Real Reason for Railway Blues

It is recently claimed by a senior railway official that the fundamental reason for the railway overload during holidays, especially the family reunion-themed Spring Festival, is that ticket prices are too low.

A low price will encourage more people to choose to travel by railway and thus overstretches the transportation capacity, said Luo Jinbao, Deputy Executive Director of Beijing Railway Bureau. He suggested if the price is raised, then some travelers will turn to other means of transport.

Who are the majority that travel by railway? Obviously, students, who still have no stable income but mainly rely on family support, and migrant workers, who live from hand to mouth.

According to statistics from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, from 2003 to 2006, the highest monthly average wage for migrant workers was 953 yuan ($135 now). Most of them have to work for at least 11 months a year for a return of less than 10,000 yuan ($1,400 now). For example, the lowest one-way train fare from Beijing to southwest China's Chongqing is 238 yuan ($34). When the highest monthly wage is only 953 yuan, a round trip actually costs the migrant workers half of their month's wage. In this sense, the ticket price is not low but actually too high.

The current railway ticket prices, which the official claimed to be too low, are not responsible for the railway overload, and charging travelers more will not ease the demand-supply tension. The real solution is: more input and continuous efforts to expand the country's railway network. This is the only way that railway travel is no longer a headache to the poorer passengers during the traffic peak.

The Beijing News

A Healthy Alternative

How to improve the medical service in vast rural areas is a major concern in Chinese society. Although the huge farming population has been covered by the government-assisted cooperative medical system and there are medical service centers in many rural communities, the country now has an uneven distribution of medical resources. Most of the sophisticated medical equipment and well-trained doctors can be found in big cities only.

Is it possible to formulate regulations and rules to encourage urban hospitals to extend their service to the countryside, just like the retail chains? At least, they can have cooperation with township health centers and open special clinics there, making high-quality and advanced medical services accessible to rural communities.

Of course, this is not an easy job. But as a possible solution for China's current medical care dilemma, it's worth further discussion and its success largely depends on government support.

Beijing Youth Daily

Premium Prices for Preschools

Taking advantage of parents who want to give their children the best start possible in life, kindergartens in many Chinese cities are offering special classes in subjects such as playing piano. Some classes charge 2,000 yuan or even higher for one-month studies, leading to parents rightly feeling that kindergartens charge more than colleges.

It was suggested at this year's full session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, that preschool education should be made compulsory so that the government would pay for the costs. Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, reportedly has already launched a pilot project in this regard.

Overcharged preschool education is partly attributed to the limited and unevenly distributed teaching resources; but fundamentally, it is because this education is not subject to rigid and explicit legal regulations. As a result, kindergartens can price their services more arbitrarily than primary and middle schools that have their fees regulated by the government.

Given the fact that the country's education budget is still tight, the extension of compulsory education might impose financial difficulties to most local governments and is therefore impossible in the short term. Therefore, it's urgent for the government to regulate tuition fees for preschool education.

Yanzhao Metropolis Daily

Quantity Not Quality

According to sources with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China has become the top TV drama producer and broadcaster in the world. It's estimated that soap operas are being produced at a speed of 40 episodes every day and they are shown on 1,764 of the country's 1,974 TV channels.

It is therefore a paradox that after scanning through the 60 channels available on most TV sets, audiences say they can find few dramas that are eye-catching. Most of the soapies involve a love triangle and a great many are roughly adapted from kungfu fiction, which have nothing to do with daily reality.

The problem facing TV stations is: Despite the high number of shows, it's very difficult to find productions that they believe the audience would like to watch. As a result, they have to rebroadcast the old classics repeatedly, so that they can hold on to audiences and save expenses on purchasing new programs.

Nowadays, driven by large profit margins, it's inevitable to see some low-quality TV programs. Nevertheless, broadcasters must become aware of how to promote a better TV culture. If not, poorly produced shows will continue to waste resources.

China Youth Daily