Visva-Bharati University in Indian state of West Bengal has launched Mandarin classes for soldiers, according to news agency Press Trust of India. The news agency said 25 army personnel have enrolled for the course this year. The university's Cheena Bhavan (China College) will run the classes, said Swapan Kumar Dutta, officiating vice-chancellor of the university. The course aims to introduce soldiers to the rich Chinese culture and the centuries-old ties between both countries, said the report. The eligibility criterion for soldiers was the same as other students enrolled for the course. The course is being taught at an army establishment since it was not feasible for soldiers to attend the Chinese-language classes in the Visva-Bharati campus, Dutta said. He said the Chinese consulate in India has extended all help to set up a modern Chinese laboratory with modern equipment at Cheena Bhavan. We are working on Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's vision of broadening the mind through linguistic and cultural exchanges, Dutta said, referring to Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore whose poems are well-known even in today's China. Visva-Bharati University was founded by Tagore in 1921. Cheena Bhavan (China College) was established by Tagore and Chinese educator Tan Yunshan in 1937. Southwest China's Yunnan University has maintained an exchange program with the college since 2011. While lots of people around the world began learning Mandarin in recent years, not many are learning the language in India. The bhavan has more than 130 students, with courses focused on Chinese language, ancient Chinese history and Chinese literature. festival wristbands for salecustom printed wristbandsdebossed wristbandwristbands onlinerubber arm bands
An arched steel structure is built on the Shenzhen-Maoming Railway to reduce noise. [Southcn.com] Sound level reduced to 50 decibels, similar to that of normal conversation Engineers and technicians working on the Shenzhen-Maoming Railway, an important transport link between the two coastal cities in Guangdong province, have finished construction of a fully enclosed noise barrier on a section running through an ecological scenic site. The 2,036-meter arched steel structure, with sound insulation and concrete acoustic boards, is just 800 meters from Birds' Paradise, a scenic and ecological attraction in Jiangmen, Guangdong. The attraction, which is covered by 400-year-old banyan trees, is home to more than 30,000 birds of over 40 varieties. The paradise became a popular site after celebrated Chinese writer Ba Jin penned The Birds' Paradise after he took in the lush scenery of the tree-covered island in the early 1930s. The noise barrier cost 180 million yuan ($27.5 million), according to Fifth Construction Ltd of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group. It was the first of its kind in high-speed railway construction using technology for a fully enclosed sound barrier, it said. Construction was not allowed between March and July, which is often a breeding period for birds on the island, the builder said. The fully enclosed sound barrier will help reduce about 30 percent of traffic noise, a safe standard for the living and breeding environment of the birds, said Mo Yongchun, a manager with China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group. The 390-kilometer Shenzhen-Maoming Railway, which is designed for train speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour, is scheduled to open in mid-2018. According to Mo, the noise will be 76.5 decibels at a distance of 3.5 meters from the railway when a train passes - about the same as a car. It will be below 50 decibels at the Birds' Paradise, said Liu Zhenbiao, assistant chief engineer of the Bridge Design and Research Department of the China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group. That is about as loud as a normal conversation. The noise will pose no threat to the living conditions of birds, he said. According to Liu, the barrier is designed to stand up to the high winds of a typhoon. [email protected]
