South BeiJing 北京

A look at traditional Chinese arts in modern day ShenZhen and BeiJing.

PingYao lies in ShanXi province, central China, about 700 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of BeiJing and 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the provincial capital TaiYuan.. PingYao is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being "an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Han Chinese city". PingYao is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Han Chinese city, founded in the 14th century. This ancient city is renowned for its well-preserved city walls and outlying temples. The city walls were constructed around 1370 and have six barbican gates. The walls are 12 meters high, with a perimeter of 6 kilometers. A 4 meter wide, 4 meter deep moat lies just beyond. There are also 72 watchtowers.

ZhangJiaJie National Forest Park lies about 270 kilometers (170 miles) to the north-west of ChangSha, the capital of HuNan Province. Part of WuLingYuan 武陵源 Scenic Area.

Dr Rangan Chatterjee talks with professor David Sinclair ...

An up-lifting music video by Nate Noble; filmed during a stint teaching English in ZhuZhou ...

An hour north from BeiJing city center ...

Sometimes in browsing the web disparate things just seem to come together, as here. Two different popular singing shows, one an established artist, one a teen on a first audition; one common theme - 'this girl is on fire'. In the first video, from 'I am a singer', I was so struck by the gusto of the performance. The cut-aways are to the other competitors; one can feel that the knives were out (in some cases) but she said 'take that', and nailed it ... The song is hard to translate but means something like : I want to be the real me (not one with a smile who is sad inside). Second is a lovely teen wearing a chili pepper (which is a big plus in my book); it's a bit rough in places but she hits the key lines great. Momo Wu (we love you too) watch out ;) What I love about the 'Voice of China' is that it has real humanity - judges with true music passion and pure hearts, plus a sense of hummor ... 鄧紫棋 G.E.M. (Gem Tang) - 存在_我是歌手第二季 中國好聲音 2014-07-18 第三季 - 第一期 劉至佳 - 'Girl on Fire' (Alicia Keys)

Opens today - 27th June 2021.