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.

IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Treasure trove

Whether it is wine or the weather, one never learns to appreciate how good things are if there is no basis for comparison. For Paris-based Chaumet, which first catapulted to fame as Napoleon's jeweler, excellence lies in the details.

Smart about health, and ready to wear

Two functional fashion items have been launched in China recently, with a focus on family.

When the crowd bays for blood

Renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou has found himself in deep water. Not only has he been fined 7.48 million yuan ($1.24 million) for violating the family-planning policy, but many Chinese want even harsher punishment. The tidal wave of malignancy displayed online is nothing short of unsettling. It's like a virtual lynching.

Her has a useful message about trust

Does Spike Jonze's new movie, Her, a tale of a man who falls head over heels for his computer operating system, pander to US mistrust of China? Or does it merely use Shanghai as a stand-in for the Los Angeles of the near future to make an important point about how people interact in a high-tech society?

Steak in the heart

Eating at fine dining restaurants is sometimes not fine, but overwhelming, with difficulties over table manners, dress codes or the way to pronounce those peculiar French and Italian names on the menu.

Elegant duck brings high note to Haidian

At a time when many high-end eateries in Beijing face declining business, the recent opening of Xihe Tung Lok shows the owners' confidence in themselves.

Cafe Deco remains a favorite, despite the naysayers

Authentic cuisine is a hot topic lately, and with good reason. Foodies don't want "Chinese versions" of pizza and pasta when the real thing made by Italian chefs is so readily available.

A gracious look at history

'Pick any one of our suites and flip it upside down, and you'd find exactly 348 amenities and a story behind each one," says ZhuWenbo, general manger of Yihe Mansions, Nanjing.

Dine well, eat healthy and feel good at the Westin

Work hard, play hard used to be the mantra of city professionals. Now, sister hotels the Westin Guangzhou and the Westin Pazhou in Guangzhou want you to remember six new elements of well-being - feel well, sleep well, eat well, move well, work well and play well.