Ford Mustang: always an American icon, it was entirely redesigned and re-engineered for 2005, becoming by all accounts one of the best new cars of the model year and an outstanding sporty-car sales success, the likes of which Ford Motor Company hasn’t seen since the original, 41 years ago.
We love the Ford Mustang. We’ve loved the Mustang since it took the country by storm in 1964.
It is America’s iconic sports car, affordable, sexy, patriotic, fun.

Report: Diesel VW Jetta Sportwagen a real fuel-sipper. As if Detroit doesn’t have enough to worry about, now VW is going to be sending over a diesel that gets 60 mpg on the highway! That’s serious mileage. Add on the fact that diesel is less-expensive than gasoline and now you’ll be able to put a lot more miles from that gallon of diesel… AND the engine will be clean enough for all 50 states.Might it be too early to predict a mega-winner? Oh, under $20k, too.

The sheer level of energy is the most striking aspect of Japan’s capital city. Tokyo remains a glittering example of the ‘miracle’ of post World War II Japan. Streets are lined with tiny specialist shops and bustling restaurants, most of which stay open late into the night. Close to the soaring office blocks exist pockets of another Tokyo - an old wooden house, a Japanese inn, an old lady in a kimono sweeping the pavement outside her home with a straw broom. More than anything else, Tokyo is a place where the urgent rhythms of consumer culture collide with the quieter moments that linger from older traditions.

Spring is the best time to visit Tokyo, particularly as cherry blossoms begin to appear in early April and this is when the city is at its most beautiful. Autumn is not a bad time to visit either, with its cool temperatures and many clear days, while winter is marked by the occasional snowfall but rarely freezing conditions. The city can be an unpleasant place during summer, when torrential downpours and mugginess combine with the crowded public transport to wear down your calm visitor’s fa?ade.

Imperial Palace

The Japanese emperor and the imperial family still call the Imperial Palace home, so unless you get a royal invite to tea tourists are restricted to the outskirts and the gardens. New Year’s Day (2 January) and 23 December (the Emperor’s birthday) are the only exceptions to this rule.

The biggest draw card of the Imperial Palace, both literally and metaphorically, is Edo-jo castle. From the 17th century until the Meiji Restoration, it was used as the impregnable fortress of the ruling shogun ate. Over the years the castle was upgraded, added to, renovated and built onto with all the force of a rabid renovator. For a while it was the largest castle in the world but all the DIY’ing came to an abrupt end when large portions of it were destroyed in the transfer of power from shogun back to emperor during the Meiji Restoration.

The Imperial East Garden is entered through one of three gates although the most popular is the Ote-mon, which was once the principle gate of Edo-jo. The garden is an oasis of quiet after the bustle of Tokyo, and characteristically Japanese; a horizon of clear lines, an attention to detail and the religious placement of objects within the landscape.

Tokyo Disneyland

You could be forgiven for assuming that the country that invented fake waves would jump at the chance to out-Disney Disneyland, so it comes as something of a shock to see such uncharacteristic restraint. Surprisingly Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and most of Walt’s other empire-building prototypes have been respectfully left alone and much of Tokyo Disneyland is an exact replica of the Californian amusement park.

Shinjuku

The Shinjuku district is, without doubt, the most vigorous part of Tokyo; two million people per day pass through Shinjuku station alone. With a total lack of irony or tongue-in-cheekness, the two sides - east and west - sit side-by-side in mutual harmony; west Shinjuku is the staid, buttoned-down commercial hub of the city, while the east is its colourful, seedy and exotic counterpart. The west is planned, administrative and skyscrapped, while the east side is rambling, chaotic and full of fast-food shops and pawn shops.

Wandering the east side you’ll be able to see the entire world go by while simultaneously having your senses assaulted by archetypal Blade Runner video billboards on the Studio Alta building, a popular meeting place for Tokyoites. Other east-side attractions include Hanazona-jinja shrine, the many departmemt stores and the colourful if risque Kabukicho and Golden Gai areas.

Sony Building

The Sony building, at the Sukiyabashi intersection, is a must-see for all the cyberjunkies, digital-devotees, and Playstation groupies. Any electronic gizmo that has ever been invented is here in the Sony building, as well as some yet-to-be-retailed prototypes. With most of the displays being a hands-on proposition, it’s an oversized kid’s arcade.

The building itself is a rather phlegmatic version of the sixties - a lot of function over form - but with eight stories of unadulterated electronic heaven who cares about the packaging.

Ginza

Despite its disaster-ridden history and propensity for shape-changing, Ginza has become synonymous with conspicuous consumption and excessive shopping. At the end of the 19th century, after fire razed it to the ground, it was ressurected in a London-cum-faux-Parisian style with brick buildings and wide boulevards that mimicked the Champs Elysses. Since then, earthquakes and WWII carpet-bombing has seen it gradually transform from continental chic to trans-atlantic functional, but it still pulls the crowds.

