At the 29th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, Alibaba showed its AI-driven initiatives for tackling climate change, emphasizing green cloud computing, renewable energy, and sustainable consumption.

Alibaba Cloud unveiled its green infrastructure stack, using AI to cut energy costs by 37 percent and carbon footprints by 14 percent. Its BaGuan Weather AI Model and eForecaster boost renewable energy efficiency, with 40 percent greater accuracy in weather predictions.

The secondhand trading platform Xianyu (Idle Fish) now boasts 600 million users, with AI tools streamlining listings and promoting circular economies. Meanwhile, the Energy Expert platform, used at the Paris Olympics, has enabled real-time energy monitoring across 35 venues, highlighting scalable energy solutions.

"Digitalization and sustainability are intertwined," said Alibaba's Chief Marketing Officer Dong Benhong, reaffirming the company's commitment to a greener future through technology.

Alibaba was invited by China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment and has helped host side events at the China Pavilion for the third time.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/19/content_8816363.html

On November 18, Hangzhou greeted the official opening of Xixi Traditional Culture & Art Museum (Cai Zhizhong Art Museum). It is open to the public free of charge.

The museum is located in Xixi National Wetland Park, and sets up three exhibition halls, to display about 400 excellent cartoons by Cai Zhizhong. The cartoon called Heroes of the Marshes reflects the relations between the original novel Heroes of the Marshes and Xixi Wetland National Park, and shows his profound feelings for Hangzhou.

There is Hundred-seat Classroom, Calligraphy & Painting Classroom, Cultural & Creative Store, and other spaces in the museum which can host various art activities.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/19/content_8815384.html

In terms of sci-tech innovation index, Hangzhou has been included in the global top 15 cities for three consecutive years. Among 13 counties (cities/districts) in Hangzhou, four districts’ innovation indexes are at the provincial leading level.

In 2023, the number of national high-tech enterprises in Hangzhou took fifth place in China. The number of Hangzhou’s invention patents ranked the first among provincial capital cities. This year, Hangzhou accelerates the construction of the global innovation hub, and two large-scale scientific facilities are speeding up the construction.

In the assessment of five innovation indexes on sci-tech investment, technological innovation, sci-tech output, transformation & upgrading, and innovation environment, Binjiang District ranks the first in the province, becoming the district with the highest innovation index. Owning to resources of higher education zone and government’s valid service reform, Qiantang District develops into the district with the greatest progress in innovation index.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/19/content_8815383.html

A few days ago, Hangzhou was identified as one of the six pilot cities participate in an eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) pilot program by the Central Air Traffic Control Committee.

eVTOL can vertically take off and land without the need for runways, having low noise, high cost performance, environmental protection, and other advantages.

In the future, eVTOL is expected to provide low-altitude tourism, short-distance transportation, and urban center travel services in Hangzhou.

It's estimated that the price of taking eVTOL is slightly higher than that of the taxi, and it may be reduced with large-scale application, making eVTOL become the "sky taxi".

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/19/content_8815381.html

An artistic rendering of the new Xinzhuang Railway Station. [Photo/Shanghai Observer]

Good News! A new high-speed railway station is set to open in Shanghai!

The Xinzhuang Railway Station of the Jinshan Line—a suburban railway connecting Shanghai's suburban Jinshan district to Shanghai South Railway Station—is scheduled to be put into operation on Dec 25.

As an important part of the Shanghai-Hangzhou High-speed Railway, the Xinzhuang Railway Station, upon completion, will serve as a hub where the Shanghai South Link and Jinshan railway lines, Metro Lines 1 and 5, as well as bus services, will intersect.

Located on the west side of Xinzhuang Metro Station, the previously dormant railway station primarily served as a train passing facility rather than for passengers to get on and off. Now, with the Xinzhuang Comprehensive Transportation Hub set to open, the Xinzhuang Railway Station will allow passengers to board and alight.

