China Cultural Chronicles April 29, 2012
- Ctrip acquires Trip TM for tour market
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下载安装Flash播放器Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (Nasdaq: CTRP), a leading online travel service provider in China, announced its acquisition of Trip TM, a four-year-old hyper-luxury vacation operator.
Ctrip.com, a leading online travel service provider in China, announces its acquisition of Trip TM on April 28, 2012. [Photo: China.org.cn / Wang Zhiyong]
The announcement was made at a press conference in Beijing on April 28, 2012.
"The strategic investment in Trip TM will help realize Ctrip's goal to bite half market share of the top-end tours in China," said Fan Min, CEO of Ctrip.
Ctrip launches hyper-luxury brand HHtravel to organize trips for high-fliers. After the acquisition, Trip TM brand will not be abandoned. Ctrip will run two brands strategy, Fan said.
The acquisition also means that Ctrip will become the biggest shareholder of Trip TM International Travel Agency, which is based in Beijing.
A hyper-luxury vacation usually costs around US$10,000, Fan Min explained.
Following China's booming economic growth, the number of China's rich, with an investment capability of 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million), now constitutes of around 590,000 families, according to a China Merchants Bank survey done in 2011.
You Jinzhang, CEO of the Ctrip's HHTravel, will be CEO of the newly formed company. Guo Ming, President and CEO of Trip TM, will serve as COO.
- Forbidden City breaks down another barrier
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下载安装Flash播放器The Palace of Benevolent Peace (Cining Gong) used to be the living area for Empress Dowager Cixi. After 1687, when Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang died, it was used for ceremonies until the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). [China Daily]
The world will soon get to see more of the intriguing Forbidden City, home to generations of Chinese emperors spanning five centuries - at no extra cost.
With the opening of the secluded residence of empresses and imperial concubines, which lies to the west of Longzong Gate, visitors will enter into some of the crucial quarters of the Inner Court - once prohibited and punishable by death.
The decision to open up parts of the Inner Court to tourists is part of efforts by the world's largest palace complex to cater to the interests of the increasing number of visitors, curator Shan Jixiang said on Thursday.
The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. It has been known as the Palace Museum since 1925, soon after Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was evicted from the Inner Court.
"We received 14 million guests last year and expect to have 1 million more than that figure this year," Shan, former chief of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.
"We plan to expand the visiting zones from nearly half to two-thirds (of the Forbidden City) in the near future."
Located near the halfway point of the central north-south axis, Longzong Gate was the main entrance to the Palace of Benevolent Peace (Cining Gong) as well as the Palace of Longevity and Good Health (Shoukang Gong), on the western side of the museum.
The two palaces were formerly the residence and venues for entertainment and rituals for empresses and concubines in the Qing Dynasty.
What's in store has aroused as much curiosity as historical evidence of two arrow heads stuck on the gate since 1813 when rebellious farmers attacked the Forbidden City.
Reparation and restoration of the two palaces have been completed and workers are putting final touches to the adjoining Garden of Benevolent Peace. The palaces will open to the public along with the garden after renovation of the garden is completed at the end of this year, Shan said.
"The Palace of Longevity and Good Health will be presented as it would have appeared in dynastic times, while the Palace of Benevolent Peace will showcase a rich collection of sculptures," he added.
After being the home of 24 emperors - 14 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and 10 during the Qing Dynasty, the site that is now the Palace Museum is laden with legends and anecdotes, said Lin Shu, a researcher with the museum's department of palatial life and imperial rituals.
A one-story building in the Garden of Benevolent Peace, for instance, will tell the filial story of Emperor Qianlong, who left his residence to stay there through the night to wait on his ailing mother. According to Lin, the emperor apparently made frequent visits for a month until his mother recovered. At a time, it was very rare for an emperor to leave his official residence.
