Beautiful China

News

In China, a Musical Star Is Waiting to Be Born: DAI YICHEN is in the third row, far right side, her feet kicking and scraping against the wood floor with other students in her tap dance class. The rehearsal hall fills with a noise as pounding and repetitive as a hailstorm.

Infections from China pig disease jump to 152: The number of people infected by what Chinese authorities believe is a pig-borne disease in Sichuan province has risen by 21 to 152, the Hong Kong Health Department said, citing information from the mainland government.

Mud Bed Influences Chinese Ancient Culture: A German historian said that mud beds, or Kang in Chinese, played a significant role in shaping ancient Chinese cultural etiquette.

Featured Blog

Lindsey has a blog for her soon-to-be sister. Check out Lindsey's Mei Mei from China!

Nihao! My name is Lindsey and my parents and I are adopting a baby girl from China sometime this year. We are going to name her Chloe Madison and look forward to becoming her forever family.

Searching for More Information

Seek and You May Find: . . . In China, most children put up for adoption are abandoned. So Adele Hall, a searcher from San Antonio, Texas, uses her network in China to find police reports or "anything that might provide details of the abandonment." Happy endings aren't the rule: Hall's greatest success has been to connect adoptive parents with the person who first found their baby. In other countries, where mothers can be found, sometimes they can't or won't acknowledge parenthood.

Local Story

Giving back to orphanage: Last Wednesday, Anne Donohue and Stephen Conlin celebrated their daughter's 8th birthday. It has been almost eight years since Donohue and Conlin adopted Katie from an orphanage in China.

News

Sanmao, China's favorite son turns 70: Three generations of Chinese children have grown up reading about the adventures of the country's most popular comic book hero.

Wal-Mart accelerates expansion in East China: Wal-Mart is scheduled to open its first store in the Pudong District of Shanghai on July 28. The 18,000-square-metre hypermarket, which the company calls a "supercentre," sells about 20,000 commodities. It is learned that taking South China as its main battlefield, Wal-Mart has started rapid expansion of its market share in East China.

Chinese Legend Becomes Animated Movie to Rival Hollywood: Wang Film Productions Co, the largest animation production firm in Taiwan Province, is one of these pioneers and is bringing its latest production The Fire Ball to Asia's screens this summer to compete with the DreamWorks production Madagascar.

China picks its first spacewomen: China has picked its first group of women to be trained as astronauts.

Local Story

Florence boy inspires community with music, determination: As he does every morning, Zayne Callahan is practicing the violin. His crutches propped up against the stool, he places the bow gently against the violin strings, a look of concentration on his face. . . . Zayne's story begins in the basement of an orphanage in Jiangsu Province, China.

News

Beijing Makes Good Time with 2008 Preparations: The huge digital clock on Beijing's Tiananmen Square shows there are still some 1,100 days until the start of the 2008 Olympics. The Chinese capital, however, is already well on its way toward being ready.

Wal-Mart Ratchets Up China Battle: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. hopes to post double-digit sales growth in China this year and to double outlets by the end of 2006 as it aims to narrow a gap with Carrefour and others that dominate the $240 billion market.

Mystery China bug toll reaches 17: A mystery illness that has killed 17 farmers in western China is neither bird flu nor Sars, officials have said.

Oriental

"Usually, hon, you're right -- but that's called an Oriental rug. It's not an Asian-American rug." (link)

Chinese Dancers

This is a video clip of some amazing Chinese dancers!

Update: More information and pictures at this link.

Members of Chinese Art Ensemble of disabled people perform a dance named "Guanyin Buddha", Buddhist goddess of mercy. Presented by deaf and mute dancers, the art troupe was set up in 1987 and has won reputation in more than 30 countries.

China's Monetary Policy

For those who are interested in these things, the Far Eastern Economic Review has an article that delves into China's monetary policy—Get Ready for China's Greenspan.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, is an influential figure. But he is not as important as Alan Greenspan. His successors will be though. Global financial markets will hang on their words—once they've been translated. This is because monetary policy will soon work as effectively in China as it does in the United States, and that will give the people who influence rates enormous power.

More pandas on the way

Zoo Atlanta on panda pregnancy watch: A baby panda may be on the way at Zoo Atlanta. The zoo's 7-year-old giant panda, Lun Lun, is showing symptoms of a pregnancy, and she's been removed from public view while zoo officials watch her round-the-clock for a possible birth.

China Related TV

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

Beautiful China

Lady Bug Bedding

My Little Petunia has a Lady Bug Crib Bedding Set for sale.

Crawling lady bugs adorn this adorable crib bedding set. The detail abounds for a very special look. The Bumper is extra thick with green piping and black extra wide ties. The Crib Skirt has approximately an 18" drop accented with a red & white gingham check cuff. The crib quilt measures 36x44, and is green on the reverse side. The coordinating decorative pillow measures 10x15. This set is hand crafted in the USA of cotton blend fabrics. 4 piece crib bedding set includes: Bumper, Crib Skirt, Crib Quilt, and Decorative Pillow.

