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ISSUE 103

June 1st, 2012

At 11:00 a.m. of May 12th, the dining hall of Bluestar (Nanjing) New Chemical Materials Co., Ltd. was already filled with the smell of wholesome food.

As usual, our kitchen masters brought to the window their eight carefully prepared dishes with meat and vegetables, including shizitou (browned and braised large meatballs) and xiangguyoucai (sautéed cabbage with mushrooms) etc., waiting for employees to come for lunch after a long and dreary morning's work.

At this moment, a group of special customers stepped into the hall. They took out their cameras and shot pictures of the dining environment, the dishes and the fruit plates, and exchanged views with the service personnel. This special "dining team," led by Gao Jianjun, Bluestar Party Secretary, consisted of the main and relevant persons-in-charge of Bluestar (Shanghai), Bluestar (Beijing), Jiangxi Xinghuo Plant, Lanzhou Silicon Material, Malan, Shanxi Synthetic Rubber, etc. After enjoying lunch in the dining hall, they praised the delicious food of Nanjing New Chemical Materials.

After their site experience at the dining hall, this "dining team" convened a site video conference at Nanjing New Chemical Materials to exchange dining hall experiences, presided over by ChemChina President Ren Jianxin.

President Ren Jianxin told the audience that a week ago, he went to Nanjing New Chemical Materials for a site visit, and in particular, he went to its dining room for an inspection and exchanged views with its employees. The moment he entered the dining room, he was surprised by its spacious, bright, clean and neat environment. The variety of dishes, the nutritious cuisine consisting of meat and vegetables, the relaxed and comfortable expressions of employees involved in eating, the theme culture wall "happy work, healthy life" and so on, all left him with a very favorable and deep impression. Ren particularly emphasized that these feelings were not introduced by the person in charge of Nanjing New Chemical Materials, rather from his own field observation and experience.

Ren said, "I visit the dining hall of Nanjing New Chemical Materials frequently. Whenever I visit the enterprise, I usually take a look at the dining hall and bathrooms of the employees. Employees cannot pretend satisfaction with their workday meal. The organizational culture of

Ren Jianxin presides over a site video conference at Nanjing New Chemical Materials for exchanging dining room experiences

an enterprise and the mood of its employees can be revealed from their smiles and looks, and they can also be reflected in the details of its dining hall, teahouse, and even the bathrooms. Nothing in the life of workers is trivial. Certainly, for an enterprise's leader, it is important to manage production, optimize technology and focus on marketing. However, if one ignores the management of employees, neglects the care of the firm's people, and fails to manage the work-life of employees effectively, then he is not human-centered at all, let alone a qualified enterprise manager.

Ren stressed that dining hal l construct ion and

management may seem to be an insignificant issue, yet from this "insignificance" one can see the enterprise culture, its care for humans and maturity of management. For many enterprises, the nature of work shifts determines the importance of dining of its employees. In western managers attend to behavior science, which tells us that taking care of the work environment and working relationships ensures the health of employee's incentive. Failing in such care could harm the enterprise. Only when the needs and feelings of employees are managed effectively will employees manage their own work well, and their work is the work of the enterprise! As to how to implement and develop Bluestar's concept that "it all depends on human effort" in areas such as enterprise culture development, team building, system development, and institutional development, Ren expressed hope that all persons in charge of the Party and administration of the enterprise should understand and treat this issue, each working at his own level, make earnest effort to solve life difficulties and problems of employees, and create a good social atmosphere and working environment for employees. From this perspective, nothing in the life of workers is trivial.

Nothing in the Life of Workers is Trivial

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During the evening awards ceremony entit led "Commemoration for the 15th Anniversary of Xinghuo Plant Entrepreneurial Re-engineering & the

May 1st Labor Medal of the 2012 Annual Xinghuo Plant" held on May 9th, Jeanluc Lin and Mohammed Khalidi, both French BSI experts, together with 10 other employees who participated in the Xinghuo Plant 200,000-ton silicone integration project, were awarded with the "May 1st Labor Medal" honorable title. They also received commendations and encouragement from the factory's Party committee, its administration and the trade union.

