IN BRIEF (Page 20)

Breaking musical boundaries

When American composer-pianist Joel Hoffman first encountered Chinese music decades ago, he found it interesting, exotic yet forbidding like a closed door. But his curiosity and need to understand has always been much stronger than the difficulty of translation.

Meet the man who helped turn Matou Mountain green

Once barren with over 70 percent of its land an arid desert, Youyu county of Shanxi province has been turned into a thriving oasis and the subject of oil paintings, thanks to seven decades of strenuous human effort.

Fur sheds its staid image

A fashion show on Oct 23 sought to revamp the image of fur with modern styles and covetable looks.

Public image of fur farms is a little fuzzy

Animals walk down the runway draped in human body parts, such as ears, hands and hair, wearing them like clothes; more human bodies hang on a wooden stand backstage, while people crouch in cages, half dead and hopeless.

Inspiration flows in Myanmar

As a 10-day art and culture exchange visit to Myanmar drew to a close, participating artists presented brilliant watercolor works inspired by the Buddhist country.

What they say

Kuku Chai Bukuk Director of China Artists Association and representative of the artists group

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.