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China Boasts 36 Pilot Agro-science Parks
Since November 2001, China has launched 36 pilot agro-science parks nationwide, involving more than 30 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and cities with provincial economic powers.

This was revealed at a recent symposium convened in Xuchang city, Henan province, central China.

The agro-science parks have been built under the coordination and guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water Resources, the State Administration

Chinese Writer Given French Honor
Contemporary Chinese writer Han Shaogong has received a top honor from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication for his outstanding contribution to promoting Sino-French cultural exchanges.

The honor, the "Chevalier de L'ordre des Arts et des Lettres", was issued by Catherine Tasca, minister of Culture and Communication, and is one of the three awards launched by the French government for literature and art.

Han is the second Chinese writer to win the honor after Chinese no

Biggest Mall in Asia
Asia's biggest shopping mall - and Shanghai's first to operate around the clock - will open in the Hongqiao area by year's end, its developers said recently.

Shanghai Gang Hong Industrial Development Co. Ltd. said the Shanghai Rainbow Mall has been taking shape at the intersection of Hongjing and Wuzhong roads in southwestern Shanghai's Minhang District.

The 1.5 billion-yuan (US$180 million) shopping center will have 330,000 square meters of space, according to Yang Guoqiang, vice

China Launches Campaign to Ensure Ship Safety
China on July 1 joined the world's leading port states in launching a three-month Concentrated Inspection Campaign to ensure cargo ships are operating safely and in an environmentally conscious manner.

Any cargo vessel weighing 500 tons or more will be detained if it fails to comply with the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and Pollution Prevention (ISM Code), China Maritime Safety Administration officials said on July 1, according to the China Daily on July 2

Multinational Greater Mekong Program Gears Up
After a five-year break because of the Asian financial crisis, China and its neighbors have restarted their multinational program in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).

At the port of Guanlei in southwest China's Yunnan Province, bordering China, Myanmar and Thailand, a dozen Chinese workers are busy loading garlic on to ships anchored in the Lancang River. They will take it to Thailand, where garlic is uncommon.

China has declared at a recent ASEAN 10+1 meeting that it will inves

Shanghai City Plans for Better Tourism Services
Shanghai planed to build up a large-scale passenger center along the Huangpu River to attract more tourists to the waterscape and to serve tourists better,Jiefang Daily reported recently.

Waterscape sightseeing is developing fast in the city with the many accomplishments of water clean-up efforts,tourism officials said,however,those over-water tourism projects are separate,disorder and lacking overall planning and management now.

A passenger center,to introduce all the available to

Beijing on fast track to solve traffic woes
Beijing is mobilizing think tanks around the country to solve traffic congestion in the capital ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.

A total of 19 leading transport experts from around the country gathered in Beijing recently to discuss the city's traffic problems at the invitation of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

They gave a final evaluation of the Beijing Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Project, which they hope will relieve the snarl-ups that have blighted the capital f

International Fair for Investment, Trade to Be Held in Xiamen
The Sixth China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, is to be held on September 8-11 in Xiamen, a scenic city in east China's Fujian Province.

This was announced in Beijing recently by the organizing committee at a promotional symposium. Governments at provincial level throughout China and relevant state ministries and commissions will also attend the CIFIT as affiliates to promote their investment projec

Freeway Completed in Anhui Province
A 54-kilometer freeway in east China's Anhui Province was completed on July 1, a step in the construction of a much longer artery road connecting China's east with west.

The new freeway, part of a national freeway designed to link Lianyungang City in the coastal province of Jiangsu and Helgus in China's central Asian region of Xinjiang, has four lanes and allows speeds of up to 120 kilometer per hour.

Some 1.14 billion yuan was spent in this section of the Lianyungang-Helgus freewa

World's Longest Epic Sung for Thousand Years
The ancient king, Gesar, may have been dead for a thousand years, but he lives on in the Gesar ballad singers who rove the Qinghai-Tibetan and the Mongolian Plateaus, constantly reciting and developing The Life of King Gesar, the world's longest epic poem. "King Gesar tells the story of an ancient Tibetan king who conquered the devils of other Tibetan tribes and made Tibet stable. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 2002 and 2003 as the ye

Coke Director Talks Olympic Sponsorship
A Coca-Cola director has met officials of the Beijing Olympic Committee to talk about the soft-drink giant sponsoring the 2008 Olympic Games. Peter Franklin, worldwide director of Olympic management for the Coca-Cola Company, made his first trip to China just ahead of the first anniversary of Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Games. He said it was still too early to talk in detail about the activities his company will be organizing. But he said the company would help people from around the w

World's Longest Epic Sung for Thousand Years
The ancient king, Gesar, may have been dead for a thousand years, but he lives on in the Gesar ballad singers who rove the Qinghai-Tibetan and the Mongolian plateaus, constantly reciting and developing The Life of King Gesar, the world's longest epic poem. "King Gesar tells the story of an ancient Tibetan king who conquered the devils of other Tibetan tribes and made Tibet stable. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 2002 and 2003 as the ye

Coke Director Talks Olympic Sponsorship
A Coca-Cola director has met officials of the Beijing Olympic Committee to talk about the soft-drink giant sponsoring the 2008 Olympic Games. Peter Franklin, worldwide director of Olympic management for the Coca-Cola Company, made his first trip to China just ahead of the first anniversary of Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Games. He said it was still too early to talk in detail about the activities his company will be organizing. But he said the company would help people from around the w

Cuba Striving to Introduce Chinese Medicine to Latin America
Cuba looks set to introduce traditional Chinese medicines to the virtually virgin market of Latin America, after signing letters of intent with nine Chinese provinces and municipalities.

Under the agreement, provinces like Gansu, Shandong and Sichuan will cooperate with Cuba in such fields as technology for making medicines and the cultivation of medicinal plants.

A Cuban expert with the government's Natural and Traditional Medicine Program, Juana Irene said: "Though traditional Ch

China's Drug Retailers Rise to Foreign Challenge
Chinese pharmacies are undergoing a dramatic transformation as the retail medicine market prepares to open to foreign competition from January 1, 2003.

More and more Chinese patients are willing to buy medicines in convenient drugstores instead of taking the trouble to register and queue in hospitals. Meanwhile, a large number of wholesalers have also plunged into retailing due to the high returns.

Experts consider that these two factors have contributed to the rapid growth of Chin

Roundup: China Striving to Regain Printing Mantle
China, which developed the world's first printing technology but lagged far behind the West in printing in the past 500 years, is staging a comeback to a top the global printing industry, says a former state councilor.

A new generation of scientists in China, who has invented the Chinese character laser printing technology which still dominates international Chinese printing today, is taking pains to seize a major market share in alphabetic printing, according to Zhang Jinfu, a retired se

Qing Dynasty Painting Auctioned at Record Price
A Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) painting sold for a record price of 5.17 million yuan (625,150 US dollars) at the 2002 Beijing Hanhai Spring Auction here recently, surpassing the previous 4.4 million-yuan (532,043 dollars) price for a painting also by famous Chinese painter Zhu Da in China.

The painting, featuring two birds in a lotus pond, was put under the hammer by an overseas collector at a starting price of 2.2 million yuan.

Both domestic and foreign art collectors participated in

10,000 Ancient Bamboo Slips Unearthed in Hunan Province
More than 10,000 bamboo slips dating from the Warring States period (BC.476-BC.221) have been unearthed from an historic site in central China's Hunan province.

Gao Chongwen, director of the archaeological institute of Beijing University, said the find was the largest of its kind and would offer more clues for archaeological research.

Chinese archaeologists discovered the slips in a 16-meter deep well in an ancient city which was located at Liye village, Longshan county in Hunan, i

Ancient Meditation Cave Discovered in North China
A mysterious and previously inaccessible cave in Fengning Manchu Autonomous County, in north China's Hebei Province, is now thought to be an ancient place of meditation for Buddhist monks.

The cave is located on Mount Lama, 30 kilometers northwest of the county proper of Fengning. According to historical records, for more than 500 years, local people could see only section of iron chain attached to a piece of wood at the entrance of the cave.

A steep slope, more than 40 meters high

Beijing marks 65th anniversary of July 7th Incident
A collection of pictures of the July 7th Incident in 1937, was launched on July 6 at the Memorial Hall of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing.

The historical research was carried out by staff from the memorial hall. The collection provides more than 200 invaluable pictures and additional material with explanations in Chinese, English, and Japanese.

Experts say that the pictures show the true sequence of events in the July 7th Incident and is an achievement

Asian countries to build railway linking China and Singapore
Seven Asian countries including China have planned to build a railway linking southwest China and Singapore, hopefully to bring prosperity to the area.

The railway starts from Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan province, and runs through Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia before reaching Singapore.

The railway is like a ribbon connecting China and Southeast Asian countries and providing golden opportunities for multi- lateral trade and investment.

Research: Three Gorges Reservoir to Act as "Air-conditioner"
The Three Gorges reservoir, the largest man-made lake in the world now being built on the Yangtze River, will become an "air-conditioner" once full to capacity, according to the findings of a scientific research program.

Scientists in the program, organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and carried out in the past five years, say theoretical research shows that when completed the Three Gorges reservoir can store 39.3 billion cubic meters of water.

They hold that huge lak

China Top Destination for Tourists by 2020
China will receive more than 180 million tourists in 2020, ranking top among countries in international tourist arrivals, the head of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) said in Mexico's Manzanillo, on July 5.

WTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said China is now in a favorable situation, and is one of the five best destinations in the world.

Frangalli was in Mexico for the second ministerial tourism meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) which ended on Jul

Right-wingers Afraid of Museum's Truth
The Kagoshima prefectural assembly in Japan last week approved an appeal by a local right-wing group to have the Nanjing Massacre Museum excluded from the itinerary of Japanese high-school students' trip to China. The group is part of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, a notorious far-right organization that perennially repudiates Japanese wartime atrocities. The group's petition was filed in court as early as December 1999. It said the museum was "a stronghold of anti-Japanese br

Right-wingers Afraid of Museum's Truth
The Kagoshima prefectural assembly in Japan last week approved an appeal by a local right-wing group to have the Nanjing Massacre Museum excluded from the itinerary of Japanese high-school students' trip to China. The group is part of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, a notorious far-right organization that perennially repudiates Japanese wartime atrocities. The group's petition was filed in court as early as December 1999. It said the museum was "a stronghold of anti-Japanese br

Income Levels and City Life
Only 20 years ago, "Wan Yuan Hu" (a family with an annual income of 10,000 yuan) represented the mostly much admired, nouveau riche of Chinese society. Times have now changed so much that this is now thought of as a low income. Rapid economic development has led to two new measures of success. These are the "Shi Wanyuan Hu" (100,000 yuan) and the "Bai Wanyuan Hu" (1,000,000 yuan). The 10,000 yuan income level is now in the mainstream of personal income tax while the 100,000 yuan level represents

Nepalese King Arrives in Beijing for State Visit
Nepalese King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev arrived in Beijing Tuesday for a seven-day state visit to China at the invitation of President Jiang Zemin. During his stay in China, the king is expected to confer with President Jiang and senior Chinese officials on bilateral ties and cooperation on trade and economic development between the two countries. They will also discuss regional and international issues of mutual concern. The Nepalese king will also travel to the Chinese cities of Dalian, Yi

Shandong Airlines Foresees Lean Half
Shandong Airlines Co. Ltd. said yesterday its first-half profit is expected to be less than 50 percent of the figure for 2001's first half, mainly because passenger volume dwindled. "Passenger numbers fell sharply in the second quarter after three Chinese aircraft crashed in April and May," said Zheng Baoan, a spokesman for the carrier, whose headquarters are in Ji'nan, the capital of eastern China's Shandong Province. Shandong Air, which will release its interim report in late August, did not e

Backgrounder: Int'l conventions on radio, television broadcasting
The United Nations General Assembly adopted in 1982 principles governing the use by states of artificial earth satellites for international direct television broadcasting.

