Yan Yang

With China’s rise as the new superpower, its presence in Africa has expanded, leading to significant economic, geopolitical and cultural shifts. Chinese and African encounters through the lens of the visual arts and material culture, however, is a neglected field. Visualising China in Southern Africa is a ground-breaking volume that addresses this deficit through engaging with the work of contemporary African and Chinese artists while analysing broader material production that prefigures the current relationship. The essays are wide-ranging in their analysis of ceramics, photography, painting, etching, sculpture, film, performance, postcards, stamps, installations, political posters, cartoons and architecture. Richly illustrated, the collection includes scholarly chapters, photo essays, interviews, and artists’ personal accounts, organised around four themes: material flows, orientations and transgressions, spatial imaginaries, and biographies. Some of the artists, photographers, filmmakers, curators and collectors in this volume include: Stary Mwaba, Hua Jiming, Anawana Haloba, Gerald Machona, Nobukho Nqaba, Marcus Neustetter, Brett Murray, Diane Victor, William Kentridge, Kristin NG-Yang, Kok Nam, Mark Lewis, the Chinese Camera Club of South Africa, Wu Jing, Henion Han and Shengkai Wu.

China and Africa have long shared a history of allegiance and contact points through global political forces from the time of colonialism and the Cold War. With China's rise as the new superpower, its presence in Africa has expanded, leading to significant economic, geopolitical and cultural shifts. While issues such as trade, aid and development have received much attention, Chinese and African encounters through the lens of the visual arts and material culture is a neglected field. Visualising China in Southern Africa: Biography, Circulation, Transgression is a ground-breaking volume that addresses this deficit through engaging with the work of contemporary African and Chinese artists while analysing broader material production that prefigures the current relationship. The essays are wide-ranging in their analysis of ceramics, photography, painting, etching, sculpture, film, performance, postcards, stamps, installations, political posters, cartoons and architecture. Visualising China in Southern Africa confines its focus to southern Africa, yet even within this region, the context is complex. Ethnicity and nationalism, the lingering influence of Cold War allegiances and colonial configurations all continue to play a role. The various visual cultures discussed in this volume emphasise the commonality of these categories, but also point towards other shared histories that transcend the nation-state category. The collection includes scholarly chapters, photo essays, interviews, and artists' personal accounts, organised around four themes: material flows, orientations and transgressions, spatial imaginaries, and biographies. The artists, photographers, filmmakers, curators and collectors in this volume include: Stary Mwaba, Hua Jiming, Anawana Haloba, Gerald Machona, Nobukho Nqaba, Marcus Neustetter, Brett Murray, Diane Victor, William Kentridge, Kristin NG-Yang, Kok Nam, Mark Lewis, the Chinese Camera Club of South Africa, Wu Jing, Henion Han and Shengkai Wu.

This book thoroughly analyzes the crucial role of supersonic separator technology in addressing the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change, particularly highlighting its importance in the dehydration and decarbonization of natural gas. Employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and experimental research, along with meticulous data processing and image presentation, the authors extensively investigate the complex phenomena of flow field characteristics and heat and mass transfer mechanisms within supersonic separators. This approach demonstrates the innovative potential of this technology in the field of gas purification. The book also introduces new strategies to enhance separation efficiency through heterogeneous condensation enhancement and multi-objective optimization techniques, providing readers with a deep understanding of the latest research in gas purification. Furthermore, it stimulates in-depth discussions about building efficient energy systems and addressing climate challenges. This book not only presents the latest advancements in supersonic separation technology but also guides readers to consider how to establish an efficient, environmentally friendly, and stable energy system to effectively tackle the challenges of global climate change.

This book revisits the long-standing puzzle of cross-scale energy transfer and dissipation in plasma turbulence and introduces new perspectives based on both magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and Vlasov models. The classical energy cascade scenario is key in explaining the heating of corona and solar wind. By employing a high-resolution hybrid (compact finite difference & WENO) scheme, the book studies the features of compressible MHD cascade in detail, for example, in order to approximate a real plasma cascade as “Kolmogorov-like” and to understand features that go beyond the usual simplified theories based on incompressible models. When approaching kinetic scales where plasma effects must be considered, it uses an elementary analysis of the Vlasov–Maxwell equations to help identify the channels through which energy transfer must be dissipated. In addition, it shows that the pressure–strain interaction is of great significance in producing internal energy. This analysis, in contrast to many other recent studies, does not make assumptions about wave-modes, instability or other specific mechanisms responsible for the dynamics – the results are direct consequences of the Vlasov–Maxwell system of equations. This is an important step toward understanding dissipation in turbulent collisionless plasma in space and astrophysics.

A Thematic Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese is a unique resource for intermediate to advanced students of Chinese. The dictionary presents 9,000 words organized thematically in approximately 300 different subject areas. These themes cover the vocabulary necessary for daily use and for conducting meaningful conversations with native Chinese speakers on a variety of topics, from politics to business, and from hobbies to education. Each vocabulary item is annotated with the most frequent collocations, allowing learners to improve their fluency by storing new vocabulary in larger linguistic units. Cultural and linguistic tips enable learners to grasp the vocabulary more effectively and increase their awareness of Chinese culture embedded in the language. Review exercises are provided throughout to ensure learners have ample opportunity to practice the new material. This is a great resource for both independent study and classroom use and will be of interest to students and teachers of Chinese alike. For further understanding of Chinese expressions, students are encouraged to read 500 Common Chinese Proverbs and Colloquial Expressions and 500 Common Chinese Idioms.

A Thematic Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese is a unique resource for intermediate to advanced students of Chinese. The dictionary presents 9,000 words organized thematically in approximately 300 different subject areas. These themes cover the vocabulary necessary for daily use and for conducting meaningful conversations with native Chinese speakers on a variety of topics, from politics to business, and from hobbies to education. Each vocabulary item is annotated with the most frequent collocations, allowing learners to improve their fluency by storing new vocabulary in larger linguistic units. Cultural and linguistic tips enable learners to grasp the vocabulary more effectively and increase their awareness of Chinese culture embedded in the language. Review exercises are provided throughout to ensure learners have ample opportunity to practice the new material. This is a great resource for both independent study and classroom use and will be of interest to students and teachers of Chinese alike. For further understanding of Chinese expressions, students are encouraged to read 500 Common Chinese Proverbs and Colloquial Expressions and 500 Common Chinese Idioms.