Activists return safety from islands
 

A Japanese helicopter hovers above as a boat carrying Chinese activists from the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong heads for the Diaoyu Islands to proclaim China's sovereignty over the disputed territory October 9, 2003. The vessel was blocked by Japanese ships and copters, and a severe collision damaged the vessel. The activists returned safety Saturday.

Five Star Flag

You are probably not aware that the term "red flag" has another meaning in English, beyond a flag which is the color red.

It's a way of warning someone that something bad is about to or likely to happen, or is a sign of danger.

That was the first thing I thought when I saw the pic. Asian people holding any flag other than the US flag makes me nervous.

That doesnt mean I dont like billy or appreciate his contributions.

I recall hearing some place that the American "national color" was going to be red, but they went with blue because of the whole "evil communists use red for their color thing".

It's simply amazing how petty people are. Like renaming "French Fries".

Quzah.

It tells drivers on a race track to stop where they are. :)

Can you give me any more info on the color ref? I'm curious. Sounds like a good read while eating a big pile of victory fries.

Red and yellow are favoite color in China
 

We think the two colors instead the luck and passion. Some Chinese dislike the red sun flag of Japan becaue of the bad history between China and Japan. I think maybe you have the feeling as ours. In some bad time, a few Chinese hate the Star-Band flag of the USA.

But I think we should give other people freedorm and right to select what they like. Thanks.

Thailand gears up for APEC summit
 

Thai soldiers fend off "protesters" during a mock demonstration in Bangkok, October 13, 2003 ahead of the October 20-21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. There have been persistent suggestions that Thai security is not up to the job of keeping the leaders safe.

Rare autumnal snowfall at Badaling
 

Visitors enjoy seeing snow along the Badaling section of the Great Wall in Beijing October 12, 2003. The rare autumnal snowfall was caused by a strong Siberian cold mass that swept across the country, forecasters said.

GW

Re: Red and yellow are favoite color in China
 

Maybe just a few Chinese, but many millions around the world. I heard someone say that our flag is a symbol of war. I dont think so. Our flag means freedom to me.

Anyway, you do pretty good with English. And I do like the pics!

National color? I didn't know we had a national color...except for race cars which is white with a blue stripe.:confused:

I also was unaware that we had a "national color" other than red, white AND blue ... all three, in combination. (Didn't know about the race-car thing ... is that in European Grand Prix or something? Of course I'm aware of "British Racing Green" didn't know there were standard colors for countries other than that.

Thinking ... no, the purple ribbon is for neopagan awareness, silver for "brain disorders" (it's NAMI's ribbon color for crazy), Pink for breast cancer, blue and silver for columbine, red for AIDS/HIV, Blue for internet censorship, yellow for bringing our troops home ... nope, can't specifically recall a national color. (this whole honor ribbon thing is getting even more complex than the hanky code.)

Maybe Q's just trying to be amusing again? He's not used to it, after all, and they can't all be winners.

Race car colors

Britain - Green and hence "British Racing Green"
France - Blue
Germany - Silver
Spain - Yellow
Italy - Guess. Go on, guess.

Italy? Hmm...let's see...weren't all those Enzo machines..puce?:D

Tee hee. Lousy commies.

Here's a list of National Race Car Colors

No, I'm usually amusing, but I was serious this time. I just can't find reference to it. Pry just some BS I heard once. Can't find anything on it. Ah well...

Quzah.

Jiu Quan Launch Center
 

National flags are raised at the Dongfeng Town in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China's Gansu Province, where China's first-ever manned spaceflight, the Shenzhou 5 (Divine Ship V) will be launched possibly tomorrow morning at the earliest. Today the astronaut will be selected from a pool of three to orbit the earth 14 times. China's CCTV has announced its original plan of live broadcast has been dropped.

I am sorry for posting the China National Flag again. But I think it is fun newsfor you.

