One year after its postponement due to Olympic jitters, the global congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) is being held in Kunming from today through Friday, July 31.

This week more than 4,000 academics from more than 100 countries will be in Kunming to discuss developments in anthropology and ethnology. The five-day event will cover topics including cultural diversity, the environment, social change, immigration, language, education, the family, women and children's issues, architecture and corporate social responsibility.

The Kunming congress is the fourth global congress organized by the IUAES, which is headquartered at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Previous editions have been held in Kolkata, India; Pardubice, Czech Republic and Cape Town, South Africa.

The congress was originally scheduled to take place in July 2008, but it was postponed by the China Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in May, with no official reason given during a time when cultural events were being canceled nationwide in the runup to the Beijing Olympics.

In the wake of recent riots in Xinjiang, the Kunming government seems determined to minimize the chance of anything not going according to plan at the congress this week.

Yunnan University, which is hosting the congress, is off limits to the general public – entry is only granted to registered participants who must display passes. Additionally, the university's perimeter is under heavy police watch.

No official explanation for barring the general public from Yunnan University's main campus has been given, there are several possible reasons, including the attendance of Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu at this morning's opening ceremony.

In his address to the congress, Hui said that "pushing forward dialogues and cooperation among different civilizations is a joint responsibility of individuals and governments."

Despite Hui's upbeat statement, the recent ethnic violence in Xinjiang that left hundreds dead is likely a cause for ramped up security. Another potential reason for government uneasiness may be the occasional overlap between anthropology and intelligence gathering operations.

IUAES Secretary General Peter JM Nas has published a statement against the mixing of anthropological research and spying, summed up by his last sentence: "The values of openness and honesty ultimately trump those of deception."

Editor's note: GoKunming has been crossposting content from our sister site China Sports Today throughout the Olympics.

On the final day of competition, China took two gold medals and a silver in women's rhythmic gymnastics to end up with a total of 51 gold medals and 100 medals overall – its best Olympic medal haul to date. Number two United States and number three Russian Federation trailed China with 36 and 23 golds, respectively.

In terms of total medals, the US took the most medals, with 110, followed by China with 100. The Russian Federation took the third-largest number of medals with 72.

Zou Shiming wins China's first boxing gold
Zou Shiming ( 邹市明) made Chinese sports history on the last day of the Beijing Olympics by claiming the country's first gold medal in boxing. Zou was declared winner in the second round when light-flyweight opponent Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia pulled out of the match due to an injury sustained in a previous match.

China's Zou Shiming won China's first boxing gold today by defeating Mongolia's Serdamba Purevdorj in the final of the light-flyweight class. Zou hit Purevdorj with a combo of punches in the first round, earning one point.

"I wanted to give the spectators a wonderful show, but I did not expect that my opponent would get injured," Zou said. "However, the gold medal is the most important thing."

Zhang Xiaoping picks up second boxing gold for China
Shortly after Zou Shiming gave China its first taste of boxing gold, light heavyweight Zhang Xiaoping (张小平) quickly added another gold medal in boxing by beating Kenny Egan of Ireland 11 to 7.

"I'm really excited," said Zhang, "before the Olympic Games, I was just a normal athlete but now I am a gold medalist. I was perfect today and did very well psychologically and physically. Throughout the Games, I fought with 100 per cent of my skills. I put myself in a low position and tried my best to fight against my opponent."

Zou Shiming image: Xinhua

Editor's note: GoKunming will be crossposting content from our sister site China Sports Today throughout the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee has launched an investigation into the ages of gold medal-winning gymnasts He Kexin (何可欣) and Yang Yilin (杨伊琳), according to multiple media reports. Accusations have been leveled that the hosts cheated by faking age records in the sport, which requires that athletes be turning 16 or older in the year they enter Olympic competition.

If the IOC finds that He and Yang are underage and strips China of medals they won, that would cost China both of its women's gymnastics golds—the team title and He's uneven bars gold—and two bronzes, won by Yang in the uneven bars and the all-around competition.

The Associated Press claimed to have found archived reports (later scrubbed from the Internet) from last November in Chinese state media Xinhua, stating that He was 13 in 2007. More recently, some digging by an American computer security expert revealed more records indicating that He is underage.

Related: China, US medal competition heats up

He Kexin image: Boston Globe

Editor's note: GoKunming will be crossposting content from our sister site China Sports Today throughout the Olympics.

Both China and the US had slow days at the Olympics on Wednesday, with China picking up one medal – a gold in sailing – and the US taking no medals on the twelfth day of competition as of 8:15 pm Beijing time.

China continues to lead the US and the rest of the world in gold medals, with 44. The US and Great Britain trail China with 26 and 16 gold medals, respectively.

China inched closer to the US in terms of total medals, with 77, just two shy of Team USA's 79. The Russian Federation was in a distant third with 45 total medals.

Yin Jian wins China's first sailing gold
Yin Jian (殷剑) finished third in the final race of the RS:X class windsurfing event to claim mainland China's first ever sailing gold, bettering her Athens silver in the process.

