Adopters run into great walls: Two hundred abandoned Chinese children, mainly girls, now have a new life with Australian parents. But the new parents, who have waited years to adopt, have called on state governments to unify Australia's diverse international adoption red tape under one federal system.

News

Cities around China decorated for the National Day: Cities around China have delicately decorated as the National Day is coming on Oct. 1

From Action Maestro to Serious Actor: Actor Jackie Chan is tired of being typecast as an action hero. The superstar, who turned 50 in April, wants to be known as a serious actor.

Dark skin changes idea of beauty: Tanned skin is in. Ghostly white is out. A new trend is sweeping Shanghai as more people want darker skin, a big change from traditional views that hold fare skin is more beautiful.

Journalism Third Most Dangerous Career in China: International press freedom organization Reporters sans Frontieres has urged the European Union to condemn China's latest crackdown on independent websites and publications while holding a dialogue on human rights with the EU, even as a report by media freedom group, Committee to Protect Journalists says 42 journalists are currently imprisoned in China, with insurance companies in the country listing journalism as the third most dangerous profession in the country.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

The following link gives a nice summary of the tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in Chinese lunar calendar, the Moon Festival usually comes sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October, and on September 28 this year.

Mid-Autumn day is a time when people celebrate the the harvest, enjoy the getting-together with families and friends and appreciate good food and the most beautiful moon.

Expensive Moon Cakes!

Mooncakes take the bite of packaging: The tradition, more than 1,000 years old, has been much eclipsed in recent years as overpackaging has made the mooncake and its symbolic meaning merely a side dish to an extravagant trend.

Corruption fears over China mooncakes: This year, one company is even offering a mooncake set including a digital camera, a video camera, alcohol, a pen, a lighter and a 100 sq-m flat — for $40,000.

Beware of Moon Cakes!

I'm not sure that I know the point of this editorial, but it reads, "Mooncakes can be bad for you these days."

Local Stories

Bringing Asia to Boise: A growing number of Idaho parents are embracing the Chinese language, mastering ethnic recipes, listening to music CDs and watching videos with Asian themes and characters. It is all in an effort to keep a heritage and traditions alive in the minds of children they have adopted from China and other Asian countries.

Luau to fund adoption: Seven years ago, the Carmans followed the same path when they adopted their son from Korea, but Sherri said this time, when the couple decided to adopt, they were shocked at what it cost—especially in travel—to achieve this dream.

Virtual Chinese Brush

Researchers have developed a virtual Chinese brush.

We develop a novel 3D brush model consisting of a skeleton and a surface, which is deformed through constrained energy minimization. The main advantage of our model over existing ones is in its ability to mimic brush flattening and bristle spreading due to brush bending and lateral friction exerted by the paper surface during the painting process.

If you have a fast internet connection, be sure to check out some of the videos!

News

Hong Kong officials on mission to China to cut smog: Hong Kong environment officials will travel to China to find ways of cutting smog that drifts into the city from mainland power plants and factories.

Google Conforms to Chinese Censorship: Google Inc.'s recently launched news service in China doesn't display results from Web sites blocked by that country's authorities, raising prickly questions for an online search engine that has famously promised to "do no evil."

How China copes with an aging population: The old lady leans against the railing of her balcony, gazing idly at the queue of cars moving slowly below her building in northwestern Beijing. Now and then, her wrinkled face would light up but disappointment almost always follows. Sun Yuying, 78, is waiting for her daughter's silver Volkswagen Jetta though she knows it is not likely to appear on a weekday.

China Related TV

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

News

China stages first F1 Grand prix: Ferrari's Brazilian Rubens Barrichello has won the first Chinese Grand Prix. The race took place at Shanghai's new circuit, which cost $240 million to build over two years. About 150,000 people watched the race.

Only-child generation grows up to be parents: The "only child" generation is coming of age, as they become parents. The young parents tend to be better prepared for fostering their children's growth than older generations, despite previously having been criticized as "little emperors and queens" during their childhood.

