Xi Shi the First of Four Beauties

Xi Shi was a legendary beauty of the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B.C.) in ancient China, Xi Shi was the first name of Four Beauties of China. All the stories that we heard about Xi Shi always in the positive way because of her clever and extraordinary beautiful and also her loyalist of the province.

Xi Shi and a legendary beauty

One of Chinese folktale told that one day Xi Shi had a angina pectoris so she put her hand at her breast and knitted her brow then one ugly girl from the east village saw and thought that Xi Shi was very beautiful because of doing that so she did imitate Xi Shi, anyhow people saw that ugly girl did that all ran away from her. The fact was Xi Shi was very beautiful even doing that but that ugly girl didn't know the reason of Xi Shi's beauty.

Xi Shi had equally charming in both heavy and light makeup, slim or plump, fully dressed or naked, her exquisite features took beholders' breath away.

"An apperance of Xi Shi that would sink the most beautiful fish".

Background of 'Xi Shi'

Some Said that Xi Shi was Tai People, once her mom who was a very beautiful lady went to the river and played with the goldfish, it brought hyacinth and blew it into her mouth, she was so frighten then after that not so long she gestated and gave birth "Xi Shi".

Nationalist Lady 'Xi Shi'

In the ancient time Fu Chai, the governor of Yue province asked his nobleman "Fan Li" to seek for the most beautiful lady in the province to be the spy in Wu Province then in that time Fan Li got 2 ladies who were considered as the most beautiful ladies of province one of them was Xi Shi.

She was trained about every manners, arts, musical instrument and also martial art by Fan Li to be the most perfect lady of province, Fan Li taught Xi Shi to be nationalist and he'd got success, Xi Shi is a real nationalist lady, she could die for Yue province.

After that 3 years Xi Shi and another beautiful lady were sent to Wu Province to be the concubine of Fu Chai, the governor of Wu province. Fu Chai felt in love with Xi Shi at first sight as she was extraordinary beautiful, Fu Chai trust Xi Shi and never had doubt at all that Xi Shi was just a spy who came to destroy his province. For another girl as she thought that Xi Shi was more beautiful than her and Fu Chai also loves Xi Shi not her so she felt so sorry and finally died in the palace of Fu Chai in Wu province.

In the period of time that Xi Shi was in Wu province, Fu Chai never concentrated on the provinces' stuff and the court at all so that the corruptions could found everywhere; it's all because of Xi Shi's strategies.

The great military strategist "Sun Wu" or Sun Zi in the ancient Chinese history also had to back away from Xi Shi way because he could not see the way to knock her out from the court in the period of Emperor Fu Chai of Wu Province as she went there to be the spy for Emperor Fu Chai of Yue Province.

After few years Gou Jian made a war with Wu province and finally won the war then Fan Li took Xi Shi back and married her then two of them ran away to other place and lived happily until the last breath.

Baomo Garden, the Charming Garden in Guangdong, China

Baomo Garden is located in Zini Village, Shawan Town, Panyu City in Guagdong Province. This garden was built in the end of Qing Dynasty which was the early days of the Republic of China, but it was destroyed in the 20th century then it took 6 years to renovate Baomo Garden since 1995.

Baomo Garden is covered the area more than 66,750 square meters; it’s in Lingnan architecture and has a strong flavor of the water regions of the Zhujiang River Delta or Pearl River Delta.

The original garden was drawn on collective wisdom and incorporated creative ideas; over 6 million bricks were used and numerous ancient trees were transplanted in Baomo Garden. If you stand on the bridges in the garden you can see the whole landscape of the garden and the lakes connect with one another so you can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of the garden by boat.

Unique Attractive Work of Arts in Baomo Garden

There are a lot of works of art within Baomo Garden such as a large brick sculpture, vying for charms which were made by young local artists. The sculpture took 3 years and 6 months to be complete so it’s vivid with fine craftsmanship.