The principles stipulate: using satellites to transmit radio and television programs must abide by international laws, including relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, and international conventions and radio regulations formulated by the International Telecommunications Union (IT

Backgrounder: Sinosat
Sinosat is a bulky telecommunications satellite manufactured in Europe. There are 24 C-band and 14 KU-band transponders on the satellite.

The service term of the satellite in orbit is 15 years. The satellite serves both China and neighboring countries and areas. The ground monitoring and control station for Sinosat was designed and manufactured by China independently and the software used to control the satellite was also programmed by China.

Sinosat was carried into orbit by the L

Backgrounder: China's Scheme to increase coverage of radio,television programs
China launched a scheme in 1998 to help people living in rural and remote areas have access to radio and television programs. The final target is to enable all villages in the country to have access to radio and television programs.

According to statistics, by March 2001, China had invested more than 1.62 billion yuan (195 million U.S. dollars) into the scheme, enabling more than 100,000 villages to have their first access to radio and television programs. Nearly 70 million people have be

Cathay Pacific Reaches New Agreement On Taiwan Air Services
Cathay Pacific Airways announced recently that a new agreement on Taiwan air services was reached with the Taipei Airlines Association.

Under the new agreement, effective July 1, 2002, Cathay Pacific will be able to increase its passenger and cargo capacity to Taiwan.

Air Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific's wholly owned subsidiary, will also have the right to operate cargo flights to Taiwan.

The agreement was concluded after discussions between Cathay Pacific Airways, Dragonair, Air

Air Macao Takes Delivery of New Plane
Air Macao took delivery of an A319 airliner which was conferred in a traditional blessing ceremony recently the name "Yangtze", after China's longest river, as the 10th plane in the air carrier's fleet.

The plane, which arrived at the Macao International Airport recently, was the first of five airliners Air Macao plans to rent from the International Lease Financing Corporation, an American company.

Zhang Hongying, chief executive officer of Air Macao, told Xinhua that among the to-

Ancient Southwest City Shows Chinese Capitalism in Embryo
Hongjiang, an almost forgotten ancient port city in the center of a modern city in the southwest of China's Hunan province has been rediscovered.

Luo Zhewen, president of the Association of China's historical relics, said during his February inspection of the city, "Hongjiang is a unique ancient commercial city which has somehow survived until now in its original appearance. It is a living specimen of Chinese capitalism in embryo."

The ancient city had 15 old-style Chinese banking

Pudong to Get First Railway
Pudong District in Shanghai will have its first railway by 2005, allowing the area to connect with the west bank of the Huangpu River through railroad traffic, the Shanghai Railway Administration said recently.

Construction for the 113-kilometer railway, jointly invested by the Ministry of Railways and the Shanghai government with 5 billion yuan (US$600 million), will possibly start as early as the end of this year.

"The railway in Pudong will offer a smooth cargo transport network

Academicians Join Bid to Protect Landmark Wooden Tower in Shanxi Province
A number of top Chinese scientists and engineers have been asked to evaluate and help protect a world-famous old wooden tower built in 1056 in Yingxian county in north China's Shanxi province.

Seven prestigious members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering Science recently attended a meeting to evaluate research into repairing and protecting the ageing wooden tower.

Both Zhang Wenbin and Zhang Pai, director and deputy director of the State Admini

Shenyang City to Build "Canadian Village"
Shenyang city in northeast China's Liaoning province has announced its decision to build a "Canadian village" on its outskirts to promote the agricultural, tourism and hotel businesses, and its pre-stage preparations have begun.

The "Canadian village", or the "Canadian hacienda", will be located in a high-tech agricultural development zone, also known as Shenyang's "agricultural silicon valley", said an official from the municipal government recently.

The village, with an area of m

Regulation issued to protect Chinese working abroad
Chinese citizens planning to work abroad must sign labor contracts with their overseas employers before leaving the country, according to a new law.

The Regulation on Intermediary Organs Specializing in Overseas Employment is designed to bring Chinese working abroad under the protection of labor laws and labor departments in their destination country.

China's traditional practice has been let laborers sign contracts with domestic intermediary organs and economic contracts with over

Air safety regulation launched
China's civil aviation authority will strictly limit the operation of passenger jets that are not equipped with a second-generation airborne collision avoidance system (ACASII) starting from Friday.

The move aims to decrease the possibility of jet collisions following the tragic collision last week in southern Germany between a cargo plane and a passenger jet, Tuesday's China Daily reported.

A document from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said passenger jets witho

Travel Agencies to Handle Business for Going Aboard
Travel agencies can only help Chinese people handle overseas travel affairs previously while the China International Travel Service Head Office can help deal with the exit business so far such as business review,cultural exchange,study&training,friends or relatives visiting,emigration and legacy inheriting,The CITS Head Office,boasting more than 9,000 travel agencies around the nation,has built the CITS Exit-Entry Service Co Ltd lately,the first to tap the exit intermediate market. CITS Head Off

Party's Historic Site Revived
Located in the downtown area of Shanghai, neighbouring the Yanzhong Park, the site of the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China was recently reinvigorated at the 81st anniversary of the Communist Party of China. The structure is a unique Shanghai Shikumen (stone-framed) house with a history of nearly 100 years, characterized by outer brick walls and red gate posts. The Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held at this location from July 16 to 23 in 1922

Party's Historic Site Revived
Located in the downtown area of Shanghai, neighbouring the Yanzhong Park, the site of the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China was recently reinvigorated at the 81st anniversary of the Communist Party of China. The structure is a unique Shanghai Shikumen (stone-framed) house with a history of nearly 100 years, characterized by outer brick walls and red gate posts. The Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held at this location from July 16 to 23 in 1922

First Travel Website Launched
The first online travel portal in the Asia-Pacific region owned by Asian and US airlines was launched yesterday to ride on a rebound in the industry after last year's global terrorism scare. ZUJI, Mandarin for "footprint," offers an array of services including travel planning, airfare price-tracking, airline and hotel bookings, stopovers and car rentals through its website www.zuji.com. The company is owned by 14 regional airlines as well as two US carriers in partnership with global online trav

Enjoy Hostelling in China
One day in the early 20th century, a German teacher named Richard Schirman took his pupils on an outing, but an unexpected heavy rain ruined their day "Oh, Jesus Christ, look at the rain! What shall we do to spend the day?" "Mr. Shirman, maybe we should find a hotel or something?" "Oh, you wish! How can we afford the cost? I should have let them to bring more money with them. How stupid I was! If one day I were rich, I would build a hotel only for poor young travel-lovers like us! And I'll name

Knowing Guangzhou, Knowing the History of China--A Book Review
Title: Heaven Is High, the Emperor Far Away -- Merchants and Mandarins in Old Canton Written by: Valery M. Garrett Pages: 210 Published by: Oxford University Press (China) Ltd. Reviewed by: Gloria Shang Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, was known widely in the West as Canton. Situated by the Pearl River, the city has easy access to the South China Sea. Foreign trade developed earlier here than in any other port city in China. The book Heaven Is High, the Emperor Far Away -

Knowing Guangzhou, Knowing the History of China--A Book Review
Title: Heaven Is High, the Emperor Far Away -- Merchants and Mandarins in Old Canton Written by: Valery M. Garrett Pages: 210 Published by: Oxford University Press (China) Ltd. Reviewed by: Gloria Shang Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, was known widely in the West as Canton. Situated by the Pearl River, the city has easy access to the South China Sea. Foreign trade developed earlier here than in any other port city in China. The book Heaven Is High, the Emperor Far Away 

Students Busy As Schools Close
Tourist agencies across China are busy promoting tour packages especially tailored for students now that the summer holidays have finally arrived. Major travel agencies which deal with overseas travel have joined hands with schools to organize sending primary and middle-school students abroad during their nearly two-month summer holidays in July and August. Study-abroad tours during holidays have gained popularity among Chinese youngsters in recent years since students can learn and see new thin

China, Vietnam to Unveil New Marker Stone on Border
China and Vietnam will hold an unveiling ceremony for a new marker stone on the boundary between Hekou in southwest China's Yunnan Province and Lao Cai in Vietnam on July 13.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular press conference in

Two million migratory birds stop over in Tianjin
The vast wetland of north China port city of Tianjin has been confirmed by experts as a major stopover point for more than 2 million migrant birds in their intercontinental migrations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The conclusion was made by dozens of experts from Australia, New Zealand and China after a decade-long survey.

An official in charge of the wetland, which covers over 1,700 sq km, said that these birds would stay for about two months for perch and food.

The wetland i

KCRC Wins Bid for Sha Tin and Central Rail Link
The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) won a 26 billion HK dollars contract to build and run the new rail link between Sha Tin and Central recently.

According to Acting Secretary for Transport Paul Tang Kwok-wai, both the KCRC and its rival the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) had submited very competitive bids, but the KCRC's bid was better financially as it attracted a higher patronage level, set lower fares, generated higher returns on investment and required no governmen

China Restoring Volcano Lake to Original State in Heilongjiang Province
A five-year project to repair and restore a beautiful volcanic lake in northeast China to its original magnificence is beginning to pay off.

The lake, called the South Gelaqiu Mountain Celestial Pond and located in the Wudalianchi Showplace scenic region in northernmost Heilongjiang province, is beginning to refill with water.

Lush-green vegetation is re-emerging around the lake and numerous rare, invaluable species of birds like egrets and red-crowned cranes are coming back.

Fujian reaches out to Taiwan business
Xi Jinping, governor of East China's Fujian Province, has vowed to enhance co-operation between Fujian and cross-Straits neighbour Taiwan Province to make his province a major hub for Taiwan investment and businesses.

Nearly four-fifths of Taiwan's population is of Fujian origin.

For these geographical and cultural reasons, Fujian is one of the most favoured mainland provinces for Taiwan investors.

Xi said that Fujian ranks third in introducing Taiwan investment, after East

Arats: Mainland creates chance for 3 direct links
Wang Daohan, chairman of the Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (Arats), said in Shanghai on July 7 that Chinese mainland and Taiwan have every reason to open direct shipping, postal and busniess services, the so-called "three direct links".

While meeting a business promotion delegation from Taiwan, Wang expressed his willingness to visit Taiwan and hold talks with top leaders of Taiwan, including Chen Shui-bian.

Wang said that the mainland's preparations for launch

China Eastern Airlines Bought New Boeing-737
A new Boeing 737 plane landed recently at the Pudong International Airport in this east China's financial hub. The plane is the first in a roll of 11 similar flying machines that China Eastern Airlines (CEA) planned to buy.

The newly purchased plane is a new model of Boeing-737, which has 134 seats, divided into first and economy classes.

The other 10 planes will reach China from September this year to June 2003.
Local sources say that the plane will fly to Taiyuan, capital of n

Chinese airline recruits in-flight security guards
The Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd. has launched a recruitment campaign in a bid to find 30 eligible men for security guards on its planes.

The State Council approved the establishment of air police in early February this year to step up China's efforts to combat terrorism and provide security for passengers.

During the campaign beginning on Sunday, Shanghai residents aged below 25 and with a university background are qualified to apply. Those with martial arts or m

China opens first business airport terminal
China's first business satellite building opened at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport over the weekend, aiming to improve services for business people.

Shanghai Airlines has invested more than one million yuan (120, 000 US dollars) in the new terminal which covers nearly 300 square meters.

The two-story building provides security controls, lounge zones and business facilities. Meeting rooms and other amenities such as the Internet and fax services are included.

As one

World's tallest Buddha receiving facelift
Over 20 engineers in orange work jackets have started a 60 day-facelift of world's tallest statue of Buddha, known as "Leshan Buddha", situated in Sichuan province, southwest China.

