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For residents of Wenzhou, a city in East China's Zhejiang province with the highest number of overseas Chinese, discussions about the hottest holiday trip at the moment is not about a romantic sojourn through Europe or a relaxing stay at a tropical island, but a weekend trip to cities in neighboring Fujian province, like Fuzhou.

Despite their well-known desire to explore the world outside their hometown, few Wenzhou residents have visited Fuzhou, although they may have traveled to Europe, Africa or Australia.

Separated by walls of high mountains, residents of the two cities have long lived like they belong to two different continents, despite their geographical proximity. Travel by air was too costly, by bus too tedious and by train, too long.

As a Fujian native, I remember that it took me nearly 14 hours in 1997 to go from my hometown to Zheijiang by the fastest train. But a newly opened express railway line has shortened the travel time between Fuzhou and Wenzhou to just 90 minutes.

I chanced on this information by sheer luck. I was visiting Wenzhou two weeks ago for an interview. When I mentioned my hometown, people responded excitedly saying, "then you might as well go visit your hometown. It is now just 90 minutes away by train!"

While overjoyed to hear this, I could not shake off a lingering doubt.

My last memory of train travel in China was a tedious, long, crowded and sleepless 27-hour journey in a stuffy compartment from Shanghai to Xiamen, on the fastest train available between the two cities in 1997.

While I had heard much about the continuous upgrading of the country's nationwide railway system, I didn't have the desire or interest to check it out until that day in Wenzhou. Ultimately, the temptation of being able to see my parents was too much to resist.

The journey has completely altered my perception of train travel. My ears throbbed with the changes in air pressure as the train raced through one tunnel after another. But in general, the train was clean and comfortable and the service, good. I set out at about 7 pm and by 8:30 pm, I was with my childhood classmate, waiting at the station at Fuzhou.

Her mother was more eager to hear about my trip. With three children settled in three different cities, namely Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen, her delight at the possibility of visiting any of them after an hour-long train trip, was palpable.

When I mentioned my past memories of train travel, she brushed me off impatiently. "Don't even mention it, that experience belongs to the last century."

COPENHAGEN - Got 48 hours to spare in the Danish capital of Copenhagen amid the world leaders, scientists, demonstrators and skeptics in town this December to discuss measures for confronting global climate change?

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most out of a short stay in the laid-back yet stylish old Nordic city.

FRIDAY

2 p.m. -- Head for bustling and picturesque 17th century trading harbor Nyhavn with its tall ships and crooked colorful houses. Have a seasonal mulled wine at the Christmas market or in one of many bars and restaurants. The harbor was excavated by King Christian V to give his newly built central square, Kongens Nytorv, a connection to the sea. Fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen once lived at No. 67.

3 p.m. -- From Nyhavn, take a boat tour of Copenhagen's idyllic canals and harbors (www.canaltours.dk). The boat will also stop at the Little Mermaid, the statue of Andersen's fairytale character and a top tourist attraction.

4 p.m. -- Back ashore and time to stretch your legs. Around the corner from Nyhavn, on the waterfront, pass by -- or through! -- modern architectural pearl Skuespilhuset, the Royal Theatre's new stage that was inaugurated last year. Gaze across the water to the futuristic Opera House on Holmen Island before continuing down Toldbodgade to venerable Amalienborg, the Queen's winter residence. If the flag is hoisted, she's in! If it's the weekend, you can climb into the magnificent dome of Frederik's Church for a view of the city skyline.

Pass by the headquarters of shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, Denmark's biggest company, and Kastellet, one of the best preserved fortifications in Europe before heading back toward the center along Bredgade -- one of Copenhagen's main arteries with its art galleries and exclusive antique and clothes' boutiques. From there, zig-zag the streets around Kronprinsensgade, another artery lined with designer shops and cafes.

7 p.m. -- The meatpacking district promises a change of scenery for the evening. Listed for conservation and a stone's throw from the central station, the 1930s modernistic "Kodbyen" has recently become the in-crowd's preferred playground as galleries, restaurants and nightclubs found their way there. Have dinner at red-hot newcomer Pate Pate (Slagterboderne 1), a boisterous and friendly place for good wines, tapas and southern European inspired food -- or at the big and lively Fiskebaren (Flaesketorvet 100), the meat district's fish restaurant.

11 p.m. -- Join the party crowd at funky Jolene Bar (Flaesketorvet) for a few beers to the sound of some loud tunes, or head for hip Karriere Bar (Flaesketorvet 56) a few steps away for drinks and a slightly bigger dancefloor.

SATURDAY

10 a.m. -- Have brunch at one of Copenhagen's innumerable cozy cafes and bars, for example laid-back Bang & Jensen (Istedgade 130) in the Vesterbro district, or if you prefer something with a distinguished heritage, Cafe Norden (Ostergade 61) in the City Center.

11 a.m. -- Stroll through the lovely garden Kongens Have to Rosenborg Castle (Oster Voldgade 4A), a 17th century red brick beauty which shelters the royal jewels.

12 noon. -- At City Hall Square, admire the giant Christmas tree -- environment-friendly this year as it is lit by pedal power. Jump on one of the bikes and help out!

1 p.m. -- Visit Tivoli, the famed 19th century amusement park (Vesterbrogade 3) whose Christmas-decorated gardens have a near-magical vibe for the old as well as the young. Enjoy the Christmas market and, if you have children in tow, the rides. Stop by classic establishment Nimb's new cocktail bar.

4 p.m. -- Head slowly but surely toward the Christianshavn island district passing grand buildings on your way: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is a sculpture museum built on beer profits. Christiansborg houses the Parliament. Don't miss the old stock exchange Borsen, and the modern Black Diamond library.

Stroll through idyllic Christianshavn with its canals, narrow cobblestone streets, old warehouses and Dutch style merchant houses. The area is also home to the self-proclaimed hippie free town Christiania.

6 p.m. -- Have an early dinner at Noma (Strandgade 93), Denmark's only restaurant boasting two Michelin stars, which serves inventive Nordic dishes in an elegant rustic atmosphere with a spectacular warehouse harbour view.

8 p.m. -- A stone's throw down the quais, enjoy acclaimed Bizet's Carmen at Copenhagen's ultra-modern opera house Operaen (Ekvipagemestervej 10), where the curtain first went up in January 2005.

11 p.m. -- Head back to the city center and finish off the evening with more music: Get a taste of the fading era of Copenhagen as a 1970s jazz mecca at La Fontaine (Kompagnistraede 11), a smoky dive featuring live jazz bands that jam until the wee hours.

SUNDAY

9 a.m. -- Get your morning coffee from the Coffee Collective (Jaegersborggade 10) in the multi-cultural Norrebro district. With one barista world champion on the team, and ambitious fair trade strategies, it is likely to taste and feel good.

10 a.m. -- Visit the old brewery site of Denmark's No.1 beer producer Carlsberg. Have a peek at the museum, check out the Christmas beers -- and gaze upon the famous elephant statues framing the portal (Gamle Carlsberg Vej).

On that note, a number of excellent microbreweries have surfaced in Denmark in recent years and also merit a visit.

12 noon. -- Settle down for a traditional Danish smorrebrod lunch at Cafe Toldboden (Amaliegade 41). Smorrebrod, a daily lunch staple for many Danes, are open rye-bread sandwiches with elaborate toppings.

2 p.m. -- If you are up for Christmas shopping, spend your last hours and crowns in town foraging for goodies in Denmark's classic upmarket department store Illum (Ostergade 52), its interior design branch Illum Bolighus, or Magasin du Nord (Kongens Nytorv 12).

If shopping is not your bag, then visit modern art museum Louisiana a train ride north of Copenhagen (Humlebaek) which, besides its collection and exhibitions, has a lovely garden and cafe with a panoramic view over Oresund, the strait between Denmark and Sweden.

A-Ma Temple

The Historic Center of Macau

In July 2005, "The Historic Centre of Macau" was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, recognizing the architectural legacies interwoven in the midst of the original urban fabric of Macau, a witness to successful East-West cultural co-existence. A-Ma Temple is reputedly the place in Macau where the Portuguese first landed, and is the starting point of this historical exploration.

Picture yourself outside A-Ma Temple standing on the Portuguese-style cobbled road. The Temple consists of prayer halls, pavilions and courtyards built into the boulder-strewn hill connected by winding paths through moon gates and tiny gardens. At the entrance is a large rock on which a traditional sailing junk was etched over 400 years ago. On other boulders you can see red carved characters invoking the blessings of the gods. Chinese legend says that touching the top of the moon gate up the hill will bring good luck in love.

Opposite the temple lies the Maritime Museum, featuring many aspects of Portuguese and Chinese maritime history covering the period from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century. Several famous Portuguese restaurants are located nearby.

Duncan Peattie from Kingston upon Thames, England, reads and speaks little Chinese. But since 2001, he has been doing a Chinese-English translation - at least once a year - of a little book that has benefited hundreds, if not thousands, of travelers from across the world.

Armed with little more than the names of cities in language skills, he has been producing regularly updated English translations of the Chinese railway timetables.

A railway signal testing engineer since 16, Peattie was based in Hong Kong, from 1997 to 2000, but now splits his time between Thailand, Australia and his home country, the United Kingdom. He claims to knows every rail line in China and every new improvement and addition to one of the world's most dynamic rail systems.

Based on the Chinese timetables put out by China Rail Publishing House (CRPH), Peattie's English version isn't merely a translation, but a recompilation that is more user-friendly especially for a foreigner who doesn't read or speak Chinese.

Peattie calls it "a labor of love", one that he is quick to share with whoever is interested.

His timetables comes in two formats - a downloadable PDF file version, which is a free, "quick reference" summary of express trains between main stations, the only trains most foreign tourists will ever take, and a complete, national timetable for sale if you are getting off the main lines as part of a more complex travel plan.

The schedules are linked to the Quail China Railway Atlas, which is also available in print, and can be invaluable in finding connections along various routes. The timetable's sixth edition (based on the April 2009 Chinese timetable and including major changes over the past year) is out, and now routinely referenced by various guidebooks and websites.

