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Inflation up 4.6%
February 17, 2012, Friday
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THE Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, grew 4.6 percent in January from a year ago, the Hangzhou Bureau of Statistics said this week.
The pace accelerated from December's 3.2 percent mainly due to high demand during the New Year and Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.
Food costs, accounting for nearly a third of the basket, rose 13.3 percent in January from a year earlier.
Among food costs, the price of vegetables jumped 37.7 percent year-on-year on average, and it was 25.7 percentage points higher than the previous month.
Exhaust tests
Nearly 15 percent of vehicles in downtown Hangzhou failed exhaust tests in 2011, according to a report from the Hangzhou Environmental Protection Bureau.
Of the 453,594 vehicles tested, 67,132 failed. The test is compulsory every six months to two years depending on vehicle age.
Among the unqualified vehicles, 80 percent of them used gasoline while the rest used diesel, the report said.
More marriages
A total of 75,952 couples registered for marriage in Hangzhou last year, 5,906 more than the previous year.
Meanwhile, 14,939 couples divorced last year, 19 more than 2010. The figure excluded divorce cases in courts.
The marriage and divorce figures last year were the highest since 2004.
A rise in migrant workers settling in the city and tying the knot was attributed as the main reason for the jump in marriages.
Though the divorce number was the highest in three years, the growth rate was the lowest in the period. A total of 14,512 couples divorced in 2009 while 14,920 husbands and wives separated in 2010.
Last year, 840 couples reunited after being persuaded by marriage advisers at the civil affairs offices.
"Most couples don't have big disputes. They came here for a divorce out of hot temper, so after speaking with them they cooled down and thought twice about their decision," a marriage adviser said.
Bookstore support
HANGZHOU authorities plan to spend 3 million yuan (US$476,190) annually to support private bookstores in the city.
"The policy, expected to be put forward by the end of next month, is a good sign that the city government is paying more attention to cultural industry," said Zhu Juefang, owner of Xiaofeng Bookstore.
Due to the impact of online bookstores and large bookstore chains, small bookstores are in recession throughout the region.
However, residents and book lovers still hope the bookstores can stay in business as writer Zhang Hong once described bookstores as "small spiritual spaces in the material forest."
Pure romance
A 75-year-old man won the best love story award in Hangzhou on Sunday.
"In the 1960s, our love developed on Bus Line No. 7 from the Lingering Garden to Lingyin Temple," Cui Yansheng wrote in the story. "At that time the temple did not charge entrance fees and we would walk all the way back and take a rest at West Lake, Yue Fei's Temple and Broken Bridge."
Nearly 100 residents entered the writing contest held by the bus line and Youth Times newspaper.
Cui also wrote: "A bowl of hot noodles with a few sliced green shallot leafs was the only luxury along the way, and for the noodles we had to pay cash along with grain coupons, which were rare then, and our love was so nice and pure."
As the winner, Cui and his family had the opportunity to ride on the bus on Valentine's Day. Cui's daughter was born in 1970.
Parking spaces
Hangzhou plans to add 8,000 parking spaces for public use this year to ease parking shortages.
Parking lots will be set up at open spaces, plazas, school playgrounds and parks in the city. And they are among the 50,000 parking spaces being planned. Most of the parking lots are believed to be in state-owned enterprises, institutions and government departments.
The pace accelerated from December's 3.2 percent mainly due to high demand during the New Year and Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.
Food costs, accounting for nearly a third of the basket, rose 13.3 percent in January from a year earlier.
Among food costs, the price of vegetables jumped 37.7 percent year-on-year on average, and it was 25.7 percentage points higher than the previous month.
Exhaust tests
Nearly 15 percent of vehicles in downtown Hangzhou failed exhaust tests in 2011, according to a report from the Hangzhou Environmental Protection Bureau.
Of the 453,594 vehicles tested, 67,132 failed. The test is compulsory every six months to two years depending on vehicle age.
Among the unqualified vehicles, 80 percent of them used gasoline while the rest used diesel, the report said.
More marriages
A total of 75,952 couples registered for marriage in Hangzhou last year, 5,906 more than the previous year.
Meanwhile, 14,939 couples divorced last year, 19 more than 2010. The figure excluded divorce cases in courts.
The marriage and divorce figures last year were the highest since 2004.
A rise in migrant workers settling in the city and tying the knot was attributed as the main reason for the jump in marriages.
Though the divorce number was the highest in three years, the growth rate was the lowest in the period. A total of 14,512 couples divorced in 2009 while 14,920 husbands and wives separated in 2010.
Last year, 840 couples reunited after being persuaded by marriage advisers at the civil affairs offices.
"Most couples don't have big disputes. They came here for a divorce out of hot temper, so after speaking with them they cooled down and thought twice about their decision," a marriage adviser said.
Bookstore support
HANGZHOU authorities plan to spend 3 million yuan (US$476,190) annually to support private bookstores in the city.
"The policy, expected to be put forward by the end of next month, is a good sign that the city government is paying more attention to cultural industry," said Zhu Juefang, owner of Xiaofeng Bookstore.
Due to the impact of online bookstores and large bookstore chains, small bookstores are in recession throughout the region.
However, residents and book lovers still hope the bookstores can stay in business as writer Zhang Hong once described bookstores as "small spiritual spaces in the material forest."
Pure romance
A 75-year-old man won the best love story award in Hangzhou on Sunday.
"In the 1960s, our love developed on Bus Line No. 7 from the Lingering Garden to Lingyin Temple," Cui Yansheng wrote in the story. "At that time the temple did not charge entrance fees and we would walk all the way back and take a rest at West Lake, Yue Fei's Temple and Broken Bridge."
Nearly 100 residents entered the writing contest held by the bus line and Youth Times newspaper.
Cui also wrote: "A bowl of hot noodles with a few sliced green shallot leafs was the only luxury along the way, and for the noodles we had to pay cash along with grain coupons, which were rare then, and our love was so nice and pure."
As the winner, Cui and his family had the opportunity to ride on the bus on Valentine's Day. Cui's daughter was born in 1970.
Parking spaces
Hangzhou plans to add 8,000 parking spaces for public use this year to ease parking shortages.
Parking lots will be set up at open spaces, plazas, school playgrounds and parks in the city. And they are among the 50,000 parking spaces being planned. Most of the parking lots are believed to be in state-owned enterprises, institutions and government departments.
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