Dongguan

Cops surround KTV in Dongguan and arrest 1,000 in ketamine raid

Posted: 05/13/2013 7:00 am

Police arrested over 1,000 people in one operation after surrounding a KTV in Dongguan in the small hours of May 9. The reason? Evidence suggests that ketamine was being taken in over 50 of the rooms, according to Shenzhen Satellite Television.

Suspects after being rounded up.

According to one eyewitness, the suspects had to be frogmarched into more than 130 police vans. Police found evidence in each of the rooms at the KTV of the Junhuang Hotel in Zhongtang Village that patrons were taking the drug, said a source familiar with the matter.

The operation involved criminal police, the drugs squad and several teams of cadets and led to raids of 57 KTV rooms in which some patrons were caught red-handed.

As well as doing blood tests and urine samples on the suspects, and investigation into how this was made possible is ongoing.

In February, a video aimed at cleaning up Dongguan’s image as a sin city was produced. This case may leave it back at square one.

Tagged: Dongguandrug bustketamineKTV

Helen’s in Dongguan

Posted: 04/22/2013 1:00 pm

Prices seem to be rising in China these days, especially in first tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Down here in the PRD, we have our own inflationary pressures: bars and restaurants in Shenzhen and Guangzhou seem to be increasing much faster than people’s salaries. This correspondent remembers when beer at some watering holes cost only RMB5 per pint during happy hours. My, how times have changed.

While it’s getting harder to find cheap deals in the PRD, it’s not impossible. The Nanfang stopped by one such establishment recently and found 100 yuan can still go a long way.

Helen’s is dimly lit, but cozy.

Helen’s Bar opened in Dongguan within the past 18 months, one of the latest establishment of the chain of backpacker bars that have spread across China like H7N9. It’s continually rated among the most popular places to drink in Wuhan, Xiamen, and other locales, and even has outlets in places like Beijing and Shanghai. So with a pretty good track record among the fen-pinching student and laowai populations, it was a welcome addition to Dongguan’s quickly-evolving nightlife scene.

Helen’s is quite spacious and dimly lit with bench-style seats and some communal tables. It offers up a cozy environment and a decent selection of alcohol. When we stopped by we were starving, so we checked out some of the food on offer as well.

Go easy on those 3 litre tubes of beer….

First of all, the menu was more extensive than we expected. We’d heard about Helen’s pizzas, but didn’t know they also offered several soup, salad, pasta, and hamburger options. If you want to pass on the pub grub and opt for healthier fare, they also have smoothies, juices, milkshakes, yoghurt shakes and more.

We had a simple draft Carlsberg for RMB25, but Tiger was on tap as well alongside Heineken for RMB30. The bottled beer selection ran from RMB15 for Tsingtao up to RMB45 for Leffe, which is a nice option.

Shortly after the beer came, our appetizer arrived: onion rings. How could we pass it up? Perhaps it was a hankering for Burger King, we’re not sure. Anyway, the onion rings were decent and were enjoyed all around. There were other interesting options on the appy menu too, including popcorn. Let us know it was.

For the main course we were extremely tempted to try the mac and cheese, which was going for a mere RMB35. But we settled on what Helen’s is known for, which is pizza. There are 12 kinds of pizzas on the menu, with the margherita (tomato, mozarella, and oregano) going for only RMB39. The pizza selection gets increasingly more complex, with the seafood pizza, featuring shrimp, cuttlefish, and seashells (??), going for RMB58. We settled on the meat lovers, which didn’t take too long to arrive and was pretty much what we expected. While not the best pizza in Dongguan, it certainly holds its own, and you can’t go wrong getting a pile of meat on pie for only RMB48.

Meat lovers pizza

We also ordered the veggie burger, which arrived adorned with tomato and cucumber and a side of fries. It was enjoyable (we aren’t sure what the patty was made of, but it was tasty) and we appreciated the veggie option on the menu.

We weren’t there in a particular party mood, but this place seems to be designed to accomodate large groups of friends. The large communal tables, pop music mix, and famous 3L tubes of beer are all ideal for groups. When you throw in cheap pizzas, you can’t go wrong.

Helen’s is indeed a welcome addition to Dongguan’s bar scene, and judging by the crowd that was on hand when we visited, has already earned a place for itself among the city’s nightlife aficionados.

Find Helen’s address and contact information here.

