Latest news with #Guangdong
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
China cobbler with no legs learns English through radio, dreams of making Harvard speech
A street cobbler in China with no legs has impressed the mainland public with his fluent English and his dream of one day delivering a speech at Harvard University. Advertisement The Huang Huaquan, 44, had his legs amputated after he was knocked down by a lorry at a rural market when he was six years old, the Beijing News reported. Huang, from a village in Heyuan, Guangdong province in the southern part of China, halted his education as a result of his condition after graduating from primary school. Seriously disabled Huang Huaquan has to use his hands to move around. Photo: bjnews He has been interested in English since childhood, and borrowed old textbooks from friends, teaching himself with the help of cassettes and radio. Huang is a former disabled weightlifting athlete and has won a gold medal, among others, at the Guangdong provincial disabled people's sports event in the past. For the past nine years, he has been earning a living repairing shoes and umbrellas on the street. He has managed to buy a car and a flat as a result. Advertisement 'What does not kill me makes me stronger. This is the perfect illustration of my life,' Huang was quoted as saying.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Watch a brilliant 'fireball' meteor explode over China on May 28 (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Residents of Maoming, China were treated to a celestial light show earlier this week when a surprise fireball burst to life overhead, illuminating the city before disappearing in an intense flare of light. The fireball burned up over the southern Chinese province of Guangdong at 9:33 p.m. local time on May 28, according to multiple dashcam videos that have circulated online in the wake of the event. The videos show the meteor make a dramatic 5-second journey through the night sky, during which it changed color from a pale green-blue hue to an intense burst of orange-yellow light. This particular fireball may have been a bolide - a special meteor that breaks apart with a dramatic flash of light. A fireball is the name given when a relatively large meteor - over 1 millimeter in diameter - collides with Earth's atmosphere, triggering a fleeting flare of light that can outshine the planets themselves in the night sky. The color of a burning meteor is determined by a number of factors such as its speed, composition and how it compresses the air in its path, according to the American Meteor Society. Bright, reddish flashes of light can arise when fast-moving meteors strike the atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles per hour, compressing the air in front of them. This process causes them to glow brightly in the night sky and has the potential to force atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen atoms trapped in the meteor's path to release an abundance of reddish light, according to NASA. Meteors with a high sodium content also have a tendency to burn with an orange-yellow light. No major meteor showers were active on the night in question, so it's likely that the Maoming City fireball was born of a 'sporadic meteor' - a random piece of space debris left over from the creation of the solar system that happened to collide with Earth on May 28. Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
‘Disgusting': Chinese scholar's reproof of washing dishes at tables sparks online spat
Social media users in southern China's Guangdong province have been outraged by comments from a scholar who criticised their long-standing practice of washing tableware with hot water at tables as 'disgusting'. Advertisement In a video clip released on May 12 on a major social media platform, Wang Zhongqiu, an expert in enterprise management, stated that this common behaviour among Guangdong diners makes him uncomfortable, according to the Yangtze Evening News. In many restaurants across the country, customers are served a set of sterilised tableware, including a bowl, a plate, and a cup, which are sealed with plastic film. This tableware is typically provided by professional dishwashing companies. In a video, Wang Zhongqiu, a specialist in enterprise management, expresses that the common practice of washing dishes at the table among diners in Guangdong makes him feel uneasy. Photo: Douyin 'We believe that sterilised dishes should meet the authorities' standards, and customers should feel assured when using them,' Wang said in the video. 'However, the reality is quite different. I've visited many places in Guangdong. Before each meal, diners there wash their bowls and chopsticks with boiling water. They then place the plastic film and the used water into a large vessel,' he remarked. 'That scene is unsightly. It makes people feel disgusted,' Wang added. Advertisement His remarks have sparked mixed reactions from internet users in mainland China, with many from Guangdong chastising him. 'I agree with this scholar. It is unnecessary to wash them again. Soaking the bowl in hot water for only a few seconds cannot eradicate germs,' commented one online observer.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
People laugh in my face when I say I'm Chinese. So what?
