While the world still remembers the big snowflake from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Golden Sun Bird, logo of China Culture Heritage which symbolizes light, strength and hope, hovering over the main stadium of Dong'an Lake Sports Park at the opening ceremony of the FISU World University Games once again amazed a global audience.
With the fireworks of Chengdu city flower hibiscus blossoming in the air, the 31st World University Summer Games opened in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Friday. The historic city has added a fresh youthful imprint and wrote a new chapter in the world's youth engagement and exchanges.
Golden main stage, sun circle screen... In this grand event, "sunshine" was a creative element throughout the proceeding. With the theme of "Make dreams come true," the Chengdu World University Games strives to present a sunny opening ceremony to the world, showing the joy and style of young college students from all over the world gathering in Chengdu, bathing in the sunshine and accomplishing their dreams. It also calls on university students around the world to promote the realization of the common aspiration for peace and development of all mankind and to realize the common dream of building a global community with a shared future.
Guided by signboards made of Shu embroidery, university athletes entered the stadium. Colorful silk threads were projected onto the runway, forming a weaving "Silk Road," representing the bright future of the participating college athletes and the youth from all over the world.
The opening ceremony is centered on college students, reflecting the values of friendship, fraternity, fair play, perseverance, integrity, cooperation and application championed by FISU. During the athletes' entrance, a college student band performed live classical music from five continents, expressing their respect and love for the cultures and arts of all countries in the world, reflecting cultural exchanges, friendship and inner resonance.
Among the cast and volunteers of the opening ceremony, 99 percent of participants were college students, marking the start of one of the world's premier sporting events for young people.
Raja Randhir Singh, Acting President of the Olympic Committee of Asia, told the Global Times during a news conference on Sunday that he is extremely impressed by the Hangzhou Asian Games, especially with the opening ceremony, the coordination between the OCA and the organizers, and in a clever gadget - contactless ID cards.
When talking about Saturday night's opening ceremony, Acting President Singh used the words "absolutely phenomenal."
Singh said that he would like to congratulate the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC) and the Chinese government on the spectacular ceremony.
He expressed a special thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping on his support during the ceremony.
"It is the finest and most beautiful ceremony I have ever seen," said the OCA Acting President. "I look forward to the great Games following it."
Singh spoke highly of the coordination between the OCA and the Chinese organizers, while answering a question from the Global Times during Sunday's news conference.
"As I have mentioned many times, we have a very good coordination with the organizers, so there is no problem," he said.
Singh said the teamwork has been prominent all the time. "We have a working group and a coordination committee. We are in touch all the time."
"From my side, we have never had a problem," he noted. "And the HAGOC has been in support for all the national committees and the members of the OCA who are looking for any kind of support."
Speaking of what impressed him the most in Hangzhou, the OCA Acting President, who is also the first Indian shooter to win a gold medal in the Asian Games in 1978, surprisingly mentioned a clever gadget.
"What I would like to mention particularly is something that is very new this time," he said. "Normally, you would have to walk around with your participant card and scan and wait for it. But not in Hangzhou."
With Hangzhou's contactless participant ID card, all participants can just walk through any entrance with it hanging around the neck, he said.
"When you walk in the hotel, you just walk in. It saved so much time, especially for the athletes," said Singh. "When they are competing and need to go to another venue, they can just walk in and walk out, and the card is instantly recorded. It is such a brilliant manner that you don't have to waste time. It saves the lines that are useless."
China's tennis ace Zhang Zhizhen looks like he will make more history in his hometown Shanghai as he eyes to progress to the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters. If he succeeds, he will become the first Chinese player to reach the stage in the history of the ATP Masters event.
Currently in the last 16 at the hard-court tournament, the 26-year-old will aim to continue his historic run when he plays 16th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
"This is the second time I've been in the second week of the Masters. I'm quite happy," Zhang told media.
"I always wanted to play tennis well in my hometown and in front of my family, and finally this time I did. Hopefully, I can keep going."
Zhang played against Hurkacz at the 2019 event, but was seen off by the Polish player 2-0.
"I still remember that match. I had the opportunity to win the first set, but I didn't grasp it," Zhang said.
"Four years have passed; we are both improving. It's going to be a tough match," he said of his upcoming match against Hurkacz.
