wonderland

WANZHOU, China, September 1, 2020 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

Wanzhou District of west China’s Chongqing Municipality is a lake city, and it made a splash in the evening of Aug. 27 with a livestreaming show put on to promote its tourism and culture products. Livestreamed in 12 online platforms, the show gained 35.42 million views and 11.27 million likes with Wanzhou’s beautiful landscape and rich resources, according to the Publicity Department of Wanzhou District.

Located in the heart of the Three Gorges reservoir area, Wanzhou boasts a long history and profound culture, and has been the place attracting scholars to stop by for appreciation since ancient times. In the past 1800 years, the Chongqing culture, the Three Gorges culture, the immigrant culture, the Anti-Japanese War culture and the revolution culture have met and merged in Wanzhou, creating a unique local culture.

In 2006, the grand Three Gorges Dam was completed. After impoundment, Wanzhou witnessed the emergence of a string of lakes. Later 29 city parks and 26 city squares were built in Wanzhou, forming an interconnected waterfront space. A new city with lakes, mountains and tall buildings accompanying each other came into being. In 2016, Wanzhou’s lake landscape was rated as one of the top ten new tourist attractions of the new Three Gorges.

When people come to Wanzhou, they must visit the three important landmarks. The Western Hills bell tower, which has been standing on the banks of the Yangtze River for nearly a century, is an impressive combination of Chinese and Western styles. It still rings on time. The Ba Du power plant was built and then provided power support to the industrial and mining enterprises that moved in 80 years ago. The plant’s old units are still generating electricity. The ruins of Tiansheng Ancient City, which survived the Anti-Yuan War in the late Southern Song Dynasty, occupied an important position in Sichuan’s city defense system and the history of the Song and Yuan wars.

The Chongqing Three Gorges Immigrant Memorial Hall is another must-go place in Wanzhou. It keeps a complete record of the history of Three Gorges immigrants and the construction of the reservoir area. A few days ago, the museum, together with Fujian Gutian Conference Memorial Hall and Hebei Xibaipo Memorial Hall, was selected as the first batch of pilot units on revolution culture as part of a national project to preserve and promote Chinese national culture.

The Wanzhou Waterfall is also worth visiting. It is called the first waterfall in Asia. The waterfall is 151 meters wide, 64.5 meters high and covers an area of 9739.5 square meters. It is one of the few waterfalls that can be viewed from all angles.

There are three popular local food: Wanzhou noodles, steamed food and roasted fish. In 2018, Wanzhou was officially recognized as the hometown of grilled fish in China.

Besides, Wanzhou is a good place to buy gifts related with the Three Gorges. The unique climate of the lakes in the Three Gorges nourishes rich Wanzhou produce, such as the local citrus, plums and tangerines sent to the space for breeding. The wooden comb brand Carpenter Tan is well known, so are the crisp and refreshing pickled mustard tuber in Yuquan and the spicy beef jerky. The Three Gorges embroidery and stones are quite distinctive while local Tiancong tea boast a lingering aftertaste.

The water town has witnessed longstanding peace and prosperity, echoed by the loud and exciting working songs in the old days and now by arias of slow life. In Wanzhou, one can walk in the streets for a taste of the thousand-year elegance of the Xishan Monument and the Tiansheng Ancient City. A stroll by the river bank to watch the sunset in the Western Hills or the morning light shining above forests is another good choice. Sailing on the lake to enjoy the night views and rippling waves is also recommended.

Wanzhou has always prioritized ecological conservation to boost green development. By seizing the opportunity to build the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, Wanzhou is making every effort to build a regional central city and an economic center in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. It also plans to grow into a tourist distribution center and an important destination in the Great Three Gorges Reservoir Area by promoting its geographical advantages in the Three Gorges tourism as well as development prospects.

For more information, please visit http://www.wz.gov.cn/.

Source: The Publicity Department of Wanzhou District, Chongqing Municipality

—BERNAMA

The first property of Okura Nikko Hotels to be inaugurated in Sichuan Province, aimed at further strengthening the company’s network of properties in China

TOKYO, Aug 27 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hotel Okura Co., Ltd., announced that it will open Hotel Nikko Chengdu Yixin Lake in October 2022. Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, is a new first-tier city in China and host to many of the world’s leading companies. The company has contracted with Aerotropolis City Development Group Co., Ltd. to manage the new property through its joint venture BTG Nikko International Hotel Management Co., Ltd.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200827005289/en/

Known as “the country of heaven and land of abundance” since ancient times, Chengdu is famous for its mild climate and abundant food cultivation, making it a comfortable place to live. In recent years, it has been increasingly seen as the one of the most important cities in southwest China.

