Spin-doctor prescribes eating, drinking and being happy

When Jean-Michel Dumont first came to Beijing after whooping it up at the Brazilian Carnival in Rio de Janeiro in 1986, the capital city seemed "gray and dull". Little did he know that this would be where he would spend the next 21 years - and perhaps the rest of - his life. "I have to admit, my first impression wasn't the best one," the 46-year-old Parisian said. "But within two months, it was my favorite city."

Global village

SHANGHAI

Life Travel

Getting there

Zhangjiajie City has its own small airport. There are direct scheduled flights from Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong, though these are not all daily. The city also has a railway station with direct links to Hunan's capital, Changsha, and the Hubei city of Yichang, close to the Three Gorges Dam.

Pilgrims trek path to temple Enlightenment

BODHGAYA, India: In hardly any other place in India do economic poverty and spiritual wealth go hand-in-hand than in the northeastern state of Bihar.

Nature's skyscrapers

World's highest railroad, fastest train, biggest dam, tallest building. The Middle Kingdom's stellar list of engineering achievements has earned it many doting admirers, though perhaps Mother Nature is not foremost among them. Not only has China's remarkable industrialization drive left scars on her landscapes. It's also pilfered her best designs.

Life Health

A bitter pill to swallow

HAMBURG: Medical experts are grappling with the looming problem of how to effectively help a largely underestimated number of people addicted to prescription medicine.

Finding the salts of life

China made strides towards becoming a healthier nation last Tuesday, when the George Institute for International Health officially opened its Beijing branch. The opening is a significant landmark in the development of research and capacity building for tackling China's health priorities. And it provides new hope for the treatment of diseases such as hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes and injury.

IN BRIEF (Page 19)

Over exposure

BERLIN: Almost everyone has come into contact with antibiotics whether in tablet, syrup or ointment form. Antibiotics have been used to fight bacterial infections for more than 70 years. Serious diseases, such as tuberculosis or cholera, which 100 years ago were fatal for humans, no longer pose the threat they once did. But in many cases patients fail to use antibiotics properly.

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