REFLECTIONS IN A CHINESE EYE

How bacteria could solve China's rush-hour blues

Software that imitates the collective behaviour of bacteria could help create intelligent traffic lights that manage teeming masses of city traffic.

As the largest city in southern China, with a population of around 13 million, Guangzhou has traffic so bad it's legendary. One way to alleviate it would be to increase the intelligence of traffic lights – converting them from dumb beasts that beat out the same rhythm all day long into dynamic managers of vehicle flow.

And now two Chinese researchers have proved, at least theoretically, that insights borrowed from the lowly bacterium E. coli could markedly increase the throughput of a real-world traffic light in Guangzhou. No one knows what effect this could have if it were applied to an entire city, but it's fitting that a solution from a class of algorithms that seek to mimic the collective behaviour of organisms should be applied to the teeming masses of Guangzhou's trucks and automobiles.

Traffic lights around the world, from Guangzhou to Geneva, are managed by computerised systems housed in a metal cabinet at the side of the road, which regulate the cycle of changes from red to green to red either through fixed time periods, or through sensors in the road that can detect when a car is stationary. Both options work well when traffic is low, less so during rush hour, as any driver will tell you.

The solution Qin Liu and Jianmin Xu have proposed for improving flow during high traffic periods is what's known as a Bacterial Foraging Optimisation (BFO) algorithm. The algorithm varies when and for how long a given light is red or green. So, for example, the algorithm has an almost traffic cop-like sense for which road at an intersection has a higher volume of traffic, and when to strategically deprioritise traffic that may be waiting on a less-used road. Simulations of a Guangzhou intersection showed that BFO-regulated lights reduce the average delay of vehicles by over 28% compared with those regulated by a fixed time cycle.

Read more at The BBC

Xingyang Brickworks Railway Clay Train 河南省建材廠鉄路（滎陽市）

[China Narrow Gauge Steam Locomotive Train C2]
This is Xingyang Brickworks Railway in China Henan.
21-22.February.2011
※Unfortunately,This Railway was abolished in July 2011.
廃止が噂されている河南省建材廠鉄路（滎陽市）のC2です。
高鉄（新幹線）とのコラボレーションも見られました。
※残念ながらこの路線は2011年7月に廃止となりました

Narrow Gauge Industrial and Forestry Railways of Guangdong and Jiangxi Provinces, Southern China

In the mid 1980's I was fortunate enough to be assigned to work in Guangzhou in southern China. Before I arrived I knew there was lots of steam to be seen, but not being in the mainstream enthusiast I had not even given a thought to the possibility of narrow gauge steam. I knew about Datong and managed to swing a visit there on the back of a business trip. On the return trip to Beijing I met a group of enthusiast who gave me all the information I needed to make a two week trip around Heilongjang to see both standard and narrow gauge. This trip rekindled my enthusiasm for steam and It occurred to me that there might be other narrow gauge lines nearer to home in Guangdong Province and I set about locating them with the use of various maps a managed to acquire.

Altogether I located six lines each with active steam belonging to four classes. It was only later that I learned that some of these had previously been visited by "westerners". These were first documented by me in "The Narrow Gauge" volume 118. Subsequently, a number of articles have provided accounts of some of these lines and engines. This website gives me the opportunity to publish some of my photographs from 1986/87 in colour for the first time. I have also included information and pictures of several "non-steam" lines which I encountered on my travels in Guangdong Province.

The locomotives

At three locations I found C2 class engines. These 0-8-0's were domestic products of the Harbin and Shijiazhuang works in the early 1960's and are the same class familiar to those who have visited the forestry lines in Northeast China.

One line had two surviving Px48 class locos built at the Chrzanow works, Poland in 1952. Locally these are known as BL class (Bo Lan = pinyin transliteration of Poland in Mandarin). These locos were at one time thought to have been re-exported to Albania in 1957. For further information refer to an article by Keith Chester in "East European Narrow Gauge".

I found C4 class locos on two lines. These 0-8-0's were constructed during the early 1970's in Guangzhou and Sanshui in Guangdong Province. This class is reminiscent of the Px48's and its design is probably based on this class. For further information refer to an article by Keith Chester in "East European Narrow Gauge".