- West lake,Hangzhou Zhejiang China
- West lake,Hangzhou Zhejiang China
- West lake,Hangzhou Zhejiang China
- West lake,Hangzhou Zhejiang China
- Peacock-green-glazed vase with lotus flower
sftrajan has added a photo to the pool:
Zhengde reign, Ming Dynasty 1506 - 1521 AD
Nanjing Museum
Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China
210 - flask with dragon design + underglaze blue
sftrajan has added a photo to the pool:
Yongle reign, Ming Dynasty 1403-1424 AD
Nanjing Museum
Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China
197 - flask with dragon design + underglaze blue
sftrajan has added a photo to the pool:
Yongle reign, Ming Dynasty 1403-1424 AD
Nanjing Museum
Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China
197 - dish with interlocking flower design in underglaze blue
sftrajan has added a photo to the pool:
Yongle reign, Ming Dynasty 1403-1424 AD
Nanjing Museum
Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China
193 - 5 Days in Tibet ... 1st Day (4/4)
Jesus Mtnez Valencia has added a photo to the pool:
Agosto 2011.
Lhasa (Tibet).
"The Jokhang is built over a lake and several legends attempt to explain the selection of such an unusual location. In one, Princess Wen Cheng chose Lake Wothang just to be contrary; presumably she was not happy being married off to a barbarian king and having to leave China. In another tale, Songtsen Gampo tossed a ring from his finger and promised to build the temple wherever it fell. When the ring landed in the lake, a stupa appeared magically and the Jokhang was constructed on this auspicious site. The stupa is said to be still beneath the temple. A stupa inside the building is considered the "upper" stupa. Murals near the entrance to the Inner Sanctum show the episode with lake, ring and stupa, and subsequent construction of the Jokhang. Goats helped fill the lake by carrying earth on their backs, as shown in the mural. Indeed, one explanation for the the name Lhasa is that it evolved from the word Rasa, with "ra" in Tibetan meaning "goat."
<a href - 5 Days in Tibet ... 1st Day (3/4)
Jesus Mtnez Valencia has added a photo to the pool:
Agosto 2011.
Lhasa (Tibet).
"The Jokhang is built over a lake and several legends attempt to explain the selection of such an unusual location. In one, Princess Wen Cheng chose Lake Wothang just to be contrary; presumably she was not happy being married off to a barbarian king and having to leave China. In another tale, Songtsen Gampo tossed a ring from his finger and promised to build the temple wherever it fell. When the ring landed in the lake, a stupa appeared magically and the Jokhang was constructed on this auspicious site. The stupa is said to be still beneath the temple. A stupa inside the building is considered the "upper" stupa. Murals near the entrance to the Inner Sanctum show the episode with lake, ring and stupa, and subsequent construction of the Jokhang. Goats helped fill the lake by carrying earth on their backs, as shown in the mural. Indeed, one explanation for the the name Lhasa is that it evolved from the word Rasa, with "ra" in Tibetan meaning "goat."
<a href - Tourist train goes into service between Chinese city and DPRK
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下载安装Flash播放器A tourist train in northeast China's Jilin province went into service on Saturday, offering trips between the city of Tumen and Chilbo Mountain in the neighboring Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
A total of 65 Chinese tourists took the train into the DPRK for its first trip and will spend three days and four nights in the country, said Zhao Renjie, deputy director of the Tumen Municipal Bureau of Foreign Affairs and Tourism.
The tourists walked for about 20 minutes to the city of Namyang in the DPRK, which is separated from Tumen by a river, before boarding the train, Zhao said.
The group will visit Mount Chilbo and the city of Chongjin in Hamgyong, and hot spring spas in Kyongsong County during their stay, Zhao said.
The train, which will make one trip between the cities each week, went into service as part of Jilin's efforts to promote cultural exchanges with the DPRK. The province launched a one-day walking tour of Namyang in May 2008.
China decided to grant approved outbound destination status to the DPRK in September 2008. The first Chinese group tour to the DPRK took place on April 12, 2010.
- Hefang street,Hangzhou
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