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CHANGSHA -- Chinese media have blasted an attempt by a Chinese city in Hunan province to set a world record for the longest string of firecrackers, labeling it "ridiculous" and a waste of money.A 20-km string of firecrackers, stretching from Dayao Town to the downtown area of Liuyang City, home to China's largest firecracker production base, went up in smoke on Friday afternoon, exploding for 68 minutes and littering the ground with red debris, as organizers sought to gain publicity for the city and its local fireworks industry.The event, organized by several firecracker plants and partly sponsored by the local government, cost more than 800,000 yuan (about US7,000), including 580,000 yuan for the firecrackers themselves and the remainder to stage the event and ensure the fire service was on standby."The production of firecrackers is one of the city's main industries. We hope the success of making the longest firecracker will increase the confidence of the producers and make our city well-known across the country," said Xu Qiangguo, head of the Liuyang Firecrackers Bureau.But the event, billed by local media as a Guinness World Record attempt, was not attended by an official Guinness World Records representative after it ignored a request from the organizers to attend.Instead, a representative from the unofficial Shanghai Great World Guinness Book of Records turned up to present them with a certificate bestowing upon the city the honour of having only "the country's longest string of firecrackers"."I can only ensure you that it's the longest firecracker in China and I dare not say it's the world's longest," said the Shanghai office's representative Wang Yizhuo."Firecrackers were traditionally used to ward off evils but burning crackers is more of a token of celebrations and festivals nowadays. I think this longest string of crackers reflect the happy and peaceful life of the people," he said.A flood of opinion pieces from newspapers around the country waded in with their assessments."Such a record is ridiculous, just like to sharpen the two ends of a tree and apply for the record of the longest toothpick," a journalist with the Jinan Times said.The Beijing Times said, "Unless the firecrackers are supposed to be part of a cinematic scene of raging war, what benefits would accrue from setting off 20 kilometers of fireworks?"The newspaper went on to bemoan the country's lack of creativity. "We are no less than a manufacturing base for the world. We may continue to set records in a similar manner, but that will not add a jot to our overall competitiveness," the article said.The Liuyang authorities also came under fire from a writer from the Guangzhou Daily, who called the event a "real burden for the local economy"."It's high time to call off applications for the professed 'longest' or 'most' records, such as 10,000 people eating hotpot and 10,000 people washing their feet together. They lack social significance as well as scientific and technical skills," he wrote."Some local governments like to spend a fortune creating a record in order to attract attention. But after the sensation only some meaningless numbers are left."But the man behind the spectacle Xu Qiangguo remained defiant and said he was considering applying for the official world record next year."I don't think it's a waste of money because we have got what we wanted: extensive media coverage and more orders," he said. "If you call that too luxurious, how about the existence of so many five-star hotels? They are even more luxurious."Several onlookers in Liuyang agreed. "The firecracker industry is the pillar industry of the city and making such a long one will promote our firecrackers' fame and maybe even make them world renowned," one said.Meanwhile the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the Shanghai Great World Guinness Book of Records, which was established in 1992 and comes under the authority of the Shanghai branch of the Communist Party Youth League, continues.Guinness' official branch in China is Liaoning Education Press, based in the northeastern province of the same name.According to an article on the website of Liaoning Education Press, it has been the real Guinness Book of Records representative in China since Shanghai Great World Guinness and the Guinness Book of Records split in 1996.In 2003, a Hebei businessman from Beijing sued the Shanghai office after paying them a 1,800-yuan registration fee so he could set a world record for the first bungee jump from a moving aircraft, believing the organization to be affiliated to the Guinness publishers.After completing the jump from a helicopter 80 meters above ground, He later read in a Beijing newspaper that the Shanghai Guinness office was not an authorized agent of the Guinness Book of World Records and had been misleading the public. He also discovered that a German man had jumped 1,100 meters from a helicopter in 1997.

