Vol. 15 No. 6 Nov. – Dec., 2004

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crieng@cri.com.cn

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In This Issue

Chinese Festivals-Dongzhi 2

Heart is the Key 3

Origin of Chinese Characters 4

Days in Zaozhuang 5

Shen Che and His Affinity with World Folklore Culture

6

Voices from other lands 7

Shanghai on the Maglev 8

The people of France have tasted the oriental fla-vour of China during the past year and China is now enjoying the culture and arts of France, with the start of France Culture Year on October 10th. French president Jacque Chirac, who was on a state

visit to China, helped launch the highly anticipated

French Culture Year in China, aside from his usual

diplomatic tour of duty.

A performance of the well-known French stunt flying team Patrouille de France, an electronic concert by Jean-Michel Jarre, an exhibition of the Life of Charles de Gaulle, a collection of French impres-sionist art works - all of these are responsible for a strong French presence in China's present cultural climate. Three months after the conclusion of the China Culture Year in France, French artists are now bringing their great talents and excellent works to the Chinese people. Many Chinese people still remember how during this year's Spring Festival the Eiffel Tower was cloaked in red to celebrate France's China Culture Year, and how a grand Chinese cultural performance along the Champs-Elysees brought excitement to the French public. Commencing in Paris during October 2003, the China Culture Year lasted ten months before coming to an end this July after a variety of cultural activities, including art exhibitions, song and dance perform-ances, antique exhibitions, films and fashion dis-plays. "The statistics show that more than 60% of the French people favor Chinese culture, which demon-strates that the China Culture Year has had some positive effect among the French public," said Zhang Xiaoming, Deputy Director of Cultural Research Center with the Chinese Academy of Social Sci-ences. France and China can be seen to share a number of similarities in respect to history and culture. The western country has the bitter memory of being rav-aged politically, economically and militarily, but its culture has never been subdued, leaving it with ex-periences to which China can very easily relate. The famous modern scholar Gu Hongming once said that only the French can really understand Chinese peo-ple and Chinese culture, a view that is still shared by many French and Chinese. "They have old relation,” said Jeanraphael Pey-tregnet from the French embassy in Beijing. “I think that's the common ground. They understand each other because of the duration of our history, and the importance of our respective culture. We are influ-encing neighboring countries. We share the same

idea of culture diversity. We believe every culture is worth to learn and can have positive influence towards the others." Three months after the conclusion of the China Culture Year in France, it was the turn of the France Culture Year to begin in Beijing with an extravagant show by France's electronic Jean-Michel Jarre in the Forbidden City. Typically, most Chinese people's gut impression of France is simply of a romantic country, but the staging of various exhibitions and music perform-ances is making many have second thoughts. The modern music and advanced techniques employed in many of the French events make it clear that this is a modern country inspired by innovation and creation. Elsewhere in Beijing, fifty-one precious paintings of various French impressionistic artists, mainly from the Museum D'Orsay, are making their debut in the China Art Gallery. Furthermore, a French fashion show celebrating the last century, and a huge buffet to be held on the Great Wall are introducing Chinese people to the most famous western country for fashion and food. Apart from Beijing, over 200 cultural activities will be held over the coming year in Hong Kong, Shanghai and other major cities across China. Jeanraphael Peytregnet from the French embassy is delighted to see how enthusiastic Chinese peo-ple are towards these shows. "It is just a beginning, but it is very encouraging if you look at the people visiting the exhibition of impressionist, if you look at the coverage of media in general. I think it is already very impressive."

The two countries may have a long history of cul-ture exchange, but in the past China was still little known or understood overseas. Hopefully this is now changing, with Deputy Director Zhang Xiaoming believing that cultural influence in-creases as a country grows in strength. He gives his view on China's presently unbalanced interna-tional situation. "China has such a long history and rich cultural tradition, but its cultural influence in the present world does not yet match its heritage." At the beginning of 20th century, translated Chi-nese literature was introduced into France, bring-ing with it Chinese drama, Chinese everyday life, Chinese folk customs and Chinese philosophy. Towards the end of the same century, Chen Kaige's film "Farewell, My Concubine" shared the

honors at 1993's Cannes Film Fes-tival, an achieve-ment which helped to give Chinese films and directors access to the French market. Exchanges have accelerated in recent years and this culture year should serve as another healthy shot in the arm. "The success of China Culture Year in France marks a new stage in the part-nership between China and France,” said Chinese Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng. The enthusiasm of French people toward Chinese culture is not only because of the charm of ancient Chinese culture, but also because of the great achievements obtained by the Chinese people during the past two decades since the opening and reforms."

France Culture Year Comes to China

2 Chinese Festivals

http://www.crienglish.com

Vol. 15 No.6 Nov. - Dec., 2004

The 22nd or 23rd day of December every year is the shortest day and longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. After that day, also known as the Winter Solstice, the days become longer. As the ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated. It is called the Dong Zhi Festival, or the Winter Sol-stice Festival. This literally means the "arrival (zhi) of winter" (dong). Dong Zhi is the second most impor-tant festival of the Chinese calendar and is consid-ered the thanksgiving of the Chinese calendar. Dong Zhi is the last festival of the year. Coinciding with the winter solstice, it's a time for the en-tire family to get together to celebrate the past year. The Winter Solstice became a festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and thrived in the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). The Han people regarded Winter Sol-stice as a "Winter Festival", so officials would organize celebrations. On this day, both officials and common people rest. Relatives and friends share delicious food with each other. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day to offer scarifies to Heaven and ancestors. Em-perors would go to suburbs to worship the Heaven; while common people offered sacri-fices to their deceased parents or other rela-tives. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) even

had the record that "Winter Solstice is as formal as the Spring Festival," showing the great importance attached to this day. In some parts of Northern China, people eat dump-ling soup on this day; while residents of other places eat dumplings, to keep away the winter frost. In parts of South China, the whole family will get together to have a meal made of red-bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things. In other places, people eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of gluti-nous rice flour. The Winter Solstice rice dumplings

can be used as sacrifices to ancestors, or gifts for friends and relatives. The Taiwan people even have the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. They make cakes in the shape of a chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them on different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspi-ciousness in Chinese tradition. People of the same surname or family clan gather at their an-cestral temples to worship their ancestors in age order. After the sacrificial ceremony, there is al-ways a grand banquet. (Ning Yan)

