Listening to Angels'''' Voice

A special summer camp for 20 hearing—handicapped children was held at ZhujiajianIsland in Zhoushan Archipelago from July 28 toAugust 8. The camp was jointly sponsored by theZhejiang provincial government,the CulturalDialogue and Hangzhou Business Radio.The20 deaf-and-dumb kids established one-to-onerelationship with 20 volunteers who wereuniversity students.The kids were undergoing aspecial therapy,learning to speak and enhance     

Devoted to Movie Making

Being an independent movie producer and making a documentary could sound very thrilling and romantic, but when Yang Yueqing started making her first documentary, she felt it as precarious as cliffhanging. She started almost from nothing. English is not her mother tongue; she lacked experiences with the movie     

Dancing to Top Glory

For other people, F could mean anything.However, for Wang Yonglin and Jin Yan, adancing pair from Hangzhou Singing andDancing Ensemble, F means the gold prize theycaptured at an international modern dancecontest in Byelorussia last year. F is the nameof the pas de deux presented by the duo.In addition to the success of this nature everscored by a pair of dancers from ZhejiangProvince, F also means hard work, tears, andpains to the dancers.The invitation to the international competitionca…     

Dedication to Historic Records

The People's Liberation Army stormed acrossthe Yangtze River in 1949 and surged towardNanjing, capital of the Kuomintang regime. Oneparticular photograph taken during the crossingbest depicts the true nature of the war: the peoplesupported its own army and played a decisiverole in bringing down the Kuomintang regime.In the picture is one of the numerous boatspowering toward the southern bank of theYangtze River. A young girl with a long pigtailstood upright and gave her all to row the boat…     

Photographic Witness to History

Mr. Mao Songyou (1911-2000) was acelebrated photographer and author of a numberof books on photography.Mao Songyou started his career as aprofessional photographer in 1932 upongraduation as a major of economics from awesternized school in Shanghai. He worked asa press photographer for Shanghai Morning Post.For over sixty years, Mao created about 100,000 photographs capturing the best and worstof the times: wars, society, life, art, andlandscape. Many of his precious pictureschronicle the i…     

A Trip to Pyramids

I had the dream of seeing the pyramids in Egypt in my childhood. When I touched down at Cairo Airport one day in the past May I again felt the touch of my childhood dream: Never had I been so close to the pyramids. In the afternoon of the following day, I…     

Pilgrimage to the Thatched Cottage

I had long since wanted to make mypilgrimage to Du Fu's Thatched Cottage inChengdu,where the great poet of the TangDynasty(618-907)resided in his self-imposedexile during the chaotic years of a revolt.Mydream did not come true until recently when Ivisited…     

Korean Stormy Adventure to China

10:30 PM on the evening of July 10, 2002 was an unusual moment for the 108 Koreans. They had just arrived at a hotel in Ninghai County of eastern China's Zhejiang Province. For a moment, the lobby teemed with guests and bustled with activities. The resplendent light shone softly on happy and curious faces. They had known a century-old story handed down from ancestors about the coastal city, but most of them had never visited the place. Most of the Koreans in this group had something in common: they shared a forefather named Choi Pu.     

Artist Adds Sculptures to World

Artist and entrepreneur Ruan Wenlong now runs his business specialized in creating large-sized sculptures for cities. The desire for art first came to him not for the sake of art but for the sake of living a better life. Born into a farmer's family in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province in September 1964, Ruan was known for his never-say-die personality and determination to get rid of the poverty that was born with him.     

Presenting Chinese Culture to Americans

One day a classmate asked me in brokenChinese if I would do him a favor. His wife, ateacher of literature at a middle school in aneighboring town, was to teach a short storyentitled Dragon Wing, which touched uponChinese culture in many parts. She wanted tofind a Chinese to make a brief introduction toChinese culture.I was excited. As I had been curious aboutthe American education system, this constituteda godsend opportunity for me to see howAmerican kids do in their middle school. I fe…     

An Unforgettable Visit to Baikal

Some people describe the Lake Baikal as one of the paradises on earth. It's the deepest lake in the world and it is so large that all of the rivers on earth combined would take an entire year to fill it. My yearning for the natural wonder lasted for years and years. Luckily, my dream came true on the 31st July 2002 when I visited the fresh-water sea together with other seven writers from Zhejiang province.     

