'Chai', meaning demolition, is painted on the walls of a local house in Mishi hutong, Xuanwu district. [Wang Jing/China Daily]

Hutong residents angry over "insufficient" relocation compensation from a developer eager to build new apartments will get help, local government said Wednesday.

Zhi Wenguang, deputy director of the Xuanwu district construction committee told METRO Wednesday: "The government will help homeowners resolve this issue through legal means."

Residents in Xuanwu district say they are stuck in an aging hutong neighborhood in the underdeveloped southern part of Beijing, prepped for demolition but facing increasing quality problems, because the compensation offered from developer Citic Real Estate isn't enough for them to move out.

The project in Xuanwu's Daji area, a 400,000 sq m hutong complex dating back to Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) with 8,500 households, kicked off in June 2005 am...]]> Culture Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:31:48 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197771/MTk3Nzcx96Ta70UL.html

Photo taken on Nov. 17, 2009 shows a scene of "Peony Pavilion", a well-known Chinese traditional Kunqu Opera, at the headquarters of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) in Paris, capital of France. A performance staged by China's Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe debut at the headquarters of UNESCO on Tuesday night. Regarded as "the mother of all operas", Kunqu has a long history of over 500 years and is one of China's extant oldest dramatic forms. It was listed as one of the 19 inaugural "Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO in 2001. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) ]]> Culture Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:31:42 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197756/MTk3NzU2PZJx6qWk.html      by Wang Xiaopeng and Sophia Seiderer

    BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Beijing boy Liu Hanzhao, 9, is starting his day with reading aloud Confucian classics for 20 minutes after breakfast.

    Before he is going to sleep in the evening he reads English tales like "The Little Match Girl" by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. At the weekends he is watching "Kung Fu Panda", the popular animation film. It is his favorite movie.

    Liu is enjoying to have access to such a range of literature and films originating from different cultural backgrounds.

    "I like to be moved by true and beautiful stories," said he. "I can't bear to see animals hurt."

    Mei Zihan, an established writer and a professor with Shanghai Normal University, said nowadays children had a wide range of choices concerning reading and...]]> Culture Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:08:39 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197755/MTk3NzU1OjTvLEIx.html     By Xinhua writers Yi Ling & Gui Juan

    BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Fang Zhiqian loves the smell of firecrackers. The pungent, burning chemicals takes the 16-year-oldback to scenarios of family which he often missed during his childhood.

    Zhiqian was only three years and four months old, when his mother, Xie Kui'e left their home at a plain village in Luoshan County of central China's Henan Province to look for a job.

    He was seven, when his father left him and his elder brother and went to join in their mother in eastern Zhejiang Province as a pedicab driver. Zhiqian became one of the "left-behind children" in China, whose one or both parents work far away from home, leaving them taken care of by their grandparents or other relatives.

    "My parents aren't in my most pleasant memories," says Zhiqian. The quiet 12th-grader is...]]> Culture Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:08:33 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197727/MTk3NzI3AyQA0XAZ.html     By Bai Jie

    UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- He is not just a classical music superstar. He is a global superstar. Only 27 years old, the Chinese pianist Lang Lang has become an inspiration to tens of millions around the world.

    Among his dazzling long list of titles, Lang considered UNICEF goodwill ambassador the most special one.

    "Being a UNICEF goodwill ambassador is the best decision I have made and will definitely be the best experience in my life," Lang said in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua at the UN headquarters in New York.

    "I love children very much, and playing piano for them is my favorite," Lang said, beaming with delight.

    Named this year by Time magazine as one of the 100 World's Most Influential People, the pianist said he hoped music could "bring children happiness an...]]> Culture Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:06:41 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197715/MTk3NzE1vacA7yK3.html     BEIJING, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Three Taiwan plays will become the first works from the island to be staged at the China Drama Festival, which opens in Xiamen on Nov. 28.

    Ji Guoping, secretary-general of the China Dramatists Association, said Monday the Taiwan Peking opera "A Tale of GoldenLocks," based on a novel of writer Eileen Chang would be among the productions.

    Performed by the island's Guoguang Opera Company, it features a psychological tale of a woman tormented by desire and greed.