I have been listening to CRI for quite a number of years - in fact the first time I picked up your radio station was 32 years ago. It was quite exciting in those days to listen to radio from a country so far away. We in Europe knew very little about China in those days. Things have changed in all those years but it is still fascinating to listen to your programs. I want to thank you for "The Messenger" which I have been receiving for many years. Also special thanks to you for the "Q&A in China", which you have been sending to me. I think this is really a great idea to put together some of the questions you have been receiving from you listeners in a booklet. There is so much interesting information about your country in these books. (Karl Pichler, Austria) It is with gladness and enthusiasm I am writing this letter. I acknowledge the receipt of the messenger you've sent to me. Reading the messenger has enabled me to know more about the interesting Chinese culture. I desire to learn Chinese language because I’ve started saving money to visit china. CRI is the best station for every radio listener. I really want to tell you I have introduced CRI to many people. Now they are regular listeners. (Aminu Idris, Nigeria)

As a regular listener of your broadcasts, I would like to tell you that I am very much enjoying listening your pro-grams, which are full of information, interest and knowl-edge about the China and the rest of the world. CRI's news and reports are the best way for me to remain in closer touch and all informed about China and its various aspects and the events taking place in and around China. Also there is no hesitation for me to say that your news and reports are always fast, up-to-date and in-depth and analysis are always proved to be on the target and to the point. On the other hand, your feature pro-grams are very nice source for us to know all about China and its various things including culture, history, sports, politics, business, etc. (Azam Soomro, Pakistan) I have listened to CRI for nearly a year and my son is also a listener. I especially enjoy the news programs in the evening (Central European Time) because of the

different perspective it gives of world events compared to the western media. I try to listen to the news on CRI on most evenings. I have also just discovered your splendid web site and I shall be spending some time exploring it

on a regular basis. (Michael Bailey, UK)

I eagerly listen to your programs. I saw your webpage, it is very interesting with a lot of information. I read some interesting top news in the main page. The news tells us the latest news around the world. Reading the news in the web page is very super. I will continuously listen to your programs by radio and web page. (S.Venketesan, India) I enjoy learning more about other countries and cultures. That's why I listen to the CRI on shortwave radio. I did not know that 9% of the population was made up of ethic minorities. It's very interesting to know about China's economic growth, which I think is good for China and the rest of the world. Peace through prosperity! ( Richard

D'angelo, USA)

CRI is the most important radio station not only in the far east but also in the whole world. Excellent reports from china, top actual news from China and the whole world marks this radio station. ( Georg Pleschberger, Austria) The contest on 55 Years of New China., in my opinion, offers a new and deep insight over 55 years of a big country which showed the entire world that sheer deter-mination, along with strong ideals and proper policies, could make dreams come true and in so doing make the world we all live in a better world for everybody. (Spinelli Daniel, Italy) I'm a student from England, And I'd like to say thanks to all of the CRI team, for their wonderful and accurate analysis of the world's events and insight into the Chi-nese way of life. It is of great interest to me, and I hope to visit your great nation sometime soon. (Matty Tait, UK)

- Winter Solstice Festival

Dongzhi

Mailbag Updated Broadcast Times and Fre-quencies for English Language

( Beginning at November 28th, 2004)

(Reflects most recent changes made to broadcasting schedule)

UTC Local Time Frequency (khz)

West Europe (U.K.)

2000-2200 2000-2200 5960 7285

0700-0900 0700-0900 11855 17490

1100-1300 1100-1300 13665

North America (East Coast)

0000-0200 2000-2200 6020 7170

0500-0600 0700-0800 7220 17505

North Af-rica (Egypt etc.)

0600-0700 0800-0900 11750 17505

3 Sports

http://www.crienglish.com

Vol. 15 No.6 Nov.- Dec. 2004

by Sportswriter Liang Tao

Blind Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli says “even if your speed is faster than the wind, your movement more agile than a leopard, your swimming smoother than a dolphin's, these are not enough to prove that you are greater than oth-ers unless you can understand that the heart is the strongest part of a body.” This is a striking description of the Paralympic athletes in Athens. For twelve days in September, the Ath-ens Olympic Stadium was the center of action for the world’s greatest Paralym-pic athletes, and what a show they put on! If anyone doubts the ever-improving standards, just think of this: no fewer than 135 world records were broken. Many athletes remarked on how they had underestimated the competition and vowed to start preparing immedi-ately for Beijing Games in four years time. China, host of the 2008 Summer Olym-pics, achieved historic glory in the Au-gust Olympics and then dominated the medals race at the Paralympic Games, which ended on September 28th. The Chinese, who came close to the United States in the medal standings at the able-bodied Athens Games, took 141 Paralympics medals - 63 gold, 46 silver and 32 bronze. No other nation had more than 100 medals. Chinese Paralympic officials and ath-letes attribute the nation’s strong showing to government support and training, which is expected to increase before 2008. “I think first it is the Chinese govern-ment support,” said Liu Guoyong, one of the delegation’s leaders. “There are more athletes than in Sydney.” In Athens, about 200 Chinese athletes competed for Paralympic medals in 11 sports, up from eight sports in Sydney. The 200 Paralympic athletes and 86 coaches and officials constitute the country’s largest turn-out in the history of the quadrennial event since China’s Paralympic debut in New York in 1984. Liu added that Chinese athletes aim to participate in 19 out of 21 sports in Beijing. The Athens-bound Chinese disabled athletes are from 29 provinces, munici-palities and autonomous regions and they average 26 years of age. Several moments deserve replay to remind people that they are very spe-cial athletes, without able-bodied peo-ple’s physical condition, but having equally strong, or stronger, willpower. Many people can still remember sharp-shooter Du Li’s win at the Athens Olympics ushering in the first playing of the Chinese national anthem and the first raising of its national flag. However, few people remember Li Jianfei, an average looking young