"The May 1st Labor Medal" is the highest honor that

Xinghuo Plant grants to its employees. Bestowing this special honor upon these two foreign experts is a full affirmation of the heartfelt thanks of Xinghuo Plant to them, and the 20-plus BSI experts they represent, for all of their hard work in Xinghuo Plant.

Jeanluc Lin is French-Chinese. In May 2009, he

joined the Xinghuo Plant 200,000-ton silicone integrated downstream team, and worked as the engineer for its 3rd and 4th workshops. In the preliminary design process of the project, he actively cooperated with the design institute, audited more than one thousand pages of design documents, and addressed and solved more than a hundred design problems. Especially in the DCS design

Du Yanqing

process, he worked all the more – even overtime. And through repeated deliberations, he overcame key technical problems one after another. With the joint efforts of Lin Hui and his colleagues, construction of the 3rd and the 4th workshops is progressing steadily, and they will each be put into production by the end of the year.

Mohammed is a French chemical process engineer,

with 15 years of work experience. In 2007, he came to Tianjin and began to participate in construction of a 200,000-ton silicone plant there. In 2009, following the Tianjin project team, he joined Xinghuo Plant, mainly responsible for of the intermediate process of Unit Three and technological renovation of the old intermediate units. In the early period of project construction, in order to improve as quickly as possible the English communication level, Mohammed encouraged and urged every Chinese employee to say more and practice more, and this helped everyone to improve considerably their English level. Presently, the technical personnel of Unit Three can generally communicate freely with our BSI experts. In his attitude to work, Mohammed is truly meticulous. Aside from technical work under his responsibility, he visits the construction site almost every day to understand the project schedule and to check the safety measures, and ensure that the project advances in an orderly way.

BSI Expert Won the Xinghuo Plant "May 1st Labor Medal"

May 9th was the 15th anniversary for the decisive victory of the second battle of Xinghuo Plant

Entrepreneurial Re-engineering. To commemorate this special day and to stimulate all factory workers to continue to carry forward the spirit of "vying to be a hero in the entrepreneurial endeavor," on the eve of May 9th, Xinghuo Plant organized the "May 1st International Labor Day" and the "May 4th Youth Day" Art Performance & the "May 1st Labor Model" and the "Ten Outstanding Youth" Awards Ceremony at the Xinghuo Community Square. Photo by Du Yanqing, Lu Yuanlin

Thumb danceBlue ribbon dance

Song & dance Embroidering the Golden Banner

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that you could have otherwise chosen just to study and live in the same city with me, I became speechless, but you responded with your sincere and indifferent smile. Since then, whether on rainy or snowy days, we always cross half the city on the weekends just to be together, to have dinner together and to go shopping together at day time, and to sleep in the same bedroll, whispering late into the night, wanting to pour out all that we want to say to each other.

After my graduation, you came to the station to say

goodbye to me. In the drizzling rain, holding this newly bought red umbrella in your hands, you told me that we couldn't escape reality, you couldn't be capricious again, and that I must take good care of myself in a strange land...... You laughed in sadness and passed me the umbrella, saying that this could be a memento of you. You turned around and walked away. Under the umbrella, I already found myself shattered in tears.

I found a job in the big city and you stayed in our

hometown, so we lived far apart. You have endless files to type up, and I have work shifts day and night. Once in a while when we make calls to each other, either you are busy preparing materials urgently needed by your boss, or I am in a daze reflecting my sleep deficit. Later, we both got married and became parents, and each of us circulates in his own little world like a gyroscope. We lost each other.

Time is silent, but the friendship still remains. More than

a decade has passed just in the twinkling of an eye, but still I'm cherishing this umbrella. I never need reminding, for I never forgot. Tonight, in mixed rain and snow, I opened this friendship umbrella again, walking on the street of a strange land, deep in my heart, I missed you so much Dear beauty, are you ok?

Now I'm off work, but the rain and snow doesn't seem to want to stop at all. Taking up that treasured red umbrella from the drawer, I opened

it and walked to the parking lot. Inside the shuttle bus, looking at the rain drops trickling down from the umbrella, my vision gradually blurred, and my thoughts also slowly drifted away...

