A Festival of Chinese Culture - Ancient Paths, Modern Voices at the Carnegie.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County is scheduled to bring to Southern California a bicoastal Carnegie Hall festival paying tribute to China’s diverse and vibrant culture and its influence around the world.

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture will take place from October 11 to November 24 at Orange County Performing Arts Center. The New York festival will be presented from October 21 to November 10 at Carnegie Hall and New York partner institutions.

The first festival presented under the partnership between Carnegie Hall and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Ancient Paths, Modern Voices will feature performances by leading international musicians, including some artists and ensembles traveling outside China for the first time. The festival will include Western symphonic and chamber music influenced by Chinese culture, traditional folk music and contemporary music as well as traditional marionette theater, dance, film screenings, calligraphy, art exhibitions and much more.

“By partnering with Carnegie Hall and other prominent institutions, Segerstrom Center for the Arts achieves a new level of excellence in serving Southern California, and reaching out as never before on the international stage," stated Henry Segerstrom, Managing Partner of South Coast Plaza, presenting sponsor. "I am delighted that this vibrant celebration of Chinese culture presented by Carnegie Hall and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County will be able to enrich and enliven the experience of audiences on both coasts."

“Perhaps more than ever before, the incredibly diverse aspects of China—its history, timeless traditions, and lively contemporary arts scene—have captured the imagination of the world,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. "With Ancient Paths, Modern Voices, we invite audiences on a cross-disciplinary exploration of this world, examining China’s traditional and contemporary culture, and how it has influenced artists around the globe."

Grant gives Mandarin classes a shot in the arm..

The Southern Oregon Education Service District has become the latest US institution to offer Mandarin classes, establishing more links in educators' vision of a seamless Chinese language program from the third grade through college.

The district earlier this week was awarded a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to provide a Mandarin program for third through eighth grades over a three-year period. Service district officials hope to continue the program after the grant has expired.

"Soon China will be the largest English-speaking country in the world, and look at how many people speak Chinese here," said Jay Matheson, the district's technology coordinator and the Mandarin project director. "We need to build that curiosity about China. If we are dealing with them on a world level, we need people who are curious about their culture and language. We need to get our heads out of the sand."

Instruction will be offered through two-way video conferencing, with much of the grant money going toward installing the necessary equipment at local schools.

Dedicating time to a Chinese program at the elementary level could be a hard sale at some elementary schools because of the national focus on bringing students' skills up to grade level in basic subjects, such as reading and math, and dwindling state financial support. But to reject the Mandarin program on that basis is short-sighted, Matheson said.

"Studying another language really enhances the study of your own language," Matheson said, "and it's a great motivator for students."

The district's vision is to eventually expand the Mandarin program so that students could attend classes without interruption from the third to 12th grades and then go on to Southern Oregon University in Ashland or another university and continue studying the language, Matheson said.

SOU recently announced it will launch a beginning Mandarin program Sept. 28 when classes resume.

Medford's St. Mary's School, which began the county's first Mandarin program in fall 2006, will lend one of its three Chinese instructors to both SOU and the service district.

Last year, the private Catholic secondary school became the first high school in the Americas to become a Confucius Classroom through the Hanban Chinese Language Council International's Confucius Institute program in China. The program provides instructors from China to teach Mandarin at the school and makes Chinese educational and travel activities available to students, often for free.

"Part of the mission of the Confucius Classroom is to spread Chinese culture and language studies," said Frank Phillips, St. Mary's head of school. "Part of (the decision to share the school's Chinese teachers) is a good neighbor policy. Funding is down for public education, and Chinese is an important language."

By the end of the three years, the service district hopes to have recruited 25 schools to offer the Mandarin classes and to have enrolled 1,875 pupils.

Chinese tycoon's assets frozen by Hong Kong court

A Hong Kong court Tuesday extended an order freezing $214 million of assets owned by one of China's richest men amid an ongoing corruption probe in mainland China.

The assets owned by Chinese tycoon Wong Kwong-yu and his wife have been frozen since early August after an application by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission.

