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Information for principals visits in China
Also
known as the Imperial Palace Museum or Gugong, the Forbidden City was the place
where the emperors of the Ming and Qing
Dynasties carried out their administration and lived. Now it is open to the
public as a palace museum where people can see
the great traditional palace architecture, enjoy the treasures kept in the
palace, and learn of the legends and anecdotes about
the imperial family and the court. Altogether 24 emperors lived here over a span
of 491 years in two dynasties, ending with the last emperor in 1925. A film
about Puyi, The Last Emperor, is well-known in the West. It is quite an
experience to see halls
and courtyards where those scenes were played out, both on film and in real
life.
The
Great Wall
"You
are not a man if you have not been to the Great Wall." So the saying goes
in China. The Great Wall, it is said, is one of the
few objects on earth visible from space. It belongs not only to China, but is
part of the cultural heritage of the whole world. No
tourists can afford to miss the chance to visit it if he/she comes to Beijing
and it is usually the top item on any travel program.
Apart from its magnificent construction, the view on the Great Wall is wonderful
especially in spring, autumn and winter.
Tian'anmen
(Gate
of Heavenly Peace) was and is considered as the centre of Beijing, not only
because of its location but also because it is a
symbol of power. Tian'anmen is the
front gate of the Forbidden City, the gate leading to the supreme power in
imperial times.
The tower over the gate was used for grand ceremonies in the Ming and Qing
Dynasties, for instance, issuing imperial edicts.
In modern China, it is also a symbol of power. From the tower of Tian'anmen, on
October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong
proclaimed the founding of the new China. On National Day each year, the tower
is used as a rostrum for reviewing the
mass assembly
The
Summer Palace
Equally
famous as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace is called "Yiheyuan"
(Garden of Nurtured Harmony) in Chinese. It is up
to now the best preserved and the largest imperial gardens in China. You may
regret it if you come to Beijing and miss visiting
these gardens.
Tombe
Ming
Located
in Beijing's suburban Changping County, the place is where 13 emperors of the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and their empresses
and concubines were buried. Some 50 kilometres northwest of the capital, the
Ming Tombs are generally combined with
a visit to the Great Wall.
Lhasa
Lhasa,
capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, covers an area of 544 square kilometers
and is "The Land of Gods" in Tibetan, sits
on the north bank of River Lhasa, a tributary of the Yarlung Tsangbo River, at
an altitude of 3,700 meters. It has a history of
over 13 centuries. With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine annually, Lhasa is
famed as " the City of Sunshine". It is the capital
of Tibet Autonomous Region and the center of Tibet's political, economic,
cultural and religious activities. There are many
historic sites and famous relics in the city proper and its suburbs, among which
the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Drepung
Monastery, Sera Monastery and Gandan Monastery are world famous.
Before
the mid-seventh century when Lhasa, later a central town of Tibetan region, was
yet to come into being, the area called Wotang was a marshy land of wildness,
frequented by antelopes. On one bright summer day, Songtsan Gampo, leader
of the Tubo tribe that had risen
to power in the Yarlung River Valley, was struck by the perilous position of an
area flanked by two
steep mountains, while bathing in the Lhasa River, and decided that this was to
be the home of his kingdom. This ambitious
Tibetan king moved the center of his rule to Wotang and ordered the construction
of his residence on the hilltop of Potala. In 641 A.D., Songtsan Gampo who by
this time had conquered the whole Tibetan region wedded Princess Wencheng of the
Imperial Tang Court. When the princess arrived, she became convinced that Lake
Wotang was a devil's heart to be overpowered
by the construction of a grand temple after filling up the lake with earth. The
princess further suggested that the earth
be carried by white goats. This imposing grand temple became a symbol of the
kingdom. The temple, later known as Jokhang,
was initially named Lhasa, "the Sacred Land" in Tibetan. Over the
centuries, Lhasa became a political and religious center
of Tibet. Administrative orders were issued from the myriad of imposing palaces;
the great temples and monasteries were
home to omnipotent liturgical establishment and witnessed the rise of many
religious leaders and endless religious ceremonies.
