For the last few weeks I’ve been silent on the blog, having been occupied finishing final book edits and working on special Olympics assignments with the Wall Street Journal doing reporting, video and multimedia.
But one thing that did crane my neck while zipping around the city was the sight of a London cab in Beijing taxi colors. So I finally tracked down one of the 30 new London cabs driving the streets of the Olympic city. Made under an agreement between Geely (China) and London Taxis International, the TX4 was brought in as a nod to the international tourists and the Paralympic Games that follow in September. I was lucky enough to find one queueing up, and the driver interested in gabbing.
He said they are indeed limited, to around 30 in the city, and they will continue to stay in service even after all the Olympics are over. They are wheelchair capable, and are left-hand drive, unlike their British-bound counterparts.
2008年12月28日星期日
Government Web Standards Usage: People’s Republic of China
Government Web Standards Usage: People’s Republic of China
In August 2005 the EU-China information society project (中国-欧盟信息社会项目) was launched. The first initiative of this project is dedicated to improving access to and enhancing the participation of people in electronic government in the People’s Republic of China.
The digital divide in China is closing with computers per capita steadily increasing (for more details see The Digital Divide: Lessons from the People’s Republic of China (PDF) by Jonathan Harrington). China has undertaken massive investments in the ICT sector. It is therefore interesting to see what the Chinese government will do within the area of government policy for public web sites.
Background
The EU-China information society project seeks in particular to assist Chinese government in copyright, telecommunications law and information security issues as well as in access to e-government. The four-year project is cooperatively financed by the European Union and the PRC. Five Chinese cities has been chosen as pilot areas for the project, including Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Yantai in east China’s Shandong and Baotou, the second largest city in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The project is being implemented by a consortium of the Emerging Markets Group and the German consulting firm GOPA.
Access to government information on the web is relatively new in the PRC. However, a recent report (quoted in an article in People’s Daily Online) said in China, 96.1 percent of government departments at the state level and 81.3 percent of local governments had launched portal websites.
I have gathered links to 80 government web sites from the Chinese Central Government’s Official Web Portal. These have been checked with the W3C validator to see if headings were used and if they were using the W3C HTML recommendations.
Test disclaimer
Please note that the automated test has only tested the start page of the site. Also, usage of the W3C recommendations is only an indication of accessibility. A site that does not validate may still be more accessible than one that does. I have not tested every site manually and you may find that some of the valid ones have a valid splash page but fail miserably for the rest of the site.
The validation result
The validation result details shows that none of the tested sites use valid HTML. More worrying is that only one site is using headings. A common problem with the tested sites is that encoding has been used incorrectly.
Although tests of other countries have shown similar results (USA: 2.4%, New Zealand: 5.7%) having no valid sites indicates the absence of a central policy for government web communication.
It will be interesting to see if the EU-China information society project can help provide a foundation for the Chinese government to implement web guidelines that will help citizens to access information in a better way.
In August 2005 the EU-China information society project (中国-欧盟信息社会项目) was launched. The first initiative of this project is dedicated to improving access to and enhancing the participation of people in electronic government in the People’s Republic of China.
The digital divide in China is closing with computers per capita steadily increasing (for more details see The Digital Divide: Lessons from the People’s Republic of China (PDF) by Jonathan Harrington). China has undertaken massive investments in the ICT sector. It is therefore interesting to see what the Chinese government will do within the area of government policy for public web sites.
Background
The EU-China information society project seeks in particular to assist Chinese government in copyright, telecommunications law and information security issues as well as in access to e-government. The four-year project is cooperatively financed by the European Union and the PRC. Five Chinese cities has been chosen as pilot areas for the project, including Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Yantai in east China’s Shandong and Baotou, the second largest city in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The project is being implemented by a consortium of the Emerging Markets Group and the German consulting firm GOPA.
Access to government information on the web is relatively new in the PRC. However, a recent report (quoted in an article in People’s Daily Online) said in China, 96.1 percent of government departments at the state level and 81.3 percent of local governments had launched portal websites.
I have gathered links to 80 government web sites from the Chinese Central Government’s Official Web Portal. These have been checked with the W3C validator to see if headings were used and if they were using the W3C HTML recommendations.
Test disclaimer
Please note that the automated test has only tested the start page of the site. Also, usage of the W3C recommendations is only an indication of accessibility. A site that does not validate may still be more accessible than one that does. I have not tested every site manually and you may find that some of the valid ones have a valid splash page but fail miserably for the rest of the site.
The validation result
The validation result details shows that none of the tested sites use valid HTML. More worrying is that only one site is using headings. A common problem with the tested sites is that encoding has been used incorrectly.
Although tests of other countries have shown similar results (USA: 2.4%, New Zealand: 5.7%) having no valid sites indicates the absence of a central policy for government web communication.
It will be interesting to see if the EU-China information society project can help provide a foundation for the Chinese government to implement web guidelines that will help citizens to access information in a better way.
Supporting web standards in China
In early October I was lucky enough to spend some time in China talking to web professionals and students alike about web standards and their current status. It was an interesting couple of weeks that really opened my eyes to what the challenges are when following best practices. What hit me most is that those who support standards are a small and often isolated voice with little or no resources in Chinese to help back up or explain why we need standards and what the benefits are. Here I give a broad overview of what I learnt, challenges and hopefully some ideas of how we can help improve things.
