Travel to Shanghai of China
July 19, 2009Travel to Shanghai of China
Shanghai is a multi-cultural metropolis with both modern and traditional Chinese features. The city has a status equivalent to that of a province, and reports directly to the central government. Serving as the largest base of Chinese industrial technology, one of the most important seaports and China’s largest commercial and financial center, shanghai draws the attention of the whole world.
Shanghai Location
The city, whose name literally means “on the sea”, is located on the East China coast just to the south of the mouth of the Yangtze River. Bordering on Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the west, Shanghai is washed by the East China Sea in the east and Hangzhou Bay in the south. It also occupies a central location along China’s coastline. Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, Shanghai is an excellent sea and river port, boasting easy access to the vast hinterland.
Geographical features of Shanghai
Except for a few hills lying in the southwest corner, most parts of the Shanghai area are flat and belong to the alluvial plain of the Yangtze River Delta. The average elevation is about 4 meters above sea level.
Shanghai Water resources
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Travel to Badachu Park of Beijing of China
Travel to Badachu Park of Beijing of China
Ba Da Chu, or Eight Great Sites Park, has been a very famous holy Buddhist place dotted with clusters of Buddhist gardens and temples.. These temples, gardens nestling in deep forest evoke a ambience of reclusion and relaxation.
Attractions
Chang’an Temple: The Chang An Temple, or the Temple of Everlasting Peace and Tranquility was built in the 17th Year of Hongzi, Ming Dynasty (1504) on the east hillside of the Cuiwei Peak.
Lingguang Temple: Built during the Tand Dynasty over 1,000 years ago, the temple is s the most important one among the eight temples. The inner abbot’s chamber of the Lingguang Temple enshrines one of the only two Buddhist teeth in the world.
Sanshan Temple: Sanshan Temple or the Temple of Three Mountains is surrounded by peaks on three sides. During the reigns of Emperor Yongzhen, Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the accomplished monk Datiantongli (Able to reach the heaven and understand the truth) used to preach and study here.
Dabei Temple: This temple is particularly known for the 18 arbats enshrined in its lobby, which was thought to be made by Liu Yuan – a noted sculptor of the Yuan Dynasty. The bone of the arbat sculptures contain the powder of the fragrant sandal wood, and the special scent is smelled today.
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Travel to Forbidden City of Beijing of China
Travel to Forbidden City of Beijing of China
The Forbidden City also known as Palace Museum, was home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The construction of the grand palace started in the fourth year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406) and ended in 1420. In the ancient time, the emperor claimed to be the son of the heaven and therefore their supreme power was conferred upon them from the heaven. Their residence on the earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where the God lived in the Heaven. Such divine place was certain forbidden for the ordinary people and it is why the Forbidden City is so called. The museum is a real treasures house of Chinese cultural and historical relics, recognized as one of the most important five palaces in the world (the other four are the Palace of Versailles in France, the Buckingham Palace in the UK, the White House in the US and the Kremlin in Russia.). The splendid architecture of the Forbidden City represents the essence and culmination of the traditional Chinese architectural accomplishment. In 1961 the Palace Museum was listed as one of the important historical monuments under the special preservation by the Chinese central government and in 1987, it was nominated as the world cultural heritage b y the UNESCO.
The Forbidden City is the best preserved imperial palace in China and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world. Because the emperor believed that, his palace was in the center of the earth, so the palace was symmetrically built along the north-south central axis of the capital city of Beijing. The whole imperial city extends from the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower in the north to Yong Ding Men, or the gate of Permanent Peace and Stability in the south. Despite of countless complex structures and buildings, the imperial city is know for its harmonious layout and deemed to be the summit that the ancient Chinese architecture had ever reached.
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Travel to Beihai Park of Beijing of China
Travel to Beihai Park of Beijing of China
One of the most famous and beautiful parks in Beijing, Beihai is also one of the earliest examples of Asian-style gardening in the world.
The park served as an imperial garden during the Liao Dynasty, over 800 years ago. After rounds of rebuilding and restoration, including a large scale refurbishment during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the park took on its present look.
Until the eve of the Xinhai Revolution and the founding the Republic of China in 1911, it had been an imperial garden exclusively for the royal family. About 39 hectares out of the 69 hectares park area is water, the landmark of the park being the “Baita” or “White Pagoda” that stands on Qinghua Island.
The White Pogoda was first built in the eighth year of emperor Shunzhi in 1651 AD at the request of the Tibetan Lama Naomuhan. It has long been known for its white color, elegant shape, and typical Tibetan style. It is commonly recognized as the most famous Lama pagoda in Beijing. Seen from afar the pagoda looks like a huge white vase.
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Travel to Great Wall of China
Travel to Great Wall of China
This section of Great Wall is the best preserved and earliest to be open for sightseeing. The Great Wall is undoubtedly among the most imposing and amazing architectures in this planet.
The Great Wall was initially built in the Spring and Autumn Period, and for the 2, 000 years that followed, the construction, connection and restoration of the wall had never ceased. The Great wall we still see today was largely built in the Ming Dynasty. The Badaling stretch is the best preserved portion of the Ming Great Wall and widely realized as the representative and essence of the Ming Great Wall. As an outpost of the Juyong Pass, this section of the wall with latitude of 1, 015 meters, had long been a strategic location for military purpose. On the top of Badaling and look to the distant, one will be amazed at the great wonder of the Wall.
In 1961 here was listed by the Chinese State Council as a key national historical heritage protection site, in 1988 it was nominated by the UNESCO as a world cultural heritage. In the 1991 Forty Important Chinese Scenic Spots Nomination, Badaling was recommended as the No. 1 tourist attraction in China.
