Is China Preparing For War?

China is in the midst of an ambitious military modernisation programme overseen by President Xi Jinping with a heavy focus on its air force and navy, from building stealth fighters to adding aircraft carriers.

Why China Has The Fastest Growing Market For Music

China’s music market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. If you don’t want to enter China, your music business is equal to “drop a big wallet”. The world’s most populous country, and their consumers’ pockets are bulging, and there is no reason why you should not come to China to do the music business.

China’s music media has many particularities due to historical reasons. It didn’t really form until the late 1980s. At that time,mainly music media are the newspaper, radio and television station.

In 1987, China’s first popular music magazine, “Audio & Video World”, was born, and the magazine was hailed as China’s “Rolling Stone” magazine(and later, it did,In 2006 They published a music magazine together, named “Rolling Stone China Edition”.but only one issue and forbidden by government ). Basic function as with “Rolling Stone”, as long as “Audio & Video World” magazine introduces artists, it must be famous and popular.

With the birth of “Audio & Video World” , many music magazines, such as X Music, Music Heaven, Modern Music Field,Hit Music, have been born. And also the TVs and radios were growing up before 2000, basically, all these music media were called music market orientation.

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TV stations, for example, are still a better platform, but they only recommend famous artists. For new artist, It is very difficult to get the chance to get exposure.So when you promote your artists and new music, you can choose some magazines such as “X Music ” ,”Q magazine Chinese edition”, “Easy Music World”,and even some foreign music magazine will also report it such as the Pump it Up magazine. They often focus on China music market.

Digital Music platform has music playing function and also an important platform for music sales. Currently the main platforms have the largest database of Chinese music fans. For example, QQ music, Xiami, Netease Cloud music. There are others platforms that can combine online and offline functions such as See Music, Street Voice, and crowd-funding platform Musi kid.

This kind of media is like linkedin,can build managements/labels and artists very professional relationships. Music dish China is a very strong music network in China.

China Warns Of War With US

China has not declared war on the US, but makes it known that the want the new discovered Island and America better back off. Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, was sworn in as the Secretary of State Wednesday. Chosen by President Donald Trump, Tillerson has already angered China after he suggested a more aggressive strategy toward Beijing in the contested waters of the South China Sea. Since 2014, China has turned sandbars into islands, equipping them with airfields, ports and weapons systems and warned US warships and aircraft to stay away from them. During his confirmation hearing, Tillerson suggested that China should be denied access to those islands that they built.

Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish." "Tillerson had better bone up on nuclear power strategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power to withdraw from its own territories," the unbylined opinion piece said on the paper's English-language site. "If Trump's diplomatic team shapes future Sino-US ties as it is doing now, the two sides had better prepare for a military clash."

It sounds to me that Americans are a little nervous when it comes to China and war. China own much of America because of the recession, so if they blow it up, to them it a be their own lost.

33 Killed In Knife Attack

China has suffered one of its deadliest ever acts of terror, according to authorities, after a group of more than 10 knife-wielding men killed at least 29 people and injured over 130 in a brutal assault at a train station in southwest China’s Kunming city.

China’s far west region of Xinjiang is home to a decades-long, mostly low-grade insurgency by some of its native Uighur inhabitants opposed to Chinese Communist rule. In the past year, deadly attacks have increased, mostly on police stations likely chosen as symbols of Chinese power in Xinjiang.

Beijing blames outside forces and religious extremists for fomenting trouble between the Uighurs, a mostly Muslim people, and the Han, China’s majority ethnic group. Uighur activist groups accuse Chinese authorities of causing unrest through repressive, discriminatory policies. The U.S. State Department said last week there was “severe official repression of the freedoms of speech, religion, association, and assembly of ethnic Uighurs” in Xinjiang in 2013.

Police shot dead four of the more than 10 suspected attackers, captured one alive and are hunting the rest, according to Xinhua. Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” in the investigation and to “punish the terrorists in accordance with the law.”

Survivor Yang Haifei, who was injured on his chest and back, was buying a ticket when he saw a group of people, mostly in black, charge in and start attacking. “I saw a person come straight at me with a long knife and I ran away with everyone,” he told Xinhua, noting that people who were slower to escape were severely injured. “They just fell on the ground,” he said.

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African China – Letter To Mr President @african_china

Veteran artist – African China returns with another socially conscious tune titled “Letter To Mr President”. The song borrows a lot from his classic – “Mr President”, it addresses the current situation of things in the country.

A Place For Pedestrians

Chongqing is one of China’s biggest and fastest growing cities with a population of around 11 million people. In recent years, pedestrianised streets have been turned into motorways in the Chinese metropolis Chongqing. Now the city council is returning the streets to pedestrians and cyclists, and has teamed up with a Danish urban planner.

