Latest news with #Zhang
The Star
3 hours ago
- Science
- The Star
60-year-old farmer in Anhui province, China builds submarine by hand
Zhang Shengwu and his submarine, "Big Black Fish". - Photo: CCTV News BEIJING: Zhang Shengwu, a 60-year-old farmer from Maanshan, Anhui province, successfully built a submarine by himself, which has drawn widespread attention. The 5-metric-ton home-built submarine, named "Big Black Fish", can dive to 8 meters, CCTV News reported. Zhang is a villager from Zhangdu village in Maanshan, Anhui province. He has been fascinated by invention since childhood. Over the years, Zhang has worked in carpentry, welding, and the shipping industry. Over 20 years ago, he returned to his hometown and built a wharf to sell sand, where he spent his days watching cargo ships come and go. Zhang Shengwu's first-generation submarine. - Photo: CCTV News In 2014, Zhang saw a person build a submarine through a TV programme, this inspired him to build one by himself. Despite his family's concerns over the cost and risk, Zhang insisted on building his own submarine. Drawing on his practical experience with boats and handcrafting, Zhang spent about 5,000 yuan (US$700) on materials. It took him six months to build his first submarine, which is 6 meters long, 1.2 meters high and weighs 2 tons. Although his first submarine suffered from sealing issues during submersion, the invention earned him a utility model patent. This submarine earned Zhang a national utility model patent. The only fly in the ointment is that it leaks when submerged. In 2016, he developed a surface vessel that generated minimal waves while in motion. This invention also received a utility model patent. However, this grassroots inventor had a bigger dream, his most ambitious project is the current new generation submarine. He invested over 40,000 yuan ($5,570) into its construction. This new submarine has a length of 7 meters, a height of 1.8 meters, and weighs 5 tons. It can dive to 8 meters, holds a capacity for two people and travels at a minimum speed of 4 nautical miles per hour. To improve its stability, Zhang poured about 2 tons of concrete into the bottom of the submarine and added two ballast tanks at both ends. "There are two ballast tanks, water fills the tanks to dive, and drains to the surface. The concrete provides weight to maintain stability," he explained. He also reinforced all weld points and used silicone and adhesive for watertight sealing. Watching his submarines grow larger and his techniques improve, he dreams of building an even larger, fully functional one. "Only when you try and succeed, you do realize what you're truly capable of," Zhang said. - China Daily/ANN
Borneo Post
7 hours ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
Sowing seeds of intelligence: Rural women fuel China's AI revolution
Wang works on AI training at Aidou Technology Co Ltd in Yijun County, Tongchuan City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province on June 12, 2025. – Xinhua photo XI'AN (July 20): Sitting in front of a computer, Wang Meimei tagged a paragraph, converted a voice message into text and marked the speaker's emotions. From the basic data processing of Deepseek to the facial recognition systems used in everyday payments, her work quietly supports the technology that powers many people's lives. But she is not, in fact, an office worker. At least not in the traditional sense. Wang, 46, from northwest China's Shaanxi Province, typically spends her days tending to fields of corn. Mondays, however, are different. At the start of every week, Wang heads to an office in Yijun County to her job as an artificial intelligence (AI) trainer. 'My job is to work as the AI's teacher, feeding it with information so that its replies are more accurate,' she said proudly. Wang's hometown, Tongchuan City, is on the Loess Plateau. In the past, her family eked out a living on the meager income generated from their 30 mu (about 2 hectares) plot of land. 'I was in a boarding school between grade 7 and 9. I would take a bag of steamed buns from home to school with me every Sunday,' she said, adding that they were her food for the entire week. 'My biggest dream then was that one day, I do not have to eat dry, moldy buns.' Like many of her fellow villagers, she left education after middle school; instead, choosing to start earning money through farming and casual work. In the following years, constant improvements to agricultural mechanisation meant she spent less and less time in the field. With her newfound free time, Wang looked for other opportunities. On February 21, 2021, she made her way to Aidou Technology Co Ltd in the county seat of Yijun, for an interview she had secured thanks to a friend's recommendation. 'I had never heard of AI before,' Wang admitted. 'During the interview, I dared not even look up.' A lack of confidence was the impression most interviewees left on Zhang Rui, the head of the company. 'When the company was in its early stage of recruitment, many of the applicants were local farmers,' she recalled. 'Some even called us to ask how to operate the elevator to reach the floor for the interview. They were nervous and many even cried when they struggled to answer our questions.' Zhang was not put off by the lack of confidence she saw in those interviewees. In fact, she saw vast untapped potential in the candidates, and felt, with a little training, they could far exceed their own expectations. Data annotation is a fast-growing industry in China, which is home to seven data annotation bases with 58,000 workers, according to the National Data Administration. Headquartered in Hangzhou in China's AI heartland of Zhejiang Province, Aidou is the first AI data annotation enterprise in Tongchuan. Zhang shared that the local government invited technology enterprises to increase employment quality, revitalise the countryside and boost the local economy. Therefore, the company kept its recruitment standards relatively flexible, considering candidates of all ages. 