Last inheritress of China's female-specific languages dies: China's last inheritress of the mysterious Nushu language, probably the world's only female-specific language, died at her central China home earlier this week. Yang Huanyi learned to read and write the language as a little girl. Chinese linguists say her death has put an end to a 400-year-old tradition in which women shared their innermost feelings with female friends through a set of codes that were incomprehensible to men.

Moves Launched to Show Danger of Smoking: China is currently the biggest tobacco producer and consumer in the world, with an annual output of 18 trillion cigarettes and 320 million smokers.

Local Story

Area families enjoy raising children later in life : Patti Matherne, 43, is the mother of 5-year-old Anna Louise Xiu Matherne. As an older mom, Matherne thinks about things that might not occur to a younger mother. "If when she's 15 and has an identity crisis, she'll already have a Chinese name," said Matherne who went to China to adopt her daughter. [This is the second story in the article.]

New Book

The Love Wife by Gish Jeh:

. . . The new couple adopts two Asian baby girls before, six years later, begetting their own blond son. Told with clips of narrative from the whole family, the novel's action begins with the girls as adolescents—Lizzy, 15, and Wendy, 9, and the son, Bailey, at 18 months. Rebellious and angry Lizzy deals with rejection issues as a result of her adoption, while sensitive and intuitive Wendy deals with being Asian in an all-white suburb.

See a review of the book at the Denver Post.

Beautiful China

Are They Sisters?

Allison from APC shares a great story:

Just the other day we were out and we got all the comments many of you get . . . then the question . . . "ARE THEY SISTERS? . . . (with the hand motioning between each daughter)" Well, our newly 3 year old looks over to her 5 year old sister and says . . . "NO, WE'RE BROTHERS!" And she cracked up laughing . . . well, it was so funny!

News

Disney appeals to China's youth: Walt Disney has enlisted the help of China's 70 million-strong Communist Youth League as it prepares to enter one of its last major untapped markets.

Long-necked hunter found in China: The remains of a 230-million-year-old marine reptile with fangs and a long neck have been found in southeast China.

China executes baby smuggler: The leader of a gang convicted of running one of the China's largest baby trafficking rings has been executed.

Couple Fined $94,000 for One-Child Rule Lapse: A court in China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen has fined a couple 780,000 yuan ($94,250) and sealed off their house for having more than one child

Local Story

Magazine uses local girl as emblem for nation's heritage: Gary and Connie Campbell couldn't quite believe it when a friend called to tell them their adopted daughter was on the cover of a national magazine. And then by the checkstand, they spotted it: their daughter, Alyse Mei Lan Campbell, on the front cover of Life magazine with Albert Einstein and Arnold Schwarzenegger in a feature titled, "The American Immigrant."

News

Clock Counts Down Until Games: A giant clock started ticking yesterday in Tian'anmen Square, at the very heart of the Chinese capital, counting down the days, hours and minutes to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

International marriages ending in divorce: After a seven-year-boom, the number of international marriages taking place in Shanghai each year is gradually reducing. However, now there is a new trend. The number of these marriages ending in divorce is increasing year on year.

China diary—Vanishing Beijing: Corruption is, as ever, a major issue here. But another by-product of China's economic transformation has become just as worrying for many—the rapid disappearance of the country's resources, including its incomparably rich cultural heritage.

Health in China

China's city dwellers in poor health: Up to 75 percent of urban Chinese suffer from bad health, with a new survey showing the problem is killing more people than infectious diseases, particularly among the skilled and educated.

Computer [Great] Wallpaper

This is a "recycling" of the first post to this blog. If you are looking for a great wall paper for your computer, consider this image.

This is a photo a friend took. It makes an excellent background for your computer monitor.

PC Instructions: To determine what size you need, right click your desktop and select Properties >> Setting, and look at your screen resolution. Click the appropriate link below to load the image in your browser. Right click the image, and select "Set as Background."

