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Here is the news.
Beijing's Great Wall section of Jiangzhunguan, a historically strategic pass, will open to the public.
According to the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau, the section in Pinggu District is scheduled to open as early as the end of 2026, following restoration work, emergency reinforcement and environmental improvement.
The Great Wall in Beijing, primarily built during the Ming Dynasty more than 380 years ago, stretches over 500 kilometers across several districts.
Pinggu District boasts rich resources with more than 200 sites spanning over 50 kilometres.
The Pass of Jiangjun Guan is the first major gateway at the eastern end of the Ming Great Wall within Beijing.
A critical thoroughfare.
Historically, it was a strategically vital location Contested by military forces.
Shi Qiang, deputy head of the district's Cultural Relics Management Bureau, said that recent preparations to open the previously closed section have included clearing weeds and laying gravel paths, while preserving the structure's original features.
Bi Jianyu, an official at the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau, said that promoting the opening of Great Wall sections and designating them as visiting areas is an important way to inherit cultural heritage.
Be added that, in recent years, several opened sections of the Great Wall in Beijing have integrated culture and tourism by tapping into their historical and cultural significance through activities such as night tours and study visits, transforming the resources into an advantage for development.
According to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, A large unmanned aerial vehicle named Joutien has completed its maiden flight.
The domestically developed general-purpose drone, measuring 16 metres in length and 25 metres in wingspan, took to the skies in Puchang in northwest China's Shanxi province.
According to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, its designer, this aircraft boasts a maximum take-off weight of 16 tons and a payload capacity of 6000 kilograms.
It can operate for up to 12 hours with a ferry range of 7,000 kilometres.
Featuring a large payload, high operational ceiling, wide speed range and short take-off and landing capabilities, the drone is designed for diverse civil missions.
Its modular payload system enables rolls ranging from precise deliveries of heavy cargo to remote regions, to emergency communication and disaster relief, to geographic surveying and resource mapping.
This is Special English.
China, a civilisation with more than 5000 years of history, is accelerating efforts to protect and carry forward its cultural heritage through stronger institutions, new technologies, expanding public cultural services and deeper international cooperation.
From 2021 to 2025, four cultural sites, namely the Beijing Central Axis, an ensemble of ancient landmark structures, the cultural landscape of old tea forests of Jingmai Mountain in Puer, the Xisha Imperial Tombs dating from the 11th to 13th centuries and the ancient maritime trade centre of Quanzhou, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Boasting a total of 60 sites, the country now ranks second globally, just behind Italy with 61 sites.
According to Xie Bing, Deputy Head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, steady progress is being made to nominate additional sites, including Jing Dejian's handmade porcelain industry, heritage sites in Jiangxi, the Sanxingdui and Jinsha ruins in Sichuan, the ancient waterfront towns south of the Yangtze River and the Maritime Silk Road.
Behind the expansion of China's World Heritage Roster is a growing national commitment to cultural heritage preservation.
China has proposed advancing cultural heritage protection more systematically and placing it under unified supervision and inspection during the 2026 to 2030 development period.
This move builds on changes over the past five years, as the country moves away from a model focused mainly on emergency restoration toward one that integrates both rescue and preventative conservation, while placing greater emphasis on the meaningful use of cultural relics.
The legal framework has been strengthened.
Sun Deli, Deputy Head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, noted that China has now established a comprehensive legal system centred on the law on the protection of cultural relics, supported by six administrative regulations, ten ministerial rules and more than 400 local regulations.
Technological innovation has become another pillar of heritage protection.
Satellite remote sensing, drone-based aerial surveys and AI-powered data analysis now enable continuous monitoring of the conditions of heritage sites, allowing risks to be detected and addressed at an early stage.
Digital technology is also transforming public access to cultural heritage.
At the Longman Grottoes in Henan, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
More than two decades of 3D scanning and photogrammetry have created detailed digital archives of its Buddhist sculptures.
In Gansu Province, the Dunhuang Academy has released high-definition images of 30 Mogao grottos, a World Heritage Site since 1987, allowing global audiences to explore the ancient caves virtually.
Meanwhile, expanding public cultural services have made heritage more accessible.
Across China, more than 7000 museums, over 91 offering free admission, now receive nearly 15 billion visits annually.
The country has also developed 65 national archaeological site parks and more than 200 themed cultural relic tourism routes linking urban and rural areas through shared historical and cultural resources.
Colourful.
Guizhou Airlines has launched a direct route linking Guiyang, the capital of southwest China's Guizhou province, with Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, further expanding China's air links with fast-growing ASEAN markets amid rising regional travel and trade.
The new route operates alongside the carrier's existing Guiyang-Hanoi service, thereby ensuring direct connections between this mountainous province and Vietnam's two major cities.
Officials said the expanded network is expected to support trade, tourism and business travel between southwest China and ASEAN.
China-ASEAN air connectivity network has been accelerating in recent months.
A passenger route linking Haikou in South China with Nha Trang in Vietnam opened in November, while an all-cargo service connecting East China's Nanjing and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia also began operations last month.