To prepare for the match, Zhang skipped his doubles match with his pair Jannik Sinner of Italy against Rajeev Ram of the US and Joe Salisbury of the UK on Monday.
"Our doubles match has been canceled, but of course we both will focus more on the singles, because singles are more important," Zhang said.
"Sinner had a very good performance in China. For me, I've also played a lot of matches in China so far, so both of us think that we need to focus more on singles."
Zhang was referring to the Asian Games matches he played. Ahead of the Shanghai Masters, he won the men's singles gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, bagging China's first gold medal in 29 years in the discipline.
He said the victory at the Asian Games has boosted his confidence.
"I am more confident after winning, though the Asian Games were not that intense. But it's still a gold medal, so that definitely boosted myself confidence. It also gives me more confidence in facing difficulties that I might encounter this week."
Zhang became the first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finalist from China in May at the Madrid Masters and rose to No.52 in the ATP rankings in July after making it into the last 32 in the French Open, the highest position ever held by anyone from the East Asian country.
He beat Casper Ruud of Norway at the US Open to become the first Chinese man to beat a top-five opponent.
Zhang also unveiled his little habits when competing.
"I go to the same place to eat, and then I drink coconut water every day. I think many people have small things that we are obsessed with, especially when we are winning," he said.
Nestled along the banks of the Yellow River, a picturesque ancient village Qikou, which was one of the most prosperous settlements in North China's Shanxi Province, offers breathtaking beauty to visitors. The village, with its traditional architecture nestled amidst rolling hills, exudes an aura of tranquility and timelessness. Travelers from all over the world pass through the ancient town, coming to experience the unique culture of the Yellow River Basin and the picturesque beauty of the ancient villages with distinctive northern characteristics.
In the past, the Yellow River played a crucial role as a transportation route for goods between northern and southern China. To ensure the efficient operation of this transportation system, Qikou emerged as a significant trading port. Merchants would anchor their ships at Qikou and then transfer their goods onto camel or horse-drawn caravans for further transportation over land. Qikou gained prominence during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties, earning a reputation as one of the Yellow River's most significant ports.
Booming tourism
In recent years, with the enhanced efforts in cultural preservation, governments at all levels have continuously increased investment in the restoration and protection of historical buildings and ancient residences in Qikou, promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism, making it reborn as a "living ancient town." Ancient buildings such as escort agencies, pawnshops, and warehouses tell the story of the town's past prosperity.
Tourists from all over the country flock to the town, allowing the local people to benefit from the booming tourism relying on the unique culture and ecology of the Yellow River.
The locals, with their warm hospitality, proudly share stories of their ancestors who relied on the Yellow River, known as the "Mother River" of China, for their livelihoods. The name "Qikou," roughly translates to mean "moraine" or "a rock in shallow water." The stone walls, weathered by time, stand as a testament to the resilience of the people who called this place home.
In order to protect them from flooding, many of local houses, known as "yaodongs" or "loess cave houses," have been physically carved into the steep hillside along the banks of the Yellow River.
On a slope that stretches for hundreds of meters and is inclined at about 40 degrees, there are rows of cave dwellings arranged in layers, which are both scattered and unique in their own ways. Rock erosion over the years has created a form of beautiful "modern art."
Located about 10 kilometers south of Qikou, the small village of Lijiashan is renowned for its myriad of over 400 yaodongs carved into the cliff-face of Lijia Mountain.
The Global Times has learned that during this year's Golden Week holidays in October, Qikou was a hot destination for domestic travelers, with a daily flow of people exceeding 10,000. The scenic area has also launched traditional folk agricultural cultural performances with hundreds of participants, showcasing scenes of threshing, winnowing, and transplanting, vividly showing the hardworking and agricultural spirit of their ancestors.
"The ancient village here truly showcases the local folk customs, all of which originate from agricultural culture and the most primitive farming life. This is very attractive and novel for visitors from the south, allowing us to experience the charm of the Yellow River," a tourist surnamed Liang from East China's Jiangsu Province who came to Qikou on November 2 for sightseeing told the Global Times.
Caves turned to studios
Nowadays, the authentic Lijiashan village is attracting more visitors as villagers have transformed their idle cave dwellings into art bases, art studios, and art exhibition halls, creating a renowned art creation base both domestically and internationally, forming the brand of the village. They have also utilized vacant houses to develop rural tourism and accommodation industries, seizing the opportunity of rural tourism and expanding their income channels.
