What's lucky And What's not in China?

IEver stayed in bed on a Friday the 13th?How many of you have spent hours on your hands and knees searching for a lucky, and illusive, four-leaf clover? In China, all the rules change. Ever make a cultural “faux pas?” Here we guide on how to get lucky and avoid bad luck in China.

Macao held a 2008 Beijing Olympic Games preparations,the report

To further promote the Beijing and Macau to 2 on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games publicity exchanges and cooperation, deeply understand the people of Macao for Beijing's Olympic enthusiasm, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee, Jiang Xiaoyu, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee on June 9 in the World Trade Center Macau to Australia Gate friends on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games organizing circumstances.

Yu Dan:Words of Wisdom

Yu Dan, a 41-year-old veteran media scholar at Beijing Normal University, is described as "a mix of unmixable elements" by her friends. As the dean of the TV and Cinema Studies Department of the School of Media and Arts of the university, Yu is better known by TV and movie professionals as an experienced media strategist and consultant for a roster of mass media groups including China Central Television (CCTV) and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (China). But Yu calls herself "a big fan of pop music idols" such as Jay Chow and the Nanquan Mama, an enthusiast of Chinese history and classic literature and a good performer of the Kunqu Opera. On top of that, she is unofficially recognized as "the chieftain of the fun-seeking club of the School of Media and Arts at Beijing Normal University." She still manages to find time for suburban hiking activities with her students despite her "nerving-stretching schedule." Previously a behind-the-scenes media expert, she has now attracted nationwide attention for her popular televised lecture series about the Analects of Confucius. During the National Day holidays last month, for the first time, she appeared on the Lecture Room a popular but controversial programme aired on channel 10 of CCTV. Encouraged by the warm welcome of TV audiences and a large number of netizens who have given bountiful kudos to Yu's "enlightening lectures" in their blogs and online forums, Wan Wei, producer of the Lecture Room, decided to rerun Yu's well-received lectures over the past week. At a book signing and book launch ceremony yesterday in western Beijing, Yu stunned the media and the public with a new book about her readings of the Confucian bible, released in a run of more than 600,000 copies the largest number of copies run on the Chinese mainland in recent years.

E-mail tries out a sense of smell

You could soon be able to spice up your e-mails with your favourite perfume. UK net provider Telewest Broadband is testing a system to let people to send aromatic e-mails over the internet. It has developed a kind of hi-tech air freshener that plugs into a PC and sprays a smell linked to the message. Telewest say it could be used by supermarkets to tempt people with the smell of fresh bread or by holiday companies seeking to stir up images of sun-kissed beaches. "This could bring an extra whiff of realism to the internet," said Chad Raube, director of internet services at Telewest Broadband. "We are always looking at ways to enhance the broadband internet experience of the future and this time we are sure consumers will come up smelling of roses." The technology behind the idea was originally developed by US company Trisenx. Scientists at Telewest's labs have built on that research to come up with the idea of a "scent dome". The dome comes with a cartridge containing 20 basic aromas, which can be combined to produce up to 60 different smells. A "scented e-mail" would contain electronic signals that would tell the dome to release the smell of flowers, perfume or coffee. "Our sense of smell is directly connected to our emotions," said anthropologist Kate Fox, director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford. "Smells trigger very powerful and deep-seated emotional responses, and this additional element to the internet will enhance users' online experience by adding that crucial third dimension."

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