[640x480] [800x600] [1024x768] [1280x960] [1600x1200]

Odd Beijing Buildings

Bad Jian Zhu calls itself "an investigation of the not-so-subtle in Beijing architecture."

Welcome to Beijing: a world of random chaos, a fitting and fascinating laboratory for contemporary architecture. In this ancient capital today, home to a glorious built heritage, the most interesting things are being built. Here, in this space, we expose it. We mourn the loss of a great tradition of elegance and craftsmanship.

(Thanks Kirby!)

News

Hu takes over as China's military chief: Hu Jintao succeeded Jiang Zemin as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Fourth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee.

Analysis—Jiang Zemin's departure: His philosophy has underpinned China's opaque and secretive political system and, for this reason, Jiang Zemin's decision to stand down as army chief three years ahead of schedule marks the real handover of authority.

China's Slashdot-like political forum closed by authorities: Yitahutu (一塌糊涂), a familiar domain name for hundreds of thousands of students, teachers and alumni in Chinese universities, has disappeared from Chinese cyberspace. On September 13, The Beijing Communications Administration issued a notification that Yitahutu (YTHT) BBS is permanently closed. In the meantime, many Chinese BBS sites announced that it is forbidden to discuss YTHT on their systems. And the YTHT domain name itself has been entered into the filtered keywords list, including on the Chinese search engine, baidu.

China Related TV Guide

China Sprout posts a much-appreciated weekly guide for China Related TV listings.

Beautiful China

New Book

Inheritance: A Novel, by Lan Samantha Chang —

A complicated sister bond echoes through generations in this somber follow-up to Chang's well-received debut novella and stories, Hunger. In China in the early 1930s, sisters Junan and Yinan are inseparable, even as Junan matures into beauty and Yinan remains awkward and plain. Junan enters into an arranged marriage and falls in love with Li Ang, her soldier husband. Separated from him when the Japanese invade China, Junan sends the unmarried Yinan to keep her husband's household. What is intended as an arrangement of convenience turns to betrayal when Li Ang and Yinan have an affair. As China is divided by communism, the family is also rent in two.

News with Photos

Floods threaten Silk Road grottoes: Flooding and rain threaten the Mogao Grottoes hidden in Northwest China's vast Gobi desert.

Festival celebrates new fishing season: Chinese fishermen perform rataplan during the Seventh China Fishing Festival Tuesday in Zhejiang.

Firecracker factory blown down in blast: Firefighters try to extinguish a fire after a huge explosion tore down a firecracker factory Friday in Yiyang, central China's Hunan Province.

News

Real Estate Prices on the Rise: China's real estate prices continued to surge during the first eight months of this year due to increasing market demands and limited investment tools. Figures show the average housing price in China increased 13.5 percent over the same period last year.

Sirens wail across China to mark 1931 attack: Sirens will wail across more than 100 Chinese cities and cars will stop and honk their horns on Saturday to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the start of Japan's invasion of China. Up to 35 million Chinese were killed or wounded by invading Japanese troops from 1931 to 1945.

Illegal ivory trade still flourishes: China was the world's largest consumer market for ivory and according to TRAFFIC if the Chinese demand is abated, there would be significant difference in the current upward trend of trade in illicit ivory.

Lychees

In China, Farmers' Labor Bears Too Much Fruit: On steep, terraced hillsides at the end of a muddy track here in southeastern China grow some of the world's finest litchis, walnut-sized fruit with pale, sweet flesh coveted by Chinese emperors and commoners alike for centuries. (NYT — free reg. req.)

For a wealth of information on the Lychee visit lycheesonline.com.

Credit Card

Want a credit card with a ladybug? Apply for a discover card here!

News

11th China Art Exposition held in Beijing (More pictures here.)

"Garden of gardens" to undergo revamping: Work to rehabilitate the beauty of Yuanmingyuan, China's great imperial garden, has achieved initial success as the western part of the garden has been excavated from the dust of ages.

China diary—Compound comforts: Former BBC Beijing correspondent Tim Luard is back in China, 25 years after his first visit, to write a series of articles for BBC News Online on how much the country has changed. He will also be writing a diary during his trip, and this is his third instalment.

