The Chinese Military Museum and Bronze Gui Museum

The Chinese Military Museum is located in western Beijing just south of the beautiful Yuyuantan Park. The exhibits cover 5,000 years of Chinese Military history.The permanent exhibits include: Hall of the Northern Expedition and Agrarian War, Hall of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Hall of the National Liberation Wars, Hall of Weapons, Hall of Ancient Wars, Hall of Modern Wars.

The museum also hosts special exhibitions on national defense, science and technology, and Chinese culture and arts.

An astonishing Gui (a round- mouthed food vessel with two or four loop handles) in Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-771BC) is one of the spotlights of the relics. Its bronze material as well as its particular design catches people's eyes. The bottom pattern is composed of four creatures' face and was carved in extrusive lines. Twenty lines with a total of 198 Chinese characters of inscription under the texture describe the history of the march of Ban following Mao. This Gui was presented to Ban and Mao for their contribution in that battle.

The inscription is important material for the research on the history New Beijing Museum of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

[ Source : from regenttour.com ]

Beijing Lady Street Plaza

The street adjacent to Laitai Flower Lady Street is known as Beijing Lady Street, and is the largest clothes market in Beijing lady street China. Its 1,100 stalls trade in clothes, shoes, headgear, and some 10,000 other commercial varieties.

Compared with other clothes wholesale Lady street Plaza markets in Beijing, Lady Street is ahead in fashion of China, and boasts a better shopping environment. Most of its goods are produced in travel Guangdong China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are three blocks on the street, the bulk of attractions being concentrated in Block A, where there are all kinds of women's goods. On the first floor are clothing and other commodities, and on the second floor are cosmetics, underwear, headgear, wigs, shoes and hosiery.

Traditional-style clothes China have come back into favor in recent years, and Lady Street Beijing stocks some particularly unusual designs. In the boutique opposite the staircase on the first floor of Block A, female shoppers are captivated by dresses decorated with embroidered coiling dragons, the "fu" Chinese character (meaning happiness) in red, and gorgeous peonies, and there is an array of qipao gowns in traditional and updated styles. Among its wares is a pink shawl that is particularly eye-catching. Covered by thin layer of tulle, this embroidered silk shawl evokes an air of ethereal elegance. According to the sales assistant, traditional-style garments are most favored by customers in literary, arts, and drama circles, who most accurately interpret the traditionally refined and poised bearing of Chinese women. At the modest price of 200 to 300 yuan, such traditional garments are accessible to women of all ages and professions.

[ Source : from chinatoday.com.c ]

Jiuzhaigou Valley, the Paradise China

Jiuzhaigou Valley which means “Valley of Nine Villages” , which is the hometown of nine Tibetan villages; is located in Nanping County in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture about 450 Km north of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province in south of China Mainland.


Jiuzhaigou is well-known in its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes. This place is full of more than 100 beauteous lakes and what makes the lakes in Jiuzhaigou area differ from other lakes is a high concentration of calcium carbonate so that the lakes and embankments are all covered with crystals.

The water in the lake is so clear that you can see the bottom despite depths of several meters.

The main essence of Jiuzhaigou is water and there are all kinds of waters such as small ponds, calm lakes, rushing streams or magnificent waterfalls. Jiuzhaigou’s core of the scenery is waterfalls which were situated between lakes on different level with water flowing down to the cliffs covered with trees.

Location and Climate of Jiuzhaigou

The location of Jiuzhaigou is secluded from outside, the geography of Jiuzhaigou is mountainous which belongs to a carbonate barrier lake landform, high mountains and deep valleys also can be found there. Jiuzhaigou covers a vast area of 60,000 hectares with the scenic area over than 80 Kilometers long.

The main obstacle for traveling to Jiuzhaigou is the dreadful roads from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, China that leads to the Valley. The buses have to journey along the winding roads and that’s still ok unless include frequent landslides that may send the big rocks flying onto the rocks and if unluckily enough on to the buses and below the roads, there is the rushing Minjiang River. The drivers have to familiar with the route otherwise it’s going to be the horrible trip.

The climate in Jiuzhaigou is cool temperature, humidity and cold on the high mountain slopes and dry and cool in the valleys.

Average Temperature in summer is from 19 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius; in fall season is from 7 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius; spring season is from 9 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius and for winter is under zero. The average annual temperature is 7.2 degrees Celsius.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Jiuzhaigou was first found accidentally by woodcutters in the 1900s then became a nation nature reserve in 1978. In 1982 it became a part of the first batch of scenic areas under special nation protection and the best new scenic area in 1990. In 1992 UNESCO world heritage declared Jiuzhaigou as the world natural heritage list.

