ChinaDaily[980315-8]

[Chinese News]

China Daily

98 / 03 / 15 /

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1. What's on (Page 5, Date: 03/14/98)
2. Overseas capital welcomed
3. Municipality strides eagerly towards the new century
4. City plans expansion of transportation network
5. Favourable policies
6. Relocation well done
7. Cultural relics rescued
8. Area boasts myriad tourist attractions
9. Environment cleaned up
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What's on (Page 5, Date: 03/14/98)
Concerts
A Conversation between Good Friends -- A concert of traditional
Chinese music entitled "Good Friends' Talk" will be held at
Beijing Concert Hall.
The concert features six musical troupes including the Central
Orchestra of Traditional Chinese Music and the China Friends of
Broadcasting Chorus, performing a variety of works from different
regions of China.
The sponsor of the concert, Longyin Musical Producing company was
founded by Hong Kong erhu player Tan Yaozong five years ago, who
is devoted to spreading traditional Chinese music.
Time: 7:30 pm, March 28.
Place: Beijing Concert Hall.
Tel: 6605-5812, 6605-7006
Butterfly Lovers -- The Orchestra of the China Central Opera and
Dance Theatre will stage a concert at Beijing Theatre. The violin
concerto "Butterfly Lovers" and foreign opera pieces will be
performed.
Soprano Ji Xiaoqin and tenor Ding Yi will sing selections from
"Madame Butterfly," "Carmen" and "La Traviata."
Time: 7:30 pm, March 14
Place: 10, Area 10, Anhuili, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6491-0516, 6491-1228
Tea and jazz -- The Wide Angle Jazz Band will perform on the
second floor of Sanwei Bookstore.
Audience members can enjoy hot tea, cold beer and cool jazz at the
teahouse.
Time: 9-11 pm, every Friday
Saturday night is a time for Chinese folk music at Sanwei
Bookstore. Enchanting Chinese melodies will flow from the Chinese
dulcimer, zither and bamboo flute.
Time: 8:30-10:30 pm, every Saturday
Place: Sanwei Bookstore, 60 Fuxingmennei Dajie, Xicheng District,
across the street from Cultural Palace of Nationalities.
Tel: 6601-3204
Chorus concert -- The Boys and Girls Chorus and the China National
Symphony Orchestra will present a choral concert of world famous
songs, including "For Music," "Trout," "The Swan," "Liebestraume,"
"Moonlight," "Taliyanska" and others.
Yang Hongnian will conduct. Tang Chongqing will play the piano.
Time: 7:30 pm, tonight.
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6605-5812
Saxophone solo -- Fan Shengqi, nicknamed China's "Modern Saxophone
King," will present a solo concert at Beijing Theatre.
Fan will play "Ghost," "Going Home," "Dove" and "Memories"
accompanied by the Old Bark Jazz Band. In addition, Han Dawei will
sing English songs to the band's accompaniment.
As a renowned Chinese saxophone player, Fan, a renowned Chinese
saxophonist, has been invited to perform at the International Jazz
Festival, which will be held in California this summer. This is
Fan's only solo concert in Beijing before leaving for America.
Time: 7:30 pm, March 14
Place: 10, Area 10, Anhuili, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6491-0516, 6491-1228
Exhibitions
Embroidery exhibition -- An exhibition of the "Shen Shou school
embroideries" is being held at the Sino-Japanese Youth Exchange
Centre.
On display are works by the disciples of Shen Shou and their
pupils.
Shen Shou (1874-1921) revolutionized the craft of traditional
Chinese embroidering by utilizing colour combinations that brought
a sense of realism to her work known as "photographic
embroideries", or "Ping Xiu."
She gave embroidery the effect of oil paintings, thus elevating
the ages-old handicraft to an elegant art form and setting the
tone and standard for posterity.
Time: 9 am -4 pm, March 14-24.
Place: 40 Liangmahelu, east of the Lufthansa Shopping Centre,
Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Tel: 6467-8330.
Piet Mondrian in China -- A documentary exhibition of late Dutch
abstract-art pioneer Piet Mondrian with five Chinese originals
begins today at the Art Gallery of the Beijing International Art
Palace.
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) is the leading exponent of the Dutch
abstract-art movement known as de Stijl, whose work exerted a
profound influence on 20th-century art, architecture, and graphic
design.