Lu Lin a local official in charge of the 1,280-year-old cultural heritage, said the repairs to the statue are part of a massive maintenance project which is expected to cost an estimated 250 million yuan (about 30 million US dollars), including two million US dollars in World Bank loans.

The face-lift i

China Takes Pains to Protect World Heritage Sites
The world's tallest Buddha statue in Leshan city, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, is undergoing its second round of facelift since April.

The project aims to make the statue, which is more than 1,200 years old, weatherproof, by installing drainage devices and protecting the statue's feet against pounding waves.

The facelift project is the first initiated in China to use a World Bank loan to repair and restore a world heritage site, according to Zeng Zhiliang, an engineer in

World Heritage Centre Sets Sights on Top Relics in China
Representatives from the World Heritage Centre under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) started a week-long tour in China on July 5 to promote the country's heritage protection.

The World Heritage Centre will hold its annual meeting in China next June to further discuss heritage protection issues in the world and to decide a new round of world heritage sites.

The host city of next year's annual meeting will be decided at the end of the tou

Earliest Forecast of Lunar Eclipses Recorded in China
A 1,500-year-old calendar has been found to contain China's earliest prediction's of lunar eclipses.

This lunar calendar, found in Dunhuang Grottos, northwest China's Gansu province, precisely predicted the dates of eclipses on February 16 and August 16 in 451 BC, though the exact times were not given, scientists said.

Experts with the Dunhuang Research Institute ruled out the possibility that the "forecasts" were recorded after the eclipses had occurred.

Since the eclipses

US Senate Passes Global AIDS Funding Bill
As scientists and activists from around the world wrapped up an international AIDS conference in Barcelona, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill that allocates US$4.5 billion over two years to treat and prevent AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria at home and abroad. The bipartisan legislation would create a US plan for a multi-pronged global fight against AIDS. It must be reconciled with a one-year US$1.3 billion bill approved by the House last December. "With AIDS already claiming more than 20 mi

Artificial Waves Flush Yellow River Silt into Sea
Artificial waves on the Yellow River rushed into the Bohai Sea early Thursday morning at a speed of 1,880 cubic meters per second. Scientists said the waves have carried vast amounts of riverbed silt into the ocean.
Waves of water were released on the

Typhoon to Dispel Heat Wave
A typhoon about 500 kilometers away from Shanghai is expected to bring wind and rain to the city today, cooling down local temperatures, which hit 37.2 degrees Celsius yesterday, the highest temperature of the year to date. Typhoon Halong, named after a Vietnam harbor, should bring some cool winds to the city, but won't actually hit Shanghai, said Yao Zuqing, chief meteorologist of the Shanghai Municipal Meteorological Bureau. "Halong will not do any harm to the city but will bring some northeas

Chinese Lantern Show Captures Tel Aviv
A 45-day traditional Chinese lantern show kicked off Sunday night in a park near the Tel Aviv Land Museum, attracting thousands of Israelis. It was believed to be the first of its kind during the recent years in the largest industrial and commercial city of Israel, as well as one of the major non-governmental cultural exchange events between China and Israel since they established diplomatic relations 10 years ago. Kids seemed to enjoy the show better than their parents. A six-year-old Jewish bo

Xinjiang Charm Lures Tourists
Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has officially initiated a strategic campaign to make the tourism industry one of its key business sectors in the coming years. "We are speeding up our efforts to build up the tourism industry into one of the region's pillar industries in the coming 10 years," said Zhang Zhou, vice-chairman of the ethnic region. He said tourism in Xinjiang is expected to record a historical high of 10 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010. The reg

Myanmar to Allow Chinese Tourists to Spend Chinese Money
Tourists from China will be allowed to use Chinese currency yuan during their stay in the country starting July 18, the local Myanmar Times reported in its latest issue. To attract more visitors from China, Myanmar's northern neighbor, Chinese tourists will be permitted to bring in 6,000 yuan (725.5 US dollars) without declaring to the Myanmar customs, the Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism was quoted as saying. Myanmar earned 2 million yuan (241,837 dollars) from Chinese tourists in 2001, t

One-card Consumption in Vogue
After suffering from the inconvenience involved in eating, finding accommodation and traveling during the past May Holiday and the National Holiday, people are changing their views on travel. One of the most prominent changes is that they no longer give much attention to the services provided by traditional travel agencies; instead, they intend to choose a kind of one-card service that combines eating, boarding, traveling and entertainment. According to some reports, the number of people investi

Beijing Releases Action Plan for 2008 Olympics
Beijing organizers officially released a guiding document for the 2008 Olympics on Friday, one day before the first anniversary of the city's successful bid for the 2008 Olympics.
The document, titled Beijing Olympics Action Plan, will become the guide

Byzantine Gold Coin Unearthed in Qinghai
A Byzantine gold coin recently unearthed in Dulan in northwest China's Qinghai Province, may shed new light on the history of East-West trade routes.

Xu Xinguo, head of the Qinghai Cultural Relics and Archeology Institution, said that the coin excavated from a tomb in XiangrideTownship in Dulan County was made during the reign of Theodosius II (408-450 AD.).

The tomb was for an ethnic Tubo who lived in the Northern Dynasties (386-550 AD.). This is the second ancient Roman gold coin

A Frenchwoman's Holy Mission in China
In the Rongshui autonomous county of ethnic Miao group in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Francoise Grenot from France is on the lips of local folks.

With the help of Ms. Grenot, 1,100 needy school-age children from Danian and Liangzhai townships, both in Rongshui, 300 km from the world-famous scenic city of Guilin, have been able to attend classes for six straight years with completion of 11 new village schools.

Grenot developed a keen interest in China at the very

Ningxia targets Mount Helan Environment
China will earmark 10 million yuan in the next five to 10 years to protect the environment at Mount Helan which borders the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Mount Helan provides a natural barrier against cold fronts from Siberia and protects the Ningxia Plain from three encroaching desert areas.

The Mount Helan Nature Reserve, covering 157,800 hectares, is home to 868 different animals and plants on the state protection list. It is known as a

China Finding Earliest Grain Ration Coupon
A piece of yellowing paper has been recognized as China's earliest food grain ration coupon issued in the mid-1950s.

The coupon, about the size of a name card, was printed in 1954 by the county government of Tongshan in northeast China's Liaoning province.

Experts from Anshan Museum in the province made the pronouncement after scrutinizing the rare, valuable note under a microscope.

Food grain ration coupons were first introduced in the mid-1950s after the central government

Souvenirs Earning Fame, Profits for Oasis City Hotan
Hotan, in the westernmost Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, boasts far more than the 360 desert oases on which it stands.

Dubbed "the home of silks" and "No.1 city in western China", Hotan was once a strategic hub on the ancient "Silk Road", long famed for its advanced agriculture and booming silk industry over 2,000 years ago.

In the 1950s, Hotan was known to almost everybody in China and many people overseas when tens of thousands of People's Liberation Armymen (PLA) settled ther

Boeing Speeds up Plane Delivery to China
Boeing recently delivered a new aircraft in its 757 series to China Xinjiang Airlines.

The new 757-200 aircraft is a single-aisle jetliner which is able to carry 201 passengers in a two-class configuration.

Zhao Liu'an, general manager of China Xinjiang Airlines, said that the plane will allow his company to open new routes and therefore bring greater flexibility in its future growth.

In another development, China Eastern Airlines recently also received the first plane of 11

Anti-collision system installed on China Southwest Airlines
By Thursday morning, all 39 operational aircraft of the China Southwest Airlines had been installed with an airborne collision avoidance system (ACASII).

Airline sources said the ACASII installed on its planes met the requirements of the General Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which meant its planes had access to all domestic airports.

The upgrading cost the airline a total of one million US dollars.

An administration report says that passenger jets without th

Backgrounder: Major Plane Crashes This Year
The following are major aircraft crashes that have occurred since January.

On July 1, a Tupolev Tu-154 of Russia's Bashkirian Airlines collided with a Boeing 757 freight plane, belonging to international express delivery company DHL, in midair over southern Germany, killing at least 71 people. This is the most recent major air disaster this year.

On January 28, a Boeing 727-100 jet of Ecuadorian Military Airlines crashed when flying from the capital, Quito, to the northern city, Tu

China's West-east Gas Project Opens to Foreign Cooperation
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said in Beijing recently that China is opening its huge cross country gas pipeline project to international bidders.

Zhu said this when he met with representatives from the international giants Royal Dutch & Shell Group, Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom and Exxon Mobil Corp. after they had signed an agreement with China to participate in the "West-East Gas Pipeline Project".

Construction of the pipeline running 2,500 miles eastward from the gas field in remo

Shanghainese to Get International Travel Cards This Month
Shanghai people expressed keen interest in the pre-paid international travel bankcards issued by Visa International, according to a survey of the Chinese overseas tourist market, conducted by Visa International.

According to the survey, more than 10 million Chinese people go aboard for business trips or travel every year with only five percent have international credit cards. Tourists often have difficulty carrying a large amount of cash and this is one of the main reasons why the pre-pai

China celebrates 2002 World Population Day
Large-scale commemorations were held in Beijing on July 11 to mark the 13th World Population Day.

Activities organised by the State Family Planning Commission at Zhongshan Park near Tian'anmen Square, included a conference highlighting "Poverty, Population and Development", a photographic exhibition showing poor mothers benefiting from China's poverty-alleviation programs, and advice on women's reproductive health, contraception, mental health and bearing and rearing healthier children.

Qinghai Section, Major Trunk of Ancient Silk Road
Latest archeological findings indicate that the ancient Silk Road's Qinghai section may have been one of the busiest caravan routes used by merchants traveling between China and the Middle East.

Xu Xinguo, head of the Qinghai Research Institute for Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that some 1,500 years ago, the Qinghai-section running west past the present-day Xining city and the Qaidam Basin to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region may have been more prosperous than the well-known ro

Students Promote HIV/AIDS Awareness in Rural Regions
More than 100 university students wearing red ribbons -- the international symbol of HIV/AIDS awareness -- will head into rural China to disseminate knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Having received intensive training, the 13 teams, each comprising 10 students selected from universities nationwide, will also care for those suffering with the killer virus. The 130 students will travel to town fairs, ports and stations of 10 provinces and autonomous regions to spread their knowledge,

Seoul-searching in Beijing
The World Cup is over, but South Korea is still making its presence felt in China, especially in its universities. You may never notice them among the crowds in Beijing, thinking they are just part of the Chinese crowd, as some of them speak flawless putonghua (mandarin) -- even better than some Chinese. But on the breezy night of June 22, when the South Korean soccer squad historically made its way to the semi-finals of the World Cup, thousands and thousands of Koreans came out of the woodwork

University Students Promote HIV/AIDS Awareness in Rural Regions
More than 100 university students wearing red ribbons -- the international symbol of HIV/AIDS awareness -- will head into rural China to disseminate knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Having received intensive training, the 13 teams, each comprising 10 students selected from universities nationwide, will also care for those suffering with the killer virus. The 130 students will travel to town fairs, ports and stations of 10 provinces and autonomous regions to spread their kno

Chinese Lantern Show Fills Tel Aviv with Joy and Curiosity
A 45-day traditional Chinese lantern show kicked off Sunday night in a park near the Tel Aviv Land Museum, attracting thousands of Israelis. It was believed to be the first of its kind during the recent years in the largest industrial and commercial city of Israel, as well as one of the major non-governmental cultural exchange events between China and Israel since they established diplomatic relations 10 years ago. Kids seemed to enjoy the show better than their parents. A six-year-old Jewish bo

Students Promote HIV/AIDS Awareness in Rural Regions
More than 100 university students wearing red ribbons -- the international symbol of HIV/AIDS awareness -- will head into rural China to disseminate knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Having received intensive training, the 13 teams, each comprising 10 students selected from universities nationwide, will also care for those suffering with the killer virus. The 130 students will travel to town fairs, ports and stations of 10 provinces and autonomous regions to spread their knowledge,

