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CRI English Service |
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Born
in Cave |
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The English Service was first launched
at Shahe Village at the foot of the Taihang Mountains in north
China's Hebei Province on September 11, 1947, when the country
was engaged in a civil war. The XNCR, as we were called then,
made its debut in nothing but a cave studio in the mountains
of Taihang, to provide first-hand information about the liberated
areas. Conditions there were so primitive that our very first
announcer Wei Lin would often have to carry a flashlight to
the cave studio so as to scare the wolves away.
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On
The Road to CRI |
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| When the People's Republic was founded
in 1949, we moved from the Taihang Mountains to Peking, capital
of the new China. We therefore changed our signal from XNCR
to Radio Peking on April 10, 1950, and set up our own independent
editorial department under the Central People's Broadcast Station.
Radio Peking had been on the air till 1983, when the name was
changed into Radio Beijing.
10 years later, to avoid confusion with the local Beijing
People's Broadcast Station, we again changed our name to China
Radio International on January 1, 1993.
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Home
Service Launched |
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As China opens its door to the outside
world and as more and more English speaking people come to China,
we feel the need to launch our home service to cater to their
needs. At the beginning of 1984, we started to broadcast our
home service to the Beijing area on AM and FM frequencies. The
service later expanded to dozens of major cities across China,
providing listeners inside China with timely news and reports,
music, weather, English and Chinese learning skills, as well
as other services.
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CRI
Turns to Local Abroad |
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| In addition to our short-wave
broadcasts, we also try to make ourselves heard on the
local AM and FM frequencies in many parts of the world
through different forms of cooperation. We can now be
heard locally in cities like Washington, Los Angles, London,
as well as dozens of major cities across the world. If
you're randomly tuning your AM/FM receiver at your home
or in your car, chances are you'll meet us. Just check
our programs section to find out the exact local time
and frequencies in your area. |
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CRI
As A Music Radio |
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For many domestic listeners, we probably
sound more like a music station as we try to expand our broadcast
domestically. In fact, of our 24 hour-daily-broadcast in the
Beijing area, for example, music programs that feature different
styles make up at least 15 hours of it. Programs like Easy Morning,
Music Memories, The Pulse, All That Jazz etc, are warmly received
across the country. Our lifestyle feature program China Drive
is also widely popular for successfully blending news, opinions
and music.
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From
Analog to Digital |
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In 1997, with a 40 million yuan investment
from the Chinese government and a government loan of 3.2
million US dollars from Austria, we completed a revolutionary
switch from a traditional analog broadcast mode to a state-of-the-art
digital one. The digital facilities, provided by Siemens
Austria, include a data storage bank, a central control,
live broadcast systems and recording work-stations. As
both the production and the transmission of programs are
digitalized, we now boast the largest digital broadcasting
system of any radio service in the world. |
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You
Are Our Strength |
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| At present, we broadcast 145
hours of programs each day. And it is widely acknowledged
that we're one of the most convenient media to learn about
China. Dedicated to serving as a bridge that links China
to the world, and the world to China, we hope to do our
bit to promote exchanges and enhance mutual understandings
between China and other countries. In 2002 alone, we received
over 168,000 letters from our listeners in more than 100
countries and regions. We're always very appreciative
of your trust on us and we know we can count on you, because
you are our strength. |
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Where
We Are |
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We've walked out of the Taihang
Mountains long ago, and moved into a high-rise building in
the western part of Beijing in 1997. You can always reach
us by dropping us a line, or send us an email at the following
address
English Service,
China Radio International,
Beijing, 100040, China
Tel: 86-10-68891617 86-10-68891465
Fax: 86-10-68891599
Email: crieng@cri.com.cn
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What
We Do
Producer:
Ding Yan 
