On the afternoon of October 31，2011, the nameplate-conferring ceremony for China Danxia World Natural Heritage was held in Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province. Six state-level scenic areas featuring Danxia landform were bestowed with this honor. "China Danxia” made up of Langshan Mountain in Hunan, Chishui River in Guizhou, Taining Ancient Town in Fujian, Danxia Mountain in Guangdong, Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi and Jianglang Mountain in Zhejiang were approved as World Natural Heritage at 34th World Heritage Conference on August 2, 2010. They are npw listed as China's 40th world heritage and 8th world natural heritage.Since China Danxia was included in the list, it has produced comprehensive effects in raising local people's awareness of ecological protection and boosting the country’s tourism industry.Translator: Guo YanSource: Hunan Official Web Portal

News 2011-10-31 22:22 View：3396

It was released from the press conference held in Beijing that Yueyang City will inject one billion yuan in five years to forge itself into the “Home of Yellow Tea in China”. It is planned to expand tea gardens across the city to one million mu (about 667,000 hectares), realizing the annual yellow tea output of 100,000 tons and annual value of 10 billion yuan. The city aims to cultivate a more reputed brand of yellow tea to promote economic development and the prosperity of tea-planters.Yu Peishun, Party member of the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, and Cai Lifeng, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial People's Congress attended the conference.Yueyang is the main growing area of Junshan Silver Needle Tea—champion of yellow tea. In 2010, the city produced and sold 15,000 tons of yellow tea worth 560 million yuan, accounting for 60 percent of that of the national total.At present, Junshan Tea Industry Co., Ltd plans to invest 158 million yuan to set up an industrial park integrating production, teaching and research in Junshan District of Yueyang City in the hope of further improving and innovating the compressing technique of yellow tea, and meeting the diversified needs of customers with unique taste and health-care value.Translator: Zhang MinsiSource: Hunan Official Web Portal

News 2011-10-29 22:26 View：1439

A Zhangjiajie inspection delegation for promoting tourism led by Fan Yuntian, deputy secretary of the Zhangjiajie Municipal Committee of the CPC, visited France at the invitation of the Tourism Committee of French Val-d'Oise (in French Language) Province. Fan Yuntian met with Mr. Fabrice Cotte, director of the committee, and they exchanged their views on how to strengthen tourism cooperation. Other Leaders from the Zhangjiajie Municipal Government including Liu Qun and Chen Chuyi also attended the meeting.Val-d'Oise province is endowed with abundant tourism resources including natural wonders and historic and cultural sites. In addition, it has a flourishing hotel industry and receives 60 million person-trips every year. Mr. Fabrice Cotte hopes to promote the communication and exchanges between Zhangjiajie and Val-d'Oise through this visit and seek more opportunities for bilateral cooperation.“In recent years, Zhangjiajie has been making great efforts to build it into a top international tourist destination, and we hope that two sides can work together to promote the development of tourism industry in Zhangjiajie and Val-d'Oise.” Fan Yuntian said.Translator: Mao YipanSource: Zhangjiajie Official Web

News 2011-10-28 09:10 View：1934

BEIJING, Oct. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Students from around the world gathered in Chongqing last Tuesday to participate in a Chinese-speaking competition designed to enable the world to have a deep understanding of the charm of the Chinese culture and language.The 4th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for foreign secondary school students, which will run from October 18 to October 30, is the largest of its kind in terms of scale and attendance.The event was sponsored by the Chinese Language Promotion Office of China and Chongqing Municipal Government.At the opening ceremony held at the Luneng Bashu Middle School in Chongqing, the 144 contestants from 43 countries staged a musical extravaganza for the audience.Elegant European flamenco, African roaring drumbeats and South African passionate samba…， the students presented a rich exotic cultural show combining both oriental and Western elements by singing, dancing, etc.The students competed in three games titled "Chinese Language Carnival," "Supermarket Reality show" and "Colorful Stage." At the final, the teenagers had the chance to experience the life in ordinary Chinese families for three days.Under the considerate arrangements of local families, the youngsters took part in various cultural activities, such as visiting places of historical interest, making dumplings, watching Sichuan Opera, learning painting and practicing calligraphy, etc All this enabled them not only to feel the affection and love deeply, but also learn Chinese in a delightful environment.A reporter covering the event followed two students into the Chinese families and recorded their stories.Marisa from the U.S. lived in the family of a student surnamed Dulieyijia of the Bashu Middle School. To better treat the little guest from afar, Dulieyijia's parents made careful arrangements in advance.At weekends, Marisa visited some famous scenic spots in Chongqing and attended a Chinese-style wedding ceremony held by a colleague of Dulieyijia's father. Very soon, 13-year-old Dulieyijia and 17-year-old Maria became good friends. From Dulieyijia, whom Marisa took as a teacher, she learned the technique of serving tea and making dumplings. Just in one day's time, Marisa learned to make dumplings quite professionally.Another story is about Nicholas from Canada, who stayed in a "big family" and was received by Yang Zhou, a student in the Yubei Middle School.Coincidently, the friends of Yang's mother also treated other foreign students attending the "Chinese Bridge" event. Therefore, the four families temporarily formed a "super family."Chongqing "fathers and mothers" took their "sons and daughters" to watch Sichuan opera, listening to the storytelling over cups of tea.These children from Laos, Austria, Sri Lanka, Canada orchestrated an evening party with their Chinese peers. Their self-directed show in both English and Chinese made every one laugh to tears.The young contestants were quite excited about the event. If one word could be found to describe their feeling, then it would be "I love you, China."They poured what they felt in Xinhua microblog, and let's hear what some of them have to say.Zhou Jinzhu said the "Chinese bridge" has realized his long-cherished dream of coming to China, the country with a long history and time-honored tradition.Zheng Weida wrote: "I love the Chinese language because I love Chinese songs and tongue twister. "What I expect most is to learn more Chinese idioms and to communicate with them."A Yan said in microblog that he loves Chinese and that thinks Chinese would be the second most important language after English in the future."I hope everyone should study the Chinese language hard," Yan said, adding: "I hope I can have more opportunities to come to China in the future. I prefer the Shaolin Temple and Chinese Kungfu."Source:Xinhua

News 2011-10-27 12:52 View：1431

The International Taoism Forum was held recently at the Hengshan Mountain in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, to explore the development direction of modern Taoism at home and abroad.Chen Guochao, vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Yuen Yuen Institute in Hong Kong, believes that Taoism needs to be developed in a harmonious manner in order for it to spread around the world. Martin Palmer, Secretary General of the UK-based Alliance of Religions and Conservation （ARC）, demonstrated that Taoism has time and again emphasized on the environment and its development. Xu Kangsheng, professor from Philosophy Department in Peking University, stated that the spirit of “Returning to the Nature” should be promoted further, so as to re-build a harmonious society for  sustainable development. Wang Chenfa, president of Taoist College in Indonesia, said that Taoism should focus on the common subjects for human beings to win respect from other religious and cultural groups.Translator: Wang XiaoluSource: Hunan Official Web Portal

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