Beijing is upgrading its metro ticketing system with magnetic cards set to replace the current paper tickets in two months.

The Beijing subway control center said on Tuesday that single-journey magnetic tickets are expected to be put into use in late May on all of the city’s metro lines. Automatic cashiers to sell and collect the cards are undergoing testing.

In 2006, Beijing introduced a refillable smart card for regular public transportation users. Subway riders who don’t own smart cards must purchase paper tickets.

Under the new system, commuters without the smart card can buy a magnetic card from an automatic cashier at the station and return it before leaving the subway. The system is similar to the one currently used in Shanghai.

Each magnetic card will be printed with Beijing’s subway map, including the current five lines and four new routes soon to be in use.

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It shows the average longevity of Beijing residents to be 79.6, tops in the country, and having increased 26.8 years over the figure of 52.8 during the infancy of the People’s Republic of China.

It was learned that average longevity is a unified reflection of the level of health of a city’s total population. This figure can reflect social and economic progress as well as the development of the level of medical care, on top of indirectly reflecting the improvement in the quality of life and the people’s nutritional conditions.

Beijing International Institute for Urban Development chief Professor Lian Yuming said to reporters during an interview that the extension of longevity of Beijing residents are principally due to two reasons: one is Beijing’s medical facilities have neared internationally advanced levels. Two is that Beijing has broadly advanced fundamental retirement, health care and industrial accident benefits and coverage and provided important security for the health of Beijing residents.

The continual rise in incomes for Beijing residents directly pushed up the quality of their lives. Improvement in environment has also provided a good living environment for all the residents.

(Source: chinanews.cn)

How to Apply
To qualify for the Green card, you need to fulfill at least one of the following criteria:
I Be a high-level foreign expert holding a post in a business that promote China’s economic, scientific and technological development, or social progress.
II Have made outstanding contributions, or are of special importance to China.
III Have made large direct investment of over 500 thousand US dollars in China.
IV Come to China to be with your family, such as husband or wife, minors dependent on their parents, and senior citizens dependent on their relatives.

How to Apply for the certificate
I Submit an application to the public security organ of the People’s Government at the city level or the branch office or county office of the public security bureau of a municipality directly under the central government, which is in charge of the community of the applicant’s major investment or long-term residence,
II Provide the specified application documents.
III The public security body shall investigate and verify the conditions of the applicant according to the specified prerequisites.
IV The local department will submit the application to the Ministry of Public Security for examination and approval.
V The ministry shall decide whether to approve or reject the application for permanent residence permit within 6 months of receiving the application.
VI Upon the approval of the Ministry of Public Security, the applicant will be granted a Foreigner Permanent Residence Permit by the Ministry of Public Security.

AND To applicants outside China
A Foreigner Permanent Resident Status Confirmation Letter shall be issued by the Ministry of Public Security, with which they may apply for D Visas from a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad, and receive the Foreigner Permanent Residence Permits from the public security organ which handles their applications within 30 days of entering China.

For holders of the previous resettlement or permanent residence certificates,  you can go to the Entry-Exit Administration of the Public Security Bureau and change over to the new green card.

You Should Submit:
A Valid Passport or equivalent
B Health certificate issued at state level
C Credentials proving no criminal record by China embassies or consulates
D Two passport photos, no hat
E Other relevant credentials if required.

Fees
The fee for the new green card certificate is 300 yuan or about 36 dollars.
The cost of getting a new card is 1500 yuan or about 180 dollars.

Validity
The Foreigner Permanent Residence Permits are valid for five or ten years.
–Certificates with five-year validity are granted to minors.
–Certificates with ten-year validity are granted to adults. 

About Chinese Green Card
With the approval of China’s State Council, the Minister of Public Security, Zhou Yongkang, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Li Zhaoxing, jointly endorsed Decree No.74 and officially issued the Regulations on Examination and Approval of Permanent Residence of Foreigners in China for implementation on August 15.
According to this regulation, foreigners with eligibility for permanent residence in China will be granted a certificate of identification commonly known as a “Green Card.”

The regulation has 29 articles in all, specifying the explicit provisions on the prerequisites for foreigners wishing to apply for permanent residence permits in China, required supporting documents, steps to be followed, limits of authority, and cancellation of eligibility, etc.

