China

The Old Summer Palace, known in China as Yuan Ming Yuan , and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens in... Beijing. It is located 8 kilometres northwest of the walls of the Imperial City, built in the 18th and early 19th century, where the emperors of the Qing Dynasty resided and handled government affairs . Known for its extensive collection of garden and building architectures and other works of art . In 1860 during the Second Opium War, two British envoys, a journalist for The Times and their small escort of British and Indian troopers met with the Royal Prince to negotiate. Instead they were confined and tortured, resulting in twenty deaths. The British High Commissioner to China, Lord Elgin, retaliated by ordering the destruction of the palace, which was then carried out by French and British troops.
more

The Summer Palace is a palace in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse... of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. Longevity Hill is about 60 meters high and houses many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich in the splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill, in sharp contrast, is quiet with natural beauty The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.
more

Gǔlóu , the drum tower of Beijing, is situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City to the north of Di’ anmen... Street. Originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time and is now a tourist attraction. Zhōnglóu , the bell tower of Beijing, stands closely behind the drum tower. Together with the drum tower, they provide an overview of central Beijing and before the modern era, they both dominated Beijing's ancient skyline. Bells and drums were musical instruments in ancient China. Later they were used by government and common people as timepieces. The Bell and Drum towers were the center of Chinese chronology during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The Bell and Drum Towers continued to function as the official timepiece of China and government until 1924, when the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty was forced to leave the Forbidden City and western-style clockwork was made the official means of time-keeping. The Drum Tower was built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan, at which time it stood at the very heart of the Yuan capital Dadu. At that time it was known as the Tower of Orderly Administration .
more

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications running in general east to west through the entire northern part of China, which is made of... stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, built originally in part to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls had already been begun to be built beginning around the 5th century BC: these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.
more

The Sino-Vietnamese conflicts of 1979–1990 were a series of border clashes between China and Vietnam following the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979.... When Chinese troops withdrew from Vietnam in March 1979 after the war, China announced that they were not ambitious for "any square inch of the territory of Vietnam". In fact, Chinese troops occupied an area of 60 km, which was disputed land controlled by Vietnam before hostilities broke out. In some places such as the area around Friendship Gate in Lang Son, Chinese troops occupied territories which have no military value but important symbolic value. Elsewhere, Chinese troops occupied the strategic positions of military importance as a springboard to attack Vietnam. The Chinese occupation of border territory angered Vietnam, and this ushered in a series of fights between the two sides to gain control of the area. Border conflicts between Vietnam and China continued until 1988, peaking in the years 1984–1985. By the early 1990s, along with the withdrawal of Vietnam from Cambodia and the collapse of the Soviet Union, relationship between the two countries gradually returned to normal.
more

The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea. The war began with... isolated clashes along the land and maritime boundaries of Vietnam and Kampuchea between 1975 and 1977, occasionally involving division-sized military formations. On 25 December 1978, Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of Kampuchea and subsequently occupied the country after the Khmer Rouge was removed from power. During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge communists had formed an alliance to fight U.S.-backed regimes in their respective countries. Despite their open display of cooperation with the Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge leadership feared that the Vietnamese communists were scheming to form an Indochinese federation with Vietnam as the dominant force in the region. In order to preempt an attempt by the Vietnamese to dominate them, the Khmer Rouge leadership began purging Vietnamese-trained personnel within their own ranks as the Lon Nol regime capitulated in 1975.
more

The Johnson South Reef Skirmish of 1988 was a naval battle that took place between Chinese and Vietnamese forces over Johnson South Reef in the... Spratly Islands on March 14, 1988. It has also been mistakenly referred to as the Battle of Fiery Cross Reef. On January 21, 1988, the Yibin arrived at the Spratly Islands and on January 31, People's Liberation Army Navy troops were detected at Johnson South Reef. Vietnamese forces were rushed into the area to prevent them. On February 22 and on March 5, PLA-N frigates Nanchong, Xiangtan and Yingtan were dispatched as reinforcements to the area while the Vietnamese dispatched their own forces on March 11 from Ba Son naval yards in Ho Chi Minh City. The PRC's accounts reported the skirmish as follows: On March 13, the Nanchong detected PAVN vessels HQ-604 heading toward Johnson South Reef, HQ-605 heading toward Lansdowne Reef, and HQ-505 heading toward Collins Reef in a simultaneous three-pronged intrusion upon the disputed reefs.
more