His early works followed the prevailing trend of Dutch landscape
and still-life painting. After experimentation with Cubism, his
mature "neoplastic" style emerged around 1920. The style was
intended as a purely objective vision of reality based on the
simplest harmonies of straight line, right angle, and the primary
colours plus black and white.
The exhibition, featuring documents on the life and works of this
artist is complemented by 30 original works by five Chinese
artists whose work share some common characteristics with
Mondrian's work.
After its Beijing premiere, the exhibition will also be held at
Shanghai Library from April 23 -May 2 and then at Guangdong
Provincial Art Gallery from May 16 -24.
Time: 9 am -5 pm, through March 29.
Place: 48 Wangfujing Dajie, Dengshi Xikou, Dongcheng District.
Tel: 6513-3388 ext 1208.
Prints from Scandinavia -- Norwegian musician and print-making
artist Magne Furuholmen is holding his solo art exhibition at the
Art Gallery of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Magne Furuholmen is a multitalented artist, who, after years of
great international success as a musician, has turned to graphic
artist.
His art is noted for its free, simple and imposing style with
typical Scandinavian flavour.
Furuholmen has staged several one-man shows both in Norway and
other European countries. He was the winner of the Best Prints
Award at the 109th Norway International Art Expo 1996.
During his exhibition in Beijing, the artist will attend academic
workshops hosted by the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Time: 9:30 am -4 pm, March 16 -25.
Place: Art Gallery of the Central Academy of Fine Arts,
Shuaifuyuan Hutong, Wangfujing Dajie
Tel: 6527-7991.
Young artist exhibition -- Ten young artists from Beijing will
hold a joint painting exhibition from March 17 - 22 at China
National Art Museum.
On display are more than 100 pieces of traditional Chinese
paintings produced over the past two years.
The art group consists of professionals, students at institutes of
fine arts, journalists, and company clerks.
Time: 10 am-4:30 pm, March 17 -22.
Place: China National Art Museum, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng
District, Beijing.
Tel: 6401-2252.
East blended with West -- More than 30 representative paintings of
famous Austrian artist Max Weiler will be on display in the China
National Art Museum until April 7.
This is the first time his works, which have been deeply
influenced by the philosophy and landscape painting of the Song
Dynasty (960-1279), have been shown in China.
By successfully blending the "artistic conception" of Chinese
landscape painting into his creations, Weiler's works are sought
by people in China and in the West.
Austria's most famous contemporary painter, Max Weiler has
travelled extensively in Europe and America to design frescoes for
world-renowned structures, and to hold or participate in more than
30 painting shows. He has won a number of prizes and honorary
titles.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, March 14 to April 7
Place: China National Art Museum, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6401-2252
Winning photos -- "The Playing Kids," an exhibition featuring 109
photos which won the 19th Asian-Pacific Region Photo Contest are
currently on display at the Sun Dong An Market.
The photos were selected from 6,765 contributions representing 24
countries and regions. Among the winners, 20 are from China.
The annual exhibitions, each with a special subject, are organized
by the Japan Asian Cultural Centre of Unesco to promote
understanding and friendship among the Asia-Pacific countries.
Time: 9 am-8 pm, March 14-21
Place: 1st underground floor of the Sun Dong An Market, Wangfujing
Dajie, Dongcheng District
Place: 6527-6688
Stage
Small theatre play -- Beijing People's Art Theatre's new product
"Rain Over, Sky Clear" will be staged soon.
Written and directed by Li Liuyi, the drama is a real "Made in
China" small theatre play.
The plot develops through dialogue between a traditional Chinese
opera actor and a make-believe woman. The dialogue touches on four
people's readings of works by Marx, Nietzsche, Hegel and
newspapers.
All the characters in the play are looking for the honest side of
humanity through continuous self-denial.
The modern plot structure and use of montage technique means that
the audience should not approach the play with traditional
preconceptions. However, the director does not pursue obscurity,
but rather hopes to create a light atmosphere.
While the story is not realistic, the living conditions of modern
people reflected in the play are all too real.
Time: 7 pm, March 16-29
Place: Small Theatre of Beijing People's Art Theatre
Tel: 6525-0123
Old Beijing on stage -- Beijing People's Art Theatre's production,
"Antiques" -- an August hit in the capital last year -- is to be
restaged. With its Beijing flavour and strong cast, the play
reproduces scenes from the Beijing of 70 years ago.
Revolving around anecdotes of an antique shop in Liulichang, one
of the capital's most famous shopping streets with a 200-year-old
history, the drama introduces the audience to a group of
characters with a variety of occupations. The story is laden with
riddles, ironies and dramatic moments involving corruption and
bribery.
