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You're listening to Special English Here is the news following the outsized success of Jiangsu's grassroots Suzhou Football League in May.
More regions are looking to replicate the eastern provinces Winning Formula Northern China's Hebei Province is the latest to do so.
Launching what is build. as China's first provincial home and away Five aside, football league for the general public.
The tournament, dubbed by organisers as the People's Football League kicked off on August 10th. in the provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, and runs through until April next year.
Over the coming months, around 14 teams from across the province, will take part in the tournament.
Each team can have up to 50 players. with the oldest applicant so far being 50 years old.
The Herbey League is designed to be more amateur-friendly. than the better known Jiangsu League. which allows up to three professional players per team.
In the knockout play-offs, however, each Herbe team may recruit up to two foreign players. to enhance competitiveness and entertainment value.
Tourism promotion is unabashedly the league's primary goal. of hosting all fixtures at one location. as is usually the case, with five aside competitions Herbey has adopted a home-and-away format. to extend the tournament and provide each city the opportunity to draw crowds.
Plans also include invitational matches between the eventual Hebei champions against top teams from the Jiangsu League. and a rural football league based in southwestern Guizhou Province Match time for the five-a-side games has been extended from the traditional two 20-minute halves to four fifteen-minute quarters, organisers hope.
This will make for faster play, while the additional breaks provide more time for fans to take in cultural performances, fairs highlighting local culture, and various commercial promotions.
Cities are also offering various tourism perks during the events.
Match tickets can often be used for half price or free entry to attractions. or to get discounts at designated Football Night Markets Other provinces, including central Hunan and Hubei, and Eastern Jiangxi. are also launching their own football events this summer. each with a local twist.
For example, The league in Hunan province has 14 city and prefecture teams, with a rule that at least three players aged 16 to 18, must be on the field. to promote local youth football development.
Jiangsu's league made a name for itself after attracting huge crowds. and significant local spending.
Over eight rounds, and 48 matches so far.
The events have drawn a total of more than 1.1 billion. million spectators, averaging 23,000. per game, according to domestic media.
In the first six rounds alone, offline tourism hospitality and sports-related consumption in the province reached 37.96 billion yuan. around 5.24 billion US dollars up.
42.7% year-on-year. The 28th Beijing Music Festival, scheduled to take place from October 10th to 24th. will feature artists from China, Switzerland, Japan, as well as Russia, Britain and other countries. according to a press briefing ahead of the music festival.
Its opening concert, which is set to be held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. will be a performance from the China Philharmonic Orchestra. under the baton of acclaimed composer Hugh Long.
This year's festival will introduce a new public benefit project. that offers both online and offline music services.
It will also include master classes, music workshops, and other activities to provide enriching musical experiences for locals, music enthusiasts. and young students.
The Giant Panda Twins. Born in Hong Kong. and dur-dur have recently celebrated their first birthday. with a party at their home at Ocean Park Hong Kong. in the presence of devoted fans across Hong Kong.
The female panda, Jar Jar, and the male, De De were born to Le Le and Ying Ying.
The second pair of pandas, gifted by the central government, to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. at the amusement park's giant panda pavilion, caretakers prepared an iced birthday cake with frozen bamboo and carrots bearing the pez. initials and the number 1.
The pair dashed towards the cake. The minute they entered the chamber, after a short sniff, Jar Jar started munching on the cake. while Dur-Dur played with caretakers.
Fans swarmed the pavilion donning birthday hats and carrying plush toys resembling the twins. a woman surnamed Zhao from south China's Guangzhou city. brought self-made fridge magnets inspired by the pair to swap giant panda merchandise with other fans.
Once pink cubs, that weighed a hundred and twenty-two and 112 grams at birth.
The two giant pandas are now 30 kilogramme young bears who have learned their names. and are shifting their diet to bamboo leaves.
The pair are seen as a magnet for tourists. bringing Mark Edley more visitors to Ocean Park, Hong Kong, and inspiring decorations on streets and ferries.
Across Hong Kong Ocean Park, Hong Kong aims to unveil two new habitats next to the current pavilion in 2027.
For Jar Jar and Der Der. to live independently as they grow older.
It is also making a coming-of-age documentary. for the pair scheduled for release in 2026.
China's Hainan Airlines has recently launched its in-cabin pet service. the Beijing-Bangkok flight. as an experimental move to allow passengers to bring their pet companions aboard international flights.
The airline accepts domesticated cats and dogs meeting specific requirements for in-cabin transport. and each passenger on international routes can take only one pet into the cabin. with a limited number of pets allowed on each flight.
The applying passenger must prepare and submit required documentation. including an animal health certificate, Proof of Pet Vaccination pet identification, entry documents and must sign. a transport agreement.
According to the airline The service is currently available only in Economy class. on its Beijing-Bangkok round trip route.
And the company will consider gradually expanding The service. to more international and regional routes in the future. based on passenger demand and operational conditions.
Hainan Airlines has been a pioneer in pet in-cabin services. since 2018.
By November 2024, the carrier had transported more than 10,000 pets in cabin. on trips involving 27 major cities in China. including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
According to an industry white paper, The value of China's urban pet, dog and cat sector reached 300.2 billion yuan.