(Thanks Stephe from APC!)

Free On-Line Chinese Lessons

Susan from APC pointed out an excellent basic Chinese language course. It shows Chinese characters and gives an audio pronunciation for each word.

DFAQ

DUMB FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS and more.........

Prospective parents of children from China know that a great big world of wonder and joy awaits them. They should also know that a smaller world awaits them that involves acquaintances, co-workers and total strangers asking ridiculous and/or tactless questions as well as making thoughtless and/or bizarre statements in a wide range of inappropriate situations. The following is but a small sample of these little gems.

(Thanks Sandra from APC!)

Blogging for Two Years!

I can't believe I missed the two year anniversary of this blog. China Adoption News started on June 17, 2003. Here is a link to my first post (scroll to the bottom). It's been a lot of fun, and I appreciate all the kind comments and encouragement I've received!

Images of Tibet

A friend from work recently returned from a family trip to Tibet, and was gracious enough to share his photos online.

News

China Has an Ancient Mariner to Tell You About: The captivating tale of Zheng He, a Chinese eunuch who explored the Pacific and Indian Oceans with a mighty armada almost a century before Columbus discovered America, has long languished as a tantalizing footnote in China's imperial history. [NYT, reg. req.]

Anger in China Rises Over Threat to Environment: After three nights of increasingly heavy rioting, the police were taking no chances on Monday, deploying dozens of busloads of officers before dusk and blocking every road leading to the factory. [NYT, reg. req.]

Memo to boss—Gone kayaking in Beijing: Seeking respite from the summer heat, a reporter joins the residents of China's capital city on the shores of Houhai, a 700-year old lake.

US reports China missile build-up: In an annual report to Congress, the Pentagon claimed there were now up to 730 such missiles in place. Last year's report found only 500.

News

Wild panda causes panic in southwest China: A wild panda who ventured into a southwest Chinese city caused panic among residents who thought she was a thief before she was finally captured by firemen after a lengthy chase.

Chinese most prone to colorectal cancer in Asia: A study spanning 14 cities across Asia has found the highest incidence of colorectal cancer among ethnic Chinese, a trend which researchers in Hong Kong on Monday blamed on a more westernized diet.

More than 660,000 evacuated in China as typhoon bears down: More than 660,000 people have been evacuated in the eastern Chinese coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian as Typhoon Haitang bore down on the region after pounding Taiwan with heavy winds and rain.

Featured Blog

Our Journey to Baby Shanahan is a great blog with lots of content and links.

China Related TV

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

Local Story

China—Charity Begins at Home: Lei Rong, 32, and her husband, Fu Haitao, 40, had been trying to conceive a child for more than a year when Lei decided to consider adoption. But Fu had reservations.

Beautiful China

Pictures from Shennongjia

Thousands of years old Shennongjia: Covering 600 square kilometers, Shennongjia Nature Reserve is located in the west of central China's Hubei province.

News

Date set for China space shot: China's second manned space mission—called Shenzhou VI—will launch in early October.

More than 1,000 dead in natural disasters in China so far this year: Natural disasters have claimed more than 1,000 lives around China this year, with 764 people drowned and 191 others missing in severe floods alone. The China Youth Daily said more than 3.72 million people have been evacuated to safer places while 650,000 houses have been destroyed by torrential rains that have pounded many areas since late May.

Earn $16,900 for your adoption! :-)

A novel without a word telling a love story?: A writer from Shanxi Province is waiting for someone to decode his novel, a novel without a single word but a set of 14 punctuations, with a reward of 140,000 yuan (US$16,900).

It might be the shortest novel ever, and it might be the only novel without a word. But Hu Wenliang, the author the novel entitled <<.>>, claimed that he spent one year to write a novel with five sections as follows:

:?

:!

"'... ...'"

(.) <<,>>

;-

(via BoingBoing)

Unfortunate Saber Rattling

Top Chinese general warns US over attack: China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday. "If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons," said General Zhu Chenghu.

Local Story

My Chinese baby: Toni Daniels has become the first single Bermudian woman to adopt a baby from China. She collected her new daughter from Nanchang, close to Shanghai, last month -- the emotional climax to a remarkable six-year quest. Ms Daniels, 34, endured the long, complicated and at times heartbreaking journey for one reason: "I knew my daughter was in China," she said.

Panda Cam

You can watch giant panda Mei Xiang and her new baby at the National Zoo's Panda Cam.

The panda cams provide a window into the world of the Zoo's new giant panda mother, Mei Xiang. She gave birth to a cub on July 9. Newborn pandas weigh just a few ounces, so the baby may be difficult to spot. You may see it being cradled and nursing.