Chinese Lantern Show Fills Tel Aviv with Joy and Curiosity
A 45-day traditional Chinese lantern show kicked off Sunday night in a park near the Tel Aviv Land Museum, attracting thousands of Israelis. It was believed to be the first of its kind during the recent years in the largest industrial and commercial city of Israel, as well as one of the major non-governmental cultural exchange events between China and Israel since they established diplomatic relations 10 years ago. Kids seemed to enjoy the show better than their parents. A six-year-old Jewish bo

University Students Promote HIV/AIDS Awareness in Rural Regions
More than 100 university students wearing red ribbons -- the international symbol of HIV/AIDS awareness -- will head into rural China to disseminate knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Having received intensive training, the 13 teams, each comprising 10 students selected from universities nationwide, will also care for those suffering with the killer virus. The 130 students will travel to town fairs, ports and stations of 10 provinces and autonomous regions to spread their knowledge,

Seoul-searching in Beijing
By KWOK SUET TUEN The World Cup is over, but South Korea is still making its presence felt in China, especially in its universities. You may never notice them among the crowds in Beijing, thinking they are just part of the Chinese crowd, as some of them speak flawless putonghua (mandarin) -- even better than some Chinese. But on the breezy night of June 22, when the South Korean soccer squad historically made its way to the semi-finals of the World Cup, thousands and thousands of Koreans came ou

Tourism Must Show Respect for Ethnic Minorities, Expert Says
Wang Qinghua, a research fellow with the Institute of Ethnology of the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, has devoted himself to ethnological study for 19 years in Yunnan, a Southwest China province, which is home to 26 ethnic groups. His long years' researches on the terrace culture of the Hani people -- one of the ethnic minorities, have resulted in two books: Concerning the Terrace Culture published by Yunnan University Press, and Sculptured Mountains by Taiwan Land Publishing House. With a p

More Taiwanese settle in Shanghai
The thought of settling in Shanghai had not occurred to Zhang Meifang, a native Taiwanese, when she came here four years ago to help her brother with his business.

But Zhang found she could not tear herself away from this lovely city when her brother went back to Taiwan.

Living in Shanghai alone is not a problem for Zhang. Her previous ten-years experience in the insurance industry soon earned her a position at the Shanghai branch of the American International Assurance Company Ltd

Shanghai issues "green cards" to 240 overseas residents
China's leading industrial city Shanghai has issued "green cards" to more than 240 overseas residents since it started the initiative to attract overseas investors and talent half a month ago.

About 90 percent of the "green card" holders are returned Chinese students, many with US green cards. The rest are foreign nationals and Chinese from Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to Chen Jintian, an official with the city's personnel administration.

The "green card", or permanent residence

Forum on oceanic science, economic development
This year's forum on oceanic science, technology and economic development will be held in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, from July 14-16.

The forum will be jointly held by several organizations, including the Development and Research Center under the State Council, and Qingdao City Government.

According to organizers, some 300 people will attend the forum, including Chinese government officials, entrepreneurs, and oceanic research experts from China, the

Chinese Students Span Globe
Chinese students have set their eyes on a wider range of countries for studying abroad, extending from developed countries such as the United States, Canada and Britain to developing countries like South Africa.

Statistics indicate that some 80,000 self-funded students go abroad to study each year.

Shao Wei, vice-director of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE), said that Chinese students could be found all over the world.

CSCSE established an agency for

HK Airport Authority Posts Higher Profits despite Difficult Year
The Hong Kong Airport Authority (AA) announced recently it has posted a profit of 236 million HK dollars (30.1 million US dollars) for 2001-2002, compared with a profit of 71 million HK dollars (9.1 million US dollars) in the previous year.

It said the higher profit level was achieved through a moderate increase in revenue combined with lower interest costs and a reduction in recurrent operating expenses through productivity gains and improved processes.

Total turnover grew by 2.2

Shanghai Plans Asia's Biggest Shopping Center
The Shanghai Ganghong Industrial Co. plans to build Asia's biggest shopping center in Shanghai, China's leading business and industrial center.

A spokesman for the company said the cost of the first phase of the shopping center project is estimated at 1.5 billion yuan (nearly 200 million U.S. dollars).

With a planned floor space of 330,000 square meters, the shopping center will be located in the Jinhongqiao Resident District in the Hongqiao Development Zone.

There will be a

Beer brings cool breeze to sweltering Tianjin
A week-long beer festival opened on July 13 in this north China port city, bringing a cool breeze to local residents sweltering through the hottest days of the year.

The event, held on Tianjin's "food street", a downtown commercial street known for its traditional Tianjin cuisine and snacks, has drawn large crowds of people after a taste of cool beer.

More than 30 breweries nationwide have brought over 120 brands to the festival, including leading Chinese beers Yanjing, Tsingtao,Pe

China holds 1st college students' music festival
More than 300 Chinese college students staged a concert in Xiamen on the evening on July 13, to mark China's successful bid a year ago to host the 2008 Olympic Games. In this special way, China's 1st College Student's Music Festival made its debut in the east China coastal city.

At the festival's opening ceremony, students majoring in music from colleges and universities throughout China jointly performed "The Hope of China" chorus, and also the well-known Chinese choral masterpiece "The

Buddha Museum Set to Become Scenic Spot in Qinghai
Deep in the Qaidam Basin of northwest China stand thousands of figures which constitute the country's largest natural "Buddha" collection.

Set in the cliffs around the Youyuangou Valley in the Mangnai Administrative Committee of Qinghai, these Buddha-like statues were created by years of natural weathering and erosion.

Open to the elements and free to the animals living in the area, the Buddhas are now set to become a major scenic spot and tourist attraction.

Experts say tha

Eastern city marvels at 3,000-year-old villages
Archeologists in east China's Anhui province has unearthed a cluster of village sites dating back 3,000 years.

Located on the outskirts of Ma'anshan city, the ancient villages are believed to date from the Shang Dynasty (16-11 century BC) and the following Western Zhou Dynasty (11 century-771BC).

Archeologists have excavated more than 80 pits and found over 40 ancient artifacts belonging to the two dynasties over an area covering 100,000 square meters.

Most of these artifact

New air-ambulance service to take off
International SOS and Deer Jet jointly announced the formation of a strategic partnership recently in Beijing for the launch of their SOS Air Rescue project, which will be China's first dedicated air-ambulance service.

Deer Jet, a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines Group in South China, has dedicated a Hawker 800XP to International SOS as a flying hospital to provide business travellers and tourists in China and other Asia-Pacific countries and regions with aero-medical evacuation services.

Guangdong Travel Fans Bid Fiercely at Tourism Auction
Sixteen places on a tourist trip to Cambodia were auctioned earlier this week in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, in a new tourism promotion effort. The auction on Monday was the second in a series of tourism promotions called the 100 Must-Visit Places, organized by the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration. The trip to the first destination on the list, southwest China's Sichuan Province, took place in February 2002. Fang Zhousheng, an auctioneer and member of the t

Chinese Dream of Antarctic Travel Moves Closer
The faraway icy Antarctic region has attracted global tourists for a long time. And for curious Chinese travelers, going to the Antarctic may not be just a dream for much longer. "Currently Chinese citizens cannot go to the Antarctic as they please. But I believe within three years, our government will seriously think about this issue. China is capable of supporting Antarctic travel," said Zhang Zhanhai, deputy director of the Chinese Antarctic and Arctic Administration (CAA). More than 10,000 p

Chinese Dream of Antarctic Travel Moves Closer
The faraway icy Antarctic region has attracted global tourists for a long time. And for curious Chinese travelers, going to the Antarctic may not be just a dream for much longer. "Currently Chinese citizens cannot go to the Antarctic as they please. But I believe within three years, our government will seriously think about this issue. China is capable of supporting Antarctic travel," said Zhang Zhanhai, deputy director of the Chinese Antarctic and Arctic Administration (CAA). More than 10,000 p

Students Busy as Schools Close
Tourist agencies across China are busy promoting tour packages especially tailored for students now that the summer holidays have finally arrived. Major travel agencies which deal with overseas travel have joined hands with schools to organize sending primary and middle-school students abroad during their nearly two-month summer holidays in July and August. Study-abroad tours during holidays have gained popularity among Chinese youngsters in recent years since students can learn and see new thin

Aviation Market Enjoys Smooth Ride
China's aviation market showed signs of recovery in the first half of this year even though the period was marred by two fatal accidents involving domestic airlines. Officials with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said yesterday that the total income of domestic airlines in the first six months reached 47.3 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion), 6.9 per cent higher than the same period last year. Passenger figures also increased 14.4 per cent during the period to 40 million.

China Refutes US Report for Harming Bilateral Ties
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuesday refuted a US report as "groundless" and said it had "very evil motives," urging the US government to take concrete measures to eliminate its negative impact to avoid damage to bilateral relations.
Foreign Mini

World's longest epic to last another thousand years
Samzhub never learned to read or write -- but 20 million words of the world's longest epic poem are kept in his head.

Now the octogenarian Tibetan folk artist is at the forefront of the Chinese government's efforts to save the Tibetan folk epic "King Gesser" from disappearing.

For a thousand years, the tale of Gesser, who conquered other Tibetan tribes and brought stability to Tibet, has been handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, through singing or recitation.

World's longest epic sung for thousand years
The ancient king, Gesar, may have been dead for a thousand years, but he lives on in the Gesar ballad singers who rove the Qinghai-Tibetan and the Mongolian Plateaus, constantly reciting and developing "The Life of King Gesar", the world's longest epic poem.

"King Gesar tells the story of an ancient Tibetan king who conquered the devils of other Tibetan tribes and made Tibet stable.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 2002 an

Carved stone characters of world's longest epic discovered in SW China
Nearly 1,000 carved stone characters of the Tibetan epic "King Gesser", the longest epic in the world, have been discovered in Danba County, in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

More than 100 stone figures, of various sizes, were found at the Jinlong (golden fish) Temple in Mosika Village of Dandong Township, in Danba County, mostly featuring scenes of horse-riding,archery and fighting on the battle field.

Professor Yang Jiaming, an expert in the study of Tibetology, called them

Birthplace of Tibetan hero Gesser confirmed
Axu prairie in Dege County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, has been confirmed by Chinese experts as the birthplace of Gesser, the legendary hero of the Tibetan ethnic group.

The story of Gesser has been handed down for 1,000 years by Tibetan folk artists who sing and recite the ten-million-word ancient Tibetan folk epic, "King Gesser", possibly the longest epic in the world.

The birthplace was confirmed by 14 experts in the study of Gesser based on first-hand investigations at

247 students of Chinese origin to visit mainland
Norman Hung Chen Ming from Taiwan is glad to spend the summer visiting some Chinese mainland cities and exchanging views with other 246 university students of Chinese origin from 17 countries and regions.

Hung from Taiwan's Tsing Hua University is a member of the fourth China Synergy Program for Outstanding Youth (CSP), a "root finding" tour to the Chinese mainland which kicked off here recently at the Government House.

The 17-day itinerary starting recently has been designed to en

China builds new pasture on Yellow River Delta
The salty and remote wilderness of the Yellow River Delta is gradually becoming a major pasture on the east coast of China.

The delta, with a total area of 1.3 million hectares, now boasts 160,000 hectares of artificially developed pastures, said agricultural officials in Shandong Province, where the delta is located.

Over the past two years, the Hengdian Group, a township enterprise from Zhejiang Province in east China, has invested 200 million yuan (24 million US dollars) to grow

Latin American culture taking root in Shanghai
The dazzling skills of Brazilian footballers, ebullient Argentine tangoists and fragrant Colombian coffee seem far from enough to satiate the Chinese demand for all things from Latin America, a mysterious land half a world away.

