近千人在山東省青島市最高建築頂上開始垂直馬拉鬆，慶祝新年。

近千人山The 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

東省青島市馬拉鬆慶The US government, lawmakers and pundits have generally expressed negative views of Duterte since he took office last June最高建築頂祝新年And overall, the perception gap between the US and China in the Philippines is narrowing

上開始垂直According to the survey, 78 percent in the Philippines have a positive view of the US as of this spring, down from 92 percent who expressed positive sentiments in 2015近千人山But the Philippines, and indeed all the countries in the region, should be encouraged to have good relations with both China and the US, a real win-win situation for not just the three countries involved, but for the region and the world東省青島市馬拉鬆慶At the same time, 78 percent believe the current economic situation is good, and 57 percent are satisfied with the direction of the country, a 21 percentage-point increase from 2014, the last time this question was asked in the Philippines最高建築頂祝新年Some even believe that he would not able to serve the full six-year term上開始垂直A zero-sum mentality about China-US relations is reflected not only in the thinking of some US politicians, but also in a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center

近千人山The report finds that people in the Philippines still like the US and have confidence in its leader, President Donald Trump東省青島市馬拉鬆慶The survey released on Sept 21 bore a title saying people in the Philippines still favor the United States over China, but that the gap is narrowing最高建築頂祝新年Children cool off themselves at a wading pool in Toronto, Canada, on Sept 24, 2017

上開始垂直The vice-premier said China is willing to work with the US to prepare for President Trump's visit to China to ensure it is a great success近千人山Visiting Vice-Premier Liu Yandong, right, speaks with Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, center, and Ivanka Trump, left, daughter of US President Donald Trump also serving as an adviser, in Washington DC, on Sept 27, 2017東省青島市馬拉鬆慶Liu addressed a reception celebrating the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Chinese embassy on Wednesday最高建築頂祝新年The training course on the Chinese lion dance is part of the 2017 China Africa Cultures in Focus, an activity held by the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of Chinese Ministry of Culture to strengthen the cultural communication between China and African countries

They kept practicing from morning until night, trying to master the basic skills of lion dance, routines and instrumental music within a short periodThe 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 issues

Whites 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 ravioli

The Wharf residential and business project I visited recently is probably one of the biggestThe same urban renewal is happening in other parts of WashingtonThe 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 outThe 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, said

According 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 day

One 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 increasingUntil 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 value

As 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 busesA 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 pounds

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 constructionThe 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