News and Updates

Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Rail Track Laid

 

Workers on December 16 completed laying tracks for the intercity high-speed railway linking Beijing with Tianjin, the first of its kind in China.

The 200-kilometre railway begins at the Beijing South Railway Station and ends at the Tianjin Railway Station, passing through the Yizhuang Industrial Park, Yongle New Town and Tianjin’s Yangcun, said a spokesman for the railway project.

Designed for a full speed of 350 kilometres per hour, the railway will shorten the journey between the two cities from 70 minutes to about 30 minutes.

A maximum of 20 pairs of trains will run on the new rail route per hour. Starting at an interval of 3 minutes, the trains are expected to carry up to 18,000 passengers per hour.

At a cost of more than 13.3 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion), the project was begun on July 4, 2005; it will be operational before the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

According to the blueprint of the Ministry of Railway, intercity high-speed railway networks will be set up in economic developed areas, including the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Sea Rim Region and in the Pearl River Delta by 2020.

 

Mei Lanfang Grand Theatre Debuts in Beijing

 

While the public has been focusing on the new National Grand Theatre to the west of Tian'anmen Square, another theatre, named after the late Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang, is in the spotlight as well. It opened on November 28, 2007, in Beijing.

The theatre is the first of its kind especially designed for Peking Opera performances in the capital. The three-storied building covers 20,000 square metres. Inside there are also three levels with 1,035 seats and five VIP chambers. Although designed for Peking Operas, the theatre will also open its stage to other types of performances, such as dramas and musicals.

The decoration and design of the theatre blend modernism with traditional Chinese features. The most eye-catching item in the theatre is a bronze statue of Mei Lanfang, a renowned master of China’s dramatic art. Zhang Deling, director of the theatre, said, “We named the theatre after Mr. Mei Lanfang, hoping to continue the Peking Opera tradition. Mei has a high reputation as a symbol of China’s performing arts, the pride of his people and his nation. We’ll give a series of performances that are in line with the high standards of the master.”

 

Capital International Airport Moves to Forefront

 

The Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) is expected to become one of the world’s top-five busiest airports by the end of 2008.

It will have seen more than 64 million passenger departures and arrivals by the end of 2008, the People's Daily overseas-edition reported on December 6, 2007.

Since the beginning of 2007, the only international airport of the Chinese capital handled 50 million passengers as of 10:40 a.m. on December 5, 2007, ranking it among the world’s top 10 busiest airports.

With the new No. 3 Terminal’s completion in February 2008, the three terminals of the airport will have a total annual transport capacity of about 82 million passengers.

In addition to the terminal construction project, BCIA has invested nearly 2 billion yuan (US$266 million) in upgrading its security checks, service counters, luggage systems and information systems.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), the regulator of China's air transportation system, had already proposed building a second international airport in the southern suburbs of Beijing.

The proposal is now being reviewed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the final decision will be made by the State Council.

The second international airport, with beginning of construction proposed for 2010 in Daxing District, is expected to alleviate already heavy ground traffic to BCIA. It would accommodate more transcontinental flights to China in the years to come, a CAAC official said.

 

Construction of Five New Subway Lines Begins in Capital

 

Construction of five new subway lines with a total length of nearly 140 kilometres began in Beijing on December 8, 2007.

The five lines are Lines 6 and 8, the second phase of Line 10, and the Yizhuang and Daxing lines.

Completion of all five is expected by 2015.

Line 6 begins at Wulu Station in western Haidian District and ends in Dongxiaoying in eastern Tongzhou District. It is 41.74 kilometres long and will have 27 stops.

The second phase of Line 8 will extend the first phase, called the 4.5-km Olympic line, northward and southward separately. The two extensions are 17.46 km long with 12 stops.

The 32.46-km-long Line 10, with 23 stops, is the second circular line outside the current operational Line 2. The 24.55-km-long first phase of Line 10 started in 2003.

The Yizhuang line is 23.2 km long and has 14 stops. The 22.2-km-long Daxing line has 11 stops.

The first phase of Line 10, Line 8 and a 28-km line linking Central Beijing to the Beijing Capital International Airport are under construction.