A few examples of class SY (not to be confused with the Standard gauge SY) were found lingering on two lines. SY (Shanyou) or "Aiming High" class 0-8-0TT locos were manufactured in Guangzhou in the late 1950's and early 1960's. These engines appear to be based on engines designed by Orenstein & Koppel, four of which were reportedly exported to China in 1937.

               (Table of trains at John Athersuch

The lines

The lines I visited were all functioning when I visited in 1986 and 1987 although with the exception of the Meixian Coal line they all appeared to be on their last legs with engines in poor condition and cannibalism much in evidence.

Read (see fabulous photos - engines) more at John Athersuch

China set to tap US market for high-speed rail

BEIJING: China has now set out to enter the high-speed rail market in the United States in collaboration with General Electric. China, which has the world's longest high-speed rail network covering 7,500 kilometres, has also initiated plans to connect the country with South East Asian neighbors including Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.

Roping in GE is a significant move because China's HSR network has so far relied on technology transfer from other train makers including Seimens. Alstom, Bombardier and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The latest move involves establishing a joint venture in the US between GE and China's CSR Corporation Limited with an initial investment of $50 million.

GE said in a statement that the venture would advance high-speed and other rail technology in the United States besides creating 250 jobs by 2012. The new company will be the first US manufacturer ready to supply HSR passenger trains for projects in Florida and California, it said.

Read more: China set to tap US market for high-speed rail - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/China-set-to-tap-US-market-for-high-speed-rail/articleshow/7083183.cms#ixzz17pn2sasK

Rolls-Royce Seeks China Sales Surge on Demand for $990,000 Cars

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s ultra-luxury nameplate, plans to sell 800 cars in China in 2011 as it aims to raise sales eightfold in two years in the world’s largest auto market.

The automaker delivered almost 500 cars in China in the first 10 months of 2010, compared with about 100 for the whole of last year, Paul Harris, the company’s Asia Pacific regional director, said in an interview on Nov. 26. Rolls-Royce includes Hong Kong in its China sales.

The luxury marque, which competes with Volkswagen AG’s Bentley and Daimler AG’s Maybach, is selling more of its Phantom and Ghost sedans in China as rising incomes in the world’s fastest growing major economy boost sales of ultra-luxury cars. China has 875,000 millionaires, 6.1 percent more than last year, according to a report in April by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute.

“The Chinese market in general is showing only one direction,” Harris said. “That’s exceptional growth, and it’s going to be ongoing for quite a while.”

A Rolls-Royce Phantom starts at 6.6 million yuan ($990,000) and buyers pay 4.1 million yuan for a Ghost in China where consumers pay higher taxes on imported luxury models. In the U.S., the Phantom starts at $380,000.

Read more at BusinessWeek

Competition Between Rail and Roads in China

China's rapid economic growth is causing some strains - and they are increasingly evident on the roads of the country's big cities.  Traffic jams fill news headlines and create headaches for a growing number of people. 

Beijing is the capital of the world's most populous country.  At rush hour, the city's roads become clogged.  The city has 4 million cars, and 2,000 more are added every day.

World Bank transportation analyst Shomik Mendhiratta says a good economy spurs car sales.

"You have seen that China and Beijing have seen double-digit economic growth, which has taken them to a national GNP (gross national product) per capita of $4,000 dollars, with Beijing being maybe two and a half times that," he said.  "As you would expect, this kind of per capital income and this kind of double-digit growth, you are seeing an absolute boom in motorization."

Two years ago, China responded to the global financial crisis with a stimulus plan that helped fast-track projects for new roads, bridges and railways.  It funded high-speed railway lines, including a new one between Shanghai and Hangzhou, which reduces the journey from two hours to about 40 minutes.

Read more at VOA

Airlines chart a course to Asia to meet demand

 

PETER PARKS/AFP/GETTY IMAGESChinese travelers wait for their flights at Beijing airport.

One of Peter Philipp Wingsoe’s employees at a Los Angeles marketing firm recently waited five days for a business-class ticket on a United Airlines flight from Beijing because planes were so packed.

