Tangtuan DIY

A tangtuan DIY activity was held in a department store at the Tianyi Square. Many shoppers learned to make tangtuan from the cooks.

Spring Festival Performance rehearsal

A group of Yue opera performers in Yinzhou District are performing during a rehearsal for the celebrations to mark the upcoming Spring Festival, the most important festival in China.

3D printing services offered in Ningbo

A local company offers a 3D printing service, rapid and accessible to all many local manufacturers who are looking to 3D printing tech to help improve efficiency among domestic production.

Enterprises save electricity for citizens

Ningbo Steel closed its hot strip production lines and increased its power generation volts since the morning of 8th, January. “By doing this, we offer more than 5,000 volts electricity per hour to meet the peak demand, “according to the Group.

These days, electricity transport routes in Beilun have been damaged because of continuous snow, bringing a power supply shortage. To ease the difficult situation confronting citizens, enterprises reduced or stopped production.

Formosa Plastic Group has also transported 20,000 kilovolts electricity through its own plant to Beilun power grid. “If we do not stop the production, the weak power grid will be seriously affected,” according to the Group. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has reduced their volts from 16,000 to 3,000. “We have closed the production lines and electric equipment that consume great power to save electricity for citizens. It is worthwhile to do so.”

It has been learned that Ningbo Donggang Electrochemical Co.,Ltd has reduced its voltage from 160,000 to less than 40,000. Shenzhou International Group Holdings Limited and Samsung have reduced their voltage to less than 3,000. Ningbo Baoxin Stainless Steel has reduced its voltage from 40,000 to lower than 7,000.

Cargo throughout at Ningbo Port achieves 453 million tons

Ningbo Port has quickened its transformation and upgrading, bringing a steady growing throughout. With an increasing rate of 4.5% in 2012, Ningbo Port handles over 453 million tons of cargoes, third in China Mainland and among the first five in the world. With an increasing rate of 8%, the TEU throughout is 15.67 million, third in China Mainland and among the first six in the world.

Despite the steady growth, the growing rate is slower, with that of cargo throughout and TEU throughout over the same period decreasing by 0.62% and 3.61% respectively. This can be attributed to the economic slowdown in 2012 China.

To further promote the container business, Ningbo Port has enlarged its navigation routes and sailings. With greater cooperation with ship companies, Ningbo Port now has 235 navigation routes and 1,400 sailings every month.

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Low-carbon logistics project settled in Ningbo Bonded Area

A project under the China Merchants Logistics Group was recently introduced into Ningbo Bonded Area. 

The project, with a registered capital of 100 million Yuan and a total investment of 720 million Yuan, covers an area of 166,667 square meters, where a steel warehouse of 45,000 square meters and a cold storehouse of 45,000 square meters for the World Top 500 will be built. The project aims to build a green and low-carbon logistics center in Eastern China offering modern logistics service by the way of Internet of Things and information technology. Upon completion, the yearly operation income is expected to be above 740 million Yuan. The project will enhance the overall quality of the logistics industry in the Bonded Area and promote logistics industry in and around Ningbo to develop. Suppliers and service providers from the World Top 500 will be attracted to the Bonded Area.

Off-season tour hot in year-end tourism market

The freezing temperature after the New Year's Day made many Ningbo citizens long for the warmth of sunshine and the beach. According to a survey conducted in major local travel agencies, the routes to Southern Hemisphere for the upcoming Spring Festival have witnessed a boom. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are hot destinations.

The period from December to the next February is said to be the perfect traveling season in the southern hemisphere. Australia is currently the hottest tourist destinations in the Southern Hemisphere. There will be non-stop charter flights from Beijing, Shanghai to Australia during the Spring Festival.

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Argentine tango troupe to perform in Ningbo

Argentinean tango troupe, Tango Desire Company, will perform at the Ningbo Grand Theatre on January 13.