Line 10, the Olympic line and the airport line will be put into operation before 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

 

London to Kick off China Year Exhibition in 2008

 

 The "2008 China Year of London" will start with a Chinese lantern exhibition in Oxford on February 6, 2008, the Beijing Evening News reported on December 18.

The third exhibition of its kind, the two-month-long event will contain exhibits concerning local people and Chinese cultural creations such as Peking Opera and the tea ceremony as well as a movie festival and photo exhibitions.

As one of the torch relay cities for the Beijing Olympics, London will receive the torch April 6 when the Emperor Qin exhibition closes at the British Museum.

In addition, a London pavilion will be built in Ritan Park by the London Municipal Office.

 

Beijing Zoo Features “Australian Corner”

 

Interested in the animals of Australia? Soon you will be able to visit them at the Beijing Zoo.

The zoo will complete a special Australian Corner by May 2008, giving visitors a better chance to experience the animals and birds of Australia, the Beijing News reported.

The corner is the third largest “corner” following two other animal corners, the American Corner and the African Corner, that have already opened.

The 7,200 square metre Australian Corner will group unique species such as the koala, kangaroo and all kinds of birds.

The animal corners conform to the zoo’s latest practice of classifying all of its animals and species by geographic location, not by whether they are herbivorous or carnivorous.

The Beijing Zoo signed a donation agreement with the Victorian Government of Australia recently, creating the possibility of introducing additional Australian animals in the future.

 

 

Bird’s Nest, CCTV Tower among TIME’s Top-10 Architectural Marvels of 2007

 

The National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) and the new CCTV Tower and the Linked Hybrid have been included on TIME Magazine’s list of the 10 Best Architectural Marvels.

 

Wind-Power Station to Generate Green Energy

 

With 33 wind-driven electricity generators, the soon-to-be-completed Beijing Guanting Wind Power Station began its first-phase trial run at the end of 2007, the Beijing Daily reported on December 11.

When its first phase of construction ends, the station will be able to produce 100 million kWh of electricity a year, enough to light and heat 100,000 households. That amount of electricity would otherwise be produced by burning 50,000 tonnes of coal or 20 million cubic metres of natural gas, which would subsequently release 100,000 tonnes of CO2 and 782 tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the air.

 

30,000 Electronic Multi-Language Guides to Go into Service

 

According to the Beijing Travel Bureau, more than 8,000 electronic multi-language guides have been put into service in 35 scenic spots around Beijing. Before the Olympics, there will be 30,000 such guides––10,000 for use in the massive Forbidden City complex.

Each guide contains at least Chinese and English. At the Forbidden City, the guides come in 22 languages, while the guides at the Temple and Heaven and the Summer Palace offer 11 languages. By 2008, 44 languages will be available.

 

Community Doctors to make House Calls

 

In 2008, all families in the Chinese capital will have their own doctors based where they live.

"The city's community-based medical and health system is being expanded to provide house calls whenever there is a need," said Liang Wannian, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau on December 12.

The “Family-doctor-house-call” system will cover all permanent urban and rural residents in Beijing and those who have lived in the city for half a year or longer.

According to the official, under the community-based medical and health system, there will be teams of doctors, nurses and health care specialists. Each team takes care of 800 to 1,000 households.

Already, 878 teams comprising 3,230 family doctors are providing services for 66 percent of the Beijing residents.

 

2007 Tencent Star Awards Held with Charitable Theme

 

Following on the success of its first Star Awards in 2006, the 2007 Tencent Star Awards were held on December 17 in Happy Valley, Beijing. A top Web site in China, www.tencent.com held this event to review 2007 show business activities on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The awards were decided by a voted by the 290 million Tencent users.

With the creation of the “Annual Charity Celebrity” award by Tencent and its charity fund committee, charity was the highlight of this year’s event. The Web site’s CEO Liu Zhiping said the company’s management has always been concerned with creating better, socially viable and constructive products to build a more harmonious and happy society. Tencent hopes that the charity theme of the 2007 even will build on that legacy.