The faithful composed the population of the town and Lhasa became a true
"Mecca" of Tibet.
Potala
Palace
Potala
Palace, symbol of Lhasa, is on the top of the Potala Hill. The palace, 117
meters tall and 40 meters wide, has towering buildings
with golden roofs and a group of huge castle palaces, which is divided into
white and red palaces for the color of their walls. The white palace used to be
a place where the living Buddha, Dalai, Tibet’s religious leader, handled
government affairs
and lived. The red palace is further divided into the Hall of the Buddha,
Scripture Hall and Memorial Hall, each with a dozen
or scores of rooms. The Hall of the Buddha houses gold-traced portraits of
Sakyamuni and deceased Dalai Lamas. The Scripture Hall keeps in it a large
number of early copies of Buddhist sutras; and the Memorial Hall contains stupas
of the 13 late Dalai Lamas. Potala Palace is also a world of murals, which are
painted in hundreds of halls and corridors. It is a huge treasure
house for Tibetan history, religion, culture and arts.
Jokhang
Temple
The
1,300-year-old Jokhang Temple in the west of the city of Lhasa is an
architectural masterpiece that combines techniques of
ancient Tibet with that of the Han. It is four-story high with a golden roof.
The main hall
consecrates a gold statue of Sakyamuni
brought to Tibet in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and statues of
King Songtsan Gampo (517-650), Princess Wencheng
and Princess Chizun. Murals in the temple include one entitled "Princess
Wencheng Entering Tibet" and lines of woodcuts
of beasts and sphinx featuring local arts of the Western Region. The temple is
fronted with a stele to mark the meetings
between the officials of the imperial court of Tang and the Tibetan regional
government and otherhistorical relics
Gyangtse
Crossing
the Yarlung Tsangbo River Bridge south of Lhasa and moving on southward, one
comes to the Kampala Pass over 5,000
meters above sea level. Looking further south from this imposing pass, you will
see a placid lake extending to the horizon.
That is Yamdro Yumtso Lake, one of the three greatest holy lakes in Tibet, with
a surface area of 638 square kilometers
and an elevation of 4,441 meters. The lake has over 20 islets on it and rich and
picturesque pasture ground rings the
lake. Driving further west from the lake, one will enter the fertile Gyangtse (Gyangze)
Valley along the Nyangchu River after passing
a chain of snow-capped mountain peaks with the highest being Mt. Nojin Gangsang.
The region is known as a
granary of Tibet. The
ancient town of Gyangtse has a history of over six centuries. It sits by the
road from Lhasa to Sakya, Shigatse and Yatong and has from ancient times been a
center where pilgrims, merchants and travelers converge.
The
Palcho Monastery
It
was founded in Gyangtse at a time when rivalry among Buddhist denominations
reached an impasse. Hence it has been home to a number of Buddhist sects
practicing under one roof with each occupying six to seven halls. The
construction of the monastery began in the beginning of the 15th century. The
three-story main hall houses an enormous
bronze statue of the Buddha, about eight meters in height with a great number of
tangkas on display. In both east and west wings at the second floor of the main
hall are clay arhats from the Ming Dynasty. These true to life images are really
a marvel and venerated throughout Tibet. The 32-meter-high white Palcho Pagoda
has a total of 77 rooms with 108 doors
at its nine levels. It houses a great number of miniature Buddha paintings,
estimated at about 100,000 altogether, and is otherwise known as "the
Pagoda of 100,000 Buddha Images". This imposing octagonal structure is the
most awe inspiring of all pagodas in Tibet. The Palcho Pagoda's liturgical
collection also includes a total of over 1,000 clay, bronze and gilded
sculptures of the Buddha in
addition to a great number of tangkas. The religious art and the Palcho
architecture are renowned for
their unique style. The town of Gyangtse is also known for its patriotic
tradition. It withstood a brutal British invasion in 1904.
The fortresses on Zhongshanbao built in defence against British troops remain as
witness to the past heroic battles.
