This is Beijing-Beijing English blog

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Beijing’s first diagnosed A/H1N1 flu patient in hospital on Sunday.

Wen had a voice and video meeting with the 18-year-old female, surnamed Liu, who returned from the United States and was confirmed to have the flu Saturday, at the Beijing Ditan Hospital.

The patient is in a stable condition with a normal body temperature and a growing appetite, said doctors. Wen said overseas students in epidemic areas should learn more to protect themselves from the flu and understand the preventive and control measures China has taken.

“The motherland is the home of the Chinese overseas students and we are concerned about your health,” he said. Wen said medical personnel should always be ready to treat flu patients and to accumulate experience.

He urged medical staff to enhance self-protection and prevent hospital infection and the spread of the disease.

At the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wen said that judging from the current situation, China’s A/H1N1 flu prevention and control measures are effective and well organized.

“With the spreading of the flu in some countries, we should not lower our guard against it,” he said. Wen called for establishing epidemic monitoring and reporting systems and strengthening inspection and quarantine at ports of exit and entry.

One confirmed case of A/H1N1 flu was reported in Beijing, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday evening.

It is the third confirmed case of A/H1N1 flu on the Chinese mainland, according to the ministry.

The case involved a 18-year-old female who studies in a university in the New York State of the United States, which was the one reported previously as suspected case by the Emergency Management Office of Beijing Municipal Government Saturday evening.

She was currently in a stable condition, with a normal body temperature, the ministry said.

The female, a Beijing native, arrived in Beijing on May 11 on board the U.S. Continental Airline C089 and reached home accompanied by her mother, said the ministry.

She did not go out or meet friends after arriving home, according to the ministry’s investigation.

She felt unwell and physically weak in the noon on May 12 and took her temperature herself.

She went to the fever outpatient section of the Peking University First Hospital in the evening on May 14 and said she developed symptoms of cough, a few sputum, headache, sore throat, chest distress and sore muscle, with a body temperature of 37.7 degrees Celsius.

She was initially diagnosed as fever, needing further check and “suspected of A/H1N1 flu,” the ministry said.

The patient was transferred to the Beijing Ditan Hospital early in the morning on May 15.

The Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tested a specimen taken via a swab from her throat, which showed she was “suspected positive” for A/H1N1 and positive for PIV-H3.

The China CDC and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences tested the specimen again the next day and confirmed she had contracted the A/H1N1 virus.

The ministry said experts made the decision based on the patient’s symptoms, epidemiological investigation results and laboratory tests.

All the people who had close contact with her had been tracked down and put under medical observation, with no one feeling unwell, it said.

According to Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, the girl had only contacted with two persons, one is her mother and the other is the taxi driver who carried her to Peking University First Hospital.

Neither of the two had shown flu symptons, said Deng Ying, director of Beijing CDC.

Expressing his appreciation of the 18-year-old Liu for keeping a clear diary about her journey in Beijing, Fang Laiying, director of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, said, “she even kept the receipt from the taxi driver, otherwise it would be difficult for us to find out the driver,”

“The quarantine hospital had arranged three doctors and three nurses for Liu and took strict medical observation on her,” said Mao Yu, president of Beijing Ditan Hospital.

“Liu is in stable condition as her temperature is getting normal and her appetite getting better,” Mao said.

The health ministry has reported the case to the World Health Organization, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and relevant countries.

The first two cases in mainland China are Chinese nationals, Bao and Lu, who had been students in the United States and Canada, and were traveling back to their homes in the past days of the month, contracted the flu strain and developed symptoms shortly after they set foot in China.

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 The municipal tourism bureau figures showed that tourism revenue totaled 1.24 billion yuan, up 32 percent from the year-earlier level.

 The bureau said that the number of Beijingers traveling within the city rose by 24.5 percent year on year to 1.67 million in the three-day holiday. They spent 420 million yuan (62 million U.S. dollars) for travel.

