Month: January 2020

As part of the 20th Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival, a Japan Cuisine Festival kicked off in Beijing on Jan 8.

The opening ceremony took place at Nadaman Japanese restaurant in China World Summit Wing. A ceremony of kagami mochi involving Japanese sake, making rice cake and filleting tuna were held during the opening ceremony to present the culture of Japanese cuisine.

Wang Xiuqin, the general manager of the China Performing Arts Agency, said with the coming Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020 and Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, the two countries will have more communication, and the Japan Cuisine Festival aims to promote more cultural communication through food.

The Japan Cuisine Festival will last till Jan 20. Nine restaurants including Nadaman were recommended by the Japanese Cuisine Chefs Club in Beijing.

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During the winter in China’s Heilongjiang province, it is not uncommon to see temperatures below -30 C. Despite the intense cold, "flowers" still find a way to bloom.

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An exhibition opened at the Overseas Chinese Museum of China on Jan 10 to display key intangible cultural heritages from Foshan, a city in Guangdong province.

As a hub of Cantonese culture, Foshan has a rich legacy of folk art. At the exhibition, which runs through March 29, traditional paper-cutting, woodblock printing, pottery and lanterns are available for public viewing, as well as props used in lion dancing and Cantonese Opera, echoing the festive mood of the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Visitors are able to experience these intangible cultural heritages firsthand by making New Year paintings, paper-cuttings and pottery figurines. Foshan is the hometown of over 800,000 overseas Chinese now living in more than 70 countries and regions, which helps to promote traditional Chinese culture worldwide.

Many overseas Chinese celebrities’ ancestral home is Foshan, including kung fu film star Bruce Lee. Thanks to Lee, the local martial arts of Foshan have become a world-renowned cultural legacy.

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An increasing number of Chinese students have learned a harsh lesson regarding visas for the United States and are looking at new destinations to fulfill their overseas study needs, specialists say.

US visa obstacles and climbing tuition fees mean students are examining options for other countries for higher education, as well as institutions at home, industry professionals claim.

“Chinese students’ enthusiasm for American higher education has been dampened by the US administration’s visa policy, which has delayed or denied entry to many of them, especially those aiming for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degrees,” says Annabelle Ding, admission representative at the Columbia University School of Professional Studies, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

According to the nonpartisan think tank Migration Policy Institute, international student enrollment at US colleges and universities dropped for the third year in a row, and the number of student visas issued to Chinese applicants went down by 54 percent in 2018 from 2015.

“Recent US policies have affected its image and reputation, obstructed exchanges with other countries, and undermined its own interests,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in November.

“Today, it is all the more important for us to create positive conditions for the exchange of students as well as people-to-people ties with an open and inclusive attitude,” Geng said.

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The 2020 Expo Dubai, which kicked off on Oct 20 and end in April 2021, will feature a 1,500-square-meter Chinese Culture Palace, said the organizer at a news conference in Shanghai on Friday.

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The 2020 Expo Dubai is the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East.

Themed “Culture, A Bridge To Bond”, the palace consists of a 350-square-meter Chinese food tasting area, a 200-square-meter display area for traditional Chinese culture, a patio restaurant and an experience center for Chinese tea ceremony and zen culture.

The palace will be located near the main ring road of the expo, 150 meters away from the China Pavilion.

Chen Gang, chief representative of the Chinese Culture Palace and vice chairman of the Chinese Culture Promotion Society, said the palace will be an ideal space for cultural activities and business meetings. Various performances will also be held during traditional Chinese holidays that take place during the expo, such as the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival in 2021.

Zong Zhiquan, curator of the Chinese Culture Palace, said the palace reflects the expo’s theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and will act as a bridge of friendship between Chinese and people from around the world.

A 42-day exhibition of Chinese cultural brands will also be held at the palace during the expo. Some 1,500 Chinese companies from the cultural industry are expected to attend the exhibition.

Faizah Al Blooshi, consul general of the United Arab Emirates in Shanghai, expressed hope that the event will promote culture exchange and deepen cooperation between China and the UAE in the fields of education, tourism and media.

 

LONDON — Britain was on course Thursday to finally end its membership of the European Union (EU) in just three weeks time.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s fast-track race to “get Brexit done” cleared its final hurdle in the House of Commons when his European Union Withdrawal Bill cleared its final hurdle by a vote of 330 to 231.

The bill will now be debated in the House of Lords next week, but given its clear run in the Commons, it is not expected to face any tough opposition, and is almost certain to win Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth within days.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said he had no doubt politicians in the Lords “will have heard the resounding message from the British people on Dec 12 (general election day)” and will have seen the clear will of the House of Commons.

Not joining in the celebrations was Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party’s leader at Westminster, who warned Brexit would cause a constitutional crisis for the United Kingdom.

