BURNING BRIGHT

正Beijing Winter Olympics preparations are well underway The Olympic flame was ignited on October 18, in Ancient Olympia, Greece, marking a milestone for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Present at the flame lighting ceremony was Yu Zaiqing, a special representative of Beijing 2022, who also witnessed years ago such a ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.     

Diplomatic Delivery

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan pose for a group photo with dignitaries from around the world who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, in Beijing on February 5.     

NOT ONE LESS

正A school that hopes to see fewer students With her short hair dyed bright purple,15-year old Du Fangmei is easy to spot in her class.She practiced giving a haircut to a mannequin head as she talked to Beijing Review in her classroom."My hair was dyed by the hairdressing teacher last month," she said in standard Chinese."I like it a lot."     

Living the City Dream

When she obtained her master's degree this year, Zhu Yanyan decided to leave Beijing after residing in the capital for six years and go back to her hometown in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to settle down. "Compared with Beijing or Shanghai, the cost of living in Chengdu is lower, making life less stressful—but no less convenient," Zhu explained.     

UNPERTURBED AND UPBEAT

Safeguarding world peace. Contributing to global development.Preserving international order. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, characterized China's international engagement with these catchphrases at a ceremony in Beijing on July 1 marking the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding. "The Party cares about the future of humanity, and wishes to move forward in tandem with all progressive forces around the world," Xi, also Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, said. While it does not bear aggressive traits, the Chinese nation will never allow any foreign force to "bully, oppress, or subjugate" it, Xi added.     

THE PEOPLEWHO BUILD XINJIANG

正Understanding their efforts and perseverance to transform the border region Eighty-one-year-old Shi Huifang could never forget her life-changing decision to venture out into Xinjiang, a remote and bare land to her in northwest China, some six decades ago. She wanted to escape poverty and create a better life for herself by putting in hard work in a new place.     

Wu Weishan:Telling Chinese Stories Through Sculpture

ON November 25,2020,the late French sculptor Jean Cardot's artwork Taureau lumière [Cattle in the Sun],donated by Académie des Beaux-Arts of France to the National Art Museum of China(NAMOC),was set up and unveiled in the Sculpture Park of the latter. At the ceremony,Wu Weishan,NAMOC curator,said,"Chinese art in the 20th century is characterized by the borrowing of Western elements.The art exchanges be-tween China and France have contributed a lot to this.Today,we are here,witnessing the unveiling of this French masterpiece.Our bilateral friendship conveyed by it will be written down in the history of Sino-French art exchanges? For years,Wu has been dedicated to expressing the spirit of Chinese culture through sculpture for cross-borderunderstanding and cooperation in arts.     

Decoding Beauty and Happiness

Liu Ruiyi is an accountant at an auditing firm in Dalian, a coastal city in Liaoning Province in northeast China. She once worked in Shanghai for one and a half years, and then decided to return to her hometown of Dalian because she could save on rent and be with her family. "Although our income is not as high as that of people in more developed cities, I feel happy living here because of the beautiful ocean scenery, pleasant climate and easy pace of life," Liu told Beijing Review.     

On the Road to a Well-off Life

AT the award ceremony of"Touching China's 2020 Person of the Year" held on February 17,2021,a man with a slightly stooped back but a resolute expres-sion on his face stood on the podium.Mao Xianglin was one of the 10 candi-dates being awarded.Eight days later,Mao was honored as a model poverty fighter at a grand gathering held in Beijing to mark the country's victory in the battle against poverty.Receiv-ing such honors made him recall the journey which led him here:building a road on a cliff,being among a group of villagers who lifted themselves out of poverty,and playing a part in the revitalization of their village after de-veloping agritourism.     

The Second Child Issue

Five years after the two-child policy went into effect,debate on whether to have more children continues Yang Wanfang,a 31-year-old professional in Changchun,Jilin Province in northeast China,is determined not to have a second child."It's both tiring and costly,"she told Beijing Review.     

