Life of Old,Sick and Handicapped Prisoners in China

At the foot of the Great Wall northwest of Beijing, there is a special prison, called Yan-qing Prison. It is special, because it gathers all the imprisoned old, sick and handicapped offenders in the Beijing area for the purpose of facilitating management. A prison warden said that there are more than 1,100 inmates in the prison. Among them more than 900 are aged, sick and handicapped and more than 200 able-bodied inmate volunteers who undertake the tasks of taking care of them, cooking, cleaning and other odd-jobs that the other inmates are unable to do.     

To Touch Soul of Rakes——Reform school of juvenile offenders

Separated from the women's prison by only a wall is a big courtyard. It is a world of green. We were told that growing in the three hectare courtyard are more than 3,000 of tall trees and bushes in more than 100 species, 3,000 pots of plants, 4,000 square meters of vegetative cover and nearly 10,000 square meters of flower beds, and lawns. There is also a rockery and a fall and more than 700 square meters of roof garden. No one could associate the place with the word "prison." But it is a prison-a prison or reform school for educating and correcting juvenile delinquents.     

Call of True Passion and Conscience——A visit to a women''''s prison

The Shanghai Women's Prison was built in October 1996. Walking into the confinement, we felt that it is a special kingdom of women. The prison warden is a middle-aged woman, looking very agile and capable. Guards coming with her were all young girls, elegant and beautiful. If not for their police uni forms, they should have been taken as college students. As soon as we sat down, we were shown a film strip that recorded the moving scenes of women inmates and guards spending the 2001 Spring Festival together. One scene presented representatives of women's federation of the Putuo District of Shanghai, who visited the     

Resounding Music Within the High Walls

The No. 4 Prison in Yunnan Province is resounded with beautiful music every day, striking the note of the care about the cultural life among the inmates inside the high walls. The prison organized the orchestra in October 1999. Despite the tight pocket of the prison, it spent nearly 20,000 yuan buying electronic organs, guitars, drums, violins, saxophones and trumpets and later to the orchestra were added such Chinese musical instruments as Sheng, Gu Zheng, Piba and clarinet. Now the orchestra boasts 53 pieces of musical instruments in 22 categories. The members of the orchestra have increased from the original 23 to 29. The name of the orchestra "Concern" signifies that the prison needs the understanding and support from the society and prison inmate needs social care and assistance in their correction. At the beginning, few of the members knew anything about music. The prison     

Rehabilitative Environment for Prison Servers

A prison can be something different as ordinary people imagine. It can be a therapeutic and rehabilitative environment, a place where human beings can learn to cope with the stressful situations they could not deal with in their past. That is what happens in the Rencheng prison under the administration of Lineng Prison Sub-Bureau of East China's Shandong Province.     

"Job Fair" Inside High Walls

It is the first time ever in China to see a job fair held in a prison aimed at offering an opportunity for offenders to return to the society; and it was held at a time when the employment situa- tion in the whole country is grave. But the Xingcheng Prison in Chang- sha, capital of Central China’s Hunan Province, insisted on holding the fair as a way to introduce inmates to programs and tools that can help them reintegrate into the community after their release. It turned out to be a succe…     

Human Rights Experts Visit a New Type Prison

The compound with tidy buildings, spacious playground and green lawns is so pleasant looking that few would link it to a jail. The soft-colored walls, though topped with electric wire, reveal no sense of gloom. Only the sentinels on the watch-towers in the corners, and the blue uniforms with white stripes on the residents inside the walls, remind the visitor that this is indeed a prison.     

Help to Convicts'''' Families in Need

Incredible ! Prisons have extended financial or material help to convicts' families in difficulty. But it is tree. That is what the Chifeng Prison in North China initiated. See the following cases: Convict Li Guoqiang was thrown into prison in 1994, leaving a heavy burden on his family. Apart from a heap of debts, there are two young children. His elder son dropped school dne to inability to pay tuition. Li felt very much downhearted in prison. Knowing this, the prison warders volunteer to contribute money and clothing. In just five days, the     

Prisons of Learning——Human rights in the eye of a prisoner

On February 25, 2004, the United States issued its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003, distorting the human rights conditions in China, including human rights in Chinese prisons. As a prison inmate in Beijing, I have a say in the human rights conditions in prison based on my personal experience. 1 wrote an article titled "Human Rights in Chinese Prisons in the Eye of a Prison Inmate," which was published in the journal Human Rights (Issue No. 6,2003 of English Edition). Now I'd like to say something about the right to education in Chinese prisons.     