A bird's-eye view of the Xinzhuang Railway Station under construction. [Photo/Shanghai Observer]

The completion of Xinzhuang Railway Station is expected to enhance economic and cultural exchanges between the southwest urban center of Shanghai and the surrounding new towns as well as cities in the Yangtze River Delta region.

It will also improve the accessibility of transportation in the Xinzhuang sub-city center, marking a crucial step towards transforming the current Xinzhuang rail transit station into a comprehensive transportation hub supporting multiple modes of transit.

 

Source: Shanghai Observer 

,https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20241118/a6e57133b2e2408c97a8eb16a2e00c07.html

Actors perform at SAGA City of Light, featuring stories of 1930s Shanghai and time-travel experiences, in an immersive theater with a large performance area, by French production company Puy du Fou, in Xuhui district, Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Wang Jiaqi and Zhang Yuyan may come from diverse backgrounds but they have one thing in common: their absolute love and passion for theater which leads them to binge-watch plays.

Two months ago, Wang, 21, a college student, traveled to Shanghai to watch four plays over a weekend. Such a tight schedule has been routine for her, and it is also becoming increasingly common in the lives of many theater lovers.

Her schedule is almost military in its precision. Wang, a clinical medicine student from Xiamen University, Fujian province, usually takes an overnight high-speed train to Shanghai on Friday evening, arrives at a youth hostel near People's Square on Saturday morning, watches one play in the afternoon and another in the evening, and repeats the feat on Sunday. On Monday, she takes an early flight back to Xiamen.

As she often travels to Shanghai, by air or by railway, she says that she "could even walk from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station to People's Square with my eyes closed".

The area around Shanghai's People's Square is home to more than 70 theaters, including theater spaces in such well-known venues as the Asia Building, Shanghai Dashijie (the Great World), and Shanghai Cultural Square.

She doesn't just watch the plays. After each performance, she always waits at the stage door, where actors enter and exit the theater, to interact with the professionals.

To cut costs, she sometimes sleeps on a seat at the Haidilao hotpot restaurant on Sunday nights, which is open all night, to wait for her flight. "The waiters at the restaurant all know me well now, and sometimes they even take me to a dimly lit area in the eatery, so I can rest more comfortably," she adds.

Wang is one of many theatergoers crowding the theaters around People's Square during weekends or short holidays. "Watch as much as you can" has become the motto for these theater lovers while in Shanghai.

Zhang, 22, is another theater enthusiast. After graduating from a Beijing university this summer and moving back to her hometown of Changzhou in Jiangsu province, she found that the short one-hour train ride from her city to Shanghai has made her play-watching binge more affordable.

In less than six months after settling down in her hometown, she had made seven trips to Shanghai for her "theater binge". Actually before graduation, her play-watching schedule was even busier.

Fans view a show at the immersive theater. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Once, on a Friday night, she saw a musical in Beijing, while that Saturday morning she woke up at 5 o'clock to catch an early flight to Shanghai to watch two shows — Meng Weizhi, telling the story of two Chinese ancient poets, and Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, an adaptation by French playwright Alexandre Dumas' well-known novel. That Sunday, she watched two more plays, and was about to fly home, but she got a message informing that her flight was delayed until midnight, so she immediately went to buy another ticket to watch another performance of the Le Comte de Monte-Cristo that evening, before winding up her record-breaking five-play binge.

"That was really exhausting, but it is my spiritual nourishment," she says, recalling her "five-show-in-a-row craziness".

Shanghai has become a favorite destination for many Chinese theatergoers. In 2017, the metropolis officially declared its target to become "Asia's performing arts capital". In 2019, its municipal bureau of culture and tourism proposed to set up 100 "new spaces for performances". By transforming office buildings, shopping malls and commercial zones into accommodating performance venues, the city has broadened its theater landscape, helping "small-theater "low-budget plays to have more shows performed on more stages, thus gaining widespread popularity.

In terms of the number of musical performances, for example, Shanghai takes the lead nationally. Of all the 9,960 musical theater performances nationwide in 2023,5,888 were held in Shanghai, making up around 60 percent of the total. And in the first half of 2024, its 100 "new performance spaces" hosted 9,927 performances, attracting 1.68 million audience members and generating a total revenue of 147 million yuan ($20.3 million), according to the Shanghai Performing Arts Association.

