State Councilor Liu Yandong on Sunday called for more efforts to upgrade the education quality in the vast western rural area, where the economy was relatively backward.
To improve the education quality in the western provinces, especially in the rural area, would promote social harmony, coordinated development between the cities and countryside, and the long-term development of the western region, she said.
More investment should be injected into the education sector in the western rural area, to allow rural students to receive their free nine-year compulsory education and attract more outstanding teachers to serve in the countryside, she said during her visits to local schools and university campuses.
More efforts should be made to improve the teaching and boarding facilities for rural students, she said, adding teaching methods should also be improved to help students develop creative thinking.
The official also stressed the importance of education for minorities.
More efforts should be made to develop minority education so as to make contribution to the common prosperity of all nationalities, she said.
Western China covers six provinces - Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan; one municipality, Chongqing; and three autonomous regions: Ningxia, Tibet and Xinjiang.
Yinchuan is the capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Source: Xinhua
Monday, September 15, 2008
Shanxi governor resigns, acting governor appointed
Meng Xuenong, governor of north China's Shanxi Province, resigned on Sunday in the wake of the deadly mud-rock flow that had killed 254 people by Saturday night.
His resignation was accepted by the 5th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th Shanxi Provincial People's Congress on Sunday afternoon.
Zhang Jianmin, vice governor of Shanxi was removed from his post at the same session.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet, approved both Meng's resignation and Zhang's removal on Sunday. The decision was made according to the regulations on the responsibility of leaders in major accidents.
The provincial people's congress appointed Wang Jun as the acting and deputy governor. Wang, 56, was appointed the head of the State Administration of Work Safety in March this year.
Meng Xuenong, born in August 1949, is a native of Penglai, east China's Shandong Province.
He was elected mayor of Beijing in January 2003 and was removed from the post for failing to respond properly to SARS crisis in April the same year. He was appointed deputy director of the Office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Construction Committee of the State Council in September 2003.
Meng was appointed deputy secretary of the CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee on Aug. 30, 2007, and was elected vice governor and acting governor of the province on Sept. 3 of the same year.
In January this year, Meng was elected governor of Shanxi at the provincial people's congress.
Further investigation was underway, according to the accident investigation team, which was dispatched by the State Council to probe the case on Thursday. It also vowed to punish those responsible for the accident.
Initial investigations showed that factors leading to the accident included production and building the pond holding waste ore dregs in violation of regulations, lack of security checkup, failure to implement the orders for straightening up operations, and loose supervision of concerned departments.
The State Council has also ordered nationwide safety check at similar production sites to root out hidden risks following the deadly accident in Shanxi. Any illegal activities and people who are held accountable will be dealt with harshly according to the law, it said.
A rain-triggered mud-rock flow in north China's Shanxi Province happened around 7:50 a.m. on Monday when the bank of a pond holding waste ore dregs burst at the Tashan Mine in Xiangfen County, Linfen City.
The mud, mixed with ore fragments, slid down the mountainside, washing away people and destroying buildings, trade markets and residences lying about 500 meters downstream.
Source: Xinhua
His resignation was accepted by the 5th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th Shanxi Provincial People's Congress on Sunday afternoon.
Zhang Jianmin, vice governor of Shanxi was removed from his post at the same session.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet, approved both Meng's resignation and Zhang's removal on Sunday. The decision was made according to the regulations on the responsibility of leaders in major accidents.
The provincial people's congress appointed Wang Jun as the acting and deputy governor. Wang, 56, was appointed the head of the State Administration of Work Safety in March this year.
Meng Xuenong, born in August 1949, is a native of Penglai, east China's Shandong Province.
He was elected mayor of Beijing in January 2003 and was removed from the post for failing to respond properly to SARS crisis in April the same year. He was appointed deputy director of the Office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Construction Committee of the State Council in September 2003.
Meng was appointed deputy secretary of the CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee on Aug. 30, 2007, and was elected vice governor and acting governor of the province on Sept. 3 of the same year.
In January this year, Meng was elected governor of Shanxi at the provincial people's congress.
Further investigation was underway, according to the accident investigation team, which was dispatched by the State Council to probe the case on Thursday. It also vowed to punish those responsible for the accident.
Initial investigations showed that factors leading to the accident included production and building the pond holding waste ore dregs in violation of regulations, lack of security checkup, failure to implement the orders for straightening up operations, and loose supervision of concerned departments.
The State Council has also ordered nationwide safety check at similar production sites to root out hidden risks following the deadly accident in Shanxi. Any illegal activities and people who are held accountable will be dealt with harshly according to the law, it said.
A rain-triggered mud-rock flow in north China's Shanxi Province happened around 7:50 a.m. on Monday when the bank of a pond holding waste ore dregs burst at the Tashan Mine in Xiangfen County, Linfen City.
The mud, mixed with ore fragments, slid down the mountainside, washing away people and destroying buildings, trade markets and residences lying about 500 meters downstream.
Source: Xinhua
China to inspect milk, cow feedstuff following baby milk powder contamination
Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said Sunday that it would carry out special quality inspections on fresh milk and cow feedstuff nationwide in the wake of the contaminated baby milk powder scandal.
"The inspection will take place in 50 counties in major dairy product manufacturing areas including Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi and Heilongjiang provinces," said the ministry in a web statement.
However, the ministry did not specify how long the inspections would last. Punishments will be severe, said the ministry, but it did not specify what they would be.
After the Sanlu baby milk powder scandal, the MOA had immediately ordered its local agencies nationwide to establish special inspection working groups to strengthen quality check to prevent any sub-standard fresh milk from sale.
The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted Friday that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material. It issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug. 6.
Source: Xinhua
"The inspection will take place in 50 counties in major dairy product manufacturing areas including Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi and Heilongjiang provinces," said the ministry in a web statement.
However, the ministry did not specify how long the inspections would last. Punishments will be severe, said the ministry, but it did not specify what they would be.
After the Sanlu baby milk powder scandal, the MOA had immediately ordered its local agencies nationwide to establish special inspection working groups to strengthen quality check to prevent any sub-standard fresh milk from sale.
The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted Friday that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material. It issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug. 6.
Source: Xinhua
Photo confirms Japanese troops bury alive Chinese civilians during WWII
A photo showing that the Japanese invading troops were burying alive Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers during the six-week long Nanjing Massacre has been found in Japan, the Asahi Shimbun reported Sunday.
The finding reversed the assertion made by some Japanese that a photo previously provided by the Chinese side was synthesized. The photo actually displays the same fact, but from a different angle.
In July 1938, the Chinese government published "The True Record of the Japanese Invaders' Atrocities". A picture entitled "Burying Alive" in the book was extensively cited as key evidence of the Japanese invading troops' barbarities during the Massacre, said the paper.
Some people in Japan, however, asserted that with no specified date or place, the photo was synthesized or faked.
The report came to a conclusion that with the finding of the photo, the mystery around the Nanjing Massacre has been cleared up.
Source: Xinhua
The finding reversed the assertion made by some Japanese that a photo previously provided by the Chinese side was synthesized. The photo actually displays the same fact, but from a different angle.
In July 1938, the Chinese government published "The True Record of the Japanese Invaders' Atrocities". A picture entitled "Burying Alive" in the book was extensively cited as key evidence of the Japanese invading troops' barbarities during the Massacre, said the paper.
Some people in Japan, however, asserted that with no specified date or place, the photo was synthesized or faked.
The report came to a conclusion that with the finding of the photo, the mystery around the Nanjing Massacre has been cleared up.
Source: Xinhua
Chinese vice premier leaves for China-U.S. JCCT meeting
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan left here Sunday night for the upcoming 19th meeting of the China-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade .
The one-day meeting is scheduled to be held in Los Angeles on Sept. 16. The meeting will also mark the 25th anniversary of the China-U.S. JCCT, a high-level government-to-government dialogue, seeking to open market opportunities and resolve trade disputes.
Wang will co-chair the meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, Wang's entourage includes a dozen ministerial officials from the Ministry of Commerce, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration of Civil Aviation and several other ministries.
The Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhou Wenzhong, and U.S Ambassador to China Clark Randt, will also attend the meeting as usual.
Source: Xinhua
The one-day meeting is scheduled to be held in Los Angeles on Sept. 16. The meeting will also mark the 25th anniversary of the China-U.S. JCCT, a high-level government-to-government dialogue, seeking to open market opportunities and resolve trade disputes.
Wang will co-chair the meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, Wang's entourage includes a dozen ministerial officials from the Ministry of Commerce, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration of Civil Aviation and several other ministries.
The Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhou Wenzhong, and U.S Ambassador to China Clark Randt, will also attend the meeting as usual.
Source: Xinhua
Chinese president sends message of condolences over plane crash in Russia
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday sent a message of condolences to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev over the plane crash which killed more than 80 people on board.
On behalf of the Chinese government, the Chinese people and himself, Hu expressed sincere condolences and deep mourning over the deaths in the tragedy to the Russian president and the relatives of the bereaved.
A Russian Boeing-737 airliner went down at about 3 a.m. Sunday in a patch of wasteland on the outskirts of the Russian city of Perm in the central Ural mountains, killing at least 81 passengers and six crew members.
Source: Xinhua
On behalf of the Chinese government, the Chinese people and himself, Hu expressed sincere condolences and deep mourning over the deaths in the tragedy to the Russian president and the relatives of the bereaved.
A Russian Boeing-737 airliner went down at about 3 a.m. Sunday in a patch of wasteland on the outskirts of the Russian city of Perm in the central Ural mountains, killing at least 81 passengers and six crew members.
Source: Xinhua
Chemical plant blasts in NE China, leaving one dead, two missing
One worker was confirmed dead and two others remained missing, after an explosion in a petrochemical plant in northeast China's Liaoning Province at 5:46 a.m. on Sunday.
The body of Wang Guiyan, a female worker at the plant, was recovered Sunday morning, according to the Funeral House in Liaoyang City.
A city government spokesman said that two more workers on duty in the plant could not be reached.
Huang Ying, the corporate representative of the Dengta Jinhang Petrochemical Co. Ltd, where the accident occurred, was under police scrutiny.
Several others concerned were also under investigation, according to Han Shutong, deputy director of the bureau of public security in Dengta City.
"Since the cause of the accident is not known for the time being, further steps will depend on the investigation results," he said.
The plant's workshop had been toppled to the ground. The blast left a hole three meters deep in the northeast corner of the plant.
A dozen firemen were damping down the smouldering debris.
The blast in Jianshanzi Village, Luodatai Town of Dengta City could be heard in a county 40 kilometers away. Dengta City is under the administration of Liaoyang City.
Windows in buildings near the plant were shattered, injuring many locals. At least five people suffered fractured limbs.
The blaze was brought under control at around 7:30 after more than 30 fire engines rushed to the scene, the fire brigade said.
The Dengta Jinhang Petrochemical Co. Ltd. is a privately owned company, which manufactures lubricant additives, such as antioxidants and petroleum cleaner.
The plant, with more than 20 workers, is just over 50 kilometers from Shenyang, capital of Liaoning. It covers about 60,000 square meters and is adjacent to big state-owned petrochemical enterprises like Liaoyang Chemical Group and Liaohe Oilfield.
A dozen firemen were continuing to extinguish ash fire in the debris.
The blast in Jianshanzi Village, Luodatai Town of Dengta City could be heard in a county 40 kilometers away. Dengta City is under the administration of Liaoyang City.
Windows on buildings near the plant were shattered, injuring many locals. At least five people suffered fractured limbs.
The blaze was brought under control at around 7:30 after more than 30 fire engines rushed to the scene, the fire brigade said.
The Dengta Jinhang Petrochemical Co. Ltd. is a privately owned company, which manufactures lubricant additives, such as antioxidants and petroleum cleaner.
The plant is just over 50 kilometers from Shenyang, capital of Liaoning. It covers about 60,000 square meters and is adjacent to big state-owned petrochemical enterprises like Liaoyang Chemical Group and Liaohe Oilfield.
Source: Xinhua
The body of Wang Guiyan, a female worker at the plant, was recovered Sunday morning, according to the Funeral House in Liaoyang City.
A city government spokesman said that two more workers on duty in the plant could not be reached.
