Journal articles on the topic 'Beijing tong chang'

Studies on Mandarin tone sandhi have focused on Beijing Mandarin. Taiwan has been politically separated from mainland China since 1949, but it is not known if tone sandhi in Taiwan Mandarin displays different patterns or characteristics. However, there has been no comparative study to investigate if Beijing Mandarin and Taiwan Mandarin display the same tone sandhi pattern. This study aims to fill this gap by comparing Beijing and Taiwan Mandarin through a productive experiment to examine acoustic differences between sandhied tone 3 and lexical tone 2. The results indicate that tone 3 sandhi among Mandarin dialects is not a homogeneous category, but displays a graded phenomenon of a categorical change and tonal reduction. The experimental evidence shows that acoustic difference between sandhied tone 3 and lexical tone 2 is larger in Beijing Mandarin than that in Taiwan Mandarin. Gender effects are also detected and acoustic difference in female samples is consistently larger than that in male samples across Beijing and Taiwan Mandarin. The findings suggest that the third tone sandhi in Beijing Mandarin is more like a categorical change (i.e., changed to lexical tone 2) whereas the sandhi in Taiwan Mandarin is more like a tonal reduction.

Abstract Kunming exhibits a special kind of interaction between tone and prominence whereby the prosodic headedness is shown to play an indirect role in tone sandhi. Due to higher-ranked tonal faithfulness constraints, lower tones, which are universally unfavored in the head position, do not change to higher tones, and higher tones, which are universally unfavored in the non-head position, do not change to lower tones. Nonetheless, though the unfavored tone-(non-)head correlation does not directly trigger tone sandhi, it indirectly decides whether tone sandhi will take place. Falling tones, inter-syllabic tone segment disagreement, and tonal combinations with identical contours are marked tonal structures in the language. But not all these structures result in tone sandhi. The penalization of these structures is tied to an unfavored tone-(non-)head correlation; only when an undesired tone-(non-)head correlation is involved are the marked tonal structures penalized. The indirect tone-(non-)head interaction observed in Kunming is special but not unique to the language as a similar correlation is found in the Chinese dialects of Dongshi Hakka and Beijing Mandarin.

Global increasing carbon emissions have triggered a series of environmental problems and greatly affected the production and living of human beings. This study estimated carbon emissions from land use change in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region during 1990–2020 with the carbon emission model and explored major influencing factors of carbon emissions with the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model. The results suggested that the cropland decreased most significantly, while the built-up area increased significantly due to accelerated urbanization. The total carbon emissions in the study area increased remarkably from 112.86 million tons in 1990 to 525.30 million tons in 2020, and the built-up area was the main carbon source, of which the carbon emissions increased by 370.37%. Forest land accounted for 83.58–89.56% of the total carbon absorption but still failed to offset the carbon emission of the built-up area. Carbon emissions were influenced by various factors, and the results of this study suggested that the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita contributed most to the increase of carbon emissions in the study area, resulting in a cumulative increase of carbon emissions by 9.48 million tons, followed by the land use structure, carbon emission intensity per unit of land, and population size. By contrast, the land use intensity per unit of GDP had a restraining effect on carbon emissions, making the cumulative carbon emissions decrease by 103.26 million tons. This study accurately revealed the variation of net carbon emissions from land use change and the effects of influencing factors of carbon emissions from land use change in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which can provide a firm scientific basis for improving the regional land use planning and for promoting the low-carbon economic development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Carbon sink enhancement is of great significance to achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality. This study firstly estimated the carbon sink in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region using the carbon absorption coefficient method. Then, this study explored the differentiation of carbon sink enhancement potential with a carbon sink–economic carrying capacity index matrix based on carbon sink carrying capacity and economic carrying capacity under the baseline scenario and target scenario of land use. The results suggested there was a remarkable differentiation in total carbon sink in the study area, reaching 2,056,400 and 1,528,300 tons in Chengde and Zhangjiakou and being below 500,000 tons in Langfang and Hengshui, while carbon sink per unit land area reached 0.66 ton/ha in Qinhuangdao and only 0.28 t/ha in Tianjin under the baseline scenario. Increasing area and optimizing spatial distribution of arable land, garden land, and forest, which made the greatest contribution to total carbon sinks, is an important way of enhancing regional carbon sinks. A hypothetical benchmark city can be constructed according to Qinhuangdao and Beijing, in comparison with which there is potential for carbon sink enhancement by improving carbon sink capacity in Beijing, promoting economic carrying capacity in Qinhuangdao, and improving both in the other cities in the study area.

With the increase in energy demand, environmental issues such as carbon emissions are becoming more and more prominent. China will scale its intended nationally determined contributions by adopting more vigorous policies and measures. China aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The current challenge and priority of China’s high-quality development is to ensure a harmonious balance between the ecological environment and the economy. The South-to-North Water Diversion Project passes through Beijing, Tianjin, Henan, and Hebei, which were chosen as the study sites. The carbon emission data was from the China Carbon Emission Database 2000–2019. Decoupling modeling using statistical yearbook data from four provinces and municipalities. KMO and Bartlett’s test used SPSS 27 software. The selection of indicators was based on relevance. Analyses were performed using the extended STIRPAT model and ridge regression. Moreover, projections of carbon peaks in the study area for 2020–2035 under different rates of change were simulated by the scenario analysis method. The results show that: (1) The decoupling analysis of the four provinces and cities from 2000-2019 gradually shifts to strong decoupling; (2) Resident population, energy structure, and secondary industry as a proportion of GDP significantly impact carbon emissions; (3) From 2000–2035, Beijing and Henan experienced carbon peaks. The peak time in Beijing was 96.836 million tons in 2010. The peak time in Henan was 654.1004 million tons in 2011; (4) There was no peak in Hebei from 2000–2035.

