Chu River (Чу, Чүй, Шу)
River
In the Chuy Valley below Tokmok
Countries	Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
Tributaries
- left	Ala-Archa River, Kara-Balta River, Ysyk-Ata River, Alamudun River, Ak-Suu River
- right	Chong-Kemin River, Kichi-Kemin River
Source	confluence of Joon Aryk and Kochkor River
- elevation	1,802 m (5,912 ft)
- coordinates	42°13′15.60″N 75°44′29″E / 42.221°N 75.74139°E / 42.221; 75.74139
Mouth	Akjaykyn system of lakes
- elevation	135 m (443 ft)
- coordinates	44°59′N 67°43′E / 44.983°N 67.717°E / 44.983; 67.717
Length	1,067 km (663 mi)
Basin	67,500 km2 (26,062 sq mi)

"Chui River" redirects here. For the South American Chuí or Chuy River, on the Brazil-Uruguay border and Brazil's southernmost point, see Chuí River. For the Nam Sam River or Chu River, on the Lao-Vietnam border, see Nam Sam River.

The Chu (or Chui or Chuy) (Russian: Чу, Kyrgyz: Чүй, Kazakh: Шу) is a river in northern Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan. At approximately 663 miles (1067 km^[1]) in length, it is one of the longest rivers in Kyrgyzstan.

Chuy Oblast, the northernmost and most populous administrative region of Kyrgyzstan, is named after the river; so are the Chuy Avenue, the main street of Bishkek, and the city of Shu in Kazakhstan's Zhambyl Province.

Course[link]

The Chu River is formed by the confluence of rivers Joon Aryk and Kochkor in Kochkor District of Naryn Province. After approaching lake Issyk Kul within a few kilometers (near Balykchy), without either flowing into the lake or draining it, it turns to the northwest. After passing through the narrow Boom Gorge (Russian: Боомское ущелье), it enters the comparatively flat Chuy Valley, within which the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek and the Kazakh city of Shu are located. Much of the Chu's water is diverted into a network of canals to irrigate the fertile black soils of the Chuy Valley for farming, both on the Kyrgyz and Kazakh sides of the river.

As the Chu flows through the Chuy Valley, it forms the border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan for more than a hundred kilometers, but then it leaves Kyrgyzstan and flows into Kazakhstan, where, like many other rivers and streams that drain northern Kyrgyzstan it eventually disappears in the steppe, short of reaching the Syr Darya, of which it would drain to during wet years.

History[link]

The area of this river was originally home to the Iranian Sughds who spoke Soghdian, an East Iranian language.^[2]

During the Middle Ages, the area was strategically important. It was the setting of Suayub, the capital of the Western Turkic Khaganate, and Balasagun, the capital of the Kara-Khitans.

Chu River posed a risk of flooding for settlements located in Chu Valley. In winter 1878, an ice gorge formed on Chu River upstream town Tokmok that was the center of Semirechye Province. This was followed by severe flooding that damaged the town and the center of the province was moved in Pishpek (Bishkek). After this, Tokmak gradually lost its significance.^[3]

Ecology and Environment[link]

Environmental monitoring[link]

The Kyrgyz State Agency on Hydrometeorology and Kazakhstan Hydrometeorological Service (Kazhydromet) operate a number of water quality monitoring stations on the Chu River and its tributaries.^[4]

Water quality[link]

According to Kyrgyz State Agency on Hydrometeorology, in 2004-2008, water pollution index of the Chu River in Chu Valley ranged from 0.25 to 0.7 units that is interpreted as Class II ("Clean water"). The only exception was a monitoring point downstream Vasilyevka village where water pollution index ranged from 0.4 to 1.2 unit and water quality was assessed as Class II(Clean)/Class III ("Moderately polluted").^[4]

According to Kazakhstan Hydrometeorological Service (Kazhydromet), water pollution index of Shu (Chu) River in Jambyl Province of Kazakhstan amounted to 2.01 (Class III, "Moderately polluted") in 2008, and 1.83 (Class III, "Moderately polluted") in 2009. Such water quality parameters as biochemical oxygen demand, nitrites, copper, phenols exceeded the maximum allowable concentrations.^[5]