Those crowds are spurring United Continental Holdings, Delta Air Lines and other U.S. carriers to expand flights to Asia, lured by economic growth in China that’s triple the U.S. rate and new access to an airport nearer to downtown Tokyo.

"It’s been quite difficult, particularly getting last-minute flights," said Wingsoe, 38, who makes about a half-dozen trips to Asia each year as managing partner at Entertainment Fusion Group. "There’s nothing open. Last year we could call the day of and get on, no problem."

Wingsoe’s travels make him part of a surge in Asia/Pacific air traffic. The region’s 10.4 percent increase through September from a year earlier outpaced a 6.7 percent gain in North America and more than doubled Europe’s 4.4 percent, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Read more at NJ com

China to set up 85,000-km freeway network

BEIJING: China will set up an 85 ,000-km national freeway road network and a 40,000-km high-speed railway network during the next five years, an official said.

The freeway network will cover all cities with a population of at least 200,000, while high-speed railways will link cities with more than 500,000 residents, Wu Xiao , the official at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was quoted as saying by China Daily.

"The government has eased transport capacity pressures and virtually solved many problems regarding economic and social development," Wu said at a regional workshop on transport infrastructure in Beijing jointly held by the central government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

China's annual investment in transport fixed assets and highway construction now exceeds 1.1 trillion yuan (about $165 billion), the daily said.

"Although China has made great improvements in transport development, transport in western areas is still underdeveloped," said Li Yong, deputy minister of finance .

The next five years of 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) is a critical period for China to promote transport infrastructure construction together with other Asian countries, he added.

The Economic Times

China cancels free public transport for Asian Games after overwhelming response

BEIJING, China — State media say authorities have cancelled a plan to provide free public transportation in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou less than one week after it came into effect ahead of the Asian Games, saying the massive response had overwhelmed the system.

Guangzhou's government had ordered half of the city's 2.1 million private cars off the streets to improve traffic conditions and air quality for the Nov. 12-27 Asian Games. To discourage private car use, residents were able to take public transportation for free from Nov. 1.

The official Xinhua News Agency says residents of Guangzhou, a city of 10 million, responded enthusiastically to the offer, leading to crammed subway trains and long lines at stations as commuters poured in for the free rides.

Guangzhou's transportation authorities say they have had to rescind the offer after more than eight million passengers rode the subway every day on average since the start of the month, far exceeding the numbers the subway system was designed to carry, Xinhua said.

Instead, authorities will provide 150 yuan (C$22.50) in cash subsidies to each household to be used for transport, the report said.

The Asian Games will feature some 11,700 athletes competing in 42 sports. For host China, it's yet another opportunity to showcase the country's rising global influence, following on the successes of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai World Expo that wrapped up last month.

Google Hosted News

Beijing's experience running those well-funded, well-organized mega events stands in stark contrast to the recent Commonwealth Games in neighbouring India which was so plagued with problems there were fears it would not go ahead.

China unveils fastest train in world

The Telegraph

High speed rail from Hong Kong to Beijing by 2012 and other amazing facts about China's high speed rail buildout

The Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed railways began operation this year, and the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway is also expected to be operational by the end of 2011.

The high-speed rail from Shanghai to Hong Kong is expected to begin service by the end of 2012 or in early 2013. By then, the fastest direct train from Shanghai to Hong Kong will take only 6 hours. Right now, traveling from Shanghai station to Kowloon Station takes nearly 19 hours. The Hong Kong-Shanghai high-speed rail journey is approximately 1,300 kilometers in length. So a transfer to the Shanghai-Beijing line would allow transit between Hong Kong and Beijing in about 10 hours.

