Big library idea comes from small children

Construction of the world's first panda-themed library is expected to start early next year at a primary school in Chengdu, Sichuan province, with the facility expected to open about six months later.

Cable across gorge gives village a new lifeline

CHENGDU - Resting in a level spot between precipitous cliffs, and hundreds of meters above the roaring Dadu River in Sichuan province, Gulu village has existed in isolation and poverty for hundreds of years.

Jaywalkers in Jinan get high-tech slap in face

It is common in China to see a crowd of pedestrians or nonmotorized vehicles crossing a street even when the light is red. Now the authorities will know who they are.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

PLA Air Force making exercises more realistic

The People's Liberation Army Air Force is strengthening the intensity and difficulty of its combat exercises to improve pilot capabilities.

Survey: Young, alone, no house and not much sex

While most watchers of Chinese society are focusing their attention on the aging population, some have turned their eyes in another direction, to an emerging group in big cities - younger men and women who live alone. Reports say there are 50 million of them. If they were a province, it would be the 11th-most populated.

College grads choose grassroots jobs to 'accomplish something big'

Many hours of hiking over rugged hills to visit families living in poverty has been Liu Hai's routine since graduating from college and becoming a junior officer in a small county in Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

New Party bureau to focus on Xinjiang

A central Party department has set up a new bureau to handle work related to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, as well as to coordinate the region and other parts of China and deal with key issues, the department said on Thursday.

Villagers' health in hands of dedicated medic

Letang, a poverty-stricken mountain village that sits beside the Yellow River in Shanxi province's Daning county, is home to about 500 farmers. As a local saying goes, "Letang is the last place in the world a woman should look for a husband."

Families relocated for telescope project see horizons expanded

Standing beneath the world's largest radio telescope, Yang Tianjue can still make out the site of his old house, which was demolished 10 years ago to make way for the telescope.

Around China

Fujian

Nation to begin building two new ships for 2019

China will soon begin building its first marine resources survey ship and its first mother ship for manned submersibles, according to the State Oceanic Administration.