Global Village

The most valued expats

Life Travel

Mind goggling

Sixty colorful drinks cover the surface of our table, 15 cups a line. They are not refreshing juice of tropical fruits, but a collection of 15 different shooters with such bizarre names as "Boracay B-52", "Screaming Green Lizards", "Test Tube Baby" and "Screaming Orgasm". These are what we are expected to gulp down?

Getting there

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has regular service between Manila and Beijing, five times a week. The flight takes about four hours and the round-trip ticket is 4,910 yuan ($646).

Finding a city's charms amid the frenzy

Many travelers have considered Manila a gateway to explore the Philippines' numerous tropical islands rather than a real tour destination, as most of the country's island destinations can only be reached by air from the country's capital.

Life Health

Baby Talk

After a busy day at her Beijing clothes store, Liu Yanche comes home, sits in a comfortable chair and listens to the sweet sounds of a Mozart concerto. She then begins to talk to herself out loud, or so it appears. The 28-year-old voices her views about the day, about life and her hopes for the future. But she is not alone.

Old wisdom that speaks volumes

Many of the young expectant mothers who practice taijiao believe the rigorous programs of stimulation currently in fashion are a 20th century Western invention.

Have fidgety, restless legs in bed? It's all in your genes

HAMBURG: Millions of people can't sleep at night because their legs tingle and itch in bed, forcing them to get up and walk around until they are utterly exhausted.

IN BRIEF (Page 19)

Wooing them by himself

Alexi Tan is known as the apprentice of world-acclaimed action director John Woo, but Tan is quick to defend the originality of his new film, a Shanghai gangster flick Blood Brothers (Tiantang Kou). "This is not a remake of John Woo's Bullet in the Head (Diexue Jietou)," says Tan. "Woo's work is only one of my inspirations."

Set to sing songs that say so much

An international folk song festival will be held from August 24 to 27 at the foot of a Great Wall section located in Yulin, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Musicians from Russia and the United States will share the stage with Chinese artists, including Wang Xiangrong and Sun Zhikuan, both acclaimed folk singers in northern Shaanxi.