Shigatse
The
town of Shigatse (Xigaze) is called "Center of Rear Tibet", sits at
the confluence of Nyangchu and Yarlung Tsangbo Rivers about
250 kilometers to the west of Lhasa. This second largest city in Tibet at an
elevation of 3,800 meters has a history of more
than five centuries. The region around is historically known as the Rear Tibet
and Shigatse has been its political, business,
cultural and religious center. The residence for all the Panchen Lamas has been
traditionally in the town. The city located
between altitude 29°local Tibetan theater are
popular attractions to visitors.
Sakya
Monastery
In
1073 A.D., Gongjue Jiebu of the Kun family in Tibet built a monastery on a
meadow shaped like a lying elephant on the north bank
of Zongqu River to teach his new esoteric theory of Buddhism. Gongjue Jiebu was
convinced that the monastery built on such
a site would light the mundane world. Because the monastery was built by a
chalky hill, it was named Sakya, meaning chalky
earth in Tibetan. However, few expected that it would later become the name of a
powerful Buddhist denomination and
ruling house owing to a number
of political and religious factors. The Sakya Monastery built by Gongjue Jiebu
(popular known as
the North Temple) became inadequate for rising and evermore powerful Sakya
establishment. A larger monastery which is still
standing today was built on the south bank of Zongqu River by the Kun house and
Pagpa, a well-known Tibetan in the Mongolian
imperial court of the 13th century. This monastery, now popularly known as the
South Sakya, sits against the backdrop
of snow-capped mountains 165 kilometers west of Shigatse. In 1260 A.D., Pagpa
was appointed the imperial tutor and
later an official in charge of Buddhist affairs in the land and ruler of whole
of Tibet by Kublai Khan, the first emperor of the Yuan
Dynasty. In 1267, Pagpa returned to Tibet to establish the Sakya Kingdom and a
Tibetan government subordinate to Yuan Dynasty
rule. A mural in the monastery depicts the occasion when Pagpa as the supreme
ruler of the region gave the commission
to Segasan Bu in 1288 for the construction of the monastery, which involved
labor and material contributions from 130,000
Tibetan households. The Sakya Monastery as the power center of the Sakya Kingdom
once ruled the whole Tibet for more
than a century. When the visitor approaches this massive structure, he will see
a great monastery in an imposing square citadel.
The outer wall is painted red, white and black, each representing the different
manifestations of Buddha, a unique feature
of Sakya. The Lakang Qinmu Hall, the main structure in the complex, occupies an
area of 5,500 square meters with a height
of over 10 meters. According to monastery records, the hall had 108 giant
columns. Now there are only 40 left, with many
anecdotes about them. The monastery wall is 10 meters high and over three meters
thick. The northern and southern walls
are 500 meters in length while the eastern and western walls 300 meters. There
are a total of 40 fortresses and four pillboxes
along the entire length of the wall and four gates open in different directions.
The remains of a moat is still visible. The
entire complex gives a feeling of solemnity laden with the weight of history.
The
Sakya Monastery
It's
also known for its collection of Tangkas and scriptures. The monastery also has
a great collection of appointment letters, official seals, head decorations and
costumes granted to Sakya officials by the imperial court of Yuan Dynasty,
in addition to Buddhist figurines, ceremonial artifacts and porcelain ware from
the Song and Yuan dynasties onward. The
stupendous collection of books over religion, history, medicine, philosophy,
calendar, theatre, poetry, stories and grammar and
rare valuable source materials for the study of ancient Tibetan culture. The
Sakya collection of Buddhist scriptures is also the
largest in Tibet with a total of 40,000 volumes, of which over 10,000 are kept
in the main hall. They were meticulously hand
written in red and black ink with many gold and silver lettering by
calligraphers called in from all Tibet by Pagpa. The scripture
written on "Pattra" leaves recently discovered is regarded as a rare
treasure. The murals and tangkas in the monastery
are unique, of which a large mural of the five Sakya founders and an exquisite
mural of mandal as are of particular interest.
A total of 40 tangkas depicting the founders of Sakya painted six centuries ago
is a treasure to the monastery. When the
visitor stands in front of the pictures of these noted figures in Tibetan
history, he is bound to feel the power of the glory
of a bygone era and of an art that shines through the darkness of time. Sakya
can be compared to Dunhuang in western China.
