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Strokes of genius and character 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-11-8

CHINA'S "Olympics" of calligraphy is underway and one of the youngest winners is a 28-year-old Shanghai businessman who says calligraphy helps him get into the minds of the ancients. Yao Minji reports. Yang Xianmiao,...

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Ark park deluged by queries 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-8-22

TUCKED away in a nondescript office park in northern Kentucky, Noah's followers are rebuilding his ark. The biblical wooden ship built to weather a worldwide flood was 152.4 meters long and 24.4 meters high, according...

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Books, glorious books 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-8-17

THE Shanghai Book Fair opens today, with a long list of literary luminaries from China and around the world. Yao Minji checks the table of contents. Readers, writers, aspiring writers, illustrators, publishers,...

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China's young get European experience 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-8-16

CHINESE parents are paying a small fortune to send their children on study tours to Europe to get a taste of Western life. Rahul Venkit finds out exactly what the kids get from a trip to the continent. Right before...

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Maori mysteries 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-7-14

THE mysteries of New Zealand's Maori culture are revealed in a four-month exhibition at the Shanghai Museum showcasing the history and rituals of the people known as the "navigators of the Pacific Ocean." Wang Jie...

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Catching the train of history 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-6-9

CHINA'S railways reflect Chinese society, and for more than 30 years Wang Fuchun, a train worker-turned-photographer, has documented them with fidelity and feeling in black and white. Qi Hongxin and Pan Lijun climb...

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Dragon boat races and zongzi make for a wonderful holiday 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-5-30

THE Dragon Boat Festival is held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year the festival falls on June 6. The festival is in honor of Qu Yuan, a famous scholar in the Chu State...

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Shanghai dialect a true tongue twister 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-5-13

THE city's efforts to preserve Shanghai dialect have stumbled as experts are having trouble locating people in the suburbs who qualify as pure speakers. Hu Min reports. Chu Bannong was bombarded with a bunch of...

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Stopping the local dialect becoming derelict 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-5-13

APART from the old authentic Shanghai dialect varieties, the Shanghainese more commonly spoken among urbanites is becoming less used, losing to the nationwide promotion of putonghua, or standard Mandarin. Many...

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Hold high the lanterns 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-2-17

THE Lantern Festival today means eating tangyuan (rice dumplings with sweet or meat fillings), parading in the neighborhood with rabbit-shaped lanterns, gazing at spectacular lantern displays and maybe solving lantern riddles....

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Confucius brings harmony 

Feature | Culture and history
2011-1-14

THERE'S a new face keeping Chairman Mao company on Tian'anmen Square in Beijing. A mammoth sculpture of the ancient philosopher Confucius has been unveiled this week off one side of the vast plaza. A mausoleum...

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Nostalgia trip into old photo studios 

Feature | Culture and history
2010-12-31

OLD portrait photos freeze moments in Chinese history and frame personal aspirations. Wang Jie explores vintage Shanghai photo studios and reports on an upcoming exhibition. When Zhang Xiaogang's surrealist "Family...

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Taking a stroll from east to west in 'Little Shanghai' 

Feature | Culture and history
2010-12-22

BAROQUE facades and huge Chinese eaves are juxtaposed on this street. The bizarre, beautiful North Xinjiao Street mirrors Shanghai's Nanjing Road in the eyes of Professor Chang Qing. After years of conservation...

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A trio of traditional Yangpu artforms 

Feature | Culture and history
2010-12-11

FROM a rarely practiced style of martial arts to creative handicrafts with an illustrious history, Fei Lai discovers three traditional art forms hopefully to be included on Yangpu's list of intangible cultural heritage. ...

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The district showing residents it cares 

Feature | Culture and history
2010-12-11

LIVING and working in Yangpu District is full of surprises and opportunities for both migrant workers and local residents. The knowledge-oriented district is supporting its people by developing education programs...