I am an American teacher living in Los Angeles who found your wonderful newspaper on the Internet. I have long had a passionate interest in Shanghai and plan to visit someday soon, and am most pleased by its spectacular recent makeover.

I also want to say that although the current US administration has been very unfair to China regarding the trade situation, not all Americans feel that China is to blame for our weak economy. Actually, it is the Bush administration itself that is to blame and President George W Bush has become very unpopular here in the past year in the aftermath of the Iraq war, our enormous budget deficit and the disastrous economy.

One can only hope that a new president will be elected here next year who will be friendlier toward China, rather than looking for a scapegoat for its own self-made problems. So, I write this message to your paper to wish for the continued growth and success of Shanghai, China, and to the furthering of healthy US-China relations.

Michael Topper

Bring on beauty contests

I believe the government's legalizing of beauty contests is something to celebrate because it means women are being treated less unequally compared with men. In the past, it was not only beauty contests that were banned - gone with them were women's important rights to compete and celebrate their gender characteristics as men have been legally able to do.

For men, sports were more than competitions for honour - they have always been contests of masculinity. Sportsmen are hailed as "men of men".

Although sportswomen have also been respected, it was mostly because of the honour they have won for the country. Look at the Majiajun women runners or women weightlifters and you will realize that most sportswomen are labeled as being too "mannish". A real contest for femininity has been unfairly absent for too long.

Now, beauty contests make up for such a lack by providing a public arena in which they can compete and celebrate femininity. So I believe that the lifting of the ban is an advance for gender equality.

Xu Zhihua