Do you believe there are UFOs or aliens living among us? You're not alone! GoKunming interviews Zhang Yifang, founder and former director of the Kunming UFO Research Association and the organizer of the 2009 International Astronomy Year and Extraterrestrial Life Forum about extraterrestrial activity in China.

The dismal state of sex education in China is illustrated by this post on China Hush about the reaction of a small town to a 14-year-old girl who managed to keep her pregnancy secret until she gave birth to the baby in her dorm room.

The disaster movie 2012 has been under the spotlight for its perceived positive, neutral, and negative portrayals of China. But the comments translated by ChinaSMACK hint that people are getting a little bored of nitpicking over anything that might possibly be construed as negative about China's role in big foreign movies.

For all those pondering the potential of tennis in China after the low turnout for the ATP Champions Tour in Chengdu this month, China Sports Today has an interview touching on these matters with rising tennis star Zhang Shuai.

Naturally, much of the China blogosphere is buzzing about U.S. President Obama's three-day visit to China this week. Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap was deeply unimpressed with the phrase "big supporter of non-censorship", while Sam Crane at the Useless Tree notes the negative coverage and rises to Obama's defense (Requires proxy). China Digital Times and China Beat do a good job of summarizing (requires proxy) media coverage, and the New York Times Room for Debate blog invites opinions from scholars on China about whether or not Obama was too soft in approaching China's leaders on the issue of human rights.

And in an amusing piece (yes, there is one this week!), Evan Osnos of the New Yorker writes about the experiences of the press corps that follow the president on trips abroad.

By Jessie Levene

This weekend, Chengdu was supposed to witness one of the most famous rivalries in tennis history: Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe, who played at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre on Saturday as part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Champions Tour.

But any hopes of seeing quality sport were unfortunately misguided, as this most anticipated of the weekend's matches proved. Though the ATP official website claims to bring "nostalgic, competitive and entertaining tournaments" to cities around the world, the reality was just a big, fat disappointment.

First impressions: The 6,700-capacity stadium was only a (small) fraction full, and as the players came out onto the court, the advanced ages of the two players became apparent: Borg, friskily patting the bottom of the panda mascot, looked, with his flowing grey hair, like an aging lothario; McEnroe, limping slightly, just looked old. The latter had, it was rumored, been living up to his "Superbrat" reputation, apparently shouting expletives at student volunteers and even firing one after catching him smoking in the locker room.

Once the tennis itself started, McEnroe quickly looked the poorer of the two. The American repeatedly grimaced and shook his head, and sure enough, Borg broke his serve in the very first game. While Borg looked sprightly, McEnroe was sweaty; while Borg would promptly walk back on court when time was called, McEnroe stalled. The American let out loud groans before even hitting the ball, grabbed dramatically at his knee, and made little attempt to return shots. It was, in the words of one spectator, like watching a panda climb a tree but less funny. Borg took the first set with ease.

The Swede proceeded to begin the next set exactly as he had the first, breaking McEnroe's serve in the very first game. The second half of the match saw some particularly cringe-worthy moments. McEnroe goofed around, playing a parody of himself: shouting, throwing down his racket, contesting line-calls and the like. Though the crowd enjoyed the physical comedy and cheered McEnroe on as he pulled himself onto the scoreboard in the third game of the second set, nonetheless it was obvious he making little effort, and Borg strolled to a straight sets victory. Final score: 6-4, 6-4: a pathetic throwback to a once great rivalry.

This weekend Chengdu will take a big step closer to being a major sports city by hosting the inaugural Chengdu Open the only Asian stop on the 12-leg ATP Champions Tour.
The tournament will be held November 5-8 at the 6,700-seat Sichuan Tennis Centre.

Former top world tennis players competing in the Chengdu Open include John McEnroe, Björn Borg, Michael Chang, Pat Cash (added after Mats Wilander pulled out due to injury), Goran Ivanisevic, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Sergi Bruguera and Thomas Enqvist.
The round-robin tournament will feature eight players divided into two groups, with the winners of each group meeting in the final.

A revival of the McEnroe-Borg rivalry is undoubtedly the most anticipated match prior to the final – the two have played each other in some of the greatest Grand Slam finals ever. The two will play each other once again on Saturday night.

In addition to the competition, the visiting tennis legends will run clinics with local children, with the goal of encouraging China's youth to take up the sport.

For ticket information (plus online ordering) and a match schedule, visit the tournament's official website.

Zheng Jie, the darling of last year's Wimbledon tournament, will have to try again next year, after losing to unseeded Daniela Hantuchova in a second-round match yesterday.

