Autumn season arrives and the ying1hua1 kai1

In the city of Huaibei, in the Province of Anhui (安徽省 • An1hui1sheng3), the Oriental Cherries (櫻花 • ying1hua1) belonging to the Rosaceae genus (薔薇科 • qiang2 wei2 ke1) of trees (樹 • shu4) once again (再度 • zai4 du4) have begun blooming (花開 • hua1 kai1).

The Oriental Cherry is a defoliating (落葉喬木 • luo4 ye4 jiao1 mu4) tree with a glossy (光澤 • guang1 ze2) purple-brownish (紫褐色 • zi3 he4 se4) bark (樹皮 • shu4 pi2). The bottle-green (深綠色 • shen1 lv4 se4) leaves are oval (橢圓形 • tuo3 yuan2 xing2) shaped with stiff serrated edges (邊緣芒齒 • bian1 yuan2 mang2 chi3). The inflorescences (開花 • kai1hua1) grow in clusters of at least 35 flowers (花 • hua1) with petals (花瓣 • hua1 ban4) colored from white (白色 • bai2 se4) to red (紅色 • hong2 se4).

A truly wonderful sight!

Note: Huabei is adjacent to the Yangtze River Delta (長江三角洲 • chang2jiang1san1jia3zhou1)

© Photographer: Olga Martelet | Agency: Dreamstime.com

A 500 sui4 turtle found in Guang3dong1

A villager (村民 • cun1 min2) from Guandong province (廣東省 • Guang3dong1 sheng3) captured (獲 • huo4) a wild (野生 • ye3 sheng1) turtle (鱉 • bie1) which the experienced fisherman guessed (猜測 • cai1 ce4) could be at least 500 years old (五百歲了 • wu3bai3 sui4 le5).

While fishing (釣 • diao4) in a brook near the Raoping district in the city of Chaozhou (潮州市饒平縣 • Chao2zhou1 shi4 Rao2ping2 xian4), he detected (發現了 • fa1xian4 le5) a giant turtle's neck (巨大的鱉的脖子 • ju4da4 de5 bie1 de5 bo2zi5) caught in the fishing line (魚線 • yu2 xian4).

The giant turtle's weight (重量 • zhong4 liang4) is calculated to be approximately 70 kilograms (公斤 • gong1 jin1); the body weight (體重 • ti3 zhong4) of an ordinary (普通 • pu3 tong1) man. The appearance of the turtle's shell (殼 • ke2) is that of a piece (一塊 • yi1 kuai4) of green (綠色 * lv4 se4) glossy (光滑 • guang1 hua5) stone (石頭 • shi2tou5).

This "Large Longevity God" (大壽星 • da4 shou4xing1), as the villagers called the turtle, was scheduled to be released (放 • fang4) into a large reservoir (大水庫 • da4 shui3 ku4) in Raoping as part of the Mid Autumn Celebrations.

Good for them!

"© Photographer: Noel Powell | Agency: Dreamstime.com"

Ba1bi3 wa2wa5 is going to China!

The world famous Barbie Doll (芭比娃娃 • ba1bi3 wa2wa5) will journey through China for the first time in her life. From January 2008 to January 2009 she will be on a traveling exhibition (巡展 • xun2zhan3) through several of China's major cities (大城市 • da4cheng2shi4): 重庆 • Chong2qing4, 青岛 • Qing1dao3, 杭州 • Hang2zhou1, 昆明• Kun1ming2, 上海 • Shang4hai3 and 北京 • Bei3jing1.

Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, an american (美国人 • mei3guo2ren2) businesswoman and has been distributed worldwide by Mattel, Inc. (美泰公司 • mei3 tai4 gong1si1) since 1959. She named the doll after her daughter (女儿• nv3er2) Barbara (芭芭拉 • ba1ba1la1).

Barbie dolls have been marketed portraying at least 45 (si4shi2 wu3) different nationalities (个不同的 国籍 • ge5 bu4tong2 de5 guo2ji2) and no less that same number of job occupations (职业 • zhi2ye4). As years go by we have seen Barbie as an astronaut (宇航员 • yu3hang2yuan2), a pilot (飞行员 • fei1xing2yuan2), a flight stewardess (空姐 • kong1jie3), a computer designer (电脑设计师 • dian4nao3 she4ji4shi1), a doctor (医生 • yi1sheng1), a teacher (教师 • jiao4shi1), a warrior (战士 • zhan4shi4), an athlete (运动员 • yun4dong4yuan2) and, of course, as a movie (影星 • ying3xing1) and pop star (歌星 • ge1xing1).

She has been a very progressive girl always changing with the times; we have seen not only changes in her hairstyle (发型 • fa1xing2) and clothing attire (服装 服饰 • fu2zhuang1 fu2shi4) but also in her race (种族 • zhong3zu2), skin color (肤色 • fu1se4) and language (语言 • yu3yan2).

That's probably why she has so many fans around the globe! and the number keeps growing...

You can read the Chinese News article here
Barbie is a trademark of Mattel, Inc. You can download the image as a Screensaver here

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