    "Lee Heung-Kwan", a Kunqu opera about a legendary courtesan, by National Taiwan College of Performing Arts and the Taipei University of the Arts production, "Na Han Dou E," inspired by the ancient tragedy "The Injustice to Dou E", will also be showcased at the biennial event. Dou E was wrongfully accused of a murder and was proved innocent after her death.

 ...]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:07:59 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197714/MTk3NzE076o70Vut.html     ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The full range and history of Chinese characters, one of the world's oldest continuously used writing systems, came together Monday when China's first museum for sinograms opened.

    The Chinese Character Museum is located in Anyang City of central Henan Province, where the oracle script, the country's earliest inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells dating back more than 3,000 years, was discovered in 1899.

    The museum shows the evolution of Chinese characters since ancient times, showcasing cultural relics, including rubbed stone inscriptions, bronze vessels of the Shang (1600 B.C.- about 1046 B.C.) and Zhou (1066 B.C. - 256 B.C.) dynasties, Chinese seal engraving, ancient coins, writing bamboo and silk, and calligraphy work from different dynasties.

    Besides Han characters, which are widely used by China's Han, Hui and M...]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:07:53 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197713/MTk3NzEzTvKVo9xx.html     BEIJING, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China (CLCEF) on Monday received a donation of 90 million yuan (13.2 million U.S. dollars) to encourage more overseas Chinese youth to study China's language and culture.

    The donation was jointly made by five enterprises. Rongqiao Group, a real estate company, donated 50 million yuan and other four contributed 10 million respectively.

    A spokesman with the CLCEF said that the overall donation would be used in training qualified teachers for overseas Chinese communities, providing scholarships and grants to encourage young overseas Chinese to learn the language and culture that has a history of more than 5,000 years.

    According to the foundation, many overseas Chinese who are longing to study and inherit Chinese culture have limited sources in local communities such as ...]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:07:48 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197712/MTk3NzEyXRfU8IZu.html     BEIJING, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's one of the top higher education institutions Peking University on Monday released a namelist of 39 high school principals nationwide who are recognized to recommend their students to be enrolled without taking national college entrance examination.

    The recommended students could be given offers to the university after interviews rather than written exams, which is part of the university's practices for its own admission regulation.

    According to an announcement issued by Peking University, the university received over 400 applications to get qualification of the recommendation for enrollment.

    According to Peking University, three percent of undergraduate admission quota are scheduled to be enrolled through the recommendation method in which the university's experts will evaluate the recommended student's comprehensi...]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:07:43 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197711/MTk3NzExhd0Wqbhv.html     Beijing, Nov. 18 -- Innovative designs combing familiar objects in new ways fired up the interest of porcelain lovers - and the judges - at a nationwide contest for porcelain design in Beijing. Two young designers from Taiwan were honored with the top award for their work.

    Clip of Beauty from two students of Taiwan University won the biggest award of the contest. As the name suggests, the piece helps recall memories of yesterday's simple lifestyle and happiness.

    Chen Liheng, one of the judges, says innovation is the keyword for winning this contest.

    Chen said, "For instance, look at this set. It's inspired by the Chinese shuttlecock, peg-top and diabolo. Lending from the shapes of those things, they are actually chopsticks, cups and plates. It's a creative mixing the ideas of traditional games into the dishware."

    There was...]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:07:36 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197710/MTk3NzEw0gNDpLJf.html     WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition that features the largest number of terra cotta warriors ever to travel to the United States for a single show kicked off here on Tuesday.

    The exhibition, "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor," will officially open to public on Thursday at the National Geographic Museum, which is the final venue of the exhibition's four-city U.S. tour, following Los Angeles, Atlanta and Houston.

    Open through March 31, 2010, the exhibition includes 15 terra cotta figures from the tomb of China's First Emperor, Qin Shihuang, who ruled from 221 B.C. to 210 B.C.

    "The First Emperor's magnificent terra cotta army is one of the great wonders of the ancient world," said Terry Garcia, National Geographic's executive vice president for Mission Programs, in a statement.