Huang Ying, the corporate representative of the Dengta Jinhang Petrochemical Co. Ltd, where the accident occurred, was under police scrutiny.
Several others concerned were also under investigation, according to Han Shutong, deputy director of the bureau of public security in Dengta City.
"Since the cause of the accident is not known for the time being, further steps will depend on the investigation results," he said.
The plant's workshop had been toppled to the ground. The blast left a hole three meters deep in the northeast corner of the plant.
A dozen firemen were damping down the smouldering debris.
The blast in Jianshanzi Village, Luodatai Town of Dengta City could be heard in a county 40 kilometers away. Dengta City is under the administration of Liaoyang City.
Windows in buildings near the plant were shattered, injuring many locals. At least five people suffered fractured limbs.
The blaze was brought under control at around 7:30 after more than 30 fire engines rushed to the scene, the fire brigade said.
The Dengta Jinhang Petrochemical Co. Ltd. is a privately owned company, which manufactures lubricant additives, such as antioxidants and petroleum cleaner.
The plant, with more than 20 workers, is just over 50 kilometers from Shenyang, capital of Liaoning. It covers about 60,000 square meters and is adjacent to big state-owned petrochemical enterprises like Liaoyang Chemical Group and Liaohe Oilfield.
A dozen firemen were continuing to extinguish ash fire in the debris.
The blast in Jianshanzi Village, Luodatai Town of Dengta City could be heard in a county 40 kilometers away. Dengta City is under the administration of Liaoyang City.
Windows on buildings near the plant were shattered, injuring many locals. At least five people suffered fractured limbs.
The blaze was brought under control at around 7:30 after more than 30 fire engines rushed to the scene, the fire brigade said.
The Dengta Jinhang Petrochemical Co. Ltd. is a privately owned company, which manufactures lubricant additives, such as antioxidants and petroleum cleaner.
The plant is just over 50 kilometers from Shenyang, capital of Liaoning. It covers about 60,000 square meters and is adjacent to big state-owned petrochemical enterprises like Liaoyang Chemical Group and Liaohe Oilfield.
Source: Xinhua
China's coastal provinces evacuate thousands in path of Typhoon Sinlaku
Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in east China evacuated about 260,000 people from low-lying coastal regions, as typhoon Sinlaku is approaching, after it pounded Taiwan early Sunday morning.
In Zhejiang alone, nearly 230,000 residents have been evacuated and 30,000 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor, according to the provincial headquarters for flood control.
The approaching of Sinlaku has led to winds of up to 126 km per hour off the coast of Zhejiang and brought about downpours in some areas.
"We must do the utmost to minimize the losses...and guard against flash floods and landslides," said Zhao Hongzhu, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.
The flood control headquarters in Zhejiang warned that Sinlaku could cause serious geological disasters on its possible course through Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou cities as well as the Zhoushan Islands.
Local authorities in the province have also urged all coastal scenic spots to shut down business, and persuade tourists to stay in safe places or return home.
Sinlaku is the 13th tropical storm to hit the Chinese mainland this year. It landed at Taiwan's Yilan County early Sunday morning.
The eye of the typhoon was reported to be about 305 km to the southeast of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang at 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to the local weather authorities, and it was moving northwestward to the area at a speed of 10 km per hour.
Many residents' romantic moonlight ride plans have been disrupted due to the imminent typhoon which unpleasantly coincided with the traditional Chinese mid-Autumn Festival, an occasion for the family members to get together and savor the delicious moon-cakes.
In the eastern Shanghai, China's financial hub, water level in the upper reaches of the city's Huangpu River has risen to the warning lines.
Shanghai municipal flood-control headquarters have urged all officials along the river to keep a close eye on the water level.
According to the local meteorological observatory, torrential rains were forecast to hit the city from Sunday night to Monday.
The observatory in Fujian gave yellow alert, or the second-degree disaster weather warning, to the storm on Sunday, forecasting winds close to hurricane force and heavy rains in the sea area of the Taiwan Straits from Sunday to Monday.
"The typhoon is moving to northern Fujian and Wenzhou. But it's still hard to predict whether it will make a landfall on the mainland or the specific location it will land at," said Chen Hui, vice mayor of Fuding in northern Fujian.
"Yet it will cause losses to the city even if the typhoon doesn't land at Fuding," he said, adding that all public servants in the city have been ordered to cancel their three-day Moon Festival holiday to prepare for combating the typhoon.
Few people were seen walking on the streets of Fuding's Shacheng Township Sunday afternoon and almost all shops had closed. Latest developments about Sinlaku could be heard via loudspeakers incessantly.
"I'll go nowhere tonight. Just stay at home. I have bad memories about typhoons," local resident Yao Rihua, while putting up reinforcement panels on his doors and windows.
Source: Xinhua
In Zhejiang alone, nearly 230,000 residents have been evacuated and 30,000 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor, according to the provincial headquarters for flood control.
The approaching of Sinlaku has led to winds of up to 126 km per hour off the coast of Zhejiang and brought about downpours in some areas.
"We must do the utmost to minimize the losses...and guard against flash floods and landslides," said Zhao Hongzhu, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.
The flood control headquarters in Zhejiang warned that Sinlaku could cause serious geological disasters on its possible course through Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou cities as well as the Zhoushan Islands.
Local authorities in the province have also urged all coastal scenic spots to shut down business, and persuade tourists to stay in safe places or return home.
Sinlaku is the 13th tropical storm to hit the Chinese mainland this year. It landed at Taiwan's Yilan County early Sunday morning.
The eye of the typhoon was reported to be about 305 km to the southeast of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang at 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to the local weather authorities, and it was moving northwestward to the area at a speed of 10 km per hour.
Many residents' romantic moonlight ride plans have been disrupted due to the imminent typhoon which unpleasantly coincided with the traditional Chinese mid-Autumn Festival, an occasion for the family members to get together and savor the delicious moon-cakes.
In the eastern Shanghai, China's financial hub, water level in the upper reaches of the city's Huangpu River has risen to the warning lines.
Shanghai municipal flood-control headquarters have urged all officials along the river to keep a close eye on the water level.
According to the local meteorological observatory, torrential rains were forecast to hit the city from Sunday night to Monday.
The observatory in Fujian gave yellow alert, or the second-degree disaster weather warning, to the storm on Sunday, forecasting winds close to hurricane force and heavy rains in the sea area of the Taiwan Straits from Sunday to Monday.
"The typhoon is moving to northern Fujian and Wenzhou. But it's still hard to predict whether it will make a landfall on the mainland or the specific location it will land at," said Chen Hui, vice mayor of Fuding in northern Fujian.
"Yet it will cause losses to the city even if the typhoon doesn't land at Fuding," he said, adding that all public servants in the city have been ordered to cancel their three-day Moon Festival holiday to prepare for combating the typhoon.
Few people were seen walking on the streets of Fuding's Shacheng Township Sunday afternoon and almost all shops had closed. Latest developments about Sinlaku could be heard via loudspeakers incessantly.
"I'll go nowhere tonight. Just stay at home. I have bad memories about typhoons," local resident Yao Rihua, while putting up reinforcement panels on his doors and windows.
Source: Xinhua
Sanlu's partner producer seized with contaminated infant formula
Inspectors had found poisonous chemical in the Sanlu infant formula produced by one of its partner producers in northwest China's Gansu Province, an official said on Sunday.
Two out of the 12 samples randomly selected from the Sanlu milk powder produced by the Haoniu Dairy Co., Ltd. in Jiuquan City had tested positive for melamine, said Xian Hui, vice-governor of Gansu.
"The products of Haoniu have been sealed up," he said.
The test was conducted after the Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material strictly forbidden by the country to be used in food processing.
As of Saturday, a total of 432 babies throughout the nation have been sickened with kidney stones after drinking the contaminated milk powder.
Haoniu was founded in 2002 with the registered capital of 51 million yuan . Its production was in line with the Sanlu standard and its products use the Sanlu trademark.
As of Saturday night, Gansu has reported 102 cases of infant kidney stone caused by the Sanlu milk powder. Two babies have died, Xian said.
The province has so far seized altogether 164,000 packs of Sanlu milk powder.
Source: Xinhua
Two out of the 12 samples randomly selected from the Sanlu milk powder produced by the Haoniu Dairy Co., Ltd. in Jiuquan City had tested positive for melamine, said Xian Hui, vice-governor of Gansu.
"The products of Haoniu have been sealed up," he said.
The test was conducted after the Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material strictly forbidden by the country to be used in food processing.
As of Saturday, a total of 432 babies throughout the nation have been sickened with kidney stones after drinking the contaminated milk powder.
Haoniu was founded in 2002 with the registered capital of 51 million yuan . Its production was in line with the Sanlu standard and its products use the Sanlu trademark.
As of Saturday night, Gansu has reported 102 cases of infant kidney stone caused by the Sanlu milk powder. Two babies have died, Xian said.
The province has so far seized altogether 164,000 packs of Sanlu milk powder.
Source: Xinhua
Tears, hopelessness accompanies N China mud-rock flow survivors over mid-Autumn Festival
Li Dengfeng, with his 4-year-old son in arms, sat desperately in the empty house, where the candle flickered beside the photo of his newly deceased wife.
The 30-year-old man was in tears all day on Sunday, China's traditional mid-Autumn Festival, an occasion of family reunion.
Li's wife, Zhao Dongxiang, went out to purchase meat for the festival seven days ago. She never came back.
"On that tragic day, I, along with my fellow villagers, was excavating the silt with spades like we were crazy," he said.
The desperate man found his wife's body two days later underneath the thick mud.
As of Saturday night, the death toll from the mud-rock flow in the northern Shanxi Province has risen to 254.
The mine is in Xiangfen County, Linfen City. Water roared downstream and inundated villages and an outdoor market crowded with customers.
Song Daigui, 56, was still waiting for his younger brother to return. Coming all the way from the southwestern Sichuan Province, Song's wait has become increasingly hopeless over the past days.
"Daiyou has been running a small restaurant near the mine for more than 10 years," Song said, referring to his beloved brother.
"We were waiting for him to come home for reunion this mid-Autumn Festival and I will wait on."
Rescue officials have assured him that the search would not stop until all of the dead were found.
"More than 300 rescuers were hunting for the bodies with the help of excavators," said Gong Kangmin, an official in charge of the rescue operation.
On the wall of a building of the Xinta Mining Company, a slogan calling for safe production revealed itself after the mud was scraped off.
Meng Xuenong, governor of north China's Shanxi Province, has resigned from his post Sunday in the wake of the disaster.
Source: Xinhua
The 30-year-old man was in tears all day on Sunday, China's traditional mid-Autumn Festival, an occasion of family reunion.
Li's wife, Zhao Dongxiang, went out to purchase meat for the festival seven days ago. She never came back.
"On that tragic day, I, along with my fellow villagers, was excavating the silt with spades like we were crazy," he said.
The desperate man found his wife's body two days later underneath the thick mud.
As of Saturday night, the death toll from the mud-rock flow in the northern Shanxi Province has risen to 254.
The mine is in Xiangfen County, Linfen City. Water roared downstream and inundated villages and an outdoor market crowded with customers.
Song Daigui, 56, was still waiting for his younger brother to return. Coming all the way from the southwestern Sichuan Province, Song's wait has become increasingly hopeless over the past days.
"Daiyou has been running a small restaurant near the mine for more than 10 years," Song said, referring to his beloved brother.
"We were waiting for him to come home for reunion this mid-Autumn Festival and I will wait on."
Rescue officials have assured him that the search would not stop until all of the dead were found.
"More than 300 rescuers were hunting for the bodies with the help of excavators," said Gong Kangmin, an official in charge of the rescue operation.
On the wall of a building of the Xinta Mining Company, a slogan calling for safe production revealed itself after the mud was scraped off.
Meng Xuenong, governor of north China's Shanxi Province, has resigned from his post Sunday in the wake of the disaster.
Source: Xinhua
China to publicize results of nationwide milk powder inspection in two days
Chinese quality watchdog would publicize the results of a nationwide inspection on baby milk powder in two days, said a senior quarantine official on Sunday.
Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine , said more than 150state-level inspection centers were working round the clock to test samples from all around the country.
