France-born giant panda arrives in Sichuan
The first giant panda born in France has arrived in Chengdu in Sichuan Province to join a conservation and breeding program. Four-year old Yuan Meng was waved off by French first lady Brigette Macron – who was named as his godmother. She said the panda made great contributions to deepening China and France's friendship and brought a lot of joy to the French people. His parents arrived at Beauval Zoo in 2012 and his name Yuan Meng means "the realization of a wish" or "accomplishment of a dream."
Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler visits village basketball tournament
Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler has been touring China and visited the village which became a global sensation for its basketball tournament. He showed up at Taipan Village in Guizhou Province, the birthplace of "CunBA," to experience the popularity of basketball in rural China. CunBA is a rural basketball tournament that went viral online in 2022.
Life on Mars Experience in Gansu Province
An astronaut training site has been giving people the chance to don spacesuits and experience what it would be like to live on Mars. The 'Mars 1 Base' astronaut training site, located in Jinchang City boasts a landscape that resembles Mars with the Gobi Desert and mountains. Aerospace fans and tourists have been flocking to the site to get a feel for life on the red planet.
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope located in the southwestern province of Guizhou, China. /CFP
Gigantic telescope identifies 800 new pulsars
China's 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, has identified over 800 new pulsars since its launch in 2016, according to its operator. The number of new pulsars discovered by FAST is more than three times the total number of pulsars discovered by foreign telescopes during the same period, said Jiang Peng, chief engineer of the telescope. Pulsars, or fast-spinning neutron stars, originate from the imploded cores of massive dying stars through supernova explosions.
Chinese box office breaks July record
China's box office set a record for the highest-grossing July month ever, surpassing $1 billion. The figure crushed the previous July record set in 2018. The success of three Chinese films – mystery thriller Lost in the Stars, drama Never Say Never and animated film Chang An – contributed over $140 million each to the box office.
Movie posters are seen on display at a cinema in Shanghai, July 15, 2023. /CFP
Beautiful cloud sea on Chongqing mountains
The breathtaking vista of expansive clouds after rainfall has embellished the mountains of Chongqing and Jiangxi with mysterious brilliance while presenting a fairyland with shifting clouds competing for beauty and charm. After continuous rain for days, a magnificent sea of clouds appeared atop the mountains on the early morning of Monday in Tianxing Temple Town, located in the Ba'nan District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality
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