Old Folk Opera Still Youthful For visitors to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, the Tang Opera of the local Tujia ethnic group is a must-see.

Sino-Japanese Friendship Marked by Concert A concert of well-known Chinese composer Lu Yuan's masterpieces was held Friday in Beijing to mark the 30th anniversary of normalization of Sino-Japanese relations.

China Finishes Shooting of AIDS TV Play Shooting of a 30-episode TV play about a man suffering from AIDS has just finished in Zhuhai, the nearest Chinese mainland city to Macao, the South China Metropolis News has reported.

Human Civilization Traced to Drunken Ape Through years of study, paleontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences conclude that Jiangsu and Anhui provinces centered around the Shuanggou area might be a place of origin for the world抯 human inhabitants. The announcement was made at the annual meeting of Shuanggou Drunken Ape International Scientific Research which opened May 12 in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province.

Personalized Stamps to Be Issued The State Post Bureau of China (SPB) is to issue postage stamps with a blank tab on which pictures can be printed according to customers' requirements, starting Friday. Customized stamps are also made to mark international and national events. These stamps cannot be sold on market, but can be used for mail.

56 Couples Find Wedded Bliss They became husband and wife, wife and husband, and so on. Fifty-six couples from 56 different ethnic groups across the country tied the knot yesterday and will celebrate their unions during a week of festivities at the second Liangzhu Wedding Festival in Ningbo, in East China's Zhejiang Province.

Chinese Parents Seek Standards for Foreigners Teaching in China Many middle and primary schools in China try to attract students by conducting bilingual teaching and engaging foreign teachers. With the influx of more and more foreign teachers, concerns are beginning to be expressed for the first time by Chinese parents about foreign teachers' qualifications for teaching.

China to Renovate First 'Workers' Village' in Shenyang China has launched a massive program this month to renovate its earliest "workers' village"-- a residential community for workers - in an effort to improve workers' poor living conditions in Shenyang City, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Taste of America in Northeast China City An American fresh and frozen food festival is running in Dalian, a major port city in north China's Liaoning Province.

China Plans to Build World's Longest Cable-Stayed Bridge Nantong, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province in the Yangtze River estuary, is expected to begin work within the year on a twin-tower, cable-stayed bridge with a central span of 1,088 meters (1,190 yards) that will overtake Japan's Tatara Ohashi Bridge (890 meters or 973 yards) as the world抯 longest cable-stayed bridge. It will be an all-China project -- no international participation has been invited in the construction of the Sutong Bridge.

Tigers on the Move About 50 south China, Siberian and Bengali tigers, mostly cubs less than a year old, have reached their new home after traveling for one day and a half, said Zhou Weisen on Friday, a Hong Kong-based businessman and also general manager of the Guilin Mountain Farm for Bears and Tigers where the tigers were raised.

Pets Facing 'House Arrest' While waiting to have his dog vaccinated at a veterinary station on Wulumuqi Lu last Saturday, Dong Jiaqing, a Shanghai local retiree, complained with other pet owners about the "unreasonable" regulations set by the government.

Biggest Compensation Case Begins in Shanghai The first hearing on Shanghai's biggest compensation case -- involving 430 million yuan (US$52 million) -- began in Shanghai Friday. The plaintiff, Shanghai Shengfan Real Estate Development Company, is demanding the money from Korean Air, based in South Korea, when one of its cargo flights crashed onto a construction site on April 15, 1999.

China to Boost Service Industry Chinese Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao Friday called for the development of China's service industry, saying that the service industry is an important driving force for China's economy and a major solution to the serious employment issue.

China to Intensify Climate Study China has mapped out a national program for intensifying climate observation, research and prediction to help facilitate sustainable economic and social development over the next 10 years, according to Qin Dahe, a top official of China Meteorological Administration.

Victims of Nanjing Massacre Honoured Yesterday was the Festival of Pure Brightness, when Chinese people traditionally honour their dead by sweeping their graves. This year, as a special way of remembering the 300,000 Chinese who lost their lives in the Nanjing Massacre, the city invited a foreigner who has donated photographs of the massacre to take part in the ceremony honouring the city's dead.

Chinese People Face New Challenge: The Income Tax Yang Chongchun, deputy director of the State Administration of Taxation, recently gave his views on an upcoming tax policy adjustment that has raised questions among people in the business community and average Chinese citizens alike. For example: Will a tax cut policy be possible with the state trying its best to stimulate domestic demand?

Shanghai Puts Green Maintenance in Bid Shanghai invited public biddings for a package of green lands maintenance projects on March 28. The package included parks,public greenbelts and roadside trees. It's the first time the city put roadside trees in bidding, officials with the Shanghai Green Land Administration Bureau said.

Women's Rights in HK Protected by Laws Fully protected by international laws, Hong Kong's women celebrated the annual International Women's Day with a woman's body praising the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's recent move to reinforce the protection of their rights in the past year.