Chongqing has developed in the same way as hundreds of other Chinese metropolises: skyscrapers shoot up everywhere, while old buildings are demolished. Cars have taken over with multi-lane motorways, while pedestrians and cyclists have been displaced.

But now the citizens of Chongqing are about to reclaim their streets. Chongqing city council has teamed up with the Danish urban research and design consulting firm Gehl Architects, which pecialises in pedestrianised streets and pedestrian-friendly urban spaces.

The objective is to create an interconnected pedestrian network through central Chongqing, which like Manhattan in New York, consists of a peninsula between two rivers. This can be achieved by making urban routes recognisable and easy to navigate, for example by using uniform paving, good lighting and signposting, and setting up benches and similar urban furniture.

Denmark has long had a liking for pedestrian-friendly city spaces. 50 years ago, one of the world’s first carfree pedestrianised streets, Strøget, was established in the capital city Copenhagen. At 1.1 kilometres in length, it remains one of Europe’s longest pedestrianised streets.

The same backlash against the domination of the car is being seen in China. Urban planners, mayors and citizens are all insisting on better conditions for pedestrians in cities. Kristian Villadsen comments that the same themes which have developed in the West are also emerging in China today, i.e. to create attractive, vibrant, safe, sustainable and healthy cities:

“In China, people are very good at using public transport, but if public transport is seen only as a means of transporting the greatest possible number of people from A to B and it is forgotten that people don’t live at the station but also have to get there, it won’t function. Public transport then becomes solely for those who don’t have a car”.

The Covid-19 Pandemic Has Led China To Be The Biggest Foreign Investors

 

China overtook the U.S. as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2020, a year in which overall global flows cratered by 42% as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a United Nations trade agency said.

Flows fell to an estimated $859 billion from $1.5 trillion in 2019, according to the UNCTAD Investment Trends Monitor. It was the lowest level since the 1990s and 30% below the investment trough that followed the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

While the world as a whole struggled, China held on, said UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It became the world’s largest FDI recipient with flows rising by 4% to $163 billion.

A return to positive GDP growth and a targeted investment facilitation program helped stabilize investment in China after the first coronavirus lockdowns there, the agency said.

The Limit On Online Games Begin

Is this a situation America should be joining in?

Games companies are not having a very good time in China at the moment. Earlier this month it was revealed that licenses for releasing new games had not been approved for months, now it seems new game launches could be severely limited in order to save the eyesight of children.

More specifically, online games will be restricted both in terms of how many are available to play and how long they are allowed to be played for depending on your age.

The Ministry of Education is implementing new regulatory measures because video games are seen as a cause of poor eyesight, and in particular, myopia or nearsightedness.

China may have a legitimate case for restricting the time children can play games every day. The risk of myopia is increased by spending too little time outdoors as a child or by focusing your eyes on nearby objects (such as a monitor or phone display) for long periods of time. Even so, that would mean restricting access to all games, not just online ones.

It's unclear what the restrictions will be in terms of new game releases and limits on play time. China tracks individuals very well, so detecting a child is playing an online game and starting a timer before it automatically shuts off is probably already possible.

Pushing children to spend more time outdoors playing instead of gaming may see some backlash from parents, though. Air pollution is a major problem in China, and we've recently discovered that's a sure fire way to make your kids less intelligent.

Top 3 Places To Visit In The World

The Wrap-Up Magazine.com has released the top 3 places to visit in the world.

First on the list is the photo above is The Colosseum in the city of Rome. The ancient Roman Amphitheater still stands in the Italian capital, and you can tour it for less than $20. And once you’re in Rome, it’s not like you won’t find anything else to see and do.

The Great Wall Of China came up next on the list of top 5 places to visit. Much of the wall that stands today is from the Ming Dynasty of the 14th-17th centuries, but for its entire existence the Great Wall of China was nothing short of a work-in-progress. It’s officially 5,500 miles long, and you can visit this manmade barrier at several locations throughout China.

The Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, Egypt is 3rd on the list. They’re one of the true Seven Wonders of the World, but no one can seem to agree on just exactly how these 4,600 year old pyramids were built. Still, everyone definitely agrees that the Giza Pyramids are a bucket list destination. Hop on a camel and traverse the complex, or see the temples while sailing down the Nile.

The World Largest Smartphone Makers

The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics reveal that Apple tied Samsung during Q4 2014 to become the world’s largest smartphone maker based on global shipments. According to the report, both Apple and Samsung shipped 74.5 million smartphones during the three-month period of October through December. Apple’s number is an official figure from its financial results, while Samsung’s number is an estimate since the company stopped reporting smartphone shipments a few years ago. The research firm adds that Apple and Samsung were last tied in smartphone market share in Q4 2011.

