First World Traditional Wushu Festival in Henan

THE First World Tradi-tional Wushu Festival was held in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, from October 21 to 31, 2004. More than 2,000 contestants from 60 countries participated, including 100 contestants from the USA and 300 from Japan, along with 200 Japanese spectators.     

Classical Music Struggles to Be Heard

Other than at Christmas and New Year, large-scale commercial performances by China's dozen-plus orchestras are rare.     

Changes That Begin at the Grassroots

THE Chinese economy has sustained rapid growth for two successive decades. The result? China now ranks fourth in terms of foreign trade volume, and the country is the sixth-largest economic powerhouse in the world. However, as reform of China's political system plays catch-up with economic reform, some     

Traditional-style Dress Comes Back into Vogue

LIN Hong, a bank clerk, still has her grandmother's qipao--a snugly-fitting traditional Chinese gown with a high collar and a split skirt. She normally keeps it at the back of her wardrobe, where it stays until summer comes around, when she gives it an an…     

Senior Remarriage：Perplexities and pitfall

The right to freedom of mar-riage has always been promot-ed and protected in China, and since the 1980s the increasing numbers of seniors have made their second marriage an issue of social concern.     

Bringing the China National Museum of Fine Arts up to Speed

BEIJING is becoming ever more international, an image its national gallery must reflect by having a world-class art institution - a Chinese Louvre or Metropolis. After a one-year closure for renovations, and on the 40th anniversary of its founding, the China National Museum of Fine Arts is open and ready for business.     

Ancient Town on theLoess Plateau

QIKOU is a small town about 6 hours' bus ride from Tai-yuan, capital of Shanxi Province. From the 17th cen-tury to the 1940s, it was the wealthiest town on the Yellow River. Qikou harbor is halfway along the Yellow River. and oil giant Mobil once had its China branch office there. Former Chinese financial tycoon Kung Hsiang-hsi also had a business in Qikou. It began to     

Descendants of a Long Line of Peking Opera Masters

TRADITIONALLY, Peking Opera performance techniques are passed on through succeeding generations of the families of its master exponents, ensuring that excellent performance techniques carry on. It was in the 1790s that this quintessence of Chinese culture emerged in Beijing to be enjoyed on all social levels, from the imperial courtiers to rickshaw drivers, to farmers. Several hundred troupes and countless theaters were established throughout the country, and at its peak, Peking Opera comprised 15 major schools named after its most famous exponents. They included the Tan (Tan Fuying), Mei (Mei Lanfang), Ma (Ma Lianliang), Xun (Xun Huisheng), and Qiu (Qiu Shengrong) schools.     

The Lianyungang Museum

THE LianyungangMuseum, in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, used to be an undiscovered treasure trove of cultural relics. Since the discovery of a mysterious female corpse, preserved for 2,000 years in the moist sands of eastern China, this has changed.     

Anecdotes of the Forbidden City

Everyone who passes through Beijing‘s Forbidden City leaves the grounds with two words on their lips: magnificent and awe-inspiring. The seat of imperial power during the Ming and Qing dynasties （1368 - 1911), some twenty-four emperors ruled the nation from within these walls. Now more commonly known as the Palace Museum, the Forbidden City lies at the center of the Chinese capital. Extending 750 meters from east to west and 960 meters from north to south, the 720,000-square-meter city is the largest palatial complex in the world. Guarding the city is a 52-meter-wide, six-meter-deep moat, and a huge wall, which runs three kilometers around the city and stands 10 meters high. Construction lasted 15 years, involving 100,000 artisans and some one million civilians. If the bricks that make up the Forbidden City could speak, they would have many an interesting story to tell. Here are just a few anecdotes.