Beijing''''s Winter Wonderland

Honestly, aren't you sometimes getting just a little fed up with the noise and the grime of the city? So why not do something about your frus- trations and head out to the Fragrant Hills? The place is well-knownfor its breath-taking views in autumn, when the leaves of the sumac treeschange from a dusty green to brilliant gold and red, and the capital's citizensarrive in their thousands. In summer, walking in the shade of those trees is awelcome respite from the heat of the cit…     

A NIGHT ON THE TOWN

Traveling to Beijing for the fi rst time? Don't get caught in, out, or up by cultural shocks. Know how things should - and shouldn't - be done to ensure your trip is a memorable one for all the right reasons. A PART from the international student center of Beijing Language and Culture University, there’s hardly a more cosmopolitan place in this city than the bar street (jiubajie) of Sanlitun. There you’ll f ind revelers from every country imagin- able, along with plenty of local punters,…     

Green Beijing

Beijingers are attaching more and more importance to the environment of their city. From assorted garbage to daily environment forecasts, and from restricting the emission of auto exhaust to the planting of trees and grass; all this has shown the longing Beijing residents have for a green environment. One of the major topics in the bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games is that of a "Green Olympics." The bid provides added incentive in the common aim to create a green city. This is our origi…     

A Pearl Embedded in the New Silk Road——An Exclusive Interview with Mayor of Kaifeng Ji Bing

正KAIFENG,located in the heart of China,was the world’s biggest and busiest city during the 11th and 12th centuries.As the intersection of the land and maritime Silk Roads,it was a place from where goods were dispatched and traders from the East and West met.Today,it is a major city in the central China economic region due to its integrated development with Zhengzhou,capital of Henan Province.     

The Happy Retired Life

正An oil-rich city builds comfortable senior centers Karamay, located near the Junggar Basin and founded in 1958, is famous for abundant oil fields and a developed refinery industry. Despite the hostile desert environment, people in Karamay do their best to make their city a better place to live and work.     

Wuzhen:An original ‘old town’

It is said that Wuzhen is a good place for one-day visit, and no more. I stayed over and regretted the decision. Getting there is easy, with regular buses from Shanghai. Although there are quite a number of places to see, the actual scenic area is quite small. A larger tourist facility to the west is still under development. The town's river is actually a canal, and the water is being pumped in and out twice a week.Located in Tongxiang City, in the north of Zhejiang Province, Wuzhen     

Foreign Friends Advise Their Second Hometown

There are more than 400 for- eigners working and living in the city of Nantong, Jiangsu Province and the number is still growing. At a time when the lo- cal citizens are warmly discuss- ing possibilities of the future de- velopment of the city, why should we neglect ideas of this group of Nantongers? Thus, from the end of March 2005, the Nantong Foreign Affairs Office has sent out questionnaires, held meetings, etc., seeking “golden ideas” of foreign residents in Nantong. According to th…     

Golmud,the Kunlun Mountains and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway

QINGHAI Province, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is to many people a remote and mysterious place. This reporter recently traveled with the 2002 Qinghai in Focus Photographers Group on their trip from the Qinghai hinterland on the northern part of the plateau to Golmud, the Kunlun Mountains, and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway construction site.Golmud, Born with the HighwayIt took us 2 hours and 10 minutes to fly the 1,150 kilometer distance from Beijing to Xining, capital city of Qinghai Province. From there we boarded a train that went directly west to Golmud.     

Pingyao-World Cultural Heritage

Watching the locals do business in the same houses as their ancestor did centuries ago is akin to stepping into a time machine.p INGYAO is located in Shanxi province, to the west of its capital Tai- yuan. All of the city walls, streets, buildings and shops are well preserved from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Today, the town looks much the same as it did when it was the county seat in ancient times. china’s Past Revealed to Foreign Eyes pingyao particularly appeals to two kinds of people.…     

The Battle of Muye—The First Massive Battle in the History of China

Xinxiang is located at the southern foot of Taihang Mountain and at the northern foot of the Yellow River. It was here that took place a great event which changed the history of China. This was the Muye battle. After this decisive battle, Zhou Dynasty (11th century -221 B.C.) replaced Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century B.C.). The Chinese history entered a new horizon.In ancient times, the place of Muye referred to land "From the south of Chaoge (the capital of Shang Dynasty, lies in Qi county of Henan province) to Qing Shui (Wei River, which originated from Huixian of the city of Xinxiang, runs into the sea in Tianjin city.)"(By Li Daoyuan who was a geographer of Beiwei Dynasty) It means that the broad area included from northern shore of Weihe river to Weihui County.     

