Archive for April 1st, 2010

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Beijing Olympic – “Assembly,” “CJ7″ up for students’ favorites

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Lucrative Chinese films of the past year, such as “The Assembly,” “The Warlords,” and “CJ7,” are among the 36 final competitors for this year’s Beijing Student Film Festival.

The films not only include box-office leaders, but also small-budget films that have not had as big an influence in the theaters, Xinhua news agency on Thursday quoted the festival committee as saying.

The 36 candidates were selected from a record-setting 104 submissions, according to the festival’s Web site. Genres span action, war, comedy and art-house films.

Other notable nominations include “In Love We Trust,” “Ganglamedo,” and “My Left Hand.”

The 15th annual Beijing Student Film Festival will run from April 6 to 26. Nominated films will be screened in several local universities, where students will choose their favorite film, director, actor and actress.

Other major awards for Best Film, Director, Actor and Actress will be decided by a judge panel of professionals and students.

The Beijing Student Film Festival is growing in popularity as filmmakers are seeing a potential market among college students.

(Source: ebeijing.gov.cn)

Posted in Beijing Olympic, China Travel | No Comments »

Cir – Lesson 645

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

KATHMANDU, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) — To discourage early school dropouts, the Nepali government has adopted a new policy where students up to class 7 don’t have to necessarily pass their examinations to be promoted to the next class, local media reported Monday.

According to nepalnews.com, education secretary Ram Swarup Sinha said that the government made this decision after reaching a conclusion that the three-hour examinations system can’t fully evaluate student’s capability.

“Education doesn’t only mean passing or failing your final examination. Its objective is to impart skills and teach you life lessons,” Sinha said.

He said the psychological effect on a child on failing an examination can give a negative impression about the whole education system.

“The ministry is very serious towards this fact,” Sinha said adding, “the new policy will discourage school dropout and also create an affirmative educational atmosphere.”

According to the statistics maintained by the Ministry of Education, of the 4.78 million students who get admission in the primary level throughout the country, only 30 percent make it to the lower secondary school level. The remaining 70 percent quit schooling owing to various reasons including failing in exams.

The percentage of students who repeat classes after failing in class 1 is just 29 percent, according to the ministry.

Additionally, only 12 of the 100 students who get admission in class 1 make it to the final examination of the secondary level and the remaining 88 of them drop out of the school.

Sinha said that the new policy would bring drastic improvement in this situation.

According to him, students from class 1 to 3 will be elevated to the next class through regular evaluation. Nobody will be failed or have to repeat the class.

On the basis of the criteria determined by the National Curriculum Board, a policy of regular evaluation and liberal class promotion policy will be implemented.

“From now on, no students till class 7 will have to repeat classes for just failing in their annual examination,” he said.

(Source: xinhuanet.com)

Posted in Chinese Lesson, learn Chinese, learn mandarin | No Comments »

China Travel – Panshan Mountain(1)

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

The ancient name of Panshan Mountain was Xuwu Mountain. Panshan Mountain is sinuous and tortuous, has no fixed direction and its form looks like a dragon, so it is also known as Panlong Mountain (coiling dragon mountain). It is located in the north of Guanzhuang Town, Jixian County, Tianjin City, and 12.5 kilometers northwest to the town. It is one of the southern branches of Yanshan Mountains. The average height of Panshan Mountain is 400 to 600 meters above sea level.

The highest peak Guayue Peak with an area of about 20 square meters is 864.4 meters above sea level, and its slope is more than 35° in general. Panshan County features a typical geographic characteristic of spherical weathering, with many craggy stones and steep peaks. The vegetation type mainly includes the coniferous forest of Chinese pines. Panshan Mountain is famous for its high mountains, deep valleys, oddly shaped stones and pines, crystal clear springs, beautiful trees, temples and ancient towers. It is reputed as the No. 1 Mountain in East Beijing and one of the 15 most famous mountains in China.

There are many sites in the area of Panshan Mountain, including the famous Three Spiral Positions (pine resort in the upper spiral position, stone resort in the middle spiral position and water resort in the lower spiral position), the Five Peaks (Guayue Peak, Zilai Peak, Zigai Peak, Jiuhua Peak and Wujian Peak) and the Eight Stones (Xuankong Stone, Yaodong Stone, Liangjia Stone, Jiangjun Stone, Jiamu Stone, Tianjing Stone, Hama Stone and Mang Stone), altogether four scenic spots and more than 30 views.

Tiancheng Temple, Yunzhao Temple and Wansong Temple

These temples are situated within the scenic spots of Panshan Mountain. The emperors of past dynasties cut the mountains and built temples in Panshan Mountain; they constructed more than 160 temples and towers, including the most famous 72 Buddhist temples and 13 exquisite pagodas. Most of them have not been repaired for many years and only the original foundations are extant now.

(Source: chinaculture.org)

Posted in China Travel, learn Chinese | No Comments »

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