A new guideline has been introduced to prohibit city- and provincial-level high schools from luring outstanding principals and teachers away from county-level schools, a move designed to address the decline in education quality at county high schools.
\nThe guideline also explicitly bans such high schools from recruiting top students from county-level schools.
\nWith nearly 60 percent of high school students in China studying at county-level schools, the performance of these institutions is crucial to the development and future of more than 16.7 million students. However, in recent years, many high-achieving teachers and students have been drawn to better-equipped urban schools, leading to what has been described as the "collapse of county-level high schools".
\nThe comprehensive plan, rolled out to revitalize ordinary high schools in county-level areas, aims to tackle existing irregularities and shortcomings while promoting high-quality educational development in less-developed regions.
\nIssued by the Ministry of Education and five other departments on Friday, the guideline outlines a systematic approach to strengthening county-level high school education. By 2030, the plan aims to improve the resource supply mechanism for ordinary high schools in line with the growing school-age population and to optimize the distribution of schools.
\nIt also seeks to enhance coordination between urban and rural education, narrow the development gap among high schools within the same city and establish a pattern of quality, distinctive and diversified development.
\nThe plan emphasizes correcting the tendency among high schools to focus solely on university enrollment rates and calls for deepening evaluation reform.
\nAdditionally, provincial-level authorities are required to specify daily schedules and vacation periods for high school students, including winter and summer breaks. Schools are prohibited from organizing make-up classes or assessments on weekends, holidays or during vacations.
\nMoreover, efforts will be made to address shortcomings in infrastructure at county-level high schools, with a focus on classrooms, laboratories, libraries, sports grounds and student dormitories.
\nAuthorities will promptly fill vacancies in understaffed subjects, and outstanding teachers from urban high schools will be encouraged to teach at county schools, the guideline said.
\nGreater support will be provided in professional title evaluation, appointment and compensation at county high schools to cultivate a group of leading teachers.
\nSupport will also be given to county-level high schools in building smart classrooms, making full use of national and provincial smart education platforms, and encouraging urban high schools to share high-quality digital education resources with county schools. Teachers' digital literacy will be enhanced to support these upgrades, it added.
\nDuring a recent news conference, Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng said revitalizing county-level high schools is a key priority in building a fair and high-quality basic education system. They play a crucial role in strengthening education, advancing rural vitalization, promoting new urbanization and supporting high-quality population development, he said.
\n"The quality of county high schools directly affects the growth and future of tens of thousands of students, particularly those from rural areas. Therefore, revitalizing these schools is not an option — it is a necessity. It is a matter of fundamental fairness and warmth in education," Huai said.
\nThrough the thorough implementation of the national guideline, authorities aim to make continuous efforts to strengthen and improve these schools, significantly narrow the development gap between urban and rural ordinary high schools, and enable rural students to access high-quality educational resources close to home, he said.
\nzoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn
\n", - "content": "A new guideline has been introduced to prohibit city- and provincial-level high schools from luring outstanding principals and teachers away from county-level schools, a move designed to address the decline in education quality at county high schools.
\nThe guideline also explicitly bans such high schools from recruiting top students from county-level schools.
\nWith nearly 60 percent of high school students in China studying at county-level schools, the performance of these institutions is crucial to the development and future of more than 16.7 million students. However, in recent years, many high-achieving teachers and students have been drawn to better-equipped urban schools, leading to what has been described as the "collapse of county-level high schools".
\nThe comprehensive plan, rolled out to revitalize ordinary high schools in county-level areas, aims to tackle existing irregularities and shortcomings while promoting high-quality educational development in less-developed regions.
\nIssued by the Ministry of Education and five other departments on Friday, the guideline outlines a systematic approach to strengthening county-level high school education. By 2030, the plan aims to improve the resource supply mechanism for ordinary high schools in line with the growing school-age population and to optimize the distribution of schools.
\nIt also seeks to enhance coordination between urban and rural education, narrow the development gap among high schools within the same city and establish a pattern of quality, distinctive and diversified development.
\nThe plan emphasizes correcting the tendency among high schools to focus solely on university enrollment rates and calls for deepening evaluation reform.
\nAdditionally, provincial-level authorities are required to specify daily schedules and vacation periods for high school students, including winter and summer breaks. Schools are prohibited from organizing make-up classes or assessments on weekends, holidays or during vacations.
\nMoreover, efforts will be made to address shortcomings in infrastructure at county-level high schools, with a focus on classrooms, laboratories, libraries, sports grounds and student dormitories.
\nAuthorities will promptly fill vacancies in understaffed subjects, and outstanding teachers from urban high schools will be encouraged to teach at county schools, the guideline said.
