China in Pictures Page 37

Jan 20, 2023 19:51 PM

Gallery: Hopping Into the New Year
China is preparing to welcome the Lunar New Year, the biggest holiday of the year. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2023 marks the Year of the Rabbit. Across the country, rabbit motifs fill public spaces on lanterns and decorations, adding to the festive atmosphere
Jan 19, 2023 20:24 PM

Gallery: A Dose of Culture at Davos
It wasn’t all serious debates at Davos. Attendees of the World Economic Forum were treated to a fair share of culture, including a performance by Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who collaborated with Beninese-American singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo for a show inside Congress Hall. Along the snow-covered Promenade, the resort town’s main thoroughfare, there were international pavilions set up by countries such as India and Malaysia to promote themselves as investment destinations
Jan 19, 2023 19:22 PM

Gallery: Suzhou Bay Museum Opens
The new museum opened at the sprawling Suzhou Bay Cultural Center, a project that’s part of an urban masterplan to spruce up the Wujiang lakefront in the eastern Chinese city. Standing six stories tall with an exhibition area of 5,700 square meters, the museum debuted with more than 160 exhibits related to the ancient Silk Road and China’s Grand Canal
Jan 18, 2023 20:14 PM

Gallery: Big Names Join Caixin in Davos
Caixin hosted a CEO luncheon and debate session on Tuesday, the second day of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Attended by panelists including Kevin Rudd, former Australian prime minister and current CEO of the Asia Society, the debate focused on China’s future development. Thirty-five participants joined the luncheon, including Jin Zhongxia, executive director for China at the IMF, and Lawrence H. Summers, former U.S. treasury secretary and president emeritus of Harvard University
Jan 18, 2023 20:10 PM

Gallery: Carrefour Shelves Stripped Bare
Shoppers are emptying shelves at a Carrefour in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, as the French retail giant reportedly restricted purchases with its prepaid supermarket cards in multiple cities across China. Once the country’s largest foreign retail chain, Carrefour has closed 84 stores over the last three years and exited from some big cities, including Hangzhou, Chengdu and Jinan
Jan 17, 2023 21:36 PM

Gallery: Davos Debates World Problems
The world’s elite congregated at the Swiss ski resort town for the opening of this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, where topics such as the war in Ukraine, climate change and technological innovation were discussed. On Tuesday, China’s Vice Premier Liu He gave a special address on China’s role in global economic development, while Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska called for international support for the ongoing war. Themed Cooperation in a Fragmented World, the event runs through Friday
Jan 17, 2023 20:52 PM

Gallery: All Aboard
People are flocking to railway stations across China as they head home for the Lunar New Year holiday. On Monday, 8.3 million passengers took a train in the country, up 29.5% from the same period last year. Travelers in China are expected to make 2.1 billion trips in the country during the seasonal travel rush this year
Jan 16, 2023 20:34 PM

Gallery: Nepal Plane Crash Leaves Dozens Dead
Rescuers in the Himalayan country have reportedly recovered the black boxes from the Yeti Airlines plane that crashed Sunday, killing at least 68 onboard. The ATR-72 aircraft was carrying 72 people, including four crew members, from Kathmandu to Pokhara. Rescuers are still searching for the four missing persons. The crash was the country’s deadliest airplane accident in three decades
Jan 16, 2023 20:26 PM

Gallery: Domestic Travelers Hit the Road
Domestic tourism experienced a mild recovery as China’s lifting of Covid-19 movement curbs drove an increase in the number of trips taken during the New Year’s Day long weekend. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism recorded more than 52 million trips during the holiday period, an increase of 0.44% from last year. Local governments have launched new pedestrian streets and opened more free attractions to boost tourism for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. The China Tourism Academy expects domestic travel to recover to 70% to 75% of pre-pandemic levels this year
Jan 13, 2023 20:38 PM

Gallery: Abandoned Quarries Get New Lease of Life
Three deserted quarries in Jinyun county, East China’s Zhejiang province, were turned into spaces for performing and studying, part of an ongoing effort by the local government to find new uses for such abandoned sites in the area. The quarries, created during a mining rush in the 20th century, include spots for lectures, opera, and an open-air library. Designed by Xu Tiantian from DnA_Design and Architecture, renovation of the three quarries began in 2021. They opened to the public last year
Jan 13, 2023 20:01 PM

