Ripped from the Headlines 2

EDUCATION: The local government in Wuhan, Hubei province [I'm teaching in Wuhan] recently busted an organized racket of buying and selling dissertations. The company had hired some 80 people to produce academic papers, taking hints from over 200 published journals, for paying customers. The boss of the firm said his was only one of many companies of this kind prospering in the Chinese eduction market. [Chinese University students are under terrific pressure from their parents to succeed. The parents' 'social security' in retirement depends on their child's success. More on this later.]

HOME SALES: Sales of existing homes are booming in China. In Beijing alone, some 100,000 units have been sold already this year, double the number in all of 2008. [In China "home" usually means an apartment or condo that is purchased.]

AUSPICIOUS DAYS AND LUCKY NUMBERS: China has seen a steady fall in its maternal mortality rate thanks to efforts to improve healthcare for new mothers. But this is not the only trend changing among pregnant women. Many now opt to give birth via Cesarean section so their child arrives on an auspicious day according to the Chinese lunar calendar, while some have even had the operation two months early on the advice of feng shui masters.

A vehicle license plate with the number D88888 was auctioned off for the record price of 100,100 yuan ($14,654) in Hainan province. The buyer is a businessman who felt it was worth the large sum of money. [You might imagine that only very rural people or less educated people are driven by these beliefs. In fact, beliefs like this are very widespead, and seem to the Chinese not incompatible with their unflagging belief in the ability of high tech to solve all problems.]

Finally, I was thrilled to read in China Daily that Roger Federer won Wimbledon.