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- China's top legislator back home from four-nation tour
- Japan urged by China's People's Daily to "repent" over Diaoyu Islands
- Top Chinese security official makes surprise visit to Afghanistan
- Somali MP shot dead by gunmen
- DPRK denounces S. Korean navy's warning shots
- China to complete local lawmaker elections by year-end
- Over 400,000 sit China's national judicial exam
- China, ASEAN financial cooperation proposed
- Airstrike kills Taliban commander in E Afghanistan
- Over 173,000 pilgrims arrive in Saudi Arabia
- China to complete local lawmaker elections by year-end
- 17 trapped in two coal mine accidents in NE China
- Quake emergency plan stresses quick response
- 17 trapped in two coal mine accidents in NE China
- Two more detained over fatal expressway accident in NW China
- Crab harvest season
- Smoothing the way to a higher degree
- Spunky companion
- Senior Chinese official visits Afghanistan
- Future elite: Investing in British futures
| China's top legislator back home from four-nation tour Posted: 23 Sep 2012 06:28 AM PDT China's top legislator Wu Bangguo returned to Beijing on Sunday afternoon after official goodwill visits to Iran, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Fiji. | ||||
| Japan urged by China's People's Daily to "repent" over Diaoyu Islands Posted: 23 Sep 2012 12:25 AM PDT The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, has said the Diaoyu Islandsissue concerns China's territorial sovereignty and China will not compromise even with "half steps." | ||||
| Top Chinese security official makes surprise visit to Afghanistan Posted: 22 Sep 2012 06:05 PM PDT Top Chinese security official on Saturday made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, the first one by a Chinese leader in nearly half a century. | ||||
| Posted: 23 Sep 2012 02:48 AM PDT A member of the new Somali parliament was shot dead by unknown gunmen on Saturday. | ||||
| DPRK denounces S. Korean navy's warning shots Posted: 23 Sep 2012 02:48 AM PDT The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has denounced the warning shots fired at its fishing boats by South Korean warships along their disputed western sea border as acts of provocation. | ||||
| China to complete local lawmaker elections by year-end Posted: 23 Sep 2012 02:48 AM PDT China will complete a new round of elections of lawmakers at county- and township-level by the end of 2012, with the last five provincial regions currently proceeding with their elections, a statement said on Sunday. | ||||
| Over 400,000 sit China's national judicial exam Posted: 23 Sep 2012 01:53 AM PDT More than 400,000 people sat China's national judicial examination on Saturday and Sunday, according to the Ministry of Justice. | ||||
| China, ASEAN financial cooperation proposed Posted: 23 Sep 2012 01:53 AM PDT China calls for deepening financial cooperation between China and members of ASEAN. | ||||
| Airstrike kills Taliban commander in E Afghanistan Posted: 23 Sep 2012 01:53 AM PDT Two people including a Taliban commander were killed as aircraft of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) raided a Taliban hideout in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar on Sunday, a local official said. | ||||
| Over 173,000 pilgrims arrive in Saudi Arabia Posted: 23 Sep 2012 01:53 AM PDT More than 173,000 pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia by the end of Friday to perform Hajj, Saudi News Agency reported Sunday. | ||||
| China to complete local lawmaker elections by year-end Posted: 23 Sep 2012 12:26 AM PDT China will complete a new round of elections of lawmakers at county- and township-level by the end of 2012, with the last five provincial regions currently proceeding with their elections, a statement said on Sunday. | ||||
| 17 trapped in two coal mine accidents in NE China Posted: 22 Sep 2012 11:50 PM PDT Eleven people were trapped after a fire broke out in a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. | ||||
| Quake emergency plan stresses quick response Posted: 22 Sep 2012 11:50 PM PDT A recently-revised national earthquake emergency plan has urged quick response by the local government, the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) said Saturday. | ||||
| 17 trapped in two coal mine accidents in NE China Posted: 22 Sep 2012 11:06 PM PDT Eleven people were trapped after a fire broke out in a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. | ||||
| Two more detained over fatal expressway accident in NW China Posted: 22 Sep 2012 11:04 PM PDT A total of ten people have been detained over an expressway bus-tanker collision that killed 36 in northwest China's Shaanxi Province last month, local authorities said Sunday. | ||||
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| Smoothing the way to a higher degree Posted: 22 Sep 2012 10:06 PM PDT Marvin Mao and his group of mentor-consultants are eager to share personal experiences with would-be scholars. Zhao Xu reports. Asked whether his company provides personal statements and recommendation letters for clients hoping to study abroad, Marvin Mao answers with an emphatic "No". "The proliferation of agencies in the past decade to capitalize on this fad for studying abroad has made the industry ethically twisted. We want to do things differently," the founder of the online-based educational consultancy firm SWU (Share With You) says.
