OPINION> Columnists

Kang Bing

Beware of travel agents

Want to go on a trip? The most convenient way seems to be joining a packaged tour. You scan the advertisements, find a good bargain, sign a contract with a travel agent, and all the while not knowing you might be falling into a trap.

Gao Anming

Stimulating domestic consumption

For most people, this seems rather like a joke: Xing Pu, a member of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee, proposed last month that the government, fresh from a hefty increase in financial revenue, hand out 1,000 yuan ($142) to each citizen as a subsidy against soaring inflation.

Wang Hao

And the gold goes to ... volunteers

My parents were fascinated by the Water Cube when they watched an international swimming gala, a test event for the Beijing Games.

You Nuo

No ecstasy of recovery, but agony of wait

For most people, it's a mystery how the lunar calendar is made. Since a Gregorian Calendar year is longer, the lunar calendar adds a "jump month" every few years. For instance, the Chinese lunar calendar this year has two fifth (or May) months. But why it has to be May and instead of some other month is usually not explained properly. But an extra fifth month suggests a long and scorching summer.

Li Xing

When will all schools be equal?

Sales of existing homes are booming in China. In Beijing alone, some 100,000 units have been sold already this year, double the number in all of 2008.

Liu Shinan

Accident law leaves a lot to be desired

If a man riding a tricycle bumps into your car parked legally on the roadside and dies of the injury sustained, and police tell you that you should pay part compensation to the man's family, what would you think?

Raymond Zhou

Cash over cachet

In martial arts stories, a young man overcomes all kinds of hardship to get something. It could be an ancient scroll, or a sword, or simply a title. Once he has it he has all the power in the world and it will kowtow to him.

Ravi S. Narasimhan

Lessons from SARS have to be applied

I was living in Hong Kong during SARS - and read enough reports from the mainland - to know that the scars of that epidemic haven't yet healed.

Liang Hongfu

A city's past comes alive in style

All those years I spent in Shanghai, I had always wished to stay at the Ruijin Hotel, even if it were only for a few nights. But regrettably, I could never find an excuse to do that.

Chen Weihua

No more secrecy on sex in cyber era

Teachers of a Nanjing children's camp coming to teach sex education to kids in Shanghai this summer must be puzzled about what to say now that some major websites and search engines have been charged with spreading pornographic information.

Patrick Whiteley

Of all the gin joints in the world, she walks into mine

Alice was ignoring the simple plate of potato and pumpkin stew sitting in front of her on the restaurant table. In fact, the good-looking, well-read, style-conscious, new-generation Chinese hadn't touched any of the different Moroccan dishes.

Brendan John Worrell

Time to Thai the knot

Intent on encouraging investors and tourists back to Thailand he conceded that this wasn't going to be easy considering the mid April disturbances. He needs to take on a range of players domestically to effectively manage affairs of state.