'What we value most is patience and the ability to learn, because this is an industry that is constantly evolving,' she said. Wang works at a corn field in Guozhai Village of Yijun County, Tongchuan City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province on June 12, 2025. – Xinhua photo With a small population of only 72,000 people, Yijun was an underdeveloped county with much of its workforce choosing to leave for work opportunities. To find suitable employees, staff from the county's employment service center visited all the townships to talk to local women, and encouraged local university students to look for opportunities in their hometown. 'Finally we found 20 plus workers,' said Bai Yanqi with the center. They also provided a venue and supporting facilities for the company free-of-charge. Today, the company has grown significantly, employing more than 240 staff members, over 70 per cent of whom are women from nearby villages. They began by learning basic computer skills and have now become certified AI trainers. The company's revenue has exceeded 35 million yuan (about US$4.9 million). 'Here for a woman like me, in her 40s, most of the job opportunities are for waitstaff or supermarket cashiers, which are shift work. 'In that case, it would be hard for me to juggle work and family,' she told Xinhua. Now earning 4,000 yuan a month with Aidou, she enjoys flexible working hours, allowing her to care for her family while also discovering a sense of value in her job. 'Before I took this job, at home I used to care for my husband, who was the main breadwinner in our family, and my children,' Wang recalled. 'Now that I have helped graduate AI from a 'primary school student' to a 'middle high school student,' my husband and children are all very supportive, and even volunteered to help out with the housework so I can focus more on my work.' She also now uses AI to help with some of her real-world problems. 'For instance, I have used Deepseek to search for corn diseases and find the right treatment,' she said. Like Wang, other rural women who used to play mahjong or square dance in their spare time have seen their lives change. The job with AI opened up a whole new world. Ma Shuaishuai, who was a nursery teacher, is now versed in AI application scenarios such as driverless technology, higher education, ecological environment, and finance and insurance. Wang Haili, once a textile worker and courier, recently bought a 100,000 yuan sedan to use for local travel. 'Their horizons have been broadened,' said Zhang Rui. 'From what I have seen, the most noticeable change for those women is that they are becoming more confident and have higher self-worth.' Some women wore slippers to the office at the beginning. Now they wear business suits. In recent years, the Chinese government has introduced a wide range of measures to accelerate AI innovation and promote its application, intending to support new industrialisation and the development of the industrial sector. China's pool of AI researchers surged from fewer than 10,000 in 2015 to over 52,000 in 2024. The country has made holistic advancements in AI development, fostering a thriving AI industrial ecosystem. It now hosts over 400 'little giant' firms – specialised small and medium-sized enterprises that excel in niche AI markets, including AI innovator DeepSeek. For Yijun County, the development of AI has created jobs for more than 1,000 people. Its potential has attracted talent to carve out a career in their hometown, like 31-year-old Zhao Yangjuan who quit her job in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi. 'I can see more young people like me coming back, and Yijun is becoming more prosperous,' she said. 'AI is not only changing individuals like me, but also where I come from.' Wang Meimei told Xinhua that she has to work hard. 'AI is developing so fast in our country, so I have to continue learning to keep pace with the latest technology,' she said. – Xinhua AI China rural women Xian Xinhua
HKFP
a day ago
- HKFP
Big Black Fish: Chinese farmer makes splash with homemade submarine
A 60-year-old farmer in China has built his own 'Big Black Fish' — a homemade submarine that can accommodate two people, dive eight metres and stay underwater for 30 minutes at a time. Zhang Shengwu, a villager in China's eastern Anhui province, recently launched his five-ton sub into the river near his rural home, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday. Footage from CCTV showed Zhang piloting the seven-metre (23-foot) steel craft from its hatch while surfaced and diving down with the hatch closed. After seeing footage of submarine construction on TV in 2014, Zhang, a former carpenter who also worked in shipping, decided to start building his own. 'I've been around the water for many years and seen iron boats and wooden boats, but I had never seen a boat that can dive into the water,' Zhang said. 'I thought, if others can do it, I can do it too.' Despite his wife's opposition to the 'expensive, risky, useless' idea, Zhang began pursuing his submarine dream, first by spending 5,000 yuan (US$700) on steel plates, engines and other materials. The inventor launched his 'first generation' sub in 2016, but it leaked. 'It was like a dream. I was both afraid of it leaking and hoped to go deeper,' Zhang said. Years later, after spending another 40,000 yuan on a new hulking steel structure, pouring two tons of concrete into the bottom of the submarine, and adding two ballast tanks, Zhang's Big Black Fish was ready for sea trials. Unlike the Chinese navy's advanced nuclear-powered submarines that can spend months submerged, Zhang's sub uses a small battery and electric motor, can travel just four knots per hour and needs to surface after half an hour. He plans to build an even bigger submarine in the future. Zhang is not the first Chinese inventor to take a deep dive into submarine construction. In 2015, a villager in China's northern Shaanxi province accumulated a debt of 200,000 yuan to fund the construction of his 9.2-metre-long submarine. In 2009, karaoke bar worker Tao Xiangli cruised around a local reservoir in Beijing in a homemade submarine.