Today, SWU boasts about 200 consultants, half of whom are based on the mainland. But distance is not a problem since communicating is all done via the Internet. "We do have an office in Beijing where potential clients can meet up with our senior in-house staff, to go through all the profiles of our consultants. It's a two-way choice, with consultants taking on people they have confidence in helping," Mao says. This arrangement has proved popular among university graduates applying for post-graduate degrees abroad, he adds. Often, for high school students hoping to enter foreign universities, at least one offline meeting with their chosen consultant is needed, due to "their young age and the concern of their parents". Nearly all the consultants work part-time, another fact that separates SWU from its competitors. "If you knew what their day-jobs were, you wouldn't be surprised," Mao says. "One of our consultants works for Morgan Stanley, with an annual salary exceeding $150,000. So, the only way we, and our clients, can afford their services is for them to work part-time." Among SWU's contracted consultants, nearly all have successfully applied and finished top master's degrees or MBA programs abroad, most often in the United States. "They are by no means armchair generals. The fact that they have once been through all this - this often confounding, occasionally maddening process called application - has given them the insight to take a client by the hand and guide him or her all along," Mao says. "We help, not by telling lies, but by experience-sharing and role-modeling." Mao previously studied at the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the top business schools in the US. It was during his studies there in 2009 that he mooted the idea of creating an online educational business. "As a Wharton alumnus, I have access to a vast human resources pool composed mainly of Chinese graduates of top American universities, especially business schools," says Mao, who sits on the board of the Wharton Club Beijing. "This has given us a unique edge and guaranteed the quality of our service." Today, eight of Mao's fellow Wharton graduates are involved with SWU, with seven serving as part-time consultants. SWU claims to have helped nearly a third of all the successful applicants from the Chinese mainland to get into the top 20 MBA programs in the States over the past three years. "About 400 of our clients have entered the top 30 American universities," Mao says. "That number accounts for 80 percent of all our successful MA [master] program applications. And 250 of them have been granted scholarship." But commerce is not the whole point, SWU is also building a culture, according to Liu Fei, SWU's senior manager of business development. "Our online community is open to all and has 700,000 registered users. Postings have reached 50,000," she says. "For anyone who has made the decision to apply, the road is both longer and shorter than he or she might have expected. The most important thing is: You are not alone." Contact the writer at zhaoxu@chinadaily.com.cn. | ||||
| Posted: 22 Sep 2012 10:06 PM PDT Updated: 2012-09-23 09:45 ( China Daily) We have seen pet monkeys in cartoons such as Abu in Disney's Aladdin, Boots in Dora the Explorer and Beppo in Superman. But in real life, most people keep dogs, cats or birds. Zookeeper Wang Yuping is one of the few people to rear a cheeky primate, which she has named Beibei, and she seems to be having a lot of fun with him.
Related StoriesCourts report rise in disputes over pets 2012-09-18 21:43Pet care industry boosted by booming wealth 2012-08-30 07:504m long pet snake goes for a swim 2012-08-10 16:57Increase in pets leads to more rabies 2012-07-09 07:56Owners unlikely to license pet dogs 2012-05-10 08:08Wuhan bans pets, eating on new subway 2012-05-09 08:06 | ||||
| Senior Chinese official visits Afghanistan Posted: 22 Sep 2012 10:06 PM PDT KABUL - Top Chinese security official on Saturday made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, the first one by a Chinese leader in nearly half a century. Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, arrived at Kabul airport late in the afternoon. The four-hour visit had not been announced by Beijing due to security concerns. It followed a two-day trip of Zhou to Singapore, where he met Singaporean leaders on bilateral ties.