Memorial service in Bali
 

Surfers paddle away from Kuta beach during sunset after a memorial service for the Bali bombing victims on the beach on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, on Sunday, October 12, 2003.

Foreign tourists attend a memorial service in Bali, Oct. 12, 2003. The service was conducted Sunday to commemorate the first anniversary of the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Australians mourn at the makeshift memorial of the former Sari club, one of the sites of the bomb attacks in Kuta on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Oct. 11, 2003. More than 500 survivors and families of the dead attended the commemorative services on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the bomb blasts, which killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. Australia lost 88 citizens in the attack.

A woman lifts up her child as the sun sets on Kuta beach in the Indonesian resort island of Bali October 11, 2003.

Re: Jiu Quan Launch Center
 

Billy, you don't have to apologize for posting pictures of your national flag. You are right, this IS fun news for us, and these are great pictures that you have been finding. There's a lot about Americans that don't make sense. Don't stop showing us your country!

Hmmm... I wonder they decided that?

I read the astronaut (Chinaut?) will carry a gun and knife in the capsule in case he lands in hostile territory. That's sad.:(

Hostile territory? On the Moon? I didnt know there were hostiles on the Moon.

If they're talking about re-entry, China would probably have some support craft waiting at almost any concievable touchdown location. Something with firepower I would imagine.

No, wait. That would be the US. Never mind

False alarm.

Hey, sometimes I just pull things outta my ass too. No biggie.

Never asyou say
 

No need sad. Never that thing would happen in China astonuats. You mabe be read fake news.

Shenzhou V blasts off into space
 

China's first manned spaceship - Shenzhou V (Divine Vessel V) blasts off into space at the Jiu Quan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province at 9:00am Wednesday morning October 15, 2003. The control center described the launch as a success.

More

control center

in training

Yang, his wife and his son

Indian Hindu women smudge Vermillion on each other's faces on the concluding day of Durga Puja in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh October 5, 2003.

Tens of thousands of tourists visiting Tiananmen square near a giant portrait of Sun Yat-Sen, widely regarded as founding father of modern China, in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Oct 1, 2003. China celebrates its 54th National Day with a week long holiday during which millions of Chinese go on vacation within China. Hundreds of thousands are expected to visit the Chinese capital alone.

Urban residents whoop for their tortoises at a tortoises competition held in Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province, Oct. 3. More than 200 families participated in the competition with their tortoises.

A man shows the water diverted from Cetian Reservoir in north China's Shanxi Province into Guanting Reservoir in the suburb of Beijing Oct.2. The Ministry of Water Resources as saying it plans to divert 50 million cubic metres of water from Shanxi to Beijing, where the existing freshwater reserve can only offer a 10-month supply.

People visit the Three Gorges Dam along the Yangtze River Oct. 3. The dam which has become a popular tourism destination received more than 9,000 tourists Friday, hitting a record high since it started construction. The Three Gorges Dam along the Yangtze River was in operation Oct. 3. By Thursday midnight, four power generators of China's Three Gorges Project, the world's largest hydropower project, had generated a total of 2.8 billion kilowatts of electricity since the first generator began its operation.

An Artist "Logunov" from a Russian trigon group plays a trigon during an international art concert in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003. The Russian artists will perform in China's six cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

A Chinese man stands near a poster of China's space rockets and Chinese characters that reads, "Quietly anticipate the coming surprising moment" and "China's Shen Zhou will lift to the sky soon," at a model exposition in Beijing, China, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2003. China's first manned spacecraft named Shen Zhou V could be launched as early as Oct from China's remote northwest and will probably contain one crew member.

A Chinese woman stands near a public information poster about AIDS in Beijing, China, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2003. A Chinese website reported figures released by China's health ministry stating that 840,000 people were infected with AIDS and in the first half of this year alone, there was an increase of 20.3 percent in the number of infections.

