Lightening loads to strengthen lives

For more than three decades, Kang Zhixiang has worried over caring for his disabled son. Although he is now 36, Kang Zheng is an epileptic who requires constant care from his parents.
"I can take care of him now, but who knows what will happen to him after I die?" the 62-year-old Kang said.
For years, the family has been footing all of Kang Zheng's medical fees, which is paid out of his father's income as a hospital administrator. As she has to look after their son most of the time, Kang's wife can take up only part-time jobs that make about 500 yuan ($73) a month.
Kang himself suffered a heart attack in 2002 and was hospitalized for six days. His hospitalization and operation cost 60,000 yuan.
"Lying in the hospital bed, I was thinking I had to arrange everything for Zheng, just in case I wouldn't see him again," Kang said.
He had to borrow money from relatives for his own hospital fees and left the hospital earlier than recommended in order to save money.
But Kang, who retired two years ago, can now heave a sigh of relief.
In July, the city of Beijing instituted a new healthcare policy covering all of its residents. His son qualified for it.
"The new plan will help us a lot, especially financially," Kang said. He immediately headed for the social security office of Xiaoguan community to register for the plan.
Under the new plan, the family is only required to pay 40 percent of the cost of treatment, including medicine, if it exceeds 1,300 yuan, according to Wang Liqiang, director of the social security office in Xiaoguan.
Wang also told Kang that each participant pays an annual premium for medical insurance, but it is waived for Zheng because he is classified as severely disabled.
Normally, an unemployed person would pay a 600 yuan annual premium, and a disabled person a 300 yuan premium.
All of Xiaoguan's 67,000 residents are covered by the new healthcare plan, according to Wang. In the first month, 149 previously uninsured residents, most of them unemployed, came to Wang's social security office to apply.
He Zhigang, who lost his arms in an accident when he was 11, practices calligraphy with a brush in his mouth on Wednesday in Lijiang, Yunnan province. The characters read "harmony and peace". He has also won more than 30 gold medals in track, field and swimming events for the disabled. [China Daily]
As extensive as the plan is, there is still room for improvement, Wang said.
"It covers only the cost of more severe diseases, but not the fees of common illness which come to less than 1,300 yuan for each patient," Wang said, adding that it would be better for local residents if common illnesses were also covered.
"For example, I think some outpatient fees should also be included in medical insurance plans in the future," he said.

TCM faces homegrown challenges

As traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) gains credibility in the West, the practice of this nearly 5,000-year-old medical system has been faced with major challenges in the country of its origin. In 2006, Zhang Gongyao, a professor of philosophy at Zhongnan University, collected 10,000 signatures calling for "the abolition of traditional Chinese medicine" on the grounds that it was not scientifically based.
The move spurred a great deal of debate throughout China. While most supporters and practitioners of TCM dismissed Zhang's petition as "absurd", Fang Zhouzi, an academic known for his opposition to "pseudoscience", supported Zhang. Fang called TCM medical theory outdated, and said that China should focus on controlling and inspecting TCM herbs.
The debate was put to rest in October 2006, when China's Ministry of Health came out strongly against the petition to abolish TCM, saying it showed "ignorance of China's history".
Nevertheless, Chinese TCM doctors and experts agree that there have been major challenges to the development of the Chinese traditional medical system in recent years. Only one-fifth of patients now turn to TCM. One-third of patients use a combination of Western medicine and TCM treatments.
China has just 270,000 TCM doctors today, compared to 800,000 in the early 20th century, and 500,000 in 1949 at the founding of New China. Of the 85,705 medical institutions in China, only 3,009 were listed as TCM institutes in 2006, a decrease of nearly 800 from 2002.
Meanwhile, more and more TCM hospitals use Western medical tools and medicines for diagnosis and treatment, and rely less on TCM practices, such as pulse-taking and treatment with herbal medicines.
A major cause of the decline is the present mode of educating TCM doctors. In the past, TCM practitioners learned through a long apprenticeship. In the past 30 years, however, TCM has adopted a system similar to Western medicine for training doctors: four years of medical school, followed by hospital internships.
Pessimists say that TCM practices will be lost after the older generation of traditionally trained doctors die off. But in fact, many young practitioners who finished school in the 1980s have recognized the challenges ahead, and have advocated practicing "pure TCM".
According to a recent Internet survey by sina.com, 74.37 percent of 55,690 Internet users "greatly support TCM" and 81.3 percent believe "TCM has its own advantages". But only 42.48 percent said they would visit a TCM doctor, leaving 57.52 percent who said they would prefer a Western medical doctor.

