Housekeeping is no longer the exclusive domain of women in China, with some young men now offering to clean the corners of your house or tidy up your messy kitchen, for a fee.

More than 300 home service companies have popped up nationwide over the past two years, and some have begun to hire energetic men for housekeeping duties. They are helping to challenge the traditional idea that housekeeping is women’s work, at least according to a report from Urban Express in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Generally, the cost of male housekeepers is upward of 25 yuan per square meter, which is more than women earn doing the same work, although many male housekeepers are also asked to do more physically demanding tasks.

Shao Gang and Shao Qiang－twins born in 1990 in Shandong province－and their 30 male employees all wear uniforms to work. From cleaning greasy cooker hoods and fixing cracks in windows, to dusting ceiling lights and even polishing the shell of your pet turtle, they do it all.

The twins originally came to Hangzhou at the end of 2015 to work as e-commerce livestream hosts, but when they turned up to film, they felt uncomfortable.

“It was as if there was nowhere to stand because the house was packed so full of products for the livestreams,” Shao Gang said.

Shortly afterward, he learned that deep cleaning services were in great demand but because most cleaners were women, and often elderly, they weren’t able to move beds or sofas or climb up to dust lampshades or ceiling corners, and so the idea for a new business was born.

Before they opened Hangzhou Shenshi Housekeeping Service Co in May last year, the twins spent 10,000 yuan ($1,500) being trained to clean professionally by a household service company in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Once their company was up and running, they advertised by posting videos on platforms like Bilibili and Douyin, which are popular with the younger generation.

Business has been good and can bring in up to 300,000 yuan a month. As a result, the twins have opened new branches and now offer deep cleaning services in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou and a number of other cities, and have served thousands of customers.

Compared with the 300 to 400 yuan ordinary cleaning services charge, deep cleaning is more expensive, which means that the twins have to offer clients higher quality service.

Take cleaning a cooker hood as an example. The company mandates a four-step process.

“First, we remove the oil catcher, spray it with a professional cleaner and then scrub it vigorously. Then we wipe off the oil with a scouring pad and finally, we rub it clean with a white rag,” Shao Gang said.

When cleaning glass or a mirrored surface, there can be no fingerprints or watermarks, and clients should be able to see only a perfect reflection.

Even though many challenges remain in this corner of the service industry－including frequent quality complaints and labor disputes－the twins have found that demand for their service is growing rapidly, especially among younger clients.

“More than 80 percent of our customers are young people,” Shao Gang said, explaining that even many born in the 2000s who have only just started to work are willing to spend money on deep cleaning.

“For the young, who are more concerned with their quality of life, renting a house is not just about finding a place to sleep but about making a home where they can rest and relax, and so they are willing to pay for our services.”

Hangzhou was successfully selected as one of the demonstrative cities in Notice of China National Intellectual Property Administration on Determining National Pilot Cities in Building the Strong Intellectual Property City issued on August 11.

In recent years, Hangzhou has connected up all the links of the whole chain from the creation, utilization, protection and management to the service of intellectual properties to ensure the high-quality development of intellectual properties. In the Global Innovation Index City Ranking 2021 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Hangzhou ranks the 21st, moving up 4 places on the ranking year-on-year. As of the end of 2021, the city topped all provincial capitals in China with 106,000 valid invention patents and 2,062 PCT international applications. Next, Hangzhou will gradually boostthe projects for efficient utilization ofintellectual properties and promote the coordinated use of industrial intellectual properties.

Two planes featuring patterns related to the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, which is to be held in fall 2023, made their debut on Monday in Hangzhou, local media outlets reported.

The aircraft, part of the last group of the Hangzhou Asian Games fleet, were converted from Airbus A321-Neos, which feature a slimmer body, more efficient energy usage and a more comfortable ride experience.

Loong Airlines, a Hangzhou-based airline company and owner of the painted planes, celebrated the debut by projecting colorful lights onto the plane to promote various cultural elements related to the company, the Asian Games and the host city Hangzhou.

The planes will join the fleet of the previous 10 painted planes, which also feature patterns inspired by the Asian Games mascots and slogans, to offer more immersive Asian Games-themed rides starting from Hangzhou.

“I hope the painted planes will become a symbol of the Asian Games and the host city of Hangzhou,” said Xin Di, president of Loong Airlines.

 

The Lin’an Agriculture Innovation Park in Lin’an district, Hangzhou opened on Aug 8.