Another work of art, mural entitled “The Monkey Creates Ruin in Heaven” is 42 meters for length and 3.55 meters for height and it took a year to be complete.

The Reconstruction of Baomo Garden

Baomo Garden got the great support for the expansion and reconstruction form both in China and abroad with the donation of 60 million Yuan or about 74,312,608.37 USD.
Zhao Tailai one of the donors is a British-Chinese collector, he had visited Baomo Garden in 1998 and as his great interested in the works of art there. He donated one piece of work of art which has become the most precious among the collected item in Baomo Garden now that’s a work of calligraphy by Chinese Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 the last dynasty of China). Zhao also donated another 1,000 relics dating from the spring and autumn period (770 – 746 B.C.) through the Qing Dynasty.

Baomo Garden has many kinds of traditional ancient Chinese art, including carvings of stone, wood, and brick, as well as ceramics, calligraphy, and paintings.

Four Beauties, the most 4 Beautiful Women of China

The Image from left to right : Xi Shi, Diao Chan, Yang Guifei and Wang Zhaojun

The Four Beauties of China (四大美人) are 4 chinese women who renowned for their most beauty in legendary ancient China. The Four Beauties are the most beautiful and significant women in ancient China.

Their stories all are based on fact but they are also steeped in legend. The stories of the Four Beauties remained famous until today because of their effect on the Ancient Chinese Emperors and Kingdoms with whom they were involved. Some of the Four Beauties brought kingdoms and dynasties the ruin and most of them ended their lives in tragedy

The Four Beauties of China, in chronological orders:

Xi Shi was a legendary beauty of the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B.C.) in ancient China, "An apperance of Xi Shi that would sink the most beautiful fish".

Wang Zhaojun (before 33 BC - after 31 BC), "An apperance of Wang Zhaojun that would let fall the most elegant bird".

Diao Chan (AD 161/9–??? c. third-century, Three Kingdoms period), "A face of Diao Chan that would let the beautiful full moon hide itself behind the clouds".

Yang Guifei (719-756, Tang Dynasty period), "A face of Yang Guifei that would shame any beautiful flower in the world".

Shanghai Food

Shanghai's school of cuisine" is one of the most famous Chinese cuisine's school of China, Shanghai's school of cuisine consists of 6 parts which are Shanghai school of local flavor south of Yangtze River, Shanghai school of Beijing, Sichuan, Guangdong flavor, Shanghai school of Western - Style meal and Gongdelin vegetarian dish.

These dishes keep the cream of the former school cuisines while embodying differences comparing to the local dishes with rich Shanghai local flavor.

Shanghai food is famous for cooking of freshwater food, seafood, poultry and beasts, and vegetables in season. The cooking techniques of Shanghai food is the proportion of dishes by braising, simmering and stewing which need long time heating is reduced gradually while quick-frying, stir-frying and quick-boiling which need shorter time are widely used. The traditional braising in soy sauce and straming in clear soup are another gimmicks.

Shanghai Food's Taste

Shanghai food's taste is mainly light while stress on characters, there are spicy, sour, strong and many kinds of mixed flavors, but the taste is still gentle and the material is clear.

Famous Shanghai Dishes

• Black Sea Cucumber with Shrimps Roe
• Fried Crab Ovum
• Covered Three Shreds of Mushrooms
• Bamboo Shoots and turnips
• Braised Black Carp's Hind Parts
• Stir Fried Bamboo Shoots
• Guifei (Imperial Concubine) Chicken
• Pine Nut Kernel and Mandarin Fish Granules
• Saute Eggplant in Soy Sauce
• Smoked Pomfet and Fried Vegetable "Crab Meat", ETC.

Shanghai the Modern City of China

There a thousand things to shop in Shanghai, the modern shopping city of China where well-known as the “Oriental Pearl”. Shanghai is the largest economic center in China and also one of the 10 largest cities in the World.

Shanghai is famous all over the world for its modern metropolitan look rich historical and cultural resources through ages.