man, winning the first Paralympic gold medal for China about one month later. Li Jianfei, a Paralympic marksman from southwest China’s Yunnan Province, was not the best during the qualification competition of men’s air pistol SH1 at the Athens Markopoulo Olympic Shoot-ing Center. Macedonian Vanco Karanfilov led him by two points with a total of 568 points. However, in the final, Li took his chance when Karanfilov scored only 6.7 points with his first shot, reducing the gap to 0.2 points. With his third shot, Li outperformed his opponents for the first time with a 10-point score. With three consecutive 10s, Li widened his lead. It was calmness that secured Li’s vic-tory. After a mediocre 8.8 points with his 7th shot, Li calmed down. Although Karanfilov did quite well with his last two shots, Li maintained his accuracy, firing in a slow, elegant man-ner. With the final shot fired, Li pocketed the first gold medal for China at the 12th Paralympic Games. “I am satisfied with the outcome, not the score,” Li told reporters after the open-ing victory, speaking softly and mod-estly. “His performance is very steady, which is his biggest advantage,” said Chinese team manager Zhang Jinan. Another athlete deserving special atten-tion is Zhang Xiaoling, who won China’s 100th gold medal in the country’s Para-lympic history, as well as the ninth for herself. Zhang beat the odds to win five individ-ual golds in a single event in five con-secutive Paralympic Games after she won the women’s singles Classes 6-8. 47-year-old Zhang has never missed taking the gold in the eight events (four individual events and four team ones) since she made her debut at the Seoul Paralympics in 1988. She came to Athens seeking to go on with her gold rush, which could make her a legend in China’s Paralympic his-tory. The gold medal match was between Zhang and Marleen Bengtsson Kovacs from Sweden, 30 years her junior. The promising Swede got off to an excit-ing start when she claimed the first set with an overwhelming advantage of 11-4. However, the Chinese veteran, with ex-tremely strong nerves like her idol, able-bodied compatriot Deng Yaping, recov-ered to her form from the second set. She controlled the next three sets and finally sealed the 3-1 victory.

“I was very excited,” said Zhang. “I screamed and jumped after winning a point to encour-age myself.” Guo Xijing, Zhang’s coach, couldn’t stop her tears. “It’s too hard, too hard…” “She is already 47 and a little bit fat,” said Guo. “To conquer all this, she had to work twice, even three times as hard as the oth-

ers.” Yes, anyone who attended the Paralympic Games here will have immediately been im-pressed by the athleticism of the participants. Every Paralympic athlete, if he or she wants to emerge and will be feted on returning to his or her homeland, has much more to over-come than the able-bodied. Zhang Haiyuan, one of seven handicapped athletes from northeast China’s port city of Dalian, broke the world record to win the gold medal in Women’s Long Jump-F42. Uniped Zhang, born in 1977, lost her left leg during a traffic accident in the age of six. After her ten-year-old brother died of cancer, her parents divorced due to the pressure of the

two tragedies. Junior Zhang grew up as a strong willed young lady with her mother. In 1991, she was sent to a handicapped acro-batic troupe in Shenyang, the capital of north-east China’s Liaoning Province. She spent four

years traveling with the troupe. The wonderful

feats that so impressed the audiences were the result of indescribably hard training. In 1996, Zhang learnt that the 4th China Games for the Handicapped Games would be held in Dalian and that athletes with excellent records could be settle down in Dalian as per-manent residents. So she stayed in Dalian and found her husband here, who is a coach and trained the long jump and high jump gold medalists at the 4th China Games for the Handicapped. Pretty and open-minded, Zhang is highly ad-mired by handicapped athletes. After she became a gold medalist at the Para-lympic Games, the 27-year-old said, “I ex-pected to win the gold medal and I was sure that I was capable of breaking the world re-cord. But I can do even better.” As with Zhang Haiyuan, behind every Para-lympic athlete there is an impressive and in-spiring story. Each story confirms the famous saying: Genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. All-in-all, the 2004 Paralympic Games offered first class athletic competition and those who attended and witnessed will remember their experience for a lifetime. Moreover, about 300 observers from the Bei-jing Olympic organizing committee traveled to Athens during the Paralympics to learn from the local organizers. China will establish eight Paralympic training centers. All Chinese people look forward a similar or even more fantastic performance when Beijing hosts the games in four years time.

Heart Is the Key

4 Learn Chinese

http://www.crienglish.com

Vol. 15 No.6 Nov. - Dec., 2004

Dear friends, so glad you are still there reading the article of “Learn Chinese Now!” This time we are going to learn two useful word phrases and two sentence structures that are related to weather

conditions. The first one is “变得… … ” (biàn de, to

become, turn) The autumn has already come here in Beijing. And

it becomes cooler and cooler. (秋天到了。天气变

得越来越凉快了。Qiūtiān dào le. Tiānqì biàn de

yuè lá i yuè liá ngkuai le.) You can also say ①

(天气变得越来越冷了。Tiānqì biàn de yuè lái yuè

lěng le. The weather is becoming colder and

colder. ), ②(天气变得越来越热了。Tiānqì biàn de

yuè lá i yuè rè le. The weather turns hotter and hotter.) From the sentences above you can draw such a general conclusion that usually an adjective de-

scribing the degree of a thing follows “变得… … ”.

Yes. You got it.

Another is “越来越” (yuè lái yuè, more and more).

“越来越” denotes an idea that the degree of some-

thing deepens as the time goes on. For example,

the tree grows taller and taller. ①树长得越来越高

了。( Shù zhǎng de yuè lái yuè gāo le. ) ②She is

becoming more and more beautiful. 她长得越来越

漂亮了。(Tā zhǎng de yuè lái yuèpiàoliang le. ) ③

His Chinese becomes better and better. 他的汉语

越来越棒了。(Tā de Hànyǔ yuè lái yuè bàng le.)

(天气变得越来越凉快了。出门要多穿点衣服。Tiānqì biàn de yuè lái yuè lěng le. Chū mén yào duō chuān diǎn yīfu.) In the latter sentence the

Chinese character “要” (yào, should) expresses

the meaning of demand. It’s used by the older de-livering a demand to the younger, or the superior to the inferior as far as the social position is re-

ferred to.. For instance, your parents may say “感

冒了，要吃药。” (Gǎnmào le, yào chī yào. Do take

medicine when you’ve caught a cold.) to you. The

boss may speak to his employee like this, 要提高

工作效率(Yào tígāo gōngzuò xiàolǜ. Do enhance

your working efficiency)。

要 also has many other meanings. We may dis-

cuss them further in the future.

The meaning of 不要 (bú yà o, do not) is just oppo-

site to that of “要” . Do not go outside when it’s

dark. (天黑了，不要出门。Tiān hēi le, bú yào chū

mé n. ) That are the language points we learnt this time. Beijing is most beautiful when the autumn comes. The sky is so blue, and the air is quite fresh. In the late autumn you can enjoy a wonderful sightsee-

ing of the Fragrant Hill (香山, Xiāngshān) in the

western part of the city. The leaves of Chinese sweet gum all turn red. The hill is so red that it seems to be a burning volcano. With that we come to the end of this edition. You

can e-mail me at zhaopingping@crifm.com, or logon on the website of http://www.crienglish.com. There is a forum there. You can bring up your questions and I will answer then online.