Many "theater-bingers" repeatedly watch plays they have seen before.

Zhang once flew to Shanghai to see three performances of the musical Fan Letter, just to savor the different cast. A special term has been coined for this behavior: "collecting casts".

It is even more common in small theaters, where performances are repeated every weekend with varying casts. For example, Mia Famiglia, a popular small-theater play staged since 2020 — telling stories of three men who meet in a 1930s New York bar and prepare for a final performance together — has been staged over 1,000 times in the past four years. It was scheduled to be staged for 17 performances in Shanghai this month, almost each time acted by a different cast, according to Damai, a ticketing service platform.

Wang is a loyal fan of the musical King's Table, which features a man's adventure on an island. "It is a tragedy of an idealist, but it converted into a belief for me: to do it anyway, even when it seems impossible," she remarks.

Visitors gather at the lobby of the Wanping Theater in Xuhui district, watching excerpts staged by Chinese traditional opera performers. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Wang watched the musical almost every time she visited Shanghai. Once, when she couldn't get a ticket, she even chose to stay by the theater door, just to listen to the play. Touched by her passion, a staff member opened the door slightly so she could hear more clearly.

Another "crazy" thing she did was that she admired one of the lead actors, Guo Hongxu (as Jon Olsen in the musical), so much that she wrote a 6,000-word essay with a friend, just to comb through and praise his acting skills. After a show, the ardent fan waited at the stage door to meet Guo and hand him the essay as a gift to show her appreciation for both the actor and the play.

These enthusiasts meet in theaters and outside, fostering friendships before and after the shows. For example, Wang once realized that the person sitting next to her during a performance was an internet acquaintance. She offered to share a blanket with Wang when the theater turned cold due to air conditioning, and they became friends afterward.

Xu Zihan, 21, a junior from Zhejiang Normal University who's also a theatergoer, has been to Shanghai 16 times this year to binge-watch plays. Also to save money, she often dines at an inexpensive Japanese eatery near the Asia Building after a show. "It's such a happy moment, as it is packed with theatergoers, and we talk about the performance while eating," Xu says.

Another way of cost saving is to find a mate with the same hobby to share a hotel room with, often in cheap youth hostels. "I have countless group chats for room-sharing in my phone, and through these, I've made many new friends," she says.

Wang loves a quote from Xu Junshuo, 27, a well-known musical actor. He says: "Audiences may see the light onstage as stars while actors on the lit stage see the audience as a whole, dark sky. The light in the theater is not one-way — within the space, it lights up us all."

For Wang, theater bingeing allows her to stray beyond her often boring routine, giving her quality time to let her imagination and fantasies run wild, and help her regain fresh energy while going back to real life.

"The charm of theater is endless. Every time I see tickets of future plays, I see it as a promise to meet friends again, inside and outside the theaters," Wang says.

,https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-CulturalPerformances/20241118/2431da72129a4d688f67056c92a1abab.html

On November 16, Hangzhou opened a free bus ring line with 11 stops connecting multiple scenic spots along the Grand Canal such as Gongchen Bridge, Qiaoxizhi Street, and Xiaohe Park.

This bus ring line is combined with the previously-opened water bus to achieve the microcirculation of water and land transport, and advance the integration of culture and tourism.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814887.html

FIH Pro League 2024 (China) will be held at Hangzhou Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium on November 30.

Three strong women's teams from the UK, China and Belgium will compete for six days to secure higher points. As the first international top hockey competition of Hangzhou, the event will bring exciting matches to spectators, and promote the popularization and development of hockey in China.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814886.html

On November 17, Hangzhou International Airport added a new passenger flight route to and from Tashkent in Uzbekistan. This is Hangzhou’s second passenger flight route to and from Central Asia.

he route operates once a week with a round-trip duration of approximately 13 hours, reducing travel time by more than half compared to previous transit routes.