“Today will go down as the final nail in the coffin for this broken union — as Scotland faces being dragged out of the EU against our will by an extreme Tory government with no mandate here,” he told MPs after the voting concluded Thursday.

Blackford said Scotland would at some point have an independence referendum and would remain as an independent European country.

Johnson on Wednesday ruled out a Scottish referendum, saying people of Scotland voted in a “once in a generation” vote in 2014 to remain part of the UK.

The bill paves the way for Britain to end, more than 3.5 years after the referendum, its EU membership on Jan 31 and strike a new trade deal with Brussels by the end of the year. Until then Britain will continue to follow all EU rules and regulations.

There are many benefits to living in Beijing, one of them being you forget it’s Christmastime. In the West, the festive season is promoted in every form imaginable from late September. There is no escape as every advertising hoarding, publication, TV and radio channel is plastered with messages urging you to spend money on presents, wrapping paper, cards, decorations and food.

What always amuses me is the deep-seated hatred many people have for Christmas despite its happy theme. I count myself among them.

Families are complicated things at the best of times and throwing members together against their will does not bode well. Especially when you add financial strain and alcohol to the mix.

The consumerism that has overtaken the original Christian holiday has long been fodder for satire. People are never more stressed or miserable than they are at this period of enforced happiness. If I were a Christian, I’d be hacked off with how an ancient tradition had been hijacked by private enterprise as a vehicle for excessive consumer spending.

Before this, perhaps Christmas was more enjoyable. Nowadays the season has turned into a grotesque contest of ego and excess.

Despite being marketed as a tradition, Christmas has changed its appearance and rites over the years. First, there’s the decorated tree in your house. This was made trendy by the Saxe-Coburg, sorry, Windsor royal family in Victorian times.

Then there’s the food. Most people eat turkey when a side of beef would have been traditional. The similarity to America’s Thanksgiving is not lost on me.

The biggest grievance I and many hold against the season is the pressure to spend more money than one can afford. Christmas? I call it Stressmass.

I attempted to stem the rage by focusing on the youngest family members. It helped for a while, but my niece is now an adult. Attempting to bring some joy to children is one of the few positives about Christmas. But I fear this is being lost as more learn at an earlier age that Santa Claus does not exist. The glut of presents they can receive also makes it harder for them to be appreciative.

I shall save the best till last: the music. The godforsaken, schmaltzy, saccharine music. Many artists have produced Christmas songs over the decades. But for some reason, radio stations and shops stick to the same dozen played on a loop.

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard has to be the worst. If hell exists, then that’s what it would be. Imagine an eternity of finding yourself trapped indoors by freezing weather. Your day is spent attempting to navigate your way around argumentative relatives, anxiety and disappointment over gifts, then climaxing with a food frenzy. By early evening, you and the others pass out in an alcoholic stupor on the sofa. As you drift off, the audio of a TV festive special is punctuated by group flatulence. The horror.

Amid it all, there are the true believers. Those who claim to love Christmas and try to enforce this view on everyone else. Anyone who disagrees with them is labeled a Scrooge no matter their argument. These people are the most terrifying of extremists. I hope they’re on a watch list.

What a relief it’s all over. Safely ensconced in the Middle Kingdom, I’m no longer hounded by carolers, dazzled by fairy lights or forced to grin at poorly chosen presents. But now it’s your turn: I would like to wish all readers of China Daily a happy Spring Festival!

Contact the writer at [email protected]

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Guangxi Science and Technology Publishing House recently launched a new edition of children’s science popularization book Wa! Kexue Haojiandan (Wow! Science Is So Easy, originally the ExploraDoc Collection). The first edition, comprising nine volumes, was first introduced into China from France in 2014. It covered nine themes—aviation, energy, water resources, minerals, agriculture, forestry, fishery, publication and social security in five major areas: condensed matter physics, life science, geosciences, technology and engineering, and social science.

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More then 40 professional organizations and companies, including French national library, Airbus and research institutes of ocean development and geology cooperated with five science popularization writers and three illustrators to create book’s content through more than 100 large-scale studies and interviews.

In the new edition of two-volume hardcover book, the publisher has upgraded the content and added more than 1,000 photos taken during the research and interviews. Chinese domestic experts have been invited to proofread the book so as to guarantee its accuracy.

Yin Chuanhong, deputy secretary of Chinese Writer Association of Science Popularization, said at Beijing Book Fair on Jan 9 that the book is really a difficult project because creators had to talk to people from all walks of life to learn first-hand information and knowledge. Each scientific adventure in the book starts with a common thing and inspires children to observe and think about science in everyday life. While exploring all the details behind the curtain, the book also offers a trans-disciplinary angle that will help children to nurture a thinking mode that can connect knowledge of different areas in a systematic way.

