China Marches Towards 21st Century (Part 2)

I would now talk about the cities I visited, this time, in China. A keen insight to the hustle-bustle of these cities revealed old and the new,with changes being put in effect to build ahealthy future of tomorrow. All activities fo-cused towards a goal of prosperity and well beingof the people. I start with Beijing. Someone has rightly said that Beijing is a     

Strutting Her Stuff

Hip-hop granny rolls back the years to prove that with passion,anything is possible Who says hip hop belongs to the teenagers? In China,more and more seniors are choosing this trendy dance style as a way to keep fit,rather than the more serene move- ments of taiji or ballroom dancing in the parks. Wu Ying is one of them.The 71-year- old Wu is the founder of a granny hip-hop dance team in Beijing,whose participants are in their 60s.Wu is the oldest in the team.In their loose modern outfits and hair wrapped in bandanas,these old ladies are     

The Origin of a City

正Testament to 3,000 years of Beijing triggers further exploration of the city's civilization Beijing has long been hailed as one of the oldest cities in the world—up to 3,000 years old. Controversies have lingered regarding the origins of this capital city. However, once people see the archaeological evidence in Liulihe with their own eyes, they will never have another doubt about this long history.     

Artistic Impressions of Hutong Charm

KUANG Han came to Beijing in 1989, and immediately fell in love with its hutong. He spent his spare time wandering about and sketching Beijing's boulevards and alley- ways until he had amassed a 3,000-pic- ture portfolio. It helped him to draw accurately the gates and houses of old Beijing, as well as the street life that was and still is the cultural heart of this 3,000-year-old city. Kuang's works portray ordinary life and its everyday kindnesses and are imbued with a strong sense of his-…     

People An Historic Hutong Map

RENOVATIONS to Beijing in the 1980s demolished its old city walls and many of its hutong (lanes). To native Beijinger Shu Liao, this was an emotional time as he feared nothing would remain of his beloved old city of Beijing. He felt compelled to stroll around the city hutong and imprint on his memory     

HOTEL INFORMATION

The Legendale Hotel Beijing The Legendale Hotel Beijing has of-ficially opened its doors.Set to become an instant sensation, the platinum five-star hotel is the epitome of European elegance and luxury.Occupying a prime position in the heartof town, the 390-room hotel is ideally locat-ed to make the most of both old and new     

“The Insider's Guide to Beijing rates as one of the best,new,imaginative and informative guidebooks in a long time”—South China Morning Post

Immersion Guides,Beijing's leading English-language publisher of guidebooks for Beijing and beyond,is proud to present the 2008 edition of the Insider's Guide to Beijing (November 2007,ISBN: 978-7-5085-1172-6,90 yuan).This is not the run-of-the-mill guide- book written by travelers who spend a few harried days getting to know their destination.Combining the knowledge of 40 long-term residents, this is the guidebook that knows Beijing inside and out.Now in its fourth edition,this"Beijing Bible"(Beijing Today) is the most compre- hensive resource available for both travelers and residents. Fully updated annually to keep pace with the rate of change in Beijing,the Insider's Guide provides readers with practical informa-     

RIDING IN STYLE

Beijing is upgrading its bus fleet to make commuting more comfortable and environmentally friendly As part of the Beijing Municipal Government's efforts to promote public transportation, the city is upgrading its fleet of buses to provide the latest in comfort and to meet more stringent pollution emission standards. People may remember a line from the American sitcom Friends describing Beijing buses in 1996 as "easily 200 years old...200 at least." If the cast of the television show paid a visit to China now, however, they would be surprised by the efforts the city has made in the past 10 years. Buses remain one of the major daily transportation modes in Chinese cities, thanks to their low ticket price. People's Daily report-     

One Man＇s Junk Viewing garbage as a misplaced resource and a business opportunity

Anarrow path skirts the green belt along the Jingmi Canal and ends in a big courtyard one kilometer from the Summer Palace, a famous tourist attraction in Beijing. It seems to be a different world from what we find in other parts of the urban district. This courtyard is a junkyard. Various types of scrap are piled in rows scores of meters long： old fumiture, old garments, old electric appliances, scrap paper, scrap metals,     

Beijing International Sculpture Park

Inauguration of the 2002 Beijing International Urban Sculptural Art Exhibition also saw the opening of the Beijing International Sculpture Park on Yuquan Road, Beijing. The park houses 140 statues.This exhibition is aimed at promoting exchanges and cooperation among sculptors across the world, integrating urban sculpture into everyday life, and encouraging innovation in this sector. It is expected to bring inspiration to Beijing as regards new concepts in urban construction, through exchanges with other nations. This exhibition constitutes interaction between the public and art, and dialogue between China and the world.The works on display are Beijing's latest attraction, and add a touch of modernity to this ancient city. Some are to be placed in sports stadiums during the 2008 Olympics.     