Profile—Hu Jintao: Even close followers of Chinese politics can say little for sure about Hu Jintao, the man who took over as China's Communist Party leader in 2002 and is now the country's president.

Time Off

I will be taking about a week off from blogging, and anticipate starting up again Friday, Sept. 17. You can check back then. I'll also send a note to a few of the larger China adoption lists (APC, PAC, etc.) when I'm posting again!

Audio

If you listen to audio books, you may want to check out Audible.com, from which you can purchase any of thousands of audio books as well as other audio magazines, newspapers, or radio programs. Once downloaded to your computer, you can listen to them on your desktop, burn them to CD, or play them on an MP3 device.

I have been a member of Audible.com for well over a year now and have been extremely pleased with what they provide. While you can always buy single items, there are two subscription programs that give rather substantial savings. The first is "Basic Listener" which allows you to choose one audiobook plus one audio magazine, newspaper, or radio program each month for $14.95 a month. The other is Premium Listener, which allows you to choose any two audiobooks each month for $21.95 a month.

If you join through their webpage, you get 50% off of the first month membership. If you prefer, I can refer you and you will get the first month (i.e., two full audio books!) for free. Please e-mail me, and I will e-mail you back a referal.

Here are some of the Chinese-related audio books available:

• The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan
• Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie
• The Travels of Marco Polo
• Empress Orchid, by Anchee Min
• Art of War, by Sun Tzu
• Bound Feet and Western Dress, by Pang-Mei Natasha Chang
• and many others . . .

Audible.com also has Chinese language resources:

• Pimsleur Quick and Simple Chinese Mandarin for English Speakers
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chinese — Level 1, Level 2, and Vocabulary
• VocabuLearn: Chinese — Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3
• In-Flight Mandarin Chinese

Happy listening!

Beautiful China

What of Taiwan?

Jeff Linday, a friend and neighbor, shares some thoughts about democracy in China and the Threat to Taiwan.

If you liked that snippet, check out his webpage, or one of his three blogs: Sanity Defense, Lead Balloon, and Mormanity.

Bells

This website is devoted entirely to Famous Bells in China.

The Big Bell Temple Museum is a multi-functional museum specialized in the collection, preservation, exhibition, study and exploitation of ancient bells and catering to the people's growing cultural demands with its peculiar cultural charm. The different exhibitions display the evolution, designs and characteristics of ancient bells, enabling the visitors to understand the uses and making of ancient bells, the connections between man and bells, between bells and religions and between bells and science and technology as well as other cultural connotations.

News

More Village Women Getting Political: Thirty-two-year-old Li Xiaoyan is the first woman to chair the Yantouzhai Village Committee in Guzhang County, central China's Hunan Province. She recently got her hands on a book, the first of its kind, that guides rural women in running for village elections.

Kiss the Panda

Worth1000.com sponsors Photoshop and photography contests. I thought this picture was particularly cute!

News

Incredible "Dancing Beijing" stone: People are viewing a rare stone amazingly resembling "Dancing Beijing", the emblem for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, on September 7. The pattern and the length-width ratio of stone, 40cm in height, 28cm in width and 8cm in thickness, are almost the same as the Olympic "China Seal". The stone belongs to a collector in Beijing.

China's rural poverty declines, urban poverty rises: The past decade saw a sharp decline in number of rural poverty in China, but its urban poverty became a matter of concern, said the China Population and Development Country Report. The report said the number of those living in rural poverty fell from 80 million people by the end of 1993 to 29 million in 2003, which represented a decrease from 8.7 percent of rural population to 3.1 percent.

China's Three Gorges dam on alert: China's enormous Three Gorges dam remains on high alert as waters from the flooded Yangtze river continue to pour into the reservoir behind it.

Shanghai eases up family planning policy: Though still insisting on the one-child policy, Shanghai has stopped awarding couples who wish to remain childless, giving a hint that the city encourages them to contribute to increasing its population.

