Bob Dylan April 10 in Ho Chi Minh City

VietNamNet Bridge - Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan Legendary American country singer and songwriter Bob Dylan has announced on his website he would perform in Ho Chi Minh City on April 10.

The show, to take place at Loretta Grounds at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT), is part of an Asian tour that includes a visit to Beijing on April 6 and Shanghai on April 8.
Dylan said he would devote an hour of his performance at RMIT to celebrate Trinh Cong Son, one of Vietnam’s greatest songwriters who inspired many of his anti-war songs.
Pham Dinh Thang, Vice Director of the Bureau of Performance Arts Department which was processing a license for Thanh Nien Media Corp. to organize the show, said he couldn’t give any detail just yet.
Seven years ago, it was announced that Dylan would come to Vietnam to attend the World Peace Music Awards but the event was finally organized in the US.
Bob Dylan, 70, has been a major figure in music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler, and an apparently reluctant figurehead, of social unrest. A number of his songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’” became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. His early lyrics incorporated a variety of political, social and philosophical, as well as literary influences.
Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting.
Since 1994, Dylan has published three books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. As a songwriter and musician, Dylan has received numerous awards over the years including Grammys, Golden Globes, and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2008, a Bob Dylan Pathway was opened in the singer’s honor in his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota. The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.”
Time Magazine ranks him among 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Source: Tuoi Tre

Shanghai World Expo bigger economic than China's Beijing Olympics

SHANGHAI: Shanghai'S US$44 billion (US$1 = RM3.21) World Expo may secure bigger economic benefits for China's richest city than Beijing reaped from the Olympics two years ago.
The exhibition runs for the next six months, 10 times longer than the games, and is forecast by the organisers to draw 10 times as many visitors.
When guests from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to North Korean deputy leader Kim Yong Nam have gone home, the event will leave Shanghai with an additional US$40 billion of roads, subway lines and airport terminals.

"The World Expo will accelerate Shanghai's infrastructure development by 20 years," said James McGregor, a senior counsellor in Beijing at public-affairs company APCO Worldwide and author of the book "One Billion Customers."
"This may be a better economic proposition than the Olympics."
Shanghai is wagering that the event, opened by President Hu Jintao on April 30, will cement a reputation as a premier destination and as a financial centre after already surpassing Hong Kong's economy in size last year.
General Electric Co, BP Plc, Coca-Cola Co and Johnson & Johnson are sponsors as the city of 20 million hosts the five-yearly event.
The economic benefit may be 79.5 billion yuan (1 yuan = RM0.47), or about 3.5 times Beijing's gain, according to Chen Xinkang, a professor of marketing and business management at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
World expos began with the 1851 World's Fair in London's Crystal Palace and showcased the wealth and technological prowess of Europe's industrialised nations.
Shanghai won hosting rights in 2002, allotting 28.6 billion yuan for construction and operating costs and 270 billion yuan for infrastructure, including two airport terminals and a three- year renovation of the historic riverside Bund.
In comparison, Beijing spent 280 billion yuan on infrastructure for the Olympics, while Japan's Aichi Prefecture spent about US$3 billion hosting the 2005 World Expo.
The main attractions are pavilions of cultural and corporate displays, almost all paid for by the nations and companies they represent. Denmark has shipped across the bronze Little Mermaid statue.
While the Olympics drew 6.52 million tourists, according to the organisers, Shanghai forecasts an influx of 70 million visitors, which may result in 46.9 billion yuan of direct consumption, according to Chen
Read more: Shanghai expo may surpass Beijing's Olympic gains http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/Expo_wins/Article/#ixzz0muEnTE3Q

World's airlines plan 600 new routes of 2019

World’s airlines already plan 600 new routes for 2010; easyJet and Ryanair account for 200+

8th January 2010 | Top Story | One Comment »

Reasons for routes - exciting cities and places which will all enjoy great enterprise (and therefore new air services) in 2010: The Macau “Rabbit Building” Pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo; Dubai’s the newly-opened Burj Khalifa (the world’s “greatest building” was opened and renamed this week after “a great man” - the ruler of Abu Dhabi); and two buildings currently rising from the ground - Philadelphia’s 63-floor/460m American Commerce Center and Renzo Piano’s 72-floor/310 m London Shard.

