The East China Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) started live-fire exercises in the East China Sea Wednesday (Beijing time) and the exercises will last 6 days (from June 30 to July 5). Beijing announced the exercises on June 28, shortly before the start of the US and South Korea's joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea.
According to Ming Pao Daily, it is rare for the Chinese military to make such an announcement ahead of time. The exercises caused a lot of discussion on the internet, our researcher Helen Hu has been looking into the story.
The ongoing debates on climate change and global warming have been gaining in significance following the severe drought in Southwestern China, and the vicious winter storms which have hit the North, resulting in some of the worst winter weather in over 40 years.
The Yellow River is the longest river in Northern China. Its waters are used to irrigate almost 15% of China's total arable land, and in turn, around 140 million people.
But the regional drought and lack of rainfall in 2009 has meant that the Yellow River's water reserves have been plummeting. The Yellow River Conservancy Commission says the river's water levels had fallen 30% compared to previous years.
Want to discover the birthplace of the Chinese Han culture? Ready to discover the the birthplace of Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor)?
Check out this episode as Rob introduces the province Henan. Henan is the most populated province in China with a population of 100 million people. This province is most popular for its historic site Shaolin Temple - where kung fu was created.
In this episode you will gain a brief overview of Henan's exciting history and how to get there...which will definitely encourage you to watch the following episodes to learn more on what to eat and places to go!
In today's net check we get Chinese reaction to the unrest in nearby Thailand. Dozens of people there have been killed in the battles between red shirt protesters and the military.
The bloodshed followed a more than two month stand-off between thousands of protesters and the authorities in Bangkok. The anti-government red shirts have been calling for fresh elections and what they call 'real democracy'.
The military crackdown began on Wednesday morning after weeks of negotiations failed to disperse protesters, many of whom are followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in a 2006 military coup. Soldiers clashed with militants, some of whom were armed with assault weapons.