Gao Hong

The stunning battle scenes in the "Lord of the Rings" films are accompanied by a huge orchestra fit for a Wagner opera. But long ago, a Chinese composer needed only a single instrument to evoke earthshaking combat. The sound of that instrument, according to one scribe in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), was "as if thousands of warriors and horses are roaring on the battlefield, as if the earth is torn and the sky is falling."

The stunning battle scenes in the "Lord of the Rings" films are accompanied by a huge orchestra fit for a Wagner opera. But long ago, a Chinese composer needed only a single instrument to evoke earthshaking combat. The sound of that instrument, according to one scribe in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), was "as if thousands of warriors and horses are roaring on the battlefield, as if the earth is torn and the sky is falling."

There's a saying in China: "What goes around comes around." It's something likely to be repeated frequently in Guangzhou, Beijing and elsewhere today, after the Chinese women's national soccer team on Sunday afternoon turned the tables on its U.S. counterpart. Three days after being beaten, 2-1, by the Americans on a 90th-minute goal in Hershey, Pa., China returned the favor, defeating the U.S. by the same score on a last-minute goal in front of 23,756 at Giants Stadium.

There's a saying in China: "What goes around comes around." It's something likely to be repeated frequently in Guangzhou, Beijing and elsewhere today, after the Chinese women's national soccer team on Sunday afternoon turned the tables on its U.S. counterpart. Three days after being beaten, 2-1, by the Americans on a 90th-minute goal in Hershey, Pa., China returned the favor, defeating the U.S. by the same score on a last-minute goal in front of 23,756 at Giants Stadium.

*--* No. Player G A 16. Tiffeny Milbrett 3 0 9. Mia Hamm 2 2 12. Cindy Parlow 2 2 13. Kristine Lilly 2 1 10. Michelle Akers 2 1 15. Tisha Venturini 2 0 8. Shannon MacMillan 1 3 11. Julie Foudy 1 3 6. Brandi Chastain 1 2 14. Joy Fawcett 1 1 2. Lorrie Fair 0 0 3. Christie Pearce 0 0 7. Sara Whalen 0 0 4. Carla Overbeck 0 0 5. Tiffany Roberts 0 0 17. Danielle Fotopoulos 0 0 20. Kate Sobrero 0 0 *--* **** GOALKEEPERS *--* No. Player G GA SV 1. Briana Scurry 5 3 21 18. Saskia Webber 0 0 0 19.

Despite China's convincing victory over Norway Sunday, Coach Ma Yuanan declined to declare his team the favorite in Saturday's final against the U.S. at the Rose Bowl. "This is probably the best team we've had in the past few years. Next Saturday the team we play will be stronger than tonight," he said. "I wish they would play to the performance level they did April 25.' That was a 2-1 victory by China at Giants Stadium.

China showed Saturday it can destroy a team as well as--or better than--the United States. It will be a lot closer if those rivals meet for the Women's Gold Cup championship. "I will give you my opinion of who's better after the final," China Coach Ma Yuanan said after his team dismantled Guatemala, 14-0, "if we meet in that game." The U.S. blasted Trinidad and Tobago, 11-0, Friday in the tournament's opener at Hershey, Pa. If they play for the title, the U.S.

Seven Chinese and five American players were included on the 16-member Women's World Cup all-star team announced Thursday. On behalf of the players, MasterCard, an official sponsor of the tournament, will make a donation of $16,000 to SOS Children's Villages, a charity that provides homes for disadvantaged children worldwide.

UNITED STATES First Round U.S. 3, Denmark 0 U.S. 7, Nigeria 1 U.S. 3, North Korea 0 Quarterfinal U.S. 3, Germany 2 Semifinal U.S.

After the sun set, Sun Wen rose to the occasion. China's top player scored twice in the first half and completed a hat trick with a left-footed shot in the 54th minute as China overpowered Ghana, 7-0, in first-round World Cup play Wednesday at Civic Stadium. China, the top-seeded team in Group D, improved to 2-0 and clinched a berth in the quarterfinals with a performance that awed the many young soccer players in the crowd of 17,668 at Wednesday's doubleheader.

The end of first-round play in many ways signaled the beginning of the Women's World Cup for China. Although it was assured of a berth in the quarterfinals before its 3-1 victory over Australia Saturday at Giants Stadium, its effort never flagged. That was by design, according to Coach Ma Yuanan, who started all his regulars and gave a break to standout midfielder Sun Wen only in the 63rd minute, after she had scored twice to increase her tournament total to five goals.

Much has been made of the process by which the West has been meeting the East musically, especially with the recent crop of Chinese emigre composers among whom Tan Dun is prominent. Part of that convergence involves recognizing similarities between supposedly disparate worlds, as heard in the Pasadena Symphony's inspired performance of the composer's Concerto for String Orchestra and Pipa, on Saturday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.