During his tour to Hebei provincial inspection center, Li required inspectors to carry out tests seriously and carefully to reach a scientific, accurate and authoritative report. He said the AQSIQ would organize inspections on other kinds of dairy products following the baby milk powder tests.
He urged inspectors to examine every potentially problematic points in the production process and find out the problematic source so as to prevent any contamination.
On Sunday, Li led an inspection group to the Hebei provincial quality inspection center and the laboratory of Hebei entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau. Other teams of officials were heading for Guangdong, and Heilongjiang provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to inspect local diary product companies.
On Saturday evening the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ordered that all the Sanlu brand baby milk powder manufactured before Aug. 6 should be immediately removed from sale as it had caused kidney stones of at least 432 babies nationwide.
The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted Friday that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material. It issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug. 6.
The provincial government has ordered a halt of production of the Sanlu Group. Meanwhile, it has ordered local police to try their best to work on the case. Local hospitals were also ready to deal with a possible surge of baby patients.
Hebei provincial Party secretary Zhang Yunchuan said on Saturday night that the company should make proper arrangements for workers to make sure they would have basic living allowances after the halt of production.
In other parts of the country, local authorities also made urgent arrangements. The quality inspection and quarantine bureau of Southwestern Yunnan Province canceled the three-day holidays of the Mid-Autumn Festival and organized a special inspection on local baby milk powder producers.
In northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a major dairy production base in China, local food safety authorities issued an alert on Saturday, calling for relevant government agencies including health, commerce, quality control, agricultural and husbandry offices to take part in a synchronized campaign targeting baby milk powder.
In the northern ancient city of Xi'an, local commerce bureau had seized suspicious milk powder weighing up to 350 kilograms by Saturday. While in the southernmost Hainan Province, three babies, who were confirmed to have developed kidney stones from drinking Sanlu milk powder, had been hospitalized.
Source: Xinhua
Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine , said more than 150state-level inspection centers were working round the clock to test samples from all around the country.
During his tour to Hebei provincial inspection center, Li required inspectors to carry out tests seriously and carefully to reach a scientific, accurate and authoritative report. He said the AQSIQ would organize inspections on other kinds of dairy products following the baby milk powder tests.
He urged inspectors to examine every potentially problematic points in the production process and find out the problematic source so as to prevent any contamination.
On Sunday, Li led an inspection group to the Hebei provincial quality inspection center and the laboratory of Hebei entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau. Other teams of officials were heading for Guangdong, and Heilongjiang provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to inspect local diary product companies.
On Saturday evening the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ordered that all the Sanlu brand baby milk powder manufactured before Aug. 6 should be immediately removed from sale as it had caused kidney stones of at least 432 babies nationwide.
The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted Friday that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material. It issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug. 6.
The provincial government has ordered a halt of production of the Sanlu Group. Meanwhile, it has ordered local police to try their best to work on the case. Local hospitals were also ready to deal with a possible surge of baby patients.
Hebei provincial Party secretary Zhang Yunchuan said on Saturday night that the company should make proper arrangements for workers to make sure they would have basic living allowances after the halt of production.
In other parts of the country, local authorities also made urgent arrangements. The quality inspection and quarantine bureau of Southwestern Yunnan Province canceled the three-day holidays of the Mid-Autumn Festival and organized a special inspection on local baby milk powder producers.
In northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a major dairy production base in China, local food safety authorities issued an alert on Saturday, calling for relevant government agencies including health, commerce, quality control, agricultural and husbandry offices to take part in a synchronized campaign targeting baby milk powder.
In the northern ancient city of Xi'an, local commerce bureau had seized suspicious milk powder weighing up to 350 kilograms by Saturday. While in the southernmost Hainan Province, three babies, who were confirmed to have developed kidney stones from drinking Sanlu milk powder, had been hospitalized.
Source: Xinhua
Chinese FM opens doors to disabled
The three spokespersons of the Foreign Ministry made a rare joint appearance on Saturday - not over some critical diplomatic issue but to welcome a group of special guests.
"Welcome to the Foreign Ministry!" spokesman Liu Jianchao told 11-year-old Li Yue, who lost her left leg in the May 12 earthquake. The girl shot to stardom after her ballet performance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics.
"Your performance at the opening ceremony moved billions of people around the world. You've made a special contribution to Chinese diplomacy," Liu said.
Li was among 37 physically challenged people invited to the ministry, including two other students from the quake-hit area.
"We've made full preparations for the guests," Liu said. "We want them to have a comfortable and happy experience here."
Several diplomats introduced the ministry's daily work and its contributions to serving physically challenged people. China played a positive role in pushing forward the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which took effect in May, Liu told the visitors.
"The spokespersons are quite amiable, totally different from what I thought," said Liao Bo, a 17-year-old student from Beichuan Middle School, Sichuan, who lost his left leg after being buried for more than 20 hours. He has received treatment in Beijing since June and will enter Beijing No 4 Middle School, one of the best middle schools in the capital, this autumn.
Liao was even more surprised to see Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who had been waiting for them in another hall with Xavier Gonzalez, CEO of the International Paralympic Committee.
"Dear children, I hope you can face your life and difficulties strongly. The gate of the ministry is always open to you," said Yang, who accompanied the youngsters on a visit to the Paralympic village.
When meeting famous South African Olympic and Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit, he introduced Li Yue to her.
"Li Yue is still a little girl yet quite strong. She represents the spirit of perseverance of Chinese people," Yang said.
"I saw her performance at the opening ceremony; she did a great job," Du Toit said, smiling to Li.
Li also received great encouragement from China's Paralympians.
"As long as you cherish your dream, be independent, confident and strive to be stronger, you will be a winner in your life," Wu Guojing, the Beijing Paralympic gold medalist of powerlifting in men's 52 kg division told her when putting his gold medal around her neck.
The girl nodded. "I believe I can go on dancing and dance better."
Source: China Daily
"Welcome to the Foreign Ministry!" spokesman Liu Jianchao told 11-year-old Li Yue, who lost her left leg in the May 12 earthquake. The girl shot to stardom after her ballet performance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics.
"Your performance at the opening ceremony moved billions of people around the world. You've made a special contribution to Chinese diplomacy," Liu said.
Li was among 37 physically challenged people invited to the ministry, including two other students from the quake-hit area.
"We've made full preparations for the guests," Liu said. "We want them to have a comfortable and happy experience here."
Several diplomats introduced the ministry's daily work and its contributions to serving physically challenged people. China played a positive role in pushing forward the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which took effect in May, Liu told the visitors.
"The spokespersons are quite amiable, totally different from what I thought," said Liao Bo, a 17-year-old student from Beichuan Middle School, Sichuan, who lost his left leg after being buried for more than 20 hours. He has received treatment in Beijing since June and will enter Beijing No 4 Middle School, one of the best middle schools in the capital, this autumn.
Liao was even more surprised to see Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who had been waiting for them in another hall with Xavier Gonzalez, CEO of the International Paralympic Committee.
"Dear children, I hope you can face your life and difficulties strongly. The gate of the ministry is always open to you," said Yang, who accompanied the youngsters on a visit to the Paralympic village.
When meeting famous South African Olympic and Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit, he introduced Li Yue to her.
"Li Yue is still a little girl yet quite strong. She represents the spirit of perseverance of Chinese people," Yang said.
"I saw her performance at the opening ceremony; she did a great job," Du Toit said, smiling to Li.
Li also received great encouragement from China's Paralympians.
"As long as you cherish your dream, be independent, confident and strive to be stronger, you will be a winner in your life," Wu Guojing, the Beijing Paralympic gold medalist of powerlifting in men's 52 kg division told her when putting his gold medal around her neck.
The girl nodded. "I believe I can go on dancing and dance better."
Source: China Daily
Streets without cars advocated
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's initiation of a national car-free day on Sept. 22 is of significance to both the country's urban development and environmental protection.
The theme, "humanized street", points to the trend in city renovations, of city roads in particular, in recent years.
On that day from 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening, cities are encouraged to set aside a particular section of a street or road and make it open only to pedestrians, public buses, taxis and cyclists. If possible, some cities may keep all their streets or roads during the 12 hours closed to cars.
This activity is meant to let residents feel how nice a street can be without the flow of speeding cars. Even those who drive cars will get to know how long queues of motor vehicles make urban streets an unwelcome space for urban dwellers.
Thirty years back when the country was nicknamed the "kingdom of bicycles", almost all streets or roads had lanes for cyclists. They were flanked by trees on both sides, which would protect cyclists from the scorching sun in the summer and keep them safe from the possibility of being knocked down by motor vehicles. Pavements too were wider and shaded by trees.
The rapid increase of the number of cars, both private and public, has prompted repeated road renovations in many cities, big cities like Beijing in particular. Roads and streets are much wider after renovations. Many narrower, separate lanes for cyclists are divided by just a painted line rather than by fences. Many pavements now are narrower so as to make room for motor vehicles.
Most renovated roads or streets are much more friendly to cars than to cyclists or pedestrians.
The theme of "humanized street" challenges the existing concept for road renovations. And it also points to the irony that increasingly wider roads have proved to be no solution to traffic jams.
The restriction of cars on alternate days according to the last figures of their license plates has enabled Beijing residents to enjoy the cleanest air and clearest sky in years during the Olympic Games. This has resulted in a heated debate on whether the restriction should be kept as a permanent rule.
Obviously Beijing residents have become much more aware of how the quality of their life has been negatively affected by the increasing number of cars. But many are still reluctant to give up the convenience that driving brings them.
Yet, if the national car-free day is regularly observed, it can drive home how cities with less cars on the road can benefit all the residents. That, in turn, can push authorities and city planners to provide more convenient and comfortable public transport. And such moves can attract more residents to use public transport means.
Source: China Daily
The theme, "humanized street", points to the trend in city renovations, of city roads in particular, in recent years.
On that day from 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening, cities are encouraged to set aside a particular section of a street or road and make it open only to pedestrians, public buses, taxis and cyclists. If possible, some cities may keep all their streets or roads during the 12 hours closed to cars.
This activity is meant to let residents feel how nice a street can be without the flow of speeding cars. Even those who drive cars will get to know how long queues of motor vehicles make urban streets an unwelcome space for urban dwellers.
Thirty years back when the country was nicknamed the "kingdom of bicycles", almost all streets or roads had lanes for cyclists. They were flanked by trees on both sides, which would protect cyclists from the scorching sun in the summer and keep them safe from the possibility of being knocked down by motor vehicles. Pavements too were wider and shaded by trees.
The rapid increase of the number of cars, both private and public, has prompted repeated road renovations in many cities, big cities like Beijing in particular. Roads and streets are much wider after renovations. Many narrower, separate lanes for cyclists are divided by just a painted line rather than by fences. Many pavements now are narrower so as to make room for motor vehicles.
Most renovated roads or streets are much more friendly to cars than to cyclists or pedestrians.
The theme of "humanized street" challenges the existing concept for road renovations. And it also points to the irony that increasingly wider roads have proved to be no solution to traffic jams.
The restriction of cars on alternate days according to the last figures of their license plates has enabled Beijing residents to enjoy the cleanest air and clearest sky in years during the Olympic Games. This has resulted in a heated debate on whether the restriction should be kept as a permanent rule.
Obviously Beijing residents have become much more aware of how the quality of their life has been negatively affected by the increasing number of cars. But many are still reluctant to give up the convenience that driving brings them.
Yet, if the national car-free day is regularly observed, it can drive home how cities with less cars on the road can benefit all the residents. That, in turn, can push authorities and city planners to provide more convenient and comfortable public transport. And such moves can attract more residents to use public transport means.
Source: China Daily
460,000 evacuated as Sinlaku approaches E China
About 460,000 people in east China's Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces have been evacuated as tropical storm Sinlaku, which was weakened from a typhoon on Monday morning, was approaching.
Waves hit the coast as typhoon Sinlaku approaches Nanfangauo. About 460,000 people in east China's Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces have been evacuated as tropical storm Sinlaku, which was weakened from a typhoon on Monday morning, was approaching.
The Fujian provincial headquarters for flood control said on Monday morning that close to 230,000 people had been evacuated as of 9 p.m. on Sunday and the mass evacuation was still under way.
In Zhejiang, 230,000 residents have been evacuated and 30,000 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor.
