THIS WEEKPEOPLE & POINTS

THIS WEEKPEOPLE & POINTS

↓NEW SWIMMING STAR

Li Bingjie,15, won four gold medals in swimming at the 13th Chinese National Games held in Tianjin from August 27 to September 8.

Li is good at mid- and long-distance swimming, from 400m to 1500m. During the FINA World Championships held in Budapest in July, Li made a surprise debut by breaking the 1500m Asian record in 15 minutes and 52.87 seconds to finish in third place.

At the following national games, Li claimed titles in the women’s 400m, 800m and 1500m events. She also set a new Asian record in the 400m freestyle of 4 minutes and 2.35 seconds.

Li was born in the city of Baoding, north China’s Hebei Province, in 2002. Her parents were swimming athletes on the provincial team. Li’s father was a national champion in the men’s 800m freestyle. Li began to undergo swimming training at the age of 6.

In 2014, Li was recruited by the Hebei provincial team and later the national team. In the following year, Li won the women’s 400m freestyle championship at the national youth games.

Mobile Games Blamed

Guangming Daily September 4

According to the newly issued 2016 China Gaming Industry Report, China’s mobile game players had reached 566 million by 2016, with adolescents as the major component.

If everyone spends several hours on mobile games every day, these 566 million people spend billions of hours on mobile games in total.

Compared with PC games, which require a certain place for playing, mobile games enable people to play anytime and anywhere as long as they are available. Teenagers easily get lost in games, leaving their schoolwork aside, separating themselves from social communication and even committing crimes.

Why are adolescents so attracted to mobile games? Children are mostly psychologically immature and unstable. They are usually living under pressure from school and parents. In games they can find the kind of respect and recognition that they can seldom find in reality. People born in the 1970s and 1980s had the experience of playing in video arcades, while those born in the 1990s have the memory of spending whole nights in cybercafés. Today, mobile games enable users to play whenever they wish. Games actually play the same role of appeasing the young’s emotions.

Mobile games’ psychological functions may be something that parents and teachers don’t understand deeply. Parents could play mobile games together with their children, so that they get to know the charm of these games. Then, parents would know how to improve their family education and rebuild the relationship with their children. When they know what’s attracting their children, they will have the chance to win back their children from mobile games.

“As China’s only Mars science and recreation base, we hope it will focus on the scientific theme of space

exploration.”

Liu Xiaoqun, a scientist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, speaking on September 5 in Haixi Prefecture, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, as the Mars simulation base was established there

“

Knowledge sharing between African and Chinese scientists could strengthen responses to climate-related disasters and infectious diseases that have devastated communities in the world’s second largest continent.”

Chen Xu, Chairperson of Tsinghua University Council, speaking on September 5 during a visit to Nairobi in Kenya

Internet of Things Revolution

South Review September 12

Like the rise of any industry, the revolution of Internet of things (IoT) is subject to certain rules. Demand triggers transformation. In return, big changes will generate new demand. The interaction finally leads to revolutions of industries.

China enjoys two advantages in terms of IoT revolution. First, China is the biggest manufacturing economy in the world, and its manufacturing has the strongest demand for IoT. China is the largest potential market for the application of IoT and also the most possible experimental field. Second, IoT requires persistent investment in research and development. A single commercial institution can’t afford such costs. IoT can’t make sign ificant breakthroughs without the involvement of government.

The city of Wuxi in east China’s Jiangsu Province has been exploring IoT and it has accumulated rich experience. Under the local government’s guidance, the strong market demand and commercial motives become a driving force to shape local industries. In the past seven years, Wuxi has witnessed the rise of a super industrial cluster composed of more than 2,000 IoTcompanies. The industrial cluster makes it possible for these companies to distribute labor and resources rationally, as well as reach cooperation, such as joint research and development, at lower cost.

Wuxi is on the way to become a center of global IoT. In mid-September, Wuxi is scheduled to host the World Internet of Things Exposition. The city will share its experience with world elites of IoT industry at the exposition.

Relying Less on Stars

Nanfang Daily September 5

The Hollywood war epic Dunkirk is being screened in cinemas around the world. It has become a blockbuster and harvested big box of fice pro fits globally. However, neither the new actors nor famed stars in the film took high rates of remuneration within the budget. As the director and scriptwriter of the movie, Christopher Nolan enjoys the biggest share of the remuneration.

Undoubtedly, popular stars can increase the fame of a movie. But a good story and a good director are the major elements to ensure the quality of a movie.

China’s film and TV industry is affected by a bad atmosphere in which stars bid for a sky-high price to perform in TV series, mini dramas and films. The huge remuneration for leading roles brings an unbalanced ratio in production budgets. Companies have to cut the cost of other parts including scriptwriting, props, music and special effects, which leads to a large number of potboilers in the market. According to China Central Television, the lowest payment for movie stars stands at 25 million yuan ($3.83 million), while the highest hits 100 million yuan ($15.3 million), accounting for over 50 percent of a movie’s total cost. In some idol dramas, stars’ remuneration accounted for 75 percent of the production cost.

Currently, the unreasonable and unbalanced budgets in film making re flect that producers seek quick success and instant bene fits. This atmosphere not only undermines the quality of films and dramas but also brings the industry into a vicious circle. Especially, slender payments for scriptwriters lead to good stories diminishing.

↓COMBUSTIBLE ICE SCIENTIST

Lu Hailong,53, has recently entered the media spotlight for making remarkable contributions to China’s success in mining gas hydrate in the South China Sea. Lu is the chief scientist in the project.

Lu graduated from Peking University in 1985, majoring in geochemistry. After years of research in geology of ore deposits, Lu went to Japan for further study. Since then, he has been engaged in research into gas hydrate, also called combustible ice, a scient ific frontier. During his three years in Japan, Lu conducted various experiments, laying a solid foundation of knowledge and theory. In 1998, Lu got the first PhD for gas hydrate study in Japan.

Lu later moved to Canada and continued his research. He made a number of significant discoveries in the following years, and his name became prestigious in the realm of geological science.

In 2014, Lu decided to return to China, thanks to the nation’s program to recruit top scientists around the world. Since that year, he has been continuing his career as a professor at Peking University’s Institute of Ocean Research.

“It’s high time for us to improve the turnover rate of existing bikes rather than continuing to put more bikes onto streets, because excessive bikes will lead to problems. Efficient use of them is the key.”

Zhu Dajian, a professor at Tongji University, suggesting on September 7 that cities control the number of shared bikes and address chaotic parking

“I did not expect to run so fast, because I’ve contested 100m with the best sprinters in China, and I feel really exhausted both in body and mind.”

Xie Zhenye, a 24-year-old Chinese athlete, speaking after he clocked 20.20 seconds to win the men’s 200m title at the 13th Chinese National Games in Tianjin on September 5. Xie had won the gold in men’s 100 m two days earlier