Ancient City of the Minyue Kingdom

THE Minyue Kingdom city is35 kilometers north of theWuyi Mountains in FujianProvince, and has a history ofmore than 2,300 years. Constructedon the summits of a few foothills,the city faces the magnificent WuyiMountains to the west, and hills andmounds to its north and south. Agurgling crystalline stream originating in the Wuyi Mountains flowsfrom the west to the city and thengoes past it from north to south. Itsvast stretches of alluvial plains inthe east and north give this ancientcity a…     

BAD BOYS, BAD BOYS, WHATCHA GONNA DO?

Wang Lijun is coming for you. IN Western media, Chinese police officers generally get bad press. Tales of torture, intimidation and miscarriages of justice frequently appear in news bulletins and RSS feeds. But if the chief of police in Jinzhou, a city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, has his way, all that is about to change. Wang Lijun is using his considerable experience and knowledge in the field to train his charges in a whole new way. He hopes the results can serve as a model for the entire country. The police have perhaps never before been under as intense scrutiny as they are in this age of information and camera-equipped mobile phones. These days the public pays much more attention to their actions. So eliminating corruption from the force - a difficult job in any country - seemed to Wang Lijun a good place to start, and he says he's personally overseeing that task. He's revamped the complaints department - notorious wastes of space in China - and personally interviews local citizens that have complaints against the cops. He says he has done this 700 times in the three and a half years since the new system was put in place, and 95 percent of the complaints were satisfactorily resolved.     

Frontier Fraternity

Border city in south designated pilot zone to enhance collaboration with ASEAN Located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China and bordering Viet Nam,the city of Baise has a special place in Chinese history.It was here that late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping mobilized the Zhuangs,the ethnic minority after whom the region is named,to stage an uprising against the Kuomintang authority in 1929 and built the Youjiang revolutionary base,a bastion of the Communist Party of China.     

Springtime Rejuvenation

It's springtime in Beijing.Willows are sprout- ing new life,jasmine trees lining city streets are a splash of yellow flowers and the harsh winter has given way to a gentle breeze.Stuck indoors for a bitterly cold winter,urbanites are eager to get outdoors into nature,and feel the sun again. Compared with the choking chaos in the heart of the city,suburban Beijing has cleaner air and more natu- ral scenery.In recem years,Beijingers have enjoyed driving out to the suburbs during the weekends with family members or friends,camping,climbing,fish-     

开放：见证平遥古城的世界影响

Small as it is, Pingyao is more often than not mentioned by people with blue eyes, blond hairs and strong noses as Pingyao has become the haunt of foreigners. “Going out” and “Coming in” are the two “wings” of reform and opening, with either of which missing, it is impossible to fly. Now the people of Pingyao, a people of a magnanimous character and open mind, have flung open the city gate, welcoming photographers from all corners of the world and receiving their cultural achievement. At the same time these visiting photographers or exhibitors will bring their work out to the world and subsequently bring Pingyao and its fame to the outside world.     

Like It or Lump Migrant Workers in Beijing

LURED by better living and working conditions, huge numbers of Chinese farmers leave their rural homes for the city. Their education having generally ended at junior middle school, they have little choice but to take up poorly paid manual labor. This they do uncomplainingly as it is preferable to eking out a living in the countryside.     

Shanghai Eases into Maturity

If Beijing is the debutante in hasty preparation for her coming out party in 2008, then her younger, raucous sister is leaving behind a rebellious youth to take on a welcome air of maturity. As prospects look good with the announcement from Monaco of the winning bid to host Expo 2010, the city is sitting on the cusp of rightful global presence.     

The green leaves of Nanjing

August 1989Hot town, summer in the city, with temperatures in the high 30s. Amazingly enough, the heat is bearable because there is plenty of shade. Nanjing is famous for the plane trees that line its streets and avenues. It's a good thing for people like me who have little vegetation on their heads: we don't have to worry about getting sunburnt on top.1989 being a year when nothing much is being done by way of business, I have plenty of time to travel around different parts of China. Nanjing most certainly is one of the nicer destinations among the places I am visiting. One of the most beautiful features of the city is the Zijin Shan (Purple Mountain) right in the middle of it. Few places I have been to can boast of such an attraction. Miles and miles of woodland to climb, and then     

Shanghai Days： A City of Contrasts

AS a world-famous-metropolis, Shanghai has everything - the air is thick with nostalgia and at the .same time bubbling with new trends; sobering civilization and the sprightly avant-garde all have a say here. Everyone will find a face they like in Shanghai, a city instrumental in establishing the very meaning of ＂modem city.＂ What better place to explore the theme of the 2010 Expo, Better City Better Life.     

Watching What You Eat

Ensuring food for the Olympics is healthy and drug-free is a big part of city planning Doping control measures to ensure up to 30 kinds of food are tested at the 2008 Olympics should be in place by the end of 2006. This is according to the recently held Working Conference on Food Security of Beijing. Moreover, the municipality will monitor food suppliers and producers for the Games in terms of production environ-