What I Saw and Heard in the Qiang Village

The Qiang nationqlity has a population of 198,2,52 (according to the 1991 census statistics), who mainly inhabit Maowen, Wenchuan, Lixian and Beichuan counties in Aba Tibet and Qiang Nationalities Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province. The Qiang is one of the oldest nationalities in China. It is said that the Qiang nationality was a main tribal race of the Xia Dynasty. The ancient Qiang nationality was an important part of the Huaxia nationality, the predecessor of the Han nationality. In a long historical process, they moved from areas in the northwest and the     

City Children Now Know How a Tomato Grows

"WHERE does a tomato come from?" The top class in a Chinese kindergarten was silenced by this question. Some children looked to the right and left. Others twiddled their fingers and lowered their heads. The teacher in charge of the class called a student's name, "Come, you answer it." "A tomato grows on a plate." Before the little boy finished his words, the children began to discuss this point heatedly.     

Population Development and Reproduction Health Education in Tibet

MY ancestors have lived in Lhasa, Tibet, for generations. I have personally witnessed the great changes in modern Tibetan society. The total population of the region has doubled since 1951. The Fourth National Census in 1990 revealed that the human fertility rate in the Tibet Autonomous Region was 27.60 per thousand, the natural population growth rate 18.40 per thousand, and the total fertility rate of women at childbearing age 4.22.     

两纲之窗(英文)

Psychological Health Education 心理健康教育 About 100 teachers recently gathered at Rongxiang Primary School, in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, to observe a pilot class in psychological health. The teachers came from the city's different primary and middle schools. Actually, the pilot was part of the educational campaign to build up schoolchildren's psychological health,     

庆祝西藏妇联成立40周年(英文)

The year 2000 is the 40th anniversary of the Tibet Women's Federation. From June 3 to 10, Li Qiufang, Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, participated in the series of commemorative activities observing the occasion, which was held in Tibet Autonomous Region.     

On Top of the World—Twice!

A MONG the representatives from various quarters on the parade float celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at Tian'anmen Square, was a tall, handsome and energetic figure in Tibetan national dress. Guisang, one of the ten outstanding Chinese women, is a notable mountaineer from Xigaze City, Tibet. The honour of seeing top state leaders waving and greeting them with her own eyes made Guisang beside herself with excitement. Tears     

Magicians Succeed Through Hard Efforts

ONE day during the winter of 1992, the sound of gongs and drums of Beijing opera echoed in the Central Hall of the International Magic Exchange in Los Angeles, California. More than a hundred first class magicians from different countries gathered there to enjoy a performance by two Chinese magicians. The two were Qin Mingxiao and Yao Jinfen, a husband and wife team. Qin stood on the stage and smiled. He wore a Qing Dynasty sapphire blue robe with dragon patterns embroidered in gold thread. Holding a peach in his hand, he asked the audience, "Do you know what country 'Three Immortals Return to the Cave' comes from or how long ago?" Various answers came from the     

The Road Was Fifty Years Long

TIBET has always been a place of worldconcern. After the Democratic Reformin 1959, Tibet turned into a socialist societyfrom the former feudal serf system, whichwas an unprecedented historical step. Forforty years since then, the peace anddevelopment of Tibet have received specialattention and concern from the centralgovernment. Du Qiyuan, the president ofTibet Women's Federation who grew up andhas worked in Tibet for years told me about     

The Story of Princess Wencheng A Folk Tale of the Tibetan Nationality

THE King of Tibet, Songtsan Gambo, was wise and capable. In order to make Tibet prosperous, he planned to marry Princess Wencheng of the Imperial Palace, who was both beautiful and kindhearted. He sent the resourceful Gawa to the Emperor to propose. In order to choose a satisfactory son-in-law among such a great number of suitors, the Emperor asked messengers to take part in a wisdom competition. He first asked the messengers to match the mares with their foals in a large herd. Of all the messengers, Gawa was the only one who passed this test. First he separated the mares from their foals and locked them into two paddocks. After half a day, he released the foals and herded them in with the mares. The hungry foals immediately ran to their mothers to suckle their milk. In this way it was easy to see who belonged to whom. After this test of wit the Emperor gave the messengers two more puzzles. The first one was to ask them to eat an entire sheep in one day, tan its hide, drink a jug of alcohol and walk bac     

