TAIPEI - More than 58 percent of unmarried adult office workers in Taiwan have no plans to get married, and half of couples without children do not plan have them due to economic pressures and other reasons, according to a job website survey.Job website Yes123 conducted an online survey of 1,304 adult office workers aged 20 or above in March, and collected 888 questionnaires from enterprises.Unmarried respondents cited low income levels, difficulty to find the right person, can't afford to buy a house,, want to live a free life, and insufficient saving as the main reasons for not entering marriage.Demographic data showed about 135,400 couples got married in Taiwan last year, the lowest in nine years, while 181,600 new babies were born last year, the lowest in eight years.Demographic authorities estimate Taiwan will see negative population growth in 2022 and become a super aging society by 2026. Its work force could be halved in 2065 from the level of 2018.Yes123 found 38.7 percent of office workers said they had children.Half of workers without children said it was because their current incomes could not support such plans. Some said they were work-laden and too busy to look after children. Others said they were not satisfied with the education quality and institutions in Taiwan.Analyzing the survey results, Yang Tsung-pin, spokesman for Yes123, said low salaries, long work hours, high house prices and education environment were to blame for the low birth rate.To raise a child, a couple expects to have a decent monthly household income of 102,000 new Taiwan dollars (about $3,300) on average, or about 2.45 times the average regular salary level, according to survey. rubber bracelets amazonblue rubber bracelet meaningwristbands for eventsnike just do it rubber wristbandslokai rubber bracelet
A freight train crosses a bridge in Tangshan, Hebei province, during its 16-day journey to Antwerp, Belgium, in late April.Yang Shiyao / Xinhua Old-timers recall evolution from coal-fired boilers to electricity A train loaded with 41 steel shipping containers departed from Tangshan, Hebei province, in late April, marking the inauguration of an additional line of freight between China and Europe. The train was scheduled to travel 11,000 kilometers in 16 days to the Belgian city of Antwerp through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany. By March, freight trains were operating between 43 Chinese cities and 41 cities in 13 European countries, becoming a major means of freight transport between them. Tangshan, a coastal city some 150 km from Beijing, is known for its coal resources and steel industry. In 1881, a 9.7-km rail line from Tangshan to Xugezhuang, Hebei province, opened for coal transport. Designed by British engineer Claude W. Kinder, it was the first line with a global-standard track gauge of 1,435 millimeters in China. As the conservative imperial family of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) believed noisy moving locomotives with steam and smoke were inauspicious and would disturb the souls resting in the imperial tombs not far away, carriages on the line were approved only when pulled by horses and mules. Coal carriers Earlier, local coal had to be carried out on horseback to the seaport before it was loaded on ships to Shandong province for use, said Liu Fuzeng, deputy Party chief of the Tangshan locomotive operations and maintenance section of the Beijing Railway Bureau. The bureau manages railway operations in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. The line was later extended to Mukden, now called Shenyang, in Liaoning province, transporting cargo and passengers. During the extension project, Zhan Tianyou, a Yale graduate and designer of a railway bridge along the line - Luanhe Bridge - drew the attention of the government, Liu said. Zhan was later appointed as chief designer of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line, the first railway designed and built by China in the early 20th century. It is still in use. Although the design and construction were done by Ch - se people, all parts - including every single spike - was brought in from abroad, said Gu Lin, a manager at Tangshan South Station, the starting point of the Tangshan-Xugezhuang line. While the line was being built, a locomotive designed by Kinder was secretly being assembled with a secondhand boiler and cylinders. The locomotive, put into use in 1881, was called Rocket of China, according to a book by British writer Peter Crush, Imperial Railways of North China. Having no idea of what a rocket was, the fire-breathing, smoke-and steam-puffing monster was dubbed the dragon by Chinese mine workers. Li Zhensheng, 57, joined the locomotive's crew as a boiler worker after he retired from the military in 1986. He and the assistant driver had to take turns stoking the fire with coal, spade by spade. The water they drank was filled with coal dust. As the boiler blocked the drivers' view in the front, they had to pop their heads out of the side window constantly for safety checks. Many of them developed shoulder and neck problems. When Li served as an assistant driver of a diesel-powered locomotive in 1989, he considered it leapfrog progress. No more dirty coal, dusty air and constant stretching outside, and we even had fans and an electric stove, he said. When the electric locomotives came to the line in 2010, drivers even got air conditioning and a microwave oven. The trains became faster and faster, and more and more comfortable, Li said. Wang Lanbiao, a locomotive maintenance worker, said the reduced vibration of the trains was partly attributable to the shock-absorber technology. Unlike trains in the past that had springs to reduce the vibrations, now the trains are equipped with hydraulic dampeners and even shock-absorbing air bags, he said. On a China-made high-speed train, which runs as fast as 350 km per hour, a coin is able to stand on its edge. At the new Tangshan Railway Station, 71-year-old Zhang Shuyun was waiting for her train to Tianjin's Binhai New Area. The G1262 train takes 20 minutes to carry her home, a mere one-sixth of the time she would spend 40 years ago. It was the first time for Zhang, a former primary schoolteacher, to revisit Tangshan since her retirement 18 years ago. Smoke and smell Zhang recalled that in the past, the train coaches were full of smoke and unpleasant odors, and the train was very crowded, with some passengers standing in lavatories or sitting on the basins. When someone had to use the toilet, those packed inside had to get out before letting him or her in, she said. Back then, Tangshan was the only passage to reach Northeast China by rail. Since China began its reform and opening-up drive in 1978, a market economy has resulted in increased freight and passenger mobility. The railway network in the country hit 127,000 km in total length in 2017, including 25,000 km of high-speed lines. China also helps build railways in other countries, such as Zambia and Kenya. Increasingly, the railway lines are built solely using parts made in China. The changes are likewise amazing in urban construction. Zhang, who hadn't been to Tangshan for years, found herself lost in the city. I failed to spot any former buildings, and I knew none of the street names mentioned by the taxi driver, she said, adding that she had to call her former students to pick her up. Wu Zhanguo, deputy director of the railway affairs office of Tangshan, said construction had begun on a new station complex that would combine airport, railway, subway and bus facilities. Easier traffic will surely help attract talent here, he said.