The changing face of Dongbei

A fewyears ago, taking the train to Shanhaiguan, I noticed it was going on to Changchun, a city I knew very little about. In fact, there seemed little incentive for me to go to the Northeast because I had the preconception that it was all declining heavy industry. I had no idea of its physical or cultural diyer-sity and its great tourism potential. Nor did I appreciate the efforts being made to revitalise the area and move to a modern economy. Recent visits, although brief, have shown me there is a lot to see and to experience. A longer return visit features in my future plans.     

Human Rights In Chinese Prisons In the Eye of a Prison Inmate

I'm serving a prison term at the Beijing Prison. It is already more than four years. One day in September 2000, one of my brothers who reside overseas came to see me. In private, he asked me: "Do you have enough to eat? Have you ever been beaten by anybody? Do you do very hard work? Is it cold in winter?" His questions startled me. They showed the unjust reports by foreign media and that made my brother worried about me.     

Psychological Counseling Helps Prison Inmates Turn a New Lease in Life

Psychological counseling for prison inmates appeared in Jiangsu in the late 1980s, and it is now available in all prisons in this east China province. According to Yu Airong, director of the Jiangsu Provincial Prison Administration     

Finding Friends

An expatriate life has a certain thrill to it-a new country, a new culture, the exploits and escapades-but it is the interaction with the people that we carry with us on our last flight back home.My China sojourn began in the summer of 1999-September 20 to be exact. It was supposed to last a couple of months, and as it happens to many of us,I ended up staying longer than I had planned to.     

The green leaves of Nanjing

August 1989Hot town, summer in the city, with temperatures in the high 30s. Amazingly enough, the heat is bearable because there is plenty of shade. Nanjing is famous for the plane trees that line its streets and avenues. It's a good thing for people like me who have little vegetation on their heads: we don't have to worry about getting sunburnt on top.1989 being a year when nothing much is being done by way of business, I have plenty of time to travel around different parts of China. Nanjing most certainly is one of the nicer destinations among the places I am visiting. One of the most beautiful features of the city is the Zijin Shan (Purple Mountain) right in the middle of it. Few places I have been to can boast of such an attraction. Miles and miles of woodland to climb, and then     

Women＇s World Without Freedom——A glimpse of novel management of the Beijing Women＇s Prison

May 8 Women's Day "I will never sink with the waves. For the sake of the most beloved ones, I must be strong, no matter how hard it is; the dream is there, with the heart; there is true love between heaven and the earth; there are successes and failures in life; it is nothing but to start anew......"     

How Fujian Prisons Guarantee Human Rights of Inmates

China has accelerated the reform of the prison system. How is the result of the reform? What about the living and studying conditions in the prison? How does the prison correct the inmates? What about the mental state of people serving prison terms? With these and other questions, we came to some prisons in Fujian Province and saw for ourselves. "Sunshine Project" We were told that all the prisons in the province introduced the open prison affairs     

Inside High Walls——Prisons in Shanghai and Suzhou

The article is based on a visit to the Tilanqiao, Qingpu and Women's prisons and a juvenile delinquent rehabilitation center in Shanghai and the Suzhou Prison of Jiangsu Province in February 2001 by the author, a graduate student of human rights. She made the trip with a group of experts from China Society for Human Rights Studies.     

Yan Ping: Deal with the Eternal

正"A lot of Chinese painters today work in a realist style because they believe it is more objective in dealing with current events and that seems to be popular.I work in an expressionist style and thematically,I deal with that which is eternal."THERE are far fewer contemporary Chinese female artists than male artists,especially painters.That is a simple fact substantiated for the most part in the marketplace but also,statistically,by the number of female artists whose work is exhibited in museums.Yan Ping is an exception.She     

The Lyric of Colors——Pang Chun, a Chinese Artist in Japan

I was quite surprised when I was presented before Pang Chun's paintings!First, I was in surprise with the colors of his paintings: strong, bright and shining. The colors mingle in one picture harmoniously with a brilliant contrast. I never saw an artist who could take advantage of colors so audaciously. The more surprising is that his domination and exercise of colors doesn't make you feel uneasy, on the contrary, you will find them very harmoniously pleavsant to eyes such as his paintings: "Halo", "the King of Trees" and " First Sun Rays".     

Not Only for the Sake of Charity——A Chinese facility for protection of street urchins

In whatever country and for whatever period of human history, it is those lofty aspirations cherished by the human race that have motivated people to go in for charity. The Chinese culture that dates back to thousands of years ago has always called for charity. Numerous ancient maxims testify to this established fact—"extending the same care you give your own elders and children to others' elders and children," "helping a needy person on hand is worthier than worshipping a god in a faraway land,"