China Cultural Chronicles April 25, 2012 B
- Plate with garden and waves design,Qianlong reign, Qing dynasty 1736-1795
- Plate with garden and waves design,Qianlong reign, Qing dynasty 1736-1795
- Plate with garden and waves design,Qianlong reign, Qing dynasty 1736-1795
- Plate with garden and waves design,Qianlong reign, Qing dynasty 1736-1795
- Snowflake-blue pomegranate-shaped 'zun' with spreading mouth - Yongzheng reign, Qing dynasty 1723-1735
- Snowflake-blue pomegranate-shaped 'zun' with spreading mouth - Yongzheng reign, Qing dynasty 1723-1735
- Guardian of the Yungang Grottoes
Sokleine has added a photo to the pool:
The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture.
The site is located about 16 km south-west of the city of Datong, in the valley of the Shi Li river at the base of the Wuzhou Shan mountains. They are an outstanding example of the Chinese stone carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries. All together the site is composed of 252 grottoes with more than 51,000 Buddha statues and statuettes. In 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Source: wikipedia - Ceramic details
Sokleine has added a photo to the pool:
The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture.
The site is located about 16 km south-west of the city of Datong, in the valley of the Shi Li river at the base of the Wuzhou Shan mountains. They are an outstanding example of the Chinese stone carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries. All together the site is composed of 252 grottoes with more than 51,000 Buddha statues and statuettes. In 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Source: wikipedia - Bamboo shoots, 竹筍 / Anhui Province, PR China.
André Vogelaere - 李安杰 has added a photo to the pool:
© André Vogelaere. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
View Awards Count - 1990 miles since
lille abe has added a photo to the pool:
If you like my work and wanna show it by inviting me to one of your groups, you are very welcome to do that, but please do not leave any graphic logos! I'll delete them.
- Mother River shares her secrets
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下载安装Flash播放器The fifth episode "Open A New History Chapter"
The Huangpu River, known as Shanghai's "Mother River," has witnessed the city's growth from a small fishing village to a global metropolis and financial center. It has many tales to tell, from the coolies (kuli) toiling on Shiliupu Dock to the sweethearts who strolled and held hands along Lovers' Wall (qingren qiang).
A five-part documentary series about the Huangpu River, titled "The Huangpu River," is now being aired nightly at 9:30pm on the local Documentary Channel; the 45-minute episodes conclude on Friday. It will be replayed daily for the May Day holiday, starting on April 30 at 4:30pm.
The story of the Huangpu River is very much the story of Shanghai, its cultural heritage and development, says director Xu Guanjun.
It traces the origin of the name of waitan, or the Bund, and kuli, the "coolie" dock laborers.
It also depicts the development of Shiliupu Dock, which dates back more than 150 years and used to be the biggest in Asia.
Most older Shanghainese remember traveling by boat from the shipping hub surrounded by wet markets and produce vendors.
However, the dock declined in the last few decades as other means of transport were developed.
Now it has been transformed into a water tourism center, with a waterfront terrace and leisure facilities.
Landmarks along the river are featured, including the big foreign banking and trading houses and the 1,700-meter-long Lovers' Wall - an important place for hand-holding and snuggling when people lived in cramped quarters with little privacy.
Documentary "Huangpu River"
Through April 27, 9:30pm; April 30-May 4, 4:30pm (replay); Documentary Channel
- Morsels of culture
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下载安装Flash播放器Hou Shuming runs a booth at Wan Feng Snacks. Photos by Wang Jing / China Daily
The myriad snacks available in the capital are not only delicious delights but also offer a taste of history.
Beijing is known for a cornucopia of foods, from Peking Duck to the snacks along Wangfujing snack street, where one can munch such mouthfuls as fried scorpions on a stick.
But Beijing is now taking a leading role in bringing all of China's snacks and good eats to the table.
Enter Wan Feng Snacks (WFS).
The eatery in the capital's Fengtai district offers 52 delicacies from around the country in one three-story, traditional-style building.
It offers everything from dim sum to Taiwan omelets.
Chinese snacks are often enjoyed for their health benefits and readily available ingredients.
Many Chinese snacks are made with innards and other ingredients often discarded in the West.