Borneo Post
a day ago
- General
- Borneo Post
‘How do we love?': Young Chinese explore answers in classrooms
A student takes selfies with family members at a national college entrance examination site in Shijiazhuang City, north China's Hebei Province on June 9, 2025. – Xinhua photo BEIJING (July 19): In an era that increasingly values diverse life choices – whether embracing romance, exploring virtual love, or opting out altogether – one question still resonates with many, especially the young: How do we love and be loved in return? At Wuhan University of Technology (WUT), in central China's Hubei Province, that very question lingers in the minds of over a hundred students enrolled in one of the university's most popular electives: Psychology of Love. But this is no dating bootcamp. It's a form of emotional education, urgently needed as many young people feel ill-equipped to manage the emotional complexities of modern connection, particularly in a time of increasing academic, economic, and psychological pressure. For sophomore Zou Tao, who is navigating a long-distance relationship with his high school sweetheart, the class has offered something missing from his years of academic training: lessons on how to understand emotions and effective communication. 'My girlfriend sometimes gets upset at the worst moments,' Zou said. 'I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know why, or how to respond. This course helps.' Zou is part of a growing wave of young Chinese searching for more than just an answer to whether to love. They are asking how to build, understand, and sustain intimate relationships. Based on a nationwide survey of 32,282 college students, researchers at the Beijing-based Capital University of Economics and Business found that while 53.86 per cent had been in a romantic relationship, only 26.5 per cent were currently involved. Notably, about 25 per cent had neither dating experience nor interest in pursuing one. 'Many students are emotionally curious but deeply confused. They crave closeness yet fear vulnerability,' noted Zhang Xiaowen, who teaches Psychology of Love at WUT and draws on her dual roles as a psychology professor and long-time student counselor. Despite its title, Zhang's course focuses on fostering emotionally intelligent, healthy relationships – romantic or otherwise – through case studies and open in-class discussion. Students are encouraged to share their experiences and struggles in class and build friendships across genders, gaining new perspectives to move beyond self-centeredness. 'Of course, we are not here for dating tips from a textbook,' said Zou. He credits the course's interactive format with helping him clarify his thoughts, reduce relationship anxiety, and gradually find his emotional compass. Since its launch in 2012, Zhang's course has drawn overwhelming interest. Although capped at 130 students, over 1,500 attempt to enroll each semester, with some even sitting on the floor or standing in the back to attend. Across Chinese campuses, romance-themed electives are becoming unexpected hits. At Zhejiang Gongshang University, more than 1,600 students competed for 70 slots in a similar love psychology course. At Wuhan University, over 1,000 students signed up for a Positive Psychology course that only had 200 spaces. But not all such courses receive praise. At a Shanghai university, one love-related elective sparked backlash over what students perceived as outdated or gender-biased content. 'The last thing we want is to be preached at,' said a master's student surnamed Wen. 'We need tools to handle real-life emotional challenges, not romantic doctrine.' This sentiment underscores the importance of well-constructed, empathetic courses like WUT's Psychology of Love. Now listed as a national-level premium psychology course on China's massive open online course (MOOC) platform, it has reached well beyond the classroom, attracting over a million cumulative enrollments online. The popularity of love education runs alongside real societal concerns. Between 2013 and 2022, China's marriage registrations declined for nine consecutive years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. After a brief rebound in 2023, the number dropped again in 2024. A 2025 survey by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) found that among 55,781 college students and 7,366 adults, those aged 18 to 24 showed lower levels of desire for romantic relationships, marriage, or parenthood. Cao Aihua, a sociology professor at Nankai University, noted that while many young people aren't opposed to love or marriage, they tend to prioritise academic and career development. 'They're pragmatic,' she said, 'and place greater value on personal feelings and fulfillment.' Zhang from WUT noted a critical shortfall in China's education system: 'We teach academic knowledge and professional skills, but we don't teach students how to be alone without feeling lonely, how to express emotions, or how to communicate in a relationship or family.' Chen Zhiyan, professor at the CAS Institute of Psychology, echoed that view. She suggests that topics related to marriage and family should be integrated into subjects like ethics, psychology, Chinese, and English throughout the entire education process, since 'all texts carry values and ideas'. But experts caution that classroom instruction alone isn't enough. 