Living the Dream

An American aspires to build a cultural bridge across the Pacific through art James Holt realized both his own and his grandmother’s long-cherished visions the day he got his visa stamp to come to China seven years ago. Holt’s grandma, Kay Engel, was a medic who wanted to go to China to help injured soldiers and civilians during World War Ⅱ.     

WITH OPEN ARMS

People-to-people exchanges during Beijing 2022 illuminate the Olympic spirit‘to China!"Back in her hotel room after attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,18-year-old American snowboarder Tessa Maud couldn't stop watching a particular video she'd taken during the event.     

Tibetan Medicine Goes Beyond the Plateau

MS.Huang,a Chongqing local,felt an unexpected chill one summer morning."I [instinctively] knew I was going to catch a cold,"she said.Her response was to make an appointment at a health spa called Treasure without Borders for a Tibetan medicinal bath.Huang and her 16-year-old daughter are both regulars at the spa.She believes that many ailments can be eased through the healing properties of a medicinal bath.     

Quenching the Thirst

正Water transfer project helps balance resources and conserve ecology Song Zihan, a mother of two living in Beijing's Fengtai District, remembers that years ago she had to clean the kettle on a regular basis because of the thick incrustation hiding inside, formed from boiling water in it.     

Poetry and Profits

正Chinese property developers see opportunities in cultural tourism For a long time,Xiao Mo,a Beijing-based travel blogger,had been thinking of visiting the Lonely Library,a neobrutalist structure on the beach at Aranya Resort in Qinhuangdao,Hebei Province. Last winter,Xiao traveled to the building for the first time to witness first-hand the impressive sunrise views from the site she had seen in videos online. "Many other tourists were there despite the cold weather," she told Beijing Review.     

信仰·仪式·神话——“产翁”与“射日”习俗解析

"产翁"即男子"坐月子",是唐至清代广泛流行于中国南方壮侗语族先民中的一类特殊习俗。与"射日"有关的神话在中国也曾广泛流行,西南地区苗瑶族群中至今流传,甚至遗有表演这一神话的"射日舞"。分析发现,二者均是古之某种仪式的遗存。其中,"产翁"之俗是人们相信男子"坐月子"可保母子平安信仰下的一种仪式,它的出现或与南方湿热气候下初生儿的存活率有关。而"射日神话",本是对"射日"仪式的解释,"射日"是人们在旱灾中登高以箭射日的一种仪式,基于人们相信如此可驱退酷热的信仰,其或与发生在距今4000年前后的气候异常有关。     

DIVERSITY,THE XINJIANG DNA

正Through her lens, photographer Hailun Ma allows people to ogle at the beauty of XinjiangBefore she graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, one of the leading art institutions in the U.S., Xinjiangborn photographer Hailun Ma gained a new awareness of her hometown in northwest China. "So-called ‘high fashion' is far removed from my own life. I want to rebuild my connection with fashion photography," Ma said.     

When Politics Trumps Facts

正The world gets tired of the U.S. ‘Wuhan lab leak' claim ‘They(the U.S.) have been saying that for almost a year. If there is real evidence, then it's the responsibility of the U.S. to share it," Marion Koopmans, a top virologist, told the BBC on May 27, when asked about her opinion on a recent U.S. report claiming it was "plausible" that the coronavirus had been leaked from a Wuhan lab.     

PEOPLE OF THE GRASSLAND

正Four seasons in the Nalati Grassland Kazak herder Zhalyn Rakhymzhan returned to his home in the Nalati Grassland even though this meant giving up admission to a university in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, about 10 years ago. "Life is too fast in Urumqi," Zhalyn Rakhymzhan told Beijing Review, "I'm glad that I came back! We live a very simple life here."     

Love for Love

A Shanghai doctor gives back to herdsmen by serving them in Tibet The drain in Zhou Jian’s bathroom is clogged with hair again. The 48-year-old has a buzz cut and lives alone, but he said the drain blocks twice a month."It never happened when I was in Shanghai. I’m losing my hair much faster on the plateau," Zhou, Vice President of the Xigaze People’s Hospital in Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China, told Beijing Review.