Chinese Daily Photos, 2011 to 2019!

A security guard (R) restrains a fan as he tries to hug NBA basketball player LeBron James of the Miami Heat, during an exhibition basketball match at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai August 18, 2011. The match was originally played between players from Taiwan and Shanghai, but James joined during the fourth quarter to assist the team from Shanghai. He is on a promotional tour in Asia during which he will visit Taipei, Chengdu, Xi'an and Shanghai.

Click to expand...

Kaohsiung, Taiwan's Chia-Hao Ko pitches in the first inning of a pool play baseball game against Mexicali, Mexico at the Little League World Series, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011, in South Williamsport, Pa.

Click to expand...

2,496 Taiwanese people gather to swing hula hoops in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most number of people swinging hula hoops in two minutes in Taipei, Taiwan, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011.

Click to expand...

Photos taken on Aug. 19, 2011 shows a view in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. (Xinhua/Li Mingfang)

Click to expand...

Beijing, 19 Aug 201 -- Vibrant cultural exchange at its height between Bayi Rocket (People Liberation Army team) and Georgetown Hoyas...

Click to expand...

To their surprise, the Universal Cultural Enrichers appeared to be reversely-enriched this time by the generous Chinese people with a full swing of hospitality. Numerous volunteers were seen deeply moved at scene ... Spontaneous donations poured in: simple items such as functional chairs and bottles of drinking water (oke, half bottles of drinking water), though not G’town Hoyas’ usual favourite goodies like the latest mobile phones, Blackberries and Nike trainers.

Click to expand...

BEIJING (AP) — A wild brawl broke out between Georgetown and a Chinese men's basketball team Thursday night, putting an immediate end to a supposed goodwill game that coincided with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the country.

The benches cleared and fights erupted all over the court with about 9½ minutes left in the fourth quarter. The rest of the exhibition between Georgetown and the Bayi Rockets was called off.

Biden did not attend the game. On Wednesday, he watched the Hoyas beat the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons 98-81.

The Washington Post reported Georgetown and Bayi players tackled and threw punches at each another. Chairs and water bottles were tossed as the Hoyas headed to the locker room with the score 64-all in a testy, foul-plagued matchup.

"Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said in a statement. "We sincerely regret that this situation occurred."

Georgetown and the Rockets are scheduled to play again Sunday night in Shanghai.

The melee was the latest instance of on-court fighting by China, whose players have been fined tens of thousands of dollars by the world and Asian federations for scrapping with opponents.

Georgetown is in China on a 10-day trip which has been cited by the U.S. State Department as an example of sports diplomacy that strengthens ties between the two countries. The Hoyas were briefed by the State Department ahead of their departure on what to expect during its trip to Beijing and Shanghai, according to news releases on the university's website.

"We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University," Thompson III said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner called it an "unfortunate" incident.

"We look to these types of exchanges to promote good sportsmanship and strengthen our people-to-people contact with China," he said.

On Thursday, Biden met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, who is expected to take over as Communist Party chief next year. After his China trip, Biden will go to Mongolia on Monday, then travel later in the day Japan.

Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter at

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Georgetown players give basketball tips to young Chinese players during a training camp held in Shanghai, China, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011. Georgetown coach John Thompson III said he has made peace with the coach of the Chinese basketball team over the bench-clearing player brawl and denies the incident carried any political connotations

Click to expand...

Georgetown's Jabril Trawick (55) tries to get past a Chinese player from the Liaoning Dinosaur during an exhibition match held in Shanghai, China, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Georgetown won 92-69 in their first match after a brawl with another Chinese team last Thursday, Aug. 18 in Beijing.

Click to expand...

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, second from right, listens as Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, second from left, talks under the colored roof of the South Bridge that's part of an ancient irrigation system in Dujiangyan on the outskirts of Chengdu, in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011.

Click to expand...