Visiting US Chief of Naval Operations Mike Mullen reaffirmed in Beijing on Tuesday that the United States will not support Taiwan independence and will adhere to the one-China policy."The United States will not support Taiwan independence or any unilateral move toward that direction on the part of Taiwan," Mullen told reporters at a press conference.As a guest of Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy commander Wu Shengli, Mullen arrived in China on August 17 for a friendly visit. He delivered a speech at a Chinese naval academy and observed naval exercises from on board a Chinese warship.During the visit, Mullen also met with Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan and Guo Boxiong, vice chairmen of China's Central Military Commission.China-US relations are one of the most important bilateral relations in the world, Cao told Mullen, noting that flourishing bilateral ties will not only serve the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples, but will also be conducive to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region and world as well.Agreeing with Cao's view on bilateral relations, Mullen said that US-China relations are very important and the dialogue between the two nations as well as the two militaries is "critical".Mullen, who has been nominated by US President George W. Bush to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, promised to Cao that he would continue to nurture the bilateral ties no matter whether he serves in his current position or as Bush's major military adviser and leader of the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, according to a press release provided by the Chinese Ministry of Defense.Mullen also expressed his hope that exchanges and cooperation in such fields as military academic education and exchange visits of warships, could be further boosted in an effort to increase mutual understanding and trust, said the press release.

BEIJING -- China is likely to become the world's second largest consumer market by 2015,  said a report released by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).Chinese shoppers select the luxury Louis Vuitton luggage at the first franchise store in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, July 25, 2007. [newsphoto]The report is based on a survey of 4,258 consumers in 13 Chinese cities from February to March 2007. According to the report, Chinese consumers are experiencing unprecedented wealth growth which is 3 to 5 times faster than developed countries in the past 50 years. Most Chinese consumers plan to spend more in near future to fulfill their family dreams."The past decade of rapid economic growth has brought prosperity but also uncertainty, resulting in a highly complex consumer market with diverse consumer attitudes," said Hubert Hsu, senior partner and managing director of BCG, at a press conference in Beijing."Capturing the next wave of consumer growth in China will involve developing deep consumer insights and creating marketing differentiation," said Hsu.The report said there are significant generational differences in terms of spending attitude among Chinese consumers. The strong interest in trading up, which means spending more money for more expensive products, was driven up by consumers' increasing desire for better goods and services and rising concern over safety and quality of cheap products.Chinese consumers put more faith in brand names compared with the US consumers and they believe good brand represents quality, safety, effectiveness and durability, said Hsu.Despite strong trading up desires, Chinese consumers continue to "treasure hunt" - make deliberate trade-offs to maximize "value" of their budgets. They use similar strategies for treasure hunting as their counterparts in other countries except several unusual tactics such as group purchase for volume discount, said the report.The report suggested global suppliers in China should establish strong, branded relationships with China's treasure-hunting consumers, provide the kinds of products that appeal to practical concerns and emotional needs, and be willing to customize their offerings to meet the needs of a geographically diverse population.While the retailers must make sure the categories they carry are the ones that treasure-hunting consumers will seek and focus on a product's technical and emotional benefits, said the report.

Authorities were unable to accurately predict the recent weather conditions due to lack of equipment and an adequate forecast model, the national meteorological agency has said."We underestimated the duration and severity of the weather and failed to pre-evaluate its impact on transport and the power sector," China Meteorological Administration (CMA) spokeswoman Jiao Meiyan said.The CMA had forecast all five rain and snowstorms between Jan 10 and Feb 5 two to five days in advance. But it failed to alert the public to the extreme danger of the storms."One reason why the weather department could not make precise forecasts is because many of the places most affected were located in mountainous areas where meteorological monitors are in short supply," Duan Yihong, deputy director of the National Meteorological Center, said."Another major problem is that China's numerical weather forecasts still fall far behind world standards."Numerical weather forecasts, based on calculations by high-performance computers, are a core part of modern weather bulletins. China began to develop its own numerical forecast model less than a decade ago.There is a 10-year gap between the Chinese model and advanced foreign models, Duan said.The extreme weather also made it a huge challenge for Chinese meteorologists."It was increasingly difficult to forecast as low-probability extreme weather is occurring more frequently," Qiao Lin, chief weather forecaster of the Central Meteorological Station, said.To enhance the country's defense against extreme weather, China will begin to establish a monitoring and warning system, Jiao said.

来源：资阳报