What＇s in a Name？

I often think that Chinese women are wiser than we in the West, as they generally don‘t adopt their husbands‘ names upon marrying. There could be something in the Chinese belief that the name given at birth determines the fate of its bearer.     

What's in A Name?

If foreigners in Beijing are planning to taste the famous Peking roast duck, they may be advised to go to Quart jude, a household food brand name that has more than 100 years history.If however they want to recommend the restaurant to friends,chances of remembering a Chinese name are slim.Chinese restaurants seldom have foreign names,often the only conces- sion being a pinyin form of their Chinese names,which are still difficult for foreigners to pronounce and remember.     

International Students Lap China up

THESE days students from Europe, the USA, Korea and Japan are a common sight in all major cities of China. Like Chinese students, they read under trees and chat in the corridors. In their free time they go to local agricultural produce markets, or chat on-line at a nearby Internet cafe. Residents in the vicinity of the Huazhong Normal University say that they have made friends with many of the overseas students that have come to Wuhan in the past two decades.     

“The Little UN”Where the Official Language Is Chinese

Celebrated as the "Little UN," in 40 years the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) has trained some 60,000 international students from 167 countries. As the only international university in China teaching Chinese language and culture to foreign students, it has more foreign students than Chinese. Korean students have formed a Korean community in a district near the university, where they rent apartments and stage their own activities. There is a special Ten-thousand-country Wall inside the campus, on which are engraved the names of foreign students' countries. Even though the university is flooded with different peoples, languages and cultures, all speak Chinese as well as the natives. In the Little UN, Chinese is the official language.     

Give and Take

When American farmers take delight in their recent bumper harvests of soybean and cotton, they perhaps do so without the knowledge that on the other side of the Pacific, Chinesefarmers are suffering. They suffer because much of these excessivecrops are finding their way into the Chinese market, driving downdomestic produce prices, reducing Chinese farmers’ income andcreating an imbalance in China’s agricultural sector. While the U.S. Government complains that their manufacturingindustry i…     

Foreign Brand Credibility Crisis

CHINESE consumers have long been convinced that foreign brand names are synonymous with better quality and service. And as the country enters the later stage of its post-WTO transitional period, a tidal wave of imports hovers on the horizon. A spate of incidents in recent years, however, has besmirched their overseas sheen, and shaken Chinese consumers' faith in foreign goods.     

The Joy of Eating and Its Social Ramifications

When Chinese people meet, rather than remark on the weather they generally ask, “Have you eaten？” It is a question less frequently asked of neighbors and colleagues than the more global, “How are you？” Yet “Have you eaten ？” is still the first greeting that the majority of Chinese people utter when they meet someone they know. Implicit in it is the Chinese appreciation of food and gratitude for its abundance.     

Treasures Abroad

Nowadays,more and more Chinese people are able to afford travel overseas.During their journeys,museums are a must-see,where they not only appreciate foreign art,but also find numerous Chinese cultural relics that they have never seen in China.What has astonished them very often is that so many Chinese cultural relics are well collected in these foreign museums.     

On the lin

I 've lost count of the number of Rock Music magazine CDs scat- tered around my desk. They all bear the same distinctive moni- ker and a list of names bizarre and legendary. Most are still in the plas- tic wrapping they came in, made brittle by the drying glue that fastened them to the covers of magazines they came with. Every week, usually on a Thurs- day morning, the local newspaper cabin near my Beijing office is visited by a de- liveryman pedaling a heavily loaded tri- cycle cart. His h…     

LETTERS

Interested in us of the Chinese YouthI would like to know more about the real life of the Chinese youth such as What books they are interested in reading, what kind of campus life they have,how they participate in activities of new and hightechnological development, and Whether the universities with high reputation in China are owned by thestate or privately owned.I hope your magazine has more articles onChinese history, the celebrities who played an important role in Chinese revolution, ma…     

LETTERS

Irecently read the article in the June issue of China Today that reported on the problems of educating prima- ry and middle school students in the PR of China. As a German teacher that has been teaching in a Chinese school for two years, I can relate to these problems that apply also to uni- versity students. They are all diligent, disciplined and willing to learn. There may occasionally be students sleep- ing during breaks and in class, and they are exceptions. But why does it happen? In …     

Vaseline on the Lens

正When my Chinese fiance and I decided to get married, there was no question about it: We would get our wedding portraits taken at one of the Chinese wedding studios that came with quaint names like "Paris," "Rome," "Golden Ladies," or "Mona Lisa. " "Are you going for the typical Chinese look? Vaseline on the lens, the works?" a British friend asked, in, shall we say, "amused" fashion.It was a Chinese tradition I would come to love; in the West, wedding photos are usually taken only during the ceremony and reception.     