Some amazing facts about China's build out of high speed rail :
* China now at 7400+ kilometers of high speed rail has more high speed rail than all of Europe
* China doubled its high speed rail with the completion and start of operation of new rail since May, 2010. China added nearly 4000 kilometers of high speed rail since May, 2010 which is more than the number 2 country France.
* China will nearly double its high speed rail by the end of 2012 to over 13,000 kilometers. This will put it at more high speed rail than the rest of the world has. Europe, Japan, Asia, etc...
* China is pushing to speed up high speed rail speed to 500 kph (312 mph)
* China high speed rail between Shanghai and Beijing will have 12 train cars with one leaving every 5 minutes. An estimated 220,000 passengers will use it every day
* By 2020, assuming budgets are met about $300 billion will have been spent to build 25,000 kilometers of high speed rail network that will span most of the country

Read more at NextBigFuture

High Speed Rail in the USA, South Korea, China and the world

Korea, China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are the only countries capable of exporting high-speed rail technology. It takes more than just trains to operate a high-speed rail service. Signal systems, communications networks, construction and operating knowhow are also necessary and must be developed in conjunction. Korea is seeking to export its technology to Brazil and the U.S. state of California.

Korea ranks fourth in the world in terms of technology in high-speed rail networks after France, Germany and Japan. The country was the fifth in the world to build a high-speed rail network and rose to fourth place just 16 years after it began development of the KTX bullet train.

Korea now stands on par with advanced countries when it comes to the maximum speed. The KTX makes 300 km/h, which is the same as other bullet trains. China's high-speed train is faster, traveling between 330 km/h to 350 km/h, but it trails behind Korea in terms of technology. However, Korea still has some catching up to do when it comes to train manufacture and signaling equipment.

Read more at Next Big Picture

China Touts `Complete Package' for California High-Speed Rail

Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California, inspects the high-speed train operations at Omiya Station in Saitama, Japan. Photographer: Shuji Kajiyama/Pool via Bloomberg

 

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Stephen Engle reports on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's week-long trade mission to Asia. Schwarzenegger defended his business trip to China, Japan and South Korea as needed to research high-speed rail options even as the state operates without a budget since the fiscal year began on July 1. California expects to start taking bids by late 2011 from companies hoping to build bullet trains connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco. (Source: Bloomberg)

China can offer a “complete package,” including financing, as it competes to build a high-speed railway in California costing more than $40 billion, according to the nation’s railway ministry.

“What other nations don’t have, we have,” He Huawu, the ministry’s chief engineer, said in a Sept. 14 interview in Beijing. “What they have, we have better.” He declined to elaborate further on how much financing may be available.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger this week rode on bullet trains in China, Japan and South Korea as the state seeks contractors and financing to build the planned network linking Los Angeles and San Francisco. China is competing for the high-speed line and for one in Brazil as it works to boost high-technology exports and pare its reliance on low- wage production.

Read more at Bloomberg

Japan Offers California Loan for $40 Billion High-Speed Train

Schwarzenegger visited Tokyo as part of an Asian tour as he looks for contractors and funds to help with a high-speed rail network that will include a route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Photographer: Shuji Kajiyama/Pool via Bloomberg

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rode one of Japan’s fastest trains today after the nation’s transport minister offered loans to support the state’s more than $40 billion high-speed rail project.

“I am very impressed with the technology and also with the infrastructure itself,” Schwarzenegger said in Omiya, Japan, a 25-minute journey from Tokyo Station. East Japan Railway Co.’s “Hayabusa” bullet train accelerated to 110 kph (68 mph), short of its

Schwarzenegger visited Tokyo as part of an Asian tour as he looks for contractors and funds to help with a high-speed rail network that will include a route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Japan is offering a loan to California, which faces a $19.1 billion deficit, to help companies including East Japan Railway compete with Chinese, South Korean and European rivals.

“Japan’s strength lies not only in being able to provide finance but also in the quality of the product,” said Ryota Himeno, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. “China and South Korea lag behind in terms of operating experience.”

The state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation is prepared to lend funds for California’s rail project, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara told reporters late yesterday in Tokyo. He declined to comment on the amount of the possible loan.

‘Genius Mind’

Apologies for interrupting your reading, however, I have a question:  How how the hell can Schwarzenegger recognize a 'genius mind?'

Schwarzenegger rode on a Chinese high-speed train on Sept. 12 and is planning a similar trip in South Korea. California has encouraged Asian companies including East Japan Railway, China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. and Hyundai Rotem Co. to bid on its rail project.

