Actors Mark Chao (L) and Lin Gengxin pose during a press conference for their movie "Black & White: The Dawn of Justice" in Beijing on May 26, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Black and White is coming back

Black and White, a mainland-Taiwan co-production and box-office hit, is launching its second installment on National Day on Oct 1. The cop thriller follows two policemen, played by Taiwan actor Mark Zhao and mainland rising star Lin Gengxin, as they investigate transnational criminal cases. Director Tsai Yueh-Hsun sets the story in the fictional Harbor City. It's shot in Kaoshiung city of Taiwan. Black and White's first episode was well received at the box office in 2012, grossing about 100 million yuan ($15 million) in the mainland and 28 million yuan in Taiwan.

Drama school directors meet

Directors of more than 20 theater schools of the Asia-Pacific region gathered recently at the 7th Theater School Directors' Conference & Summit Forum of the UNESCO International Theater Institute Asia-Pacific Bureau in Beijing. The event has seen theater schools from China, South Korea, Australia, India, Singapore and other nations participate, along with school directors giving speeches, discussions and workshops, which revolved around how to protect traditional art forms and how to take local arts to global audiences.

Choruses come together to sing

The 12th China International Chorus Festival will be held beginning on July 29, and will see singers from more than 180 choruses from 43 countries compete. Besides the competition, singers will also take part in concerts, workshops and master classes over the course of the monthlong event. The committee of China International Chorus Festival has invited acclaimed Chinese-American opera singer Tian Haojiang and pop singer Wu Mochou to be the ambassadors of the event. For the first time, the event is offering an award for new original Chinese chorus works. Started in 1992, the festival has been held in Beijing every two years, promoting cultural exchanges between countries through choruses.

Website for the elderly

A nonprofit website for elderly people relocating to other places was recently launched. The website, nbcyl.com, established and maintained by a company focusing on senior care service, will offer the elderly free information on nursing homes nationwide, as well as on specialized traveling routes. The company says it will open an online museum on senior care in the future.

Lin Yaoji scholarship

Lin Yaoji Music Foundation of China, which was established in 2012 to commemorate the late violinist and educator Lin Yaoji, will launch the Lin Yaoji Scholarship Program in June this year, to award talented young musicians in China. The foundation also announced the founding of the New World Scholarship for summer studies in music, which is supported by the New World Group Charity Foundation. Shen Ziyu, a Shanghai-born violinist has been selected to study at Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland over the summer of 2014.

Happy Valley under the sea

Beijing's Happy Valley amusement park announced the unveiling of its third phase of construction with a marine theme, on May 31, during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. It took three years to complete the 500 million yuan ($80 million) project. Guests can go on breathtaking adventures in the 13 new recreational facilities, such as the 10-story-high Ocean Star observation deck and some facilities especially for children. The Happy World offers a 15-minute indoor drift, allowing adults and children to realize their dreams of touring the world, including the Arctic circle, using 4-D technology.

Ming Dynasty treasures

Visitors to the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu, Sichuan province, are impressed with an ancient gold hairpin depicting many buildings, pavilions and dancing immortals. It is part of 137 cultural relics excavated from tombs of feudal lords in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) displayed in the museum. Entitled Treasures from Jiangxi Province's Tombs of the Ming Dynasty, the exhibition displays gold, jade, porcelain and pottery ware and clothing of the feudal lords and their family members in Jiangxi.

Push for global medical tourism

A forum on medical tourism was held recently at the China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services. Hundreds of people from the medical tourism industry attended the forum, where government officials and service providers from China and other countries also participated. Discussions on opportunities and challenges to developing medical tourism businesses in China were held. Ciming Checkup Group, one of the largest service providers in China, had initiated the seminar.

Summer Palace celebrates

Beijing's Summer Palace commemorates its 100th anniversary of opening to the public on Friday. An exhibition inside the palace displays more than 200 items and gives an introduction to the park's history since 1914. Another gallery shows 240 old pictures of the Summer Palace plus 50 paintings and calligraphic works from contemporary celebrated artists to celebrate the anniversary. The Summer Palace was first built in 1750 as a private park for the royal families of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is one of the first Qing royal institutions to open its gates to the public. The park was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1998.

New cancer insurance

With more Chinese people suffering from cancer, a Beijing-based insurance company and the Beijing Cancer Hospital recently launched an insurance policy plan that aims to refund treatment costs to patients who register at the hospital. Patients who pursue treatment at other hospitals but buy the insurance, are likely to get a refund of 70 percent on the total treatment cost, the cancer hospital says. The hospital says the insurance program has no limits on treatment refunds in terms of medication, which is different from the public medical insurance system.

China Daily