Muse,Music,Musings

EMBER Swift seems to be a walking collection of improbabilities and contradictions, which probably means she blends seamlessly into modern China. She is a white, foreign female singing original lyrics in both Chinese and English     

Accelerating the Pace of CPC Transformation——An Interview with Wang Changjiang,Director of the Party Building Teaching and Research Department,the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC

The Communist Party of China was founded in 1921 and came to power in 1949.It steered the country through a planned economy operating under trade blockades from 1949 to 1978,and ushered in a market economy under the reform and opening-up policy that took effect immediately afterwards.During this entire period,the CPC also transformed itself from a revolutionary party to a ruling party.Now civic awareness is growing among the Chinese people,and the market economy phase has nurtured an independent and autonomous spirit,which requires the Chinese leadership to promote political restructuring and the building of democratic institutions.     

Chinese Universities Embracing the World

TRAVELING to study in a foreign country was already popular as far back as ancient Greece.Globalization, and a consequently more integrated world,has intensified the internationalization of education.China is the world's biggest exporter of commodities,and runner up in     

Home of the Ancient Sage

The hinterland city of Qufu has made its name as a valued historical and cultural destination,not least for being the birthplace of Confucius.     

Meeting Traditional Expectations

IN the early morning of February 4,the day after Chinese New Year,Hao Liuyan's 18-month-old daughter was coaxed into the family's ancestral shrine in Shengli Village,Huangni Town,Qianshan County in Anhui Province.The girl was to be formally introduced to ancestral lore following local customs.Long hours followed when elders recounted family stories harking back generations,punctuated by the celebratory fireworks outside.Uninterested and perplexed,the toddler gazed through the incense mist at the peeling ...     

Peacock Dance

CHINESE folk dance is a microcosm of the country’s rich culture.The Peacock dance of the Dai ethnic group is one of the most traditional folk dances in China.The presence of the Dai was first recorded in Han books in the f irst century.This ethnic group is mainly found in Yunnan in southwest China,the province known as the "land of eternal spring." It has its own language,calendar and medical science.Though being in a border area,the Dai people have always maintained contact with the heartland economy and culture.     

Budget Roundtables Catch On

THE town will build new trash depots, so we won't have to trek miles to dispose of our garbage! Mo Hailiang is a happy man. Mo, from Shangmo Village, is also a deputy to the People's Congress of Xinhe Town, Wenling City in Zhejiang Province. We have a say in how and on whom to use the government allocation. In his town's democratic roundtable budget review in February, Mo proposed an additional RMB 300,000 to build trash depots and update the dustbins. His amendment was passed with 63 votes in favor and ...     

Living in Comfort and Joy in Fengdu County

LINING both sides of the streets of downtown Fengdu are rows of camphor,sweet osmanthus and ginkgo trees.The local government has set its sights on building Fengdu into one of the most livable cities in western China by 2012 and one of the most livable cities in all of China by     

The Last Hunting Tribe

IN the primeval forests of northeastern China live the Evenkis, an ethnic minority of about 30,000 people. Most of them inhabit Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the northwestern part of Heilongjiang Province, where winter is long and punishing. Evenkis are believed to be descendents of the Tungus people, who originated from lands to the east of Lake Baikal thousands of years ago. Later, some of     

Last Look at Hutong Life

WHEN Wu Wei moved to Beijing in the 1950s,he was told by locals that the city had nearly 4,000 marked hutongs or lanes lined with courtyard homes,and countless smaller ones off the record books. These tightly-knit communities that occupy old and labyrinthine