bei jing

The leader of a three-member gang was executed for robbery in Beijing Friday.

The death sentence for Li Jiangtao, 27, a native of Siping County, central China’s Henan Province, was approved by the Supreme People’s Court, said Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court Friday.

Li, a migrant worker in Beijing, befriended two other men, Zhang Lei and Hu Zhiqiang several years back. They often discussed getting money and decided on robbery, the court said.

Zhang, whose father runs a gallery in downtown Beijing, mentioned Cai Yun, a painter of traditional Chinese realistic art, as being a possible victim. The three planned to burglarize Cai’s residence in the Xuanwu District, downtown Beijing.

Beforehand, on Aug. 12, 2006, the men stole an unlicensed cab and strangled the driver, leaving his body in a well.

The next day they went to 63-year-old Cai’s house asking to buy paintings. When he let them inside, the men strangled Cai and stole goods worth 6,000 yuan (about 882 U.S. dollars).

For the crimes, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Li to death on Dec.11, 2007.

Zhang and Hu were also convicted of robbery, but were given lighter sentences. Zhang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. Hu was given life in prison, plus deprivation of his political rights and confiscation of his personal property.

Zhang expressed remorse for the crimes. He was also cooperative with police in helping to catch his accomplice. His family members also compensated relatives of the dead victims.

Hu was below the age of 18 when he committed the crimes. He also confessed repented, said the court.

Li appealed his case to the Beijing Higher People’s Court which upheld the ruling handed down by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.

Nyonya Kitchen is now in the financial district of the Chinese capital offering the deliciously unique blend of Chinese and Malay-style cooking that dates back more than half a century.

The new restaurant is located inside the Holiday Inn Downtown Hotel and part of proceeds will go towards The Oasis House, a training home for troubled youths, said restaurant executive director Kim Loh.

Malaysian Embassy deputy chief of mission Lim Juay Jin represented ambassador Datuk Syed Norulzaman Kamarulzaman on Saturday to launch the restaurant that can seat 70.

Guests were treated to a spread of Nyonya chicken curry, beef rendang, curry puff, bubur cha cha and kuih lapis, which were washed down with “teh tarik” and Malaysian black coffee.

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RESTAURANT-MALAYSIA 2 (LAST) BEIJING

Nyonya Kitchen first opened in the Lido area in 2004 and now has a sister restaurant called The Yard in the Shunyi residential suburb.

Loh said Nyonya Kitchen planned to open a new restaurant in the central business district of Guamao.

There are currently about half a dozen Malaysian restaurants in Beijing.

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It wouldn’t be a proper visit to a Beijing park without checking out the “birdmen.” Every morning, the parks are atwitter with retirees and their avian companions. Up above, birds chirp in their cages, hanging from trees. Down below, their owners chatter and play cards. They sit on tiny stools and slap their cards down on the table.

The willow trees’ new green leaves stand out against the crimson walls around Beijing’s Coal Hill Park.

Retired mechanic Wu Dazhao explains that people here tend to hang out with their own kind. And that depends on what kind of birds they raise.

“Those guys over there with the white cloths covering their cages, they’re the titmouse guys,” says Wu, pointing north. “We song thrush people are over here. And the guys with the larks are over there. The different groups leave each other alone. You could say that within this little group, we’re all ‘bird buddies.’ ”

Nearby, local resident Li Bingzhen’s song thrush chirps in short but eloquent phrases. Li says both song thrushes and their owners tend to be more vocal and extroverted types.

“Historically, military men liked to raise song thrushes,” Li explains. “Scholars liked to raise skylarks. Skylarks don’t disturb scholars while they’re studying. They’re very quiet.”

Song thrush owners get exercise by swinging their bird cages when they walk, Li continues, and the thrushes get exercise by clinging to their perches.

“To put it simply, to take care of a bird is to take care of yourself,” he says. “Walking your bird is also taking yourself for a stroll. It’s like going to work, every morning at eight o’clock, rain or shine. The routine of raising a bird is just like that.”

In imperial times, Manchu nobles idled away their days raising birds, crickets and goldfish and lavishing money on ornate cages and other paraphernalia.

But since the government banned trade in thrushes, skylarks and other endangered species a couple of years ago, you have to go to Beijing’s suburbs, where the ban is laxly enforced, in order to buy the birds.

At the Hongyan market, for example, there are pets of every genus and phylum. Craftsmen make cages from bamboo, wood and metal. A woman pounds birdseed with a wooden mortar and pestle. Other bird snacks, in the form of little white grubs, wriggle in a bin. One birdman, who gave only his surname, Zhang, is looking to buy a skylark.

“This kind of bird must be taught to sing under a person’s supervision,” Zhang says, eyeing a skylark in a cage in front of him. “Each sound the bird makes must be correct, and none should be missing.”

A lark’s cage is immediately identifiable by the sand on its floor, mimicking the bird’s habitat on the steppes of Inner Mongolia. While most cages have little porcelain bowls for food and water, the skylarks’ water bowls are outside, to keep the water from muddying the sand. Most important, Zhang explains, there’s a little table-like perch in the middle of the cage.

“A trained lark will get up on his pedestal and sing 13 different tunes, each in the proper order,” Zhang says. “This was how old Beijing gentlemen did it. But quite frankly, the old ways are now almost extinct.”

Zhang explains wistfully that the vendor here will not sell him this particular skylark until it lays some eggs. And only then, Zhang says, can he begin the two- or three-year-long process of training the lark, and gradually build a fine-feathered friendship.

A gala was held Saturday in Beijing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the emancipation of Tibetan serfs. Top political advisor Jia Qinglin and other senior officials watched the performances.

The gala, held in the studio hall of the official CCTV, are mainly songs and dances performed by Tibetan artists expressing their joys and gratitude over the liberation of Tibetan serfs in 1959.

Saturday also marks the first Serfs Emancipation Day, which was endorsed by Tibetan legislators in January this year to commemorate the historic changes that took place in Tibet 50 years ago.
Jia Qinglin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Central Political Science and Law Commission (CPSLC) of the CPC, greet performers at a gala to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the emancipation of Tibetan serfs in Beijing, capital of China, March 28, 2009. (Xinhua/Fan Rujun)

Foreign journalists in Beijing have visited an exhibition on democratic reform in Tibet, and the region’s fast development over the last 50 years. The journalists represent some 30 organizations.

Many described the exhibition at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as “impressive” and “informative”, and said it helped them gain a better understanding of Tibet.

Everything in the exhibition hall is about Tibet, including the decorations.

Change is the keyword. The focus is on the democratic reform of the region 50 years ago and its development since then.

It’s about the better lives of the people and the preservation of culture.

Official figures show the undeniable achievements in many aspects of society.

The exhibition also features Tibetan medicine, food and handcrafts. Many visitors found them impressive.

The widely-acclaimed exhibition has already attracted more than 40 thousand people since it opened. The admission-free exhibition is scheduled to run for another month.