Paralympic Torch Lands on Shanghai

Yu Zhengsheng, Shanghai's Party Secretary, holds the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games torch with the first torch bearer Zhao Jihong, the first Chinese athlete to break a world record in the Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games torch relay started in the city this morning.[Photo:Xinhuanet]
The Paralympic torch was relayed on Monday in Shanghai, the third stop of the flame's "modern China" route.
The relay started at 9:30 a.m. at the Shanghai Foreign Trade University as Zhao Jihong, a prolific Paralympic athlete, launched the 3km relay of 60 torchbearers.
Zhao, who doesn't have eyesight, had won four golds, three silvers and one bronze in three Paralympics. She set a world record of women's triple jump for the blind B in the seventh edition of Paralympics.
Xu Lijia, a Beijing Olympic bronze medallist in sailing, ran in the sixth place.
Xu won a bronze at Laser Radial, a class at which Europeans usually excel.
"I have my best two days this year. Last month, I won a medal in the Beijing Olympics and now I'm running as a torchbearer of Paralympics," said Xu.
"My two dreams come true today. One is being part of the Olympics and the other is being part of the Paralympics," added Xu.
Chinese swimmer Pang Jiaying lit the cauldron at 10:40 a.m. as the last torchbearer.
Pang, 23, notched up three Olympic medals, one silver and two bronzes, in the Olympics last month.
"It's a great honor for me to get the opportunity to carry the torch and light the cauldron," said Pang, who won four gold medals at the Doha Asian Games 2006.
Huang Wentao, another Paralympic athlete who doesn't have eyesight, passed the torch in the 56th place. Huang was the Paralympic triple jump champion in 1992 and he repeated the feat at the Sydney Paralympics.
"We just held a successful Olympics. Now our first Paralympics is coming. We the disabled persons expect the Paralympics to be a great success," said Huang.
Twelve out of the 60 bearers were disabled persons in the relay.
The next destination for the "modern China" route is Qiangdao, a coastal city in Shandong province.
The Beijing Paralympic torch relay will cover 13,181 kilometers over nine days, passing 11 cities.
The Paralympic torch relay was carried out along two routes, namely the route of "modern China" and the route of "ancient China". "Modern" route covers Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian and Beijing, while the "ancient" has Xi'an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyan.

China Sets Sights on Rail Record

China will produce the world's fastest bullet train for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, a senior railway official has said.
Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer with the Ministry of Railways, said the domestically developed train will run at 380 kph, the highest speed for any railway in the world.
And if the project materializes, the travel time between the two metropolises will be cut from five to around four hours, enhancing the rail network's competitive edge against airlines, he said.
Previously, China planned to run trains at 350 kph on the 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai line, the same speed as on the Beijing-Tianjin intercity passenger railway that opened a month ago.
And the travel time is estimated at five hours, about half of the current time. Manufacturing 380-kph trains in China is already possible in terms of technology, he said.
China has established a comprehensive system for bullet train manufacturing, including basic theory, design, manufacture, maintenance and appraisal, he said.
In the past few years, China has imported technology to manufacture 200-250 kph bullet trains from France, Japan and Canada, and German engineering giant Siemens agreed to transfer a full set of technology for manufacturing 350-kph trains.
Using Siemens' technology, Tangshan Railway Vehicles Co Ltd in Hebei province has started production of CRH-3, a jointly designed 350-kph train, and is expected to be able to manufacture 50 such trains by next year.
China has also fostered an experienced team through the previous six speed-up campaigns and the building of the nation's first high-speed railway between Beijing and Tianjin, he said.
"We have mastered core technologies in terms of manufacturing high-speed trains and made innovative achievements in the process," he said.
"It is possible that we can start to manufacture 380-kph trains in two years' time, and put them into service on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway," he said.
Construction of the railway is progressing smoothly, according to He Huawu, the ministry's chief engineer.
It is likely that the high-speed line can be finished within four years, and become operational in 2012, one year ahead of schedule.

