在线国产一区二区_成人黄色片在线观看_国产成人免费_日韩精品免费在线视频_亚洲精品美女久久_欧美一级免费在线观看

These so-called tribute projects are intended to show the outside world what the particular region, or country in general, are capable of achieving. They have also been publicity ornaments used by local officials to boost their standing.

My comments:

Tribute is the thing to grasp here.

Tribute projects pay tribute to something, i.e. praise something.

Or in other words, such projects are meant to be a tribute to something or someone. They make a city or region, or more likely its leader look good.

Or, in Chinese vernacular, “image projects”. In other words, a project may cost a lot of money and may not be all that useful or essential to improving the livelihood of the people but it is a big project and, supposedly, will help improve the city’s public image, whatever that is.

More importantly, it supposedly will make city officials look good when they talk about it in the newspaper, as part of their great achievement.

And don’t forget the money. Money plays a big role in tribute projects, which are usually funded by the tax payer – people love tribute projects because that’s where the easy money is.

Related stories:

Off the beaten track

At the forefront of

Seat warmer

The rule of the jungle

On-the-go

On the fence

Wild guess

In the high teens

Touch up

Unforced error

Catch a break

City slicker

Political correctness

Gee up

Big mind

Blanket statement

Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA

Pick one's brains

A good eye

Thank one's stars for

Real money

Nodding acquaintance

Flip out over nothing

Bury the hatchet& have an ax to grind

Vocal proponent

Growing pains

Fleeting acquaintance

All-weather friend

Lead the pack

Fish or cut bait

Gilt-edged

To do more with less

Right down the middle

Take my word for it

40-sometimes

Last but not the least

Call it a dog

Pull my leg

Ego bath

Tough call

Rain check

Upper reaches

Off the shoulders

Off and running

Gold dust

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點(diǎn)，與本網(wǎng)立場無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.