India breaks Guinness Record in choir singing

NEW DELHI, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Over 160,000 people in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in West India gathered to sing in one voice and made it to the Guinness Book of World Records, local tabloid Mail Today said Tuesday.

The mammoth gathering paid a tribute to the 15th century South Indian Telugu composer Tallapaka Annamayya by singing seven classical songs composed by him at the Secunderabad Parade Grounds in the twin cities Sunday evening, according to the report.

The previous record was set more than seven decades ago by a German choir on Aug. 2, 1937, when 60,000 people sang the German national anthem in chorus under Nazi orchestration.

In the twin cities, the sprawling ground was packed with people of all age groups and from all walks of life. They joined a team of classical singers led by Carnatic -- a south Indian form of music -- vocalist Garimella Balakrishna Prasad. The event marked the Telugu composer's 601st birth anniversary, said the report.

The composer wrote over 35,000 songs in praise of Hindu Lord Venkateswara.

A Guinness representative, Raymond Marshal, announced after the choir finished its performance that a new record had been set. 

Tears flow freely at Beijing's Cry Bar

BEIJING,May 8-- Is crying good therapy? Experts say yes. Having
a good weep at the weekend is becoming more and more popular among office
workers in China.

Guo Meng's story

"I need to cry to let my feelings out", said 23-year-old Guo Meng, a
smart-looking young woman who works in marketing for a department store at
Beijing's Zhongguancun.

"I negotiate advertising deals and am constantly on the phone to clients,"
said Guo Meng. "We make regular visits to customers to build up good relations,
and the department store checks the results to evaluate my performance." But
getting customers' trust is not always easy. "I get depressed if I put in a lot
of effort and get no results."

"I remember one day when I got home I felt so down but had no-one to talk
to about it so I just curled up with my teddy bear and cried myself to sleep,"
Guo said. The next day, she said, she felt much better and life seemed not so
bad after all.

Because crying is taken as a sign of weakness, people make a great show of
being strong and not displaying emotion. But Guo Meng advises people not to hold
back their tears. "Crying really relieves the pressure. You feel relaxed after a
good cry."

Wang Sha's story

Wang Sha works for an online games company, but the work isn't as much fun
as playing the games.

"What gets to me most is when I think I¡¯ve created a perfect game, but then
my boss tests it and finds a stupid mistake," said Wang Sha.

He feels under pressure every time he is given a new project. He listens to
mellow music on his earphones to prevent the tension building up but he also
admits to liking a good cry.

"I often cry when I watch a film. If it has a simple, moving story I just
burst into tears," said Wang Sha. "I find crying is a good way to relax, even if
it¡¯s not very manly."

Law of conservation of emotion

Guo Meng says the law of conservation of energy applies to emotions as
well. "Repression leads to emotional imbalance, and that makes you cranky.
Crying restores your emotional equilibrium," she said.

Office workers like Guo Meng and Wang Sha have formed a special therapy
group that encourages its members to express their emotions. They call it the
"cry group".

Psychologist Milulu says urban professionals who keep up a show of
toughness are hiding their softer, sentimental sides and this applies especially
to men, and women in senior positions.

People restrain their emotions for fear that crying in public may damage
their careers. But the same people may tearfully cuddle their dolls at midnight
or sneak off to a quiet place for a weep. Psychologists and medical
practitioners agree that crying is beneficial for mental health but people still
regard it as a sign of failure and bottle up their feelings.

Let the sadness go after the tears
dry

A famous Chinese author once said to cry is normal, and even brave. Those
who display their emotions can deal with their troubles bravely after the tears
dry while those who "soldier on" let problems fester.

The "Cry Bar" in the Chaoyang district of Beijing is a kind of Karaoke bar
for people who want to release their emotions. On the doors of each of its "cry
rooms" is a saying encouraging people let the tears flow freely.

The Cry Bar encourages its customers to look for happiness despite their
loneliness, to mix laughter with tears, and let singing bring a smile to their
faces. The "Cry group" say they feel better after a session here.

"Crying is a kind of therapy, but it needs some direction," said Milulu.
"People should realize the point of crying is to release pressure, but some of
the young people who come here simply sit and weep. The purpose of crying is to
make it easier to improve your life after the tears dry, not to wallow in bad
memories."

Crying is only one way of relieving pressure, and we need to face problems
squarely and solve them once the tears have dried, said Milulu.

