Reflect - Chinadaily.com.cn

Reflect

So far and yet so near

[2014-07-11 07:01]

I arrived in Beijing a mere three weeks ago; a native Iowan of the United States far from the land-locked Midwestern state I've called home. It wasn't too long after I stepped off the plane that I plunged face-first into this strange land filled with steamed buns, bare baby bums and flocks of umbrella-toting tourists. I was eager to embrace all the differences life back home never gave me and willingly flung myself - armed with chopsticks and a Chinese dictionary phone app - into chaotic Beijing.

Hot times

[2014-07-11 07:01]

Summer is hot, but it is also one of the best seasons to have fun in the sun. The sweltering summer days usually hit China in the month of July. As July 7 - called xiaoshu in the Chinese lunar calendar, which literally means "a little hot" - has just passed, every Chinese knows that the worst heat waves are about to hit.

Leading lady a true legend

[2014-07-10 07:17]

When Lisa Lu walks into a room, you instantly realize why some say youth is overrated. Lu, born in 1927, commands attention without a single word or dramatic gesture. Her presence alone inspires awe and admiration, even from people who do not know who she is.

Movement pro helps actors find their 'inner ape'

[2014-07-10 07:17]

Terry Notary is Hollywood's human shape-shifter. In a blink, he can become an elf, an ape or almost any other moving creature.

Green dreams

[2014-07-10 07:17]

In a scene in Ecopolis - a documentary about Chinese eco-cities - professor Eero Paloheimo is at his home in Finland, sitting in a room of light wood and simple furnishings. "We appreciate wrong things without a good reason," he says. "We don't appreciate useful and necessary things. Instead we appreciate the useless and unnecessary. Because it's luxury."

Linklater's Boyhood is the time of your life

[2014-07-10 07:17]

Richard Linklater's Boyhood, shot over 12 years, has already been hailed as a landmark without parallel in movie history. It took a rare feat of commitment from Linklater and his actors, including star Ellar Coltrane, who was cast as a 6-year-old and wrapped as a 19-year-old.

What's new

[2014-07-10 07:17]

Han Han's film debut

Right time, right place

[2014-07-10 07:17]

If anyone knows the importance of timing, it is Federico Marchetti. The Italian entrepreneur established his online retail business in March 2000 after securing 1.5 million euros ($2 million) from a venture capitalist. Soon after that, the dot-com bubble burst.

Shanghai Tang's certain something

[2014-07-10 07:17]

Sitting in the spacious presidential suite of the Langham Xintiandi Hotel in downtown Shanghai, Raphael le Masne de Chermont, executive chairman of the luxury lifestyle brand Shanghai Tang, talks confidently and eloquently about his plans for the brand, which is known for its interpretation of Chinese culture and craftsmanship.