The 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish was the third military conflict between the Chinese army and Indian army that occurred at Sumdorong Chu Valley, with... the previous one taking place almost a quarter of a century earlier. After her return to power in 1980 as Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi ordered a general review of India's security plans. In 1982-83, she approved a plan submitted by the Chief of the Army Staff, General K.V. Krishna Rao, to upgrade the sporadic deployment of forces along the Line of Actual Control with the People's Republic of China. Since the late 1960s, India had developed an elaborate plan to defend the Himalayan frontier with China. This involved the provision of screening defences at the Line of Actual Control and the building of strong defence nodes at key points along the frontier. By the early 1980s, while the forces to man the defences were ready, the nodes were not, and the greatest weakness was in the fact that the servicing road network had not been built. The decision was taken to resume the defence infrastructure construction.
more

The African Development Bank Group is a development bank established in 1964 with the intention of promoting economic and social development in... Africa. The Group comprises the African Development Bank , the African Development Fund , and the Nigeria Trust Fund . AfDB provides loans and grants to African governments and private companies investing in the regional member countries in Africa. It is owned and funded by member governments, and has a public-interest mandate to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. Following the end of colonial period in Africa, growing desire for more unity within the continent led to the establishment of two draft charters, one for the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity , and for a regional development bank. A draft accord was submitted to top African officials, then to African Ministers, before being cosigned by twenty-three African governments on August 4, 1963, in the form of an agreement establishing the African Development Bank.
more

The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia. The... bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and non-regional developed countries. From 31 members at its establishment, ADB now has 67 members - of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside. ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with member's capital subscriptions. At present, both the United States and Japan hold 552,210 shares, the largest proportion of shares at 12.756% each. China holds 228,000 shares , India holds 224,010 shares , the 2nd and 3rd largest proportion of shares respectively. The highest policy-making body of the bank is the Board of Governors composed of one representative from each member state. The Board of Governors, in turn, elect among themselves the 12 members of the Board of Directors and their deputy.
more

The Caribbean Development Bank is a financial institution which assists Caribbean nations in financing social and economic programs in its member... countries. Created on October 18, 1969, by a conference of eighteen countries and territories in Kingston, Jamaica, it has its headquarters located in Bridgetown, Barbados. In 2004 and 2010, Standard & Poor's gave the CDB a rating of Triple A, the firm's highest rating. According to Standard and Poor if the Caribbean Development bank "continues its prudent financial policies of the past, its rating should remain stable over the medium term." At the end of 2000, the bank had shareholders' equity of US$426 million. The United Nations launched Development Business in 1978 with the support of the Caribbean Development Bank, the World Bank, and many other major development banks from around the world. Today, Development Business is the primary publication for all major multilateral development banks, United Nations agencies, and several national governments, many of whom have made the publication of their tenders and contracts in Development Business a mandatory requirement.
more

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO , is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the... leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation. The official working languages of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are Chinese and Russian. The official names of the organisation in the two languages, abbreviations in parentheses, are: Chinese: Russian: Member States The Shanghai Five grouping was originally created April 26, 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai by the heads of states of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. April 24, 1997 the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow.
more

Sun Yat-sen University, also unofficially referred to as Zhongshan University , is a prominent university located mainly in Guangzhou, China. The... University is named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of both the University and the Republic of China. The University consists of 4 campuses with a total area of 6.17 square kilometers. Three of the four campuses are located in Guangzhou, the fourth is in Zhuhai. The University motto, "Study extensively; Enquire accurately; Reflect carefully; Discriminate clearly; Practise earnestly" , is from one of the Chinese classics, Doctrine of the Mean. Sun Yat-sen University, originally known as National Kwangtung University , was founded in 1924 by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. It combined National Higher Normal College , Kwangtung Provincial Law College and Provincial Agricultural Technical School , and after his death it was renamed National Sun Yat-sen University in 1926. The campus was originally located at Shipai , Eastern Guangzhou.
more

South China University of Technology is a Chinese university located in Guangzhou, capital of the Guangdong province. In 2000, SCUT ranked 34th... among Asia's Best Universities for Science and Technology Schools by Asiaweek. Formerly known as South China Institute of Technology, it was established in 1952, through a reorganization process that unified the engineering schools and departments of major universities in Southern China, including the former Zhongshan University, Lingnan University, South China Joint University, and 4 others. In 1960, it was selected as one of 33 National Key Universities, under the direct administration of the Chinese Ministry of Education. The University was renamed as South China University of Technology in 1988. South China University of Technology is one of China's key universities operating under the direct administration of the State Ministry of Education. The university, which has a total area of 294 hectares, is situated in Guangzhou, a southern metropolis in China. The university has two campuses: The North Campus and the South Campus.
more

