Can Rural China Keep Up？

GIVEN the Chinese governmem's determination to stimulate industrial and urban development during the past 50 years, policymakers now look to improve rural conditions. Although the central government has made efforts to redress the situation in recent years, implementation of relevant policies has been slow. In 2004, the government put forth a series of agricultural reform measures concerning rural taxation, domicile status and land, which was seen as a demonstration of the new leadership's resolve to tackle rural problems. Some policy watchers likened the year 2004 to a "second spring" for rural China. In February. the central government's first policyfor 2004 addressed increasing farmer income. During     

Athens Has Gone, Beijing Is Coming：More Investment, More Gold Medals

Having attended various meetings oJcelebration and citation, Cui Dalin, deputy chief of the Chinese Sports Delegation to the Athens Olympic Games, heaves a sigh of relief as he sits in his spacious office in the Training Bureau of the State General     

Be Cool, Be Cute, Be Different

GLOBALIZATION has given China rapid access to world state-of-the-art technologies. Mobile phones, the Internet and constantly emerging new services based on them - MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), MSN (Multiple Subscriber Numbering), mobile QQ and the latest CRBT (coloring ring-back tone) service - have forged a large-scale "thumb economy" dominated by its youth.     

A New Orientation-The 3rd China Oil Painting Exhibition

AT the end of 2003, the 3rd China Oil Painting Exhibition displayed nearly 10,000 works from 34 places in China. After a three-phase selection process including public appraisal, 20 works were granted China Oil Painting Artistic Awards.The oil painting exhibition acts as a broad showcase for China's oil paintings. Held in 1987 and 1994, the event helped to break the domi-     

Chinese Officials Lighten Up Under Pressure

Chinese officials are displaying a far more human public persona these days than their traditionally severe demeanor, a change welcomed by the people. Formerly stem and rigid, they are now animated and unafraid to express enthusiasm in public. Chinese civil servants no longer blend into a solid gray wall of officialdom, one indistinguishable from the other by virtue of the dry-as-dust officialese they speak. In the interests of promoting their work and achievements, officials are now happy to stand out as individuals.     

Antique Furniture Reassessed

In the past ten years, the antique furni-ture market has visibly expand-ed from just a few shops in scattered loca-tions to repro antique furni-ture streets lined with shops in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou.     

The Shaolin Kungfu Legacy

MOST Chinese people of middle-age clearly remember the first kungfufilm: 1982's Shaolin Temple. This film portraying the love of a young Shaolin monk for a shepherd girl brought significant changes to Henan Province's Shaolin Temple. Before 1982, only 200,000 tourists visited annually. By 1984 their number increased to 2.6 million.Inspired by the movie, many