In my third year of junior high school, I had already

restrained all my wildness and become a calm and studious girl. Because at that time, kids like us from rural areas want to be able to enter an ideal secondary technical school, which would be like transforming ourselves into butterflies. It was just at that dramatic moment that I came to know you in the temporary school-organized top-student improvement class. In the beginning, your unruly and proud boyish character was really not the type that I like. I remember that our first close contact was for discussion of a math contest question. We found the answer, and we also skipped class for the first time. In the woods not far from the school, we ran and played together, regretting that we hadn't met sooner.

Time flies. One year later, after going through the black

July, I received, as expected, an acceptance notice from a provincial key technical secondary school. I was happy. Still, uneasiness lingered deep inside me. When we got together I didn't know how to comfort you as you had flunked the competitive exam for admission to a higher school. However, you still had your bright smile. You said that you would study for another year and that we would soon meet in the city where I would be studying. My heart was relieved after all, you were still your own man.

Flowers bloom and fade. When you came as promised,

and when I knew that you had given up so many schools

Wu Xingqun

Friendship Umbrella

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The excavations carried out at Yinxu and the finding of the oracle bones significantly changed China's

historical records. The inscriptions on these bones are the precursor of modern Chinese calligraphy, according to Tang Jigen, a researcher with the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

But why would the ancient people write on bones, which, experts said, was not an easy task? On close inspection, pinholes and burn marks are visible on the unwritten side. This proves that writing on bones had to do with witchcraft, which people in the distant past used to communicate with the gods, archeologists say. Will there be rain tomorrow? Will we win the upcoming war? Will the queen give birth to a male heir? Was the lunar eclipse an ominous sign?

"People who lived thousands of years ago would put these questions to their gods or ancestors," says Tang, the team leader of the archeological excavation at Yinxu.

Holes were dril led into tortoise shells or ox bones so that cracks would appear on the other s ide when charcoal pieces were burnt inside them during sacred rituals. As the bones cracked with burning, mysterious explosive noises were taken to be messages from gods or ancestors. Wizards would

interpret a crack's features and on its basis predict the future, which would be carved on the bones, using knives. That's the oracle bone inscriptions, as we know them.

"Bone writing is not simply theomancy of the kings in Shang Dynasty (16th century-11th century BC), but contains a general overview of the kingdom itself, including important information about the ancient time," Tang explains.

The writing in Yinxu's bone-scripts covers quite a range - from politics to social traditions. More than 100 variety of handicraft was mentioned, besides a wide array of information on astronomy, calendar and medication. What's more, archaeologists' study of the oracle bones has helped confirm the existence of the Shang Dynasty, which would often be doubted.

The discovery of the oracle bones late in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), however, was largely a coincidence. Local farmers who first spotted them while working in the

BlueStar Communication Chinese Editor: Jiang Bo English Editor: Ma Chao

Romancing the Bone

fields sold these to pharmacies at very low prices. They were called "dragon bones" and were supposed to have medicinal value.

It is said Wang Yirong, a late Qing Dynasty official and an expert in bronze and stone inscriptions, happened to notice the writing when he bought the bones for their supposed medicinal value in 1899. Wang, who concluded the bones were valuable antiques, was the first to study them and collect them in great numbers. At that time antiquarians had reservations about the source of the bones. It wasn't until 1908 that Xiaotun village in Anyang was identified as the place where the oracle bones were unearthed. Dealers, tomb raiders, and excited scholars rushed to get hold of a piece immediately afterwards.

During an excavation in 1936, an intact storage pit, where 17,096 bone pieces lay, were unearthed. It was the largest number of oracle bones unearthed during a single excavation and the treasure, mostly tortoise plastrons, took several workers eight months to clean and label.

A total of 150,000 pieces of bones have already been excavated in Yinxu, and about 4,500 different characters identified in Yinxu's bone scripts. These are the earliest systematical Chinese writing ever known.

"Over the past century, scholars have only interpreted about 1,500 characters," Tang says. "A large portion of the characters remains incomprehensible."