HSK Exam - Stress-Relief Day marked

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Stress-Relief Day marked

(CRI)
Updated: 2007-04-20 10:06





People shook their bodies under the guidance of a coach in a park in
southern China's Guangzhou on Wednesday, April 18, 2007. They were taught
to shake off their bad moods by dancing during a stress-relief festival
held in the park. [Photo: Information Times]


A stress-relief festival kicked off on Wednesday in southern China's
Guangzhou, attracting many local office workers to take part, the city's
Information Times reported.

The festival is the first of its kind in China. It aims to help office
workers drive away the huge pressures triggered in their daily lives.

People were invited to learn stress-relief dances and take part in some
adventurous activities involving a giant frisbee and a roller coaster.
They can scream as loud as they want while using these breathtaking
stress relievers. After getting off the machines, they will find their
bad moods have completely vanished.

Huge pressures nowadays have become an important health problem for
office workers. A survey showed the pressure Chinese face today is five
times larger than those experienced 20 years ago. Ninety percent of
people have disrupted their well-balanced lives due to the problem.

High work loads, keen competition and difficulty in good communicating
with colleagues, bosses and clients were ascribed as the main reasons for
the pressure.



Young people screamed while sitting on a giant Frisbee in a park in
southern China's Guangzhou on Wednesday, April 18, 2007. They were there
to attend a stress-relief festival held in the park. The festival, which
will be held from Wednesday to May 13, 2007, is the first of its kind to
help people drive away their daily life pressures. [Photo: Information
Times]











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Chinese language - Create your own toys

CITYLIFE / Photo Gallery






Create your own toys

(CRIENGLISH.com )
Updated: 2007-04-09 10:46





This undated photo shows a toy painted by an artist. [Photo:
thebeijingnews.com]


A Chinese platform toy exhibition called "Walk to Mars--Umars" will be
held in Beijing in May.

Platform toys, also called canvas toys, are a kind of art that represents
different themes with graphic drawings and designs on the surface of
blank toys.

The Beijing News reported the organizer said over 200 Chinese artists
from thirty-five cities were invited or had applied to join in this
creative activity. The organizers have already sent the original toy
models to artists so they can make their creations. In May, these artists
will bring their finished toys to the exhibition in Beijing.

The exhibition is expected to show painted Umars toys, skateboard and
sketches, representing avant-garde Chinese graphic designs and the trend
of painted art.

1 2 3 4










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� Top ten backpackers' favorite hotels in China

� Play hide and seek with summer sunshine

� 36 hours in Shanghai

� Solo travel, why not?

� Make yourself an "S" plan!





Beijing Guide




Eating out: Save shroom for soup
Bars&Cafes: Hip and cute to boot
Weekend&Holiday: Best-kept holiday secrets
Shopping: Discounts & bargains
What's on: Double take







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Eating out: Culinary chameleon
Bars&Cafes: Rock and renovated
Weekend&Holiday: Have a chef at your home
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What's on: Portraits reflect real life





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Chinese Online Class - The big smile said it all

ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column






The big smile said it all

By Judy Polumbaum (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-29 10:28


My dad, who passed away six years ago, was one of the most affable people
you can imagine. When I was a kid, he used to mortify me by striking up
conversations with total strangers everywhere.

Parents' quirks often surface in their children, of course so eventually,
as an adult, I found myself doing the same thing. Just ask my kids;
they'll tell you how I constantly embarrass them by chatting with people
I've never met before and may never see again in elevators, in line for
movie tickets, at the grocery store.

A freelance photographer, my dad faced subjects ranging from diplomats
and corporate executives to artists, athletes, fishermen and factory
workers, so his ability to get along with everybody served him well. At
bottom, though, it was not utilitarian purpose that gave rise to his
friendliness; it was a profoundly democratic attitude that made him
converse as easily with a US senator as with a janitor.

I'd actually been pathologically shy as a child, but once I started work
as a newspaper reporter, my inheritance became second nature. After all,
much of journalism's raw material comes from listening to strangers. And
sometimes the best stories and sources come from serendipitous encounters
on the street.