西藏民居

The traditional Tibetan residence boasts a unique style--in terms of structure,layout and decor ,There are several kinds of dwellings in the Tibet Autonomous Region,Such as diaofang houses ,in the valley area of southern Tibet,     

First Call to Freedom

THE Hubei Normal College for Women, established in 1906, was the first public school in Hubei Province to enroll female students. The college offered a five-year Bachelor's Degree program. The college is located at Wuchang, one of three towns in the city of Wuhan, the provincial capital. Initially, the college had only one class of 50 students in each grade level, with a new class entering each year. Wang Shiyu, who had been appointed     

Lacquer Painting

In 1981, Ningxia archaeologists unearthed an ancient tomb from the tenth year of Taihe in Northern Wei (the year 486). A couple was buried in the tomb. The lacquer painting on the wooden coffin is regarded as a unique flower in the history of ancient Chinese painting. The coffin was decayed but analyzed from its lacquer     

Singer Han Hong

HAN Hong had a happy childhood in the beautiful Xigaze City, Tibet. From the children's chorus, the military art troupe, the Prize Winning Competition on TV, up to the institute of art, she has never stopped singing. The difference to other singers her age is that she not only wishes to be a singer but a composer. Not satisfied with just singing the songs of others, she began expressing her happiness and sadness by writing her own. Finally she finished her first collection Rays in Tibet, which is the first report card in her musical life and also     

China's Women Equestrians

DURING the Eighth National Games held in Shanghai, horsemanship became a hot topic of conversation. Sixty-two athletes from ten teams—the delegations from the People's Liberation Army, Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shanghai, Guangdong, Sichuan, Tibet Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Forest Industry Sports Association—attended the contest. This marked the first time the HKSAR delegation had sent athletes to participate     

女摄影家作品欣赏(英文)

A Tibetan Woman, from the Qiangtang Grassland 《(?)唐女》 Photo by ZHANG JIE 摄影:张捷 One day, in May 1998, the photographer was on a business trip when she passed the Qiangtang Grassland in Tibet. After entering a teahouse run by a herdsman,     

Thirty Days in America

At the invitation of the Center for Foreign Journalists (CFJ) in America, seven other Chinese women journalists and I attended a monthlong work/study program in the United States that focused on women and development. The program was organized and administered by CFJ and was carried out in Washington D.C., New York and San Francisco. The head of our delegation was Chen Xiuxia, the vice-chairwoman of the All-China Journalist's Association Subcommission for Communication. The six other members were representatives of major national newspapers based in Beijing. They were: Chen Yi from Economics Daily, Hu Shuli from China Business Times, Li Xing from China Daily, Mu Ya from People's Daily, Wang Weiqun from China Youth Daily and Xiong Lei from Xinhua News Agency.     

A Dancing Assistant Professor from Tibet

IN 1943, a baby girl was born in an adobe room in Lhasa, Tibet. The Living Buddha gave her a name— Tserin Sangmo. Tserin means longevity, Sangmo means kindhearted. One day in the spring of 1995, in the dancing classroom of Central University for Nationalities, Sangmo was standing among the students of minority nationalities, demonstrating for     

珠峰脚下的女兵

Shigatse, also called Xigatse, means ‘fertile land＇ in Tibetan, The frontier city is the second-largest city in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Livingconditions in the city are abominable, given that the city is more than 3,900 meters above sea level, which means the air lacks oxygen （the oxygen content is less than 50 percent of that of the inland）.     

玛尼石刻

The Mani stone is a time-honored art form in Tibet; it integrates sculpting and painting, and it helps spread the distinct local flavor and ethnic characteristics.