Tashkent is an important business hub on the ancient Silk Road, with abundant historical sites and modern features, regarded as a good place for outbound tourism. At present, Chinese citizens are permitted to stay in Uzbekistan for 10 days after visa-free entry.

This year, Hangzhou International Airport continuously expands the international aviation points. It has added and restored 10 international passenger transport points, bringing the total to 36.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814885.html

The 2024 Song Dynasty Charm series began its Binjiang edition on Nov 13, blending Song Dynasty (960-1279) culture with the vibrant international atmosphere of Binjiang district.

The event featured traditional activities like archery games, Xixing bamboo lantern crafting, and Zhejiang-style guqin demonstrations, offering participants a glimpse into ancient China's refined aesthetics.

The event attracted locals and international residents from countries like South Africa, Malaysia, and Canada, who immersed themselves in tea rituals, ancient melodies, and cultural workshops. Foreign attendees, some dressed in hanfu, joined children in reciting Song poetry, creating a heartfelt cross-cultural exchange.

Among the highlights, the enamel art exhibit stood out, with live demonstrations of intricate techniques such as wire inlay and coloring. Jason from South Africa noted, "Experiencing the entire process served as a vivid introduction to the beauty of Chinese craftsmanship."

Another popular exhibit showcased Xixing bamboo lanterns, a traditional craft dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1120-1279). Artisan Cai shared this year's dragon-themed designs, celebrating the Chinese New Year. Visitors also marveled at handwoven fabric buttons and Zhejiang-style guqin performances, blending history with modern sensibilities.

The main event will kick off on Nov 15 at the Zhejiang Library's Wenlan Theater, featuring a Song Yun book list release, curated walking routes, and a lecture series led by renowned experts.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814812.html

Zhejiang province's foreign trade surged in the first 10 months of 2024, with a total import-export value of 4.37 trillion yuan ($603.44 billion), up 7.1 percent year-on-year, according to Hangzhou Customs.

Exports rose 9 percent to 3.25 trillion yuan, while imports grew 1.8 percent to 1.12 trillion yuan, maintaining Zhejiang's national rankings: third in total trade, second in exports, and fifth in imports. Zhejiang's export growth was 2.3 percentage points above the national average, leading all eastern coastal provinces.

Private businesses were key drivers, with 106,000 private enterprises participating in foreign trade, up 8.3 percent from last year and accounting for 80.8 percent of Zhejiang's total trade value. Foreign-invested enterprises saw trade rise by 6.5 percent to 551.25 billion yuan.

According to the customs statistics, Zhejiang's trade with the United States and Latin America grew by 13.6 percent and 13.8 percent, reaching 614.83 billion yuan and 480.08 billion yuan, respectively.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814811.html

A silk quilt handcrafting competition drew crowds to Gongchen Bridge by Hangzhou's Grand Canal on Nov 14. Forty-eight artisans from across the city competed, with one person producing a silk quilt in just 20 minutes.

Using pristine white "Silk Cotton 1" and golden "Golden Silkworm 1" fibers, competitors layered, stretched, and stitched quilts to perfection, eliciting awe from spectators. The event awarded 16 gold medals for craftsmanship and highlighted silk's enduring cultural and economic significance in Zhejiang, a region with 4,700 years of sericulture history.

In addition to the competition, a full silk industry exhibit celebrated Zhejiang's innovations, from heritage crafts to modern silk products, spotlighting the transformation of the silk industry into a tech-driven powerhouse.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814808.html

Automation taking over human labor has marked an unstoppable global trend. Rescue services stand out as an example among the industries that are least likely to be threatened by this shift.

Tao Xiaoyang, a Blue Sky Rescue team specialist clad in his iconic blue uniform, was meticulously questioning the technical specs of an underwater robot at a booth on the opening day of an emergency management exhibition.

Frontline emergency responders like him were displaying a heightened interest in robotics at the China International Emergency Management Exhibition (CIEME) in the China National Convention Center, which kicked off on Wednesday.