The new year may be barely a week old, but anna.aero can reveal that the world’s airlines have already revealed plans to start almost 600 new routes this year. Whether by the end of the year, that figure will have reached 2,000 new services, as it did in 2009, remains to be seen, but clearly there are plenty of airlines planning for growth and hoping to take advantage of new opportunities. Regular readers of anna.aero will not be surprised to learn that two European low-cost airlines (easyJet and Ryanair) have between them already announced over 200 new routes, with Ryanair accounting for two-thirds of this figure.

Source: anna.aero new route database

The Dublin-based LCC will be adding Bari, Brindisi, Oslo Rygge, Malaga and Faro as new bases in 2010, bringing the total number of bases to 39. In contrast, easyJet’s 70 new routes involve the creation of just one new base, at Doncaster/Sheffield airport in the UK. European carriers feature seven times in the top 10 of airlines starting the most new routes. The remaining carriers are all from the US; American, Delta and Southwest. So far anna.aero has identified over 100 airlines that have announced plans to begin at least one new route this year.

MEB3 expansion plans

Although European and North American carriers dominate the rankings for starting most new routes, it is worth taking a closer look at what the Middle East “MEB3″ airlines have announced so far for 2010.

• Emirates: new routes from Dubai to Tokyo Narita (28 March), Amsterdam (1 May), Prague (1 July) and Madrid (1 August).
• Etihad: new routes from Abu Dhabi to Colombo (technically a resumption of services from 1 January), Nagoya via Beijing (1 February) and Tokyo Narita (28 March).
• Qatar Airways: new routes from Doha to Ankara (5 April), Bangalore, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Tokyo Narita via Osaka.

All three carriers are taking advantage of finally being able to gain access to Tokyo’s busiest international airport, thanks to an increase in the number of available slots.

Other new route stumuli: 787 arrives end-year

This year should see the entry into service of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which made its maiden test flight just before Christmas. Although Airbus and Boeing suffered a slowdown in new orders during 2009, their order books remain healthy and 2010 should see both manufacturers delivering over 400 aircraft to their global customers, all looking for places to fly to.

FIFA World Cup in South Africa

This year’s biggest sporting event will be the football World Cup which will be held for the first time on the African continent in South Africa during June and July. Some airlines are already adding extra flights to cope with the anticipated surge in demand to attend this high-profile event featuring the teams from 32 countries. Other notable sporting events include the Winter Olympics in Vancouver (in February) and the Commonwealth Games taking place in Delhi (in October).

Heathrow’s R3 plans under threat

A general election in the UK this year may see the scrapping of plans for a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport. The opposition Conservatives, led by David Cameron (the local Member of Parliament of anna.aero’s editor), are currently favourites to win and “the party of business” is apparently committed to reversing the current government’s plans for a new runway at Europe’s busiest airport, just so it can win.

However, the desire to travel remains an ingrained part of the human psyche and data from many regions at the end of 2009 suggested that 2010 should see an increase in air travel compared with 2009. So, despite fuel prices rising once more, the possibility of increased taxation, new security measures and the ever present environmental issues and silly political decisions, while airlines and airports have plenty of headaches…anna.aero’s prediction for 2010 is…it’s gonna be much better than last year.

HCM City in the top ten expensive Asian cities | Look At Vietnam

According to the Forbes, HCM City ranks the tenth among Asian cities for expensiveness, based on the house leasing prices and the real estate market.

According to Forbes, HCM City people have to pay $1800 to hire an apartment with two luxurious bedrooms for a month. Meanwhile, the per capita income of the local residents is $2800/year.

