http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/katherine-danks/ Katherine Danks is an Australian journalist working in Beijing, China. She grew up in Bonnet Bay, in Sydney’s southern suburbs and studied communications at University of Technology, Sydney. She has worked as a reporter at the Sunday Telegraph, Australian Associated Press and the United Kingdom’s Press Association. She loves to travel and last year spent three months traveling through eastern Europe and central Asia, including the trans-Mongolian railway. She also has a love-hate relationship with China and is a terrible Mandarin student, so mostly communicates through pantomime. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/chinas-second-generation-of-spoilt-brats/ China’s ‘“little emperors”, the adored children born under the country’s one-child policy with a reputation of being pampered and spoiled, are entering parenthood and have been accused of raising a generation of brats. Chinese media this week ran reports in which men and women born in one-child families after 1980, known as “first generation only child”, were accused of producing selfish children with personality problems. “Now that they have entered their 30s, many of them have already married and most have chosen to have one child. These children are called “second generation only child”,” the People’s Daily reported. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Katherine Danks) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/chinas-second-generation-of-spoilt-brats/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/chinas-second-generation-of-spoilt-brats/#item2534 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:40:10 +0000 Katherine Danks | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/chinese-lunar-new-year-a-hotbead-of-pyromania/ Chinese Lunar New Year is just three days away and Beijing is once again preparing to become a hotbed of pyromania. Residents have been busily stockpiling firecrackers to set off on Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve, which this year falls on February 13, and on New Year’s Day. Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is all about reuniting with family, and a typical Lunar New Year’s Eve might include a special dinner and setting off firecrackers at midnight to welcome in the new year, which this year will be the Year of the Tiger. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Katherine Danks) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/chinese-lunar-new-year-a-hotbead-of-pyromania/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/chinese-lunar-new-year-a-hotbead-of-pyromania/#item2352 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:50:14 +0000 Katherine Danks | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postcard-from-beijing-chinas-man-drought/ Bridget Jones has a generation of Chinese sisters. They are unmarried, aged 30 or above and known as shengnu or leftover women. Shengnu was once an offensive term and popular only in Shanghai but an increase in the number of singles has meant these women are now a small social force in cities like Beijing. A popular newspaper reported recently: “The era of the shengnu is here”. Shengnu also carry the unflattering title of 3S women, meaning single, born in the seventies and considered “stuck” (although many would insist they have chosen to remain single). They are educated and well paid but remain unmarried despite being past the age traditionally considered most appropriate for getting hitched in China. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Katherine Danks) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postcard-from-beijing-chinas-man-drought/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postcard-from-beijing-chinas-man-drought/#item2157 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:53:11 +0000 Katherine Danks | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Covering-news-China-style-the-day-I-was-bribed/ I recently received a bribe in China. The 300 yuan ($52) was a reward for attending a local government press conference promoting a trade fair. At least that’s what I think it was about, everyone spoke in Chinese. What did I give them? I’m not really sure. I’m a journalist but my role in this transaction was simply to be the token foreigner in the audience. Like everyone else there, I was handed a bag that contained the cash in a white envelope and a glossy booklet promoting the trade fair. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Katherine Danks) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Covering-news-China-style-the-day-I-was-bribed/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Covering-news-China-style-the-day-I-was-bribed/#item1010 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:35:49 +0000 Katherine Danks | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postcard-from-beijing-at-least-i-think-thats-where-I-am/ Anyone in Beijing could not have missed the sticky blanket of smog that clung to the city early Wednesday, when air quality was regarded as “hazardous” for several hours. At 6am I stood on the balcony of my apartment and could not see further than about 1km in the distance. The buildings that were visible appeared through a smoky haze and the air felt warm and thick on my skin. In my ears was the constant hum of construction that hasbeen the soundtrack to my first Chinese summer. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Katherine Danks) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postcard-from-beijing-at-least-i-think-thats-where-I-am/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postcard-from-beijing-at-least-i-think-thats-where-I-am/#item777 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:30:49 +0000 Katherine Danks | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-daily-reality-of-life-under-chinas-rule-over-the-internet/ On Wednesday night China’s censors temporarily blocked Google and Gmail, an essential part of my communication with friends and family in Australia and used more than 20 million Chinese. It was perhaps naive and even a little old fashioned of me to rely on just one e-mail account in Beijing. I know that the country’s net nanny is unpredictable and have been watching the escalating feud between the government and the world’s most popular search engine, which is being accused of containing excessive links to pornography. The outage happened at about 9.30pm. A friend telephoned me and said that Google had been blocked. I tried several times to open Google.com and Gmail but the pages either timed out or I received a message that the connection was interrupted. China-based site Google.cn was also down. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Katherine Danks) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-daily-reality-of-life-under-chinas-rule-over-the-internet/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-daily-reality-of-life-under-chinas-rule-over-the-internet/#item459 Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:50:08 +0000 Katherine Danks | Author bios | The Punch