Taking the next step

US astronaut Neil Armstrong descended from landing craft Eagle on July 20, 1969, and his next action captivated the world.

Life

When music becomes a religion

Throughout Central Hebei Province in North China, a kind of folk band called Yinyue Hui ("music society") has been playing an important role in the people's lives for centuries. Their music is always an integral part of temple fairs, funerals, and religious ceremonies. Such music, called jizhong shengguanyue or sheng (mouth organ) and guan (pipe) music from central Hebei, was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage last year.

Saving the precious past

Tian Qing is constantly haunted by the rumbling sound of bulldozers. The deputy director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation Center of China fears that so much of his nation's culture is still under threat despite the media attention his campaigning receives.

Life

Rolling Stone

The career of young director Ning Hao, 30, can be divided into "pre-Stone Age" and "post-Stone Age", with his black humor picture Crazy Stone (Fengkuang De Shitou) in 2006 as a boundary. The 4-million-yuan ($512,000) movie collected 20 million yuan ($2.56 million) at the national box office, and a rare phenomenon in Chinese cinema.

Ning's gone crazy... again

Ning Hao's fourth movie Crazy Racing Car will start filming in July, said Warner China Film HG Corporation, the distributor of Ning's last film, Crazy Stone, (Fengkuang De Shitou) which won both box office and public praise in 2006.

What's new

Silk Road doco maker in a spin

African Development Bank Annual Meetings

Reforms top bank's agenda

SHANGHAI: The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to implement further reforms to improve efficiency, bank officials pledged before wrapping up a two-day gathering here yesterday.

Madagascar looks to China for inspiration, support

SHANGHAI: Madagascar aims to enhance its capacity for self-development through win-win cooperation with China and the rest of the world.

Poverty demands the world's attention

SHANGHAI: Renowned United States economist Jeffrey Sachs said poverty in Africa is a tough but surmountable challenge in need of more international aid.