In fact, it is regarded as the second Dunhuang of China.
Tashilhunpo
Monastery
The
Tashilhunpo Monastery in the west can be seen in the distance by travelers
approaching the town, with its gilded pinnacle glinting
in the sunshine, an exhilarating sight to the arriving wayfarers and pilgrims.
The construction of Tashilhunpo (meaning "imminent
bless") began in 1447. The Monastery is the largest of its kind in Rear
Tibet with a total floor space of 300,000 square
meters. The Great Prayer Hall, the oldest building in the monastery, can house
over 2,000 praying monks. The lavish throne
of Panchen, a myriad of Buddhist sculptures and ancient murals are rare
treasures of the monastery. Jamkhang, the chapel
of Meitriya with a height of 30 meters and a total of seven stories, is the
central structure of the monastery. Enshrined inside
the chapel is against 26.5-meter-high sculpture of Meitriya with its middle
fingers measured 1.2 meters and the shoulder
11.5 meters. A total of 115.875 kilograms of copper and 6,700 ounces of gold in
addition to a great number of diamonds,
pearls and amber pieces were used for the construction of the image, which is a
fine example of the Tibetan artistry
and craftsmanship. The funerary stupas in the monastery are also worth noting
with the most lavishly furnished being that
for Panchen IV (1576-1662). The construction of the hall housing the stupa took
four years to complete. The stupa is 11 meters
high. It was built with over 2,700 ounces of gold, 33,000 ounces of silver and
39,000 kilograms of copper and is adorned
with about 9,000 feet of silk and over 7,000 pearls, gems and agate, coral
pieces. The religious ornaments on the gilded
pinnacle of the stupa building are of interesting designs and exquisite
artistry. East of Tashilhunpo is a huge structure constructed
with stone blocks against a hill slope of nearly 100 meters in height. Every
year, a ceremony is held to air an enormous
tapestry of image of the Buddha hung on the stone surface. There is also an
unusual room in this monastery unseen in
others for the display of portraits of Qing Dynasty emperors and gifts to
Panchen from the imperial court. It was also once used
by Panchen to meet envoys from the court and receive imperial decrees. A
collection of rare treasures and artifacts are stored
in this room.
Shalu
Monastery
Built
in 1087, the Shalu Monastery in Shigatse is known for its unique architecture
integrating both Han and
Tibetan styles unparalleled anywhere else in Tibet. In the monastery, there are
murals painted during the Yuan Dynasty and
notices written in the Phagsba language. There is also a copper water jar sealed
with a red cloth, which is refilled every 12
years. Legend says water from the jar is "sacred", and a cup of this
water can clean"108 kinds of dirt". It houses a rich collection
of ancient frescos strongly influenced by Song and Yuan Dynasty art. The
collection is in very good condition.
Xian
An
episode in the history of Sino-Western exchanges runs as follows: One day when
Julius Caesar went to attend a theatre performance,
he found himself the object of the surprised stares of the whole audience. His
glamorous gown made of Chinese silk
had triggered their interest. From that time onwards, Chinese silk was high
fashion in Rome and people competed with each
other, dressing up in it to display their wealth. As a result, the price of silk
went up so sharply that it equaled the gold price.
The home of this Chinese silk so popular with the ancient Romans was Xi'an,
called Chang'an over 2,000 years ago and then
the capital of the Han Dynasty. Xi'an was called Chang'an in Han Dynasty.
The connotation of "Chang'an" is "a place of permanent
peace". It was not until the prosperous Tang Dynasty that Chang'an became
famous both at home and abroad as the
largest and busiest international metropolis of that age in the world. Xi'an
obtained its present name in 1369. It stands first on
the six largest ancient capitals. From the 11 century B.C. onwards, Xi'an or its
vicinity was established as the capital city by 11 dynasties successively,
including the Western Zhou, the Qin, the Han, the Sui and the Tang, and it also
served as the capital of
two peasant regimes respectively under the rule of Huang Chao and Li Zicheng.