 The bureau said it launched a program to promote the city’s new scenic spots, travels to its suburban areas and other tourism activities in neighboring regions during the holiday period, which attracted increasing tourists. Beijing’s suburban areas received 1.14 million local tourists during the holiday, according to the bureau.

 ”People only had three days off, and concerns over Influenza A/H1N1 and of savings amid the financial crisis made many people cautious to choose long travels,” said Tian Ling, a manager of China Youth Travel Services.

 She said that the agency mapped its recommended routes to suburban scenic spots and self-driving tours.

 Chinese workers had seven days off, instead of the current three days, during the May Day holiday, before a new holiday system kicked last year.

 Beijing was also one of the most popular tourist destinations for tourists from other parts of the country in the holiday, when more than 890,000 tourists from elsewhere of China visited the city, according to the tourist bureau.

 The bureau said the per-capita tourist spending increased by 12.5 percent year on year even for Beijing local tourists during the holiday because of increased travel cost.

 Junlinshengshi, a tourist agency, said the price of the city travel surged by about 30 percent for group tours.

One of Beijing’s newest landmarks, the Bird’s Nest, will soon be put to another use. A concert combining classical, pop and Chinese folk music will be staged at the end of June at the centerpiece of the 2008 Olympic Games.

The concert line-up is a big surprise. Famous Chinese folk singer Song Zuying, Asian pop king Jay Chou, world renowned tenor Placido Domingo and piano prodigy Lang Lang will present a crossover concert on June 30th at the Bird’s Nest.

The concert will have some firsts including a debut collaboration between singer Song Zuying and Lang Lang.

Song and Domingo sang a duet at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. And her performance during the 2009 CCTV Spring Festival Gala with Jay Chou was also a big hit.

The teaming up of the two top Chinese folk and pop music stars promises more amazing collaborative efforts at the summer concert in the National Stadium.

At a press conference in the stadium, Song said she will work hard to prepare for her performance. As always, Song believes that singing is the best way to express her feelings. The veteran sang “Thanks A Lot” for the gathered press.

Also at the press conference, Jay Chou performed a piano piece which he created specially for Song. He called it “River” after his impressions of Song, who has brought Chinese folk songs and culture to the world like a river flows to the ocean.

After more than six months’ preparation, the Beijing-based newspaper the Global Times will launch its English edition together with its website on Monday.

Published under the official People’s Daily, the Global Times was established in 1993, specializing in coverage of international affairs.

The English edition will cover the world from a Chinese perspective, and reflects the standpoints and opinions of Chinese people on significant international issues.

“It marks a new beginning for the Global Times,” said Hu Xijin, the Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times. “The world of English language was new to us. But with the launch of the Global Times English edition, we have gained confidence to make it a success, to make friends with foreigners and to facilitate communication between China and the world.”

According to Hu, the English edition, instead of a translated version of its Chinese newspaper, is based on an independent team of reporters, editors and foreign experts.

It will be printed daily from Monday to Friday in pace with the Chinese edition and distributed nationwide.

The web site address is http://en.huanqiu.com or http://www.globaltimes.cn.

The construction of 10 major infrastructure projects will begin this month in Beijing, with investment mostly focused on southwestern downtown Beijing and projects for ecological conservation, the local government said yesterday.

Liu Yinchun, deputy director of Beijing municipal commission of development and reform, said the 10 projects cost a total of 19.6 billion yuan ($2.9 billion), of which 10.4 billion yuan would be spent this year.

The projects include construction of expressways such as the Puhuangyu expressway, linking the third and fifth ring roads, in southern downtown Beijing, and the renovation of No 111 national highway in Huairou district.

In addition, a number of water conservation projects – including a canal and a reservoir supporting the mammoth south-to-north water transfer project and renovation and two sewage disposal plants – will be started.

The construction of three riverside forest parks, in Tongzhou, Miyun and Yanqing, will begin this month, with an investment of 1.2 billion yuan this year.

Liu said Beijing will focus on 59 major infrastructure projects, including 33 new ones this year, with a total investment of 70 billion yuan. Of these, work on 10 began during the first quarter.