Hope and Dreams after Quake Horror

Students from quake-affected Dujiangyan City of Sichuan Province arrive at Shanghai Railway Station on August 31, 2008. They will study at vocational schools in Shanghai. [Photo: shanghaidaily.com]
A group of 1,286 students arrived in Shanghai Sunday from quake-hit Dujiangyan City of Sichuan Province to study in the city's 24 vocational schools.
"We spend 38 hours on the train, while I kept wondering what Shanghai looks like. I'm very excited about studying for the next three years," said Xuan Chun, a 15-year-old student who graduated from Juyuan Middle School.
Majoring in computer numerical control, Xuan's wish was to work hard at Shanghai Architectural Engineering School in Xuhui District, and to find a job after graduation.
While 526 of the students maintain their original majors, 760 freshmen have been assigned 30 key majors by the schools, covering processing, manufacturing and the service industry.
"The majors have been selected to cover the demand for talent to rebuild Dujiangyan, students' requirements and Shanghai's talent shortage," said Wang Xiangqun, chief of vocational education at Shanghai Education Commission. "For those who are willing to work in Shanghai after graduation, job aid will be provided."
Wen Yanqi, a 16-year-old girl, said it was a challenge for her to take logistics as her major at Shanghai Donghui Vocational School.
"I'm touched by Shanghai government's support for us, otherwise we wouldn't have the opportunity to study here."
They will receive Shanghai Education Commission certificates after they complete their studies but won't be able to take college entrance examinations in the city.
Every year, each student will receive a tuition subsidy of 4,000 yuan (US$584.10), 500 yuan for books and a grant of 1,000 yuan. With free accommodation, students living below the poverty line will receive a daily 17-yuan subsidy, and the others will receive 10 yuan a day.
"From the moment they stepped onto the train, Shanghai has been their second home," Wang said. "We will cultivate these students into skillful talent."

China's Arctic Expedition Team Starts Research in 87 Degree N. Latitude

China's third Arctic expedition team started research operations in 87 degree north latitude, the northernmost part of the Arctic that the research team has ever arrived.
The scientific expedition team's helicopter landed on a large piece of a floating ice after an 87-minute flight.
The scientists took pictures and videos from the helicopter for further research.
Zhang Haisheng, chief scientist of China's third Arctic expedition team, said it was the first time that China has carried out research at such a high latitude, which showed China's improving ability in Arctic research.
The Arctic sea ice melting as a result of global warming helps the team successfully get deeper into this area and carry out a comprehensive study on the polar environment, he added.
Zhang also said the team has conducted a series of research activities in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean on oceanography, sea ice, and atmospheric subjects.
During the expedition from Shanghai on July 11, the team collected lots of data and samples, and achieved preliminary results, such as the discovery of salinity reduction in some Arctic sea areas, circulation anomalies and atmospheric circulation fluctuation, he said.
Further research will be carried out based on those data and samples by which the scientists hope to find answers to the influence of the global climate change and the response of the north pole to such changes, Zhang added.

New Large Regional Jet Prepares for Test Flight

China's first regional passenger jet with home-grown proprietary flight technologies will make its first test flight in two months, according to an article on the news website china-cbn.com.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd., based in Shanghai, is the manufacturer of ARJ21-700 jet, the first of which recently rolled off the assembly line for its test flight.
The company designed the jet with a travel range of 1,200-2,000 nautical miles to meet the complex needs for air travel through western China's plateau region, seating 78-90 passengers. The unique design of the supercritical wing reduces the effect of shock waves on the upper surface near Mach 1, which in turn reduces drag.
The company will sell the jets for 27 million-29 million U.S. dollars each to both domestic and international airlines. They will have a price advantage comparable to similar aircraft on the international market.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China said it has received dozens of orders for the new aircraft and that Shandong Airlines Co., Ltd. would be the first buyer, according to the article.
The manufacturer also said it has to sell at least 300 large regional jets to contain its costs during the aircraft's research and development phase.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China was set up in May to develop and produce China's own brand of large aircraft to sell to domestic and international airlines.
China expects to build its homegrown large aircraft with a take-off weight of more than 100 tonnes, or planes with more than 150 seats. And it is widely regarded the first large aircraft will roll off the production line by 2020.

Lin Chiling to Host CCTV Mid-Autumn Festival Gala

Taiwan supermodel-actress Lin Chiling will be a co-host at this year's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala held by Beijing-based China Central Television (CCTV), QQ.com reports.
The gala's director, Guo Jihong, explained at a press conference last week that Lin was chosen mainly because of her eye-catching performance in the latest blockbuster "Red Cliff," which has become the most bankable domestic film.
The gala will be broadcasted live by CCTV-1, CCTV-4 and CCTV-9 during the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 14.
It will highlight the Olympics and quake relief efforts, according to the director.