Tango is a national symbol of Argentina. The tango performed by the Argentine Desire Tango Company is well known for its sensual, intense, vigorous, and sophisticated dancing step. The performers are quite adept at capturing the sensuality and charm of the tango dance. Six superb dancers, five musicians and two first-class singers will present classic tangos including "Argentina, do not cry for me," and "Libertango".

Tango originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires, but it soon became popular throughout society and quickly spread to New York, London and Paris and evolved into a stylish social events. The famous Argentine tango composer, Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla, composed more than 300 tango music including "Farewell, Nonino" and "Libertango" and "The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night". He incorporated classical techniques with national elements and made tango a performing art rich in humanistic spirit.

Imported cherries hot in market

With the Spring Festival drawing near, imported fruits like cherries and kiwi fruit entered their peak seasons. Statistics from Ningbo Fruits and Vegetables Wholesale Market showed that the wholesale price of fruits dropped sharply as imported fruits like cherries recently entered the market in large quantities.

"Cherry has been the favorite fruit for local consumers in recent years, and its price has been relatively high. As the harvest season of cherry arrives, its prices also dropped substantially. It is the best time to buy cherries now. The wholesale prices might go up again ten days before the Spring Festival, ” said a fruit wholesaler. Most of the cherries sold in Ningbo are imported from Chile and Australia.

In addition to cherries, the longan from Thailand and kiwi from New Zealand are also poplar with consumers. The wholesale price of longan from Thailand is priced about 15 yuan per kilogram, the price level similar to last year. As kiwi is to be out of season soon, the price is expected to go up slightly.

Xiangshan used invasive plant for mushroom growing medium

Ningbo's Xiangshan County recently succeeded in using solidago canadensis, an invasive plant, for growing medium for mushrooms. In the past year, Xiangshan County used more than 100 tons of the plant for agricultural use.

Solidago canadensis was introduced to China as an ornamental plant in 1935, and then it escaped into the wild. Due to its fast growth and prolific reproduction, it kills other vegetation and endangers local ecosystems and plants. Therefore, it is known as "eco-killer" and "flower king". In recent years, local governments started to give manpower and financial support in the prevention and control of the invasive plant.

In 2010, the Plant Protection Station of Xiangshan County began to explore the ecological prevention and control test on solidago canadensis. Their test showed that the plant is non-toxic and the protein it contains is as high as 22.28 percent in April and more than 12 percent in July. It can be used as livestock feed for rabbits, sheep, and cattle. However, the measure did not solve the environmental threaten brought by solidago canadensis completely.

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Flu season less harsh than last year

The seasonal influenza is less harsh that the previous year, said Ningbo City Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this Tuesday.

According to Yi Bo, director of CDC's Department of Communicable Disease Prevention, Ningbo's hospitals at municipal-level received more outpatients with upper respiratory tract infections in recent days, but the number is below the level of the same period in 2012. The monitored hospitals received a daily average of 600 flu patients recently. The number usually fluctuates between 400 to 600 while it reached 1,200 during the peak period last year.

Data released by influenza surveillance stations show that the number of patients with influenza symptoms does not increase over the same period in the previous two years. The CDC so far hasn't discovered influenza virus from the specimens of influenza yet.

The local CDC suggested the public, particularly the elderly and children, keeping their houses well ventilated and avoiding crowd whenever possible during the flu season. The CDC also urged children, the elderly and medical workers to get vaccinated for the upcoming flu season

Ningbo Airport's passenger traffic hit 5,267,000

Statistics from Ningbo Airport show that it handled 5,267,000 inbound and outbound passengers and 44,900 aircraft movements in 2012, a year-on-year growth of 5.1 percent and 2 percent respectively.

In 2012, the Ningbo Airport opened flight routes to Yinchuan, Hohhot, Guilin, Zhuhai, and Fuyang, and restored the once-suspended routes to Harbin, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, and Zhangjiajie. In addition to the existing routes to Singapore, Cheju, Siem Reap, and Bangkok, the airport also opened up international routes to Seoul and Phuket. Currently, the airport is negotiating with a number of international airline companies on the opening of freight routes to Japan, the United States, Mexico and other countries.