Major tributaries[link]

In Kyrgyzstan, 4892 rivers and canals flow into Chu River.^[6] The list of the major tributaries include:

• Chong-Kemin River
• Kichi-Kemin River
• Kara-Konuz River
• Shamshy River
• Ysyk-Ata River
• Alamudun River
• Ala-Archa River
• Jylamysh River
• Ak-Suu River
• Kara-Balta River

Gallery[link]

• 

  In the Boom Gorge

• 

  A medieval balbal near Burana Tower in the Chuy Valley

• 

  In the Chuy Valley near Milyanfan

• 

  Near Korday border crossing

• 

  Near Shu, Kazakhstan

References[link]

1. ^ Great Soviet Encyclopedia
2. ^ Barthold, W.. "Balāsāg̲h̲ūn or Balāsaḳūn." Encyclopaedia of Islam.. Brill Online. UNIVERSITEITSBIBLIOTHEEK LEIDEN: Brill Academic Publishers. http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-1131. 
3. ^ "Profile of town Tokmok (in Russian)". http://www.citykr.kg/tokmok.php#ser1. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Kyrgyz State Agency on Hydrometeorology: water quality". http://www.meteo.ktnet.kg/unzps/unzps_voda_arch.php. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
5. ^ Information Bulletin on Status of the Environment in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2009 (Report). Ministry of Environment Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 2010. http://www.eco.gov.kz/ekolog/buleten/bul_2009.rar. 
6. ^ (in Kyrgyz and Russian) Чүй облусу:Энциклопедия [Encyclopedia of Chuy Oblast]. Bishkek: Chief Editorial Board of Kyrgyz Encyclopedia. 1994. pp. 718. ISBN 5-89750-083-5. 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chu River

v t e Rivers of Kazakhstan Rivers Ajaguz River  • Akan-Burluk River  • Arys River  • Asa River  • Aschiagar River  • Ayat River  • Badam River  • Bolshoy Uzen River  • Borolday River  • Bugun River  • Bukhtarma River  • Byan River  • Charyn River  • Chu River  • Emba River  • Ilek River  • Iman-Burluk River  • Irgiz River  • Ili River  • Irtysh River  • Ishim River  • Kapal River  • Karatal River  • Kigach River  • Keles River  • Koksu River  • Koluton River  • Kurchum River  • Lukina River  • Narym River  • Nura River  • O River  • Sarisu River  • Sytasty River  • Syr Darya  • Talas River  • Tersakkan River  • Tobol River  • Tuolba River  • Turgai River  • Ural River  • Uba River  • Ubagan River  • Ulba River

v t e Rivers of Kyrgyzstan Major rivers Ala-Archa River Alabuga River At-Bashi River Chatkal River Chong-Kemin River Chu River Joon Aryk Jyrgalan River Kara Darya Kara-Suu Kegart River Kichi-Kemin River Kochkor River Kurshab River Naryn River On Archa River Sokh River Talas River Tar River (Kyrgyzstan) Toshkan River Vakhsh River Ysyk-Ata River

Kansen Chu (Chinese: 朱感生; pinyin: Zhū Gǎnshēng) is a San Jose City Councilmember, representing District 4, which encompasses the communities of Berryessa, Alviso, and North San Jose. Elected in June 2007, Chu is the first Chinese-American to serve on the City Council. Chu is a member of the City’s Neighborhood Services and Education Committee and the County’s Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission. He is also the liaison to the Airport Commission and the Human Rights Commission. Kansen Chu is also the Chair of the North San Jose Neighborhoods Planning Taskforce, a Council appointed body formed in July 2007 to address the growth of 32,000 residential units in North San Jose.

In 2000, Chu was defeated by now Mayor Chuck Reed for the District 4 council seat.

In his first year on the council, Chu initiated landmark legislation to require citywide green building standards, ban the use of plastic bags, and mandate the installation of automatic heart defibrillators across San Jose.

In 2002, Kansen Chu was elected to the Berryessa Union School Board. As a school board member, he championed stronger curricula, better education materials, and improved public access to school board meetings.

