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(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-16 08:01

All rise for 'Emperor' Chow

Chow Yun-fat (pictured) will play the Jade Emperor - who in Chinese folk culture is the ruler of heaven and all realms of existence - in The Monkey King, a 3D film adapted from the classic novel Journey to the West.

The Jade Emperor rules over numerous gods, and in the film, Chow spearheads a stellar cast.

Donnie Yen will play the Monkey King, whose havoc almost destroys the Jade Emperor's palace.

More than 10 A-listers, including Kelly Chen, Cecilia Cheung and Peter Ho, are in the cast.

Chow says he will be spending four hours on his make-up every day. To play the "CEO of heaven" is no joke, he says.

Awards for young scientists

Fifty-one young Chinese scientists have been picked for the second Scopus China Young Scientists Awards, out of 500 candidates.

The awards recognize scientists under the age of 40, who have made significant contributions to research in fields as diverse as environmental science, engineering, life sciences, climate change and material science, based on information from Scopus, the world's largest abstract and citation database for research literature.

The Scopus Young Scientists Awards were started in 2006 by Elsevier, a global company involved in science publishing.

The Youth Union of China Academy of Sciences and Science News magazine co-organized this years' awards, announced in Beijing on Wednesday.

Succor for poor counties

A charity project, aimed at poverty reduction in 100 counties of Western China in the next seven to 10 years, was launched on Dec 10.

Called Hundred County Project, it was initiated by the Shanghai-based More Love Foundation and Hong Kong-based The World Vision. So far, 40 counties have joined the project.

Hu Jinxing, director-general of the More Love Foundation, says the project will help locals pursue sustainable development models.

Webber's wines up for auction

Andrew Lloyd Webber is not just one of the most commercially successful composers of all time. He is also a committed and knowledgeable collector of art and wine. Over the years he has built a wine cellar and part of his collection will go under the hammer in Sotheby's sales room in Hong Kong on Jan 22.

Webber's vinous devotion is to France and the sale stock comprises mature, classic wines that can be broached immediately and stupendous vintages that can age further. Part of the collection has been stored in the temperature-controlled cellars of Webber's 16th century home, Sydmonton Court, while many younger wines come from professional storage.

Webber said he is "very happy" that part of his precious wine collection is in Hong Kong, "particularly given that many wine connoisseurs are now in Asia."

Kungfu literature recognized

The winners of the coveted Sixth Wen Say-ling Wuxia Literary Awards were announced in Beijing on Tuesday.

Eight authors of kungfu novels, including two from Taiwan, were picked from some 1,000 contenders around the globe, organizers say.

The awards are named after Taiwan philanthropist and wuxia (kungfu) novelist Wen Say-ling.

Instituted in 2005 in Taipei, the awards ceremony was held in the mainland for the first time.