(Source: china.org.cn)

Africa struggles to fend off A/H1N1 flu

Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu 

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The Africans are struggling to prevent A/H1N1 influenza from arriving in the continent which has already been plagued by vital diseases such as AIDS.

According to the latest tally, the A/H1N1 flu has killed 31 worldwide, 29 in Mexico and two in the United States, with confirmed and suspected cases totalling 3,271.

Although there have been no confirmed cases of the killer virusin Africa so far, experts say that the disease could weaken health system and take a huge human toll in the continent once there would be a outbreak.

"People living with HIV/AIDS would be much affected because their immune system is already weak," said Sam Zaramba, director of health service in Uganda.

While the world is focusing its attentions on the A/H1N1 flu, thousands of Africans die without notice every day due to treatable diseases.

Statistics showed that nearly 3,000 children died each day of malaria, many simply for lack of a bed net. And a meningitis epidemic that has swept countries like Nigeria has killed more than 1,900 people and have sickened 56,000 more since January.

Concerns have been raised about whether the African authorities would be able to trace the A/H1N1 influenza.

Zimbabwe, where Cholera has killed 4,000 and sickened more than 80,000, has tightened surveillance at all ports of entry by intensifying the screening of flu-like syptoms of people coming into the country.

As a preventative measure, Kenya has established 26 surveillance centers nationwide to stop a possible spread of the killer virus.

The continent's richest country, South Africa, with an estimated 1,000 people die every day due to HIV/AIDS, admits its slow response to A/H1N1 influenza.

The country is also rushing to buy thermal imaging scanners at a cost of 120,000 U.S. dollars each for installation at major entry ports. However, medical professionals condemn that it is not reliable means of determining whether or not a person is infected.

Duncan Mitchell, professor of the school of Physiology at Wits University, said it was "impossible" for scanners to detect a virus in passengers entering an airport.

The Health Ministry of South Africa now has sufficient stock of tamiflu to treat 100,000 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was sending a total of 2.4 million treatment courses of antiviral drugs to 72 "most in need" countries including Mexico, yet did not disclose the full list of countries receiving the drugs.

A total of 1,883 people from 21 countries have now been confirmed to have been infected with the A/H1N1 flu.

Guatemala reports first confirmed A/H1N1 flu case

Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu 

MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Guatemala's Health Ministry on Tuesday reported the nation's first confirmed case of A/H1N1 flu, according to news reaching here from Guatemala City.

"The first case of A/H1N1 flu virus has been confirmed, according to the report sent to us by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), which is located in the U.S. city of Atlanta," the Ministry said on its web site.

The patient is an 11-year-old girl, who has been in treatment for four days and has not been sick enough to be hospitalized, the nation's health minister Celso Cerezo told media there.

The girl's two sisters have tested negative for the virus, which causes breathing difficulties, headaches, muscular pains and sharp increases in temperature.

Cerezo said that the girls' family had recently visited Mexico and said that samples from her parents were currently being studied in the CDC.

Cerezo placed Guatemala on orange alert, which means hospital staffs will have to use facemasks and gloves when they deal with the public and stricter border controls will be applied at international ports and airports.

However, the Guatemala government has not yet ordered the closure of schools, restaurants and places where people gather in large numbers.

The new strain of flu has killed 29 and infected 913 people in Mexico. Over 1,700 people were sickened all over the world. Only two deaths have been registered outside Mexico, both in the United States.

Recovered A/H1N1 flu patients discharged from hospital in Mexico

Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu 

MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 A/H1N1 flu patients have been discharged from hospital in Mexico after they recovered from the epidemic, Mexican officials said on Tuesday.

"What we have achieves in a week of unprecedented action is to reduce the speed at which virus can spread and avoid deaths," Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon told media.

Twenty nine people have died with symptoms consistent with the flu including breathing difficulties, but only five have been confirmed killed by A/H1N1 flu virus.

Some 913 people are infected with the flu as 68 of them are currently being treated in health centers in Mexico.

The nation closed educational institutions last week, effectively sending home 33 million people. These institutions will reopen in stages, starting with higher education institutions on Wednesday. Nurseries and primary schools will be the last to reopen on Monday.

Cambodian dengue fever patients rise sharply

PHNOM PENH, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of dengue fever patients of Cambodia rose to 960 until May 4, over 750 until the end of April, or an increase of over 200 in less than a week, national media said on Wednesday.

The 960 victims were mainly spotted in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham province and Kandal province, Chinese-language daily newspaper the Commercial News quoted officials of the Ministry of Health as saying.