But some still wonder why anyone would go to the great lengths that Peattie does to produce a timetable.

"Some have called it an obsession, but surely it's a harmless one," says Peattie, by phone from Australia.

He adds that his fascination with trains goes back to when he was 3.

"You know, mothers usually take their children to see art or enjoy music or experiment with science, to help discover their interest and potential as early as possible," says Peattie. "This is what my mother did after running out of options - she took me to the train station near our house."

The year was 1959. Both mother and son would stand mesmerized as the steam trains puffed in and out of the station amid the glittering signals.

As an assistant to his electrician father since his early childhood, Peattie also developed a strong interest in electricity. That led naturally to his becoming a rail signaling test engineer. He worked for British Rail for nearly 20 years before moving overseas for work, mostly in Thailand, Australia and Hong Kong.

One thing he loves about working for the railways, Peattie says, is that he used to get three train tickets for free each year when he was back in UK.

"I used every single ticket I got because I love traveling, especially by train," he says. "Traveling by train means you don't have to worry about driving and traffic as you do when you travel by car, and can enjoy the beautiful scenery outside. Riding a train in a foreign country is often quite a journey in itself. It's also much safer and reliable when compared to travel by air or car."

When he landed in Hong Kong in 1997, he got on the through train between Hong Kong and Shanghai as soon as it was introduced, embarking on the first of many explorations of the country by train.

"I was very excited to see a food trolley pulled along the platform selling drinks and snacks. I'd never seen services like this before," recalls Peattie.

He still remembers the delicious eggs boiled with tea and soy sauce he bought then. "What a good choice of snack for a train traveler!"

When he arrived in Shanghai, he wanted to continue his explorations and started to look for timetable information. There was a lot, but all in Chinese. "I decided to make my own timetable even though it took a long time. My Chinese language skills were zero, and are still not good, but I have developed the ability to read place names."

The first complete edition was ready in April 2001. "Having completed it I realized that it was a bit silly to keep it to myself, so I turned it into something fit for publication," he says.

Peattie says he usually sells a few hundred copies for each complete edition of 176 pages, which is currently priced at $20. But, he adds, profit has never been the purpose of his project. "I share the view of CRPH that there isn't a commercial market for a detailed English language Chinese railway timetable. However, there is a significant demand for such information."

While rail services in China have improved significantly in the past decade, "not many people know much about these. I believe if they knew, they would like to travel by train", says Peattie.

Peattie says he is looking forward to his next China trip next year. "Since my last trip to China in 2007, many new lines have been added.

Crime, air pollution and heavy traffic are stereotypical impressions of Mexico City, the largest metropolis in Latin America, for those who have not visited.

However, after my recent trip to the city, with a group of Chinese journalists, invited by the Mexico Tourism Board, I have a different image.

During our stay, none of us were the victims of crime and we didn't even encounter a quarrel on the streets.

We didn't see Mexico City's sprawling slums until we headed out of the city toward the pyramids of Teotihuacan, two days after arriving.

As to air pollution, well, we didn't feel it. In fact, I quite enjoyed the city's weather. It was cool in the morning and night and could be hot at noon. Although it was often cloudy, it was never hazy, like Beijing recently.

While the city has a population of 25 million it doesn't appear to be densely populated (from a Chinese point of view) as most of the buildings are low-rise. Also, it was not too crowded at the few tourist attractions we saw in the heart of Mexico City - the Plaza de la Constitucin, or Zocalo, as it is more commonly known.

We had a pleasant stroll around the plaza on a Sunday morning. It is like a market surrounded by Spanish colonial buildings, including the Metropolitan Cathedral and National Palace.

Conchero dancers remind many Mexicans of their ancestors, the Aztecs, with daily get-togethers in the plaza's northeastern corner. Here, they performed ceremonial dances to the rhythm of booming drums, dressed in feathered headdresses and conch shell anklets and bracelets.

Peddlers sold goods ranging from hammocks and wooden scarves, to home-made pearl cream and tiocoyo tortillas, made of green corn and served with tomato and green pepper sauce and cheese.

The National Palace is home not only to the offices of the president of Mexico and the Federal Treasury, but also dramatic murals by Diego Rivera (1886-1957), the world-famous Mexican painter and husband of Frida Kahlo, an influential painter known for her self-portraits.

The colorful murals on the main stairwell and the walls of the second floor of the palace around the central courtyard present the artist's view of Mexican civilization between 1521 and the 1910 revolution. They were painted between 1929 and 1935.

The splendid work is a feast of colors with vivid figures depicting The Epic of the Mexican People. From it, visitors can get an idea of the size and layout of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec empire's capital, which was in the downtown area near the Zocalco. In the mural you can see scenes such as Aztecs selling human sacrifices as sacred food in the market.

To a visitor from a different culture, the ancient Mayan and Aztec people's human sacrifices are weird and eye-catching.

At the impressive National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropologia) a quick stroll was enough to become aware that there are many pyramids - the major place for rituals and human sacrifices - scattered around Mexico.

Many of the beautiful carved stone exhibits in the museum were once used for sacrificial rituals. For example, the famous Aztec Calendar Stone, or Stone of the Sun, was actually a large sacrificial altar and probably used to stage fights between warriors. Another example is a carved stone jaguar with a cavity on its back, which "functioned as a sacred recipient designed to contain the blood and hearts of captive warriors".

The next morning I found myself walking on the Avenue of the Dead (Avenida de los Muertos) at Teotihuacan, the site of Mexico's biggest ancient city, which had about 200,000 people at its peak. It was likely the capital of Mexico's biggest pre-Hispanic empire.

The stone-paved avenue is the axis of the site, which lies 50 km northeast of Mexico City. About 2 km to the north, it is flanked by the former palaces of Teotihuacan's elite, and other major structures, such as the Pyramid of the Sun. The Pyramid of the Moon stands at the northern end of the road.

The avenue is straight and wide and it is hard to believe that it was built between AD 250 and 600, together with most of the buildings in the ancient city. The later Aztecs believed that the great buildings lining it were vast tombs, built by giants for Teotihuacan's first ruler, hence the name.

But it is a good idea to take the less-trodden path and hike around in the overgrown land around the relics, full of short but stout Yucca trees and different kinds of flowering cactuses. Overshadowed by the Pyramid of the Sun, it is a lovely place, away from the hawkers and other tourists.

Climbing the 248 steps of the world's third largest pyramid - the Pyramid of the Sun - under scorching sun, is not easy, but it's worth it. Here you can see the awesome layout of the entire site.

After the hike and climb, lunch at a restaurant outside the site was tasty and memorable. Teotihuacan soup - chicken soup with pumpkin flowers and mushrooms, and avocado sauce with tortilla, was followed by a main course - beef, pork, chicken, fresh cheese and onions in a heated volcanic stone mortar.

Xochimilco is about 20 km south of downtown Mexico City and is an extended series of canals lined by plant nurseries and houses with lawns, which is a popular recreational destination for locals.

There we had our lunch while floating into a bizarre aquatic traffic jam on a flower-decorated and painted trajinera boat, while mariachi bands entertained, peddlers in small riverboats shuttled around and families enjoyed their lunches.

Listening to a mariachi band singing Guantanamera, with a beer in hand, it is easy to share one of the joys of living in this impressive city.

The author's tour in Mexico was arranged by Turismo Mayorista Premier and Best Day Travel.

The Dengfeng municipal government of Henan province reached an agreement with the Hong Kong-based China Travel Service Group (CTS) create a company to manage all the tourism near the famous Shaolin Temple on Songshan Mountain in Henan. The company will even go public in 2011, according to a report at people.com.cn. There's one catch: they forgot to tell the Shaolin monks themselves.

"The government did not let the Shaolin Temple part know the agreement, because we haven't announced the operation to the public yet," said Cui Shiying, the head of the Dongfeng city party committee's publicity department.

Under the terms of the "Cooperation Framework Agreement" made on October 21, the two sides would jointly invest a total of 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) to set up the "Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture and Travel Company." The company would manage all ticket sales, hotels, and tourism in the area. The agreement is valid for 40 years.

The government's contribution to the agreement will be access to the Shaolin Temple itself, which they have valued at 49 million yuan ($7.17 million). CTS will contribute the remaining 51 million. But it is not at all clear that the Shaolin Temple is the Dongfeng government's to give.

"The Shaolin Temple is national assets, not of Shaolin Temple itself or the local government. The Dengfeng administration shouldn’t make the decision all by itself, but hear more from experts and the public," said Qian Daliang, manager of Intellectual Property and Intangible Assets Management Center of Shaolin Temple.

Ticket sales at the Shaolin Temple account to 150 million yuan ($21.9 million) every year, the report said, and a good portion of that money currently goes to the temple. Under the new agreement, all the money would go to the new Dongfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture and Travel Company.

A look at the good life on the world's most luxurious yachts.

As the morning sky above the Indian Ocean transitions from blazing yellow and orange to hues of blue, pink and purple, some of the charter guests aboard the Douce France, one of the world's largest floating catamarans, venture off in kayaks for shell shopping on a private, bleached-white beach. Others set out on a fishing excursion in a speedy tender.

A big splash signals that one guest has spontaneously decided to jump off the boat for a morning swim. Another couple is content remaining onboard the yacht, napping in cushy chairs while the boat sways gently in waters just offshore from Coco Island in the Seychelles.

Such is life aboard one of the world's most luxurious charter vessels.

Days and nights aboard yachts for charter are unique to each boat, each destination and each crew. And like most yacht charters, the day of disembarkment is always one a guest would prefer not to think about (kiss all those fancy dinners and afternoon cocktails goodbye).

Fortunately, one needn't go all the way to the Seychelles to experience high-seas style. A veritable fleet of luxurious and unique vessels float along the earth's waters, equipped to satisfy every fancy. And each boat--large or small--offers a unique and extravagant sailing experience.

High Seas Standouts

Combing the world for luxury liners is easy; but highlighting the unique and the ultra-luxurious is a matter of looking for that extra, special element of the sailing experience that can't be found in any other place. Our writers, editors and staff connoisseurs of the seas agree that these vessels and marinas encompass every luxury traveler's dreams, from whimsical and fast, to the adventuresome and the ultra posh.