Please do leave a comment if you have any suggestions, thought or insights. I’d also like to expand on the list of resources below so if you have any then post links and I will update the list.
Market forces
In the main those drivers that we see supporting web standards in some European countries, Australia and the States almost act as the opposite in China. There is no legal requirement to make your website accessible and market forces don’t seem to provide a significant enough push. Market forces is an interesting one. I’ve long held that the business case around web standards is essential even in a country that has a legal requirement for sites to be, for example, made accessible. The reasoning for this is that a site owner may be aware they legally have to make a site accessible but unless they see the direct benefit to them they may not implement accessibility properly and instead merely opt to do the bare minimum that needs to be done to comply with the law.
Currently in China there is a weak business case for web standards for a number of reasons. For one Internet Explorer 6 is still the dominant browser with a 95% market share. In general people are tied into using IE6 as most e-commence sites rely on ActiveX to work. This means that there is a trend towards building web pages that only work in IE6 with other browsers given less focus. This is gradually changing however with the rise of alternative browsers such as Opera, Safari and Firefox and Google Chrome. In fact the arrival of Google Chrome did a lot to raise awareness of alternative browsers in the web design community. Developers I spoke to however were very quick to point out that while they may use an alternative browser to IE when building and testing sites they still made heavy use of IE in day to day browsing simply because so many sites depend on it.
This lack of demand for compliant websites is a problem as without the demand there is little incentive for individual developers as well as companies. This may change however, especially as more and more multinationals outsource and base their development work there. With this increasing hopefully the trickle down theory will hold true and multinationals will have an impact on raising knowledge and awareness. When I asked one developer from Microsoft how he got into web standards he said that it was because the company sent over someone especially to train employees in standards based development. This was great to hear and certainly a key channel for advocating web standards. Opera, a long time champion of web standards (disclaimer, I work for Opera but all opinions are my own) are also playing an active role in advocating web standards. It’s at the heart of the development cycle in the Chinese office and the team are also very active in taking part in meet-ups and conferences.
Legal support
While there is a lack of concrete law to support accessible websites it was interesting to see how the Olympics had affected awareness. Public spaces, streets and buildings were much more accommodating and accessible as a result of the games and had done much to make people more aware. This is a start at least and links in well with the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which China ratified in July of 2008. The Convention is the first international legally-binding convention designed to protect and promote the rights of persons with a disability. As China has ratified the Convention they now have to legally support access to information, recreation, employment and education. As Article 9 states:
“State Parties shall also take appropriate measures to…promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet”.
It remains to be seen the direction this will take but at least China is signed up.
Grass roots advocacy
Most exciting of all was the passion and commitment shown by many web professionals I spoke to. There are some influential bloggers in China who are doing great things to promote standards. Notable bloggers include Jun Chen Wu and Xian An AKA Real Lazy. When talking with Xian An he mentioned that back in 2005, when he first started blogging about standards, he was getting around 1000 hits per day. This seemed to prove that there was a desire for people to learn more or, even if they were not researching for information about standards directly, they are landing on his site which was able to introduce standards.
This seemed to make sense as all the developers I spoke to said they they were more or less self taught. As with many countries web development and standards aren’t always covered in university courses so designers and developers have to self teach. One big drawback here however is the lack of resources in Chinese. This is compounded by the fact that while some ebooks exist they can be too expensive to buy for many people.
Probably most exciting while I was there however was the opportunity to take part in the first ever Web Standards Cafe in Beijing sponsored by Opera. The subject was Web Standards and Web 2.0 and focused largely on how we can support web standards in China. Combining grass roots advocacy such as this with BarCamps I think is a positive way forward.
Supporting web standards in China
There a few things that we can start doing now to help promote web standards and accessible web design in China. It may seem like a daunting task but if this is tackled bit by bit there is no reason why standards can’t become more popular. As the old Chinese saying goes “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand”. It’s not long ago that in Europe, Australia and the States that we were fighting for basic adherence of web standards, it’s worth while to look back and learn from that experience. For now I see the following as being instrumental to enabling web standards.
Translated resources - top of the list has to be the availability of translated and free resources for people to use. Currently many individuals have contributed their time to translating (see the resources section below) but I can’t help thinking that larger organisations should contribute to these efforts. Check out instructions and guidance on translating W3C resources for more information.
Multinational responsibility - large international organisations who actively promote and support web standards internationally should do what they can to help support web standards locally in China. This could be done via training in-house, sponsoring free or affordable courses or helping translate resources into Chinese. This should not be restricted to China only.
Grass root advocacy - developers understand the challenges and problems developers face better than anyone else. Advocacy through blogs, forums, BarCamps and Web Standards Cafe are always a useful way to go. This may take a different shape in China to suit cultural norms but communication and sharing have to be at the root.
So if you are a blogger, a developer, someone in a position to translate or communicate knowledge within your organisation then share what you have. As I mentioned above please do leave a comment if you have any suggestions, thought or insights. I’d also like to expand on the list of resources below so if you have any then post links and I will update the list.
Please do leave a comment if you have any suggestions, thought or insights. I’d also like to expand on the list of resources below so if you have any then post links and I will update the list.