Tagged: Dongguanhelen'shelen's barLaowaiNightlifePizzaRestaurantwestern food

Watch: Freak weather in south China has now claimed 24 lives

Posted: 03/22/2013 8:44 am

Freak weather has now claimed the lives of 24 people and injured hundreds more as it moved across southern China on Wednesday. At least nine died in Dongguan after a tornado struck.

We’ve felt the hot, humid weather turn to overcast skies, heavy rain and blustery winds in recent days. Conditions have been milder as a result, but depending on where you are in Guangdong, it gave way to torrential downpours, a deadly tornado and giant hailstones, knocking out power.

People were left trapped in collapsed buildings after the tornado swept through Dongguan.

However, 134 more people sustained minor injuries after the incident, the Dongguan Municiple Health Bureau said, according to a report by SCMP.

Experts reckon this wild weather is caused by the transition of seasonal monsoons. Here’s what the chairman of the Hong Kong Observatory said to SCMP:

The observatory said the severe weather was a result of the annual “summer and winter monsoon transition”. This often led to devastating thunderstorms, strong winds and some hail in China’s southern regions.

The observatory said the storms usually occurred between April and August. “It is rare to see hail in March,” the observatory chairman said.

Across southern China, storms affected neighbouring provinces including Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Fujian with the overall death toll hitting 27 with 272 injuries.

Here’s a rundown of the SCMP weather stats:

Maximum wind speeds were recorded at 49.1 metres a second (that’s 109.8mph/176.8k/ph, and the greatest precipitation of rain was recorded at 40.6mm in Dalingshan.

The Dongguan Municipal Meteorological Observatory issued an orange hail signal on Wednesday afternoon. Observatory chairman said that it was the first hail signal issued since the system was established in 2006.

If, however, you have plans to be out and about over the next few days, save it for next week. The observatory says the weather will be unstable, and that if a hailstone occurs, stay out of it and close any windows in future.

Tagged: DongguanGuangdongHailstone rainStormtornadoWeather

Child trafficking ring busted, 14 of the rescued babies were sold by their own parents

Posted: 02/6/2013 9:00 am

After four child trafficking rings were smashed in a cooperative effort by police in six Guangdong cities on October 17 last year, it was discovered Monday that 14 of the rescued babies had been sold by their own parents, according to Sina News. Another baby died while being transported by the criminals.

The parents received between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan for the children. Three of the childrens’ parents have already been arrested and all 13 of the infants now reside in orphanages in Huizhou. Another was adopted.

In May last year, police in Huizhou, Meizhou, Heyuan, Dongguan, Jiangmen and Shanwei began to cooperate after three babies were rescued and three trafficers were arrested in Heyuan.

The effort culminated on October 16 when 27 were arrested and the rest of the babies were rescued.

Police are now seeking out the rest of the parents and the orphanages are trying to find homes for the children.

In a country that prides itself on its family values, netizens are outraged that any parent could consider this. One Sina Weibo user said: “If you can’t afford a baby then don’t have one.” Another wished for all the parents to get the death penalty.

Tagged: DongguanHeyuanJiangmenMeizhouShanwei

Fearless 13-year old in Dongguan sleeps with 220lb python, parents encourage it

Posted: 02/4/2013 8:51 am

We’ve all taken something to bed with us at one time or another - like a cuddly toy or our partners - but one fearless 13-year-old in Dongguan has been sleeping with his pet Burmese python for the last 12 years.

Weighing in at 220lbs (or the equivalent of a rather fat man) and stretching 15ft, the slippery creature is more than capable of crushing his companion.

For the majority of people, the sight of a snake, no matter how big or small, would rattle our cages - and that’s putting it mildly. At worst, you’d completely freak out.

In various images, Azhe Lin can be seen kissing the snake’s head and laying in bed with it nonchalantly - and it captures just how big the animal is.

Lin’s father Chan has been telling media is son’s unique relationship has grown so much that the pair are inseparable.

From early on, the snake would act as some sort of playmate for Azhe whilst his parents were busy making a living.

It’s certainly the ultimate toy but it will raise a lot of alarm bells over the parenting.

Nevertheless, this is the ultimate good luck symbol in the upcoming Year of the Snake.

Photo: ChinaSMACK

Tagged: AnimalBurmese PythonDongguanpetSnakeYear of the Snake

Caring grandmother in Dongguan beheaded over grandson’s gambling addiction rage

Posted: 02/2/2013 12:43 pm

A horrific story has emerged in little Dongguan, so read at your own risk.

It looks like anger management, and possibly mental illness, has resulted in another heinous crime.

