For four generations, the Soviets waged war on Buddhists, sometimes branding them “Japanese spies.” Now, 20 years after the collapse of communism, Buddhism is experiencing a massive revival in its historic areas. Although more Russians are Buddhists today than before the revolution, the Kremlin rejects their central demand.

The show is the brainchild of American rodeo promoter Richard Tucker and is considered an important component of the China-U.S. cultural exchange program for 2011. It is being jointly hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, China International Friendship Cities Association, the National Stadium, and... Less is Forever More.

On Friday at the Nixon Library in California, Braithwaite played against Liang Geliang, a Chinese Ping Pong player who was one of the Chinese team members in Japan for the historical table tennis competition in 1971. The two of them had a rematch 40 years later.

On Friday the Richard Nixon Foundation commemorated the 40th anniversary of what became known as pingpong diplomacy. The notion that sport could open a country seems outlandish on its face, but pingpong diplomacy is just one of several examples of sport influencing politics. Ultimately...sports' ability to humanize is part of the reason pingpong diplomacy can work.

The Shanghai Expo's China Pavilion expects crowds to teem through its doors when it reopens on July 12 in the sweltering summer heat. The pavilion will be open to public for three months till Oct 9, from Tuesday to Sunday.

Today, the Soviet Union has vanished, and Chinese power is growing. Some in the US argue that China's rise cannot be peaceful, and that the US, therefore, should now adopt a policy of containing the People's Republic. Indeed, many Chinese officials perceive that to be the current American strategy.

It is the most popular subject on China's Internet that no one is allowed to talk about. After overseas media reported the death of former president Jiang Zemin, web-savvy Internet users in China are finding creative ways to jump the Great Firewall, the cloak of Internet security authorities use to disrupt or halt access to things deemed too sensitive for the Internet.

If the story of “Fuchun Mountains” is richly symbolic of China’s tumultuous history and its six-decade estrangement from Taiwan, then the painting’s reunification last month at the National Palace Museum here in the Taiwanese capital is a made-to-order metaphor for the reconciliation that Communist Party leaders have long imagined for what they deem a breakaway province.