“Japan has a genius mind,” Schwarzenegger said earlier today at a breakfast event in Tokyo held by the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. “California wants to have that kind of mind and technology to build our high-speed train.”

Read more at Bloomberg

Another Lengthy Gridlock in China

Yet another gargantuan traffic jam has gripped the freeway that links Inner Mongolia’s coal fields to metropolitan Beijing, possibly exceeding a blockage on the same road that drew global attention last month, Chinese news sources report. More than 100 regional police officers manned the road, called the Jingzang Highway, in an effort to break the 75-mile, 10,000-vehicle gridlock, the state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday.

Beijing News, a daily newspaper, reported Friday that 14,000 vehicles were trying to squeeze through the Lianhuatan toll gate in Inner Mongolia every day, compared with 6,000 at the same time in 2009. Officials attribute the jam to a sharp increase in Mongolian coal production, which not only has clogged with road with thousands of heavy coal trucks, but also has led to traffic-clogging highway repairs.

The New York Times

Car Sales Surge in China

BEIJING—China's growth in car sales accelerated sharply last month thanks in part to new government incentives for small fuel-efficient cars, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday.

Car-sales growth in the country has been slowing recently from its torrid pace in 2009, and analysts have widely expected it to continue slowing. But overall automobile sales in August rose nearly 56% from the same month a year earlier to 1.21 million vehicles, Xinhua said, citing data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, or Catarc. The center couldn't be reached for confirmation. Xinhua said August sales rose about 15% from July.

Xinhua said Catarc believes that sales were spurred by, among other factors, government subsidies for vehicles—particularly subsidies of 3,000 yuan ($441) each for purchases of certain fuel-efficient vehicles with 1.6-liter or smaller engines. The government announced those incentives in June and gradually began implementing them over the past two months.

The new incentives for fuel-efficient cars were announced by Beijing in the face of concerns about a significant slowdown in sales later this year.

When auto sales began slowing in June, dealers began offering more generous discounts and incentives to spur sales of new vehicles. But that had the opposite effect in some cases, said Naoto Oikawa, a Beijing-based spokesman for Mazda Motor Corp. of Japan.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal

Taking a slow boat from China

    

The Huangpu River and skyline of Shanghai.

Aboard a cargo ferry in the East China Sea, Stephen Phelan finds himself sleeping with a floating league of nations.

My father was a sailor, although none of his ships had actual sails. He operated radar and radio equipment aboard ocean-going tankers, each one the size of a small town, delivering crude oil through the Panama Canal, into the Persian Gulf, around the Cape of Good Hope. He would come home for a few months after six or more away and tell stories that gave me a fantastical impression of his workplace. On his off days, he would admit there was precious little romance left in the life of a mariner.

"A modern fleet of ships," wrote Joseph Conrad, one of several authors I later came to love for their first-hand accounts of earlier mercantile voyages, "does not so much make use of the sea as exploit a highway." This strikes me as particularly true in Shanghai harbour this morning, where traffic on the Huangpu River is so heavy that it takes us hours to reach open water

Before we began the two-day crossing to Osaka, Japan, I climbed on the deck of Su Zhou Hao, a ferry that also functions as a cargo vessel, to watch the containers being loaded. And I stay up here during our passage through the biggest and busiest port in the world. The view is spectacularly ugly. Behind us is the old city, half-destroyed by Japanese bombers in World War II, and the new, being restacked with futurist skyscrapers.

Ahead is an industrial underworld of vast dry docks, flying sparks and smokestacks, with tugboats and barges swarming around us, driving our captain to honk his horn like a short-fused motorist. The sky is low and heavy with petrochemical rain clouds.

Off to starboard, on a huge and half-built freighter suspended in mid-air between two titanic cranes, I spy a lone engineer standing under a pink umbrella. I wave to him and he waves back, which fills me with a sudden glee and fellow feeling. And a good day to you, my communist friend! Beyond all this, at last, is the East China Sea.

Read more at The Sydney Morning Herald

Chinese drive record tourism in July

A spike in the number of Chinese tourists due to relaxed visa restrictions helped push up the total number of travelers to Japan in July by 39 percent from the same month last year to a record 880,000, according to an industry body.