The Caribbean is home to some the biggest catches of the day and, oftentimes, the charter experience isn't so much about the luxury onboard, but the sense of adventure offered. That's what makes a charter aboard the sport-fishing vessel Ambush so special.

The vessel boasts some of the most impressive and technologically advanced gear for a superior deep-sea-fishing jaunt. Guests who fight massive marlin, plump tuna or even an occasional shark by day can opt to cast their evenings in Ambush's comfy, modern cabin--or return to the spaciousness of Ambush's bigger-sister yacht, the 121-foot Olga, for a nap in one of her sterling staterooms; a massage; and then dinner prepared by the chef featuring, of course, fish caught by the guests that day.

Another charter experience that won't soon be forgotten is one aboard the 196-foot Amnesia. The boat has an inviting Jacuzzi pool replete with barstools, as well as a gym. She accommodates 12 guests and sails year-round in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

If a bigger liner is more your speed, go for the Penthouse Suite aboard the 936-foot Holland America ship, the Eurodam. The cabin is bigger than most New York City apartments, at 1,100 square feet, and has a 24-hour butler and floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the ocean.

Closer to Home

Some guests may only have enough free time for the luxury-liner experience in a single evening, not a full vacation. For them, there's the Cornucopia Majesty, which calls New York its home. The massive, 30,000-square-foot vessel can host up to 1,200 party guests and features an astounding three-story atrium. It's the largest-capacity yacht on the East Coast, making it perfect for dining, dancing and entertaining--or all three.

If a vacation or simple-evening of high seas style isn't enough to satisfy, one of the best options is to make ocean life permanent--and buy into a dockside abode by the sea.

Key West Harbor Yacht Club, a part of the Yacht Clubs of the Americas, is a resort-like community where a day of boating is met with luxurious accommodations on land. There's a concierge service, a pool and clubhouse, all providing a country-club-like ambiance.

Settling into such an atmosphere may not provide quite the same escape one gets on the open ocean, but it's the next best thing. And if you really need that extra sense of luxury and escape, just call for a charter. Chances are, they can sail right up to your doorstep.

The snow-covered Great Wall is glazed by the rays of sunset.
"To Simatai? Again? Isn't it snowing in Beijing?"

That was my mother on the phone from Calcutta.

I told her that the idea, in fact, was to capture the snow on the ramparts of the Great Wall. Simatai happens to be the steepest, highest (about 1,000 m above sea level) and arguably the most picturesque and least-frequented part of the Wall around Beijing. Built in 1368 and re-built in the mid-Ming Dynasty in the late 16th century, it is also one of the most ancient and unspoilt pieces of the great bulwark. Now was the time to see its virginal brilliance, before the snow melted.

"You'd better watch your step," she said. "The wall's rather ancient, isn't it? Never know when a chunk might loosen and fall off."

My mother can be funny sometimes. But at 6:30 pm, walking down the never-ending snow-caked steps in pitch darkness, as a strong wind threatened to scoop me off the wall and hurl me down the precipitous gorge - right into what seemed at that hour to be the other side of civilization - I thought of my mother.

At sub-zero temperature my hands hung limp, ready to be preserved cryogenically for the benefit of humanity. A thin dribble of phlegm ran non-stop down my nostrils, dripping into the scarf wound twice around my neck and mouth. My legs, under double layers of trousers, were shivering and wobbly. The steps - there must have been thousands of them - were uneven and treacherous, broken and jagged in parts, sometimes eroded to nothingness. The walls on either side, just beneath the parapet, opened up viciously every 2 m or so. They had gaping holes the size of a Cyclop's mouth.

For the first time in my life I wondered if I should start calling out to some of the 330 million gods in the Hindu pantheon. If I slipped and fell on what was now solid blocks of ice, glittering and sparkling under a clear, starlit sky, and broke something and ended up spending the night here, I would surely freeze to death.

But all this happened after a rust - and-crimson sun had gone down behind the dark ridges covered with coniferous trees, toward the west, beyond the lake into which hot and cold springs pour in all the year round, its waters never freezing. My companions, armed with a sophisticated camera, tripod and several combinations of lenses, parked themselves at three of the 15 watchtowers on the east wing of Simatai, keen not to lose a moment of the sun's chiaroscuro effect on the 60 million cubic meters of stone and brick.

I decided to walk up as far as I could, primarily to prevent myself from getting mummified. I passed through the compact, symmetrical arches of the watchtowers, moving eastwards. At each tower I would stop to catch my breath behind the thick walls. I would look out of the arched windows, now glazed by the rays of the setting sun, to watch the molten gold coating the snow-covered slopes beneath like cheese spread.

Once or twice I caught myself leaning too heavily on the windowsill and stepped back with a start. The wall had crumbled in places, enlarging the windows or doing away with them altogether. When I reached the Fairy Maiden Tower, the place where a sign read "no couching", I decided I would rest there for a while. The very desolate nature of this crumbling tower, pushed to the eastern fringe of the hills, was inviting.

Sitting in its doorway, with the expansive landscape of hills, trees, lake and the rise and fall of the Wall, like a melody, spreading out in front of me was like having a seat in the dress circle, watching the sun bowing out for the day, dressed in full regalia.

The paved road of the wall seemed to end here. But another one, so narrow that it was almost invisible in parts, which rose from a blocked wall of the tower, shot off toward the peak, leading to the eponymously called Watching Beijing Tower. My friend Gao Yansong scrambled up the broken footpath to catch a view of Beijing by sunset and record it on his camera, but I chose to stay put with the fairies, ears pressed against the wall, listening for sounds of music and laughter.

Soon the sun would go down behind the hills, touching everything on its way - the bare trees growing on the slopes, the icy serpentine stretches of the Wall running like a series of wide parabolic curves in sync with the rise and fall of the ridges, the Heavenly Ladder, almost a 90-degree gradient, rising up the craggy knoll, resembling a crooked cottage with a chimney.

After dark, when the visitors have all gone home, Simatai stands alone, listening to the sound of springs - one hot and the other cold - pouring into a lake that never freezes.

A small state on India's Western coast, Goa boasts of quaint Portuguese colonial charm, sun-kissed beaches and great seafood.

Goa is also favorite haunt for domestic and international travelers, and Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most out of a visit to this beach town.

FRIDAY

7 p.m. - Start off your holiday in Goa the way you are meant to -- sipping a beer or cocktail, and watching the sun go down at Baga beach, one of the many beaches that dot the coastline. If you are the more adventurous sort, indulge in some water sports or para-gliding, popular activities on this particular stretch.

9 p.m. - Dine at Britto's, one of the many shacks located right on Baga beach. Don't be fooled, however, by the modest surrounds: Britto's is not just a shack, it is more of a local institution. Try the pepper prawns and their trademark baked crabs and finish with their fabulous home-made desserts, especially bebinca, a traditional Goan sweet made of jaggery and coconut milk.

11 p.m. - Burn off those calories with a walk up to Tito's, one of Goa's most well-known -- and packed -- night clubs. Frequented by tourists and locals alike, the energy and buzz around this place more than make up for the claustrophobia you might experience amid the hordes that turn up every night. If you prefer something slightly more crowded, head over to the Butter Lounge, in nearby Candolim. It may not have as many people, but the music is equally good for dancing the night away.

SATURDAY

9 a.m. - The best, and cheapest, way to get around in Goa is to hire a motorbike. You can get them in most places, even in the smaller towns. Make sure you have a valid license, put on lots of sunscreen and head out toward Old Goa, or Goa Velha as it is locally known. Visit St Paul's Cathedral, and the Basilica of Bon Jesus on the other side of the road. The 16th century basilica, built by the Portuguese, who ruled Goa until as recently as 1961, houses the body of Goa's patron saint St Francis Xavier. The body has been preserved for more than four centuries and devotees from all over the world flock there to pay their respects. This is one of the best places to get a sense of the Portuguese influence that pervades most aspects of Goan life.

12 p.m. - Take the opportunity and explore the countryside a little more. Goa's beaches are its most well-known feature, but there is more to the place. Green fields dotted with coconut palms, quaint houses with red-tiled roofs, and winding roads make for a great ride. Stop at a local bakery and sample some "pao," traditional Goan bread, and buy some locally made pottery.

2 p.m. - Head back toward Panaji, but not before you make a detour at Star Bar and Restaurant. Yes, it isn't the most imaginatively named place, and nor does it have any ambience to speak of, but this place can boast of the best fresh shrimp in all of Goa. Order a full Goan meal and wash it down with the feni local liquor as you watch boats sail along the river.

4 p.m. - Panaji, Goa's capital, is a charming town set on the banks of the river Mandovi and well worth exploring. Visit the Panjim Church, an imposing structure that looks down on the city, and old quarter of Fointanhas for some traditional Portuguese architecture.

7 p.m. - Goa is also home to off-shore casinos, so if you fancy your luck, try your hand at the slots.

9 p.m. - Have dinner at Fiesta, another North Goa institution, which serves up Mediterranean and continental fare. If that's not your style, try The Republic of Noodles at Candolim. Located near the Taj Palace hotel, this restaurant boasts of great interiors and delicious South East Asian cuisine.

11 p.m. - If you still have any energy, rev up the motorbike and make your way to the Saturday Night Bazaar at Arpora. A huge, chaotic, throbbing market, this place comes to life past midnight. Expect to find everything from trinkets to clothes to watches and even luggage. There are also food and beer stalls. Don't forget to bargain hard.

SUNDAY

9 a.m. - Start off your Sunday with a traditional Goan breakfast of pao-bhaji, bread and vegetables in gravy, at one of the many eateries that dot the Baga-Candolim stretch. Get on the motorbike and head toward South Goa, which has some of the best beaches on India's Western Coast.

11 a.m. - Palolem beach is one of Goa's most pristine beaches and is located at the southern tip of the state. Soak in the sun, do some swimming, read a book and just relax - that's what most people come to Goa to do.