In the eastern metropolis of Shanghai, Latin American culture has found its way into everyday life as typical Latin-style bar-and-grills, disco bars and cafeterias dot Shanghai's streets and highlight the city's popularity as a "global village".

"Most peopl

Wild animals thrive in the Qaidam basin
Wild blue sheep, competing with their domestic cousins for forage, have become a headache for herdsmen in Wulan County, northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Officials in Mangya, an area adjoining the Hoh Xil nature reserve, are planning to set up a reserve in this area and relocate the herdsmen elsewhere to make room for the wildlife.

Villagers in Nankeke, a village in the northeast of the Qaidam basin, complain blue sheep threaten to outnumber their livestock and they often come do

Faster travel between HK and Guangzhou under study: Tung
Travel between Hong Kong and Guangzhou will consume less than one hour, Tung Chee Hwa, Hong Kong's chief executive, revealed the proposal here recently.

"We are also looking at the feasibility of building a regional express line linking Hong Kong with Guangzhou via Shenzhen within one hour by rail," Tung told a press conference under the title of "Pearl River Delta: Forging a New Force".

The conference was held to promote further cooperation between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland's

China's outbound tourism to benefit more countries
The growing number of Chinese tourists are bringing economic benefits to their destination countries around the world.

"A growing number of nations benefit from outbound tourists which indicates booming prosperity," said Xu Shengli, the representative of the German National Tourist Office for China.

"Instead of being a threat, China's prosperity provides more opportunities for neighboring countries, and tourism is no doubt a good illustration," said Kashi Raj Bhandari, officer of N

China's ports see record traffic
The number of people going in and out of China's ports hit a record high of 107.89 million in the first half of the year, a year-on-year rise of 12.07 per cent, the Ministry of Public Security announced Monday.

Statistics from the ministry's Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration revealed that people going in and out of the nation in the first six months of the year were 14.61 million from the Chinese mainland, up 34.12 per cent.

There are 77.58 million from Hong Kong and Macau sp

State to Break Ice on Sending Tourists to Antarctic Soon
A visit to the remote Antarctic may become more than just a dream for Chinese tourists within a few years. Zhang Zhanhai, deputy director of the Chinese Antarctic and Arctic Administration, said: "Currently, Chinese citizens cannot go to the Antarctic as they please. But I believe that, within three years, our government will seriously think about this issue. China is capable of supporting Antarctic travel." More than 10,000 people from around the world visit the Antarctic each year. Between 1,0

Aviation Market Enjoys Smooth Ride
China's aviation market showed signs of recovery in the first half of this year even though the period was marred by two fatal accidents involving domestic airlines. Officials with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said yesterday that the total income of domestic airlines in the first six months reached 47.3 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion), 6.9 per cent higher than the same period last year. Passenger figures also increased 14.4 per cent during the period to 40 million.

Chinese Aviation Market Recovers
Statistics from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) show the total income of domestic airlines in the first six months has reached 47.3 billion yuan (US$ 5.7 billion), up 6.9 percent year-on-year. Passenger figures also increased 14.4 percent during the periodto 40 million, China Daily reports Thursday. Sources with the CAAC said although two fatal crashes in April and May slowed domestic business, international travel brought in 240 million yuan (29 million US dollars).

Euro's Rise Costs Travelers
As the euro continues to rise against the US dollar, locals looking to travel or study in Europe are facing increased costs because the Chinese yuan is pegged to the green-back. Exporters, on the other hand, don't see the yuan's drop against the euro having too much positive impact on their business. The euro was worth US$1.0163 yesterday, its highest level since January 2001. "I have to prepare some 1,000 euros for next semester's study and accommodation. I hope the exchange rate will drop - th

Aviation Market Enjoys Smooth Ride
China's aviation market showed signs of recovery in the first half of this year even though the period was marred by two fatal accidents involving domestic airlines.
Officials with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said yeste

UN Seeks Funds to Avert Famine in Southern Africa
Widespread food shortages and rampant AIDS have put nearly 13 million southern Africans "on the very edge of survival," the United Nations said on Thursday, appealing for an urgent $611 million in aid. "There is still an opportunity to avert famine and to save lives, but this window is closing rapidly," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima told a meeting called to launch the emergency fundraising appeal. U.N. officials blame the crisis, the region's worst since a deadly 1992 drought, o

Bank Issues Int'l Travel Card in Shanghai
China Construction Bank (CCB) began to issue its first international travel card in Shanghai Thursday to provide cash-free travelling for Shanghai residents. Holders of the card are allowed to withdraw cash from 760,000 automatic teller machines (ATMs) bearing the VISA mark in 138 countries and regions. The cards are also acceptable at more than 22 million shops and points of sale partnered with VISA globally. Insiders here hailed the move as positive for CCB to maintain its competitiveness with

China's Xinjiang, Charming Tourist Destination
When Enid Schildkrout visited the grasslands in the northern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, she described her tour of the region, which is situated along the ancient "Silk Road", as pleasant. It is a very interesting journey, said Schildkrout, chair and curator of the Anthropology Division of the American Museum of Nature History of New York City, adding she had seen the most beautiful scenery in Xinjiang. She watched horse-racing and other performances with typical e

Bank Issues International Travel Card in Shanghai
China Construction Bank (CCB) began to issue its first international travel card here Thursday to provide cash-free travelling for Shanghai residents. Holders of the card are allowed to withdraw cash from 760,000 automatic teller machines (ATMs) bearing the VISA mark in 138 countries and regions. The cards are also acceptable at more than 22 million shops and points of sale partnered with VISA globally. Insiders here hailed the move as positive for CCB to maintain its competitiveness with foreig

Farming, dry weather shrink China's largest lake
Qinghai Lake, China's largest inland saltwater lake, continues to shrink.

Reduced water inflows are to blame for the major tributaries drying up.

The recent rainfall there is not enough to reverse such a tendency, local aquatic bureau officials said.

To cope with the crisis, the Qinghai Province government has decided to convert 14,600 hectares of farmland around the lake this year, half of the total, to grassland, Zhao said.

The rest areas will also be converted with

China considers drastic plan for saving almost extinct river dolphins
Scientists in China are preparing a drastic rescue plan for one of the planet's rarest animals _ a dolphin with the misfortune of living in one of China's busiest and most polluted rivers.

The plan calls for professional fishermen to round up all the fewer than 100 Yangtze River dolphins, one of only four freshwater dolphin species in the world. The captured dolphins would then be released in a protected reserve.

Government scientists say the dolphins' only hope is to be moved from

Humans vastly overconsuming Earth's natural resources – WWF
Human beings are living in a state of "ecological overshoot" consuming the Earth's natural resources at a much faster rate than they can be replenished, the conservation organisation WWF International said recently.

In its "Living Planet" report, which is published every two years, WWF establishes an index for the "ecological footprint" of humans, and an assessment of the state of natural resources including plant and animal life, and the state of forests and oceans.

The report ind

New wetland reserve set up in NE China
A new temperate zone forest and wetland reserve has opened in northeast China's Dahinggan Mountains area to protect rare animal and plant species as well as soil in the source area of the Nenjiang River.

The reserve, covering 230,000 hectares in the southeastern part of the mountain area, is the largest of its kind in the country.

According to local officials, the government plans to invest 7.92 million yuan to build facilities and to purchase vehicles and equipment.

Scienti

Diverse funds back Shanghai's face-lift
A private company hit the headlines in March this year when it was entitled to operate part of the expressway connecting the eastern municipality of Shanghai with Hangzhou, capital of neighboring Zhejiang Province.

Under an agreement between the state-owned Shanghai Urban Construction Investment and Development Corporation and Fuxi Investment Holding Company, the former transferred 99.35 percent of its controlling stake in the expressway to Fuxi, a private firm whose name suggests "blessi

Holan Mountains become NW China's animal and plant gene bank
The Holan Mountains National Natural Reserve has become a "gene bank" of animals and plants in the northwestern region of China thanks to environmental protection measures.

As many as 868 species of wild animals and plants live in the Holan Mountains, which have the world's highest concentration of blue sheep, a rare animal under the Chinese government's special protection, according to a survey.

This year, the Holan Mountains area was completely closed to livestock herding and fir

Nanjing to host car show in October
Beijing's enviable success in hosting international carshows has prompted other Chinese cities, such as Nanjing of East China's Jiangsu Province, to jump on the lucrative train of capitalizing on the growing appetite of the world's biggest population for cars.

Eager to draw more international attention, and tempted by the economic returns their internationalized peers from Beijing and Shanghai have pocketed, a handful of other major cities are working on their own blueprints for similar m

Macao reports soaring tourist arrivals in May
A surging number of tourists took advantage of the International Labor Day holidays and the sound weather in Macao to visit the Special Administrative Region (SAR) in May.

Figures released recently by the Statistics and Census Services show the tourist mecca saw 213,500 visitor arrivals in groups in May -- a sharp rise of 46.6 percent from a year earlier.

This brought the total to 937,600 in the first five months, leaping 56.2 percent.

China's mainland was again the largest

Special force to fight hijackers
Police here have created an elite task force against hijackers as part of a nationwide effort to fight terrorism by land, air and sea.

The city took the initiative in establishing the special force under the ratification of the State Council.

A spokesperson for the Shanghai Armed Police Force said the force is undergoing comprehensive military training and will be sent to Beijing later this year for further education.

The troops will be responsible for aviation security in t

Aviation market enjoys smooth ride
China's aviation market showed signs of recovery in the first half of this year even though the period was marred by two fatal accidents involving domestic airlines.

Officials with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said Wednesday that the total income of domestic airlines in the first six months reached 47.3 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion), 6.9 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Passenger figures also increased 14.4 per cent during the period t

Xinjiang Charm Lures Tourists: CNTA
Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has officially initiated a strategic campaign to make the tourism industry one of its key business sectors in the coming years.

"We are speeding up our efforts to build up the tourism industry into one of the region's pillar industries in the coming 10 years," said Zhang Zhou, vice-chairman of the ethnic region.

He said tourism in Xinjiang is expected to record a historical high of 10 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by

China Tourism 'Fetter' to Be Freed on Foreign Capital
Nowdays people can hear louder voices for opening up China's tourist market to foreign capital. Persons of the tourism circle here had an urgent appeal for quick free of the "fetter" on foreign capital in China's tourist market. According to China's WTO entry commitments the foreign capital should be permitted to take the holdings in a joint-venture travel service in China by the end of 2003 and tourist agencies solely owned by foreign capital will be allowed to set up prior to the end of 2005.

On Solitude, Nature and Man
Admen are not known for their sensitivity to nature; they're rarely moved to ponder their place in the cosmos. Which makes ad exec Chen Weizhong an anomaly. His book of photos, "The Third Pole," tells of his solitary journey to the wilds of western China. In the early days of advertising in China, Chen Weizhong spent an inordinate amount of time searching for a perfect leaf for a perfume ad. Two decades later, nature still inspires the 51-year-old photographer and advertising executive. Last yea

New helicopter to serve general aviation
The H410A helicopter, an upgraded model of the Zhi-9 manufactured by Hafei Aviation Industry Co. Ltd, got a pass to serve China's general aviation industry recently.

Hafei, based in Harbin City in the northernmost Heilongjiang Province, received orders for eight H410A helicopters recently, after it obtained a model certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), China Daily reported.

The new helicopter will play a role in the country's western development strate

Study on China's origins targets 2 provinces
A government-backed research project on the origins of Chinese civilization will begin in southern Shanxi Province and northwestern Henan Province.

This was recently disclosed by Li Xueqin, the scientist in charge of the research on the history of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties from about 2100 B.C. to 256 B.C.