Learn Chinese Now!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

“East, west, home is best.” The Chinese character for home is 家 (jiā). And how

did it come to be written this way? See if you can guess the reason after we look

at its components. The top part is a roof and the bottom is a 豕 (shǐ, pig,

which is the fml of 猪 , pig).

First, think of life in ancient China, when most people were farmers, although they often went hunting to supplement what they raised. But hunting could be dangerous and unreliable, so they gradually began to rear livestock in pens. Of

course, the livestock included pigs.

The character on the ancient oracle bone (甲骨文, jiǎgǔwén, 1) and the one on

the bronze inscriptions (金文, jīnwén, 2) look like (very small) houses with some-

thing inside. The looks rather like a howling dog in its kennel! But in fact, the

‘dog’ is a pig, and the way it was written evolved as in the following

characters.

In the lesser script (小篆, xiǎozhuàn, 3), the (canine!) pig has changed into the

character 豕 (shǐ), the literary form of 猪 (zhū), and it didn’t change much in

the following two styles, clerical style (隶书, lìshū, 4) and regular script (楷书,

kǎishū, 5).

So, got the answer? Right. Home wasn’t home without a pig.

One more thing. When someone died, people would put a slaughtered pig for the

deceased under the eaves and in front of the house, but家 always means home,

never mortuary or abattoir!

a b c d e f g

Next comes the character 安 (ān, peaceful, quiet). We have the same roof as in

家, but instead of having a pig under it, we have a 女(nǚ, a woman). In the

oracle bones (a) there is a woman kneeling down (our Chinese ancestors used

to kneel instead of sit). 安 in the bronze inscriptions (b) is similar to that on the

oracle bones. In the lesser script (c), it seems that the woman has stood up. However, she is still in the house. In ancient times it was usually the men who went outside to join the army or do the farm work. The women stayed at home, doing the housework.

You can see the different styles of安 and女in the clerical style(d), regular script

(e), cursive script (f – a VERY elegant lady!) and running script (g).

I nearly forgot to ask! Why does 安 mean peace, or peaceful? It’s obvious: a

woman in the house makes a pleasant home (at least, that’s the theory!)

春晓

春眠不觉晓，处处闻啼鸟。

夜来风雨声，花落知多少？

【Translation】

Dawn in Spring

I awake light-hearted this morning of spring, Everywhere round me the singing of birds --

But now I remember the night, the storm, And I wonder how many blossoms were broken.

【Poet Meng Haoran】

Meng Haoran (689－about 740) was a famous poet of the Tang Dy-

nasty. He composed this short poem entitled “Dawn in Spring” to give his own view about the morning scene of early Spring. “How suddenly the morning comes in Spring ! / On every side you hear the sweet birds sing. / Last night amidst the rainy storm – Ah, who can tell, / With wind and rain, how many blossoms fell? “ In an early morning, the poet awoke light-heartedly and noticed the sudden arrival of spring. Singing of birds from far and near could be heard in all directions. Without looking through the window, the poet was certain that it would be another nice day outside. Suddenly he recalled vaguely there might be a strong wind or heavy rain last night . He was wondering how many flowers and blossoms had fallen with the wind and rain. Here the poet described early Spring from two different angles. First, he was cheered up by the singing of sweet birds and the early arrival of Spring. Second, he was rather concerned and worried about the fallen blossoms as a result of last night’s rainy storm. The message contained in the short verse is that like nature, life is not perfect. Aman may have a joy and he may also have a sorrow. After all ,Spring is Spring. Although many blossoms fell during the night rain and storm, the next morning would be much nicer than ever before with singing of birds and blooming of more flowers. After careful reading of this poem, we may know something more about life.

5 Faces Behind the Voice

http://www.crienglish.com

Vol. 15 No.6 Nov.- Dec. 2004

After a sleepless night spent on the train, I finally arrived in Zaozhuang, which means “Chinese date village” and is widely regarded as the “South Gate” of Shandong Province. Getting off the train, I was so astonished that Zaozhuang, which I supposed to be a small town or a village, is developing so rapidly that it rivals big cities in terms of modernization, tall buildings, convenient transport and such. But the place disappointed me a little, since I had imagined I could have an interesting and somewhat adventur-ous village experience. My disappointment remained until, along with other reporters, I was warmly welcomed by local publicity department officials at the train station, who also dispatched a bus to take us to a hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, it was already lunchtime. The first feast in the Zaozhuang Hotel was enough for me to see how hospitable Zaozhuang people are. A famous local custom is inviting guests to drink three glasses of beer before meals. After three glasses of alcohol, I thought I would be able to attack the mouth-watering dishes with my chopsticks, but my at-tempts to gratify my appetite were continually inter-rupted, as I had to respond to toasts by local officials and friends. My stomach was soon filled with beer, so I didn’t feel hungry any longer and began to pay attention to the dishes with my eyes, rather than my mouth. Some were made of fruit. One of the most attractive dishes was made of pomegranates, with their red sweet seeds and - would you believe it – fried eggs! The pomegranate dish reminded me of the task for my visit - to cover Zaozhuang’s annual international pomegranate festival, which the local leaders be-

lieve is a good opportunity to explore the market po-tential for this nourishing fruit. Actually, the local people get quite excited when explaining the value of their pomegranates. In their eyes, every tiny part of this thick-skinned round fruit, with its reddish cen-ter full of sweet seeds, is valuable. They told me the skin, after being dried, is

