1.
Beijing
–
Beijing is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China and the worlds third most populous city proper. It is also one of the worlds most populous capital cities, the city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai and is the nations political, cultural. It is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas largest state-owned companies, and is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway. The citys history dates back three millennia, as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D, the city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have made it centre of culture, encyclopædia Britannica notes that few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. Siheyuans, the traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, many of Beijings 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. Beijings Zhongguancun area is known as Chinas Silicon Valley and Chinas center of innovation. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory Personal Finance Index, expats live primarily in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang in the east, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had other names. The name Beijing, which means Northern Capital, was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing, the English spelling is based on the pinyin romanisation of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ, the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, the first walled city in Beijing was Ji, a city from the 11th to 7th century BC
2.
China
–
China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
3.
Seating capacity
–
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
4.
Argentina national under-23 football team
–
The Argentina Olympic football team represents Argentina in international football competitions in the Olympic Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, the team is controlled by the Argentine Football Association. Argentina took part for the first time in 1928 Summer Olympics held in the Netherlands, the team advanced to the final after defeating United States with a thrashing 11–2 in the first round, and Belgium in the second. In the semi-finals, the team smashed Egypt by 6–0 to qualify for the final against Uruguay. The first match ended in a 1–1 tie so a game had to be played three days later. In the decisive match, Uruguay won the tournament after defeating Argentina 2–1, the Argentine line-up was Bossio, Bidoglio, Paternóster, Médice, Monti, Evaristo, Carricaberri, Tarasconi, Ferreira, Perduca, Orsi. In 1932 no football tournament was held, restarting the activities in 1936, because of an agreement between FIFA and IOC, only amateur players were allowed to play the football tournaments from then on. Argentina returned to competition in the 1960 games held in Rome. The squad was eliminated in the first round after a 3–2 loss to Denmark, although the team won its games against Tunisia. Argentinas next participation was in the 1964 Summer Olympics organized by Tokyo, where the finished in the last position of the groupd after a 1–1 draw with Ghana. Since then, Argentina had an absence of the games. The national team returned for the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, in the group stage, Argentina tied 1–1 to the United States then defeated South Korea 2–1, finishing second to the Soviet Union and qualifying to the next stage. In the quarter-finals, Argentina lost to Brazil 2–1, being eliminated from the competition, since 1992, male competitors must be under 23 years old, then since 199623 years old players with three over-23 players allowed per squad. Nevertheless, Argentina did not qualify to play that edition, Argentina came back to the competition in the 1996 edition held in Atlanta, United States. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the IOC allowed football representatives to register a maximum of three above-23 players, the Argentine players registered under that condition were Diego Simeone, José Chamot and Roberto Sensini. Former senior team captain Daniel Passarella was the manager, the national team debuted with a 3–1 victory over the United States, then tied to Portugal and Tunisia, both 1–1, to finish first the group and qualify for the second round. In the quarter-finals, Argentina trashed Spain 4–0 which allowed the team to pass to the semi-finals, after 66 years since the first final played in Amsterdam, Argentina reached its second Olympic final. The match was played on 3 August 1996 and Argentina lost to Nigeria 2–3
5.
Herzog & de Meuron
–
Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. or Herzog & de Meuron Architekten, BSA/SIA/ETH, is a Swiss architecture firm with its head office in Basel, Switzerland. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron closely paralleled one another and they are perhaps best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of Tate Modern. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have been visiting professors at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 1994, Herzog & de Meuron was founded in Basel in 1978. In 2001, Herzog & de Meuron were awarded the Pritzker Prize, jury chairman J. Carter Brown commented, One is hard put to think of any architects in history that have addressed the integument of architecture with greater imagination and virtuosity. This was in reference to HdMs innovative use of materials and treatments. In 2006, the New York Times Magazine called them one of the most admired architecture firms in the world, HdMs early works were reductivist pieces of modernity that registered on the same level as the minimalist art of Donald Judd. However, their recent work at Prada Tokyo, the Barcelona Forum Building, HdMs commitment of articulation through materiality is a common thread through all their projects. Their formal gestures have generally progressed from the purist simplicity of forms to more complex. The architects often cite Joseph Beuys as an artistic inspiration. Their success can be attributed to their skills in revealing unfamiliar or unknown relationships by utilizing innovative materials. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland 2003 Laban Dance Centre, Deptford Creek, London, UK2003 Prada Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan 2004 Forum Building, Barcelona 2004 IKMZ, Cottbus, Germany 2005 M. H
6.
Ai Weiwei
–
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese Contemporary artist and activist. His fathers original surname was written Jiang, Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics. As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Governments stance on democracy and he has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called tofu-dreg schools in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Ais father was the Chinese poet Ai Qing, who was denounced during the Anti-Rightist Movement, in 1958, the family was sent to a labour camp in Beidahuang, Heilongjiang, when Ai was one year old. They were subsequently exiled to Shihezi, Xinjiang in 1961, where lived for 16 years. Upon Mao Zedongs death and the end of the Cultural Revolution, in 1978, Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy and studied animation. In 1978, he was one of the founders of the avant garde art group the Stars, together with Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Zhong Acheng. The group disbanded in 1983, yet Ai participated in regular Stars group shows, The Stars, Ten Years,1989, from 1981 to 1993, he lived in the United States. For the first few years, Ai lived in Philadelphia and San Francisco, he studied English at the University of Pennsylvania, later, he moved to New York City. He studied briefly at Parsons School of Design, Ai attended the Art Students League of New York from 1983 to 1986, where he studied with Bruce Dorfman, Knox Martin and Richard Pousette-Dart. He later dropped out of school, and made an out of drawing street portraits. During this period, he gained exposure to the works of Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and Jasper Johns, Ai befriended beat poet Allen Ginsberg while living in New York, following a chance meeting at a poetry reading where Ginsberg read out several poems about China. Ginsberg had travelled to China and met with Ais father, the noted poet Ai Qing, when he was living in the East Village, Ai carried a camera with him all the time and would take pictures of his surroundings wherever he was. The resulting collection of photos were selected and is now known as the New York Photographs. At the same time, Ai became fascinated by blackjack card games and he is still regarded in gambling circles as a top tier professional blackjack player according to an article published on blackjackchamp. com. In 1993, Ai returned to China after his father became ill, in 1999, Ai moved to Caochangdi, in the northeast of Beijing, and built a studio house – his first architectural project. Due to his interest in architecture, he founded the architecture studio FAKE Design, in 2000, he co-curated the art exhibition Fuck Off with curator Feng Boyi in Shanghai, China. Ai is married to artist Lu Qing, and has a son from an extramarital relationship, in 2005, Ai was invited to start blogging by Sina Weibo, the biggest internet platform in China
7.
