Top brass - Washington

From left: Former US Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher chats with Rear Admiral Mike Shoemaker, commander of US Naval Air Forces and commander of Naval Air Force US Pacific Fleet, and Lt Gen John Davis, deputy commandant for aviation at Marine Corps headquarters,after a talk on Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on naval aviation. Prueher told China Daily on the sidelines of the talk that it's very important for China and the US to keep their tension from spiraling out of control. “And I think the way we can do this is to have very clear communication between our leadership, both at military level and secretary of state level, then the administration level in both our countries,' he said. Chen Weihua / China Daily

Rising interest - Bristol, Ct

Students of the Junior Achievement international exchange program tour the Otis Test Tower located in Bristol, Connecticut, and hear from Otis engineers about the innovation and history behind Otis and United Technologies Corporation on Wednesday. The program sponsored by United Technologies Corporation is held for Chinese high school students to learn fi rst-hand about American and Chinese business, entrepreneurism and global trade and leadership. Kate Ruppar / For China Daily

Remembering the war - Seattle

Liang Zhihua, consul of China's Consulate General in San Francisco, gives a speech at the celebration party commemorating the end of World War II at Seattle international district Chinatown on Aug 8. Deng Yu / China Daily

Climbing higher - New York

Jimmy Chin (right), mountain climber and director of the awardwinning documentary Meru, and Conrad Anker, Chin's co-climber in the film, showed up at a limited screening in New York on Aug 6. Meru tells the story of three climbers who navigate nature's harshest elements and their own inner demons to ascend Mount Meru in the Himalayas. It is scheduled to be screened on Friday in New York. Hong Xiao / For China Daily

River song - San Francisco

The overseas Chinese community gather on Aug 8 for the Yellow River Cantata concert to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War II, which involved 200 performers and volunteers, including members of the Silicon Valley Chinese Chorus Association and Chorus, the Sino-US Cultural Artists Alliance, the Northern California Chinese Coalition, and the United Chinese Alumni Association are the organizers. Dong Xudong / For China Daily

Paddling along - Flushing, Ny

Cross Cultural Internship Program (CCIP) exchange visitors take part in the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival held in Flushing, New York last weekend. Started in 1990, the festival is an annual multicultural sporting event held to celebrate the fi fth month of the lunar calendar. The CCIP is an annual summer program for Asian exchange visitors to experience the US society started in 2008 and is administered by Fusia Communication. Provided To China Daily