The hotel will be located in the Tianfu Yixin Lake development area in the Shuangliu district, about 20 km from the center of Chengdu. Part of an urban development project, the 8.4 square kilometer plot of land will be divided into four areas with residential, educational, medical, commercial, sports and office facilities surrounded by greenery and lakes. The hotel will be located in the business zone, a central feature of the development project. In the future, five subway lines are planned that will cross the development area, improving access to the city and the airport.

The new hotel will feature 303 guest rooms with a standard area of approximately 45 square meters, including suite rooms. In addition to Japanese and Chinese cuisine, all-day dining and a lobby bar lounge, there will be banquet halls, conference rooms, fitness facilities and an indoor swimming pool, supporting a wide range of business and local customer needs.

Toshihiro Ogita, President, Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., commented, “We are very pleased to be opening our first hotel in Sichuan Province, China. The new hotel is aimed at strengthening the company’s network of properties in China. We hope to further raise awareness of our Okura Nikko Hotels brand in China.”

Overview of Hotel Nikko Chengdu Yixin Lake

Total floor space: around 35,000 square meters
Layout: 24 floors and 1 floor below ground (floors 5-13 will be offices)
Number of guest rooms: 303
Restaurants: Japanese, Chinese, All-day Dining, Lobby Bar Lounge
Banquet & conference facilities: 2 banquet halls, 6 conference rooms
Facilities: Executive lounge, children’s play room, fitness center, indoor pool
Access: About 10 km from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport

About Aerotropolis City Development Group Co., Ltd.

The company is a state-owned enterprise funded by the Chengdu Shuangliu District Government. It was established in 2008. It is mainly engaged in the planning, development, funding and management of transportation infrastructure.

About Hotel Okura Co., Ltd. and Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd.

Hotel Okura Co., Ltd., founded in 1958, opened its flagship Hotel Okura Tokyo in 1962 as a first-class hotel that quickly became renowned worldwide for its blending of traditional Japanese beauty with the very best in accommodation, cuisine and service. It closed its doors in August 2015, and after four years of rebuilding work reopened as The Okura Tokyo in September 2019.

Hotel Okura has extensive expertise in the hospitality world, including asset ownership and hotel development, as well as hotel management, the restaurant business and chain operations through its subsidiaries and other group companies. The brand unites member hotels under its “Best Accommodation, Cuisine and Service” philosophy to ensure that all guests enjoy Okura’s signature hospitality, which combines Japanese attention to detail and Western functionality. Please visit www.okura.com

Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hotel Okura, operates 78 properties (52 in Japan and 26 overseas) encompassing some 24,350 guest rooms (as of August 27, 2020) under three hotel groups: Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City. Please visit www.okura-nikko.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200827005289/en/

Contact

Media Contacts
Ms. Ikuko Arai or Mr. Ryutaro Suzuki
Public Relations
Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd.
Tel: +81 (0)3 6685 8995
E-mail: pr@okura-nikko.co.jp

Source : Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd.

—BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — In 40 years, China’s Zhuhai has become one of the cities with the widest development space, best development environment and policies in the Pearl River Delta.
 
According to the Information Office of Zhuhai Municipality in a statement, China first started implementing Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in 1980 in the southeastern coastal area, with Zhuhai being one of them.
 
As a pilot area in reform and opening-up, beyond tax incentives to foreign investors, SEZs enjoy simplified customs procedures and fewer regulatory constraints.

The efficient regulatory mechanisms and convenient customs clearance made Zhuhai a popular destination for multinational companies.
 
In the first quarter of this year, Zhuhai signed over 30 new key projects ranging from equipment manufacturing, new materials, information technology to pharmaceuticals, the value of which exceeded US$5.8 billion. (US$1 = RM4.168)

To retain capital in the long run, the city must continuously maintain its comparative edge by refining and expanding the benefits it offers investors. 
 
To this end, Zhuhai has identified its next strategic advantage – strengthening cooperation with Macau and Shenzhen to build a hub for the efficient allocation of resources such as human capital, technology and funding.
 
As a key area for cooperation between Macau and Zhuhai, the Hengqin Free Trade Zone of Zhuhai, has accumulated more than 440 achievements in system innovation in 10 years’ development. The Zone’s GDP now grows at an average annual rate of 64 per cent.

— BERNAMA

SETIA ALAM, Aug 25 (Bernama) — The 13^th National Conference for Clinical Research (NCCR), was officiated earlier today by the Minister of Health, YB Dato’ Sri Dr Adham Baba at National Institutes of Health (NIH), Setia Alam. The three-day conference themed “Conference Of Very Important Disease (COVID-19)”, showcased meaningful research advancements in the fight against the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Organised by the Institute for Clinical Research (ICR) and supported by Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM) and Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre (CREST), the NCCR conference brought together medical experts and researchers under one platform, in exploring disruptive technologies, interdisciplinary digital health research and coordinated efforts to advance research in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected Malaysia and the world. The conference was conducted on a virtual format this year, and was joined by 17 renowned speakers from Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea and United Kingdom.

