Life and Leisure

What's new

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-18 07:49

The real world on film

The theme of the sixth Lianzhou International Photography Festival, from Dec 3-26 in southern Guangdong province, is "Is The World Real?".

The annual event comprises exhibitions, seminars and lectures, and facilitates copyright trading for photographers and their agents.

Established in 2005, the festival will present more than 1,000 thought-provoking photographs from around the world, says organizing committee director Duan Yuting.

Overseas travel heats up

The upcoming Spring Festival (Feb 2-8, 2011) will see overseas tours account for a bigger market as travel-happy Chinese sign up for new destinations, analysts say.

The Scandinavian Peninsula, West Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and Middle Europe are becoming increasingly popular with Chinese travelers.

According to Ctrip.com, the largest travel website in China, 30 percent of overseas tour groups have already been booked up.

Bilingual comic hits shelves

The first bilingual comic Green Life Comic Book on low-carbon living was launched on Nov 10 in Beijing.

It is designed by Our Part initiative, a joint environmental awareness campaign of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in China and its national goodwill ambassador, actress Zhou Xun.

The book, printed on eco-friendly paper, presents 57 stories by 16 renowned cartoonists from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan including Zhu Deyong, Mai Jiabi, Zhouzhou and Shuita.

The first 100,000 books will be distributed to primary and middle schools in major cities across China.

Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in China, said the book can help each and every individual become a green ambassador and inspire others.

Limited edition cognac

Camus Cuve 4.176, the latest edition of the French cognac series Camus Masterpiece Collection, has been released in China.

This is the second edition of the collection by Cyril Camus, and only 980 bottles will be made available in the world.

Cuve 4.176 is composed of four eaux-de-vie (a clear fruit brandy) from the Petite Champagne area of France, guaranteed to be at least 43 years old and including two vintage Cognacs, from 1962 and 1964.

Remembering Xiao Youmei

To mark the 70th anniversary of the death of Chinese music educator and composer Xiao Youmei (1884-1940), a bronze statue of Xiao was recently erected at the Beijing Concert Hall by the Central Conservatory of Music, China National Symphony Orchestra and China Symphony Development Foundation.

Having earned his doctorate in Germany, Xiao founded China's first institute of higher education in music, the former National Conservatory, in 1927 in Nanjing.

Xiao was also one of the first Chinese composers to use Western composition techniques. He composed more than 100 songs and a number of symphonic and chamber music pieces.

Drumming up support

Actress Zhang Jingchu appeared at Esprit's Beijing flagship store in Sanlitun to participate in its Big Bang event, for which giant drums have been placed at 10 main Esprit boutique stores around the world.

The fashion label has challenged its customers worldwide to generate 3 million beats, for which it has committed 500,000 euros for its SOS Children's Villages.

For the past two years, the label has sponsored six SOS Children's Villages in India and the money raised in 2010 will go toward the care of 140 children in Alibaug, India.

China Daily - Xinhua