Arup Group
–
The firm has over 14,000 staff based in 92 offices across 42 countries, and is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Arup has participated in projects in over 160 countries, Arup is owned by trusts, the beneficiaries of which are Arups past and present employees, who receive a share of the firms operating profit each year. The firm was founded in London in 1946, as the Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers by Ove Arup and he set out to build a firm where professionals of diverse disciplines could work together to produce projects of greater quality than was achievable by them working in isolation. In 1963, together with the architect Philip Dowson, Arup Associates was formed, in 1970, the firm reformed as Ove Arup & Partners. It is best known for its work for the built environment. Projects to which it has contributed include the Sydney Opera House,3, Nevada, USA Druk White Lotus School was built to survive the Ladakhi weather. Kingdom Centre, The third tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, and the second tallest in Riyadh and this group continues to work under the banner of Arup Associates following a streamlining of the Arup brand. Many of Arups modern stadia are designed with a contemporary, distinctive edge, the most notable stadium projects led by Arup remain the City of Manchester Stadium, Allianz Arena, Beijing National Stadium, Donbass Arena and the Singapore Sports Hub. Arups multidisciplinary sports venue design and engineering scope on the Singapore Sports Hub won the 2013 World Architecture Festival Award in the Future Projects, the Casa da Música, Oporto, designed by Arup and Office for Metropolitan Architecture was nominated for the 2007 Stirling Prize. Arup was awarded the Worldaware Award for Innovation for its Vawtex air system in Harare International School, Arup Fire has won the Fire Safety Engineering Design award four times since its creation in 2001. The 2001 inaugural award was won for Arups contribution to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, in 2004, the design for Londons City Hall was appointed joint winner. In 2005, the Temple Mills Eurostar Depot won, the 2006 winning entry was for Amethyst House, a nine-storey building with an atrium from the ground to the top, in Manchester, UK. Arup was also awarded Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the award in 2008. Mike Glover is the recipient of the 2008 Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal, the Evelyn Grace Academy, London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Arup won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2011. Arup was named Tunnel Design Firm of the Year at the 2012 ITA AITES International Tunnelling Awards, Arup Fellow is a lifelong honorary title awarded to selected honorary individuals in the firm. It acknowledges the highest design and technical achievements of people, not only within the firm and they are considered role models who possess world-class expertise who put theory into effective practice. Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, structural engineer and philosopher, founder of the company, recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture 1966, peter Dunican, structural engineer, first chairman of Ove Arup Partnership, and President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1977 and 1978. Sir Jack Zunz, civil engineer, and principal designer of the Sydney Opera House
8.
China national football team
–
The Chinese national football team, recognized as China PR by FIFA, is the national association football team of the Peoples Republic of China and is governed by the Chinese Football Association. The team is referred to as Team China, the National Team or Guózú. The team was founded in 1924 by the Republic of China, following the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Football Association was reformed by the newly founded Peoples Republic of China. They remained affiliated with FIFA until 1958, when they withdrew, China has won the EAFF East Asian Cup twice in 2005 and 2010 and have been runners-up at the AFC Asian Cup twice in 1984 and 2004. He invited China to participate in the inaugural 1913 Far Eastern Championship Games held in the Philippines, which included association football within the schedule. To represent them it was decided that the winner of the football at the Chinese National Games in 1910 should have the honour to represent the country, once again South China Football Club, now known as South China Athletic Association won the right to represent the nation. This time in a two legged play-off against the Philippines, China won the first game 1–0 and then drew the second 0–0 to win their first ever tournament, the Chinese Football Association was founded in 1924 and then was first affiliated with FIFA in 1931. At the tournament China were knocked out within their first game at the Round of sixteen when they were beaten by Great Britain Olympic football team 2–0 on 6 August 1936. The tournament would be cancelled while Japan held their own tournament called the Anniversary of the Japanese Empire. None of games during the Second Sino-Japanese War are officially recgonized, on 2 August 1948 China competed in the Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics where they were once again knocked out in the last sixteen, this time by Turkey national football team in a 4–0 defeat. China, under the newly instated Peoples Republic of China reformed the Chinese Football Association before having FIFA acknowledge their 1931 membership on 14 June 1952. Finland who were one of the first nations to hold diplomatic relations with Chinas new government invited the country to take part in the 1952 Summer Olympics. China would soon enter their first Fifa competition when they entered the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification process and were knocked out by Indonesia, on 7 June 1958 China stopped participating within any FIFA recognised football events when FIFA officially started to recognise Republic of China as a different country. This sparked an argument that had already seen China withdraw from the 1956 Summer Olympics for the same reasons. On 25 October 1971 the United Nations would recognise the country as the heir to the China name in their General Assembly Resolution 2758 act. In 1973 the team, which had been using the name Republic of China would rename themselves as Chinese Taipei and these acts would see China rejoin the international sporting community, first by becoming a member of the Asian Football Confederation in 1974 and by rejoining FIFA again in 1979. The 1974 Asian Games reintroduced the Chinese football team back into football while the 1976 AFC Asian Cup saw them have a relatively successful campaign where they came third. The Chinese national league restarted after being affected by the political turmoil
9.
China men's national basketball team
–
The Chinese mens national basketball team is the national basketball team of the Peoples Republic of China and is governed by the Chinese Basketball Association. Based on the number of tournament titles, China is considered a basketball powerhouse in Asia and has by far the most successful basketball program there. China has traditionally been the powerhouse in Asia and has won the FIBA Asia Championship 14 out of 16 times from 1975 to 2005. However, the team failed to defend its championship at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship. The national team has struggled against other top flight non-Asian teams. However, in recent years, China has shown they can beat the top European teams, in the 2004 Athens Olympics, China, coached by Del Harris, advanced to the final eight after a 67–66 win over defending world champion Serbia and Montenegro. In 2008, some questions surrounded whether the recently injured Yao Ming would still captain the squad, in mid-July, it was confirmed that he would still continue to be the captain. In recent years, the team has faced major struggles with injuries. In 2008, top National Basketball Association prospect Xu Yong was forced to end his career at age 19 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma. In December 2010, Yao was diagnosed with a fracture in his left ankle – the injury is related to the ankle sprain that he suffered earlier that year. Speculations arose whether Chinas basketball icon would ever be able to play again, when Yaos retirement was finally announced in July 2011 it was considered a big blow to the national team, whose success had largely depended on the star player for many years. Yet, critics have been optimistic that China will continue to improve on its international performances. Sure enough, in 2016, a new era of Chinese stars would begin to form, as new NBA draftees in Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin would gain considerable amounts of attention for their successes in China. com video
10.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
11.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
12.
Standard Chinese
–
Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
13.
Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
14.
Cantonese
–
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a variety of Chinese spoken in the city of Guangzhou in southeastern China. It is the prestige variety of Yue, one of the major subdivisions of Chinese. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong and some neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese serves as one of their official languages and it is also spoken amongst overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and throughout the Western World. When Cantonese and the closely related Yuehai dialects are classified together, Cantonese is viewed as vital part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swathes of southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two varieties are mutually unintelligible because of differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon, sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two varieties. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar, in English, the term Cantonese is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the variety native to the city of Canton and this narrow sense may be specified as Canton language or Guangzhou language in English. However, Cantonese may also refer to the branch of Cantonese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang. In this article, Cantonese is used for Cantonese proper, historically, speakers called this variety Canton speech or Guangzhou speech, although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong province, people call it provincial capital speech or plain speech. In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, in mainland China, the term Guangdong speech is also increasingly being used among both native and non-native speakers. Due to its status as a prestige dialect among all the dialects of the Cantonese or Yue branch of Chinese varieties, the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and it is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language along with Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The variant spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is known as Hong Kong Cantonese, Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China
15.
