We asked destiny consultant Master Raymond Lo, an expert in reading the I-Ching, the ancient Chinese "Book of Changes, " which of the top sports people bound for Beijing would be successful at the Olympics.

CNN: Reading the Olympians' fortunes

The study found that the so-called "ancient" breeds such as the Akita, Afghan Hound and Chinese Shar-Pei, are no closer to the first domestic dogs than any other breeds due to the effects of lots of cross-breeding.

BBC: Modern dogs have 'little in common' with ancient breeds

In 2011, the Chinese museum sent over a hugely successful exhibition - of ancient rock carvings from Dazu - to National Museum Wales in Cardiff, attracting more than 38, 000 visitors in just two months.

BBC: Wales, Land of the Red Dragon: Chongqing exhibition

But Pan Yue, the best-known advocate of green concerns within the Chinese government, says ancient creeds, like Taoism, offer the best hope of making people treat the earth more kindly.

ECONOMIST: Religion and ecology

Scafetta believes that a natural 60-year climate cycle associated with astronomical cycles may also explain calendars adopted in traditional Chinese, Tamil and Tibetan civilizations, since all major ancient civilizations knew about 20-year and 60-year Jupiter and Saturn cycles.

FORBES: Global Warming? No, Natural, Predictable Climate Change

Having studied for five years under top Chinese professors, he now co-writes learned papers on Eastern medicine in Mandarin, drawing on a deep knowledge of ancient Chinese philosophy and cosmology.

ECONOMIST: The Greeks and the Chinese

Pre-Columbian animal figures went in, along with prehistoric "mirrors" of hammered gold, ancient Chinese faces carved from jade and antique jewelry with rubies and emeralds.

NPR: 'I Love Mysteries,' Says Man Claiming Hidden Gold