Messages Encoded in Bird-and-Flower Paintings （Part I）

THE free-hand painting Liu Zhongxin （1948-） did to celebrate the beginning of a new business has encoded in it best wishes for the proprietor＇s success in the years to come. A litchi branch loaded with crimson red fruit signifies a prosperous business, for the branch conveys an image that stands for a ＂line＂ of business, while the fruit is a play on the word ＂profit,＂ which in Chinese is a homonym for ＂litchi.＂ ff a rooster is added under the tree, the artist said,     

Love and the City

IN recent years February 14 has become a special occasion for many urban youth, particularly those in college. With the popularity of Valentine’s Day on the rise, courting couples are encountering new problems.     

Valentine's Day Cynicism

THE debate on whether to observe Valentine’s Day on February 14 heats up every year with as much intensity as a new romance. On the Internet both supporters and opposers are many. On the evening of February 12, 2009, two men in Changsha     

民族分裂势力的渗透与西北地区民族高校的稳定

改革开放以来,国际形势、国内社会转型、西北区情、民族高校和高校少数民族学生的特殊性,为境内外民族分裂势力对西北地区民族高校的渗透提供了可能性。民族分裂势力通过对极少数境内民族分裂势力、西方敌对势力和境外民族分裂势力等的渗透影响着西北地区民族高校的稳定。建立遏制民族分裂势力渗透的路径,无疑是保持西北地区民族高校稳定态势的现实选择。     

Buyers Are in the Fields

EXPANDING domestic demand has been set as a priority of China’s 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2015). An independent chapter is dedicated to the issue, the first time the goal has been singled out in the national development blueprint drawn up every five years. The plan envisions a long-term     

Enhanced Enterprises and Competitiveness

For a China that is undergoing an economic transformation, it appears increasingly important to develop a modern industrial system, and enhance the core competitiveness of modern enterprises, commented Ni Xiaoting, former chairman of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). In the 12th Five-year Plan that is what the Chinese government is calling for. These efforts are not only of paramount importance over the next five years but the direction and ley line of China’s industrial development over the long-term.     

Special Love for a Special Individual

CHEN Xudong is in the third month of his cleaning job at a McDonald’s in northern Beijing. The 19-year-old busses tables, clearing leftovers into waste bins in the corner, on the go all the time. His aptness makes it hard to imagine the difficulties he had getting this far in life.     

Yangzhou Amid the Willow Blossoms

THE name of a city can often conjure up memo-ries of poetry, people or flowers. Yangzhou is such a city,as demonstrated by the famous Tang poet Li Bai in his Seeing off Meng Haoran for Guangling at Yellow Crane Tower:My old friend said goodbye to the west here at Yellow Crane Tower.In the third month’s cloud of willow blossoms he is going down to Yangzhou.     

Uncovering the Colors of the Terracotta Army

THE terracotta warriors and horses of Qinshihuang’s mausoleum have been drawing the world’s attention since they were first unearthed in 1974. Hailed by French President Jacques Chirac as the eighth wonder of the world, they are also considered to be one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century.     

Racing the Dragons in Yueyang

THE fifth day of the fifth moon on the Chinese lunar calendar is the Duanwu Festival of the Han people. It’s known as the Dragon Boat Festival in English, because