China opens new art museum

The China Art Museum is on the former site of the 2010 World Expo and covers 166,000 square metres. With 64,000sqm of display space, art buffs can easily spend two hours walking through all the 27 exhibition halls without stopping. More than 1,400 artworks from China and abroad will be on display at the museum.

 

Lisbon tells its story

The Portuguese capital Lisbon has opened a new permanent exhibition devoted to the city’s history. The Lisboa Story Centre in the Pracado Comercio square portrays, among other things, the devastating earthquake of 1755. Further important historical highlights are illustrated in an interactive scale model of the city centre. The Lisboa Story Centre is open daily from 10am to 8pm.Tickets cost 9 euros (Bt360) for adults and 6 euros for children. – DPA

 

Laos gears up for tourists

The Lao tourism sector is gearing up to improve the skills of tourism industry personnel and is making other upgrades in an effort to integrate the country into the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. Establishing the Tour Guide Association and opening up more direct flights to Asean nations and other countries is also part of Laos’ master plan. Laos expects five million tourists and US$1 billion in revenue in 2015. – Vientiane Times/ANN

 

Making tracks in Harbin

A high-speed railway linking major cities in Northeast China began trial operations lately, ahead of its launch at the end of the year. The new line, which links Dalian, a port city in Liaoning province and Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, is the world’s first high-speed railway built to withstand extreme cold weather conditions. A test train departed Harbin late week, arriving in Dalian three-and-a-half hours later. The journey takes nine hours on an ordinary train. The new line will make 24 stops and connect 10 cities, including the capitals of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. – China Daily/ANN

 

Splendours of the emperors

A special exhibition opens in Cologne this Saturday to mark the end of the year of China in Cologne. The East Asia Art Museum presents “Glanz der Kaiser von China" (Splendour of the Emperors of China: Art and Life in the Forbidden City), displaying numerous items from Beijing's Imperial Palace Museum, Portraits, ceremonial garments, monumental chimes and a throne will provide a glimpse into the royal court rituals. It continues until January 20. – DPA