While my days of daily reporting are past, my journalistic habits
persist, and I continue to find chance encounters a source of endless
fascination. Now that I'm back in Beijing for a couple of months,
however, chatting with strangers takes on new dimensions that I don't
always welcome.

On the one hand, if I initiate the interaction, typically with a request
for directions, I get gleeful reactions to my Beijing-inflected Mandarin
Chinese. On the other hand, Chinese who notice this middle-aged casually
dressed woman with dirty-blond hair and green eyes wandering a subway
platform or a department store may well seize a chance to practice their
English.

Being a sounding board for a language learner is not always my idea of
fun. If I'm tired, distracted, or in a bad mood, or if the speaker seems
to be talking at me rather than to me and doesn't catch what I say
ever-so-slowly in response, I'm seldom inclined to carry on. I prefer
two-way communication, for what is a conversation if not an exchange?

An incident last week, however, reminded me that crossing paths with
strangers has its own rewards. I was waiting to board the light rail when
a fellow with shaggy graying hair wheeled by on one of those folding
mini-bikes. "American?" he asked in English. When I said yes, he gave me
a big gap-toothed smile and pedaled on.

Half an hour later, he passed me on his bike in the street; evidently
we'd disembarked at the same station. He halted to give me a hearty
greeting before cycling on. In another 15 minutes, as I was walking on a
college campus, there he was again, rounding a corner. He told me he was
visiting an uncle who worked there. Again, he cycled off.

On each occasion, I got another smile. I didn't feel like a lesson plan.
I felt like we were old friends.


(China Daily 03/29/2007 page20)











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Learn Mandarin online - DiCaprio had peace talks with Peres

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






DiCaprio had peace talks with Peres

(Hollywood.com)
Updated: 2007-03-20 08:35





Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio's aides have confirmed the movie star held secret talks
with Israel's Vice Premier Shimon Peres during his chaotic trip to his
girlfriend Bar Rafaeli's homeland last week.

Peres, Israel's former leader, requested a meeting with the Titanic star
after learning of his visit, and asked the actor and activist to use his
star power to help promote conservation and peace in the Middle East.

According to sources, DiCaprio was thrilled to meet the Israeli dignitary
and promised to help on both issues.

DiCaprio's representatives have confirmed the meeting took place, which
was a high point of an otherwise troubled trip for the actor. Two of his
bodyguards face charges after fighting with photographers during
DiCaprio's visit to a holy site, and the actor was forced to cut short
his trip on Thursday after learning his aunt had died. He flew to Germany
for the funeral.








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Learning Mandarin - Perrier set for April launch

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Perrier set for April launch

By Aubrey Buckingham (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-09 10:30



Fans of fizzy H2O can look forward to the "champagne of water" being
officially launched locally next month.



Starting on April 1, Perrier, the world's leading sparkling water, as
well as still water brand Vittel, will be distributed by Summergate Fine
Wines and Spirits across China's mainland. The main push will be to put
the iconic green bottles in restaurants, clubs and bars, establishing its
fun and funky image that is normally associated with the French brand.

"We're a growing brand and this is an expanding economy," said Marc
Kleniewski, Nestle Waters Marketing and Distribution's director of
international sales. "We're very excited about working with the young
team (at Summergate) and we favor the distributor approach."

In case you are wondering if this means that the version of Perrier
previously available in restaurants and supermarkets was not the real
McCoy, then fret no more. Previously, Perrier was shipped in from Hong
Kong to quench local thirst for the Gaullist drink.

"It was basically a push job," Frenchman Kleniewski said. "There was no
support with this approach."

There are few who would be unfamiliar with the cool refreshing taste of
Perrier, yet not everyone knows its humble beginnings. With a proud
heritage of more than 100 years, the distinct bottles are instantly
recognizable around the world.

The mineral water is bottled at the source in Vergeze in the southern
French province of Provence. It took on the moniker Source Perrier in
1903, when an English aristocrat, Sir St John Harmsworth, bought the deed
to the property.