Jyutping
–
Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanisation Scheme, the LSHK promotes the use of this romanisation system. The name Jyutping is a contraction consisting of the first Chinese characters of the terms Jyut6jyu5, only the finals m and ng can be used as standalone nasal syllables. ^ ^ ^ Referring to the pronunciation of these words. There are nine tones in six distinct tone contours in Cantonese, however, as three of the nine are entering tones, which only appear in syllables ending with p, t, and k, they do not have separate tone numbers in Jyutping. Jyutping and the Yale Romanisation of Cantonese represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they differ in the following, The vowels eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping, the initial j represents /j/ in Jyutping whereas y is used instead in Yale. The initial z represents /ts/ in Jyutping whereas j is used instead in Yale, the initial c represents /tsʰ/ in Jyutping whereas ch is used instead in Yale. In Jyutping, if no consonant precedes the vowel yu, then the initial j is appended before the vowel, in Yale, the corresponding initial y is never appended before yu under any circumstances. Jyutping defines three finals not in Yale, eu /ɛːu/, em /ɛːm/, and ep /ɛːp/ and these three finals are used in colloquial Cantonese words, such as deu6, lem2, and gep6. To represent tones, only tone numbers are used in Jyutping whereas Yale traditionally uses tone marks together with the letter h. Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they have differences, The vowel oe represents both /ɵ/ and /œː/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping. The vowel y represents /y/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas both yu and i are used in Jyutping, the initial dz represents /ts/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas z is used instead in Jyutping. The initial ts represents /tsʰ/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas c is used instead in Jyutping. To represent tones, the numbers 1 to 9 are usually used in Cantonese Pinyin, however, only the numbers 1 to 6 are used in Jyutping
16.
Southern Min
–
Southern Min, or Minnan, is a branch of Min Chinese spoken in certain parts of China including southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, and southern Zhejiang, and in Taiwan. The Min Nan dialects are spoken by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora, most notably the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to Hokkien, including Amoy and Taiwanese Hokkien, the Southern Min dialect group also includes Teochew, though Teochew has limited mutual intelligibility with Hokkien. Hainanese is not mutually intellgible with other Southern Min and is considered a separate branch of Min. Southern Min is not mutually intelligible with Eastern Min, Pu-Xian Min, any other Min branch, Hakka, Cantonese, Shanghainese or Mandarin. Southern Min dialects are spoken in the part of Fujian. The variant spoken in Leizhou, Guangdong as well as Hainan is Hainanese and is not mutually intelligible with other Southern Min or Teochew, Hainanese is classified in some schemes as part of Southern Min and in other schemes as separate. Puxian Min was originally based on the Quanzhou dialect, but over time became heavily influenced by Eastern Min, eventually losing intellegility with Minnan. A forms of Southern Min spoken in Taiwan, collectively known as Taiwanese, Southern Min is a first language for most of the Hoklo people, the main ethnicity of Taiwan. The correspondence between language and ethnicity is not absolute, as some Hoklo have very limited proficiency in Southern Min while some non-Hoklo speak Southern Min fluently, there are many Southern Min speakers also among Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Many ethnic Chinese immigrants to the region were Hoklo from southern Fujian and brought the language to what is now Burma, Indonesia and present-day Malaysia and Singapore. In general, Southern Min from southern Fujian is known as Hokkien, Hokkienese, many Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese also originated in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong and speak Teochew language, the variant of Southern Min from that region. Southern Min-speakers form the majority of Chinese in Singapore, with the largest group being Hokkien, despite the similarities the two groups are rarely seen as part of the same Minnan Chinese subgroups. The variants of Southern Min spoken in Zhejiang province are most akin to that spoken in Quanzhou, the variants spoken in Taiwan are similar to the three Fujian variants and are collectively known as Taiwanese. Those Southern Min variants that are known as Hokkien in Southeast Asia also originate from these variants. The variants of Southern Min in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province are known as Teochew or Chaozhou. Teochew is of importance in the Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora, particularly in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sumatra. The Philippines variant is mostly from the Quanzhou area as most of their forefathers are from the aforementioned area, the Southern Min language variant spoken around Shanwei and Haifeng differs markedly from Teochew and may represent a later migration from Zhangzhou
17.
Hokkien
–
Hokkien /hɒˈkiɛn/ is a group of Southern Min dialects spoken throughout Southeastern China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and by other overseas Chinese. Hokkien originated in southern Fujian, the Min-speaking province and it is closely related to Teochew, though there is limited mutual intelligibility, and is somewhat more distantly related to Hainanese and Leizhou dialect. Besides Hokkien, there are also other Min and Hakka dialects in Fujian province, the term Hokkien is etymologically derived from the Southern Min pronunciation for Fujian, the province from which the language hails. The variety is known by other terms such as the more general Min Nan or Southern Min. Fujianese and Fukienese are also used, although they are somewhat imprecise, the term Hokkien is not usually used in Mainland China or Taiwan. Conversely Hokkien is the name in Southeast Asia in both English, Chinese or other languages. Speakers of Hokkien, particularly those in Southeast Asia, typically refer to Hokkien as a dialect, people in Taiwan most often refer to Hokkien as the Taiwanese language, with Minnan and Holo also being used and 福建話 is not as common. Hokkien originated in the area of Fujian province, an important center for trade and migration. The major pole of Hokkien varieties outside of Fujian is Taiwan, the Taiwanese version mostly have origins with the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou variants, but since then, the Amoy dialect is becoming the modern prestige standard for the language. There are many Hokkien speakers among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia as well as in the United States, many ethnic Han Chinese emigrants to the region were Hoklo from southern Fujian, and brought the language to what is now Burma, Indonesia and present day Malaysia and Singapore. Many of the Hokkien dialects of this region are similar to Taiwanese and Amoynese. Hokkien is reportedly the native language of up to 80% of the Chinese people in the Philippines, Hokkien speakers form the largest group of overseas Chinese in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. Southern and part of western Fujian is home to four principal Hokkien dialects, Chinchew, Amoy, Chiangchew and Longyan, originating from the cities of Quanzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Longyan. As Xiamen is the city of southern Fujian, Amoy is considered the most important, or even the prestige dialect. It is a hybrid of the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialects, same as Amoy dialect, the varieties of Hokkien spoken in Taiwan are hybrids of the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialects, and are collectively known as Taiwanese Hokkien or just Taiwanese. Used by a majority of the population, it bears much importance from a socio-political perspective, the varieties of Hokkien in Southeast Asia originate from these dialects. The Singaporeans, Southern Malaysians and people in Indonesias Riau and surrounding islands variant is from the Quanzhou area and they speak a distinct form of Quanzhou Hokkien called Southern Peninsular Malaysian Hokkien. Among ethnic Chinese inhabitants of Penang, and other states in Northern Malaysia and Medan, with areas in North Sumatra, Indonesia
18.