The event is bustling with the latest in rescue vehicles, drones, and telecom guarantees. Although rescue robots are the newcomers, occupying a modest space at the three-day fair, they stole the spotlight immediately.

The machine that impressed Tao was a 60-centimeter-long robot with a mechanical hand capable of diving to 200 meters and integrating with sonar technology. Yet, its 100-kilogram towing capacity service seemingly left something to be desired to him.

"The machine can tow twice the weight underwater thanks to water's buoyancy," explained Zhang Xianjie, the sales manager of QYSea, a Shenzhen-based startup. Zhang attempted to persuade Tao, but all the while, his assistant was remotely operating a red robotic drone in a water tank using a console.

This compact, portable electric drone, weighing just 6 kilograms, is designed to resist currents of up to 3 knots and can operate underwater for 4 hours, according to Zhang.

Now, firefighting corps in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guizhou have already deployed the drones in real-life scenarios, including underwater positioning, recovery of drowned bodies, and sonar search for sunken ships, he added.

Emergency robots are intelligent machine systems that perform tasks such as monitoring and early warning, search and rescue, communication commands and logistical support during disaster prevention, mitigation and relief.

They are capable of semi-autonomous or fully autonomous control, partially or completely replacing human work. They have already demonstrated their prowess in emergencies such as fires, mining or chemical plant accidents, earthquakes, and underwater rescues.

A 2023 estimate has shown that the scale of the emergency equipment industry in China has exceeded 700 billion yuan (about 97 billion U.S. dollars). The emergency robotics sector is projected to be worth around 20 billion yuan, marking an average annual growth rate of over 20 percent during the past five years.

At this year's CIEME, with over 150 exhibitors, many regional emergency departments placed direct orders to bolster their emergency response capabilities.

Wang Guangya, a manager from Xuzhou-based XCMG DOK-ING Robotics, was tasked with recommending a robot designed to carve out isolation zones for combating forest fires. He was thrilled to have secured an order for 20 units from the country's eastern province of Jiangxi on the very first day of the expo.

This remotely operated tracking robot can cut down tree trunks and vegetation, effectively confining wildfires to a specific area. The vehicle is versatile and can be deployed for municipal snow clearance operations.

It can travel at a pace of 5 kilometers per hour and is designed for continuous operations exceeding 10 hours, according to Wang.

At another booth, Yunzhou, a Zhuhai-based robot manufacturer, showcased a water surface robot called Dolphin, capable of carrying rescue personnel or individuals who have fallen into the water. This robotic kayak has already achieved remarkable results, said its sales director, He Qionghui, with pride.

In 2023, police officers in the eastern city of Lianyungang used a water-borne robot to rescue an elderly man who had fallen into the sea. In 2022, a 15-year-old boy was saved in the eastern city of Weihai thanks to a Dolphin robot, according to He.

Unitree Robotics, a Hangzhou-based company, has brought its star product, the machine dog, to the exhibition site. The robot dogs that went viral online after being spotted moving up and down the steps on Mount Tai to free human porters from the longstanding challenge of garbage removal are also highly effective in firefighting situations.

In January, the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology outlined in guidance that by 2025, a batch of advanced emergency robots will be developed in the country to significantly enhance scientific, professional, refined and intelligent capabilities.

"In China, the robotics sector has already been highly competitive," said He. "To differentiate yourself, you must find specific application scenarios and outperform rivals in quality."

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814805.html

"Following the confirmation of 11 dams around the outer water conservancy systems of the Liangzhu Ruins in earlier studies, archaeologists have recently discovered more than 20 additional dams by making use of technology such as remote sensing, geographic information systems, and artificial intelligence. This discovery has essentially revealed the complete layout of the Liangzhu water system," said Chen Guangsheng, director of the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Department of Zhejiang Province, at a press conference for the second Liangzhu Forum on Wednesday.