\nGreater support will be provided in professional title evaluation, appointment and compensation at county high schools to cultivate a group of leading teachers.
\nSupport will also be given to county-level high schools in building smart classrooms, making full use of national and provincial smart education platforms, and encouraging urban high schools to share high-quality digital education resources with county schools. Teachers' digital literacy will be enhanced to support these upgrades, it added.
\nDuring a recent news conference, Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng said revitalizing county-level high schools is a key priority in building a fair and high-quality basic education system. They play a crucial role in strengthening education, advancing rural vitalization, promoting new urbanization and supporting high-quality population development, he said.
\n"The quality of county high schools directly affects the growth and future of tens of thousands of students, particularly those from rural areas. Therefore, revitalizing these schools is not an option — it is a necessity. It is a matter of fundamental fairness and warmth in education," Huai said.
\nThrough the thorough implementation of the national guideline, authorities aim to make continuous efforts to strengthen and improve these schools, significantly narrow the development gap between urban and rural ordinary high schools, and enable rural students to access high-quality educational resources close to home, he said.
\nzoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-09/30/content_004_68daf7f0ed50ccabe151a635.htm#004CHINA", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:21:04 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "15f3b5b2fd59f1790436f090d790322d", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "007ADVERTORIAL - Innovation studios forge future technologies through expert mentorship and collaborative learning", "description": "![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-30/007/20250930_006_02_16.png\")
Xu Zhenchao (center), awarded the title People's Craftsman, talks to students at a crafts class held in Shenyang, Liaoning province.
\nFor Xu Zhenchao, a recipient of the title of People's Craftsman, it's not only about overcoming technical challenges with his skills; it's also about passing down the spirit of craftsmanship to future generations.
\nXu, 75, who is the senior manager for equipment engineering and technology at Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal, regularly visits frontline operations to exchange insights and share expertise.
\nBorn into a working-class family in Rongcheng, Shandongprovince, Xu began his career as a dockworker at Qingdao Port in 1974. A decade later, at the age of 34, he was selected as one of Qingdao Port's first crane operators for container handling. Since then, he has pursued excellence in his role. Despite having only a middle school education, Xu taught himself English to study the circuit diagrams of crane control panels. Through repeated experimentation, he overcame numerous challenges and ultimately produced two complete sets of detailed circuit diagrams based on the actual circuit boards.
\nOver the past few decades, Xu has shattered the world record for container handling nine times, establishing the renowned "Zhenchao efficiency". Leading his team in technological innovation, he pioneered the "oil-to-electric" conversion for container gantry cranes, helping to significantly reduce production costs.
\n"I've worked with gantry cranes all my life, and I hope to help others grow quickly," Xu said.
\nIn 2011, the Xu Zhenchao Model Worker Innovation Studio and Master Studio were both established, covering areas of 100 and 120 square meters respectively, and each accommodating more than 100 people.
\nFocusing on major topics such as smart ports, green ports, safety and quality, loading and unloading efficiency, equipment technology, and energy conservation, the two studios have established four innovation teams dedicated to efficiency, informatization, technology, and migrant workers. These teams tackle technical challenges in port innovation projects and play a leading role in summarizing achievements, innovative processes, and new project development.
\nThe studios have advanced Xu's mentorship in "teaching, assisting, and guiding", providing a vital platform for skill exchange. This initiative continuously boosts the learning capacity, creativity, and expertise of technical personnel and key technicians. Since their establishment, the two studios have filed 108 national patents and completed 998 technological innovation projects.
\n"From carrying loads by hand to achieving mechanization and now automation, I have witnessed the changes at Qingdao Port over the decades. This progress is due to both national support and the hard work of dock workers," said Xu. "We must continue to invest in the training of technical workers, cultivating versatile talents to contribute to the construction of a world-class marine port."
\nWang Ruyun, a senior electric welder technician from China Railway Baoji Bridge Group, is also committed to leading more people in tackling technical challenges through his innovation studio.
\nBearing the responsibility of advancing new steel bridge welding technologies, the Wang Ruyun Model Worker Innovation Studio has been dedicated to overcoming key technical challenges. Leading a team through meticulous research, Wang and his teammates focused on welding tests for weather-resistant steel, ultra-thick steel plates, and ultra-high-strength steel plates. These efforts helped resolve critical bottlenecks in major domestic projects, such as China's first railway bridge built using weathering steel — the Zangmu Grand Bridge on the Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Xizang Railway — and the nation's largest bridge steel tower — the Taizhou Bridge steel tower.
