Rainfall at this plum rain season normal
CONTINUOUS showers during the week ushered in the first installment of the plum rain season this year, according to Shanghai Central Meteorological Station.
AIDS boy Peng Peng passes away
PENG Peng, the 14-year-old haemophiliac who was infected with the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion, died on Tuesday. (See Peng Peng's stories on front page of Shanghai Star on May 30 and June 2).
Huating moves
IN just a few months, Shanghai will say goodbye to Huating Road Clothes Market where over 15,000 foreign visitors and countless domestic people go shopping every year.
Timeshare hotel concept checks in
TIMESHARE hotel room booking concept and service is now making inroads in China.
ROK delegation here for talks
AN eight-member delegation from Cholla-Namdo in the Republic of Korea, led by Governor Huh Kyung Man, will arrive in Shanghai today for a one-day visit. Huh is expected to meet Mayor Xu Kuangdi this evening.
China, Iran look forward to increased trade in future
IRANIAN and Chinese business people explored potential for further exchanges and co-operation at a seminar titled "Sino-Iranian Trade and Investment Opportunities Seminar" yesterday afternoon.
Bookshops turn over new leaf on piracy
THE city's 151 State-owned book stores have made a public pledge to fight against pirated books, audio-video and electronic publications.
Survey sparks controversy
SENIOR researchers have called into question the authenticity of a recent report which claimed the divorce rate among laid-off women workers in the city is rising.
Entrepreneurs warned not to neglect their studies
WHILE experts agree university students who go into business can reap enormous benefit from the practical experience, they warn these students against neglecting their studies.
Cheat in the name of 'helping the poor'
POLICE are investigating a case of fraud involving 1 million yuan ($120,000) in which a man exploited China's drive to develop the poverty stricken areas.
Study abroad tempts local teenagers
AS living standards improve and China's opening-up progresses, local students are choosing to study in foreign schools and universities in increasing number.
A passion for study overseas
KE Qing's parents struggle to survive on meagre pensions, but they have done everything they can to support their daughter who is passionate about studying abroad.
She escapes from warring island
By Bian Yi
ZHANG Meifang, the only Shanghainese in the 117 Chinese stranded in the Solomon Islands following the breaking out of the conflict on the islands, told her tale of woe recently to local reporters. Zhang left Shanghai for the Solomon Islands in search of work on May 6 this year, via Hong Kong and Singapore. She first went there in 1994. One month later, the scattered island nation of the Solomons has been hit by its worst unrest in 22 years of independence as rival militias from Malaita and Guadalcanal islands struggle for dominance. Zhang first heard of the breakout of the war on June 4 from a friend of hers. On June 5, the situation worsened when local residents were warned to stay at home. Electricity supply was suspended from time to time and telephone links had been cut off. "During June 6 and June 7 we could hear an exchange of gunfire, and I became very concerned for my family in Shanghai, for I knew my family were worried about my safety," Zhang said. Zhang has a husband, a 16-year-old son who is studying in middle school, and her father and mother who are both 76 years of age. "On the evening of June 9, I kept phoning the Chinese embassy in Papua New Guinea, asking them to help deliver us from the warring areas. The embassy staff told me that a decision would be reached within 20 hours. They also asked Chinese nationals in the Solomon Islands to gather together and check the total number," Zhang recalled. "On June 10, the embassy phoned us that a ship would fetch us on June 13. "As I did not have much luggage, all I could do on the couple of days before our departure was to watch television, though there was only one English channel on the TV," she said. At 5 pm on June 13, they gathered at the harbour. There were altogether 117 Chinese, of whom 46 were children and 60 were women. At 6:30 pm Zhang got on board. The captain of the ship told them that the ship was dispatched by the Chinese Government especially to fetch them. Originally the ship was heading for Yokohama in Japan. "The mission will result in a business loss of $170,000 to the ship," he said. "We arrived at Papua New Guinea on the evening of June 15. Then we were put up in a hotel near the local Chinese embassy." At 9:30 am on June 18, the rescue plane, a Boeing 777 aircraft, took off. The plane landed at Baiyun Airport of Guangzhou at 2 pm on June 19. There were about 300 Chinese living in the Solomon Islands. Some immigrated to the island from Hong Kong in the 1950s, and some are Chinese business people who recently moved there.
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