With physician Dr Perrier, he designed the emerald bottle the world has
come to see and love after Harmsworth's smooth Indian wooden clubs that
he used for exercise.

The brand has since come to represent cool and chic, and the
image-conscious elite are more than happy to be seen sporting the
refreshment on their tables. In its 1970's heyday when Perrier was first
released in the United States, people were seen ordering the water
instead of a cocktail.

These days, celebrities and socialites are reverting to their
health-conscious ways and eschewing alcohol in favor of trendy bottled
water. On the contrary, consumption of imported alcohol is on the
increase in China, and distributing through a wine company is a
particularly shrewd move.

Summergate already has a network of channels in place and the logistical
support to ensure the Chinese market gets its share of the bubbly
beverage. "These are complimentary products," said Ian Ford, the local
firm's managing partner. "People who drink wine (also) drink water at
meals together; we can have both our products on the same table."

Just as the big wine debate rages over the superior of the two European
nations, water connoisseurs also debate for hours over whether Italian or
French mineral water is better.

"The Italian sparkling waters have lower sodium content and thus are
softer," said Adeline Sang, executive assistant manager and director of
food and beverage at the Regent Hotel Shanghai. "Compared to the Italian
brands (available locally), Perrier has suffered from not making a bigger
push into the market sooner."

"Still, sales should go up as it is a good, international product and the
French image is fashionable here."

Those who object to paying for water are often the same people who claim
that the drink has no taste. Those that enjoy sparkling water should look
forward to next month, when they can readily sport the large green glass
bottles on their tables when dining at high-end restaurants and hotels
and when partying at the city's top clubs.

Alcohol is such a crutch. Bottled water? It's the new rock 'n' roll.










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Chinese Studies - Free map to guide driving in Beijing

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Free map to guide driving in Beijing

(CRI)
Updated: 2007-02-27 09:12



Drivers from other parts of the country will no longer have to worry
about getting lost traveling in Beijing with the help of an itinerary map.

Beijing Times reports a mechanism aimed at easing traveling
inconveniences for outsiders of Beijing will start in March at all 16
checkpoints entering the city. As long as the drivers tell the police
their destination, the police will print out a free itinerary map that
leads the way from the checkpoint to their destination.

On the map, drivers can find driving routes, distance, urban traffic
network information, as well as the number and type of their automobiles.
An official with the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, Jiang Jinhui,
says the itinerary on the map is the shortest and the most efficient.

The service is based on a route-seeking system that compiles routes
according to different automobile types and the traffic situation. The
official warns that drivers must tell the police their automobile type in
case some types of automobiles are banned in some areas because of
traffic control.

A recent survey shows that more than half of drivers from outside of
Beijing are not familiar with the routes in Beijing and eight out of ten
want the free itinerary guidance service.











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Chinese language - Dinner reservations scalpted

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Dinner reservations scalpted

(CRI)
Updated: 2007-02-13 09:28



As Spring Festival is just around the corner, the wait at popular
restaurants is getting longer and longer, and so are the profits of
scalpers selling dinner reservations getting higher and higher.

A reporter from the Star Daily says scalpers are selling dinner
reservations to diners unwilling to wait at a price of 30 yuan, while
waiting half an hour will cost you 5 yuan, at some restaurants on Liang
Guang Road in Beijing.

The restaurant scalpers can gain 100 yuan a night if business goes well.
As one scalper says, "The timing is very important. If I arrive too
early, the waiters will doubt I'm a customer, and if too late, I can't
get a good reservation number." He adds that around 10 scalpers work
along Liang Guang Road.

Customers have different views of the phenomenon. Some would prefer to
pay money to save time waiting, while others criticized the scalpers for
destroying order and prolonging the wait for other guests.

Restaurant managers have said they will take action to prevent chaos
during the season, however adding the difficulty of distinguishing
scalpers from other patrons. Moreover, even if they did identify a
scalper, they wouldn't be able to call the police, as that would just
upset their other guests.












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