China's Efforts to Buy Brand Names

NPR's All Things Considered ran the segment, "China's Efforts to Buy Brand Names" on June 29, 2005.

The Unocal bid is one of many recent Chinese deals to take over U.S. companies. Often, the Chinese are looking for more than an American company's assets. They want to buy the brand name. Because there is little business competition in China, Chinese companies don't develop recognizable brand names, so they have to buy them. Recent examples include IBM, Maytag, and Huffy.

Disney and China

Here is a link to a recent Time Magazine article on Disney and China.

Hong Kong Disneyland is taking the Walt Disney Co. to a new place: the wonderful world of China. The $3.6 billion park, scheduled to open Sept. 12, is Disney's boldest attempt to make Mickey Mouse as well known as Chairman Mao in the burgeoning Chinese market. With 1.3 billion increasingly wealthy people--290 million of them under 14, Disney's prime audience--China is the Magic Kingdom for a consumer company, and Disney wants to sell them everything from Mickey Mouse toys to animated movies to kids' magazines.

Skateboarding Over the Great Wall

Here is the webpage of Danny Way, the first person to skateboard over the Great Wall unassisted. There are some video clips on the page, or you can watch this one from ifilm.com.

News

Beauty of Shui Nationality costumes: Models present costumes with characteristics of Shui Nationality at a beauty pageant held in the Sandu Shui Autonomous County July 5. Contestants from villages and townships of Sandu come to display beauty of Shui Nationality's costumes and charms of girls of Shui at the pageant.

Widening income gap, the most serious social problem in China: The widening income gap was the most serious social problem in China in 2004, according to a recent survey conducted by the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. The survey also found that reform of the income distribution system in 2005 is the top concern of the respondents. Statistics showed that the ratio of the average annual disposable income between urban and rural citizens stood at 1:3.2 last year, compared with 1:2.6 in 1985.

China pastor on trial over Bibles: The leader of an underground Chinese church appeared in a Beijing court on Thursday, accused of illegally printing more than 200,000 Bibles.

Disney sets sights on China: In a sign of the times, Walt Disney is behind the kung fu retelling of its 1937 animated classic, which is part of an intensifying strategy to make inroads into the Chinese cinema market ahead of Hollywood rivals.

Local Story

Benton couple heads to the Far East for a new daughter: Stephen and Mary Malone decided their family was complete when their second daughter was born.

Local Story

ADOPTING SOPHIE: ONE COUPLE'S JOURNEY; CRASH COURSE IN CULTURE: Our daughter's name is Sophie Fahy Donna Yu Derr! My husband, Greg, and I like the name Sophie and my mother's Irish name, Fahy. Donna is in honor of my best friend who died of cancer four years ago, leaving two daughters.

Advances in Extreme Sports

Skateboarder clears Great Wall of China: Skateboarder Danny Way rolled down a massive ramp at nearly 50 mph and jumped across the Great Wall of China on Saturday, becoming the first person to clear the wall without motorized aid.

China Related TV

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

Local Story

JOURNEY TO JOY—Couple adopts a daughter from half a world away: At 3 p.m. March 7, there's a bang on our door at the Gloria Hotel in Nanchang, China. "They're in the lobby, all of them," shouts our friend, Kristy. We run into the hallway, many of us clutching cameras, videocams and photos, and hovering by the elevator.

Beautiful China

Open Letter

The National Council of Chinese Americans has published this open letter:

"For the first time ever in human history, an economic and military superpower will emerge without war or warfare, and that is Asia's Middle Kingdom, China." These were the words of U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman when he and Senator Lamar Alexander introduced a new bill on the Senate floor on May 25, 2005.

The new bill put forward by the two Senators is the U.S.-China Cultural Engagement Act. Briefly, the bill aims to provide $1.3 billion to greatly enhance Chinese-language education in K-12 schools; expand the exchange of artists, scientists, and students, particularly young students, between the two countries; and promote scholarly studies on contemporary China.

The bill, if it becomes law, will no doubt lead to a better mutual understanding between the two great peoples across the Pacific Ocean. The impact of this bill on U.S.-China relations will be highly constructive and long-lasting. At home, the bill will especially benefit the Chinese-American community.

Never before has there been a bill in the history of U.S. Congress that specifically addressed Chinese culture and language in such a positive manner. And never before has the U.S. Congress had such a vision to develop the cultural relationship between China and the United States on such a long-term, strategic basis.

We certainly agree with that vision. The Chinese-American community, wherever they come from, whatever political views they hold, must come together to help support this bill and help make it into the law of the land.

We ask you to co-sign the open letter supporting this bill. Our time has come. Let us work together to help pass this bill. Let us secure a "yes" vote for this bill from every senator and congressman. Let us leave a truly great legacy to our children and all children of America.

(Thanks linnea from MAC!)

Claire's On-Line Diary

My Aunt sent me the link to this wonderful on-line diary.

The girls at Mount Saint Helens