    "Visitors to t...]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:07:29 +0800 /articles/09/1118/197645/MTk3NjQ1f2mMf3tI.html

A terracotta warrior is on display at the press preview of Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor, exhibit at The National Geographic Museum in Washington November 17, 2009. The exhibit includes 100 sets of objects, with 15 terracotta figures, the greatest number of warriors ever to travel to the United States. [Agencies] ]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:27:54 +0800 /articles/09/1118/197644/MTk3NjQ0IsdwMW6o.html The exhibition, "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor," will officially open to public on Thursday at the National Geographic Museum, which is the final venue of the exhibition's four-city US tour, following Los Angeles, Atlanta and Houston.

Open through March 31, 2010, the exhibition includes 15 terra cotta figures from the tomb of China's First Emperor, Qin Shihuang, who ruled from 221 BC to 210 BC.

"The first emperor's magnificent terra cotta army is one of the great wonders of the ancient world," said Terry Garcia, National Geographic's executive vice-president for Mission Programs, in a statement.

"Visitors to the National Geographic Museum will have the rare opportunity to experience one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century as they stand face-to-face with the terra cotta warriors," he said.

Xie Feng, minister of the Chinese Embassy to the United States, said at Tu...]]> Culture Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:27:47 +0800 China has ratcheted up pressure for imperial treasures to be repatriated, condemning overseas auctions of its relics and demanding they come home.

China is particularly eager to get back a series of bronze animal heads looted in 1860 by British and French soldiers when they burned down the Qing emperors' summer palace in Beijing.

China's drive to recover the heads has alarmed Western museums and auction houses, who are also sparring with Greece and other nations over the return of historic art treasures.

A March auction of two heads from the estate of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent was disrupted after the winning Chinese bidder refused to pay for them, on patriotic grounds.

"These cultural relics should be returned to China," Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, told a Monday meeting on the return of cultural property to countries of origin.

"We believe th...]]> Culture Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:30:08 +0800 /articles/09/1116/197381/MTk3MzgxLm6VkWwe.html

Photo taken on Nov. 15, 2009 shows a panorama of Fuxi Village with lots of ancient architectures that date to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Fuxi village is one of dozens of ancient townships on the Xiaohe Road, connecting the Yangtze River in central China and Pearl River delta area. The ancient road which was first built in 213 B.C. facilitated population migration from central China to south China and helped the forming of Cantonese sub-culture. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

Yan and 16 other monks his age attend a primary school five minutes walk from the temple. After school, they have a mission --keeping alive the culture of Dai ethnic group in south China's Yunnan Province.

Yunnan's Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna has 4,000 monks who are also students at primary and middle schools. In addition to the standard curriculum, they have to study Buddhism, Dai culture and language.

In addition to the morning sutras, Yan and his fellow boy monks must chant for another hour after school. Then they spend two hours revising or doing homework. At weekends, they study Dai language and Buddhist scriptures.

"The monks are under much greater stress than others their age. They have to study almost twice as hard," says Yan Le, deputy director of the Ethnic and Re...]]> Culture Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:26:22 +0800 /articles/09/1115/197290/MTk3MjkwKSoPqlfV.html     BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Search engine giant Google is to send a representative to China next week to talk with the country's copyright watchdog to cool down Chinese authors' heated complaints against the company over copyright violations, said a Google senior executive Sunday.

    Daniel Alegre, Google's vice president of Asia Pacific Sales & Operations, told Xinhua on phone that he is not sure about whom but someone will go to China to "communicate" further with China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS) next week.

    According to a rough estimate from CWWCS, nearly 18,000 books from 570 Chinese writers have been scanned by Google and included in its digital library, Google Books, opening only to Internet users in the United States. Most of the writers were not informed nor paid.

    "So far, no writers we reached said he or she has authorized G...]]> Culture Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:06:42 +0800 /articles/09/1115/197269/MTk3MjY5yLLo67s1.html     BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- China should strengthen media literacy education on children to enhance the development of both domestic and global citizenship, according to an action plan made on Saturday at the second international forum on media literacy education.

    More than 20 scholars from British, Japanese and Chinese universities discussed on the topic of "media literacy and citizen's development", and worked out the action plan.

