After 16 years directing Hollywood movies, John Woo Yu-sen is back with an ambitious historical epic titled Red Cliff. The world premiere was held at the Memorial of Marquis Zhuge Liang, a major character in the blockbuster film, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, with the first installment screened across Asia on July 10.

The Red Cliff story is adapted from a true battle in the Three Kingdoms period (220-265), in which dominant warlord Cao Cao was defeated by alliances of his smaller rivals, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, leaving 2,000 of his warships burned and tens of thousands of his troops killed. Backed by Asian investors, and loaded with big name stars, the film cost $70 million, making it the most expensive Asian film production to date.

Woo, a Hong Kong native, has not directed a Chinese movie since 1992, when he moved to the United States. His Hollywood megahits include Broken Arrow, Face Off and Mission: Impossible II, all of which feature the trademark Woo riveting action sequences.

Red Cliff boasts the largest on-screen scenes in Chinese movie history and is composed of two installments that include about 1,300 special-effects shots with almost 2,000 actors and crewmembers involved.

Professor Loses Bet, Says Sorry

As promised, on July 8, Professor Xu Dianqing apologized for his incorrect prediction regarding the Shenzhen property market performance via a half-page letter of apology published in the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily City News.

Xu, a part-time professor at prestigious Peking University, took a bet with a property commentator Niu Dao last year, saying that Shenzhen's housing prices would continue to rise based on the yardstick of the average price released by the authorities on July 11, 2007. If this did not happen, he promised to make a full-page apology in the newspaper.

Over the past year, however, Shenzhen witnessed plummeting property prices, negating Xu's bullish prediction. As the one-year mark of July 11 approached, Niu insisted that Xu should honor his promise. Media and netizens were also vocal about Xu apologizing.

Prior to this, Xu admitted on his blog July 1 that he was wrong. "Over-speculation in the property market in 2007 and tightened financial market regulation this year led more potential buyers to wait and see, so the drop in prices was natural," Xu said. But he had the last word too, saying that in the long term, the prices would rise due to huge demands and continuous inflows of speculative funds.

Shaolin Master Prepares Kungfu Kids

With less than one month to go to the Beijing Olympics, Liu Haike from Henan Province is going all out to perfect the moves of his 2,000 young kungfu kids during practice time at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as Bird's Nest.

In a recent interview with China News Service, Liu revealed that his team would perform at the Olympic opening gala, showing off traditional Chinese martial arts skills. At the invitation of the organizers, the kids will also perform at the closing ceremony of the Games and at the opening of the forthcoming Beijing Paralympics.

Born to a kungfu family and growing up near the famous Shaolin Temple, cradle of Chinese martial arts, the 37-year-old Liu also coaches the Chinese martial arts and free combat squads.

Liu is excited with this golden opportunity to promote Shaolin kungfu worldwide, and fulfill his own Olympic dreams. "It will be a chance for overseas visitors to feel the essence of kungfu," said Liu.

"Developing countries suffer most from rising food prices, and we the five countries have also been affected to varying degrees."

Chinese President Hu Jintao, dismissing the argument that blames the