The play reaches its climax when one of the protagonists considers
the prospect of drowning himself in a precious, antique cooking
pot to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy during
the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-45).
Time: 7 pm, March 14
Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6525-0996
New drama -- The China Youth Art Theatre will stage their new
small theatre play "The Greenhouse Girl" in their new theatre.
It is a realistic play about Chinese youths' lives in the 1990s.
A young couple, Lin Zhi'an and Luo Wei, were college classmates.
After marrying, they faced all kinds of problems -- namely
pressure from their jobs and failure to trust each other. Luo
leaves Lin. One day, by chance they meet on the street.
Remembering the days of the past, they are determined to start a
new life with honesty.
Wu Xiaodong, director of the play, said that the name of the play
was taken from a song called "The Greenhouse Girl" by Cui Jian, a
Chinese rock singer. The lyrics of the song "You say I'm the
strongest man in the world; I say you are the kindest woman in the
world" inspired the playwright Peng Tao to write a play about the
search for innocence in the modern society.
Time: 7:15 pm, March 20 to April 12 (one day's rest after every
four performances)
Place: China Youth Art Theatre, 67 Jiaodaokou Nandajie,
Beibingmasi, Dongcheng District
Tel:6401-3322 ext 5022/5024
"Red Hot" is coming -- British-Chinese violinist Vanessa Nae's
"Red Hot" storm will blow into Beijing after touring 34 other
countries in the world.
Vanessa Mae will play her white Zeta electric violin at the
Capital Stadium of Beijing on April 15.
The 19-year-old has pleasantly surprised the musical world with a
completely new and earth-shaking interpretation of the ancient art
of violin playing.
Mae's music is an alternative for busy modern people who enjoy
sampling cultural snacks.
Time: 7 pm, April 15
Place: Capital Stadium, Haidian District
Tel: 6405-5512, 6406-3324
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Overseas capital welcomed
LIKE an energetic runner in a race, Chongqing, a newly-established
municipality, made a giddy spurt in developing its foreign trade
in 1997. The municipality has already won remarkable
achievements.The city absorbed US$940 million in foreign capital,
an increase of 110 per cent over the previous year. The total
volume of imports and exports exceeded US$1.6 billion, with
exports up 30 per cent. Major data showed that foreign trade with
the city increased faster than the national average, setting new
municipal records.
The city's target for the next five years is to build up an
export-oriented economy. This correlates with predictions that the
absorption of foreign capital will increase by 20 per cent, import
and export levels will rise by 15 per cent and the income from
service trade and economic co-operation with foreign countries
will grow 20 per cent on a year-by-year basis.
Chongqing expanded its export market to 130 countries and regions
in the world by adding Kazakhstan, Armenia, Estonia and Dominica
to its list in 1997. The city's exports to the United States and
Japan increased 28.4 per cent and 19.7 per cent respectively last
year, while its exports to Hong Kong and Macao soared by 80.32 per
cent. The major export goods from the city include garments,
textile products, raw medicinal materials, ferrous metals and
chemical materials.
Last year, the city set a new record in utilizing foreign capital,
which accounted for 20 per cent of total investments in fixed
social assets. This involved 14 large projects each with an
investment valued at more than 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million).
Overseas investors of the top-grade highway between Dazu and
Yuting have been awarded special management rights. Big department
franchises and banks from Canada, France and Hong Kong have made
considerable profits after opening in the city.
Last year, in order to cut red tape, the government gathered
officials from all its subordinate bureaux on 43 occasions to
handle business involving foreign investment, resolving 2,588
problems.
The municipal government will send people abroad to seek overseas
co-operation for 20 to 30 large projects. The municipal government
will also assist local enterprises increase their production of at
least 30 high-quality products for export so as to ensure a
sustained export growth of local products. The government will
establish new companies in Africa, Latin America and Eastern
Europe. The municipal government will inspect fees imposed on
enterprises with foreign investment every three months to make
sure they are reasonable and to offer compensation when
overcharging has occurred. The government has promised that every
complaint made by foreign enterprises will be carefully
considered, and problems resolved as quickly as possible.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Municipality strides eagerly towards the new century
REMARKABLE achievements have been made since the establishment of
Chongqing Municipality directly under the Central Government on
March 14 last year.