The 62-year-old villager Yang Yanmei often uses her spare time as a tour guide to walk on the paths of Lijiashan and telling stories of past generations. As a fan of traditional opera, she and her husband enjoy spontaneously singing Shanxi opera or local traditional melody adapted from local stories. She always wears a sincere and sanguine smile, impressing tourists with her simplicity and humor.
Chen Yuxiang, 58, who lives in the east of village, wears a white headscarf and a green floral jacket, basking in the warm sun while sitting under the eaves and picking coriander, perfectly harmonizing with the yellow earth behind her.
In 2022, the cheerful Chen started using her mobile phone to record her rural life with her husband - farming, cooking, and showcasing various authentic and unique Shanxi cuisine. She has over 200,000 followers on short video platforms.
Chen showcases her joyful life to tourists with a humorous tone and rich expressions, which earns her a lot applause. People are amazed by the resilience and optimism that have been passed down through generations on the lady living on the Loess Plateau.
71-year-old villager Li Yuecheng leads his donkey through Qikou's ancient town while singing local folk songs. He decorates his donkey and offers it to tourists for rides during the low season for agricultural production.
His powerful and vivid performance while singing folk songs always attracts a crowd. Village officials jokingly say that Li has earned a lot of money in the tourism industry with these skills over the years.
Tour guides, guesthouse owners, restaurant owners, performers... more and more villagers have gained "new identities" by relying on the mountains and rivers. Some like Yang have even moved back to their ancestral homes on the mountains from the town, hoping to live a better and bustling life through tourism.
The recovery of the tourism industry benefits largely from the local government's significant investment in protection of the area. In recent years, local authorities have carried out protection and restoration of historical buildings and ancient dwellings in the Qikou ancient town.
Today the ancient town has become a popular tourist attraction. More than 5,000 people out of a population of about 30,000 in the town are engaged in the tourism industry.
Over 1,000 ancient stone artifacts dating back to the Paleolithic era, also known as the Old Stone Age, spanning from 2.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, have been unearthed at the Xiacun archaeological site in North China’s Shanxi Province, according to a report by China News Agency on Tuesday.
The Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology unveiled their latest findings on Tuesday, the report said, presenting a rich collection of stone tools and artifacts found at the Ganliang site within the Xiacun ruins, which has undergone several large-scale surveys and excavations since its discovery in 1970.
A total of 1,036 stone artifacts were unearthed at the Ganliang site, with 853 belonging to the lower cultural layer and 183 to the upper cultural layer.
The stone artifacts document two developmental stages within the site’s Paleolithic culture: the lower cultural layer represents the earlier phase characterized by stone technology from lithic to microlithic, while the upper cultural layer showcases advanced microlith technology.
The archaeological findings revealed that raw materials for crafting these stone tools primarily included flint and quartzite. Quartzite and black flint were the main materials in use across the upper and lower cultural layers, with quartzite obtained locally near the Ganliang site and black flint sourced from a more distant location.
Notably, in the lower cultural layer, local quartzite was the predominant raw material.
In terms of the lithic technology, the lower cultural layer featured a direct hard-hammer percussion technique without evidence of pre-formed lithic cores, resulting in diverse and less standardized tool shapes. Some specimens bore a resemblance to microlithic blades.
The upper cultural layer employed both direct hard-hammer percussion to detach stone flakes and a pressure technique to extract microlithic blades, suggesting a more refined approach in the late Paleolithic era.
Furthermore, the tool assemblages in the lower and upper cultural layers differ significantly. Heavy tools like stone axes were absent in the upper cultural layer, indicating functional distinctions between the two layers around 30,000 years ago.
Round-edged stone scrapers in the lower cultural layer were primarily manufactured through direct hard-hammer percussion, while in the upper cultural layer, a pressure technique was predominantly used.
These discoveries have enriched the understanding of China’s late Paleolithic cultures and provided valuable insights into the cultural transition and the origins of the microlithic blade technology of the late Paleolithic era, the report said.
Emirati Astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi's mission will continue after his return to Earth to benefit from the scientific experiments he participated in during his six-month mission on board the International Space Station (ISS), according to Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).