Stadium
–
Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stade at Olympia, where the word stadium originated. In modern times, a stadium is officially a stadium when at least 50% of the capacity is an actual building. If the majority of the capacity is formed by grasshills, the venue is not officially considered a stadium. Most of the stadiums with a capacity of at least 10,000 are used for football, or soccer. A large amount of sports venues are also used for concerts. Stadium is the Latin form of the Greek word stadion, a measure of length equalling the length of 600 human feet, as feet are of variable length the exact length of a stadion depends on the exact length adopted for 1 foot at a given place and time. Although in modern terms 1 stadion =600 ft, in a historical context it may actually signify a length up to 15% larger or smaller. The equivalent Roman measure, the stadium, had a similar length — about 185 m -, the English use of stadium comes from the tiered infrastructure surrounding a Roman track of such length. Most dictionaries provide for both stadiums and stadia as valid English plurals, although etymological purists sometimes apply stadia only to measures of length in excess of 1 stadium. The oldest known stadium is the one in Olympia, in the western Peloponnese, Greece, initially the Games consisted of a single event, a sprint along the length of the stadium. The stadion, a measure of length, may be related to the Stadium, Greek and Roman stadiums have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being the Stadium of Domitian, in Rome. The excavated and refurbished ancient Panathenaic stadium hosted a version of the Olympic Games in 1870,1875,1896 and 1906. The excavation and refurbishment of the stadium was part of the legacy of the Greek national benefactor Evangelos Zappas, the first stadiums to be built in the modern era were basic facilities, designed for the single purpose of fitting as many spectators in as possible. One such early stadium was the Lansdowne Road Stadium, the brainchild of Henry Dunlop, banned from locating sporting events at Trinity College, Dunlop built the stadium in 1872. Some 300 cartloads of soil from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, other early stadiums from this period in the UK include the Stamford Bridge stadium and Anfield stadium. In the U. S. However, many of these caught fire. All of the 19th-century wooden parks were replaced, some only a few years. Goodison Park was the first purpose-built football stadium in the world, walton-based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators
19.
2008 Summer Olympics
–
A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events. China became the 22nd nation to host the Olympic Games and the 18th to hold a Summer Olympic Games. It was the time that the Summer Olympic Games were held in East Asia and Asia, after Tokyo, Japan, in 1964 and Seoul, South Korea. Beijing was awarded the Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001, the Government of the Peoples Republic of China promoted the Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems. A total of 37 venues were used to host the events, the official logo of these Olympic Games, titled Dancing Beijing, refers to the host city by featuring a stylized calligraphic character jīng. The Games were the second most watched Olympics in history, attracting 4.7 billion viewers worldwide, there were 43 world records and 132 Olympic records set at the 2008 Summer Olympics. An unprecedented 86 countries won at least one medal during the Games, Chinese athletes won the most gold medals with 51, and with 100 medals in total became only the 7th different Olympic team to top an overall medal tally. The United States won the most total medals with 110, the games were deemed highly successful with the rising standard of competition among nations across the world. Beijing was elected as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 13 July 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, defeating bids from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities had submitted bids to the IOC, after the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only six votes and was eliminated, in the second round, Beijing was supported by a majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds. Torontos bid was their 5th failure since 1960, the size of China, its increased enforcement of doping controls, and sympathy concerning its loss of the 2000 Summer Olympics to Sydney were all factors in the decision. Eight years earlier, Beijing had led every round of voting for the 2000 Summer Olympics before losing to Sydney by two votes in the final round. Human rights concerns expressed by Amnesty International and politicians in both Europe and the United States were considered by the delegates, according to IOC Executive Director François Carrard, Carrard and others suggested that the selection might lead to improvements in human rights in China. In addition, a number of IOC delegates who had formerly been athletes expressed concern about heat and air quality during the Games, China outlined plans to address these environmental concerns in its bid application. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics at USD6.8 billion in 2015-dollars and this includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e. g. The Beijing Olympics cost of USD6.8 billion compares with costs of USD4.6 billion for Rio 2016, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion. They went on to claim that revenues from the Games would exceed the original target of $16 million
20.
2008 Summer Paralympics
–
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17,2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao,3,951 athletes from 146 countries took part. This was the largest ever number of nations at the Paralympics, China fielded more athletes than any other country. The slogan for the 2008 Paralympics was the same as the 2008 Summer Olympics, One World, China dominated the medal count finishing with 89 gold medals and 211 total medals, more than double the next-ranked NPC in both cases. 339 Paralympic records and 279 world records were broken, international Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven declared the Games the greatest Paralympic Games ever. Nineteen competition venues—seventeen in Beijing, one in Hong Kong, the red, blue, and green in the emblem represent sun, sky, and earth. The slogan was the same as the 2008 Summer Olympics, One World, the mascot was a cartoon cow named Fu Niu Lele, roughly meaning Lucky Ox Happy. The theme song was Flying with the Dream Chinese, 和梦一起飞 and it was performed by Chinese-Tibetan singer Han Hong and Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Lau. The torch relay of the 2008 Summer Paralympics started from Tian Tan on August 28, the flame then gathered before The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and followed two routes. Both routes returned to Beijing on September 5, and the torch was flamed at the National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony on September 6, the opening ceremony took place on September 6,2008. The pre-ceremony performance was a succession of musical performances, ranging from military music to folk music. Following a countdown, a fireworks display signalled the beginning of the ceremony proper, the national flag of China was then raised, in accordance with usual protocol, and the national anthem of China performed. Performers wearing suits in bright colours paraded round the stadium, as a ceremony preceding the athletes entry. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, the ceremony included a parade of nations, countries with the same number of strokes in the first character are sorted by those of the next character. This made Guinea the first country to enter as it takes two strokes to write the first character in the countrys name, the ceremony concludes with Hou Bin, the high jump gold medalist with one leg lighting the flame cauldron. The 2008 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium and it began at 8,00 pm China Standard Time on September 17,2008. Twenty sports were on the program, Rowing made its first appearance in the Paralympics at these games, the following National Paralympic Committees sent delegations to compete. Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti and Montenegro were participating in the Paralympics for the first time, botswana was due to take part, but its single athlete, defending Paralympic champion sprinter Tshotlego Morama, withdrew prior to the Games due to injury
21.