His research group has 200 experts and scholars who have completed histories of the three ancient dynasties. Now they have turned to southern Shanxi to find more clues on

Philippines consulate general opens in Shanghai
The Philippines has opened a consulate general in Shanghai metropolis, east China's industrial, commercial and financial center facing the Pacific Ocean.

The consulate general, set up under an agreement reached by China and the Philippines last year, is expected to cover east China's Jiangsu and Anhui province, central China's Hubei province, and Shanghai municipality, all of which lie along the Yangtze River.

To date, as many as 44 countries have opened consulates in Shanghai, the

Macao to hold int'l music festival
The 16th Macao International Music Festival, scheduled for October 4-23, is set to whet the appetites of locals and visitors by offering 14 different concert programs.

"This year's festival will exhibit an even higher artistic standard and an added localized flavor, with a budget of 12 million patacas (1.5 million US dollars)," President Ho Lai Chun of the Cultural Institute said at a press conference recently.

The program aims to offer an encounter of the Eastern and Western cultu

Rising Star in Tourism
Xiangxi is becoming one of China's leading tourist areas because of its picturesque landscape,exotic customs and places of historical interest,Xiangxi Magistrate Wu Jihai said in Jishou Thursday. Located in northwest Hunan Province in central China,Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture has a total population of 2.6 million,of which 72 percent are minority ethnic groups,mainly Tujia and Miao nationalities. "Our tours focus on the ancient city of Phoenix,as we are trying to make it known wo

Xishan - Earthbound Heaven by Taihu
Two thousand and five hundred years ago during Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), the king of the Wu Kingdom, Fuchai, and his concubine Xishi, one of the four Chinese ancient beauties, spent their summer days in Xishan Town, an island on Taihu Lake. Today, so can you. Taihu Lake, China's third largest fresh water body in East China's Jiangsu Province, is about an hour's drive from Shanghai. Compared to adjacent areas at the same latitude, the island's temperature is a little cooler in summer

China Strengthens Aviation Security Management
Yang Yuanyuan, the newly appointed minister of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) yesterday urged the nation's airlines to strictly control the hours worked by pilots as part of their quest to make plane travel safe. Yang was addressing a working conference in Beijing attended by top officials and managers from local aviation administrations and airlines. The once popular "red-eye" flights -- flights operating during the night -- had been totally banned, Yang said. He s

Tourism Helps Boost Yunnan Economy
As one of the five pillar industries in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the tourism sector earned 25.6 billion yuan (US$3.09 billion) last year, accounting for 12.5 percent of the province's gross domestic product (GDP). The industry employs 1.45 million workers and lured 520,000 foreign and 24.2 million domestic tourists in the first five months of this year. To develop tourism, Yunnan sticks to the strategies of promoting characteristic tours, establishing famous tourism brands, diversifyin

Chinese army barracks open to foreign media
Two army barracks of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Tianjin were opened to 105 Beijing-based correspondents from 70 foreign media organizations recently.

Kong Quan, head of the Information Department of China's Foreign Ministry, said that this was the first time for many years that Chinese army barracks allowed in so many foreign journalists.

Officers of the army brigade and air force division based at the barracks briefed the visitors on military history, systems, trainin

China to set up world's biggest military theme park
China will spend 5 billion yuan (some 610 million US dollars) to set up the world's biggest military theme park in Tianjin, a municipality close to Beijing.

The 7-square-kilometer park will have such facilities as a man-made sand beach and a 3.3 million-square-meter expanse of water.

A former Soviet Union aircraft carrier, the Kiev, will become its main attraction. Measuring 274 meters long, 52 meters wide, 51 meters tall and weighing 24,000 tons, the Kiev was once regarded by west

International arts carnival unveiled in HK
An international dance parade with more than 100 children performers from Bulgaria, West Africa and Hong Kong performed at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on July 19 to mark the opening of International Arts Carnival.

The festival, an annual spectacular summer festival for children, youth and their families, will be held here until August 25.

It includes other exciting shows ranging from music, dance, drama, puppetry, mime, magic, clowning, Cantonese opera, to film.

In additio

Exchange program for Beijing, Taiwan young people
Over 230 young people from Taiwan took part in a series of activities planned for exchanges with local youth starting on July 15.

Wang Fuqing, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, attended the opening ceremony of the five-day event on July 15 at the prestigious Qinghua University.

In the past years, exchanges between young people across the Taiwan Strait has progressed well, according to Deng Peide, director of the Beijing Municipal Taiwan Affairs Offi

Marine expo sets sail in Qingdao
Officials from more than 400 enterprises in 17 countries and regions gathered on July 14 in Qingdao,a coastal city in East China's Shandong Province to display the latest maritime developments.

The four-day China International Marine Fair opened on July 14, and is jointly sponsored by six State-level departments and the Qingdao municipal government.

It is aimed at enhancing international exchanges and co-operation on international navigation and ship-making, and promoting the count

Shenyang to build Auto City
Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning province, is planning to build an auto industry park to boost its auto-manufacturing sector, recent eastday.com reported.

Construction on the 20-billion-yuan (US$2.4 billion) project, "Shenyang International Auto City", will start later this year and is expected to be completed in 2005, according to the city's government officials.

They expect that output will reach 100,000 vehicles by the time the park is completed and that the value

China's First Self-developed High-speed Railcar to Start Operation
Manufacturing of China's first self-developed high-speed railcar was completed recently in Dalian City and will soon be put into operation between the city proper and the suburban tourist spot of Golden Stone Beach.

The vehicle was produced by the Dalian Locomotive Factory in Liaoning Province, northeast China. The factory will provide ten railcars to the city according to a contract valued at 220 million yuan (US$26.6 million).

The railcar has 176 seats and can carry a maximum of

Supply of Complimentary Products to Continue at Local Hotels
Complimentary products such as shower gel, shampoo and combs will continue to be made availabe at Shanghai's hotels, Jiefang Daily recently quoted city's tourism bureau as saying.

Bureau officials were responding to recent media reports that the supply of complimentary products to guests at local hotels will be banned on the grounds that the packaging of these products, which is mainly plastic, is hazardous to the environment.

Saying they are working ways to prevent the potential e

Impressionist masterpieces on show in Shanghai
An exhibition featuring two paintings from the impressionist masters, Claude Monet and VincentVan Gogh, opened here recently to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Shanghai Museum.

Water Lilies, one of the exhibits and one of Monet's most favored paintings, captures the charm and magical beauty of a lotus pond.

It was painted in 1917, and is larger in size and more delicately presented than another painting in Monet's Water Liliesseries which fetched 20 million U.S. do

East China province attracts more overseas tourists
Shandong Province on the east China coast attracted 430,200 overseas tourists in the first six months of this year, 15 percent more than that in the same period last year.

During the six months, the province made 185 million US dollarsin earnings, up 13 percent, said a local tourism official.

According to the official, 44.42 million domestic tourists, a rise of 17 percent, also visited the province and brought in 26.3 billion yuan (about 3.17 billion US dollars) in revenue, a 21-pe

Int'l forum on grotto art opens
An international seminar on Maijishan grotto art and Buddhist culture along the Silk Road is being held in Lanzhou University in northwestern China's Gansu Province.

The forum marks the 1,600 anniversary of the building of the Maijishan grottos, Zheng Binglin, director of Dunhuang Studies Institute under Lanzhou University, said at the opening of the meeting recently. Some 120 Chinese and overseas experts attended the opening.

The participants will visit grottos along the Silk Road

China protects rare birds in Dongting Lake area
China has allocated 7.55 million yuan for a first-phase fund to build more facilities in East Dongting Lake Nature Reserve to protect rare birds there.

This is part in a series of efforts to protect the birds whose habitat is rapidly deteriorating.

An official from the reserve said that they are also considering enclosing some key areas in the reserve inhabited by birds.

Covering an area of 190,000 hectares, the reserve is the home to more than 200 species of birds, includin

More Chinese travel by plane
Despite severe plane crashes, 39.8 million Chinese traveled by air during the first half of this year,up 14.4 percent over the same period in 2001, according to China's General Administration of Civil Aviation.

Figures for the first half year also show that profits of major aviation players hit 47.28 billion yuan (about 5.91 billion US dollars), up 6.9 percent over the same period last year.

The airline industry's deficit fell by 0.82 billion yuan (about0.1 billion US dollars).

Sea route to Taiwan opens in Quanzhou
A direct sea link was launched on Tuesday between the port of Quanzhou in East China's Fujian Province and Taiwan's Penghu Island.

The move brought to five the number of ports on Fujian's coast that are allowed to operate cargo and passenger shipping routes to Taiwan.

The other four Fujian ports are Mawei in Fuzhou, Meizhou in Putian, Xiamen and Zhongyin in Zhangzhou.

Zhongyin Port handles cargo only and Meizhou Port transports passengers only.

The other three ports d

Renminbi Appeals Increasingly to Domestic Users
If you have opportunity to exchange Renminbi (RMB) for foreign money at official rate, will you do it? Eleven months ago the reply would be mostly in the affirmative. But thereafter more and more people would choose to say no. Statistics from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed that, in the first half of this year, Chinese banks conducted a total exchange settlement of 6.53 billion US dollars, 8.2 times higher over the same period of previous year. But the sales of exchange only

More Jobs to Be Created in Service Industry
During the last five years, China achieved unprecedented economic restructuring. Therefore there is the situation of a market with more supply than demand, surplus productivity, a practical growth rate (8.3 percent) lower than long-term potential growth rate (9.5 percent, 1978-1997), and the change from inflation to deflation. It has direct influence on the country's employment. The growth rate of employment decreased from 3 percent in the 1980s to 0.9 percent in the Ninth Five-year Plan period

Ancient sex gadgets unearthed in northwest China
Seven 2000-year-old male sex devices were unearthed recently in northwest China's Shaanxi province, the first batch of ancient sex gadgets to surfaced in China, said archaeologists.

The sex gadgets were found accidentally in a tomb of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD) in a village north of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, when workers were cleaning up a construction site.

The gadgets, including 3 made of bronze, 3 made of bone and one of bronze and bone combined, had been mad

Oriana luxury liner theme park to open in Northeast China
The Oriana luxury liner theme park opened to the public in Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning Province, on July 18.

The Oriana, more than 260 meters long, was built by a British shipyard in 1957.

One of the four most famous liners in the world and nicknamed the "White Princess," the Oriana has sailed 6.5 million sea miles since 1960, carrying some 400,000 guests all over the world and visiting 108 ports.

The Hangzhou Songcheng Group, a company in east China's

Steam locomotive museum set in Shenyang
A steam locomotive museum is to be built at the Qipanshan tourist resort on the outskirts of Shenyang, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

On display will be 15 steam locomotives manufactured in eight countries -- the United States, Japan, the former Soviet Union, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, France and China, museum officials said.

The oldest is a DBL locomotive produced in the U.S. in 1907.

All the locomotives are currently kept in the open air at a

Roast duck gains identification card
The Quanjude roast duck restaurant marked its 138th anniversary recently by giving each of its world-famous roast ducks an "identification card."

A guest from northeast China recently received the first identified roast duck whose printed certificate gave its number as101436138. The Quanjude headquarters located in Qianmen, in downtown Beijing, has sold more than 101.43 million roast ducks all up since the restaurant opened in 1864.

Since July 15, every diner has received an ID car

Thailand, China, Laos discuss cooperation in land transport
The representatives of Thailand, China and Laos met in Bangkok recently, seeking cooperation in linking land transport among the three countries, the Thai News Agency ( TNA) reported.

Narong Arjariyakul, deputy permanent secretary for transport and communications of Thailand, who was also the chairman of the meeting, was quoted as saying that the proposed land transport link would facilitate cross border visits and cargo transport among the three countries.

The Representatives of t

Guangdong travel fans bid fiercely at tourism auction
Sixteen places on a tourist trip to Cambodia were auctioned recently in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, in a new tourism promotion effort.