New Hamlet Interpretation Set for China Debut

For patrons of the arts, to see or not to see will hardly be the question when 72-year-old Lin Zhaohua, a much-honored director, puts on a fresh interpretation of "Hamlet" this autumn.
Famed actor Pu Cunxin and Gao Yuanyuan, a rising actress, will play Hamlet and Ophelia respectively.
The play is scheduled to hit the stage on Oct. 21 at the Poly Theater in Beijing. It runs through Oct. 25.
Lin's version of the Shakespeare classic is one of the highlights of the third international theater festival opening on Oct. 10.
The gala is being hosted by China's National Theater Company to mark the 444th birthday of the famed British Bard.
Also in store are two other versions of Hamlet -- from Australia and Kazakhstan respectively. However, it is Lin's version that will undoubtedly be in the spotlight.
In 1990, he created a sensation by putting on "Hamlet." Thousands of people lined up for tickets outside the Beijing Film Academy theater in the dead of winter.
The success inspired him to revive the drama again in 1994. A year later, the play was invited to Japan and received huge accolades there.
Lin, who is also head of the theater research center at Beijing University, has been a pioneer of the country's theater scene since 1982 when his first play "Absolute Signal" debuted. He is reputed for his unique understanding of Hamlet.
His thinking is very much outside of the box as he switches the roles among Hamlet, Claudius and Polonius. His interpretation, which included a minimalist stage set, surprised audiences.
"Shakespeare's works are eternal not because what the works themselves do to us but because what we can do to the works," he said.
After the introduction of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, many foreign classics, mainly from the West, were introduced to Chinese audiences. Many, however, were brought in without much digestion. Some scholars even had the tendency to worship the Western thoughts.
Lin's Hamlet was among the first staged efforts to reverse the trend. He took the initiative to experiment on the masterpiece by the famed British playwright.
He demonstrated what Chinese could do to expand the dimension of Western classics.
Lin's Hamlet will tour the country after the festival ends on Nov. 2.
In 1990, he crafted a Hamlet who was not a Danish prince, but instead a commoner who might be any of us. Now, some 18 years on, what will Lin do to outshine not only the two foreign Hamlets but also his previous versions? Undoubtedly, an anxious audiences awaits.

Chinese Wins Table Tennis Title in Pyongyang

Chinese Yan An won the men's singles gold medal at the 22nd Pyongyang International Table Tennis Invitation tournament on Monday.
Yan beat host player Jang Song Mah 4-3 in the final.
Chinese Li Xiaodan lost to host player Kim Jong 4-1 in the women's final.
Host paddlers Kim Chol Min/Kim Gok Bong and Kim Jong/Kim Hye Sung took the men's and women's doubles respectively.
The tournament attracted over 60 players from China, India, Mongolia and the host country.

Oil Edges Higher as Gustav Threatens U.S. Gulf

Oil edged higher in a quiet special electronic trading session on Sunday as Hurricane Gustav took aim at a swath of U.S. oil fields and refineries.
U.S. crude oil futures were up $1.24 at $116.70 a barrel at 2140 GMT, after trading as high as $118.60 after the electronic market was opened.
The New York Mercantile Exchange opened trading on the CME Globex platform at 1630 GMT on Sunday, three and half hours earlier than normal, to facilitate trading before Gustav makes landfall.
Gustav was expected to be a major Category 3 hurricane by Monday morning when it will slam into the Louisiana coast, west of New Orleans.
"This could be potentially the most dangerous storm for the energy sector we've ever seen. It is going right across the most important areas. I am sure we are going to have some damage from this to deal with," said Chris Jarvis, senior analyst at Caprock Risk Management in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
More than 96 percent of oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was shut down by Sunday, according to the U.S. government. The Gulf produces approximately 1.3 million barrels per day of crude oil, roughly a quarter of U.S. domestic output.
At least nine oil refineries with a combined capacity of 2.2 million bpd, were shut down and several other refineries had reduced throughputs because of the storm.
OPEC AHEAD
Iran's oil minister said on Sunday $100 a barrel was the lowest acceptable price for crude oil. Iran, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has said the oil market is oversupplied in recent weeks as oil prices have plunged more than $30 a barrel from its peak over $147 set in mid-July.
OPEC meets in Vienna on September 9 to discuss output policy but other member nations have not come out and publicly backed Iran.

Major Chinese City on High Flood Alert

More than 600 people are carrying out round-the-clock patrols of dikes along the Yangtze River in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, as the water level of the country's longest river rises.
The water level was 24.17 meters on Sunday, the highest this year, and was approaching the 25-meter line that marks the need to start implementing flood control plans, according to the Wuhan flood control headquarters.
The water level of three major medium-sized rivers in the city surpassed their danger lines on Sunday because of continuous rain.
The level of the Daoshui River was 29.20 meters, 1.2 meter above the danger line. The figure was 29.6 meters at the Jushui River, 60 cm above the danger level and 28.18 meters at the Fuhuan River, 2.18 meters above the danger line.
Torrential rains had been lashing the province since Thursday, leaving four people dead and three others missing.
The rain had affected the lives of 4.07 million people and destroyed crops in 35 counties across the province, a spokesman for the provincial civil affairs department said on Saturday.