Legend

As China is the country of legends, Jiuzhaigou also the same as other places in China that has so many legend and what I would like to present here is the one I heard about…

Once upon a time, a warlike philosopher grounded a charming mirror with the wind and cloud the present it to his beloved who is Goddess Wunosemo. Unfortunately the monster meddled and the Goddess dropped the shatter broken mirror into the human world so that its became the numerous lakes in Jiuzhaigou nowadays.

Shanghai Food China

Shanghai Food 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 Chian 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 China 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.

Source : shanghaifinance.com

Xian, Western Peace of Shaanxi Province, China

Terracotta Warriors and Horses

In the ancient time Xian was called Chang’an which means “Perpetual Peace”; it was the capital city of 13 Chinese Dynasties with in 3,100 years; Xian meaning “Western Peace” was one of the four major ancient civilization capitals. Xian is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of China.

Xian Capital City of Shaanxi Province is located in the central part of China, in the southern part of the Guang Zhong Plain. Qinling Mountains span from the north to the South Xian and the Weihe River is in the south of the city. The location of Xian is favorable surrounded by water and hills.

The Best Travel Time to Xian

Spring and autumn are ideal travel seasons in Xian, and the best time to travel are May, August, September, and October. A lot of indoor tourist attractions such as the Museum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Stele Forest, Shaanxi History Museum and the Great Mosque also welcome tourists in summer and winter.

The Museum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warriors and Horses

The Museum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warriors and Horses and Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang are the must see attractive places of Xian, These places are key historical monuments under the AAAA scenic areas. They have been included in the list of the World Cultural Heritages by the UNESCO.

The Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xian were excavated in 1974, and the museum was built at the site in 1979 and it has made the city famous and Xian is best known for the Chinese Terracotta Army.

The museum has 3 pits of Terracotta Warriors and Horses, forming a huge region. The 3 pits forms are in the form of a Chinese character with a total area of 22,780 square meters. More than 7,400 life-size warriors and horses, and over 130 chariots were excavated.

Pit 1 covers 14.260 sq. meters and contains more than 6,000 terracotta warriors and horses, arranged in orderly military formations. In front of the army, 3 rows of 70 warriors each make up the vanguard, which is followed by the main body of the army, 38 rows of troops.

There are also flank columns and rearguards. The array breathes the power of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s army.

Pit 2 covers 6,000 sq. meters with the large military formation of chariots, cavalrymen, archers and foot soldiers and contains 4 independent units, with more than 1,300 terracotta warriors and horses, over 80 chariots and a large number of metal of metal weapons.

Pit 3 is in the shape of "(ao)" covers 520 sq. meters and contains 68 pottery warriors, 4 horses and 1 chariot. Pit 3 forms an organic whole with the other 2 pits.

Chinese Terracotta Warriors and Horses

All the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are meticulously made, tall and strong. According to the legend, all of them were sculptured according the real imperial troops that protected the imperial palace of the Qin Dynasty.

The Warriors are well modeled and proportioned, and each has different features and facial expression. Uniformly strong and firm in appearance, they vary in individual aspects according to age, experience and social status. Some are generals, some are officers and the others are soldiers.

The shortest is 1.78 meters, and the highest is 1.97 meters; and the lightest is 110 kilograms, and the heaviest is 300 kilograms. The heads and hands were modeled separately and then attached and painted, showing high workmanship.

Summer of Yalujiang River in China

The Yalujiang River extends along the western boundary between China and North Korea, and flows from a temperate deciduous forest source through extensive agricultural areas.

It discharges into the Yalujiang River estuary on the north-east Yellow Sea coast. The Yalujiang River estuary comprises in China a main channel and a secondary channel, the latter being silted and with little water flow.

The estuary is generally well-mixed as a result of a semi-diurnal tide , with strong tidal currents , which may affect the river waters up to 40 km inland. A turbidity maximum may extend up to 10 km in the upper estuary and total suspended load in the estuary can be high. The estuary is shallow. The budgeted area described here is for the main channel and estuary and includes 170 km2 water surface area with an estimated average depth of 6m.

The Yalujiang River china

long-term averaged discharge rate is about 1,200 m. The sediment load is relatively low and concentrations of suspended matter are also often low. Compared with most Chinese rivers, phosphate in the Yalujiang River is relatively low but nitrate is very high.

The river receives input from cultivated land and from urban sewage/industrial wastes, especially in its lower reaches – up to 900m M NO3 concentration has been measure. In the dry season, the river nutrient profile is relatively stable reflecting groundwater and tributary inputs in the upper reaches of the river and urban/industrial waste loading from the lower reaches. Heavy summer rainfall and resultant flood flow probably results in strong leaching of nutrients from agricultural lands.

The physics and chemistry of the estuarine system have been studied by oceanographic cruises particularly in the 1990’s and the loads and inputs to the estuary have generally described by Zhang (1996), Zhang et al. (1997) and Zhang et al. (1998).