The event uses a complicated scoring system that runs over 11 races, with higher points for the final 'medal race'. Yin made a bad start, having chosen a different route around the course from her main rivals. She caught up well, but her overall status was unsure until late in the race. Italy's Alessandra Sensini struggled with the light winds, but won the race to take silver. Newcomer Bryony Shaw of Great Britain finished second to win bronze.

While this may be the mainland's first windsurfing gold, a Chinese sailor has taken gold on the board before - Lee Lai Shan (李麗珊), popularly known as "San San", took Hong Kong's first-ever Olympic medal in Atlanta, becoming a local hero in the process.

Yin Jian image: 2008.sina.com.cn

Injured hurdler Liu Xiang has written a letter to the people of China and his supporters worldwide, which was posted on Chinese national track and field coach Feng Shuyong's (冯树勇) blog yesterday. Below is a translation of Feng's post:

I have already been in touch with Liu Xiang several times since he pulled out of the race as an absolute last resort. Right now as far as Liu Xiang is concerned, he needs to get back to normal as soon as possible, he needs to fully recover from his foot injury. Now via my blog, I will relay Liu Xiang's feelings.



Editor's note: GoKunming is crossposting content from our sister site China Sports Today throughout the Olympics.

Liu Xiang image: blog.iqilu.com

Editor's note: GoKunming will be crossposting content from our sister site China Sports Today throughout the Olympics.

With Monday night's men's team table tennis gold medal, and the women's team title the night before, China is halfway to a sweep of the top spots in its national sport.

China defeated Germany in the men's final, which requires teams to play a mix of singles and doubles matches. Wang Hao and Ma Lin each won their singles matches easily, and then Wang Hao went on to win the doubles with partner Wang Liqin.

On Sunday, the women's team denied rivals Singapore an Olympic gold medal, with a 3-0 victory.

The singles competition for the women started Monday, and for the men it begins Tuesday. Anything less than gold will be a disappointment, and China has the talent to sweep all three medals on both sides.

Editor's note: GoKunming will be crossposting content from our sister site China Sports Today throughout the Olympics.

After winning one gold medal and six total medals on Saturday and then seven golds and 14 total medals on Sunday, China is making a serious run at coming out of the Beijing games with the most gold and most medals overall.

As of 11:00 pm Beijing time on Monday, China leads the Olympic gold quest with 39 gold medals, 17 more than Team USA's 22. In terms of overall medals, China trails the US by five, with the Americans taking 72 compared to China's 67.

China won four more gold medals today, plus a silver and a bronze, but all the talk was about the medal that China was hoping to win more than any other – the men's 110 meter hurdles. As reported here and across global media, Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang has withdrawn from the event in which he won gold during the Athens games four years ago.

Editor's note: GoKunming will be crossposting content from our sister site China Sports Today throughout the Olympics.

For Chinese fans, they were, without a doubt, the three most anticipated events of the 2008 Olympics: the opening ceremony, Yao Ming and the men's basketball team's showdown with Team USA, and Liu Xiang's (刘翔) defense of his Olympic gold in the 110-meter hurdles.

Now the third one won't happen, as Liu—world record holder until a couple of months ago—withdrew from his preliminary heat this morning in the Bird's Nest. Liu showed up to the race, but he looked far from ready, grimacing and hobbling through warm-ups. He took his mark with the other competitors on the track. But after another runner false started, the injured hurdler tore off his numbers and turned to walk away from the race.

It was known that Liu spent the summer battling a bum hamstring. His coach, Sun Haiping, said in a news conference today that Liu also had a several years-old injury in to his achilles tendon that became more serious recently. Unable to hold back tears, Sun spoke of Liu's dedication to the sport and the pain he had struggled with in recent weeks. Asked whether Liu had known before today's event that he would not compete, the coach gave a rambling reply that ultimately didn't address the question. Sun had said three weeks ago that Liu was still not perfectly healthy but had run a strong 13.18.

The last time Liu raced was in late May at the Good Luck Beijing Athletics Open. He breezed to victory in an Olympic test event in the Bird's Nest. On June 2, Liu dropped out of the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, citing a tight hamstring. The following week, he was disqualified from the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon for a double false start.

The importance of Liu to these Olympics, Chinese sports in general and many Chinese people on a personal level cannot be overstated. He was the first Chinese male to win track and field gold. His face is ubiquitous on billboards and magazine covers from Beijing to Chengdu, and he is the country's top-earning athlete after Yao Ming.

Newspaper columnist Raymond Zhou of China Daily had compared Liu's run at gold to Barack Obama's run for the U.S. presidency. Zhou told China Sports Today before the games began, "We Chinese often convince ourselves that Chinese, and Asians in general, are not good at track and field. If Liu Xiang can consistently break that stereotype, it gives people hope that Asians can compete."

The pressure Liu was under was tremendous, and it can be seen in the reactions shown on TV today. Sun wasn't the only person shedding tears. CCTV showed shots of many in the crowd at the stadium who were visibly moved by Liu's collapse, and the state television station's commentators seemed to be barely containing their emotion when delivering the news.

The USA's Terrence Trammell was also sidelined by injury, leaving his fellow American David Oliver as the top challenger to the world record holder, Cuba's Dayron Robles.

Related:
Liu Xiang's record broken
Liu Xiang grounded again
Liu Xiang drops out of NY race

Image: hc360.com