In order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality and explore the impact of COVID-19 on urban road carbon emission, this study applied and improved a near real-time road carbon emission estimation method for typical Chinese urban agglomeration to improve the rapid evaluation of sustainable development. As a result, we recorded the daily road carbon emission for 12 cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (JJJ) region under the impact of the epidemic, exploring the road carbon reduction effect caused by COVID-19. Singular value decomposition method was used to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of road carbon emission changes among cities and to explore the urban resilience oriented to public events. The results show: (1) In the JJJ region, the carbon reduction effect caused by COVID-19 is significant, but it lasted for a short time. In the three periods—before the epidemic, strict lockdown period, and post-lockdown period for prevention and control—the total daily road carbon emissions in the 12 cities were 170,000–190,000 tons, 90,000–110,000 tons, and 160,000–180,000 tons, respectively. (2) Cities in the JJJ region showed different road carbon reduction potential under short-term administrative control. During the “strict lockdown period” (23 January–25 February 2020), the average change rate of road carbon emissions in Beijing was −78.72%, which had great potential for reduction. However, the average change rates of Xingtai and Zhangjiakou were only −7.53% and −8.66%, respectively. (3) There are spatiotemporal differences in carbon emissions of urban roads in the JJJ region under the impact of the epidemic. During the gradual reduction of COVID-19 restrictions, great differences between cities on weekends and holidays arise, showing the road carbon emissions in Beijing on weekends and holidays are far lower than that in other cities. (4) In the face of public emergencies, the larger the city is and the more complex the function of the city is, the more difficult for the city is to maintain a steady state. This study not only provides an idea for the dynamic monitoring of urban carbon emissions to improve the rapid evaluation of urban sustainable development in post- and pre-lockdown but also fills the gap in the research on the differences in the response of cities to sudden security incidents from the perspective of road carbon emissions.

The subject of this study is the competitive relations in the political and economic spheres that have developed on the African continent in the 21st century between the French Republic and the People’s Republic of China. The author focuses on the main conflict-generating factors that caused the latent confrontation between the two countries that arose in the face of a changing geopolitical situation in the world in general and in Africa in particular. The methodological basis of this study is the comparative historical method; the work is based on the principles of historicism, reliability and scientific objectivity. Using the method of historical reconstruction allowed the author to trace the dynamics of relations between France and China over the past two decades. The work is based on the study of factual historical material, a chronicle of the events of the last decade; analytical materials published on the pages of French and Russian mass media were used. The author concludes that the basis of the conflict between Paris and Beijing lies in the desire of the Champs Elysees not only to preserve the political, economic and military-strategic preferences of France in the countries that were formerly colonies of the French Empire, but also to protect French interests in the English-speaking countries of East Africa. The rapid growth of China’s influence on the African continent, the ever more obvious expansion of the Heavenly Empire into the economies of African countries, forces France to change the paradigm of its foreign policy. If the predecessors of E. Macron, denying in words the policy of “Françafrique”, relied on the use of military force and covert operations of the French security services then the current head of the Fifth Republic in his relations with African countries prefers to use his resources on “soft power” politics. The experience gained by E. Macron during his first (not very successful) African tour in 2017 prompted him to change the tone of communication with the leaders of African countries from patronically arrogant to friendly and trusting.

The changeable patterns and contractions of land use have become increasingly significant in recent years as the economy and society have rapidly developed. Subsequently, land use change simulation has become a focal point in the study of land use patterns and change processes. Four development scenarios in 2030, including business-as-usual, ecological protection, economic development, and sustainable development scenarios, are proposed to realize the sustainable development of land use in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei in the context of a low-carbon economy and ecological security. Then, a feasible multi-objective land use optimization scheme suitable for the region’s long-term development was identified through comparative analysis. The GMOP-PLUS model analyzed changes in ecological and economic benefits and carbon emissions by optimizing the quantitative structure and spatial layout of land use in different scenarios. The cultivated land area in the four scenarios decreased, while the construction land area increased for all scenarios other than the ecological protection and sustainable development scenarios. Moreover, the target development of the sustainable development scenario was the most balanced, with carbon emissions and economic benefits reduced by 49.77 million tons and CNY 0.73 billion compared with the business-as-usual scenario, respectively. Meanwhile, the ecological benefits increased by CNY 0.03 billion, and the economic benefits increased by 1.54 times compared with those in 2020. Therefore, the sustainable development scenario was more in line with the needs of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei for high-quality economic and ecological development, aiming towards a low-carbon goal. This work provides a theoretical basis for Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei territorial spatial planning and more perspectives for the study of sustainable land use through the obtained results.

Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, the main economic area in northern China, has seen significant changes in its regional economic and physical landscape as a result of the coordinated development strategy. Assessing the link between land use and land cover (LULC) change and carbon emissions in the Chaobai River region, which represents the growth of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration, is crucial to achieve coordinated low-carbon development in this area. This study uses statistics from statistical yearbooks of Chinese provinces and cities along with land use change data to analyze the relationship between land use changes and carbon emissions in the Chaobai River region from 2001 to 2017 using dynamic land use attitudes and land use transfer matrices, combined with carbon emission factors based on the IPCC inventory method and carbon emission models for energy consumption. In addition, this study makes use of the LMDI model and geographical detectors to identify and assess the factors that influence changes in land use carbon emissions and the driving forces behind the regional differentiation of land use changes. The results show that: (1) The Chaobai River region’s predominant land use classes during the past 18 years have been agricultural land and construction land. In addition to the decrease in cropland and the increase in urban land, the land use patterns of other land classes also changed to a certain extent. (2) Carbon emissions from land use showed an increasing trend, from 6.1 × 106 tons in 2001 to 1.1 × 107 tons in 2017. (3) Carbon emission intensity, economic development level, land use efficiency, and construction land scale have a certain regularity in the evolution of carbon emissions, and economic development level has become the most important driving factor controlling the growth of land use carbon emissions. (4) Driving factors in different periods have different degrees of influence on land use change, among which socio-economic factors such as population density and GDP have the strongest explanatory power. In addition, the interactions of each factor mainly present a double factor enhancement. In the future, the Chaobai River region should be based on the coordinated development strategy and take the “double carbon” target as its guiding principle to promote the innovation of the regional development system and further achieve the optimization of the regional land use patterns.