Badaling Great wall is about 70 kilometers northwest of Beijing. The Badaling Expressway shortens the trip by car from Beijing to about 40 minutes. The Wall here averages 7.8 meters high, 6.5 meters wide at the base and 5. 8 meters on the top, wide enough for five horses or ten men walking abreast on the wall. The Wall contains a large number of beacon towers and watchtowers. Standing on these still strong tower, one can see the grandeur as well as the difficulty of this great ancient project.
From the ancient time, Badaling has occupied a militarily important position. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring State Period, the Great Wall was built by the states around here in an attempt to block the horsemen from the north, whose layout and position had great influence upon the Ming Great Wall built over one thousand years later. According to the book The Night Talk in Chang’an published in the Ming Dynasty, here is a place where numerous roads meet, therefore from here one can go to any direction. Its name - Badaling, or literally a hill from which one can go to 8 directions (in China “8 directions” mean all direction and places) well depicts the situation. Furthermore, here is the summit of the Guan Mountain. This ancient literature tells the strategic location of Badaling.
During the early years of Ming Dynasty, the central government moved its capital from Nanjing (a city in south China) to Beijing. Afterwards the emperors attached great importance to the rebuilding of the Great wall as a key defense project against the northern invaders like Manchu. One of the famous national generals Qi Jiguang, known for his leadership in the battle against the Japanese pirates in the East China Sea, was sent here as a supervisor general for the construction project. Altogether, the Ming government spent eight years, countless wealth and manpower on the Great Wall. In the past Badaling was the gateway to Juyong Pass. A 40 kilometers long valley connecting the Badaling Great wall and today’s Nankou, Juyong Pass was built on this valley. As a result, the valley is also called the Pass Valley. Badaling commands the highest point of the Pass Valley, an old Chinese saying tells the crucial position of Badaling: if one man guards the pass, ten thousand cannot get through. Badaling witnessed a number of important historical events. When the first emperor of China - Qing Shihuang went to Jieshi in the east and returned to his capital Xianyang in the west, he passed here. The first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty brought his savage horsemen down to central china from the north, Badaling was a key point that they tried to take. When the Ming emperors went out of the Great Wall to attack the enemy in the north, their troops gathered here. It was also here that the peasant rebellion leader Li Zhichen broke into Beijing and overthrown the Ming empire. In China’s modern age, a lot of important events were related to Badaling as well. For instance, when Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled the Eight Powers Allied Forces from Beijing in 1900, they passed Badaling. The first railway designed and built by the Chinese engineer Zan Tianyou – the Jingzhang (Beijing to Zhangjiakou) Railway came by Badaling and the Chinese democratic pioneer Dr. Sun Yat-sen climbed the Badalig Great Wall during his stay in Beijing.
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Travel to Beijing Tian’anmen Square
Travel to Beijing Tian’anmen Square
Measuring 440, 000 square meters, Tiananmen Square is the largest open-air square in the world. It can hold about one million people for public celebration or gatherings. In the square tourists can climb the Tiananmen Rostrum, watch the daily national flag raising ceremony eary in the morning (the time varies subject to the sunrise), visit the National Museum of China, and go to the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao in which one will see the body of the great Chinese leader.
The Tiananmen Rostrum, standing to the north of the Tiananmen Square, precisely in the south – north central axis of Beijing, was the main gate to the Forbidden City-Palace museum for emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties. It was initially called Cheng Tian Men or the Gate of Carrying the Heaven, which means to shoulder the edict of the Heaven, and obtain the divine power form the Heaven. In the eighth year of emperor Shunzhi’s administration, the gate was renovated and called Tiananmen. From then on nearly all the important imperial celebrations and events such as the enthronement of a new emperor, the wedding of the emperor, the rite of going to a battle by the emperor himself, the famous “Imperial Edict Issued by Golden Phoenix, worshipping the Heaven and the earth, and worshipping the five sorts of grains were held in this square.
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Travel to Beijing of China
Travel to Beijing of China
As an internationally well-known ancient and young metropolis, Beijing, the great capital city of the People’s Republic of China, is called Jing for short. It lies on the northwest of the Huabei Plain, around 150 kilometers to the northwest of Bohai Sea. Measuring over 16, 800 square kilometers, Beijing has a total population of approximately 13.819 million. To the north of the city is the Jundu Mountain, to the west the Xi Mountain and to the southeast of Beijing is the alluvial plain formed by the Yongding and Chaobai Rivers and slopes towards the Bohai Sea. About 62 % of the whole territory is mountainous land with a large variety of minerals and metals such as coals, iron and superior construction materials like granite and white marble.
Being the capital of the P. R. China, Beijing is the heart of politics, economy, transportation, culture and art of this great country. As a most ancient municipality on this planet, Beijing is also home to a large number of natural wonders, manmade miracles and cultural heritage, which not only belongs to China, but also to the whole world. Functioning as a window for China to communicate with the outside world, Beijing is a dynamic city with a full range of industries and a place where many cultures meet and blend. After China adopted the reform and opening up policy in 1978 and especially after the ninth Five-year Plan, the Beijing municipal government introduced the new concept of “Capital Economy.” This core idea of the new concept was that Beijing’s economic growth should be based on the capital itself, serve the whole country, and face up to the whole world. The restructuring of the traditional economy and industry is now under way, the mode of economic growth is more adaptable to the new domestic and international setting, and more importance has been attached to the healthy, sustainable and harmonious economic development. Beijing is among the most dynamic regions and has the strongest economy in terms of GDP per capita in China.
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