Cleft lips and palates are the fourth most common birth defect in the world, and due to a lack of resources, an estimated one million people are presently left untreated. Since Operation Smile’s first international mission to China in 1991, they’ve performed over 20,000 reconstructive surgeries. We spoke with program development manager Scott Snyder about the importance of giving every child the chance to lead a normal life.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics but in this month's issue of the Beijinger we promise only to bring you the statistics. For our Cover Feature we've taken a look at the city from a new angle (or two), we've delved into dusty archives, we've crunched numbers, we've sketched out complicated diagrams and we've run multiple computer simulations ... all to deliver a vision of Beijing as you've never seen it before. Your eyes are in for a treat and your mind is in for a good work-out.

Elsewhere in the March issue you will find out that Tom O'Malley ate all the pies (for the Dining Feature), we're told how to make a lavish duck pie, we go Back For More to Bleu Marine for one of the city's best steaks and we bravely find out the hummus which we heart is in our Taste Test.

The lack of DJs at Modern Sky Music Festival may have been disappointing to some, but fear not, the label has got even bigger plans - The ZOO Electronic Music Festival will be held on Oct 16 and Oct 17 at Haidian Exhibition Hall (inside Haidian Park), featuring DJ Spook, Pet Conspiracy, The Death Set, Classixx, Patrick Yu, LIman and many many more DJs and electronic bands. The party start at 8pm and last until midnight.

Since all foreign acts for Modern Sky Music Festival are cancelled, you might want to get some of your money back. Despite the festival will still be held on time at Chaoyang Park, Modern Sky just came out with a refund plan with many options to go.

If you're getting all excited about going to Chaoyang Park in the following week to see The Buzzcocks, The Futureheads, British Sea Power, The (Internaitonal) Noise Conspiracy...get ready for the disappointment - all 14 international acts have been cancelled for "unforeseen circumstances". That means half line-ups of the main stage will not be there.

Despite that, The 2009 Modern Sky Music Festival will still be on with two stages putting together to make up for the loss. The organizer is also coming up with a full refund plan which allows people who have already bought the tickets. Stay tune at our website for updates on that.

This is from Modern Sky: