China’s new variety of hybrid rice, called Xiang Liangyou 900, has become the highest-yielding one in the world, said a report by Science and Technology Daily recently. The pilot three plots of rice fields in Handan, Hebei province, yielded 17.2 tons per hectare on average, according to a group of agricultural experts who measured the […]
This imperial writing will last forever: it is carved in stone. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Emperor Jiaqing’s inscriptions were found on a large stone tablet at Ruyuan Garden, the best preserved garden site at the Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) ruins. Below the inscriptions were two seals, one featuring an imperial jade seal. Some of the inscriptions are buried […]
A joint editorial committee of scholars from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea is writing a new history textbook to resist efforts to white-wash Japan’s militaristic past. The committee has published two books: The Contemporary and Modern History of Three East Asian Countries in 2005 and A Modern History of East Asia Beyond the […]
Egypt returned 13 pieces of smuggled ancient antiques, including ancient banknotes and bonds dating back to late 19th century, to China recently. The Ministry of State of Antiquities turned over coins, banknotes and bonds to the Chinese embassy in Cairo in a ceremony held in the Egyptian museum, according to Egyptian website Al Arabiya English. […]
The BBC documentary “Secrets of China’s Forbidden City” released last July, examines the technical expertise that made possible one of the greatest wonders of the medieval world. The Forbidden City, with its warrens of buildings and pathways, home to the biggest wooden structure on Earth and a place of staggering wealth and power, was built […]
Sandalwood, with its fine grain and lasting fragrance, is very much a part of Chinese culture. It has been made into furniture, its oil extracted for various uses. Its popularity has led to over-harvesting, decimating the number of sandalwood trees. In response, the private China Red Sandalwood Museum in east Beijing opened in 1999 to […]
To encourage reading, a popular bookstore lets customers take out books for a small deposit, instead of buying them outright. The Sanxiaokou Xinhua Bookstore (合肥三孝口新華書店) in Hefei, eastern China’s Anhui province, has styled itself a “shared bookstore.” Open 24 hours every day, it lets customers bring home up to two books worth under RMB150 (P1,140) […]
There is a revival of interest in Nüshu (女書), a syllabic writing system developed from Chinese characters and once used only among women in Jiangyong county, Hunan province in central China. As recently as this past August, the crew of a popular reality television show went to Jiangyong to find out more about Nüshu. The […]
Manggao (芒篙) is a legendary god in the Miao (苗) ethnic minority culture. He drives out evil spirits and brings good fortune. During each Spring Festival, many Miao villages hold Manggao festivals, where performers dress up as the god to bring good luck. The Manggao Festival is an intangible cultural heritage. The performer wears a […]
Many Chinese travelers faced a smoother travel experience during the National Day holiday, thanks to pilot programs using facial recognition in place of IDs checks at railway stations, hotels, banks and restaurants. Passengers at the entrances to Jinan railway station, capital of Shandong province, put their ID cards and tickets on the gate machines and […]