'The development of attitudes toward love and marriage is a complex, multifaceted process shaped by various influences,' said Zhang Jiangxing, director of the psychology center at Jinan University in Guangdong Province. Compared to family upbringing and societal factors, classroom education can play an important but limited supporting role, he argued. Still, even modest classroom interventions can make a difference. Student feedback suggests the message is getting through. One married learner taking the course of Psychology of Love on the MOOC platform wrote: 'I have been married for years, but this class made me realise how little I understood marriage. I have started listening more and arguing less.' Another posted, 'Love is beautiful. But the most important thing is learning how to love yourself.' For WUT student Zou, that insight rings true. He's still learning how to navigate the emotional landscape of young adulthood – but now with greater awareness. 'Dating is about finding someone you like and becoming a better version of yourself in the process,' he said. And marriage? Zou smiled. 'That's for the future. First, let's learn how to love.' – Xinhua China love romance Wuhan University of Technology Xinhua
a day ago
Questions about surrogacy are raised in case of California couple with house brimming with kids
The removal of 21 children from the custody of a Los Angeles-area couple has put a spotlight on the practice of using surrogates to build a family. Surrogacy has no federal regulation, leaving it up to states to set the rules if they choose to allow it. The kids — 15 at the couple's mansion and six more living elsewhere — were taken by an LA County child welfare agency in May after the parents were accused of failing to intervene in the abuse of a baby by a nanny, police in Arcadia said. The children range in age from 2 months to 13 years, with most between 1 and 3, police said. The FBI won't comment but agents are investigating. Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, have not responded to emails seeking comment. Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of the children while the rest were born by surrogate. Some women who were paid surrogates for the couple now say they were unaware that the couple was accumulating a supersize family, raising questions about their intentions. 'What were they going to do with these children?' said Deborah Wald, a lawyer in San Francisco whose expertise includes surrogacy law. Surrogacy is an agreement between parties to have a woman become pregnant, typically through an embryo transfer, and deliver a baby. The intended parent or parents might struggle with infertility. They also could be same-sex couples. There's no limit on how many children someone can have through surrogates or any other method, said Wald, who is not involved in the Arcadia case. She acknowledged that California is considered a 'surrogacy-friendly state" because it has clear laws around the process. Both sides are required to have lawyers, and there must be a written, notarized contract before an embryo transfer, Wald said. 'The legitimate surrogacy community in California is very distressed when things like this happen,' Wald said of surrogates feeling deceived. 'We've worked very hard on legal and ethical standards. It hurts everyone when something like this happens.' There are businesses that act as matchmakers, connecting surrogates to people who want to have children. State business records show a company called Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC had been registered at the Arcadia address of Zhang and Xuan. It's not clear if Zhang and Xuan set up the business solely to find surrogates for themselves. State records show the company terminated its business license in June. Wald said there are no special licensing requirements in California for businesses that match surrogates with intended parents. Wald said there should have been plenty of checks and balances in the process, noting the role of fertility clinics in handling embryos. 'The first place typically is the matching program that matches the surrogate with an intended parent. But in this situation the intended parents were the matching program,' Wald said. 'I am not familiar with any other prior case where that was true.' Arcadia police said the six children who were not at the couple's home were found with family friends. The couple's house was 'set up for a school environment,' Lt. Kollin Cieadlo said. Zhang and Xuan were accused of neglect and arrested in May. Charges were not formally pursued at that time in order for an abuse investigation to continue, and detectives now believe there were other instances of abuse, Cieadlo said. A 2-month-old infant with a traumatic head injury, allegedly at the hands of a nanny, remains in a hospital in stable condition, he said. California law requires child welfare agencies to prioritize placing children who cannot safely be with their parents in homes with extended family, and requires siblings to be kept together unless it would endanger the child to do so, said Leslie Heimov, the executive director of the Children's Law Center of California. The Children's Law Center has worked with some families with 10 to 12 children, Heimov said. A family with 20 children or more is 'unusual," she added. It's more complicated to find foster homes for larger families that can accommodate all the children's needs, especially for infants, Heimov said. In addition to expenses and limited space, it's hard to give infants the proper stimulation and care they need if they are in a home with many other children, she said. In cases involving many children, the state will sometimes get creative to make sure that siblings can maintain relationships with each other, like placing them in the same neighborhood, or placing them in different but related households, Heimov said. A case involving over 20 children conceived through surrogacy would 'present some legal questions,' said Heimov. 'But it would not change our advocacy — we want every child we represent to be in a loving, safe home."
