News

Premier’s Visit to Western Hemisphere

September 20， New York： Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a summit for refugees and migrants at the United Nations headquarters. On September 18， Premier Li embarked on a historic trip to New York， Canada， and Cuba. The 11-day trip included Li’s debut at the UN General Assembly， a meeting with his Canadian counterpart and the first visit by a Chinese premier to Cuba in more than half a century.

During the trip， the premier shared Beijing’s viewpoints regarding the international order， development and global governance， and emphasized that China still has a long way to go to reach modernization. He stressed the need to pursue development through deepening reform， further opening up and safeguarding peace.

China’s Second Space Lab

September 15， Jiuquan City， Gansu Province： A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Tiangong II space lab blasts off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. According to space officials， the lab will become the country’s largest scientific platform in space. The lab， managed by the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center， will undergo preparations in space for about a month before the Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft， scheduled for launch in mid-October， takes two astronauts to the lab. The astronauts will stay for 30 days.

Contrasting its predecessor， Tiangong I， which was mainly used to test technologies involved in space rendezvous and docking， Tiangong II will conduct more than 40 scientific and technological experiments along with the Shenzhou XI.

Chinese Athletes Reign in Rio

September 17， Rio de Janeiro， Brazil： The Chinese team celebrates after winning gold in the men’s 4 x 400m relay T53/54. When the Rio Paralympics concluded on September 19， China became the third country to win more than 100 gold medals at a single Paralympic Games， with 107 gold， 81 silver and 51 bronze medals.

Before this， the United States and Britain were the only two nations to reach the 100-gold-medal mark at a single Paralympics. Both did so at the 1984 Games in New York， when the U.S. claimed 136 victories and Britain 107. China first competed at the Paralympic Games in 1984. Since the 2004 Athens Games， China has topped the medal table at every Summer Paralympics.

Mid-Autumn Festivities

September 17， Wuhan City， Hubei Province： A full moon rises over Yellow Crane Tower. This year’s fullest moon fell on September 17， the last day of the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. A festival characterized by family reunions to celebrate the harvest， the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important holidays in China and even the global Chinese-speaking community. Held on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar， when the moon is full， the festival falls on September 15 this year. In China， the festival was listed as an intangible cultural heritage in 2006 and a public holiday in 2008.

An important facet of the festival is moon worship， which the holiday once involved making offerings to the lunar deity Chang’e， the goddess of the moon. Nowadays， many Chinese people still consider the festival a time to reunite with family and friends while enjoying fruits of the harvest meant to honor the moon.