Typhoon Sinlaku weakened into a tropical storm at 8 a.m. Monday, while its eye was reported to be about 203 km to the southeast of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang and move northward at a speed of 5 km per hour, according to the local weather authorities.
Heavy rains were reported in eastern and northern parts of Zhejiang and central and northern parts of Fujian on Monday morning.
Sinlaku, the 13th tropical storm so far this year in China, injured 13 people when it hit northeastern Taiwan on Sunday.
More than 130,000 households in Taiwan suffered a power blackout, and 800 lost their water supply, which has yet to be reconnected. A total of 32 shelters have been built for 782 typhoon victims, local authority said.
Work and schools were suspended in 21 counties and cities on the island on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua
Waves hit the coast as typhoon Sinlaku approaches Nanfangauo. About 460,000 people in east China's Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces have been evacuated as tropical storm Sinlaku, which was weakened from a typhoon on Monday morning, was approaching.
The Fujian provincial headquarters for flood control said on Monday morning that close to 230,000 people had been evacuated as of 9 p.m. on Sunday and the mass evacuation was still under way.
In Zhejiang, 230,000 residents have been evacuated and 30,000 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor.
Typhoon Sinlaku weakened into a tropical storm at 8 a.m. Monday, while its eye was reported to be about 203 km to the southeast of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang and move northward at a speed of 5 km per hour, according to the local weather authorities.
Heavy rains were reported in eastern and northern parts of Zhejiang and central and northern parts of Fujian on Monday morning.
Sinlaku, the 13th tropical storm so far this year in China, injured 13 people when it hit northeastern Taiwan on Sunday.
More than 130,000 households in Taiwan suffered a power blackout, and 800 lost their water supply, which has yet to be reconnected. A total of 32 shelters have been built for 782 typhoon victims, local authority said.
Work and schools were suspended in 21 counties and cities on the island on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua
Bangladeshi head of gov't starts four-day visit to China
Fakhruddin Ahmed, Chief Advisor of Bangladeshi Caretaker Government arrived in Beijing on Monday, starting his four-day visit to China.
Fakhruddin Ahmed, who visited here at the invitation of the Chinese government, will meet top Chinese leaders and attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua
Fakhruddin Ahmed, who visited here at the invitation of the Chinese government, will meet top Chinese leaders and attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua
Two arrested over milk powder contamination scandal
Two brothers who had been selling three tons of contaminated milk per day have been arrested in north China's Hebei Province in the wake of the Sanlu milk powder contamination scandal, local police said on Monday.
The brothers surnamed Geng, who had been running a private milk collecting station since May 2004, face the charges of producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, said Shi Guizhong, a police spokesman of Hebei Province.
The elder Geng, 48, began to put melamine, a chemical raw material strictly forbidden in food processing, into milk at the end of last year.
Melamine is used in plastics and other industries. Experts said it can it is added into raw milk so that the protein content of the milk can appear higher than it is actually.
Geng did so because he had suffered losses after milk from his station had been rejected several times by Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave hundreds of infants kidney stones, for failing to meet Sanlu's standards, according to the police spokesman.
The younger Geng was the one who sent the milk to Sanlu Group. The Geng brothers had since been selling three tons of contaminated milk per day.
The elder Geng confessed to police that his family never drank the contaminated milk and he was aware that he was deceiving the Sanlu Group by adding the chemical into milk.
A total of 19 people from private milk collecting stations have been detained by police in Hebei in the milk powder contamination scandal. The Gengs were the first two to be arrested.
Source: Xinhua
The brothers surnamed Geng, who had been running a private milk collecting station since May 2004, face the charges of producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, said Shi Guizhong, a police spokesman of Hebei Province.
The elder Geng, 48, began to put melamine, a chemical raw material strictly forbidden in food processing, into milk at the end of last year.
Melamine is used in plastics and other industries. Experts said it can it is added into raw milk so that the protein content of the milk can appear higher than it is actually.
Geng did so because he had suffered losses after milk from his station had been rejected several times by Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave hundreds of infants kidney stones, for failing to meet Sanlu's standards, according to the police spokesman.
The younger Geng was the one who sent the milk to Sanlu Group. The Geng brothers had since been selling three tons of contaminated milk per day.
The elder Geng confessed to police that his family never drank the contaminated milk and he was aware that he was deceiving the Sanlu Group by adding the chemical into milk.
A total of 19 people from private milk collecting stations have been detained by police in Hebei in the milk powder contamination scandal. The Gengs were the first two to be arrested.
Source: Xinhua
Disabled soldier gives life support to self, others
Yuan Dianhua is well known in his hometown of Dongming County in east China's Shandong Province, primarily for the opportunities he has given to the disabled and ex-soldiers at his small factory.
A former soldier himself, the 42 year old has tried his hand at many vocations in selling vegetables, raising fish and planting trees on the Tibetan highland, among others.
When Yuan joined the army in October 1983, he was only 17. He quickly won overwhelming praise for his hard-bitten spirit and attitude that he brought to both his life and work. Months later, his life changed totally when he lost both his legs during a military mission.
Despite a decent pension, he refused to literally stand still in his life after leaving the military in 1987.
"I can never live the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I will stand," he said rather convincingly.
After his accident, even the artificial limbs he was fitted with couldn't support him well enough to walk independently. By the time he was really able to stand without crutches and move without a wheelchair, the join where his flesh connected with the limbs were bloodied and bruised all over.
Then he learned to ride a bicycle and motorbike.
At the end of the 1980s, he started a vegetable store with his wife. The business went well until a fire in June 1990 burned almost everything in their house.
The family lived the following days selling dumplings on the street and eating only the vegetables they had planted.
"The days were really hard back then, but they were no more than 24 hours," Yuan said.
In 1991, he borrowed 2,000 yuan and went to the country's economy hub Shanghai for better employment opportunities. He spent five years there selling workers safety products.
One time a screw came loose in one of his artificial limbs and Yuan fell down the stairs while climbing up to an office on a sales call. The office manager was so moved by his tough spirit he signed a 15,000 yuan contract that day.
It was Yuan's hard-bitten nature that gained him respect and enough money to start his life over again.
When he came home five years later, he not only paid all his debt, he even built a two-story house for his family.
He then bought and managed a fish pond and set up a tree-planting company in the southwest Tibetan highland.
In 2005 after Yuan had returned home, he learned of other people's disabilities and the difficulties they had in finding jobs. "All these years I've been busy making a career for myself, I've paid too little attention to my fellow disabled," he said.
"I feel so sad to see my comrades living in such difficulty. It doesn't matter how much money I earn. I only want to try my best to help them live a better life."
Despite the objections of relatives and friends, he gave up the business in Tibet and set up a small factory where disabled people produced gloves, helmets and other labor safety products.
With the support from the local government, the factory officially started in November 2006 in a former school building.
Now, more than 30 handicapped workers, including 22 former soldiers, work in the factory.
"Though I took off my uniform long ago and I lost my legs, I will stand up straight ... because it is soldier's blood flowing in my veins," Yuan said.
Source: Xinhua
A former soldier himself, the 42 year old has tried his hand at many vocations in selling vegetables, raising fish and planting trees on the Tibetan highland, among others.
When Yuan joined the army in October 1983, he was only 17. He quickly won overwhelming praise for his hard-bitten spirit and attitude that he brought to both his life and work. Months later, his life changed totally when he lost both his legs during a military mission.
Despite a decent pension, he refused to literally stand still in his life after leaving the military in 1987.
"I can never live the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I will stand," he said rather convincingly.
After his accident, even the artificial limbs he was fitted with couldn't support him well enough to walk independently. By the time he was really able to stand without crutches and move without a wheelchair, the join where his flesh connected with the limbs were bloodied and bruised all over.
Then he learned to ride a bicycle and motorbike.
At the end of the 1980s, he started a vegetable store with his wife. The business went well until a fire in June 1990 burned almost everything in their house.
The family lived the following days selling dumplings on the street and eating only the vegetables they had planted.
"The days were really hard back then, but they were no more than 24 hours," Yuan said.
In 1991, he borrowed 2,000 yuan and went to the country's economy hub Shanghai for better employment opportunities. He spent five years there selling workers safety products.
One time a screw came loose in one of his artificial limbs and Yuan fell down the stairs while climbing up to an office on a sales call. The office manager was so moved by his tough spirit he signed a 15,000 yuan contract that day.
It was Yuan's hard-bitten nature that gained him respect and enough money to start his life over again.
When he came home five years later, he not only paid all his debt, he even built a two-story house for his family.
He then bought and managed a fish pond and set up a tree-planting company in the southwest Tibetan highland.
In 2005 after Yuan had returned home, he learned of other people's disabilities and the difficulties they had in finding jobs. "All these years I've been busy making a career for myself, I've paid too little attention to my fellow disabled," he said.
"I feel so sad to see my comrades living in such difficulty. It doesn't matter how much money I earn. I only want to try my best to help them live a better life."
Despite the objections of relatives and friends, he gave up the business in Tibet and set up a small factory where disabled people produced gloves, helmets and other labor safety products.
With the support from the local government, the factory officially started in November 2006 in a former school building.
Now, more than 30 handicapped workers, including 22 former soldiers, work in the factory.
"Though I took off my uniform long ago and I lost my legs, I will stand up straight ... because it is soldier's blood flowing in my veins," Yuan said.
Source: Xinhua
China inspects dairy industry after milk powder scandal
China's Ministry of Agriculture launched an inspection of the country's dairy industry on Monday after tainted milk powder sickened babies and aroused concern.
Six ministry teams were dispatched to the country's six major milk-producing regions, including Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang in the north, Xinjiang in the west and the central Henan Province.
The officials will talk to dairy farmers, feedstuff producers, operators of milk collection stations and supermarket managers to find out their concerns and suggestions.
They will try to assess the impact the Sanlu baby formula scandal on the dairy industry and put forward policy proposals on how to protect farmers' interests and promote the stable development of the dairy industry.
They will also investigate various links, such as price changes in raw milk and dairy products, problems in raw milk purchase and flaws in milk station management, among others.
Two brothers who operated a private milk collection station in Hebei were arrested for putting melamine into raw milk and selling the tainted milk to the Sanlu Group, the producer of the infant formula that gave 432 babies kidney stones, according to local police.
Melamine, a chemical used in plastics, contains nitrogen and can make the protein content in diluted milk appear higher, said food science expert Ren Fazheng of the China Agricultural University.
Dairy analyst Chen Lianfang with Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant said the domestic dairy industry needed a law for stronger regulation.
"Repeated expansion has led to oversupply in dairy products, while excessively-fierce competition exacerbated price fluctuations and increased quality control risks."
In 2006, China had about 1,600 dairy producers with a total annual capacity exceeding 50 million tonnes, while dairy output totaled 33 million tonnes.
Source: Xinhua
Six ministry teams were dispatched to the country's six major milk-producing regions, including Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang in the north, Xinjiang in the west and the central Henan Province.
The officials will talk to dairy farmers, feedstuff producers, operators of milk collection stations and supermarket managers to find out their concerns and suggestions.
They will try to assess the impact the Sanlu baby formula scandal on the dairy industry and put forward policy proposals on how to protect farmers' interests and promote the stable development of the dairy industry.
They will also investigate various links, such as price changes in raw milk and dairy products, problems in raw milk purchase and flaws in milk station management, among others.
Two brothers who operated a private milk collection station in Hebei were arrested for putting melamine into raw milk and selling the tainted milk to the Sanlu Group, the producer of the infant formula that gave 432 babies kidney stones, according to local police.
Melamine, a chemical used in plastics, contains nitrogen and can make the protein content in diluted milk appear higher, said food science expert Ren Fazheng of the China Agricultural University.
Dairy analyst Chen Lianfang with Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant said the domestic dairy industry needed a law for stronger regulation.
"Repeated expansion has led to oversupply in dairy products, while excessively-fierce competition exacerbated price fluctuations and increased quality control risks."
In 2006, China had about 1,600 dairy producers with a total annual capacity exceeding 50 million tonnes, while dairy output totaled 33 million tonnes.
