Rebel with a cause

With Zhang Yimou and his childhood friend Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang forms the core of the Fifth Generation of directors that electrified the Chinese film industry in the 1980s. Tian's rural historical dramas like The Horse Thief (Dao Ma Zei) and Springtime in a Small Town (Xiaocheng Zhi Chun) have won over audiences all over the globe.

Chinese film gets a boost from Britain

London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) was among the first to champion the new wave of Chinese cinema during the 1980s, promoting Yellow Earth and The Horse Thief. Other films to be shown in the season this year are The Old Barber, A Battle of Wits, The Forest Ranger, Three City Hotshots, Secret Trip and A Great Master Recaptured.

Hip-hop dancers kick out the jams

Mourad Merzouki was sent to a circus school in Lyon when he was 7, because his father wanted him to learn some discipline. Little did he know that one day his son would be at the forefront of the international hip-hop dance scene.

DPRK opera still blooming

Most Chinese people over 50 know the movie The Flower Girl of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. When it was first shown in China in 1972, the story of the poor girl who sells flowers and eventually joins a struggle for revolution touched audiences and its theme song became popular throughout the country.

Life Expat

Iwaki's shear magic

Iwaki Tatsuko combines an eye for antique furniture with a penchant for chic and simplicity. A delicate tea table invites one not just to partake of a cup of coffee and a slice of freshly-baked cheesecake, but also draws attention to the engraved designs of flowers under the glass tabletop.

Your say

'Cinema syntax'

Giving a hoot about land of the brave

Scots around the world are recovering from last week's Tartan Day celebrations in which thousands of proud expats remembered their roots and let go a few hoots.

Special Report

Wenchang liftoff on course

Wenchang city is reaching for the stars with its tourism development plan, the centerpiece of which is an outer space theme park built around a satellite launch pad to open in 2010.

Teach the children well

When it comes to education, Wenchang city of Hainan province is known to be in a class of its own. This is not least reflected in its very name: When the city was established in AD 627 - the characters "Wenchang" literally mean "cultural prosperity" - or in its fostering of 205 generals in the first part of the 20th century, second only to Huang'an in Hubei province, throughout China.

Big plans on holiday haven's horizons

Wanning is a latecomer to Hainan's tourism race. But the city's Deputy Party Secretary Fu Lidong says its government doesn't plan to play catch-up with established tourism hotspots; it instead wants to play leapfrog.