used as an important traditional Chinese medicine, which is available in nearly all Chinese medicine shops. It’s as popular as mint. The coats between the layers are also herbal in effect. And the seeds are an excellent cure for stomach ache. The next day, on my way to the Yincheng Pome-granate Orchard, which has been developed into a tourist spot, I found the road a scene of hustle and bustle with rural vendors busy bargaining for a variety of local specialties, such as Chinese chest-nut and walnuts. Breathing the fresh air and enjoy-ing the sights of the rural fair, which was an en-tirely new world to me, I felt greatly refreshed. Most of my companions on the journey were from Beijing, and simply loved these agricultural com-modities. A very pretty bonsai captured my atten-tion. Noticing my curiosity to learn about the bon-sai, a local friend told me that some smart locals plant pomegranates in flowerpots to make bonsai, and these miniature pomegranate trees sell well, with most customers coming from elsewhere. After a half hour drive, our bus stopped in front of the entrance to the orchard. Before we entered, the rhythmic sound of beating drums came to our ears. We saw the performers as soon as we went in. The performers were all local women in colorful ethnic costumes, joyfully beating waist drums to please visitors as well as entertain themselves. Behind the performers were several pomegranate trees. The tempting ripe fruits were within reach if we stretched our arms, and I couldn’t wait to touch them. With his face wreathed in smiles, the local tourist guide proudly explained to me how the pleasant weather contributes to making Zaoz-

huang a production base for many types of fruit, including pears, grapes, apples, pomegranates and Chinese dates, also known as jujubes. He added that with plenty of sunshine and an average tem-perature of 14 degrees centigrade, the city now pro-duces some 200 thousand tons of various fruits every year. Looking far into the distance, at the other side of a river, I could make out a forest of pome-granate trees, and could imagine the branches bending down with the weight of the fruits. The local officials prepared two boxes of pomegran-ates for us on the eve of our departure as a special gift, and said they would be very happy if we could re-visit Zaozhuang city soon. I didn’t expect we'd depart so soon and was reluctant to leave. After all, three days was too short for me to have an in-depth look at the city, which, as a fruit production base, is developing at a good pace. All of sudden, blind and deaf British writer Helen Keller’s Three Days to See flashed into my mind, especially the part in which she was so eager to gain eyesight, even if only for a limited time. Three days flashed by, and I had a similar feeling, as if for a limited time I had to use my eyes to record everything about this wonderful place. But no matter how many pleasant things I will keep in my memory, one thing is for sure, that my companions and I wish the people of Zaozhuang continuing prosperity in the

years to come. (Xu Fei)

On September the 22nd this year, China and Romania jointly issued a set of two stamps highlighting artifacts from each country's ancient history. The first stamp shows a drum with a frame formed by two birds and a base made of crouching tigers. This was a musical instrument from the State of Chu which existed dur-ing the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of China's history (770 BC -- 221 BC). The drum is made of carved wood; the two tigers and two phoenix depict the real and mythological creatures revered in ancient China. The animals are covered with red, gold and black lacquer; the most frequently used and representative colors of the State of Chu. This particular drum was unearthed 25 years ago in Hubei Province in central China. Chu was a large state on the southern periphery of ancient China, occupying much of what is present-day Henan, Hunan, Hubei, and Anhui provinces. The other stamp depicts and example of early Romanian Cucuteni pottery and represents one of the highest achievements of Romanian culture during the European Bronze Age. The piece - a tripod pottery jar decorated with spiral patterns - is adorned with white, red and black pigment and bears a resemblanceto some Chinese painted pottery. It was dis-covered in the late 19th century in southern Romania.

The two stamps were issued on the Emblem of the 23rd UPU Conference and are intended to express the friendship between China and Roma-nia. (Lei Lei)

Stamps

Days in Zaozhuang

6 Experiences in Other Lands

http://www.crienglish.com

Vol. 15 No.6 Nov. - Dec., 2004

Ambassador for the UNESCO’s “Mondialogo”, Initiator of Humanity Photo Award (HPA), President of the China Folklore Photographic Association

(CFPA).

These impressive titles belong to none other but the gentleman Shen Che.

As what his given name suggests (Che in Chinese means clear or limpid), Shen Che has a very clear appearance and a very clear mind. In his late fifties and a bit overweight, Shen is very healthy, robust and easy-going. Smiling seems to be in his nature. But, judging by the above-mentioned titles and his vast experience, he is no ordinary person.

Shen Che was born and bred in Shanghai. What made him special and win his first fame was his 15,000km-long bicycle adventure around China. Starting from Shanghai in 1980, the two-year trip was a fruitful one. He visited more than 20 Chinese ethnic groups and shot a great number of valuable photos of local folk cultures. Then he spent his time sorting out his pictures and began preparations for the establishment of the Chinese Folklore Photo-graphic Association (CFPA). At the same time, he has also made several successful trips in 17 years to study folklore in more than 20 countries. His book “Travel Alone” was a sensation throughout China.

Perhaps the greatest of Shen’s achievements is that he founded the CFPA and had it recognized by UNESCO and made an inseparable part of world folklore heritage. He even expanded the CFPA to include a world wide Humanity Photo Award, an international photographic contest open not only to professional photographers, but also to amateurs, to all who love to photograph, record, explore and study folk cultures and phenomena.

Our reporter Kong Xiaoling talked with Shen Che.

Q: It’s really hard to quit a job, especially when it was regarded as a “Golden Bowl” during the 1980’s. There are reports comparing your resignation to the present laid off workers. In this sense, to some ex-tent you can be seen as the first person to be “laid off” in China, but you laid yourself off. What led to your decision?

A: Firstly, it’s because I like photography very much, but there were too many fetters which I had always tried to cast off. Secondly, when I was teaching in Shanghai Education College (now merged into East

China Normal University), I shot many Hakka films,

and was thus able to dabble in some folklore. This made me want to know more. Also, the work load in the college was too light for the energetic young guy I was then. Although a teacher of film shooting, I couldn’t be wholly dedicated to the mission I like so much. Filming is very complicated, speaking both

from the aspects of time and technique, and not all the staff in the college were willing to contribute to the work. But for me, to do it well, I have to dedi-cate all my time and energy to that. So I was forced to quit my job. In addition, I was living in the large city of shang-hai, but, compared with the spacious and beautiful Chinese territory, it’s only a very very small dot. This also inspired me to go out, to learn more about the outside world.

I was full of confidence in my success, despite the uncertain future. I wanted to record Chinese folk culture through my own eyes.

Q: Among all the peoples and places you visited, what has had the strongest impact on you?

A: Well… It’s hard to say. Since all of these cultures are part or a branch of the 5,000 year old Chinese civilization. They should be treated as an integral whole. Only by being blended together can they make a complete big Chinese culture.

As time passes, my knowledge of different Chi-nese ethnic groups is increasing. My understand-ing of Chinese culture is also improved. This has helped me form an endless desire to learn more. People say I was beginning to carving out my own business when I quit my job and left for the outside world. Actually, I was enjoying my work. For me, it’s not the kind of hardship or adventure that out-siders conceive. Instead, it’s complete enjoyment, enjoying my interest and my work as well.