US$42 billion in 2024. up 7.5% year on year.
With the pet population nationwide, exceeding 120 million.
Driven by the Growing Pet Owning Community China has continued to expand travel options for pets. an international air cargo route for fruit and vegetables. has been launched from Urumqi. the capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The inaugural cargo flight transported more than...
18 tons of produce from Xinjiang including melons, tomato products, grapes and dried apples.
Zhu Shixiang. of Xinjiang Fruit Industry Group said that previously Fruit and vegetables from Xinjiang were mainly transported to the Middle East, by sea, land and rail. leading to long transit times and difficulties. in maintaining freshness.
With the official launch of the route, Fruit and Vegetables from Xinjiang can now reach Dubai directly in about six hours.
Zhu added that Xinjiang's fruit and vegetables are highly sought after by overseas consumers. as long as quality is ensured, air transport still holds considerable profit potential.
A group of Chinese researchers have confirmed the development of a highly agile and robust soft micro robot. naming it the electronic cockroach.
According to a research article Published in the journal Nature Communications.
This tiny robot weighs just over one gram. and measures only two centimeters in length.
It can fit into and move around. in confined spaces.
The robot can achieve a forward speed of 4.8 seconds. body lengths per second and a turning speed of 280 degrees per second. resulting in outstanding manoeuvrability that had previously only been achieved in multiply actuated micro robots.
Notably, this micro-robot has great resilience similar to a cockroach, as it can bear an external force of 60 kilograms and remain.
Undamaged Wu Yi Chuan Corresponding author of the research article said that the robot is made of flexible materials. and its integrated components were selected for their durability and resistance to deformation.
Wu, also an associate professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China said that the structure of the robot serves as a flexible exoskeleton endowing it with strong robustness.
When subjected to external forces, it can quickly fold. to protect its vital components from damage. and return to its original state once the force is removed.
In addition, the electronic cockroach can also function as an amphibious robot.
Capable of moving both on land and in water.
When it is in water, its four legs transform into paddles.
The electronic cockroach demonstrates Great application potential in scenarios such as disaster search and rescue, Pipeline inspection and operations. in confined and narrow spaces.
The researchers expect that their development of this micro-robot can be useful in spurring more bio-inspired movement modes. such as jumping or short distance flying. which will serve to enhance its adaptability to complex environments. and expand its application scenarios.
That is the end of this edition of Special Please listen carefully.
The giant panda twins born in Hong Kong, Jar Jar and Der Der, have recently celebrated their first birthday with a party at their home at Ocean Park Hong Kong in the presence of devoted fans across Hong Kong.
The female panda, Jar Jar, and the male, Dur Dur, were born to Lele and Yingying, the second pair of pandas gifted by the central government to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
At the amusement park's giant panda pavilion.
Caretakers prepared an iced birthday cake with frozen bamboo and carrots bearing the pair's initials and the number 1.
The pair dashed towards the cake the minute they entered the chamber.
After a short sniff, Jar Jar started munching on the cake, while Dada played with caretakers.
Fans swarmed the pavilion donning birthday hats and carrying plush toys resembling the twins.
A woman surnamed Zhao from south China's Guangzhou city brought self-made fridge magnets inspired by the pair to swap Giant Panda merchandise with other fans.
Once pink cubs that weighed 122 and 112 grams at birth The two giant pandas are now 30 kilogramme young bears. who have learned their names and are shifting their diet to bamboo leaves.
The pair are seen as a magnet for tourists, bringing markedly more visitors to Ocean Park Hong Kong and inspiring decorations on streets and ferries across Hong Kong.
Ocean Park Hong Kong aims to unveil two new habitats next to the current pavilion in 2027 for Jar Jar and Der Der to live independently as they grow older.
It is also making a coming-of-age documentary for the pair, scheduled for release in 2026.
China's Hainan Airlines has recently launched its in-cabin pet service on the Beijing-Bangkok flight. as an experimental move to allow passengers to bring their pet companions aboard international flights.
The airline accepts domesticated cats and dogs meeting specific requirements for in-cabin transport. and each passenger on international routes can bring only one pet into the cabin. with a limited number of pets allowed on each flight.
The applying passenger must prepare and submit required documentation including an animal health certificate, proof of pet vaccination, pet identification, entry documents, and must sign a transport agreement.
According to the airline, the services currently available only in the economy class on its Beijing-Bangkok round-trip route. and the company will consider gradually expanding the service to more international and regional routes in the future. based on passenger demand and operational conditions.
Hainan Airlines has been a pioneer in petting cabin services Since 2018, by November 2024, The carrier had transported more than 10,000 pets in cabin on trips involving 27 major cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
According to an industry-wide paper, the value of China's urban dog and cat sector reached 300.2 billion yuan, US$42 billion in 2024. up 7.5% year on year, with the pet population nationwide exceeding 120 million. driven by the growing pet-owning community China has continued to expand travel options for pets.
That is the end of today's program. I hope you'll join us every day to learn English at a slower pace.
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