Focus on Chinese Culture Archives

These are weekly summaries of Chinese Culture related news that I collect and send to a variety of egroups. I hope you enjoy them.

Older Archives:- 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003

Focus on Culture
2006.12.22


- Child abuse on the rise in Guangdong
- Wedding ceremony dates back to 3,000 years ago (photos)
- Beijing to have proper English names for all public signs
- China's Homemade Mulan to Resume Traditional Image
- "Chinese Picassos" in Shanghai (photo)
- Survey: Nearly 70% Beijing hutongs destroyed

Focus on Culture
2006.12.15


- Curse of the Golden Flower, curse of the box office? (photo)
- 1,300-year-old Boat-shaped Tombs Excavated in NW China (photos)
- Shanghai: neighborhood schools opened to expat kids
- 8,000 elderly people participate in web page designing contest
- 2006 season of Beijing Dance Academy opens (photos)

Focus on Culture
2006.12.08


- Project Hope Photo Sets High Hopes at 1st Photo Auction (photo)
- New way to honor the dead
- Dragon report sparks debate
- Empress Dowager Cixi's luxurious life (photos)
- Suzhou Creek clean-up on track
- Palm-size newborn survives birth in Shanghai

Focus on Culture
2006.12.01


- "Loving heart" families offer orphans future hope
- Shanghai to issue allowances to seniors
- China outlaws inscribing names on Great Wall
- Bruce Lee theme park set to open in Guangdong
- Featuring the architecture of the Forbidden City by outfits (cool photos)
- Soong Chingling's former residence reopens (photo)

Focus on Culture
2006.11.24


- Doctors try to save China's first "mermaid" baby
- Chinese style wedding for foreigners (photos)
- Miao girls celebrate Lusheng Festival (fabulous costumes)
- Festival showcases Yao culture (more great costumes)
- Documentary Forbidden City premieres
- 'Bathing Women' Pioneer Honoured

Focus on Culture
2006.11.17


- Mountains witness Chinese history (photos)
- Record 31 pandas bred, 28 still living
- Twelve Girls Band Performance Taped for Broadcast in US
- Take a last look at HK Central Pier before closure (photos)
- "Historic Towns of China" to end life membership
- Shaolin martial arts textbook published

Focus on Culture
2006.11.10


- "Ladder of love" story wins place in Chinese hearts
- Chinese view of marriage romantic and practical
- China's top 10 "home-made" cartoons revealed (photo)
- Chinese-Canadian wins Giller Prize
- China avoids birth of 400 million with family planning
- China wants 50 billion yuan donated to charity annually

Focus on Culture
2006.11.03


- Terrifying new trend: Halloween takes off
- Official hopes Chinese astronauts can see Great Wall from space
- China to investigate Great Wall through high-tech means
- Popularity of porcelain replicas revives ancient kilns
- Sun Yat-sen's tunic suit may become cultural heritage
- Over 500 rainwater-collecting projects to be built in Beijing

Focus on Culture
2006.10.27


- Survey: Chinese women like to be viewed as elegant, intelligent, healthy and sexy
- China's richest teacher plans to purchase colleges
- Grand Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang (photo gallery)
- Chinese version of game solving hunger to be launched
- Seawater to generate electricity in Shandong
- Chinese get genetic tests to determine disease risk

Focus on Culture
2006.10.20


- Good Girl's Burning Desire to Walk on Wild Side
- China's Terracotta Warriors face growing mould threat
- 7th Chinese Handicraft Masterworks Exhibition (photos)
- Empress Wu Buddha-worship Ceremony (costume photos)
- Idea of abolishing traditional Chinese medicine ridiculed
- Number of Chinese with brittle bones triples in 30 years

Focus on Culture
2006.10.13


- Woman tops China's rich list
- Beluga whales helping children with autism in China
- "Palace Museum", "Forbidden City" become China's name brands
- Chinese model first to crack Western market
- Schwarzenegger celebrates Moon Festival
- Shenzhen: sand sculptures bring transient art (photos)

Focus on Culture
2006.10.06


- Holiday-goers lost and found in the world's largest square
- Handmade moon cakes greet Mid-Autumn Festival (photos)
- Market still craves luxurious mooncakes
- China Publishes Standard Portrait of Confucius (photo of course)
- Two Chinese Movies to Vie For Oscar (photos)
- Unique Skin Painting in Guilin

Focus on Culture
2006.09.29


- Paying tutors to play with kids
- Girl, 11, wins global book deal
- 49 obsolete Chinese words in the last decade, Part IV
- Magnificent Leshan Buddha attracts tourists (photos)
- A third of households in W China cannot afford middle school fees
- 41 Liaoning teachers divorce to keep job

Focus on Culture
2006.09.22


- 4 mln Chinese-teaching jobs needed around world
- "Ancient" Chinese school to open (really cute photo)
- Race for kids to get ahead starts early, very early
- From the Brushes of Babes
- Rising incidence of birth defects in China rings alarm
- Survey: More than half of kids have tooth decay