The auction recently was the second in a series of tourism promotions called the 100 Must-Visit Places, organized by the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration. The trip to the first destination on the list, southwest China's Sichuan Province, took place in February 2002.

Fang Zhousheng, an auctioneer and member of t

More Chinese choose relaxing travel
This year's vacation for a young woman office worker from southern Guangdong Province is all about sleeping and sipping coffee beside Lake Xihu, rather than rushing around the scenic city of Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province.

More Chinese share Huang's idea of relaxing travel. A survey by the Hangzhou tourism committee shows a rise in such tourists in the first half of this year.

The city endowed with a big lake has long been a popular resort. Tourists heading for Hangzhou

Air China to fly to New York via Arctic
Air China will fly the first direct air route from Beijing to New York via the Arctic from September 27, said Li Jiaxiang, a senior official of Air China.

The flying hours will be reduced from 21 to 13, with the airline operating Boeing 747-400s on the route.

Taking off at 14:00 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Beijing, the flight will land at 15:30 New York time. Take-off from New York will be 17:30 local time, arriving at Beijing at 19:00 the next day.

Air China wil

Turnover of China's restaurant sector reaches US$28 billion
China's restaurant and catering sector has achieved a 15.9-per cent year-on-year increase, with national turnover in the sector increasing to 232.7 billion yuan (US$28 billion) during the first half year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported recently.

The report "indicates that the sector has played a bigger role in invigorating domestic demand and employment," Yan Yu, deputy secretary-general of the China Cuisine Association, said at a press conference in Beijing.

Stat

Six new civil aviation companies to be born soon
Six new Chinese aviation groups are expected to be born in the next half year as part of the reform of China's civil aviation industry and the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), said Yang Yuanyuan, director of the CAAC.

Addressing a CAAC senior officials meeting on July 25 in Beijing, Yang said that this was a substantial step toward the separation of state enterprises and a government department.

The State Council had approved the proposal of establishing Ai

Control pilot hours, airlines told
Yang Yuanyuan, the newly appointed minister of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) on July 25 urged the nation's airlines to strictly control the hours worked by pilots as part of their quest to make plane travel safe.

Yang was addressing a working conference in Beijing attended by top officials and managers from local aviation administrations and airlines.

The once popular "red-eye" flights - flights operating during the night - had been totally banned, Ya

Air China to build largest air freight company
Air China is planning to build China's largest air freight company with Hong Kong Citic Taifu Company and Beijing Capital Airport Group, according to Li Jiaxiang, a senior official of Air China.

The registered capital for the joint venture will be 2.2 billion yuan (270 million US dollars) with Air China as the biggest shareholder.

The proposal had been submitted to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China and the company was expected to be set up by the end of 2002.

China strengthens aviation security management
China will further strengthen aviation security management this year, according to Yang Yuanyuan, director of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

Yang told a meeting of officials from the aviation industry that the industry would carry out strict management in order to reduce accidents.

Airline companies should control total air traffic volume, airports should strengthen security inspections and the whole industry should improve staff quality, he said.

China's aviation industry reduces losses in first half of 2002
China's civil aviation industry made a total income of 47.28 billion yuan (about 5.71 billion US dollars) in the first half of 2002, up 6.9 percent compared with the same period last year.

Losses worth some 820 million yuan (100 million dollars) were reduced over a year earlier.

During the first six months, China's total aviation turnover grew 15.7 percent to 7.54 billion ton kilometers, and passenger numbers increased 14.4 percent to 39.89 million, according to figures from civil

Full Operation of Beijing's Light Rail System Postponed
The full operation of Chinese capital Beijing's 40-km light rail system has been postponed from the year-end to late January next year, the Beijing Star Daily reported Tuesday. The report quoted sources with the contractor as saying that the postponement was personally decided by Beijing Mayor Liu Qi during his visit Monday to the construction site of Dongzhimen light rail station. Under the original plan, the light rail train will not stop at the Dongzhimen station when the system opens at the

Economy Hotels to Debut in Shanghai
Starting from September, travel-buffs can enjoy economy hotels when traveling to Shanghai by spending only 200 yuan (US$24) per night, eastday.com reported Tuesday. Ctrip, the most successful service website for travelers around the nation, cooperated with the Beijing Capital Tourism Co. Ltd. to launch economy hotels in Shanghai by September, Ji Qi, president with Ctrip announced in Shanghai yesterday. The economy hotels are branded as "Rujia" in Chinese (means feeling like home in English). The

Henan to invest 31 billion yuan to curb pollution
Central China's Henan province has announced a plan to invest 31 billion yuan (3.7 billion US dollars) before 2005 to curb its worsening water and air pollution and soil erosion.

A provincial government official said recently that Henan would earmark 9.9 billion yuan (1.2 billion dollars) for projects to curb water pollution, which would increase the capacity of waste water treatment in urban areas by about 200 tons per day.

The country's four main rivers - the Yangtze, the Yellow,

China's Xinjiang, charming tourist destination
When Enid Schildkrout visited the grasslands in the northern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, she described her tour of the region, which is situated along the ancient "Silk Road", as pleasant.

It is a very interesting journey, said Schildkrout, chair and curator of the Anthropology Division of the American Museum of Nature History of New York City, adding she had seen the most beautiful scenery in Xinjiang.

She watched horse-racing and other performances

Bank issues international travel card in Shanghai
China Construction Bank (CCB) began to issue its first international travel card here recently to provide cash-free travelling for Shanghai residents.

Holders of the card are allowed to withdraw cash from 760,000 automatic teller machines (ATMs) bearing the VISA mark in 138 countries and regions. The cards are also acceptable at more than 22 million shops and points of sale partnered with VISA globally.

Insiders here hailed the move as positive for CCB to maintain its competitivene

5,322 cases of smuggling smashed in 6 months
A total of 5,322 smuggling cases worth 2.6 billion yuan (US$310 million) were smashed by customs in China in the first half of this year.

This represents a fall of 12.5 and 0.3 per cent respectively when compared with the same period last year, sources with the Customs General Administration said recently. Customs officials said large-scale smuggling had been severely squeezed and cases were diminishing in size.

The majority of smuggling cases in the first six months of the year in

Archaeological findings shed light on Qin Dynasty
Over 20,000 ancient bamboo slips carrying records of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) have been unearthed in central China's Hunan Province, an archaeological breakthrough being compared to discovering the Qin-Dynasty terra-cotta soldiers and horses in Shaanxi Province.

"This is the first time that such a huge amount of bamboo slips recording history ranging from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD), has been found in China," said Guo Weimin, dep

Shaolin Temple pagodas to apply for world heritage listing
Central China's Henan Province is striving to put its more than 600 pagodas at Shaolin Temple and on nearby Songshan Mountain on the United Nation's World Heritage list.

Paperwork is now underway and the local government plans to apply for the honor in June, 2004.

Built as tombs for monks from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to Qing Dynasty (1368-1644), these pagodas provide vital clues for the study of ancient architecture and sculptures in China, archaeologists say.

Known as Ch

Russia New Tourist Destination for Chinese
China and Russia agreed recently in Moscow to designate Russia as a new destination for Chinese tourists.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko announced the news to the press after the third session of the China-Russia Cooperation Committee on Education, Culture, Health and Sports.

The China National Tourism Administration and the Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding for organizing Chi

Grand Tibetan tourism festival to be held: CNTA
The first grand Tibetan folk-culture tourism festival, lasting for about five months, will be held from August 6 through the end of November.

It is jointly sponsored by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the people's government of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and will be undertaken by the local government of Shigatse, according to the information office of the people's government of Tibet.

The festival will feature activities like an arts festival, an azalea flowe

China's tourism market overhaul gains momentum: CNTA
Intermediate agencies that illegally run outbound tourism businesses will be investigated and severely punished, Monday's China Daily reports.

Efforts will be made to bring the outbound tourism market into order across the country, He Guangwei, chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), was quoted as saying.

He made the remarks at a national conference that opened on July 27 in Guilin, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China, on fighting illegal activitie

Tibet trains first batch of post-graduates
It was probably the most unforgettable and exciting moment of Zhamdu's life when he was presented with his graduation and master's degree certificates by Liu Qinghui, president of Tibet University.

Zhamdu, 34, who majored in Tibetology during the past three years, was awarded a master of law. He was moved to tears on July 17 when he presented a bunch of flowers to his mentor Puncog Cering, a noted expert in Tibetology, to express his gratitude.

Zhamdu is one of the first group of p

Lhasa facelift complies with wishes of local Tibetans
The on-going facelift of the old urban district of Lhasa, capital city of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, is following the wishes of local Tibetan people,according to a recent survey.

Conducted by the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Lhasa's Chengguan District, the just-ended survey covers 1,000-oddTibetan households in the targeted renovation area. It solicits views on 14 specific issues, including living conditions and protection for Tibetan-style architecture.<

Bargor Street's facelift aims at preservation
China has unveiled a large-scale renovation of Bargor Street, the bustling religious, tourist and commercial center of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

The facelift will take two years to complete at a cost of 70 million yuan (8.4 million US dollars) to be provided by the central government.

Work started recently on 56 dilapidated courtyards which have long been in disrepair.

"The current renovation aims to better preserve the distinctiveTibetan b

China invests heavily in protecting Tibet's relics
The Chinese government attaches great importance to and has invested heavily in protecting historical relics in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China.

The central government launched a 333-million-yuan (40 million US dollars) program in late June to restore the original look of the Potala Palace and Norbuglinkha, the winter and summer palaces of the Dalai Lamas, and the Sagya Lamasery which contains many rare religious relics.

The Potala Palace was included on the World Heri

World marks 1000-year-old epic poem "King Gesser"
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 2002 and 2003 for marking the millenary of the world's longest epic poem "King Gesser."

"King Gesser" was written about 1,000 years ago in Tibet and quickly spread around the Himalayan mountains region. It tells the story of an ancient Tibetan king who conquered the devils of other Tibetan tribes and made Tibet stable.

Foreign scholars first read the epic in 1716 when a Mongolian edition wa

Economy Hotels to Debut in Shanghai
Starting from September, travel-buffs can enjoy economy hotels when traveling to Shanghai by spending only 200 yuan (US$24) per night, eastday.com reported today. Ctrip, the most successful service website for travelers around the nation, cooperated with the Beijing Capital Tourism Co Ltd to launch economy hotels in Shanghai by September, Ji Qi, president with Ctrip announced in Shanghai yesterday. The economy hotels are branded as "Rujia" in Chinese (means feeling like home in English). The fir

Last respects paid to renowned Buddhist master
Over 500 officials, Buddhist followers and ordinary citizens gathered at the Longhua Temple in Shanghai on July 27 to bid farewell to Ming Yang, a renowned Buddhist master.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin and other senior officials presented floral baskets in memory of the Buddhist master.

Ming Yang, vice president of China Buddhist Association and a Standing Committee member of the National Committee of the Chinese

People's Political Consultative Conference, died on July 23,

Renowned Buddhist master Ming Yang passes away
Over 500 officials, Buddhist followers and ordinary citizens gathered at the Longhua Temple in Shanghai on July 27 to pay their last respects to Ming Yang, a renowned Buddhist master.

Ming Yang, vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China and a Standing Committee member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, passed away on July 23, at the age of 87.

Ming Yang was also president of the Buddhist Association of Shanghai City.

Fujian to commemorate 60th anniversary Buddhist master's death
A series of activities will be held in October in Quanzhou City in southeastern China's Fujian Province to mark the 60th anniversary of the death of Buddhist Master Hongyi.

The activities will include a tea party, sutra chanting, a concert and performances, according to organizers.

Trips will be made to Master Hongyi's memorial hall and tomb, and a temple where he had lived.

Originally named Li Shutong, Master Hongyi was born in Pinghu in east China's Zhejiang Province. He w

Map of Japan's invasion of China found
A well-preserved map of Japan's invasion of northeast China was found recently in Yixian County, in east China's Anhui Province.