The Puhuangyu expressway is expected to boost the development of a comprehensive business district in southwestern downtown Beijing, said Fengtai district government chief You Guangbin.

Fengtai district government is kicking off the construction of a business district, combining shopping, hotels, catering and entertainment this year.

“The proposed business center and the Beijing railway station south division will together drive the economic development of southern downtown Beijing,” he said.

The district will cover nearly 15 hectares along the Subway Line 5, with a construction area of 653,900 sq m.

According to news released from the municipal committee of communications on April the 5th, driving restrictions will continue in Beijing for another year when the first round of restrictions ends this weekend. 30% of public service vehicles will continue to be kept off the road, and private cars off the road once every week. Let’s take a closer look at Media opinions.

One article in the same paper points out that 30% of official vehicles were off the road since the Beijing Olympics, and it has no adverse affects. The commentator questions that if taking up to 30% of the public service vehicles off the road would not affect day-to-day work, then why not auction these vehicles? The writer says the auction could reduce vehicle depreciation and other expenses.

One review from ‘Legal Evening Paper’ by Liang Qianli echoed the idea, saying selling the 15,000 decommissioned cars could save up to 150 million yuan at least for taxpayers. The article suggests the government should take this into strong consideration.

Another comment from the Xinhua News looks into another aspect of the traffic restrictions. It says although the policy gets support from most of the citizens, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best way to relieve traffic congestions. If the government doesn’t take comprehensive actions to improve road planning and management, the positive result of restriction on cars on the road will quickly disappear.

Beijing joined the worldwide relay on Saturday night to switch off lights of major buildings for one hour to highlight concerns about climate change while calling for actions

The iconic “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium and the “Water Cube” National Aquatics Center in northern Beijing, usually illuminated by floodlights, went dark completely at 8:30 p.m. local time (1230GMT).

North China’s Hebei Province, the major water supplier to Beijing, has overexploited its groundwater which caused subsidence and formed “20 hopper areas” of more than 40,000 square km, said a local water conservancy official on Saturday.

 ”Water shortage has become a big problem facing the province’s social and economic development,” Li Qinglin, director of Hebei’s water conservancy department, told a forum marking the 17th World Water Day which falls on Sunday.

 ”Water resources in Hebei have dwindled by nearly 50 percent in recent years compared with that in the 1950s,” said Li, adding the province consumes 20.5 billion to 21.5 billion cubic meters water annually but it has only 17 billion cubic meters of surface water, leaving groundwater to supply the margin.

 A water conservancy expert earlier said Hebei has overused 120 billion cubic meters of groundwater in 30 years since 1976.

 The expert who declined to be named estimated that the average per capita water resources in Hebei was only one-seventh of the national average.

 Southwestern Chongqing Municipality has a relatively better prospect, which sees its average per capita water two-thirds of the national average, according to local government statistics.

 Chongqing has 1,802 cubic meters of water per person.

 While meeting its own needs, Hebei Province supplies water to neighboring Beijing and Tianjin, where three big reservoirs are backed by water from Hebei.

 Li urged the government to take measures to reduce water consumption for the sake of sustainable economic and social development.”

According  to the news from the Beijing Municipal Rail Transport center, Beijing’s rail transit after 2015 is under making. The forward planing for will be more than 28 railways.

Until now, there are 8 railways in Beijing, the total longth are more than 200 KM. And there are 13 railways are under construcing now. The rail network will cover more than 56i KM after 2015. The longterm planing for Beijing railway is also under making. There will be more than 28 railways for Beijing in future. This will provide more efficiency to the Beijing public triffic and can meet the demand the requirements for the citizen.

Beijing Municipal Rail Transport center was put in use on December 26,2008 in order to meet  the rail transport network operation and management required. It is the largest, with the most accesss lines and hightest level of intelligent railway transportation hub.

The subway line 4 which will be put in use this year will also be incorporated to the center. The system connection ports were arranged at the begining of the construction.