Chu has served on the Berryessa Union School Board for 5 years, Santa Clara Valley Metro YMCA, Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation, Shin Shin Education Foundation, and Advisory Board of Californians for Justice. Kansen has also served on the Santa Clara County Mental Health Board, Private Industry Council under Job Training Partnership Act, Neighborhood Accountability Board of Berryessa, the KNTV Channel 11 Community Board, Asian Law Alliance, and many other advisory commissions and boards. He continues to serve on the board of Vision New America, dedicated to advancing youth involvement in civics and government.

Born in 1952 in Taiwan, Mr. Chu moved to the United States in 1976. Professionally, Kansen has a Master's in Electrical Engineering from Cal State Northridge, and worked as a Microdiagnostics Microprogrammer at IBM for 18 years. Kansen and Daisy have been married for 30 years and they have two children, Ann and Walt.

External links[link]

• http://www.sanjoseca.gov/district4/
• http://www.kansenchu.com
• http://www.smartvoter.org/2007/06/05/ca/scl/race/5207/

This article about a California politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010)

Wang Chung
Wang Chung performing at Summerfest on June 26, 2010.
Background information
Also known as	Huang Chung
Origin	London, England
Genres	Pop rock New Wave
Years active	1979–1990 1997–present
Labels	Arista, Geffen
Website	http://www.wangchung.com/
Members
Jack Hues Nick Feldman
Past members
Darren Costin Dave Burnand (a.k.a. Hogg Robinson)

Wang Chung are an English New Wave musical group formed in 1980. The name Wang Chung means "Yellow Bell" in Chinese (黃鐘 -- "Huáng Zhōng" in Pinyin) , and is the first note in the Chinese classical music scale.

The group found their greatest success in America, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days" (#16 In the summer of 1984), "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (#2 in 1986) and "Let's Go!" (#9 in 1987).

Career[link]

==Jeremy Ryder, known professionally as "Jack Hues" (vocalist/guitarist) and Nick Feldman (bassist) would eventually form the core duo of Wang Chung. They first met when Hues answered Feldman's ad for a musicians in the classifieds section of the weekly British music magazine Melody Maker in 1977. Mike Berry, an American bassist and songwriter also answered the ad, beating 70 other bassists to be offered the job. Mike Smith, a keyboard playing friend of Nick's and Paul Hammond, a drummer were already members of the band. Keyboard player, Mike Smith also wrote songs. He soon left after being signed as a songwriter by Chinn and Chapman. Paul Hammond (Carl. S. Berg) was the drummer at the time of the auditions. He had already enjoyed some success in the 70s band, 'Atomic Rooster.His 'audition technique' was to keep speeding up the tempo as he played to try and catch the bass player out. Mike Berry played bass so fast that Paul gave up, smiled and said 'you're a maniac!' Mike Berry was in. It was Paul Hammond who coined the name Jack Hues.

[2] Mike B tells the story:

'Jeremy/Jez had a song called,'J'accuse'.The opening line was,"I J'accuse!' Paul hated the song,One day when Jeremy/Jez was gone to the toilet Paul got a wicked gleam in his eye and asked,'where's Jack?'we said who? He said,'you know,Jack Hughs.'That is how that name got started.It was Paul taking the rise out of Jez' song.' <mike berry/ref> recalls he him self left the band after a year and a half because Nick Feldman refused to loan him the money to replace a faulty bass speaker cabinet,despite being offered an airline ticket to the usa as security on the loan.As a result of this dispute, Mike refused to play a gig supporting The Tourists[Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart] was canceled and Mike Berry quit the band.Both Nick and Jack,as he was now called,pleaded with him not to go,but he left the band. 6 months later,while working as a door person at a night club in Boston,Massachusetts,mike heard familiar voices and looked up at the video screen.there were Wang Chung,singing 'Dancehall Days! Mike still kicks himself for the decision to go.He still has demo tapes recorded at Easy Street studios as part of this original line-up.the songs include 'J'accuse.'

