Sanya for Winter

Located at the southern tip of China’s southernmost Hainan Island, Sanya is a tropical seaside tourist paradise and covers a total land area of 1,919 square kilometers. With a total population of 690,000, the city is home to various ethnic groups, including Li, Miao, Hui, and Han. As one of Hainan Province’s two major cities, Sanya is not only a transportation hub of southern Hainan, but also an important port for foreign trade with other parts of Asia.

Aided by its proximity to Boao, Sanya attracts heavy tourism every year. Since the inception of the Boao Forum for Asia, Sanya’s city image has been enhanced. Visitors to Sanya shouldn’t miss Yalong Bay. Considered one of the most beautiful coasts in China, crescent-shaped Yalong Bay is 28 kilometers away from southeast Sanya, with a total length of about 7.5 kilometers. The bay boasts a soft, white sandy beach and abundant aquatic resources, including tropical fish and rare shell fish.

Peak tourist season for Sanya stretches all the way from September to Chinese lunar New Year (usually February), since the city is a rare Chinese destination with warm weather during that season. Many swear by tropical seaside resorts during winter. While those in other parts of China bundle up in heavy coats, visitors to Sanya bring shorts, t-shirts, and sandals to stroll down beaches in the sunshine or bathe in the sea while enjoying tropical fruit. However, since the peak season is already in full swing, hotel reservations may not be easy. Budget travelers and those seeking quiet and privacy are recommended to visit other times. 

New Financial Regulators

On October 29, new chairmen of China’s three major financial regulatory agencies were appointed.

Shang Fulin, 60, was appointed chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Guo Shuqing, 55, was appointed chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and Xiang Junbo, 54, was appointed chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission. 

Signs of Nuclear Fission

According to Japanese media, radioactive xenon gas, which is often the byproduct of unexpected nuclear fission, was detected at the Fukushima Daiichi plant during tests recently.

Officials were injecting boric acid as an emergency precautionary measure to prevent any accidental chain reactions which could result in further radiation leakage.

A spokesperson with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the quantity of gas detection was “very small,” however the discovery of the gas is likely to be regarded as an unwelcome setback for operators who hope to achieve cold shutdown by the end of the year. 

Atomic Time to Replace GMT

Leading scientists from around the world are meeting in Britain from November 3 to 4 to consider a proposal that could eventually relegate Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to a footnote in history.

For more than 120 years, GMT has been the international standard for timekeeping, but is now under threat from a new definition of time itself based not on the rotation of the Earth, but on atomic clocks.

In January 2012, the International Telecommunication Union will meet in Geneva to vote on whether to adopt the new measure.  

MF Global Bankruptcy

MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection for its United States parent company on October 30, the first American financial casualty of the European debt crisis.

MF Global applied for bankruptcy protection within a week of Moody’s Investors Service slashing the New York-based company’s credit rating, reporting a record quarterly loss and disclosing $6.3 billion in wagers on sovereign debts of some of Europe’s most debt-ridden nations. 

Shenzhou-8 Blasts Off

China’s unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 lifted off at 5:58 a.m. Beijing Time on November 1 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province’s northwest desert.

The spacecraft successfully entered its designated orbit, propelled by an upgraded Long March-2F rocket. It was heading to rendezvous with the Tiangong-1 that had waited in space since September 29 for the country’s first space docking.

The successful docking made the nation the planet’s third to do so, paving the way for China to build a permanent space station by 2020.