Assessing the fabric of a 'new Silk Road'

Mao Minhui, director of Shaanxi Jingyang Fuzhuan Tea Development Center, hadn't expected his 50-square-meter exhibition stand to attract so much interest from overseas visitors. He was also surprised to find that businesspeople from Central Asian countries appeared to be falling over themselves to talk to him at the Silk Road International Expo in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province.

Connectivity is crucial

First person | Chutintorn Gongsakdi

The view from Hanoi

First person | Sok Siphana

Xinjiang to hit button for textile jobs boost

Tajigul Arken was taking three new recruits on a tour of a textile factory on the outskirts of Aksu, a city in the south of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Vital lifeline

The dim light emitted by a coal- and cow-dung-fueled oven helped to warm the small apartment where Tsering Degyi and her husband Gunga were cooking potatoes.

Miserable nights and enthralling days in Amdo

After spending just one night in Amdo county, the crushing headaches and breathlessness caused by the lack of oxygen will be imprinted in my memory until the day I die. The pains in my head and bones made me understand the courage required by the highway maintenance workers as they battle to withstand the harsh environment. We city dwellers could learn a lot from these road crews, who maintain a cheerful disposition, even in adversity.

The road less traveled

A high life, but not a pleasant one

Like Tsering Degyi, many of the maintenance workers on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway have left their children in the care of their grandparents. However, the situation is much better than it once was.

Climate change poses dangers

Technicians and researchers have long struggled to combat the negative effects of climate change on the permafrost soil that forms the bed of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, according to the highway authorities in the Tibet autonomous region.

The emotional ties that bind forever

Liu Xiutong is a frequent visitor to the Museum of the Provisional Government of Korea in Chongqing, despite the 60-minute journey each way. He is drawn to the museum by family ties

Anti-China protests take toll on border trade

It was not even the end of May, but the fierce early-summer sun and high humidity made Friendship Pass in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region almost unbearably hot.

A shot in the arm for vaccination plan

At the ripe old age of 40, Wu Jiang has spent the last two weeks attempting to get to grips with WeChat, a popular instant-messaging application in China. As the director of the Immunization Department at the Beijing Center of Disease Control, Wu is keen to learn how his team can use new media to promote awareness of the national immunization program.