During a virtual news conference today, coinciding with the undocking of the Dragon Spacecraft from the ISS, Salem Humaid AlMarri, Director-General of MBRSC, stated that Sultan AlNeyadi, along with his Crew-6 crewmates, began their journey back to Earth, adding that their spacecraft is projected to touchdown off the coast of Tampa, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday morning,
AlMarri explained that one of the MBRSC's teams will focus on the safety of the astronauts and their medical rehabilitation to return to normality, which will take a few weeks. He noted that another team will focus on the scientific experiments, while the administrative team will focus on the nature of the mission, administrative and organisational matters, as well as handling discussions with various parties.
Following the undocking, if necessary, a series of orbit-lowering manoeuvres, known as phasing burns, will be executed on the spacecraft to align its ground track with the targeted landing location. Before initiating the deorbit burn, the flight computer will jettison the spacecraft's trunk, a step crucial for reducing its mass and conserving propellant. This will pave the way for the spacecraft's deorbit burn, scheduled to last for 12 minutes.
Upon completion, as the spacecraft re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, it will encounter significant heating and drag, effectively reducing its velocity to a safe point suitable for parachute deployment. At an altitude of 18,000 feet, two drogue parachutes will be deployed, quickly followed by the release of four main parachutes at approximately 6,500 feet. Under the steady guidance of these four main parachutes, the spacecraft is projected to make a gentle splashdown at a speed of 25 feet per second off the coast of Tampa, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico on September 4.
The UAE Astronaut Programme is one of the projects managed by MBRSC under the UAE’s National Space Programme and funded by the ICT Fund of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), which aims to support research and development in the ICT sector in the UAE and promote the country’s integration on the global stage.
Nepal adheres to the one-China policy and will never allow any activities that are detrimental to China's interests, said Nepalese Foreign Minister Narayan Prasad Saud in Beijing on Sunday.
Saud noted that Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's visit to China will further strengthen the Nepal-China relationship.
"Nepal is firmly committed to China's interests, and we appreciate China's continued support for Nepal's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national freedom," he said.
Saud made the remarks during a speech at a welcome ceremony for Prime Minister Prachanda at the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing on Sunday.
At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Prachanda is paying an official visit to China from September 23 to 30. Prachanda has visited China many times and made important contributions to promoting the development of China-Nepal relations.
Prachanda attended the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on Saturday. During his visit, he will meet with Chinese leaders and discuss many important issues.
Saud said that Nepal and China have a long history of friendship and cultural exchanges dating back centuries. "We are committed to further strengthening and consolidating our relationship based on mutual respect, trust and understanding."
He also commended the remarkable progress that China's economy has made, while noting that there are great opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in various fields, such as trade, investment, hydropower, tourism, mining, poverty alleviation and connectivity.
China is Nepal's second-largest trading partner and an important source of foreign investment and tourism.
"Connectivity is crucial for the economic partnership between China and Nepal. The Nepalese government is committed to maintaining the normal operation of all border ports between China and Nepal, constructing border infrastructure, establishing well-equipped testing and certification laboratories at the China-Nepal border, accelerating the construction of border customs facilities, and considering it a top priority," Saud said.
"We see numerous opportunities to further strengthen economic cooperation and promote the entry of Nepalese products into the Chinese market."
According to Saud, the Nepalese government is fully committed to providing all possible support for foreign companies investing in Nepal.
Nepalese Ambassador to China Bishnu Pukar Shrestha said at Sunday's ceremony that Nepal-China relations hold more significance as the country is aiming to move out of the category of Least Developed Countries in 2026.
"The incredible leap that China has made on the economic front and its eradication of absolute poverty will serve as a best practice example for the development endeavours of Nepal," said Shrestha.
Broadening the horizons of cooperation in the fields of infrastructure development, trade, digital economy, green energy, agriculture, tourism, investment, education and culture will benefit the people of the two countries, which will pave the way forward for bilateral relations, he said.
Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai reaffirmed China’s resolution in pushing forward the joint campaign against telecom fraud, as he talked with senior officials from the Myanmar government, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar said on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, Chen met with Yar Pyae, member of the State Administration Council and head of the Home Affairs Ministry in Myanmar, and Than Swe, deputy prime minister and union minister of foreign affairs of Myanmar, in Naypyidaw on Monday and Tuesday.
