Across america

Welcome aboard - San Diego

US Navy Rear Admiral James Bynum (left) welcomes Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Rear Admiral Huang Xinjian on Tuesday in San Diego, where three PLA ships led by Huang and Rear Admiral Wu Haihua arrived for a four-day visit. Hezi Jiang / China Daily

Green energy - new york

Recipients of the 2016 EPA Energy Star CHP Award, which recognizes integrated energy systems that use natural gas and heat waste to generate useful energy take a photo in New York on Wednesday. From left: Sunny Wang, general manager of Broad USA, which produces CHP air-conditioning; Claudia Meer, managing director of energy finance at the Clark Financial Services Group, which owns and operates the CHP system; Don Alik, facilities director at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, which uses the CHP system; Neeharika Naik-Dhungel, program manager at the US Environmental Protection Agency. Amy He / China Daily

Jade sage - houston

US Congressman Al Green speaks at the unveiling of a jade sculpture of Confucius at the opening ceremony of Confucian Culture Center Houston on Dec 3. The center is in the process of raising funds in both China and US to build a Houston Confucian Temple in Chinatown. May Zhou / China Daily

Happy landing - Las Vegas

The crew of the inaugural flight of Hainan Airlines service between Beijing and Las Vegas strikes a pose after arriving on Dec 2 at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The new service marks the first direct flight between Las Vegas and the Chinese mainland and the airline's 10th destination in North America. Lia Zhu / China Daily

State of the non-states - washington

From left: Fang-Yu Chen, visiting research associate at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies of George Washington University; Carolyn Hsu, associate professor of sociology at Colgate University; Rachel Stern, nonresident fellow of the John L. China Center of the Brookings Institution; and Jamie Horsley, visiting fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center, discuss the state of non-state actors today in NGOs in China in a seminar on Tuesday at the Brookings. Chen Weihua / China Daily

Happy 60th - New York

Liu Hao (left), deputy managing director of marketing and sales at China Eastern Airlines, gives remarks at the 60th anniversary celebration of China Eastern Airlines in New York on Thursday. Amy He / China Daily

Panda-monium - Gaithersburg, MD

Singers from Lihui Children's Chorus, a group made up of Chinese-American children in the greater Washington area, perform the song Panda Mimi at a gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of the International Fund for China's Environment in Gaithersburg, Maryland on Dec 3. The organization, headquartered in Washington with branch offices in five Chinese cities, is dedicated to helping China solve its environmental problems. Charlene Cai / China Daily

Tragedy's aftermath - Oakland CA

Flowers are placed in front of the warehouse that burned down last Friday leading to at least 36 deaths in Oakland, CA. At the time of the fire, the warehouse turned artist collective was already under city investigation for fire code violations. The cause of fire remains unclear. Congjiang Wang / For China Daily

(China Daily USA 12/09/2016 page13)