Download  There is a ‘little China’ or Chinatown in most countries across Asia.

But have you heard of a little Middle East in China?

As Beijing opens up to the international market more foreign business people are basing themselves in China and bringing with them their food and culture.

Elise Potaka sent this audio postcard from China’s ‘Little Middle-east’ in Yiwu, a small city in southern China.

Download  Like many cities across Asia, Beijing is undergoing massive changes.

Now, skyscrapers and large avenues are replacing the network of tiny alleys and single-floor courtyard houses which are often considered as the soul of China’s capital city.

This radical change has provoked debate.

Some argue this modernization is seriously threatening Beijing’s traditional architecture and cultural heritage.

Others stress all the drawbacks of these traditional houses in terms of lack of amenity and comfort.

Daniel Bastard has the story of one woman who decided to preserve the traditional spirit and renovating one of these houses – They paid three and a half million US dollars, for what they consider a passion...well, this was her dream.

Download  A flotilla of 66 ships has been sent to tackle a massive outbreak of seaweed off China's north coast.

It's the fourth year in a row that hundreds of square kilometres off the city of Qingdao in Shandong province have been taken over by what's known as a green tide.

The first green tides were recorded in the 1970's and occur mostly in Europe and South America.

But since 2007 the phenomenon has been making an annual appearance in China's Yellow Sea and experts warn the problem will only get worse unless something is done to address pollution in the area.

Helene Hofman of Radio Australia reports.

Download  In 1946 Sidney Shapiro arrived in Shanghai as a young lawyer from New York to satisfy his curiosity about China.

He survived China’s civil war, Mao’s Cultural Revolution and witnessed the crackdown of the student movement at Tianmen Square.  

At 95, he is the sole surviving member of a rare group of foreigners who were granted citizenship by the Mao government.

Clarence Chua went to meet him to hear his stories about the turbulent times he has lived through in China.