Journey to the West

For as long as I can remember,my dad had talked of the jewel in China's western territory,Tibet Autonomous Region.As a student of international relations and Chinese,I have been living in China for the past three years.Tibet was a region I was desperate to see but its remoteness and my inability to find the right time to go delayed my journey.After a few e-mails back and forth with my dad,who is based in the UK.     

Yin He：Dream of a Wilderness Comes True in Tibet

Ilanded a job in a Beijing bank in ：2OLO after graduating with a master＇s degree. I was lucky. A job in a bank in the metropolis is well paid with bright career prospects,and consequently much sought after. But it didn＇t appeal to me. I found that sitting in a cubicle clad in a sharp suit from nine to five, five days a week was slowly eroding my ambition and spirit. I soon felt isolated in this cell of cement, steel and glass. I itched for the freedom of a great wilderness - a world of clear blue skies and lush meadows strewn with wild flowers extending to an open horizon. Although devoid of modern amenities, to me the wild blue yonder teemed with promise and opportunities that would renew my youth and vigor.     

Oh,What a Year!

Icelebrated my one-vear anniversarv with China Last montn.it's peen a wmriwrna romance ruii or niens ana lows,aisagreements ana reconcinations,admonishments and promises,all of which have led up to my marking our big day with a special kind of commitment:I signed a new lease on my flat.So now that China and I are bound together in bizarre matrimony for another year,I thought I'd mark the occasion by cataloging the highlights of my first 12 months in a country like no other.     

Never Too Late to Start Over

LAST year I decided to pack up my things and move into a retirement community. Many people asked me why I would want to do that, rather than staying in my own home or living with my kids as most people in their late years do. One of the main reasons was that I had already had some friends living in these types of places, and they always spoke highly of the experience.     

A pot of tea in the Hilton lobby

The noise in my apartment was relentless: day in, day out, the construction crew chinked and drilled and hammered as they laboured on the plumbing and electrical lines in the unfinished part of the building. As usual, the volume seemed to get louder when it was time to do my tutoring lessons. I had to escape... go outside, into the blazing heat of the sun, and once there, to where? As is common with my lady friends, we are acquainted with the lobbies of nearly every hotel within a one-mile radius of our favourite haunts.Three reasons why women are on a     

Eighteen ways to better sleep

Sometimes I sleep like a baby and sometimes I sleep like a log. For me, the baby aspect is defined by a series of interruptions with a quick fix in the bathroom or a snack from the fridge. The log is more like a stiffness accompanied by a metaphoric chain saw buzz from my apparently loud snoring. Insomnia, habitual sleeplessness, fortunately is not a friend of mine, but that's because I have experimented with different ways to make my forty winks longer, waken with an attitude to seize the day and not feel tired an hour after breakfast. Are you one of the estimated one half of the population who suffers from not enough shut-eye? Allow me to let you in     

My China Ties

To go sight-seeing in the mythical People's Re-public of China or to go there for in-depth studyof its ancient civilization are two different things. Ihave been given a good opportunity to live amongsuch a group of people: honest, diligent, tenacious,careful, seeking progress, peace-loving, dedicatedto truth, goodness and beauty... In my youth I wasdrawn to the abstruse philosophies of Laozi andConfucius and determined to go to their homelandon a study tour. As the years went by and with theknowledge I had accumulated, my desire to learnthe thought of the two geniuses-to discard the drossand clear away all the evils in life in pursuit of the     

LETTERS

正Now in my 60s,I am starting to think seriously about where I’m going to spend my later years.I do not personally oppose living in a nursing home when I’m too old to take care of myself.My children treat me very well and I enjoy the time we spend together.But they have lives of their own,while I have a life of my own.I don’t have the heart to expect them to look after me,as they are already occupied with     

Where There's Smoke,There's Fire

I'm sitting in a crowded restaurant, enjoying a tasty meal with my Chinese family.The atmosphere is hot and loud-exactly the type of environment that attracts the interest of those closest to me- and one I have learned to get used to,over time.One thing I can't get used to,and never will-the clouds of cigarette smoke that fill the air and our lungs with every grudging,indrawn breath.     

Preserving the Soul of Beijin

WHILE many Westerners would not dream of living in other than Westernstyle housing, I like to try something different. I was lucky enough to find a courtyard situated in a park. Every day,I awake to the chirping of birds outside my window, and my bedroom is close to the river which gives me a great sense of relaxation.” Laurence Barron, president of Airbus China, so describes his Beijing residence. Western-style suited,non-Chinese speaking and living as a foreign resident, Mr. Barron nevertheless feels a strong affinity with China.     