The city's capital status lasted for 1,608 years.
As regards the number of dynasties and span of time, Xi'an served as an ancient
capital beyond compare. During the Tang
Dynasty (618-907), Xi'an was the largest city in the world. Chang'an, was linked
to many central Asian regions and Europe
via the Silk Road, with thousands of foreign traders living the city. Xi'an
is the capital of Shaanxi Province and also the political,
economic and cultural center of theNorthwest China. With the development of
travel industry and the implementation of
the open policy, it has become one of the nation's key tourist cities and
tourism has become the mainstay in Shaanxi's economy.
Xi'an
lies at longitude 103east by latitude 34north, and 412 meters above sea level.
It has an averageannual temperature of 13, and an average annual precipitation
of 604 mm. The rainy season comes in July,
August and September. The city now has under
its jurisdiction eight districts -- Xincheng, Beilin,
Lianhu, Yanta, Weiyang, Baqiao, Lintong and Yangling, and five counties
-- Chang'an, Lantian, Huxian,
Zhouzhi and Gaoling. As a
whole, Xi'an covers an area of 9,983 square kilometers and has population
of 5,860,000. The city proper occupies an area 861 square kilometers, and
reaches a population of 2,650,000. With
an elevation of 500 metres, the Weihe Plain extends between Baoji in the west
and Tongguan in the east and borders the Qinling
Mountains in the south and the Huangtu Plateau in the north. Lying in the warm
zone, the plain has a temperate climate with
four distinct seasons. Chequered with the Weihe, Jinghe, Luohe, and Bahe rivers
as well as the Jinghui, Weihui and Luohui canals,
the fertile land on the plain has easy access to irrigation facilities and an
abundant yield of farm produce. Xi'an lies in the
centre to the south of this plain, a favourable geographical location surrounded
by water and hills. The area around Xi'an was
inhabited by the progenitors of the Chinese nation as far back as
500,000-600,000 years ago. In the 1960s, archaeologists discovered
in Lantian County to the southeast Of Xi'an human fossils and cultural relics
belonging to the Paleolithic Period. In the
1950s, the remains from the Neolithic Period were discovered at Banpo Village to
the east of Xi'an City. In the 70s, the Jiangzhai
Ruins from a later part of the Neolithic period were discovered at Lintong
County to the northeast of Xi'an City. These archaeological
discoveries indicate that the area around Xi'an is one of the cradles of Chinese
civilization. As one of the six ancient
capitals in China, Xi'an served as the seat of 12 imperial capitals for 1,120
years after Chinese society had entered the civilized
stage. Xi'an is also a world-famous tourist city, a treasure house of
cultural relics. The remains of past civilizations furnish
evidence of every major epoch in China's half a million history, making for a
particularly illustrative textbook of Chinese culture.
The history apparent in Xi'an is so ancient and continuous that the city has no
parallel anywhere as a cultural site.Here one can visit the sites once inhabited
by its primitive people; admire the bronze wares manufactured in the Bronze Age;
wander through the city ruins of
the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties; imagine for oneself the clamour of the old
Oriental metropolis;
explore the imperial tombs of the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, testimony to the
pervasive power of the feudal ruling
class; ramble in temples and pagoda courtyards, tracing vestiges of the Silk
Road; and study stone inscriptions to appreciate
Chinese calligraphy. Not least, Xi'an is the site of excavation of the vast army
of terracotta warriors and horses from
the tomb of China's First Emperor, Qin Shihuang, from whom the country derives
its name. Xi'an was the starting point of the
world-famous Silk Road. It can be well likened to a history museum. Moving
around this old city is like going through thousands
of years back in time. In this vast museum you ill see the Banpo Village Remains
of a matriarchal community; the Huaqing
Hot Springs which was noted as early as the Zhou Dynasty more than 3,000 years
back; Qin Shihuang's terra-cotta warriors
and horses, known as the eighth wonder of the world; the imperial cemetery
grounds of the Han and Tang dynasties; the
Great Mosque with unique features; the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Small Wild
Goose Pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty;
the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower of the Ming Dynasty; and the Forest of Steles
with a rich collection of age-old stone
steles.
