Hainan, Home of Longevity

ON the ninth day of the ninth lunar month,2000 - the Double Ninth Festival - LiDongsheng, vice-governor of HainanProvince, went to visit a 108-year-oldman living in Qionghai City. The governor handedhim a red envelope containing 200 yuan in cash,expressing the hope that he may live on to the age of200. The man answered promptly, "Thank you gover-nor, but my son tells me I will live to be 300." Hiswords aroused a burst of laughter.This story has spread far and wide on HainanIsland, which …     

HELP THE AGED

<正>Doctors from the Inner Mongolia People’s Hospital see local elderly patients for free in Hohhot,capital of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,on October 21,which marked the Chongyang Festival.The festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year.     

Love Between East and West

Despite many Chinese people being very pragmatic when it comes to matters of the heart, Chinese culture also caters to us diehard romantics with the Butterfly Lovers, Madame White Snake, and, of course, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, just to name a few. The Qixi Festival, also known as the Double Seventh Festival, is so named be-cause it falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. This year, it falls on August 17. The festival is rooted in one of the most romantic myths: Niulang, the Cowherd, and Zhinü, the Weaver Girl from the heavens. These two lovers were separated by a giant river in the sky because love between a mor-tal and a goddess was not allowed.     

THIS WEEK

ROMANTIC DAY A couple weds in the Tang Dynasty (618-907)-style ceremony in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, on August 13. The day marks Qixi Festival, a festival that celebrates the annual meeting of a separated young couple, the cowherd and weaver girl, in Chinese mythology. The festival later became known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. A total of 77 pairs of lovers from across the country came to the city to get married collectively on that day.     

WORLD

正AFGHANISTAN Soldiers attend an event in Herat to mark the National Day of Armed Forces on February 27FIJI A fashion show in Suva in celebration of the Chinese Lantern Festival,which falls on the 1 5th day of the first month of the lunar calendar,on February 26BELGIUM Euro pean Council President Charles Michel (left) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attend the second day of a virtual EU summit in Brussels on February 26.EU leaders reaffirmed their commitment to increase the bloc's capacity to act autonomously and take more responsibility for its security     

SOCIETY

<正>Sweet Festival Local residents and tourists visit a melon garden in Hami,Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,on the first day of the 12th Hami Melon Festival on July 20.More than 150 breeds of Hami melons were displayed at the three-day event for visitors to taste for free.     

Spring Cleaning

Authorities and public make joint effort to clear the air of smog Creeping smog put a damper on Lantern Festival celebrations on February 24,made worse by thick fog shrouding most parts of north and east China that lowered visibility to under 1,000 meters.Traditionally,the Lantern Festival,celebrated on the 15th day of the first month in the Chinese calendar     

Lit With Tradition

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15 th day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar—or February 15 this year.Marking the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations,the day fades into the first full moon of the year.People started celebrating Lantern Festival more than 2,000 years ago.The date marked a romantic occasion in ancient times,offering an opportunity for unmarried men and women to venture outside their households and meet their potential future spouse.     

SOCIETY

<正>Busy Farming Farmers apply fertilizer to a Lotus field in Deqing County,Zhejiang Province,on June 6.That day marked the arrival or Mangzhong,the ninth or 24 solar terms on the lunar calendar.It signifies the ripening of crops,a busy period for farmers.     

FOOD FOR LUCK

<正>Locals are given free porridge to mark the Laba Festival on January 27 in Qiankou Township,Huangshan in east China’s Anhui Province.The festival falls on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month every year and dates back to over 1,000 years ago.In ancient times,the Chinese would cook porridge on this day as a tribute to the God of Agriculture.The festival is also intended to celebrate the harvest and pray for blessings in the upcoming year.     

Racing the Dragons in Yueyang

THE fifth day of the fifth moon on the Chinese lunar calendar is the Duanwu Festival of the Han people. It’s known as the Dragon Boat Festival in English, because     

THIS WEEK

<正>JOYOUS CELEBRATION Children from the Zhuang ethnic group in Donglan County,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,and their parents celebrate Sanyuesan Festival,which fell on March 30 this year.Also known as the Zhuang Song Festival,it is the most important celebratory event for the ethnic group,when they hold a variety of folk activities,including singing,on the third day of the third month in the     

SOCIETY

<正>Lantern Festival Children in Hangzhou,Zhejiang Province,make sticky rice dumplings,or yuanxiao in Chinese,and shape them in various animals on March 4.The festival which fell on March 5 this year,is celebrated on the 15th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year and marks the end of the Spring Festival.     

SOCIETY

正Traditional Celebration Parents and children guess riddles during the Lantern Festival at a kindergarten in Jinhu County,east China’s Jiangsu Province,on March 2.The Lantern Festival,the 15th day of the fi rst lunar month,fell on March 2 this year.AI in Hospitals An AI-general practitioner system developed by a Chinese tech fi rm has started its"internship"at a community hospital in east China’s Anhui Province.The"AI doctor’s assistant"can     

The Garden of Festival of Pure Brightness on the River-The ancient Disneyland in China

The annual chrysanthemum festival was held as scheduled in Kaifeng on October 28th, 1998. There was all in bloom and was full of tourists in this city that day.It was also the time to open the Garden of Festival of Pure Brightness on the River. Huge crowd of tourists seemed to be driven by a sort of great charm and moved into this fascinating place. All of them wanted to get the wonderful feeling that once they enter into this garden place, the place will take them back thousands of years in time.     

A Day of Remembrance Ritual for ancestors becomes national mourning for lives lost to the novel coronavirus outbreak

Zhang Yupeng was standing on his balcony in Nanjing,Jiangsu Province in east China,waiting for the clock to strike 10 on April 4.It was the day of Qingming Festival,the traditional time to remember one's ancestors and other departed souls and pay respects to them.Sharp at10 a.m.,air raid sirens started wailing while the traffic on the road below him came to a standstill,with the drivers sounding their horns.     

Folk Customs

It used to be Miao custom to celebrate New Year on a date of their own calculation, traditionally the day after the winter solstice. But with changing times, in many regions this celebration has been rescheduled to coincide with the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival.     

SOCIETY

正Dragon Boat Festival People participate in a dragon boat race to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in Zigui, a county in Hubei Province, on June 14. China celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival in commemoration of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet from the Warring States Period(475-221 B.C.) believed to have been born in Zigui.     

Zongzi

The fifth day of the fifth month on the lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival, which commemorates the pa- triotic poet Qu Yuan （circa 339-278 BC）. It is a Chinese tradition to make and eat Zongzi on this day.     

Holiday Overhaul

Reform has brought hope,but also concern,to workers across ChinaThe National Development and Reform Commission published a plan to change China's golden week holiday system on November 9.The change sees the end of the three-day May Day holiday and the creation of three single-day holidays that fall on traditional Chinese festivals—the Tomb-Sweeping Day,the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid- Autumn Festival.One day off work remains on May Day. The change increases the number of non-working daYs per year from 114 to 115. In addition,according to a newly issued paid vacation plan,workers who remain in the same company for more than one year should enjoy a paid vacation,the length of