Soon after Mike left.[3] Marek Budzynski (Bud Weiser) was taken on as bassist to form next incarnation of The Intellektuals. Hues and Feldman then joined up with future Wang Chung drummer Darren Costin, bassist Leigh Gorman, keyboardist Simon Campbell and vocalist Glenn Gregory, to form 57 Men. This band lasted for about 18 months before breaking up.

Gregory went on to become the vocalist for Heaven 17, and Gorman later played in Bow Wow Wow. Meanwhile Hues, Feldman and Costin stayed together and rechristened themselves Huang Chung. The name Huang Chung was claimed by the band to translate roughly as "perfect pitch" -- although later, on American Bandstand, they claimed it was the sound a guitar made.

The Huang Chung years (1980-82)[link]

At the beginning of Huang Chung's career, all the members performed under pseudonyms. Jeremy Ryder was "Jack Hues", Nick Feldman was "Nick DeSpig", and Darren Costin was "Darren Darwin" (and later, just "Darwin"). "Jack Hues", incidentally, is a play on the French term "j'accuse".

The band was signed to 101 Records. The first Huang Chung release, "Baby I'm Hu-man", appeared on a 101 compilation album in 1980. Three live tracks were subsequently released on another 101 Records compilation in 1981.

Later in 1980, the independent record company Rewind Records signed the band up for a two-single deal. Huang Chung's debut single for Rewind Records was "Isn't It About Time We Were on TV". It was followed up by "Stand Still". Neither single charted, but the group had begun to attract the attention of Arista Records, who signed them to a two-album deal in early 1981.

Around this same time, the group expanded to a quartet, with the addition of sax player Dave Burnand. In keeping with the all-pseudonymous nature of the band, Burnand was known as "Hogg Robinson" for the first Arista single, and later, simply as "Hogg".

Under the direction of producer Rhett Davies, Huang Chung issued two singles on Arista in 1981, neither of which charted. A third single, produced by Roger Bechirian, appeared in early 1982. It too failed to chart.

The band's first album was issued in 1982. Self-titled, it compiled the three non-charting Arista A-sides, one of the Arista B-sides, and six other new tracks. Like the associated singles, the Huang Chung album failed to chart.

Around the same time, Hues, DeSpig and Burnand contributed to the lone LP by the mysterious pseudonymous group Blanket of Secrecy. Hues and DeSpig wrote the song "Lovers" for the album, and Hues scored the strings for that song, while Burnand played sax on the album. Despite some speculation at the time, no member of Huang Chung was actually a member of Blanket of Secrecy -- that band consisted of Roger Bechirian, Andrew Howell and Pete Marsh, operating under the pseudonyms Tinker, Soldier, and Tailor.

In early 1982, Burnand left Huang Chung amicably, citing "musical differences".

Name change to Wang Chung and initial success (1983-1985)[link]

In late 1982, Huang Chung returned to the studio to start work on their second album for Arista Records. However, their manager David Massey convinced Arista to close their contract with Huang Chung, and instead placed the band with American label Geffen Records, making the group the second UK-based act to be signed to Geffen worldwide after Asia (not counting then-New York-based John Lennon in 1980).

At this juncture, and at Geffen's suggestion, the band changed their name to Wang Chung, allegedly to make pronunciation easier for English-speakers. (This explanation of the group's name change is consistent with the claim by VH1's Pop Up Video that they changed it because people kept calling them "Hung Chung".) At the same time, Nick Feldman and Darren Costin opted to be billed under their real names; only Jack Hues would keep his pseudonym.

The band spent most of 1983 recording their second album Points on the Curve. Released in January 1984, the album yielded two moderately successful hits, "Don't Let Go" (#38 US) and "Dance Hall Days" (#16 US, #21 UK).

In late 1983, Hues and Feldman collaborated in a one-off project with vocalist David Van Day. A demo of the track "Ringing the Bell" was submitted to David by their publisher as one of many songs for consideration by David as a possible follow up to his hit "Young Americans Talking". It was recorded in November 1983 but remained unreleased for some time before eventually surfacing under the band name Music Academy in 1985.

Wang Chung then followed up the release of Points On The Curve with a spate of soundtrack work. Director William Friedkin specifically sought out Wang Chung to score his 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A. The resulting soundtrack became the group's third album, and is recognisable as one of their more mainstream works. It went top ten on the US Billboard chart for soundtracks.

