Churches in Beijing celebrate Christmas

St. Joseph's Church (also known as Wangfujing Church, Dongtang, or the East Cathedral) posts up a banner that reads "Joy to the World, Jesus Christ is born" on Dec. 25, 2013, the Christmas Day. St. Joseph's Church also holds an English-language mass on the Christmas Day's afternoon to accommodate the neccessity of foreign Christians in Beijing, the Chinese capital


St. Michael's Church (also known as French Legation Church and Dongjiaominxiang Church) in Beijing posts up a banner that reads "Merry Christmas" in Chinese on Dec. 25, the Christmas Day. St. Michael's Church is mostly famous for the statue of Michael the Angel

The statue of Michael the Angel, the guardian angel of St. Michael's Church (also known as French Legation Church and Dongjiaominxiang Church) stands in Beijing's winter coldness on Dec. 25, Christmas Day

St. Joseph's Church (also known as Wangfujing Church, Dongtang, or the East Cathedral) in Beijing holds an English-language mass on the Christmas Day's afternoon, Dec. 25, 2013 to accommodate the neccessity of foreign Christians in Beijing, the Chinese capital

The bronze statue of St. Francis Xavier, who contributed to the growth of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (colloquially known as the Xuanwumen Church, the South Church, or Nantang) in Beijing stands outside of the church gate on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2013

The bronze statue of Fr. Matteo Ricci, an Italian missionary and Jesuit member who helped found the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (colloquially known as the Xuanwumen Church, the South Church, or Nantang) in Beijing stands outside of the church gate on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2013

Source: xinhua

Tigerair launches direct flights to China's Ningbo

SINGAPORE, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Budget airline Tigerair launched its direct flights between Singapore and China's Ningbo, a port city in east China's Zhejiang Province, the airline said on Thursday.

Starting from Dec. 26, Tigerair will call at Ningbo three times every fortnight, on every alternate Thursday, Tuesday and Saturday.

The airline is said to be the sole airline making a direct Ningbo call from Singapore.

"Ningbo's comprehensive and reliable transport networks makes it an ideal first stop for those who wanting to explore various key Chinese cities in a single itinerary," said Ho Yuen Sang, chief operating officer at Tigerair.

With the latest addition, Tigerair serves a total of eight destinations in China, including Guangzhou, Haikou, Lijiang, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan.

"All of these destinations have in recent years experienced a burgeoning demand in air traffic with the rest of the Asia-Pacific as a result of increasing tourism and trade links," the airline added.

One-way fare for the Singapore-Ningbo route is currently available from 214 Singapore dollars (168.8 U.S. dollars), inclusive of taxes and other charges.

Source: xinhua

Welcome to beautiful Sichuan

Sichuan is distinct from other provinces in tourism resources. First, it is the hometown of giant pandas; second, Sichuan is endowed with many world natural and cultural heritage sites such as Jiuzhaigou Valley, the Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area, the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, Mount Qingcheng, Leshan Grand Buddha Scenic Area and Mount Emei Scenic Area; third, Sichuan is rich in cultural tourism resources of ethnic minorities.

As the New Year's Day and Spring Festival are approaching, tourist attractions in Sichuan will launch a series of preferential policies. For example, a ticket for Jiuzhaigou Valley costs 220 yuan in high season, but now it only costs 80 yuan. During the Spring Festival, Sichuan will host a series of tourism activities.

In winter, it is warm in Panzhihua and Xichang. Visitors from around the world will enjoy a comfortable holiday in the sunshine.

Source: china.org by Xu Shu

12306.cn Admits User Data Leak

(CRI) China's official train ticket booking website 12306.cn has admitted that a huge amount of personal data has been leaked.

Officials with the site say third-party agency websites have been intercepting the data for their own purposes.

Sensitive personal information containing a person's ID number, name, mobile phone number and bank accounts are included in the registration for logins.

A real name registration system for booking train tickets has been in-place since 2012.

It was installed to try to eliminate ticket hoarding and scalpers.

The site, 12306.cn was established under the former Ministry of Railways, which has been disbanded amid rampant corruption and mismanagement.

The website has been the subject of numerous complaints, particularly around national holidays and the Spring Festival, as it is often stalled because of excessive overloads.

These problems have spawned the creation of a number of "cut in line" services and websites designed get around the system.