    It also urged researchers on media literacy education to try to make relevant courses be included in curriculums of primary and high schools in China.

    The forum was organized by the Communication University of China. Yuan Jun, Vice President of the Communication University of China, said media has been playing a more and more important role in the development of citizenship.

    "Modern education ...]]> Culture Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:09:19 +0800 /articles/09/1115/197247/MTk3MjQ3r3kxKPKV.html Matisse said a good thing once. ‘‘There are flowers everywhere,’’ he trilled, ‘‘for those who bother to look.’’ How right he was. Look and you shall find. Don’t look, however, and even if it comes and sits on your head, leans over you and gurns in your face, you still will not see it. Because your eyes are closed.

Matisse’s excellent advice has often encouraged me when pessimism was the easier course. And if I knew where Roger Scruton lived, I would rather like to tiptoe into his house at night and tattoo it onto his forehead, so that every morning, whenever he encountered himself in the mirror, for the rest of his life, he might be better prepared for the day ahead.

Scruton is a moral philosopher and professional regressive who recently published a dull little book on Beauty in which he complained that ...]]> Culture Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:34:43 +0800 /articles/09/1115/197232/MTk3MjMyCIMtyD9q.html     BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The earth is moaning from a "fever" -- global warming, which mankind is suffering from and should cooperatively strive against.

    What can we do about it?

    Let's listen to the voices of the children, the innocent victims of the harmful impacts of the earth's fever, about measures to fight against global warming.

    We can see hope in these young environmental protectors' mature and firm answers, which accurately explain the reasons why the planet is getting warmer, even though the root of the greenhouse phenomenon and its threats still confuse them.

    "Too much carbon dioxide causes the global warming. People haveto find out alternative energy resources and reduce pollutions." -- Claire Klauner, girl, 14 years old, from United States.

    "People should make rules for factories...]]> Culture Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:06:01 +0800     by Xinhua writer Wang Aihua

    BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- To 9-year-old Liang Zonghao, in a village of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, "environmental pollution" and "climate change" are best summed up by what his science teacher said in class, "The earth is sick after breathing in bad things."

    But how sick? And why? "There are fewer fish in the rivers and some bad people are doing bad things, like plucking tree leaves, breaking saplings and taking away soil," he answers.

    Beijing girl Yi Tingshuo, 12, confidently attributes environmental problems to human over-exploitation of energy resources and careless emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

    Despite their different backgrounds and knowledge, the two children have these in common: the earth they live on and the atmosphere around it.

 &n...]]> Culture Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:10:22 +0800 /articles/09/1114/197172/MTk3MTcyHPOBxtCh.html This is a file photo of Shaolin Temple's Abbot Shi Yongxin, which was taken on April 14, 2008.(Xinhua File Photo)Photo Gallery>>>

    By Song Shengxia

    BEIJING, Nov.13 -- He was China's youngest Abbot in the Shaolin Temple ]]> Culture Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:08:29 +0800 /articles/09/1114/197171/MTk3MTcxoGdjS3f0.html [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

    "Confucius says, a boy, a girl and moonlight make wedding bells ring out in month of May," said 91-year-old Eunice Brock.

    In fact, the sentence was not from Confucius, but another way of saying that moonlight can inspire romantic feelings.

    "There was a period when it was very popular to invent brief statements as sayings of Confucius in the United States," Brock said.

    To many foreigners, the understanding to Confucius was just limited to his name or maybe the adage chanted at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, though, the Chinese ancient wise man was definitely one of the greatest philosopher in the world.

    On Oct. 28, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to honor the 2,650th annive...]]> Culture Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:08:17 +0800     By Sophia Seiderer

    BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Established Chinese rocker Xie Tianxiao is promising a new style of music for China in his album due for release at the beginning of next month: "The Chinese style of reggae."

    That will be also the title of the album, which combines traditional Chinese instruments, such as the guqin, with Jamaican reggae music.

    The guqin has a history of more than 5,000 years and belongs to the family of "zither" instruments. "You need to have the feeling for playing it. Just practising is not enough," he says in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency

    For Xie, it is also a homage to Bob Marley, who personified the Jamaican brand of reggae before his death in 1981.