Both sides made positive comments on the recent joint efforts to combat telecom fraud in Myanmar and analyzed the latest trends in telecom fraud activities in the country.
Chen reaffirmed China’s resolve in combating telecom scams and online gambling crimes, and introduced the strong measures China has taken in recent days.
Chen also expressed appreciation for the transfer of nearly 5,000 suspects involved in fraud crimes in northern Myanmar to the Chinese police by the Myanmar side since September. According to Chen, China will continue to deepen cooperation with Myanmar and will take further actions to effectively safeguard the interests of the people from both countries.
The Myanmar officials said that Myanmar attaches great importance to the serious harms caused by illegal activities and crimes such as telecom and online fraud, as well as China’s stance which has been repeatedly stated on this matter. Myanmar will actively assist and cooperate in disrupting criminal activities and targeting telecom fraud.
Besides, Myanmar will coordinate various relevant departments to further implement the consensus reached between Myanmar and China, as well as with other neighboring countries, and will continue to promote joint actions to safeguard the safety and rights of the people of both countries and create a clear environment for regional exchanges and cooperation.
Wang Qiang (pseudonym) had planned to hold a grand wedding for his 28-year-old son in 2021. Having long been established in the furniture business away from home, Wang, who is in his 50s, wanted to invite as many of his friends and business partners as possible to his hometown, a village in East China's Zhejiang Province, to witness a lavish wedding, which he believed could bring him a sense of pride.
There were nearly 500 names on Wang's guest list. Hosting a 40- to 50-table (each table seats 10 people) wedding, which usually cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, used to be common in the village.
"That was too extravagant and unnecessary." Village official He Xiyang and her coworkers decided to persuade Wang to forego the grand wedding feast. After visiting Wang's home twice, he finally agreed to largely shorten his guest list to just 200.
Recently, many cities and provinces across China have intensified their efforts to rein in exorbitant "bride prices" and extravagant wedding ceremonies as part of nationwide efforts to strengthen the development of public cultural-ethical standards in the country's rural areas and create a "new-era" marriage and childbearing culture.
In Chinese culture, families play an indispensable role in providing care for the elderly and children. They offer emotional and economic support, as well as advancing production, community management, and promoting civilization and morality across society.
As China grapples with a low fertility rate, an increasingly aging population, and uneven cross-regional population growth, the concept of a "new-era" marriage and childbearing culture was proposed to meet people's aspirations for better lives with proactive measures to help foster childbearing-friendly environments and contribute to advancing Chinese modernization with support for the high-quality development of the population.
A pilot project was thus rolled out across the country with the aim to promote marriage and childbearing at appropriate ages, improving prenatal and postnatal care services, encouraging couples to share child-rearing responsibilities, and curbing the high costs of betrothal gifts and other outdated marriage customs.
Lower marriage costs The city of Huzhou, where Wang Qiang's hometown - Xiaoyuan village - is located, is just one among 20 cities selected for in the first batch of the pilot project.
A village in Huzhou's Anji county, Xiaoyuan has a population of 3,000 inhabitants. Villagers enjoy a decent life thanks to the development of a distinctive local white tea economy, with a per capita net income of nearly 40,000 yuan ($5529.1) in 2019, official data showed.
Nonetheless, high marriage costs were a huge burden to local families in earlier years with costs excluding the expensive wedding venues and the "bride price." The wedding celebration alone would cost as much as 100,000 to 200,000 yuan, village official He Xiyang told the Global Times.
He explained that before the new-era marriage and childbearing culture was introduced, an "extravagant but common" wedding in the village would include a feast for 400-500 guests, brand-name cigarettes and alcohol, wedding venue arrangements and decorations, renting luxury cars, and the hiring of a famous wedding host.
Some families even blew money on inviting a singer of some renown to perform, or renting drones to take photos and videos at the wedding, she added.
The high wedding expense could cost a young man's several years of wages. "Most of the time they had to turn to their parents," she said. "For the less affluent families, borrowing money to fund the wedding festivities was a usual occurrence."
To reduce wedding expenditure especially in rural areas, in September 2022, eight national departments jointly issued a notice to address the problems of excessive "bride prices" and extravagant wedding ceremonies, rolling out a special work plan for a nationwide campaign.