\nIn 2024, Wang's studio launched three major research projects, generating two innovative outcomes and addressing a total of 18 production-related technical challenges. They also put forward 16 rationalization proposals and completed two quality control technician team research projects, providing crucial technical support for the construction of various large steel bridges within Baoji Bridge.
\nSince the establishment of the studio, Wang has trained five senior technicians, 12 technicians, and 25 senior workers. The studio has become a "university" for developing a highly skilled workforce, contributing to improvements in quality, efficiency, transformation, and innovation.
\n"In recent years, we have closely focused on high-quality corporate development and the reform of the industrial workforce. We have continuously promoted the establishment of model worker and craftsman innovation studios at all levels, providing relentless impetus for the development of new quality productive forces within the company," said Liu Jun, deputy Party secretary and chairman of the trade union at Baoji Bridge.
\n"It has been proven that model workers and advanced employees are the backbone of corporate innovation and development. By organizing them through the Innovation Studio platform, we engage in activities such as invention, creation, renovation, and tackling key challenges. These efforts help solve problems in production, operations, technology, and management, thereby enhancing the company's technological innovation capabilities, product transformation and upgrading capabilities, and market competitiveness," Liu said.
\n", @@ -11555,28 +11533,6 @@ "hash": "6a83a1bbd9ee94cd02b1878d913e6e11", "highlights": [] }, - { - "title": "011WORLD - Echoes of the past", - "description": "![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-30/011/20250930_011_06_38686.png\")
A visitor views ancient Chinese musical instruments at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on Sunday. The exhibition, The Sound of Harmony: Musical Instruments in Ancient China, showcases more than 100 pieces from the National Museum of China, tracing the evolution of Chinese music and artistry across millennia.
\n", - "content": "A visitor views ancient Chinese musical instruments at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on Sunday. The exhibition, The Sound of Harmony: Musical Instruments in Ancient China, showcases more than 100 pieces from the National Museum of China, tracing the evolution of Chinese music and artistry across millennia.
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-09/30/content_011_68daf875ed50ccabe151a658.htm#011WORLD", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:21:04 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "34aaca470e08c50baabb40b0ba7e949d", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "017CULTURE - Hidden behind the halls of royalty", "description": "![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-30/017/20250930_017_01_50141.png\")
A corner of Qianlong Garden, an exquisite retreat built by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Beijing's Palace Museum, gives a glimpse of his refined and personal tastes.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-30/017/20250930_017_01_35141.png\")
Li Yue, an expert from the department of historical architecture of the Palace Museum in Beijing.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-30/017/20250930_017_01_28141.png\")
Guhuaxuan (bower of the ancient catalpa) is the center of the garden's first courtyard.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-30/017/20250930_017_01_14141.png\")
Built on an artificial rockeries, Biluo Pavilion provides a good view from the top.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-30/017/20250930_017_01_21141.png\")
In Xishang Pavilion, artisans carved out stone-slab flooring to mimic streams where ancient literati engaged in a drinking game of floating wine cups.
\nIn the northeast corner of the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City in Beijing, behind the imposing halls of state power, lies a secret world of whimsical rockeries and pavilions with roofs of peacock blue and jade green. It is the Qianlong Garden, an exquisite retreat built by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
\nBeing largely off-limits for years, the site in the Ningshou Gong (Palace of Tranquility and Longevity) compound reopened its restored garden complex on Monday, as the Palace Museum celebrates its 100th anniversary of its founding this year.
\nThe reopening offers the public a rare glimpse into the refined and personal tastes of the emperor, culminating in a landmark, decades-long conservation project by experts from China and the United States.
\nDifferent from palace design, which requires order and hierarchy in construction, Li Yue, an expert from the museum's department of historical architecture, says: "The garden is where the emperor's thoughts could grow and run wild."
\nIn the autumn of 1770, as he celebrated his 60th birthday, Qianlong resolved to build a personal retreat, a place of tranquility for his later years. Built in 1776, the garden is seen as an expression of the emperor's spiritual home, where he kept his impressions, thoughts, and feelings. Through architecture and design, the garden is a physical manifestation of the emperor's sophisticated aesthetic, which wove together diverse influences.
\nAn admirer of Chinese culture, he made six southern tours to Jiangnan (referring to the southern regions of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), a region renowned for its classical gardens. Court painters traveled with him, sketching scenes that would later be reinterpreted in his private retreat.
\nHere, the strict axial symmetry of the Forbidden City gives way to a playful asymmetry. "There are different architectural expressions, like pavilions, bowers, towers, and belvedere in various styles and bright colors: not just yellow glazed tiles, but also peacock blue, jade green and grape purple," Li says.