The Liangzhu Ruins, located in East China's Zhejiang Province, have gained the world's recognition as a testimony to the existence of Chinese civilization at least 5,000 years ago. They have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

"The construction of dams can be seen as one of the hallmarks of the Liangzhu civilization's advanced development 5,000 years ago. Only early forms of state-level societies could have undertaken such monumental engineering projects," Liu Zheng, a member of the China Cultural Relics Academy, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Discovering hydraulic engineering sites is one of the challenges in archaeological work. However, the use of advanced technology has introduced innovation into the field of archaeology, making it easier to advance research," he said.

The site was initially studied in 1936. Over the years, more than 350 sites have been identified, including newly uncovered dams.

In the early phase of the Liangzhu culture, settlements showed clear social stratification, with smaller villages utilizing the mountainous landscape for development. However, the site lacked a unified plan, reflecting a dispersed, multi-centered pattern. 

By the middle phase, large ceremonial spaces were constructed at the center of the site, maintaining a consistent distance of about three kilometers from the surrounding mountains, demonstrating a centralized planning concept. In the late phase, the construction of city walls and outer defenses continued, forming a well-organized ancient urban system.

"These research findings confirm the revolutionary changes in the structure of the Liangzhu site over different periods, illustrating the clear process of early state-level social organization and evolution. They also provide a solid example for research into the origins of Chinese civilization," Chen said at the press conference.

At the Wednesday press conference, it was announced that the second Liangzhu Forum is scheduled to be held from November 25 to 27 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province. 

The forum, with the theme of "exchange and mutual learning for a new era of human civilization," will bring together approximately 100 international guests from 63 countries and regions. 

During the upcoming second Liangzhu Forum, the National Cultural Heritage Administration will officially designate Liangzhu as the site for the establishment of the "Liangzhu International Archaeological Center." The center's creation is expected to further promote international collaboration and exchange in the field of archaeology.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814800.html

On Nov 10, employees from State Grid Hangzhou Power Supply Company paid a visit to Robam Appliances' factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. They conducted voluntary inspection tours of the factory's packaging equipment, product research and development departments, transformer rooms and dedicated power lines in the workshops to know more about the electricity usage and load demands of the enterprise. This is to ensure that the company's production operation is in full swing during the Nov 11 and Dec 12 shopping periods.

During the visit, the staff members of the power supply company inspected the operational status of the electrical facilities on-site, optimized the power supply solutions based on their electricity consumption capacity and usage patterns, adjusted equipment power factors, optimized power distribution and effectively addressed the electricity demands and challenges.

"These days, our order volume has been significantly increasing, the production line is running day and night and the electricity load has surged. The professional inspection is very timely. Moreover, the professional guidance on electricity usage not only ensures production capacity but also enhances efficiency. This is a boon for our company," the head of Robam Appliances said.

The peak consumption seasons of Nov 11 and Dec 12 have arrived early, not only testing the operational capabilities and logistics speed of e-commerce platforms but also imposing higher demands on the power supply. State Grid Hangzhou Power Supply Company has made meticulous deployments and preparations in advance. They have strengthened communication with home appliance companies, conducted on-site visits and surveys in advance, understood the electricity needs and critical electricity peak points of the enterprises and tailored emergency supply guarantee plans. At the same time, the power supply company also organized staff members to visit distribution substations, live broadcasting bases and logistics warehouses. They conducted infrared temperature measurements and safety inspections on power lines, equipment and emergency power supply devices, conveyed issues and hidden dangers to the enterprises through notices, guided enterprise electricians to promptly rectify them and ensured safe electricity usage during the peak e-commerce promotion period.

Since the beginning of this year, State Grid Hangzhou Power Supply Company has made efforts to ensure electricity security, providing a responsive approach to enterprises' demands and guaranteeing efficient electricity usage within the company's system. Through inspections, they have tried to resolve all kinds of electricity-related demands such as energy costs, power supply quality and meter installations. In an effort to provide more convenient and high-quality power supply services to electricity customers, the company has committed to improving customer satisfaction and supporting high-quality local economic development with a robust power grid and quality services.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814797.html

The Singles Day shopping season brought record-breaking logistics to Zhejiang, with the province handling 2.243 billion parcels from Oct 21 to Nov 12, according to the State Post Bureau.