Three Articles on Adoption

The pain of adoption: In talks and playshops, an adoptive mom explores the sadness that, she says, underlies all adoptions.

'The world is changing': Adoption is changing a lot. Years ago it was closed, and had a lot of shame. Now international adoptions are increasing and domestic ones are open. The world is changing, and I happen to think it's a good thing.

A new country, a brand-new life: I think it's silly when grown-ups feel bad if their child is thinking about her birth parents. I mean, come on. Their child is going to notice that their skin color and eyes are different. I know some people think they must be doing a bad job if their child is thinking or asking questions about their birth parents. But of course we do. It's normal.

(Thanks Laura and Ann from MAC!)

The Art of Dynasty Warriors 4

This website contains portraits of the characters from the video game Dynasty Warriors 4.

The Music of Dynasty Warriors 4

Dynasty Warriors 4 is a battlefield action video game set in ancient China. Regardless of whether or not you play video games, you can download the MP3s from the game sound track from this link. These could be used, e.g., for the background music for a slide show. Note that many of the tracks have a strong electric guitar background.

Local Stories

Family opens its home to another child: Jade is 14 months old and has the face of a cherub. Her cheeks are so full, she has creases under her eyes because there's nowhere for that chubbiness to go. Her eyes are big and such a dark brown you can't make out where the pupils are.

From China, with love: It's hard to imagine that two families could be so similar. The Bridwell and Van Allen families of Kalispell each have a 10-year-old son, middle daughters a few years younger, and a 4-year-old son. And now both families have 11-month-old daughters. The similarities in their older children are simply coincidences. But the parallel traits in the new daughters of Jason and Kimberly Bridwell and Michelle and Kenny Van Allen are the outcome of bundling adoption applications.

Translating Chinese Text on the Web

There is a great resource on the web for translating Chinese text into English. Let's say you were surfing the web and came across this Chinese page. You'd love to read the caption of the image, but don't speak Chinese.

9月5日，美国总统布什在西弗吉尼亚州帕克斯堡进行竞选演讲后，试图展示其亲民形象，抱起一个19个月大的小童。能被总统抱一抱，自然是件令人感到骄傲的事情，但这个小家伙并不领布什的情，先是愁眉不展，接着又大哭不止、施展“拳脚”。布什开始还笑容可掬，但后来变得手足无措，只得将小家伙交还给他的家人。[路透社照片]

No problem! Go to Babel Fish Translator, cut and paste the chinese text, and select "Translate Chinse-Simp to English." The following translation is given:

On September 5, American President Bush carries on the campaign lecture after the west Virginia state Pax fort, attempts to demonstrate it cherishes the people the image, hugs a 19 months big young Tong. Can hug by president, naturally is makes one feel the arrogant matter, but this kid certainly does not lead Bush's sentiment, first is with a worried look, meets is crying continues, displays "the fist foot". Bush starts also to be radiant with smiles, but afterwards changed helplessly, have to returns the kid for his family member. [ Reuter picture ]

Have fun!! And if you come across something funny, send me an e-mail so I can post it on the blog!

(Thanks Kirby from MAC!)

Discusions on Social Issues

Is English skill that important? China is probably one of the few countries in the world where learning English has almost become a national obsession. However, most people cost much but gain little. Our teaching and test systems have deviated from the initial purpose of English learning in that it teaches and encourages elite English instead of practical one.

Is abstinence the best policy? . . . A few decades ago, a premaritally pregnant woman would be condemned by public opinion, she might even be forced to take her own life. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see a bride well-advanced in pregnancy at a wedding. Is this progress or regress? No one knows for sure.

Chinese Fashion

Fashion Slideshow — The Floating Forbidden City

Models display the outfits entitled "The floating Forbidden City" by Chinese designer Hu Xiaodan in Hongkong International Trade & Exhibition Centre (HITEC), September 4, 2004. The event is held by Beijing Evening News and Hong Kong Singtao newspaper.

