Briefs

There were only 3,000 left by the end of March this year and the last legal ride home in a miandi was midnight, September 30, according to Beijing Daily.

National Day marked official extinction for the popular breadbox-shaped van that formerly ruled city roads.

The little yellow miandi first appeared in 1988, and gained instant popularity among ordinary Beijingers and cheapskate foreigners for their economic fares and chirpy drivers. The city's first alternative English language paper Beijing Scene even picked the humble vehicle as its logo.

Miandis were first restricted in November 1998. They were required to install catalytic converters and all vans with more than 500,000-kilometer mileage were taken off the roads. Drivers had the option of replacing their old miandis with xiali taxis at a preferential price.

Official pressure accelerated from November 1998 until February this year, with xiali fares being lowered from 1.60 to 1.20 yuan a kilometer and a further 14,000 miandis taken out. In March, 6,000 more were sent to the Capital Steel Plant to be crushed. The 300 miandis produced in 1996 and 1997 were sold to buyers outside Beijing.

The glory year for miandis was 1993, when Beijing had 23,000. But miandis always had one fatal shortcoming -- pollution. Key government officials may also have felt the vans' "ugly" appearance didn't mesh with their image of a 21st-century high-tech metropolis.

Phone Fees Cut

Telephone charges are set to be slashed. International call and internet fees will be cut, according to Wu Jichuan, Minister of the Information Industry.

Compared to other countries, Wu said, local and mobile phone charges were relatively low, while internet and international telephone fees were relatively high. Thus the Ministry of Information Industry is "working on plans" for telecommunication fee adjustment, according to Beijing Youth Daily.

Hot Cash

Over-enthusiasm for the legal tender issued on October 1 has affected distribution and circulation, according to Beijing Morning Post.

Branch banks ran out of the new 100-yuan note after two days. Meanwhile out on Beijing streets, the new notes are rare sights indeed. The Cuiwei McDonald's in West Beijing reported receiving no more than 10 of the 100-yuan notes by October 8.

China's central bank tried to explain there was no point in storing or collecting the notes as they will eventually enter universal distribution. Some stores have also allegedly refused to receive the new money, unable to detect counterfeits.

Counterfeit-note detectors for the new money are still in the research stage. The new tender incorporates 10 anti-counterfeit measures, including the watermark Chairman Mao.

False Alarms

Gremlins, glitches and hoaxes are distressing the 500 taxi drivers working with the new Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system, according to Beijing Youth Daily.

Regulations detail extensive punishment for drivers and dispatchers failing to pick up passengers, but no such rules exist for customers failing to appear.

Santana taxi driver Cao (no full name) called for fair treatment from customers in the local paper. He phoned in to explain his story. Dispatched to pick up a passenger at 8 Wanshou Lu for 5.50 am and take them to the airport on October 1, Cao grew concerned he couldn't wake up in time that next morning.

Cao drove his car to the residence late the night before and slept outside in his car. After waiting all morning, nobody came. He dialled the residence telephone number that his company had given to him, but was told nobody had reserved a taxi at all. That day, he twice suffered the same kind of false alarm.

The GPS system allows a taxi control center to track 500 taxis running through the Beijing area and assign them. To book a taxi, customers call 6837-3399, and the control center automatically searches for the nearest available taxi. The center then calls back to confirm the taxi's arrival time.

The GPS Center recently received a call from a "Mr Yang" saying he wanted to book eight Red Flag limos for a wedding on October 11. When the dispatcher had organized all the taxis and called "Mr Yang" back, the call was answered by a hotel receptionist who denied any Mr Yang was there.

Pandas Claw Back

Experiments with releasing pandas into the wild are under way, with completion scheduled before 2005, according to a National Forest Bureau official attending the recent international symposium in Wolong Nature Reserve.

Beijing Youth Daily reports that if the experiment succeeds, two or three pandas will be released from zoos each year. There are currently around 100 incarcerated pandas in China.

University Expands

China Central Academy of Arts and Design has merged with Qinghua University and will become Qinghua Fine Art Academy this month, according to Beijing Evening News.

Qinghua is China's top science university. A grand ceremony will be held at the beginning of this month.

Bug, What Bug?

About 37 percent of Chinese people don't know what the Y2K bug is, according to a recent survey conducted in 11 Chinese cities, reported in Beijing Shopping Guide.

Among the 4,500 interviewed, about 63 percent know something of the origin of the Y2K problem and its possible results.

Some people believed the Y2K bug might be a kind of worm, fossil or a corrupt official. In Shanghai and coastal cities, more people knew about the bug. But in inland cities such as Zhengzhou and Wuhan, only half of the people interviewed had any idea at all.

Guides Get Stamped

Beijing tourism authority has introduced a tour guide ID card, with the bearer's name, serial number, level of expertise, travel agency name, issuing authority and length of validity, according to Life Times.

New regulations detail stipulations for the responsibilities and professional ethics of guides and make it clear heavy fines will be exerted for malpractice.

City Cleans Up

Beijing Municipal Government will hold a meeting to review the progress of environmental work and further promote pollution control projects, marking the beginning of a third phase of government pollution action, according to Beijing Evening News.

Mayor Liu Qi said the capital will soon enact 22 measures including the promotion of industrial restructuring, development of low-polluting, high-technology industry, encouragement of environmental research, the use of cleaner energy and improvement of existing regulations.

Kudos A Go-Go

Beijing granted the title of "honorary citizen" to 11 overseas Chinese, two Germans and Hong Kong "celebrities" including Henry Fok, Li Ka-shing and Tsang Hing-chi recently, according to Beijing Morning Post.

The pinyin names of the lucky Beijingren were (Mr) Li Zhaoji, Zheng Yutong, Guo Bingxiang, Chen Jinglun, Guo Henian, (Ms) Hui Jingzi and the two Germans -- Manfuleide Duniyueke and Laose Qie'er.

Mayor Liu Qi credited them all for having made remarkable contributions to the city's rapid development, especially the economy, public health, science and technology.

Li Ka-shing, president of the powerful Hong Kong Changjiang Group, said he felt honored to receive the title, especially on the 50th anniversary of the founding of New China.

Fancy a Float?

The National Day parade floats are to be auctioned at a starting price of 500,000 yuan each, according to the Beijing Morning Post.

Altogether 90 floats flew down Changan Avenue in front of President Jiang Zemin and assorted dignitaries on National Day this year.

Twenty-four were destroyed immediately after proceedings, but 66 were left in Tiananmen Square during the holiday. According to a National Day Parade General Office official, "Many people demanded we postpone the end of the Tiananmen exhibition.

"Many domestic and foreign enterprises said they were willing to buy all the floats and donate them to museums, parks or schools so people can appreciate this precious National Day heritage forever."

He did not name the enterprises involved. The Shanghai, Chongqing and Shanxi floats have already gone home and will not be auctioned. But the remaining floats await their fate at the Fangzhuang Sports Center. No date had been set for the auction at presstime.

For more details in Chinese, call 6768-9901 or 6768-9908.

Tasty Tidbits

The second nationwide inspection of food quality conducted in 15 provinces revealed around 10 percent of food did not meet minimum quality standards, according to the official China Daily.

Products on the market inspected included flour, tea, instant noodles, purified water, ice cream and health goods.

More than 5 percent of 143 instant noodles failed to meet standards and 17 percent of 156 brands of purified water failed the examination. Unfortunately, no details were given of which products passed or which ones failed.

"The aerobic plate count of President-100 band instant noodles with black pepper seasoning surpassed the national standards limit by 0.04 times," the official English language newspaper added. The article did not indicate what this meant.