Walkway to heaven

Walkway to heaven
The Temple of Heaven, a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design in Beijing, symbolizes the relationship between Earth and heaven—human society and the universe—which stands at the heart of Chinese cosmology.

It was the central image on the poster for the 9th ACFA ILC Physics and Detector Workshop and ILC GDE Meeting in February 2007 at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Beijing, where the International Linear Collider's reference design and preliminary cost were officially announced.

Although the walkway towards the ILC is as long as that at the Temple of Heaven, China is now taking steady steps towards increasing its contribution to the realization of the ILC. Interest in this endeavor has manifested itself in unanimous support from Chinese scientists for China's participation in the ILC, demonstrated at the Fragrant Mountain Meeting held at the end of 2006 and the ILC GDE Meeting this past February, and continues to be evident in the various research and development efforts in progress at IHEP and other institutions as well as in the country's expanding collaboration with KEK in Japan and other labs worldwide.

Jiyuan Zhai, IHEP, Beijing

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