Huaqing
Hot Springs
The
Huaqing Hot Springs is located about 35 kilometers east of the city of Xi'an.
Historically, during the Western Zhou Dynasty the
construction of the Li Palace was undertaken on this spot. In the Qin Dynasty, a
stone pool was built and was given the name
Lishan Hot Springs. The site was enlarged into a bigger palace during the Han
Dynasty, and was renamed, the Li Palace. During
the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong ordered the construction of the Hot Springs
Palace. Emperor Xuanzong had a walled
palace built around the Lishan Mountain in the year 747. It was known as the
Huaqing Palace. It also had the name Huaqing
Hot Springs because of its location over the hot springs. Huaqing Hot Springs is
located at he foot of the Lishan Mountain,
a branch of the Qinling Range. Standing 1,256 meters high, it is covered with
pines and cypress and looks very much
like a dark green galloping horse from a long distance away. In ancient times, a
black horse was called "Li", and this is bow
it got its name, Lishan. In the Tang Dynasty, the Huaqing Hot Springs was
destroyed, during the An Lushan Rebellion. The present-day
site is only a small part of the Tang Huaqing Palace. The Huaqing Hot Springs
which we see today was rebuilt on the
site of the Qing Dynasty structure. The palace covers an area of 85,560 square
meters. Entering the West Gate of Huaqing Hot
Springs, you will see the Nine-Dragon Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool and the Frost
Drifting Hall, etc. All these structures were rebuilt
in 1959 according to Tang architectural style
City
Wall
At
the time when Zhu Yuanzhang captured Huizhou, long before the establishment of
the Ming Dynasty, he was admonished by a
hermit named Zhu Sheng, who told him to "built high walls, store abundant
provisions and take your time in proclaiming yourself
emperor", advice which Zhu Yuanzhang heeded. Once the whole country was
unified, he sent orders to the local governments
to built city walls on a large scale. Zhu assumed that "out of all the
mountains and rivers in the world, the central Qin
is the most strongly fortified and strategically impregnable." The city
wall of Xi'an is an extension of the old Tang Dynasty structure,
as a result of this wall building campaign. Xi'an's city wall after its
enlargement in the Ming Dynasty stands 12 meters
high. It is 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom and 13.7
kilometers in length. There is a rampart every
120 meters. The ramparts are towers that extend out from the main wall, the top
of the rampart being at the same level as
the top of the wall. The ramparts were built to allow soldiers to see those
enemies who would try to climb the wall. The distance
between two ramparts is just within the range of arrow shot from either side.
This allowed soldiers to protect the entire
wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. They are altogether 98 of them on
the wall; each has a sentry building on
top of it. The weapons in ancient times were primitive. The gates of the city
wall were the only way to go into and out of town.
Therefore, these gates were important, strategic points, that the feudal rulers
racked their brains to try to defend. In Xi'an's
case, the east, west, south and north gates, each consists of three gate towers.
The main tower is called Zhenglou. Zhalou
is the gate tower with the suspense bridge, and Jianlou is the narrow tower. The
Zhalou tower stands away from the wall.
It is used to lift and lower the suspense bridge. The Jianlou tower is in the
center of the others. Its front and the two outer
sides have square indows to shoot arrows from. The Zhenglou tower is the inner
one. It is the main entrance to the city. Jianlou
and Zhenglou are connected by tunnels, called Wengcheng in which soldiers could
be stationed. From the Wengcheng there
are also horse passages leading to the top of he wall. These are gradually
ascending steps made so that it is easy for war
horses to ascend and descend. There are all together 11 horse passages around
the city. A watch tower is located on each
of the four corners of the wall. The one at the southwestern corner is round,
probably after the model of the imperial city wall
of the Tang Dynasty, but the other three are square-shaped. On top of the watch
towers there is a corner rampart, higherand larger than the ordinary ramparts.
