Nationwide

And The Survey Says ... CHINA

Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization Francesco Frangialli recently declared that China will become the world's top tourist destination before the year 2020. The announcement was made at a UNWTO ceremony where “top Chinese tourist city” awards were presented to Chengdu, Hangzhou and Dalian. Frangialli said that China overtook Italy to be the world's fourth most popular destination last year and predicts that China will soon elbow ahead of the U.S. to become the world's top tourist destination. Fueled by the country's economic growth and policy of reform and opening up, the tourism industry has expanded at rapid speed. China's tourism industry is expected to top a new record with revenue up 10 percent from 2006 hitting one trillion yuan. Goodbye Grand Canyon, hello Great Wall!

Qingdao

Play and Help

Shen Hao, a volunteer from Anhui province, has distributed 500 special decks of cards featuring the profiles of 52 missing children in China's eastern city of Qingdao. Details about the lost children, including their photos, names, dates they were last seen and messages from their parents, can be found on the website Bandao.cn. “Each card bares the tragedy of one family,” said Shen Hao. “We are helping these families spread their hope.”

Shanghai

Late Night Advice

If your love life needs a lift, call late-night love adviser Ni Lin at Happy Radio. Her program, "Fei Ni Mo Shu" ("Only You") marks the beginning of a new career for this anchorwoman off the screen and into a radio studio, giving advice about the always popular topic of love. Every Saturday at 10 p.m., on Happy Radio FM107.2, Ni will share her knowledge and emotional experiences with listeners who feel helpless and confused in the face of love problems in modern society. The one-hour program analyzes current love topics, introduces romantic resorts and gives practical tips on love and dating. "I hope the program can be inspiring, helping people to cherish love, learn from the other gender's thinking mode, customs and characteristics," says Ni.

Shenyang

Classroom Cup

A former school vice principal in northeast China's Liaoning province has been sentenced to a year in prison for kicking a boy in the testicles. (He apparently hadn't heard of time out.) The former vice principal, surnamed Zhang, of No. 55 Middle School in Liaoning's capital of Shenyang, was also ordered to pay ¥11,000 as compensation to the teenage student. The dispute which resulted in assault was over the student's dissatisfaction with the ruling of organized sports games in Shenyang's Tiexi district. The student's negative attitude and snide remarks about the games caused an enraged Zhang to direct his anger towards the boy's nether regions.

Macau

Ho s Giant Lotus

Billionaire gambling tycoon Stanley Ho celebrated the opening of his Grand Lisboa hotel and casino, a gleaming gold complex shaped like a giant lotus flower. Grand Lisboa opened just days after it was announced that Macau edged out the Las Vegas Strip as the world's most lucrative gambling center. Ho has 17 casinos in Macau and enjoyed a four-decade monopoly on gambling in the former Portuguese colony until the government opened up the market in 2002. The 52-story Grand Lisboa has a sparkly round base—a design inspired by Faberge eggs—and a tower shaped like the long plumes from a Brazilian showgirl's headdress.

Hollywood

Mel Goes Migrant

Hollywood director Mel Gibson has selected the Chinese hit song “I Wanna Go Home, Mom and Dad” to end his next movie. As reported by Xian Evening News, a Chinese-American friend of Gibson's recommended the song for his new movie—an adaptation of a South African folk writer's novel. Reportedly, Gibson feels the song's lyrics compliment the movie's plot and therefore bought the song's copyright. Composer and lyricist Yang Lingchuan, who wrote the music for migrant workers in China, is currently discussing cooperation details with Gibson's production company.