The number of visitors to Japan has increased on a year-on-year basis for nine consecutive months, and 5.08 million people traveled to Japan between January and July, according to a Japan National Tourism Organization report.

About 240,000 South Koreans visited in July, up 38.7 percent, followed by 170,000 from China--2.4 times more than the same month last year. A record number of visitors came from China, Hong Kong and Thailand.

The increases seem to reflect recovering economies in these countries, according to observers.

The organization has been compiling tourism statistics since 1964.

As well as flocking to Japan in record numbers, Chinese tourists tend to spend a lot while they are here, according to a Japan Tourist Agency survey of 3,787 visitors released Wednesday.

The survey showed travelers to Japan spend an average of 104,263 yen while they tour the country. However, Chinese were more willing to open their wallets and spent 136,870 yen on average, eclipsing Americans (121,767 yen) and South Koreans (77,111 yen).

This first such survey by the agency estimated that Chinese spent 50.3 billion yen and South Koreans spent 44 billion yen on shopping and dining from April to June.

Yomiyuri

China's Massive Traffic Jam: Already Gone?

Image by © David Gray/Reuters/Corbis

So much for it lasting up to a month.

The Internet went crazy over reports of a nine-day traffic jam that spanned two provinces in China. But when an NBC News reporter went to check it out, any signs of a traffic jam were gone.  It seems authorities were able to clear the jam practically overnight. NBC's report notes that police came out in full force, manning everything from toll booths to entrance ramps to clear the highway.

Now Beijing drivers can go back to the only slightly less crippling traffic they face every day. Well, that is, until the road repairs — the ones that caused the jam in the first place — get started again.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/25/chinas-massive-traffic-jam-already-gone/#ixzz0xeB8KvFG

China’s First Homegrown Jet–And Why It Matters

An Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) C919. (Image by AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

For the nine or 10 people besides me that follow China’s commercial aerospace sector, Reinhardt Krause posted an excellent summary on how China’s plan to build its first big passenger plane promises to reshape its fast-growing aviation market and what’s at stake for suppliers. Here’s my take on how it impacts Boeing and Airbus.

The Sino Sitch

–China’s aviation market is booming, with passenger traffic growing 20% a year, aggressive capacity and fleet expansion and a whirlwind of consolidation activity.

–Airline stocks, such as Hong Kong-listed Air China, China Southern and China Eastern, have rebounded strongly in 2010.

–The country will open 10 new airports this year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The CAAC expects 250 airports by 2020, up from 176 at year-end.

Boeing and Airbus in China

–Boeing delivered its 800th airplane to China in July, and has an order backlog of nearly $30 billion from China. (Almost 60% of aircraft in China’s fleet is made by Boeing.)

–China is Boeing’s biggest export market. “Not by a little, but by a lot,” says Boeing Chief Executive James McNerney.

–If I had to guess, Airbus has delivered exactly 601 airplanes to China. Plus or minus 100. (Airbus doesn’t share info like Boeing does.

–That said, Chinese airlines will account for 20% of all Airbus planes delivered in 2010, compared with 3.5 percent a decade ago. (Opening a final assembly facility in Tianjin last year helps.)

Enter the C919

I’ve written a little about China’s homegrown jets before, but the next gen of indigenous aircraft promises to be a potential ball-buster for current airframe kingpins Boeing and Airbus. China’s next big thing, the home-grown C919, will be the first all new narrowbody in almost 30 years. Seating up to 190 passengers, the single aisle airliner packs a wallop on the status quo.

