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A young monk contemplates a wall of the gilded images of Buddha in the main hall of the Longquan Temple in Beijing's Haidian district. Cui meng / China Daily
Buddhism in China is about 2,000 years old. It has had a roller-coaster history with its popularity reaching a peak during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). It was during this period that Xuan Zang, its most ardent advocate and arguably China's most famous monk, traveled overland to India in search of original Buddhist scriptures. His journey took 17 years, and it became the stuff of legends, including the inspiration for Wu Cheng'en's novel Journey to the West, an allegory spiced up with the fictional disciples Monkey, Piggy and Sharky, a sort of China's equivalent to John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. As New China hurtled into socialism, religion took a backseat as revolutionary fervor became the faith of the day. China was changing and it had other priorities. Fast-forward again to the 2010s, and today's Buddhist leaders are looking at a revival. As life gets more comfortable, and urban pressures increase, the resulting paradox has stirred up spiritual needs. But 14 centuries after Buddhism set root in China, it is a very different scenario. There are now new platforms from which to evangelize and preach. While the monks of yore had to trudge far to spread Buddhist teachings, the modern missionaries are able to communicate with a click of the mouse. There are online sermons, and many religious leaders make use of that very useful networking tool - the microblogs. Sometimes, they even blog in many languages.
Nation
SALT LAKE CITY - The top official from one of China's most affluent provinces asked the United States to pull down trade barriers against Chinese high-tech companies during the first forum between US governors and Chinese provincial leaders.
Metro Beijing
It's not easy becoming a Buddhist monk. To gain admission into the Lingyin Monastery at Hangzhou's scenic West Lake, a would-be monk needs to complete four years of seminary studies. Graduation still does not guarantee him a place. He would have to go through a rigorous selection process that includes having a glowing testimonial from the seminary, which will then qualify him for a preliminary interview with senior monks.
Comment
It is a rainy night in Portland, and Susan Conley has just tucked into bed her two boys, Thorne, age 10 and Aidan, age 8. She has not quite recovered from the residual jet lag of two weeks in Asia on a book tour promoting her memoir, The Foremost Good Fortune. And I am making her think, forcing her to dig deep and dissect some of the book's themes that express the trials and tribulations of an expat mom living in China with cancer.
World
Artist Mia Kirincic draws her inspiration from the modern designs associated with the feminine form. She cites the glamour of Hollywood's leading ladies as a good example of this fashion statement. And now she has a plan.
Business
The just-concluded Tour de Qinghai Lake saw 217 riders on 22 teams compete on the "roof of the world" - the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, where some stretches of the race reached an altitude of 3,800 meters.
Motoring
FRANKFURT, Germany - Japan takes on the United States in the women's World Cup final on Sunday, bidding to finish a fairytale by lifting the trophy just four months after an earthquake devastated its country.
Life
Two different time scales collided in this place.
Charity
WASHINGTON - The number of dollar bills rolling off the great United States government presses here and in Fort Worth, Texas, fell to a modern low in the last fiscal year. Production of $5 bills also dropped to the lowest level in 30 years. For the first time in that period, the Treasury Department did not print any $10 bills.
Sports
For Brian Eno the biggest surprise in life isn't that, at age 63, he continues to be one of the world's most sought-after record producers, making platinum sellers with the likes of U2 and Coldplay.
Science and Technology
Like most cyclists, Robert Brown at first didn't see any need to switch from the traditional saddle on the mountain bike he'd been riding full time for five years on patrols for the Seattle Police Department. When researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and Safety offered new noseless saddles intended to prevent erectile dysfunction, he quickly told his supervisor, "No problems here!"
Sunday Food
How do you capture the palate of a nation of 1.3 billion, especially if you're something of an outsider? Tiffany Tan finds out how Yonghe King has risen to the challenge.
Sunday Style
I first met Andre Fu nine years ago when he was still based in London. He was already hailed as a talent to watch by Wallpaper after bursting upon the Asian design scene with Zen in Shanghai's Xintiandi. At the time, he was a fresh young face who had formed a company with Stephane Orsolini after they met while working for John Pawson in London. He related a story about how his inspiration for a series of backlit bronze glass screens came from his grandmother being fitted for dresses in front of a wrap-around mirror. Many years later, in his first hotel and Swire Properties' flagship property The Upper House, echoes of those screens can be seen behind the reception at its signature restaurant, Cafe Gray Deluxe.
Sunday Kaleidoscope
If working up a sweat while breezing past along Hong Kong's green slopes is your idea of a fun time, then Circuit 25 (C25) may be your ideal holiday. Davide Butson-Fiori, founder and head trainer of this combination of sightseeing, boot camp and interval training, thinks it's a great way to meet new people while doing something good for your body.
Sunday Travel
John Clark takes a break in Qingdao and delights in the city's many attractions even if he does fall flat on his face at the beer museum.