The real estate market in HCM City, the biggest city and an economic centre in Vietnam, is quite stable in the economic crisis. In the third quarter of 2009, over ten new housing projects were kicked off. The demand for housing is still growing, despite economic slowdown.

In the global financial crisis, the estate prices continue escalating in Asia. The pay for hiring houses and offices in the biggest cities in this continent doesn’t reduce or highly rises compared to per capita income. It is even more expensive to buy house than the pre-crisis period. This October, an apartment in Hong Kong was sold for $56 milion.

Japan’s Tokyo is still the most expensive city. The average price for hiring a luxurious apartment with two bedrooms is $4737. The four cities in the top five are Hong Kong, Beijing, Mumbai and Shanghai.

To make this list, Forbes used data of the Mercer, which has researched of the growth in Asia compared to the rest of the world in the last two decades.

VietNamNet/Forbes/VNE

China approves Shanghai Disneyland -05 November, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney has won approval from the central government of China to build a Disneyland-style theme park in Shanghai,

Analysts estimate Shanghai Disneyland — not including hotels and resort infrastructure — will cost US$3.5 billion, making it one of the largest-ever foreign investments in China.

The initial resort, with a mix of shopping areas, hotels and a Magic Kingdom-style theme park, will sprawl across 1,000 acres of the city’s Pudong district.

The theme park will occupy about 100 acres, making it a little bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, California and on par with the parks in Paris and Tokyo.

It is expected to open in five or six years.

Disney has been talking to China about a Disneyland theme park for almost 20 years amd analysts say approval of the project signals that the Chinese leadership may be more open to Western investment.

China eagerly prepares for a rare total solar eclipse

Email Picture

Ajit Solanki / Associated Press

Visitors at Science City in Ahmadabad, India, try out solar goggles after a demonstration on how to safely watch a solar eclipse today.
More photos >>>

Authorities are on red alert against traffic, stampedes and H1N1, but still the atmosphere is festive. Some fliers will chase the moon's shadow; 20 couples will wed; others quietly plan to skip work.

By Joshua Frank
9:30 AM PDT, July 21, 2009

Reporting from Beijing -- In a popular Chinese legend, a giant named Kua Fu chased the fiery sun across the sky, hoping to bring about the end of a catastrophic drought. Though the hero dies in impassioned pursuit, the gods take notice of his inspired effort and punish the sun, forcing it farther from the Earth and drawing the calamitous weather to a close.

Now, Chinese media are ablaze with the mythical giant's name -- this time, to refer to amateur astronomers who have flocked to southern China for the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. International and domestic tourists have descended on government-designated viewing spots such as Shanghai, Suzhou and Wuhan to witness the natural phenomenon.

• 

  Photos: Asia prepares for solar...

• 

  Graphic: Total solar eclipse

• Travel blog: Watch live webcast of total solar eclipse at Griffith Observatory July 21, 2009

The rare total eclipse will be visible through a swath of India and southern China on Wednesday morning (Chinese time).

When the eclipse hits Chengdu, Sichuan province, passengers on five specially chartered Sichuan Airlines flights will chase the moon's shadow on its trajectory across the southern part of the country, enveloped in darkness for more than half an hour before landing in Shanghai. The price is $200, and few spaces remain.

For thriftier sun chasers, flimsy "solar eclipse observation glasses" are being sold on the streets in southern China, as well as online. On Taobao.com, a marketplace website comparable to EBay, the glasses, which sell for roughly $1, were almost sold out.

Chinese authorities have adopted nighttime traffic regulations, and construction sites -- and even some amusement park rides -- will close in eclipse-affected cities. China Daily reported that local authorities would be on red alert, ready to prevent traffic jams and stampedes and vigilant against the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.

Still, neither security measures nor fears it may rain in many prime viewing cities have done much to hamper the festive atmosphere. In Shanghai, 20 couples are due to tie the knot as the moon meets the sun. The organizer of the weddings, a man surnamed Yu, told the Ximin News Agency that the celestial phenomenon would be "the perfect witness to the couples' happiness."

