China Watch Blog

China Watch Blog is proud to announce that it has received a statement regarding the real face and true story of the legendary Al Capone – one of the world’s most notorious men – as revealed by his grandniece.

“Contrary to public opinion, Al Capone did not die in prison and he did not die of syphilis,” states Deirdre Marie Capone. The grandniece that lived in the house of her famous (and favorite) uncle knew him well and recalls the man who taught her to ride a bike, swim, and play the mandolin.

Already a best-seller on Amazon, her explicit memoir, Uncle Al Capone… The Untold Story From Inside His Family (Recap Publishing LLC), tells many never-before-known facts about this iconic figure’s life and death.

As the last member of the family born with the name Capone, Deirdre recalls what life was like as a child growing up in the Capone household and shares fond memories of her relationship with Al’s sister Mafalda, affectionately known to her as Aunt Maffie.

Deirdre knows what the ‘family’ was really like, and what the ‘outfit’ was all about. In her tell-all book she shares details untold until now; that Ralph and Al Capone lobbied the Nevada legislature to legalize gambling, alcohol and prostitution in that state; that they were the owners of the first upscale casino in Las Vegas way before Bugsy Siegel came to Vegas, and what really happened in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Attempts by Deirdre’s own father to live a more legitimate lifestyle and shake the shame of the Capone name failed, resulting in him taking his own life when she was just ten years old.

Deirdre had tried to hide the fact she was a Capone for most of her own life – even leaving Chicago in her early thirties to start over in Minnesota and telling no one her real name except her husband. That changed the day her son came home from school and announced they were studying Al Capone in class and she and her husband agreed it was time to tell the kids her ancestry.

Her fears were put to rest when the kids announced it was totally ‘cool’ and, at age 34, she finally accepted herself as Deirdre Marie Capone and today her 14 grandchildren are proud to tell the story of their ancestry.

While Uncle Al Capone is packed with fascinating stories about Al and his family, it also contains many never-before-published photos as well as authentic Capone family recipes for the food that Al and his family enjoyed. Uncle Al Capone offers a distinctly different look at a man who was endlessly depicted as the iconic mastermind behind some of the century’s most brutal killings.

Since January of this year marked the 65th anniversary of Al Capone’s death, and after years of research and exhaustive interviews with relatives, Deirdre – the last link in the Capone chain – felt compelled to share this unique piece of history with the world.

China Watch Blog has learnt that UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, opening the ITB Travel Trade Show (Berlin, Germany, 6 March 2012) said that one billion tourists are key to creating jobs and stimulating the economy.

Budapest

They expected to travel this year and are a vital force for economic growth and social welfare, he said.

“By the end of 2012, one seventh of the world’s population will have crossed international borders as tourists in a single year,” said Rifai in his keynote speech at the official opening of ITB.

Budapest

This “extraordinary number” will contribute to more jobs, higher income possibilities and countless opportunities for development, so critical at this time of economic uncertainty, he added.

“With growth comes responsibility,” continued Rifai. Tourism, if properly planned and managed, can be one of the most promising sectors for achieving a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable future, he said.

“Imagine how business models would be transformed if one billion people demanded sustainable practices from hotels and tour operators. Imagine how many would benefit if one billion people bought local produce or hired a local guide. These are small actions, but given the size of our sector, their impact would be huge.”

Referring to the challenges facing international tourism as it reaches one billion, the Secretary-General spoke of the many people still facing barriers to travel.

“Complicated, lengthy and overpriced entry formalities are making it extremely difficult for tourists, especially from emerging economies which are leading growth in terms of outbound markets, to travel,” said Rifai, adding that obstacles such as burdensome visa processes are not just a barrier to travelers, but to “growth, job creation and free trade.”

The Secretary-General called on the tourism sector to unite around the issue of travel facilitation as a means to stimulate demand and, as a result, create jobs. “Travel facilitation must top our agenda and we must speak together on this if we are to be heard at the highest levels of decision-making,” he said.

“It is in this belief that UNWTO has joined the voices of the sector such as the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF), to advance this important issue.”

China Watch Blog has learnt that Xiamen in Fujian Province has the largest number of single women of marriageable age, followed by Shenzhen in second place and Guangzhou in Guangdong province ranked third in the country.

According to a Shenzhen Daily report, an online study of single women of marriageable age in China shows that a total of 39.3 percent of the 41,616 women surveyed, most born in the 1970s and 1980s, thought they were “overaged” singles and would struggle to find a husband, according to the study, conducted by online matchmaking service provider Shijijiayuan, one of the country’s leading matchmaking Web sites.

