Zhou

On June 3, 2003, LINDA ZHOU, beloved wife of Harry Zhou; devoted mother of Michael Zhou; dear sister of Paula Wu, Qingtao Wu, Qinghe Wu, and Qingjiang Wu. The family will receive friends at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26-A), on Friday from 7 to 9 P.M. Services and interment private.

The coming of the Chinese New Year in Baltimore was announced this year by a tattered lion dancing in what was once known as Baltimore's Chinatown. The old lion's head - made of papier-mache and now held together by tape - looked much like its surroundings: faded colors, frayed edges with a general appearance of deterioration. "Chinatown isn't what it used to be," explained the lion's owner Arthur Lee after 10 minutes of dancing in front of a small crowd, which consisted mostly of bewildered white parishioners from an Episcopal church.

BEIJING - Officials in the South China boomtown of Shenzhen are trying to close the practice of a lawyer who has won nationwide attention for winning large awards on behalf of workers maimed in factories there. However, Zhou Litai refuses to close his office and says he is being harassed by local officials because he has exposed unsafe working conditions, won lawsuits and alarmed foreign investors. "It's toilet paper," Zhou said, referring to the government order with customary bluntness in an interview yesterday.

BEIJING - Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and his Chinese counterparts agreed yesterday that China should eventually allow its currency to trade freely on international markets. But Beijing rejected calls to move quickly in that direction, saying such action might cause financial instability in China and abroad. Snow faces political pressure at home to push China to raise the value of its currency, the yuan. Some Democratic presidential candidates and industry groups have argued that China keeps the currency deliberately undervalued to promote exports to America, which they claim has caused job losses in the United States.

It was fortuitous that Ballet Theatre of Annapolis scheduled its "Family Ballet" program, the last of its season, last weekend. It provided an uplifting diversion from the news of the massacre in Littleton, Colo.The program included "Beauty and the Beast" and Act II of "Swan Lake," classical ballets with themes of the redemptive power of love. "Beauty and the Beast" was choreographed by BTA's artistic director Edward Stewart, whose work shows his artistic vision, strong sense of dance dynamics and ability to showcase the talents of each dancer.

Honeywell International Inc. will close its semiconductor chip foundry in Columbia and lay off 56 people by the end of the second quarter of 2001, company officials said yesterday. About 85 employees total will have been dismissed once the Microelectronics & Technology Center, on Old Annapolis Road, closes next year. Fifteen employees have relocated to another company unit - Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. - at Columbia Gateway office park, according to Jeff Zhou, general manager of the plant.

SHANGHAI, China -- Her hopes did not last long; but for a few days in June, Jiang Meili dared to believe that corrupt officials would be punished for their misdeeds here in China's capital of industry. In a city that has lofty ambitions as an Asian business center -- and the deep-pocketed property speculators to go with them -- the businessman once believed to be the richest man in town, property and stock market tycoon Zhou Zhengyi, was in detention. Authorities were investigating him in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars of loans obtained from the Bank of China, according to state and Hong Kong news reports.

BEIJING - Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and his Chinese counterparts agreed yesterday that China should eventually allow its currency to trade freely on international markets. But Beijing rejected calls to move quickly in that direction, saying such action might cause financial instability in China and abroad. Snow faces political pressure at home to push China to raise the value of its currency, the yuan. Some Democratic presidential candidates and industry groups have argued that China keeps the currency deliberately undervalued to promote exports to America, which they claim has caused job losses in the United States.

Schubert spectacularAmy Lin is among the finest pianists and the most intelligent musicians the Peabody Conservatory has produced in the past dozen years or so. She's also a musician without a shred of narcissism, someone dedicated to serving music in the widest and most generous of ways.Last year at this time, Lin called upon some of her talented colleagues for a Schubertiade -- a marathon evening of performances of some of the composer's greatest chamber music -- in anticipation of Schubert's 200th birthday.

BEIJING -- Holding an ink brush in her slender fingers, 12-year-old Sun Yuying leans over a sheet of paper and carefully copies a classic Chinese landscape painting of a roiling brook surrounded by cranes, boulders and pines. With each brush stroke, she brings the needles of a gnarled tree branch to life."I'm curious about ancient things," says Sun, who like many affluent Chinese girls her age spends the weekends in more modern pursuits such as roller skating and eating at Pizza Hut."I think it's fun," adds Sun's classmate and painting partner, Zhou Yiqing.

