When sci-fi is child's play

Two of China's top science-fiction writers Liu Cixin and Han Song sat down with poet Bei Dao and Peking University professor and cultural critic Dai Jinhua for a discussion at the recent launch in Beijing of a collection of short stories, entitled Science Fiction for Children. It is the 11th book in the Chinese series Books for Children.

IN BRIEF (Page 20)

Road to progress

Every time director Miao Yue drove on the Yaxi Expressway, a 240 kilometer road snaking through mountains in Southwest China's Sichuan province, she marveled at the spectacular views, which gave her the feeling of riding into the clouds.

Sky's the limit for popular landscape documentary

Apart from the occasional trip by an airplane, few people get the chance to admire China's magnificent landscapes with a bird's-eye view.

Helping folk revival

Wearing a simple, yet elegant, linen dress inspired by hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing), national first-level performer Lei Jia sings with the accompaniment of a small ensemble, telling the audience stories of the past.

Orchestra growth leads to Suzhou competition

American composer Christopher LaRosa got curious about this year's Jinji Lake International Composition Competition, launched online by the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra in April, after reading about it.

Dance drama on Nanjing Massacre spotlights cruelty, pain

Deep in Memory, the latest dance drama production by director and choreographer Tong Ruirui, will be staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Saturday and Sunday.

Homecoming scenes

It is a daily routine for 82-year-old Hou Yujin from the Zhuang ethnic group to show tourists around her traditional home, pointing out the exquisite layout and details.

Specialized museums walk a fine line

The website of the Oxford English Dictionary describes an "ecomuseum" as an interdisciplinary museum that presents "the history and heritage of a particular community or region in the context of its society, culture and natural environment".

Modern art goes high-tech

Since opening in June, Tokyo-based art collective team-Lab's immersive shows - Borderless at Tokyo's Mori building and TeamLab Planets at a temporarily-built art space just a 10-minute drive from the Mori building - have attracted about 1.7 million visitors from across the world.

Famous Jiangnan landscapes to go under the hammer in Beijing

In many people's minds, there exist two ways to discover picturesque Jiangnan, on the southern bank of Yangtze River. One is to view the landscape in real life and the other is to view the paintings of the late modern master Wu Guanzhong.

A small city's big history

A legendary Chinese ruler made Linfen his capital and a cradle of Chinese civilization over 4,000 years ago. But today, it's a small city and largely undiscovered travel destination in northern China's Shanxi province that's worth exploring for its historical legacy.