    "I have been always fascinated by him and planned for a long time to make a reggae album. Now...]]> Culture Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:09:49 +0800 /articles/09/1113/197053/MTk3MDUzqwFSNi1l.html     BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- China established a state-owned cartoon conglomerate, a performing arts group and a big cultural communication company Thursday.

    The joint-stock venture, China Animation Group Corporation, has developed from two market-oriented companies affiliated with the Ministry of Culture.

    "The merger has been spurred by market demand, years of accumulation and government support," said Ouyang Jian, vice minister of culture.

    China currently has about 10,000 animation companies but most of them are small ones lacking in marketing capability and originality.

    "The animation industry is also of great importance to the growth of the teenagers," Ouyang said, "This is also a reason for our decision."

    With the flooding of western cartoon products in the Chinese market, China's domestic...]]> Culture Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:09:42 +0800

The costumes come from the collection of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association that began a project to salvage China's folk culture heritage in 2003.

The exhibition, which also has the backing of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, can be seen till Nov 21.

    BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Dong Yue gets up at 5:50 a.m. for an hour-long bus trip across the city to her school. The six-year-old springs up the minute her alarm clock goes off, though she often dozes off during the bus ride.

    For Dong, a first-grader at Haidian Experimental Primary School in western Beijing, being punctual at school is important.

    Dong and her classmates all cherish the stickers their teachers give them for punctuality, concentration in class, high quality schoolwork and active participation in classroom activities.

    Every 10 stickers can be swapped for a certificate of merit and for every five certificates of merit, the children can get awards ranging from sweets to erasers, pencil sharpeners and exercise books.

    Unlike their parents who...]]> Culture Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:10:31 +0800 /articles/09/1112/196954/MTk2OTU01ENQDTD7.html [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

    Tsering Tashi, head of the prefecture's culture bureau, said Thursday that the second phase will focus on restoration and consolidation of monk dormitories and residential buildings of civilians surrounding the Khorchak Monastery.

Located in the Khorzhak Village, Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, the Khorzhak Monastery is a renowned monastery of the Sakya Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by the great translator Rinchen Zangpo in 996 AD.(Photo: tibet.cn)Photo Gallery>>>

    The first phase, which began in October 2008, featured restoration of two main halls of the monastery, including anti-infiltration...]]> Culture Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:10:07 +0800 /articles/09/1111/196917/MTk2OTE3lUJ9ddce.html Culture Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:16:32 +0800 /articles/09/1111/196888/MTk2ODg4lkAa2DLr.html China announced Tuesday to award scholarships to 1,021 foreign applicants for a master's program on Chinese language teaching, with an aim to cultivate local teaching staff amid increasing overseas demands for learning the language.

    BEIJING, Nov.10 -- The Fine Art Beijing exposition, a spin-off of the established Art Beijing exhibition, ends its three-day run in the Beijing Agricultural Exhibition Centre on Monday.

    Important statistics such as volume of trading and number of visitors - normally important indicators of the success of an exhibition, are yet to be published for the debut of Fine Art Beijing.

    "Given the ongoing financial crisis, it's not a profitable business. But the event is mainly aimed at increasing the influence of classical art and laying a foundation for its market," stressed Dong Mengyang, the chief executive of Art Beijing.

 ...]]> Culture Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:07:09 +0800 /articles/09/1111/196835/MTk2ODM1I3mVO3pX.html     by Xinhua writers Yang Dingdu, Qian Rong

    XI'NING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Yang Xubing, 29, a middle school maths teacher, dressed in his best suit, receives an award for China's top 10 bloggers on education at a five-star hotel in Beijing.

    "This is one of my best moments," Yang says. His blogger articles have reached millions of Chinese, but, ironically, not his own students.

    "The Internet cafes in town, from which minors are banned by law, are my students' only access to the Internet. But only undisciplined boys go there to play online games."

    His school lies in poverty-stricken Baokang county, central Hubei Province.

