the world, reaching 5,072 meters above sea level at Tanggula Range.

This railway would be a boon for both travel and trade in the region. As regards travel, tourists would be able to stop over in Kashgar to enjoy Central Asia’s largest market and some of the sights of the silk road before heading on to Pakistan. Xinjiang’s trade would be the biggest winner as this would truly open up Pakistani ports, simplifying access to lucrative European markets.

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