Among the single women in Shenzhen, more than 36 percent thought the word “shengnu” in pinyin, which literally translates as “leftover women,” was a humiliating word. Many of the single women in Shenzhen are highly educated and career-driven.

The main reason they are unmarried is the lack of social interactions and ways of meeting single men.

Some said they were “too passive to chase men they like.” Some chose to stay single because they preferred a single life to the prospect of an “unhappy marriage.”

On the other hand, more than 62 percent of male interviewees thought the women’s problem was that their requirements were too high.

China Watch Blog wishes to share with readers this email which we received in the post on lesson in life.

Do not jump to conclusions too quickly in life

The following photos are photographs of the same location in different seasons. . . . .

Winter

Spring

Autumn

Lessons on Life生命的功课
There was a man who had four sons.
He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly.
So he sent them each on a quest, in turn,
to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
有一个人，他有四个儿子。
他希望他的儿子能够学会不要太快对事情下结论，
所以，他依次给他四个孩子一个问题，
要他们分别出去远方看一颗梨树。

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring,
the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.
大儿子在冬天前往，二儿子在春天，
三儿子在夏天，小儿子则是在秋天前往。

When they had all gone and come back,
he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
当他们都前去也都返家之后，
他把他们一起叫到跟前形容他们所看到的情景，
大儿子说那棵树很丑、枯槁、扭曲。

The second son said no it was covered with green buds
and full of promise.
二儿子则说，不是这样子，
这棵树被青青的嫩芽所覆盖，充满了盼望。

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms
that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful,
it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
三儿子不同意，他说树上花朵绽放、充满香气，
看起来十分美丽，这美景事他从来不曾见到过的。

The last son disagreed with all of them;
he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit,
full of life and fulfillment.
小儿子不同意他们三人的说法。
他说树上结满了果子、累累下垂。
充满了生命果子与丰收。

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right,
because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life.
这个人就对他四个儿子说：你们都是正确的。
因为你们四个人是在这棵树的四个不同季节前往，
并且只看到其中一个季节的风景。

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person,
by only one season, and that the essence of who
they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from
that life can only be measured at the end,
when all the seasons are up.
他告诉儿子们不可用一个季节的风景来评断一棵树或是一个人，
关于构成一个人是怎样的一个人的要件，还有一个人生命的
欢愉、喜乐、爱，只能在他生命的尽头时候来做衡量。

If you give up when it’s winter,
you will miss the promise of your spring,
the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
当你在冬天时候就放弃，
你就会错过你生命春天的盼望、夏天的美丽、秋天的收成。

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
不要让一个季节的痛苦毁掉其他季节的喜乐。

Don’t judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches and better times
are sure to come some time or later.
不要因为一个痛苦的季节就对人生下结论，
持守忍耐度过这段艰难，美好的日子将在不久之后来到

无论这世界如何改变，对你认同的美德要有信心。

重要的不是别人如何看待你，而是你如何看待自己。

朝花夕拾，一切都是当下。

朝花夕拾，人生不过如此。

China Watch Blog has learnt that the Chinese mainland registered a 12-percent year-on-year increase in its number of millionaires last year, boosted by economic growth and equity market gains.

According to a a joint report issued by Capegemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, the combined wealth of the mainland’s 535,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs) topped $2.66 trillion, up 13.2 percent from 2009.

The number of millionaires on the mainland makes the region the second-largest HNWI market in the Asia-Pacific region and the fourth-largest in the world after the United States, Japan and Germany, according to the report.

China is continuing to see an expansion in its HNWI population and their wealth, fueled by strong macroeconomic growth and market performance, particularly in equities and real estate, said Pauline Ko, market manager for China at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.

The mainland’s HNWIs had 42 percent of their investments in equities and 27 percent in real estate last year, the report said.

China Watch Blog has learnt that Shanghai- Heavy machinery magnate Liang Wengen has knocked beverage tycoon Zong Qinghou off the top of the Chinese mainland’s rich list.

The personal wealth of Liang, founder and chairman of heavy machinery manufacturer Sany Group, tops 70 billion yuan (US$11 billion), according to the 2011 Hurun Rich List, released yesterday and reported by Shanghai Daily.

Liang, 55, owns 58 percent of Sany. Founded in 1989 as a small welding materials factory in central China’s Hunan Province, it is now the country’s biggest maker of construction equipment.

The company’s share price has risen from a 52-week low of 8.19 yuan to its current 15.59 yuan, and it has plans to go public in Hong Kong.

Zong, 66, founder and CEO of Hangzhou-based soft drinks company Wahaha, is second this year with 68 billion yuan.

Robin Li, 43, founder and CEO of web services company Baidu, is third with 56 billion yuan.

