Rescue Dogs

After the previous post on the disastrous 9.0 earthquake in Japan this weekend, I found lots of photos of search and rescue teams with dogs. Again, the core Central Asian states are seriously underrepresented - please point me in the right direction if you are in the know. Above, a Japanese dog team is looking for survivors among the destruction at the tsunami-stricken northeast coast. You can see how big ships have been thrown ashore by the mighty waves. Photo by Kazuki Wakasugi. Source: Yomiuri Shimbun

A South Korean rescue dog team arrives in Japan, as seen in the previous post. Source: Reuters

An inhabitant of the town Kesennuma, which suffered terribly under the tsunami, carries his little sheltie. Source: Der Spiegel

Indonesia is another island nation frequently experiencing earthquakes. This photo is from Sumatra 2009. A man is taking several dogs out for a walk in the partly-destroyed city.

Search and rescue dogs arrived in Sumatra from all over the world.

Taiwanese rescue workers with a search and rescue dog assisted with the recovery of survivors in Christchurch, New Zealand, earlier this year.

The Himalaya Rescue Dog Squad Nepal is the first-ever of its kind in the country. The squad's tasks include rescue operations at high altitudes and in deep jungles, after avalanches, floods, and serious traffic accidents. Since the project is so new and the working conditions are very difficult, there's a fundraising page with more information. The people involved in the project also run a caste-free school.

Ilya Zaslavski and search and rescue dog Perets arrived in Haiti 2010 from Russia. The Haiti earthquake struck a densely populated region with weak infrastructure, and recovery has been very difficult. The earthquake could inflict lasting damage on an already disadvantaged society, so we shouldn't forget about Haiti. The Red Cross has more information.

Speaking of Russia, I found a cute thread about rescue dog training in Russia by volunteers. If your dog likes to search for things and needs an interesting hobby, this could be a nice idea. Many of the more independent-minded breeds that tend to do naughty things when bored (such as shibas and terriers in the thread) are well suited for this kind of complex task.

Dogs that were injured in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake are being treated at a private shelter in Chengdu.

Rescue dog training in China: The People's Liberation Army tends towards rather showy exercises...

Jumping through fiery hoops... and the handler's arms.

Earthquakes in Asia

Japanese troops save an elderly man whose hometown has been destroyed by the Sendai earthquake and tsunami, magnitude 8.9, on 11. March 2011.

We have been following the news from Japan (live stream here: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/), and our thoughts go out to all the brave people, civilians and officials, who are doing their best to save lives in the greatest earthquake in recent Japanese history. Earthquakes happen all over the world, and we include here some photos of rescue operations during the last 5 years in Asia.

South Korean rescue workers and dogs arrive in Japan. Source: AFP

Source: Reuters. More images at Tagesschau.de (http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/bilder/erdbebenjapan122.html)

In 2008, a devastating earthquake struck Sichuan Province in China. Here, the famous pandas of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding are being rescued.

The toll on human life was much greater. At least 68,000 people were killed in the 8.0 Ms quake centered on Wenchuan County on 12 May 2008.

Rescue workers help an elderly man.

In contrast to the numerous photos from Japan and China, it is slightly more challenging to find material from the Central Asian countries that have also been suffering from earthquakes during the last decade. These countries have also received less news coverage, globally. Above, rescue workers from the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent Society pose for a group photo in the Alai region of Osh City in 2008. The town Nura and the village Kura were completely destroyed in the magnitude 6.6 earthquake that was felt in in Tajikistan and Xinjang Uighur as well.

Unicef specialist Yang Zhenbo among schoolkids in Sichuan after the earthquake 2008. (Source: Unicef)

And life goes on. See Claudia Janke's impressive photo series after the earthquake in Pakistan 2005. People rebuild their homes and even have time for a quick smile in spite of their difficult circumstances. But healing takes time and comes with a heavy cost - that's why international mutual help and aid always will be necessary.

EDIT: In 2010, the Yushu earthquake hit the Tibetan plateau with a magnitude of 7.1 Ms. Don't miss these images of Tibetan monks as rescue workers.

(The comparison is pretty pathetic, but Ainur has only experienced one "real" earthquake in her life and can only marvel at the survival stories above. Please correct any mistakes you can spot in this post, as it was written in a great hurry and emotional turmoil.)

Kaifeng Jews

The Kaifeng Jews are members of a small Jewish community that has existed in Kaifeng, in central China, for many hundreds of years - the earliest records of a Jewish community in Kaifeng are from the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127). The ancestors of the Kaifeng Jews most likely came from Central Asia. Over the centuries, they intermarried with the local population but preserved their religion.

