Chinese sci-fi earns global applause

The official poster for The Wandering Earth (Photo/Mtime.com)

Chinese science fiction writers have offered a new perspective in the creation of sci-fi as they think differently from western writers. Therefore, their ways of expression are welcomed in the west, said Kevin J Anderson, an American science fiction author.

He made the remarks at the 2019 China Science Fiction Convention in Beijing on Nov. 3, where sci-fi heavyweights from around the world gathered to share their perspective on China’s sci-fi industry.

Experts present at the conference hailed the making of sci-fi movie The Wondering Earth as a Chinese narrative in depicting disasters in sci-fi movies.

Liu Cixin, author of the book The Wandering Earth, said China’s sci-fi industry, which has just started to make progress, is in a golden era of development. “The futuristic development environment of China provides soil for sci-fi creation,” he pointed out.

He noted that sci-fi works are more welcomed in China nowadays. In the past, Chinese people paid more attention to reality, but now, the younger generations think more about the future, and are interested in topics far outside the realms of daily life.

Quji Xiaojiang, deputy general manager at Bona Film Group Ltd., said the success of The Wandering Earth had injected confidence into the Chinese movie industry, noting that more capital would flow into the sector in the future.

Chinese TV series increasingly popular overseas

Chinese TV series have been exported to over 200 countries and regions, according to the State Administration of Press Publication Radio Film and Television.

The export volume of TV series accounts for over 70 percent of all the exported TV programs, said an official with the administration.

Chinese TV series hold competitive advantages in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, they are starting to spread across countries and regions in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

In recent years, China has actively established channels to introduce Chinese TV series overseas. The annual sales account for more than 30 percent of the total sales of national films and television programs.

Besides, the Chinese dubbing project has also facilitated the communication of many TV series. Over 1,600 Chinese films and TV series have been dubbed into 36 languages, including English, French, Russian, Arabic and Burmese, and broadcasted in 100 and more countries.

Short videos bring fame to Chinese artisans

Short video apps Douyin, Kuaishou,  and Huoshan.

31-year-old Geng Shuai has attracted more than 3.6 million followers on short video platform Kuaishou, thanks to his unique hand-made inventions, such as an exercise bike that can produce soybean milk.

The popularity of short video platforms in China has brought more craftsmen into the spotlight. While vitalizing traditional handicrafts among the Chinese people, some craftsmen have even helped introduce Chinese culture overseas.

Data from TikTok, a popular short video sharing platform, suggests that more than 88 percent of the 1,372 representative projects of China’s intangible cultural heritage, including traditional handicrafts, had been represented on the platform by April this year.

More than 24 million short videos on the platform were related to traditional handicrafts, over 60 percent of which were published by members of the post-90s generation.

Short videos allow the innovations of ordinary people to be seen, recorded, shared and recognized, according to a report released by the China Online Video Research Center of the Communication University of China and TikTok.

As experts pointed out, short videos enable people to use their imagination and express themselves, and allows ordinary people a chance to become popular and be heard.

By December 2018, 648 million people used short video apps in China, accounting for 78.2 percent of Chinese netizens, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

TCM to go global and benefit more

(Photo/People’s Daily Online)

In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has spread overseas and had more influence around the world.

The TCM is not only the treasure of China, but also the common wealth of the people all over the world, said Csaba Hende, deputy speaker of Hungary’s parliament, at the 16th World Congress of Chinese Medicine held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary earlier this month.

Hende added that the Chinese concept of preventing diseases is full of wisdom and well worth learning by other countries, including Hungary.

In recent years, the TCM community in Hungary has actively promoted the TCM in the local area. The first Confucius Institute for Chinese Medicine in Central and Eastern Europe was unveiled at the University of Pécs in Hungary in 2015.

In the same year, the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources issued relevant regulations on the qualifications of TCM practitioners, laying a legal foundation for the practice of TCM in Hungary.

The TCM is believed to play a more important role in Central and Eastern Europe, even the globe, said many TCM experts at the event.

By now, China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 40 countries, regions and organizations and established several hundred TCM institutions in about 30 countries and regions.

Chinese and Western medicine, with strengths of their own, are able to coexist in harmony and complement each other, according to many attendees of the conference.