The band also recorded "Fire in the Twilight" for the 1985 John Hughes film The Breakfast Club — it is playing in the scene where John Bender leads the teens down the hallways trying to dodge Mr. Vernon.

In the summer of 1985, Costin left the band. Hues and Feldman continued to record new material, employing producer Peter Wolf as their new drummer (although he never became an official member of the band).

Commercial peak (1986-89)[link]

Wang Chung released their fourth album, Mosaic, in 1986. This album spun off their biggest hits: "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (#2 US) and "Let's Go!" (#9 US). "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" features the oft-quoted lyric "Everybody Wang Chung tonight", and also has a well-remembered music video (directed by Godley & Creme) where virtually every frame featured a jump cut. Their final US Top 40 single, "Hypnotize Me" (#36) was also from the same album, as well as being featured on the soundtrack of the 1987 film Innerspace.

Wang Chung released their final album, The Warmer Side of Cool, in 1989. The album featured a minor hit in "Praying to A New God" (#63 US), but was considered a commercial disappointment. Hues and Feldman then went on to other projects, Wang Chung effectively disbanded in 1990.

Hiatus (1990-1997)[link]

During the 1990s, Feldman joined up with Jon Moss of Culture Club to form the band Promised Land, and subsequently released their self-titled debut album, Promised Land, in 1992.

Also in the 1990s, Hues worked on various film soundtracks, including 1990s The Guardian. He was signed to a solo deal by Sony Records in the early 1990s, but his intended debut solo album, The Anatomy Lesson, was shelved by the label and remains unreleased.

Hues later teamed up with Tony Banks of Genesis to form the one-off group Strictly Inc, which released a self-titled album in 1995.

Reunions (1997-present)[link]

1997 saw the return of Wang Chung, still consisting of Hues and Feldman, with a greatest hits collection entitled Everybody Wang Chung Tonight: Wang Chung's Greatest Hits. Included on this CD was a new single, "Space Junk". The group also toured America around this time.

A 2000 edition of Wang Chung played several dates in America. Hues was the only original member of this iteration of the band, as Feldman bowed out due to other commitments.

In March 2005, Wang Chung (once again consisting of Hues and Feldman) contributed "Akasha", a previously unreleased song, to the "Of Hands and Hearts compilation", in response to the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami crisis.

In June 2005, Wang Chung appeared on the reality TV series Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and a cover of "Hot in Herre" by Nelly.

Beginning in June 2009, Wang Chung was a part of the Regeneration 80's tour along with ABC, Berlin, Cutting Crew, and Missing Persons.^[1]

In June 2010, Wang Chung released a digital "double EP" entitled Abducted by the 80s. This was subsequently released as a double CD set in mid 2011 (available direct from the band's web site). The eight song collection included four re-recordings of previous hits, and four new songs.^[2] Wang Chung toured the United States from June to July 2010 to promote the new release.

On September 21, 2010, The Beatles Complete On Ukulele released Wang Chung's reworking of the Beatles' "Rain," in an arrangement which features the ukulele.^[3]

They are now set to play the Rewind Festival in Scotland in July 2012.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1982: Huang Chung
• 1983: Points on the Curve
• 1985: To Live and Die in L.A.
• 1986: Mosaic
• 1989: The Warmer Side of Cool
• 2010: Abducted By The 80's

Compilation albums[link]

• 1997: Everybody Wang Chung Tonight: Wang Chung's Greatest Hits
• 2002: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Wang Chung

Music video for "Everybody Have Fun Tonight"[link]

There were two versions of the video "Everybody Have Fun Tonight". The first version, which contained series of hundreds of videos that flashed in very quick succession across the screen, triggered seizures in epileptics and was pulled from broadcast. A second version of the video was shot and debuted shortly after the first. The original video is now a collectors item.

Wang Chung's Everybody Have Fun Tonight reached #99 on VH1'S 100 Greatest Hits of the '80s.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Wang Chung Official Homepage
• An interview with Jack Hues on The Marketplace of Ideas