Market forces
In the main those drivers that we see supporting web standards in some European countries, Australia and the States almost act as the opposite in China. There is no legal requirement to make your website accessible and market forces don’t seem to provide a significant enough push. Market forces is an interesting one. I’ve long held that the business case around web standards is essential even in a country that has a legal requirement for sites to be, for example, made accessible. The reasoning for this is that a site owner may be aware they legally have to make a site accessible but unless they see the direct benefit to them they may not implement accessibility properly and instead merely opt to do the bare minimum that needs to be done to comply with the law.
Currently in China there is a weak business case for web standards for a number of reasons. For one Internet Explorer 6 is still the dominant browser with a 95% market share. In general people are tied into using IE6 as most e-commence sites rely on ActiveX to work. This means that there is a trend towards building web pages that only work in IE6 with other browsers given less focus. This is gradually changing however with the rise of alternative browsers such as Opera, Safari and Firefox and Google Chrome. In fact the arrival of Google Chrome did a lot to raise awareness of alternative browsers in the web design community. Developers I spoke to however were very quick to point out that while they may use an alternative browser to IE when building and testing sites they still made heavy use of IE in day to day browsing simply because so many sites depend on it.
This lack of demand for compliant websites is a problem as without the demand there is little incentive for individual developers as well as companies. This may change however, especially as more and more multinationals outsource and base their development work there. With this increasing hopefully the trickle down theory will hold true and multinationals will have an impact on raising knowledge and awareness. When I asked one developer from Microsoft how he got into web standards he said that it was because the company sent over someone especially to train employees in standards based development. This was great to hear and certainly a key channel for advocating web standards. Opera, a long time champion of web standards (disclaimer, I work for Opera but all opinions are my own) are also playing an active role in advocating web standards. It’s at the heart of the development cycle in the Chinese office and the team are also very active in taking part in meet-ups and conferences.
Legal support
While there is a lack of concrete law to support accessible websites it was interesting to see how the Olympics had affected awareness. Public spaces, streets and buildings were much more accommodating and accessible as a result of the games and had done much to make people more aware. This is a start at least and links in well with the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which China ratified in July of 2008. The Convention is the first international legally-binding convention designed to protect and promote the rights of persons with a disability. As China has ratified the Convention they now have to legally support access to information, recreation, employment and education. As Article 9 states:
“State Parties shall also take appropriate measures to…promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet”.
It remains to be seen the direction this will take but at least China is signed up.
Grass roots advocacy
Most exciting of all was the passion and commitment shown by many web professionals I spoke to. There are some influential bloggers in China who are doing great things to promote standards. Notable bloggers include Jun Chen Wu and Xian An AKA Real Lazy. When talking with Xian An he mentioned that back in 2005, when he first started blogging about standards, he was getting around 1000 hits per day. This seemed to prove that there was a desire for people to learn more or, even if they were not researching for information about standards directly, they are landing on his site which was able to introduce standards.
This seemed to make sense as all the developers I spoke to said they they were more or less self taught. As with many countries web development and standards aren’t always covered in university courses so designers and developers have to self teach. One big drawback here however is the lack of resources in Chinese. This is compounded by the fact that while some ebooks exist they can be too expensive to buy for many people.
Probably most exciting while I was there however was the opportunity to take part in the first ever Web Standards Cafe in Beijing sponsored by Opera. The subject was Web Standards and Web 2.0 and focused largely on how we can support web standards in China. Combining grass roots advocacy such as this with BarCamps I think is a positive way forward.
Supporting web standards in China
There a few things that we can start doing now to help promote web standards and accessible web design in China. It may seem like a daunting task but if this is tackled bit by bit there is no reason why standards can’t become more popular. As the old Chinese saying goes “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand”. It’s not long ago that in Europe, Australia and the States that we were fighting for basic adherence of web standards, it’s worth while to look back and learn from that experience. For now I see the following as being instrumental to enabling web standards.
Translated resources - top of the list has to be the availability of translated and free resources for people to use. Currently many individuals have contributed their time to translating (see the resources section below) but I can’t help thinking that larger organisations should contribute to these efforts. Check out instructions and guidance on translating W3C resources for more information.
Multinational responsibility - large international organisations who actively promote and support web standards internationally should do what they can to help support web standards locally in China. This could be done via training in-house, sponsoring free or affordable courses or helping translate resources into Chinese. This should not be restricted to China only.
Grass root advocacy - developers understand the challenges and problems developers face better than anyone else. Advocacy through blogs, forums, BarCamps and Web Standards Cafe are always a useful way to go. This may take a different shape in China to suit cultural norms but communication and sharing have to be at the root.
So if you are a blogger, a developer, someone in a position to translate or communicate knowledge within your organisation then share what you have. As I mentioned above please do leave a comment if you have any suggestions, thought or insights. I’d also like to expand on the list of resources below so if you have any then post links and I will update the list.