A 75-year-old grandmother living in Dongguan lost her head, and her life, after getting into a war of words with her grandson Li Yaojing, 26, over his gambling addiction.

It’s reported that Zhan Cuixia went over to her grandson’s house to look after him - because his parents were working at the time.

Here is some more detail in China Press as reported by The Star:

The body of Zhan Cuixia and her severed head were found in the bathroom of her son’s house in Dongguan of China’s Guangdong province, some 10 minutes’ walk from her own home.

What’s not clear at the moment is whether there is a mental health issue attributed to the story - as all to often seen in the most notable murders.

The murder will be a painful experience for Zhan’s daughter who witnessed her nephew attack her mother.

“She was struggling on the ground and shouting for help, but I couldn’t open the door to go in and save her,” she said, adding that she sought help from neighbours, who said they heard the grandmother and grandson arguing over his gambling habit earlier.

This case echoes a similar story of a guy killing the owners of an internet cafe and setting fire to their shop, burning the bodies, too, after the internet dropped. Needless to say an argument ensued - and the rest is history.

Home Page Photo Credit: AsiaOne

Tagged: AddictionBeheadedDongguanGamblingGrandmotherGrandsonMental HealthNewphew

Airpocalypse: Beijing’s bad, but PRD can’t be too smug about pollution

Posted: 01/16/2013 7:00 am

The smog in Beijing

Photographs of the smog in Beijing have hit international newspapers and caused a stir in the blogosphere over the past few days as PM2.5 readings reached 900 in some areas. To give you an idea how bad that is, 301-500 is considered “hazardous” according to the official US measurements in Beijing. In fact, there is no classification for anything above 500, so it simply reported “beyond index”.

Now hospitals in the capital are struggling to deal with illnesses caused by the unclean air, according to Shanghaiist.

However, Beijing is far from the only Chinese city suffering from heavy pollution. Hangzhou, among others, saw rescue services fail to respond to a factory fire for nearly 3 hours because the fog prevented anyone from noticing.

Here in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), which is a manufacturing hub, cities are struggling to reduce the number of cars on the road which has an impact on air quality.

There’s no good reason not to buy an air purifier

The Ministry of Environmental Protection provides data on its English language website. According to the website’s figures, the state of the air in Guangzhou and Shenzhen is ‘good’, as is the air in Foshan, Zhuhai and every other PRD city for which there is data.

However, the ministry’s data describes Beijing as “mild polluted” (sic), so perhaps its standards can’t necessarily be trusted.

On Monday, the Guangzhou City Government held a meeting to discuss progress on a drive to reduce PM2.5 in the air by at least 6% from 2010 to 2015, Guangzhou Daily reports.

The paper says the city is currently on course to do this, but an article in the same issue said that Guangzhou would take at least 10 years to get the Air Quality Index down to 35, the level that is deemed safe in China.

Leading air pollution expert Wu Dui of Zhongshan University said even that would be an amazing achievement as the city would have to reduce the PM2.5 reading by an average of 1.2 micrograms per cubic meter every year.

Although the PM2.5 reading in the city is not as high as Beijing or Shanghai, the article goes on to say that the PRD still leads the way in causing damage to the ozone layer through human activity.

The U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou provides information on air quality and PM 2.5 readings through an app that you can learn about at the consulate’s website.

In Shenzhen, during the ongoing Municipal People’s Congress, a political adviser criticized a quarry in Futian District’s Antuoshan area for causing air pollution that could be affecting 100,000 residents, Shenzhen Daily reported:

Saying that nothing related to the quarry has improved since last year’s session of the Shenzhen committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), She Guozhi raised the issue again at a panel discussion Sunday and strongly criticized related government agencies.

Over the weekend, PM2.5 levels at 17 of 18 monitoring stations in Shenzhen exceeded the national daily average limit of 75 mcg per cubic meter, calling into question the claims on the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s website.

However, Shenzheners told local media they were glad to be in Shenzhen and not Beijing. Nine flights from Shenzhen Airport were canceled on Sunday because of the hazy weather in destinations such as Beijing and Tianjin.

In Dongguan, local newspaper the Dongguan Times ran a front page spread claiming that the air quality situation in the city is good, Danwei.com reported. Some netizens reacted with skepticism, others with pride.

One can never be too careful about these things. A report from Beijing University released last month concluded that PM 2.5 had sent 8,572 people to early graves in Guangzhou and three other major Chinese cities.

There is no good reason not to buy an air purifier.