Here is a report on German TV about a group of cute young Kaifeng Jews who are immigrating to Israel. Unlike the contemporary rabbinical Judaism, where the transmission of Judaism is matrilinear (if you have a mother who is a Jew, you are a proper Jew), the Kaifeng Jews base their Jewishness on patrilinear descent. So, to receive Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, Kaifeng Jews must undergo conversion, a long and complicated process.
"But the true challenge", the narrator says, "is to assert themselves in Israeli society." Just like Ethiopian Jews, Kaifeng Jews might find themselves considered second rate citizens by many other Israelis, simply due to their skin colour.

Comrades, 1950

Probably taken soon after the treaty of friendship between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China on 14 February 1950, and just a few years before the Sino-Soviet split... An unusual image of youthful international friendship from the Borodulin collection of Soviet era photography. Other interesting images include a visit by workers from the Caucasus in Moscow 1925, muscular Komsomol youths, and this nice 20's photo of Eisenstein, Mayakovsky, Pasternak and other cultural personalities welcoming Japanese visitors.

Huang Xiaoming, the panda man

I posted a picture and some links about Huang Xiaoming on one of my comics blogs (because he looks a bit like one of my characters), and Ainur said "the panda man has got to go on Chirayliq." So here we go to the eastern fringes of Chirayliq land!

Huang Xiao Ming was born November 13th 1977 in Qingdao, China, and is an actor, singer and model. (It's very common, if not the norm, in Chinese/Hong Kong showbiz to have this kind of combined careers.) His image is perhaps a bit that of a "pretty boy", but he is certainly very professional - in 2003, for example, Huang was seriously injured in a car accident: his car flipped over while he was driving through a mountainous area to catch a filming. But he immediately reappeared on the set with a neck brace, impressing the media crew as well as his fans.

Huang Xiaoming has recently sponsored the twin panda cubs Ping Ping and An An at the giant panda breeding center in Ya'an in Sichuan Province. Ping Ping and An An were the first giant panda cubs who were born after the deadly earthquake hit the province on May 12th 2008. (I recommend reading Coco Wang's excellent comic to find out about how the panda center coped with the earthquake.)
Huang donated one million yuan (about 150,000 US dollars) to adopt the two cubs and was named an ambassador to China's Panda Protection Research Center.
Here is an article with several pictures at Chinadaily.com: "Panda Daddy" Huang Xiaoming revisits reserve (warning: cute overload!)
He also did a photoshoot for a 2009 calendar with the Sichuan panda babies.






See all the calendar photos here!

I recently watched a film with Huang Xiaoming called Sniper. He plays the former police sniper talent Lincoln, who has recently been released from jail after serving a sentence for involuntary manslaughter. He made a mistake during a hostage situation, and is convinced that his former partner purposely gave a testimony to his detriment. So now that he is out of jail, he is looking for revenge ... and redemption.
It's a pretty cliché storyline, and a lot of the film boils down to muscular guys looking hot with their big rifles. But what makes the film rewatchable many times over (besides the hunky guys) are the action scenes, which really make the most of the unusual theme of sniper rifles ...


Lincoln (Huang Xiaoming) and his former police sniper buddies.

Screencaps galore:





Lincoln is reunited with his wife ...



The rookie sniper OJ, who gets involved with the case of Lincoln and is tempted by the dark side, is played by Edison Chen. He is cute, too.

But among the three main characters I think Huang Xiaoming is the cutest.

Although this (unnamed) guy isn't bad either.

The Blue Wolf of the Altai

This is a music video by the Yugur group Yaoaoer. The Yugurs are one of 56 officially recognised nationalities in the People's Republic of China. They are sometimes confusingly known as "Yellow Uyghurs", although they are distinct from the Uighur people. According to different estimates, there are 15,000-13,000 Yugurs, primarily living in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County in Gānsù Province.
The Yugurs pose an interesting problem for those who wish to classify Central Asian peoples. According to Wikipedia, about 4,600 of them speak a Turkic language (Yohur or Yoğïr) and about 2,800 a Mongolic language (Engger), the remainder have switched to Chinese. Tibetan has also been in use, and their culture, especially their brand of Buddhism, show clear Tibetan influences.
There is an Uyghur connection, as well. The Turkic branch of the people is traditionally said to be descendants of the ancient Uyghur Empire. The Engger-speakers are said to be descendants of Mongol invaders in the thirteenth century. Both groups call themselves Yugur; the Turkic-speakers, either "Yoğïr" or "Sarïg Yoğïr" ((Yellow) Yugur), and the Engger-speakers "Yogor" or "Šera Yogor" (ditto). The Chinese distinguish between them geographically, calling the Turkic branch "Western Yugurs" and the Mongolic branch "Eastern Yugurs".
(To me, the consensus in ethnonyms suggests that the ethnic difference has been very small. After all, having two different languages is no proof of different ancestry, as studies of Finns and Finland-Swedes have shown... Unfortunately, there are a lot of unnecessary "internet arguments" between Turcophiles and Mongol fans about the Yugurs for this very reason.)
Sources: German and English Wikipedia
Yugurology (feat. C.G.E. Mannerheim!!)
Western Yugur Folktales