Sichuan University is one of the oldest national universities in China. It is ranked No. 8 among the Chinese universities according to the 2010... Academic Ranking of World Universities. Sichuan University is one of the national universities directly under the Ministry of Education . It is also one of the State 211 Project and 985 Project universities enjoying privileged construction in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period. The president of the university is Professor Xie Heping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Sichuan University is the result of a merge of three national universities. In 1994, the original Sichuan University merged with the Chengdu University of Science and Technology , a national university under the Ministry of Education. The merged university was shortly known by the name of Sichuan Union University. In 2000, Sichuan University merged with West China University of Medical Science , a university under the State Ministry of Health, and became "Sichuan University".
more

Xuefei Yang is a Chinese classical guitarist. Yang was born in Beijing in 1977, and began playing the guitar when she was seven. Three years later,... she started studying under Chen Zhi, the Chairman of the China Classical Guitar Society. She made a public debut at the First China International Guitar Festival, where she met with an immediate acclaim. At her debut, one of the most respected luthiers, Masaru Kohno, presented her a guitar, Pepe by Aria; it was her first foreign-made guitar. The next achievement that she made was a second prize at the Beijing Senior Guitar competition; at that time, she was only eleven. As a schoolgirl, Yang rapidly achieved an international reputation, playing extensively in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Spain, and Australia, and giving concert tours in Taiwan, Japan and Portugal. At twelve, she played in Tokyo for the first time, and was given a special award by the Guitar Alliance of Japan. Masaru Kohno, this time, took Yang to his studio and asked her to take any guitar with her.
more

Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four... Heavenly Kings . He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn." Lai was born in Beijing, China as Lai Chit with Meixian, Guangdong ancestry. His family was originally from Meixian. His parents divorced when he was four. He migrated with his Malaysian Chinese father, Lai Xinsheng to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution in China. At the age of 15, he attended Kingsway Princeton College in the United Kingdom and returned to Hong Kong at the age of eighteen in 1984. Lai initially worked as a salesperson for a mobile phone company. After being awarded second-runner-up in the 1986 5th New Talent Singing Awards, Lai received vocal coaching from Dai Si Zong . In the same year he also obtained an artist contract from Capital Artists. Lai did not release any albums for four years. As a result, his teacher, Dai, arranged to have him signed a contract with Polygram, later known as Universal Music. In Polygram, he released his first album "Leon" and subsequent album "Meet In The Rain".
more

Gao Yuanyuan is a Chinese actress. Gao was born in Beijing on October 5, 1975 and entered the entertainment industry in 1996. Known for her fresh... looks and chaste spirit, Gao, unlike other mainland Chinese actresses, did not graduate from any drama academic institutions. Rather, she started her stardom by acting in a television commercial for Meadow Gold ice-cream after being spotted off the street at Beijing's Wang Fu Jing Shopping District. She appeared as a minor role in the 1997 comedy film Spicy Love Soup, directed by Zhang Yang. While in 2000, she starred in an advertisement for Qing Zui mint during CCTV's broadcast of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and is thus known to viewers as "fresh mouth girl". In 2002, she played the leading role of Zhou Zhiruo in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, a television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. Increasingly well known in Asia, Gao has also made inroads into the international market. In 2005, she was on the red carpet at the 58th Cannes Film Festival, where her film Shanghai Dreams, directed by Wang Xiaoshuai, won the Prix de Jury prize.
more

Hins Cheung is a Chinese Cantopop singer and songwriter in Hong Kong. He was born and grows up in Guangzhou. He studied and graduated from the... Guangzhou City 7th Secondary School. He is now under contract with Universal Records.He wishes that he can go back to his home-Canton and live there when he is old. He is 175 cm tall. In 2008, he performed at the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Charity Gala at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with many other artists. In April 2008, he performed three concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum sponsored by Aigo Music.
more

Mongolia /mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/ , literally Mongol country/state is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered... by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38 kilometres from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic. The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Gökturks and others. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols returned to their earlier pattern of constant internal conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Mongolia came under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the 17th century, all of Mongolia had been incorporated into the area ruled by the Qing Dynasty.
more

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas... and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres and a population of approximately 30 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the country's largest metropolis. Nepal has a rich geography. The mountainous north has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft above sea level. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized. By some measures, Hinduism is practised by a larger majority of people in Nepal than in any other nation. Buddhism, though a minority faith in the country, is linked historically with Nepal. Many Nepali do not distinguish between Hinduism and Buddhism and follow both religious traditions.
more

Russia /ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in... northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland , Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the United States by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres , Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms.
more

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina... Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea – referred to in Vietnam as the East Sea – to the east. With an estimated 90.5 million inhabitants as of 2011, Vietnam is the world's 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The Vietnamese became independent from Imperial China in 938 AD, following the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynasties flourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. Efforts to resist the French eventually led to their expulsion from the country in the mid-20th century, leaving Vietnam divided politically into two countries.
more