2 p.m. - If you can rouse yourself from your slumber, treat yourself with a Sunday buffet lunch at the Taj Exotica or the Park Hyatt, both in South Goa. If you prefer to do some celebrity spotting instead, ask for directions to Martin's Corner, a small shack located in the village of Betalbatim. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actor Shah Rukh Khan are regulars to this family-run restaurant.

4 p.m. - If Goan food has intrigued your palate, perhaps a visit to a spice farm (www.sahakarifarms.com) might be appropriate. Spices play a vital role in Goan and Indian cuisine and an insight into what it takes to cultivate these spices is a good start toward understanding the local food.

8 p.m. - End your holiday with some drinks and people watching at the Taj Aguada Resort, one of Goa's best luxury hotels. Watch the sunset, breathe in the ocean air and start planning your trip back.

Road warriors should get ahead with these Apple services
At last count, there are more than 106,000 active iPhone apps ready for download (according to 148Apps.biz, a site that monitors Apple's candy store). You can track your diet, scan barcodes while you shop and even hear your own voice in Auto-Tune.

While the utility of some apps may be questionable, the App Store's wealth can turn your iPhone into a handy travel device. Some of the most well-known travel-friendly apps include: FlightTrack, which tells you if your plane is running late; Next Flight, which tracks upcoming departures; and Currency, which gives you updated exchange rate information. But of course, since there's more to travel than airplanes and Rupees, we rounded up four less-known apps for those on the go--all less than a buck to download.

Yelp's "Monocle"

Yelp isn't exactly a secret. The crowd-sourced reviews site has been a hit on both the Web and on the iPhone. Here's a new feature, however, that not everybody knows about. Just shake an iPhone 3G S with the latest version of Yelp's iPhone App three times to activate a feature called "Monocle." The idea, dubbed 'augmented reality,' is to point a screen, in any direction, and see information about what you're looking at superimposed over an image of the real world. Great concept. Skeptics have always wondered, however, who could possibly gather a big enough pile of information about the world around us to make such a service useful. Now we know: Yelp.

Cost: Free

Brian Caulfield

Email 'n Walk

Sometimes you need to both get things done and get where you're going. For that, the Email 'n Walk application is a nice addition to your phone's app portfolio. It uses the iPhone's internal camera to project a video behind the e-mail you're working on. So whether you're on a sidewalk, escalator or airport walkway you can multitask without tripping over yourself.

Cost: $0.99

-Taylor Buley

I'm In Town

Most travel iPhone apps focus on tracking flights, local information or language help. But if you think about it, having a convenient way to notify friends and family that you're in town is equally useful. The application "I'm In Town" does just that. With one click, it searches through your contacts list to find people in your vicinity and tells them--via e-mail or text message--that you're in town and how to get in touch with you. You can specify how many miles from your current location you want the app to search: five, 10 or 25 miles, for instance. You can also alert people before you arrive, basically saying that you're coming to town. That's pretty useful for 99 cents. The app works by searching address data in your contacts list, so you do need to fill out that information first. It's not flashy-looking. The cool part of "I'm In Town" is the functionality, not the design.

Cost: $0.99

-Elizabeth Woyke

Shoot It!

This travel app allows you to send personalized post cards through the mail, straight from your iPhone or Blackberry. The App is $0.99 and each post card sent within the U.S. is $0.99, including postage. Outside the U.S., it doesn't cost more than $1.50 total. Post cards at a store can cost $0.99 and up, plus postage. On top of that, you have to find a mailbox or post office. With 'Shoot It' you can take your own picture with your iPhone or Blackberry, type a personal message, and it's automatically sent to your friends and family with one click. Another helpful download: the Postcard Express App. Your friends can view those postcards on any smart phone, Mac, or PC.

Cost: $0.99 for the app, $0.99 to send a postcard in the U.S.

-Kym McNicholas

Spaniard Borja Tena Prado has turned his Beijing apartment into the perfect bachelor pad.

The penthouse apartment on the Upper East Side of the Lido area is just 10 minutes from Sanlitun and has a spacious rooftop terrace that must be perfect for parties.

The 30-year-old man, who works for a car company in the capital, studied design and engineering in England and Germany.

"Although I don't work as a designer in Beijing, I practice what I've learnt in my apartment." Tena said.

"I have been very lucky finding this place.

"The area was newly built when I moved in and I have been able to stamp my mark. I hope I am able to make it even more beautiful in the coming years."

He rented the apartment two years ago, and the first thing that grabs the visitor's attention is the Ferrari red cloth on the pool table. It provides a strong contrast to the white wall on its left.

On the right, there's a red wall, near stairs that lead to the roof terrace. A side table next to the main door is adorned with small candles and ideally placed to throw the car keys.

The red color gives the living room a relaxing atmosphere, but the mood changes as light breaks in from the window on other side of the room.

In addition, Tena has chosen a leather sofa in different shades of brown, and a leather couch in ivory white. The furniture is bought in Beijing."You can find unique furniture pieces and mix them up," said Tena.

"I have tried to mix white and brown in the lounge with quality leather. This gives the room a luxurious feel."

Situated on the top floor of an 11-story building, the apartment feels like a boutique hotel. It has floor to ceiling windows that also make up part of the roof, and offer stunning views of Chaoyang Park and at night, of the stars.

"At night I can lie on the sofa and look at the stars," Tena said. "Having this view over the park calms me down. I can chill out and take time away from Beijing's concrete jungle."

Among other unique features is a large banana tree, purchased from Laitai flower and plant market, that consumes an entire corner of the lounge room. A piece of carved teca wood from Bali is placed on the floor next to the tree.

"I wanted to have an exotic piece, this was basically the tallest and coolest plant the market had. I can eat the bananas, they are very sweet," Tena said. "The teca wood not only makes the plant look good, but also protects the floor by catching the water and tree leaves," Tena said.

Among other personal touches is a plastic doll made by Tena's friend, Spanish artist Judas Arrieta, on the glass stairs leading to the terrace.

He said he purposely chose not to hang any pictures on the white walls, but will soon have a painting of the sunset arrive from Spain.

"I like the motto, 'less is more'. I like clear walls and clean floors. I have pictures but not on display," Tena said.

There is also minimal decoration in Tena's bedroom, which features only a bed, two Chinese traditional chairs and a red Chinese-style drawer, on top of which is placed a Swedish Ericsson telephone from the 1960s - a gift from Tena's grandmother.

How to decorate your apartment

METRO reporter Alexandra Leyton Espinoza asks Borja Tena Prado for tips on how to decorate a flat.

What are the rules about colors?

Try to make contrasts by mixing white or cream tones with darker tones. Use colors to define desired and diverse ambience. Shiny, metallic and golden insertions on furniture are a big no-no.

Should I mix styles or follow a pattern? Can you mix modern furniture with traditional ones?

Yes, fusion of contemporary furniture and traditional Chinese patterns and antiques is quite cool. This is the choice I made for designing and decorating my apartment.

How do I create more space and light in a small room?

Make sure you make the most out of the corners in your apartment, measure carefully the space to perfectly fit in your furniture and maximize space.

Spot lighting and indirect lighting as well as dimming functions can achieve a warmer atmosphere in living rooms.

How do I create an open environment?

Avoid walls, use glass to replace walls if there must be a partition, and use different colors in the walls to define different ambiances.

Just like I did it in my living room. That gives you the feeling of entering two rooms instead of one.

What is the golden rule in styling a flat?

Keeping it simple is my tip for avoiding a feeling of overload or an overall appearance of a room being tacky.

Other tips on how to make your home more environmentally friendly?

Yes, I have.

First, try to avoid artificial wood in your furniture. Avoid furniture with electronic mechanism, like sofas that need batteries or electricity.

Second, change habits and frequently clean dust-collecting items in your room, like the books that you don't read any more.

Third, try to avoid too many electronic products.

Last, use energy-saving yellow-light bulbs.

Refined lines for Chinese tastes

When the Swedish furniture giant Ikea first opened its shop in Beijing in 1999, it hoped Beijingers would embrace its Scandinavian style of minimalism. It achieved its goal.

Danish freelance furniture designer Thomas Winther-Rasmussen, 33, said it's the emphasis of light in the rooms that makes Scandinavian design and furniture different from others.

In Scandinavia, it gets dark many hours earlier in winter while in summer the night shortens.

Furniture in a typical Scandinavian home reflects this. The furniture would be made of blond woods, like beech, ash, pine and oak, instead of dark woods often used in southern European countries. And the fabrics are natural materials, like linen and cotton.

Winther said the expression "Scandinavian design" is just a marketing term.

It refers to a certain design movement in Scandinavia that started in the 1950s.

It is also a kind of democratization of furniture with the aim of making the well-designed furniture available to the masses, he said, adding "something that IKEA in Sweden and FDB furniture in Denmark have adopted".

The design of the furniture would generally be light-colored, airy and minimalist with sleek lines and little decoration.

"The designs are created out of a simple basic idea," Winther said.

"For example, a chair, the designer has an idea for the construction and way of sitting, and then he would work with the lines of the chair to achieve this lightness and simplicity."

Classic Scandinavian furniture designers are generally craftsmen who have a very good feeling for the structural capabilities and the quality of the wood.

"This approach is part of reason why the Scandinavian designs stay so timeless," he said.

Winther also believes that the ideas behind the Scandinavian design reflect the Scandinavian society.

"We are quite open, with democracy and relatively little corruption," he said.

"I believe the simplicity, honesty and lightness of our furniture reflects the designers' progressive thinking and liberation of the mind."

While some Chinese buy famous Danish designer Arne Jakobsen's egg chair at 100,000-120,000 yuan each, some Chinese people prefer Italian or French styles.

Winther believes that Chinese people tend to look for something that is more elaborate and with more decoration.

"There is still no real appreciation of the basic and natural among Chinese," he said.

"But maybe Ikea will change that."

If there was a Nobel Prize for Music, Chinese pianist Lang Lang would probably get one.

The talented 27-year-old musician is widely acclaimed as one of the world's best piano players. He was also listed by Time magazine recently as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. And People magazine said he was one of the 100 sexiest men on the planet in 2008.

But there is no such thing as a Nobel Prize for Music, so the Chinese superstar had to settle for the next best thing this week: Being invited to play at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm.