Apple experienced a record-breaking first quarter of the fiscal year because of strong demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The larger screen sizes of the two new smartphones were a major selling point for many consumers, attracting more new customers and Android converts than ever before. Meanwhile, Samsung reported a 27% quarterly decline in earnings earlier today amid tough competition from both Apple and up-and-coming Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi and Huawei.

Strategy Analytics claims that global smartphone shipments grew 31% annually to eclipse a record 380 million units in the fourth quarter. An estimated 1.3 billion smartphones were shipped worldwide in 2014, with strong growth in emerging markets such as China, India and Africa. Apple has experienced a lot of momentum in China, noting that its online sales in the region for 2014 were more than the previous five years combined.

Apple also surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s second largest mobile phone vendor on the strength of the United States and China. Apple’s 74.5 million smartphone shipments placed ahead of Microsoft’s 50.2 million units shipped, but were behind Samsung’s market leading 95 million units shipped. Apple and Samsung have global mobile phone market shares of 14.5% and 18.4% respectively.

China Discovers Next Global Pandemic

 

According to Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control, a new potentially fatal disease called the Langya Henipavirus has emerged in Shandong and the neighboring providence of Henan (in China), and it has the potential to become the next global pandemic. Thus far, 35 people have reportedly come down with the animal-derived Henipavirus virus. 

Apple Set To Build New Headquarters In Texas

Apple Inc said on Thursday it would spend $1 billion to build a second campus in Austin, Texas that will house as many as 15,000 workers, amid a broader push by many U.S. companies to create more jobs at home.

The iPhone maker had announced at the start of the year it would invest $30 billion in the United States, taking advantage of a tax windfall stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tax reforms.

See More on Yahoo Finance

The 133-acre campus in Austin will employ workers across various functions including engineering, R&D, operations and finance. The city is already home to the second largest number of Apple employees outside its headquarters in Cupertino, California.


Apple will also set up sites in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, California and hire over 1,000 employees each in these locations, while also expanding operations in Pittsburgh, New York and Boulder, Colorado over the next three years.

Many American multinationals have been facing political pressure to ramp up investments at home as part of Trump's "America First" policies, which have left the United States embroiled in a bitter trade war with China. The president has also warned of tariffs on iPhones and other Apple products imported from China.

Apple's technology rival Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) last month ended a months-long search for its second headquarters, picking New York City and an area just outside Washington, D.C. for massive new offices, with plans to create thousands of jobs.

The new Austin campus will be located less than a mile away from Apple's existing facilities, and will first house 5,000 new employees with the capacity to expand to 15,000.

Are Robots Taking Over Our Manufacturing Jobs?

 

Workers have long feared losing their jobs to newcomers, but the threat has changed somewhat in the digital age, with automated technologies posing a new form of competition for human labor. 

New Rolls-Royce Stealth Nighthawk Drophead Coupé

The Rolls-Royce Nighthawk Drophead Coupé is the latest in a series of specialty cars created by the talented Bespoke designers in Goodwood. Featuring incredibly deep and rich Diamond Black Metallic paint with a matte Diamond Black bonnet that’s inspired by modern stealth aircraft, the Nighthawk updates the Phantom platform for a younger and more tech-savvy audience. Additional details include a windscreen surround that evokes radar absorbent material used in military aviation.

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$11M in Bogus Championship Rings Seized from China

According to TMZ, U.S. Customs and Border Protection were able to intercept a shipment at JFK Airport in New York City from China containing $11.7 million in phony championship/team rings. The 177-ring shipment roughly breaks down to $66,000 per ring. Some of the teams that were represented in the bogus batch of jewelry included New York Yankees, New England Patriots, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Eagles among others. 

The CBP New York field office director Troy Miller noted: “This most recent interception of counterfeit sports rings demonstrates the ongoing vigilance and commitment to the mission by our CBP Officers and Import Specialists.”

Vanilla Ice Rants Off

(The Wrap-Up Magazine) The rapper and reality TV personality can be seen yelling at a guy who told him that he should have been “watching the monitor, dude.” He screamed at the guy after yelling at two Delta employees. “Hey, I don’t need any information from you, man. Shut your f**kin mouth. I don’t give a f**k. Shut your mouth. I don’t need anything from you. You don’t work here. Shut up,” said Vanilla Ice.

He screamed at another employee before talking to the woman seen in the video, according to China K, the person who uploaded the video onto YouTube. China K claimed Ice cursed out the other employee before he walked away. The woman in the video was summoned after his initial outburst.

The rapper commented on the situation after the video was released, as he Tweeted, "Hahha- funniest thing about this video is the guy that was the smart ass, had a TMNT shirt on I told him he's not worthy. #Funny." He added, "How funny, vanilla ice has a meltdown. More like over caffeinated, and no sleep. Wrong actions but right point."