The congress, organized by the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies and hosted by the Central and Eastern European TCM Association and the Hungarian TCM Association, has drawn nearly 800 TCM experts and practitioners from over 30 countries and regions.

Online poll suggests that young Chinese willing to volunteer in exchange for their future care

(Photo/Pixabay)

Wang Shaokang, a post-95s volunteer from Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu province, recently spent half an hour delivering dinner to an older couple. After saving his volunteering time in the “time bank,” he is now able to exchange it for the same amount of care when he gets old.

65.3 percent of the total 4,557 respondents would like to provide services for the elderly when they can and reap similar services for themselves or their families in the future, according to a survey conducted by the official micro-blog of China Youth Daily.

By the end of 2018, China has a population of 249 million aged 60 or above, accounting for 17.9 percent of the national population. The increasing cost of elderly care and the lack of such service providers have made the situation more severe.

Nanjing, one of the earliest cities in China to see an aging population, has introduced time bank services since 2012. Right now, a total of 26,000 people have registered to volunteer and serve the elderly in exchange for similar services in their later years.

People born after 1995 tend to be open-minded about caring for the aged and are willing to help each in that respect, said Xu Wenzheng, an official of the Jianye District, Nanjing.

Starting from November 20, the Jianye District began cooperation with the Ant Financial Services Group of Alibaba to record volunteering time using blockchain technology.

The technology enables volunteering time to be recorded and exchanged in a public and transparent way, free from being lost or falsified, said Wu Fang, an engineer with the Ant Financial Services Group.

The accumulated duration can be used to pay for care in his later years, for his parents or children, or can be donated back to the time bank for older adults in need.

The innovative way of taking care of the elderly has been introduced on a trial basis in several cities in China, such as Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu.

Intelligence becomes new driver of economy

(Photo/Pixabay)

The smart economy, as a new driver of growth, has promoted the development and transformation of Chinese industries and driven the industrial economy into a higher level of development.

This new kind of economy, which features cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things and AI, has begun large-scale research and development in areas such as intelligent equipment and the smart home, according to a report released by the think tank CCID.

It is gradually being applied to industrial production, consumer services, and other fields, among which intelligent manufacturing, self-driving and the implementation of the “smart city” are the most important application scenarios, said the report.

Take self-driving technology as an example. As of September this year, at least 21 cities across the country had constructed 24 intelligent networked car test demonstration zones, mainly in cities with developed automotive industries.

China’s tech giant Baidu has already launched a self-driving Robo-taxi service for the general public in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan province, involving an initial fleet of 45 autonomous cars.

The intelligent economy has promoted China’s independent research and development of high-end technologies, helping various industries to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Bicycle course in Chinese university proves popular with students

Recently, Hebei University in Baoding, central China’s Hebei province, has drawn attention thanks to its bike-riding course.

The optional course, designed for 30 students, opens every semester and always receives full enrollment, said Song Hongtao, who teaches the class.

During the class, students learn about the bicycle parts, safety precautions, formation, signaling and skills.

Moreover, they let students practice hand gestures, repairing and riding bicycles in the function room or outdoor space, Song explained.

As for extracurricular activities, students ride bicycles to scenic spots around the city. During the summer vacation, they even arrange different routes to ride across the country, and they have now set foot in over 30 Chinese provinces.

Song said that they teach the students first aid and how to ask for help when riding outdoors and simulate emergencies during the class to ensure student safety.

By running the course, Song hopes to inspire the students to travel in a more environmentally-friendly way and encourage them to get involved in more group activities, helping them to communicate and cooperate more often with others.

CENTURIES-OLD COMMERCIAL CENTER OF GUANGZHOU GLOWS WITH NEW CHARM

As the fourth Understanding China Conference was held in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province on Oct. 26 and 27, the city has once again displayed to the world its magnificence and charm.

Known as the “Flower City”, Guangzhou, with a history of more than 2,000 years, has experienced great changes and transitions. Now let’s dig into how the city remains open and inclusive and what secret it has to stay young and vibrant.

Old city bursts with new glow

For China, 40 years of reform and opening up has speeded up the process of urbanization, and Guangzhou is no exception. Statistics show that the urban expansion made by Guangzhou in the past 40 years even exceeded the total it made in the 2,000 years before that.