If I should single out some most impressive things here, I would like to share with you the story of the Du Long (a Chinese ethnic group). Once I got very sick when I was in the Du Long River Valley; the local people were worried and they dug herbal medicines to treat my disease. If not for their nour-ishment and heartfelt care, I would have never been able to leave the Du Long River village to seek my future success. That’s really impressive. From this and more other experiences, I discov-ered the highest ambit of folklore photography is not taking photographs or the pictures themselves: It lies in the communication of feelings and pas-sions with people from different ethnic groups. (Actually, you can find many more moving stories in his book Travel Alone)

Q: Almost all people find your works valuable, highly impressive and enlightening? What do you think of your own works and the nomination pic-tures?

A: My criteria are becoming more objective. With

my 20 years’ experience, I have found a new defi-nition for the function of folklore photo works. Be-sides being a means to urge the public to preserve folk lore heritage, pictures should also help to re-cord the world heritage. We won’t be able to pre-serve all the heritage just by the work of a social

organization, but through our recording work, at least, on the one hand, we help to leave abundant precious world heritage and also present scenes to later generations.

The third task is to promote the awareness of the government and public to protect the folklore heri-tage. The true safeguarding force comes from the government, together with public protection meas-ures. The most valuable works are those which strive to save world heritages. With globalization, large amounts of world heritage, especially intangi-ble heritage, vanish.

We also find a new social responsibility in our work, the responsibility for protecting the world heritage. All newcomers are willing to shoulder this social responsibility as they register as our members. We are the only social organization in China which strives to salvage folklore culture. We are now work-ing hard to establish a very effective world wide folklore picture database. Our members at home and abroad and our Chinese peers, with the most numer-ous cameras in the world, are trying hard to turn their lens from beautiful scenery and girls to record the surrounding culture, possibly culture on the edge of extinction.

Q: You have done really great work for mankind and for the protection of the world heritage. What is the object of CFPA, or HPA?

A: We are working to meet three needs of the world: The needs from all countries: All countries want peace and want their culture to be protected. It’s a most important element.

The second need comes from society. Not all the world’s citizens are able to travel widely. But we can share the world by pictures with our kin and friends.

And thirdly, the need falls to the photographers themselves. They can’t just shoot commercial or purely aesthetic pictures. The lenses themselves should exert their own cultural might.

Q: You are honored with many impressive titles. But I found the most moving thing is your exquisite works and feelings. How do you balance these two aspects?

A: One’s personal career is easily culminated. Many say I have made my fame and all I need to do is to keep at the height of my fame. However, for me, all these titles are just meaningless formats. I have con-verted my personal business into a global endeav-our. I don’t care about the form. What I really want, my ultimate target, is to build up a world folklore photo database so that later generations can see our present life and culture. It’s the true cultural heritage that belongs to the whole human world.

Shen Che and His Affinity with World Folklore Culture

7 Profile

http://www.crienglish.com

Vol. 15 No.6 Nov.- Dec. 2004

First write some news, then read Reports From Developing Countries, host an online Corner, add in CRI Roundup, and then start producing Voices From Other Lands.

What sort of a recipe is that? Well it’s the recipe I’ve

been cooked in, over my time at CRI! So„ how did it

taste?

Slightly less than a year ago, I wrote an article for The Messenger called From Behind the Radio to Behind the Scenes. I described how, as a shortwave listener, I had

been influenced by CRI’s programmes back in the early

90s. I learned Chinese in university, and came to live in Beijing. Now, one year on, I am heading to Europe! This is mostly for family reasons, and truth be told, I suspect I will be back in China very soon. What an opportunity CRI has given me! Learning about news, then learning about broadcasting, then becoming a

broadcaster! All these have meant I’m very busy, and

have had less and less time for DXing, or even listening to

the radio at all. That didn’t stop me, though, from spend-

ing more than a month’s wages on an Icom R-75 commu-

nications receiver. Perhaps some of you are shocked at the waste of this, and I can understand that reaction. I am not a very experienced DXer, and even now, months later, I have a lot to learn about the finer points of tuning a signal for the best clarity, that is, to copy DX signals. But more than that is the problem that my flat is in a very electrically noisy

location. It does have a balcony though, so that’s where

my dipole and random wires grow. The usual answer to local noise is a loop antenna, a type of aerial that picks out the magnetic part of an electromagnetic signal, and leaves lots of the slushy noise and interference behind. But if you

remember my last article, you’ll know that soldering and

the like is a bit beyond me, so the only successful loop I’ve made is computer ribbon cable on a hula-hoop, and at

times isn’t much better than the 20 metre dipole.

One of the exciting developments in broadcasting during my time at CRI has been Digital Radio Mondiale. In June and July, CRI did some test transmissions from our big transmission site in Xinjiang. Unfortunately most went on-air while I was either at work or asleep! One time I tuned in, and heard a weakish signal, unmistakably that of DRM. I also spotted a few other DRM signals before those public

tests started, but as I don’t have the requisite reception

facilities, I’ve no idea who it was.

Another fun side to being an SWL in China is the low cost

portables. So far I’ve only bought one, a Degen 1102,

and I’m very pleased with its performance. It matches

up very well with my old faithful, a Sony ICF-7600GR.

The 1102 doesn’t have a synchronous detector like the

Sony, for picking out interference from nearby stations, but it does have a choice of Wide or Narrow, which can help some bit. The interesting news on this front is that Degen will reportedly bring out a pocket multiband radio

with synchronous AM this winter! That’s very exciting

for people who live abroad and want to keep up with broadcasts in their own language, which may not be available locally. I have an AM/FM pocket radio from Degen, which I almost always have with me. Another pocket radio I use is a Perstel BlueNote, a very small headphones-only DAB set. DAB refers to the Eureka 147 standard of digital radio, a different standard from DRM. Currently the band III test transmissions in

Beijing are off air, so I haven’t heard mush on it, but I

still take the little radio with me when I go out for inter-

views, in case there’s something new in the airwaves!

And then there’s WorldSpace. Some of you may have

heard my interview with the head of WorldSpace in China, Mike Ma, on Voices From Other Lands in June. World-Space is a really convenient system to use in this part of the world. Every morning before starting work I can get a fix of RTE from Ireland and Radio Sweden via the World Ra-dio Network.