Economic and trade relations between China and ASEAN have remained robust.
Since 2022, annual bilateral trade in goods has consistently exceeded US900 billion and hit a record US9821 billion in 2024.
This growth trend has continued in 2025, with trade value rising 82 year-on-year in the first 10 months.
China's northernmost satellite data receiving station has officially commenced operations.
That is, according to the station's developer, the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Located in Mohe, China's northernmost city in Heilongjiang province.
The station is designed to autonomously receive satellite data.
It is now tasked with receiving data from 25 National Land Observation Satellites.
The Mohe Station is boasts a maximum channel downlink data rate of 2 GB per second and can transmit the received data in real time.
Leveraging its high latitude geographical advantage, the station can extend the daily receiving time window for polar orbiting satellites by over 20.
Construction of the Moher Station began in July 2022.
It entered its trial operation phase in October 2023.
By the end of November this year, the station had successfully received more than 1600 terabytes of total satellite data.
The institute said the addition of the Moher station further optimises the spatial distribution of China's satellite ground receiving network.
An international cooperation mechanism linking universities in major canal regions around the world has launched in Yangzhou, in East China's Jiangsu Province, the southern starting point of China's Grand Canal.
Unveiled at a symposium in Yangzhou, The Canal City University Cooperation Mechanism seeks to harness academic expertise to promote cross-cultural exchange and tackle shared challenges.
A total of 23 universities in 10 countries along major waterways, including China's Grand Canal, Egypt's Suez Canal and canals in Portugal's Aveiro and Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, have joined the cooperation mechanism.
Ding Jianning Party Secretary of Yangzhou University, which is one of the initiative's founding institutions, said that the mechanism is will prioritise youth engagement through cross-border seminars, academic exchange and collaborative research to infuse new vitality into ancient canal regions.
University representatives at the symposium said they are committed to building the mechanism into a dynamic and forward-looking platform, contributing academic strength to the prosperity of canal cities and the improvement of global governance.
According to the symposium, more than 520 canals in over 50 countries connect some 3000 cities worldwide, serving as corridors of trade, culture and international cooperation.
Also released at the event was a five-year action plan outlining priorities in the fields of joint talent development, faculty training and collaborative research and innovation.
You're listening to Special English.
That is the end of this edition of Special English.
To recap, I'm going to read two of the news items again at normal speed.
Please listen carefully.
Beijing's Great Wall section of Jiangjun Guan, a historically strategic pass, will open to the public.
According to the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau, the section in Pinggu District is scheduled to open as early as the end of 2026, following restoration work, emergency reinforcement and environmental improvement.
The Great Wall in Beijing, primarily built during the Ming Dynasty more than 380 years ago, stretches over 500 kilometres across several districts.
Pinggu District boasts rich resources, with more than 200 sites spanning over 50 kilometres.
The pass of Jiangzhunguan is the first major gateway at the eastern end of the Ming Great Wall within Beijing.
A critical thoroughfare.
Historically, it was a strategically vital location contested by military forces.
Shi Qiang, deputy head of the district's Cultural Relics Management Bureau, said that recent preparations to open the previously closed section have included clearing weeds and laying gravel paths, while preserving the structure's original features.
Bi Jianyu, an official at the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau, said that promoting the opening of Great Wall sections and designated them as visiting areas is an important way to inherit cultural heritage.
Be added that, in recent years, several open sections of the Great Wall in Beijing have integrated culture and tourism by tapping into their historical and cultural significance through activities such as night tours and study visits, transforming the resources into an advantage for development.
You're listening.
According to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a large unmanned aerial vehicle named Joutian has completed its maiden flight.
The domestically developed general-purpose drone, measuring 16 metres in length and 25 metres in wingspan, took to the skies in Puchang in northwest China's Shanxi province.
According to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, its designer, this aircraft boasts a maximum take-off weight of 16 tonnes and a payload capacity of 6000 kilograms.
It can operate for up to 12 hours with a ferry range of 7,000 kilometres.
Featuring a large payload, high operational ceiling, wide speed range and short take-off and landing capabilities, The drone is designed for diverse civil missions.
Its modular payload system enables roles ranging from precise deliveries of heavy cargo to remote regions to emergency communication and disaster relief, to geographic surveying and resource mapping.
That is the end of today's programme.
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Today, about 100 million people live within its water basin, making up nearly 9 of the country's population.
How is climate change felt at its headwaters?
And what are the locals doing to cope with it?
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From 2021 to 2024.
Our reporters visited the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, talk to the herders farmers boatmen, fishermen and eco-activists who share a close bond with the river, and present their stories in pictures, podcasts and videos.
All in our 12-part series, The Yellow River Mosaic, available only on CGTN Radio.
From the refreshing cup of tea that starts your morning to the paper that you write on.
The roots of many familiar parts of modern life can be traced back to ancient ideas.
Across mountains, deserts and oceans.
These creations shaped the world then and continue to influence all of us today.
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