Singapore and Japan are attractive to Chinese students

Some of China's Asian neighbors are becoming popular destinations for Chinese students when choosing to study abroad, according to a survey.

More Chinese students who plan to study overseas tend to steer to Asian countries like Singapore and Japan, according to a White Paper on Chinese studying abroad in 2016.

The survey questioned nearly 3,000 Chinese students planning to study abroad and found in 2016 fewer were willing to study in the US, the UK, Australia and Canada in comparison with 2015.

Chinese students' choices for overseas study keeps diversifying, and the survey also found that choosing a right major is the fundamental factor for Chinese students and their parents when selecting an overseas educational institution.

The Forbidden City finds ancient relics

The Forbidden City, home to China's imperial palace from 1420 in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) until the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), has confirmed the discovery of relics from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) that were buried underground in the heart of the city for more than 600 years.

Li Ji, head of the Archaeology Department at the museum's affiliated academic research institutes, said the relics were found under the west wing of the museum during work on laying an electric cable last year, but it had taken months to appraise them and confirm their age.

Li also said the foundations for construction work from the Ming and Qing dynasties were found above the Yuan relics.

"These three layers of relics indicate how layouts for buildings, changed through time," he said.

He added that no Yuan relics had been found previously because of "scrupulous urban construction work" in the Ming Dynasty.

But no large-scale archaeological work will be carried out on the relics, to minimize the impact on surviving ancient architecture.