So far this year, only two people died of the disease all over the country, according to ministry.

However, it was still early for the government to issue epidemic warning, as officials remained vigilant to watch the expansion of the illness, as well as guide people to kill mosquitoes and keep their water tanks clean, it added.

In 2008, 65 people died of dengue fever, out of a total of 9,542 infected cases in Cambodia.

China sends more supervision teams to strengthen flu prevention

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- China stepped up
checks on people entering the country by sending another six supervision teams
to major provinces to prevent influenza A/H1N1 from spreading to the country,
the top quality supervisor said Monday.

These teams went to provinces of Shandong, Hebei,
Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei and Shaanxi and would work together
with local authorities, according to the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ).

GAQSIQ required all people entering China by air,
land and sea to fill in personal health statement cards to strength control
efforts.

The 6 teams were in addition to the previous 5 teams
going to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou on April 25.

People in contact with A/H1N1 "well treated" in quarantine, say Chinese officials

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Those put into quarantine by Chinese authorities after allegedly coming into close contact with the A/H1N1 virus had been well treated and showed no flu symptoms as of Monday noon in Beijing, Shanghai and Liaoning Province, local officials said Monday afternoon.

The 20 quarantined in Beijing including 10 Mexicans, had been well served under medical observation, said Deng Xiaohong, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.

Chen said all these people had close contact with A/H1N1 flu virus and had been quarantined over the weekend.

They had been put in the best rooms and flowers and fruits had been sent to their rooms every day, Deng said.

Food was served in their rooms and the menus had been made in both Chinese and English. Western-style chefs had been sent for the Mexicans, Deng said.

The building's air-conditioning had been turned off to avoid the possibility of the virus spreading while electric fans had been offered as the temperature in Beijing is rising, she said.

"A Mexican family with five members were transferred to a suite of rooms, including a double bed for the couple," Deng said. A Mexican child had been given gifts including a Barbie doll and puzzles. Computers and DVD players with English systems had been offered.

"The Mexicans said they were grateful for our work. They said they feel it was understandable to be quarantined as it was a necessary method to avoid the spread of virus." Deng said.

In Shanghai, the 69 people aboard the same flight with a Mexican A/H1N1 patient had been quarantined in a four-star hotel with a sea view, said Chen Xiaoling, director of the Center of Disease Control in Nanhui District, Shanghai.

The quarantined, including 13 flight crew, 28 Mexican and 28 Chinese passengers, were all quarantined separately, except for a Mexican couple on honeymoon, Chen said.

Two doctors, three nurses and some other medical workers had been sent to the hotel, Chen told Xinhua on Monday afternoon.

All the quarantined receive medical examinations twice a day. They can contact people outside, watch television, listen to music, read books or surf the Internet, she said.

In Liaoning Province in northeast China, a further two people who had taken the same flight, Thursday's Aeromexico 098 from Mexico City to Shanghai, with the Mexican patient, had been quarantined "with good living conditions," said Wang Tianyu, assistant director of Liaoning Provincial Health Department. In addition, five of their family members had also been quarantined.

The two are colleagues and were sent to Mexico on April 16 by their company on business, Wang said.

"A nutritious and delicious diet had been offered for them every day," Wang said.

None of the passengers quarantined had shown flu symptoms as of Sunday noon, China's health ministry said.

There were 176 people and 13 crew members on the flight. Of these 56 disembarked in Shanghai, 41 caught a connecting flight to Guangzhou, 17 transferred to Beijing, and two were refused entry to China. That accounts for 116 of the passengers, some of whom --including the Mexican male -- flew on to Hong Kong, taking China Eastern Airlines flight MU505.

The Mexican was put into quarantine in the Metropark Hotel, in Hong Kong, said the Special Administrative Region's Health Department.

All those quarantined were quarantined on the orders of China's Health Ministry.

World hails China's quake response, reconstruction

Special Report:Reconstruction After Earthquake

by Xinhua writers Gu Zhenqiu, Wang Xiangjiang, Bai
Jie

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The speed,
effectiveness and transparency of China's response to the devastating May 12
earthquake last year are "very impressive," and "very much appreciated by the
international community," the United Nations relief chief said here on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, John Holmes,
the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief
coordinator, said: "What was impressive, I think, was the way the Chinese
authorities, local and centrally, responded to that, the speed with which they
did that, the effectiveness with which they did that and I think also, the
openness, which I think is worth mentioning, which was very much appreciated by
the international community."

