In a related story, last week, the first customer who bought an electric car through the Beijing electric car lottery system this year came out. As this is a separate pool from other fossil-burning cars, it is apparently much easier to buy an electric car at this moment.

All these stories are sparking questions of whether China is ready for the electric car era. We talk with Dr. Yuan Chengyin, Deputy President of Bejing Electric Vehicle Research and Development Institute, about electric cars in China.

Topic2 Language is better learned in 'casual study'

Language learners often ask this question—What's the best way to learn a foreign language?

International scholars at a recent conference on the science of learning say the answer lies in informal learning environments where students not only connect with real life but connect with it in more than one language.

Do we need more informal learning environment in China?

Topic3 Guizhou University wants to hire academician with million yuan salaryZheng Qiang, President of Guizhou University, says in order to attract the best scholars in China, the university promised to give 1.2 million yuan annual salary to each Changjiang Scholar and 1.8 million yuan to each Academician as well as plenty of research and study subsidy, however, none of such scholars applied for the job in the past one year.

Why aren't top scholars attracted to the post?

Topic4 Chinese Men Shorter Than Japanese and South Korean NeighborsFor years, we Chinese people thought we are taller than our Japanese neighbor, but it is not true any more.

Recent reports analyzing the average heights of men in the world shows that Chinese males aged seven to 17 are around 2.54 centimeters shorter than their Japanese counterparts.

Is it surprising?