Chongqing has enormous potentials with various kinds of rich
resources, a solid industrial foundation and its strong backbone
of education and technology. With the new century around the
corner, Chongqing has three strategic missions:
enhancing its comprehensive power to make it the economic centre
of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River;
developing its rural and urban regions simultaneously; and seeing
to the successful completion of the Three Gorges project.
Chongqing is already on the way to a new era in its history. In
accordance with the objective requirement of " small government,
large society," the administrative system and the Party agencies
were reformed. The number of government agencies was cut from 78
to 57. The policy "develop faster, emphasize the improvement of
people's living standards" was established and Chongqing's
Formulation of the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) National
Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Target for the
Year 2010 was approved.
Economic construction and social improvement in every area appears
to be a developing trend. In 1997 the gross domestic product of
the city reached 137.5 billion yuan (US$16.6 billion), an increase
of 11.5 per cent over the previous year. Fixed capital investment
reached 39 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion), an increase of 21.6 per
cent over the previous year, and total industrial pre-tax profits
by 20 per cent. The tourism industry, also, was more flourishing
in 1997. Wushan County has long been on the list of the most
important scenic spots in China.
The restructuring and opening-up of State-owned enterprises were
further deepened. A number of motorcycle, chemical and commercial
groups were organized, among which were 8 outstanding enterprises
which began to sell their stocks abroad and raised US$ 361
million. In all, 60 per cent of the small enterprises restructured
their ownership. The investment environment was further improved.
A package measure to deal with the issues of foreign investment
was put forward and upgraded. Airplanes were leased to open
flights from Chongqing to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Nagoya, and a
special container train to Hong Kong was put into operation. A
total of 19 large overseas companies have established offices and
3 foreign banks have set up branch agencies in Chongqing.
Infrastructure in such areas as communications and
telecommunications has been significantly improved. There has been
a huge investment in communication projects. In the space of one
year, five bridges were built over the Yangtze River, and another
three renewed or started over the Yangtze and Jialingjiang rivers.
A total of 300 kilometres of roads in mountain regions were
updated, and construction of the railroad from Dachuan to Wanxian
County smoothly started. The Xiangyu Railway (Xiangfan-Chongqing)
in the Chongqing section was electrified. Telephone users reached
1.32 million and eight-digit telephone numbers were introduced.
The shifting of people and anti-poverty work was fruitful. By the
end of 1997, 25,907 people had been placed in new jobs, and 471
enterprises were moved to new locations and reopened. Government
sectors offered a great deal of assistance to organs involved in
the Three Gorges construction project to strengthen economic
development in the reservoir region. The city invested 580 million
yuan(US$69.8) in the anti-poverty programme to ensure that 1.1
million people had enough to wear and eat.
The Liberty Monument Shopping Centre, People's Square, Qianjiang
Xinhua Avenue and Wanxian County highway along the river, have
been completed, to become new city landmarks. The spirit of
"patriotism, diligence, unity and devotion" has greatly encouraged
Chongqing people's enthusiasm to build a new city.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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City plans expansion of transportation network
THE Chongqing municipal government will give priority to the
construction of roads, highways and expressways, which constitute
the basis for the city's economic take off.
According to a long-term development programme formulated by the
Chongqing government, the city will build 3,970 kilometres of
top-grade highways, including 824 kilometres of expressway, by
2020. In addition, 2,571 kilometres of first-rate roads, including
584 kilometres of expressway, will be constructed by 2005.
When the highway network, with Chongqing as its core, is
completed, the city will be linked with Chengdu, the capital of
Sichuan Province, in the west. The highway network will extend to
include Shanghai via Hubei Province in the east, Beihai in the
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region via Guizhou Province in the
south, Shaanxi Province via Nanchong and Guang'an in Sichuan
Province in the north, and Hunan Province via Fuling and Qianjiang
in the southeast.
To fund the highway construction programme by 2005, the city will
need about 28.5 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion) of investment.
To attract more funds for the highway projects, the city will
introduce policies which provide incentives for investors in terms
of credit, land acquisition and development.
Overseas investors are also able to invest in the projects through
joint ventures and shareholdings.
To date, US$150 million of loans from the Asia Development Bank
have been secured. Also, five contracts to build highways worth
5.5 billion yuan (US$662 million) have been clinched with foreign
business people.
This year, deemed by the city authorities to be the "Communication
Construction Year," the local authorities will mobilize the forces
of the whole society to accelerate the construction of the
transport projects.