2022 Winter Olympics
–
It will be the third consecutive Olympic Games held in East Asia, after Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020. Having previously hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics and it will also become the largest city ever to host the Winter Olympics, a distinction currently held by Vancouver, which hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. The 2022 Winter Olympics will be the first Winter Olympic Games ever to be held in China, the estimated budget for the games is $3.9 billion, less than one-tenth of the $43 billion spent on the 2008 Summer Olympics. Beijing will also be the city in East Asia to host the Winter Games, after Sapporo, Japan, Nagano, Japan. The bidding calendar was announced by the IOC in October 2012, the IOC Executive Board reviewed the bids from all applicant cities on 7 July 2014, and selected Oslo, Almaty and Beijing as the final candidate cities. Oslo withdrew its bid on 1 October 2014, leaving Almaty, Beijing was selected as host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics after beating Almaty by 4 votes, on 31 July 2015, at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The ski resort has earned over 1.54 billion yuan in tourism from the 2015–2016 snow season for a 31.6 percent growth over the previous season. In 2016 it was announced that Chongli has received 2.185 million tourists for an increase of 30 percent during the first snow season after the winning the Olympic bid. The snow season lasted for five months from November, during which Chongli has hosted 36 competitions and activities, such as Far East Cup, a total of 23 skiing camps have also been set up, attracting the participation of 3,800 youths. All venue construction will start in November 2016 and will be finished by the end of 2020 to enable the city to hold test events and it will be built for speeds up to 350 km/h, and travel from Beijing to Zhangjiakou is estimated to take 50 minutes. The Beijing Subway is expected to continue expanding and projected to have at least 24 lines by 2022, expressway and highway networks are also expected to be upgraded. A new second airport for Beijing and the region, tentatively known as Beijing Daxing International Airport, is expected to open by 2019, the Zhangjiakou Cluster is about 160 km from Beijing and is located in a different province, Hebei. The Yanqing Cluster is about 85 km from Beijing Fifteen sports are scheduled in the 2022 Winter Olympics program, bobsleigh events will be contested in both bobsleigh and skeleton disciplines. The remaining four sports are biathlon, curling, ice hockey, a delegation from the Chinese Olympic Committee visited the 2017 Bandy World Championship and held talks with FIB President Boris Skrynnik about the possibility of including bandy in 2022. The matches could then be hosted at Olympic Sports Centre, a 36,000 capacity stadium, broadcast rights to the 2022 Winter Olympics in some countries were already sold as part of long-term broadcast rights deals. The decision to bid for the Olympics was controversial in China because Beijing itself, concerns have been raised that snow may need to be transported to the venues at great cost and with uncertain environmental consequences. The environmental impact of hosting the games near Beijing has been questioned, the Chinese government responded to these concerns by expanding the adjacent Beijing Songshan National Nature Reserve by 31% of its original size
22.
Olympic Green
–
The Olympic Green is an Olympic Park in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for a street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011. It will again serve as an Olympic Park when Beijing hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing National Stadium or Birds Nest is the centerpiece of this project. It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, and football finals of the Games, the stadium has room for 91,000 spectators, but the capacity was reduced to 80,000 after the Olympics. It will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing National Aquatics Center or Water Cube hosted the swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events. It has a capacity of 6,000 and is located next to the National Stadium and it will be the site of the curling competitions during the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Beijing National Indoor Stadium or the Fan held the handball, artistic gymnastics, with a capacity of 19,000, it was the main indoor arena used during the Games. The National Speed Skating Oval is an arena that will be built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Green Convention Center, also called the National Convention Center, held fencing and, the shooting and fencing disciplines of the modern pentathlon. It is also used as the International Broadcast Center and the Main Press Center, the center covers an area of 270,000 square meters. The Olympic Green Hockey Field hosted the hockey events. It covered an area of 11.87 hectares with 2 courts and it was deconstructed after the Games. The Olympic Green Archery Field hosted the archery events, the field occupied 9.22 hectares and had a capacity of 5,000. It was dismantled after the Games, the Olympic Green Tennis Center hosted the tennis and wheelchair tennis events. It has 16 courts and a capacity of 17,400 and it opened on October 1,2007. The park itself, outside of the venues constructed on the Olympic Green and these included the racewalk events, where the loops occurred on the Olympic Green, and the portion of the marathons just outside the National Stadium. The Beijing Olympic Village housed all the participating athletes, the village is made up of 22 6-story buildings and 20 9-story buildings. The Digital Beijing Building served during the Games as the data center and it was the only building on the Green at the time of the Olympics that was not an event venue. Since then it has converted into a museum of the Digital Olympics
23.
Chinese ceramics
–
Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era, Porcelain is so identified with China that it is still called china in everyday English usage. Most later Chinese ceramics, even of the finest quality, were made on an industrial scale, many of the most important kiln workshops were owned by or reserved for the Emperor, and large quantities of ceramics were exported as diplomatic gifts or for trade from an early date. The earliest Chinese pottery was earthenware, which continued in production for utilitarian uses throughout Chinese history, but was increasingly less used for fine wares. Porcelain, on a Western definition, is a term comprising all ceramic ware that is white and translucent. The Chinese tradition recognizes two categories of ceramics, high-fired and low-fired, so doing without stoneware, which in Chinese tradition is mostly grouped with porcelain. Terms such as porcellaneous or near-porcelain may be used for stonewares with porcelain-like characteristics, the Erya defined porcelain as fine, compact pottery. Chinese pottery can also classified as being either northern or southern, the kiln types were also different. Southern materials have high silica, low alumina and high potassium oxide, the northern materials are often very suitable for stoneware, while in the south there are also areas highly suitable for porcelain. Chinese porcelain is made by a combination of the following materials. Porcelain stone - decomposed micaceous or feldspar rocks, historically known as petunse. Feldspar Quartz In the context of Chinese ceramics, the term lacks a universally accepted definition. This in turn has led to confusion about when the first Chinese porcelain was made, claims have been made for the late Eastern Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period, the Six Dynasties period, and the Tang dynasty. Chinese kiln technology has always been a key factor in the development of Chinese pottery, the Chinese developed effective kilns capable of firing at around 1, 000°C before 2000 BC. These were updraft kilns, often built below ground, two main types of kiln were developed by about 200 AD and remained in use until modern times. Both could reliably produce the temperatures of up to 1300°C or more needed for porcelain, in the late Ming, the egg-shaped kiln or zhenyao was developed at Jingdezhen, but mainly used there. This was something of a compromise between the types, and offered locations in the firing chamber with a range of firing conditions. According to Science, pottery dating from 20,000 years ago were found at the Xianrendong Cave site
24.
