China Cultural Chronicles May 31, 2012
- The Makalu Mount
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- 在云端
- Village scene Guanxi
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The southern province Guanxi is well known for its scenic kaarst mountains. Wich are relicts of a primordial ocean. During millions of years the exuviae from shells piled up hundret meters high levels wich were washed away by the erosion. Only the hardest limestones remain as these sceneic structures until today.
China, Sept. 2004 (scanned slide) - Indonesian instrument heads to Beijing
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下载安装Flash播放器I never thought I would find a secret to happiness and one of Indonesia's secret weapons when I travelled 5,000 kilometers from Beijing to Bandung, capital of West Java, Indonesia. The euphoria I felt while listening to the local music more than justified the trip south. Soon, there are plans to deploy this weapon in Beijing on a massive scale.
Along with places of unrivaled scenic beauty such as Bali, and the extraordinary colorful batik clothing, the weapon is one of the most powerful in Indonesia's soft power arsenal. It's called the Angklung.
The Angklung is an instrument made from bamboo. It consists of two to four bamboo tubes suspended within a bamboo frame. The tubes are carefully cut by a craftsman to produce a single note, or chord, so at least several musicians must collaborate in order to play melodies. The instrument has been known since ancient times.
The instrument produces an uplifting sound, not unlike marrying a xylophone and a tambourine. While listening is joyful, being part of an Angklung orchestra under the direction of a skilled conductor is pure bliss. First, anyone can play it; no musical talent is required. And the satisfaction which comes from being a part of a larger harmony produces a sense of immense personal satisfaction.
Because of Angklung music's collaborative nature, there are many benefits that derive from this simple instrument. Playing promotes cooperation and mutual respect among musicians, together with discipline, responsibility, concentration, development of imagination and memory, as well as artistic and musical expression.
And making the instrument does not hurt the environment. The special black bamboo for the Angklung is only harvested two weeks out of the year when the cicadas sing, and is cut at least three bamboo segments above the ground, ensuring the bamboo shoot continues to grow.
The place to come under the Angklung's spell and study the instrument is Udjo's House of Angklung Village (Saung Angklung Udjo) in Bandung. This village is a music school, performance venue and ecology center. There are daily afternoon music performances by local children, including a demonstration of traditional stick puppets, as well as local folk dances. The highlight for me was playing this magical instrument with an international audience and local children, and the feeling of inner-warmth and connectedness was shared by all attendees.
The Angklung was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List in November, 2010. It made the Guinness Book or Records when on July 9, 2011 in Washington, DC, 5,182 people performed as the largest Angklung orchestra to date.
Next year, Beijing will be the site of the next attempt to break this record. Upwards of 15,000 musicians, mostly Chinese, but also including several hundred participants from Indonesia. These musicians will bring Indonesia's soothing soft power weapon to China's capital.
Indonesia's Ambassador to China Imron Cotan said that he is thrilled that some of his friends are planning this record breaking performance, bringing the Angklung's heavenly music to Beijing. He said: "This is going to be one of the highlights of Sino-Indonesian collaboration in the cultural field. I am sure that the sentiment is shared by my friends here in Beijing."
Another connection to China is that one of the first performances of the modern version of the Angklung was at the April 1955 Bandung Conference, the site of which is now the Asian-African Conference Museum. It was there, under the leadership of Premier Zhou Enlai and others, that the doctrine of non-interference and non-intervention in a country's internal affairs was first annunciated. This policy has guided China's foreign policy until today.
Bandung is also known for its excellent shopping and restaurants, many of which offer fine Chinese, as well as Indonesian cuisine. Nearby is the dormant but still smoldering Tangkuban Perahu volcano, and the hot springs in the village of Ciater. Another interesting site is the Indonesian Safari Park in Cibeureum, where lions, tigers and a host of wild animals run free.
- Hongcun: a village thriving on water
Hongcun Village is located in Yixian County at the foot of the southwestern slope of Huangshan Mountain, Anhui Province. With morning mist, stone bridges, white walls, water lily ponds and hills, it has been described as a village out of a traditional Chinese ink painting. Besides halls, pavilions and temples, the village consists of 160 ancient residences. These architectures, with fantastic stone carvings, were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties and widely regarded as the best historic sites throughout China. [China.org.cn/by Sun Hui]
- Yu Garden in Shanghai
Yuyuan Garden,simply called 'Yu Garden,' is the largest of Shanghai's ancient gardens with architectural styles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The garden has six areas, each with its own style. The Grand Rockery, in the center of the Garden, is the most renowned sight here. [Chinapic.people.com.cn]
- Have fun at 'Angry Birds Land'
The Angry Birds Land was opened to the public in Sarkanniemi Adventure Park, Tampere, Finland on April 28, 2012. The "Angry Birds" game developed by the Finnish game company Rovio for touch screen smart phones has quickly become popular around the world with a great success since it was launched at the end of 2009. [Chinapic.people.com.cn]
- Butchers Guildhall 桓侯祠, now teahouse (built in 1875)
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Zigong 自贡, Sichuan.
Not only it's the best teahouse south of Chengdu, it's also a serious gambling arena. People bring (or rent) a piece of green cloth to cover up the tea table and tuck their bets underneath it, or simply slam the money on the table. The shops at the perimeter sell antiques and serve tea but I can swear children are not allowed anywhere in the courtyard. - Mogan villas: world modern architecture museum
Photo taken on April 19, 2012 shows a villa built in 1896 on the Mogan Mountain in Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province. Foreigners began to build villas on the Mogan Mountain since 1896 because of its coolness and quietness. More than 250 villas, temples and chapels are preserved on the mountain. The buildings represent the architectural styles of China, Britain, Russia, the United States, France and Germany, winning the name of "world modern architecture museum". The Mogan villas were listed in the six batch of national key cultural relics units of protection in May 2006. The Mogan Mountain was also selected by the New York Times as one of the 45 Places to Go in 2012. [Xinhua/Tan Jin]
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