Wang Daohan passes away in Shanghai

Wang Daohan, president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, passed away in Shanghai on Saturday. He was 90.Wang and Koo Chen-fu, who died in January, held landmark talks in Singapore in 1993, pledging to take steps to improve cross-Straits ties. Picture shows Wang Daohan (L) shaking hands with Koo Chen-fu on April 27, 1993. [Xinhua/file]

Century-old movie house in Beijing

Visitors gather in the renovated lobby of Daguanlou, a century-old movie house in Beijing Dec. 23, 2005. The cinema, located in central Beijing business district, has witnessed the development of Chinese film industry, and is listed in the Shanghai Guinness Book of World Records Friday for its pioneering film screening business.

Rabbit with a gray and white face after transplant

Chinese researchers show a rabbit with a gray and white face after a face-transplant operation at a plastic surgery institute in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, December 23, 2005. Researchers transplanted half the face of a white rabbit to the gray one 14 days ago, local media reported. The gray rabbit is in normal health condition, able to open and close its eyes. It is the first successful face-transplant operation reported in China. (Newsphoto)

Highway gas explosion in Sichuan

Fragments of destroyed trucks are seen before the tunnel(in backdrop) after a gas explosion happened in it on the highway linking Dujiangyan and Wenchuan in southwest China's Sichuan Province Dec. 23, 2005. The explosion happened at 2 p.m. Thursday inside a highway tunnel that is under construction, 42 were killed and 11 others injured.

Special "toys" of Liberian children

File photo taken on Oct. 12, 2005 shows a Liberian kid rolling a discarded plastic hoop in the street of Monrovia, capital of Liberia. The 14-year-long civil war and a series of political and social turmoil have turned the nation into a scarred and battered country. There was not enough food, drinking water or medical security, to say nothing of education opportunities, even an ordinary toy is rare and luxurious for Liberian children. As the new year approaches, with their special "toys" Liberian children have recorded their childhood and the special period of their nation.