Bird nest
–
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. The smallest bird nests are those of hummingbirds, tiny cups which can be a mere 2 cm across. At the other extreme, some nest mounds built by the dusky scrubfowl measure more than 11 m in diameter, not all bird species build nests. Most birds build a new nest each year, though some refurbish their old nests, the large eyries of some eagles are platform nests that have been used and refurbished for several years. In most species, the female does most or all of the nest construction, in some polygynous species, however, the male does most or all of the nest building. The nest may also form a part of the display such as in weaver birds. The ability to choose and maintain good nest sites and build high quality nests may be selected for by females in these species, in some species the young from previous broods may also act as helpers for the adults. Not every bird species builds or uses a nest, some auks, for instance—including common murre, thick-billed murre and razorbill—lay their eggs directly onto the narrow rocky ledges they use as breeding sites. The eggs of species are dramatically pointed at one end. This is critical for the survival of the eggs, as there are no nests to keep them from rolling off the side of the cliff. Presumably because of the vulnerability of their eggs, parent birds of these auk species rarely leave them unattended. Nest location and architecture is influenced by local topography and other abiotic factors. King penguins and emperor penguins also do not build nests, instead, they tuck their eggs and they are thus able to move about while incubating, though in practice only the emperor penguin regularly does so. Without the ability to body heat, the penguins would expend far more energy trying to stay warm. Potoos lay their single egg directly atop a broken stump, or into a depression on a branch—typically where an upward-pointing branch died and fell off. Brood parasites, such as the New World cowbirds, the honeyguides, the simplest nest construction is the scrape, which is merely a shallow depression in soil or vegetation. This nest type, which typically has a rim deep enough to keep the eggs from rolling away, is lined with bits of vegetation, small stones. Ostriches, most tinamous, many ducks, most shorebirds, most terns, some falcons, pheasants, quail, partridges, bustards, brooding adults also tend to be well camouflaged, and may be difficult to flush from the nest
25.
Association football
–
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
26.
Retractable roof
–
A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof on tracks so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights, the term operable skylight, while quite similar, refers to a skylight that opens on a hinge, rather than on a track. Retractable roofs are used in residences, restaurants and bars, swim centres, as Rollamatic was founded five years earlier, the first installation of a motorized retractable roof must be between 1958 and 1963. While any shape is possible, common shapes are flat, ridge, hip-ridge, barrel, a residence might incorporate one or more 3 by 5 retractables, a bar or restaurant a retractable roof measuring 20 by 30, and a meeting hall a 50 by 100 bi-parting-over-stationary. Installations throughout the world employ a variety of different configurations and styles, the first retractable roof sports venue was the now-demolished Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec was slated to be the first outdoor retractable roof stadium at its debut for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, however, plagued by construction problems, the roof was not installed until 1987, and was not retractable until 1988. Even then, movement of the roof was impossible in high wind conditions, a permanent, fixed roof was installed in 1998. By contrast, the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario had a functional retractable roof at its debut in 1989. Architecturally speaking, retractable roofs vary greatly from stadium to stadium in shape, material, for example, Miller Park has a fan style roof, while Toyota Stadium in Japan has an accordion-like roof. Most retractable roofs are made of metal, while some, such as the roof of University of Phoenix Stadium, are made of water-resistant fabric, in North American major sports leagues, specific rules exist governing the movement of retractable roofs before and during gameplay. These rules vary between the NFL and MLB, as well as from stadium to stadium, depending on the stadium, weather or gameplay conditions, and the judgment of the officials, play may or may not continue until the roof is fully closed. If the game begins with the closed, it may be opened under some circumstances depending on the venue. If it is closed after the game begins, typically it must remain closed for the duration of the game, some modern athletic facilities are using affordable, less complex roof systems that resemble retractable roofs in appearance and effect. These roof systems, commonly referred to as open roofs, are constructed with similar materials as retractable roofs, most open roof companies offer polycarbonate or tempered glass roofs for safer sports play and durability. Hinged at the structures gutters, open roofs fully close and open by the mechanics of a rack, comparable to the benefits of retractable roofs, open roof systems offer players year-long usage, protection from inclement weather when needed, and the feeling of an outdoor environment. Open roofs are seen at smaller athletic venues such as country clubs. Both retractable roof and open roof systems are used in the construction of commercial greenhouses. CBC archives The architect explains the system for the Rogers Centre in Toronto
27.
Basel
–
Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerlands third-most-populous city with about 175,000 inhabitants, located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. In 2014, the Basel agglomeration was the third largest in Switzerland with a population of 537,100 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland, the official language of Basel is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, the city has been a commercial hub and important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the 20th century. It hosts the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation, There are settlement traces on the Rhine knee from the early La Tène period. The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an Oppidum on the site of Basel Minster, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul. In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km from Basel as the administrative centre. The city of Basel eventually grew around the castle, the name of Basel is derived from the Roman-era toponym Basilia, first recorded in the 3rd century. It is presumably derived from the personal name Basilius, the Old French form Basle was adopted into English, and developed into the modern French Bâle. The Icelandic name Buslaraborg goes back to the 12th century Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan, Basel was incorporated into Germania Superior in AD83. Roman control over the area deteriorated in 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian, the Alamanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled. In a great invasion of AD406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace, from this time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement. The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century, and by the 7th century, based on the evidence of a third solidus with the inscription Basilia fit, Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century. Under bishop Haito, the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle, at the partition of the Carolingian Empire, Basel was first given to West Francia, but passed to East Francia with the treaty of Meerssen of 870. The city was plundered and destroyed by a Magyar invasion of 917, the rebuilt city became part of Upper Burgundy, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. Since the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II in 999 till the Reformation, in 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel began under German Emperor Heinrich II. In 1225–1226, the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun, the bridge was largely funded by Basels Jewish community which had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river between Lake Constance and the sea, the Bishop also allowed the furriers to found a guild in 1226
28.
Charles de Gaulle Airport
–
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, also known as Roissy Airport, is the largest international airport in France. It is named after Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French Forces during the Second World War, founder of the French Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle Airport is located within portions of several communes 25 km to the northeast of Paris. The airport serves as the hub for Air France as well as a European hub for fellow SkyTeam alliance partner Delta Air Lines. In 2016, the airport handled 65,933,145 passengers and 472,950 aircraft movements, thus making it the worlds ninth-busiest airport and it is also the worlds tenth-busiest and it is Europes second-busiest airport in aircraft movements. In terms of traffic, the airport is the twelfth-busiest in the world. The incumbent director of the airport, Franck Goldnadel, was appointed to his position on 1 March 2011, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport covers 32.38 square kilometres of land. Management of the airport lies solely on the authority of Paris Aéroport, which also manages Orly, Le Bourget, Marsa Alam in Egypt, the planning and construction phase of what was known then as Aéroport de Paris Nord began in 1966. On 8 March 1974 the airport, renamed Charles de Gaulle Airport, Terminal 1 was built in an avant-garde design of a ten-floors-high circular building surrounded by seven satellite buildings, each with six gates allowing sunlight to enter through apertures. The main architect was Paul Andreu, who was also in charge of the extensions during the following decades, the Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use in the airport and implemented on signs throughout the building in 1975. Initially called Roissy, it was renamed after its designer Adrian Frutiger, until 2005, every PA announcement made at Terminal 1 was preceded by a distinctive chime, nicknamed Indicatif Roissy and composed by Bernard Parmegiani in 1971. The chime can be heard in the Roman Polanski film Frantic, the chime was officially replaced by the Indicatif ADP chime. Charles de Gaulle Airport has three terminals, Terminal 1 is the oldest and situated opposite to Terminal 3, Terminal 2 is located at another side with 7 sub-terminal buildings. Terminal 2 was originally exclusively for Air France, since then it has been expanded significantly. Terminals 2A to 2F are interconnected by elevated walkways and situated next to each other, Terminal 2G is a satellite building connected by shuttle bus. Terminal 3 hosts charter and low-cost airlines, the CDGVAL light-rail shuttle connects Terminal 2 to Terminals 1/3 and their parking lots. Refer to Ground Transportation below for inter-terminal transfers and transport to central Paris, the first terminal, designed by Paul Andreu, was built in the image of an octopus. It consists of a terminal building which houses key functions such as check-in counters. Seven satellites with boarding gates are connected to the building by underground walkways
29.
