Chinese Tea Drinking Goes Back Centuries

TEA is a necessity in Chinese life. According to historical records the Chinese had already learned how to plant and bake tea more than 2,000 years ago. Sipping tea has always been a favorite Chinese tradition. To the south of the Changjiang River is a region with good irrigation and a climate favorable for growing tea: it is cool at night and often misty. Zhejiang Province is a well-known tea production area, and the famous Longjing Tea is solely produced along the West Lake in Hangzhou, capital of the province. Tea is produced in four areas of China:     

Organization Champions Menopausal Women

CURRENTLY, the ageing of the population has created problems for a developing China. Jiangsu is one of the provinces that has encountered these problems, where the average lifespan for women is 73. Women aged 40 to 55 who are going through menopause account for about 8 percent of Jiangsu's total population. Whether this group is able to live a healthy life during menopause or not decides whether the women are healthy and happy and influences the rest of society.     

Beijing Silk Figurines

The Beijing silk figurine is a traditional Chinese handicraft. It originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and has been around for more than 1,000 years. It is called a silk figurine because all parts of the handicraft are made of highquality Chinese silk. The figurine comes in sizes ranging from 16-46 centimeters to suit many decorating tastes. If you look closely you will find that the head and hands are quite exquisite, and the clothes and ornaments are true to lire. The process of making a figurine includes dozens of steps, from sculpting to painting, sewing to doing inlay work. The subjects of Beijing silk figures are wide-ranging and come mostly from Chinese     

A Japanese Woman Takes Root in China

MORE than half a century ago, a 15 year-old Japanese girl chose to stay in China during the warridden years and has since rooted herself firmly in the land. She has devoted her life to the Chinese people and contributed greatly to strengthening friendship between the two countries. The girl is Ye Qi, now director of the Cardiology Department and Department for Foreign Nationals of the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital in     

Mother's Lahe

IT seems to have become a kind of law of nature that the aged do not easily get accustomed to new situations. But my mother didn't relate to this law. Mother had lived in a small town in the frontier region for more than half a century. In the early 1950s she moved to Beijing. We were always worried that she would not become accustomed to urban life. But we never expected that she would live a vivid and dramatic life of her own free will. We lived in a lane in Dongsi, which is not long. It has a western-eastern exposure, situated between two streets. In     

Walking Into the Temple Gate

In the Chinese Buddhist world there is a saying, "One who knows about Sichuan knows something about Buddhism; one who knows about Buddhism knows about Sichuan." In ancient and modem times, Buddhist temples and monasteries have been located in the mountains, tall, rugged and beautiful in this part of the country, where thousands of Buddhists live or gather to undergo rigorous ascetic discipline. Buddhism has a profound influence in the province. Today about 60,000 Buddhist monks and nuns live in the province, among whom about 2,000 are bhiksuni (Sanskrit term for Buddhist nun). There is an ever greater number of believers in Buddhism. It is thought that there are about six million Buddhists in Sichuan; five million practice Han-language-family Buddhism and the other million are of the Tibetan-language-family Buddhism.In an effort to describe the life of Buddhist nuns to our readers, Women of China visited the Aidao Monastery (a temple that is opened to the public) and the Tiexiang (Iron Statue) Monastery     

Yi Nationality Girl, Mamu Age

TOURISM has developed rapidly in Beijing, and there are more and more sites to see, from the World Park to the China Ethnic Garden and a Miniature Replica of Old Beijing. These sites attract a large number of travelers from both home and abroad. This is Mamu Age, from the Daliangshan Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. She and     

喝茶不宜过多(英文)

As a traditional Chinese drink, tea is favored by most of the Chinese people. There are a lot of advantages to health in drinking tea, especially green tea. For instance, it is good for digestion; is a source of Vitamin C; is refreshing and helps in the prevention of cancer. Nevertheless, it is by no means the more tea the better. Tea like all things should be drank in moderation and some people are even advised not to drink it at all. The following is some advice for tea drinkers:     

短讯(英文)

The state has worked out 20 unified policies for developing the western regions. Central government is to increase investment in the region, there are to be more opportunities for foreign investment, preferential policies to attract foreign capital and education and personnel development to attract and train talented people.     

Traditional Chinese Medicine Takes Effect in Treating AIDS

SINCE the first case of AIDS was found in the United States in June 1981, AIDS patients and persons infected with HIV have reached 17.41 million in the world. Among the more than four million AIDS patients, over two million have died. Currently, China has 1,435 patients infected with HIV. AIDS is a serious threat to health and the development of social economy, especially to women and children. Since there is still no effective cure for AIDS the death rate of AIDS patients is nearly 100 percent, many countries are trying to find medicines to combat this disease. Chinese doctors and researchers have made some progress in treating AIDS with traditional Chinese medicine. After numerous selections and     

学汉语

More and more foreign visitors have been flocking to China in recent years.Moreover,the upcoming 29th Olympic Games has made Beijing a hot tourist destination.As a result,more and more foreigners are trying to leam Chinese in China.Beginning with this issue,Women of China will introduce foreigners,in an easy and lively way,to some basic Chinese sentences related to leisure life,which they might find helpful in improving their competency in Chinese.     

