Saturday, September 27, 2008

Chinese film wins highest prize at Pyongyang int'l film festival

Chinese feature film "Assembly" received three awards at the 11th Pyongyang International Film Festival, which ended Friday.

"Assembly" won the award for "best film," the highest honor of the festival, as well as for "best director" and the "best technology."

Three other Chinese films also won accolades at the festival. The documentary film "The Imperial Garden" won the "special international jury prize," while "The Tender Feeling" was awarded the "special organizers' prize" and "Good Man" received the "special projection prize."

The biennial Pyongyang International Film Festival, previously called "the Film Festival of Non-aligned and other Developing Countries," has been held since 1987.

The 11th Film Festival opened on Sept. 19.

Source: Xinhua

Sesame's Big Bird in Chinese planetarium for astronomy movie's premiere

The Big Bird from the famed TV series Sesame Street walked into Beijing Planetarium for the global premiere of astronomy movie "One wold, One Sky" here on Friday.

The movie is the first astronomy movie for small children on the Chinese mainland, said Meng Xing, deputy director of Science and Technology Innovation Activities Center for Chinese Children and Youth under the China Association for Science and Technology.

"It is a big move for Beijing Planetarium which has always aimed for older youths and adults in the past," Zhu Jin, Planetarium president.

After seven years of continuous efforts, the 24-minute-long full-dome, produced for kids aged between four to six by four non-governmental organizations and institutions from China and America, including Sesame Street, Beijing Planetarium, Chicago's Adler Planetarium and New Jersey's Liberty Science Center, finally showed in the full-dome cinema in Beijing Planetarium.

Children from Beijing Wenxing Primary School were invited to the first show.

"This is the first time I have seen such an interesting movie on astronomy. The Big Bird told me a lot of new stuff I've never heard about," said eight-year-old Yang Yipeng.

"I want to get on the moon," said nine-year-old Cao Hanzhe.

"The more interesting the movie is, the more engaged the kids will be. And the more active they are, the more inspired they will be," said Daniel Victor, executive Vice President of the Sesame Street.

Victor said the non-profit Sesame Street was experienced on working for Chinese children as it started cooperation with Chinese TV stations in 1988. The Big Bird had taught Chinese children science, maths and English language.

"Just as American and Russian children were deeply influenced by the early space exploration of the two countries, the launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft must impact a lot on Chinese children of this generation," Victor said.

He thought the scientific education should reach the kids as early as possible. "One small positive activity may inspire them and influence their whole life," he said.

The movie will be shown for the first time in America at the Adler Planetarium on October 15 in English and later in both English and Spanish across the world, and in mandarin in China.

Source: Xinhua

Highlights of Tianjin History Museum

Although Tianjin prides itself on its modernity, the city also has a 600-year history and many stories to tell.

On the first floor of the Tianjin History Museum, visitors are greeted by an enormous reclining Buddha excavated from the Mogao Grotto, measuring 7.2 m tall, 18.1 m long and 6.8 m wide. The lower level also showcases the 2008 Olympics-oriented photo exhibition Sharing Glory and Dreams.

Several special relics halls on the second floor display hundreds of historical artifacts, including all the usual suspects - calligraphic works, jade seals and ceramic pieces. Although English signage is scant, some of the more interesting exhibitions feature bilingual descriptions. These include a display of a dragon-shaped silver axe from the Song Dynasty and a Neolithic "pig dragon" jade carving.

The third-floor exhibition hall showcases Tianjin's history from the Opium War through the mid 20th century. This hall, for instance, features life-sized recreations of a scene in which three Chinese wax figures load a cannon to fire on Japanese warships. It also displays a full-sized model of a trolley and one of a small ship, as well as one of the city's first foreign-owned coffee shops.

In addition, there are hundreds of photos and other historical artifacts on display.

Source: China Daily

"Assembly" wins highest prize at Pyongyang int'l film festival

Chinese feature film "Assembly" received three awards at the 11th Pyongyang International Film Festival, which ended Friday.

"Assembly" won the award for "best film," the highest honor of the festival, as well as for "best director" and the "best technology."