In February, the country unveiled a key policy document or the No. 1 central document for 2023, vowing to launch a special campaign against problems including extravagant wedding ceremonies.
Xiaoyuan village established a working team in 2020, promoting frugal and small-sized wedding, birthday ceremonies, and funerals among local residents. "For a wedding, we suggest that the couple keep the number of guests at around 200," said He.
He said she and her colleagues sometimes go to local hotels (wedding celebration venues) to find out how many tables are booked for an upcoming wedding there, and then estimate the number of invited guests. If the number largely exceeds the recommended guidelines, they then pay a visit to the soon to be married couples and their families, persuading them to downsize the ceremony.
Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of engaged couples are easily persuaded, as downsizing the wedding enables them to reduce the budget by at least tens of thousands of yuan.
"More importantly, today's young people are pragmatic; they don't like to keep up with the Joneses as much as the elder generations do, nor do they think holding a frugal wedding makes them lose face," He noted.
The corrupt custom of high "bride prices" has also faded in Xiaoyuan village with the concept of gender equality gradually taking root in the hearts of local residents, said He.
Gender equality matters
In a traditional and somewhat outdated concept, men usually contribute financially to a marriage, while women contribute time and energy in housework and child-rearing instead.
Chinese demographers reached by the Global Times pointed out that an obvious negative effect of this concept is that many young Chinese people, especially women, are reluctant to get married. Lots of self-proclaimed women who opt out of marriage have said on Chinese social media sites that they fear married life due to the loss of independence and being trapped in household affairs.
The decline in marriage rates is a natural result of social development, said Xu Tianli, head of the Shanghai Marriage Introduction Organization Administration Association.
With more women becoming socially and economically independent, marriage is no longer regarded as a way for women to make a living by relying on their husbands, Xu told the Global Times.
Therefore, the lowering of wedding costs and curbing of objectifying women through "bride prices" being advocated for in China's new-era marriage and childbearing culture, are important steps toward gender equality in marriage, as they signal that men should contribute more in housework and child-rearing, "rather than simply shrinking such responsibility, and giving money to their wives like arrogant bosses," a demographer told the Global Times on condition of anonymity.
It is worth noting that in practice, people should emphasize both the rights and duties of men, the demographer noted. "Cracking down on high 'bride prices' does not mean that men are acquiescing in not taking responsibility for raising children," he added, as new-era marriage and childbearing culture highlights gender equality, and stresses that parents should share in child-rearing responsibilities.
In the latest effort, the China Family Planning Association announced in May the launch of the second pilot project in 20 cities to further build the new-era marriage and childbearing culture.
Ningde in East China's Fujian Province, for instance, was among the latest batch of pilot cities. It recently released a series of posters publicizing the culture. One of the posters, showing the cartoon images of a young couple and three children on it, reads: "Husband and wife jointly share parenting responsibilities."
In Anji county in pilot city Huzhou, volunteers shared with the Global Times a case of in which they convinced a disgruntled wife to give her negligent husband a second chance. The husband in question "neither worked nor looked after the children after an entrepreneurial attempt failed."
The volunteers are from "the magpie bridge guardian league," a nonprofit group under the Anji Social Organization Service Center that was built to help couples deal with marital issues and conflicts. The volunteers educated the husband to take on his family responsibility, and shared with him recruitment information.
"The couple decided to give their marriage another go after the husband reflected on his shortcomings, and promised to better care for the family, and secured a job at a furniture company," the service center's director Ye Wubin told the Global Times. In the past, women bore the vast majority of child-rearing responsibilities, and many men, especially in some male chauvinism-influenced areas, employed a largely hands-off approach to child-rearing and housework, said Zhou Haiwang, a research fellow and deputy director at the Institute of Urban and Demographic Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
"It is necessary to further promote the idea of equality between men and women, and call on the two sides to bear parenting responsibilities together," Zhou told the Global Times.
Better child-rearing support
New-era marriage and childbearing culture encourages people to respect childbearing, and to marry and have children at appropriate ages. To boost fertility, authorities and related organizations across China are trying hard to offer better child-rearing supports to reduce stress and ease the burden on parents.
