Four well-known lions killed in Rietvlei Nature Reserve

01:10, October 27, 2019

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  Roaring with lion dancers

  Children of Chens lion dancing team practice. (Photo: VCG)"I listened to the sound of drum for the lion dance when I was in my mothers womb," Chen said, recalling how martial arts together with lion dancing were the most impressionable moments from her childhood.She began practicing martial arts as a child and learned the lion dance with her grandfather when he started a dance team of teenagers.Chen remembered that they need to practice basic skills on the weekend, starting with perfecting the horse stance. Chen became the drummer for the team through her rhythmic talents.When the team began joining performances and competitions, Chen caught the public attention, especially for being one of the few female lion dancing drummers. However, she later quit the team to focus on school.After marrying her husband in Liede village, Chen, a mother of two, was encouraged by her family to teach children martial arts. The youngest child attending Chens class is in kindergarten and the oldest is in high school. They take classes on weekends.Chen wanted to form a lion dancing team but the idea was opposed by some parents out of concerns of their childrens safety.When Chen successfully helped a group of kindergarten students stage a lion dancing performance, parents were relieved and began supporting her.Chen hopes the tradition of lion dancing will be passed on to the next generation. "People who insist doing the lion dancing in China are in their 30s," she said."The members on my team are still too young. Teenagers around 12 and 13 who attend the activity are seldom." "Some young people would like to join the lion dancing but they still think the activity belongs to mid-aged people. There is a gap between the two generations," Chen said."What I insist doing now is like carrying on a mission. Its like my familys insistence in martial arts and our i...

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  Leaderless on the surface, a well-trained 'army' behind the scenes

  In their reports of what is happening in Hong Kong, mainstream media in the West jointly aver that this is a “decentralized and leaderless social resistance” and “most of the demonstrations are spontaneous actions not organized by leaders representing the people.” Those demonstrations are also called “wildcat resistance.” This is what they want people to believe: the “protesters” on LIHKG, an online forum, and the encrypted messaging app Telegram spontaneously organized and discussed activities, spontaneously learned how to make roadblocks, shields, and Molotov cocktails, spontaneously produced in large numbers artwork only professionals could design, spontaneously created sign language and tactical moves and spontaneously found the best way to deal with tear gas. In short, everything the rioters have come up with are results of self-study.Western media, do you believe that yourself?The truth is that what is happening in Hong Kong are not demonstrations, but violent activities that are well-organized, professionally carried out and well-supplied.Powerful mobilization on new Internet platformsResearch on “color revolutions” shows that the West has a set of mature guidelines to instigate them and is well-versed in conducting psychological warfare on the Internet. The real issues Hong Kong people are worried about also made it easier for the West to sow discord and stir up conflict there. With mental sway over a susceptible public in place, all that is left for the West to do is organize those people in some form and use them to influence more people.This is where various Internet communication tools come in.It goes without saying that traditional platforms like Facebook and Twitter are brought into play. Nascent and highly secretive platforms, such as Telegram, LIHKG and Reddit, are also major factors pushing the riots forward. Telegram has a wide reputation, counting even ISIS among its loyal users. LIHKG is also intriguing -- its privac...

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  Nature observation festival held in Beijing

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