Ever since 1984, the Guangzhou municipal government has been taking the city as a state-level city of cultural and historical interest in its overall urban planning. And the beauty of the centuries-old city is manifested by the local accent and opera.

Designed with Cantonese Garden style, the Cantonese Opera Art Museum records the most representative traditional art and culture of the city. Nearby stands the Yong Qing Fang, a perfect example of the integration of history and modern society.

Innovation drives deeper reform

In addition to being a historical and cultural city, Guangzhou is also a highland for technological innovation.

Led by big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), the fourth scientific and technological revolution is changing the world and deeply integrating high-techs with industries.

Guangzhou, a pioneer in reform and opening-up, is taking new steps to innovate itself with intelligent manufacturing.

This can’t be done without the great business environment of the city and the strategic plan of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area that gathers advantageous regional resources.

Mingzhu Bay gives renewed vitality to Guangzhou

Mingzhu Bay, located in the center of Guangzhou’s Nansha District, is one of the most important measures taken by the local government to establish a core area for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao cooperation.

With a planning area of 103 square kilometers, Mingzhu Bay radiates all the 11 cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and five international airports.

Endowed with unique location, it is a test field of a new round of reform and innovation for China.

Integrating into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou is more and more serving as an agglomeration of economic and human resources.

With firm resolution to develop, more and more projects are being implemented in the city, bringing rapid progress to the Flower City. Right behind the renewed charm of the old city is its innovation and hard working.

To demonstrate the spirit of China, offer wisdom of China and provide schemes from China has always been on the mind of the people living in this open and innovative city.

In the context of a new round of economic globalization, Guangzhou has been given strong impetus for continued reform and opening-up, by the traditional city image related to Cantonese opera and Xiguan ancient houses, the new modernization process motivated by AI technology, and the initiatives to build the Belt and Road and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The ULTIMATE Chinese Food Tour: Shahe rice noodles in Guangzhou

Shahe rice noodles have been around since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when they were first served in Guangzhou’s Shahe town at the restaurant of Fan Axiang, who got the recipe from his father.

Although the dish has waned in popularity in the past, fifth-generation inheritor Ou Yousheng has helped revive it by using innovative techniques and experimenting with new flavors, all while maintaining the traditions that made Shahe rice noodles an important part of Guangdong cuisine.

Ou showed me the steps inside of Congee City’s exhibition kitchen, which gives customers the chance to see rice noodles made up close and personal.

The noodles were traditionally made using Baiyun Mountain spring water and Longmei rice sourced from fields around Shahe. But due to limited quantities and higher demand, Ou said after much research, Maofeng Mountain spring water and Longmei rice from Kaiping County are now used.

The two ingredients are ground and mixed to produce rice milk, which the inheritor must measure carefully to create a final product that is as durable as it is tasty. The rice milk is spread flat, steamed into a thin rice sheet, folded and sliced into even strips ready to be cooked.

As I witnessed firsthand, Shahe rice noodles are a versatile dish only limited by the creativity of the chef. They can be served in many ways, mixed with different sauces and other ingredients, boiled and fried. And each spin on this classic noodle will keep you coming back for more.

Source: CGTN

Universities from the Greater Bay Area team up

The 2019 Youth Scholars Forum of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance took place on Oct 31 at the Guangzhou campus of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), attracting about 200 experts and scholars from home and abroad.

Luo Jun, president of Sun Yat-sen University, said that universities should promote the construction of high-level projects, teams, and platforms to support the innovative development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Professor Ping-kong Alexander Wai, vice president of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), gave an introduction of the university’s efforts in participating in the scientific innovation and cooperation in the Greater Bay Area.

Wai added that he hoped various scientific platforms of Hong Kong universities can make full use of their function as bridges in enhancing cooperation between universities in the Greater Bay Area and industries.

A signing ceremony of the founding of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance for Postgraduate Education was also held during the event.

The alliance, launched by SYSU, Guangzhou University, PolyU, and Macau University of Science and Technology, is expected to improve the cultivation of research-oriented and innovative talents in the Greater Bay Area.

Source: eguangzhou.gov.cn