Not a bad little collection of equipment, don’t you think?

Sometimes I look over my radio stuff, and am struck by just how prevalent digital technology has become. Of course I make programmes for CRI, so there is usually a MiniDisc

recorder lying around too, and that is digital too. And don’

t forget one of the most capable digital radios – the

computer! My little iBook, on a humble dial-up internet connection, has provided hours and hours of radio listening pleasure. And some huge phone bills too…

I love radio, I love listening to it, I love making it. But when I

think of all the equipment I have, and the people I’ve met

because of radio, I realise how privileged I am. There are no doubt some of you reading this, who have a regular shortwave radio, and aspire to getting a WorldSpace re-ceiver. Perhaps some of you only ever use a computer in internet cafes, or have never used one. Yes, there is a digital divide on our planet, just as much as there is a tech-nological divide. I am one of the lucky ones. So I hope that through my work at CRI, in particular on the Reports From Developing Countries team, I have been able to give some-thing back. And at least the structures are in place for that: CRI has great signals, in most parts of the world, on short-wave and sometimes mediumwave. CRI is, I know, proud to boom out on shortwave. Perhaps coming from the rap-idly developing capital of a developing country, people here are more aware than most of the roles of change and sta-bility, and this helps us keep a more listener-friendly policy

in this respect. Let’s be optimistic about these things.

And so, as my voice fades out on shortwave for the time being, let me wish you all: Good listening! (Connor Walsh)

Danzeng Dawa, a music teacher at Tibet University, is also the drummer and founding member of Divined Staff, Tibet’s first rock band. He fell in love with rock music while studying at a Beijing music conservatory at the beginning of the 90s and later opened a bar in Lhasa. The bar provided him with a venue where he could play some of his great-est rock influences: the Eagles, the Beatles, and grunge all-stars Nirvana.

“At the time, there weren’t many people in

Tibet listening to rock music. As a result, there

also weren’t many places to hear it,” said

Danzeng. “To get people interested, I put a guitar on the stage for people to play when they wanted.” Rock music became magnetic for some of the bar’s pa-trons. Danzeng says his current band members would come to the bar a lot and got along well with each other, exchanging their ideas about the rock music.

“As far as we’re concerned, we all believe rock music

reflects genuine emotions, without pretension or false-ness.” Head of the band Songlang Nianzha is also the lead gui-

tar player.

“When I first heard rock music, I felt like I had found my

calling. It could best express my thoughts and feel-

ings,” Songlang said.

Before long, the idea of starting their own band came to mind. So, as the story goes, Divined Staff came to be in 1999, taking its name from a concept in Tibetan Bud-dhism. Each of the six band members had other jobs but still managed to find time to write new music and re-hearse for concerts. Now, with more than 20 songs, the

band has gained fame on the snowy plateau, and their performances have become a musical must-do at many gatherings and festivals. The early days of the band were not as smooth as today. As the first rock band in Tibet, audiences found their music hard to accept and their behavior even more cryptic: some even thought that their music was tearing apart tradition and violating religious beliefs. Zhaxi Pingcuo, the bass player, still remembers the scene when they held a charity performance at Norbu Linka to col-lect money for orphans. At that time, music for charity was not often seen in Tibet, and many bewildered onlookers mistook them for beg-gars.

“Many people came to watch our

performance and were moved,” said Zhaxi. “Later, one

of our friends told us that when some children came to the show, their parents whisked them away, saying we were crazy beggars. This made a strong impact on us.” However, their pursuit towards a common artistic ideal helped them to overcome difficulties and misunderstand-ings. They encouraged each other with their music and are happy to have chosen this path.

Now, more people have accepted their style of music-some have even become their fans! Zhaxi explains: “Many peo-ple I know love our music. I think this is because most of what they were listening to before sounded the same; with our music, they can easily feel a different power, something that other music doesn’t have.” People who listen to Divined Staff will know that their music is influenced by two powerful themes: the impact of the outer world on people’s inner world and the defiance of traditional values. The band also adds modern interpreta-tions of Tibetan folk music to their repertoire. But when asked about the style of the band, the members are flexi-ble.

“We don’t like to be confined to a single style, although

most other bands lay claim to a particular sound,” said

Danzeng. “We want our music to be like a person and be happy, angry, gentle or bold. So our music takes pieces of different styles, all the way from Tibetan ballad singing to western hip-hop.” Interesting! Such an amazing cross section of styles in their music! No doubt it will also contain powerful elements of Tibetan tradition as well! In this respect, they have spared no effort in fusing traditional Tibetan and modern music together. For example, once when walking around Barkhor Street in Lhasa, they heard someone singing an ancient folk song, Picking Walnuts, which hadn’t been heard for years. The band gathered their creativity and produced an adaptation of the song that was a hit in no time! Having composed, readapted and performed dozens of songs, Divined Staff decided to release a self-funded al-bum.

“We think the album is something that represents our past

experiences, but also gives something back to our fans,” said Zhaxi. Their first album, as they planned, focused on the local market in Tibet, as most pieces are performed in the Ti-betan language. They are aware that this land is where their art first took root and has continued to grow. They also plan to issue another album in Mandarin, which targets the market in other parts of China. In their opinion, the eagle of the plateau should never be confined to a small space but fly higher and further in a wide sky. (Shen Ting)

One Year of Radio Daze

Rock the Plateau

President: Li Dan Chief Editor: Zhao Jianfu Designer: Liu Chi Duty Editor: Tang Minguo Beijing Huayun Color Printing Center

8 Travel Vol. 15 No.6 Nov. - Dec., 2004

I was quite confused when I arrived in Shanghai that warm night in late autumn. The bright neon lights, the narrow lanes, the convenience stores: where was I? It looks like New York, where neon lights out-line huge shopping centers; it smells like home, where I enjoy walking while munching a snack; and it feels like Tokyo, where I’m welcomed by smiling shop assistants in the small but tidy convenience stores. Shanghai is such a weird city, where modern and traditional ways of living match and coexist peacefully. In the dazzling shopping malls along the famous Huaihai Road, I can always catch the latest fashions, just like elsewhere in the world, but mean-while, old tailors never stop their sewing, and long-legged beauties dressed in cheongsams are always the center of attention. A spectacular view in the bustling commercial centers is stylish ladies shoul-der to shoulder with old flower sellers (but NOT young girls like in other cities across China), who are promoting their hand-made white magnolias. At a time when many historic cities are trying to make a facelift and losing their traditions, the old Shanghai is still there, as it was decades ago. Much evidence can be found here of its history as a major center in the Far East. In the famous Bund Area alongside the Huangpu River, the mother river of Shanghai, stands a collection of stately art deco buildings from the 1920s and 30s that call to mind the old parts of New York or London. When night falls, lights outline the architectural legacy of western

designs. Once called the Asian Wall Street, it’s

home to numerous foreign banks and financial insti-tutions. A 1916 neoclassical building used to house the Union Assurance Company; the noble Peace

