Culture and Sports

Beijing's Cultural Relics Market Flourishes

According to the latest Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau statistics, the annual turnover of Beijing's cultural relics market has reached 1.1 billion yuan, signifying that Beijing has become one of Asia's main auction centers.

Last year, the volume of business at the 2001 Hanhai Autumn Auction, the largest in Beijing, reached 109.6 million yuan. Four precious artifacts, retrieved from overseas, were auctioned for a total 20.75 million yuan.

Beijing has 14 cultural relics markets that trade in goods that are subject to government supervision. There are also 20 auction enterprises and seven state-owned cultural relics enterprises. As collecting becomes ever more popular, the cultural relics business is flourishing, and Beijing's cultural relics market has already provided employment for 4,000 people.

Illegal operations on the cultural relics market are, however, rife. Since August 2001, the Beijing Municipality Cultural Relics Bureau has organized four large scale market inspections, resulting in more than 500 cultural relics items being impounded. The first two inspections resulted in 245 illegally traded cultural relics or items subject to government supervision being confiscated. These included five items of third class cultural relics, two ancient vertebrate fossils, 12 items of unearthed cultural relics, 40 parts and appendages of ancient buildings, and 46 cultural relics items of an origin earlier than 1795. The two most recent inspections resulted in more than 300 pieces of pottery, furniture, stone carvings, and fossils being confiscated.

New Personalities in Literature Circles

The latest prestigious Modern Literature Magazine literature competition award, and prize of 100,000 yuan, was shared by Yan Zhen and Ning Ken -- both relatively obscure writers. Last year's winner was noted Chinese writer, Wang Meng. The 30,000 yuan novella prize went to Xia Tianmin, a young writer from Yunnan Province, for his "Such a Large Pair of Sheep." There was no winner of the Best Short Story award. Modern Literature hopes to encourage fresh input and innovative styles into Chinese literature circles through this competition.

Wang Meng acted as sponsor for the annual Most Promising Young Writer Award by donating the 100,000 yuan prize, further supplemented by 100,000 yuan from the People's Literature Publishing House. The prize, for writers below the age of 30, will be awarded annually, and Wang Meng will act as chairperson of its panel of judges.

Liu Xuan, Former Olympics Gymnastics Champion, Retires

Liu Xuan, Olympic gym champion, has announced her retirement. Liu said that this was a happy decision, made as a result of having achieved her optimum level of achievement. Her retirement from gymnastics does not mean, however, that she has withdrawn entirely from sports. Speaking of her future, Liu said, "I won't be going in for entertainment, having taken up a course in journalism at Beijing University."

International Chinese Descendant Beauty Contest Held in China's Mainland for the First Time

The International Chinese Descendant Beauty Contest 2002 is to be held in Guangzhou. The event is held annually in a world famous tourist city, and this will be the first time it has ever been held on China's mainland. Fourteen of these contests have been staged since 1988.

Chinese descendant beauties from more than 20 cities, including Bangkok, Chicago, Honolulu, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, San Francisco, Seattle, Singapore, and Taipei, will for the first time display their charms in the land of their ancestors. This is also the first time that Guangdong's tourism industry has been linked to a beauty contest. These belles will, therefore, act as ambassadors for Guangdong's tourism and help promote Guangdong to the whole world.

Film Star Zhao Wei Causes Bitter Controversy

Chinese film star Zhao Wei recently provoked extensive and sharp criticism from the Chinese public by her wearing of a costume bearing the image of the Japanese oriflamme. Despite Zhao Wei having made a public apology, public fury is unappeased. According to the Hong Kong media, Amoisonic Electronics, a famous brand of domestic electronic appliances, has decided to replace its billboards featuring Zhao Wei. Li Xiaozhong, president of Amoisonic, explained that this measure had been taken because their contract with Zhao Wei expires in January, although he admitted that the recent negative publicity attached to Zhao Wei had affected her image, and therefore that of their products. He said that they would need time to discuss whether or not to renew their contract with Zhao. There are also rumors that Zhao's fee for appearing in advertisements has been driven down to a record low.

The Zhao Wei event occurred around the anniversary of the Nanjing massacre. Sixty-five years ago, Japanese invaders slaughtered huge numbers of Chinese during the rape of Nanjing, but to this day the Japanese extreme right wing refuses to acknowledge this historic fact, to the justified ire of the Chinese people. In her capacity as Chinese youth idol, Zhao Wei's insensitivity has undoubtedly poured oil on the fire.