范美忠,范跑跑被无限期推迟上岗
在那一刻地动山摇》是范美忠自责文章
开华学校校长冉东先生在新闻发布会上宣读了标题为“这是一场真与善的冲突”的声明。该声明表示，范美忠自身是应试教育的成功者，成功考取了北京大学，但是范美忠一直对应试教育有不同看法，也做过大量研究工作，并且应用于实际教学多年，有相关经验。这和开华学校的教学需要吻合。此外，在全面审视了范美忠引起社会广泛关注的《那一刻地动山摇》一文，开华学校认为范美忠并非如有的文章所说“逃命后还洋洋自得”，相反开华学校认为这是一篇范美忠自责、自省的文章。再加上他毕业于北大历史系得背景，开华培训学校认为他有资格担任开华人文讲堂讲师。
虽然开华学校认为聘任范美忠是基于教学需要，但目前，开华学校已经决定无限期推迟范美忠到开华学校任教上岗，声明表示，这一决定是基于社会对范美忠存在广泛争议。“由于社会对范美忠先生存在广泛争议而在此之前我们对此认识不足，为此，我们向社会各界表示歉意。基于这种情况，我们决定无限期推迟范美忠道开华学校任教上岗，为此我们向范美忠先生表示歉意。”
开华学校：与范美忠仍存在合作关系
记者：无限期推迟范美忠到开华学校任教上岗，与解聘有何不同？
冉东（开华学校校长）：范美忠与我们的合作关系依然存在，但不能上课了。范先生现在不能到其他学校任教。至于经济补偿方面，我们与范先生有沟通，也互有谅解，范先生还是同意按劳取酬的。
记者：范美忠有可能担任其他非教学职务吗？在什么情况下，他才可能上岗呢？
冉东：理论上讲，范美忠可以担任非教师职务，但是舆论似乎认为他不适合进入教育行业。这个要看机会。当社会宽容他的时候，范美忠就会走上讲台。
记者：听说范美忠先生没有教师资格证？
冉东：没有硬性规定说民办教育机构的老师都有教师资格证。
记者：开华学校是如何与范美忠先生接洽的？
冉东：首先是有人推荐，然后我们进行了面谈，达成了合作。范先生到北京签的约。当时，我们聘任范美忠先生时，内部有不同意见，但最后基于教学需要，决定与他合作。确实没想到会引起这些影响。我们本来以为事情已经过去了。
记者：推迟范美忠上岗是基于主管部门压力呢？还是基于社会的压力？
冉东：民办学校要在市场中生存，生存环境很脆弱。作为一个市场中的教育机构，我们还是迫于市场的压力。但是，我们的学生打电话来表示反对的不多，学生还主要是询问他的教学水平。
记者：人文课堂是否要取消呢？
冉东：范美忠只是该课堂其中一位讲师，我们的人文课堂没有取消。只是民族大学拒绝为我们提供场地（已经签了合同，交了订金），我们得寻找场所。
范美忠：我没有需要自省的 暂时不会当老师
在结束开华学校的采访后，记者采访了范美忠。
记者：您认为那篇《那一刻地动山摇》是一篇自省、自责的文章吗？
范：我没有什么自责的，也没有什么自省的。
记者：您会向开华学校要报酬吗？
范：会。我们的合同关系还在，而且我们有协定，我不能到其他教育机构找类似的工作。
记者：您以后会在教育行业找工作吗？
范：目前不会了，没有这个机会。我可以写书、做策划。我讲课写书比于丹好。
记者：您以前的学生还和您联系吗？
范：当然，我昨天还和一位留学的学生联系。
记者：他们对您的看法与社会舆论不同？
范：他们不会这样愚蠢。
开华学校校长冉东先生在新闻发布会上宣读了标题为“这是一场真与善的冲突”的声明。该声明表示，范美忠自身是应试教育的成功者，成功考取了北京大学，但是范美忠一直对应试教育有不同看法，也做过大量研究工作，并且应用于实际教学多年，有相关经验。这和开华学校的教学需要吻合。此外，在全面审视了范美忠引起社会广泛关注的《那一刻地动山摇》一文，开华学校认为范美忠并非如有的文章所说“逃命后还洋洋自得”，相反开华学校认为这是一篇范美忠自责、自省的文章。再加上他毕业于北大历史系得背景，开华培训学校认为他有资格担任开华人文讲堂讲师。
虽然开华学校认为聘任范美忠是基于教学需要，但目前，开华学校已经决定无限期推迟范美忠到开华学校任教上岗，声明表示，这一决定是基于社会对范美忠存在广泛争议。“由于社会对范美忠先生存在广泛争议而在此之前我们对此认识不足，为此，我们向社会各界表示歉意。基于这种情况，我们决定无限期推迟范美忠道开华学校任教上岗，为此我们向范美忠先生表示歉意。”
开华学校：与范美忠仍存在合作关系
记者：无限期推迟范美忠到开华学校任教上岗，与解聘有何不同？
冉东（开华学校校长）：范美忠与我们的合作关系依然存在，但不能上课了。范先生现在不能到其他学校任教。至于经济补偿方面，我们与范先生有沟通，也互有谅解，范先生还是同意按劳取酬的。
记者：范美忠有可能担任其他非教学职务吗？在什么情况下，他才可能上岗呢？
冉东：理论上讲，范美忠可以担任非教师职务，但是舆论似乎认为他不适合进入教育行业。这个要看机会。当社会宽容他的时候，范美忠就会走上讲台。
记者：听说范美忠先生没有教师资格证？
冉东：没有硬性规定说民办教育机构的老师都有教师资格证。
记者：开华学校是如何与范美忠先生接洽的？
冉东：首先是有人推荐，然后我们进行了面谈，达成了合作。范先生到北京签的约。当时，我们聘任范美忠先生时，内部有不同意见，但最后基于教学需要，决定与他合作。确实没想到会引起这些影响。我们本来以为事情已经过去了。
记者：推迟范美忠上岗是基于主管部门压力呢？还是基于社会的压力？
冉东：民办学校要在市场中生存，生存环境很脆弱。作为一个市场中的教育机构，我们还是迫于市场的压力。但是，我们的学生打电话来表示反对的不多，学生还主要是询问他的教学水平。
记者：人文课堂是否要取消呢？
冉东：范美忠只是该课堂其中一位讲师，我们的人文课堂没有取消。只是民族大学拒绝为我们提供场地（已经签了合同，交了订金），我们得寻找场所。
范美忠：我没有需要自省的 暂时不会当老师
在结束开华学校的采访后，记者采访了范美忠。
记者：您认为那篇《那一刻地动山摇》是一篇自省、自责的文章吗？
范：我没有什么自责的，也没有什么自省的。
记者：您会向开华学校要报酬吗？
范：会。我们的合同关系还在，而且我们有协定，我不能到其他教育机构找类似的工作。
记者：您以后会在教育行业找工作吗？
范：目前不会了，没有这个机会。我可以写书、做策划。我讲课写书比于丹好。
记者：您以前的学生还和您联系吗？
范：当然，我昨天还和一位留学的学生联系。
记者：他们对您的看法与社会舆论不同？
范：他们不会这样愚蠢。
2008年2月4日星期一
Wuyi Mountains is thousands of kilometers long,
In 1996 December, Fujian Wuyi Mountains was honored as "World Cultural and Natural Heritage" by the UN Organization of Science, Education and Culture. Wuyi Mountains is situated in the Wuyishan city, the northern part of Fujian Province； the main site is 60km2 in acreage, the average height of peaks is about 350 meters, it is a typical rosy cloud landform； it is a place of interesting with a long history, and among the first group of tourist sites elected as the national key tourist resort, Mrs. Barerke, president of the executive committee of World Tourism Organization, described it as "the model of world environmental protection". If you take a bamboo raft trip fleeting through the river, you will get quite a view of the water and the mountain, and particularly, the raft coffin hanging on the cliff, it is a special and mysterious burial 3800 years ago.