He took part in the event in 2007 and he was back again this year to perform not only at the Nobel Prize Concert tonight but also at yesterday's black-tie Nobel Prize Ceremony in Oslo where US President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Lang Lang selected Chopin's solo Etude Op.10 No 3 in E major, also known as Tristesse, as the piece he would play before Obama delivered his acceptance speech.

"I chose this piece because it is a very peaceful piece, a melodic tone poem that is consistent with the message of the peace prize," Lang Lang told China Daily in Beijing on Monday before he headed for Oslo.

"I really hope that the message can be sent out to the world through Chopin's music.

"I was honored to be invited back to the Nobel Prize Concert and when I was told to play at the ceremony for President Obama, who was going to be awarded the Peace Prize, I was really, really excited.

"The Peace Prize is significant. Everybody should contribute to world peace, no matter whether you are a world leader or an ordinary person. It's my privilege to send a peaceful message around the world through music."

Lang Lang also performed Franz Liszt's A Dream of Love after Obama's speech.

Tonight, he plans to play George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert, which will also feature British pop singer Natasha Bedingfield, American country music singer Toby Keith and other international musicians.

Lang Lang said his Lang Lang International Music Foundation plans to start work next year in China where it will set about discovering, nurturing and financing children with musical talent.

"The foundation will carefully select the children we are going to support and, of course, I will listen to the kids playing personally," said Lang Lang.

Dancers performing on stage in Colors of Love.
Beijing Contemporary Dance Theater (BCDT) are putting the final touches on their latest production, Colors of Love, an exploration of women's psychology and attitudes to love, family and life at the different ages of 20, 30 and 40.

Through the combination of dance and stage design, the piece takes the audience through the life experiences of joy and pain, from a female perspective.

"Women's emotions are decidedly different from men's. All women want security, stability and a peaceful environment," commented artistic director Wang Yuanyuan.

The work was originally choreographed by Wang for the Royal Danish Dance Theater (RDDT) and premiered in Copenhagen in 2006. Now, three years later, Wang is combining the RDDT adaptation with a selection of her best works from the past 10 years as part of the troupe's one year anniversary celebration.

"Western dancers are different from Asian dancers physically and mentally," Wang explained. "When dancers are different, you need modify the dance, because dancers have different temperaments like different materials have different texture quality."

"To make the dance work, you need know their temperaments, personalities and know how to make the best use of their specialties in your work," she added. "I know my dancers; I know what they can do and what they can't."

Colors of Love consists of three parts. Sprouting shows the attraction, hopes and desires between a man and woman in the early stages of love; Betrayal reveals the dilemmas within a relationship; while Exile presents selfishness, hysteria and the mental struggle of traditional beliefs of marriage.

As a new modern dance group, BCDT has been continually striving to be different. During the year it has launched many new works with diverse styles, including the international collaboration Prism, a Chinese love story Stirred from a Dream and Haze with its heavy social themes.

"As modern dance develops to today, I don't think it is necessary to strictly develop a dance style under a certain system," Wang explained. "I won't pay much attention to developing my dance systems but I believe if I insist on my own creations and continually work on that, even I will change my style sometimes, I will still style using my features and my specialties."

"In the early stage of modern dance, the major American dance troupes, such as JoséLimón's and Martha Graham's, all styled and developed their own form of movements to separate their dance from ballet. These dance systems have become their feature and the culture of each dance troupe," Wang added.

During US President Barack Obama's visit to China, BCDT, in collaboration with the Beijing New Music Ensemble, organized the Obama Welcome Concert at Beijing's Penghao Theater. Although Obama ended up being too busy to attend, the concert received glowing reviews on the White House's website.

Shaolin Kungfu is a precious part of Chinese culture and Shaolin Kungfu masters are helping promote cultural exchange between China and other countries, and ultimately help enrich people's life all over the world, a distinguished Shaolin Kungfu master said here on Thursday.

As the chief coach of Shaolin Warrior Monks, Shi Yanlu arrived in Chicago Monday, along with a group of other 13 Kungfu monks from Shaolin Temple in China.

Invited by Suncastv, a Chicago-based IPTV provider, the Shaolin delegation will present Shaolin martial arts performance at Paramount Theatre of Aurora, a suburb of Chicago on Saturday.

"We are here to showcase our Shaolin Kungfu and Shaolin culture. We would like to promote culture exchanges and help American friends get more interested in and better understand Chinese culture," Shi told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Shi came from a well-known family of martial arts performers and became a monk in 1985. In 1988 he won the championship at the World Martial Arts Meeting held in Toronto, Canada. In 2004, he set up overseas divisions of the Shaolin Training Base in many countries including the United States, France, Russia and Germany.

According to Shi, Shaolin Temple is a Chan Buddhist temple located at Mount Song in China's Henan Province. Founded in the 5th century, the monastery has long been famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kungfu.

"Shaolin Temple has a history of about 1,500 years. Generations of Shaolin monks have done years and years of research, experiment and innovation to develop Shaolin Kungfu into a famous martial arts form in the world," Shi said.

"However, most people only know about the Kungfu but don't understand the deeper Shaolin culture. The essence of Shaolin culture is a unique blend of spirituality, wisdom and courage."

According to Shaolin Temple, the foundations of Shaolin culture are Chan, martial arts and medicine. It advocates the Shaolin way of life in order to improve the physical and spiritual well-being of humanity. Its ultimate goal is to promote, put into practice and spread the Shaolin Chan sect spirit to the world.

Asked about the international influence of Shaolin culture, Shi said: "Shaolin Temple has become more and more international over the last few years. We maintain exchanges with hundreds of cities and regions in the world. Each year we welcome thousands of international friends to Shaolin Temple for short-term or long-term training. Meanwhile, we are also trying to send our Kungfu monks to different places of the world so that we can bring Shaolin culture closer to people who love it."

As one of its international training bases, Chicago Shaolin Temple was established a couple of years ago to introduce and promote Shaolin culture in Chicago and beyond.

"We have set up centers in France, Russian, Germany and so on. ... Hopefully, our overseas centers can help people not only to learn and practice Shaolin Kungfu, but also to understand our culture better," Shi said.

"Shaolin culture is a precious part of Chinese culture. By spreading Shaolin culture to more and more people in the world, we help them get to know and become more interested in Chinese culture. As a result, it will ultimately enrich people's life both spiritually and physically."

According to Shi, Shaolin will stage performances titled "Shaolin Temple: Saga of Warriors Monks" during the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, offering a Kungfu gala for fans from around the globe.

"We are very excited and grateful about this wonderful opportunity to show the world our Kungfu. We are working very hard to prepare for it now and we will do our best to help make the Shanghai World Expo the best expo in history," Shi said.

Liu Yingbiao, secretary general of Shaolin Charity and Welfare Fund, is leader of the Shaolin Temple delegation. "I joined Shaolin Temple in 1983 when it was not very well known yet. Today we are known worldwide for our Shaolin Kungfu. Many international VIPs have visited our Temple including former Russian President Vladimir Putin. We would love to serve as a bridge to help promote communication between China and the rest of the world," Liu said.

Talking about the Shanghai Expo 2010, Liu said: "Shaolin Temple will have an 80-people group to perform. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity to present to the whole world our Shaolin culture and help them understand and appreciate Chinese culture better."

Xie Yunliang, acting consul general of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, said the Shaolin Kungfu masters' visit to Chicago was "very meaningful." "Shaolin Kungfu is not only martial arts, but also a philosophy. That is why it can last for 1,500 years and become even more popular today. I am very happy to see that Shaolin Temple has started entering the world stage, promoting cultural exchanges around the world."

"(U.S.) President (Barack) Obama has just had a very successful visit to China in November. ... Cultural exchange plays a very important role in enhancing U.S.-China relations. Shaolin Temple is making a great contribution to promoting Chinese culture and enhancing cultural exchange," Xie added.

There is drama at the auction house for contemporary Chinese art pieces these days. A crash in the world's markets has seen a fall in sales for red-hot vanguard artists such as Zhang Xiaogang, Zeng Fanzhi and Fang Lijun.

Contemporary Chinese art works, long held to be overpriced, may not recover any time soon, experts say.

This situation has given traditional Chinese art, ink art in particular, an opportunity to catch up. At the autumn auctions in Beijing, traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy set new records.

In late November, a rare hand scroll titled Eighteen Arhats by Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) painter Wu Bin fetched 169.1 million yuan ($24.8 million), the highest price paid for a Chinese painting.

Eighteen Arhats was sold to Shanghai collector Liu Yiqian at a hefty markup from the price it fetched in 1992, when it was sold for $620,000, in New York.

The previous record for a classical Chinese painting was set by Settling Down the Western Regions and Presenting Prisoners, by Qing court painter Xu Yang, which fetched 134 million yuan in October, at Zhongmao Shengjia autumn auction.

Setting aside the high-end art market, there has been a remarkable surge in the public's interest in traditional art, ranging from porcelain, jewelry, to bronze wares and ancient wooden furnishings.

In response, auction houses such as China Guardian Auctions are arranging quarterly sales that are a platform for intermediate and lower-end art works and collectibles. Antique markets are booming too.

Game shows airing on China Central Television and provincial TV stations, featuring established collectors and celebrities building collections of traditional art have further encouraged interest in traditional art works. Ordinary people have got in on the action by showing off their family treasures, be it a small bronze statue, a jade pendant, or a piece of time-weathered wooden furniture.

The rise of the Chinese art market started with the enactment of a revised Law on Cultural Heritage Protection in October 2002, which allows individuals or entities other than government units and public museums to own and trade traditional art works that are acquired legally. Before that, it was forbidden for individuals to own a piece of ancient art. This interest in collecting art has been fanned by rising incomes.

It is possible the market for traditional art will experience the same ups and downs of the contemporary art market, but I believe public enthusiasm and pride in traditional Chinese art will be constant and the market will keep moving up.

Italy's southern city Naples and China's southeastern city Wenzhou signed an agreement here on Thursday to enhance bilateral cooperation in tourism and culture.

The agreement focuses primarily on information exchange between local authorities on tourism and special cultural events, with relevant news to be posted on the websites of both cities.

