Day: July 8, 2019

(Peoples Daily Online)17:05, June 06, 2019

China’s National College Entrance Examination, commonly known as Gaokao, is getting closer. Over the next two days, people’s common perception of China being a boisterous country will be shattered. The whole nation will be immersed in hushed tones, expectation and anxiety, with anxiety dominating, only for this critical examination.

An annual occurrence, the gaokao is the sole determinant for admission to Chinese universities. The test result will decide what universities an examinee can attend, and consequently, determine whether he or she will find a well-paid job in the future. The competition is fierce. About three in five students will make the cut in this silent battle, while only one out of 20 will gain access to the top universities in China.

Though test results matter the most when it comes to college enrollment, students must choose wisely when filling in their form listing their preferred colleges. Every college will have a lowest intake score which varies year to year, and if students meet the requirement, they will be admitted. Otherwise, they will be rejected and passed on to another nominated school to repeat the process. The lowest intake scores are typically released after students fill in their list, making the final result rather unpredictable.

“Filling out the application form is a tedious task. Even though you can obtain good results in your tests, failing to choose the right university can still lead to bad results,” said Wang Zhiming, a parent in Beijing whose daughter is going to take this year’s gaokao.

To help parents and students fill out their application forms correctly, a new gaokao consultation service has emerged in China. According to statistics from Securities Times, there are over 400 companies offering gaokao consultation services, while Bainianyingcai, a leading power in this area, generated an income of over 117 million yuan in 2018.

Based on the official websites of these companies, students must go through an evaluation to determine their academic interests and talents before the consultation. Once a report is generated and their test results are released, educational experts will either talk to clients face to face, or communicate online, to help them fill in their application forms.

Some companies have even introduced big data and artificial intelligence into their evaluation process, claiming that with their professional assistance, 99 percent of their students can get into their dream school.

The consultation costs also vary between different companies. Sina Education, a leading online education platform in China, provides expert consultation that can cost as much as 50,000 yuan, while the cheapest service costs around 3,000 yuan.

“With the help of such platforms, we have a better chance of filling in the application forms wisely, but the cost is unaffordable. I have chosen another online service which only costs 500 yuan, and it has been really helpful,” said Wang.

Though few parents have resorted to using these services so far, experts have expressed their optimism on the emerging industry, noting that the industry can further provide professional opinions for young students to better plan for study, or even for their career.

“In addition to gaokao consultation, I think our service can also cover study and career planning in universities, helping students fulfill their dreams. Such consultation services could become the norm in the future,” Wang Yong, a gaokao consultation specialist in Shenyang, told Securities Times.

(Xinhua)08:38, June 10, 2019

BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) — Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has made a series of important instructions and overall arrangements from the strategic height of retaining cultural roots and safeguarding the soul of the nation to promote the protection of cultural and natural heritage.

In June 2017, CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping made an instruction on the building of a cultural belt along the Grand Canal: The Grand Canal is precious heritage passed down to us by our ancestors and is flowable culture that should be protected, inherited and utilized.

Answering Xis call for protecting and promoting brilliant traditional Chinese culture and preserving the historical context, archeologists have completed an archaeological survey of cultural relics throughout the Xiongan New Area as well as the archaeological exploration and trial excavation of 50 ancient sites and tombs in the 100 square km initial development zone of the area.

On the protection of the ancient city of Zhengding in Hebei Province, Xi stressed upholding the correct concept in terms of ancient city protection, that is, protecting its historical and cultural values.

During an inspection tour in Beijing, Xi pointed out that history and culture are the soul of a city and people should cherish the citys historical and cultural heritage as their own lives.

When the general secretary visited the Xian Museum in northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province, the first issue of concern to him was the protection of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. He said the principle of restoring as it was should be upheld in ancient building protection.

At Gusheng Village in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest Chinas Yunnan Province, Xi noted that in the building of a new countryside, attention must be paid to preserving local flavor and style, rural landscape, green mountains and clear waters, and letting nostalgia set in.

When visiting Xiguan, a traditional cultural area in Guangzhou, Xi walked into the Cantonese Opera Art Museum and encouraged opera fans to carry forward Cantonese Opera.

During a tour of the northwestern province of Qinghai in August 2016, Xi visited the provincial environmental monitoring center. Speaking through the videophone system, Xi asked about the management and protection of the ecological resources in the Sanjiangyuan region or the source of Chinas three major rivers.

In July 2018, Xi presided over the third meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform, at which a guideline on strengthening reform on the protection and use of cultural relics was approved.

Participants at the meeting noted that strengthening the reform on the protection and utilization of cultural relics is of great significance to the preservation and inheritance of Chinas cultural heritage.

The formulation of the document has an epoch-making significance to the reform and innovation of the cultural relic work, said Liu Yuzhu, head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

(Xinhua)17:21, June 11, 2019

CHENGDU, June 11 (Xinhua) — China has put 6,819 villages under state-level protection, forming the worlds largest heritage protection group of agricultural civilizations, according to sources with an on-going UNESCO conference held in southwest Chinas Sichuan Province.

Officials of the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said at the UNESCO International Conference on the Future of Historic Villages and Towns said China began to implement the traditional village protection project in 2012 to select the historical villages through five national surveys.

There are 533,000 administrative villages and 2.45 million natural villages in China, of which the listed traditional villages are the pearls, inheriting the historical memory of the Chinese nation, the Chinese wisdom in production and life, culture and art, according to the ministry.

