Top Gear gears up for Chinese audiences

Hunan TV, in partnership with the BBC television series Top Gear, has made a Chinese version of the Emmy-winning show, which will be broadcast from April 23.

The weekly show tells audiences about the latest automobiles, including the most economical cars and the most luxurious limousines. Presenters comment on the latest auto news and share stories about famous racers. The show also features regular car races and challenges.

As in the original show, Chinese Top Gear has three presenters and an anonymous, helmeted racing driver known as The Stig.

Bruce Law, a Hong Kong car stunt legend, is part of the show.

Qiang singer gets big break with debut

Yun Duo, a 24-year-old singer of the Qiang ethnic group, Sichuan province, has achieved her dream of becoming a professional singer by releasing her

first album Yun Duo and signing a contract with Universal Music China, in Beijing.

Singer-songwriter Dao Lang, who was impressed by Yun's vocal range and clear voice, discovered her in Beijing when she was working as a waitress.

For her first album, Yun retains her original singing style, born of the mountains, where singing and dancing are an important part of people's daily lives.

Yun was not formally trained, but her mother is an accomplished singer.

Pushing the envelope of what defines art

Nudity and push-ups feature in two photos by Ou Zhihang, The Moment and See and Be Seen, which are on display in the Hotel Luttia in Paris till May 10.

The hotel is dubbed " Hotel of the Artists" in Paris.

Ou, an anchor and producer at Guangdong TV Station, takes naked photos of himself at national landmarks and during historical events, in the hope of creating a unique scene and a special tension.

His "Ou-style push-ups" have won him honors, including the Outstanding Artists Award at the Fifth Lianzhou International Photo Festival in 2009 and the Honorary Award of the World Press Photo in 2010.

Donnie Yen yearns for break from filming

Hong Kong kungfu star Donnie Yen is planning to take a break from filmmaking so he can spend more time with his family.

Yen, whose latest action piece The Lost Bladesman will hit theaters on April 26, is the most popular Chinese kungfu star after Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

Over the past two years he has starred in many Chinese kungfu blockbusters.

Yen says he will take a holiday of about six months, as all the scripts being offered to him now are of the action genre and he made three action films last year.

At a press conference for Bladesman, Yen said 31-year-old Nicholas Tse, who has just won the Best Actor award at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards, is most likely the next kungfu superstar.

Spotlight on nation's intangible heritage

The 3rd International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Chengdu, China, will be held from May 29 to June 11 in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Hosted by the Ministry of Culture and the Sichuan government and UNESCO, it will feature 200 cultural events

in seven categories and host more than 50 countries and their intangible cultural heritage treasures.

The biennial event was held in 2007 and 2009. On June 1, the nation will implement its first Law of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

College students and carbon footprints

The 3rd Environment Cultural Festival, to celebrate World Environment Day on June 5, got off to an early start at Renmin University on Wednesday.

Held by the Environment Department and sponsored by womai.com, owned by COFCO Group, the weeklong event will instruct college students on how to live a low-carbon life and promote the idea of environmental protection with a series of themed activities.

China Daily