Chinese Medics in Africa

IT was April 1964 when the f irst Africa-bound Chinese medical team touched down in Algeria, at the invitation of its govern- ment. Since then, Chinese med- ics have landed in 48 African countries. By the end of 2005, the total number of Chinese medical personnel that had vis- ited Africa had amounted to 15,841. Be- tween them, they had treated some 170 million African patients. Today, there are 98 Chinese medical clinics in 35 Af- rican nations. During the past four decades, Chi- nese m…     

Yan Ping: Deal with the Eternal

正"A lot of Chinese painters today work in a realist style because they believe it is more objective in dealing with current events and that seems to be popular.I work in an expressionist style and thematically,I deal with that which is eternal."THERE are far fewer contemporary Chinese female artists than male artists,especially painters.That is a simple fact substantiated for the most part in the marketplace but also,statistically,by the number of female artists whose work is exhibited in museums.Yan Ping is an exception.She     

Tradition Goes Modern

The Chinese used to say they have two pairs of scissors: Wangmazi in the north and Zhang Xiao Quan in the south. These are two time-honored scissor brands that can trace their history back to the 17th century. Both are named after their founders. Wangmazi grew from a small shop near an ancient execution ground in Beijing owned by a man sumamed Wang. Since he had a pockmarked face, mazi in Chinese, people called him Wang Mazi. Wang didn’t make the scissors himself but had them manufactured at local workshops, giving them strict standards to ensure their quality.     

Two Bon Vivants and Their Sweet Life in China

JEAN-HUGUES Depigny and his wife are from France. They have lived in China for 10 years and are known by the Chinese names Yang Peiyi and Yang An. Their home is resplendent in Chinese furnishings and ornaments. Jean-Hugues Depigny is vice president of Airbus China customer services in Beijing. Airbus and China have been in cooperation since 1985, when China Eastern Airlines, formerly the CAAC East Regional Administration, became its first client in China. Since then, Airbus and the China aviation manu-     

Home,not Asylum

Respecting the old and cherishing the young is one of the Chinese traditional virtues, and China has worked hard to build a large number of homes for the elderly. In some areas, however, the old people are reluctant to move into local gerocomium because they think that these places are like an asylum, or even a prison for the aged, and they feel nothing home there. However, the home for the elderly we visited in August 2010, was a totally different story.     

Chinese Education under Change

It is known around the world that Chinese students get high test scores. In the U.S., the me- dia has concluded that Asian students like those in China perform well in exams because they study under stricter stan- dards, spend more time and ef- fort studying, their curriculum is better devised, their teachers are devoted and greater emphasis is put on science and math.     

Thoroughly Modem Migrants

Chinese migrant workers have made the cover of 17me magazine for their role in promoting China＇s development. They have dreams and pursuits like you and I, and they long to blend into cities and become part of modem society. These citizens and their aspirations are getting the respect and concern they deserve. As this issue goes to press, the Chinese people are celebrating the 61st anniversary of the founding of the PRC, and this special report on migrant workers takes a closer look at the lives and inner realities of the generation that will pose a challenge to the country＇s social institutions and services.     

Overseas House-hunts

China Newsweek Issue No.48,published on December 25,2014Having experienced a downturn in its domestic real estate market,in2014 the Chinese became the biggest house buyers in property markets in the U.S.,Australia and certain European countries.About 44 percent of those surveyed cited emigration as the main reason why they bought houses abroad,followed by children’s education and investment.The Chinese has overtaken Canadians as the biggest buyers in the U.S.real estate market,according to the latest report released in July2014 of the U.S.National Association of Realtors.The Chinese are also top investors in the Australian property sector.The annual Australian Foreign Investment Review Board report shows that Chinese mainland investors’purchases of houses in