Dutch woman says Shaolin kung fu saves her life

Mana, a Shaolin disciple from the Netherlands, credited kung fu with saving her life in the new CGTN documentary "The Spirit of Shaolin."

In the documentary, Mana recounted suffering from severe depression until discovering Shaolin kung fu that profoundly transformed her life in the years that followed.

"So I was very depressed at one point in life, and was living every day between wanting to live, wanting to kill myself. So one day I was like okay I cannot live like this anymore, so I got up, [and] went to the train station. I told myself I either jump and it's all gone -- there's rest, there's peace, or I get myself together. And I went to the train station and I was like, oh no, this is too scary, I don't want to jump. So I got home and got myself together," she recalled.

At her darkest moment, she found the strength to put herself back together, ultimately leading her to the Shaolin Temple in central China.

"My friends, they all thought I was fine, it's just some day, I just didn't reply to any messages anymore, because I couldn't take it. Short while after I got an invitation from my old Shifu to go to [the] Shaolin [Temple] in China for kung fu, for a trip, and I was like, this is my sign, this is what I need, and then it literally changed my life," said Mana.

Dutch woman says Shaolin kung fu saves her life

The Youyiguan Port, or Friendship Pass, in Pingxiang City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region neighboring Vietnam registered sharp growth in the value of imports and exports in the first half of this year.

The port, China's main gateway to Vietnam, recorded a total import and export cargo value of 364.12 billion yuan (about 53.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months, up 26 percent year on year.

The trade with ASEAN member states dominated the port's performance, with the value of imports from and exports to ASEAN countries reaching 361.4 billion yuan in the January-June period, a 26.2 percent increase year on year, accounting for 99.3 percent of the port's total cross-border volume.

Machinery and electronic products remained the main categories of imports and exports through the port.

To facilitate economic and trade exchanges between China and ASEAN countries, the local customs authorities have introduced a series of measures to simplify the customs declaration and clearance procedures, raising the overall inspection efficiency by 40 percent.

South China's Friendship Pass registers sharp growth in value of imports, exports in January-June