Source: Xinhua
China's Commerce Ministry to hold hearing on Coke offer for Huiyuan
China's Ministry of Commerce will hold a hearing on Coca Cola's 2.4 billion-U.S. dollar offer to buy China's largest juice maker Huiyuan, a local newspaper said Monday.
Domestic juice producers will jointly submit to the ministry three new acquisition plans for Huiyuan to replace the Coke deal, the Beijing Morning Post cited an unnamed source as saying.
Huiyuan can be split and sold to Chinese enterprises separately, or be purchased by a yuan-denominated fund jointly set up by domestic companies, according to the plans. Another proposal was to okay the Coke-Huiyuan union but retain the brand of Huiyuan and sell it to Chinese companies.
Xinhua's phone calls to the ministry were unanswered while no related information was published on its website.
Coca Cola said on Sept. 3 it has offered to buy China Huiyuan Juice Group Limited, a Hong Kong-listed company that owns the Huiyuan juice business throughout China, for the equivalent of 2.4billion U.S. dollars in cash. If successful, it would be the second-largest acquisition in the U.S.-based company's history.
Three major shareholders of Huiyuan are said to have accepted the offer. They held approximately 66 percent of the Huiyuan shares. But the offer needs to be approved by the ministry for approval according to the newly-issued Anti-Monopoly Law.
Source: Xinhua
Domestic juice producers will jointly submit to the ministry three new acquisition plans for Huiyuan to replace the Coke deal, the Beijing Morning Post cited an unnamed source as saying.
Huiyuan can be split and sold to Chinese enterprises separately, or be purchased by a yuan-denominated fund jointly set up by domestic companies, according to the plans. Another proposal was to okay the Coke-Huiyuan union but retain the brand of Huiyuan and sell it to Chinese companies.
Xinhua's phone calls to the ministry were unanswered while no related information was published on its website.
Coca Cola said on Sept. 3 it has offered to buy China Huiyuan Juice Group Limited, a Hong Kong-listed company that owns the Huiyuan juice business throughout China, for the equivalent of 2.4billion U.S. dollars in cash. If successful, it would be the second-largest acquisition in the U.S.-based company's history.
Three major shareholders of Huiyuan are said to have accepted the offer. They held approximately 66 percent of the Huiyuan shares. But the offer needs to be approved by the ministry for approval according to the newly-issued Anti-Monopoly Law.
Source: Xinhua
Obama, McCain support stronger U.S.-China co-op
In articles written for a U.S. business magazine, both Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his Republican opponent John McCain have advocated stronger U.S. -China cooperation in trade, global warming, nonproliferation and other issues.
Both articles appeared Sunday on the website of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, and will be published in China Brief, the chamber's monthly magazine, on Sept. 22.
How the United States and China meet common challenges, "and the extent to which we can find common ground, will be important both for our own countries and for others in Asia and beyond," Obama wrote.
"China has achieved extraordinary, sustained growth over the past three decades. Hundreds of millions of people in China live better now than most thought possible even two decades ago," he said in the article.
"We know that America and China can accomplish much when we recognize our common interests," Obama said, noting that U.S.-China cooperation in the six-party talks over the past few years "makes clear that we can work together constructively, bilaterally and with others, to reduce tensions on even extraordinarily sensitive issues."
The senator from Illinois said his approach to the U.S.-China economic relationship "is positive and forward-looking: to remove obstructions to gaining the benefits of trade and thus to enable faster, and healthier, growth in both economies."
"America and China have developed a mature, wide-ranging relationship over the past 30-plus years. Yet we still have to do serious work if we are to create the level of mutual trust necessary for long-term cooperation in a rapidly changing region," he added.
"Cooperation on the key, enduring global challenges, such as climate change, can deepen understanding and enhance confidence. We also need to deepen high-level dialogues on a sustained basis on economic, security and global political issues. Our militaries should increase not only the quantity of their contacts but the quality of their engagement," said Obama.
In his article, McCain said he was impressed by China's economic success. "China's double-digit growth rates have brought hundreds of millions out of poverty, energized the economies of its neighbors and produced manifold new economic opportunities," he said.
"The United States shares common interests with China that can form the basis of a strong partnership on issues of global concern, including climate change, trade and proliferation," he added.
"Beyond our economic relationship, the United States shares other common interests with China that can form the basis of a strong partnership on issues of global concern. In addressing the problem of climate change, for instance, Chinese cooperation will be essential," McCain said.
China and the United States "have numerous overlapping interests and I hope to see our relationship evolve in a manner that benefits both countries and, in turn, the Asia-Pacific region and the world," he noted.
"Our ties must be rooted in a broader regional and international order that provides the indispensable bedrock for the shared prosperity and stability we all desire," McCain said.
"America itself must be a stakeholder in that system, and we must take seriously our responsibilities to contribute to it. It is in this spirit that America's relations with China, and with the countries that comprise the region surrounding it, should proceed," he added.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China is a non-profit organization which represents U.S. companies and individuals doing business in China. Its membership comprises more than 2,700 individuals from over 1,200 companies.
Source: Xinhua
Both articles appeared Sunday on the website of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, and will be published in China Brief, the chamber's monthly magazine, on Sept. 22.
How the United States and China meet common challenges, "and the extent to which we can find common ground, will be important both for our own countries and for others in Asia and beyond," Obama wrote.
"China has achieved extraordinary, sustained growth over the past three decades. Hundreds of millions of people in China live better now than most thought possible even two decades ago," he said in the article.
"We know that America and China can accomplish much when we recognize our common interests," Obama said, noting that U.S.-China cooperation in the six-party talks over the past few years "makes clear that we can work together constructively, bilaterally and with others, to reduce tensions on even extraordinarily sensitive issues."
The senator from Illinois said his approach to the U.S.-China economic relationship "is positive and forward-looking: to remove obstructions to gaining the benefits of trade and thus to enable faster, and healthier, growth in both economies."
"America and China have developed a mature, wide-ranging relationship over the past 30-plus years. Yet we still have to do serious work if we are to create the level of mutual trust necessary for long-term cooperation in a rapidly changing region," he added.
"Cooperation on the key, enduring global challenges, such as climate change, can deepen understanding and enhance confidence. We also need to deepen high-level dialogues on a sustained basis on economic, security and global political issues. Our militaries should increase not only the quantity of their contacts but the quality of their engagement," said Obama.
In his article, McCain said he was impressed by China's economic success. "China's double-digit growth rates have brought hundreds of millions out of poverty, energized the economies of its neighbors and produced manifold new economic opportunities," he said.
"The United States shares common interests with China that can form the basis of a strong partnership on issues of global concern, including climate change, trade and proliferation," he added.
"Beyond our economic relationship, the United States shares other common interests with China that can form the basis of a strong partnership on issues of global concern. In addressing the problem of climate change, for instance, Chinese cooperation will be essential," McCain said.
China and the United States "have numerous overlapping interests and I hope to see our relationship evolve in a manner that benefits both countries and, in turn, the Asia-Pacific region and the world," he noted.
"Our ties must be rooted in a broader regional and international order that provides the indispensable bedrock for the shared prosperity and stability we all desire," McCain said.
"America itself must be a stakeholder in that system, and we must take seriously our responsibilities to contribute to it. It is in this spirit that America's relations with China, and with the countries that comprise the region surrounding it, should proceed," he added.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China is a non-profit organization which represents U.S. companies and individuals doing business in China. Its membership comprises more than 2,700 individuals from over 1,200 companies.
Source: Xinhua
Israel warms up for Chinese tourists
by Ma Xiaoyan
Shopkeepers in the old city of Jerusalem seem to be upset about the day-long silence after a hot summer, awaiting for another round of crowded tourists that will bring about a profitable season.
But there's good news for them: the first Israel-bound Chinese tour group will arrive in the biblical land later this month, as Israel was approved for a destination for Chinese tourists.
Eighty tourists will leave in two batches on Sept. 25 and 28, heading for famous sites such as Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea city of Eilat in the 10-day trip, which will also include some scenic spots in Jordan, Israeli Tourism Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila told a press conference earlier this month in China.
Meanwhile, China Air, China's largest airline, is re-examining the operability of commercial flights between Israel and China.
In the first seven months of year 2008, about 8,000 Chinese business tourists visited Israel, an increase of 45 percent over the same period in 2007.
"Our target is to bring some 15,000 Chinese tourists by the end of 2008," said Foreign Press Adviser to Israel Tourism Ministry Lydia Weitzman.
The Israeli Tourism and Foreign ministries have been working in the last few years to get Chinese approval as a tourist destination.
"Every year, some 50 million Chinese visit the area close to Israel, and we need to prepare to absorb some of that," said Avraham, adding that the agreement would ease the issue of entrance visas to both countries.
Israel Tourism Ministry is expecting a significant increase in the number of Chinese tourists and is making appropriate preparations, said Lydia.
The preparations to receive the Chinese tourist and adapt the tourism product to meet their particular needs include training Chinese-speaking tour guides, chefs in hotel restaurants, recruiting Chinese-speaking employees in the hotel and tourism industries, translating informational material, maps, brochures into Chinese, as well as providing courses to employees in the tourism industry on the unique aspects of Chinese culture.
In addition, Chinese tourists can use the Tourphone, a 24-hour hotline for tourists that offers information, directions and even assistance in emergencies.
Aiming at investing in Chinese market, Israel Tourism Ministry will publish a training manual for Chinese tour operators and for Israeli tour operators who market tour packages in China.
The ministry is also making efforts in organizing professional seminars, fact-finding tours to Israel for Chinese tour operators and journalists, and joint meetings for Israeli and Chinese tourism professionals.
Source: Xinhua
Shopkeepers in the old city of Jerusalem seem to be upset about the day-long silence after a hot summer, awaiting for another round of crowded tourists that will bring about a profitable season.
But there's good news for them: the first Israel-bound Chinese tour group will arrive in the biblical land later this month, as Israel was approved for a destination for Chinese tourists.
Eighty tourists will leave in two batches on Sept. 25 and 28, heading for famous sites such as Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea city of Eilat in the 10-day trip, which will also include some scenic spots in Jordan, Israeli Tourism Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila told a press conference earlier this month in China.
Meanwhile, China Air, China's largest airline, is re-examining the operability of commercial flights between Israel and China.
In the first seven months of year 2008, about 8,000 Chinese business tourists visited Israel, an increase of 45 percent over the same period in 2007.
"Our target is to bring some 15,000 Chinese tourists by the end of 2008," said Foreign Press Adviser to Israel Tourism Ministry Lydia Weitzman.
The Israeli Tourism and Foreign ministries have been working in the last few years to get Chinese approval as a tourist destination.
"Every year, some 50 million Chinese visit the area close to Israel, and we need to prepare to absorb some of that," said Avraham, adding that the agreement would ease the issue of entrance visas to both countries.
Israel Tourism Ministry is expecting a significant increase in the number of Chinese tourists and is making appropriate preparations, said Lydia.
The preparations to receive the Chinese tourist and adapt the tourism product to meet their particular needs include training Chinese-speaking tour guides, chefs in hotel restaurants, recruiting Chinese-speaking employees in the hotel and tourism industries, translating informational material, maps, brochures into Chinese, as well as providing courses to employees in the tourism industry on the unique aspects of Chinese culture.
In addition, Chinese tourists can use the Tourphone, a 24-hour hotline for tourists that offers information, directions and even assistance in emergencies.
Aiming at investing in Chinese market, Israel Tourism Ministry will publish a training manual for Chinese tour operators and for Israeli tour operators who market tour packages in China.
The ministry is also making efforts in organizing professional seminars, fact-finding tours to Israel for Chinese tour operators and journalists, and joint meetings for Israeli and Chinese tourism professionals.
Source: Xinhua
China's first Mid-Autumn holiday helps fulfill wishes for family reunions
Spectators hold placards that read "Welcome" and "Happy Mid-Autumn Day" during a match at the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Court Sept. 14, 2008. People from around the world are gathering in Beijing and enjoying the Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese traditional festival for family reunions which falls on Sept. 14 this year.
Millions of Chinese have used this year's mid-Autumn Festival, which fell on Sunday, to get together with family and loved ones.
This year the Chinese government made the festival a three-day national holiday for the first time.
Railways and buses from Chengdu, capital in southwest China's Sichuan Province, carried 180,000 people to quake-battered cities in the province on the first day of the holiday on Saturday, according to the transport authority.
