Archive for May 9th, 2009

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Beijing Olympic – Venezuela’s archers hope for 2008 Olympics place

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

Venezuela’s archers hope to be present in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games despite the stiff competition in qualifying events, Ernesto Stein, the director of the Venezuelan Archery Federation, said in a Monday statement.

“Qualification is direct, so there are possibilities for us, because those who have already qualified are not fighting for a place. That meant we can get a place on the winners’ podium and get a ticket to Beijing,” he said.

Venezuela’s archers can get a place in Beijing with a gold or silver medal in any qualifying competition, while only a first place in the Pan-American Games could have given a place.

There are four such competitions in coming months: the Brazil World Cup and competitions in the United States, Germany and Beijing.

Stein said he had also asked the International Olympic Committee to give Venezuela two places in Beijing.

“I have already done the paperwork for the two athletes but I will have to wait until next year when the committee with take the decision based on the places available and other requests from nations who are interested,” said Stein.

Venezuela’s competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics with Fracis Gorrin, who won had previously won gold in the 2003 Pan-American Games and in the 2000 Olympic Games. Venezuela’s Felipe Beuvrin and Maria Gabriela Franco also participated, but none won medals.

(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)

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Cri – Lesson 318

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

走马观花：to look at the flowers while galloping on horseback, or give a hurried glance at things.

Noted Tang Dynasty poet Meng Jiao was outspoken and upright and hated to associate with corrupt officials. This attitude did not help his official career at all. He had taken the highest imperial examination twice, but failed both times. In the year 796, when he was nearly 50 years old, he passed the imperial examination at last! He was so happy, he wrote a poem called “After Passing the Imperial examination.” A rough translation goes like this:
“My lousy old days were nothing to boast of,
But royal bounties are now bestowed upon me like a golden shower.
Galloping on horseback and stroked by the spring breeze.
I have seen, in one day, all the capital’s flowers.”
Later, men of letters condensed the last two lines of the poem into the idiom 走马观花. The implication of the idiom is one gains only a superficial understanding through limited observation.
Another story about the phrase tells the story of a young lad named Gui Liang. Gui Liang was a cripple. He wanted to marry a beautiful girl, so he asked his resourceful friend, Hua Han, to be his matchmaker.
A young girl also approached Hua Han and asked him to serve as her go-between. The girl’s name was Ye Qing. She had an ugly nose, but she wanted to marry a handsome young man.
The matchmaker decided these two would make a fitting couple and resolved to arrange a match. He told Gui Liang, the crippled young lad, to ride on horseback past Ye Qing’s home. He asked Ye Qing, the ugly-nosed girl, to stand by the road and hold a bouquet of flowers to cover her nose.
After the meeting, the two young people were satisfied with what they saw. Gui Liang was intrigued with the girl and her elegant gesture of modesty. He murmured, “How beautiful she is! This is the very woman I want to marry.”
Ye Qing was ecstatic to see the young man riding so high in the saddle, carrying himself as if he were a general. She said to herself, “This is the very man I want to marry!”
This unusual story has a happy ending. The satisfied young man and woman were soon married and lived together happily.
This is another version of the idiom “走马观花.”
(Source:english.cri.cn)

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China Travel – Mahao Cliff Tomb

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

The Mahao Cliff Tomb is situated in Maohaowan, one kilometer from the suburbs of Leshan City, Sichuan Province.

The cliff tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) constitutes the tomb gate, tomb passageway and coffin chamber, which is 29.93 meters deep with the widest area measuring 10.9 meters and the highest, 2.8 meters.

There are abundant stone carvings in the tomb. The gate was carved with images of the upturned eaves and tiers of brackets. The gate lintel displays a pair of engraved goats and three relief sculptures of human figures. The upturned eaves on the left gate were engraved with a tiger. The sculpture lines are delicate and of different styles. On the chamber wall is a relief sculpture of outings with carts and horses, grazing horses, banquet parties and the story of Jing Ke Attempted to Assassinate Emperor Qinshihuang, etc. A Buddha was engraved on the pillar in the passageway — one of the earliest Buddha sculptures in China.

(Source: chinaculture.org)

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