The magnitude-8.0 quake that hit southwest China,
including many parts of Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2008 killed more than
69,000 people. It also left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and
millions homeless.

"This was a huge earthquake with huge repercussions
on the people of the area, both in terms of people killed and injured and of
course the massive destruction of property, residential property, factories,
schools, hospitals," Holmes said. "The impact was absolutely enormous."

As the first anniversary of the massive Wenchuan
earthquake approaches, the message Holmes has for the Chinese government and
people is "one of renewed condolences on the magnitude of the disaster and the
magnitude of the losses that China suffered."

IMPRESSIVE
RESPONSE

"As I say, it was an enormous tragedy and it will
take many years to recover from it fully," Holmes said. "But we were very
impressed by those efforts and by the capacity by the Chinese government has
acquired in terms of responding to disasters, and by the amounts of resources
that China was able to mobilize to deal with this, both in terms of the People's
Liberation Army and other people who were able to help, the amount of efforts
that have gone in since then to actually rebuilding property and so on, and
beginning to establish basic services."

"This was a very impressive operation in a very, very
tragic situation, and we were able to help a little bit," he said. "I don't want
to exaggerate the degree of international help; for example, from the central
fund, we were able to offer 8 million U.S. dollars to help with some of the
immediate aid and assistance, and we are attempting through the UN agencies who
work in China, to help with the recovery and reconstruction process as well."

"As I say, it is a relatively small amount compared
to the overall response from the Chinese authorities but we think it's valuable,
we hope it's appreciated and we want to go on working with you in what will be,
as I say, is a very long-term process of recovery and reconstruction despite the
speed, with which you are tackling it at the moment," he said.

During his recent two-day visit to China, Holmes was
given an account by various government officials and the Chinese earthquake
administration on China's post-quake reconstruction work.

"I think what I was most impressed by was the plans
for rebuilding the permanent housing for the 5 million people or more who were
made homeless by this earthquake," he said. "The idea is within a very short
period of time, within a year or two from now, everybody will have been
re-housed in proper housing. That is an enormous task but clearly that's the
ambition the government has set for itself, and I have no doubt with China's
capacity to mobilize resources, to mobilize people, and to galvanize activity,
that's what will happen."

On April 22, Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu met
with visiting Holmes, and Hui said that China has made remarkable progress in
enhancing its risk management and disaster reduction capabilities. This is a
great contribution to the global humanitarian cause.

GOOD EXAMPLE FROM
CHINA

"China, unfortunately for you, is a very
disaster-prone country," Holmes said. "It is so enormous you have virtually
every threat that we know about and every given year there are bound to be
several significant disasters."

"That means you have acquired an enormous amount of
experience, sadly, in dealing with disasters, but you've also come to recognize,
earlier, I think than many others, the value of reducing the impact of those
disasters before they happen," he said.

"A very good example is the work that's been done on
China's main rivers in trying to reduce the impact of the flooding, which is
going to happen in one way or another virtually every year, and some years can
be extremely bad," he said.

"We believe that China set a good example there
because this is a demonstration that money invested in those kinds of measures
is a good investment," he said. "It brings benefits, it saves lives, it reduces
damage and that's a better investment than money simply spent afterwards on
responding to disaster after it has happened."

"I think that's an absolutely crucial lesson to the
world," he said. "We face more and more disasters, natural disasters in the
future, not least because of climate change, which is going to produce more
floods and more hurricanes and more droughts in different areas, for example."

"Therefore, disaster risk reduction will be even more
important in the future than it is now," he said. "As I say, China has a lot of
experience to offer, has a lot of practical lessons to offer other people, and
we hope China will play a very central role in discussing this at international
levels."

Tea "tastes better in favourite mug"

BEIJING,March 17-- Researchers have
claimed that tea and coffee actually tastes better when you drink it from your
favourite mug.

Psychologists at Sheffield University have found that
a person's brain is trained to believe a certain methodology of hot drink making
creates maximum enjoyment.

"Drinking tea and coffee is very ritualistic and
people become very addictive to the way they want their brew made," Dr Tom
Stafford told The Daily Telegraph.

"Caffeine is very much a drug of reward and like any
addict, people develop passions on how the drug is delivered. Wherever there is
drug use, then rituals will always develop."

He continued: "The long association with the delivery
of a morning cup of coffee or tea - people genuinely think it tastes better out
of a particular cup.