Shanghai covers the total area about 5,800 sq. km. Shanghai’s climate has a north subtropical marine monsoon climate with 4 distinct seasons, short spring and autumn, and long summer and winter.

The Best Travel Time to Shanghai

Shanghai has distinctive 4 seasons a year and all of 4 seasons are favorable for tourists since there is neither bitter cold in winter nor burning hot in summer. Spring and autumn are the best seasons for tourists to Shanghai.

Shopping Guide in Shanghai

These are recommended shopping places in Shanghai and about what to shop… There are thousand things to shop at Shanghai and I will collect the information later now let's see some shopping places in Shanghai as below.

Nanjing Lu Shopping Street

Nanjing Lu Shopping Street of Shanghai was the earliest commercial street built in Shanghai since the city opened to foreign countries and has long enjoyed the good reputation as “China’s First Commercial Street.”

The street stretches across the central city of Shanghai with full length of 5.5 km., next to Huangpu River in the east and the cross point of Jing’an Temple and Yan’an Xilu in the west, and divided into two parts; Nanjing Donlu and Najing Xilu by Xizang Lu.

On the both sides of the street there are more than 360 stores which receive over 1.5 customers everyday. Famous commercial buildings in this street are as follows: Laojiefu Commercial Building, Household Electrical Appliance Commercial City, Silk Commercial Building, New World Commercial City, Hualian Plaza, No. 1 Department Store and Shanghai Commercial City ETC.

Huaihai Zhonglu Shopping Street

Huaihai Zhonglu is famous for the elegants goods and shopping environment with a saying of “Find the Leading Fashion in Huaihao Zhonglu.” Printemps Department Store and Parkson Shopping Center have become the most valuable stores in this golden street.

Most food stores in Huaihai Zhonglu are mainly selling the authentic western style snacks of their own flavor such as breads of Harbin, cakes of Old Dachang. Having some coffee in Yandang Lu or tasting “main course” at the Red House, you will enjoy the unique gracefulness of Huaihai Zhonglu.

Sichuan Lu Shopping Street

Shopping at Lu Shopping street where most commodities in this street are mainly the famous brands of China and various daily necessities in reasonable price which are most attractive to the salary person.

Xujiahui Commercial Center

The several large-scales stores can serve the customers with catering, shopping, and entertainment such as the Dongfang Commercial Building, Grand-Gateway Plaza, Pacific Department Store, No. 6 Department Store and Hui Jin Department Store, the commercial center can provide a great variety of commodities.

Night Life City by Shanghai Railway Station

Night Life City is an important city-level commercial center in northern Shanghai and tourist, souvenir, arts and crafts, local specialties, ancient coins, stamps and magnetic cards are the main businesses.

Yuyuan Tourist Mart

Yuyuan Tourist Mart has a reputation of “A Capital of Petty Commodities” and main character of “small, native, special rich”, there are 56 feature stores with over 12,000 kinds of commodities, flavor snacks such as Five-fragrant Bean, Pear Syrup Sweets (yummy yummy yummy), Shanghai Xiaolongbao, and Nanxiang steamed buns.

Shopping Tips in Shanghai

1. Shop assistants in some stores can speak English. Service of exchanging foreign currencies can be found in most shopping centers and tourist shops. The designated shops are the trustworthy places for shopping as their genuine goods and fair prices.

2. Pay more attention to the local goods, for these goods are genuine with reasonable prices, as souvenirs for your trip, can be given to relatives and friends as good presents.

3. Choose the small sized and portable goods as you can. Take fewer luggages and buy no breakable.

4. Pay attention to the price tags. When shopping, see clearly the prices, be careful about the prices, be careful about the unit-price and the unit. Now 3 color tags have been used in Shanghai as the red tag means negotiable price, yellow means special offer and blue means actual price. Knowing well about these tags will help you to be a reasonable consumer.