    The rural countryside is home to 57 percent of China's population, but has only 12 percent of its Internet users, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). ...]]> Culture Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:07:03 +0800 /articles/09/1111/196834/MTk2ODM0ngp1ULYr.html Chinese singer Lei Jia (L) and emcee Dou Dou pose for photos during the press conference of Chinese Opera Mulan in Tokyo, Nov. 10, 2009. The Chinese Opera Mulan will be performed from Nov. 11 in Japan. (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)Photo Gallery>>>

    TOKYO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese opera Mulan Psalm will make its debut in Tokyo Wednesday.

    At a press conference held Tuesday, Li Shengquan, head of the performing arts troupe, said that Mulan Psalm relates an ancient Chinese tale in the form of an opera.

Chinese singer Lei Jia (L) and Tan Jing pose for photos during the press conference of Chinese Opera Mulan in Tokyo, Nov. 10, 2009. The Chinese Opera Mulan will be performed from Nov. 11 in Japan. (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)Photo Gallery>>>

    It represents the aspiration and hope that the Chinese people have long cherish...]]> Culture Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:06:56 +0800 /articles/09/1111/196833/MTk2ODMz3tI0kNeq.html     BEIJING, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- China announced Tuesday to award scholarships to 1,021 foreign applicants for a master's program on Chinese language teaching, with an aim to cultivate local teaching staff amid increasing overseas demands for learning the language.

    The foreigners, from more than 50 countries, promised to teach Chinese for more than five years after they graduate from the master's program carried out by 50 universities around China, including the Peking University and the Beijing Normal University.

    State Councilor Liu Yandong said at the award ceremony that the scholarship was a new method to promote Chinese language and the government would continue to push it forward.

    "I hope the recipients could understand the Chinese culture better and contribute to the development of Chinese language teaching," Liu said.

    T...]]> Culture Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:06:50 +0800 /articles/09/1111/196832/MTk2ODMyHwTbpKCL.html     PARIS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The study of Chinese has become increasingly popular in France, says a French sinologist.

    More and more middle schools and universities in France have begun to offer Chinese classes, Joel Bellassen said during a recent talk with Kong Quan, the Chinese ambassador to France.

    Among the 30 school districts across France, 27 now offer Chinese classes, including some in the remote areas, said Bellassen, the Chinese learning inspector in the Education Ministry.

    About 25,600 middle school students were registered to study Chinese in September, a large increase from the less than 5,000 students 10 years ago, Bellassen said.

    There now are 44,000 school students learning Chinese in France, including 16,000 university students and about 2,000 primary school students, Bellassen said.

   &n...]]> Culture Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:06:43 +0800 /articles/09/1107/196498/MTk2NDk4KBdqXSsd.html     BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan Peking opera "A Tale of Golden Locks," based on a novel of renowned writer Eileen Chang, will be staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing on Nov. 21.

    The opera, created by the island's Guoguang Opera Company, comprises five acts. It caused a sensation when it premiered in Taipei in 2006.

    The opera employs stage partition to create changes of space and time and makes full use of film montage to present Chang's visual imagination and compact plot.

    The NCPA is seeing a steady flow of Taiwan artistic groups coming to onto stages.

    The Peking opera troupe is to be followed by Taiwan's internationally acclaimed Cloud Gate Dance Theater. It will put dance "Cursive" on the stage of the NCPA on Nov. 27. The work absorbed elements of calligraphy and was staged with sli...]]> Culture Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:05:41 +0800 /articles/09/1107/196485/MTk2NDg1MYEOocHv.html     BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- China is planning to build a library honoring the country's "father of space technology" Qian Xuesen, who died on Oct. 31 at the age of 98.

    The library, which will be built at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where Qian once pursued his study, occupies an area of 7,000 square meters and is expected to have the most comprehensive collection of his works, according to the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Friday.

    The library, when completed, will serve as a base of patriotism education, the department said.

    To build the library is an important decision made by the CPC Central Committee to honor Qian's outstanding contributions and inspire people's awareness of hard work and pursuit of knowledge and creativity, the department said.

    The library will featu...]]> Culture Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:06:56 +0800 /articles/09/1107/196484/MTk2NDg0e1k1HPop.html     BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong is the first choice of many Chinese mainland residents when they travel abroad, according to the Beijing office of Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Friday, quoting survey results.