Last week, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the National Healthcare Commission said that they have allocated 7.5 million yuan in special funding to support companies in providing childcare assistance for their employees.
Zheng Qiaoxing, a staffer at the Ningde Family Planning Association, told the Global Times that the association's subsequent work mainly focuses on publicizing the new-era marriage and childbearing culture to residents, and provide families in need with better nursery and child-rearing support.
The association has launched a "sunflower parent-child room" project in Ningde. Some 93 parent-child rooms have been built under the project in communities and villages citywide, open to local babies aged zero to three and their parents for free.
The parent-child rooms regularly hold parenting lectures, parent-child activities, and child health check-up. "It is so convenient for me to learn about infant health from medical personnel at the parent-child room built in my village," young mother Lin Weiwei, a resident of Ningde's Anban Village, told the Global Times. "My daughter also enjoys the music and handwork lessons there," she added.
Many other Chinese cities, such as Shanghai and Zhengzhou in Central China's Henan Province, have also launched similar nonprofit nursery projects to help busy parents take care of their babies, the Global Times reporter learned.
The supportive policies of building a marriage- and childbearing-friendly society are just the very first step, said Zhou. "The decline in fertility is a long-standing global problem, and we have a long way to go."
In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, proposed to comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization - the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and peaceful development.
Advancing Chinese modernization is a systematic endeavor and also an exploratory undertaking. It is through this framework that we wish to illustrate the process of the Chinese path to modernization through a series of landmark projects, touching stories, and grand visions.
Xi stressed building a Beautiful China at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection held in Beijing on July 17 and 18, calling to support high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment, and accelerate the advancement of modernization featuring harmony between humanity and nature.
In this installment, Global Times reporters visited the world's first offshore wind turbine crop in an intertidal zone located in East China's Jiangsu Province to learn about how its development process epitomizes technical breakthroughs in Chinese modernization, and how such breakthroughs provide the world with valuable successful experiences in clean energy. With the rhythmic hum of spinning blades slicing through the salty sea breeze, rows of white giants stick out of the Yellow Sea like something out of a science fiction novel. This is the world's first crop of offshore wind turbines in an intertidal zone - the Longyuan Rudong Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm - in East China's Jiangsu Province, an area characterized by rapid industrialization and urbanization.
For senior engineer Ji Xiaoqiang, this crop of windmills is not only a technological marvel, but a childhood dream come true. Today, a total of 150 turbines generate 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 223,000 households. Such results bring comfort to Ji, whose childhood memories are filled with occasional large-scale blackouts.
Each turbine is a testament to China's unwavering commitment to stably harnessing the power of nature while serving industrialization needs, and China's wise solutions to a cleaner future for many developing countries in the world.
China has accelerated its pace in implementing clean energy solutions, building the world's largest clean power generation system, exporting successful lessons, becoming an important force in promoting global clean energy development, and committing to making green, affordable electricity truly accessible to millions of households. Huge potential to be tapped
Visiting the Longyuan Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm, Global Times reporters were impressed by the colossal turbines fitted to each windmill, as well as the size of the blades, each of which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower.
How did Chinese engineers manage to transport these giants from land to sea using domestically innovated technologies?
Ji Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the offshore engineering department at the Jiangsu Longyuan Offshore Wind Power Co, Ltd (Longyuan Power), affiliated with the China Energy Investment Corporation, explained that the turbines are partially assembled on shore, and then shipped out to sea where each blade is attached with surgical precision to the top of a turbine. Every angle must be accurate to generate maximum power.
On a narrow 90-meter-high operating platform hanging over the Yellow Sea, Ji makes his rounds at the wind farm, carefully inspecting and servicing the turbines - a job not for the faint of heart.
"Sticking chopsticks in tofu" is the most vivid metaphor for the intertidal wind power foundation construction.
China has abundant offshore wind energy storage. According to China's National Meteorological Bureau's estimates, the sea area within the 5 to 25-meter water depth line, or intertidal zone, has a potential generating capacity of about 200 million kilowatts. That means one hour of electricity generation could power at least 92 million homes for a year, according to calculation.
Take Jiangsu as an example. Its coastal area has abundant, peaceful wind resources, and strong grid structures, making it a great choice for the development of a wind power industry, Ji told the Global Times. But offshore exploration is far more difficult than onshore.