Among the conference’s highlights was the CRC Named Lecture titled ‘Battling Against COVID-19’ which was delivered by Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director General of Health. The 13^th NCCR conference also received a total of 194 scientific abstracts from clinical, biomedical, public health, digital health, health systems research and behavioral research areas for both e-Poster as well as for the Dr Wu-Lien Teh Research Awards categories.

YB Dato’ Sri Dr Adham Baba also presented the Young Investigator Awards (YIA), a category under the Dr Wu-Lien Teh Research Awards, to recipients during the opening ceremony. Dr Git Kim Ann, a radiologist and imaging informatics professional from Hospital Selayang, was awarded the YIA winner for optimizing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model in the detection of COVID-19 on chest radiographs. The multi-center study involving five study sites and seven investigators, would further complement the ability to detect COVID-19. Dr Wong Xin Ci (ICR) and Dr Kuan Pei Xuan (ICR) were subsequently awarded the first and second runner-up for their work on COVID-19 research as well. Dr Wong’s study in determining the risk factors associated with the disease severity could further help in risk stratification for COVID-19 patients and Dr Kuan’s health systems research provides a modelling in testing the bed capacity preparedness of Malaysian hospitals to overcome surge capacity. MOH researchers Mr Mohamad Hasnan Ahmad (Institute for Public Health), Ms Wan Shakira Rodzlan Hasani (Institute for Public Health), Ms Jeyanthi Suppiah (Institute for Medical Research) and Ms Chiew Shoen Chuen (Hospital Seri Manjung) were all awarded the YIA Merit awards respectively.

The Ministry of Health’s (MOH) robust efforts in handling the pandemic were also shared by both the Deputy Director Generals of Health in Medical Development and in Public Health during the conference. The findings from multi-disciplinary research and sharing of experience from infectious disease experts during the conference highlights the importance of clinical research and the need for more of it in this field for better clinical decision-making in Malaysia’s public health response. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) of MOH, consisting of six research institutes in which ICR is one, have been integral for having conducted more than 40 research projects related to COVID-19 and in establishing a patient registry with clinical information of all the COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals. The Institute for Medical Research (IMR), which have developed and led the COVID-19 diagnostics testing in the country, are conducting progressive biomedical research into the virus ranging from genome sequencing and molecular epidemiology to vaccine research and studying anti COVID-19 properties in certain compounds. Among recent breakthroughs was the detection of the highly infectious D614G mutated strain after full genome sequencing of samples from the Sivagangga cluster. The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2020 (NHMS 2020) led by Institute for Public Health have also incorporated the COVID-19 seroprevalence survey in the community study, aimed to obtain the status of COVID-19 infection within the community in different age groups. This collaborative project with IMR is noted to be the first of such study in Southeast Asia. In addition, NIH have also organized a series of webinar which shares clinical updates in COVID-19 periodically to the medical and scientific community nationwide.

“Amidst these challenging times, it is encouraging to see the wider application of online platform, machine learning, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), genomics, robotics and 3D printing for effective healthcare service delivery. Whilst we are seeing tremendous opportunities in these areas, we still require on-going research to monitor outcomes especially centric to the patient.” said YB Dato’ Sri Dr Adham Baba during his opening address.

For more info, please visit http://www.nccrconference.com.my

SOURCE: Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Dr. Norizan Rosli
Tel: +6019-398 5712 / +603-3362 8803
Email: norizan@crc.gov.my

—BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — The opening ceremony of the 6th ‘Peace Cup’ International Youth Football Invitational Tournament recently took place in Shenyang, China.

According to a statement, the tournament was recognised as the only ‘National Sports industry Demonstration Project’ in northeast China, this year.

The ‘Peace Cup’ competition is still adhering to the theme of ‘One Belt and One Road connects the world with peace and friendship’.

Sponsored by Shenyang Municipal People’s Government, the tournament is undertaken by the people’s government of Heping district and Shenyang sports bureau.

Representatives from several professional football clubs from the U13 echelon domestic, four foreign student teams and youth teams nationwide attended the ceremony.

Participated by international students from over 20 countries including Russia, Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, it greatly improves the enjoyment of the competition.

To let more people watch the contest with better sense, the organising committee adopted the Liaoning mobile joint Huawei VR cloud under 5G 360-degree of VR live experience.

That was the first time ‘Peace Cup’ innovation connected large bandwidth, low latency, wide mobile 5G communication technology application, bringing more liberal view, and new 360-degree with bird’s eye view experience.

— BERNAMA