This shows the strategic importance of the corners of the city wall in war
times. Along the outer crest of the city wall there was constructed
crenellations or battlements, 5,984 of them. Under each crenel there is a
square hole, from which arrows
wee shot and watch was kept. The lower, inner walls are called parapets. They
have not crenels. They were not crenels. They were used on the inside of
the wall to prevent soldiers from falling off the wall when traveling
back and forth on top of the wall. The first city wall of Xi'an was built
of earth, rammed layer upon layer. The base layer
was made of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract, tempered together. It
made the wall extremely strong and firm.
Later, the wall was totally enclosed with bricks. On top of the wall, there is a
brick water trough every 40-60 meters. They
are used for drainage. They have played a very important role in the long-term
protection of the city wall of Xi'an. A moat,
wide and deep, runs around the city. Over the moat, there used to be a huge
suspense bridge which would cut off the way
in and out of the city, once lifted. Mausoleum of the First Emperor of the Qin
Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) and Museum of Qin
Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we
live with today, and what we pass onto future
generations.
Our
cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and
inspiration.A World Heritage site differs from a site of
national heritage and the key is in the words"outstanding universal
value".One of the sites included in the World Heritage list is
The Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. In the early spring of 1974, a
number of peasants accidentally discovered some ancient
bronze weapons and pieces of broken terracotta armored warriors while sinking a
well at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan,
35 km from Xi'an, the famous cultural city in China's history.No one ever
expected that this accidental discovery would prove
to be one of the most significant modern archaeological finds, adding greater
understanding to China's history and at the same
time unfolding a unique and majestic spectacle before the world: the Terra-Cotta
Warriors and Horses Museum, the underground
army of terracotta warriors. The Great Mosque When you take a city tour in
Xi'an, the ancient capital, if you pass through
the Drum Tower and come to the Moslem residential area, you would find a large
complex of the old and huge
architecture. That is the famous
Islamic mosque in China-Xi'an Great Mosque. According to the
historical records carved in the
stone tablets which are still preserved in it, the mosque was set up in 742 AD
during the Tang Dynasty. So it has already had
a history of over 1,250 years. The mosque was restored and widened in the Song,
Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Especially
after the founding of New China, and owing to the correct religious policies for
the minority nationalities by the Communist
Party and the People's Government, the authorities concerned allocates special
funds for the renovations of the mosque
every year. So that, the mosque has gradually become such a large and brilliant
complex of the historical architecture. With
many beautiful storied buildings, platforms, pavilions and halls, it is looks
very solemn and respectful
The
Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Situated
in the Da Ci'en Temple, about four kilometers from the urban center, the Big
Wild Goose Pagoda is one of the famous Buddhist
pagodas in China. Originally built in 589 A.D. in the Sui Dynasty, the temple
was named Wu Lou Si Temple. It was not until
648 A.D. when Emperor Li Zhi, then still a crown prince, sponsored a repair
project on the temple. This was a symbol of thanksgiving
to his mother for her kindness, after she had suffered an early death. The
temple then assumed the present name
Temple of Thanksgiving. The Emperor Gaozong was said to pay homage to the temple
twice a day by looking in its direction
from the Hanyuan Palace. The temple, with 13 separate courtyards, contained
1,879 magnificent-looking rooms altogether
and was a place of grand extent in the Tang Dynasty. However, it went into
gradual decay after the downfall of the Tang
Dynasty. The halls and rooms that have survived the age are structures that were
built in the Ming Dynasty. The Tang Regime
gave orders to build a chamber for the translation of Buddhist scriptures in an
effort to have the then widely renowned Master
Xuanzang (Monk Tripitaka) agree to be the head of the temple. he Wild Goose
Pagoda was finished in 652 A.D. Its five storeys
are 60 meters in height. The decay of the earth-cored pagoda caused the new
construction of a 10-storey pagoda from
701 to 704. However, the winds of war, in the years to come, reduced the pagoda
almost to ruins, which in turn resulted in
the construction of a 7-storeyed, 64-meter-high structure today. The
storyed pagoda was an architectural marvel. It was built
with layers of bricks but without any cement in between. The bracket style in
traditional Chinese architecture was also used
in the construction of the pagoda. The seams between each layer of bricks and
the " prisms' on each side of the pagoda are
clearly visible. The grand body of the pagoda with its solemn appearance, simple
style and high structure, is indeed a good example
of ancient people's wisdom and talent.
