Spicy secrets from the queen of the hot pots

Two things rank highly with visitors among reasons for coming to Chongqing: hot girls and hot pot. And both of these are spicy indeed.

Rags to riches

The thriving economy of Chongqing has provided opportunities for many people to realize their dreams. Three of them share their rags-to-riches stories with China Daily.

A tale of two cities

Every time Zhang Ying returns to his hometown, his old friends take him on a grand tour of the city in case he gets lost when driving alone. "I come back to Chongqing at least once a year since I left in 1997. But I still find myself to be a stranger to the city; it is changing so fast," says the 28-year-old PhD from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Paying the city due respect

He Zhiya spent his childhood in a large multi-household compound in Chongqing.

Tiptoeing on top of the world

Construction worker Zhang Zhongke might be the best witness to testify to the phenomenal development of Chongqing over the past decade.

Celluloid hills

In Jia Zhangke's Golden Palm-winning Still Life, the leading character arrives in the Three Gorges area in search of his estranged wife. When he locates the place in his address book, not only is she nowhere in sight, but the place itself is gone, torn down to make way for submergence. Adding to the complexity, locals told him it is no longer part of Sichuan Province, but of Chongqing Municipality.

Picture-perfect places

Bird's-eye view

Sino-Italian Special

The splendors of Bel Paese

Italy & the World: Italy is a founding member of the European Union (1957), a NATO member since 1949, and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for two years since January 2007. It is a G8 member and will assume the presidency in 2009. In May 2007, Italy was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2007-2010 term.

Sustainable growth a highlight of cooperation

SHANGHAI: At a pavilion in the campus of Tongji University, one of the best universities in China, a selection of Italy's most prestigious and beautiful cars and motorbikes have been put up on gleaming display.

More Italy in China; more China in Italy

"More Italy in China; more China in Italy" - a catchphrase coined by Italian Ambassador to China Riccardo Sessa, which at the same time synthesizes "the Year of Italy in China" in 2006, predicts the future as the two countries expand mutual cooperation in all areas.

ICE bridges businesses between two nations

Antonino Laspina has just flown back from a week-long business trip to Qingdao, where he and some well-known Italian chefs helped Shangri-La Hotel Qingdao host an Italian Food Promotion Program.