    More than 90 percent of over 8,000 netizens on the Chinese mainland surveyed said Hong Kong is the very place they hope to visit most, said HKTB.

    The survey, conducted by cyol.net which is affiliated to China Youth Daily, showed that sightseeing and shopping in Hong Kong are the top choices of Chinese mainland residents. Many respondents said they were impressed by Hong Kong as a "shopping paradise".

    The survey shows that those who have been to Hong Kong stayed there for 5.75 days each time, compared to the maximum seven-day stay for mainland residents permitted the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

 ...]]> Culture Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:06:50 +0800 /articles/09/1106/196457/MTk2NDU3Vuw1uv7s.html China officials yesterday renewed objection to an auction of looted Chinese relics, following a flood of criticism from netizens over Wednesday's auction of an imperial jade seal in London.

Officials from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage yesterday said the government would spend more manpower and money to collect, clean up and study China's lost relics, and would resort to various measures to get the lost relics back.

An imperial jade seal, owned by the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong, who ruled China from 1736 to 1795, fetched 3.6 million pounds ($5.9 million), six times its top estimate.

A total of 153 pieces of Chinese artwork, including the seal, were sold for more than 8 million pounds by London-based auctioneer Sotheby's on Wednesday.

"Sotheby's is not aware of any issue of legal title or provenance concerning the Imperial Jade Seal in Sotheby's London Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Sa...]]> Culture Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:19:27 +0800 /articles/09/1106/196418/MTk2NDE4uOmnDAX0.html     BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- China officials Thursday renewed objection to an auction of looted Chinese relics, following a flood of criticism from netizens over Wednesday's auction of an imperial jade seal in London, China Daily reported Friday.

    Officials from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said Thursday the government would spend more manpower and money to collect, clean up and study China's lost relics, and would resort to various measures to get the lost relics back.

    An imperial jade seal, owned by the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong, who ruled China from 1736 to 1795, fetched 3.6 million pounds ($5.9 million), six times its top estimate.

    A total of 153 pieces of Chinese artwork, including the seal, were sold for more than 8 million pounds by London-based auctioneer Sotheby's on Wednesday.

    "Sotheby's is not...]]> Culture Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:07:57 +0800 /articles/09/1106/196417/MTk2NDE3Ke7p69l4.html     by Jing Zhao Cesarone

    CHICAGO, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- No lines, no patterns, no drawings ... simply a piece of bright red paper, a pair of scissors and deft hands were all Wang Li, a well-known Chinese paper-cutting artist, needed to make magic unfold in front of a group of American students at LaSalle Language Academy in Chicago on Tuesday.

    Moments later, after Li had skillfully zigzagged through the square of folded paper, an exquisite paper-cut emerged: a dragon]]> Culture Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:07:52 +0800 /articles/09/1105/196321/MTk2MzIx3ub7G25u.html Zhang Xiaogang's Solo Exhibition, "The Records", is on display at Pace Beijing in the 798 Art District.

The title comes from the well-known Han Dynasty text, Records of the Great Historian. The show displays Zhang's new works of art from 2008 to 2009, which includes prints on steel plates, sculptures and installations.

Zhang Xiaogang is one of China's leading artists. His artistic development parallels that of contemporary art in China. "The Records" includes a continuation of his Green Wall series paintings along with a group of new sculptures. He uses seemingly subtle objects to continue his sensitive depiction of memory: from the beginning bloodlines, light spots and trail of tears to the later faraway skylines and overhead electrical wires that appeared to travel freely across the canvas planes. He also utilizes objects which people would usually turn a blind eye to, such as lamp cords and electrical cables. Zhang makes conn...]]> Culture Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:29:05 +0800     PARIS, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was enchanted by former Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing's seal-cutting exhibition on Wednesday.

    UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura made this comment while he was paying a visit to the exhibition at the Chinese Culture Center in Paris.

    Roaming the aisle where seal-cutting works and introduction pictures were displayed, Matsuura frequently stopped to pore over every Chinese character that looked familiar to him. He also discussed the similarity between Chinese and Japanese writings with his companions.