According to the agreement, cooperation in the tourism industry will be boosted to promote internship and student exchange programs. Private investments will also be facilitated.

Naples' City Council President Leonardo Impegno said the agreement "represents a step forward in Sino-Italy relations," especially in the fields of tourism and culture.

Wenzhou's deputy mayor Xu Yufei praised the memorandum, saying that it "will offer many new opportunities for bilateral cooperation projects in the tourism industry".

The signing followed Impegno's recent visit to Wenzhou, where a friendship agreement was reached between the two cities.

The majority of Chinese people living in Italy come from Wenzhou and other areas of Zhejiang province.

A total of 1,452 museums and memorial halls, or 77 percent of the all these public institutions, are now free to visitors across China, Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said here Saturday.

"Free museums invite more visitors and arouse the concern and support to museum construction from the entire society," he said at a discussion in Zhengzhou, capital of China's relic-rich Henan province.

Currently, big museums could draw an average of 3,000 visits a day while small ones receive about 200 people. The proportion of teenagers, migrant workers, elderly people and low-income residents increased greatly after the free-entry policy was adopted by museums, according to Shan.

China issued a circular on Jan. 23, 2008, requiring all public museums and memorial halls to offer free admission by the end of 2009, except some designated cultural relics and historical sites.

A modern dance inspired by Russian folklorist Vladimir Propp's "The Morphology of the Fairy Tale" will highlight the "Festival Croisements" in China in May next year, the French Cultural Center in Beijing said Saturday.

"Manuel du Merveilleux," or "Manual of Miracles," depicts some of the literary mysteries by drawing on the method of Propp's classic, according to Li Peng, a communication officer of the center. Propp's work in 1928 has been widely remembered for exploring the 31 functions repeated in fairy tales of all the world's nations.

The 85-minute piece is a famous work of the French Systeme Castafiore headed by established dancer Marcia Barcellos and composer Karl Biscuit.

The works of the company integrate dancing, sophisticated images, sound installations to creates a playful atmosphere overflowing with imagination.

Li said, the work was scheduled to tour the cities including Guangzhou, Kunming, Beijing and Shanghai.

It will be a part of the activities of the 2010 "Festival Croisements" running from April to June. The event, launched in 2006, has been an effort to increase the cultural exchange between China and France.

The festival attracted some 250,000 people last year in China, said Herve Ladsous, the French Ambassador to China, at the official website of the activity.

Art festival titled "the Biennale Jogja X-2009" opened in Indonesia's Yogyakarta province Friday, Kompas daily reported on Saturday.

The Minister for Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik in his opening remarks said that culture could craft a nation's identity, making it much more important compared to tourism.

Therefore, the government through the ministry will allocate bigger budget for culture development.

The government pays intention heavily on culture development, Jero said, adding that the government sells culture for the sake of tourism should be erased as culture has a more important position for the nation.

"We won't lessen culture development. Instead, we will increase budget allocation for it every year," Jero Wacik said.

Director of the Biennale Jogja X Butet Kartaredjasa said that all these years, there has been tendency of misunderstanding in valuing culture. According to Butet, many parties said that culture is goods to be sold. The consequence is that the success of an art exhibition is often measured by merely quantitative aspect.

Related to the event, Butet said that with theme of "Jogja Jamming", the Biennale Jogja X tries to exit from such kind of view.

"Culture should not be meant as dead thing that could be sold and valued economically because culture is an act that could move people," said Butet.

The Biennale Jogja X will last from Dec. 12, 2009 to Jan. 10, 2010, performing various art works in four big showrooms and tens of points of public room in the city.

Chinese archaeologists have discovered 11 possible sections of ruins of the Great Wall of Qin (221 B.C. and 206 B.C.) and Han (202 B.C. and 220 A.D.) dynasties in northeast China's Jilin Province, with four of them confirmed, according to a report of the China News Service.

The ruins were found in Tonghua county by a research team organized by the province at the request of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in June, the service reported Saturday.

The Great Wall was built in different historical periods. The exact length of it built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was announced to be 8,851.8 km in December 2008 by a national survey team.

The old saying about the power of kungfu coming from within holds true when it comes to Wudang's martial arts.

The fighting form indigenous to the Wudang Mountains focuses on internal motions, and complements offensive and defensive moves with inner breath control.

Every year, the picturesque mountains in northwestern Hubei province attracts thousands of kungfu enthusiasts from home and abroad.

Legend has it the martial art was created by Zhan Sanfeng, who came to Wudang at age 76 in the 1310s to learn Taoist alchemic arts and extend his longevity.

One day, he witnessed a scuffle between a magpie and a snake on the mountain.

He noticed the bird attacked by fluttering up and down, while the serpent issued counterstrikes by shifting its body and head from side to side.

From observing this battle, he deduced the two guiding principles of Wudang kungfu: One must respond to a strong attacker with a gentle defense, and one must move after the enemy to use the assailant's own momentum against them.

Consequently, some Wudang kungfu moves still imitate animal locomotion.

And because the martial art artificer quested to stretch his lifespan, its practice is intended to prolong life and preserve health, in addition to offering a means of self-defense.

The techniques are meant to work in concert with internal breathing to create neigong (inner power).

Because Wudang is also the birthplace of Taoism, its kungfu style incorporates elements from the religion. These include the balance of yin and yang, as prescribed in the Book of Changes; the eight trigrams (heaven and earth, thunder and wind, water and fire, mountains and lakes); and the five cosmological elements (fire, water, wood, earth and metal).

As Wudang's fighting form was the first and the most prominent "internal" kungfu form, some other "soft" schools that did not originate from the area are sometimes erroneously categorized as Wudang style.

There are several schools under the Wudang umbrella, including xingyi (form and will boxing), bagua zhang (eight trigrams palm) and light-bodied kungfu. Arguably, the most prominent is tai ji quan, which focuses on awareness of eight aspects of one's body - changeability, easiness, roundness, lightness, evenness, flexibility, precision and steadiness. One should cultivate oneself so that one is hard and powerful inside, but soft and smooth outside.

This should enable the practitioner to "move like the waves of the Yangtze River flowing toward the ocean, one after another, never stopping".

Personal cultivation is steeped in the practice of Taoist qigong, a method of fusing body and spirit through controlled breathing.

It is based on a passage from Lao Zi's Tao Te Ching: "Empty the mind, and fill the belly; weaken the ambition, and strengthen the character."

Wudang qigong can be practiced in 18 forms.

The general principle is to first push the inner breath into a "small heavenly circle", which refines the energy and transforms the breath.

This inhalation should then be spun through a "large heavenly circle", in which the breath is refined and the spirit is transformed, causing them to become one.

Finally, all involved elements should fuse into a single integral, causing one to return to selflessness.

So, as practitioners of Wudang kungfu know, mastering this martial art is really about understanding, quite literally, the ins and outs of the human body, mind and soul.

For a 26-year-old Iranian woman, Confucius has given her a new way to display her skill at martial arts.

Though she teaches physical education at Tehran University in Iran, the laws there make it difficult for a woman to perform in public.

"Women in Iran usually are not allowed to sing or dance in public, but I can practice martial arts in the park, of course, with a headscarf that covers my hair," said Akramsadat Seyedrezaei.

In Beijing for the Fourth Confucius Institute Conference, however, she was able to perform on stage - even with other male friends.

"Practicing martial arts has been a popular sport among youngsters in Iran, and I am also happy to make many friends by learning and teaching it."

Seyedrezaei learns traditional Chinese martial arts at the Tehran-based Confucius Institute, and teaches it to female students in her class at Tehran University.

About 120 Iranian students study at the institute, and the martial arts course has attracted an increasing number of students.

On Friday evening, students from Confucius Institutes in 22 countries including Japan, Thailand, Mongolia and Australia staged a performance featuring Chinese songs and dances, as well as Peking Opera. It attracted delegates from 87 countries and regions.

State Councilor Liu Yandong said at the conference that the institutes had become an important brand of international Chinese language education and a significant platform for educational and cultural exchanges.

Liu, also president of the Confucius Institute headquarters council, said different cultures should respect and learn from each other and seek common ground while shelving differences.

"Languages, as carriers of culture and communication tools, are bridges for different civilizations," she said, adding that the Chinese government always encourages cross-cultural communication and advocates the study of other nation's languages.

Liu said the Confucius Institutes should innovate and localize teaching methodology and strengthen overseas cooperation.

More than 280 Confucius Institutes have been set up in higher education institutions around the world, with more than 230,000 students.

Shanghai had 34,886 foreign students in 2007 and every year more learners are drawn to the cosmopolitan financial hub of 18.88 million souls. Despite the modernity and Western facades, it takes some getting used to.

Some jump in with both feet, some find security in the expat "bubble," some ponder the mysteries of Chinese society over a warming bowl of 6-yuan (88 US cents) noodles and consider each little cultural collision an opportunity to learn. Everybody loves the food.

Be sensitive but develop a thick skin is the advice of Christine Tan, a Malaysian-Chinese studying for her master's degree in communications at Fudan University.

"Try to pick up on people's facial expressions and the tone of their voice - if something displeases them, very rarely do they voice it," she says. "Plus, little things, like commenting on your hair, age or job, may be deemed rude or insensitive where we are from, but here those comments are often thought of as observations, not criticisms or attacks."

For her, being a Westerner or other foreigner in China could be difficult, even in a sophisticated "Westernized" city.

"I feel that I automatically entered the expat club even if I don't want to be the stereotypical expatter who only hangs around other expats in an English-speaking circle," says Tan who speaks some Chinese.

As much as she wants to make local friends and live more like a local, it's almost impossible without a more advanced grasp of the language.

"It's too easy to feel lonely and alienated and thus seek out more people like yourself: foreigners in Shanghai," she says.

For Julia (not her real name), an Italian-American who studied Chinese language in Tianjin and spent two consecutive summers teaching English in Shanghai, the biggest challenge was finding the space for thinking outside the box and being creative.