Read more at FORBES

China's Massive Traffic Jam Could Last For Weeks

I n this photo taken on Monday Aug. 23, 2010 and shot through a fence, trucks can be seen lining up on a highway in Wanquan county in north China's Hebei province The traffic jam that has stretched as long as 60 miles (100 kilometers) in northern China and continues into its tenth day on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Associated Press

In this photo taken on Monday Aug. 23, 2010 and shot through a fence, trucks can be seen lining up on a highway in Wanquan county in north China's Hebei province The traffic jam that has stretched as long as 60 miles (100 kilometers) in northern China and continues into its tenth day on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Enlarge Associated Press

In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, a truck driver washes himself after waiting over two days in the jam on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Zhangbei county, in north China's Hebei province. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Associated Press

In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, a truck driver washes himself after waiting over two days in the jam on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Zhangbei county, in north China's Hebei province. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

 In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, a driver takes a nap under his truck jammed on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Guoleizhuang township, in north China's Hebei province. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Associated Press

In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, a driver takes a nap under his truck jammed on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Guoleizhuang township, in north China's Hebei province. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Enlarge Associated Press

In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, truck drivers play cards in the shade of a truck jammed on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Guoleizhuang township, in north China's Hebei province. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Associated Press

In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, truck drivers play cards in the shade of a truck jammed on an entrance ramp to the Beijing-Tibet Highway in Guoleizhuang township, in north China's Hebei province. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

A cleaner picks up waste on the roadside of a jammed section of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway in Huailai, in north China's Hebei province, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

 

Associated Press

A cleaner picks up waste on the roadside of a jammed section of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway in Huailai, in north China's Hebei province, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010. The massive traffic jam that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

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BEIJING August 24, 2010, 09:48 am ET

A massive traffic jam in north China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Bumper-to-bumper gridlock spanning for 60 miles (100 kilometers) with vehicles moving little more than a half-mile (one kilometer) a day at one point has improved since this weekend, said Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou city's Traffic Management Bureau general office.

Some drivers have been stuck in the jam for five days, China Central Television reported Tuesday. But Zhang said he wasn't sure when the situation along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway would return to normal.

The traffic jam started Aug. 14 on a stretch of the highway that is frequently congested, especially after large coalfields were discovered in Inner Mongolia, Zhang said. Traffic volume has increased 40 percent every year.

Read more at NPR

Nine-day traffic jam NOT in Atlanta

Drivers in China have been stuck in a traffic jam for nine straight days now, trapped in gridlock that stretches more than 62 miles, according to multiple media reports. The backup has thousands of cars and trucks crawling the major route from Beijing to Zhangjiakou.

And here's the worst part: Severe congestion isn't expected to end until construction projects are finished on Sept. 13, msnbc.com reported, citing Xinhua News.

"Insufficient traffic capacity on the National Expressway 110 caused by maintenance construction since August 19 is the major cause of the congestion," a Beijing Traffic Management Bureau spokesman told the Beijing-based Global Times.

CNN.com reports some drivers are playing cards to pass the time. Others accused nearby food vendors of price-gouging to take advantage of the situation

AJC.COM

China ACM Awarded $3.4 Million China High-Speed Rail Contract

Company's Manufacturing Services New Business Pipeline Reaches Record Levels

BEIJING, Jun 23, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- China Advanced Construction Materials Group, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!cadc/quotes/nls/cadc (CADC 4.04, +0.06, +1.50%) ("China ACM"), a leading provider of ready-mix concrete and related technical services in China, today announced that China Rail Engineering Group has awarded the Company a contract valued at $3.4 million.

China ACM is providing its premium ready-mix concrete (RMC) manufacturing services for a section of the Hangzhou to Ningbo high-speed passenger railway (HSR) in Zhejiang Province. The project, which is contracted by the Company's Manufacturing Services business segment, requires 460,000 cubic meters of its premium RMC and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011. The Company's rapidly growing Manufacturing Services segment reported gross margins of 59 percent and 48 percent, for the three-month and nine-month period ending March 31, 2010, respectively.

"We're pleased to see strong growth in our backlog of China HSR projects," said Mr. Jeremy Goodwin, President and Chief Financial Officer of China ACM. "We increased our manufacturing services capacity by 33 percent with the addition of four new portable RMC plants during the third fiscal quarter, bringing our total number of portable plants to 16. We have a record volume of HSR contracts in our new business pipeline and, with our new portable plants being brought on line, we will capitalize on these new opportunities."

"As the massive Chinese Railway expansion continues, China ACM is gaining momentum as the go-to firm for the most demanding projects requiring high performance, premium RMC," said Mr. Xianfu Han, China ACM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our patented, premium RMC, used in HSR and other technically complex projects, merits premium pricing as it carries a 100-year warranty, double the industry average of 50 years."