"The holiday gave us a break from work to go back home to see my parents in Shifang City, after it was hit by the earthquake in May," said a man surnamed Li, while waiting in a crowded bus terminal in Chengdu.
Radio broadcast at the terminal reported travel was difficult, because of repairs on the road or damage from the earthquake. Home-going passengers, many holding packages of mooncakes, stood waiting.
Li said the passengers shared a common understanding that the festival's tradition of family values made the trip home more meaningful, and people with painful memories of the disasters cherished such chance.
Elsewhere in the country, people preferred to share the holiday feeling at home or on short family trips to tourist spots, instead of going far for travel, according to travel agencies.
Leading Chinese travel services like China Travel Service and CCT Travel reported slack booking for Mid-Autumn travels.
A staffer at the CCT Travel's office in scenic Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwest China said that travel for the week-long National Day holiday in Oct. was booked up. However, the business in the Mid-Autumn holiday was sluggish.
Liao Wei, manager of the Chongqing Office of China Travel Service, said that the company had planned in vain to open some new routes featuring the Mid-Autumn activities.
"We thought of something like a full-moon observing tour of scenic spots, but the market reaction to such ideas was bad," he said.
He said that after devastating disasters this year, Chinese people preferred a peaceful and consoling break such as family reunions over long-distance travels.
Folk experts held that the Mid-Autumn Festival is second only to the Spring Festival, or China's Lunar New Year, in conveying the core value of the Chinese nation -- family values.
This was why some law makers like Fan Yi, rector of the Foreign Languages College of Ningbo University in east China's Zhejiang Province, proposed to turn the festival into a national holiday last year.
"The Mid-Autumn holiday has the power to ease the home-bound travel spree in the Spring Festival, and help revive traditional values in the modern time," he said.
The festival tradition reminds people living far away from their native lands for better education conditions or better-paid jobs to go back to their family roots, he said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, falls on the 15th day of August on the lunar calendar. It is celebrated in many Asian countries.
Source: Xinhua
Millions of Chinese have used this year's mid-Autumn Festival, which fell on Sunday, to get together with family and loved ones.
This year the Chinese government made the festival a three-day national holiday for the first time.
Railways and buses from Chengdu, capital in southwest China's Sichuan Province, carried 180,000 people to quake-battered cities in the province on the first day of the holiday on Saturday, according to the transport authority.
"The holiday gave us a break from work to go back home to see my parents in Shifang City, after it was hit by the earthquake in May," said a man surnamed Li, while waiting in a crowded bus terminal in Chengdu.
Radio broadcast at the terminal reported travel was difficult, because of repairs on the road or damage from the earthquake. Home-going passengers, many holding packages of mooncakes, stood waiting.
Li said the passengers shared a common understanding that the festival's tradition of family values made the trip home more meaningful, and people with painful memories of the disasters cherished such chance.
Elsewhere in the country, people preferred to share the holiday feeling at home or on short family trips to tourist spots, instead of going far for travel, according to travel agencies.
Leading Chinese travel services like China Travel Service and CCT Travel reported slack booking for Mid-Autumn travels.
A staffer at the CCT Travel's office in scenic Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwest China said that travel for the week-long National Day holiday in Oct. was booked up. However, the business in the Mid-Autumn holiday was sluggish.
Liao Wei, manager of the Chongqing Office of China Travel Service, said that the company had planned in vain to open some new routes featuring the Mid-Autumn activities.
"We thought of something like a full-moon observing tour of scenic spots, but the market reaction to such ideas was bad," he said.
He said that after devastating disasters this year, Chinese people preferred a peaceful and consoling break such as family reunions over long-distance travels.
Folk experts held that the Mid-Autumn Festival is second only to the Spring Festival, or China's Lunar New Year, in conveying the core value of the Chinese nation -- family values.
This was why some law makers like Fan Yi, rector of the Foreign Languages College of Ningbo University in east China's Zhejiang Province, proposed to turn the festival into a national holiday last year.
"The Mid-Autumn holiday has the power to ease the home-bound travel spree in the Spring Festival, and help revive traditional values in the modern time," he said.
The festival tradition reminds people living far away from their native lands for better education conditions or better-paid jobs to go back to their family roots, he said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, falls on the 15th day of August on the lunar calendar. It is celebrated in many Asian countries.
Source: Xinhua
China's national day photography exhibition begins in Bangladesh
A Chinese photography exhibition, showing nature, culture and history of China's region along the northern latitude 30 degrees, began here on Sunday to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the founding of China.
A total of 65 photos were displayed in Bangladesh's National Museum for the exhibition titled "China's 30th parallel" which will last for tens days.
The exhibition reveals China's opening policy and the achievements it has got, said Wang Yu, Charge d'Affaires of Chinese Embassy to Bangladesh, when inaugurating the exhibition.
The 30th parallel passed through the country's longest Changjiang River Valley, China's most densely populated and economically development region.
Moving from west to east, China's 30th parallel starts in the Himalayan mountain range. After crossing 5,000 km of the Chinese mainland, it meets the East China Sea and finally the Pacific Ocean.
"The photos are splendid, amazing and colorful. You just want to see them again and again," director general of the National Museum Samar Chandra Paul told Xinhua at the exhibition hall.
He said on average there are 2500 visitors to the museum everyday and hope all the visitors can see the photos and know more about China.
"Hopefully, through the exhibition, the understanding and the relations between the two countries will be far more strengthened," Wang said.
"We would like to learn more from China as it not only has rich culture heritage but also made great achievement in economy and poverty reduction," said Rasheda K. Choudhury, Adviser of Bangladesh's Culture Ministry, at the inaugural ceremony.
Source: Xinhua
A total of 65 photos were displayed in Bangladesh's National Museum for the exhibition titled "China's 30th parallel" which will last for tens days.
The exhibition reveals China's opening policy and the achievements it has got, said Wang Yu, Charge d'Affaires of Chinese Embassy to Bangladesh, when inaugurating the exhibition.
The 30th parallel passed through the country's longest Changjiang River Valley, China's most densely populated and economically development region.
Moving from west to east, China's 30th parallel starts in the Himalayan mountain range. After crossing 5,000 km of the Chinese mainland, it meets the East China Sea and finally the Pacific Ocean.
"The photos are splendid, amazing and colorful. You just want to see them again and again," director general of the National Museum Samar Chandra Paul told Xinhua at the exhibition hall.
He said on average there are 2500 visitors to the museum everyday and hope all the visitors can see the photos and know more about China.
"Hopefully, through the exhibition, the understanding and the relations between the two countries will be far more strengthened," Wang said.
"We would like to learn more from China as it not only has rich culture heritage but also made great achievement in economy and poverty reduction," said Rasheda K. Choudhury, Adviser of Bangladesh's Culture Ministry, at the inaugural ceremony.
Source: Xinhua
Total festival for some, just moon cakes for others
The Mid-Autumn Festival has divided Beijing's Paralympic Village into two camps: those who celebrate it and those who don't .
And as Sally Wager, a Great Britain basketball player, said, it is all because of unfamiliarity. "We know nothing about it," she said.
"It's a bit disappointing actually because I'd love to find out more about it. They should put up posters or something."
Some athletes from Europe, less familiar with the festival, suggested the village could have promoted it better and instilled more of a party atmosphere.
For some Chinese participants, however, the day served as a reminder of family, creating feelings of homesickness but firing them up at the same time.
"We're living in the village so obviously we cannot see our families, but today it's extra hard," swimmer Huang Yu said. "This is the ninth year in a row I haven't been able to be with my family on this day," said the 25-year-old Yunnan resident, whose left arm has been amputated below the elbow.
As she walked through the village, psyching herself up for the night's 50m S7 final, Huang said the symbolism of the day, which relates to good fortune and a bumper harvest, could give her just the edge she needs. "Because today is a special day, it gives me more motivation to win."
Fellow Yunnan swimmer Wang Qian, 21, was more excited about seeing the sky glow white. "I'm planning to go and cheer my teammates on and give them some support."
The Republic of Korea and Hong Kong teams, unlike their Western counterparts, needed no introduction to the festival. They threw parties at either end of the day on the front lawn outside their apartment blocks.
But for many participants far from home, the food on offer in the athletes' canteen was the closest they could get to the spirit of this ancient Chinese festival.
"Everyone's aware of it because they've got the moon cakes in the mess hall, but there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing about whether they're good or not," a spokesman for the Australian Paralympic Committee said yesterday.
"Normally it doesn't take much of an excuse for Australians to have a celebration we aren't terribly au fait with this ceremony," he said.
The same cannot be said of the ROK that holds its own variant of the day, known as Thanksgiving in the US or Harvest Festival in the UK, on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month - but calls it Chuseok.
Lee Myeong-ho, director of ROK elite sports, invited most of his delegation and ROK broadcasters KBS and SBS to enjoy and film their outdoor feast at 10 am yesterday. Instead of moon cakes - sweet and salty pastry cakes filled with meat, fruits or vegetables - they prefer songpyon , noodles and "Korean pizza".
The evening performances were tailored around the festival. Celebratory drums launched the festivities at 8 pm, with local disabled star Li Chen making a guest appearance.
Source: China Daily
And as Sally Wager, a Great Britain basketball player, said, it is all because of unfamiliarity. "We know nothing about it," she said.
"It's a bit disappointing actually because I'd love to find out more about it. They should put up posters or something."
Some athletes from Europe, less familiar with the festival, suggested the village could have promoted it better and instilled more of a party atmosphere.
For some Chinese participants, however, the day served as a reminder of family, creating feelings of homesickness but firing them up at the same time.
"We're living in the village so obviously we cannot see our families, but today it's extra hard," swimmer Huang Yu said. "This is the ninth year in a row I haven't been able to be with my family on this day," said the 25-year-old Yunnan resident, whose left arm has been amputated below the elbow.
As she walked through the village, psyching herself up for the night's 50m S7 final, Huang said the symbolism of the day, which relates to good fortune and a bumper harvest, could give her just the edge she needs. "Because today is a special day, it gives me more motivation to win."
Fellow Yunnan swimmer Wang Qian, 21, was more excited about seeing the sky glow white. "I'm planning to go and cheer my teammates on and give them some support."
The Republic of Korea and Hong Kong teams, unlike their Western counterparts, needed no introduction to the festival. They threw parties at either end of the day on the front lawn outside their apartment blocks.
But for many participants far from home, the food on offer in the athletes' canteen was the closest they could get to the spirit of this ancient Chinese festival.
"Everyone's aware of it because they've got the moon cakes in the mess hall, but there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing about whether they're good or not," a spokesman for the Australian Paralympic Committee said yesterday.
"Normally it doesn't take much of an excuse for Australians to have a celebration we aren't terribly au fait with this ceremony," he said.
The same cannot be said of the ROK that holds its own variant of the day, known as Thanksgiving in the US or Harvest Festival in the UK, on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month - but calls it Chuseok.
Lee Myeong-ho, director of ROK elite sports, invited most of his delegation and ROK broadcasters KBS and SBS to enjoy and film their outdoor feast at 10 am yesterday. Instead of moon cakes - sweet and salty pastry cakes filled with meat, fruits or vegetables - they prefer songpyon , noodles and "Korean pizza".
The evening performances were tailored around the festival. Celebratory drums launched the festivities at 8 pm, with local disabled star Li Chen making a guest appearance.
Source: China Daily
China to destroy 10,000 tons of tainted baby formula
More than 10,000 tons of baby formula that was seized and recalled in the Sanlu milk powder contamination scandal will be destroyed, said the government of Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, on Monday.
Authorities have so far seized 2,176 tons of milk powder in the warehouse of Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave kidney stones to hundreds of infants across the country, and recalled 8,218 tons that had been on the market, said Shijiazhuang Vice Mayor Li Jinlu.
Another 700 tons were on their way back to Shijiazhuang, Li added.
The official said the government was taking every possible measure to recall those milk powder in the remote areas. Medical teams have been sent to remote mountainous regions to offer help to affected families.
Source: Xinhua
Authorities have so far seized 2,176 tons of milk powder in the warehouse of Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave kidney stones to hundreds of infants across the country, and recalled 8,218 tons that had been on the market, said Shijiazhuang Vice Mayor Li Jinlu.
