Speed Machine

China's first self-designed and self-manufactured passenger train with a top speed of 300 km per hour, equal to that of the famous Japanese bullet train, will roll off the production line by the end of this year, the manufacturer announced.

The new high-speed trains, which can seat around 600 passengers, will run on the 115-km-long Beijing-Tianjin rail route before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in August. The rail journey between the two cities will be reduced from the current 70 minutes to around 30 minutes.

Production of the high-speed train is well underway and the first train will debut at the end of the year, said a spokesman of the Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. Ltd. based in Qingdao, a coastal city of east China's Shandong Province.

Overseas Interns

The first batch of student participants in the 2007 Summer Work & Travel USA Project, which was organized by the United Education & Culture Exchange (UECE ) have returned home and shared their experiences with the public at a recent press conference in Beijing.

It is the first time that China has joined the project with over 100 eligible students chosen from dozens of reputed universities across China, including Peking University and Shanghai's Fudan University. The students went to the U.S. in July.

They worked as interns for eight-16 weeks at six renowned American corporations including Boeing and McDonald's. The students were paid $380-$420 per week but their living and traveling expenses were covered by themselves.

The overseas intern experience helps students understand the American culture, become more independent and prepares them better for future employment, said the project Director Wu Fei, adding that the project will involve some 500 students in 2008.

The UECE was formed mainly by the U.S. non-profitable Educational Resource Development Trust and the China Service Center for Friendship and Cooperation with Foreign Countries.