"The dynamics of the China railway build out should drive sustainable growth for China ACM for many years to come. Analysts report that China's 6,552 km high-speed railway system is the longest in the world, and is expected to double to 13,000 km by 2012. This includes newly built high-speed links and existing track that has been upgraded to accommodate trains running 200-250 km/hour. According to the Ministry of Railways (MOR), railway construction last year created about six million jobs and generated demand for 20 million tons of steel and 120 million tons of cement. Over the next 10 years, the MOR plans to construct an additional 34,000 km of railway track in the country (of which 18,000 km will be HSR), more closely linkMing the Central and Western regions to coastal provinces," Mr. Xianfu Han added.

Read more at MarketWatch

Price war looms as carriers cut fares for China-Taiwan flights

HONG KONG : A price war could be brewing among airlines flying between China and Taiwan.

Authorities on the mainland are planning to cut airfares between the two destinations by as much as 15 per cent.

And analysts said this could lead to airlines flying cross-strait routes rushing to lower their fares.

Before the launch of direct flights between China and Taiwan, the cross-strait route was lucrative business for Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific.

With the latest price cuts, Cathay may be one one facing the most turbulence.

Earlier this month, three Taiwan-based carriers - China Airlines, Eva Airways and TransAsia - agreed to cut fares by between 10 per cent and 30 per cent next month.

A typical one-way ticket between Beijing and Taipei costs US$176, and US$512 for a return ticket.

"In the short term, there may be some price cuts, pressure on profit margins especially on Cathay Pacific. For the short-term, China Eastern Airlines may benefit because there's more travellers between Taiwan and China using China Eastern," said Kenny Tang, head of Research at Redford Asset Management.

However, lower margins could be offset by an increase in passenger volume and traffic.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific is busy putting new revenue streams on its radar.

"It's much more focused on mainland routes especially co-operations and change in shareholdings structure with Air China, so I think the domestic business on mainland will be the profit driver for Cathay Pacific," said Tang.

Cross-strait traffic is set to climb higher, as China and Taiwan put the finishing touches to their free-trade pact.

A record 5.4 million people travelled between China and Taiwan last year.

40 more flights are being added to the already schedule of 380 a week - and that's not including charter flights.

Four new airports are also planned on the mainland along the Western coastal area of Haixi. - CNA /ls

Cross-strait trips will cost lot less

Beijing plans to cut air fares between the mainland and Taiwan by as much as 15 percent to boost cross-strait ties.

Analysts say such a move might trigger a price war among carriers - including Cathay Pacific (0293) - that serve the region.

Li Jiaxiang, director general of the General Administration of Civil Aviation, told a Xiamen conference yesterday that the price cut could be in the range of 10-15 percent, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

A final decision is to be reached after further talks with carriers, and Li did not offer thoughts on when lower fares could take effect.

China Eastern Airlines (0670) and Cathay Pacific stand to be the carriers affected most by a price cut, experts say.

And cross-strait travelers could decide to cancel any plans to fly via Hong Kong if direct fares are reduced.

"CEA and Cathay operate many international routes, so the impact on those two is likely to be greater than China Southern Airlines [1055], which focuses on domestic flights," said Kenny Tang Sing-hing, head of research at Redford Securities.

Tang noted that cheaper fares could lead to lower earnings for the two carriers, "but this can be offset by an increase in passengers and flights." On that, he pointed to the possibility of a price war as airlines chase passengers.

The head of equity markets at Delta Asia Financial, Conita Hung Lai-ping, said lower fares will be positive and boost the number of cross-strait tourists.

"The cross-strait economic relation will also be strengthened as a result," she added.

Beijing plans four new airports along the western coastal area of the Taiwan Strait - called Haixi - over the next five years to accommodate more flights across the strait.

That Beijing intended to increase the number of flights was among the points Li raised in Xiamen.

Beijing and Taipei have already signed a deal for a 10.5 increase in the number of flights, taking the number to 420 a week from the present 380.

The Standard