What's new

Boost for wildlife conservation

International conservation organization, WildAid, and Chinese Internet company, Tencent, have signed a strategic partnership agreement to promote wildlife conservation and environmental protection.

WildAid and Tencent will jointly create a new Chinese website (wildaid.qq.com) to provide information on wildlife and conservation and build a platform for attracting volunteers and for fund-raising initiatives that will help support wildlife conservation.

To start with, a 1-million-yuan donation from Tencent Foundation to the China Environmental Protection Foundation will be set aside as a special fund for restoring and rebuilding the Sichuan Wolong Giant Panda Base, which was badly affected by the May 12 earthquake.

TV series on quake in the making

More than 100 actors, 16 scriptwriters and six directors are working on a TV series on the earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province on May 12. The Seven Days that Shook the World (Zhenhan Shijie De Qiri) takes its title from the traditional Chinese custom of mourning the dead on the seventh day of their death.

Some of the crew are already in Sichuan while the rest will leave for the region on Thursday. Some of the playwrights are army writers who have just returned from the ruined towns. There is no complete storyline as yet, but many actors have volunteered their time and talent for free.

The crew will live in tents during the 20-day shooting, to avoid coming in the way of the locals and rescuers. The proceeds from the telecast of the series will go to the quake victims. It will be shown on CCTV and provincial channels before the 29th Olympic Games that opens on August 8 this year.

Chinese students stage Greek play

As part of the "Greek Cultural Year in Beijing", Attis Theater from Greece presented Ajax by Sophocles on Friday at the Experimental Theater of the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.

The play was directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos, who has also been working with students of the academy on another Greek play, Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, which is being staged at the North Theater of the Central Academy of Drama till Friday.

"Greek Theater has its tradition, while Chinese actors have theirs. It's not easy to combine the two, but we managed to do it after a workshop of 40 days," Terzopoulos says.

These two plays are part of the series of events titled "Theater Attis in Beijing-Creating Bridges" held at the academy, which also includes a photo exhibition, Attis Theater and the Greek Tragedy, and a symposium on the significance of Greek drama in the contemporary world and its relation to Eastern theater and Peking Opera.

Anger at movie star's remarks

Hong Kong director Peter Chan says that Chinese people do not need Sharon Stone's apology for her recent remarks, in which she mentioned karma, on the Sichuan earthquake.

"She is not that important," he is quoted as saying. "What we should think about now is how to help those suffering from the disaster."

Thousands of Internet users expressed anger at the movie star's remarks. Ng See-Yuen, the founder of one of China's biggest urban cinema chains, said his company would not be screening any of Sharon Stone's films in the future.

Mainland director Li Yang endorsed the boycott of Stone's films in China's theaters, even though the star has reportedly apologized.

"Everyone should be responsible for what he or she says and does," Li said. "You don't just say something very offensive and pretend nothing happened. She has crossed the line of respect which everyone should toe."

China Daily

(China Daily 06/03/2008 page18)