Highlights from chinadaily.com.cn

Photo: A parade is held on Monday for the 2013 newly recruited soldiers of the North China Sea Fleet, one of the three fleets of the Chinese navy. More than 2,000 soldiers, most of whom were born in the 1990s, participated in the parade. Some of them will serve on China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, after three months of training.

Bilingual: Film star Jackie Chan joined other celebrities on Sunday at a meeting of China's top advisory body, a move seen by analysts as an attempt by the ruling Communist Party of China to cultivate "soft power". Nobel literature laureate Mo Yan and basketball star Yao Ming also attended the annual meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Culture: Zibo in Shandong province, a city famous for ceramic products, is now setting its sights on developing the time-honored resource of colored glass to diversify its local industries. Learn about the development of Zibo's colored-glass industry and the city's connection with glass that dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

(China Daily 03/06/2013 page2)