Wong, also known as Huang Guangyu, is founder and ex-chairman of China's leading home appliance chain, Gome Electrical Appliances. He is being investigated by mainland Chinese authorities in connection with a corruption probe that has already ensnared Chinese government officials. He is accused of stock price manipulation and other crimes.

His wife Du Juan, also under investigation, is reportedly being detained in China.

The court order in Hong Kong serves to prevent Wong, Du and the two companies through which Wong holds his stake in Gome from removing and dealing with the assets while SFC is investigating a share repurchase allegedly planned by Wong.

The regulator alleged that Wong had used the proceeds of the buyback of Gome shares worth 2.2 billion Hong Kong dollars ($284 million) between January and February 2008 to repay a personal loan of HK$2.4 billion ($310 million) to a financial institution.

Mona Lisa speaks Mandarin Chinese

What smile is more ubiquitous than that of the lovely Italian lady known to an adoring world as Mona Lisa? Probably none, but believe it or not, Miss Mona now speaks interactively to visitors and in Mandarin Chinese to boot.

Leonardo Da Vinci would probably be quite surprised to see his genteel aristocratic lady of another softer time and place transformed into a high tech, interactive art exhibit. Be that as it may, the lady with the enigmatic smile is only one of 61 high-tech replicas on display at the World Classic Interactive Arts Exhibition, which opened last week in Beijing.

Originally crafted by a South Korean art gallery to bring these incredible recreations of renowned masterpieces to a Chinese audience took two years of preparation not to mention a great deal of money.

Some other Chinese speaking masterpieces include Da Vinci’s "The Last Supper,” in which Jesus talks to the apostles and moves across the plasma canvas. There is also a multimedia play by life-size replicas of ancient statues of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, who brag about their virtues and beauty while striking poses.

UTSA hosts Chinese language conference

This weekend, the UTSA College of Education and Human Development, the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and the East Asia Institute will sponsor the 2009 Annual Conference of the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Texas (CLTA-Texas). The conference, also supported by the Confucius Institute at Texas A&M University and the Education Office of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Houston, promotes teaching Chinese as a foreign and heritage language in Texas.

The CLTA-Texas conference is open to Chinese language teachers, principals and administrators from public and private high schools, heritage schools and universities in San Antonio and the surrounding areas such as Houston, Dallas and Austin. Leaders from Chinese organizations in San Antonio and Austin and UTSA students also are invited to attend the conference.

This year's conference, themed "Connecting Classroom Teaching to the Real World," will include six panels and 16 presenters -- all teachers, principals and language program coordinators from high schools, heritage Chinese schools, and colleges and universities. Panel topics will range from the establishment and development of Chinese programs to effective K-16 teaching methods.

Claudia Ross, a professor from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and vice president of CLTA at the national level, will present the keynote address titled "How Long Does it Take to Learn Chinese?" Ross is the author of "Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar" published by Routledge Press.

Chinese mainland A/H1N1 flu cases near 2,350

The Chinese mainland has confirmed nearly 2,350 cases of A/H1N1 influenza as of 3 p.m. Monday, with 84 new cases reported in the previous 72 hours, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

Among the newly confirmed cases, half came from overseas and the remainder were infected in the Chinese mainland, the ministry said.

The Chinese mainland reported its 1,000th confirmed A/H1N1 case in early July. Since then, the number of confirmed cases has been growing at an average of 40 a day.

Of confirmed A/H1N1 cases, 2,167 have recovered and been discharged.

There have been no fatal or critical cases resulting from A/H1N1 reported on the Chinese mainland so far, but one infected patient in Hangzhou from eastern Zhejiang Province reportedly died of electrocution in a ward lavatory on July 1. The death was thought to have been caused by a faulty electric circuit.

Eric Bana's Chinese skills need polishing

Australian actor Eric Bana admitted Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” that while he can recite Mandarin Chinese in his films, he doesn’t always understand what he’s saying. Bana appeared on the American talk show to plug his movies “Funny People” and the upcoming “The Time Traveler’s Wife.”