    After leaving a note in Japanese which called the exhibit "magnificent," Matsuura told Xinhua that the display was very impressive.

    He added that it was "incredible" for Li to have made such great and nume...]]> Culture Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:09:27 +0800 /articles/09/1104/196184/MTk2MTg097iPN5rK.html     BEIJING, Nov. 4 -- In a rare turf war between regulatory agencies, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) yesterday opened fire on the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP), saying its decision to pull the plug on a popular online game was "an act out of bounds".

    The firefight broke out after GAPP decided Monday night to suspend its approval of the World of WarCraft online game. The game has more than 1 million players on the Chinese mainland.

    In effect, the GAPP decision ran against a State Council circular issued last July that declared the MOC was in charge of regulating the multi-billion dollar online gaming industry.

    GAPP had previously overseen the industry.

    It has ordered NetEase.com, China's second-largest Internet games operator and the company with the license to run World of WarCraft in China,...]]> Culture Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:07:07 +0800 /articles/09/1104/196183/MTk2MTgz181WVi1D.html     BEIJING, Nov. 4 -- Traditional Chinese culture features prominently in the NE Tiger's Haute Couture collection, one of the opening shows of the Beijing Fashion Week.

    The butterfly and the fan. These elements are the inspiration for NE Tiger's Haute Couture collection.

    For Chinese, the butterfly symbolizes freedom, romance and eternal of life, while the fan, indicates elegance and artistry. The two are featured in the contours or details of the dresses, suits and gowns.

    Braided embroidery makes the patterns stand out. The whole collection exudes a feel of both ancient and modern.

    Su Mang, editor-in-chief of Bazaar Magazine, said, "The use of splendid Chinese elements in this collection is very chic, which make them acceptable to fashionable young people."

    Haute Couture is just getting ...]]> Culture Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:07:02 +0800     BEIJING, Nov. 4 -- While it is no surprise that many Beijingers have taken to coffee since foreign companies arrived on the scene nearly 10 years ago, customers are hanging out at cafes not for the coffee - but the environment.

    Ren Yue, 31, is the face of the Chinese coffee drinking generation. As a successful banking consultant, drinking a cup of Joe became part of her daily routine more than six years ago. Her doctor even recommended she started drinking coffee to aid digestion.

    While she is a coffee lover, most of her friends are not - but that has not stopped them from being part of Beijing's emerging cafe culture.

    A decade ago, Starbucks opened its first store on the Chinese mainland, looking to shake up the long-standing tea drinking culture with a jolt of caffeine. A few years later, Yue had her first sip of coffee and she was soon ho...]]> Culture Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:11:24 +0800 /articles/09/1104/196140/MTk2MTQwF1lwHtda.html     BEIJING, Nov. 4 -- Walking along the streets in Harbin, the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, you see a large amount of well-preserved European-style architecture, among which is a site with a distinctive Star of David on a giant dome. This is the New Jewish Synagogue, which not only provides a narration of the Jewish religion in the city but also a home to an extensive collection of Jewish culture and artifacts.

    Tracing back to the late 19th and early 20th century, the Jewish community in Harbin was one of the strongest and most viable in the city. According to Li Shuxiao, deputy director of the Harbin Jewish Research Center with the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, between 1899, when the first Russian Jewish immigrants came to Harbin and 1985, when the last Jewish settler in Harbin passed away, altogether more than 20,000 Jewish people spent their lives at one time or an...]]> Culture Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:10:56 +0800     BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Worldwide knowledge of China's culture has advanced again with the help of two recent events involving famous ancient Chinese historical figures.

    The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution last week to honor the 2,560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius, recognizing the ancient Chinese thinkers's "invaluable contributions to philosophy and social and political thought."

    On raising the bill, Al Green, a Democratic Congressman from Texas, said Confucianism has deeply influenced and continues to have far-reaching influence on the social and political thought of many countries around the world.

    Li Chengjiu, a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution's John L. Thornton China Center, said the U.S. House's Confucius resolution reflected China's increasing influence and the U.S. political community's rising re...]]> Culture Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:05:09 +0800