Gallery: Winter Wonderland
The annual ice and snow carnival is underway at Longqing Gorge, a tourist spot in northwestern Beijing’s Yanqing district. The 200,000-square-meter exhibition includes 8,000 square meters devoted to ice lanterns. The event will last until Feb. 28, during which time more ice and snow sculptures will go on display
Jan 12, 2023 18:28 PM

Gallery: Michelle Yeoh, Golden at Last
The Malaysian Chinese actress won her first Golden Globe award for her performance in the 2022 sci-fi comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Born in 1962, Yeoh rose to fame due to her parts in Hong Kong action movies in the 1990s. In 1997, she gained international recognition from her role in the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Last year, Time magazine named Yeoh “Icon of the Year” in honor of her 40-year acting career
Jan 11, 2023 19:59 PM

Gallery: Village of Lantern-Makers
Locals of a small village in North China’s Hebei province are racing to produce palace lanterns as China’s biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year festival, fast approaches. Home to over 1,000 lantern manufacturers, the village of Tuntou has cornered the market, making about 80% of the palace lanterns in the country with an annual output value of $221 million, state media says
Jan 11, 2023 15:43 PM

Gallery: Postcard From the Palace
A new post office in Beijing’s Forbidden City allows tourists to send out specially designed postcards directly from the imperial complex. Located on the west side of the Gate of Divine Prowess, the post office attracted a flock of visitors when it opened Tuesday. Commemorative stamps, including those that China Post recently issued for the Forbidden City and the Year of the Rabbit, are available for purchase
Jan 10, 2023 19:45 PM

Gallery: Beijing Gets Its First World-Class Soccer Stadium
After a two-year renovation, the Beijing Workers’ Stadium has been upgraded into a world-class professional soccer stadium — the capital’s first, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency on Friday. The stadium was first built in 1959 to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, and has hosted a series of major events since then, including the 2004 AFC Asian Cup and some events during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics
Jan 10, 2023 17:46 PM

Gallery: China’s Exit-Entry Offices Get Busy
Travel hopefuls streamed into a district branch of Beijing’s Exit and Entry Administration on Monday, one day after China downgraded Covid-19’s infectious disease status and officially reopened its borders. People came to access passport services or apply for a permit to travel to Hong Kong or Macao. More than 3,200 such offices have resumed services across China, state media said
Jan 09, 2023 19:24 PM

Gallery: Looking Back at the New Year Travel Rush
China’s railways received an influx of passengers on the first day of the New Year travel rush on Saturday. Trains nationwide transported more than 6 million passengers, an increase of 18.4% compared to 2022. Also known as the Lunar New Year travel rush, it is the largest annual human migration on Earth and dates back to last century. It usually lasts for 40 days
Jan 09, 2023 19:14 PM

Gallery: China Officially Opens
After three years of being largely closed, China reopened its borders to international travel on Sunday by scrapping quarantine and nucleic acid test requirements, and removing restrictions on international flights. But inbound travelers still need to show a negative result from within 48 hours. The changes come as the management of Covid-19 has been downgraded to Class B from the highest level, Class A
Jan 06, 2023 20:52 PM

Gallery: China’s National Emblem Designer Dies
Chinese artist Zhou Lingzhao, famous for designing some of China’s symbols, has died at the age of 104 in Beijing. Born in 1919, Zhou started to learn fine arts when he was 13 years old in Central China’s Hunan province. From 1949 to 1987, Zhou worked on national projects, including the Chinese currency, postage stamps, and the country’s emblem of five stars above the Tiananmen gate. His works depict historical events like the May Fourth Movement in 1919 and the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China in 1949
Jan 06, 2023 16:29 PM

Gallery: Preparing for the Holiday Rush
China’s airlines and railway operators are getting ready for the country’s first Lunar New Year travel rush since the government ended the country’s ‘zero-Covid’ policy. Holiday travelers are expected to make more than 2 billion trips from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year, almost double the number made during last year’s rush period, according to the Ministry of Transport. Still, this year’s estimate is only about 70% of the volume in 2019 before the pandemic