Changing stages

Er'renzhuan, an improvised show performed by two people who sing, dance and interact with the audience, is finding a new generation of fans. Deng Zhangyu and Liu Mingtai join the crowd.

Next stop, outer space

Backpacker Zhao Xingde never imagined that the last stop on his world trip would be outer space.

Party with care

The Spring Festival is a season of fun for all Chinese, but too much eating and drinking can pose many risks, medical experts tell Liu Zhihua.

Stay healthy on holiday

Holidays are a time for relaxation and enjoyment, and a balanced lifestyle will help avoid overexertion during the Spring Festival, experts say.

IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Healing touch

For many parents, collecting your children after school is an everyday chore. For Dr Diarra Boubacar, it was recently a rare treat.

Teaching English in China a good Plan B

If you asked Cody Batchelor, an English teacher in China, a year ago what he planned to do after graduating from college, he would have said his first choice was law school.

Mounting a musical peak

On the day when he had his biggest sense of accomplishment, Zhang Yong was heavily in debt.

One man's lost-and-found service

Qiu Shenghua, 66, is carefully counting his money to purchase stamps at a post office in Xinyang, Henan province.

What's new

Sino-French relations reach golden year

Panda revelation

At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, home to 118 captive pandas, many visitors get a sense that China has many pandas. So, they ask, how can we say they are an endangered species?

Looking to the past to understand the future

Contrary to the popular historical narrative that China's exposure to the West in the 1800s hastened a slew of problems for an inward-looking Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), historian Odd Arne Westad argues that the Qing was not only eager to expand outward but benefited immeasurably from Western creativity and knowledge.