I am a Chinese man. It's just taken me more than 30 years to be OK with saying this. Advertisement You might not think so to look at me. I'm the son of a Singaporean Chinese mother and a British father, but the genetic lottery dished out a Caucasian face and that became a self-fulfilling prophecy. When I was growing up in Singapore, people saw me as white, so that was how I felt. I never took Lunar New Year very seriously, and at my rebellious, teenage nadir even skipped the festivities entirely (well, almost). Instead of attending reunion dinner on the eve of the festival and big gatherings on days one and two, I stayed home in a sulk over the pointlessness of these centuries-old traditions. Shamelessly, I had no problems keeping the ang pow , or red packets containing money, collected on my behalf. I gave up learning Mandarin effectively after primary school, having stupidly convinced myself that failing the subject was 'cool'. It is deliciously ironic that I've ended up occasionally having to translate Chinese into English at work, muddling through with the help of native speakers and Google Translate. Shamefully, I never learned Teochew beyond counting to 10 and asking, 'How are you?' and 'Have you eaten?' – even though my mother and her siblings spoke the dialect to each other and it was the closest link with my grandfather's roots in Swatow (now Shantou, in Guangdong). The language barrier prevented me from having a direct conversation with my maternal grandparents. Advertisement In a way, putting my Chinese heritage on the back burner was practically official – my birth certificate holds no recognised Chinese name. My aunt came up with the Chinese surname I used in school, a phonetic version of Driscoll (di ke in pinyin), despite my mother's perfectly fine Chinese surname being right there, ready to be inherited.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
China Cultural Expo: The Deep Integration of Culture and Technology, Shaping a New Blueprint for the Digital Era
SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG, CHINA, May 30, 2025 / / -- The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (Cultural Expo) is currently in full swing. Known as the 'Barometer of China's Cultural Industry Development,' this annual event is offering a panoramic view of the thriving convergence of culture and technology. It serves as a critical window into the innovative development of China's cultural industry. Held from May 22 to 26, the expo has attracted 6,280 exhibitors, including government delegations, cultural institutions, and enterprises, both online and offline. The scale and impact of the event have reached new heights. Cutting-edge Technology Empowering an Immersive Cultural Feast With the theme 'Innovation Leads Trends, Creativity Lights Up Life,' the expo focuses on the frontier of cultural and technological integration. For the first time, the event introduced the AI-powered exhibition assistant 'Wen Xiaobo,' which uses intelligent algorithms to provide real-time navigation and information retrieval services, enhancing the visitor experience. A newly established Artificial Intelligence section showcases over 60 industry-leading companies, including UBTECH and MetaVerse, fully presenting the 'AI + Culture' ecosystem, which has become a central attraction of the fair. Walking through the venue, one is immersed in scenes where technology and culture converge. From AI-powered ancient manuscript restoration to metaverse-based cultural tourism experiences, from robotic performances to immersive interactive installations, various 'Culture + Technology' applications are refreshingly innovative. Human-shaped robots, acting as 'cultural ambassadors,' not only demonstrate the graceful movements of Wing Chun and play classical piano pieces but also challenge visitors to chess matches, displaying remarkable AI decision-making capabilities. Additionally, an AI-driven robotic arm offers smart acupuncture services, with precise acupoint location and force control, highlighting new possibilities for integrating technology into traditional medicine. Smart glasses, equipped with real-time translation capabilities, break down language barriers and facilitate efficient cross-cultural communication. The Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) zones have become crowd favorites. In the Futian District of Shenzhen, long lines formed in front of the Opportunity Time X-META full-sensory VR theme park. Visitors, wearing cutting-edge headsets, become time travelers, experiencing a 15-minute fantasy adventure in a snowy world. The exhibit also showcased the world's first Android-based spatial computer, integrating mixed reality functionality with powerful computing capabilities and portability, showing immense potential for applications in education, film, gaming, and more. In another area, visitors wearing MR headsets could witness the giant Egyptian Ramses statue 'descend' into the real world, while drones hovering above responded to hand gestures, creating a stunning virtual-physical interaction effect. Frequent Innovations Driving Industry Transformation Technological innovations in the field of ancient book preservation also captured attention. A showcased model of ancient manuscript restoration, powered by deep learning of vast data sets including the text styles and paper textures of ancient texts, demonstrated high-precision digital restoration of precious documents such as Dunhuang manuscripts. Using a 'Restore Like New' approach, this breakthrough technology has been hailed as a milestone in cultural heritage preservation. During the fair, a series of benchmark industry achievements were unveiled. The first manned-grade unmanned aerial vehicle model, introduced as a new path for the low-altitude tourism industry, attracted attention. The launch of a conversational AI engine, leveraging natural language interaction and generative technologies, significantly simplifies application development processes and accelerates the arrival of a 'everyone is a developer' industry transformation. These innovations not only lower the technical application threshold but also push the cultural industry toward a more platform-oriented and ecosystem-driven transformation. As a significant platform for the development of China's cultural industries, this year's fair not only bridges the gap between technological displays and trade transactions but also sparks deep reflection across sectors about the collaborative development of culture and technology, and global cultural market integration models. With the advancing wave of digitalization, the deep integration of culture and technology will undoubtedly inject strong momentum into the high-quality development of China's cultural industry, creating a new blueprint for the digital age. Andy Yan North Professional Consultation Ltd email us here Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. 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