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| FOCUS |
WHAT is more important for a park - a nice scenery to please the eye or a better ecological effect to comfort the whole body?
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| Focus |
- Eyes versus lungs
WHAT is more important for a park - a nice scenery to please the eye or a better ecological effect to comfort the whole body?
- Trees on the move
PLANTING grown trees in newly constructed real estate projects has become a trend in big cities like Shanghai. Trees with thick trunks are transported hundreds of kilometres from the countryside of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other provinces.
- High price of protection
SUZHOU, the back garden of Shanghai, plans to raise the ticket price of its eight famous gardens which have been added to the World Heritage List, in an aim to better protect the parks.
- Visa retaliation
AFTER the Chinese Government failed to prevent the US deciding to fingerprint all Chinese visitors when they apply for non-immigrant visas, 300 Chinese students were among those putting their index fingers onto a small scanner in the US Embassy on March 22, the first day of the new procedure.
- Expert comments on US fingerprint visa policy
HU Jian, an expert from the Shanghai Co-operative Organization Studies Centre of the Academy of Social Sciences, said the fingerprinting action was an example of the US Government's persistence in its attitude of unilateralism in international relations.
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| News |
- Radical Shi'ite headache
BAGHDAD, Iraq - In taking on a radical Shi'ite cleric, Washington risks sparking a prolonged fight with his anti-American supporters. But Muqtada al-Sadr is not popular with most Shi'ites, and by acting now, the US could silence him and shut down his militia, scoring key victories ahead of the transfer of power to Iraqis on June 30.
- Koizumi shrine visits judged unconstitutional
TOKYO - A Japanese court ruled on April 7 that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had violated the constitution by visiting a shrine honouring Japan's military war dead, a landmark ruling on the annual pilgrimages that have angered Japan's neighbours, particularly China.
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| Voice of people |
- Oppertunists and victims at large
Pickpocketing is one of the oldest and most widespread crimes in history, so why did I think it would be any different in China. My last two months in Shanghai have been simply amazing and I can honestly say that nowhere have I felt safer. Despite hustle and bustle, an inability to comprehend Chinese and the everyday challenges of life in a foreign city, I have found integrity, support and a true willingness to help from everyone I've met.
- Check your mobile phone bill
Mobile phones make life easier. You can reach people and information wherever you go. And you can be reached. The increasing services such as short messaging have made telecommunication cheaper and cheaper. For 10 cents (US$0.012), you can send a message containing 70 characters. Meanwhile, you can receive information messages for a reasonable price.
- Glass ceilings and glass floors
As a former female manager, I thought I'd escaped the glass ceiling syndrome in Sydney, only to be confronted by the treachery of glass floors in Shanghai.
- Nonconformism or debauchery?
Not so long ago, both Chinese ladies and gentlemen hid their faces and left the theatre cursing after seeing the scene in the movie "The Wilderness" in which Liu Xiaoqing indulged in sexual intercourse with her lover.
- Smashing our way to law reform
On March 15, a couple from Harbin in Northeast China publicly smashed a Toshiba rear-projection TV into pieces in the pouring rain. They did so to express their anger and frustration that the TV, having already undergone numerous repairs and replacements, still failed to function properly and the seller or the manufacturer had shown every reluctance to solve the problem or pay a refund (Southern Weekend, April 1).
- A madness unleashed on the world
Have you ever stopped to wonder about where things come from? For example the concept of karaoke, which has always fascinated me. According to legend it was an invention born out of one man's madness. Pioneered by Mi Karaoke for his company's office parties, he was reported to have committed suicide after hearing people "karaoking" in his head.
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| Profile |
- Capturing
hidden depth
FOR Li Haiyan,
the difference between celebrities and ordinary people is that
the former know better about how to present themselves in front
of the camera, while it may take the latter much more time to
learn how to do so.
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| Culture |
- Unnatural
experiences
The
ancient Chinese town of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang Province, draws
millions of visitors every year. They flock particularly to
its famous West Lake (Xihu), which is widely praised as one
of China's foremost sites of "natural beauty". As with fellow
"heaven on earth" Suzhou, in neighbouring Jiangsu Province,
Western visitors to Hangzhou tend to mix appreciation with concerns
about the threat posed by development. Superficially, such apprehensions
are directed at the encroaching cranes, skyscrapers and traffic,
but closer attention to Xihu reveals an unsettling infusion
of culture into nature that goes far deeper and wider than this.
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