MA HAITAO, a maintenance worker of Hisense Electric Co. Ltd, attended his first college class April 10, realizing his 17-year dream of receiving a college education.

“I always felt further education would be a bonus to my techniques in TV set repairing,” said Ma. “But I had thought college was just a pipe dream for me.”

Ma said he came to Qingdao in 1994 from his rural hometown and became a maintenance worker. He has obtained an advanced technician title and been awarded the title of “City Model Worker” by Qingdao’s government.

The college course Ma attended is provided by Qingdao Radio and Television University for 40 of the city’s model workers, all blue-collar workers including textile workers, bus drivers and workshop supervisors.

“The class is very meaningful indeed,” said Wang Faling, deputy chief of Qingdao Federation of Trade Unions, the organizer of the course.

He said the course was aimed at offering educational opportunities for those model workers who hadn’t received college education, free of charge.

The program is majored in management.

“Those students will finish 20 subjects in two and a half years,” said Li Hong, vice president of the Qingdao Radio and Television University.

(Chen Ting, Jia Feng)

Qingdao to run e-buses

CONSTRUCTION on Qingdao Xuejiadao Electric Bus Charging Station started April 10. The first commercial electric vehicle charging station in China, the project will be completed by the end of June.

The EV charging station with an investment of 290 million yuan (US$44.3 million) will provide battery recharging and replacement services to a total of 180 electric buses to be put into services in Qingdao.

The 12-meter-long buses are planned to run on six routes: four passing through the Jiaozhou Bay Undersea Tunnel and two passing the Qingdao Economic Development Zone.

The EV charging station is equipped with recharging systems and battery replacement robots.

Battery performance of each bus is monitored by the station in real time and the monitoring center will schedule their recharging or replacement accordingly.

It takes about 8 minutes to replace the batteries and the station can accommodate six buses at a time. Used batteries will be sent back to their manufacturer for disposal to ensure no environmental hazard is imposed.

The zero-emission electric buses will both improve the city’s environment and reduce maintenance costs.

(Chen Ting, Han Guangliang)