Astronaut selection and training in China

Unlike the US, and for the last 20 years also the Russian activities in the field of human spaceflight, the Chinese activities generally remain a bit hidden from the general public. Who are their astronauts? What are they actually doing? What exactly are they doing at the moment? The Dutch press pays very little attention to it, except now and then for half a minute (or less) in the news, or a tiny article on page 15 of a national newspaper. Nevertheless, the Chinese make quite a bit known and published about it, although there are topics where their reporting, or rather the lack of it, is reminiscent of the Soviet Union in the 60s and 70s. This lecture gives an insight into the selection and training of Chinese astronauts, including the international cooperation, and the current very ambitious activities in orbit, which will start again in 2021 after a break of about five years without manned flights. It also shows what information you can sometimes discover if you also pay more attention to the background of a photo, and not just to the actual subject.