After the devastating earthquake hit Sichuan Province on May 12, many cities are reconsidering the establishment of urban emergency shelters. Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province that has a population of 10 million, for example, has built only three emergency shelters, which can accommodate 60,000 people.

No one likes to see natural disasters, but such things are unexpected. What we human beings can do is to effectively fight against disasters and to minimize the loss brought by disasters.

When pushing forward emergency shelter programs, local authorities might encounter various difficulties. For example, the programs might cost a lot of money and even affect a city's short-term growth. Besides, it's also possible that some real estate developers would try to prevent the government from carrying out these programs so that they can grab the valuable land.

Therefore, the authorities must set up a long-term strategy and take into full consideration people's interests. Meanwhile, there must be strict laws and regulations to protect these shelters.

Beijing Youth Daily

Taking Responsibility

The production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags 0.025 mm thick or thinner have been banned throughout China since June 1, and retailers are now prohibited from providing customers with free plastic bags.

Who is to be tested by this ban? In most cases, bans are a test of the government's management capabilities and businesses' sense of responsibility. This time, everyone is put to the test. If the enforcement of the ban relies solely on the government, without the public's cooperation, no matter how hard the former works, the ban is unlikely to be as effective as expected. The ban is actually just a warning and whether it can regulate people's behavior largely depends on people's self-discipline.

The ultimate goal of the ban is not to charge more, or to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags by asking consumers to pay for them. It is to awaken people's sense of responsibility and remove their indifference toward environmental pollution caused by plastic bags.

The restrained use of plastic shopping bags will surely cause some inconvenience, but it does benefit this world in the long term. Actually, by giving up just a bit of addicted convenience and taking more responsibility, everyone is able to contribute to a cleaner environment. This is what the ban means to tell to the public.

Modern Express

Legalization Not Enough

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Double Fifth Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar (June 8 this year). As one of the most important traditional Chinese celebrations, the Dragon Boat Festival has been made a public holiday from 2008.

The Dragon Boat Festival was neglected and forgotten in the past decades. The accelerated urbanization was partly to be blamed for this cultural loss. Another crucial reason was the lack of festival atmosphere on this specific day.

Apart from dragon boat racing, which is carried out in commemoration of Qu Yuan, an upright official who drowned himself in river in an act of patriotism about 2,500 years ago, ancient Chinese considered the Dragon Boat Festival the time when extra efforts must be made to protect their family from illness. Traditionally, people drank wine in the hope of removing poisons from the body. They also wore Hsiang Bao, sachets that contain various fragrant medicinal herbs thought to protect the wearers from illness. Children were taught to make bows so that they could also feel part of the festival. Nowadays, however, the whole heritage of the Dragon Boat Festival seems to be zongzi, (sticky rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves that is the festival's special treat) and the culturally rich festival is jokingly called the Zongzi Festival.

To grant it the status of a public holiday will help remind the Chinese of the significance of this traditional festival and also its cultural connotations. But it is not enough to rejuvenate the Dragon Boat Festival. The authorities, together with cultural organizations, have the responsibility to create a festival atmosphere and make the holiday celebration part of modern life. From this year on, we need to do more, so that it will forever be a national event that no one can do away with.

Guangzhou Daily

Tests Overemphasized

June is the time for the College English Test (CET) Band 4 and Band 6 in China. College students and their English teachers seem to be spending all their time in preparation.

At least one month ahead of the tests, English classes were totally devoted to endless model tests and test paper analysis. Teachers imparted test techniques and skills to students who are more interested in such techniques than the language knowledge itself. They have a reason to focus on techniques: Without a CET Band 4 or Band 6 certificate, the students can't obtain the bachelor or master's degree that they have worked toward and this will make job hunting difficult. Apart from test techniques, students even turn to various advanced gadgets to ensure that they can pass the tests.

Meanwhile, many English teachers are making a living by selling the so-called test skills.

Actually, both students and teachers are becoming test machines and English means nothing but tests and a certificate. This is a tragedy for college students and also for China's English teaching system.

China Youth Daily