Renminbi rise 'less necessary' - Cheng

China does not need to accelerate the appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar, according to Cheng Siwei, vice-chairman of the standing committee of National People's Congress, an influential voice in Chinese economic policy making.
"My point is that we don't need to accelerate the appreciation of the renminbi. The dollar will not weaken very much and may get stronger, as happened [in August]," Mr Cheng told the Financial Times in an interview. "This makes appreciation of the Chinese currency against the dollar less necessary," he said, because the renminbi was still likely to appreciate against other currencies.
The comments are likely to disturb many in the US, who are hoping that faster appreciation of the renminbi would help rebalance the world economy and improve prospects for US growth.
The Chinese currency has appreciated by 7 per cent against the US dollar this year. But the pace of appreciation has slowed sharply over the last two months. In August, the renminbi even depreciated slightly against the dollar. This is only the second month that this has happened since China moved away from its dollar peg in 2005.
Mr Cheng acknowledged that "to speak frankly, there are some disputes" about exchange rate policy in Beijing. But the views of Mr Cheng, who rose to prominence outside China after he became one of the first senior officials to warn of a Chinese stock market bubble, will be seen as significant.
Mr Cheng also underlined the Chinese government's worries about inflows of speculative short-term capital or so-called hot money, which he estimated totalled about $100bn last year.
"This year, our trade surplus is decreasing, but our foreign reserve accumulation is increasing. This means even more hot money is flowing into China. If the tide changes, the hot money will flow out. So we have to monitor the funds as they flow in and also monitor their flowing out."
Mr Cheng warned that the strength of domestic consumption could not compensate for the weakness of investment and net exports. Although the government had introduced measures in July to loosen credit and reduce export taxes, "we need to consider fiscal policy action as well", he said.
"Government revenue increased by 33.3 per cent in the first half of this year. But we have many big expenses like the Olympics and the aftermath of the earthquake. So I don't think we can put a big sum of money to expand public spending. But we have put 3.5 billion yuan ($512m) into subsidising small and medium-sized enterprises."
Mr Cheng, who expects oil prices to fall below $100 a barrel as high prices weaken demand and stimulate production of substitutes, said it would not be long before fuel subsidies were withdrawn in China. "This is not a good measure. It is an emergency measure. So we should let the market determine the price."

Remains of former CPC chief Hua Guofeng cremated

BEIJING -- Hua Guofeng, a former leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was cremated at Beijing's Babaoshan cemetery on Sunday.
President and Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee General Secretary Hu Jintao and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, sent their condolences on his passing.
Chinese President and Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee General Secretary Hu Jintao (R) condoles with family members of deceased former CPC leader Hua Guofeng during a farewell ceremony held at the Babaoshan cemetary in Beijing, China, Aug. 31, 2008. [Xinhua]
In addition to Hu, the other members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, also sent condolences.
Hua was called in the official obituary "an outstanding CPC member, a long-tested and loyal Communist fighter and a proletarian revolutionary who once held important leading posts in the CPC and the government."
Hua died of illness at 12:50 p.m. on Aug. 20 in Beijing at 87.
Born in 1921 to a tannery worker's family in Jiaocheng County of northern Shanxi Province, he was originally given the name Shu Zhu. He later changed it to Hua Guofeng after joining the war against Japanese aggression in 1938. The same year, he joined the CPC.
After being sent back by the Party to his hometown, Hua led the local resistance movement against the Japanese and later the Kuomintang army. In 1949, he moved to central Hunan Province with the People's Liberation Army and worked as a local official until 1971.
During his stay in Hunan, Hua performed well in improving local agriculture and rural development. Then Chinese leader Mao Zedong had said he was "an honest man that did not lie."
Hua was promoted to the State Council in 1971 and was elected as a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau in 1973, when he was assigned to take charge of agriculture development under the leadership of then Premier Zhou Enlai. Two years later he was appointed vice premier and minister of public security.
Following Zhou's death on Jan. 8, 1976, Hua took his place to lead the Cabinet. He had also effectively handled the rescue and relief work in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that leveled Tangshan City in the northern Hebei Province on July 28 the same year.
On Sept. 9, Mao passed away. In the following months, Hua played a critical role in crushing the "Gang of Four," a political group that had put the country in chaos during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Its core members, including Mao's widow Jiang Qing, were arrested and jailed.
During his four years as the chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Central Military Commission, Hua worked with other senior Party leaders to restore the country's political and economic life and started correcting cases of officials who were wronged during the Cultural Revolution.
He resigned from his posts in June 1981 and stayed as the CPC Central Committee vice chairman and a member of the Standing Committee of CPC Central Committee Political Bureau until September 1982.
A farewell ceremony is held for deceased former Communist Party of China (CPC) leader Hua Guofeng at the Babaoshan cemetary in Beijing, China, Aug. 31, 2008. The remains of Hua Guofeng was cremated at the Babaoshan cemetery in Beijing on Sunday. [Xinhua]Hua was a member of the ninth to 15th CPC Central Committees and a member of the Standing Committees of the 10th and 11th CPC Central Committee Political Bureaus. He was also a special delegate to both the CPC 16th and 17th National Congress.
"In his 70 years working for the revolution, Hua had been loyal to Communism, loved the Party and people, always put the Party's cause first and devoted his whole life to independence and liberation of the Chinese people as well as construction of socialism," said an official statement.
"He never bothered what he personally got or lost ... always putting the interests of the Party and people first."