Increasing global urbanization has not only resulted in economic development but it has also caused a number of ecological issues, such as haze, global warming, and storm surges, which can end up hindering the development of human society in the long term. One method of maintaining the long-term growth of human ecosystems is by considering ecosystem services (ES) when making decisions over land use. This study provides information to aid with decision making in the maintenance of Beijing’s ES provision in the long term. Firstly, three key ES, namely, carbon storage (CS), habitat quality (HQ), and water yield (WY), were evaluated by the InVEST model. Then, the spatial patterns of synergies and trade-offs among three ES at the city and grid scales were explored through the correlation coefficients analysis and geographically weighted regression (GWR). Finally, the strength of trade-offs among ES was calculated based on root mean squared error (RMSE), and the potential ecological risk areas are recognized. We discovered that (1) the total carbon storage decreases from 3.74 million tons in 2000 to 3.66 million tons in 2020, and HQ has the same trend, with its average value decreasing from 0.72 to 0.67; in contrast, water yield is more stable, increasing slightly from 8.22 × 1010 m3 in 2000 to 8.23 × 1010 m3 in 2020. (2) The synergies and trade-offs of ES are spatially heterogeneous. Among them, the correlation coefficients at the city-level indicated synergistic relationships among the three ES, but CS-WY and WY-HQ always have trade-off relationships at the grid level, where 37.88% of WY-HQ and 14.59% of CS-WY were trade-offs in 2020. (3) At the urban-rural interface, the trade-offs among ES are stronger than those in other regions. In rural-urban areas, the RMSE in CS-HQ, CS-WY and WY-HQ always had high values (>0.5), accounting for 16.72%, 9.33%, and 26.94% of the entire area, respectively; these areas are identified as potential ecological risk areas, which will be the focus area for future ES regulation. These findings provide opportunities for clear trade-offs among ES and promote positive synergies. In addition, land-use management may use the results to guide ecosystem service use, identify critical areas, and ensure regional sustainability in urban development.

China is currently recognized as the leading global energy consumer and CO2 emitter. A significant amount of carbon emissions can be attributed to urban public buildings. Establishing an equitable and efficient carbon emission allocation mechanism is a crucial step to meeting the ambitious targets in China’s 2030 carbon peak plan. In this study, we estimate the total amount of CO2 emissions from urban public buildings by 2030 and propose a preliminary scheme of carbon quota assignment for each province. By means of applying the zero-sum gains data envelopment analysis (ZSG-DEA) model, the carbon emission quotas allocation of urban public buildings in China’s 30 provinces is proposed, and the corresponding pressure to reduce provincial carbon emissions is analyzed. The results indicate that Qinghai has the lowest carbon emission rate (0.01%) for urban public buildings, while Guangdong has the highest (9.06%). Among the provinces, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Tianjin face the least pressure in reducing carbon emissions from urban public buildings. On the other hand, Hebei, Beijing, and Anhui are under great pressure to decrease carbon emissions. Notably, Hebei is predicted to have the highest emission reduction requirement of 95.66 million tons. In terms of pressures on carbon emissions reduction for urban public buildings, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Tianjin exhibit the least pressure. Hebei, Beijing, and Anhui are facing intense pressure to decrease carbon emissions. These findings offer policymakers valuable insights into developing a fair and efficient carbon allowance allocation strategy, while also contributing to China’s efforts to mitigate carbon emissions and combat climate change.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of “strategic ambiguity” concept – a tool of U.S. foreign policy aimed at dual deterrence of both mainland China and breakaway Taiwan. Washington stayed deliberately ambiguous in its commitments to defend Taiwan thus leaving Beijing uncertain whether the U.S. will intervene in case of escalation in the Strait, and at the same time not encouraging Taiwanese authorities to declare full independence and sovereignty which would provoke military escalation with mainland China, dragging the U.S. into full-scale conflict with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The article analyzes the roots of this approach during D. Eisenhower’s years in office, its evolution en course and after the Cold War, and its erosion under D. Trump and J. Biden. The article shows that the U. S. President Eisenhower wished to maintain status-quo in Taiwan Strait, fearing that he would either have to turn a blind eye on the communist takeover of Taiwan, or be dragged into conflict with the close ally of Moscow, which would eventually lead to the war with the USSR. Eisenhower and his administration remained ambiguous in their communications with the PRC (mainland China) and Taiwan, not encouraging the island to declare full independence and at the same time not giving Beijing a carte blanche for military intervention. This approach dubbed in political science and international relations theory as “strategic ambiguity” proved to be useful, and was reinforced during Washington–Beijing rapprochement in 1970s. Under Trump administration, the U.S. started to consider dropping the “strategic ambiguity” policy towards clearer deterrence commitments. This trend manifested via emotional statements made by Donald Trump himself, mostly on social media, as well as through a change of tone in key foreign policy documents and new decisions that signaled a serious revision of the American approach to military cooperation between the United States and Taiwan. This trend continued and exacerbated under Biden administration due to number of bills signed, including the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act (TERA) which de-facto dubbed the contested island as Washington’s “Major Non-NATO Ally” and enabled to boost military supplies. The erosion of the “strategic ambiguity” policy also manifested through various high-profile contacts, including the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit on the island.