The 100-member Astronomy Club of Shanghai's Tongji University will be taking textbooks and telescopes to the streets around their campus, practicing what their president, 20-year-old Wen Zhesi, calls "sidewalk astronomy."

An Internet campaign was launched against the city's plan to turn on streetlights during the eclipse, claiming the lights would distract from viewing. Ultimately, they succeeded, persuading the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau to keep the streets dark.

In neighboring Jiangsu province, companies have scheduled days off. Even in areas not directly affected by the eclipse, such as northwestern China's Gansu province, authorities have declared the day a holiday in some counties.

Members of many popular online forums, such as Sohu and Tianya, as well as dedicated astronomy sites, have been mischievously discussing skipping work to take in the eclipse. "When you see an eclipse," says Wen "you'll never forget it."

"It's an inspiring event. . . . You'll want to see it again."

Shanghai airlines starts direct route to Hanoi

Shanghai Airlines launched its first direct flight from Shanghai to Hanoi on March 27 and took the return flight the following morning.

This carrier is offering a promotional campaign from now until the end of April with a 35 percent discount on return tickets, normally priced at US$280.

The Hanoi-Shanghai flights will depart on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday and the return flights on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday every week.



VietNamNet/VOV

A change in international relations can make for good business

A change in international relations can make for good business
Hundreds of Chinese tourists arrived in Taiwan on Monday on the first luxury cruise ship to sail directly to the island from China, boosting prospects for expanded economic and tourism ties between the rivals.

The Ocean Mystery arrived at Keelung port following a two-day cruise from Shanghai, with well-wishers setting off firecrackers and performing traditional dragon dances. The 1,600 passengers are the first of several large-scale tour groups Chinese officials have promised to send to Taiwan by ship or air.

After disembarking, many of the passengers were bused to an upscale shopping mall in nearby Taipei, where they inspected luxury goods at a local department store. Zhang Yonghong and Hsu Hongying, two female shoppers from Shandong province, told reporters they planned to spend up to USD 1,460 at the store.

Since taking office last year, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has eased long-strained relations with China by promoting closer economic ties. Last December, the two sides lifted a ban on direct transportation links imposed when they split amid civil war in 1949.

Taiwanese officials hope a significant increase in the number of Chinese tourists could help shore up the island's economy. It contracted 8.36 per cent in the final quarter last year amid the global economic downturn.

- Beijing and Shanghai Remain Most Popular Destinations in China

The second China ad Pan-Asian study into the China and Asia Meetings Industry conducted by the organisers of CIBTM, Reed Travel Exhibitions, and independently analysed by The Right Solution Limited, shows a very positive outlook for both the domestic and international markets in China and elsewhere in Asia. Undertaken in August 2008, during the Olympic Games in Beijing, the supplier and buyer research is presented at a time when the crisis in the global financial markets is pushing many of the world’s leading economies into recession,. However, this research reflects the fact that Asian countries are showing a healthier picture.BUYER RESEARCH RESULTS OVERVIEWOf the 650 buyer respondents 88% were based in 12 countries, but a total of 70% were based in Asia with 56% from China.Many Asian countries, in particular China and India, are investing heavily in conference and event facilities with 28 exhibition centre developments in Asia underway. Similarly the region is generating significant demand for meetings space both within their own countries and elsewhere in the world. There are estimated to be 70,000 associations within India alone.China, Hong Kong and Macau came joint third of the Asian countries ranked in the top 40 destinations in the world seeing 255 international association meetings during 2007 in their countries. The total meetings held in the continent (2,052) has risen to 20% of the international association meetings held worldwide in 2007 compared to 15% during 2006.Respondents to the survey showed that the greatest percentage (over 22%) of buyers represented industries within the IT/Telecom/Electronic sector followed by Pharma/Medical and Financial and Manufacturing following behind. Similarly Beijing and Shanghai were rated top of the 12 destinations worldwide by buyers as the places where events were held in 2007. Shanghai which came second in the table tied at 30% of respondents with west and north Europe whilst Beijing showed 40% of all buyers.Mainland China secured 428 events during 2007. Beijing came top with Shanghai in 2nd place and Guangdong came third. In the Far East (excluding China) respondents showed that they placed 189 events with Hong Kong taking the lions share, followed by Japan and Macau. In South Asia, 117 events were placed with the top destination being India and in South East Asia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were the top four locations. The rest of the world secured 350 events with the majority going to Western and Northern Europe.The research also showed that Mainland China had the largest number of attendees at events held during 2007. With the mean number of 146 for the rest of the world, China had an average of 156 and the Far East 143, followed by South Asia at 139 and South East Asia at 148.40% of buyers predicted that the number of events held in China will increase in the next 12 months with influencing factors showing that cost was still the number one consideration predicted by 74% of buyers. Location remained in second place (71%), but quality of accommodation (67%) ranked 5th in 2007, moved up to be the third most important factor (67%). Quality of service, security and safety were ranked third and fourth – and changed places from 2007.