Guilin Travel Guide Information

Guilin is one of the most beautiful scenery on earth and one of the best tourist destinations in China, together with Beijing, Shanghai and Xian.

Guilin is a famous tourism city and a historical and cultural city in China, it has jurisdiction over 5 districts, 10 counties and 2 ethnic autonomous counties. It covers a total area of 27,800 sq. km.

Located in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guilin boasts a pleasant subtropical monsoon climate, plentiful rainwater and abundant vegetations, as well as weird-shaped, isolated pinnacles that appear to have popped up from the ground, straight, high and elegant, and the picturesque scenic spots reflected in the mirror-like waters. Hence the uniqueness of Guilin’s natural landscape is universally admitted.

Guilin’s History

Guilin has a time-honored history. As early as in the Old Stone Age, 30,000 years ago, human beings lived and multiplied on this land. The archeology site at Zengpiyan that records the life and cultural creations of our forefathers in the New Stone Age about 9,000 years ago is a key historical monument under state protection.

Over 2,200 years ago in the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang who was the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, the Ling Canal was built to transport the Qin troops to the south. As a famous water conservancy project in ancient China, the Ling Canal linked the Yangtze River system with the Pearl River system and promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between the area south of the Five Ridges (the area covering Guangdong and Guangxi) and Central China.

After Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified the area south of the Five Ridges, Guilin Prefecture was established, with the center of Guangxi, and Guilin was under the jurisdiction of Guilin Prefecture.

Guilin has enchanting scenery and a large number of historical sites. The main tourist attractions in the city proper include Elephant Trunk Hill, Folded Brocade Hill, Water Taming Hill, West Hill, Yinshan Hill, Yushan Hill, Chuanshan Hill, Nanxi Hill, Reed Flute Cave, Seven-Star Park, Solitary Beauty Peak, Prince City of the Ming Dynasty, Guihai Forest of the Steles, Ronghu Lake, Shahu Lake, Guihu Lake, etc.

Lijiang River originated from Cat Hill in Xing’an County of Guilin. Its section between Guilin and Yangshuo, 83 km. long is flanked by a great number of fascinating scenic spots. A boat excursion down to Lijiang River is like sailing down a long scroll on which is painted a traditional Chinese landscape, and visitors can appreciate Vase Hill, Father and Son Rock, Millstone Hill, Crown Cave, Yang Causeway, Xingping, Nine-horse Mural Hill, Snail Hill, Green Lotus Peak, Shutong Hill and other scenic sights. Men of letters have written many poems and essays to speak highly of scenic Guilin since ancient times.

Guilin is also rich in historical remains and ethnic customs with six key historical monuments under state protection such as Ling Canal, Prince City of the Ming Dynasty, Guilin Stone Inscriptions, Former Residence of Li Zongren, etc., in addition to numerous key historical monuments under region and city protection.

The wind and rain bridge of the Dongs and the two story buildings of the Zhuangs with the upper story serving as the living quarters and the lower as stables and storerooms, show their unique ethnic features.

Guilin is home to multi ethnic groups such as the Dongs, Yaos, Huis, Miaos, and Zhuangs and they still keep their complete cultural traditions and celebrate their traditional festivals.

Transportation in Guilin, China

Transportation in Guilin is very convenient. The volume of passenger transport of the Guilin Liangjiang International Airport comes out in front of the cities in the mainland of China. Scheduled flights go from Guilin to all the country’s major cities, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, as well as to Fukuoka of Japan, Seoul of South Korea, Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia, Bangkok of Thailand, Singapore and other countries and regions.

Passenger trains run from Guilin to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Xian, Kunming and other cities regularly. High class highways link Guilin with Guangdong and Hunan.

Guilin has over a hundred travel agencies and star-rated hotels, and many high class tourism bus and ship companies to meet the needs of different tourists. In addition, Guilin has set up the tourism consulting service center and tourism complaint center to provide safe and considerate service to all tourists. The tourism complaint center serves 24 hours day.