Futures trading volume up 65 percent in August

The trading volume of China futures grew 65 percent in August from the same period last year, led by active business in farm produce.
The trade volume of the country's three futures exchanges hit 6.68 trillion yuan ($975.2 billion) in August, the China Futures Association said on Sunday. It was generated by 125 million contracts, a 54 percent year-on-year growth.
The Dalian Commodity Exchange in the country's northeast, where corn and soybean futures are the most traded, saw its business volume more than double to 2.87 trillion yuan in August, 113 percent up from a year ago.
Transactions increased 85 percent to 1.36 trillion yuan at the central Zhengzhou Commodity Exchanges where wheat, cotton and sugar are mainstays.
The combined value of trade at the two exchanges accounted for 63 percent of the national futures market through August, while their contracts took up 84 percent of the national total.
The robust growth in farm produce futures trading was a reaction to the sharp global price fluctuation. Global wheat prices soared 181 percent over the 36 months leading to February 2008, and overall international food prices rose 83 percent, according to a World Bank report in April.
Business at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, where fuel oil and metals such as gold, copper, zinc are traded, rose 24 percent to 2.45 trillion yuan in August.
In the January-August period, futures trade across the country jumped 117 percent year on year to 48.13 trillion yuan, involving 814 million contracts.
Compared with the well-developed futures markets, China has fewer types of commodities available for futures trading. Pork, steel, crude oil and stock index futures have yet to be introduced into the country's futures market.

Beijing will belong to jazz legends for one night

George Benson and Al Jarreau, two of the greatest names in world jazz, are heading east for an Asia tour including two gigs in China, which promise to be a memorable experience.
With 18 Grammy Awards and more than eight decades of performance between them, the two men will play in Beijing and Shanghai to promote their highly-acclaimed album Givin' It Up.
Friends and label-mates for more than three decades, this release marks the first time that the two Gold and Platinum-selling artists, have recorded together as equal partners. Topping the Contemporary Jazz Charts, as well as netting two Grammeys in 2007, Givin' It Up is a testament to these legends at their best.
With millions of fans worldwide, singer/guitarist/songwriter Benson, once described as the man who "sings through his strings", is a true entertainer in every sense of the word.
"I've had the pleasure of playing with the baddest jazz cats on the planet", he says, "but that doesn't change my desire to entertain folks. That's really who I am."
His expert improvisation skills, and blended grooves of soulful and seductive rhythm and blues have earned him the impeccable reputation as one of music's most enterprising and engaging stars.
An extraordinary vocalist, singer/songwriter Jarreau has been wowing audiences for half a century. His unique and innovative musical expressions have made him one of the most exciting and critically acclaimed performers of our time with seven Grammy Awards, scores of international awards and accolades worldwide.
On his vocal style Jarreau says: "People have always thought of me as a jazz singer but the real truth is that all my records are R&B/pop with undertones and overtones of jazz."
Benson and Jarreau first met in the mid-1970s at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Benson recalls: "Al sang lyrics to Take Five, which I'd never heard before. I'd recorded an instrumental version of the track on my album Bad Benson, so I was really checking this cat out. His style of improvising was quite interesting."
He's a prolific cat. I've always loved Al but I have a different respect for him now."
Of Benson, Jarreau says: "George and I share something of the same age, but George can describe things he was doing as a professional at the age of 8!
"He was an idol within the jazz community, one that I aspired to, but I didn't arrive on the scene with my first record until seventeen years later in 1975. George was a hero to me."
To give audiences a taste of the magic these two giants will conjure up live, the 13-track album Givin' It Up, recorded between April and June 2006, features each of the stars on a new arrangement of one of the other's biggest hits - Jarreau adding lyrics to and singing Benson's signature instrumental smash Breezin', while the legendary jazz guitarist delivers a lovely instrumental version of the singer's eternally charming hit Mornin'.
Expect this and exquisite renditions of Seals & Crofts' Summer Breeze and Hall & Oates' (and Paul Young smash) Every Time You Go Away along with an instrumental take on John Legend's GRAMMY award-winning soul smash, Ordinary People, stunning new jazz vocal versions of the Miles Davis classics Four and'Long Come Tutu and some delectable new compositions. Such a broad spectrum of musical influences is sure to attract a crowd of all ages.
The Beijing concert is at the the Beizhan Theater next Thursday.