Wuyi Mountains is thousands of kilometers long, just like a green dragon flying among Min, Zhe, Gan and Yue, four provinces. The world famous Wuyi Mountains nature reserve of national level is just located on the highest place of the northern part of Wuyi Mountains； it has the biggest acreage, best-preserved mid-subtropical ecological system in southeastern China. It is selected as a world biological reserve and the A Reserve with world protection value by the United Nations. The natural condition inside the reserve is very advantageous, the forest cover is well preserved, biological resource is very rich, and there are many rare birds and animals. 2466 kinds of higher plants, 840 kinds of lower plants, 475 kinds of spinal animals, and about 5000 kinds of insects have been formally named. There are 26 kinds of most valuable plants, 56 kinds of national first and second class valuable animals, in addition, several dozens of world rare breeds such as "Jiao Guai" can be found here.
Wuyi Mountains is thousands of kilometers long, just like a green dragon flying among Min, Zhe, Gan and Yue, four provinces. The world famous Wuyi Mountains nature reserve of national level is just located on the highest place of the northern part of Wuyi Mountains； it has the biggest acreage, best-preserved mid-subtropical ecological system in southeastern China. It is selected as a world biological reserve and the A Reserve with world protection value by the United Nations. The natural condition inside the reserve is very advantageous, the forest cover is well preserved, biological resource is very rich, and there are many rare birds and animals. 2466 kinds of higher plants, 840 kinds of lower plants, 475 kinds of spinal animals, and about 5000 kinds of insects have been formally named. There are 26 kinds of most valuable plants, 56 kinds of national first and second class valuable animals, in addition, several dozens of world rare breeds such as "Jiao Guai" can be found here.
Experience Old Beijing at Bars in Hutong
If one walks into the Nan Luogu Xiang lane in Beijing， the tranquil atmosphere inside the lane will make one forget about the hustle and bustle in the street. The long， narrow lane is shaded by luxuriant tree， under the early afternoon sun， where rows of Siheyuan， or quadrangle houses built in traditional Beijing local style， stretch far on both sides of the lane. At the entry of the lane， some old ladies are chatting with each other， while not far away some tourists are sitting here and there around some wooden tables in front of a bar house， bathing in the afternoon sun.
Nan Luogu Xiang lane， located in the city's downtown area， or as the old Beijingnese called it， “the foot of the imperial city”， is becoming a good place for local residents to go to in their spare time.
The lane is actually situated at the northern part of the Forbidden City. It starts from the Di'anmen Dongdajie and stretches to Gulou Dajie. With a history of over 700 years， it is a typical example of the “chessboard” symmetric street building formula popular in the Yuan Dynasty.
Preserved by the Beijing municipal government as a mirror of the old Beijing city， the lane is now dotted with over 30 bars， cafés， restaurants and small handicraft shops， all attracting people in their unique style.
For Zhang Qiaowen， a Canadian Chinese， his home is not far from here. As he is now studying religion at Peking University， he would visit the lane every day during the recent week-long May Day holiday. The bar he went in very often was called the “Xique Café”， or magpie café， where he normally spent half a day， sipping tea while surfing on the Internet. “I like to come here because it's quiet and everything is easy to get，” said Zhang. To him， the tranquil atmosphere here makes the lane different from most other bar streets that are usually noisy. Also， he said the “Siheyuan here is very well protected and displays the Old Beijing's city feature.”