History of Chinese Green Card
In 1986, for the first time China granted a German the permanent resident permit, which was looked upon as China’s first “Green Card” for foreigners.

In 1991, four foreigners got the certificate from the Tianjin Public Security Bureau for their outstanding contribution to Tianjin’s economic development.

By the end of 2001, China had devised a plan to regulate a “Green Card” system. Subsequently, major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou issued related regulations.

The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners adopted by the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress in November 1985.

The Enforcement Regulations on Law of the People’s Republic of China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners revised in July 1994.
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With the Green Card, You can
– stay in China for an unlimited period of time
–enter and leave the country with your valid passport and Foreigner Permanent Residence Permits, with no need to obtain visas
–use the Greencard as your single legal document during your time in China.
–have a card even more useful than the resettlement certificate or permanent residence certificate.

However, you should not:
–Endanger national security and interests
–Be sentenced to expulsion from China by the People’s Court
–Gain permanent resident status in China by means of fraud
–Lack proof of residence in China for less than the required number of years

Your status of permanent residence may be revoked in the above circumstances

The Olympic flame for the Beijing Games landed Saturday in London, the 2012 Olympics host city, setting out for the largest city relay outside the Chinese mainland.

The Olympic flame will be carried through London as part of the global Olympic flame journey. Large crowds are expected to cheer for the 80 torchbearers, including Paralympics, Olympic athletes and celebrities as they carry the torch through 10 London boroughs from Wembley to Greenwich.

As the host of the 2012 Olympic Games, London relay is designed to cover the longest route.

Beijing will try its best to meet its citizen’s aspiration for marriage registration on August 8, the opening day of the Olympic Games, Vice Mayor Ding Xiangyang said on Wednesday.

He made the remark at a civil affairs working meeting and said that citizens who want to register their marriages on the date, can fulfill their wish if they meet the Beijing registration requirement.

Ding also suggested on-line booking to avoid the registration jam. Through the Internet, only two days advance registration is required.

Chinese couples are keen to tie the knot on an auspicious date. August 8, 2008, is more than just a date, it marks both the opening of the Beijing Olympics and is considered a lucky day for marriage with all the number eights in the date — 08,08,08.

Eight is the most auspicious number for Chinese who believe it could bring them fortune and happiness.

BEIJING, April 5 (Xinhua) — More than 100 million people mourned for the deceased at graveyards or memorial parks and halls on Qingming, or grave-sweeping day, on Friday, the Ministry of Civil Affairs estimated.

 Figures from the ministry’s 150 monitoring places nationwide showed memorial sites in the country received more than 5.6 million people and nearly 600,000 cars on Friday, up 494 percent and 441 percent respectively over the previous day.

 About 72 percent of the people came during the rush hour, from 8 a.m. till midday, according to the ministry.

 The State Council, the Cabinet, revised the nation’s official holiday schedule last year to add three traditional festivals — Qingming, Duanwu and Zhongqiu (Mid-autumn Festival) — in response to public calls. It also changed the length of the May Day holiday.

 The Chinese capital Beijing saw on Friday a peak of tomb-sweeping activities with over 600,000 people visited graveyards in its suburbs. In the area of Babaoshan where the biggest memorial park situated, there were 118,000 visits.

 Shanghai, China’s largest metropolis, saw about 2.37 million tomb-sweepers and 189,000 vehicles on Friday, an increase of 55 percent and 93 percent year-on-year.

清明            The Day of Clear and Bright   杜牧 Du Mu

清明时节雨纷纷,Around Clear and Bright showers are so frequent;

路上行人欲断魂.Wayfarers on the road feel despondent.

借问酒家何处有,Tell me, Buffalo boy, is there a tavern somewhere:

牧童遥指杏花村.The lad pointed to a hamlet with blossoming apricot trees way down the road.

In ancient China, Qingming was by no means the only time when sacrifices were made to ancestors. In such ceremonies were held very frequently, about every two weeks, in adddition to other important holidays and festival. The formalities of these ceremonies were in general very elavorate and expensive in terms of time and money.

 Qingming is not just a day of remerbrance, it is also a day to celebrate the coming of spring, often by going out for a picnic. With the coming of spring, nature wakes up, dressing the world in green. All is new, clear and fresh.