Bana co-stars in “Funny People” as Clarke, who is the husband of star Adam Sandler’s ex-girlfriend. Clarke has just returned from China and is a fluent Chinese speaker. In the clip shown today, Clarke speaks in Mandarin with his children. He describes Mandarin as a “bloody odd language” in the movie.

Following the clip, co-host Joy Behar asked Bana what the meaning of “baba bu yao” was. Bana smiled and confessed, “I didn’t understand what it meant then, and I don’t understand what it means now.”

Show creator Barbara Walters asked, “Is that all you can speak?”

“That’s all I can speak in Chinese,” Bana said.

World of Warcraft Inches Back to China’s Desktops

China’s pasty-faced warriors and wizards may soon be headed back to their indoor lairs.

Chinese Internet company Netease received approval Tuesday from the Ministry of Culture to offer the World of Warcraft online role-playing game, according to portal Techweb. The Chinese government agency’s Web site showed the game had passed its content examination.

World of Warcraft will still need an approval from another regulator, the General Administration of Press and Publication, or GAPP, before it can be relaunched. Analysts said that it’s very likely the game will be relaunched in late August or early September.

In April, World of Warcraft’s owner, Activision Blizzard of the U.S., picked Netease to replace a company called The9 in running the game in mainland China. NetEase and Activision Blizzard jointly issued a public letter stating that the first batch of game servers will be opened in late June.

But the game has been unavailable in China since June 7 as its operators awaited regulatory approval. That has led to grumblings among fans of a game that — as anyone who has stepped foot in an Internet café in China can tell you — borders on an obsession.

Development of Fireworks in China

Fireworks originated in China some 2,000 years ago. The most prevalent legend has it that fireworks were discovered or invented by accident by a Chinese cook working in a field kitchen who happened to mix charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter (all commonly found in the kitchen in those days). The mixture burned and when compressed in an enclosure (a bamboo tube), the mixture exploded.

Some sources say that the discovery of fireworks occurred about 2,000 years ago, and other sources place the discovery sometime during the 9th century during the Song dynasty (960-1279), although this could be confusion between the discovery of gunpowder by the cook and the invention of the firecracker.

It had been suggested that fireworks may have originated in India, but in the October 18, 2003, online edition of The Hindu, an Indian national newspaper, the Chinese are credited with the discovery of gunpowder.

A Chinese monk named Li Tian, who lived near the city of Liu Yang in Hunan Province, is credited with the invention of firecrackers about 1,000 years ago. The Chinese people celebrate the invention of the firecracker every April 18 by offering sacrifices to Li Tian. During the Song Dynasty, the local people established a temple to worship Li Tian.

The firecrackers, both then and now, are thought to have the power to fend off evil spirits and ghosts that are frightened by the loud bangs of the firecrackers. Firecrackers are used for such purposes today at most events such as births, deaths and birthdays. Chinese New Year is a particularly popular event that is celebrated with firecrackers to usher in the new year free of the evil spirits.

To this day the Liu Yang region of Hunan Province remains the main production area in the world for fireworks. It is important to remember the geographic origin of fireworks, because often detractors of the fireworks industry say that fireworks are produced in China to take advantage of cheap labor. But the reality is that the fireworks industry existed in China long before the advent of the modern era.

Generally Marco Polo is credited with bringing the Chinese gunpowder back to Europe in the 13th century, although some accounts credit the Crusaders with bringing the black powder to Europe as they returned from their journeys.

Once in Europe, the black powder was used for military purposes, first in rockets, then in canons and guns. Italians were the first Europeans who used the black powder to manufacture fireworks. Germany was the other European country to emerge as a fireworks leader along with Italy in the 18th century. It is interesting to note that many of the leading American display companies are operated by families of Italian descent such as the Grucci family, Rozzi family, and Zambelli family.

The English were also fascinated with fireworks. Fireworks became very popular in Great Britain during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. William Shakespeare mentions fireworks in his works, and fireworks were so much enjoyed by the Queen herself that she created the position of “Fire Master of England.” King James II was so pleased with the fireworks display that celebrated his coronation that he knighted his Fire Master.