Construction will start within the year on a 63-kilometre
expressway from Liangping to Wanxian, a Yangtze River bridge in
Masangxi, and an expressway linking Chongqing to Hechuan. In
addition, 300 kilometres of local trunk roads will be expanded,
which will involve the building of 150 kilometres of roads through
poverty-stricken areas. Chongqing scored marked achievements in
transport construction in 1997. Construction began last year on
three expressways -- one from Chongqing to Changshou (85 kms), one
from Changshou to Fuling (33 kms) and one from Chongqing to
Qijiang (87 kms). In addition, five Yangtze River bridges in
Wanxian, Fengdu, Fuling, Lijiatuo and Jiangjin have been completed
and are now open to traffic.
Meanwhile, Chongqing has set aside large amounts of investment to
rebuild and expand the Jiangbei Airport and Chongqing Port. There
are also plans to build the Wuqiao Airport in Wanxian County.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Favourable policies
CHONGQING has been providing foreign investors and overseas-funded
projects with preferential treatment since 1997. The special
treatment covers taxation, business registration, credit and
foreign exchange control, land usage, real estate, production and
management, the import and export of material, the employment of
labourers and personnel, and the development of mining resources.
Overseas financial institutions are encouraged to set up branches
in the city. Large consortia and corporations are welcome to start
joint ventures, solely-owned or co-operative enterprises, and
subsidiaries in the city.
Foreign investors are encouraged to construct power plants,
airports, highways, bridges, ports, wharves, waterworks (excluding
pipeline networks) and water conservation projects in the form of
joint ventures and co-operation. If the land use rights of the
infrastructure projects mentioned above are purchased, the price
of the land can be set at the bottom ceiling, and the money can be
paid by installments within 10 years after the projects go into
operation.
Foreign business people are encouraged to purchase, merge,
contract and lease the city's Chinese investment enterprises, or
to buy the enterprises' shares.
Foreign investment projects with an operational period of more
than 10 years will be exempt from local income tax during the
first six profit-making years, and allowed a 50 per cent deduction
in local income tax from the seventh to tenth years. The foreign
investment projects with a business duration of more than 15 years
or with a total investment of more than US$3 million will be
exempt from local income taxes during the first eight
profit-making years, and taxes will be halved from the ninth to
15th years. Overseas-funded productive enterprises with business
terms of less than 10 years, along with non-productive enterprises
with business terms of more than 10 years, will be exempt from
local income taxes during the first two years from the year of
gaining profits. Taxes for these enterprises will be reduced by 50
per cent from the third to fifth years.
For foreign-invested productive enterprises located in the
State-approved economic and technological development zones and
overseas-funded high-technology enterprises situated in new and
high-technology development zones, enterprise income taxes will be
levied at the reduced rate of 15 per cent.
Foreign investment productive enterprises with an operational
duration of more than 10 years will be exempt from enterprise
income taxes during the first two years from the year of achieving
profits, and taxes will be halved from the third to fifth years.
Overseas-funded enterprises which need part of their working funds
for export production will be awarded credit support by the city's
banks, as presently enjoyed by domestic export-oriented
enterprises.
Foreign investment enterprises engaging in anju (affordable and
comfortable) housing projects (economical houses for low-income
residents) will also be eligible to receive preferential
treatment, in accordance with the city's related administrative
measures.
Foreign investment enterprises which produce export products will
be permitted to establish bonded warehouses or bonded factories
after they submit applications and get approval from Customs.
Overseas-funded enterprises can determine their own proportion of
exports and sales for products on the domestic market. These
products do not include those which are deemed by State
authorities to have special stipulations.
One-stop service office:
Tel: 023-67859579
Fax: 023-67859568
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_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Relocation well done
TO give way to the gigantic Three Gorges Project in the Yangtze
River, the world's largest ever water conservation scheme,
Chongqing has to inundate some 20,000 hectares of cultivated land
inhabited by more than 710,000 people living in 324 townships and
villages in 10 counties. The municipality will move and resettle a
total of 1.03 million people under its administration from the
reservoir area when the project is completed in 2010.
The city invested more than 4.4 billion yuan (US$530 million)
during the first stage of relocation from 1993 to 1997. As a
result: 50,000 people moved out; more than 6,600 hectares of land
were developed; 171 kilometres of roads were constructed; 1.11
million square metres of housing floor space were built; 15
waterworks were erected; and 471 industrial and mining enterprises
were removed and rebuilt elsewhere.