There are some jejeune shopping districts that have tried to wrestle the crown from Ginza - they’re more crowded, more opulent and hipper - but the grande old dame of ostentatious spending stills retains her imperious snob value. Serious shoppers don’t leave town without swinging through the doors of Matsuya, Mitsukosh and Wako department stores. The Ginza strip is where you can purchase novelty items whose fetishistic value far outweigh its functional value, and indulge in a spot of retail therapy. Window shopping is free, though, and the window displays in the department stores are works of installation art in themselves.

Ueno-koen park

If Ginza is for shopping, Ueno-koen Park is for strolling, museum-hopping and temple-gazing. The area of Ueno was historically the Alamo of the last shogunate - site of his futile last-ditch effort to prevent a takeover by the imperial army. Today it’s a carefully landscaped park dotted with museums, temples and a not-half-bad zoo.

Attractions inside the park include the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art (if contemporary art is your bag this is a good place to start), the Tokyo National Museum, the National Science Museum, the National Museum of Western Art (not only does the building house some impressive examples of western art, the building itself was built by Le Corbusier and the garden contains original Rodins including his iconic sculpture,The Thinker), the Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall and the Ueno-no-Mori Art Museum, which often has calligraphy exhibitions scheduled.

One of the most frequently and fervently patronised temples in Ueno-koen park is the Kiyomizu Kannon-do Temple. Women wishing to conceive leave a doll here for the 1000-armed goddess senju Kannon; after the dolls are burnt in an annual bonfire on 25 September, the women wait to see if Kannon has granted them the gift of fertility.

Hama Rikyu Detached Palace Garden

The Hama Rikyu Detached Palace Garden, south of Tokyo central, is 25 hectares (62 acres) of Tokyo’s greenest, and most finely landscaped, pieces of real estate. In the 17th century it was the happy hunting ground for the Tokugawa shogunate but passed into the hands of the good citizens of Tokyo, post World War II. The park is actually on an island, cut off from the surrounding metropolis by an ancient walled moat and accessible by only one entrance over the Nanmon Bridge.

The Park is a popular venue for a stroll because it feels deceptively large and has an unusual emphasis on water. The huge Shiori Pond is a focal point for visitors but its tidal pools, teahouses, bridges, pine trees, and pavilions for moon-watching all contribute to the garden’s charm and photogenic appeal.

An entry fee ensures that the Hama Rikyu is one of the quieter and less-congested areas of Tokyo, although the US’3 entry fee is waived for disabled travellers and one companion.

Tokyo National Museum

The Tokyo National Museum is one place worth going out of your way to visit. It holds Japan’s largest collection of Japanese art, as well as a number of fine sculptures and a not inconsiderable number of antiquities. Only a fraction of the collection is displayed at any one time.

The four main galleries - the Main Gallery, the Gallery of Eastern Antiquities, Hyokeikan Hall and the Gallery of Horyu-ji Treasures - hold Japanese art (including sculpture, swords, lacquerware and calligraphy), archaelogical finds from throughout Asia, Japanese archaelogical items, and masks and scrolls respectively.

The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures is only open on Thursdays and even then, if it is raining or humid, can be summarily closed. Some of the galleries exhibits are over 1000 years old and great care is taken to protect them from the effects of humidity and dampness.

Kite Museum

The Kite Museum, just behind Tokyu department store in Shibuya-ku, is living reproof to all those rinky-dink kites with plain plastic sails, ply wood frames and a Sunday driver at the end of the string. Most of the 4000 kites housed in the museum are traditional Japanese kites (Edo Nishiki-E Dako) but there are some fine examples from China and other Asian countries.

The frames are mainly bamboo while the sails are made of ‘washi’, a type of handmade paper made from the kohzo tree (a species of mulberry). The paper is both lightweight and strong. Illustrations are first outlined in dark sumi ink to restrict the pigments to the desired areas and then the artist goes to town on the design itself. Kite scenes include scowling Kabuki actors, samurai warriors hacking each other to death against a busy backdrop of psychedelic swirls and cute fluffy ‘Hello Kitty’ type animals doing unnatural things.

The museum is situated on the 5th floor of Taimeiken, a well-known restaurant, located in downtown Tokyo. It’s cramped and pokey and lacks explanatory material, but its still a unique museum with a unique collection.

