Yutu rover beams back pictures from the surface of the Moon

Yutu (玉兔 - "Jade Rabbit") is an unmanned lunar rover in China's Chang'e 3 mission to the Moon.
 It was launched on 1 December 2013, and reached the Moon's surface on 14 December 2013. The mission marks the first soft landing on the Moon since 1976 and the first rover to operate there since the Soviet Lunokhod 2 ceased operations on 11 May 1973. Though Yutu is 40 years behind American and Soviet rovers. It still represents a significant achievment for Chinese space effort. The scientific objectives of Chang'e-3 mainly include lunar surface topography and geology survey, lunar surface material composition and resource survey, Sun-Earth-Moon space environment detection and lunar-based astronomical observation.
Chang'e 3 will attempt to perform the first direct measurement of the structure and depth of the lunar soil down to a depth of 30 m (98 ft), and investigate the lunar crust structure down to several hundred meters deep. The Yutu rover has a mass of 140 kg, with a payload capacity of 20 kg. Yutu is equipped with a robotic arm to position its APXS near a target sample. In addition, the rover can transmit video in real time, and has automatic sensors to prevent it from colliding with other objects. Yutu was designed to explore an area of 3 square kilometres during its 3-month mission, with a maximum travelling distance of 10 km. The Yutu rover carries a ground-penetrating radar and spectrometers to inspect the composition of the soil and the structure of the lunar crust beneath it. The lander entered sleep mode on 25 December, followed by the rover on 26 December.
On 11 January 2014, after the two-week lunar night was over, both the rover and lander were taken out of sleep mode. On 16 January, the rover completed its first examination of the lunar soil.
Future missions may bring moon soil back to earth. Some of pictures from the surface of the Moon:
View of Earth from the Moon – by Chang’e-3 on Christmas Day 2013 Earth indeed is a blue marble.
From extreme ultraviolet camera on Dec. 16, 2013 shows the observation of the Earth’s plasmasphere
Photo of Yutu moon rover taken by camera on the Chang’e-3 moon lander on Dec. 15, 2013 Chinese flag is brightly red.
Yutu portrait taken by the Chang’e-3 lander on Dec. 22, 2013
Photo of Chang’e-3 moon lander emblazoned with Chinese national flag taken by the panoramic camera on the Yutu moon rover on Dec. 22, 2013
A digitally-combined polar panorama shows a 360 degree color view of the moonscape around the Chang’e-3 lander after the Yutu moon rover drove onto the lunar surface leaving visible tracks behind

China's gold medalists at the 2012 London Olympics

China performed well at the 2012 London Olympics.
A total of 396 Chinese athletes, 171 male and 225 female, were selected by the Chinese Olympic Committee to compete in 23 sports.
China won the second-largest number of gold medals at the 2012 Olympics, with 38. China's total medal count of 88 was second only to that of the United States.
Congratulations to these Olympics Champions!

China's Aizhai Bridge - world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge 矮寨大桥

The Aizhai Bridge (矮寨大桥) is a suspension bridge on the G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway near Jishou, Hunan, China.

With a main span of 1,146 meters and a deck height of 350 meters, it is the sixth-highest bridge in the world and the world's twelfth-longest suspension bridge. Of the world's 400 or so highest bridges, none has a main span as long as Aizhai. It is also the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge.

Construction on the Aizhai Bridge began in October 2007 and was completed by the end of 2011, ahead of schedule.The bridge was temporarily opened to pedestrians during the 2012 Spring Festival and was formally opened to traffic in March 2012.

The bridge was built with the assistance of a $208 million loan from the Asian Development Bank; the loan also funded 64 kilometers of expressway construction and upgrades to 129 kilometers of local roads. The bridge and the associated road construction reduced the travel time between Jishou and Chadong from 4 hours to less than 1 hour.

矮寨特大悬索桥，位于湖南省吉首市矮寨镇，是中国国家高速公路网主干线包茂高速公路吉首－茶峒段的关键工程，跨越德夯峡谷，主跨跨径1176米，是世界上峡谷跨径最大的钢桁梁悬索桥。桥面宽度为24.5米，双向四车道，桥面距峡谷底部高度为355米。于2007年10月开工建设，2012年3月31日建成通车。

Chinese people celebrate the colorful Lantern Festival 元宵节

Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Festival 元宵节 or Shangyuan Festival 上元节) is a traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the Chinese calendar, the last day of the lunisolar Chinese New Year celebration.

The first month of the Chinese calendar is called yuan month, and in ancient times people called night xiao; therefore, the day is called Yuan Xiao Festival in mainland China and Taiwan. The fifteenth day is the first night to see a full moon in that lunar year. According to Chinese tradition, at the very beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for people to appreciate. At this time, people will try to solve puzzles on lanterns, eat yuanxiao (a glutinous rice ball) and enjoy a family reunion.

Illuminations are seen during the 18th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival in Zigong, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 23, 2012. Debuting in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), the Zigong Lantern Festival has been held for more than 1,000 years. Zigong Lantern Festival is one of the most famous lantern showcases in China, embodying the lantern culture. Lanterns made in Zigong have long enjoyed a good reputation.The numerous colorful lanterns turn night into day.

