French singer expresses hope for long-lasting China-France friendship

Hélène Rollès, the French singer behind the famous song "Je m'appelle Hélène," shared her experiences of performing in China and her personal connection with the country, while expressing optimism for a durable and enduring friendship between China and France in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) released on Friday.

Since its release in 1993, the song "Je m'appelle Hélène" not only dominated the French Singles Chart for 25 consecutive weeks but also made its way across the sea to China. The singer, Hélène Rollès, who has been performing in China since 1990, also developed a deep affection for the country over the years.

"The first time I performed this song in China, the experience was incredible. It was amazing because, in fact, the Chinese audience sang along with me. So, I found it truly exciting and was surprised by how well they knew the song," said the singer.

Rollès believes that it was Chinese students studying in France who introduced the song to China.

"When learning French, the first expression to learn is 'my name is.' So, the lyrics are easy to sing along with. In a way, the song may have opened up a pathway to learning about France, sparking people's interest in the French language. I'm aware there's a Chinese version of this song called 'Yi Lian', which is quite lovely," she said.

This song made Rollès a famous name in China. But in fact, even before the song's release, she had visited China in 1990. Just as her singing deeply resonated with the Chinese people, she herself became deeply enamored with the country.

"It was truly remarkable. There were some beautiful lanes in the streets, and China was captivating with its abundance of excellent restaurants. It's a really fascinating country, and there's something about its atmosphere that, I don't know, seems to leave an effect on those who visit," Rollès said.

Rollès also expressed her fascination with China and her enduring desire to return. In 2014, her wish came true as she once again graced the stage in China, performing "Je m'appelle Hélène." Over the next two years, in 2015 and 2016, Rollès embarked on consecutive tours across China, enchanting audiences from Guangzhou and Shenzhen cities in the south to Beijing and Dalian cities in the north. During that period, she felt that the country had become very different from what it was like around 20 years ago.

Rollès said that she hopes the friendship between China and France will endure like the song, standing the test of time.

"China has changed a lot. It is very modern now. The transformation is evident everywhere, with all cities being under construction, evolving into even more modern places. China is beautiful, and I always want to go back to China. I would love to spend some time living there when I have the chance to," said the singer.

French singer expresses hope for long-lasting China-France friendship

Chinese scientists have recently worked together and rebuilt the face of an ancient Chinese ethnic minority emperor via cutting-edge DNA technology.

Emperor Wu of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581), also known as Yuwen Yong, was an ambitious leader who died at 36. He belonged to the Xianbei nomadic group, which originated from the Mongolian Plateau.

The tomb of the emperor was discovered in 1993 in a village of the city of Xianyang in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. His skull and bones were discovered during an excavation held in 1994 and 1995 at the site of his tomb.

In late March this year, scientists led by the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Institute of Archaeological Science of Fudan University managed to decode key features of the emperor and speculate about his cause of death. The emperor might have died from chronic arsenic poisoning due to long-term use of a pellet, which was believed by ancient people to achieve eternal life.

"First, the skeleton can be used to determine age. Second, in terms of age and gender, some pathological research can also be done to see if he had any fractures or other (diseases)," said Zhang Jianlin, a researcher from the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology.

Obtaining high-quality genomic data is crucial for restoring the face. Through DNA paleogenomics techniques and optimized DNA extraction, database building and capture methods, more history was revealed.

"First, we have done the shorter fragments enrichment method, which is a DNA extraction method. In addition, we have developed some more sensitive database building method suitable for ancient samples with short fragments. You can regard it as a method to amplify the genetic signal, the extracted DNA. The third is that we have developed a capture method that is more suitable for this kind of highly degraded ancient samples. So we have optimized and improved our approach from three aspects at the same time," said Wen Shaoqing, an associate professor of the Institute of Archaeological Science of Fudan University.

The reconstructed face showed that Yuwen Yong had black hair, yellow skin and brown eyes, while his appearance was typical for people from East or Northeast Asia.

Wen said that with the help of the DNA technology, the accuracy of facial restoration can reach 90 percent.

"As for the accuracy of (facial restoration), the current situation is that if there is a skull as a basis, its accuracy will be relatively high," said Wen.

Scientists rebuild face of ancient emperor using advanced DNA technology