Devoted
college professor
EVERY time
Professor Zhou Zhong'an enters the classroom in the Shanghai Dong Hua
University, he forgets all his troubles and tiredness. "The podium is
like a stage, and I am an actor," he said. He is the only full-professor
in the English department and his lessons are welcomed by many students.
Let your Chi flow smoothly
IN traditional Chinese therapy, there is a saying: "There will be no pain if the Chi flows smoothly; if there is pain, that means the Chi is blocked."
New view on clogged arteries
LONDON - A key immune protein scientists believed could prevent clogged arteries does just the opposite - it causes the disease, US scientists said last week.
Enzyme key to miscarriages
LONDON - Millions of women may be susceptible to miscarriage because they and their babies are short of a protective enzyme, New Scientist magazine said last week.
Designers scent value of pretty packaging
By Xu Xiaomin
A LEGEND,"mai du huan zhu," tells the story of a man who spent a lot of money on a box of pearls. To others' great surprise, he kept the box and threw away the valuable pearls. "I like the exquisite box much more than the pearls contained in it," he said. In real life, when we see a bottle of perfume, I think many of us will still think like that man. The exquisite perfume bottle is often much more attractive than the perfume itself. Carla Bordignon, the author of "Perfume Bottles," is maybe such a person. In this book, she shows us a stunning collection of bottles. Shanghai Star invites you to have a look. A wonderful bottle, with its top shaped like a bird spreading its wings, is from Nina Ricci, which expresses French people's hope for peace (Picture 1). This house has always devoted great care to the aesthetic presentation of its various fragrances. A spiral-shaped bottle, splendid even in miniature, created for Montana's 1988 woman's perfume. The designer is Serge Mansau. (Picture 2). The book also takes us to another part of world - Japan, where, in 1965, Shiseido launched a sophisticated, spicy-floral scent called Zen. The bottle is a unique example of an entirely oriental elegance. Black and gold reflect a taste of mystery. Not exactly beautiful but unusual, this metal bottle looks like a fortune-teller's crystal ball. It was created for Empreinte by the French couturier Courreges, once famous for designing women's clothes that were made partly of metal (Picture 3). When luxury is transformed into art: this phrase has been used to describe Christian Lacroix, the brilliant Parisian fashion designer and avant-garde artist. His perfume, C'est la Vie!, comes in an exquisite bottle with a coral top. Next to the miniature bottle is the splendid purse spray, whose sinuous lines were inspired by a branch of coral. For Vent Vert, by Balmain, a great success in 1947 that was relaunched in 1990, an exquisite presentation was chosen: a miniature hatbox holds a bottle topped with a windblown leaf. Black, red and white are classic colours. This highly original and elegant presentation for the miniature bottle of Paloma Picasso, accompanied by a perfumed cream, was personally designed by Pablo Picasso's daughter in 1985. These strange bottles in the form of lips, closed with opaque glass ‘noses' were designed by Salvador Dali and contain his well-known perfume. On the right, a soap from the same line. This perfume, Ombre Rose, is made in France for Jean Charles Brosseau. The bottle, shown here in the translucent version, is an exquisite work of art, ornamented with a floral pattern cut in relief on the frosted glass (Picture 4). Also a sophisticated, oriental-style bottle of intense, luminous china blue was created for Bleu de Chine, a fragrance by Marc de la Morandiere. The bottle was designed by Serge Mansau in 1987. The shape and colour give it the look of a Chinese snuff bottle used by aristocrats of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) (Picture 5).
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