Earthquake
–
An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earths lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in size from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt to those violent enough to people around. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type, Earthquakes are measured using measurements from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe and these two scales are numerically similar over their range of validity. Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause damage over larger areas. The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly over 9, intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an earthquake, the damage to structures it causes. At the Earths surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground, when the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity, in its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event — whether natural or caused by humans — that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts. An earthquakes point of rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter, tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the surface that increase the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to a form of stick-slip behavior, once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the portion of the fault. This energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves, frictional heating of the fault surface and this process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as the elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of a total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat generated by friction
30.
Enerpac
–
The Enerpac business is a division of Actuant, a $1.5 billion diversified global manufacturing company, and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Enerpac primarily plays in the high-pressure hydraulics market with locations in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Russia, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the business has 28 offices in 22 different countries and over 1,000 employees. Enerpac produces and globally distributes high-pressure hydraulic products, the business focuses on the design of products, from small cylinders to computer-operated lifting & positioning systems. Historian John Gurda authored “The Drive To Lead, ” a history of Actuant, Enerpac combines hydraulics, steel fabrication, and electronic control with engineering and application knowledge, in design and manufacturing
31.
Workers (Gong Ren)
–
Workers is a book of 143 portraits of migrant workers who participated in the construction of the Olympic Green in Beijing, China in the lead up to the 2008 Summer Olympics. The book is the work of British artist Helen Couchman and consists primarily of photographs of the workers on the building site, at the height of its construction, nearly 17,000 workers were involved in building the Birds Nest. Workers 工人 documents the human side of construction with worker portraits, information on the workers themselves, in December 2007, Couchman circumvented security on the Olympic construction site and was able to approach the workers about taking their pictures. She later returned to the site with two copies of each photo, giving each of her subjects one copy to keep and asked the workers to write their name, Couchman felt that the element of exchange was key to this project. The central focus, the signifier of the new Beijing. Photographs from this series were exhibited in London, England and Hong Kong, discussions of workers rights have been raised in the context of this book, but it was not Couchmans reason for starting the project
32.
The Times
–
The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London, England. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, the Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1967 and its news and its editorial comment have in general been carefully coordinated, and have at most times been handled with an earnest sense of responsibility. While the paper has admitted some trivia to its columns, its emphasis has been on important public affairs treated with an eye to the best interests of Britain. To guide this treatment, the editors have for long periods been in touch with 10 Downing Street. In these countries, the newspaper is often referred to as The London Times or The Times of London, although the newspaper is of national scope, in November 2006 The Times began printing headlines in a new font, Times Modern. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, the Sunday Times remains a broadsheet. The Times had a daily circulation of 446,164 in December 2016, in the same period. An American edition of The Times has been published since 6 June 2006 and it has been heavily used by scholars and researchers because of its widespread availability in libraries and its detailed index. A complete historical file of the paper, up to 2010, is online from Gale Cengage Learning. The Times was founded by publisher John Walter on 1 January 1785 as The Daily Universal Register, Walter had lost his job by the end of 1784 after the insurance company where he was working went bankrupt because of the complaints of a Jamaican hurricane. Being unemployed, Walter decided to set a new business up and it was in that time when Henry Johnson invented the logography, a new typography that was faster and more precise. Walter bought the patent and to use it, he decided to open a printing house. The first publication of the newspaper The Daily Universal Register in Great Britain was 1 January 1785, unhappy because people always omitted the word Universal, Ellias changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to The Times. In 1803, Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name, the Times used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its life, the profits of The Times were very large. Beginning in 1814, the paper was printed on the new steam-driven cylinder press developed by Friedrich Koenig, in 1815, The Times had a circulation of 5,000. Thomas Barnes was appointed editor in 1817
33.
Reuters
–
Reuters /ˈrɔɪtərz/ is an international news agency headquartered in London, England. It is a division of Thomson Reuters, until 2008, the Reuters news agency formed part of an independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data. Since the acquisition of Reuters Group by the Thomson Corporation in 2008, Reuters transmits news in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Urdu, and Chinese. The Reuter agency was established in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter in Britain at the London Royal Exchange, Paul Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions in 1848. Upon moving to England, he founded Reuters Telegram Company in 1851, headquartered in London, the company initially covered commercial news, serving banks, brokerage houses, and business firms. The first newspaper client to subscribe was the London Morning Advertiser in 1858, Reuters agency built a reputation in Europe and the rest of the world as the first to report news scoops from abroad. Reuters was the first to report Abraham Lincolns assassination in Europe, for instance, in 1872, Reuters expanded into the far east, followed by South America in 1874. Both expansions were made possible by advances in overland telegraphs and undersea cables, in 1883, Reuters began transmitting messages electrically to London newspapers. In 1923, Reuters began using radio to transmit news internationally, in 1925, The Press Association of Great Britain acquired a majority interest in Reuters, and full owners some years later. During the world wars, The Guardian reported that Reuters came under pressure from the British government to national interests. In 1941 Reuters deflected the pressure by restructuring itself as a private company, the new owners formed the Reuters Trust. In 1941, the PA sold half of Reuters to the Newspaper Proprieters Association, the Reuters Trust Principles were put in place to maintain the companys independence. At that point, Reuters had become one of the major news agencies. In 1961, Reuters scooped news of the erection of the Berlin Wall, in 1981, Reuters began making electronic transactions on its computer network, and afterwards developed a number of electronic brokerage and trading services. Reuters was floated as a company in 1984, when Reuters Trust was listed on the stock exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange. Reuters published the first story of the Berlin Wall being breached in 1989, share price grew during the dotcom boom, then fell after the banking troubles in 2001. In 2002, Brittanica wrote that most news throughout the world came from three major agencies, the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse, Reuters merged with Thomson Corporation in Canada in 2008, forming Thomson Reuters. In 2009, Thomson Reuters withdrew from the LSE and the NASDAQ, instead listing its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the last surviving member of the Reuters family founders, Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter, died at age 96 on 25 January 2009
34.