For Li Fei， who has just finished her postgraduate examination， the lane is an ideal place for her to relieve the pressure of the exam. She happened to find the place by map and when she arrived with her friends， she felt the trip was totally worth it. “It is so different here from the street outside. When everybody in the street seems to be in a hurry， you will calm down once you enter this lane. It is indeed a good place to relax，” she said.
At the Shalou Café， old-style furniture is neatly placed in the room. “Most of our customers are young people，” said the café manager， “they mostly work in Beijing and would like to come here at night for relaxation.” He said the bars and cafés inside the lane were mingled with residential houses. For residents living here， they don't like the lane to be too noisy， and for most tourists， they come here to enjoy the quietness of the lane. Therefore most bars here are usually quiet.
The Guoke Bar， or guest bar， which is located at the southern end of the lane， has been running business here for nearly seven years， and has now become a must for backpackers from home and abroad. A waitress said the bar received some 150 guests every day on average. Manager Haiyan said she had chosen the place to open her business because she liked the family atmosphere here.
When this reporter went into the Laowu Bar， he saw a musician surnamed Mr. Ke， who was absorbed in enjoying the country music being played in the bar room. He said as most bar streets in other places become more and more commercialized， he cherished the cultural atmosphere here， where people often come to experience the old Beijing culture.
According to a rough estimation from the Jiaodaokou Community Office in Dongcheng district， where the lane is located， some 8，000 people visited Nan Luogu Xiang during the recent May Day holiday.
Nan Luogu Xiang lane， located in the city's downtown area， or as the old Beijingnese called it， “the foot of the imperial city”， is becoming a good place for local residents to go to in their spare time.
The lane is actually situated at the northern part of the Forbidden City. It starts from the Di'anmen Dongdajie and stretches to Gulou Dajie. With a history of over 700 years， it is a typical example of the “chessboard” symmetric street building formula popular in the Yuan Dynasty.
Preserved by the Beijing municipal government as a mirror of the old Beijing city， the lane is now dotted with over 30 bars， cafés， restaurants and small handicraft shops， all attracting people in their unique style.
For Zhang Qiaowen， a Canadian Chinese， his home is not far from here. As he is now studying religion at Peking University， he would visit the lane every day during the recent week-long May Day holiday. The bar he went in very often was called the “Xique Café”， or magpie café， where he normally spent half a day， sipping tea while surfing on the Internet. “I like to come here because it's quiet and everything is easy to get，” said Zhang. To him， the tranquil atmosphere here makes the lane different from most other bar streets that are usually noisy. Also， he said the “Siheyuan here is very well protected and displays the Old Beijing's city feature.”
For Li Fei， who has just finished her postgraduate examination， the lane is an ideal place for her to relieve the pressure of the exam. She happened to find the place by map and when she arrived with her friends， she felt the trip was totally worth it. “It is so different here from the street outside. When everybody in the street seems to be in a hurry， you will calm down once you enter this lane. It is indeed a good place to relax，” she said.
At the Shalou Café， old-style furniture is neatly placed in the room. “Most of our customers are young people，” said the café manager， “they mostly work in Beijing and would like to come here at night for relaxation.” He said the bars and cafés inside the lane were mingled with residential houses. For residents living here， they don't like the lane to be too noisy， and for most tourists， they come here to enjoy the quietness of the lane. Therefore most bars here are usually quiet.
The Guoke Bar， or guest bar， which is located at the southern end of the lane， has been running business here for nearly seven years， and has now become a must for backpackers from home and abroad. A waitress said the bar received some 150 guests every day on average. Manager Haiyan said she had chosen the place to open her business because she liked the family atmosphere here.
When this reporter went into the Laowu Bar， he saw a musician surnamed Mr. Ke， who was absorbed in enjoying the country music being played in the bar room. He said as most bar streets in other places become more and more commercialized， he cherished the cultural atmosphere here， where people often come to experience the old Beijing culture.
According to a rough estimation from the Jiaodaokou Community Office in Dongcheng district， where the lane is located， some 8，000 people visited Nan Luogu Xiang during the recent May Day holiday.
East Meets West in Relaxing Macau
Macau is largely unchanged since being returned to China on December 20th 1999 after 112 years as a Portuguese1 colony and visitors appreciate it.
Macau inhabitants regarded the handover as a mere change of administration. Certainly， you see fewer Portuguese faces on the streets nowadays， but there remains the curious mixture of European flair 2 and Far Eastern tradition that make the city so special.
Like its larger neighbour Hong Kong， Macau is now a special administrative region of China， but its special capitalist status is guaranteed for the next 50 years.
When you first glimpse Macau on the ferry from Hong Kong， it looks less than impressive. The skyline is dull compared to the imposing3 glass skyscrapers of Hong Kong， and most people do not take the time to revise4 this first impression， devoting no more than a day trip to it. But this does not do justice to this city of two cultures， which hides plenty of interesting secrets.
The Macau Museum， which opened two years ago， offers an excellent introduction to the peninsula's5 past and present. Children love it because it is full of technical paraphernalia6. You can press buttons to light up trade routes on maps， or to hear the different typical cries of Macau's traders.