(Home page photo credit: Shenzhen Standard)

Tagged: AirpocalypseDongguanFoshanGuangzhouPM2.5ShenzhenU.S. ConsulateZhuhai

Another horrific tale of abuse: 2-year old dies after being beaten by dad’s girlfriend

Posted: 01/10/2013 7:00 am

Xiao Lijia’s biological mother, Xiao Lv, by her bedside in the Intensive Care Unit.

A girl in Qingyuan died one month short of her 3rd birthday after spending almost a week in intensive care on January 7. She had been hospitalized after being severely beaten by her father’s girlfriend sometime in late December, Sohu News reports.

According to Qingyuan People’s Hospital, where she was taken to on January 1, Xiao Lijia started having headaches and vomiting on December 29 but she did not receive the care she needed. It was later discovered that his father’s girlfriend, Miss Zeng, had been beating her.

That she wouldn’t stop crying was cited as the reason for the beating. If Zeng is pregnant, as is thought, her sentence may be lighter than it otherwise would have been.

There were severe injuries to her skull and brain when she was admitted to hospital. Brain surgery showed exactly how serious her condition was, and for the last few days of her life she was unconscious and could not breathe unassisted.

Xiao Lijia’s biological mother, identified as Xiao Lv, says she had seen scars on the toddler’s face after being left with Zeng before and that Zeng had denied claims made by the toddler that she had treated her badly.

Xiao Lijia was born outside of wedlock in Dongguan in 2009. His mother, who is now 22 and from Zhoukou in Henan Province, was working as a foot masseuse when she met Lao Xu, a construction worker, who is 19 years her senior. After a brief affair, Xiao Lv got pregnant by accident. They had the baby but later broke up.

Both parents were at the girl’s bedside the entire time she was in hospital and her mother was weeping uncontrollably for most of the time.

The anguished biological parents

Lao Xu is also expected to face charges as he was the child’s legal guardian.

People talk and talk about improving training and awareness about child abuse which begs the question, how much training do you need to know that it’s wrong?

Tagged: 3 year-oldchild abuseDongguanQingyuanXiao Lijia小丽佳

Dongguan minimum wage to increase by 14%

Posted: 12/18/2012 3:29 pm

Dongguan’s minimum wage is set to increase by 14% next month, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily. The wage is currently set at RMB1,100 a month or RMB10.5 per hour, but Deputy Mayor Tang Qingshou says it’s time for a pay hike.

The Central Government is behind the move, Tang told investors, noting it is pushing cities to increase the minimum wage at least once every two years.

Since last year, the city has been holding conferences for foreign investors to help improve communication and understanding about the city’s business conditions.

This comes at the end of a year that has seen manufacturing jobs return to developed countries as wage increases have driven the cost of manufacturing in China upward. As an article in The Economist said in March: “The old stereotypes about low-wage sweatshops are as out-of-date as Mao suits. The next phase will be interesting: China must innovate or slow down.”

The Chinese government claims to be proactively shifting from low-end manufacturing to emerging industries, as the front page of today’s Shenzhen Daily says.

Meanwhile, The Economist is also questioning whether manufacturing giant Foxconn can continue to grow as the number of workers willing to work for low wages decreases.

Tagged: DongguanInvestmentManufacturingminimum wagepolicy

Beware: WeChat (Weixin) random hookup results in scam in Dongguan

Posted: 11/21/2012 3:00 pm

(drawing by Li Yong)

WeChat, also known as Weixin, has been growing like a bad weed in China these days. The iOS and Android app is now being used by more than 200 million people, and is the pick-up tool of choice for many laowai in China because it facilitates chatting with nearby strangers.

Given how ubiquitous the tool has become, it’s not surprising that a scam has finally surfaced. Users in Dongguan are being warned after a woman met up with a stranger she had chatted with on the service in April this year. The stranger then threatened her and demanded she hand over her bank card, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

The woman, who works in a hotel, was invited by a Weixin contact to meet up and have a chat. In the end, she met an accomplice of a criminal surnamed Lu, who comes from Hubei Province and ran a restaurant with another man Jian before it went out of business.

Unable to support themselves, Lu and Jian set up a criminal gang. As part of the arrangement, Lu’s girlfriend and brother used Weixin to meet and then steal from strangers.

Police say there have been six similar cases in Dongguan this year involving rape, theft and blackmail.

Police explained that because Weixin is newer than rival services such as QQ, it is poorly policed. They warned residents to be vigilant when using the service, and not to meet strangers who refused to identify themselves or asked to borrow things.