Three other Chinese films also won accolades at the festival. The documentary film "The Imperial Garden" won the "special international jury prize," while "The Tender Feeling" was awarded the "special organizers' prize" and "Good Man" received the "special projection prize."


"The Assembly" star Zhang Hanyu and "The Knot" actress Li Bingbing pose with their awards for Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress at the 29th Full Blossom biennial awards in Dalian on Sept. 13, 2008.
The biennial Pyongyang International Film Festival, previously called "the Film Festival of Non-aligned and other Developing Countries," has been held since 1987.

The 11th Film Festival opened on Sept. 19.


Chinese director Feng Xiaogang holds the cup of best director during the closure of Beijing Student Film Festival in Beijing, China, April 22, 2008. The film "Assembly" directed by Feng Xiaogang got the best film prize.

Source: Xinhua

Brangelina planning to adopt another child

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly planning to adopt a child from either Namibia, Bolivia or Paraguay.

The couple are said to be interested in raising a child from Namibia as their two year old biological daughter Shiloh was born in the country.


Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive for the screening of the film "The Exchange" by U.S. director Clint Eastwood at the 61st Cannes Film Festival May 20, 2008.
They have adopted children Maddox, seven, Pax, four and Zahara, three, as well as biological daughter Shiloh and two-month-old twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline.

However, Angelina is also keen to adopt from a South American country because she wants to raise awareness of the large number of children who are in need of help in the region.

Angelina and the children recently joined Brad in Berlin, where he is filming the new Quentin Tarantino film Inglorious Bastards.

The family are reportedly staying in a 12,000 sq ft villa - which they are leasing for $40,000 per week - on the outskirts of the German city.

The property was also inhabited by Tom Cruise while he was filming Valkyrie.

Source: China Daily/Agencies

Two more food samples tested positive for melamine in Hong Kong

Two food samples on sale in Hong Kong were found to contain melamine over the legal maximum limit on Friday, namely, a vegetable formula cereal produced by Heinz and a steamed potato Wasabi produced by Silang.

The Center for Food Safety said the Heinz DHA+AA Vegetable Formula Cereal was found to contain 1.6 ppm of melamine, compared with the legal limit of 1 ppm for children's food, while the Silang House of Steamed Potato Wasabi contained 18 ppm of melamine, compared with the legal limit of 2.5 ppm for any food for adults.

The samples were among 112 tested for the latest batch.

"We have already informed the trade of the test results and asked them to stop selling the products concerned. We have also sent warning letters to the retailers and importers concerned, andthe importers will recall the affected products," the center said.

"The samples were collected after the commencement of the amendment regulation. The CFS will take out prosecution if there is sufficient evidence," it added.

The center said it had taken another batch of some 40 samples of baby food in the market for testing. Results for these samples will be announced within two days.

So far, the center has more or less completed testing of milk powder available in the local market, including infant formula, milk powder for growth, children, pregnant women and adults. A total of 147 samples were tested and all were satisfactory.

In addition, it has more or less finished testing for milk, milk products and frozen confections produced locally and in the mainland . Ten samples were found unsatisfactory, with the unsatisfactory sample results already published.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese scientists develop reagent to find out chemical blamed for milk contamination

Chinese scientists on Saturday said they have developed a reagent that could find out melamine, a hazardous chemical blamed for milk contamination, fast and at low cost.

A dose of the reagent will find out melamine within 20 minutes at a cost of 20 yuan , compared with a week and 2,000 yuan by the traditional way that requires professionals using liquid chromatography, according to three professors with the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Lanzhou University in northwest China.

The university has set up a task team to develop the reagent at the request of the Gansu provincial government.

It was from Gansu that the tainted milk power scandal broke out, when media reported two weeks ago that fourteen babies suffered from kidney stones after drinking milk powder of the same brand.

Prof. Chen Baohua told Xinhua that the color of milk containing melamine would change with the presence of the new reagent.

The new testing method is so simple that dairy farmers are ableto use. The scientists will also make test paper out of the reagent, which would be even cheaper and more convenient for users,said Prof. Zhang Haixia.

Source: Xinhua