News

Three-day Revelry Marks Build-up to Today's Halloween: Parts of Beijing seemed like ghost towns over the weekend no, not deserted, but populated with ghost-like figures.

Acrobatic Festival Attracts World-Class Acts: The 10th China Wuqiao International Circus Festival (CWICF) opened on Saturday in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, attracting 326 acrobats from 16 countries.

China's Next Big Boom Could Be the Foul Air: One statistic offered last week by a top Chinese environmental official should stimulate genuine alarm inside and outside China. The official, Zhang Lijun, warned that pollution levels here could more than quadruple within 15 years if the country does not curb its rapid growth in energy consumption and automobile use.

Local Story

When Jews opt to adopt, help comes from alliance: Shayna Seid bounces out of the bagel shop with the enviable energy typical of 8-year-olds. She plops down in a chair and listens as her mother talks about how they became a family.

NPR Story

China Tightens Control Over Death-Penalty Cases: Courts in China have overturned several death sentences this year following widely publicized miscarriages of justice. The cases have prompted China to tighten control over the death penalty. Anthony Kuhn has the story of four Chinese families who claim their sons have been sentenced to death and unjustly imprisoned for more than a decade.

China-Related TV

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

Feature Flickr Photo

Mt. Jade Dragon
Lijiang ,Yunnan, China

Hasselblad 905SWC

(Courtesy of Zeiss Octopus)

News

Building of 1,400-year-old Bridge to Be Celebrated: China is organizing a string of commemorative activities to mark the 1,400th anniversary of the building of a bridge located at Zhaoxian County in north China's Hebei Province.

China Luring Foreign Scholars to Make Its Universities Great: When Andrew Chi-chih Yao, a Princeton professor who is recognized as one of the United States' top computer scientists, was approached by Qinghua University in Beijing last year to lead an advanced computer studies program, he did not hesitate.

Want to study Chinese? Join the crowd: English is the world's dominant language for business and culture, but with China's ascendance more and more people around the globe are taking up the challenge of learning to speak and read Chinese.

Local Story

Teaching in China gives perspective: A summer teaching trip to China will affect a Northview High School teacher's classroom and personal life. Kevin Weber, who teaches English and history, and his wife, Sarah, a Comstock Park High School science teacher, plan to adopt a girl from China early next year

Featured Flickr Photo

Peace


(Courtesy of Emma Devine)

Family Fun Video

Okay, I'll admit this is a little off topic, but last night, my entire family had a good laugh watching this video.

(via BoingBoing)

News

Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity: The future of foreign language study in the United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese flag hang from the wall.

China has new bird flu outbreak: The future of foreign language study in the United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese flag hang from the wall.

Gold Mah-jong Sets Spark Online Debate: A Chinese manufacturer has made 3,000 mah-jong sets using pure gold. . . . The ostentatious set has sparked much debate among the online community. While affirming that people should have the freedom to buy the expensive game, net surfer Leng Dan said he doubted whether the set would be used as a gift to buy favours from policy-makers.

Drugs and bribes claims hit China's Olympic rehearsal: China has scored a sporting own goal, as its first rehearsal for Beijing's Olympic Games in 2008 descended into a farce of alleged match-rigging, bribery, unfair judging and doping scandals.

Local Story

Couple hopes cookbook sales will help raise funds for adoption: A young couple has cooked up a plan to raise enough money to a adopt a baby girl from China. Deidra Helmig and Dean Chan put together a cookbook made up of the recipes from friends and family to help them meet their fundraising goals.

All I Want for Christmas . . .

Gold bar issued to mark successful space mission: Photo shows the museum-issued memorial gold bar marking the successful mission of China's second manned spacecraft Shenzhou VI at a press meeting on October 24, 2005. Each of the gold bars, sold upon pre-order only, costs 32,000 yuan (US$3,954.72) and weighs 100 grams and a total 1,000 bars are up for sale.

Local Story

Adoption opens new vistas: After Sheri and Tom Russon traveled to a Chinese orphanage in 2001 to adopt a 1-year-old, their passion for helping homeless kids ignited.

China-Related TV

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

News

Borders to be shut if struck by bird flu: China will shut its borders if there is a single case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu in the country, its deputy health minister has said.

