"Today, Beijing is a vastly different place and the early photographs presented a perspective on the city which had never been previously available

All these things are global issues that affect China, and China is doing its share to address these key issuesHe is currently working on a project that involves protein crystallography, a vital element in drug design, and is collaborating with prominent Chinese scientist Hong Guo on research into silicon electronics

Three or four years ago, when my family and I were on the subway or a bus in Shanghai, people around would talk to usI once had a student come visit me and he was almost in tears after having to cross a road"Hopefully when I'm done with my work here, the connection between the two universities will be further strengthened, and through that I will leave a legacy," Reimers saidShe now speaks perfect Chinese and even has a Beijing accentWhat's the biggest challenge China faces today, and how do you think the country can overcome this? People focusing too much on themselves and the building of wealth, instead of interest for the community and the country

China needs to teach people in these countries how to go about managing certain issues, such as ensuring good government, how to prevent corruption, and how to focus on development in a sustainable way with clear end goalsChina's five-year plans provide a purpose and focus, and any developing country needs such plans to have a long-term futureThe cultural center of the Jinpu New Area also arranged some courses for them to know about other traditional Chinese culture such as Chinese calligraphy, seal cutting, folk dance, paper-cutting, and pottery

The cultural center of the Jinpu New Area has undertaken the course for three consecutive years since 2015During the 35-day training course, they learned from Li Mingxu, the fifth generation successor of the Jinzhou Lion Dance, a provincial intangible cultural heritage that has been passed from generation to generation for more than a centuryTen students from Nigeria and Zambia learned how to perform Chinese lion dance at the Jinpu New Area in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning provinceThese changes may look pleasant, but not quite so to Derek Hyra, an associate professor at the American University School of Public Affairs and an expert on neighborhood change

Chen Weihua/China DailyHaving lived in Washington DC for almost five years, I have seen the city growing, with new construction and renovation projects happening in many streets and neighborhoodsHyra described how the "dark ghetto" has been turned into a "gilded ghetto"

To Hyra, it has caused not just residential displacement for African Americans but also political and cultural displacementHis book this year, Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City, is the result of his many years of field research on the issuesWhites are the majority now, accounting for 55 percent of the communityThe 14th Street near U Street, a traditional African American neighborhood, is now lined up with hip restaurants and bars in this photo taken on Sunday

The area, a 90 percent black neighborhood just a few decades ago, was only 30 percent African American by 2010Hyra described the massive transformation in the U Street/Shaw area, where the city's once most infamous open-air drug market has become a farmers' market now selling grass-fed beef and homemade duck egg ravioliThe Wharf residential and business project I visited recently is probably one of the biggestThe same urban renewal is happening in other parts of Washington

The U Street/Shaw and 14th Street area has fast been turned into an upscale neighborhood in recent years, with many new restaurants and shops opening and new apartment constructionOnly a short walk from the National Mall, it looks like a good place to live, work and hang out

The area has seen a sharp increase in the white population and skyrocketing property prices, a sign of gentrification in the Washington DCHe saw major issues of gentrification and segregation in Washington beneath the surface of rapid urban renewal

Located in southwest Washington along the waterfront next to the famed Maine Avenue Fish Market, its first phase will open on Oct 12"An effort to reduce sugary drink intake of teenagers is urgently needed," Liang Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, saidAccording to the US Department of Agriculture, global production of sugar is up 9 million tons to a record of 180 million metrics tons a year and consumption hovers at the 172 million metric ton level, also a record high levelThe American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people should drink no more than three cans of soda (about 450 calories) a week, but men drink 175 and women 94 calories a dayOne sign says you're looking at 45,485 pounds of added sugar - the amount that Kind says children in the United States consume every five minutesAs early as 2006 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified sugar drinks as one of the main culprits in rising obesity rates

The numbers are spun out by Kind from there: children consume 13"In addition, I have found that sugar imports are increasing

Until the 18th century, when the technology for extracting sugar from cane was developed, and 19th century, when we learned how to get it from beets, sugar was only available when the fruit ripened or the bees got busyAbout 12 percent of children aged 7 to 18 in the survey were overweight

Judy Zhu / China DailyA 24-foot-tall pyramid of boxes marked "sugar" in the middle of Times Square makes a point that's kind of hard to ignoreThe world does consume too much "added sugar" - a term the USDA began using in 2000 to help people spot processed foods that have added energy with no added nutrition

"Every country that has adopted the Western diet, one dominated by low-cost, highly processed food, has witnessed rising rates of obesity and related diseases," the journal Nature commented recentlyHigh fructose corn syrup, raw, brown and white sugar, honey, maple syrup, molasses make up about 16 percent of the calories Americans consume and have zero nutritional valueAs the researchers in Nature put it: "In recent years, sugar has been added to virtually every processed food, limiting consumer choice5 million children in the US are obese, the CDC says, blaming snacks and foods high in sugar and salt

For children aged four to eight, the AHA suggests no more than three teaspoons of sugar a day, about 130 calories of a 1,600-calorie diet1 million pounds of added sugar a day - enough to fill 273 yellow school buses

A can of soda has the equivalent of seven to 12 teaspoons of sugar"A report from a survey of 14 provinces in China found that the daily intake of sugars for Chinese people was lower than the level recommended by the World Health Organization, but for children between the ages of 3 and 17 it was much higher because of the growing popularity of sugary drinks, China Daily reported in May

A display in Times Square includes a sugar tower that is 15 feet wide by 24 feet highIt is made of cartons depicting more than 45,000 pounds of sugar, surrounded by life-size models of "crystallized" children

The top domestic consumers, in descending order, are India, the EU, China, the US and BrazilStanding sentinel around the mound are ghostly sculptures of small children, apparently made out of sugar-like granular material, wearing tags that read: "I am 9 years old and weigh 64 poundsAccording to the National Soft Drink Association, the industry produces 600 12-ounce cans of sugary drinks per person per year, most of it what they call the full-sugar variety, and supplies more than a quarter of what Americans drinkThe publicity stunt, created by Magnetic Collaborative agency to promote power bar-maker Kind's new line of fruit snacks, which have no added sugar, is meant to sound an alarm

In descending order, Brazil, India, the EU, Thailand, China and the US are the top producersThe survey, conducted in 2014 by China's health, education and sports authorities, found that the sugar intake of males 13 to 17 surpassed 8

"There are now 30 percent more people who are obese than who are undernourishedThe average child takes in 21 teaspoons a day, the AHA says

The white paper went to great lengths to define China as one of the "destabilizing factors" along with Democratic People's Republic of KoreaIt highlighted "more tangible" and "acute" challenges and destabilizing factors