An Incredible Journey

Knowledge gained from tracking a migratory bird boosts its protection During the Beijing summer,people used to see and hear flocks of Beijing swifts circling around the city’s historical places such as the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.The Beijing swift is a typical cavity-nesting bird that often nests inside the holes and crevices in old constructions.     

Victims of Fortune

Beijing’s old alleys and residences are preserved on film before they make way for new real estate projects Dubbed the "best place to see before it’s gone" by Time magazine in 2010,the old alleys,or hutongs,and quadrangle courtyards around the Bell and Drum towers of north Beijing will officially undergo a facelift,beginning the end of February this year.     

Transitioning Toward Innovation

正Beijing’s Silicon Valley is encouraging startups to push the boundaries Located in northwest Beijing,Zhongguancun is often referred to as China’s very own Silicon Valley. However,the current reputation of this neighborhood as a hub of advanced Chinese technology contrasts sharply with its traditional image.Only a few years ago,this     

Greater Beijing in Tongzhou

At just 12 kilometers from the East Third Ring Road.Tongzhou is one of Beijing‘s closest suburban districts.On an inspection tour in late 2002.top Beijing Municipality leader Liu Qi defined Tongzhou as“…neither an outer suburb,nor a satellite city.but a new urban district.”Work is currently underway to make it just that .Following implementation of the Greater Beijing Strategy.the capital is to expand into its periphery and so relieve the high density in its downtown area.One way of achieving this is to extend the 50-kilometer Chang an Avenue from Shijingshan District to Tongzhou Distric.     

The Sound ofHope

正New opportunities arise for children with hearing impairmentsZhao Xie plans to take her daughter back to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from Beijing during the summer vacation this year.The child,having stayed in Beijing for almost two years,is now3 years and 7 months old—but despite having a hearing impairment,she is almost     

Traditional Beijing Snack and Seafood Buffet Dinner

<正>Traditional Beijing Snack,which derives from the hutong,is not only a representative of delicious food,but also a symbol of the capital’s splendid culture.Beijing Marriott Hotel City Wall will launch Traditional Beijing-Style Seafood Buffet Dinner around the Chinese Lunar New year,to offer you a taste of the old Beijing.Guanchang(pan-fried starch sausage with garlic)is a Beijing-style snack usually seen in streets.It has a color of pink and golden mixed     

A Crucial Year

China is counting down to the epoch deadline for the campaign to eliminate absolute poverty by 2020.In a recent meeting held in Beijing,the significance of this campaign was further emphasized and more work was outlined for this critical year.Hu Chunhua,member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the State Council Leading Group on Poverty Alleviation and Development,said at the meeting of the leading group held in Beijing that the poverty alleviation campaign has entered a crucial stage.     

Society

Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Rachet up Anti-pollution Efforts
Ministry of Environmental Protection monitoring of 74 Chinese cities during the first half of the year shows that air in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province is the most polluted in the country. During the first six months of 2013, 26.2 percent of the total number of days was graded ＂heavily polluted.＂ To address the problem, governments of the three regions have introduced fresh measures. Beijing plans to reduce consumption of tow- grade coal in rural areas this winter by 800,000 tons- one fifth of that normally used. Purchases of high-quality coal will be subsidized by RMB 200 per ton. Beijing will also build more infrastructures in rural communities to facilitate use of alternative energies, including, electricity, natural gas, solar power and biogas, to check pollutant emission at source. Tianjin has promulgated the Beautiful Tianjin Plan, whose goal is to reduce by 20 percent its annual PM2.5 figure by 2016. Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, recently launched a quota policy for automobile purchases and limits the number of cars hitting the road each day. The city plans to cap annual growth of the number of automobiles to below 100,000 in 2013 and 2014, and to lower this figure to 90,000 in 2015.     

Focus

More than 600 Poisonous TreesFound in HainanAccording to workers at the Hainan Provincial Forestry Bureau conducting a survey of Category-Ⅱ forest resources, more than 600 Antiaris toxicaria-poisonous trees-have been found growing in the northern part of the province. Their ages range from several decades to several centuries old. One tree, estimated at 500 years old, in Yunlong Town is 32 meters tall, and the diameter of its crown is in excess of 24 meters. Local inhabitants have been warned that this tree's sap is poisonous and can cause heart failure if it comes in contact with an open wound. It is, however, of value within medical research.     

Life of Old,Sick and Handicapped Prisoners in China

At the foot of the Great Wall northwest of Beijing, there is a special prison, called Yan-qing Prison. It is special, because it gathers all the imprisoned old, sick and handicapped offenders in the Beijing area for the purpose of facilitating management. A prison warden said that there are more than 1,100 inmates in the prison. Among them more than 900 are aged, sick and handicapped and more than 200 able-bodied inmate volunteers who undertake the tasks of taking care of them, cooking, cleaning and other odd-jobs that the other inmates are unable to do.