Ten stories from China: Mars, beautiful music and an emotional reunion

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China's Mars Rover Zhurong sends new pictures

The China National Space Administration released new photos of the Martian surface captured by the country's first Mars rover Zhurong.

Zhurong has been working on the red planet for 54 Martian days and has traveled more than 300 meters.

The rover has been traveling south, its navigation camera capturing images of the surface along the way.

Sand dunes on Mars, taken by Zhurong's navigation camera. /CNSA

Man reunited with abducted son after 24 years

Guo Gangtang's son was kidnapped by a woman right in front of their home, so he got on his old motorcycle, and hit the road to find his son.

A film about his search touched the hearts of millions and a quarter of a century after his son disappeared, Guo finally found him.

Guo Gangtang flew this flag from the back of his motorbike throughout his years of searching./ Signed Contributor/People's Vision/CFP

China urges Taliban to break with terrorists

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged the Taliban to make a clean break with all terrorist forces and return to the mainstream of Afghan politics.

Wang made the remarks during a joint press conference with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin following their talks in Dushanbe.

As a major military force in Afghanistan, the Taliban should realize the responsibilities it bears for the nation, Wang said.

South China tiger cub learns survival skills

A healthy two-month-old South China Tiger cub has been learning wilderness survival skills at a breeding base in Shaoguan City, in south China's Guangdong province.

The survival skills are essential for an animal to make it in the wild, according to Li Shizhou, at the Yuebei South China Tiger Nature Reserve.

"The keepers take it outside everyday to let it learn wilderness skills," he said. "They also interact and play with the cub to help it adapt to the new environment. The young tiger also needs daily exercises for healthy growth. The cub is now at a child's age, so it likes to interact and play with the keepers."

The tiger cub now weighs six to seven kilos. /CGTN

Scientists make new optical fibers with bendy ice

Scientists from China and the U.S. have created "bendy" and "super clear" ice fibers, offering an optional material for making optical fibers.

Although ice is usually a rigid and brittle crystal, the researchers developed "very thin" ice microfibers that can bend up to about 11 percent and remain elastic, according to an article published in the latest issue of journal

Science

.

Ice fibers. /CFP

8,200-year-old lacquerware found in east China

Archaeologists in Zhejiang Province have identified the oldest items of lacquerware ever found in China, dating back 8,200 years.

The items were unearthed in the Jingtoushan ruins in the city of Yuyao administered by Ningbo City. Jingtoushan ruins were identified as the earliest and most deeply buried shell mound site in the coastal areas of China with a history of between 7,800 and 8,300 years. The site was listed among the top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2020 in China.

The lacquerware items, the oldest ever found, were unearthed in Jingtoushan ruins in the city of Yuyao, in east China's Zhejiang Province. /China News Service

How do life support systems in space work?

China's taikonauts (astronauts) depend on cutting-edge technology to regenerate vital resources such as air, water and other life support systems in space.

They have to ensure an adequate supply inside the space station, but constantly restocking them would be very challenging.

So how do the systems which keep them alive actually work? CGTN talked to the engineers responsible for keeping it all working.

The taikonauts in theTianhe core module of China's space station. /CGTN

China's first self-developed icebreaker sails for the Arctic

The Xuelong 2 departed from Shanghai and is expected to take a voyage of about 15,000 nautical miles before returning to the home port in the city in late September.

The expedition plans to monitor sea, marine ice, atmosphere, microplastics and ocean acidification in the Arctic seas through navigation observation, surveys and satellite remote sensing to obtain hydrological, meteorological and biological data.

The Xuelong 2 is heading for its first voyage to the Arctic /CFP

You play a what? It's a jinghu...

Meet Meng Lingshen, a young Jinghu performer with China National Peking Opera Company, who introduces what she described to her foreign friends as a "two-stringed violin."

Peking opera is a Chinese art form incorporating singing, acting and martial arts. In addition to the singing, choreography and painted faces, music plays a key role in Peking Opera.

Jinghu is the principal instrument in the orchestra, setting the pace of the show, creating the desired atmosphere and guiding the progress of the stories.

Meng Lingshen plays an instrument which was traditionally the preserve of men. CGTN

Tech companies look at how to make data centers eco-friendly

Chinese tech companies are developing eco-friendly data centers as the country looks to accelerate its carbon reduction.

The country has seen an active response to developing green data centers, according to Guo Liang, deputy chief engineer of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology(CAICT) at a conference in Beijing.

Last year, China pledged to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, an ambitious commitment to environmental protection, as industries in China are still heavily fueled by fossil fuels, oil and coal.

A data center under construction in Gui'an, Guizhou Province, in May 2021. /CFP