Focus on Culture
2006.09.15


- China to boost cultural development
- Cuju, predecessor of soccer applies for world nonmaterial heritage (photos)
- Digitization of Mogao Grottoes (photos)
- 200,000 bookstores to be set up for farmers by 2010
- Females leading good life in Beijing
- Drowning now biggest killer of school children

Focus on Culture
2006.08.18


- China to ready domestic tourists' behaviors for 2008 Olympics
- Older terracotta figurines found (photo)
- TV Crew Damages Cultural Site
- Shanghai prepares for ban on cartoons
- Ancient brothel sparks debate over historic site preservation

Focus on Culture
2006.08.11


- Heaviest giant panda baby is born
- Relocation of residents begins for Shanghai Disneyland
- 10-year-old university student evokes controversy
- New Evidence suggests longer paper making history in China
- Games on water (photos)
- Kids sent back to China to experience culture

Focus on Culture
2006.08.04


- Chinese Valentine's Day celebrated (photos)
- China's most expensive animated film to be released
- Girl wooed by 9 U.S. universities
- Giant Panda Habitat Makes World Heritage List
- China Scores Another World Heritage Listing with Yin Ruins
- Another killer typhoon heading for south China

Focus on Culture
2006.07.28


- Centuries-old Buddhist Leaf Scriptures to Be Preserved
- Dolphin draws its own world (photos)
- Parents send children to golf training for high-class manners
- Clothes shopping becomes hot pastime in China
- China's first lantern museum opens
- Well-educated male au pairs gain popularity in Beijing

Focus on Culture
2006.07.21


- It's a long way home for abducted children
- Disney Musical Debuts in Shanghai, Impressing Audience with Chinese Elements
- "Silk Road" Int'l Costumes Festival opens in Urumqi (photos)
- China has 55 million illiterate women
- World Choir Games Opens in SE China City
- Universities urged to reform amid fears of brain drain

Focus on Culture
2006.07.14


- Giant Panda Habitat Makes World Heritage List
- Chengdu offers cash for panda creations
- Summer camp helps foreign youth of Chinese origin seek root
- HK Disneyland unveils three new attractions
- Coming-of-age ceremony (photos)
- Number of elementary schools shrinks in China

Focus on Culture
2006.07.07


- "Warriors" protect hutong with cameras
- A glimpse of Wan'an compass (amazing photos)
- China approves first 30 national heritage sites
- Old man and his ancient pottery collection (photos)
- China to promote Mandarin learning around the world
- More Books Published for Ethnic Readers

Focus on Culture
2006.06.30


- Program helps more kids with cleft palates smile in China
- Clothes That Make a Community
- Four Chinese women sweep through at Wimbledon
- DNA tests reveal 1st foreign worker in China
- Beijing tops Shanghai in cost-of-living
- Olympic sculptures on display (photos)

Focus on Culture
2006.06.23


- Father's Day ignored
- Palace to enter virtual realm
- Expedition adds uncertainty to underwater relics site
- Study: Giant panda's future looks brighter
- Qinghai-Tibet plateau passenger trains ready to go
- First clean fuel buses running on Beijing roads

Focus on Culture
2006.06.16


- Chinese-born artist presents "explosive" exhibition in Canada
- Blood donation in China: from obligation to volunteer
- China to publish standard portrait of Confucius (photo)
- HK issues special stamps on Chinese idioms, stories
- 'Beijing Symbols' Face Puzzle in Cultural Relic Protection
- Secrets of 'Face-changing' in Chinese Opera Let out Bag

Focus on Culture
2006.06.09


- Centuries-old Papermaking Handwork Faces Extinction
- World Largest Buddha Statue to Receive Health Checkup (photo)
- Imperial Palace becomes famous trademark
- Spielberg's Version of Journey to the West
- Zhang Ziyi to Star in Live-action Mulan
- Ming dynasty vase's auction price breaks world record

Focus on Culture
2006.06.02


- Dragon boat race ushers in traditional festival (photos)
- Dumplings, sachets hot before festival (photos)
- Professional translators cannot meet demand
- 'Pyramids of China' in Danger of Collapse (photos)
- China establishes annual "Cultural Heritage Day"
- Asian beauty hot on global catwalks

Focus on Culture
2006.05.26


- Craving lucky numbers in daily life
- Frequently used Chinese characters decreasing
- Ancient town keeps unique customs (photos)
- Desert threatens ruins of ancient city (photos)
- Leaning towers in China
- Country's oldest "schoolwork" unraveled in Xinjiang

Focus on Culture
2006.05.19


- Getting beyond "ni hao"
- Mongolians love Western holidays, but with local flavors
- Mother's Day celebrated in Beijing (photos)
- Qing Emperor's favorite garden restored in Forbidden City
- Funeral Dance of the Tujia People (photo)
- 'No car' days help reduce Beijing smog

Focus on Culture
2006.05.12


- China tries to preserve cultural heritage amid construction craze
- China selects top 10 archaeological discoveries in 2005
- Cultural heritage around China (great photos)
- Han embroidery heritage survives in Wuhan (nine pages of images)
- China has 350 million smokers
- TB tops list of China's killer infectious diseases in April