To ensure the snacks are authentic, chefs and cooks from around the country have been recruited to man WFS' booths.
Beijinger Hou Shuming, who runs a traditional Beijing snacks booth in WFS, says: "WFS helps keep tradition alive."
Hou has been at WFS since its founding and looks forward to its expansion. While her booth is supposed to provide traditional Beijing fare, she also sells southern Chinese wonton and soup dumplings.
"Our booth, Wonton Hou, was created because of our love of old Beijing snacks," Hou says.
"While we make and sell other snacks such as wonton and soup dumplings, we're making the versions that have become part of Beijing."
Opposite Hou's booth is another stand offering specialties that are decidedly not Beijing-style.
Yang Zijie came to Beijing to open a shop selling Cantonese dim sum. The 28-year-old says he was attracted by the opportunity to promote traditional Chinese eats, but he came to Beijing to test the dim sum market.
"Business has been sporadic because people from the North and South have different tastes," Yang says.
He has sampled the competition, trying local dim sum institutions such as Jindingxuan.
Yang says Jindingxuan is good but has localized to accommodate northern taste buds - a move he laments he may have to take, too.
"Northern customers seek out traditional and authentic foods," he says.
"But they prefer foods that contain something they recognize."
While well-known, WFS isn't the city's only acclaimed purveyor of Chinese snacks.
The famous - or, rather, infamous - Wangfujing street market proffers some of the city's oddest eats.
Tourists try snacks such as fried scorpion skewers and starfish.
Another celebrated snack street is Nine Gate, which is located near Houhai and is puritanical in keeping its food traditional Beijing-style.
Nine Gates is WFS' spiritual predecessor. Both are owned and operated by the Beijing Traditional Snack Food Association.
Hou Jia, head of the association, started Nine Gates in 2006 to protect and publicize Beijing eats.
- China to open Xisha Islands to tourism this year
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下载安装Flash播放器China plans to let tourists visit the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea this year, the vice governor of Hainan province, which administers the group of islands, said Tuesday.
"Xisha must be opened for tourism within this year," Tan Li said at a provincial conference addressing tourism on Tuesday.
Tan said that relevant departments are making preparations in accordance with this timetable.
China's State Council in late 2009 announced a guideline to develop the tropical island province of Hainan into a destination for international tourists, and the guideline also outlined that tourism would be promoted on the Xisha Islands.
The Xisha Islands are a cluster of close to 40 islets, sandbanks and reefs.
Earlier this month, a cruise ship owned by the Hainan Strait Shipping Co. launched a trial voyage to the islands.
Vietnam claims sovereignty over the Xisha Islands. However, China has reiterated that its sovereignty over the Xisha Islands is indisputable.
- Sichuan Airlines opens flight to Vancouver
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下载安装Flash播放器Sichuan Airlines, a major Chinese carrier, will launch new regular flights to Vancouver in June, the company announced Tuesday.
From June 22, Sichuan Airlines will launch the first flight from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, to Vancouver, which will be operated three times a week. It will make a stopover in northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.
It will be the first air route between western China and North America, said Zhang Huiyu, vice general manager of Sichuan Airlines.
Passengers in western China previously had to fly to such cities as Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou first before travelling to North America.
"The flights departing from Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou usually arrive in Vancouver at night, but our new flight will arrive in Vancouver in the morning, making it more convenient for passengers to carry out business activities," according to Zhang.
Chengdu-based Sichuan Airlines now operates more than 130 domestic air routes and 14 international routes.
- Bamei Village, a legendary escape to nature
Bamei village is located in Guangnan County, Yunnan Province, approximately 450 kilometers from Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province.The word Bamei is a direct transliteration from Zhuang language (language used by the Zhuang ethnic minority) meaning 'the mouth of a cave in a forest', which vividly reveals the uniqueness of the village. The village is so naturally authentic that there is no highway and residents have no access to electricity. Also, a 950m-long limestone cave, in which electricity is not available, is the only access to get in or out of the village. Because of its remoteness, the way that villagers farm remains almost the same as it was nearly 300 years ago. For example the wooden ploughs, harrows and water mills are still used; and cotton weaving is still popular. [China.org.cn]
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