The UNESCO conference was held from June 10 to 12 in the city of Meishan with discussions on the future of historic towns and villages. More than 180 people including ministry officials and mayors from participating countries, guests from international organizations, the World Bank, private institutions and universities attended the meeting.

With 333 state-level historic villages and 869 villages under provincial-level heritage protection, Sichuan has accumulated valuable experience in the protection of the heritage and the improvement of rural human settlements.

Chinese officials at the meeting vowed to improve public infrastructure and enforce heritage protection requirements of the historic villages.

By LiuZhonghua,XiaoXinxin,XieYahong (Peoples Daily)09:26, June 12, 2019

Visitors learn papercutting, an intangible cultural heritage of China in the Chinese Library at Bishkek Humanities University. (Photo by Han Bingchen/People鈥檚 Daily)

On June 10, an inauguration ceremony of a Chinese Library 鈥?a project promoting cultural exchanges hosted by Chinese government, was held at Bishkek Humanities University, Kyrgyzstan, presenting a feast for hundreds of Kyrgyz visitors.

The performance of Chinese intangible cultural heritage at the event, such as Kunqu Opera, Kouji (oral stunts), traditional Chinese instrument Guzheng, and face-changing of Sichuan Opera, further deepened Kyrgyz people鈥檚 understanding of Chinese culture.

Traditional Kyrgyz dancing was also performed in the activity, enhancing the two-way art exchanges and promoting the interaction between the two cultures.

The performance was wonderful, said Gulmira Kudaiberdieva, Minister of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, expressing that it was a precious experience, and has brought the peoples of the two countries closer to each other鈥檚 culture.

In recent years, with increasingly enhanced cooperation on the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples have been gradually intensified, Kudaiberdieva told People鈥檚 Daily.

According to the minister, she has witnessed Kyrgyz people鈥檚 constantly growing enthusiasm for Chinese culture in the two countries鈥?bilateral cultural exchanges and cooperation, especially in the education sector.

Kyrgyz people鈥檚 curiosity for Chinese culture has turned into appreciation, Kudaiberdieva said, adding that more and more young people in her country are learning Chinese. 鈥淚t is helpful for their personal development and the development of Kyrgyzstan as well.

The Chinese Library is a signature project of China鈥檚 State Council Information Office that introduces China to foreign countries and promotes cultural exchanges. It is usually established in the national libraries and major universities of the destination countries.

The Chinese Library at BHU is the fourteenth and also by far the largest Chinese Library.

鈥淭he Chinese Library is a wonderful and precious gift for BHU,鈥?said president of the university, noting that it has opened a window for Kyrgyz young people to learn Chinese culture.

The president stressed that the Chinese Library is a witness of the joint efforts of China and Kyrgyzstan in boosting people-to-people and cultural cooperation under the BRI.

He hopes that Chinese President Xi Jinping鈥檚 upcoming state visit to Kyrgyzstan will further promote bilateral educational cooperation, bring about wider exchanges and cooperation between artists and arts organizations, and help move bilateral people-to-people and cultural exchanges to a new level.

鈥淎s an educator of Chinese language, I鈥檓 also promoting the people-to-people bonds between Kyrgyzstan and China鈥? said Gulzat Isamatova, Director of the Confucius Institute of BHU.

According to statistics, there are 41 Confucius Institutes and 21 Confucius Classrooms in Kyrgyzstan, and about 7,000 students are learning Chinese at the Confucius Institute of BHU, 100 of who go to China for study every year.

Joint construction of the BRI has opened vast space for common development of Kyrgyzstan and China, said Isamatova, adding that Chinese has become an important tool for young people in Kyrgyzstan to achieve greater development.

鈥淚 hope to serve as an ambassador to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries and create a better future for the Confucius Institute. I believe President Xi鈥檚 upcoming state visit will help intensify bilateral exchanges in various fields such as culture, education, and art, and further consolidate the bilateral friendly ties,鈥?Isamatova noted.

The Chinese Library at BHU was visited by flocks of people on the day it opened. More than 2,000 books and audiovisual products introducing China鈥檚 economy, politics, culture, society, ecology, and technology were exhibited. Digital information of the Chinese culture was also displayed on computer screens.

In recent years, BHU has paid increasing attention to the cooperation and exchanges with Chinese universities, and many students of Kyrgyzstan who have been to China love the country, said Roza Turdukeeva, Director of the Scientific Library of BHU, noting that cultural exchanges is significant to the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

(Xinhua)14:08, June 13, 2019

A set of Taiji panda stamps are issued by Maldives Post at the opening ceremony of the China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition held in Hubei Province on June 11, 2019. [Photo: people.cn]

WUHAN, June 12 (Xinhua) — A set of Taiji panda stamps were issued by Maldives Post at the opening ceremony of the China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition held in central Chinas Hubei Province on Tuesday.

The 15 stamps, created by Liu Zhong, a Chinese painter known for painting pandas, show 15 different Taiji movements performed by pandas. With snow in the background, the stamps express good wishes toward the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Lius original works of the Taiji pandas have been displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition, being held at the International Expo Center in Wuhan, capital of Hubei, will last until June 17.

The event has attracted 87 countries and regions and features 4,700 framed sets of stamps, 2,500 of which are from overseas exhibitors, according to the State Post Bureau.

The exhibition showcases collections of stamps that the Peoples Republic of China has issued since its founding 70 years ago.

The event aims to promote the exchange of Chinese and foreign philatelic culture, enhance the friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world and further develop postal and philatelic services.