Tokyo is serviced by two major airports, Narita and Haneda. There are 12 subway lines operated by two companies. The subway services are essentially the same and have good connections from one to the other, although they do operate under separate ticketing systems. Driving is possible in Tokyo, but not without its frustrations, jams and high tolls. Unless you’re heading out of town, stick to public transport. The same rule applies to the city’s expensive taxis. Generally speaking, the traffic system in Tokyo is good. How about planning your trip to Tokyo right now? You will not regret.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Today we are going to visit Zhongyang Street. This is the downtown area. In order to better know the street, we are going to walk through it, which takes about 40 minutes. Those who do not like walking may keep seated, our coach will go along another street and stop at the Flood Control Monument. Those who cannot walk that far may take a taxi to the Flood Control Monument. Now let6’s get off the coach, and take a walk on Zhongyang Street.

Zhongyang Street measures 1450 meters from Jingwei Street in the south to the Flood Control Monument on the riverbank in the north. This is China’s longest walkway. The street was built at the end of the last century. It was connected to a wharf at the Songhua River. Because of the constant transport of the goods needed for building the China Eastern Railway, a shopping center began to take shape along this street at the turn of the century. Harbin at that time was a semi-colonial city with a foreign population of many thousands. Politics and economy were actually controlled by foreign powers. Owing to the concentration of Chinese shops along this street, foreigners took it as a China town and called it China Street.

Have you noticed the cobbled road surface? This is the only cobbled street left in Harbin. This cobbled street was paved in 1925. Thanks to the good quality, the street has kept in good shape with a few repairs in the past. This street began to take shape as an international street in the 1920s. There were over a hundred shops and many were owned by forergners, such as Russians, Greeks, Czechs, Swedes, Swiss, Frenchmen, Germans and Englishmen. They built their shops in their individual styles. Therefore, the street not only looked like a foreign street, but also was controlled by foreigners. Now this smooth cobbled street may remind us of the past when foreigners were sitting in chariots along the street, as if we could still hear the horse-hoofs clicking on cobbles.

Over half a century is past, Zhongyang Street is weather-beaten. With the implementation of reform and opening-up, it is ready to welcome visitors with a new outlook.

The building in front of us is very attractive. Its some and arched windows are typical of the Byzantine Style popular in Europe during the Middle Ages. It was built in 1934 and it was a shoe shop owned by a Czech. After liberation, it became a specialty shop-Women and Children’s Department Store. It is the biggest specialty shop along Zhongyang Street. There are a good variety of commodities. Now some world famous specialty chains have also set up branches down here, such as Crocodile, Bossini and so on. You can see some gentlemen also wandering in the Women and Children’s Department Store. At such a good shopping place, they will not walk out empty-handed.

Opposite the Women and Children’s Department Store is the Central Shopping City opened in November 1994. On its original site there were five small stores run by Russians, which were built in 1932. After liberation, they were turned into one department store. In 1994, the old building was torn down, and this comprehensive department store was built. The architecture is a combination of a European castle with modern architecture. It has become a new scenic spot on Zhongyang Street.

At we go along the road, we are able to see the Central Pharmacy. It was a bungalow before. In 1912, German Sidemen’s opened a shop here to sell electrical equipment and materials. After liberation, it was reconstructed. Now you can find not only medicine here, but also the Gold lion shop, a super-market and a Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant.

This shopping Center was opened in 1995. Its original site was a shop managed by a Swede. It dealt in china, porcelain and enamelware. After liberation, it became a food-store. The building you see now was designed by a famous architect in Heilongjiang. It is a masterpiece of adopting relief sculptures in modern construction. This building is an attractive site in Zhongyang Street.

The nost interesting building along Zhongyang Street is the Modern Hotel. It was constructed in 1913. It is of an attractive outlook and magnificently decorated. It has a typical Baroque style of the Neo-artistic period. At first, it was invested and managed by a Jewish Frenchman. The origin of its Chinese name once aroused the interest of many people. There was a column in newspaper for debating its origin. Some held its Chinese name came from the word “mother”, some said it came from “modern”. However, modern seemed to overwhelm mother as you can see the hotel now used the Modern Hotel as its English name.

Modern Hotel has all the facilities of a modern hotel including well-decorated suites, dining rooms and medium and small-sized meeting rooms in European palatial styles. There is a legendary oil painting hanging on a wall on the landing of the first floor. It was painted a famous Russian painter. He was inspired by “Divine Comedy”composed by Dante. It shows a pretty girl saved by angels from confinement by insects and demons;the girl who endured tortures in hell was about to rise to heaven. This picture was painted red during the Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural Revolution, the original painting was restored. Now we are able to appreciate its artistic charm.

In the past few decades, modern Hotel has catered to many famous people, such as well known Chinese writers Guo Moruo and Ding Ling, and a renowned painter, Xu Berhong. Those who have stayed here also include distinguished American celebrities such as Anna Louise Strong, Edgar Snow Yue-Sai Kan. Movie studios have shot movies here. “Harbin in the Dark Night”, “London Inspiration”, “The Orient Express to Moscow”have left people lasting memories.