In recent years, China has been vigorously carrying out the construction and development of a sponge city. To prove that the material and energy consumption involved in the implementation of a sponge city is much less than that of the integrated urban drainage system (IUDS) in addition to saved energy and reduced carbon in the sponge city, it was important to calculate the corresponding carbon source and sink and analyze its key influence factors. The emission factor method was used to calculate carbon emissions. In view of this, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines and life cycle assessment (LCA), this research established a systematic accounting method for carbon emissions from the IUDS and the sponge city, which focused on improving the calculation method of the carbon sink stage. A case study was conducted in Beijing, China, and the carbon emission reduction effect of the construction of the sponge city was discussed. The results showed that the carbon emission reduction potential (CRP) of sponge facilities in this project for 50 years was 612.45 tons of CO2 equivalent after the renovation. Compared with IUDS, sponge city construction had a positive effect on carbon emission reduction and reduced carbon emissions by 87.08% on average. For the IUDS and the sponge city, the stormwater pipe network had the largest contribution of carbon emission, and its material, transportation, pipeline laying, and maintenance of stormwater pipe networks had important influences. Morris global analysis method was used to analyze the sensitivity of LCA results and obtained that the influence degree of sensitivity factors on carbon emissions in the life cycle was in the order of annual rainfall > carbon sequestration rate of green space > high-density polyethylene (HDPE) > transport distance > fertilization and insecticide. This study can provide a positive contribution to the construction of a sponge city and planning the low-carbon development of the city in the future in China.

In the last issue (Vol. 29, No.2), there was a mistake in Wai-Tong Lau's article, “Songs Tied onto the Chariot—Revolutionary Songs of the Cultural Revolution in China (1966–1976)” on page 106. JHRME regrets the inaccuracies. The corrected paragraph reads as follows: A number of revolutionary songs of the Cultural Revolution are written in the musical styles of the Chinese minorities. “The Great Beijing” (Wei Da De Beijing by Nu Er Mai Mai Ti), a song written by a Xinjiang composer, was very popular during the Cultural Revolution. This song is filled with syncopated rhythm typical of the Xinjiang minority dances. Another classic revolutionary song of the Cultural Revolution, “A Song within My Heart for the People's Liberation Army” (Wo Xin Zhong De Ge Xian Gei Jie Fang Jun by Chang Liuzhu), composed by a Han composer, is written with rhythmic patterns characteristic of the Tibetan dances. Other similar songs are one for the Bei Minority, “Never-Ending Singing of the Zhan Mountain” (Zhan Shan Ge Sheng Yong Bu Luo by Zhang Wen); one for the Korean minority, “Yanbian People Love Chairman Mao” (Yanbian Ren Ming Re Ai Mao Zhu Xi by Jin Fenghao); one for the Zhuang minority, “Zhuang People Sing for Chairman Mao” (Zhaung Zu Ren Ming Ge Chang Mao Zhu Xi by the Creation Group of the Department of Culture of Guangxi Zhaung Autonomous Region); and one for the Wa minority, “Ah Wa People Sing New Songs” (Ah Wa Ren Ming Chang in Ge by Yang Zhengren). These revolutionary songs of the minorities enriched the genre of revolutionary songs of the Cultural Revolution with a variety of rhythmic and tonal idioms different from those of the mainstream Han music.

This paper analyzes the re-classification of the Ru tone with voiceless initials in Beijing dialect from the perspective of internal development. The main factors that cause the Ru tone to change into four different unchecked tones are the laryngealization feature accompanying the loss of stop endings and the rotary change of high and low in the unchecked tones.本文從內部音變的角度重新闡釋北京話清入歸派現象，認為清入字韻尾消失後對音節發聲形成的緊喉音色，以及北京話聲調調值的高低環流變化是造成清入字派入四聲的原因。(This article is in Chinese.)

This study investigates the tonal variant description of the official dialect in China (Putonghua) as a factor in the coevolution of dialects. Three sociophonetic factors, target tone familiarity, tonal variant familiarity, and tonal inventory size, are included in order to raise interesting theoretical questions concerning the role of familiarity and dialect experience in sound change. Standard Putonghua tones are manipulated in height and shape in order to create systematically varying stimuli. Speakers from three Chinese dialect groups, Beijing Mandarin, Shanghai Wu, and Guangzhou Cantonese, are invited to rate the applicability of a description of pitch contour and height to the stimuli. The three dialects have different tonal inventory size, and their native speakers have different levels of familiarity with Putonghua tone or Putonghua tonal variants. The above three sociophonetic factors make different predictions about listeners' performances. The findings of the experimental analysis of data confirm the role of tonal variant familiarity in predicting participants' descriptive decisions on tone height variants. Tonal variant familiarity is also combined with tone inventory size to explain the assignment of descriptions of tone shape variations. This suggests that when variations still follow the phonetic pattern of the tone distribution of the Putonghua tonal system, listeners give phonetic patterns the primary role in acoustic decisions but still benefit from their dialect experiences in making more precise acoustic decisions. It also suggests that when variations violate the phonetic features of the target tonal system, they may depend on familiarity with the individual variant. This study applies an innovative sociophonetic method by conducting a perception experiment online with a self-paced procedure. The findings here are crucial for examining the relationship between sociophonetic factors and listeners' acoustic decisions and the cultural coevolution of cross-dialect tonal variation. The findings here also give support to the validity of the current web-based crowd perception experiment design and are also needed to facilitate research under restricted conditions, such as a pandemic situation.