Focus on Culture
2006.05.05


- Ten thousand tourists visit Three Gorges Dam on first day of golden week holiday
- Chinese find ways to while away leisure time
- China highlights nurse shortage
- China claims nearly half of world's parkinsonism patients
- Sale of "golden books" banned to curb corruption
- Imperial prayer hall in Beijing re-opens (photos)

Focus on Culture
2006.04.28


- Police help trafficked children return to loving arms of parents
- New move will ensure longer sleep
- HK sees more brides from Chinese mainland
- Adoptions draw human, animal closer
- Nation pins high hopes on green alternatives
- Web Generation Musicians Make Themselves Heard

Focus on Culture
2006.04.21


- 1,046th anniversary of Chinese sea goddess Mazu celebrated in E. China
- China faces "huge" cultural trade deficit
- China, US announce new Chinese language, cultural initiative
- Dragon Boat Competition held in Yunnan (photos)
- 150,000 Chinese college graduates to work in grass roots
- Synopsis of Jasmine Women

Focus on Culture
2006.04.14


- Many cultural relics found in Beijing's construction sites
- Ceremony honours China's ancestor
- Free admission to parks a long way off
- Water-splashing festival starts in Kunming (photos)
- Rare Tibet mastiffs on display in Suzhou (photos for dog lovers)
- Digital model created for Qin terracotta pit

Focus on Culture
2006.03.31


- Heart of Forbidden City to have facelift
- 2/3 career women say it's hard to find Mr. Right
- Schools in Guangdong in colossal debt
- Traditional Shaoxing Opera Faces Survival Crisis
- China becomes the world's hottest tourism destination
-

Focus on Culture
2006.03.24


- Mandarin's influence on rise
- The Children's World of "Little Red Flowers"
- A Tribute to the Voice of the Mongolian Grasslands
- School fees under supervision
- New school rule in dispute
- First degree weights more than master's on job market

Focus on Culture
2006.03.17


- Folk Artist Recreates Life with Scissors
- Lei Feng becomes online game hero
- TV serial portrays swordsmen's adventures
- China tightens control over televised pop talent contests
- Pottery works on display in Dalian (fabulous photos)

Focus on Culture
2006.03.10


- China sees third wave of staying single
- To keep traditions alive, old festivals need new holidays
- Young Chinese struggling for jobs
- "Online superstition" poisoning Chinese teenagers: lawmaker
- Review: Chinese Music in 2005
- Concern over plight of old people in countryside

Focus on Culture
2006.03.03


- Hong Kong university calls to ban corporal punishment
- Urban Chinese women set out priorities
- Ballet Dance "Raising Red Lantern" to celebrate 5th anniversary
- Fancy Internet words forbidden to appear in news broadcasting
- Unlocking the 'Forbidden Garden' (photos)
- Butter Sculpture Tradition Melting Away

Focus on Culture
2006.02.24


- Chinese becoming popular with US learners
- Worship of phoenix dates back 7,400 years ago
- Human Dragon Dance in Guangdong (this is amazing)
- China Sets up First Tea Culture School
- 50% of pandas funded by individuals, private sector
- Recording a vanishing Beijing (great photos)

Focus on Culture
2006.02.17


- Orphans to use new surnames
- When 2 generations of only children meet, they fail to recognize each other
- Surrogate mother site grows in popularity
- Divorce rate surges across China
- Of pins, needles and pain relief
- Primary school to try out US textbooks

Focus on Culture
2006.02.10


- Valentine's gifts sell hot (photos)
- Nation designates Cultural Heritage Day
- Cultural traditions immortalized on inventory
- Giving old holiday traditions an update
- Endangered handicraft sees revival
- Sky-high priced kite for sale (photo)

Focus on Culture
2006.02.03


- Mission impossible to retain old Spring Festival flavor
- Farmers throw off Spring Festival taboos
- Barking dogs bring prosperity for New Year
- Kids receive books instead of money as new year's gift
- More choices for Chinese annual meal
- Temple fairs: A tradition renewed (photos)

Focus on Culture
2006.01.26


- Year of the Dog 'good for marriages'
- Array of lanterns light up festival
- What is "fu"?
- Students pay visit to orphans, disabled
- Ancient paintings suggest China invented skiing
- Tian'anmen Square's old slabs up for sale

Focus on Culture
2006.01.20


- China issues dog stamps
- Tea, a way of Chinese life
- Herbal leaves stand for harmony between man and nature
- Useful Books for Chinese Language Learners
- 25 Chinese records go into Guinness Book in 2005
- Chinese made compulsory subject in English school

Focus on Culture
2006.01.13


- Raising the red lanterns for annual holidays
- Cultural industry to drive consumption
- China issues stamp album on Olympic Games
- Language scheme to help foreigners
- Dietary guidelines from the Chinese Nutrition Society (#8 is my favourite)
- Beijing to Move Residents out of Traditional Courtyard

Focus on Culture
2006.01.06


- Gold figures of dog (photos)
- Cultural Sector to Be Reformed
- China begins to salvage precious ancient ship
- 21 artificially-bred pandas survive in 2005
- Great Wall Shortlisted for New Seven World Wonders
- World's highest Ferris wheel to spin in E. China city