The unlikely Olympian

Vanessa-Mae finished in last place in the women's giant slalom at the Sochi Games, but the world renowned violinist is attracting plenty of attention thanks to her dramatic career change. Lei Lei talked to her in Sochi during the Winter Olympic Games.

Cambodia is ready for its close-up

A Chinese film crew was in Cambo-dia earlier this month to begin filming the drama series Love Is Brave. The series is designed to help promote the country's tourism destinations and culture to the Chinese people.

What's new

Artists in documentary

Path of his own pen

A writer of Yan Lianke's stature can write what he wants, and he doesn't worry much if the truth hurts his readers - or his book sales, he tells Mei Jia.

Yan's works

Lenin's Kisses (2003)

Oral traditions now accessible with a click

A key value of passing down a culture by word of mouth is that it takes on so many different forms in the process, reflecting changes in people's mentality and social reality.

Charity Special: Students use DIY ingenuity to battle against AIDS

Though only a high school student from Western Academy of Beijing, Li Jianing is making headlines by using the power of entrepreneurship to raise money for HIV-positive children.

Wearable culture

When Chinese actor Liao Fan, winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actor in the film Black Coal, Thin Ice, walked the red carpet at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival on Feb 15, fashionistas praised his taste: He chose a formal black suit with a leather collar and matched it with a small brooch of two delicate peonies in white and purple.

Feel-good brand selling smiles

The Smiley Company, the owner of the smiling face image, is on the lookout to cooperate with Chinese designers and artists.

IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Moderation trumps prejudice

Amid the shock and anger arising from the Kunming terrorist attack comes a new voice of rationality, a grassroots effort to separate the terrorists from the masses who reside in Xinjiang.

Researchers find birds of a unique feather

A small, perching bird whose habitat is mainly in China, surprisingly has a newly conspicuous place in the tree of life of birds. Researchers from five countries, including China, have discovered that the spotted wren-babbler (Spelaeornis formosus) belongs to a unique family of birds containing just one species.