SHANGHAI, China -- Her hopes did not last long; but for a few days in June, Jiang Meili dared to believe that corrupt officials would be punished for their misdeeds here in China's capital of industry. In a city that has lofty ambitions as an Asian business center -- and the deep-pocketed property speculators to go with them -- the businessman once believed to be the richest man in town, property and stock market tycoon Zhou Zhengyi, was in detention. Authorities were investigating him in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars of loans obtained from the Bank of China, according to state and Hong Kong news reports.

On June 3, 2003, LINDA ZHOU, beloved wife of Harry Zhou; devoted mother of Michael Zhou; dear sister of Paula Wu, Qingtao Wu, Qinghe Wu, and Qingjiang Wu. The family will receive friends at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26-A), on Friday from 7 to 9 P.M. Services and interment private.

BEIJING - Officials in the South China boomtown of Shenzhen are trying to close the practice of a lawyer who has won nationwide attention for winning large awards on behalf of workers maimed in factories there. However, Zhou Litai refuses to close his office and says he is being harassed by local officials because he has exposed unsafe working conditions, won lawsuits and alarmed foreign investors. "It's toilet paper," Zhou said, referring to the government order with customary bluntness in an interview yesterday.

Honeywell International Inc. will close its semiconductor chip foundry in Columbia and lay off 56 people by the end of the second quarter of 2001, company officials said yesterday. About 85 employees total will have been dismissed once the Microelectronics & Technology Center, on Old Annapolis Road, closes next year. Fifteen employees have relocated to another company unit - Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. - at Columbia Gateway office park, according to Jeff Zhou, general manager of the plant.

BEIJING -- In the diplomatic tinderbox of China's relationship with Taiwan -- where a few words could spark war -- sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. As China expanded its threat to attack Taiwan this week, two high-ranking mainland experts suggested that the island's next president could help defuse tensions by not repeating the words that heightened them in the first place. The offending words are "special state-to-state relations," implying sovereignty for Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province.

They say Portuguese soap works best on the skin, but for tear-duct rinsing, Chinese soap may be the winner, at least the brand purveyed in "The King of Masks."A melodrama set in 1930s China about a street performer (Zhu Xu) who longs to pass on his gift for magically changing masks to a grandson, "The King of Masks" is a well-filmed portrait of Chinese provincial life, as well as that country's traditions of filial piety and heartless sexism. If filmgoers don't mind being manipulated by lots of heart-rending scenes with impossibly sweet-looking waifs, as well as the sight of Zhu's own elderly, gap-toothed visage, they will be drawn in by this affecting glimpse of a country and an era gone by.When the itinerant performer Bian Lian Wang (Zhu)

They say Portuguese soap works best on the skin, but for tear-duct rinsing, Chinese soap may be the winner, at least the brand purveyed in "The King of Masks."A melodrama set in 1930s China about a street performer (Zhu Xu) who longs to pass on his gift for magically changing masks to a grandson, "The King of Masks" is a well-filmed portrait of Chinese provincial life, as well as that country's traditions of filial piety and heartless sexism. If filmgoers don't mind being manipulated by lots of heart-rending scenes with impossibly sweet-looking waifs, as well as the sight of Zhu's own elderly, gap-toothed visage, they will be drawn in by this affecting glimpse of a country and an era gone by.When the itinerant performer Bian Lian Wang (Zhu)

BEIJING -- In the diplomatic tinderbox of China's relationship with Taiwan -- where a few words could spark war -- sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. As China expanded its threat to attack Taiwan this week, two high-ranking mainland experts suggested that the island's next president could help defuse tensions by not repeating the words that heightened them in the first place. The offending words are "special state-to-state relations," implying sovereignty for Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province.

BEIJING -- Holding an ink brush in her slender fingers, 12-year-old Sun Yuying leans over a sheet of paper and carefully copies a classic Chinese landscape painting of a roiling brook surrounded by cranes, boulders and pines. With each brush stroke, she brings the needles of a gnarled tree branch to life."I'm curious about ancient things," says Sun, who like many affluent Chinese girls her age spends the weekends in more modern pursuits such as roller skating and eating at Pizza Hut."I think it's fun," adds Sun's classmate and painting partner, Zhou Yiqing.

It was fortuitous that Ballet Theatre of Annapolis scheduled its "Family Ballet" program, the last of its season, last weekend. It provided an uplifting diversion from the news of the massacre in Littleton, Colo.The program included "Beauty and the Beast" and Act II of "Swan Lake," classical ballets with themes of the redemptive power of love. "Beauty and the Beast" was choreographed by BTA's artistic director Edward Stewart, whose work shows his artistic vision, strong sense of dance dynamics and ability to showcase the talents of each dancer.