more info -->>>FTN - Beijing and Shanghai Remain Most Popular Destinations in China

9th Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival begins

The ninth Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival kicked off at Century Park in eastern Shanghai's Pudong District on Tuesday evening.
A fireworks show by Russian artists lightsup Century Park in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on Tuesday, September 30, 2008, as part of the city's ninth International Music and Fireworks Festival.
Artists from China and Russia presented their fireworks shows on the opening night, leaving a deep impact on the audience.
The "graceful Oriental dance and Chinese music and fireworks show" staged by two Chinese corporations blended rhythm, color, and composition of fireworks with Asian dancing and music.
Local residents who missed the performance on Tuesday still have a chance to enjoy the fireworks on October 3 and 6, when Japanese and German fireworks companies will play the leading roles.
Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival is organized around National Day and has been held every year at the Century Park since 2000 to showcase new sound, light and electrical technology.
Previous festivals have showcased masters from Switzerland, Britain, Japan and Argentina.
The pyrotechnic exhibitions are part of the ongoing Shanghai Tourism Festival.

China's new super computer - Telegraph

China has built the world's seventh-fastest super computer, in another sign of its ambition to be a leading force in high-technology.

IBM's Roadrunner is five times faster than the Chinese computer, but cost more than three times as much
The Dawning 5,000A, which will be installed in Shanghai, will be used for "genome mapping, earthquake appraisal, precise weather forecasts, and stock exchange data," said Hua Nie, the vice president of Dawning. It covers more than 750sq ft of floor space.
The Communist Party believes super computers are essential to China's efforts in science and advanced design.
The Dawning was finished too late to be included in the official rankings of the world's most powerful machines, which was released last week. However, the Dawning is thought to be only slightly slower than the sixth-ranked IBM Blue Gene/P computer at the Juelich Research Centre in Germany.
Five of the world's top ten fastest computers are built by IBM, and the world's number one, Roadrunner, sits in the Los Alamos Laboratory of the US Energy Department and is used for military applications.
advertisement
Roadrunner is five times faster than the Chinese computer, but cost more than three times the £15 million price tag of the Dawning.
Nevertheless the Dawning computer can do 160 trillion computations a second, otherwise known as flops. China is one of only a handful of countries, including Japan and Korea, which has been capable of building such a machine. The fastest super computer in the UK, Hector, is a 63 trillion flop machine.
China is also aiming to build three other super computers, which are 10 times as fast as the Dawning 5,000. Lenovo is building one at the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing, while Shanghai and Shenzen will host the others.
Those computers are also likely to use Chinese-made microchips, rather than the Intel and AMD chips that are currently popular.
The state media said China had been forced to develop its own super computer technology because the US refused to allow advanced super computers to be sold to Communist state because of security worries.