The area along Yalujiang River china has entered early Autumn. The scenery along the river turns stunningly beautiful.

Where to Eat in Tibet?

Tibet has unique food and drink due to its highland climate, religious beliefs and distinctive ethnic customs. Famous traditional food includes butter tea and fried flour. Tibetans eat a lot of beef and mutton but avoid dog and donkey meat.

Butter tea is the most common drink in Tibet and made by mixing brick tea, butter and salt together.

Fried flour is made out of barley flour and eaten together with butter and sugar. Tibetans often bring barley flour with them in small leather bags when they leave home to do business. From barley flour Tibetans also make barley beer, which tastes a bit sour and is a favorite drink in Tibet.

In Tibet, tourists have access to Tibetan cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and western style dishes as well as Nepalese and Indian food in some hotel restaurants. It's worth noting that Sichuan dishes in Tibet are more expensive than in other parts of China.

Dine in Lhasa

Most of the restaurants in Lhasa cluster around the Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street, the center of Lhasa City. Here are some of them : Crazy Yak Saloon Has unique Tibetan decor and furnishings as well as highly acclaimed Tibetan food, especially yak meat. Another highlight is the Tibetan song and dance show from 7:30pm to 8:30pm every evening. Location: next to Kirey Hotel, No.101 Beijing East Road China.

Xue Shen Gong Restaurant (Snow-Deity Palace Tibetan Style Restaurant One of the only slap-up Tibetan food restaurants in Lhasa serving authentic Tibetan food such as mashed yak meat, yak blood sausage, Tibetan momos and yogurt are on offer. Location: west of the Potala Palace Plaza China.

Snowland Restaurant : Serves a range of western food, Tibetan food and Nepalese food at affordable prices. Location: No.4 Tibetan Hospital China Road

source : (chinadaily.com)

Shanghai Huanglpu Tourist Festival in China

Time : September 21-27
Venue: Shanghai

What's On Performances on large decorated floats, open-air concerts, Chinese-foreign tea culture exchanges, symposiums on internaitonal tourism and displays of the art and culture of the Red Mansions.

Tours include Being a Shanghai in China Citizen for One Day, Discovering the Essence of Shanghai, China a Night Cruise over the Huangpu River. There are shopping centers and a world of delicious food.

Source : chinaplanner.com

Yang Concubine, One of the Four Beauties of China

Image of The Emperor Tang Xuanzong and Yang Gui FeiYang Gui Fei is one of the most beautiful ladies of ancient China but she got the most unfortunate compare to those three left.

Yang Gui Fei or Yang Concubine was named Yang Yuhuan, she was a daughter of a nobleman in the little village by her 16 years old, her father sent her into the palace to be a wife of the sixteenth years old 18th prince.

After she got into the palace, her beautiful appearance was well-known after the Emperor Tang Xuanzong heard that he wanted to see this girl so that he went to his son’s palace; once Xuangzong saw Yang Yuhuan he suddenly fell in love with her and accommodated her into his palace. In that time Xuanzong was 56 years old and Yang was 22 years old

Yang Concubine’s character

Yang Gui Fei ImageYang was not only beautiful but also very clever, learned fast and talented in music and dancing, the sound of music of Yang brought Xuanzong into day-dream.

One day Xuanzong took Yang to see the beautiful white lotus, and said, "The lotus is beautiful without spirit, it cannot be compared with my concubine. My concubine is the best flower in the world."

After several years she became ennobled high-ranked imperial concubine and ranked with the Empress the she was named as Yang Gui Fei.

The smile of Yang Gui Fei was enough to enchant and enrapture the Emperor. Xuanzong loved her more than anything in the world; he even built her a natural warm spring pool which she could take a bath at spring time.

The First Class Concubine’s power

After Yang Yuhuan, a normal ordinary girl from little village became the first class concubine Yang Gui Fei; gradually her family’s member gained the high position in the government the finally Yang’s family gained enormous power in the Tang Court. Yang Guo Zhong who was Yang Gui Fei’s eldest brother became the Prime Minister but he was very corrupt.

At the time people in Tang Dynasty preferred to have a daughter than son because of Yang family who got the glory and wealth form Yang Gui Fei so that people hope their daughter could follow her footsteps to be the favorite concubine of the Emperor.

The End of the Prosperity

After several years that Yang Guo Zhong governed the Tang’s land as a prime minister, people got suffer from his corruption and lived very poor and difficult. Image of Yang ConcubineAn Lu Shan who was the non Han Chinese commander-in-chief and governor of Fan Yang had come to visit Chang An the Capital and found out that the Prime Minister so that he wanted to report to the Emperor but not success by this situation he had made a formidable enemy then Yang Guo Zhong also knew about this and vowed to destroy him.

