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Upcoming Agenda

• 2008 Summer Olympics
Beijing was elected the Host City for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008.

• Beijing International Marathon
The anual Beijing International Marathon this year takes place at Sun 19 oct. 2008.
The race starts in Tianamen Square and finishes at the National Olympic Sports Center.

user experience

Beijing - user Matti - 14/08/2007
During our trip to China in June 2007 we have used the XS2CHINA
application on my mobile Nokia N73. The results are outstanding. I am
very satisfied with the way it works.
For example: Dining in a hidden street in Beijing is lovely, but my
vocabulary of Chinese stops at Ni Hao. So if you want to order a taxi in
English after dinner changes are nobody in the restaurant will
understand what you need, but they want to help anyway (this is the way
Chinese people act in general) they will give you brochures and all
other things you might have asked them.
But with the XS2CHINA application these troubles are gone. Simply search
the word taxi under phrase transportation; play it and within 2 minutes
you will be sitting in your taxi.
Nice is also that the Chinese people we met like to see more from the
system, so although your Chinese may be as bad as mine, there is now a
possibility to communicate: XS2China.
Good luck with your (next) visit.

Mid Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival is generally observed on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month and coincides with the autumnal equinox.

A festival to celebrate the season of harvest, this day comes with prosperity and abundance of fruits, vegetables and grain. People grab this opportunity to enjoy with leisure and relaxed mood. During this festival, moon is worshipped in order to invoke winter. It was since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Mid Autumn Festival became popular. Food including apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates, melons and oranges are offered on an altar in the courtyard.
Special dishes like moon cakes, cooked taro, and edible snails from the taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil, and water caltrope are prepared. Cakes shaped like moon are also distributed among friends and relatives to mark the spirit of harmony.

Different parts of China observe this festival in variant traditions. Social gathering is organized and special performances are held in public areas to bring together folks of the locale. Even in Guangzhou, lantern shows are held in Wenhua Park during this festival. Myriad of differently shaped lanterns are lit on this occasion and provides a brilliant contrast with the moonlight dazzling Mid-autumn Festival in Guangzhou.

When: September 14th 2008