Just a few metres from the museum is the city's most photographed symbol： the ruins of Sao Paulo， the Jesuit7 church built in 1602， although today only its imposing stone facade remains.
While the majority of Macau's inhabitants are Buddhist8， some seven per cent are Catholic and the religious sites of Macau testify to the special mix of eastern and western cultures here. As well as the numerous churches inherited from Portuguese rule， there are very many different temples.
The largest is the Kun Iam Tong. In the main hall of this temple， giant spiral9 joss-sticks10 hang from the ceiling， raining small piles of ash on the heads of visitors. Along the sides are smaller ancestors rooms commemorating11 the dead. There is also a room of plants which includes a special bonsai12 tree， the trunk of which happens to be shaped like the Chinese sign meaning long life.
The contrast between the peace of these temples and the bustle13 of Macau city could hardly be more stark14. The lively pedestrian zone flanked15 by colonial buildings with their teeming16 side streets are not at all reminiscent of religious contemplation17. Locals and tourists saunter along with shopping bags.
Macau， on the southeast coast of China， consists of the Macau peninsula and the two offshore islands of Taipa and Coloane in the Pearl River delta18. Ninety-six per cent of the 450，000 inhabitants are of Chinese origin. Anyone who stays a few days， soon realises that the city is small but charming. You soon start to recognise a few faces， even the city tramps19 start to become familiar. Although the tourism industry would like to sell Macau as a racy20， modern city， its real appeal is that it offers a very quiet， relaxing contrast to Hong Kong.
But Macau is one of the richest regions in Asia， with an annual per capita21 gross national product of more than 17，000 U.S. dollars. This is mainly thanks to gambling. Forty per cent of all state income comes from the numerous casinos here， the only legally operating gambling halls on Chinese territory.
Macau inhabitants regarded the handover as a mere change of administration. Certainly， you see fewer Portuguese faces on the streets nowadays， but there remains the curious mixture of European flair 2 and Far Eastern tradition that make the city so special.
Like its larger neighbour Hong Kong， Macau is now a special administrative region of China， but its special capitalist status is guaranteed for the next 50 years.
When you first glimpse Macau on the ferry from Hong Kong， it looks less than impressive. The skyline is dull compared to the imposing3 glass skyscrapers of Hong Kong， and most people do not take the time to revise4 this first impression， devoting no more than a day trip to it. But this does not do justice to this city of two cultures， which hides plenty of interesting secrets.
The Macau Museum， which opened two years ago， offers an excellent introduction to the peninsula's5 past and present. Children love it because it is full of technical paraphernalia6. You can press buttons to light up trade routes on maps， or to hear the different typical cries of Macau's traders.
Just a few metres from the museum is the city's most photographed symbol： the ruins of Sao Paulo， the Jesuit7 church built in 1602， although today only its imposing stone facade remains.
While the majority of Macau's inhabitants are Buddhist8， some seven per cent are Catholic and the religious sites of Macau testify to the special mix of eastern and western cultures here. As well as the numerous churches inherited from Portuguese rule， there are very many different temples.
The largest is the Kun Iam Tong. In the main hall of this temple， giant spiral9 joss-sticks10 hang from the ceiling， raining small piles of ash on the heads of visitors. Along the sides are smaller ancestors rooms commemorating11 the dead. There is also a room of plants which includes a special bonsai12 tree， the trunk of which happens to be shaped like the Chinese sign meaning long life.
The contrast between the peace of these temples and the bustle13 of Macau city could hardly be more stark14. The lively pedestrian zone flanked15 by colonial buildings with their teeming16 side streets are not at all reminiscent of religious contemplation17. Locals and tourists saunter along with shopping bags.
Macau， on the southeast coast of China， consists of the Macau peninsula and the two offshore islands of Taipa and Coloane in the Pearl River delta18. Ninety-six per cent of the 450，000 inhabitants are of Chinese origin. Anyone who stays a few days， soon realises that the city is small but charming. You soon start to recognise a few faces， even the city tramps19 start to become familiar. Although the tourism industry would like to sell Macau as a racy20， modern city， its real appeal is that it offers a very quiet， relaxing contrast to Hong Kong.
But Macau is one of the richest regions in Asia， with an annual per capita21 gross national product of more than 17，000 U.S. dollars. This is mainly thanks to gambling. Forty per cent of all state income comes from the numerous casinos here， the only legally operating gambling halls on Chinese territory.
Yulong Snow Mountain
The glacier of Yulong Snow Mountain is giving way to global warming.
This photo of Yulong Snow Mountain was taken on November 28， 2004.
Located 25 kilometers north of Lijiang， Yulong Snow Mountain is the southernmost snow-capped mountain in China， and the ocean glacier nearest to the equator of all the snow mountains in Eurasia.
In recent years， due to the increased quantity of ice melting， the glacial tongue of Yulong Snow Mountain has withdrawn along with reduced glacial area and raised the snow line. The retraction of the glacier was as much as 100 meters during the five years from 1998 to 2002. Its thickness and snowy areas also decreased during the same period.
The main cause to the glacier retraction in Yulong Snow Mountain is global warming， according to He Yuanqing， an expert from Chinese Academy of Science.
Yulong Snow Mountain has 13 peaks， stretching 35 kilometers from north to south. Shanzidou， the main peak， is 5，596 meters above sea level.