Another 700 tons were on their way back to Shijiazhuang, Li added.
The official said the government was taking every possible measure to recall those milk powder in the remote areas. Medical teams have been sent to remote mountainous regions to offer help to affected families.
Source: Xinhua
Chang'e-1 sends back "verbal" wishes
China's first moon probe satellite Chang'e-1 sent back greetings to earth on Sunday, China's Mid-Autumn Festival.
"Let's enjoy together the bright moonlight and look forward to our reunion," the verbal wishes said, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence.
The traditional festival, which falls on the full-moon fifteenth day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, is associated with reunion.
The satellite also sent two songs, both featuring reunion, besides the verbal wishes.
One is named "Ali Mountain Girl", a famous song describing young people's love affair of Gaoshan ethnic group in Taiwan. It was created in 1949 by Deng Yuping for an Ali Mountain-related movie and became very popular across China in 1960s.
The other song was named after one famous Chinese poem written by Su Shi, an eminent writer of the Song Dynasty , saying "We wish each other a long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even though far apart."
The song was written in the 1980s for Teresa Teng -- "pop music classic" singer in the heart of Chinese worldwide, by Liang Hongzhi, a famed singer in Taiwan.
Launched on Oct. 24 last year, the satellite was named after "Chang'e", the name of a fairy in traditional Chinese folklore, who lived on the moon with a rabbit and always missed her beloved husband.
The satellite, marked the first step of China's ambitious three-stage moon mission, had orbited the moon 3,024 times as of Aug. 1.
As the first Mid-autumn Festival holiday has come along in China from Sept.13 to 15, 55.7 percent of the 1,313 respondents said they would spend the holiday with their families, according to an online survey by the website Sohu.com.
Source: Xinhua
"Let's enjoy together the bright moonlight and look forward to our reunion," the verbal wishes said, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence.
The traditional festival, which falls on the full-moon fifteenth day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, is associated with reunion.
The satellite also sent two songs, both featuring reunion, besides the verbal wishes.
One is named "Ali Mountain Girl", a famous song describing young people's love affair of Gaoshan ethnic group in Taiwan. It was created in 1949 by Deng Yuping for an Ali Mountain-related movie and became very popular across China in 1960s.
The other song was named after one famous Chinese poem written by Su Shi, an eminent writer of the Song Dynasty , saying "We wish each other a long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even though far apart."
The song was written in the 1980s for Teresa Teng -- "pop music classic" singer in the heart of Chinese worldwide, by Liang Hongzhi, a famed singer in Taiwan.
Launched on Oct. 24 last year, the satellite was named after "Chang'e", the name of a fairy in traditional Chinese folklore, who lived on the moon with a rabbit and always missed her beloved husband.
The satellite, marked the first step of China's ambitious three-stage moon mission, had orbited the moon 3,024 times as of Aug. 1.
As the first Mid-autumn Festival holiday has come along in China from Sept.13 to 15, 55.7 percent of the 1,313 respondents said they would spend the holiday with their families, according to an online survey by the website Sohu.com.
Source: Xinhua
Former Chinese basketball star Mu Tiezhu dies at 59
Former Chinese basketball star Mu Tiezhu died of heart attack in Beijing on Sunday noon, No. 309 PLA Hospital announced on Sunday afternoon. Mu was 59.
Mu, who stood 2.28 meters, two centimeters taller than Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, was a household name in China in the 1970s and 1980s.
The towering center joined the People's Liberation Army in 1972 and made it to the Bayi team in 1973. Four years later, Mu was called to the national team.
Mu led the Chinese team to its first Asian championship title in 1977, the Asian Games gold medal in 1978 and a 11th-place finish in the world championship the same year.
Mu, who averaged over 20 points, had once scored 80 points in a domestic game.
The basketball giant ended his playing career in 1987 to coach the Bayi team and moonlight in movie business. He starred in a few comedy movies, such as "The Silly Manager", "Dark Corridor" and "Overnight Singing Star".
Mu, who had the PLA rank as a senior colonel of the civil service, retired in 2000.
His last public appearance was at the Chinese women's team's Olympic game against the Czech Republic on Aug. 17.
Mu is survived by his wife Wang Zhuanhong and two adult children.
Source: Xinhua
Mu, who stood 2.28 meters, two centimeters taller than Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, was a household name in China in the 1970s and 1980s.
The towering center joined the People's Liberation Army in 1972 and made it to the Bayi team in 1973. Four years later, Mu was called to the national team.
Mu led the Chinese team to its first Asian championship title in 1977, the Asian Games gold medal in 1978 and a 11th-place finish in the world championship the same year.
Mu, who averaged over 20 points, had once scored 80 points in a domestic game.
The basketball giant ended his playing career in 1987 to coach the Bayi team and moonlight in movie business. He starred in a few comedy movies, such as "The Silly Manager", "Dark Corridor" and "Overnight Singing Star".
Mu, who had the PLA rank as a senior colonel of the civil service, retired in 2000.
His last public appearance was at the Chinese women's team's Olympic game against the Czech Republic on Aug. 17.
Mu is survived by his wife Wang Zhuanhong and two adult children.
Source: Xinhua
Nigeria's Golden Eaglets target Young Squirrels' scalp in Port Novo
Nigeria's Under-17 team, Golden Eaglets, will be out to confront Young Squirrels of Benin Republic when they clash in Sunday's 2009 African Under 17 Championship qualifier at Port Novo, capital of Benin.
Nigeria stood shoulders above their hosts, easing to 2-0 win in the corresponding fixture in Port Harcourt a fortnight ago, but the result drew contrasting opinions from Nigerian football commentators, local media reported.
While enthusiasts saluted the team's performance at the Liberation Stadium, some rational minds read the game beyond its result, portending that the team lacked the finesse, invention and buoyancy synonymous with the world cadet champions.
Emeka Odikpo, spokesman, Local Organizing Committee of Nigeria 2009, was one of numerous Nigerians who find themselves in either half of the divide.
Reacting to outcome of the reverse fixture and expectations from Sunday's match, the ace broadcaster said he was looking forward to seeing the players dishing out the stuff that helped their predecessors to triumph at the African Under-17 Championship in Togo as well as last year's FIFA U-17 Championship in South Korea.
"The team must beef up efforts for better performance during the World Cup event because they are playing host to other countries of the World," he said.
His views were buttressed by Nduka Ugbade, former Nigeria international, who led the team to its first triumph on the global podium at China in 1985.
"There is no doubt that Nigeria have always beaten Benin Republic in every level of international football, but we must work hard to avoid losing to them today. We would be up to a rude shock, believing that we can always beat them because they are also playing to win," he said.
Source: Xinhua
Nigeria stood shoulders above their hosts, easing to 2-0 win in the corresponding fixture in Port Harcourt a fortnight ago, but the result drew contrasting opinions from Nigerian football commentators, local media reported.
While enthusiasts saluted the team's performance at the Liberation Stadium, some rational minds read the game beyond its result, portending that the team lacked the finesse, invention and buoyancy synonymous with the world cadet champions.
Emeka Odikpo, spokesman, Local Organizing Committee of Nigeria 2009, was one of numerous Nigerians who find themselves in either half of the divide.
Reacting to outcome of the reverse fixture and expectations from Sunday's match, the ace broadcaster said he was looking forward to seeing the players dishing out the stuff that helped their predecessors to triumph at the African Under-17 Championship in Togo as well as last year's FIFA U-17 Championship in South Korea.
"The team must beef up efforts for better performance during the World Cup event because they are playing host to other countries of the World," he said.
His views were buttressed by Nduka Ugbade, former Nigeria international, who led the team to its first triumph on the global podium at China in 1985.
"There is no doubt that Nigeria have always beaten Benin Republic in every level of international football, but we must work hard to avoid losing to them today. We would be up to a rude shock, believing that we can always beat them because they are also playing to win," he said.
Source: Xinhua
Swedish princess praises Games
The Paralympic Games has played a key role in changing perceptions of what people with disabilities can achieve, Swedish Crown Princess Victoria said on Saturday in Beijing.
"Just the fact that so many athletes have performed beyond their capacity and beyond what everyone expected them to do is wonderful," she said.
An active advocate for the welfare of people with disabilities, the princess is personally involved in many humanitarian initiatives in Sweden.
Created in 1997, the Crown Princess Victoria Fund provides support for children and youths with functional disabilities and chronic illnesses.
The fund raises private and public donations to encourage young children to participate in sports activities, the princess said.
"For instance, sailing is a very expensive sport. So we try to give them the opportunity to at least try it."
While in China, the princess went to cheer for the Swedish sailing team in Qingdao, a co-host city of the Beijing Paralympics.
"It's difficult because many of them have parallel competitions, so we've really been trying to watch as many as possible," she said.
The princess said it was fun and inspiring to have lunch with some of the Swedish athletes during her visit to the Paralympic village.
"They are wonderful role models and extremely inspiring. It's amazing to know how much they have been practicing in order to come here in the first place."
The princess was also full of praise for the efforts China made to prepare and organize the Paralympic Games.
"I'm constantly amazed by how things have been arranged.
"And it's something that my mother told me as well before coming," she said.
The Swedish royal family has long been keen supporters of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Prince Carl Philip attended the Beijing Olympics last month.
"It's everyone's right to have a decent life and to fulfil themselves and see what they like to do. It's so much more expensive for society not to do that," the princess said.
Source: China Daily
"Just the fact that so many athletes have performed beyond their capacity and beyond what everyone expected them to do is wonderful," she said.
An active advocate for the welfare of people with disabilities, the princess is personally involved in many humanitarian initiatives in Sweden.
Created in 1997, the Crown Princess Victoria Fund provides support for children and youths with functional disabilities and chronic illnesses.
The fund raises private and public donations to encourage young children to participate in sports activities, the princess said.
"For instance, sailing is a very expensive sport. So we try to give them the opportunity to at least try it."
While in China, the princess went to cheer for the Swedish sailing team in Qingdao, a co-host city of the Beijing Paralympics.
"It's difficult because many of them have parallel competitions, so we've really been trying to watch as many as possible," she said.
The princess said it was fun and inspiring to have lunch with some of the Swedish athletes during her visit to the Paralympic village.
"They are wonderful role models and extremely inspiring. It's amazing to know how much they have been practicing in order to come here in the first place."
The princess was also full of praise for the efforts China made to prepare and organize the Paralympic Games.
"I'm constantly amazed by how things have been arranged.
"And it's something that my mother told me as well before coming," she said.
The Swedish royal family has long been keen supporters of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Prince Carl Philip attended the Beijing Olympics last month.
"It's everyone's right to have a decent life and to fulfil themselves and see what they like to do. It's so much more expensive for society not to do that," the princess said.
Source: China Daily
Mu Tiezhu was "super center" in Asia, says BOCOG media chief
Former Chinese basketball star Mu Tiezhu, who died at 59 of heart attack in Beijing on Sunday noon, was a Chinese basketball icon and Asia's "super center" in the 1970s, said a media chief with the Beijing Olympic organizers .
Mu, who stood 2.28 meters, two centimeters taller than Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, was a household name in China in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Mu was the only super center in Asia during his player career and he developed a classic Chinese playing style which is still used by Yao Ming," said Xu Jicheng, the BOCOG's deputy media director and the executive deputy director of the Main Press Center for the ongoing Paralympic Games.
Xu, a former hoopster who is also the best known basketball commentator in China, said Mu "read the game better" than Yao Ming, but the younger generation of Chinese centers including Yao, Wang Zhizhi and Menk Bateer are "more athletic and physically stronger".
Mu joined the People's Liberation Army in 1972 and made it to the Bayi team in 1973. Four years later, Mu was called to the national team.
Mu led the Chinese team to its first Asian championship title in 1977, the Asian Games gold medal in 1978 and an 11th-place finish in the world championship the same year.
Mu, who averaged over 20 points, had once scored 80 points in a domestic game.
The basketball giant left the Chinese national team in 1983, thus missing the 1984 Olympics. He ended his playing career in 1987 to coach the Bayi team and moonlight in movie business. He starred in a few comedy movies, such as "The Silly Manager", "Dark Corridor" and "Overnight Singing Star".
