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Forbidden Kingdom rules over box office
Martial arts adventure The Forbidden Kingdom ruled over the box office in North America last weekend as the movie featuring Chinese superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li together for the first time, raked in about $20.9 million over the three-day period, preliminary figures released on Sunday showed.
The film, jointly released by Lionsgate and the Weinstein Co, tells the story of a modern American teenage hurtled back in time to ancient China, where he is charged with a task to free the fabled warrior the Monkey King with the help from kungfu masters played by Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
Two other new releases premiered in the top five list, with Universal's heavily-marketed romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall coming in at second place, with an estimated $17.3 million, according to box office tracking firm Media By Numbers.
88 Minutes, a serial killer thriller starring Al Pacino, debuted at No 4 with $6.8 million, following last week's box office leader Prom Night, which fell to third with $9.1 million.
Exploring cultural and historic divides
Respect For Art, a book about visual art management and administration in China and the United States, is set to hit the shelves.
The book is a joint effort by Professor Joan Jeffri from Columbia University, New York City and Professor Yu Ding from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. It focuses on museums, non-profit spaces, art market and public arts, exploring into the substantial differences in history, culture and values of the two countries. It also presents their common concerns of the rapid changes in domestic and international markets of Chinese contemporary art, escalation of auction houses, social relevance of public arts and the future of art education and popularization, among others.
Authors hope that the book can help art practitioners gain a deeper understanding of cultural differences, practical commonalities, present challenges and future needs.
Elites make business list
"Driving Force of China", an appraisal initiated by China Business Journal revealed 10 "Think Elites" voted by netizens and an appraisal committee comprised of eminent experts at economy and sociology. They are leaders from different walks of life, who have witnessed and represented the achievement of China's 30 years' practice of reform and open-up policy in their own arenas.
Those enlisted include Ji Baocheng, principal of Renmin University of China who has been dedicated to the renaissance of reading Chinese classic works; Tang Shizeng, famous war correspondent of Xinhua News Agency who has published several books about his experience during the Gulf War and extensive tours around the world; Zhang Lixian, publisher of Duku Magazine who devotes to the return of book reading, among others.
Kenya pushing its tourism appeal
The Kenya Travel Board (KTB) is looking to boost the country's tourism industry with a launches in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Recently, Kenya has suffered from a countrywide rioting caused by the general election at the end of last year.
KTB officials said that statistics indicate a significant rise in visitors from China. The number of Chinese tourists has risen 26.2 percent compared with that of 2006.
KTB has intensified their promotion in the Chinese market in cooperation with Chinese media and travel agencies.
China Daily-Xinhua
(China Daily 04/23/2008 page18)