The Rebellion

Yang Guo Zhong sent troops to ransack An Lu Shan’s house and also killed An Lu Shan’s friend that enraged An Lu Shan so that he wanted to retaliate without no others mission.

An Lu Shan leaded 170,000 troops marched to the Chang An the Capital to make a war against Yang Guo Zhong. An Lu Shan’s troop were unstoppable, they crossed the Yellow River, overran Luo Yang and went straight to Chang An in china.

The people and also the government of Tang were in panic since the Emperor ordered a mass evacuation then not so long, An Lu Shan occupied the capital and demolished it to the ground.

The Execution

The procession of the Emperor went southwest towards Cheng Du with the thousands of the residents from the capital and after arrived Ma Wei Yi which is about 100 kilometers from the Capital the mass of people stopped and refused to go and protect the Emperor.

People demanded the death of Yang Gui Fei and Yang Guo Zhong since they were the cause of this destruction. Xuanzong had no alternative under such extreme circumstances so that he issued an order the have them executed.

The Prime Minister was carried out for the execution instantly and for Yang Gui Fei was to be executed by hanging from the tree in a nearby hill. At the time Yang Gui Fei cried and begged for life, Xuanzong had powerless to help her but hung his head and buried his face in his dragon robes.

After Yang Gui Fei kicked her bucket and died finally, the crowd were quiet. Yang Gui Fei’s jewelry was scattered all over but nobody picked them up.
The Emperor’s life after the death of his love’s one
The death of Yang Gui Fei brought out the spirit of Xuanzong also, he lost his vitality to continue as Emperor so that he abdicated the throne to his third son, Li Heng who became Emperor Su Zong.

After the rebellion were crushed, Tang Court moved back to Chang An and on the way back to the Capital at the spot where Yang Gui Fei died Xuanzong stopped and he tried to find the place that she was buried but couldn’t.

At the times Xuangzong could not bear to look at the full moon as it reminded him to think of Yang Gui Fei. Xuanzong recited the secret the phrases which nobody knew but him and her.

"Up above the sky we wish we were a pair of birds
On earth we wish we were the two branches of a tree."

At Chang An the capital, the natural warm spring pool was still there and also the flowers and trees but no more Yang Gui Fei. Xuanzong lost his will to live, he lived with grieve only hope he had in that time was to see Yang Gui Fei in his dreams every night. He ordered the soothsayer to search for her spirit but never appear, not even just once…

Olympic Star Panda Celebrates 1st Birthday

Jing Jing, in China a giant panda chosen as one of the Olympic mascots, chews bamboo behind her birthday cake made by ice during her first birthday party at the Chengdu, China Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in west China's Sichuan province August 30, 2006. Hundreds of tourists from home and abroad gathered here to celebrate her birthday.

Source : (chinanews.cn)

Shopping - Wang Fu Jing in China

Wangfujing street China and its surroundings have quite a selection of shopping options.

There are two western style, modern malls in China. One has an English name written on it saying "Sun Dong An", which is confusing because its Chinese name is "Xin Dong An". This one is the older of the two, situated on the center crossroads of Wangfujing street, China 12 minutes walk north of the subway station.

It has 6 floors of shops and some pretty glass elevators. Here you can find fashion stores, souvenirs, cafes and restaurants, a cinema and a built-in large department store with some reasonably priced high-quality electronics.

The second of the two malls is near the subway and is called Oriental Plaza. This is a huge complex and one of the biggest malls in Asia. It has only 2 floors, but it stretches for a few city blocks. It is so big there are subway stations more or less at each end. It takes about 15 minutes to walk the length, if you are a quick walker.

Oriental Plaza has many fashion stores, a lot of cafes and restaurants, a cinema, an Apple Computer center, VW Audi car showroom, Sony science exhibition center, banks and lots more.

Apart from the malls there are many large, tradional department stores, souvenir stores, and a side street with tradional Chinese food stalls.

Wangfujing is not merely a shopping street but a whole experience. There are often large exhibitions and festivals held on the street. Check out our Tourist Trail - Wangfujing section for more details about why people come to the street and some more pictures.

Near Oriental Plaza there is one of the largest book stores in Beijing, China the Wangfujing Book Store. This is 6 floors of books, mainly Chinese but has a large selection of Chinese literature translated into English. You can also find books for studying the Chinese language and some maps and guide books in English. Credit cards are accepted in the book store and many of the larger stores in both malls.

Wangfujing is located pretty much in the center of Beijing in China and is not too far from Tiananmen Square. You can get there by subway. The Wangfujing station (118) on Line 1 has an exit which takes you directly into Oriental Plaza. The other option is to go by taxi. The south end has a large taxi rank, opposite the Beijing Hotel in China. The rank is the only place where taxis are allowed to drop off or pickup, so don't try stopping one anywhere else when you leave. The Chinese name for Wangfujing is written below. Print and hand to your taxi driver.