IN BRIEF (Page 19)

Jr Buffett's first trip to China

Peter Andrew Buffett - son of Warren Buffett, the second richest person in the world - will pay his first visit to China with a cultural delegation from the US state of Wisconsin next week.

Buffett is visiting for three reasons.

The first is to support an education program sponsored by Greater Milwaukee Committee and Spirit of Milwaukee to help Chinese students gain an understanding of life in the US, and American society and culture.

The second is to support the musical Spirit - The Seventh Fire. The show, produced and composed by Buffett, will tour China next fall.

Third, Buffett is in the process of finalizing his plans for his personal foundation, which has an estimated value of more than $1.2 billion. He is now seeking interesting cultural or charity projects to fund in China.

During the four-day visit to Beijing, the delegation will visit the 798 Art Zone to see Chinese contemporary art exhibitions, and meet local artists and art critics.

Sweet sounds of charity music

The Chinese pop band Hua Er performed a charity gig at Beijing's LG Plaza Saturday afternoon to raise money for Yan Xiaoxia, a 15-year-old girl suffering from leukaemia.

The show was one of the events organized by Beijing Radio Station to raise money for the girl from a poor peasant family in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province. Thousands of people have given a helping hand since Beijing Radio started collecting donations on February 17.

The donation hotline is 6568-7299, and the money will go to Yan through Beijing Radio Station.

New high-end shopping mall

Fuelled by China's booming economy and growing hunger for luxury products, high-end malls are opening one after another in the country. And with the opening of the U-Town shopping complex near Chaoyangmen, in Beijing, shoppers have one more place to get their top-end fix.

Brands to be available at the boutiques include DKNY, Guess, Kookai, Tommy Hilfiger, Replay, ECCO, Timberland and Levi's among others. These brands presented a fashion show presenting their new collections at the Grand Hyatt Hotel last week.

Scheduled to open in June, U-Town will include a department store, covering 110,000 sq m, a five-star hotel, an office building and an apartment building.

Next top reality TV show

China's Next Top Model, the Chinese version of the reality show America's Next Top Model, has been airing since January. The series gives people an opportunity to prove that they can make it in the world of modeling. The Chinese version will follow this template.

The show follows a group of 12 young women - of various backgrounds, shapes and sizes - selected from more than 10,000 candidates from around the country, who both live together and vie for the title of top model.

Participants are asked to demonstrate both inner and outer beauty as they learn to master complicated catwalks, undergo intense workouts, and attend fashion shoots - all under the 24-hour-a-day surveillance of the cameras.

The show is broadcast on Sichuan Satellite TV every Sunday night at 10:30.

Mo wins continental contest

Chinese model Mo Wandan (pictured) won the title of "Asian Super Model" at the Seoul Models Festival recently. It is the third year for the Models Association of South Korea to run the event. China Bentley Culture Development Co Ltd organized seven Chinese models to attend.

The seven Chinese models, together with others from Japan, South Korea, Philippines and the United States, wore garments from the South Korean designers' latest collections.

China Daily

(China Daily 02/26/2008 page19)