Beautiful China

Chinese Art

The Great China Art Supermarket has a wide variety of items.

Welcome to art-china.com. We are the first seller of china arts through the internet in china. We are the single seller of china art's in large-scale supermarket. Our website has a history of eight years. Our website has abundant products for purchaser to make a choice. We will make more and better products on our website. Because our products are beautiful ones with low price, our products have been exported to the countries throughout the world.

For Vegetarians

Information for Vegetarians Travelling to China contains phrases and a list of menu items that are vegetarian friendly.

I wrote this page because I often see vegetarians or vegans planning on trips to China asking questions about how to find acceptable food. The information below is drawn from my experience: just over two years living and travelling in China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong. A lot of foreign vegetarians arrive with no local language skills, which was exactly the case for me. Hopefully this page can help you out.

News

"Swan Lake" at the Bayan Bulag Nature Reserve: A swan flies in the Bayan Bulag Nature Reserve in Hejing County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2004. The nature reserve was listed as the first swan preserve in China in 1980, and was also the largest of its kind in the country.

Lake Monster Investigation Delayed: An investigation into the enigmatic Kanas Lake Monsters, originally scheduled for this autumn, has been put off until next July. The news came from the Kanas Administrative Bureau of Environment and Tourism. It had been planned as a joint scientific expedition involving several units, including a Chinese Scientific Expedition and the underwater photographic team with the Chinese Underwater Association.

Building plans change for a better Beijng Olympics: Plans for Beijing's Olympic venues have been changed so that unnecessary costs will be cut. Seats will be reduced by 2,000 in the wrestling spectator area where originally 10,000 had been planned, reported China Daily Saturday.

News

China bans 'sexy' female attire: Female civil servants in eastern China have been banned from wearing sexy clothes and told not to use "dirty" language in the office. Women have been asked to refrain from wearing revealing tops and leggings as well as too much jewellery at work

'Fortune' magazine publishes top 100 Chinese listed companies: US "Fortune" magazine, issue September 13, published ahead of time, has appraised and selected "top 100 Chinese listed companies 2003" in accordance with their annual business incomes, the first 10 companies ranked in order respectively are: Sinopec, Petro-China, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Life Insurance, China Unicom, the People's Property Insurance of China, Five Minerals Development, Baoshan Steel Group Co. Ltd. and the China National Offshore Oil Company.

UNICEF Goes West to Help Children: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will deepen cooperation with China, including fundraising, for the country's realization of children's development goals.

News

Chinese dyslexics have problems of their own: There is no one cause for dyslexia: rather, the causes vary between languages. So conclude researchers who have found that Chinese children with reading difficulties have different brain anomalies to their Western counterparts. The finding explains why one can be dyslexic in one language but not another.

Panda Celeb Gives Birth to Twins: The latest news from the Wulong Nature Reserve in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province is that Hua Mei, the American-born giant panda that returned to China on February 12 this year, gave birth to twins on the night of September 1. Hua Mei and her babies all appear to be in good condition.

Chinese Rice Takes Root in Ecuador: Chinese hybrid rice has taken root half a world away in Ecuador. "It has won the hearts of many farmers and triggered a fever for Chinese hybrid rice among leading Ecuadorian food processors," said Xu Jingbo, a hybrid rice expert sent to Ecuador by the Yahua Seeds Holding Co. in Hunan Province.

News

Is Chinese drowned in the sea of English?: English language has never been so popular in China. Among the new additions to everyday Chinese, you find "E-mail", "WTO", "SARS" and "MBA"; wherever you look you find English, in newspapers, TV shows and even in government documents. But some academics worry that too much English language will hold back the development of the national language.

China's 10 major risk factors before 2010: One must think of danger in time of peace. At the time when the "11th Five-Year Plan" is in the making, the topic group of the National Development and Reform Commission conducted an survey among 98 well-known Chinese and foreign experts from various ministries and commissions under the State Council, major scientific institutes and academies, main people's organizations as well as foreign universities and international agencies stationed in China.