Magic carpet ride

Magic carpet ride
时间： 2008年09月01日 16:40 作者： 来源：中国日报网站
Patterns of bats, butterflies, clouds and flowers on a carpet of the mid-Qing Dynasty from Liu Qujiang's collection.
Antique carpet expert Liu Qujiang got the shock of his life when he had the huge soiled old carpets stacked outside his warehouse cleaned.
An antique carpet dealer himself, Liu had acquired them from other dealers who were about to discard the 20 or so carpets. They were so big that he had to leave them outside, exposed to the elements.
When Liu retired from the import-export business in 2002, he had them cleaned. Each carpet - some 3.5 m long - took ten workers nearly a month to wash.
What emerged from the grime - patterns of bats, butterflies, books and flowers - was dazzling, and Liu realized that these had been mid-Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) imperial carpets belonging to the royal family.
This discovery further fueled Liu's dream to open a museum of antique Chinese carpets.
"We have lost the culture of antique Chinese carpets. I want to call people's attention to this," the 66- year-old Hebei native explains.
It is a bit strange to see the president of Zheng Tai Carpets Import & Export Company wearing a pair of slippers when welcoming visitors. But it stands to reason, as it is easier to remove slippers when he steps onto his antique carpets.
He even encourages his visitors to sit on the hundred-year-old antiques to feel their quality.
The world's best carpets are Chinese, Persian and Turkish. What upsets Liu the most is that foreigners seem to appreciate antique Chinese carpets more than the Chinese people themselves. For example, Liu says, when he visited friends in Italy, he was surprised to see antique Chinese carpets in their homes. What's more, he says, many of the developed countries he visited - the United States, England, France and Japan - have collections of Chinese antique carpets in their museums, while one hardly sees an antique carpet in a Chinese museum.
"It is good to see that nowadays Chinese collectors have raised the awareness of collecting antique carpets, but the problem is that they are rare in China now, as most of them have already been exported," Liu says.
Liu didn't have the opportunity to plumb the world of antique Chinese carpets until he became the deputy manager of the Tianjin Agricultural Products Import & Export Corporation in 1976. Prior to that, he had been a Peking Opera performer, a soldier and a policeman.
According to Liu, hand-made carpets were an important product to earn foreign exchange during China's planned economy. Carpets were made mainly in Hebei, Shandong, Gansu provinces and the city of Tianjin.
Besides exporting handmade carpets, some foreign clients began to ask Liu for antique carpets from Beijing. Liu says the capital city is a unique source of antique carpets due to its historical and political background. The royal family was the biggest consumer of carpets, which covered almost every inch of the imperial palace. Tapestries were widely used in the wedding ceremony of Emperor Guang Xu during the late Qing Dynasty.
The aristocracy also used carpets, many of which were tributes from the other provinces.
When helping his clients collect carpets, Liu insisted that some more valuable pieces should be kept in China, so the father of two bought them himself.
Antique Chinese carpets are highly prized because of their excellent workmanship and natural vegetable dyes, Liu says. Modern machine-made carpets are no competition.
In making a carpet for the royal family, the wool was selected from sheep grazing above 3,000 meters in the Helan Mountain Range in northwest China. Because of the hostile climate, the sheep was bred to have strong and lustrous wool.
Natural plants were widely used for dying. The red color came from zanghonghua, a Tibetan crocus, while the blue was from banlangen, a Chinese herb.
"It's not just a splendid piece of craftsmanship, it's truly a piece of art," Liu says. "When I see a beautiful antique carpet, all of my worries are swept away, and I find joy and peace."
The oldest carpet in Liu's collection - which has a pattern of lotus flowers and branches - dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368). Liu has declined several offers of more than one million yuan ($145,985) from his overseas customers.
"I have developed a better understanding of history via antique carpets. Opening a museum is a way to share the experience with more people, " he says.