Neighboring the famous ancient town of Lijiang， Yulong Snow Mountain is a popular tourist destination in Yunnan province. It is the one and only place you can ski in South China.
All year around， snow falls on the peaks and which are frequently lost in the clouds and fog. Looking from a distance， the mountain resembles a Jade Dragon （Yulong）， which is how it got its name.
This photo of Yulong Snow Mountain was taken on November 28， 2004.
Located 25 kilometers north of Lijiang， Yulong Snow Mountain is the southernmost snow-capped mountain in China， and the ocean glacier nearest to the equator of all the snow mountains in Eurasia.
In recent years， due to the increased quantity of ice melting， the glacial tongue of Yulong Snow Mountain has withdrawn along with reduced glacial area and raised the snow line. The retraction of the glacier was as much as 100 meters during the five years from 1998 to 2002. Its thickness and snowy areas also decreased during the same period.
The main cause to the glacier retraction in Yulong Snow Mountain is global warming， according to He Yuanqing， an expert from Chinese Academy of Science.
Yulong Snow Mountain has 13 peaks， stretching 35 kilometers from north to south. Shanzidou， the main peak， is 5，596 meters above sea level.
Neighboring the famous ancient town of Lijiang， Yulong Snow Mountain is a popular tourist destination in Yunnan province. It is the one and only place you can ski in South China.
All year around， snow falls on the peaks and which are frequently lost in the clouds and fog. Looking from a distance， the mountain resembles a Jade Dragon （Yulong）， which is how it got its name.
A Tale of Two Cities
It's now more than 10 years since "The Wall" come down - but Berlin is still two cities - The Eastern sector is still under reconstruction but it is more exciting and definitely has retained its grandeur all the university buildings. opera houses and churches. some still pock marked by bullets stand along the Unter den Linden about 500 metres from Alexander Plutz in complete contrast to the square high storeys of 1960， flats， offices and hotels.
All within walking distance are the museums such as the Pergamon and now the Kunst （Art） - five in total which take days alone to explore. The former Reichsteig now grows daily into a new seat for Germany's Central Government in Berlin which is now the capital of Germany.
In the former Western Berlin the pace of life is unchanged - all the best shops. restaurants are here - plus the night life， if you still have the energy - Kurfurstendamm is still the street - 3.5km long， full of shops - many of them world famous fashion boutiques - and all the side streets - pubs and restaurants of every kind
All within walking distance are the museums such as the Pergamon and now the Kunst （Art） - five in total which take days alone to explore. The former Reichsteig now grows daily into a new seat for Germany's Central Government in Berlin which is now the capital of Germany.
In the former Western Berlin the pace of life is unchanged - all the best shops. restaurants are here - plus the night life， if you still have the energy - Kurfurstendamm is still the street - 3.5km long， full of shops - many of them world famous fashion boutiques - and all the side streets - pubs and restaurants of every kind
Golden Gate Bridge
The orange towers of the Golden Gate Bridge probably the most beautiful， certainly the most photographed bridge in the world are visible from almost every point of elevation in San Francisco. The only cleft in Northern California's 600-mile continental wall， for years this mile-wide strait was considered unbridgeable. As much an architectural as an engineering feat， the Golden Gate took only 52 months to design and build， and was opened in 1937. Designed by Joseph Strauss， it was the first really massive suspension bridge， with a span of 4200ft， and until 1959 ranked as the world's longest. It connects the city at its northwesterly point on the peninsula to Marin County and Northern California， rendering the hitherto essential ferry crossing redundant， and was designed to withstand winds of up to a hundred miles an hour and to swing as much as 27ft. Handsome on a clear day， the bridge takes on an eerie quality when the thick white fogs pour in and hide it almost completely.
You can either drive or walk across. The drive is the more thrilling of the two options as you race under the bridge's towers， but the half-hour walk across it really gives you time to take in its enormous size and absorb the views of the city behind you and the headlands of Northern California straight ahead. Pause at the midway point and consider the seven or so suicides a month who choose this spot， 260ft up， as their jumping-off spot. Monitors of such events speculate that victims always face the city before they leap. In 1995， when the suicide toll from the bridge had reached almost 1000， police kept the figures quiet to avoid a rush of would-be suicides going for the dubious distinction of being the thousandth person to leap.
Perhaps the best-loved symbol of San Francisco， in 1987 the Golden Gate proved an auspicious place for a sunrise party when crowds gathered to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Some quarter of a million people turned up （a third of the city's entire population）； the winds were strong and the huge numbers caused the bridge to buckle， but fortunately not to break.
You can either drive or walk across. The drive is the more thrilling of the two options as you race under the bridge's towers， but the half-hour walk across it really gives you time to take in its enormous size and absorb the views of the city behind you and the headlands of Northern California straight ahead. Pause at the midway point and consider the seven or so suicides a month who choose this spot， 260ft up， as their jumping-off spot. Monitors of such events speculate that victims always face the city before they leap. In 1995， when the suicide toll from the bridge had reached almost 1000， police kept the figures quiet to avoid a rush of would-be suicides going for the dubious distinction of being the thousandth person to leap.
Perhaps the best-loved symbol of San Francisco， in 1987 the Golden Gate proved an auspicious place for a sunrise party when crowds gathered to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Some quarter of a million people turned up （a third of the city's entire population）； the winds were strong and the huge numbers caused the bridge to buckle， but fortunately not to break.
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