What caused the heavy downpour in Henan?

The past week saw days of continuous heavy rainfall in central China's Henan province. 

According to the National Meteorological Center, the accumulated rainfall reached 622.7 millimeters in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, between 2 a.m. Tuesday and 2 a.m. Wednesday, more than double the 24-hour threshold of 250 millimeters for extremely heavy rainfall.

Several factors, including atmospheric pressure, a typhoon and topography of the region, have contributed to the unusual downpour.

There have been numerous stories of how people helped each other out during the floods. More than 100,000 people had been evacuated by Thursday morning.

This massive effort was helped by the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force dispatching their servicemen and equipment to assist local police and firefighters in emergency rescue and relief work. Click here for a video to see them in action.

What makes Changsha a tourist hotspot?

Changsha city, capital of central China's Hunan province, was ranked among the country's top 10 most popular tourist destinations during the recent five-day Labor Day holiday.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists flocked to the city by high-speed railway or air – many just for a cup of milk tea or a plate of crayfish, even if it meant queuing for hours.

So, what's behind Changsha's booming popularity?

14-year-old girl called 'next Yao Ming'

A video of a 2.26-meters-tall girl dominating China's National under-15 Women's Basketball Championship final has gone viral. The footage reminded many fans of Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming.

The girl in the video, Zhang Ziyu, who is significantly taller than everyone else on the court, didn't face any real challenges in the tournament. She racked up 42 points, 25 rebounds and six blocks in the final, helping her Shandong team claim the title.

A busy first month in China's Tiangong space station

It's been a month since the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft carried the three Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, to China's Tiangong space station. 

In one of the most critical missions for the staffed space program, the Shenzhou-12 displays China's latest space technology.

From a spacewalk using a robot arm to celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China, the taikonauts have had a busy first month.

China boosting alligator population

The National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China announced the population of the Chinese alligator has effectively increased after years of protection boosted by artificial breeding.

The Chinese alligator, also known as the Yangtze Alligator, is classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). 

Chinese alligators were once widely distributed in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins but have been on the brink of extinction due to climate change and human activities.

Zhifei's shot 'works against Delta variant'

A COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products unit showed a slight reduction, but largely retained its neutralizing effect, against the Delta variant, Chinese researchers found in a laboratory study.

Team China at Tokyo 2020: Young climbers chase medals at new event

Among the four newly added sports to the Olympics – Skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing and karate – sport climbing is the one in which Chinese athletes have high hopes to clinch medals.

In August 2016, the International Olympic Committee incorporated sport climbing into the Tokyo 2020 program, with only two gold medals on offer in total. Athletes have to perform well in all three disciplines combined – speed, bouldering and lead climbing – to win a medal.

Giant panda Qiqi in Shanghai celebrates third birthday

Here's a lovely video of Shanghai Wild Animal Park breeders providing a birthday cake and ample fruits for the giant panda Qiqi on her birthday. 

Qiqi's mother is in southwest China's Sichuan province, some 1,600 kilometers away from Shanghai by plane. To bring mother and daughter closer together, breeders made a model of a 5G mobile phone with a drawing of Qiqi's mother out of bamboo baskets.

Anti-epidemic film 'Chinese Doctors' heats up summer vacation season

A film following the story of front-line medical workers fought against the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, Chinese doctors, has continued to lead the weekly box office from July 12 to 18. It is now expected to be the first 1 billion yuan ($154 million) blockbuster heating up the summer vacation season.

Based on the actual events of China's battle against the COVID-19 epidemic, the film takes the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, one of the first hospitals receiving and treating COVID-19 patients in central China's Hubei province, as the background.

The film, directed by award-winning director Andrew Lau, stars Zhang Hanyu and Yuan Quan, who also worked together in the 2019 blockbuster The Captain.

China enhances protection of cultural relics during flood season

China's National Cultural Heritage Administration has enhanced efforts to protect cultural relics against floods as heavy rainfall has lashed many parts of China.

According to a notice, authorities responsible for protecting ancient relics and cultural sites should pay close attention to weather forecasts and geological disasters warnings and take adequate measures.

Cultural relics institutions and museums should formulate plans for responding to major floods and natural disasters in response to risks such as the destruction of ancient bridges, the collapse of ancient city walls, ancient buildings and ancient trees, said the administration.