Xi'an Polytechnic University graduates bid farewell to the 2008 session of variety show

Xi'an University of Technology graduates bid farewell to the 2008 session of variety show on July 1 in the Golden Flower campus college students held activities, teachers and students with songs and dances of the motherland, the alma mater of deep blessing. Principal Liu Ding, school Yongjie Lian, deputy secretary of Party Committee, Vice-President Liu Kai, offices and functions of the Institute of leadership and a more than 1,000 graduates to watch the show. In the evening program performance, Liu Ding Xiaochang took office speech, he encouraged the graduates in the next journey to establish a determination to face the difficulties, the confidence to overcome difficulties, be willing to lonely patient, down-to-earth working hard to create their own brilliance. The whole show from "New Age", "his alma mater, feelings," "Sailing voyage" three chapters, comprising 14 large-scale events, brass music, sports portfolio performances, song and dance, modern art and national Perfect combination of characteristics so that the audience in the fiery atmosphere in the evening for the first time in the art of baptism. I school students performing sign language, "the heart of Thanksgiving" touched every audience, we Wenchuan Jia oil, for the Chinese Come on! Lianchang songs to his alma mater, the graduates feel that they worried about a deep and good wishes, the graduates of the Music Poetry reflect the performance of his alma mater, they'll with deep gratitude.

Xi'an University of Technology celebrate the 2008 graduate school

August 25, 2008 Graduate School report. This year, I school to recruit a total of 42 doctoral students, Master's 1405 general who, MBA170 people, compared with last year growth rate of about 6 percent. Attaches great importance to graduate school admission report, the Ministry of graduate students in various departments, colleges and Qujiang campus held a number of preparations for the meeting, the details of the process has made careful arrangements. Logistics holidays in the dormitory was renovated; Public Security Department sent a law and order, and Xiao Weidui household registration in areas such as staff more than 30 people, ensure the completion of the law and order during the new report back on duty, patrols and account migration, registration; School Hospital New medical examination made full preparations; Treasury 20 bank staff and some of the composition of the eight charges Group to ensure that the new admission fee of convenience and fast. As this year's fee system reform, part of the cost to take a voluntary basis, for each newborn, staff will take the initiative to ask whether it is willing to participate in some projects to pay costs, not only to increase the volume, but also a test of staff Attitude and level of services. In practice, they can be patient and meticulous treatment to every student, no case of disputes and conflicts, for the new school graduate left a good first impression. The school also opened the Golden Flower, Qujiang between the two campus free of charge through train, Shuttle freshmen.

西安理工大学喜迎2008级研究生入学

8月25日，我校2008级研究生报到。今年，我校共招收博士生42人、普通硕士生1405人、MBA170余人，与去年相比增长比率约为6%。
学校高度重视研究生入学报到工作，研究生部会同各有关部门、各学院和曲江校区多次召开准备工作会议，从各流程细节上做出了周密安排。后勤处在假期对宿舍楼进行了修缮；公安处派出了治安、户籍和校卫队等各方面工作人员30余人，确保完成新生报到期间的治安值勤、巡逻和户口迁移、登记等工作；校医院为新生体检做了充分准备；财务处20名工作人员与银行的部分人员组成了8个收费组，确保了新生入学缴费的方便与快捷。由于今年收费制度上的改革，部分费用采取自愿形式，对每一个新生，工作人员都会主动询问其是否愿意参与某些项目缴纳费用，这不仅增加了作量，同时，也考验着工作人员的服务态度和水平。在实际工作中，他们能耐心细致的对待每一个学生，没有发生一例争吵和冲突，为新入学的研究生留下了良好的第一印象。
学校还开通了金花、曲江两校区之间的免费直通车，接送新生。

教育部机械基础课程教学指导委员会专家参观考察我校工程训练中心

教育部机械基础课程教学指导委员会副主任委员清华大学傅水根教授、教育部机械基础课程教学指导分委员会委员山东大学孙康宁教授、天津大学工程训练中心主任杨育虎和浙江工业大学工程训练中心周老师一行4人于8月22日来到我校工程训练中心进行参观考察。
我校实验室管理处、工程训练中心的有关负责人介绍了工程训练中心的整体建设思想和特色，取得的教学改革成果，及在省内的辐射作用，并陪同专家们参观了工程训练中心。
专家们对我校工程训练中心的建设工作及取得的成绩给予了较高评价。