Learning Mandarin - Tibet winter travel tips

CITYLIFE






Tibet winter travel tips

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-09-26 17:15





The main food in Tibet in winter is meat. Famous local snacks include
Shouzhua Yangrou (mutton eaten with the hands), roasted sheep intestines
and dried meat.

Festivals falling in winter time
Winter is a festive season in Tibet. For Tibet winter travelers, festival
celebrations are another attraction. So here is a list of Tibetan
festivals that fall in winter.



Tibetan New Year celebrations. [Photo by baidu.com]
*Gongbu Festival, Nyingchi
Falling on October 1 according to the Tibetan calendar (in November or
December according to the Gregorian calendar), this festival is
celebrated to commemorate soldiers dying in wars protecting Tibetans from
invaders in the old days. Activities include dancing, horseracing and
fair markets.

*Xiannv Festival (fairy festival)
Also called the Tianmu Festival (heaven mother festival), the Xiannv
Festival falls on October 15 according to the Tibetan calendar and is
considered the festival for Tibetan women. Religious celebrations are
held throughout Tibet.

*Randeng Festival (lamp lighting festival)
Falling on October 25 according to the Tibetan calendar, the Randeng
Festival is celebrated to commemorate a great Tibetan reformer, Zongkaba.
Celebration activities include lighting ghee lights and singing religious
songs.

*Qugui Festival (ghost driving festival)
Falling on December 29 according to the Tibetan calendar, the Qugui
Festival is celebrated to welcome the New Year. Grand Tiaoshen activities
such as praying for good fortune the next year and household cleanings
are held.

*Zanglinian (Tibetan new year)
Falling on January 1 according to the Tibetan calendar, Zanglinian is the
most important festival in Tibet. People start preparing for Zanglinian
at the beginning of December according to the Tibetan calendar. People
prepare tsamba, fried kernels and Renshenguo (a kind of tonic fruit in
Tibet). On New Year's Eve, people present the prepared food to images of
Buddha. On the first day of the New Year, the first thing to do is to
take a barrel of water home from the river, the first barrel of water in
the new year is lucky water. On the second day, relatives and friends
begin to visit each other.

*Suyou Huadenghui (ghee lamp festival)
Falling on January 15 according to the Tibetan calendar, Suyou Huadenghui
is celebrated by monastery worship in the daytime and the Barkhor Street
lamp festival at night. There will be shelves of lamps representing
various colorful images such as gods, birds, flowers and trees. Tourists
can also enjoy a puppet show.


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Study Chinese - Simple wedding,a new fashion

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Simple wedding,a new fashion

(chinanews.cn)
Updated: 2006-10-23 14:05


In Chinese view, 2006 is a good year for weddings (for there are two Li
Chun or "Beginning of Spring", the first solar item in the traditional
Chinese lunar calendar, occuring in the Year of the Dog, which mainly
cover 2006, and represent good luck, while the number "6" in 2006 is
another symbol of good luck, too). In Nanjing alone, more than 7,300
young couples have said their vows in the last nine months, about 2,000
more than last year. These young couples have also started a good new
fashion by holding simple wedding ceremonies instead of luxurious ones of
the past.

It was common for a young couple to spend hundreds of thousands yuan on
weddings, even as much as 1/3 of the total savings of the two families of
both parties. In fact, wedding ceremonies have become a grand show as a
tradition since long ago, when phoenix coronets, sedan chairs and musical
bands were wedding necessities, as are today's diamonds and roses.

However, ostentation like this has nothing to do with the love between
the young couple, and in fact not romantic at all. Many newly-weds this
year choose to preserve the romance for themselves, and to save money for
something useful. Their ceremonies have left unforgettable memories
instead of horrible weariness. Besides traveling, there are many other
innovative simple but romantic wedding ceremonies. Some choose to donate
blood, some to plant trees, some to make pottery handprints, some chose
give toys and clothes to orphanages, and some to adopt stray pets.

Mei, who got married barely a month ago, said her husband and herself had
just made a music slideshow of their photos to record how they came to
know each other, and sent the news of their marriage to friends. "That's
all, and it"s so romantic and economical," said she.










Feature




Pilgrimage to Tibet If you want to get a detailed Travel Handbook to
Tibet and know more interesting tour routes leading to this divine place.
Please click here!

Yunnan New Film Project Ten female directors from China! Ten unique
sights from mysterious Yunnan Province!Yunnan New Film Project,Travel
with the film.Wanna know more? Please click here!




Editors' Picks




� Go natural

� A pleasant journey for red leaves

� Try Chinese hair salons

� Halloween binge

� Chasing the autumn wind





Beijing Guide




Eating out: Enjoy grilled mutton at Shichahai
Bars&Cafes: A drink with a friend
Weekend&Holiday: Lin Jun Jie 2006 Beijing Vocal Concert
Shopping: You're in the army now!
What's on: Make this land white







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: A true taste of traditional Japan
Bars&Cafes: New wine launched
Weekend&Holiday: "Winter Journey" comes
Shopping: In pursuit of 1930 Shanghai
What's on: The world is flat





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Learn Chinese online - Nicole Kidman approves of Tomkat wedding

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip










Nicole Kidman approves of Tomkat wedding

(Agencies)
Updated: 2006-10-12 09:42





Actress Nicole Kidman launches cancer research UK's breast cancer
awareness campaign at Madame Tussauds, in central London, Friday, Sept.
29 2006. (AP Photo / Ian West, pa)

Nicole Kidman has reportedly telephoned Katie Holmes to encourage her to
go ahead with her wedding to Tom Cruise, according to Bang Showbiz report.