Rainwater harvesting
–
Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and deposition of rainwater for reuse on-site, rather than allowing it to run off. Its uses include water for gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with proper treatment, the harvested water can also be used as drinking water, longer-term storage and for other purposes such as groundwater recharge. Rainwater harvesting provides an independent water supply during regional water restrictions and it provides water when there is a drought, can help mitigate flooding of low-lying areas, and reduces demand on wells which may enable groundwater levels to be sustained. It also helps in the availability of water as rainwater is substantially free of salinity. More development and knowledge is required to understand the benefits rainwater harvesting can provide to agriculture, many countries especially those with an arid environment use rainwater harvesting as a cheap and reliable source of clean water. To enhance irrigation in arid environments, ridges of soil are constructed in order to trap and prevent rainwater from running down hills, even in periods of low rainfall, enough water is collected in order for crops to grow. The concentration of contaminants is reduced significantly by diverting the flow of run-off water to waste. Improved water quality can also be obtained by using a floating draw-off mechanism and by using a series of tanks, pre-filtration is a common practice used in the industry to ensure that the water entering the tank is free of large sediment. Pre-filtration is important to keep the system healthy, conceptually, a water supply system should match the quality of water with the end use. However, in most of the world high quality potable water is used for all end uses. This approach wastes money and energy and imposes unnecessary impacts to the environment, Rainwater harvesting systems can range in complexity, from systems that can be installed with minimal skills, to automated systems that require advanced setup and installation. Systems are ideally sized to meet the demand throughout the dry season since it must be big enough to support daily water consumption. Specifically, the rainfall capturing area such as a roof must be large enough to maintain adequate flow. The water storage tank size should be enough to contain the captured water. Before a rainwater harvesting system is built, it is helpful to use digital tools, for instance, if you want to detect if a region has a high rainwater harvesting potential, rainwater harvesting GIS maps can be made using an online interactive tool. Or if you need to estimate how much water is needed to fulfill a communitys water needs, tools like these can save time and money before a commitment to build a system is undertaken, in addition to making the project sustainable and last a long time. Contemporary system designs require an analysis of not only the economic and technical performance of a system, life Cycle Assessment is a methodology used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a precut or systems, from cradle-to-grave of its lifetime. Devkota et al. developed such a methodology for rainwater harvesting, the Economic and Environmental Analysis of Sanitations Technologies, EEAST model evaluates the greenhouse gas emissions and cost of such systems over the lifetime of a variety of building types
35.
2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
–
The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Birds Nest. It began at 20,00 China Standard Time on Friday,8 August 2008, the number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. The artistic part of the ceremony comprised two parts titled Brilliant Civilization and Glorious Era respectively, the first part highlighted the Chinese civilization and the second part exhibited modern China and its dream of harmony between the people of the world. The stadium was full to its 91,000 capacity according to organizers, the ceremony was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who was the chief director and was assisted by Chinese choreographers Zhang Jigang and Chen Weiya. The director of music for the ceremony was composer Chen Qigang and it was noted for its focus on ancient Chinese culture, and for its creativity, as well as being the first to use weather modification technology to prevent rainfall. The final ascent to the torch featured Olympic gymnast Li Ning, featuring 15,000 performers, the ceremony lasted over four hours and was reported to have cost over US$100 million to produce. The opening ceremony was lauded by spectators and various international presses as spectacular and spellbinding, more than 100 heads of state, heads of government and sovereigns attended the opening ceremony. The number of heads of state who attended the ceremony was by far the largest in Olympic history. Welcoming ceremony began by a flame and an ancient Chinese sundial, awakened by the light of time from the sky, the drums, running like a time machine, form giant digits to count down the final seconds to the Games. The firework footprints were set off at the rate of one second, each represented one of the 29 Olympiads. The 29th footprint arrived at Birds Nest and transformed into Star Olympic Rings, next, the rings were lift up by twenty Dunhuang fairies. Attention was then turned to 56 young children representing the 56 ethnic groups of modern China, and donning respective costumes. They marched in the flag of the Peoples Republic of China as a girl in red, 9-year-old Lin Miaoke, was seen performing Ode to the Motherland. Only one-third of Ode to the Motherland was sung, to save time, the Artistic section tells about Chinas history and art. At its center was a piece of white paper, which then ushered in a performance of black-costumed dancers whose hands hid brushes that had been dipped in ink. They performed a dance while leaving their trails on the block of paper, reminiscent of Chinese ink. This was accompanied by the sounds of the guqin, Chinas ancient seven-string zither, the LED scroll then showed an old, rare painting by Wang Ximeng. The character was shown, consecutively, in inscription, Seal script and KaisScript
36.
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
–
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last ten days of the games, from August 15 to August 24,2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four sets of events, track and field events, road running events. Both men and women had very similar schedules of events, men competed in 24 events and women in 23, as their schedule lacked the 50 km race walk. In addition, both the mens 110 m hurdles and decathlon are reflected in the schedule by the 100 m hurdles and heptathlon. The Olympic record was broken in 17 returning events, in five events, including the inaugural womens 3000 m steeplechase, the world record was broken. The athletics was, alongside the Olympic cycling events, one of the few large sports programmes in which the host nation fared comparatively poorly in terms of medals won. Despite a haul of 100 medals at the games as a whole, the countrys foremost athlete Liu Xiang, the 2004 Olympic champion in the 110 metres hurdles, had to withdraw after a false start due to injury. * Athletes who participated in the only and received medals. 1500 metres The original gold medalist, Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain, was stripped of his medal for having committed anti-doping violations. The rest of the competitors were elevated by one position accordingly,4 ×100 metres relay Jamaican team originally won gold medals but was disqualified due to anti-doping rules violation by Nesta Carter. 4 ×400 metres relay Russian team originally won bronze medals but was disqualified due to anti-doping rules violation by Denis Alexeev, although the medals have been officially stripped as of 14 September 2016, they have yet to be reallocated. Following reallocation, Great Britains Robert Tobin, Andrew Steele, Michael Bingham, pole vault The original bronze medalist, Denys Yurchenko of Ukraine, was stripped of his bronze medal for positive test for the prohibited substance. Shot put The original bronze medalist, Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus, was stripped of his medal after being given a lifetime ban in 2013 for doping offences. Dylan Armstrong of Canada has received the bronze, * Athletes who participated in the heats only and received medals. 4 ×100 metres relay Originally won by Team Russia, following reallocation Belgium are awarded gold, Nigeria – silver and Brazil – bronze. Medals are yet to be reallocated, but after reallocation Jamaica will be promoted to silver, yelena Slesarenko, Russia, and Vita Palamar, Ukraine, originally 4th and 5th, also were disqualified for doping following retests. Originally the 6th place athlete, Chaunte Howard, United States, original silver medalist Tatyana Lebedeva, Russia was also disqualified later due to use of banned substances. Reallocation of medals, or determination of the effect on the medal won by Barrios in the 2012 Summer Olympics are yet to be determined, javelin throw Maria Abakumova, Russia, who originally won the silver medal in the womens javelin, disqualified after she tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone
37.
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics
–
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and several other cities in the Peoples Republic of China from 6 to 23 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full national teams. Mens teams were allowed to augment their squad with three players over the age of 23, for these games, the men competed in a 16-team tournament, and the women in a 12-team tournament. Preliminary matches commenced two days before the Opening Ceremony of the Games on 8 August, archived from the original on 10 August 2006. Programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008, archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 – Men, FIFA. com Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 – Women, FIFA. com RSSSF
