Life

Shielding the silver screen

China's biggest ever box-office hit was not a domestic film. In 1998, Titanic set a box-office sales record of 320 million yuan ($41 million) in China, which no other film has broken.

The same old story

A common thread runs through the major Chinese period-costume blockbusters: They all look the same.

Who's in

Stephen Chow's company loses lawsuit against actress

Box-office bullies

Before the premiere of the Curse of the Golden Flower last year, the film's producer signed an exclusive contract with a digital cinema chain to ensure Zhang Yimou's epic would be the only film screened for a month. Producers of other blockbusters sign similar contracts, however the period of exclusive screening usually lasted a week or two.

World-wide high school poll

The poll was carried out among 7,304 high school students from 156 middle schools in China, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Life

Who's in: Jolie enters debate on Madonna's adoption

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie (pictured) has said she was shocked by attacks on Madonna over her adoption of a Malawian boy, but said she would only take a child from a country where the rules on adoption are clearly defined.

Get off my back

With only one child in most families in China, parents do their utmost to create a happy life for him or her. However, there are still a lot of high school students who are not happy when staying with their parents, a recent poll among four countries has found.

Who's in: Pop band wins pirated CD case

With CD piracy running rampant in China, it is really encouraging to see famous Chinese pop band Yu Quan win a case involving the pirating of their album.

Who's in: Cheeky Japanese strip show sparks online furore

An impromptu striptease by Janet Jackson at the 2005 Superbowl trigged an angry reaction from China's netizens and so would have the recent performance of one of Japan's top celebrities.

Life