“Good books of science popularization will not only provide children with knowledge, but also influence the way they think,” he said.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for deepening the strategic partnership between China and the League of Arab States in upholding international peace and justice and promoting the political resolution of hot regional issues.

Wang made the remarks on Tuesday in a meeting in Cairo, Egypt, with Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit of the League of Arab States.

It was the first stop on Wang’s first trip of the year, which will also take him to Djibouti, Eritrea, Burundi and Zimbabwe.

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China considers the league’s role to be an important one and appreciates its upholding fair and objective positions on major international and regional issues. It supports Arab countries’ use of the league as a platform for coordination in coping with challenges, Wang said.

He hailed the outstanding achievements of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and underlined the need for the two sides to use the ninth ministerial meeting of the forum, which is set for later this year, as an opportunity to raise a unified voice on developments that affect the region.

Gheit said the league attaches great importance to relations with China, adding that all league members are willing to discuss the building of a China-Arab states community with a shared future.

The Arab states appreciate China’s fairness and the positive role it plays in resolving issues in various hot spots in the Middle East, Gheit said, and they thank China for its consistent, firm support of the Arab people, particularly the Palestinians, as they strive to protect their rights and interests.

Speaking about issues related to China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Wang expressed gratitude to Gheit for the league’s staunch support for China’s policies. He said the country will welcome officials from Arab states who want to visit Xinjiang so that they can witness the situation firsthand and feel the effects of the region’s anti-terrorism and deradicalization measures. They can also observe the religious freedom, stability and prosperity of the region, he said.

Gheit said the league fully understands China’s position on Xinjiang and opposes interference in China’s internal affairs.

In an interview with Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper on Wednesday, Wang criticized some Western media reports about Xinjiang, saying they were prejudicial and “choose to ignore basic facts”.

The media fabricate lies to smear and discredit the counterterrorism and deradicalization efforts in Xinjiang, and even try to drive a wedge between China and Islamic countries, Wang said.

He expressed confidence that the people of Egypt and the wider Islamic world will take an objective and impartial position and not be deceived by such deliberate misinformation.

China’s government has shown great resolve in embracing blockchain, promoting the technology as a new frontier of innovation in industries such as finance, manufacturing and energy.

Following the government’s determination, Nasdaq-listed digital services provider Xunlei is using its expertise in blockchain technology to inject new impetus to China’s industrial upgrading.

In October, China’s leadership announced more efforts should be made to quicken the development of blockchain technology, highlighting its important role in new rounds of technological innovation and industrial transformation.

The remark fueled a significant surge in the stocks of related companies and reinforced blockchain as a key buzzword in China.

In November, a number of government policies were released in support of blockchain as well as 57 new blockchain application projects. Among them, most apply to e-governance and finance sectors, according to information platform Interchain Pulse, based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

“Blockchain creates a permanent, unchangeable and transparent record of exchanges to keep track of every piece of information. It can bring order, trust and cryptography rules to the internet world,” said Chen Lei, CEO of Xunlei and its subsidiary Shenzhen Onething Technologies.

Achievements

Xunlei has invested in the potential of blockchain technology since 2016 to address challenges in areas such as finance, e-governance and law. ThunderChain, a high-performance blockchain platform developed by Onething Technologies and rolled out in April 2018, is capable of concurrently conducting 1 million transactions per second.

Based on Xunlei’s independently developed proprietary homogeneous multi-chain framework, ThunderChain is capable of realizing confirmation and interaction among homogeneous chains and enables multiple transactions to be executed on different chains in parallel, according to the company.

Xunlei has made great strides in promoting the application of ThunderChain. As part of its efforts, it developed a traceable privacy solution which allows multi-level permissions to meet both privacy and traceability requirements and ensure both data protection and regulation. The technology, introduced by Xunlei in July, has credible, decentralized network architecture; meanwhile, it encrypts and hides data by encryption algorithms such as ring signature and zero-knowledge proof to protect user privacy, according to Xunlei.

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In addition, a cryptographic approach is used for risk mitigation at the maximum and protection of users’ lawful rights to meet the needs of organizations or faculties with information control authority. A recent report discussing the application of the technology was compiled by the Chinese Association for Cryptologic Research, according to Xunlei.

Currently, Xunlei has introduced 16 products covering six industries of finance, social welfare, law, healthcare, e-governance and manufacturing over the year to serve different real-life scenarios, the company said.

“Blockchain technology should be adopted more in real-life scenarios rather than just being studied in laboratories, as the problems encountered during practical use can help improve blockchain technology and contribute toward new breakthroughs,” Chen said.

ThunderChain was adopted by more than 100 enterprises and organizations and used in more than 50 projects in 2019. Xunlei’s partners included the Copyright Protection Center of China, the Shenzhen Copyright Society, digital marketing service provider Hylink and Naresuan University Hospital in Thailand, the report said.