Zhou, who is in charge of security and justice affairs, had planned to go to Turkmenistan. It marked the first time in 46 years that a Chinese leader set his foot on the soil of Afghanistan, a war-torn country neighboring China. The last visit was made by late Chinese leader Liu Shaoqi in 1966 when he was the President of China. During the past half century, Afghanistan was afflicted with series of military coups and two major wars commenced by the former Soviet Union and the United States respectively. The country is still the front line in the US-led war against terrorism and undergoing daily bombing and bleeding. In Kabul, Zhou held a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "It is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples for China and Afghanistan to strengthen a strategic and cooperative partnership, which is also conducive to regional peace, stability and development," Zhou was quoted as saying in a written statement released by the Chinese delegation upon his arrival. Zhou said the Chinese government fully respects the right of the Afghan people to choose their own path of development and will actively participate in Afghanistan's reconstruction. China and Afghanistan established diplomatic relations in 1955. The two countries decided in June to upgrade their ties to the level of a strategic and cooperative partnership at a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Karzai in Beijing, marking a new step for the development of bilateral relations. | ||||
| Future elite: Investing in British futures Posted: 22 Sep 2012 10:06 PM PDT Some Chinese parents are placing their toddlers in line for admission to top British schools. Are they on the right track? Zhao Xu mulls the question. British private boarding schools - the more exclusive the better - have become the top choice for wealthy or newly rich Chinese bent on giving their next generation a huge advantage, right from the start. "The youngest client we have is a 2-year-old," says William Vanbergen, founder and managing director of BE Education, an organization which provides consultancy services for students wishing to study at elite schools overseas. "We are hoping to take on a 1-year-old very soon as we are in the middle of booking a position for her in a highly regarded primary school in Britain," says Vanbergen, who studied in Eton College and sat next to Prince William in Latin class.
Apparently, when it comes to education, it is never too early to start. And there is no compromise when it comes to quality. What else could be more befitting to these children's newly minted status as the heirs of their parents' business empires than to sit alongside young blue-blooded British? By doing so, the parents hope the young scholars will not only rub shoulders with this privileged group, but also absorb some of their classy behavior - although Prince Harry's latest escapades at Las Vegas may make them consider the situation anew. Sending the precious princelings and princesses abroad is not a new trend in China. Turn back the clock to 140 years ago. In 1872, a group of young aristocratics were sent to America by the then-ruling Qing court. The decision represented China's very first effort to bring up its youngest and brightest in Western education, at a time when the country's future seemed more in danger than ever. Many of the boys would eventually return to change the country's contemporary history. Today, that memory is most powerfully evoked by a black-and-white picture, taken right before the children's departure, that can be seen in Beijing's Palace Museum. Nearly one and a half centuries later, the Chinese still regard the journey to the West as the best academic route. There are, however, some cosmetic changes. Now, we have girls joining the league. But the pigtails and the hoof-cuffed magua are gone, together with the sense of loss and longing that was clearly registered on those youthful faces a different era ago. The majority of modern-day children have been abroad before - on family vacations or at elite summer camps. They know what it's like on the other side of the pond. Instead of having to seek companionship and consolation among themselves like their forefathers many years ago, they enjoy the luxury of having an entourage of family and friends, with perhaps even a bodyguard or two. The most glaring difference is - the State is no longer the sponsor. Their parents pay the bill. These are the children of China's emerging super-rich. Britain remains one of the most cultured and respectable countries in the minds of most Chinese. Perhaps, we have to thank Jane Austen and her latter-day devotees who had turned the taciturn Mr Darcy into an international heartthrob on the screen. Her books are still best-sellers on China's Amazon book site. To some Chinese parents, the country is a land full of noble ladies and posh gentlemen who are prim and proper, and follow rules. And rules are what Chinese parents are looking for, according to a mother of a 13-year-old girl who is now in a private school in London. |
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