Chunyun 春运 the largest annual human migration in the world

Chunyun, 春运, also referred to as the Spring Festival travel season or the Chunyun period, is a period of travel in China with extremely high traffic load around the time of the Chinese New Year. The period usually begins 15 days before the Lunar New Year's Day and lasts for around 40 days. The number of passenger journeys during the Chunyun period has exceeded the population of China, hitting over 2 billion in 2008. Rail transport experiences the biggest challenge during the period, and myriad social problems have emerged. In recent years, the situation has gotten better with the newly constructed high speed raillines. As the income of average Chinese citizens increases, more people are expected to go home by air plane. If the Chinese economy is more balanced, fewer people would have to seek opportunities away from home. This should further alleviate the transportation bottleneck.

Views of lunar eclipse in China (月全食)

A total lunar eclipse took place on December 10, 2011. It was the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2011, the first having occurred on June 15. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is positioned just right in its orbit to pass through

Asia, Australia, and other areas of the Pacific had the best visibility. European countries only saw a partial eclipse of a rising moon, while northwestern North America saw a partial eclipse of a setting moon. Due to air pollution around major metropolitan cities, the eclipsed moon had a reddish appearance, while, in more rural, less-populated areas, the eclipse was more clear.

Chinese stargazers will have their best view of a total lunar eclipse in 10 years on Saturday if weather permits, the Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said Thursday.

Wang Sichao, a research fellow with the observatory, said during the total eclipse, the full moon will not completely disappear from the Earth's shadow, but will take on a brilliant bronze color.

He said the eclipse will be the best one seen in China since the last one occurred on Jan. 10, 2001.

"Theoretically, viewers can observe the eclipse from nearly everywhere in the country on Saturday," said the astronomer.

He said the eclipse, the second this year, will last for 51 minutes. It will start at 8:45 p.m. and reach its climax at 10:06 p.m.

Wang said Chinese viewers will have to wait until Oct. 8, 2014 to see the next total lunar eclipse.

这次月全食是继2001年1月10日之后，我国观测条件最好的一次月全食。一次月全食有初亏、食既、生光、复圆等几个重要时间点。本次月全食的初亏为北京时间12月10日20时45分，食既为10日22时06分，生光时刻为10日22时57分，复圆则发生在11日0时17分。其中，食既到生光为全食阶段，这意味着，对于观测者而言最精彩的全食时间有51分钟。

China's First Docking in Space with Shenzhou 8 spacecraft and Tiangong 1 space module

Shenzhou 8 is an unmanned spacecraft launched on November 1 in China, by a modified Long March 2F (CZ-2F) rocket which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft was remotely docked with the Tiangong 1 space module (launched on 29 September 2011). This unmanned docking—China's first—will be followed in 2012 with the manned Shenzhou 9 mission, which will perform a manned docking (also China's first) with the Tiangong 1 module. Only the Soviet Union (Russia) and the European Space Agency had achieved automatic rendezvous and docking prior to China's accomplishment.

The landmark rendezvous and docking was carried live by state run CCTV for all the world to watch. The impressive 2 hour long TV broadcast showed simultaneous and breathtaking camera videos from both the unpiloted Shenzhou-8 capsule and the Tiangong-1 space station module as they viewed one another in the cameras field of view and slowly approached together with the lovely Earth as a backdrop.

Mission controllers carefully monitored all spacecraft systems on both Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 as they sped closer at about 20 cm/sec and stopped at several parking points along the way (400 m, 140 m, 30 m) to confirm everything was nominal.

Chinese engineers and on board systems precisely guided the two spaceships and watched for any deviations. In case of any failures they had the capability to radio the vehicles to separate. But no deviations occurred and the autonomous docking proceeded to completion.

The two vehicles will remain docked for 12 days, then unhook and back off about 150 meters and then conduct another practice docking. The second practice docking is being done to gain more expertise and confidence and will be carried out under different conditions and in daylight.

The combined Shenzhou-8/Tiangong-1 orbiting complex weighs about 16 tons, some 8 tons each. Tiangong-1 is 10.4 m in length and 3.3. m in diameter. Shenzhou 8 is 9.2 m in length.

图解神舟八号天宫一号空间交会对接过程

１１月１日清晨，神舟八号飞船从西北戈壁滩成功发射。已进入近地轨道的飞船将于两天内完成与中国空间实验室雏形——天宫一号目标飞行器的首次空间交会对接。
这次交会对接试验将为我国２０２０年左右建立空间站奠定重要技术基础。试验成功后，我国将成为继美国、俄罗斯后第三个完全独立拥有空间交会对接技术的国家。
从酒泉卫星发射中心升空的长征二号Ｆ遥八火箭具有更高的入轨精度，它将飞船送入了初始轨道。
神舟八号将通过远距离导引、自主控制，靠近已在轨飞行的天宫一号，实现两次对接和组合体飞行，随后返回地面。
中国载人航天工程发言人武平说，神舟八号是改进型飞船，具有自动和手动交会对接功能，沿用轨道舱、返回舱和推进舱三舱构型，全长９米，最大直径２．８米，起飞质量８０８２公斤。神舟八号与此前的飞船相比，一半以上设备发生了技术状态变化。其中，新研制设备约占１５％。