中国进入自动化列车时代China leads into era of automated trains

中国铁路公司总经理陆东福表示：“随着自动化高速列车时代的临近，中国的高速铁路服务已经成为世界的领先者，其核心技术和产品都是国产的。”中国铁路科学院的一位专家告诉《科技日报》：“使用自动列车操作代替人工驾驶已经成为现实。许多地铁都已经应用了自动驾驶系统。”他说：“中国铁路局已经在广东东莞—惠州和佛山—肇庆城际铁路上成功实现时速200公里自动驾驶——这是世界上第一条。”该专家表示：“通过使用该系统，可以对列车进行自启动，在车站之间运行，根据时间表，准确地停靠车站，打开和关闭车门，从而提高了运营效率，避免了拥堵、延误和意外事故。”该系统将于2022年在连接北京和河北张家口（2022年冬季奥运会主办城市）的铁路线上投入运营，设计时速可达350公里/小时。

China's high-speed rail service is the world's leader as the era of automated high-speed trains approaches, with its core technologies and products all domestically made, said Lu Dongfu, general manager of China Railway Corp. “The use of automatic train operations in lieu of manual driving has become a reality. Many subways have already applied the automatic operation systems,” an expert from the China Academy of Railway Sciences Corp told Science and Technology Daily. He said that CRC put the system into operation in the Dongguan-Huizhou and Foshan-Zhaoqing intercity railways in Guangdong province,with speeds of 200 kilometers per hour - a first worldwide. Using the system, the train can automatically start, run between stations, adjust its timing according to the schedule, accurately stop at a station and open and close its doors, which increases operating efficiency and avoids congestion, delays and accidents, the expert said. The system will be put into operation in 2022 on the railway line that will link Beijing and Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, host cities of the 2022 Winter Olympics, with a designed speed up to 350 km/h.

故宫将举办“贺岁迎祥——紫禁城里过大年”展览Palace Museum to hold grand exhibition for Chinese New Year

据新华社报道，为庆祝即将到来的春节，故宫博物院将举办一场特别展览。本次展览于2019年1月6日开幕，正值阴历腊月初一，约千件文物将在这个著名的博物馆展出。展览将分为六大主题，全面展现清代宫廷过年习俗。在一个开放的区域里装饰着清代的历史习俗，重现“皇家”节日庆祝活动。据故宫博物院院长单霁翔介绍，为期三个月的展览将让游客们有一种在紫禁城里过大年的感觉。

A special exhibition will be held by China's Palace Museum to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year, Xinhua reports. Starting January 6, 2019, the first of the twelfth lunar month in Chinese calendar, a record-breaking number of around 1,000 antique items will reportedly be displayed at the famed museum. The exhibition will be divided into six areas, fully displaying the customs of the Chinese New Year during the Qing Dynasty, with an open area decorated with historical customs of the dynasty and restored “royal” festival celebration activities. According to Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, the three-month event will provide visitors to the Forbidden City a New Year atmosphere.

中国新增5个城市提供144小时免签过境服务Five more cities offer 144-hour visa-free transit

近日，中国新增了5个城市对来自53个国家的旅客实施144小时免签证过境政策。这些城市分别是山东省的主要港口城市青岛、福建省沿海城市厦门、湖北省省会武汉、四川省省会成都和云南省省会昆明。国务院批准的免签证过境政策适用于来自奥地利、比利时、捷克、丹麦、法国、德国、俄罗斯和美国等53个国家的公民。乘客必须携带有效的国际旅行证件，并在进入这5个城市后的144小时内有明确的行程。此前，这些城市已发布了72小时免签证过境政策。在新的举措中，乘客可以通过空港和海港进出青岛和厦门。

China began to implement its 144-hour visa-free transit policy in five more cities recently for travelers from 53 countries. These cities are Qingdao, a major port city in Shandong Province; Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian Province; Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province; Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province; and Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. The visa-free transit policy approved by the State Council, applies to people from 53 countries including Austria, Belgium, Czech, Denmark, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Passengers are required to carry effective international travel certificates and have definite onward travel within 144 hours, when entering those five cities. Previously, a 72-hour visa-free transit policy was adopted in the cities. In the new move, passengers can enter and exit Qingdao and Xiamen through their air and sea ports.