Of these, 1.024 billion packages were delivered, marking a major achievement in the region's logistics capacity.

Oct 22 saw peak parcel volumes, reaching 130 million shipments — 1.6 times the daily average and the highest single-day volume of 2024. The delivery peak followed on Oct 24 with 50.5 million packages, surpassing daily averages by 1.5 times and setting a new record for single-day deliveries.

The Singles Day shopping season, or Double Eleven festival, was just a 24-hour event on Nov 11 when it was unveiled by Alibaba in 2009, but has stretched into a weekslong shopping spree. Online retailers initiated the promotional event one week earlier this year than previously.

This year marks the 15th consecutive peak season for China's postal and logistics industry, with an earlier and longer peak driven by extended e-commerce promotions. To manage this surge, the Zhejiang Provincial Postal Administration coordinated resources across the industry, scaling up workforce, infrastructure, and vehicle fleets to ensure smooth operations.

Automated delivery options, including drones and driverless vehicles, were expanded to support last-mile logistics, with new routes added across the province.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/18/content_8814793.html

The Foreigners in Film series features interviews with talented members of China's film and television industry from around the world.

Brian O’Shea is an Argentinean actor, talk show host, and social media influencer. During his time in China, he amassed over 10 million followers across his various social media accounts, including more than 1.6 million on Weibo alone.

While most of his online content focuses on food, his true passion is acting. He is best known for his roles in Gank Your Heart, Ip Man 4, and My True Friend, as well as for his appearances on various Chinese talk shows. 

O’Shea lived in Beijing and Shanghai before making the big move to Los Angeles to try and make it in Hollywood. It will help that he is a polyglot – he speaks Spanish, English, Italian, Mandarin, and Japanese. He is also currently studying an array of martial arts, so he can kick your butt in five different languages.

We spoke to O’Shea about his time in China and what it was like becoming an influencer in a foreign country.

How did you end up living in China?
This is so funny, but it was because of the food. Let me explain – I was studying acting in Sydney, Australia and living in Chinatown. I had a bowl of dumplings, and I just fell in love with it. I decided to move to China to eat all the foods.

What are some of the most interesting foods you encountered during your travels in China?
It became a game to me – like catching Pokémon. I wanted to eat anything I hadn’t tried before, especially the weird stuff. My top favorite ‘interesting foods’ would be river snail rice noodle (螺蛳粉)，pig brain (脑花)，stewed pork intestines lungs with dried tofu skins (卤煮)，and bell pepper stir-fried with chili pepper (青椒炒辣椒)。

What was it like being a social media icon in a foreign country?
[Laughs] I’m flattered. It’s pretty wild, even with an underlying constant imposter syndrome. Even now living in the US, I get stopped every once in a while for a selfie and my friends are super confused.

It’s definitely a net positive, and I think the fact that it’s a foreign country helped ease the shock factor. This is because even before I was famous, people would still look at me on the street in China, because I look different than the average person. So, in that sense, it just felt like the next step in the same direction. I think it would feel weird to be famous in Argentina though.

How did you get involved in doing talk shows?
Back when I started doing the videos in English, I shared my video in a ‘Argentinians in China’ WeChat group to promote myself, and that’s when my fellow Argentinian Brian Gonzalez (功必扬) reached out to me to see if I wanted to go on the show Informal Talks (非正式会谈).

Mind you at that point my Chinese was horrible, but I still said yes – fake it till you make it, right? That decision changed my life. Even though my videos were doing pretty well on their own, that show launched my career to the next level.

But it also came with a lot of pressure and stress, because I had to memorize scripts that were 90% unknown vocabulary to me. I remember crying myself to sleep one night after receiving the materials I had to memorize [laughs].

Which acting projects in China were your favorites? Is there one you are particularly proud to have been a part of?
I think my absolute favorite is Gank Your Heart (陪你到世界之巅) with Yibo Wang (王一博). We had so much fun filming in Hangzhou, the production team was super friendly and welcoming – we’d stay up playing games. 