China won't register in same-sex marriages
 

China is not prepared to register any marriage between people of the same sex, but will allow AIDS patients to marry if certain requirements for their marriage are met, a senior Chinese civil affairs official has said.

¡¡¡¡An adult male and female in love need only to provide their ID cards and residence booklets, and sign a statement that they are single and not related before registration, said Zhang Mingliang, director of the Department of Grassroots Government Units and Community Development under the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA)Tuesday afternoon.

¡¡¡¡"Even a couple with infectious diseases or AIDS may marry if they so wish," Zhang said, adding that marriage is still prohibited for insane persons.

¡¡¡¡"Of course those people with epidemic diseases should receive medical treatment in accordance with relevant laws and regulations," Zhang said, "but the new regulations on marriage registration have no special restriction on marriage involving such people."

¡¡¡¡It is estimated that the number of AIDS patients in this, the world's most populous country had topped one million by the end of 2002.

¡¡¡¡China unveiled its new, and more relaxed regulations on marriage registration recenty. More about China Marry Law

The pic one famous China GAY movie, but it can not cast in China mainland.

Chinese teenager with punk hairstyle attending an alternative rock music festival in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Oct 1, 2003. Punk is a movement of disaffected youth of the late 1970s, manifesting itself in western fashions and music designed to shock or intimidate. As China opens itself to the world, cultural influences are finding expression in the youth of the communist country.

Female undergraduates from the Sungkyunwan University of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in ancient attires pose for a group photo in front of the Temple of Confucius while attending the commemoration of the 2,554th anniversary of the birth of Confucius, in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2003. Some 30 female undergraduates and more than 10 professors of the Sungkyunwan University came to Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, to worship the ancient sage, visiting the relevant cultural relics and bringing in their own-choreographed dances to express their admirations.

Fireworks from Hong Kong team explode over Hong Kong harbor Sunday, Oct. 5, 2003, in the first round of the International Musical Firworks Competition that features teams from Hong Kong and Italy. The final round of the event, staged to attract tourists to Hong Kong, will take place on Oct 12 and will involve teams from the United States and Japan.

A giant condom advertisement balloon is displayed during a joint wedding event, Rose Wedding, on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2003 in Shanghai, China. More than 50 newly wedded pairs participate this wedding event, part of Shanghai tourism festival.

Wow, I'd rather see that than Burning Man.:)

Yang Liwei, China's first space man, displays China's national flag and the United Nation's flag in Shenzhou V, China's first manned spaceship, in the outer space October 15, 2003. The spaceship blasted off into space at 9:00am at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, making China the third country in the world to send a person into orbit after former Soviet Union and the US.

Manned spaceflight ends in success

rescue vehicles

main landing site in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

A black BMW 325i, the first produced in China by a joint venture between German BMW Auto and China's Huacheng Automotive Company Ltd, was introduced to Chinese consumers on October 16, 2003, in Shanghai. BMW 325i will be sold at 473,850 yuan (US$58,000). The German auto giant said it is going to produce BMW 3 and 5 series in China.

Is that you getting your new car, Billy?:D

Mainland/Macao CEPA signed
 

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce An Min (L) shakes hands with Macao's Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen (R) after the subscription of the Mainland/Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Friday, Oct 17, 2003 in the Government House of Macao. The Mainland/Macao CEPA is expected to promote the bilateral trade in logistics, serve, and facilitate trade and investment.

Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong (L)toast mainland entrepreneurs during the subscription ceremony of the Mainland/Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Friday, Oct 17, 2003.

Chief Executive of Macao SAR Edmund Ho Hau Wah (L) says cheers to Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong during the subscription ceremony of the Mainland/Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Friday, Oct 17, 2003.

I don't like cars because I had one traffic accident in my middle school.

Were you in the car or did it hit you?:confused:

The 325i starts at $27,800 in the US...and that's a price that is hard for many Americans to afford. $58,000 in China? Jeez...

The car kissed me.

In fact, the Car Price is higher in China than other countries because of the triffe.