The Car Vending Machine

It’s finally here, the giant ‘car vending machine’ once was a fantasy is now a reality and it is open for business in China. Ford and Alibaba teamed up to design a massive machine, located in Guangzhou, China, and offers a variety of vehicles for three-day test drives. The five-story contraption, which holds 42 vehicles in all, is essentially a Ford-branded garage with rotating platforms, similar in design to parking garages commonly seen in Japanese cities and other countries in Asia.

You have to pay via an app before turning up to collect the car from the vending machine labelled the “Super Test-drive Center.”

So this how it works, you simply browse the app for the car you’d like to take out for a spin and then take a selfie. This enables the vending machine’s facial recognition technology to confirm your booking, and presumably also gives the cops a decent image to work with if you fail to return the car.

When you arrive at the Super Test-drive Center, you’ll need to tap on the digital display so the machine can match your face with your car selection. No, the car doesn’t drop into a tray like a regular vending machine. The machinery grinds into action, with your chosen vehicle brought down to ground level in just a few minutes. The system lets you test up to two cars consecutively, which ensures you don’t end up “test driving” Ford cars for life rather than making an actual purchase. But if you have a decent credit score, calculated according to previous Alipay transactions, you can try out the cars for free. Otherwise you’ll have to pay a fee, though exactly how much isn’t immediately clear.

Kim's New Year Message To Trump

Kim said he was willing to meet the U.S. president at any time, mixing in conciliatory messages with his warnings of conflict to Washington and Seoul in his annual speech where he laid out policy priorities for his isolated and impoverished country.

Kim Jong Un said North Korea would take a new path if the U.S. insisted on keeping sanctions, delivering a pointed message to President Donald Trump in his New Year’s address.

In so many way's I feel Kim in his address. He is doing what he has to do for the survival of his country. Kim highlighted recent exchanges with socialist countries, speaking on his trips to China and the Cuban president’s visit to North Korea. China has been the key benefactor for North Korea’s economy.

Kim said he was willing to resume without conditions joint projects with South Korea that were frozen due to political tensions and North Korea’s weapon tests. So he lets things be known he is willing to work out differences.

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Kim called for increasing electricity power generation in the country that battles chronic power shortages. Kim also urged the North Korean people to strengthen their “self-reliance.”

Kim read his address in a suit and tie, in a departure from recent appearances in which he wore a black tunic. Instead of standing on a podium, Kim delivered a speech sitting on a couch in a Western-style room, illustrating an image of an approachable leader in a fireside chat.

Talks between the U.S. and North Korea have made little progress since Trump and Kim held an unprecedented summit in June and signed to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” without defining the term or setting a deadline. The two sides have clashed over the pace and sequence of talks, with North Korea demanding relief from international sanctions and the U.S. seeking more steps toward disarmament.

New Microsoft Lumia Smartphones

Microsoft has leapt on the bling bandwagon with the launch of a gold edition of its flagship Lumia 930 smartphone, as well as its recently-unveiled Lumia 830. Announced back in April, the Lumia 930 was one of the first devices announced specifically for Windows Phone 8.1, and already shipped in a number of bright colors, including green, orange, and white.

The phones aren’t entirely caked in gold, however. They will come in black or whte variants, with a gold finishing touch. The Lumia 830 incarnation will be available from next month in Europe, Asia Pacific, China, India, and across select markets in the Middle East and Africa. The price will vary across the boad,

The Lumia 830 Gold is expected to be available in black and white in February. This smartphone can be purchased in select countries in Europe, Asia Pacific and China, and India, the Middle East and Africa. The price will vary by region and network, though for guidance the existing device costs around $430 SIM-free.

Baby With 15 Fingers And 16 Toes

Hong Hong is four months old. At first glance, he may look like any other bouncing bundle of joy — but on closer examination, he’s a little different. Hong Hong was born with 31 fingers and toes. Shortly after his birth in January in China’s Hunan province, doctors diagnosed him with polydactylism.

Polydactyly is relatively common, affecting around one in 1,000 newborns — but in China, it’s even more common and affects 2 in every 1,000. The condition is hereditary and, there’s a 50% chance that parents with polydactyly will have offspring with multiple digits, too. So, it’s not surprising that Hong Hong’s mother suffers from it as well.

Because he’s just an infant, Hong Hong is too young for surgery right now. Also, the family told CNN that docs are saying the surgery could be more complicated than most, in part because it would involve reconstructing thumbs.

The family doesn’t have money to spare, so the $30,000 price tag is a stumbling block as well. At first, they decided to try online fundraising, but after receiving mixed comments, they ended the campaign.