"In China, that (kind of thinking) is not really rewarded, so I always had a hard time with 'being on the same wagon as everyone else.' I posed too many questions, I was too critical," she says. "In the classroom, I often pushed some more controversial subjects; sometimes I would directly talk to my students about different education systems. And at times at work I had to 'follow the book' or be boring and too repetitive."

This observation about Chinese reserve and not airing critical points of view was shared by other foreign students at Fudan University who were interviewed for this article.

A number declined to speak candidly on the record; some marveled at the restraint and the quietness of their Chinese peers.

One ex-UC Berkeley student says she was "surprised by how sheltered many Chinese students are, how stereotypes from a history mired in complex past still factor into a need for a stronger learning."

As Julia and other foreign students found, the teaching style they have experienced in China has been very narrative, repetitive and rarely infused with debate.

"Chinese students are more content to sit back and have material delivered to them; they tend to be more 'obedient' and absorb what they are being taught without comebacks or questions, or if they have questions they don't voice them," Tan says.

For Dr Meng Bingchun, a lecturer at the London School of Economics who has studied in China and the United States, educational exchanges with the West are crucial in helping to improve the learning environment and encouraging Chinese students to ask more questions.

"It is also good to see Chinese Western-educated professors going back and taking Western styles with them, not in terms of the West as being superior, but the interaction is helpful to allow Chinese students to step back and question many previous assumptions."

But in any case, Shanghai has no shortage of reverse traffic. Julia observes that "it was great to re-invent yourself and live outside the confines that are set when you live in the same place for too long." Another American student says: "Culturally, just by living in any foreign country, you gain a better understanding about it and about yourself."

Meanwhile, Chinese-American Sarah (not her real name), a Fudan post-graduate student in communications, admits she and her course mates had assumed their dual-degree program would pose few surprises.

"These aren't our first degrees," she says, "but the system is totally different, none of us have our feet under us yet."

What she had at first perceived to be administrative inefficiency was in fact Chinese politeness, she says, noting that sometimes she received no response rather than a negative, but necessary, response.

Yet, these initial culture shocks are to be expected for Westerners and other foreigners reorienting themselves in the different world of China.

Some students were expecting Shanghai to be far more like their former stomping grounds of London, Los Angeles and a host of other cities. One example is the barrage of stares received from locals, from the supermarket to the Metro and everywhere else in between.

One Hong Kong student reflects: "There's always a part of me that's the 'other.' It felt very out of the blue ... You'd expect that people would be used to new faces, it's 2009!"

Sarah, the Chinese-American, was not expecting general administrative inefficiencies in her daily life, from running errands to going to the bank.

"You see all this structure and modernity just from driving through Shanghai. This is what is being sold to you, the idea that Shanghai is every other cosmopolitan city in the world. But living here, what you see is not what you get. It's a facade of modernity on a very traditional China."

In handling these surprises, it can become all too easy to fall into an expat bubble of Western bars, clubs, shops and media, and dismissively moan about the cultural difficulties encountered daily.

A French economics student, who has spent two years studying both in Hong Kong and Shanghai, says: "Something I can't bear with the Chinese is the impoliteness," referring to the usual complaints: spitting, shoving, queue-jumping, littering.

Tan, the Malaysian Chinese, says: "I read that people are very warm, but only after they learn a bit more about you, get to know you for more than 15 minutes; they are not interested in being civil to a complete stranger."

But, for Tan in particular, who is familiar with Chinese customs, this can be handled again by being sensitive to local customs but also having a thick skin when interacting with locals.

Julia says: "The key is to keep an open mind and not place Western standards or judgments on everything. It is too easy to be critical from an outsider's perspective."

Shanghai is indeed booming and setting the standard for China's modernization, but does so at its own pace. The Western way is not the only way.

In some areas, meanwhile, there were few surprises. "I expected the food to be excellent," Tan says. The hole in the wall serving a batch of eight dumplings for 3 yuan, 6 yuan lamb skewers and huge bowls of steaming noodles that abound have provided much comfort in patience-testing times.

In the midst of acclimatizing difficulties, the students interviewed all wanted to be able to look back fondly on their years in Shanghai. Julia expressed her desire to "be involved in the growth phase of a new up and coming world power. It is an exciting time!"

Although few people can be prepared for the intensity of a city like Shanghai, by approaching it with an open mind and a cultural awareness that there's a method behind every madness, the road of culture shock will be a lot less bumpy.

In the meantime, hunkering down in dumpling houses and escaping the bitter chill seems a good way of reflecting and warming up.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger stressed on Monday that the reunification of Europe can only succeed when countries in the region also seek neighborly relationship.

On the occasion of the first South East Regional Conference of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, which opened in Sarajevo on Monday, Spindelegger stated that for a peaceful, stable and sustainable developing region, the cross-regional dialogue and cooperation would be the essential prerequisites.

He said that the "regional strategy for intercultural dialogue and cooperation in Southeast Europe" and the "Sarajevo Declaration" passed at the Conference created a basis for an enhanced cooperation in the areas of youth, education and media.

In cooperation with partner countries, Austria would especially help the youth. "Young people in the region need concrete economic and social perspectives. This is to incorporate cultural diversity in the education system and strengthen the active participation of youth in politics and society," said the minister.

He also pointed out: "Austria also therefore supports the various initiatives in intercultural dialogue of regional and international organizations, such as the Regional Cooperation Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) or the Council of Europe."

The UN Alliance of Civilizations is committed to be a global dialogue of cultures and religions. Representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Spain and Turkey attended the conference in Sarajevo.

The Syrian National Excavation Expedition on Sunday discovered a 44-meter long mosaic painting at Tal al-Kasara archeological site in the northeastern Syrian province Deir Ezzor, the official SANA news agency reported on Monday.

The painting representing geometric shapes and fishes with opposite heads was found in the cool hall of a bath house at the site, which is the first of its kind that was discovered in the Middle Euphrates Region.

Tal al-Kasra site was discovered for the first time by a British expedition in 1849 and the Syrian National Expedition started its excavations in 2006 during which it discovered a city dating back to the Byzantine Era.

Yarub al-Abdullah, head of the National Expedition, indicated that there was a large military defensive city at the site which was very important due to its strategic location between the borders of Byzantine and the Sasanian Empires, according to the report.

The conducted surveys unearthed Roman clay pieces to the west of the site, suggesting that it witnessed a great prosperity in the Byzantine Era, the report said.

Some of the most important archeological discoveries at the site were the gate of the city and two tombs built of basalt stone and painted with lime.

Braving a cold, rainy December evening, nearly 2,000 fortunate Chicagoans had the rare opportunity to witness a fantastic Shaolin Kungfu performance Saturday night.

At the Paramount Theater in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, 14 warrior monks, led by their world acclaimed chief coach, Shi Yanlu, showcased the authentic and classic Shaolin martial arts, developed by generations of warrior monks over the last 1,500 years.

Along with local Chinese dancers and musicians, the Kungfu masters presented a stunning visual feast to an enthusiastic audience, which was opened with a spectacular 10-minute traditional Chinese lion dance.

Paula Lazarz, a Chinese martial arts practitioner and teacher, and Helen Wang, an executive officer and TV anchor at Suncastv, co-hosted the event and inserted glamour and humor to the enjoyable evening.

The most exciting moment finally came when the Shaolin Kungfu masters, in their light gray Kungfu uniforms, took the stage as if it was their battle field.

Within the blink of an eye, "hai..""ya.."crackled through the theater. The powerful sound rumbled like thunder breaking through clouds, followed by the warrior monks' sweeping sequence of movements as brisk as lightning.

Holding their breath, and eyes popping, the audience watched the intricate fighting styles in absolute awe.

Monk Shi Hengshi kicked off the show with Shaolin's famous drunkard boxing. While portraying the illusion of a stumbling drunk, this maneuver is actually a highly skilled movement that combines power and grace.

Immediately following was Shi Hengli's tiger boxing performance, one of 10 open-hand boxing styles that mimic movements from animals such as tigers, eagles, snakes and grasshoppers. Jumping, kicking and roaring like a real tiger, Shi concluded his performance standing tall and courageous like a true king of the mountain.

During the weapon routines, warrior monks adroitly commanded awide range of weapons, such as double spears, swords, strings and knives, to demonstrate their incredible strength, flexibility and elegance.

Meanwhile, the Shaolin masters displayed their implausible internal strength and ability by performing the Qigong arts.

The audience shouted with excitement when one monk astonishingly threw a needle through a glass wall and popped the balloon on the other side, just like a magician.

A 10-year old warrior monk, Shi Xiaoliang, drew prolonged applause after performing Shaolin children's Kungfu, a style designed particularly for young practitioners. He acquires amazing flexibility and was said, to borrow the words of the hostess, as soft as cotton and as hard as steel.

Xie Yunliang, acting consul general of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, said, "over 20 years ago, the movie 'Shaolin Temple' brought huge fame to Shaolin Kungfu, which is a precious part of Chinese culture."

Chicago Shaolin Temple teachers and students also presented very impressive performances, including circular boxing and eight-step continuous boxing.

Chicago Shaolin Temple was founded by Master Shi Yanju, who launched the training classes aiming both at sharing his teachings with martial arts enthusiasts and preserving the rich tradition of Shaolin Kungfu.

"Our mission is to promote spiritual cultivation, improve health and carry forward the spirit of Zen-Wu and the Shaolin culture," said Shi Yanlu, "We would like to promote cultural exchange and help our American friends become more interested in Chinese culture and understand it better."

At the end of the performance, Jesse White, the Secretary of State of Illinois, received a Chinese calligraphy gift from Liu Yingbiao, a notable calligraphy artist at Shaolin Temple.

Jointly presented by Chicago Shaolin Temple and the Chicago-based IPTV provider Suncastv, the event is designed to further promote Shaolin Kungfu and Chinese culture through multi-media platform.

When I walked through the doors of the cafe near Wudakou, my friend was already sitting at a table quietly drinking a cappuccino. He acknowledged me with a nod of his head and a wry smile, but the slump of his shoulders and the dark circles under his eyes told me he had had a long day.

"Any luck," I managed in the most sympathetic tone possible.