With small supporting industries and equipment subjects to capricious Western controls, China's offshore wind power development lagged in the early stages. Ji and his fellow engineers have long been trying to figure out how to change the game.
It wasn't until 2011 that Ji and his team finally found the answer which marked the start of the era of large-scale Chinese offshore wind power generation. A difficult conquest
Initially, Ji and his colleagues attempted to choose concrete-poured foundations as they typically would for onshore windfarms. However, experience on land is hard to transfer. Even a millimeter-level deviation in verticality could pose a risk of hundreds of tons of generator towers collapsing into the sea, Ji said.
"We learned that the mainstream foreign solution was to put a sleeve at the connection between the foundation and the tower, fill it with the grouting material, and use the sleeve to balance the inclination. This sleeve acts as a key piece of equipment, like a 'waist,' for balancing the entire body of the generator. However, high-strength grouting material for the sleeve was not available domestically at that time, and relying on imports was too expensive and not wise for commercial use," Ji explained.
Against this backdrop, Ji and his team deliberated with experts, brainstormed multiple solutions, and finally created an innovative pile driver, which is like a giant hand that can grip a single pile and keeps it vertical when it is hammered into the seabed, maintaining the verticality error rate at below 0.2 percent.
This eliminates the need for a transition sleeve and grouting material, dramatically reduces overall costs, and increases construction speed, fully meeting the needs of large-scale construction.
"It's a historic moment for our offshore wind power in China, and this innovative solution is now widely used in the domestic market. This can be learned by many countries that are eager to develop clean energy at a high speed," Ji said.
Such innovative attempts are never smooth sailing. This plan encountered failures in its first two attempts. It nearly cost the project all early investment, and Ji was also dogged by doubts expressed at home and abroad.
But it did not deter this young engineer. He quickly made adjustments to the solution, and polished the details with his team. It wasn't until days later, when cheers erupted after a successful third pile drive, that Ji set off firecrackers that he'd been saving for that very moment.
Ji looked at the wind turbines, which his team nicknamed "white dolphins," emerging from the seaside in front of him and sighed with relief that people would not experience power outages caused by unstable voltage and industrial power overloads as he did as a child.
Ji told the Global Times that the marginal cost of wind power is relatively low, and China's solution is a good reference for coastal countries.
Harmony with nature
Along the coast of Rudong, flying birds and sea windmills decorate the distant skyline. Bird watching enthusiasts from across the country gather here as the sun sets, to observe rare birds such as the spoon-billed Snipe, armed with state-of-the-art cameras, a beautiful and impressive scene.
Harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is a basic principle in China's ecological civilization construction and a distinct feature of China's vivid and effective practice along its path to modernization.
Moreover, ecological civilization is a new requirement in the realization of harmonious development between humanity and nature. Such a principle is also upheld by China's offshore wind power development.
In 2012, Longyuan Power, for example, signed China's earliest marine ecological restoration agreement with local governments for offshore wind farms. At present, it has made an investment of about 56 million yuan in ecological conservation in Jiangsu Province, for Yellow Sea breeding and release efforts, wetland environmental improvement, bird protection facility construction, and marine environment tracking and monitoring.
Technology export
On June 28, with the completion of the final blade's mounting, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in East China's Fujian Province on the offshore wind farm owned by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
China's approach to offshore wind from scratch offers a solution to many countries, especially with regard to coastal regions, on how they can personalize their own energy development with innovative technologies, to achieve harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, which are part of a global community of shared future.
In 2022, China's wind power installed capacity reached 365 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world for the 13th consecutive year. The figure was about 1.4 times that of the EU at the end of 2020 and 2.6 times that of the US, according to data released by China's National Energy Administration.
China's cost-effective offshore wind power technology marks a historic leap in the country's wind power from following others to be a world leader. China has also exported some homemade wind turbines to countries including Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
While some Western countries like the US are using various means to seize energy resources around the world, such as stealing oil from Syria, China is packaging and sharing advanced energy technologies and solutions with many developing countries.
China's efforts to promote sustainable development and energy security for all nations demonstrate a commitment to global well-being and a departure from the narrow-minded, short-term thinking of some Western powers.
This stark contrast highlights the self-serving development model of Western countries versus China's concept of a global community of shared future.
