As China marks its third Poverty Alleviation Day on Oct 17, the success of Tongren, a city in the southwestern province of Guizhou, in promoting preschool education in rural areas is being hailed as a possible blueprint for the eradication of poverty and a means of preventing its reemergence.
When Xu Yan, from the Songtao Miao autonomous county in Tongren, a city in Guizhou province, was in junior high school, she would avoid conversations with her classmates if the topic turned to kindergartens. "I was afraid that they would laugh and say my hometown must be terrible because it didn't even have a kindergarten," she said.
Many of the 2,005 mountain village kindergartens in Tongren city, Guizhou province, are located in remote areas, which means it's difficult to recruit and hold onto qualified teachers for 2,000 yuan ($297) a month. In response, the local government has devised an incentive mechanism to attract talent and ensure quality preschool teaching.
When Dutch national Maarten Dickinson first laid eyes upon Langshi village, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, he instantly fell in love with its Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) cottages and dramatic karst landscape.
A university in Guangdong province requires first - and second-year students to run twice a week, and it recently installed electronic devices to check.
Pollution is a scourge in China, the debilitating consequences of unbridled industrial growth. But how can China halt and reverse such devastation without undermining economic growth? For China to achieve its goal of becoming a "moderately prosperous society," this question must be answered.
Editor's Note: Leading Chinese experts on BRICS studies and international affairs attended a Beijing-based seminar hosted by the Pangoal Institution on Wednesday, where they exchanged views ahead of the eighth BRICS Summit to be held in Goa, India, on Saturday and Sunday. The following are excerpts of their comments:
After more than 30 years of opening-up and embracing new technology, China has been transformed into the world's second-largest economy. At the same time its culture has also experienced a remarkable transformation.
As a torrential downpour unloaded on a Beijing soccer field on a summer day, a group of boys from the Uygur ethnic group played on. Their coach, Parhat Mamtemin, called in vain for them to come in from the rain. "They take no notice," he said, with a sigh.
There is no doubt that the recently released policies have led to a rise in the number of people participating in soccer, in terms of both amateur players and related businesses. Older players in the field are also discovering new ways to break through. These factors have resulted in improved development of sports generally and may help the country's soccer players perform better at the professional level.
On Saturday, China's men's under-19 national soccer team will begin its campaign in the Asian Football Confederation's U-19 Championship, fighting for a place in next year's FIFA U-20 World Cup.
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Raymond Zhou
Op Rana
Berlin Fang
Zhu Yuan
Huang Xiangyang
Chen Weihua