"No," he responded, "I have been running around all day ... Joseph I am exhausted." We both sat for a moment in silence as he blankly stared out the cafe window. Finally, he turned to me and said, "All I want for Christmas is a visa."

At some point in our journey through the Middle Kingdom, every foreigner has had to worry about how to get or extend a visa. For some it's an easy task thanks to their connections or employer. For others, who are between jobs or searching for one, it can be a hellish experience. The stress headaches, paperwork, bureaucratic hurdles, and unscrupulous visa agents are enough to wear out even the most determined visitors.

My friend's problems had begun a few weeks earlier. He was hunting for the quickest and cheapest way to get a visa; he walked straight into the trap of an unscrupulous visa agent. "F visa no problem," promised the agent. "But don't I need an invitation letter from a Chinese business," my friend questioned. "Yes no problem," the agent replied, beginning to sound like a broken record. "But I don't have an invitation letter and don't know where to get one," my friend said. "Listen, no problem, you just pay us the money and we will take care of everything else," the agent said.

After a few more questions a deal was sealed and to ease any remaining nerves the agent ended in a five-minute speech about how his visa agency was like a Mercedes-Benz - reliable and trustworthy. Too bad it wasn't. A few weeks later my friend got a call. "Sorry sir, regulations have changed and we can't get you an invitation letter."

Now instead of relaxing with a visa in hand, my friend was spending his days rushing about Beijing trying to get his paperwork in order and his evenings in local cafes trying to recuperate from the jumbled mess.

As I watched him wearily rub his fingers across his brow I leaned forward and said, "It's enough to ask yourself if you really want to stay here, isn't it?" He paused, then looked me straight in the eye and said, "You and I both know this is the place to be."

He's right about that. Even in the face of the ongoing economic crisis, China has continued to grow while most other countries slip into recession. My friend realizes this and so I am sure he will not let a trip home for Christmas turn into an exile from China.

He will find his place at the table, it's just a shame that Santa can't process visas.

The lesson is simple. If you are going to use a visa service stick with the ones that encourage you to get your own invitation letter and that clearly let you know your responsibilities in securing a visa.

Don't waste your time and money. Life in a foreign land can be difficult enough, so don't let a visa-vendor take you for a ride.

Kunqu and Peking Opera maestro Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) gave a famous performance at Shanghai's Majestic Theater in 1946. Among the audience of celebrities and officials were the Kuomintang general Bai Chongxi (Pai Chung-hsi) and his family, including 9-year-old son Kenneth Pai Hsien-yong. That night, Mei and artist Yu Zhenfei enacted a scene from The Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭) called The Interrupted Dream (游园惊梦). It was a memorable night.

"I think it was fate. I did not know what it was. I did not understand it. But it haunted me," says 72-year-old Kenneth Pai, in his hotel room near Peking University. When Pai recalls his first encounter with Kunqu Opera there is excitement in his big, expressive eyes, even though 63 years have passed.

It was the beginning of a love affair with old opera and especially The Peony Pavilion, which turned out to be an "interrupted dream" throughout his life.

Pai's childhood in Shanghai ended in 1949 when the Kuomintang Party was defeated and the family settled in Taiwan, where he studied English literature at Taipei University and became an author.

At university he came across the scripts of The Peony Pavilion by Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) and he returned to the story many times as a writer. Inspired by the opera, he wrote a short story titled The Interrupted Dream in 1966. In 1982, he adapted this into a stage play. A year later, he produced two acts of the original opera, The Interrupted Dream, in Taipei.

"But it was not until 1987 when I returned to the mainland for the first time in 38 years to see a Kunqu Opera in Shanghai that my passion for the opera was lit again," Pai says.

As a guest professor, he was invited to Shanghai Fudan University to give classes for three months. On the day before leaving, he got a ticket to see The Palace of Eternal Youth () performed by the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company.

"I was overwhelmed," he says, "jumping and clapping even after the rest of the audience had left. In Taiwan I heard that Kunqu Opera was forbidden during the 'cultural revolution' (1966-76) and it was dying in the mainland. But that night, I saw a wonderful performance by the leading artists, Cai Zhengren and Hua Wenyi. I saw the art revived, with my own eyes."

After the show, Pai went backstage to meet the performers and they invited him to join the after-show dinner.

Then fate played another trick. When Pai arrived at the restaurant, at No 150 Fenyang Street, he found it was where his family had lived in Shanghai, before they left in 1949.

"How incredible! Life is a drama! All the memories of my boyhood in Shanghai flashed back and I felt it was indeed a 'dream interrupted'," he says, his eyes sparkling.

The actors told him how they had struggled to revive Kunqu Opera. Pai decided: "If they can do this, I must help them. If this art form could survive the 'cultural revolution', it must go on."

After returning to Taiwan, Pai resumed his dream of staging his own large-scale Kunqu Opera production. In 1992 he produced a three-hour show in Taipei, but felt it was "not that good".

"I want to do a more beautiful production, a production that caters for young audiences in the 21st century," says Pai, who says the opera is facing two main problems.

First, the maestros are aging and no longer fit enough to play the roles of young men and women in the various Kunqu Opera love stories; while the young actors just get a few supporting roles. The second main problem is that the audience comprises usually old people.

He also points out that Taiwan and the mainland have different problems. Taiwan has a wide audience base who appreciate Kunqu Opera, but less well-trained performers. The mainland, on the other hand, has the best performers but a shrinking audience and low income for the performers.

A breakthrough came in 2002, Pai was invited to give lectures about Kunqu Opera to middle school students in Hong Kong.

"It was the biggest challenge of my teaching career: How to attract some 1,500 teenagers who speak Cantonese and have probably never heard old opera to concentrate for two hours. I asked the organizer to get some performers to give a demonstration at my lecture," says Pai.

Yu Jiulin, in his early 20s, from Suzhou Kunqu Opera Company, performed a scene from The Peony Pavilion and convinced Pai he was the perfect Liu Mengmei, the leading male role in the play.

"Everybody in the lecture hall watched his performance carefully. Nobody walked out, nobody used their cell phone and nobody talked during the demonstration. I thought since these kids speak Cantonese and can appreciate it, why not those in Jiangsu, Shanghai or Beijing?"

Soon after, Pai went to Suzhou Kunqu Opera Company where he discovered Shen Fengying, "a young girl with charming eyes that bespoke shyness, tenderness and love". In Pai's eyes, she was the perfect Du Liniang, a leading female role in The Peony Pavilion.

Then Pai collaborated with Suzhou Kunqu Opera Company, getting two Kunqu maestros Wang Shiyu and Zhang Jiqing to work with Yu and Shen to create what he calls the "Young Lovers' Edition" of The Peony Pavilion, a lightly modernized production.

Since its premiere in 2004, the nine-hour, three-night show has been performed over 180 times in the mainland, Taiwan, United States and Europe, to great acclaim. The main reason for this success is the blending of tradition with innovation, thus giving Kunqu Opera aesthetics a new direction.

"What challenges us most is how to combine tradition and modern aesthetics, how to revive the 600-year-old art on the 21st century stage," Pai says.

"My practice is to follow tradition. But it is not limited by tradition and has a correct modern interpretation. It is like you cannot add or change any stroke in a piece of ancient calligraphy, but you can mount it in a nice frame to hang on the wall in the right light. With Kunqu, we use modern lighting, costumes and settings but the acting, narrative and singing retains a traditional style."

Pai's second "Young Lovers' Edition" Kunqu Opera play The Jade Hairpin (玉簪记), also performed by Yu and Shen, premiered last night at Peking University Hall and again demonstrates his concept of modernized Kuqnu Opera.

To Pai, The Peony Pavilion is an epic love story while The Jade Hairpin is more exquisite and a typical play between the sheng (male role) and dan (female role).

Based on a well-known Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) story, The Jade Hairpin by Gao Lian (1527-1609) is a passionate love story between the young scholar Pan Bizheng and the Taoist priestess Chen Miaochang. It is one of the earliest romantic plays that deals with sexuality. The young lovers defy the conventions of puritanical Confucianism and religious abstinence to unite in secret.

Director Weng Guosheng from Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Company takes another big step toward simplicity and freedom in expression. The linear beauty of Chinese calligraphy occupies a central place on stage. Dong Yang-Tzi's calligraphy, and Hsi Sung's paintings create an "ink-wash" world on stage. The costumes designed by Wang Tong have an understated elegance. This production endeavors to raise the aesthetics of Kunqu Opera to an even higher level of poetic expression.

The Jade Hairpin is on tonight and The Peony Pavilion will run from Dec 18 to 20 at Peking University Hall. The performances are part of Kunqu Opera Culture Week, co-launched by Pai and Peking University. Aside from the performances, Pai is also giving lectures at Peking University, Peking Normal University, Tsinghua University and China Europe International Business School Beijing Campus.

The on-going Kunqu Opera Culture Week at Peking University kicks off a five-year project on Kunqu Opera, co-launched by Peking University, Suzhou Kunqu Opera Company, Kenneth Pai Hisen-Yong - and sponsored by Coca-Cola China.

In the next five years, Peking University will regularly hold international symposiums and seminars about Kunqu Opera; establish a digital database to record, collect and preserve Kunqu Opera performances; open classes on appreciating the opera; collaborate with opera schools to train young performers; and set up a foundation to finance student Kunqu Opera societies and communities. During the annual culture week, leading companies will perform new productions of classic repertoires and renowned artists will give lectures at campuses.

Five new research works and translations by senior Sinologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Far Eastern Studies debuted here on Friday.

These books are the Chinese classic text Tao Te Ching, research on China's late leader Deng Xiaoping, Confucius and Confucianism, the ancient Chinese philosopher of Neo-Confucianism Zhou Dunyi, as well as Ba Gua, or the eight trigrams related to Taiji philosophy that represent the fundamental principles of reality.

Mikhail Titarenko, president of the Russia-China Friendship Association, said at the debut ceremony that thanks to painstaking efforts of Russian Sinologists, these new books were of special significance to enhancing mutual understanding and traditional friendship between Russian and Chinese peoples.

Li Huilai, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Russia, said he hoped scholars from both countries would continue publishing new research and making contributions to language and cultural exchanges between China and Russia.