Hotel was built in the late 1920’s by a an Iraqi-born

Jewish magnate; the rooftop balcony of the Cus-

toms House was where bankers held their weekly salons. The view on the Bund Area is just like an old city album, recording fragmented memories of its relatively short history. Yes, compared to the coun-try’s 5,000 years of history, Shanghai is young, and in some ways not representative of the country. But Shanghai is Shanghai, it always amazes me with even trivial things.

Shanghai is considered the Chinese mainland’s

economic powerhouse and major commercial cen-

ter. It’s home to more than 80 percent of the For-

tune Global 500 regional offices and manufacturing bases or R&D centers of numerous multinationals. At first sight, Shanghai impressed me for being

grand and splendid. A bird’s eye view from Asia’s

tallest building, the 1,600-feet-high Oriental Pearl TV

Tower, is filled with glass skyscrapers and sparkling

office buildings, stepping out of which are formally dressed ladies and gentlemen hurrying to count the pennies in their next bucket of gold. But after getting involved in its daily life, I began to see the other side of modern Shanghai. In many city reports by consult-ing firms, Shanghai is regarded one of the most comfortable cities to live in. Although traffic jams, pollution, and soaring housing prices cause mount-ing complaints, it attracts many outsiders for its free lifestyle and convenient living conditions. Conven-

ience stores are cropping up everywhere in Shanghai. Unlike supermarkets or warehouse mar-kets rampant in other Chinese cities, the small stores seem closer to the locals. The automatic bell rings always took me back to my old days in Japan, where nice ladies in uniform greet you with typical Japanese bows. The clean shelves and orderly displays demonstrate the sophistication of Shanghai. Xintiandi, a traditional old neighborhood tastefully converted into shops, bars and restaurants, boasts a wonderful selection of cuisines. It has become a popular place for the middle class to party and

relax. It’s also very cosmopolitan, with people

from many climes and cultures enjoying the breeze, the drink and the night of Shanghai. I started to understand why Shanghai, once

dubbed the ‘Paris of the East’, has such a rich

mixture of diverse cultures: it reflects its open atti-tude towards an open world. The most spectacular new project in the Bund Area is the "Three On the Bund", the old Union Assurance building, which has been gutted and filled with luxury restaurants, an art gallery, a spa and, on the ground floor, the flagship store of Ital-

ian fashion designer Giorgio Armani. European

luxury retailers are scrambling to establish foot-holds on the mainland, with Shanghai the first

point of entry, thanks to it being mainland China's

most developed, modern and sophisticated city,

due to its long history as a port through which both goods and ideas were imported from abroad. Most big brands are now found in the city's huge shop-ping malls, with labels like Chanel and Dior report-ing three-digit growth every year. A foreign journalist once described his impression

of Shanghai: “Of all the spectacular boomtowns

in today's China, no other scintillates like Shang-hai. And in my view, there is no alternative for a sharp-sensed journalist to work in. It may not an easy job for a journalist elsewhere in China to per-suade an official to speak to the microphone, let alone in cases of embarrassment, such as corrup-tion or social crisis, when keeping silence is their best solution to dealing with the media. If not an exception, at least Shanghai is a pioneer to break the ice. It is among the first cities to adopt a spokesperson mechanism. Every other week, the

‘amiable’ spokesperson will ‘date’ critical

reporters, open for any questions. The media may

never feel lost or be isolated from the core of the information, so finding news sources may be only a

snap.”

Shanghai is Shanghai. It’s always striving for the

top. Shanghai is tough. It’s courageous enough to

say NO when facing criticism from the central gov-ernment on its auto policy. It persists in its exclusive decision to issue car license plates by auction, in an attempt to control the growth in the number of pri-vate cars. Like many cities in China, Shanghai an on-the-make place. In the winter of 2003, six writers from China and the UK set off from Shanghai on a two-week trip by train to observe China. One of the writers told me the city skylines in China seem filled with cranes and scaffolding, and he can feel the power beneath. In Shanghai, big events come one after another. The F1 Grand Prix China Stop in September, the World

Expo in six years’ time, all part of a series of activi-

ties that will add extra luster to China’s biggest and

the most populous city, just like the Maglev, which links the Pudong International Airport to the down-town area at more than 250 miles an hour: it is yet one more proof of Shanghai's embrace of technol-ogy and change.

In this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival,

a movie titled Shanghai Story left me a very deep impression. It tells how a wealthy old family evolves with time, reflecting moral conflicts between genera-

tions. I see ‘Shanghai stories’ taking place

around me everyday, and I know how the genera-tions treat life differently, but still, I enjoy the differ-ences, just like I like both the old and the modern sides of the city, despite the conflicts, being a mem-ber of it and witnessing its changes is full of excite-ment. (Lin Lin)

Photo Notes: [1] A standard Shanghai Pose! No visit to Shanghai is complete without a walk along the Bund Area, where the designs on one side of the river demonstrate its modern glamour, while the other side traces its memory as the Paris of the East.

[2] At May’s Global Conference on Poverty Reduc-

tion. Shanghai is building itself into a regional convention center. Easy traffic and spacious venues make it a top selection for exhibitors from home and abroad. At least one professional exhibition is held in Shang-hai every day. And the forthcoming WHO regional summit, the F1 Grand Prix China Stop, the 2010

World Expo „, Shanghai is expecting much, much

more.

[3] With an Indonesian navy captain on its maiden

China voyage. Shanghai was born as a port city, and it still is today. In addition to handling cargoes, Shanghai Port also serves as a key platform for naval exchanges. Al-though I’m terribly sick due to the rolling waves when the photographer is shooting the film, I feel proud on a real warship. [4] I adore the night in Shanghai, especially once the lights are on, outlining the architectural legacy of multinational designs, recalling its noble heyday of early last century.

Shanghai on the Maglev