2017 Year of the Fire Rooster

[GeneChing]

See your YEAR OF THE FIRE ROOSTER HOROSCOPE here.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Fire Roosters are puny compared to us earth roosters !

[GeneChing]

All 4 hours are here, streamed live last night. There's martial arts - I've seen some highlights on other media platforms - but I haven't found any discreet martial arts footage or Jackie stuff. And I'm not going to watch all 4 hours of this.

Fire Roosters are puny compared to us earth roosters !

You are a ****. That makes so much sense. An earth **** no less. There's gotta be some joke about dragging your dick in the dirt to be made here.

[highlypotion]

Gong Xi Fa Cai

[Lucas]

Happy to the New Year all's y'alls

[GeneChing]

Shanghaiist
January 27 at 8:00pm ·
It's gonna be a weird year.

https://www.facebook.com/shanghaiist...5406634826030/
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It's already weird.

[GeneChing]

Premium Baijiu Prices Soar for the Holidays
Krista Melgarejo | Jan 30, 2017 08:40 AM EST


Vats of locally made wine called baijiu are seen at a distillery on the Chishui River, on Sept. 23, 2016, in Maotai, Guizhou Province, China. (Photo : Getty Images)

While baijiu is widely known as one of the expensive Chinese liquors in the market, prices for this drink have soared in some retail stores just before Chinese New Year. Industry insiders share that the sector is yet to fully recover.
In some stores in Beijing, a 500ml bottle of Kweichow Moutai's classic Feitian 53 percent alcohol is being sold for as much as 2,000 yuan ($290). This an increase of almost 40 percent compared to a few weeks back. Meanwhile, if you try buying the same bottle online, you can get it for as low as 1,288 yuan on JD.com.
According to analysts, the greater demand for the premium liquor during the Spring Festival coupled by the limited supplies caused the surge in prices.
Premium baijiu is an extremely profitable business. It is estimated that the top four baijiu producers in China account for 27 percent of earnings before interest and taxes of the global spirits industry.
"With more disposable income, consumers are willing to spend more, and their mindset is to buy liquors when prices are going up," shared Ding, a distributor from the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. He added that despite the recovery, the prices haven't rebounded to the levels before the government's austerity drive and anti-graft campaign.
Retail store prices for baijiu in 2012 have peaked above 2,000 yuan. It dropped to 1,800 in early 2013 then decreased later to 1,200 before stabilizing at about 1,000 yuan.
"After a few years of market volatility, the baijiu, or white spirits, industry is gradually recovering, and the demand has expanded as consumer spending has risen," said Wang Chonglin, deputy manager of Kweichow Moutai Co.
The baijiu sector has helped drive stock gain this year, leading the country's consumer staples stocks. With things going quite well for this sector, baijiu continues to attract investors because of its stability amid the volatile situation in the markets.
With how things are going in the spirits market, the baijiu sector will definitely be able to gain ground and recover from the effects of market volatility in the previous years.

I really must try some of this top shelf Moutai. I have an old bottle in my cabinet that was gifted to me maybe two decades ago. Wonder what that's worth...

[GeneChing]

100,000 yuan = $14,539.11

Old man spends 40 years shaping his giant rooster bush, refuses to sell it for 100,000 yuan
BY ALEX LINDER IN NEWS ON FEB 1, 2017 5:10 PM



This is the curious tale of a 78-year-old man and his "giant ****."
Back in the late 1970s, Wang Genliang received a gift from his friend of a tiny Chinese holly bush. At the time, the shrub was no more than 20 or 30cm tall.
In the ensuing 40 years, that bush has grown up quite a bit. Thanks to Wang's tender love and care, it now stands at an impressive 2.5 meters tall and can be seen from afar. Two or three times a year, Wang hauls out his ladder to trim the bush to make sure it retains its perfect rooster-shape.



With the Year of the Rooster now upon us, Wang's creation has become the talk of his village in Jiangsu province. He says that every day people show up to take pictures with it.
He also confessed that one person had offered 100,000 yuan for his giant rooster bush, but Wang rejected the offer. "I couldn't bear to part with it," he told reporters. "It is my pastime and I don't want to sell it for money."



Chinese netizens think that Wang was a fool for not taking that sweet deal.
"You should have sold it off! For 100,000 yuan you could buy a whole nursery of plants!" wrote one netizen.
"100,000 yuan? Bull****, I wouldn't pay 10 yuan for it," added another.
Admittedly, we would be a bit more impressed if Wang's bush bore more of a resemblance to this year's mascot.



[Images via NetEase]

[GeneChing]

In celebration of the YEAR OF THE FLAMING COCK, I have taken the word 'cock' off the forum censored list. You can all thank me by not abusing the cock. Use the cock judiciously and wisely. Enjoy the cock!

Thu Feb 2, 2017 | 9:37pm EST
China tourism revenue up 16 percent over Lunar New Year


A tourist walks under the lanterns along a street ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year outside Raohe street Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

China's tourism industry saw revenues of 423.3 billion yuan ($61.55 billion) during the recent Lunar New Year festival, up 15.9 percent against last year, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) said late on Thursday.

The rate of growth, driven by 344 million domestic tourist trips, was, however, slightly slower than the 16.3 percent rise seen in the corresponding year-ago period. Trips abroad over the period increased more moderately with around 6.15 million outbound Chinese tourists, up around 7 percent, CNTA said.

China's tourism industry is key to the country's shift towards a more services-driven economy and is a useful indicator of the strength of consumer spending. The domestic sector raked in 3.9 trillion yuan in 2016, which Beijing wants to raise to 7 trillion yuan by 2020, official news agency Xinhua said.