AbstractObjectiveRecognition of auditory brainstem response (ABR) waveforms may be challenging, particularly for older individuals or those with hearing loss. This study aimed to investigate deep learning frameworks to improve the automatic recognition of ABR waveforms in participants with varying ages and hearing levels.Study DesignThe research used a descriptive study design to collect and analyze pure tone audiometry and ABR data from 100 participants.SettingThe research was conducted at a tertiary academic medical center, specifically at the Clinical Audiology Center of Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital (Beijing, China).MethodsData from 100 participants were collected and categorized into four groups based on age and hearing level. Features from both time‐domain and frequency‐domain ABR signals were extracted and combined with demographic factors, such as age, sex, pure‐tone thresholds, stimulus intensity, and original signal sequences to generate feature vectors. An enhanced Wide&Deep model was utilized, incorporating the Light‐multi‐layer perceptron (MLP) model to train the recognition of ABR waveforms. The recognition accuracy (ACC) of each model was calculated for the overall data set and each group.ResultsThe ACC rates of the Light‐MLP model were 97.8%, 97.2%, 93.8%, and 92.0% for Groups 1 to 4, respectively, with a weighted average ACC rate of 95.4%. For the Wide&Deep model, the ACC rates were 93.4%, 90.8%, 92.0%, and 88.3% for Groups 1 to 4, respectively, with a weighted average ACC rate of 91.0%.ConclusionBoth the Light‐MLP model and the Wide&Deep model demonstrated excellent ACC in automatic recognition of ABR waveforms across participants with diverse ages and hearing levels. While the Wide&Deep model's performance was slightly poorer than that of the Light‐MLP model, particularly due to the limited sample size, it is anticipated that with an expanded data set, the performance of Wide&Deep model may be further improved.

Objective Ultra-low Temperature Whole-Body Cryotherapy can relieve pain, inhibit inflammation, improve sleep quality, promote immune regulation, reduce excessive muscle tone, and improve damaged joints and muscle function. Currently, it is widely used in competitive sports. There have been few studies on the effects of Ultra-low Temperature Whole-Body Cryotherapy on some endocrine indexes such as testosterone. In the previous study, it was found that the 25-year-old soldier had a good effect on the changes of hormones and other indicators after the cold treatment the next morning and after a week of cold treatment. However, the impact of Ultra-low Temperature Whole-Body Cryotherapy on large age groups with a marked decline in testosterone secretion has not yet begun. Therefore, this study intends to pass a rigorous controlled experiment, taking ordinary healthy men aged 20 and 40 as research subjects, to observe the changes of testosterone and other endocrine indicators before and two hours after cryotherapy for 2 different age groups. Investigate deeply of the changes in testosterone and other endocrine indicators after ultra-low cryotherapy in the general population of different ages, to provide more reference for the application of ultra-low temperature cold therapy in a wider population. Methods Eight male students with age of 22.0±0.8 yrs in the physical fitness class of Beijing sport university as group A. Eight healthy men with age of 42.2±4.5yrs as group B. The cold therapy parameters used in the experiment were -130 ° C ,for 150 s. The blood samples collected in group A were from 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning，immediately after cold therapy，30 minutes after cold therapy,，and 2 hours after cold therapy. In group B were collected before cold treatment and 2 hours after cold treatment. In order to avoid the influence of the time rhythm of testosterone secretion, the time points of blood sample collection during cold therapy and non-cold therapy were strictly consistent. Group A and group B were compared before and after cold treatment at the same time at room temperature. No statistical comparison was made between groups A and B. The test indicators were testosterone (T), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol (E2). The data obtained from the experiment were expressed by mean and standard deviation, and the relevant indicators collected were statistically analyzed. Results (1) Compared with the test value of before cryotherapy, Testosterone(T) in group A had a decrease of -7.8%, -13.4%, and -3.6% at the point of the cryotherapy finished immediately, 30 minutes after cryotherapy, and 2 hours after cryotherapy, respectively. There has been a continuous decline in the Control group with a decrease of -5.7%, -11.3%, and -12.0%, respectively. Compared with the test value of before cryotherapy, there was a significant difference at each time between the cryotherapy group and the control group; there was also a significant difference between the two groups at 2 hours after the cryotherapy. (2) Compared with the test value of before cryotherapy, FSH in group A increased 8.6% after cryotherapy immediately, increased 2.3% at the time of 2 hours after cryotherapy, However, the control group showed different degrees of decline, with a decrease of -4.09%, -6.9%, and -6.4%, respectively. And there were significant differences in FSH between the time point of after cryotherapy immediately and 30 minutes after cryotherapy compared with before cryotherapy. (3) Compared with the test value of before cryotherapy, group A had an increase of 7.9% in LH immediately after Cryotherapy and 1.0% in 2 hours after cryotherapy, while the control group showed different degrees of decline, with a decrease of -13.4%， -13.5% and -8.0%.（4）Compared with the test value of before Cryotherapy, group A showed different degrees of decline in E2 as immediately after cryotherapy, 30 minutes after cryotherapy and 2 hours after cryotherapy with the decrease ranges of -8.6%, -21.9% and -35.2% respectively. The changes of the control group were 8.7%, -18.7% and -22.6%, respectively. There were significant differences between the cryotherapy group and the control group at 30 minutes and 2 hours after the cryotherapy compared with before the intervention.(5) Before cryotherapy and 2 hours after cryotherapy, FSH and LH in group B decreased in cryotherapy and control, but the decrease in cryotherapy group was higher than control group; The change of T was different from FSH and LH. After the cryotherapy, the cryotherapy group showed a significant increase, which was 27% higher than before the cryotherapy, while the control group decreased by -7.5%,and there was a significant difference in T between the cryotherapy group and the control group before and after cryotherapy. Conclusions (1)Ultra-low Temperature Whole-Body Cryotherapy has a certain degree of influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (H-P-G) axis. Testosterone will increase 2 hours after cryotherapy, and Ultra-low Temperature Whole-Body Cryotherapy can promote testosterone secretion.(2) Ultra-low Temperature Whole-Body Cryotherapy can reduce the decomposition of testosterone and improve serum testosterone to some extent. (3) Ultra-low Temperature Whole-Body Cryotherapy is more effective in promoting testosterone secretion in people with relatively high age and testosterone secretion relative to the downhill stage (35-40 years old and older).