I was also allowed a lot of character development and even some improv. The cast was awesome on and off the screen. And the craziest thing is, I got recognized for that character by a Thai girl in a massage parlor in Sydney Australia two years after that show came out. So that show made it internationally. It’s a great show, go watch it!

What would you say is one of the strangest experiences you had while filming in China?
They’re not that strange, but for one project I was flown to Canada for five days for a 10-minute shoot that took place in a forest with no landmarks – I was very confused. 

This other time, the director wanted this Italian character to have blue eyes for some reason, so we had to put on colored contact lenses. Turns out, it can take up to 45 minutes and three people to make that happen. My eyelids kept closing shut involuntarily and made it really hard to be on time [laughs].

How has the transition of moving to Los Angeles been for you?
It’s been really awesome. It helps that the Chinese food in San Gabriel Valley is really good, so at least I can go there when I miss it. I’ve been very lucky to meet incredible friends here, and people in the industry that are genuine and supportive. I can’t say much, but there’s some projects on the works that you’ll be very excited to see!

Any plans to return to China for future projects?
I’d love to! Right now, my focus is on my acting career – so, if any projects take me back to China, it would be incredible. But I have to go wherever my opportunities takes me right now, and so far there are none happening in China. If you’re reading this and have something in mind, hit me up!

[All images are courtesy of Brian O'Shea]

Stayed tuned for more installments of 'Foreigners in Film' by following our official WeChat account, ThatsBeijing.

,http://www.thatsmags.com/guangzhou/post/38322/foreigners-in-film-brian-o-shea-on-acting-social-media-fame

China's NEV sector continues to lead in global innovation and growth, with Zhejiang emerging as a key contributor to the country's green transformation, local media outlets reported.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced on Nov 14 that the country's annual production of NEVs has exceeded 10 million units for the first time, making China the first nation in the world to achieve this milestone.

Zhejiang province has played a significant role in this achievement. According to the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology, the province's NEV and component cluster generated over 500 billion yuan ($69 billion) in revenue in the first half of the year, an 18.9-percent year-on-year increase.

A complete NEV supply chain—ranging from upstream raw materials to downstream charging infrastructure—is fully operational within Zhejiang province. For instance, at Geely Changxing New Energy Vehicle Co, digital production lines produce one car every minute.

Meanwhile, consumer interest is surging. Visitors at Xiaomi Home in Hangzhou Joy City were captivated by the brand's first electric vehicle, the Xiaomi SU7. At the Jianding Road Supercharging Station in Hangzhou, NEV owners were seen recharging their vehicles at a bustling hub equipped with energy storage and charging facilities.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/15/content_8814810.html

The 2024 Hangzhou Autumn International Tea Industry Expo kicked off on Nov 14, drawing experts, scholars, representatives of tea enterprises, and enthusiasts from across the country for a grand celebration of tea culture.

Spanning 20,000 square meters with 1,000 booths, the four-day expo serves as a professional platform for tea trade, featuring diverse displays of tea accessories, packaging, technology, and innovative tea drinks. Over 10,000 varieties of tea are available for purchase.

500 top tea companies, including Changtai and Bingdao Impression, are presenting their star products, while renowned tea ware brands like Zhengjia Xiaokou are also showcasing their craftsmanship.

In addition to the exhibits, the expo offers over 30 exciting tea-related activities, including forums, competitions, tea appreciation sessions, and cultural showcases, aimed at fostering innovation in tea culture.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/15/content_8814806.html

Since the beginning of this year, the financing of humanoid robot industry has been booming, with a total amount exceeding 11.6 billion yuan. Hangzhou plans to roll out ten support measures, covering technological breakthrough, project promotion, situational application, talent cultivation, etc.

Hangzhou is an important base for humanoid robot industry, and boasts about 200 intelligent robot industry chain enterprises, and the total output value was more than 15 billion yuan in 2023. In September this year, Zhejiang also released related moves to help Hangzhou become the leading area for humanoid robot development.

,https://en.hangzhou.com.cn/News/content/2024-11/15/content_8813967.html