Shenzhou No. 5 (Oct 19, 03)

Hurray to the Shenzhou No.5! The media in China have bombarded (or celebrated?) the whole country the whole week with the news of the first successful mission possible in the space. Nothing should be said more as all kinds of knowledge about space and astronauts have been revealed by the rigorous media coverage. But, Chinese are quick! Why? Today when I walked in the Xinhua Bookstore in Wang Fu Jing, the counter at the front gate was selling all kinds of Shenzhou No. 5 models already! Different models including a special edition with gold plated spaceship skin and a crystal-like material as the earth! Then as I walked in further into the store, the new book section, as you can probably imagine, was showing ALL-KIND-OF books about astronomy, the rise and downfall of space industry, ………… basically, you can name it and you can find it. It’s indeed incredible!