News

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in Beijing Under Renovation: According to administrative office of Temple of Heaven in Beijing, on May 7 the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in Temple of Heaven was closed for renovation, which will be officially started on May 17.

Mum's the Word for Chinese in New Trend: Mother's Day is yet another Western occasion to become popular among Chinese people along with Christmas and Valentine's Day.

China to build giant panda museum: China plans to build a new giant panda museum which aims to be the biggest of its kind to introduce efforts to save the endangered animal and its habitat. The main theme of the 5,000 square meter (53,800 square foot) museum in Chengdu, capital of the southwest province of Sichuan, will be "man, panda and the harmony of nature."

Crime time for Chinese net users: Around 20% of the world's hijacked computers sending out spam, attacking websites and hosting unsavoury material are in China, says a report.

Chinese families become smaller: China's reform and opening up has not only brought about great changes to the economy and society, but also transformed Chinese marriages and family structure in an unprecedented way. Population expert Tang Can believes that in the last thirty years Chinese families have shown diversified patterns. The scale of family is becoming smaller and the marriage functions of families are being gradually weakened.

Labor Camps That Operate Outside the Courts: Here in a bleak stretch of eastern China, Mr. Li, 40, spent two years in a prison called Shandong No. 2 Labor Re-education Camp. Mr. Li, who spoke on condition that only his surname be used, and other followers of the banned spiritual group Falun Gong have been jailed here despite never having a lawyer or a trial—rights granted under China's criminal law.

Local Story

Young eyes help couple see life anew: "We read her (Anchee) books. I tell her she was born in China," Michelle said, smiling at the memory of her daughter's response: "She asked me, 'What part of China were you born in?'"

China Related TV

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

Happy Mother's Day

And I'll express heart-felt sympathy for those I know who have recently lost their mother. I'm truly sorry for your loss.

Local Story

Parents nurture bond between Chinese toddlers: The two dark-haired toddlers looked at each other and smiled. They held hands and played with a Fisher-Price phone together. When one walked away, the other followed.

News

Zhang Ding's masterpieces on display: Zhang Ding was born in northeast China in 1917. He established his fame for his skill of drawing caricatures, and later shifted to design. At the beginning of 1960s, Zhang Ding made innovative changes to Chinese painting by using western painting techniques as a reference.

Chinese Classes Grow in Popularity with U.S. Students: Mandarin Chinese classes are growing more popular with U.S. students. Tara Siler visits students at a public high school in Oakland, Calif., and has this report. [NPR Audio]

China Braces for a More Valuable Yuan: As speculators across Asia place ever larger bets on a revaluation of China's currency soon, investors and corporate executives alike are trying to prepare for what a more valuable yuan will mean for stocks and companies.

Local Story

Mother's Day blessings from China: Since China opened its borders less than 10 years ago to international adoptions, the United States has become the largest participant in Chinese adoptions, averaging 6,000 per year. Knox County is seeing its own population boom of families with adopted Chinese daughters. To date, there are at least a dozen families with 14 Chinese daughters, and more are on the way. Recently area mothers and their daughters gathered to discuss thier Mother's Day blessings from China.

Birth Moms

Remembering the other mother on Mother's Day: I'm not sure if they celebrate Mother's Day in China. But there is a mother somewhere in Hunan province I will be honoring this week as we approach the second Sunday in May. Actually, the woman my family calls "China Mommy" is someone I think about virtually every day, not just on the designated date each year that marketers want us to send flowers and cards with standardized sentiments. It's impossible not to wonder about her each time I dress my daughter, or brush her silky, straight black hair, or listen to her enthusiastic belly laugh. I wonder if she looks like her birth mother and if I'm seeing China Mommy's face when I gaze at my daughter's.

Blogging Baby

Blogging Baby has links to some very interesting content.

Blogging Baby is a blog -- an online magazine -- about pregnancy, baby care and parenting. We cover what we think is interesting as parents ourselves.

Local Story

Family's adoption story spans the world, Web: Just to get to China, they spent 26 hours in airplanes and airports, starting in Greensboro and ending in Beijing. Two weeks later, Larry and Rebecca Weisberg, plus sons Aaron, 14, and Cutter, 10, would repeat the same tedious routine en route home. Only this time, the Weisbergs had a new family member -- 2-year-old Lexi -- along for the ride.