Biz Scene: Biz Unusual

Lessons in elegance

A university in South China's Guangdong Province is offering etiquette and deportment training for women.

Sun Yat-sen University is charging up to 36,800 for the 10-month course. TV celebrities, fashion gurus, philosophers and literature experts have been invited to teach the course.

Classes include classic Chinese literature and music, fine arts, social etiquette, dressing and make-up, cooking and yoga. The organizer of the program said most of the women taking the course are senior executives.

You are art

Artists traded handmade wares over the weekend at Beijing's Nan Luoguxiang hutong. Most of the products for sale were handmade craftworks like wallets made of paper and shoes and clothes scrawled with handwriting and artwork.

Organizers called the trade fair "I-Mart", a clever way of saying "I am art". The idea originated in Britain. The fair will be held again in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park this week.

Great grapes

A cluster of grapes weighing 3.5 kg, planted in Beijing's Yanqing District, was sold for 66,666 yuan at an auction over the weekend. The bunch is claimed to be the largest single cluster of grapes reaped in the rural district this year. Yanqing District, a famous agricultural base located in the city's outskirts, is holding an autumn tour festival in which clusters of fresh grapes are displayed to attract travelers.

(China Daily 09/20/2007 page15)