Source: CRI

China hotel operator partners with French brand

(China Daily) Chinese hotel operator Huazhu Hotels Group Ltd. has signed an extensive alliance with French hotel brand Accor, which is believed to further help accelerate both companies' expansion in and out of China.

China is currently one of the fastest growing domestic travel markets and the world's largest outbound travel market.

According to their agreement, Accor will continue to run all its luxury and other upscale brands in China, including Sofitel and Pullman, while Huazhu will hold a 10 percent stake in Accor's luxury and upscale business in China and will help support its future development in the country by cashing in on its relationships with key Chinese real estate investors. Accor will take a 10 percent stake in Huazhu and will have a seat on Huazhu's board of directors.

The alliance will offer the Accor's and Huazhu's 47 million active customers access to a network of over 5,600 hotels globally, said Ji Qi, founder and chairman of Huazhu.

"With an extensive brand portfolio, and strong distribution and loyalty platforms, Accor and Huazhu share a lot of common values," said Ji. "By combining forces we can facilitate growth and attract more customers to the expanded network."

Huazhu, after its first attempt in going overseas through alliance with the French hotel brand, said it's not denying further development in the United States and other parts of North America in the future.

According to Ji, the company is interested in exploring Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Korea, Mongolia, and South East Asia, but the primary focus of the company is still the Chinese mainland. 

He says that the company will grow and expand after steady business growth domestically.

Accor currently has 144 hotels in China. Huazhu operates more than 1,900 hotels in China, covering the full market from upscale, mid-scale and economy.

"This ground-breaking collaboration will leverage the strengths of Accor's global brands with a leading player in Chinese hospitality,"said Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor. "Joining Huazhu's unparalleled local expertise with our brands will create a hospitality powerhouse which will deliver unprecedented value to both groups and to our customers."

Bazin said that because China is currently the largest outbound tourism market in the world, creating one of the largest hotel groups in China will lead to growth globally as those travelers will recognize the Accor and Huazhu brands.

"This agreement will also help us better anticipate customers'expectations and strengthen our leadership in the Chinese market over the long term," said Bazin.

Together the two companies are planning more than 500 new hotels in the region and the alliance is expected to further accelerate development to new levels and see faster expansion of Accor's brands in China, according to Sebastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor.

Source: By Zheng Xin in Shanghai (chinadaily.com.cn)

Forbidden City repairs on way

The only Western-style building in China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, a vast former imperial palace, will undergo an 18-month renovation, the museum's curator has said.

Built in 1915, the Baoyun Building is the only Western-style compound area and encompasses three two-story buildings and a gate left from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

It covers about 1,650 square meters and has been used to store numerous relics, thus the name "Baoyun," which literally means "treasure containing."

At Tuesday's launch ceremony for the repair project, curator Shan Jixiang noted the damage of varying degrees suffered by Baoyun's tiles, wooden structures, exterior and interior decorations, paintings and floors, stressing that "scientific and discreet renovation is urgently needed."

According to Shan, repair technicians will stick to the principle of "not altering the original state of cultural relics," and will try their best to use original crafts and methods and keep innate components to ensure style consistency.

After the planned completion in May 2015, Baoyun will mainly be used for exhibition, while some areas will be set aside for cultural research and academic exchanges, Shan added.

Renovation of Baoyun is part of a larger repair and construction movement that will cover some 13,025 square meters in the museum's western area, which Shan described as "suffering serious damage and containing great safety risks."

According to Shan, the overall project, due to wrap up in March 2016, is based on historical records, experts' advice and designs of similar areas in the museum.

The project aims to provide more space and convenience for relic protection, said Shan, adding that newly constructed buildings will house the museum's cultural protection technology department, which is currently using ancient buildings as offices.

Located in the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City was home to China's emperors and was the highest center of power for about 500 years. It attracts more than 14 million visitors annually.

Source: xinhua

Air China Buys 60 Boeing Aircrafts

(CRI) Air China has signed a new deal to purchase 60 Boeing 737's, in a deal worth around 6-billion US dollars.

The order is the 2nd largest purchases of jets by a Chinese carrier this year.

China Eastern bought 80 aircraft, also from Boeing, in June.

Air China's new 737's are to be delivered between 2016 and 2020.

Observers say the deal could be a signal of Air China anticipating a sharp rise in revenues for the full year, thanks to a downturn in oil prices.

Source: CRI