Featured Flickr Photo

Bridge at Zhujiajiao - Shanghai
This bridge was built in 1571 during the Ming Dynasty. Located east in "the river Town" -Zhujiajiao on the Caogang River, its known as the "long rainbow".

(Courtesy of gaz_zoso)

News

Beijing Tian'anmen Square to Have a New Look: Mr. Wang, a cleaner in blue uniform, revealed that he started working on the square from 8:30 AM without a break at noon but only removed 1,000-odd chewing gum stains.

Left-behind Children Should Not Be Forgotten: Over the past decade, millions of rural elderly, women and children have been separated from the family's breadwinner as sons, husbands and fathers head to the cities in search of a better wage.

Foreign Language Fever Hits Beijing: Every Friday evening throughout the year, the English Corner at Renmin University of China said to be the "No 1 English Corner in Beijing" is swarming with hundreds of Chinese from different quarters and some foreigners who immerse themselves in chatting with the eager Chinese English learners.

'Grave' bird flu threat to China: China faces a "grave" threat from bird flu, Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu has warned.

Lady Bug Car Magnets

For Sale: Lady Bug Car Magnets

William (Tony) Hooker writes:

My wife and I searched for one of these magnets and couldn't find any so we had some made. We thought other adopting parents might also be interested.

See picture at this link.

5 1/2 inch wide circle (same size you see for school basketball/baseball teams) $5.00 each $1.50 shipping US 48 only Contact for shipping rates outside continental US 48

Email me at wahooker@gmail... for more information

Tee Shirts

The Allord Family Website has links to purchase various China-adoption related apparel.

Local Story

Families with adopted Chinese children appreciate town's diversity: "Yi ... er ... san," chants the small band of children huddled around a several knee-high tables pushed together. Every Thursday afternoon, the 5- to 7-year-olds gather after school in an empty classroom in the Pierce School to count and learn new words in Chinese.

News

'Babies for sale' on Chinese eBay: Chinese police are investigating a report of attempted baby trafficking on an internet auction site, according to a state-owned newspaper.

Moon real estate on sale in China: People in China now have the chance to "buy" land on the moon. Cashing in on China's current space fervour - its second manned mission has just returned to Earth - US firm Lunar Embassy has opened a base in Beijing.

Royal Chinese treasure discovered: Archaeologists studying the tomb of China's first emperor say he may have been buried with his state treasure. A magnetic scan of the site has revealed that a large number of coins are lying in the unopened tomb.

Local Story

Sheldon couple adopts baby from China: A Sheldon couple recently visited China to visit tourist sites and learn about the culture, but most importantly, to bring home a beautiful new daughter.

From NPR

Growing Chinese Military Strength Stirs Debate: America's relationship with China is drawing renewed attention from the Bush administration. China is a growing economic power and is well along with a military modernization effort. What are China's ultimate intentions?

News

Rumsfeld—China Sending 'Mixed Signals': Complaining of "mixed signals" from China, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday the communist government must demonstrate more clearly its interest in improving U.S.-China relations. He also lectured party officials on the lessons of democracy and free speech.

China's Second Manned Mission Lands Safely: Two Chinese astronauts are safely back on Earth after their Shenzhou 6 spacecraft successfully touched down on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia Sunday, concluding a five-day mission and China's second manned spaceflight.

China angry at Google map change: China has reacted angrily to a decision by the internet search engine Google to stop calling Taiwan a Chinese province.

Fresh bird flu outbreak in China: China has announced a fresh outbreak of bird flu, saying 2,600 birds have died from the disease in Inner Mongolia.

Kailee Wells

Chinese man donates marrow to U.S. girl: A doctor from eastern China donated his bone marrow Monday in the hope of helping an 8-year-old American girl with a potentially deadly blood disease. Wang Lin, a doctor from Zhejiang province, underwent a procedure to have some of his bone marrow removed at Beijing's Dongpei Hospital to help treat Kailee Wells, a Chinese-born American citizen suffering from aplastic anemia.

Chinese Characters

From Studio Ditte:

Chinese characters, calligraphical works of art, have been the source of inspiration for the character pillows. In China, red represents fortune. Therefore, the pillows are available in several shades of red. The pillows represent Heaven, Woman or Moon and can be a symbolic present.