In post-socialist China, gender norms are marked by rising divorce rates (Kleinman et al.), shifting attitudes towards sex (Farrer; Yan), and a growing commercialisation of sex (Zheng). These phenomena have been understood as indicative of market reforms unhinging past gender norms. In the socialist period, the radical politics of the time moulded women as gender neutral even as state policies emphasised their feminine roles in maintaining marital harmony and stability (Evans). These ideas around domesticity bear strong resemblance to pre-socialist understandings of womanhood and family that anchored Chinese society before the Communists took power in 1949. In this pre-socialist understanding, women were categorised into a hierarchy that defined their rights as wives, mothers, concubines, and servants (Ebrey and Watson; Wolf and Witke). Women who transgressed these categories were regarded as potentially dangerous and powerful enough to break up families and shake the foundations of Chinese society (Ahern). This paper explores the extent to which understandings of Chinese femininity have been reconfigured in the context of China’s post-1979 development, particularly after the 2000s.The popular television dramas Chinese Style Divorce (2004, Divorce), Dwelling Narrowness (2009, Dwelling), and Divorce Lawyers (2014, Lawyers) are set against this socio-cultural backdrop. The production of these shows is regulated by the China State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT), who has the power to grant or deny production and distribution permits. Post-production, the dramas are sold to state-owned television stations for distribution (Yu 36). Haiqing Yu summarises succinctly the state of Chinese media: “Chinese state manipulation and interference in the media market has seen the party-state media marketized but not weakened, media control decentralized but not reduced, and the media industry commercialized but not privatized” (42). Shot in one of the biggest cities in Shandong, Qingdao, Divorce focuses on Doctor Song Jianping and his schoolteacher wife Lin Xiaofeng and the conflicts between Song and Lin, who quits her job to become a stay-at-home mom after her husband secures a high-paying job in a foreign-invested hospital. Lin becomes paranoid and volatile, convinced that their divorced neighbour Xiao Li is having an affair with Song. Refusing to explain the situation, Song is willing to give her a divorce but fights over guardianship of their son. In the end, it is unconfirmed whether they reconcile or divorce. Divorce was recognised as TV Drama of the Year in 2004 and the two leads also won awards for their acting. Reruns of the show continue to air. According to Hui Faye Xiao, “It is reported that many college students viewed this TV show as a textbook on married life in urban settings” (118). Dwelling examines the issue of skyrocketing housing prices and the fates of the Guo sisters, Haizao and Haiping, who moved from rural China to the competitive economically advanced metropolis. Haiping is obsessed with buying an apartment while her younger sister becomes the mistress of a corrupt official, Song Siming. Both sisters receive favours from Song, which leads to Haiping’s success in purchasing a home. However, Haizao is less fortunate. She has a miscarriage and her uterus removed while Song dies in a car accident. Online responses from the audience praise Dwelling for its penetrating and realistic insights into the complex web of familial relationships navigated by Chinese people living in a China under transformation (Xiao, “Woju”). Dwelling was taken off the air when a SARFT official criticised the drama for violating state-endorsed “cultural standards” in its explicit discussions of sex and negative portrayals of government officials (Hung, “State” 156). However, the show continued to be streamed online and it has been viewed and downloaded more than 100 million times (Yu 34). In Lawyers, Luo Li and Chi Haidong are two competing divorce lawyers in Beijing who finally tie the knot. Chi was a happily married man before catching his wife with her lover. Newly divorced, he moves into the same apartment building as Luo and the drama focuses on a series of cases they handle, most of which involve extramarital affairs. Lawyers has been viewed more than 1.6 billion times online (v.qq.com) and received the China Huading award for “favourite television drama” in 2015. Although these dramas contain some conventional elements of domestic melodramas, such as extramarital affairs and domestic disputes, they differ from traditional Chinese television dramas because they do not focus on the common trope of fraught mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships.Centred on the politics of family ethics, these hugely popular dramas present the transformation in gender norms as a struggle between post-socialist and pre-socialist understandings of femininity. On the one hand, these dramas celebrate the emergence of a post-socialist femininity that is independent, economically successful, and sexually liberated, epitomising this new understanding of womanhood in the figures of single women and mistresses. On the other hand, the dramas portray these post-socialist women in perpetual conflict with wives and mothers who propound a pre-socialist form of femininity that is sexually conservative and defined by familial relationships, and is economically less viable in the market economy. Focusing on depictions of femininity in these dramas, this paper offers a comparative analysis into the extent to which gender norms have been reconfigured in post-socialist China. It approaches these television dramas as a pedagogical device (Brady) and pays particular attention to the ways through which different categories of women interrogated their rights as single women, mistresses, wives, and mothers. In doing so, it illuminates the politics through which a liberal post-socialist femininity unleashed by market transformation is controlled in order to protect the integrity of the family and maintain social order. Post-Socialist Femininity Unleashed: Single Women and Mistresses A woman’s identity is inextricably linked to her marital status in Chinese society. In pre-socialist China, women relied on men as providers and were expected to focus on contributing to her husband’s family (Ebrey and Watson; Wolf and Witke). This pre-socialist positioning of women within the private realm of the family, though reinterpreted, continued to resonate in the socialist period when women were expected to fulfil marital obligations as wives and participate in the public domain as revolutionaries (Evans). While the pressure to marry has not disappeared in post-socialist China, as the derogatory term “leftover women” (single women over the age of 27) indicates, there are now more choices for single women living in metropolitan cities who are highly educated and financially independent. They can choose to remain single, get married, or become mistresses. Single women can be regarded as a threat to wives because the only thing holding them back