China's retail and catering firms saw sales over the week-long holiday of around 840 billion yuan, the commerce ministry said in a separate statement, up 11.4 percent over 2016.

Lunar New Year in China is closely watched as it marks a spike in tourism and retail spending as millions of people return home or go on vacation domestically or overseas.

($1 = 6.8768 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

[GeneChing]

China Tourism Revenues Hit $46 Billion in Four Days
ASHARQ AL-AWSAT
4 days ago


A lion dancer receives a red envelope, called "ang pao", containing money during a celebration of the Chinese New Year in Manila's Chinatown, Philippines February 8, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

Beijing- From Friday to Monday, China’s tourism revenue reached 316 billion yuan (around USD46 billion), up to 16% compared with the same period of 2016.

According to data released by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), China has witnessed around 258.1 million traveling trips across the country during the four-day holiday of the Chinese New Year. Travel rates rose by 14.2% compared with same period of 2016.

CNTA expects the country to see 343 million trips during the one-week holiday, which is considered one of the longest official holidays in the country. The Chinese people eagerly await this time of the year, which offers them chances for relaxation, amusement, family gatherings, travel and tourism in the country and abroad.

The administration’s report estimated that more than six million Chinese will travel abroad during this holiday.

On this occasion, Chinese visit parks and historic areas. In the capital Beijing 11 parks and the natural museum hosted 180,000 tourists on Saturday, which was the first day of the Chinese New Year or the “Spring Holiday”.

During the holiday’s week, the country witnesses many activities and events including winter sports contests and flower exhibitions across the country.

In line with these activities, the national security forces take exceptional measures to maintain order and stability.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, around 178,000 policemen served in the country on Saturday to manage traffic on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

That's a lot of red envelopes...

[GeneChing]

Just gonna leave this here for y'all...

[GeneChing]

See our WINNERS: Year of the Rooster T-shirt thread.

[GeneChing]

Like I said earlier:

That's a lot of red envelopes...

46 billion electronic ‘red envelopes’ sent over Chinese New Year
5 February 2017 00:38 AFP 2 min read

Chinese exchanged billions of electronic “red envelopes” over the Lunar New Year holiday, state media said Saturday, as more people turned to modern technology to perform the ancient tradition of handing out cash.

For centuries parents, relatives and employers have distributed red paper envelopes containing money, known as “hong bao”, to children or menial workers to celebrate the dawn of the new year.


Red packets for Chinese New Year. Photo: Flickr via Leo Kan.

But tech-savvy givers in China are increasingly opting to transfer money via their smartphones rather than go to the trouble — and expense — of buying envelopes and handing them out.

About 46 billion electronic hong baos were sent or received via the popular messaging app WeChat from January 27 — the eve of the Year of the Rooster — to February 1, the China Daily reported.

That was 43 percent more than last year.


WeChat red packets. Photo: HKFP Remix.

On January 27 alone more than 14 billion electronic red envelopes were transferred on WeChat, which is owned by internet giant Tencent and has more than 800 million users.

That was up nearly 76 percent on last year, the newspaper said, and included a record 2,125 hong baos sent by a man in Shenzhen.

An apparently very popular man in the eastern province of Shandong received a staggering 10,069 envelopes.

Tencent did not reveal the total amount of money contained in the red packets.

[GeneChing]

FLASH SALE! 2017 Year of the Rooster T-shirts only $9.99!

[GeneChing]

Two giant inflatable Trump Chickens likely to appear at San Francisco Tax Day March
By Alyssa Pereira, SFGATE Published 12:14 pm, Tuesday, March 21, 2017


Workers show visitors an inflatable chicken that local media say bears resemblance to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as their factory braces for the Year of the Rooster in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, China, Jan. 12, 2017. Photo: ALY SONG/REUTERS
Photo: ALY SONG/REUTERS

Organizers of theTax Day March down San Francisco's Market St. hope to double the number of yuge inflatable chickens resembling President Donald Trump that will take part in the day's event.
The march already will boast at least one chicken following a successful crowdfunding campaign to buy the bird from Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba. But march organizer Danelle Morton now hopes to gather enough cash to buy a second one, as she writes on Slate.
"The Trump chicken broke through my political gloom and did the same for many others involved in the march," she wrote. "On March 9, we found others felt the same. We put up a GoFundMe to raise $1,000 to buy the 13-foot chicken—and surpassed that total in less than an hour."
The first chicken arrived in San Francisco on March 13, and inspired organizers of similar marches in other cities to follow suit. Seventeen cities, including Nashville, New York City, and Chicago, are now also ordering the inflatable roosters.
Morton wasn't satisfied. After raising enough money to buy one chicken, she and another organizer named Anne Pruett reinstated the GoFundMe. They are now hoping to garner enough money to buy a second, larger 33-foot bird.
"If someone contributes $1,000, we will bring the 13-foot Trump chicken to the donor's party, and for $5,000, the 33-foot bird," Morton writes in hopes to encourage big donors. "And when thousands of people gather in San Francisco's City Hall Plaza for the march, they will be amused, delighted, or even disgusted by our Trump chicken."
The inflatable chickens, designed by a Seattle artist and commissioned by a Chinese company for this year's Lunar New Year celebration (it's the Year of the Rooster in China), were not necessarily created to look like the President — at least not according to its artist, Casey Latiolais. Latiolais denied that his design was based on Trump's appearance, but says that there are similarities.
"[Trump] also likes to tweet at or around sunrise, and if you take away the fact that roosters are kind of loud and self-absorbed," he added, "then I think you can start drawing similarities that way."
The Tax Day March will take place on April 15 at 10 a.m. in San Francisco.

"Casey Latiolais denied that his design was based on Trump's appearance, but says that there are similarities."