Chengdu native Zheng was ahead of Hantuchova early on yesterday before the Slovakian rallied back from being down 3-1 to win the first set 6-3. Hantuchova won the hard fought second set 7-5.

Zheng admitted that high expectations back home in China added to the already high pressure of performing in Wimbledon.


Last year Zheng shocked the tennis world by becoming the first Chinese tennis player to make it to the semifinal round in a grand slam tournament and only the second wild card ever to make it to the Wimbledon semis.

Zheng's exit leaves Li Na as the only Chinese player remaining in the tournament. Li will play her second-round match against Olga Govortsova of Belorus later today.

China's top female tennis player Zheng Jie (郑洁) returned victoriously to Wimbledon on Monday one year after she made a name for herself by reaching the tournament's semifinal round.

Zheng, currently ranked number 15 in the world, beat Kristina Barrois of Germany 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday in what was a high-pressure return for the Chengdu native.

"Indeed, there is a big change for me in one year and I do feel more pressure coming back here," Zheng recently told the China Daily. "A lot of people hope I make the semi-finals again or go even better."

Zheng has been a Wimbledon champion before – in 2006 she and doubles partner Yan Zi won the women's doubles competition.

The diminutive Zheng still has far to go to equal her standout performance last year – her next step is to face Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the second round today.

This year's tournament is the first to feature two Chinese seeds in the singles draw – Zheng is joined by Li Na (李娜), who is ranked number 19 in the world. Li has also advanced to the second round after beating Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboev on Tuesday.

Zheng Jie image: Women's Tennis Blog

Tennis greats John McEnroe, Björn Borg, Michael Chang, Mats Wilander and Marcelo Rios will take to the court in Chengdu this November as part of the only Asian stop on the 12-leg ATP Champions Tour, it was announced yesterday.

The Chengdu Open will be held November 5-8 at the 6,700-seat Sichuan Tennis Centre and will feature eight players divided into two groups for round-robin play. The winners of each group will play in the final.

McEnroe, Borg, Chang, Wilander and Rios have won a combined total of 26 Grand Slam singles titles. When they were at the top of their game, tennis was virtually nonexistent in China, but today China is increasingly considered a rising tennis power.

"I am extremely excited to be making my first trip to China in a very long time; this is a country that is fast becoming a major player in world tennis," the 50-year-old McEnroe said.

Borg, who retired from tennis at the age of 26 in 1983, said he was looking forward to playing in the same field as McEnroe, against whom he played several legendary matches.

Participants in the Chengdu Open will hold clinics with local youth to develop tennis at the grassroots level, organizers said.

The Chengdu Open is coorganized by the Chinese Tennis Association, Sichuan Sports Bureau, Chengdu Sports Bureau, Chengdu Sports Industry Co and CCTV IMG Sports Management Company. The website chengduchampions.com has been launched to provide updates and news in the runup to the tournament in November.

John McEnroe image: USA Today

Chinese tennis star and Chengdu native Zheng Jie (郑洁) returned to Sichuan yesterday to participate in charity events in the area affected by last year's earthquake on May 12, which killed at least 69,000.

Zheng, currently China's top female tennis player, was playing in Italy when the quake struck. Shortly afterward, Zheng became the darling of international tennis when she upset the world number one Ana Ivanovic en route to the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Serena Williams.

Zheng was the first Chinese player - male or female – to make it to the Wimbledon semis. She was lauded at home in China for donating all of her winnings at Wimbledon, totaling more than 1 million yuan (US$146,334), to the earthquake relief effort. She also built a playground for students in the hard-hit city of Dujiangyan.

Zheng will be playing in Europe on May 12, so she decided to make an appearance just prior to the quake's anniversary.

"I will play matches in Europe on May 12 this year, so I will visit the stricken area a few days earlier this time," Zheng told Chinese media. "As a Sichuan native, I'm very happy to contribute to my hometown as much as possible."

This time around, Zheng was scheduled to visit primary school students of Hongbai Town in Shifang city and donate tennis equipment supplied by Chinese sporting goods company Anta, which sponsors her.

Zheng's international success has been a driving force behind a surge of interest in tennis in China. China is gradually building more of an infrastructure to promote tennis at the grassroots level, including the recently announced China Open Rating Tour (CRT), an amateur league which will host competitions in seven cities nationwide, including Chengdu.

Zheng, who is ranked 16th in the world, said her present goal is to crack the top 15. She is currently preparing to compete in the Fed Cup and French Open in May.