The successful blocking of the Yangtze River on November 8, 1997
and the smooth completion of the first stage of housing relocation
were only an initial achievement. To ensure the dam will be built
successfully and the first group of generators will go into
operation on time, the second stage of emigration will be of
decisive significance. A total of 14.75 billion yuan (US$1.7
billion) will be invested in relocating 449,000 people during the
second-stage from 1998 to 2003.
Buildings covering a floor space of 133.5 billion square metres
will be constructed. More than 380 kilometres of highways will be
built and 1,930 kilometres of power transmission lines will be
erected.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: Zeng Fanyong_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Cultural relics rescued
SINCE the spring of 1997 when the historical relics rescue work in
the Chongqing reservoir area of the Three Gorges Project
started,many different cultural relics belonging to the periods
ranging from the Neolithic Age to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),
have been unearthed.
These excavated cultural relics, including pottery pieces, stone
artifacts, bronze ware, iron cauldrons, pottery figurines and
jars, bronze weapons and coins, have important scientific value in
the research of ancient history, social conditions and Sichuan
culture in ancient times.
A team of 33 archaeological and ancient architecture maintenance
units from the China History Museum, Ancient Vertebrate and
Palaeoanthropology Institute under the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Archaeological Institute of the Nanjing Museum,
archaeological team of the Chongqing Museum, Jilin University,
Sichuan University and Beijing University accomplished the rescue
work.
The unearthed space totalled nearly 6,000 square metres. The major
excavated ruins are located at sites in Xinpu Village and Yufupu,
both in Fengjie County; Lijiaba and Dongyangzi, both in Yunyang
County; Shaopengzui and Wazhadi, both in Zhongxian County; Yajiao
burial ground in Zhongxian County; and Tiaoshi and Suolong in
Wushan.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Area boasts myriad tourist attractions
BRIMMING with tourist attractions, Chongqing is one of China's
major travel destinations. The tourism industry is one of the
city's rapidly developing, support industries. The city received
259,000 tourists from overseas and 18.5 million domestic visitors
in 1997.
Chongqing boasts about 20 tourist areas with 300 scenic or
historic spots including many under State special protection.
Dazu, famous all over the world for its stone sculptures, has
60,000 stone figures that were carved 1,000 years ago. With its
mammoth scale, exquisite workmanship and rich cultural background,
the sculptures in Dazu are important in China's art world. Dazu is
listed as one of the four best stone sculpture sites in China
together with Dunhuang, Yungang and Longmen.
Baiheliang (White Crane Ridge) in Fuling is called China's
"ancient hydrometric station." Most years you cannot see the ridge
because it is submerged under water. It emerges only in dry
seasons. On the stone ridge 72 low water years beginning from 763
to the early 20th century are recorded, along with 170 poems
carved in stone.
Diaoyu City in Hechuan is one of the three ancient battlefield
sites in China. Longgupo in Wushan is famous for its caveman
ruins. Two million year-old fossils of cavemen and other ancient
animals have been found there.
In addition, Hongyan Revolutionary Museum and the Geleshan
Cemetery of Revolutionary Martyrs are both worth visiting.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Environment cleaned up
CHONGQING is a large,heavily industrialized centre in Southwest
China. For many years the city has had environmental problems
because of history and geography reasons. These problems have
seriously inhibited the economic development of the city.
Things changed after the city became a municipality directly under
the central government in 1997. Although the city's economy was
developing rapidly, the overall environmental quality remained
quite stable. Some areas actually improved environmentally.
Compared with 1996, the density of sulphur dioxide in the air in
the city proper was reduced by 33.2 per cent while the average
density of particulate matter was below the allowable State level.
As a result, the frequency of acid rainstorms was reduced by 11.9
per cent compared with the previous year.
The Yangtze River, Jialing River and the Wujiang River showed
signs of improvement in water quality. According to monitoring
stations, the water quality along the main course of the Yangtze
River ranked in the second or third category.
Noise pollution in the city proper was controlled under the State
allowable limits.
Chongqing attaches great importance to the work of environmental
protection. The municipal government has made strategic plans to
build the city into an ecological, economic zone with green
mountains and blue rivers.
The city's first domestic sewage treatment plant -- Tangjiaqiao
Sewage Treatment Plant -- has been built and put into operation.
The programme for the comprehensive treatment of the Xiao'anxi
River, the Bibei River and the Huaxi River has been carried out.
The Shapingba, Beibei, Nan'an and Yubei districts of the city are
special areas designated for the control of sulpher dioxide
exhaust.
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_Date: 03/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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