Topic: Bizarre
Beijing Skyscraper Burns From "Firecrackers" A massive fire destroys the unopened Mandarin Oriental Hotel, right next to the state television's CCTV Tower. A scene from "V for Vendetta" or a celebration gone awry?by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
(libertarian)
Thursday, February 12, 2009
BEIJING, PEOPLE"S REPUBLIC OF CHINA – An inferno engulfed and destroyed the unopened Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel, adjacent to China Central Television’s (CCTV) $714 million USD headquarters. The CCTV Tower is a queer-looking modern 34-story skyscraper known as the "Underpants." CCTV runs most channels belonging to China’s official propaganda television. News of the fire has been widely suppressed or underplayed by official news channels, but most Chinese are aware of it, as when an icon of the capital city’s skyline in the middle of the central business district literally explodes, it is a little hard to miss. This video shows fireworks exploding while the entire building burns, while this video shows explosions rocking the building. The fire from the Mandarin Oriental is being reflected off the glass of the CCTV Tower. (photo of CCTV Tower courtesy iamdavidtheking license I believe the Mandarin Oriental can be seen behind the left leg.)
The UK’s International Herald Tribune reported that a media directive sent out by the propaganda division stated: "No photos, no video clips, no in-depth reports. The news should be put on news areas only and the comments posting areas should be closed." Only the official Xinhua (state media) dispatches were to be used. Of course, the internet and society grapevines got the word out to most of the urban areas in record time. Although there are several mistakes in the text of this LA Times article, it does have a nice picture of the burned-out hotel.
The China Daily reports that the fire was caused by the CCTV staff hiring a fireworks firm to set off a massive display without governmental permission. One firefighter was killed by suffocation. Though my opinion is of little consequence, I have been around a lot of exploding fireworks during my time here in China - I currently live in Shanghai – and the reader should made aware that the Chinese New Year firework celebration makes America’s Fourth of July look like lawn sprinklers. However, I do find it difficult to believe that a fireworks display could ignite so many floors of a skyscraper in such a fashion, unless the 241-room hotel was also doubling as a fireworks warehouse.
The fire took place on the evening of Monday, February 9th, which is the night of the Lantern Festival. This festival is held on the first full moon after Chinese New Year. As on all days of the New Year, the Chinese traditionally celebrate with fireworks, but most Chinese have dinner at home with their families eating a rice ball dessert. That night I was fortunate enough to have dinner with some colleagues and watch fireworks from my apartment while playing mah-jong with three Chinese friends.
I believe a fire to end the Chinese New Year will be taken by many here as a bad omen for the Year of the Ox. Chinese history is filled with auspicious events, such as the burning of the original (wooden) Forbidden City from a freak lightning storm in 1421, which heralded the plummet of China as the world’s most advanced civilization as Ming Emperor Zhu Di believed he was cursed by the gods and went daft.
Several years ago a vehicle exploded on my route to work during the meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Last summer prior to the Olympics a bus exploded down the street from where I live, killing several plus an unidentified man widely rumored to have detonated a bomb. The authorities were unable to identify him, and posters were pasted everywhere, including in the lobby of my apartment. It's hard and inconvenient for nation-states to hide explosions and corpses. Believe it or not, even the US media has been known to miss a few.
Calmly practicing my mah-jong moves for the moment,
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings in part or full of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.
Veritas numquam perit. Veritas odit moras. Veritas vincit. Truth never perishes. Truth hates delay. Truth conquers.
GATA's Message on Gold and Silver Manipulation to Barack Obama (PART 2/2) Published: January 29, 2009 "Surreptitious market manipulation by government is leading the world to disaster." - GATA, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee in a $264K full-page color ad in the Wall Street Journal, January 31, 2008
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just out of curiosity, and if it's more appropriate for an offline conversation, that's fine, but can you write an article about what you're doing in china. what your observations are as an american there (if i'm not presuming too much). but just your experience there, what was the pull to bring you there, the push from the US, and various social, political (if you can comment as freely as you'd like) and economic vantage points. Also, as a to-bedoctor who 's considering international and population medicine, what is the medical SYSTEM like there, not to mention their use of TCM now in urban vs rural areas and its popularity in both places.
Posted By: Jake, the champion of the constitution
Date: 2009-02-13 02:58:44
Dear Brian -
Yeah I don't write much about China - it's off topic from the subject of my column, but that doesn't mean it isn't a fantastically interesting place. I have to say I would probably still be a politically apathetic surfer bum if I didn't move out here - I am very, very glad I did. Liberty, as with most good things in life, you take for granted and don't realize what you have until you've lost it.
Not sure what TCM is, but in Shanghai the ex-pat hospitals (the one by the Stock Exchange is my pick since I figure it's where the bankers go for heart attacks :) are actually comparable to the US in quality.
For the locals, different story. Some of the stuff I've seen when visiting friends who are laid up is just horrible by my Western (and humane) standards - people bleeding out in hallways all night while waiting for doctors and rooms crammed with 100s of people together getting IV's. It's probably a tad better than what I just portrayed but I think Mao's "barefoot doctors" live on in a sense from what I can tell. Can't say I trust socialized medicine after what I've seen, and Shanghai's probably better than elsewhere. No experience with rural Chinese hospitals (Thai hospitals, different story :)
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BEIJING, PEOPLE"S REPUBLIC OF CHINA – An inferno engulfed and destroyed the unopened Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel, adjacent to China Central Television’s (