They Melt "Hard Ice" Women Wardresses Preside Over Weibei Jail

WEIBEI Jail is located in the north of the Weifang area, Shandong Province. Its 8th brigade of women prisoners is a holding facility for most women convicts in Shandong. Nearly 20 policewomen work in the facility and are in charge of more than 300 convicts from Yantai, Qingdao, Weihai and Weifang. In order to reform criminals to observe laws so that they     

Shandong's Cotton Brocade

SHANDONG Province, also called "Lu," produces traditional hand-woven cotton fabric known as "Lu Jin ("Jin" means brocade in Chinese). Lu Jin has a soft texture and is made in various designs and colors. Although machine-made cotton fabric is easy to buy here, local people, particularly women, prefer this kind of cloth woven in the old style handed down by their ancestors. In the countryside of Southwest Shandong, a girl usually begins learning how to weave cotton brocade as a child and old women are often still busy at the loom. In Jiaxiang County, for example, there are more than 10,400 looms, 74,000 spinning wheels and 90,000 capable weavers, producing 6 million meters of hand-woven fabric annually. Lu Jin is a suitable dowry for local girls. Usually, a girl begins selecting designs and weaving for her dowry two to three years before marriage. When she gets married, she carefully puts the fabric in the cupboards she will bring with     

Devotion to China's Education in the 21st Century——Chen Zhili, Minister of Education

AMONG 29 newly appointedcross-century Ministers of theState Council in 1998, ChenZhili, is one of only two women. Herappointment has caused a mild sensationamong the mass media at home and abroad,not only due to her female status but alsothe important role education plays inChina's basic policy of "revitalizing thecountry through science and technology."As Minister of Education in a country witha population of 1.2 billion, Chen Zhili notonly has profound scientific and culturalknowledge, but the necessary, rich workingand life experiences as a leader. She isindeed qualified to be in charge of China'seducation in the 21 st century, according tosome media.     

Modern Dancer Goes Against Tradition

WANG Mei is the youngest associate professor in modern dance at the Beijing College of Dance. Her art is the most important part of her life. When inspiration comes, she can't help but move her hands and feet to the choreography going on in her head. And when people watch Wang perform, contradictory feelings of light-heartedness and melancholy simultaneously are felt. This charming dancer has a unique understanding about     

Woman Doctor Declares War Against Hemophilia

DANGERS of hereditary diseases are hidden in the complicated process by which life is formed. There are many who work hard to save lives and fight against such misfortune. And Doctor Zhao Cuilan is one such soldier who has chosen hemophilia as her battlefield. Hemophilia is a hereditary disease characterized by the inability of the patient's blood to clot. When a person lacks the substance that causes blood clotting, he can bleed to death. In the     

Science and Technology Helps Farmers Get Rich

LAIZHOU City in Shandong Province is situated in the northwest Jiaodong Peninsula of Bohai Bay. In the past ten years, the development of agricultural science and technology, especially folk scientific and technological institutions, which are engaged in scientific research according to market demands, and have carried out production, management, promotion of agricultural technology and services, and have helped to quickly develop poor agricultural areas. The women of Laizhou are a vital new force in this cause.     

Maternity and Child Care in Yinan County

YINAN is a poor county in the Yimeng Mountain Area in Shandong Province. It has a population of 900,000, over 80 percent of whom live in rural areas and about 600,000 of whom are women and children. Protecting the health of women and children is not only important to reach the goal "Everyone Enjoys Health Protection by the year 2000" and the goals set out in the "Program for Chinese Children's Development in the 1990s," but also has a crucial influence on the     

Time (print)

“Time” shows a feeling in a twinkling: life is like a poem or a song. it twinkles, undulates and unfolds to offer us beauty, optimism and warmth. Li Xiu. 51. a printmaker of the Yi nationality, is quite familiar with the life of the Yi people. She has produced many works about the Yi because she has lived in her native area of Yunnan Province for many years. Her prints display exquisite compositions, cool and simple colors that evoke a rich, modern flavor. Li graduated in 1968 from the Fine Arts Department of Guangxi Art College. Today she is a senior painter with the Yunnan Art Academy and a council member of the Chinese Artists Association. Story by LIU NAN     

Young Chinese Women Taste the Sweet and Sour of Modern Life

CHINA is in the midst of snowballing economic changes that are naturally affecting society deeply. Take bikes, for example, one of China's main modes of transportation. Chinese-made, cheap, heavy, black, steel, mass-produced bikes are being replaced by imported mountain bikes or tenspeeds. People are clearly making more money and are able to afford such fast, colorful imported products. Financial disparity is more apparent. One man who sells cigarettes and gum from a corrugated tin shack next to others who sell bike seats, fix shoes and make eys in a free market is now clad in a