Billi Bierling writes in the Nepali Times: "Mountaineering is always unpredictable because of weather, avalanches and the effects of altitude. But climbing the world?s highest mountain this year has an added uncertainty: China."
As hundreds of climbers are gathering in Kathmandu for climbing expeditions to the south side of Chomolungma, China is exerting pressure on Nepal to ban all expeditions to the mountain during China's olympic year. It seems that Beijing is doing all in its power to avoid someone unfolding a 'Free Tibet' banner at the summit just as the olympic torch gets there.
The cancellations and uncertainty has already cost several hundred people their jobs, at a time when they normally earn most of their annual income, and the people suffering most are the Sherpas. Read more in Billi Bierling's article.
Two tall ship organisations have announced a search for crew. Clipper Round the World, founded by Robin Knox-Johnston, is searching for Singaporean and Singapore-based ex-pats, applicants have to be over 18 at the time of the race but there is no upper age limit.
The current Clipper fleet sets sail from Keppel Bay Marina, Singapore, on Sunday 27 January, 2008, departing the marina at 10.30am to head out to the start line for a race to Qingdao, China, which is the venue for the sailing events of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
In the second opportunity, fifty people from all over Cornwall will join tall ships in Falmouth, England, taking part in a race which leaves Falmouth on 13th September, 2008, bound for Ilhavo in Portugal, then on to Funchal in Madeira, in the Funchal 500 Tall Ships Regatta 2008.
In this video clip posted by therion616, an advanced Qigong master in China projects his chi energy through people.
If you think that was awesome but wonder how genuine it is, take a look at this second video of the same master, which appears to have been taken some years earlier.
China's famous Yangtze River, is suffering from a severe water shortage caused by a longer than normal dry season; water levels are falling dramatically and the concentration of pollutants is rising, both of which are impacting the river's wildlife. Media reports indicate that the problem was initiated by the severe drought experienced in the upper reaches of the river during the autumn and that the situation will continue to worsen in February. According to U.S. scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center, 2007 was the warmest year ever recorded for the Earth's land areas.
As the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games approaches, it seems that there is an unprecedented interest in tickets for the event. The Beijing games look likely to break all previous visitor records and despite the allocation of tickets for overseas visitors being increased, it seems that there are likely to be many disappointed fans. Read more.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ticks relentlessly towards August 8, 2008, now less than a year away. Much of the city is busy constructing the sports stadiums, hotels and new subway lines needed to host the Olympic Games.
What better time to begin getting to know China and Beijing? To kick things off, read an informative article in the Times Online from Jane Macartney, who takes an insider's tour through Beijing, and for non-Chinese speakers, start getting to grips with Mandarin by subscribing to the 'Teach Yourself Mandarin Chinese Conversation' by Elizabeth Scurfield & Song Lianyi; the course is also being made available through Times Online.
Stock up on the mooncakes and dig out the lanterns; 25 September, 2007, which is the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, is the date of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.
Chinese communities throughout the world will be celebrating one of their most colourful and happy festivals, when the harvest moon is welcomed with a sea of lanterns.
I came across this picture record of the recent 2007 Great Wall of China Marathon. The 1300 runners were mainly foreigners from 36 different countries , with a handful of Chinese nationals and four goats; there is a picture of the goats but it is not clear if they were accompanied by a herder or just joined in to the melee.
The route includes 3700 steps of the Great Wall of China and is possibly the world's most beautiful and extraordinary marathon. Spaniard, Salvador Calvo won this year's marathon, breaking the course record. Next year's Great Wall Marathon is scheduled for 17th May, 2008.
Writing in the Shanghai Daily, Michelle Qiao suggests two great musical shows for anyone in Shanghai during the May Day holiday. "Sound of Cloud Land", which is a true-to-life collection of primitive dance and songs of 18 ethnic groups of the province, celebrating nature, life and eternal love, and "Immortality" which is based on the recently unearthed Jinsha Relics, described as the greatest archaeological find of the 21st century.
The Jinsha ruins, discovered in 2001, were unearthed in a village in the Chengdu's suburbs of South Western China's Sichuan Province. This astonishing archaeological discovery revealed an undocumented civilization around 3,000 years old in the Shu kingdom. Buildings, jade articles, stone figures, gold foil, bronze articles and ivories were all unearthed, and the Jinsha Ruins Museum has been built on the site to display over 1000 precious relics.
An Italian expedition led by Piero Lapiana, plans to retrace the Silk Road.route that Marco Polo took to China, using the same type of horses; veterinarians from Perugia University will be on hand to monitor the horses condition and to study how they perform.
Lapiana's expedition is expected to take about 15 months but modern travellers can enjoy retracing the 4,000 year old route, established by migrant Buddhist monks and trader-merchants, in just 13 days with a Silk Road tour organized by LetsTravelChina.com. The tour begins in Beijing and includes the Forbidden City, visits centuries-old Xi’an, once China's capital and home to the Terracotta Warriors, and also visits the highest natural arch in the world, Shiptonj's Arch, before concluding in Kashgar, where travelers can roam the bustling Sunday market, still teeming today with thousands of merchants selling their wares and livestock.
The tour begins in Beijing and includes the Forbidden City, visits centuries-old Xi’an, once China's capital and home to the Terracotta Warriors, and also visits the highest natural arch in the world, Shiptonj's Arch, before concluding in Kashgar, where travelers can roam the bustling Sunday market, still teeming today with thousands of merchants selling their wares and livestock.