Gabriel Yeap, one of the organizers of "Cook A Pot of Curry"

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

event, shows his homemade chicken curry during a photocall at co-organizer Florence Leow's home in

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

August 21, 2011. Yeap and his six friends, creators of "Cook a pot of Curry" Facebook event, organized the gathering in response to a media report about a mainland Chinese family who could not stand the smell of their local Indian neighbours cooking curry, in an effort to promote understanding, awareness and respect between different cultural groups.

Click to expand...

Organizers of "Cook A Pot of Curry"

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

event Stanley Wong (2nd L), Florence Leow (3rd L) and Gabriel Yeap (C) eat curry with friends including Liang Meizi (2nd R) from

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

during a photocall at Leow's home in

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

August 21, 2011.

Click to expand...

Florence Leow cooks a pot of Indian vegetarian curry for her friends at her house in

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

August 21, 2011.

Click to expand...

Gang Jietai who is 67 years old, goes through his daily gymnastics routine at the Tiantan Park in Beijing, on August 21, 2011.

Click to expand...

Liu Taitai who is 75 years old, plays the Chinese game called 'Jianzi' or 'Hacky Sack' which involves kicking a heavy shuttlecock, at the Tiantan Park in Beijing, on August 21, 2011.

Click to expand...

NBA basketball player LeBron James of the Miami Heat smiles during a photo-taking session with university student volunteers in Shanghai August 18, 2011. James is on a promotional tour in Asia, visiting Taipei, Chengdu, Xi'an and Shanghai.

Click to expand...

Photo journalists hold placards read, "Pictures tell the truth," during a protest outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011. About 300 reporters and photographers rallied on Saturday against what they said was the suppression of press freedom and freedom of expression during Vice Premier Li Keqiang's visit.

Click to expand...

Rescuers search for survivors at the site of a boiler explosion in a local hospital in Changzhi, North China's Shanxi province, Aug 20, 2011. [Photo/cnr.cn]

TAIYUAN, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and 17 others injured, two severely, after a blast ripped through a boiler room in a hospital in northern Chinese city of Changzhi Friday, local authorities said.

A person was killed instantly when a boiler exploded at about 4 p.m. at the Chengqu Hospital in Changzhi, Shanxi Province, and two others died while being rushed to the emergency room, the city government announced in a statement.

The injured people are being treated at the hospital and all are described in stable condition.

Online photos show that half of the boiler room was destroyed after the blast.

Local authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident, the statement said.

Click to expand...

At least six people were killed and another five injured in a 31-vehicle pileup on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that occurred on Thursday morning. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

Click to expand...

Yichun Bridge in east China's Jiangxi province falls during a blasting demolition at about 8am on August 20, 2011. The bridge, which was almost 40 years old, cannot serve current traffic loan conditions of the city. A double-decked bridge, named "Mingyue Bridge" will be built on this spot. [Chinanews.com]

Click to expand...

BEIJING (AP) — Vinegar tainted with antifreeze is suspected of killing 11 people and sickening 120 after a communal Ramadan meal in China's far western region of Xinjiang.

Investigators suspect the victims consumed vinegar that was put in two plastic barrels that had previously been used to store toxic antifreeze, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

It said the mass food poisoning occurred Saturday night in a village close to Hotan city in Xinjiang, a border region that abuts Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. The victims were Muslims who were sharing an evening meal after the daily fast observed during the holy month of Ramadan.

Xinhua said children as young as 6 were among the dead. One person among the 120 sickened was still in critical condition.

Authorities were still testing to confirm the source of the poisoning, it said.

China's food safety record has been battered by the rampant use of illegal or substandard additives by unscrupulous food producers. Milk powder laced with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six children and sickened 300,000 in 2008. Producers added the nitrogen-rich melamine powder so their milk would seem higher in protein.

Revenge attacks using rat poison or other chemicals are also common in China, where access to firearms and other deadly weapons is tightly controlled.

In April, three children died and 35 others were sickened by milk tainted with nitrite. An investigation showed that a local dairy farmer had put the poison into their competitor's milk supply.

But accidental contamination is also a problem, caused by low hygiene standards, particularly in rural areas, and weak quality control by regulators.

Click to expand...