Qing Court Fans in the Palace Museum Collection

The Palace Museum houses near ten thousands ancient fans, most of which inherit from the Qing court collection. In this exhibition, over 120 fans and fan sets
are selected from those formerly collected by the Qing court and are classified and displayed with accessories. The aim is to shed light on the whole range of varieties, technical features and cultural connotations of fans used in the Qing court, and to provide visitors with a chance to appreciate and study them.

How About Have a Cherry Picking Tour in Beijing This Summer

This past Saturday morning I had the pleasure of attending Beijing’s Haidian District’s 19th annual Sijiqing Cherry Picking Festival. The event featured eleven different types of cherries native to the area in the city’s largest cherry orchard, a quiet place on the outskirts of Beijing. The morning kicked off with a short ceremony before opening up the orchard for all to branch out and pick their favorite cherries.
I recommend the event for anyone who hasn’t experienced it, especially anyone with children. The event coincides with International Children’s Day and provides a particular thrill for the kids with other events for them to partake in. Just be prepared for the Chinese equivalent of the paparazzi to scramble to get a photo of you assisting your exceptionally cute child in snagging a cherry.
The festival’s preceding ceremony included a speech by several district officials, followed by a gift exchange by a group of local children to symbolize harmony among children. Meanwhile, you could visit the display table to sample the variety of cherries which were being offered. I dropped by to investigate the assortment. While to the untrained eye some cherries appeared identical, the tastes were indeed distinctive. The cherries carry names such as the Red Lantern and the Early Red Jade and varied from a dark violet red, to scarlet, to pink, to yellow. And if you are not a connoisseur of cherries in the slightest, you can at least marvel in the aesthetically pleasing quality of cherries which all can agree upon. My personal trip to the test tasting table included an interview with the local news team which made my day complete even before the picking was

underway.
The cherries were abundant and the orchard was plenty big to spread out and not get crowded—such circumstances are hard to come by in Beijing. With selections for those who prefer sweet cherries or even those (like me) who prefer sour, the search for the tree with the perfect tasting cherries was on. While there were plenty of low hanging fruit for all the little tykes, some of the best clusters involved a little climbing or the use of a latter which made the event even more entertaining and introduced a teamwork aspect into the process.
 It appeared that all had success filling their baskets with plenty of cherries but if you weren’t able to fill up your basket enough during the picking then there were also boxes of cherries for purchase following the festival. While the ceremony is held at the beginning of June, the weather at the orchard was surprisingly pleasant. The trees provided shade and the rhythmic breeze made it pleasurable. However, I would recommend bringing along a bottle of water to keep hydrated.
This short and sweet festival provides a splendid time for those looking to get involved in a bit of the cultural activity that Beijing offers. If you are in town this time of year, you should check it out. The atmosphere is pleasant, the people are cheerful, and the cherries are ripe.

Weekender's Guide to Nanxi China Landscapes

According to popular Chinese belief, Nanxi River is the birthplace of landscape painting, reminiscent of the water-and-ink prints of hatted fishermen hoisting long bamboo poles. This scenic quadruple A-rated attraction in Zhejiang

province's Yongjia county certainly attracts its fair share of students and seniors, but as it's a 90-mile-long river, it's still possible to find a spot to yourself. It's something of a gruelling journey to get there, but completing it ticks a box on any China travel bucket list.
From here, Shiwei Rock Scenic Area is a 15-minute drive. Full of craggy boulders resembling animals, with names such as Lion Rock and Chaotian Turtle Rock, this landscape of mountains, forests and turquoise waters makes for perfect hiking country. There are stops along the way where you'll have to cross submerged stone footpaths, and even take a slow ride down the river. Trekking through the entire parkland takes around five hours, not including stops to wring out wet clothes and trainers.
Leaving the Shiwei area, Furong Cun is a local village that's a popular stop, offering bamboo-rafting down the river, but there's not much to see in the town itself other than winding cobblestone streets and giant trays of drying fish.
Drifting down the river from here is undoubtedly the highlight of the trip. Dusk is the best time to go, when many of the rafters are off-duty and the mist casts an ethereal filter over the water; this is the stuff of painting and poetry, but catching it is just as dependent on inclement weather as the fabled yunhai (sea of cloud) that everyone wants to see during a visit to Huangshan mountain.

