Brief

In co-operation with the Asian System Media Overseas Corporation, Beijing This Month and Business Beijing are now available on the Internet.

Readers can find Beijing This Month at: http://www.cbw.com/btm
or http://www.chinesebusinessworld.com/btm. Business Beijing is at: http://www.cbw.com/busbj and http://www.chinesebusinessworld.com/busbj.

The "Concise Chinese Encyclopaedia" was published recently by the Beijing-based Huaxia Publishing House and is being distributed by the Xinhua Bookstore's capital branch.

The eight-volume work, compiled by more than 4,000 specialists and scholars, has 35,000 entries from 60 branches of learning. Compilation of the encyclopaedia took five years.

The Institute of Women's Studies of the All-China Women's Federation opened a web site (http://www.cwomen.ac.cn) featuring information for and about Chinese women. The web site offers information on laws and regulations relating to women, key documents concerning women's movements both at home and abroad, women's organizations and experts on women's issues, and an electronic magazine on women. Statistics on women will also be included when the construction of the web site is completed at the end of this year.

Tiananmen rostrum is to be repared as part of the preparations for the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Moisture, the decay of some wooden structures, old wiring and ageing power equipment all call for maintenance. However, no major repairs are needed since the ancient building is still in good condition and routine maintenance has been carried out once a year, said Lin Bingkui of the Beijing government's Tiananmen Area Administration.

A survey by Mastercard's Shanghai office suggests that Chinese consumers are bucking the pessimistic trend among Asian countries in the wake of the widespread financial crisis.

In a pessimism-optimism index from 0 to 100, Chinese consumers rated their attitude to prospects of frequent income at 75, scored 75 for confidence in "quality of life," 66 for their attitude towards the state of the economy in general, but only 54 for their faith in the stock market.

The stability of the exchange rate for the renminbi enhances the confidence of Chinese consumers, according to the general president of the Shanghai office.

The International Voluntary Medical Organization will bring voluntary doctors and nurses to Beijing this August to perform free orthopaedic operations for 200 children who suffer from congenital hare-lip and cleft palate. The purpose of this action is to bring the smile back to the faces of sick children of poor families

"Smiling Action" is the name of an international organization founded in 1982 to provide free orthopaedic operations for poor children who suffer from malformation of the head, especially hare-lip and cleft palate. Since 1991, it has undertaken 10 "smiling actions" in China, giving effective treatment to 1958 children.

Preparations for "'98 Smiling Action" in Beijing have already begun, gaining wide support. The 200 selected patients will enjoy free board and lodging in hospital as well as free treatment.

Lufthansa opened a daily route between Beijing and Frankfurt in April, becoming the first European airline to operate a daily air service between China and Europe.

Lufthansa is one of the three biggest airlines in the world. According to the Lufthansa representative in China, the company's long-term goal is to establish direct services to all major cities in China.

The Beijing municipal government has started rebuilding the mainly Muslim Nujie area.

The project will turn Nujie Street into a Muslim commercial district. The area will be home to multi-storey buildings, schools, kindergartens and public facilities.

Nujie is presently a narrow street where most people live in old houses with a per capita floor space of only 5.1 square metres.

Canadian Airlines is to provide a non-stop daily service from Beijing to North America and a concierge program.

The daily service will begin on May 9, 1998. The concierge program, a new service for Beijing's Capital Airport, will provide a hassle-free travel experience for frequent flyers. This service involves everything from escorting a dignitary through Customs and Immigration, meeting and greeting a CEO from a major company, booking hotels or rental cars for VIP clients, arranging for special inflight meals, sending flowers, or even delivering prescription drugs to a loyal customer who forgets his medication.

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