Measuring 80 centimeters by 54 centimeters, the map is finely printed in legible handwriting. Divided into two sections, the top part shows the territory of northeast China in the 1930s, with all the places occupied by Japanese invaders marked in red. The lower part gives historical background information, and the means and ultimate goals of the Japanese invasio

China to hold 1st national Ikebana contest
China plans to hold its first national contest on Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, in the port city of Tianjin from September 30-October 5.

This was disclosed at a conference of the national flower association, which was held in this north China municipality, 120 km east of the national capital, Beijing.

Participants will be selected from different provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The winners will join international competitions in the future.

China's largest sea lion troupe established in Shanghai
A troupe of performing sea lions at the Shanghai Safari Park is now the largest of its kind in China after three of the marine mammals from California joined the group recently bringing its total number to 23.

Sea lions originate in the North Pacific, South America, Australia and New Zealand. The animals are intelligent and suitable for training.

The sea lion show has long been a top attraction at the park with many visitors. The 23 sea lions in the troupe come from South Africa, S

Yangtze, river of bridges
The Yangtze River, the longest in China, has become a vast showplace for Chinese bridges.

So far, 29 have been built on the Yangtze. The number is soon expected to reach 40 as more bridges are being built or designed.

Of the 29 bridges, eight are used for both highway and railway transportation, three for railway only and the remainder are highway bridges.

The first bridge was built in Wuhan City, capital of central China's Hubei Province, in 1957.

The bridges show th

Business people from Taiwan want direct sea links
Direct sea link across the Taiwan Straits will save both money and time, said a Taiwanese businessman who only gave his family name of Zeng.

Zeng is by no means an exception. Latest statistics show that a record 64 percent of Taiwanese would like to see a direct cross-Straits sea link as soon as possible.

Zhen Jiannan, director of an association of Taiwanese businesses in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, said ten years ago he chose to invest in Fuzhou. At that time he thought co

South China opens new int'l container sea route
Hainan Province in south China launched the inaugural sailing of its first international container shipping route recently.

Two cargo ships, each capable of carrying 450 TEUs (20 feet equivalent units), or standard containers, will sail a round voyage on the route from Hainan's capital city Haikou to Hong Kong,Kaohsiung in Taiwan to three Japanese ports including Kokura and Hiroshima, once a week every Thursday.

Before the opening of the route, Hainan's cargo bound for foreign coun

Mount Wutai to host tourism month
Mount Wutai, one of the best-known tourism destinations and Buddhist sacred mountains in China, plans to hold a month-long promotion program to attract domestic and overseas tourists.

The 13th China Mount Wutai International Tourism Month will last from August 8 to September 8, according to the organizer, the government of Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, north China.

It will sponsor a series of activities including a grand ceremony to pray for world peace, an exhibition of Buddhist

First tour guide agency opens in south China
China's first recruitment agency for professional tour guides has opened in the city of Guilin, a major tourist destination in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Jointly set up by the Chinese Ministry of Personnel and the Guangxi government, the agency aims to offer more job opportunities to competent local tour guides and other tourism industry professionals.

It was also expected to ease a lack of professional tour guides in the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizho

China from the Crow's Nest
The crew of the "Nordkaperen," a 97-year-old Danish sailboat currently docked in Shanghai, is filming a documentary about China's coast and interior for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Dwarfed by the glittering Oriental Pearl Broadcasting & Television Tower and berthed in the shadows of mammoth ocean liners, the 17-meter-long sailboat, Nordkaperen, is an anachronism. But what the 97-year-old boat lacks in modern conveniences she makes up for with rich history - and in China, another chapter

Lijiang, Poetic Place for Living
Whne you get tired of the busy urban life, why not slow down a bit? Lijiang, a poetic place in South China's Yunnan Province, offers a heavenly escape from earthly troubles and anxieties. The highlight of a trip to Lijiang is a visit to Dayan ancient town. The matrix of the ancient town serves both aesthetical and scientific ends. Town, streets, waterways and architectural structures blend harmoniously in this land. An expert has presented a vivid metaphor - the network of the waterways are the

Tourism Heating up During Spring Festival
Over 50 tourism groups to Fujian had been organized in east China's Shandong and Central China's Henan provinces during Spring Festival, which were rarely seen in the past. This is partly attributed to the publicity efforts of Fujian Province before the festival. At the beginning of this year a 70-member tourism promotion mission of Fujian went to the two provinces with a large number of scenic pictures, over 30,000 pieces of publicity materials, and folk dances, puppet shows and souvenirs to in

Lijiang, Poetic Place for Living
When you get tired of the busy urban life, why not slow down a bit? Lijiang, a poetic place in South China's Yunnan Province, offers a heavenly escape from earthly troubles and anxieties. The highlight of a trip to Lijiang is a visit to Dayan ancient town. The matrix of the ancient town serves both aesthetical and scientific ends. Town, streets, waterways and architectural structures blend harmoniously in this land. An expert has presented a vivid metaphor - the network of the waterways are the

Jiangjin, Home of Waterfalls Hidden in Mountains
Located in Jiangjin City, 140 kilometres from the central part of Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Simian Mountain is an area of natural beauty, featuring flourishing forests, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. With the help of a favourable climate and sufficient rainfall, the region is covered with luxurious forests. The mountain is covered mainly by sub-tropical virgin forests of evergreen broadleaf trees. There are more than 1,500 kinds of plants in these forests, including 19 kinds of ra

Jiangjin, Home of Waterfalls Hidden in Mountains
Located in Jiangjin City, 140 kilometres from the central part of Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Simian Mountain is an area of natural beauty, featuring flourishing forests, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. With the help of a favourable climate and sufficient rainfall, the region is covered with luxurious forests. The mountain is covered mainly by sub-tropical virgin forests of evergreen broadleaf trees. There are more than 1,500 kinds of plants in these forests, including 19 kinds of ra

China, Russia to Enhance Strategic Partnership
The foreign ministers of China and Russia Thursday pledged joint efforts to push the China-Russia strategic cooperative partnership to a new high. Tang Jiaxuan of China and Igor Ivanov of Russia were holding bilateral talks in Brunei on the sidelines of the ongoing Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings. Tang said that the China-Russia ties are "maturing" and "able to stand the test of the rapidly-changing international situation." He believed that Russian President

China to Launch Tourist Air Route to Moscow
A tourist air route linking Harbin City in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province with Moscow will be open between August 12 and October 5, with the approval of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Taking off at 9:30 a.m. (Beijing Time) from Harbin's Taiping International Airport, the flight will take eight hours and arrive in Moscow in the afternoon of local time. There will be altogether 10 charter flights to meet rising tourist demand during the bustling travel season. When the air ro

Qing Tomb Relics Resurrect History
Dowager Empress Cixi (1835-1908) craved eternal youth, but not only did she grow old, she wasn't even able to rest quietly in her tomb. In 1928, grave robbers blasted the tranquility of the imperial Qing families, stealing untold relics and revealing the secrets of their tombs' interior. An exhibition, jointly organized by the management office of the Eastern Qing Mausoleum (1644-1911) and the Shanghai Municipal Archives, displays 115 pieces of the treasures from the tombs. They include articles

Beached dolphin finds home in east China city
A dolphin, which was rescued by fishermen after beaching itself on June 25, is to stay in an aquarium in Xiamen city, Fujian province, east China.

It is the first beached dolphin to be saved on the Chinese mainland, sources said.

The male dolphin, whose age is estimated at between five and eight, is recovering from injuries.

Some experts believe that it is better to settle the dolphin in an aquarium than send it back to sea.

"There are varied reasons for a dolphin to

Beached dolphin survives in Fujian Province
A male dolphin washed ashore in east China has survived thanks to week-long intensive care, rescue experts announced recently.

Huang Zongguo, a research fellow with the No.3 Institute under the State Oceanic Administration, said it is the first time experts have successfully saved a beached dolphin on China's mainland.

He said the bleeding dolphin, which is between 5 and 8 years old, was found stranded on a beach in Zhangpu County in Fujian province, east China, by fishermen on Jun

Nation plans to build Chinese sturgeon nature reserve
The country's first and largest nature reserve for the endangered Chinese sturgeon, with a planned area of 276 square kilometres, will be set up on the east coast of Congming Island in East China's Shanghai this year, the Shanghai Aquatic Office said.

The reserve, located where the Yangtze River enters the East China Sea, will save 5,000 immature sturgeon a year by providing them a safe, comfortable environment, the office said.

Fishing activities there will be forbidden every spri

Mobile phone use rises in China
The number of mobile phone users in the Chinese mainland had reached 176 million by the end of June of this year, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said recently.

This is an increase of 31.35 million mobile phone users in the first half of this year while the number using pagers fell by 10.98 million to stand at 25.07 million.

An official with the MII said China's telecommunications sector is still expanding in the first six months of this year as sales in the sector total

Macao, a popular tourist mecca
Sound law and order and stable economic expansion are set to pose a bright future for Macao's tourist industry, Director Joao Manuel Costa Antunes of the Macao Government Tourist Office said recently.

Addressing a seminar on "Blueprint for Macao Development" sponsored by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Antunes predicted the number of tourist arrivals in Macao is heading towards a new record this year after hitting more than 10 million in 2001.

In the first five

China's youngest city looks after its aged
Shenzhen City in south China's Guangdong Province will spend 100 million yuan (about 12.1 millionUS dollars) to complete 287 new centers for the aged.

Part of the funding will come from revenue from the sale of Shenzhen City's welfare lottery. Construction is due to be finished by late 2003, said a local official.

In an experimental step, the city has built another 60 neighborhood centers for the old, where elderly people receive services ranging from day care, entertainment, conva

Thailand to lure 1m Chinese tourists next year
Thailand is aiming to attract 1 million Chinese visitors next year to recover some of the ground lost in the last three years in its tourism industry.

The goal is more likely to be achieved now that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the China National Tourism Administration signed an agreement recently in Beijing to enhance tourism co-operation between the two countries, according to a TAT news release.

"Although China is a market with huge potential for the Thai tourism

Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong grow 6 percent in June
Hong Kong welcomed some 1.17 million visitors in June 2002, representing an encouraging growth of 6 percent compared with the same period of last year.

In releasing the latest figures, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced Monday that total arrivals have now grown by 12.8 percent to some 7.5 million for the first half of this year. HKTB initially forecast a 7.9 percent growth for the year.

Clara Chong, executive director of HKTB, said that if similar growth can be maintained in

World's largest exhibition of children's paintings opens
More than 4,000 paintings made by children from 126 countries and regions around the world were put on show in Tianjin on July 29.

At the world's largest exhibition of paintings by children, some 210 works were selected by experts from both China and abroad for special, gold, silver and bronze awards.

The youngest award winner was only six and the oldest 18.

The exhibition is part of the on-going 2002 Tianjin International Children's Culture and Art Festival. Though the chil

Chinese capital passes law to protect religion
The Chinese capital Beijing has issued a law to protect the practices of religious people and organizations.

The Provisions on Religious Affairs of Beijing City was recently passed by the municipal people's congress.

Since the city has lots of religious groups and sites, the local statute has been adopted to protect normal religious practices and the legal rights and interests of religious people, Beijing's people's congress said.

When entering a place of religion, everyone

New sea route links Shandong with ROK
A sea route linking east China's Shandong province and Inchon in the Republic of Korea (ROK) opened to shipping on Monday.

A passenger and cargo liner will operate on the 208-sea mile route from Shidao Port in Shandong's Rongcheng city to Inchon in northwestern ROK.

The Yellow Sea route is operated by the Sino-ROK-funded Rongcheng Huadong Shipping Co.

The company said the liner "Pearl of East China" would sail between the two ports three times a week.

The liner is exp