Chinese shares rise for seventh day, led by heavyweights

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities rose for a seventh consecutive trading day Friday, led by heavyweights.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.09 percent, or 28.2 points, to close at 2,625.65. The Shenzhen Component Index edged up 0.73 percent, or 74.12 points, to 10,183.06.

Gainers outnumbered Losers by 474 to 408 in Shanghai, and 401 to 346 in Shenzhen.

Combined turnover shrank to 244.3 billion yuan (35.77 billion U.S. dollars) from 269.3 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

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Beijing ancient temples

For last week's China Cool segment, we introduced you to three temples in Beijing: Zhihua, Tianning and the Lamma temple. In today's edition of China Cool, we continue to take you around some other famous ancient temples in the capital.

Fa Yuan Temple

FaYuanTempleboastsahistorygoingback1300years.

Fa Yuan Temple boasts a history going back 1300 years. It is located in a quiet hutong in the southern part of Beijing. Trees and flowers in the temple grounds are also ancient. They include a pine tree planted during the Yuan dynasty, and a pair of Begonias planted by emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty.

FaYuanTempleboastsahistorygoingback1300years.

Seven main buildings as well as six courtyards are arranged from south to north. The main buildings include the Gate of Temple, Bell and Drum towers, Heavenly King Hall, the Hall of Great Compassion and Sutra Hall. Fa Yuan Temple is also home to China 's Buddhist Academy, and the Buddhist Books and Culture Relics Museum of China. It is a key place for nurturing young Buddhist disciples and scholars, and for the research of Buddhist culture.

Taiwan writer Li Ao published a novel called "Fayuan Temple", and it earned him a nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is another attraction for believers and visitors from far and wide.

Central China Expo records 2b yuan in contracts

Contracts valued at 2 billion yuan (about $300 million) had been signed by Monday at the Central China Expo in Hefei, Anhui Province, its second day.

Organizers said that despite the global downturn, the number of attendees was about twice that of last year's event.

The fourth Central China Expo targeted six central provinces - Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Henan and Shanxi - and attracted about 16,000 participants from about 300 multinational companies such as Carrefour and IBM.

Jean Luc Lhuillier, vice president and general manager for Carrefour's operations in central and western China, said he had discussions about new stores with an official from Zhoukou City, Henan Province.

I will make an appointment with him for an on-the-spot visit to see whether we can open a new store, he said.

The first foreign company to open stores in the capitals of central provinces like Hubei in 1998 and Anhui in 2002, Carrefour will further explore the central China market, he said.

This year we will open at least one store in Anhui, two in Hubei, one in Henan and one in Hunan, Lhuillier said.

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