"It might be irrational or arbitrary but it's
absolutely true. Your daily brew tastes better from your favourite mug."

An estimated 65% of Brits have a favourite mug, which
they always use for a morning drink.

(Source:
chinadaily.com.cn/Agencies)

Swine flu puts 179 people in isolation in New Zealand

Special Report: World Tackles Swine Flu

WELLINGTON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 179 people were in isolation around New Zealand as the number of cases of suspected swine flu continued to climb, said Health Ministry officials on Wednesday.

The officials said on Tuesday night there are at least three confirmed cases of swine flu in New Zealand: all from a Rangitoto College group who returned from Mexico early on Saturday.

They said results from three of the 11 samples of the students who tested positive to Influenza A on Sunday, have also tested positive for Swine Flu H1N1.

They assumed that all the 11 people in the group, who had tested positive for Influenza A, have Swine Flu.

On Wednesday morning, the Auckland Hospital lab has confirmed three more people with influenza A - which points to swine flu.

The government is expected to pass an order in Council on Wednesday adding swine flu to the list of notifiable diseases.

Meanwhile, a further two people showing flu-like symptoms were intercepted by officials at Auckland International Airport on Wednesday morning.

New Zealand became the sixth country in the world to have confirmed cases of the virus.

Internet changing people's reading habits in China

by Xinhua writer Ma Mengli

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Like so many lovers of fiction in China, when
Sa Rina wants to read, she turns to the two computer screens on her desk instead
of reading an actual book.

In fact, the 26-year-old woman can hardly remember when was the last time
she bought a book.

"I have hardly ever bought any books since ... around 2003. I have been
reading online in recent years," said Sa, a secretary of a culture media company
in Hohhot, capital of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"With the click of the mouse, any story or information that I want at any
given time or place, is there," she said. This may well explain why so many
people in China now prefer to embrace the wonders of the Internet than read
print copies of books or any other reading material.

According to the fifth national reading survey by the China Research
Institute of Publishing Science (CRIPS) in late 2008, the Internet reading rate
in China climbed quickly to 36.5 percent, higher for the first time than the
34.7 percent for printed books.

Like it or not, computers and the Internet are changing dramatically the
way Chinese people read -- at least in Sa's case.

The first thing Sa does at her office desk every morning is to turn on her
computers and surf the Internet, reading news and messages. "I can access much
more information via the Internet than from news***s," she said.

For Sa, the Internet is a far better medium for finding the books she
wants.

"If you become a registered member of a reading website, you can set up
your own e-book folders and collection, which makes it much easier for me to
locate the books I have been halfway through," she said.

"You can also find very obscure books, read reviews of them, and post
comments," she said, "Another reason I enjoy online reading so much is that the
stories are always timely updated."

While some are enjoying the convenience of Web reading and the overwhelming
quantity of information on the Net, many others argue that the Internet has
undermined the joy and art of reading a real book.

"Online reading tends to be fast and superficial, and I doubt that people
could well absorb what they read online," Song Heping, a staunch print-book
reader, said.

"I love the experience of reading a printed book, even the smell of books
or magazines is delight. You are not going to get the same experience on the
Net," Song said.

Moreover, the serendipity of coming across a captivating book in a bookshop
could not be replicated online, added Song.

"Holding a printed book and reading it in a pleasant and quiet environment
is, in itself, a great pleasure in life," Han Xu, the deputy editor-in-chief of
"Da Jia," a well-known literary magazine in China, said.

"Compared with e-book reading, browsing a printed one is
rather'slow-paced'," he said. "But the 'slowness' is where the delicacy of
reading lies."

But Han also stressed that online reading has a great positive
significance. "From a long-term point of view, online reading could greatly
promote the development of literature."

"E-books are a good rival to printed books and magazines, therefore, they
can force traditional publications to produce even better quality works of
literature," Han said.

Suona player's nose is music to people's ears

BEIJING, April22 -- Most people play the suona horn (Chinese oboe) using their mouth but Lin Feilai is getting attention in Leizhou city, Guangdong province, because he uses his nose.

(Source: China Daily)
Photo Gallery

No one in the area has reportedly ever played the
Chinese brass trumpet-like wind instrument using a nose.

Lin, in his 50s, is a farmer who was born into a
family of suona players and has practiced playing the instrument for several
decades.

Lin frequently demonstrates his special skill as part
of a Leizhou opera troupe that perform in villages and townships.

(Source: chinanews.com.cn)