Chang'an Grand Theater

Built in 1937, Chang'an Grand Theater is located in Guanghua Changan Building, north on East Changan Street. As a modern theater with top quality, luxury and comfort, it perfectly embodies traditional styles, especially that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and modern architectural art. Up to 800 people can be seated in this classic-oriented theater decorated with elegant red wood tables,

luxurious VIP boxes and comfortable chairs. Its highlights, the multi-functional stage, the advanced sound and light facilities are computer controlled, suitable for all kinds of performances.
There are various types of seats to choose: the tea house in the front area, the rowed seats in the back area, and the VIP box, common box and rowed seats on the second floor. Photos of Beijing Opera masters and theatrical costumes for different roles are exhibited on the second floor of the lobby. There is calligraphy, facial makeup, painting and video sold on the first floor. The highlight of Chang'an Grand Theater is the customized operas designed for the better understanding by foreign tourists. Collaborating with performance bodies like Beijing Opera Company, Chang'an Grand Theater offers "travel opera" for foreigners, which consists of maximum amount of roles in Beijing Opera and is easy to understand. The ingenuity of playwrights and directors, together with sophisticated settings, stage props, lights and sound, embodies the essential spirit of conventional Beijing Opera, best exemplified by The Legend of the White Snake, which made its debut in 1997 and is highly appreciated by foreign audiences. Synchronous subtitles in both Chinese and English are provided so that the audience may know the plot better. The daily show of travel opera in Chang'an Grand Theater has been an indispensable attraction in Beijing.

Do You Know of Shi Du?

Shi Du--the Ten Crossings are situated about 100 kilometers to the southwest of Beijing on the upper reaches of the Juma River. To get from Zhangfang village to Shi Du, it is necessary to cross the Juma River ten times, which is how the spot got its name.

The scenic spot is filled with sparkling streams, marshy swampland, and gushing springs. Adventure seekers can try horseback riding or bungee jumping. The earliest bungee jumping facilities in Beijing were built here, with one platform at 48 meters and another at 55 meters.

There are two styles of bungee jumping for daredevils to try: with the cord linking around the waist, and the more demanding one, which links to the ankle. Whichever they choose, those adrenalin junkies will experience a challenge to themselves, and a feeling of jumping into the arms of the nature.

Admission: Separately charged at each scenic spot

How to arrive there: Take Bus 10 (Time of Departure: 6:00--8:30a.m. on Saturday and Sunday) at Qianmen, Fuchengmen or Xuanwumen through to the site; Take Train 7095 (from Beijing Western Rail Station - to Tianyuan) at Beijing Southern Rail Station at 6:38 am through to Shidu; Take Bus 917 at Tianqiao (or Liuliqiao) through to Shidu.

The Profound Culture of Tea in China

Tea, originally a kind of tree in south of China, is the contribution of ancient people in China south to Chinese cuisine culture and also the contribution of Chinese people to global cuisine culture. As a famous healthy drink, tea shares the name of three non-alcoholic beverages with cocoa and coffee, and is the top one of these three drinks.
In recent years, in order to let more foreigners know about this kind of culture in China, local Beijing travel agency always arranges some tour routes to visit Hangzhou as well as tasting West Lake Longjiong Tea.
China's tea culture is the culture of making tea and drinking tea. As one of the must-do 7 things in life, drinking tea is very ordinary in ancient China. Lu Yu, the Tea Sage in Tang Dynasty, proposed the China's tea culture in history. From that time, the spirit of tea permeated into the imperial court and society, and went deep into poet, painting, calligraphy, religion and medicine. During thousands of years, China accumulates not only the material culture about the cultivation and production of tea, but also the abundant spirit culture of tea, so it is the proper culture of tea in China.

China is the hometown of tea, and is the earliest country finding, planting and cultivating tea tree. Tea has the drug therapeutic effect to fitness and healing, owns the temperament and interest of enjoyment, and is used for cultivating taste. People like to drink all fond of the Chinese tea art. And China's tea art enjoys great popularity in the world, and afferent into Japan in Tang Dynasty. Since antiquity, China stresses on the tea art, and accumulates abundant experience from the set of tea to the skills of making tea.
How to make a cup of great tea? First, know about the characteristics of tea; second, master the scientific skills, to let the inherent quality of tea send out adequately. Chinese people think enjoy different kinds of tea in different seasons. For example, enjoy flower tea in spring, enjoy green tea in summer and autumn, and enjoy black tea in winter.

Among so many kinds of green tea, West Lake Longjing Tea is the most famous one. For most tourists, one of the things to do in Hangzhou tour is to taste the Tea. So, Hangzhou is famous all over the world owing to not only the West Lake, but also the Longjing Tea which gets its name because of native to West Lake in Hangzhou. West Lake Longjing Tea is one of the famous Ten Teas in China, with long history of 1,200 years, was listed into top grades in Ming Dynasty, and listed into tributes in Qing Dynasty. Longjing is the name of tea, spring and place, and what it brings to China is the proud Longjing tea culture.
People who fond of the Longjing tea always like to explore the Longjing culture by tasting the tea, visiting the spring and place. So, what Hangzhou travel takes is an impressive enjoyment to Chinese tea culture and the world famous spots.

Article Resource : http://www.teavivre.com/info/the-profound-culture-of-tea-in-china/