Baidu took advantage of Google’s withdrawal from the market last year to establish its leadership in Chinese Internet search services.

The list comprises 1,000 of the richest people on the mainland. Their average age is 51 and their average wealth is 5.9 billion yuan, 20 percent higher than a year ago.

Shanghai is home to 80 people on the list, third in the country. Beijing is where 111 of the super rich live, followed by Shenzhen with 83.

The number of US dollar billionaires this year reached 271, up from last year’s 189 and 2009′s 130.

China Watch Blog has learnt that more than 960,000 people on the Chinese mainland have a personal wealth exceeding 10 million yuan, up 9.7 percent from last year, Beijing Times reported, citing the white paper of the Hurun Wealth Report 2011 published jointly by the Hurun Research Institute and Group Knowledge.

The report says the average age of the millionaires is 39 years old, with 70 percent male and 30 percent female.

Shanghai

Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai are the top cities home to those with a personal wealth of over 10 million yuan, with 170,000, 157,000 and 132,000 millionaires in each city respectively.

The number of billionaires reached 60,000, with an average age of 43 years old. Around 4,000 of the billionaire group have a personal wealth of more than 1 billion yuan and approximately 200 have a wealth of more than 10 billion yuan.

The rise in the number of billionaires in China was due to the 10.3-percent GDP growth in 2010 and soaring real estate prices, the paper said.

China Watch Blog has picked up an article whose findings of a national city survey of Shanghai – a wealthy city with high living standards – show that many of its residents are far from happy.

Jiuguang department store, Nanjing West Road, Shanghai

Shanghai trails only Hong Kong in living standards and while it ranks fourth in its ability to create wealth, the China Institute of City Competitiveness says, the leading Chinese city falls behind many smaller cities to be only the 97th in a list of “happiest cities” in China.

China Daily reported that the survey’s authors point out that the criteria for happiness include a sense of belonging, safety and satisfaction of a city’s residents, and how much outsiders appreciate the city.

“People’s satisfaction toward life was merely average after 30 years’ of fast economic growth in China,” Zhang Liancheng, from the Capital University of Economics and Business, was quoted as saying. “Higher ranks for smaller cities may be due to their small size and the slower pace of living.”

The happiest cities in China are Hangzhou, Chengdu and Qingdao, which are recognized by residents and outsiders for their culture, food and scenic attractions, according to the survey.

”

China Watch Blog has learnt that a report from the country’s think tanks estimates that half of China’s city dwellers will be part of the middle class by 2023.

Based on data from 2000 to 2009, researchers calculated that 37 percent of city dwellers were part of the middle class in 2010. And that percentage is expected to surpass 45 percent in 2019 and exceed 52 percent in 2025, according to Zhang Lifeng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as quoted in an article by China Daily.

The annual report on the urban development of China, or Blue Book of Cities in China, was released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Wednesday. It defines the middle class by the amount of money a person spends on food as a percentage of total spending.

In order to build a moderately prosperous society, Song Yingchang, a colleague of Zhang at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ institute for urban and environment studies and the chief writer of the report, suggests that the country’s goal should be to have a graph of the country’s incomes look like an olive – with a broad middle and tapering ends.

Yours truly believes the report that the Chinese middle class will become larger and stronger, in fact, in ways people cannot imagine.

People from rural areas with dreams to the cities, work hard for a few years, save money and go back to their home towns and then start shops and even small factories to produce goods demanded by foreign customers. This has been going on, and the trend will be multiplied as time goes on, and the rich will become richer while the poor will become poorer.

China Watch Blog has learnt that a custom-made 1925 Rolls-Royce New Phantom, originally commissioned for Umed Singh II, Maharaja of Kotah, India, who used it to go tiger hunting, is to be auctioned by Bonhams at its annual Quail Lodge sale next month in Carmel, California during the Pebble Beach Car Week.

Some of the rich and famous are expected to bid for the car which is expected to sell for US$750,000 to US$1 million. “The massive and impeccably crafted car is powered by an 8.0-litre, 6-cylinder engine with dual-spark ignition that’s set to a low gearing ratio, allowing it to creep powerfully through the roughshod jungles of Rajasthan,” the auctioneer’s blurb says.

It also comes with a hidden safe, a nickel-plated hissing snake horn, mounted Howdah gun (double-barrel shotgun in pistol form), a rifle stand, two searchlights for night spotting, a mountable Lantaka cannon and a machine gun on an attached trailer.

The current owner apparently declined a suggestion by the Indian consulate that the car be repatriated to India and displayed in a museum. Damn poor show – don’t you think? asks Lai See columnist Howard Winn at Business Post of the SCMP.