"Nicole has made sure that she has told Katie how pleased she is they're
getting married," the report quoted a source, as telling Britain's Grazia
magazine.

According to Grazia��s source, " Nicole called Katie and they had a
friendly chat, during which she said Tom had been a great, supportive
husband for ten years and she shouldn't listen to any gossip about him
that suggests otherwise.

"Nicole has made sure that she has told Katie how pleased she is [Katie
and Tom are] getting married. She's alleviated some of Katie's worries
about what it's like being married to Tom and urged her to go ahead with
the wedding. Nicole usually minds her own business, but she made an
exception in this case."


Katie Holmes,who gave birth to her and Tom's first child, daughter Suri
in April, has confessed that she has found her wedding gown.

Katie has been in Paris for fashion week, but she was not shopping for
her nuptials while she was there. She told People magazine, "I already
have my dress." Instead, Katie has been on the look out for items for her
daughter Suri. She said to People, "They have beautiful things for babies
here [in Paris]." All the shopping wasn��t for Suri, though. Holmes took
advantage of her to buy eight pairs of $650+ shoes by Roger Vivier.

Nicole, who was married to the Mission Impossible actor for 10 years, got
married herself this summer to country music star Keith Urban.


















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Chinese Character - Animal Olympics under way

CITYLIFE / Hip & New








Animal Olympics under way
(chinanews.cn)
Updated: 2006-09-30 16:31



The human Olympics may be coming to China in two years, but the animal
competition has already begun in Shanghai.




Roo in the ring : An Australian kangaroo boxes with a man in a clown suit
during the 2006 Animal Olympics at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park. (Photo:
AFP)



Over 300 animal athletes took part Thursday (September 28) in the opening
competitions at the fourth National Animal Olympics, held in Shanghai.

Among the featured events were boxing bears, a bicycle race involving
monkeys, bears and humans and a monkey climbing competition.

The competitions will continue over the next two months with events
ranging from track and field to soccer.

More than 30 species of animals on teams from 26 Chinese provinces and
cities will take part.

















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Chinese language - The Black Dahlia

ENTERTAINMENT / Coming Soon








The Black Dahlia

Updated: 2006-09-11 13:52





Premise of "The Black Dahlia"
In 1940s Los Angeles two cops enter a world of greed, obsession and
corruption as they probe the grisly murder of a Hollywood starlet. Based
on the novel by James Ellroy.

CAST:
Josh Hartnett (Officer Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert)
Scarlett Johansson (Kay Lake)
Aaron Eckhart (Sgt. Leland "Lee" Blanchard)
Hilary Swank (Madeleine Sprague)
Mia Kirshner (Elizabeth Short)
Rose McGowan (Sheryl Saddon)
Kevin Dunn (Cleo Short)
John Kavanagh (Emmet Linscott)
Troy Evans
Angus MacInnes
Pepe Serna
Fiona Shaw


DIRECTOR:
Brian De Palma


WRITER:
Josh Friedman


PRODUCERS:
Art Linson,
Moshe Diamant,
Rudy Cohen

GENRE:
Mystery

















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Learn Mandarin online - Employees lured by "No Overtime" promise

CITYLIFE / Hip & New








Employees lured by "No Overtime" promise
(CRI)
Updated: 2006-08-22 10:29


A company has tried luring potential employees with a unique ploy at a
recent job fair in Beijing, advertising "no overtime in our company."

Beijing Business Today quotes the company's employees saying overtime is
not on the agenda in their firm, though heavy workloads and tight
schedules make extra hours common in other workplaces.

The report says many people are in a state of exhaustion from working
more than eight hours a day.

Chen Jieping, a section chief at the All China Federation of Trade Unions
says employees are actually covering two positions if they have to work
more than 10 hours a day.

For this reason, the culture of overwork keeps job vacancies away from
job hunters.


















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� RMB gains before US Treasury Secretary's visit

� More peacekeepers head to Lebanon

� 75th anniversary of invasion marked

� Man rejects first penis transplant

� Female space tourist blasts off








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Chinese Online Class - Office workers' monkhood life in temples

CITYLIFE / Hip & New








Office workers' monkhood life in temples
(chinanews.cn)
Updated: 2006-08-02 09:36





Recently office workers in Chongqing find new places to relax themselves:
temples. They are not followers of Buddha, but believe they can find
relaxation by staying in temples.

"Daily routines at work have made our life dry and dull, but fortunately
we still have such a quiet place in the din of city life, " said a staff
member of a company. He often visits Arhat Temple with his relatives and
friends at weekends, enjoying the leisurely and placid life there.

Arhat Temple in Chongqing's downtown area fascinates many office workers.
Ms. Zeng, wearing fashionable costume, was praying before figures of
Buddha in the temple. A company manager, she admitted that her pressure
was huge, but she still believed visit temples regularly could help her
handle complicated matters in the company.

Like Zeng, many other young office workers also frequent temples, but
they seldom pray like Buddhists. They just stroll around the temple
halls, watch figures of Buddha and listen to monks chanting scriptures.

Abbots of Huayan Temple accept some office workers as "temporary monks"
in their temple, where they lead a daily life the same as the temple's
monks, following the simplest possible life style of the latter.

In the temple, morning prayer starts at 5 a.m. Monks chant scriptures in
the daytime. At dawn, while at night they go to sleep at the beating of
drums, indicated these "temporary monks" have no intention of standing
aloof from worldly affairs, only hoping to find a carefree mood in the
temple, said the abbots.
















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