In Rigul, south eastern Tibet

Originally uploaded by francoish

Our reader Bruno drected our attention towards this small community in a remote part of Tibet. Rigul is situated on an altitude of 3,900 meters. 150-200 people live in the area, as well as 130 monks at the local monastery and shedra (religious school). The people in Rigul raise yaks and grow barley, potato and some other vegetables.


Originally uploaded by francoish

After the Chinese invasion in 1950, most of the teachers and monks of Rigul went into exile or were killed or imprisoned. The remaining villagers were able to prevent the Chinese from destroying the monastery, and they hid a number of relics, religious paintings and statues. Since the 1990's, efforts have been made to restore the monastery and shedra, and in 2005, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist Master of the Kagyu Order, returned to the village he had been forced to leave when he was five years old.
Ani Choden, a young nun and relative of Ringu Tulku, started a health clinic in 2001. A lay school for the local children has also been built recently, and besides education it also provides two free meals a day, which is a big help since the children often have to walk over one hour to get to the school.

The clinic and the lay school are all for the most part funded by sponsors from abroad. You too can help! Visit rigul.org to find out more about the projects.


Originally uploaded by francoish

The wonderful photos in this post were made by Francois H., an air traffic controller from Brussels (francoish on Flickr), who is active in supporting the Rigul community and a student of Ringu Tulku Rinpoche.


Originally uploaded by francoish


Originally uploaded by francoish


Originally uploaded by francoish


Originally uploaded by francoish


Originally uploaded by francoish

Faces of Xinjiang!

I was trying to put together a "harvest" themed post, but the only nice pictures I have found so far were of the 2006 "Fragrant pear harvest in Xinjiang", as the very Chinese title at peopledaily.com.cn says ...

But then, I came across the Flickr photostream of uninvolved observer, and most particularly his photos from travelling in Xinjiang. As opposed to far too many other male photographers, he doesn't seem to have that much inhibitions against making and even publishing photos of attractive males. Yay!

Click the photos to go to Flickr and see them bigger (and I mean really big) ...

"take my photo" (in Uyghur)
Originally uploaded by uninvolved observer

proud
Originally uploaded by uninvolved observer
(There are several more photos of this guy - just click the photos to go see them.)

everyone in Xinjiang is photogenic
Originally uploaded by uninvolved observer

cute couple
Originally uploaded by uninvolved observer

c-o-o-l
Originally uploaded by uninvolved observer

Final bonus:

the latest craze: Kazakh yurt porn!
Originally uploaded by uninvolved observer
"the owner of my yurt reclines seductively while we're discussing the price - Hanas Lake (near the Kazakh, Russian, and Mogolian borders) Xinjiang, China"

Zhao Dan

Here's a funny and cute clip from the Chinese film Street Angel (1937). It is a classic starring the singer Zhou Xuan as Xiao Hong, a singsong girl forced to work in a teahouse while her sister prostitutes herself. In spite of the tragic story, there is a lot of cheerful comedy in the film, as the characters keep up their spirits inspite of adversity. Let's enjoy the cute flirting scenes between Zhou Xuan and Zhao Dan, who went on to become a veteran actor of Chinese cinema.

Zhao Dan plays Chen, a young and poor trumpeter (although he also plays the erhu in the clip), who together with his ragtag band of friends tries to help the sisters. In the 1930's, this film about the poor and oppressed in Shanghai was considered left-wing. You can read the whole script in English translation online.

Chirayliq Olympics

Some photos from Spiegel.de...


Zhang Xiangxiang - Gold!


Park Kyung-Mo & team - Gold!


Kosuke Kitajima - Gold! Cho-kimochii!


Just to show off how extremely cute Kosuke-san is... as if that's not enough, his website is called "Frogtown"!


Elnur Mammadli beats Wang Ki-chun with an ippon in 13 seconds! Gold - first one ever to Azerbaijan in judo!