The park was built by the district government and Zhejiang A&F University to promote rural vitalization. Twenty-nine companies have opened offices in its 3,000-square-meter incubation space.

“Most agriculture companies are operated in remote villages and can hardly enjoy innovation resources in the downtown area,” said a director of the park. “Our park is a platform for them to work together.”

During the opening ceremony, Zhejiang A&F University set up a technology transfer center at the park and pledged to help local companies improve their research and development capabilities.

The park has also engaged professional livestreaming hosts to help local companies improve their sales.

“Talent is key to rural vitalization and we welcome more agriculture talents to start businesses here,” said Li Lianping, deputy Party secretary of Lin’an district.

On the occasion of the National Fitness Day on August 8, the Provincial Sports Bureau released the “2020 Zhejiang National Fitness Development Index Report” on August 5. This is the first time our province has released the NFDI to the society.

The index evaluation system consists of 3 first-level indicators, including “basic conditions for national fitness”, “participation degree” and “comprehensive effect”, 9 second-level indicators, including “fitness venues” and “fitness funds”, and 30 three-level indicators such as “per capita sports ground area” and “comprehensive satisfaction”. The survey covers 48 counties (cities, districts) in the province, and the big data comes from 33,768 valid questionnaires.

In 2020, Zhejiang scored 80.69 points out of 100 in NFDI, indicating a good overall development status. There is not much difference in the overall NFDI among cities across the province. Among them, Huzhou has the highest score of 85.54 points.

The report shows that the province’s national physique pass rate, the proportion of people who regularly participate in physical exercise, and the per capita sports ground area are among the top in the country. Specifically, the per capita sports ground area has grown rapidly. In 2020, the total area of sports venues in the province reached 149.5652 million square meters, an increase of 9.15% compared to 2019. The service level of public sports venues has been greatly improved. Zhejiang was included in the first batch of comprehensive pilot provinces for the opening of public sports venues by the State Sports General Administration. As of the end of 2020, the completion rate of public sports venues’ service improvement reached 49.4%. The scientific fitness guidance ability has been enhanced. In 2020, the number of registered social instructors per 1,000 people in Zhejiang reached 2.52.

However, the contradiction between the increasingly diversified and multi-level sports demands of the people and the insufficient effective supply of public sports services still exists. A number of key indicators such as “area of sports venues per capita” are still unevenly developed between cities across the province and between urban and rural areas. Li Qidi, deputy dean of the School of Physical Education and Health Sciences of Zhejiang Normal University, participated in the investigation. He said that in the next step, in the overall promotion of the rural revitalization of the 26 counties in the mountainous area, more attention will be paid to the construction of sports facilities in rural venues and to carry out diversified sports activities.

It is learned that starting from this year, Zhejiang will release the NFDI every year.

The “Asian Games” painted aircraft themed by the torch officially made debut on August 8. The aircraft fuselage was used as a large screen for the 3D mapping on the site.

So far, all the 12 Hangzhou Asian Games painted aircraft have made public appearance, bringing the bright colors of “Asian Games” to the blue sky while presenting poetic Hangzhou and charming Zhejiang through dynamic and static visual images.

In addition, the elements of the Asian Games are shown in the interior decorations and activities within the cabin to enrich and upgrade the passengers’ experience. The painted aircraft will be mainly arranged for the airlines departing from Hangzhou. The passengers taking Loongair will have the chance to see the painted aircraft with their own eyes.

With the magnificently painted aircraft flying in the blue sky over major cities in China, Hangzhou Asian Games is making warm invitation to the people around Asia and the world.

Business magazine Fortune released its latest Global 500 list on August 3, with eight Hangzhou companies taking places.

The eight companies are Alibaba (55th), WZ Group (120th), Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group (180th), Geely Holding Group (229th), Hengyi Petrochemical Co (264th), Zhejiang Communications Investment Group (302nd), Hangzhou Iron & Steel Group Co (336th), and Zhejiang Hailiang Co (459th).

China had the most companies on the list, 21 more than US companies.

The total revenue of the Global 500 hit $37.8 trillion this year, increasing 19.2 percent year-on-year. The threshold to enter the list rose to $28.6 billion from $24 billion.

Moreover, the total net profits of the Global 500 reached $3.1 trillion, surging 88 percent from a year earlier, the biggest growth since 2004.

The revenue of Chinese companies accounted for 31 percent of the total, with the total of US companies making up 30 percent.