\nThe garden's entrance gate is called Yanqi Gate, which means prosperity in future generations. It is derived from a line in Shijing, the Book of Songs, indicating that the wish for longevity is a main concept of the garden.
\n"He was 60 when he began this project. He was mature as an emperor and a senior," Li says. "It reflects a kind of inner return. You see his wish for his descendants' prosperity and his hope for a fulfilling retirement. It shows a genuine yearning for a life after power."
\nMeasuring more than 160 meters along the north-south axis and 40 meters along the east-west axis, the complex occupies about 1.6 hectares.
\nFrom south to north, it is divided into four courtyards and four stylistically different scenic zones.
\nThe first and second courtyards are reopened to the public.
\nLargely unchanged since its completion in 1776, the Qianlong Garden complex in Beijing's Forbidden City represents the peak of Chinese craft excellence. Its 27 exquisitely designed pavilions are the most significant, authentic interiors to survive.
\nWhen the last emperor, Puyi, left the Forbidden City in 1924, the site was largely abandoned, and few entered in subsequent decades. Small, quiet and serene, the garden was devoted to Qianlong's passions, far removed from the distractions of society.
\nIn 2000, the World Monuments Fund and the Palace Museum signed a groundbreaking agreement to collaborate on the restoration of the complex.
\nWork began at the ornate pavilion of Juanqinzhai, the studio of exhaustion from diligent service, but eventually expanded to the entire garden.
\nThe project became a model of cultural exchange. Chinese and American conservators worked together for years, often having to track down and revive lost craft techniques to replicate the originals, which feature intricate lacquerwork, silk murals and a unique form of bamboo marquetry.
\nThe renovation of Juanqinzhai alone took five years, and paved the way for the restoration of the entire complex, a process that continues today.
\nThe process involved reviving lost artisanal techniques, from intricate interior decoration, such as gold tracery on a black lacquer base, to stabilizing ancient rockeries. "The progress was slow because we had to explore and rediscover many of the original crafts," Li adds.
\n"Many of the threads for how this place was built were lost," WMF senior adviser Henry Ng told My Modern Met, a platform showcasing contemporary art. "Now, life is slowly returning, but instead of being a private oasis, Qianlong Garden will be a public resource for experiencing the lost crafts of 18th-century China."
\nAlthough the garden was built for the emperor's retirement, he was 85 when he finally retired. For Li, the garden was more of an outlet for Qianlong to encompass his interests, passions, and ideas through the architecture and display.
\nWhen entering the garden, the first impression is the clusters of hillocks created by piling boulders, then carefully and organically connecting them to the buildings. In the first courtyard is the Xishang Pavilion, which means "enjoying the purification ceremony". Ancient literati performed the ceremony by water to ward off misfortune.
\nArtisans carved out stone-slab flooring to mimic streams where the ancient literati played a drinking game of floating cups along a serpentine stream, enjoying wine and composing poetry.
\nLi says it indicates that Qianlong shared a yearning for a spiritual ideal — a transcendental life far away from the hustle and bustle.
\nBesides Xishang Pavilion, the garden contains towers, auxiliary halls, artificial mountains, pavilions, a shrine, a studio, and a theatrical stage, all reflecting Qianlong's preoccupation with living out his retirement as a recluse.
\nAffixed to the wall of the Fuwangge (Belvedere of Viewing Achievements), the main building in the garden's fourth courtyard, a calligraphic inscription echoes the emperor's purpose in building the complex, according to Wang Zilin, an expert from the museum's department of palace life and imperial rituals.
\nIn a poem written by Qianlong in 1776, he states that Fuwangge is a place to rest from his exhausting service and to nurture himself, away from affairs of the world.
\nThe reopening of the Qianlong Garden allows visitors to walk through the vibrant, personal sanctuary of an emperor and appreciate a masterful blend of art, architecture, and history, preserved for future generations.
\nContact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-09-29/004/20250929_004_02_31965.png\")
Participants compete in a horse racing event, known in the Tibetan language as "Gar Chaqin" in Gar county, Ngari prefecture, Xizang autonomous region, on Saturday. The event features equestrian performances.
\n", - "content": "Participants compete in a horse racing event, known in the Tibetan language as "Gar Chaqin" in Gar county, Ngari prefecture, Xizang autonomous region, on Saturday. The event features equestrian performances.
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-09/29/content_004_68d9a3d8ed50ccabe151a535.htm#004CHINA", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:21:05 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "edf3ddfe03dec2b615ba3c81f40d3865", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "FossFLOW：轻松创建精美的3D等距技术图表", "description": "FossFLOW 是一个开源的渐进式 Web 应用程序 (PWA)，用于创建美观的等距基础设施图表。",