Chengdu
Chengdu
is depicted in a poem as "Chengdu Landscape, as if endowed by the Ninth
Heaven, is shared in the creations of many a
master artist." A magnificent and modern provincial capital, Southeast of
the Sichuan basin, Chengdu enjoys temperate climate
and plentiful products. The city located between latitude 10255 and 10453
east and longitude 3006 and 3126 north. With
an annual rainfall of 997.6 mm, it occupies an area of 12,389.6 square
kilometres, and now has over 3 million inhabitants in
the city proper, and over 10 million in greater Chengdu. The average annual
temperature of 16.2 , an annual sunshine time is
1,239 hours and the frost-free period is 300 days. Chengdu is more than 2,000
years old. In contrast to some other Chinese urban
centres, and despite raging redevelopment, Chengdu has managed to preserve the
atmosphere how one might imagine China
to have once been sometime in the past. Chengdu was
already the political, economic, and cultural centre of western Sichuan
by 400 B.C. During the Five Dynasties Period (907-960), Meng Chang, a ruler of
later Shu, had numerous hibiscus trees
planted on the city wall, so the town eventually became known as the City of
Hibiscus. Chengdu, also known as the hibiscus
city or the brocade city, has been a famous cultural centre with age-old
colourful traditions of both religious and civil significance
for the past 2,500 years in Chinese history. With the coming of the spring,
peach blossoms abound on the plain and
rape-seed flowers tinge the landscape golden while the wafting cooking smoke
curls up from the farm huts amidst bamboo
groves. All this makes the city and its suburbs truly poetic. The annual happy
occasions of the traditional lantern festival, flower show, the yearly opening
of the sluices at the Dujiangyan, the dragon boat races at Xinjing, and the
folk-lore sing song contests at Wang-cong Memorial Temple are also charming and
captivating scenes. The old street scene at Huanglongxi
township, the gorgeous mansions of the Liu family at Dayi county and a number of
picturesque civilian villages are well
preserved for people and future generations to appreciate. In Tiexiangsi, there
is the College for Buddhist nuns in China, and
the Guanyin Temple in Xinjing has preserved the most lively colour sculpture and
wall-painting of Ming Dynasty, Zhaojue Temple,
Wenshu Monastery, Baoguang Temple and Daci Temple in the city are known as
"the four famous Buddhist monasteries
in western Sichuan". Hemingshan at Diyi county is the sacred seat of origin
for Taoism, and Qingyang Palace is the
best preserved memorial temple for Laotzu, the founder and master of the Taoist
faith. Sichuan opera with the Chengdu brand as representative, is one of the
principal genres of regional drama. It is particularly famous for its sense of
humour and its unique skills in"Changing one's countenance". Built on
flat ground, Chengdu can easily be explored on foot or by bicycle. It
has almost a southern aspect,
with colorful old streets lined by scores of small restaurants and walkways that
remain crowded until
late with traders, buyers, and people out for a stroll.
Wuhou
Memorial Temple
Wuhou
Temple (Temple of Marquis Wu) in the southern suburbs of Chengdu is dedicated to
the memory of both Liu Bei (161-223),
Emperor of the Kingdom of Shu in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), and Zhuge
Liang (181-234), Prime Minister
of the Kingdom. The board hung above the gate reads "Han Zhaolie
Temple" (Zhaolie was a title given to Liu Bei posthumously).
But the temple is commonly called Wuhou Memorial Temple (Zhuge Liang was
conferred on the title of Wu Xianghou
after his death). The memorial temple, dignified and simple in style, houses 47
statues of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and other
civil officials and senior generals of the Kingdom. The temple is furnished with
many inscribed stone tablets, the most famous
being the Tablet of Triple Success of the Tang Dynasty (618 -907) with its text
by Prime Minister Pei Du, calligraphy by Liu
Gongchuo and carvings by Lu Jian. The couplets written on scrolls and hung on
the pillars in the temple are well-known for numerous
aphorism.
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