Latest news with #TempleofHeaven
The Star
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
China invites US influencers to showcase 'real China'
Successful applicants will visit five Chinese cities, including Beijing, where the Temple of Heaven is located.— Unsplash China is inviting American influencers to join a 10-day, all-expenses paid trip through the country this July, as part of Beijing's efforts to boost people-to-people exchanges and showcase the 'real China'. The initiative, titled 'China-global youth influencer exchange programme', seeks to enlist young social media influencers with at least 300,000 followers to collaborate with Chinese content creators, according to recruitment posts by Chinese state-affiliated media outlets, including the China Youth Daily. While relations between China and the US have deteriorated in recent months over issues including geopolitics, technology and trade, the program marks an effort to boost cultural exchanges. Last year, President Xi Jinping had called for more exchanges between Chinese and American universities, after previously announcing a plan to welcome 50,000 American students to China. Another post in College Daily, a publication particularly targeting Chinese students in North America, specified that applicants for the exchange programme based in the US should be active on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X, and should 'love Chinese culture' and 'have no history of bad behaviours'. It called on Chinese students overseas to encourage influencers in their circle to apply, and said the successful candidates will get China's official invite as well as special assistance from the state to process their visas. The trip intends to take the participants across five Chinese cities – Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Handan and Beijing, and will cover China's ecommerce hubs, the headquarters of companies such as Xiaohongshu Technology and BYD. The influencers will also partake in cultural activities such as taichi and be able to live-stream their trip to the Great Wall, according to the posts. Working with Chinese social media influencers on ideas, and getting their content promoted by China's state media will be part of the deal. Social media content from western influencers travelling through China post-Covid-19 have won praise from the state media for their authentic portrayal of everyday life in the country. In April, American streamer IShowSpeed's visit to China sparked widespread curiosity among fans about advancements in Chinese technology. Authorities have tapped social media influencers to check negative information and promote positive contents. In 2023, think-tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute analysed over 120 foreign influencers, mostly active on Chinese social media, received the state's help to grow their influence in return for content that praises and spreads Beijing's narrative. – Bloombberg
Al Jazeera
12-04-2025
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Flights cancelled, millions told to stay indoors as strong winds lash China
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled and public parks are closed in Beijing, as strong winds driven by a cold vortex from neighbouring Mongolia felled hundreds of trees and crushed cars across the Chinese capital. Beijing issued its second-highest gale alert on Saturday, the first time in a decade, warning 22 million residents to avoid non-essential travel as winds could potentially break April records dating from 1951. The city's two vast international airports, Beijing Capital and Daxing, cancelled 693 flights on Saturday afternoon with warnings of more violent weather on its way, especially in the country's north and along coastal areas. More flights and trains were also cancelled as some parts of the country recorded their most powerful winds in more than 75 years, registering at up to 148km/h (92mph). The winds brought late snowfalls in Inner Mongolia and hailstones in southern China. In Beijing, the Universal Studios theme park was forced to shut operations at least through Sunday, while historic sites such as Beijing's Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven were closed. Football matches and other outdoor events have also been suspended. A half-marathon set for Sunday featuring humanoid robots competing with humans in a bid to showcase China's technological advances was also cancelled. The winds dominated social media chats, with many people expressing concern for food delivery workers braving the conditions. 'In weather like this, we can choose not to order delivery – it's too hard for them,' one Weibo user wrote. Sandstorms raging over a stretch from Inner Mongolia to the Yangtze river region also crippled road travel in eight other provinces, Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV said. Sandstorms were also expected to affect Shanghai from Saturday afternoon through to Sunday morning. High winds and sandstorms are generated in China's dry north, where the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts sit surrounded by grasslands and, mountains and forests. China has fought a decades-long battle to lessen the impact of sandstorms, especially in Beijing, which sits on the edge of an arid region, and where such storms can reduce visibility to practically zero, send sand into buildings and clothing and cause severe discomfort to the eyes, nose and ears.
South China Morning Post
26-01-2025
- South China Morning Post
Study Buddy (Explorer): Ice art and snow fun in freezing Harbin, China
Content provided by British Council Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below: [1] People are making the best of the freezing weather in northeast China. The annual Harbin Ice and Snow World delights visitors with finely chiselled ice sculptures, exciting ice slides and other attractions. [2] This ice sculpture festival is a major tourist draw for the former industrial centre, a city with Russian legacy and Tsarist-era architecture found nowhere else in China. The festival's riverside site features giant artworks depicting the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, the Osaka Castle of Japan and Beijing's Temple of Heaven – all carved from clear blocks of ice. [3] Jin Yiting visited with her parents from Shanghai, enjoying the wintry contrast to central and southern China. 'The ice sculpture looks exactly the same [as the Temple of the Heaven]. I touched the ice, and its texture was solid and translucent. It looks elegant when the sunlight passes through,' she said. [4] Another visitor, Song Shukun, seen pushing his girlfriend in a doughnut-shaped sledge, said the ice blocks helped him understand how the structures were assembled. 'I can see the inside of the structures and how they are arrayed and laid out. It reminds me of the bricks of the Great Wall [of China],' Song said. [5] The main festival covers 1 square kilometres (0.39 square miles) of the city, with the sculptures using 13,000 cubic metres (around 459,100 cubic feet) of ice blocks cut mainly from the adjacent Songhua River. There are satellite parks elsewhere in Harbin. 'When I come here and see all the ice sculptures and snow, it's just, wow!' said Gu Junyan, who is from the Henan province, which sees little snow. [6] Ice slides – the longest ones reaching 521 metres (around 1,710 feet) – are a main attraction, with visitors waiting almost an hour to get their chance to go on. 'In the beginning, it was steady. The wind was strong once I slipped off the slope, and I felt cold. It was very exciting,' said Gong Caiyun after coming down a slide. [7] Sculptors prefer to keep things simple for maximum effect, said artist Andreu Aleas. 'We don't want a lot of details – just playing with size and making these lines very clean, plain. Sometimes, it's difficult to appreciate the details with snow because everything is white. We decided to do this kind of fine artwork with just some lines, planes and curves,' Aleas said. Source: Associated Press, January 9 Questions 1. What are the attractions mentioned in paragraph 1 made of? 2. How often does the Harbin Ice and Snow World take place, according to paragraph 1? 3. What did Harbin used to be, according to paragraph 3? 4. Decide whether the following statements about paragraphs 2 and 3 are True, False or the information is Not Given. Fill in ONE circle only for each. (4 marks) (i) Jin lives in the city where the Temple of Heaven is located. (ii) Temperatures in central and southern China are usually 20 degrees Celsius higher than in Harbin during this time of the year. (iii) Being able to look into the ice sculptures helped Song understand how they were built. (iv) Song visited the Harbin Ice and Snow World with his relatives. 5. Find two words in paragraph 4 that mean something similar. 6. In paragraph 5, which word suggests that the Songhua River is close to Harbin? 7. Which of the following best describes Gu's reaction in paragraph 5 when he saw the ice sculptures? A. excited but worried B. shocked and confused C. amazed and impressed D. none of the above 8. Paragraph 6 describes … A. the experience of going on one of the park's most popular attractions. B. how one of the park's most popular attractions was made. C. the type of visitors who frequented the park's most popular attraction. D. the idea behind the park's most popular attraction. 9. Who does 'we' in paragraph 7 refer to? Illuminated ice structures at the Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, China. Photo: AP Photo Answers 1. ice 2. annually; every year 3. an industrial centre 4. (i) F; (ii) NG; (iii) T; (iv) F 5. assembled / arrayed / laid out (any two) 6. adjacent 7. C 8. A 9. ice sculptors