from becoming mistresses is their morals. The 28-year-old “leftover woman” Luo Li (Lawyers) is presented as morally superior to single women who choose to become mistresses (Luo Meiyuan and Shi Jiang) and therefore deserving of a happy ending because she breaks up with her boss as soon as she discovers he is married. Luo Li quits to set up a law firm with her friend Tang Meiyu. Both women are beautiful, articulate, intelligent, and sexually liberated, symbolising unleashed post-socialist femininity. Part of the comic relief in Lawyers is the subplot of Luo’s mother trying to introduce her to “eligible” bachelors such as the “PhD man” (Episodes 20–21). Luo is unwilling to lower her standards to escape the stigma of being a “leftover woman” and she is rewarded for adhering to her ideals in the end when she convinces the marriage-phobic Chi Haidong to marry her after she rejects a marriage proposal from her newly divorced ex-lover. While Luo Li refuses to remain a mistress, many women do not subscribe to her worldview. Mistresses have existed throughout Chinese history in the form of concubines and courtesans. A wealthy and powerful man was expected to have concubines, who were usually from lower socio-economic backgrounds (Ebrey and Watson; Liu). Mistresses, now referred to as xiaosan, have become a heated topic in post-socialist China where they are regarded as having the power to destroy families by transgressing moral boundaries. Some argue that the phenomenon is a result of the market-driven economy where women who desire a financially stable life use their sexuality to seek rich married men who lust for younger mistresses as symbols of power. Ruth Y.Y. Hung characterises the xiaosan phenomenon as a “horrendous sex trade [that is] a marker of neoliberal market economies in the new PRC” (“Imagination” 100). A comparison of the three dramas reveals a transformation in the depiction of mistresses over the last decade. While Xiao Li (Divorce) is never “confirmed” as Song Jianping’s mistress, she flirts with him and crosses the boundaries of a professional relationship, posing a threat to the stability of Song’s family life. Although Haizao (Dwelling) is university-educated and has a stable, if low-paying job, she chooses to break up with her earnest caring fiancé to be the mistress of the middle-aged Song Siming who offers her material benefits in the form of “loans” she knows she will never be able to repay, a fancy apartment to live in, and other “gifts” such as dining at expensive restaurants and shopping at big malls. While the fresh-faced Haizao exhibits a physical transformation after becoming Song’s mistress, demonstrated through her newly permed hair coupled with an expensive red coat, mistresses in Lawyers do not change in this way. Dong Dahai’s mistress, the voluptuous Luo Meiyuan is already a successful career woman who flaunts her perfect makeup, long wavy hair, and body-hugging dresses (Episodes 12–26). She exudes sexual confidence but her relationship is not predicated on receiving financial favours in return for sexual ones. She tells Dong’s wife that the only “third person” in a relationship is the “unloved” one (Episode 15). Another mistress who challenges old ideas of the power dynamic of the rich man and financially reliant young woman is the divorced Shi Jiang, Tang Meiyu’s former classmate, who becomes the mistress of Tang’s husband (Cao Qiankun) without any moral qualms, even though she knows that her friend is pregnant with his child. A powerful businesswoman, Shi is the owner of a high-end bar that Cao frequents after losing his job. Unable to tell his wife the truth, he spends most days wandering around and is unable to resist Shi’s advances because she claims to have loved him since their university days and that she understands him. In this relationship, Shi has taken on the role traditionally assigned to men: she is the affluent powerful one who is able to manipulate the downtrodden unemployed man by “lending” him money in his time of need, offering him a job at her bar (Episode 17), and eventually finding him a new job through her connections (Episodes 23–24). When Cao leaves home after Tang finds out about the affair, Shi provides him with a place to stay (Episode 34). Because the viewers are positioned to root for Tang due to her role as the female lead’s best friend, Shi is immediately set up as one of the villains, although she is portrayed in a more sympathetic light after she reveals to Cao that she was forced to give up her son to her ex-husband in America (who cheated on her) in order to finalise her divorce (Episode 29).The portrayal of different mistresses in Lawyers signals a transformation in the representation of gender compared to Divorce and Dwelling, because the women are less naïve than Haizao, financially well-off because of their business acumen, and much more outspoken and determined to fight for what they want. On the surface these women are depicted as more liberated and free from gender hierarchies and sexual oppression. Hung describes xiaosan as “an active if constrained agent . . . whose new mode of life has become revealingly defensible and publicly acceptable in socioeconomic terms that reflect the moral changes that follow economic reforms” (“State” 166). However, the closure of these storylines suggest that although more complex reasons for becoming a mistress have been explored in the new drama, mistresses are still regarded as a threat to social stability and therefore punished, challenging Hung’s argument about the “acceptability” of mistresses in post-socialist China. Post-Socialist Femininity Restrained: Wives and MothersCountering these liberal forms of post-socialist femininity are portrayals of righteous wives and exemplary mothers. These depictions articulate a moral positioning grounded in pre-socialist and socialist understandings of a woman’s place in Chinese society. These portrayals of moral women check the transgressive powers of single women and mistresses with the potential to break families up. More importantly, they remind the audience of desired gender norms that retain the integrity of the family and anchor a society undergoing rapid transformation.The three dramas portray wives who are stridently righteous in their confrontations with women they perceive as a threat to their families. These women find moral justification for the violence they inflict on transgressors from cultural understandings of their rights as wives. Lin Xiaofeng (Divorce) repeatedly challenges Xiao Li to explain the “logic” underlying her actions when she discovers that Xiao accompanied Song Jianping to a wedding (Episode 14). The “logic” Lin refers to is a cultural understanding that it is her right as wife to accompany Song to public events and not Xiao’s. By transgressing this moral boundary, Xiao accords Lin the moral authority to cast doubt on her abilities as a doctor in a public confrontation. It also provides moral justification for Lin to slap Xiao when she suggests that Lin is an embarrassment to her husband, an argument that underscores Lin’s failure and