Local Stories

Hannah's homecoming: Two years of cutting through red tape and three days in the Twin Cities airport yielded something that made the considerable hassle endured by Ron and Bliss Rovang worthwhile.

China-Related TV

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

NPR -- This I Believe

The Power of Love to Transform and to Heal: We adopted Luke four years ago. The people from the orphanage dropped him off at our hotel room without even saying goodbye. He was nearly six years old, only 28 pounds and his face was crisscrossed with scars.

Pictures

Life in Yunnan's ancient village

Local Story

Triple plum blessing: The story of Nora, Alice and Anna Youtz of Tenafly begins on a bridge in Qinzhou, a Chinese city of a million people so far south it is almost in Vietnam. On May 25 last year, three tiny morsels wrapped in baby blankets were found by a passer-by who reported them to the district police station. Police officer Gan Xiang-ming picked them up and took them to the city welfare office.

News

Taiwan protests over Google map: Taiwan has asked the internet search engine Google to stop referring to the island as a province of China on its map web site.

More Women Contracting Breast Cancer at Earlier Age: More Chinese women are suffering from breast cancer and are contracting the disease at an earlier age than a decade ago, according to a survey by the Ministry of Health.

News

Second manned spacecraft successfully takes off: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday hailed the successful launch of China's second manned spacecraft Shenzhou-6, reiterating China's policy for peaceful use of space.

China's average life expectancy at 71.8: According to statistics, China's average life expectancy has increased to 71.8 years, infant mortality rate reduced to 2.55%, mortality rate of children below five years old fell to 2.99%, and mortality rate of pregnant and lying-in women also declined to 0.0513%.

China's wealth gap reaching critical level: Eight years ago, Chen Hua thought she'd put poverty behind her when she left her remote, mountain village in Sichuan province for a factory job in China's booming Pearl River Delta.

Forty Million Missing Girls

Forty Million Missing Girls: In the study of China's rural development, economists and political scientists have frequently examined land policy, while demographers, sociologists and anthropologists look at family planning. Yet in real life the two domains are closely related as households attempt to match and manage their land and labor resources. This article brings together questions about land, gender and family planning in relation to both policy and practice. It draws on fieldwork in rural north China and comparative data to examine and assess local and regional variations in the critical gender imbalance in contemporary rural China.

Local Story

Adopting abroad: The task of preparing for a new child can be overwhelming for any parent, but for adoptive parents the task can seem even more daunting -- especially if the preparation includes a trip halfway around the world.

China Related TV

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

Eat a Panda

Mmmm . . . Panda . . .

Have a wild party! Invite an adorable panda made easily with cake mix and frosting in a tub.

(Thanks Brian!)

Local Story

Lakeview woman to travel around the world to adopt: The room is ready. The walls are painted pink, furniture is in place and clothes are tucked away and hanging in the closet. Like any expectant mother, Lisa Drake of Lakeview is ready for the arrival of her daughter. But Drake will not become a mother by a trip to a local hospital.

Picture of the Day

A male giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

News

Sizzling Shanghai: Everybody had warned me to expect huge changes in Shanghai, and I had read enough about this economic showcase of the new China to believe that I was prepared for what I'd see. But I was wrong. To begin with, there's the sheer volume of recently erected skyscrapers stretching for miles in every direction in this city of 17 million people.

Shenzhen, Guangzhou Most Inconvenient Cities to Go to the Restroom: Shenzhen and Guangzhou are considered to be the most inconvenient cities for people to go to the restroom, according to a survey released in September by the Horizon Group (HG), a leading firm in professional research and management consulting in China.

Women in China Embrace Divorce as Stigma Eases: In this lush, affluent region where adultery is so ingrained that wealthy businessmen keep their lovers in "concubine villages," infidelity is often tolerated in a marriage. But Cai Shaohong could not put up with it.

Local Story

Triple plum blessing: The story of Nora, Alice and Anna Youtz of Tenafly begins on a bridge in Qinzhou, a Chinese city of a million people so far south it is almost in Vietnam. On May 25 last year, three tiny morsels wrapped in baby blankets were found by a passer-by who reported them to the district police station. Police officer Gan Xiang-ming picked them up and took them to the city welfare office.

China Related TV

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