Opposite the Modern Hotel, there is Huamei Restaurant. It was Malse Restaurant serving western food. After liberation, it was rebuilt several times and two more stories have been added. However, its original European Style had been kept. It was reported in 1973 that there were 260 Western restaurants in Harbin, with over 100 concentrated along Zhongyang Street. Huamei Restaurant was one of the best known. Now it serves many specialties, such as Russian dishes, potted cattle tail, French egg and fried prawns. It is said a Russian celebrity who used to serve in the army once visited Huamei. After dinner, he could not help praising food served in Huamei. He declared the Russian dishes here surpassed those in Russia. He would send chefs from Russia to Huamei to learn to cook when he got back home. Now that you know Huamei, your knowledge of Zhongyang Street will not be complete if you have not tried the food here.

Further in the front, we can see the Education Bookstore. It was constructed in 1909. It is a Baroque construction, extravagant and novel, with bold lines and strong contrast. Over the entrance, there are two staturs. They are Titans in Greek fairy tales. The male is Atlas and the female is Galliached. It is said they hold up the sky with heads and shoulders. Education relates to the future of a country. May these Titans hold up the building of education, and accompany us to a prosperous tomorrow.

Opposite to the Education Bookstore, the building in the Neo-artistic style is Qiulin Department Store. It is characterized by simple structure, flexible lay out, free style, and curved decoration. Qiulin was constructed in 1903. In the past few decades, it has transformed from a colonial company. It has witnessed great changes in Zhongyang Street.

Many people say Zhongyang Street is a street of architecture as over 70 buildings appear in different styles. Some state it is a small Paris in the Orient; some assert it is a Moscow in the Orient; some declare it is a symphony. When you step on this cobbled street, it is as if you could hear a prelude. As you go further along the street, you can see the Women and Children’s Department Store, and the Flood Control Monument at the riverside, as if their varied structures were different chapters constituting a harmonious tune. This symphony accompanies the people in Harbin as they suffered before liberation, wandered through the Cultural Revolution, and ushered in the reform and opening up, and encourages them to face up to the magnificent 21st century.

I would like to call this street an international shopping mall. There are state owned stores and outlets of foreign products. There are banks and post-offices. There are hotels and restaurants. There are Jewelers‘and photographers’. People are able to stroll, shop and enjoy delicacies along the street. At night over 200 shops will be radiating with colorful neon lights. This century-old street will radiate its vigor and become more attractive.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if we go further forward, we are able to reach the Flood Control Monument. Now I will give you some free time for shopping and photography. We will meet at the Flood Control Monument in twenty minutes.

As the new American election approaches, there are many candidates that will potentially make American History. One of these candidates is Barack Obama. If elected as the next present, he will be the first ever African American president in history. For those who do not know about Obama, here is a brief yet insightful biography.

Obama was born in August 4, 1961. His first experience in politics was when he was the junior United States Senator for his state under a Democratic Party. While receiving such role, he already contributed to history by being labeled the fifth African American Senator in a whole history of the United States.

In 2008, Obama will be running for Presidency. His Democratic Party’s mission is to end the Iraq War, which is quite turn around for the country. It will be quite interesting to see how the election plays out, which may ultimately show the nation’s current stand on the war. Of course each candidate has their own view on the war and it will not be the sole reason why the American citizens will be voting in favor of a specific candidate.

Barack Obama also wants to implement a universal health care system which allows the right to all citizens (and some permanent residents) to health care, regardless of the fact that they can afford to pay for the services or not. This is essential for the United States since they are the only industrialized country that does not grant all of their citizens the right to health care.

If Barack Obama were to be elected as president, it will show how much the United States has gone through pass their decades of discrimination against the African American. Of course racism has already decreased since the 70’s and 80’s but it still lingers within the country if we admit it or not. The sole purpose of voting for a certain senator is not to chose whether he or she is in a specific group (such as race, class or gender) but rather look through such things into their values as a person and goals for the country. This election will be one of the most important elections as there is lots of potential for history to be made and of course, a major impact in the country’s direction.

The results of Barack Obama’s campaign for presidency is not as predictable since the vote is going to be determined by generations of people who have new mindsets. As opposed to decades ago, if a similar election would be held (with a female and black senator running) the results would be quite obvious because of the discrimination between the two. However, the United States are in a new state, but of course those with the discriminating generation are still alive and voting.

As each candidate tour the country hoping to convince voters to vote for them through their campaign, Obama New York as a win would greatly benefit is campaign along with California Obama majority. Tune into the 2008 election as history will surely be made.