challenges her moral authority as wife. Jiang Miaomiao (Dwelling) draws on similar cultural understandings when she appears at the apartment Haizao shares with Song Siming (Episode 33). Jiang positions herself in the traditional role of a wife as a household manager (Ebrey) whose responsibilities include paying Song’s mistresses. She puts Haizao into a subordinate position by arguing that since Haizao is less than a mistress and slightly better than a prostitute, she is not worth the money Song has given her. When Haizao refuses to return the money a tussle ensues, causing Haizao to have a miscarriage. Likewise, Miao Jinxiu (Lawyers) draws on similar cultural understandings of a wife’s position when she laments popular arguments that depict mistresses such as Luo Meiyuan as usurping the superior position of wives like herself who are less attractive and able to navigate the market economy. Miao describes these arguments as “inverting black into white” (Episode 19). She publicly humiliates Luo by throwing paint on her at a charity event (Episode 17) and covers Luo’s car with posters labelling Luo a “slut,” “prostitute,” and “shameless” (Episode 18). Miao succeeds in “winning” her husband back. The public violence Miao inflicts on Luo and her success in protecting her marriage are struggles to reinforce the boundaries defining the categories of wife and mistress as these limits become increasingly challenged in China. In contrast to the violent strategies that Lin, Jiang, and Miao adopt, Tang Meiyu resists Shi Jiang’s destructive powers by reminding her errant husband of the emotional warmth of their family. She asks him, “Do you still remember telling me what the nicest sound is at home?” For Cao, the best sounds are Tang’s laughter, their baby’s cries, the sound of the washing machine, and the flushing of their leaky toilet (Episode 43). The couple reconciles and even wins a lottery that cements their “happy ending.” By highlighting the warmth of their family, Tang reminds Cao of her rightful place as wife, restrains Shi from breaking up the couple, and protects the integrity of the family. It is by drawing on deeply entrenched cultural understandings of the rights of wives that these women find the moral authority to challenge, restrain, and control the transgressive powers of mistresses and single women. The dramas’ portrayals of mothers further reinforce the sense that there is a need to restrain liberal forms of post-socialist femininity embodied by errant daughters who transgress the moral boundaries of the family. Lin Xiaofeng’s mother (Divorce) assumes the role of the forgiving wife and mother. She not only forgives Lin’s father for having an affair but raises Lin, her husband’s love child, as her own (Episode 23). On her deathbed, she articulates the values underlying her acceptance of this transgression, namely that one needs to be “a little kinder, more tolerant, and a little muddleheaded” when dealing with matters of the family. Her forgiveness bears fruit in the form of the warm companionship and support she enjoys with Lin’s father. This sends a strong pedagogical message to the audience that it is possible for a marriage to remain intact if one is willing to forgive. In contrast, Haizao’s mother (Dwelling) adopts the role of the disciplinary mother. She attempts to beat Haizao with a coat hanger when she finds out that her daughter is pregnant with Song Siming’s child (Episode 31). She describes Haizao’s decision as “the wrong path” and is emphatic that abortion is the only way to right this wrong. She argues that abortion will allow her daughter to start life anew in a relationship she describes as “open and aboveboard,” which will culminate in marriage. When Haizao rejects her mother’s disciplining, her lover dies in a car accident and she has a miscarriage. She loses her ability to speak for two months after these double tragedies and pays the ultimate price, losing her reproductive abilities. Luo Li’s mother (Lawyers), Li Chunhua, extends this pedagogical approach by adopting the role of public counsellor as a talk show host. Li describes Luo’s profession as “wicked” because it focuses on separating the family (Episode 9). Instead, she promotes reconciliation as an alternative. She counsels couples to remain together by propounding traditional family values, such as the need for daughters-in-law to consider the filial obligations of sons when managing their relationship with their mothers-in-law (Episode 25). Her rising ratings and the effectiveness of her strategy in bringing estranged couples like Miao Jinxiu and Dong Dahai back together (Episode 26) challenges the transgressive powers of mistresses by preventing the separation of families. More importantly, as with Haizao’s and Lin’s mothers, the moral force of Li’s position and the alternatives to divorce that she suggests draw on pre-socialist and socialist understandings of family values that underscore the sanctity of marriage to the audience. By reminding errant daughters of deeply embedded cultural standards of what it means to be a woman in Chinese society, these mothers are moral exemplars who restrain the potentiality of daughters becoming mistresses. ConclusionMarket reforms have led to a transformation in understandings of womanhood in post-socialist China. Depictions of mistresses and single women as independent, economically successful, and sexually liberated underscores the emergence of liberal forms of post-socialist femininity. Although adept at navigating the new market economy, these types of post-socialist women threaten the integrity of the family and need to be controlled. Moral arguments articulated by wives and mothers restrain the potentially destructive powers of post-socialist womanhood by drawing on deeply embedded understandings of the rights of women shaped in pre-socialist China. It is by disciplining liberal forms of post-socialist femininity such that they fit back into deeply embedded gender hierarchies that social order is restored. By illuminating the moral politics undergirding relationships between women in post-socialist China, the dramas discussed underscore the continued significance of television as a pedagogical device through which desired gender norms are popularised. These portrayals of the struggles between liberal forms of post-socialist femininity and conservative pre-socialist understandings of womanhood as lived in everyday life serve to communicate the importance of protecting the integrity of the family and maintaining social stability in order for China to continue to pursue development. ReferencesAhern, Emily. “The Power and Pollution of Chinese Women.” Women in Chinese Society. Eds. Margery Wolf et al. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1975. 193–214. Brady, Anne-Marie. Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work in Contemporary China. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. China Huading Award. “Top 100 TV Series Satisfaction Survey.” 9 Aug. 2015. Chinese Style Divorce. Writ. Wang Hailing. Dir. 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