A massive sky lantern, more than 30 meters wide, rises from Xiapo, a village in Hainan province, on Aug 27. The hot air balloon made of paper had an 8-meter-wide lantern in the center, circled by 72 smaller lanterns in three layers. Villagers said it finally reached a height of nearly 100 meters before burning out. Meng Zhongde / for China Daily

Health

Call for tight control of bird markets

Rigorous management of live poultry markets is vital to controlling the risk of infection from the bird flu, scientists say.

"The H7N9 outbreak lineage has spread over a large geographic region and is prevalent in chickens at live poultry markets, which are thought to be the immediate source of human infections," said an article published in the journal Nature on Aug 21.

The H7N9 bird flu virus, first detected in March, has infected more than 130 people in China and killed more than 40.

"Different kinds of poultry should be raised and sold separately in order to control the spread of H7N9," said Guan Yi, one of the authors of the article in Nature and a flu expert at the University of Hong Kong.

Medicinal seeds from space go to laboratory

Traditional Chinese medicine may be the latest sector to benefit from cosmic farming as 150 grams of space-exposed ginseng seeds were delivered to a state laboratory on Aug 23.

"We hope the space ginseng will be bigger, more resistant to disease and have increased medicinal potency," said Zhou Hua, professor of Macau University of Science and Technology, the state's top research laboratory in Chinese medicines.

Ginseng has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to enhance immunity, lower blood sugar and combat cancer. The ginseng seeds spent 15 days in space aboard Shenzhou X in June and may take as many as six generations on the ground to show the enhanced characteristics.

Generally, it takes at least five years for ginseng plants to mature.

Tourism

A wild night out for park visitors

The Yunnan Wild Animal Park in the provincial capital of Kunming is offering night tours for visitors, said to be the first time any wildlife reservation in China has done so.

On Aug 9, the park introduced the night ride, which takes visitors in a car through a large forest in the northeastern area of the reservation that is inhabited by at least 40 kinds of animals, including peacocks, gibbons, baboons and zebras.

Park officials said it is a rare chance to see how animals behave at night. The tour, which can accommodate 100 visitors each night, begins at 7 pm and lasts until midnight.

On one particular ride recently, most of the animals were resting as night fell. A guide was explaining where the animals could be found.

Education

More financial help for needy students

Students from poor families who cannot afford education expenses will receive more financial support as the central government and the public make extra efforts to help them.

The China National Center for Student Financial Aid says students across the country have received 112.6 billion yuan ($18.4 billion; 13.8 billion euros) in financial support for their studies, more than 70 percent of it from central and local governments.

More than 84 million students received financial aid last year, and the amount paid exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time.

"We have set up a complete financial aid system that can cover students at different education stages, from kindergarten to postgraduates," said Zhang Guangming, director of the China National Center for Student Financial Aid.

The Ministry of Education is paying great attention to the enrollment of students from poor families, as the new semester begins at universities and colleges, Zhang said.

Less homework may be a valuable lesson

A recent draft proposal looking at slashing written homework for primary school students may bring an outpouring of joy from many children, but their parents and teachers are divided on the proposal's wisdom.

The draft was issued by the Ministry of Education on Aug 22, and posted online for comments.

It suggests that primary schools, from grade one to six, should not give students any written homework and opt instead for more practical assignments working with their parents. The proposal aims to ease excessive academic pressure, the ministry said.

However, as China follows exam-oriented education, many parents harbor ambivalent feelings about the proposal.

Housing

Boy's death plunge revives rental debate

Sociologists say policymakers should look into the housing needs of low-income groups and find solutions instead of churning out regulations designed to put an end to group renting.

Group renting, the practice of dividing apartments into smaller rooms and renting them separately, has been in the spotlight since a boy, 9, fell to his death from the window of a 14th-floor apartment in Shanghai on Aug 25.

He fell from the apartment about 6 am after his parents, both migrant workers, had left for work, leaving the boy and his 12-year-old sister home alone.

Group renting is still popular among poor families in Shanghai, which banned group renting in 2007 because of safety concerns.

Defence

Joint sea drill shows improved relations

The navies of China and the United States have conducted their second joint counter-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden.

This sign of improved Sino-US military relations on Aug 25 followed the return of Defense Minister Chang Wanquan from a visit to Washington the previous week.

The Chinese naval contingent was taking part in escort missions before the two-day exercise, which started on Aug 24. It was the 14th Chinese naval contingent to be deployed to the Gulf of Aden.

Missile-equipped destroyers, supply ships, ship-based helicopters and task forces from both sides took part in the drill. Among them was the US navy's escort destroyer USS Mason.

Welfare

Computer system to keep tabs on claims

Beijing is to introduce a computer system accessible by various governmental agencies that will help verify the economic circumstances of recipients of low-income allowances, so that welfare spending can be targeted at those most in need.

The municipal government will launch an online platform to promote information sharing among different government departments so they can verify the eligibility of those on the dole, according to a directive on improving social relief services issued on Aug 23.

The relevant departments will include housing, civil affairs and human resources authorities, it said.

Community officials will be urged to carry out household surveys on those receiving welfare payments.

Population

Sex ratio may cause marriage squeeze

China still faces a tough challenge to redress a long-term skewed sex ratio of births on the mainland, which now stands at about 117.7 boys for every 100 girls, says Chen Zhu, vice-chairman of the 12th National People's Congress Standing Committee.

He made the remark at an awareness-raising event on gender equality and women's empowerment, held by the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Aug 23.

China Daily

(China Daily European Weekly 08/30/2013 page3)