Mu, who had the PLA rank as a senior colonel of the civil service, retired in 2000.
His last public appearance was at the Chinese women's team's Olympic game against the Czech Republic on Aug. 17.
Mu is survived by his wife Wang Zhuanhong and two adult children.
Source: Xinhua
Mu, who stood 2.28 meters, two centimeters taller than Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, was a household name in China in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Mu was the only super center in Asia during his player career and he developed a classic Chinese playing style which is still used by Yao Ming," said Xu Jicheng, the BOCOG's deputy media director and the executive deputy director of the Main Press Center for the ongoing Paralympic Games.
Xu, a former hoopster who is also the best known basketball commentator in China, said Mu "read the game better" than Yao Ming, but the younger generation of Chinese centers including Yao, Wang Zhizhi and Menk Bateer are "more athletic and physically stronger".
Mu joined the People's Liberation Army in 1972 and made it to the Bayi team in 1973. Four years later, Mu was called to the national team.
Mu led the Chinese team to its first Asian championship title in 1977, the Asian Games gold medal in 1978 and an 11th-place finish in the world championship the same year.
Mu, who averaged over 20 points, had once scored 80 points in a domestic game.
The basketball giant left the Chinese national team in 1983, thus missing the 1984 Olympics. He ended his playing career in 1987 to coach the Bayi team and moonlight in movie business. He starred in a few comedy movies, such as "The Silly Manager", "Dark Corridor" and "Overnight Singing Star".
Mu, who had the PLA rank as a senior colonel of the civil service, retired in 2000.
His last public appearance was at the Chinese women's team's Olympic game against the Czech Republic on Aug. 17.
Mu is survived by his wife Wang Zhuanhong and two adult children.
Source: Xinhua
Rousing reception awaits Kenya's Jelimo
Kenya's Olympic 800 meters champion and IAAF Golden Jackpot winner Pamela Jelimo is expected back in the country this week.
Her villagers, friends and the government have lined up elaborate plans to give the 18-year-old teenage sensation a rousing welcome when Jelimo arrives home.
The teenage sensation who became the first Kenyan to win the 1 million U.S. dollars Golden jackpot in Brussels two weeks ago concluded her season over the weekend when she competed at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart of Germany on Sunday.
In addition to winning in all six Golden League meets, successful claimants of the 1 million dollar cash prize must compete at the World Athletics Final to be eligible for their share of the Jackpot.
And Jelimo added another 30,000 dollars to her bulging bank account with a win at the World Athletics final in Stuttgart on Sunday.
The 18-year-old, who only started running the distance this year, was the only competitor in any discipline to win her event at each one of the League's six meetings.
She had to be in Stuttgart to officially receive the cheque and while she was at it, she won some 30,000 dollars with her 12th victory in as many finals this season.
Janeth Jepkosgei edged Britain's Marilyn Okoro for second place, as Jelimo left the pair in her wake in the final straight
The Kapsabet Express, as Jelimo is known locally, did not return home after Beijing Olympics, since she had to complete her AF Golden League challenge series where she scooped the 1 million dollar jackpot.
Her local agent, Barnabas Korir said that plans for a feast in her village in Kapsabet were almost complete and a program for her welcome ceremony would be released later on Monday.
"The government is keen to give her a heroic reception and consultations with her family that wishes all festivities to be held in Kapsabet are going on," Korir said.
He added that the relatively unknown athlete, who has scaled to the pinnacle of women's 800m running, was exhausted after her grueling campaign and needed much rest.
"After what the athlete has done for her country, Kenyans would wish to celebrate her achievements and all is being done to ensure that she is not worn out by the festivities."
Jelimo became the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she ran 1:54.87 to blow away the field in Beijing and set the World Junior record of 1:54.01.
The time, the third fastest of all, was set at the Zurich Golden League meeting two weeks later.
Jelimo clinched the jackpot after winning in Berlin, Oslo, Rome, Paris, Zurich and Brussels in a remarkable season.
Unbeaten over the distance she first lined up for the two lap race at the national trials for African Championships in April, Jelimo has simply been dominated the race in a way never seen before.
She won the continental title in Addis Ababa, setting a stadium record of 1:58.70 to beat Maria Mutola and a week later she clocked1:55.76 run in Hengelo.
She made her Golden League debut in the German capital Berlin where she dipped under 1:55 minutes for the first time in what was apparently just her fifth outing over the distance, clocking 1:54.99 minutes to supplant Mutola as the African record holder.
Winning by nearly four full seconds, she immediately planted herself firmly as a Jackpot contender.
Oslo was next, and with a 1:55.41 performance with a victory margin of more than three-and-a-half seconds. Again she humbled the field, leaving world champion Jepkosgei a distant fifth.
She returned home to dominate at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, though her outing in Nairobi did nothing to dent her international momentum.
When the Jackpot chase resumed in Rome, she again was without peer, producing a 1:55.69 victory.
By then, virtually all the leading 800m runners in the world had already resigned themselves to the fact that the super-teen was untouchable.
For those who didn't subscribe to that notion, Jelimo stamped her authority the following weekend in Paris.
At the Stade de France, she again lowered her world junior and continental record with a 1:54.97 run, again winning by more than three-and-a-half-seconds.
Her unlikely rise continued in Beijing with a gold-medal winning performance of 1:54.87, another world junior and African record.
Post Olympics, Jelimo set another world junior best and African record running a stunning 1:54.01 in Zurich elevating her to the No. 3 position all-time.
Source: Xinhua
Her villagers, friends and the government have lined up elaborate plans to give the 18-year-old teenage sensation a rousing welcome when Jelimo arrives home.
The teenage sensation who became the first Kenyan to win the 1 million U.S. dollars Golden jackpot in Brussels two weeks ago concluded her season over the weekend when she competed at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart of Germany on Sunday.
In addition to winning in all six Golden League meets, successful claimants of the 1 million dollar cash prize must compete at the World Athletics Final to be eligible for their share of the Jackpot.
And Jelimo added another 30,000 dollars to her bulging bank account with a win at the World Athletics final in Stuttgart on Sunday.
The 18-year-old, who only started running the distance this year, was the only competitor in any discipline to win her event at each one of the League's six meetings.
She had to be in Stuttgart to officially receive the cheque and while she was at it, she won some 30,000 dollars with her 12th victory in as many finals this season.
Janeth Jepkosgei edged Britain's Marilyn Okoro for second place, as Jelimo left the pair in her wake in the final straight
The Kapsabet Express, as Jelimo is known locally, did not return home after Beijing Olympics, since she had to complete her AF Golden League challenge series where she scooped the 1 million dollar jackpot.
Her local agent, Barnabas Korir said that plans for a feast in her village in Kapsabet were almost complete and a program for her welcome ceremony would be released later on Monday.
"The government is keen to give her a heroic reception and consultations with her family that wishes all festivities to be held in Kapsabet are going on," Korir said.
He added that the relatively unknown athlete, who has scaled to the pinnacle of women's 800m running, was exhausted after her grueling campaign and needed much rest.
"After what the athlete has done for her country, Kenyans would wish to celebrate her achievements and all is being done to ensure that she is not worn out by the festivities."
Jelimo became the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she ran 1:54.87 to blow away the field in Beijing and set the World Junior record of 1:54.01.
The time, the third fastest of all, was set at the Zurich Golden League meeting two weeks later.
Jelimo clinched the jackpot after winning in Berlin, Oslo, Rome, Paris, Zurich and Brussels in a remarkable season.
Unbeaten over the distance she first lined up for the two lap race at the national trials for African Championships in April, Jelimo has simply been dominated the race in a way never seen before.
She won the continental title in Addis Ababa, setting a stadium record of 1:58.70 to beat Maria Mutola and a week later she clocked1:55.76 run in Hengelo.
She made her Golden League debut in the German capital Berlin where she dipped under 1:55 minutes for the first time in what was apparently just her fifth outing over the distance, clocking 1:54.99 minutes to supplant Mutola as the African record holder.
Winning by nearly four full seconds, she immediately planted herself firmly as a Jackpot contender.
Oslo was next, and with a 1:55.41 performance with a victory margin of more than three-and-a-half seconds. Again she humbled the field, leaving world champion Jepkosgei a distant fifth.
She returned home to dominate at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, though her outing in Nairobi did nothing to dent her international momentum.
When the Jackpot chase resumed in Rome, she again was without peer, producing a 1:55.69 victory.
By then, virtually all the leading 800m runners in the world had already resigned themselves to the fact that the super-teen was untouchable.
For those who didn't subscribe to that notion, Jelimo stamped her authority the following weekend in Paris.
At the Stade de France, she again lowered her world junior and continental record with a 1:54.97 run, again winning by more than three-and-a-half-seconds.
Her unlikely rise continued in Beijing with a gold-medal winning performance of 1:54.87, another world junior and African record.
Post Olympics, Jelimo set another world junior best and African record running a stunning 1:54.01 in Zurich elevating her to the No. 3 position all-time.
Source: Xinhua
Paralympics: We are the champions
China's Fan Liang kisses his gold medal during the awarding ceremony for the final of men's discus throw F53/54 event at the National Stadium，also known as the Bird's Nest，during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Fan claimed the title of the event with a result of 31.08 meters and set a new world record.
China's Mi Na celebrates after the final of women's discus throw F37/38 event at the National Stadium，also known as the Bird's Nest，during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Mi Na claimed the title of the event with 33.67 meters.
Ernst van Dyk of South Africa, Alejandro Albor and Oz Sanchez of the United States reacts during the awarding cremony for the Men's Individual Road Race HC C final of cycling road event at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, Sept. 14, 2008. Ernst van Dyk won the title with 1:21:40. Alejandro Albor and Oz Sanchez took the silver and bronze respectively.
China's Guo Wei and his mother pose for a photo after the awarding ceremony for the final of men's shot put F35/36 event at the National Stadium，also known as the Bird's Nest，during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Guo claimed the title of the event with 16.22 meters and set a new world record.
Lin Tzu-Hui of Chinese Taipei smiles after claiming the title of the women's 75kg powerlifting event at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, Sept. 14, 2008. Lin Tzu-Hui took the first place of the event with 137.5kg.
China's Mi Na celebrates after the final of women's discus throw F37/38 event at the National Stadium，also known as the Bird's Nest，during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Mi Na claimed the title of the event with 33.67 meters.
Ernst van Dyk of South Africa, Alejandro Albor and Oz Sanchez of the United States reacts during the awarding cremony for the Men's Individual Road Race HC C final of cycling road event at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, Sept. 14, 2008. Ernst van Dyk won the title with 1:21:40. Alejandro Albor and Oz Sanchez took the silver and bronze respectively.
China's Guo Wei and his mother pose for a photo after the awarding ceremony for the final of men's shot put F35/36 event at the National Stadium，also known as the Bird's Nest，during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Guo claimed the title of the event with 16.22 meters and set a new world record.
Lin Tzu-Hui of Chinese Taipei smiles after claiming the title of the women's 75kg powerlifting event at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, Sept. 14, 2008. Lin Tzu-Hui took the first place of the event with 137.5kg.
OMG, am I the winner?!
Cortney Jordan of the United States reacts after the final of women's 50m freestyle S7 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Cortney Jordan set a Paralympic record and won the gold medal with a time of 33.84 secs.
Cortney Jordan of the United States jubilates after the final of women's 50m freestyle S7 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Cortney Jordan set a Paralympic record and won the gold medal with a time of 33.84 secs.
Erin Popovich of the United States hugs her teammate after the final of women's 50m freestyle S7 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Erin Popovich won the silver medal with a time of 33.92 secs.
Erin Popovich of the United States applauses after the final of women's 50m freestyle S7 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Erin Popovich won the silver medal with a time of 33.92 secs.
Cortney Jordan of the United States jubilates after the final of women's 50m freestyle S7 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Cortney Jordan set a Paralympic record and won the gold medal with a time of 33.84 secs.
Erin Popovich of the United States hugs her teammate after the final of women's 50m freestyle S7 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Erin Popovich won the silver medal with a time of 33.92 secs.
Erin Popovich of the United States applauses after the final of women's 50m freestyle S7 of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Sept. 14, 2008. Erin Popovich won the silver medal with a time of 33.92 secs.
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