My Visit to Angkor Wat

When I stood on the top of Phnom Bakheng,soaking up the panoramic view of Angkor Wat only 1.5 kilometers away,I murmured to myself that once I stepped into the site,I would never forget what Isaw there.My prediction has turned out to be true     

Decades'''' Dedication to Art Education

Eafly this winter I visited ProfessorZhu Yixiong at his home where hissolo art exhibition was being held.Seeingmy name card.he was delighted.“Doyou know 1 was a complimentary readerOf the first issue of your CulturalDialogue?I still read every issue of themagazine.I recommend it to my gndentsbecause it has English translation.Asfor me,I am partly from Hangzhou.”He told me that he graduated fromHangzhou United Senior School,predecessor of today’S Hangzhou Senior     

Tie Ning Came to Hangzhou

TieNing,awriterinHebeiProvince,madehernameknownfirstinthe1980s.MyteacherofliteraturehistorysaidhehadseenTieNingandtalkedaboutherbeautyinourclass.Atthattimewestudentswerequiteenviousoftheteacher.IwentbeyondmyselfwhenIsawherinHangzhouinAutumn2003.ShecametoattendateapartyontheWestLakeonafinedayinfall.ThepartywasheldincelebrationoftheDayofZhejiangAuthors.ThegardenpartywasheldoutdoorontheYanggongCauseway,anewsceniczoneinthewesternwingoftheWestLake.Over700authors,poets,musicians,sealengraver…     

Ode to Pottery and Porcelain

Editor's Note: this is an abbreviated version of a foreword to Charms of Ceramic Glaze, a book by Guo Yi. Zhang Huasheng is a celebrated painter and director of Zhejiang Arts Academy. The earliest human invention is probably pottery. The only color that lasts is probably pottery tints and porcelain glaze, even if the very ancient pottery and porcelain utensils made by our earliest ancestors have long since been broken to shards.     

Visit to Goethe''''s Former Residence

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt on the Rhine. I took advantage of the Frankfurt Books Exposition to visit his former residence.The four-storied structure sits on a quiet back street in Frankfurt. A typical upper-class residence of the 18th century, the house has a garden behind it. Born on 28 August 1749, Goethe spent more than two decades there. In 1774 when he was 25 years old, he wrote The Sorrows of Young Weither. Though he later moved to Weimar, he came back to Frankfurt several times. The residence was finally destroyed during Two World Wars. The four-storied house is restored to its original glory, with many of the components being original.     

A Grand Homage to Fire

They worship fire. There are more than 1.5 million of them in the Greater Liangshan Mountains and Lesser Liangshan Mountain in SW China's Sichuan province. Fire worship has been part of their lives, their beliefs and their tradition since ancient times. In their eyes, fire is the genesis and the finale of life. They regard themselves as descendents of fire, a people of fire. Yes, they are called the Yi, an ethnic group most scattered in the southwestern China.     

Veteran Devotes to Tea Culture

The modern Chinese history of tea records events and names such as Wu Juenong, Zhang Tianfu, Zhuang Wanfang, and Chen Zhongmao, who have made contributions to the promotion of Chinese tea. Wang Jiayang is another name that goes down in history of the mode…     

A Giant Dedicated to Enlightenment

Zhejiang always stands out in China as a land d culture. The 20th century has witnessed this coastal province produce a gveat number of the most outstanding scholars and educators. Hu Yuzhi, a great pedagogue dedicating all his life to lifting the ordinary people out of ignorance, upheld a torch of enlightenment for the Chinese people to see a new path for the rebirth of China. Hu's name is respected and remembered.