Letters

A Letter to Editor-in-Chief EmeritusI an a retired American High School principalwho loves China and the Chinese people, and havedevoted my life to assisting Chinese people andChinese groups in need of assistance.I have long had the desire to write to you as a fel-low senior who shares my great love for China and itspeople. I learned of you and your tremendous relation-ship with China when I first subscribed to ChinaReconstructs, and have continued to read more aboutyou. With each readi…     

LETTERS

I was very excited of ovtaining a copy of the December issue of China Today and immediately began reading it. My usual method is first to go through the table of contents to see which articles most interest me, and then do intensive reading of those I like best. As I read, I note down new words and expressions, useful sentence structures, and the outline of each article. I read the other features and articles in order to broaden my view and keep pace with events in China and the rest of the world.     

A River,a Dam and A Hawthorn Tree

The Three Gorges area on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and exciting places in China,and the perfect destination to admire China's natural and manmade marvels.In May,I followed my inner siren call and visited the area on a sunny weekend with my boyfriend.We took a cruise on the Yangtze.The ship was swarming with domestic tourists and several foreigners,many of us leaning over the railings in awe.I had booked seats on the top deck,and we were not disappointed as the panorama of the Xiling Gorge passed us by along with the lush vegetation on the hills and teal waters of the Yangtze.     

Speech by Vice Chairman Jiang Zhenghua At Opening Ceremony of Asia-Pacific Cooperation Forum

It's my great pleasure to partici- pate in this Forum sponsoredby the Chinese People's Associa-tion for Friendship with ForeignCountries, and to take the oppor-tunity to explore with so manyexperts and scholars from bothhome and abroad, the importanttopics of Asia-Pacific cooperation. I have noted that the forumhas set two major topics, a mac-roscopic one on the developmentopportunities in the Asia-Pacificregion in the new century, and a     

Isainu Takada,Envoy of Sino-Japanese Friendship

Mr.Isamu Takada is former governor of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan and a recipient of the honorable title of Envoy of Sino-Japanese Friendship conferred by the China-Japan Friendship Association of China. I had many contacts with him during my stay in Nagasaki from 1996 to 1999. His profound sentiments for China and his friendship for the Chinese people still remain vivid in my mind today.I first heard of the name Isamu Takada in 1983     

Finding the Right Words

正No phone battery,two kuai,and lost in Chaoyang amidst a sea of words and sounds that slipped one after another through my fingers.How was I going to get home?I graduated with a neuroscience degree in the South Island of New Zealand in 2012,and have been working toward my medical degree ever since.After fi ve years of science,     

Spice Girlof China

Considering the spiciness of its fabled cuisine,Chengdu is remarkably laid-back and mellow.Maybe the heat of the chili and the tingling of the Sichuan pepper that tickles the taste buds also balances a person out. On a weekend visit to the city with my husband and a friend,I was determined to experience Chengdu in all its fabulousness.     

Speech by Jose Luis Schafer,UNALE President of Brazil,at 2014 China International Friendship Cities Conference

I will start my speech greeting the event organizers for the opportunity to meet you in this so prosperous city and an example of development and industrialization to the world.I believe that everyone who is here for the first time is impressed with the development of the region and the selected audience that is present.I am a Brazilian parliamentarian from the State of Acre,in the region of the Brazilian Amazon,and I chair UNALE—National Union of Brazilian State Legislators and Legis-     

Lang Lang: From child prodigy to Carregie Hall

As a child, I had three wishes: to have my own bicycle, to take figure-skating lessons, and to play piano. As a young mother of 26,I finally bought a bicycle which I happily rode up and down our farm laneway. At 34, my first lesson with a professional skating teacher was also my last when I fell on the ice and popped an instant bump the size of an egg on the back of my head. To my chagrin, the only keyboard I ever mastered was that of the typewriter/computer.     

On the Move

正Moving house is traumatic at the best of times.I recently decided to look for a new apartment on the eastern side of Beijing and seek greener pastures compared with my present abode in the back of beyond.Previously,colleagues had always helped me to hunt down that elusive place to hang my hat.With little time at my disposal to physically hunt down apartments on my own,I searched for that most persuasive of