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.

Have a Tour Hangzhou in China Follow Me

Hangzhou, a city famous for its scenic splendor, attracts more than 20 million tourists from home and abroad every year. Its unique environment endowed by nature and those who have lived here, is an accumulation of several thousand years that has formed many world renowned natural, historical and cultural features.
Whenever talking about this city, the famous West Lake can never be far from one's thoughts. Held on three sides in the embrace of hilly peaks, this water wonderland has been an attraction for centuries and it is small wonder that it was a favorite imperial retreat. The lake and its environs have all the elements of a traditional Chinese garden but on a grand scale. The natural setting of strangely shaped peaks, serene forests and springs, dense foliage and a myriad of blossoms especially in springtime are enhanced by a treasury of sculpture and architectural features. The largest part of West Lake is known as the Outer Lake and it is bounded by the North Inner Lake, Yuehu Lake, West Inner Lake and Lesser South Lake.
The Solitary Hill lies between the Outer Lake and the North Inner Lake and is an ideal spot from which to admire the vista. For those who have a love of sculpture and art and those who have a particular interest in Buddhism the Peak Flown From Afar and the Temple of the Soul's Retreat are the must see attractions. The nearby Mausoleum of General Yue Fei is a monument to the patriot who was murdered in 1141 at the behest of his archrival Qin Hui, the Song prime minister. These buildings together with others in the vicinity of the lake such as the slender 13 storey high Six Harmonies Pagoda adds to the calm and beauty of their surroundings.
Gorgeous Cruise boats on West Lake
Temple of Soul's Retreat
This beautiful city is always ready to offer visitors more to see. If you have more time to travel in the city and want to see other places of wonderful landscape, you can visit the following scenic spots. Botanical Garden is both a park embracing beautiful plants and a research base to study botany. Running Tiger Spring is famed for its unique fountain of high water quality. Mt. Putuoshan Scenic Spot is held sacred by Buddhists and it was here that over the centuries a once large Buddhist community was to evolve. Red Carp Pond is the heart of Viewing Fish at Flower Harbor Park (Huagang Guanyu), one of the ten places of interests at West Lake. Thousand Islets Lake (Qian Dao Lake) is a pure lake with fresh and clean air. Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds is a unique sight in foggy days.
No visitor to the West Lake and the city can fail to learn something of this city's most famous products, namely silk and Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea. China National Silk Museum is the country's first national museum to be dedicated to silk culture and is the largest of its kind in the world. A similar museum is dedicated in homage to tea. Located at the West Lake Dragon Well Tea Plantation, the National Tea Museum provides a fascinating insight into the history and production of tea. Additionally visitors can go to other museums. Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine is the only state-level professional Chinese medicine museum in the country. Southern Song Dynasty Official Kiln Museum has been praised as the Civilized Museum of Zhejiang Province and the first group of provincial education base of patriotism.
Water Town
Qinghefang Ancient Street
Another natural spectacle to be found in the city is the Qiantang River Tide that has enthralled people for centuries. Annually, millions of people from both home and abroad flock there to watch the magnificent tide on the eighteenth day of the eighth lunar month (also around the mid-Autumn Day). When the surging tide comes, the water can rise up to a height of 30 feet and the noise it generates sounds like thunder, or thousands of galloping horses.
The other great feat of much earlier engineering is the Grand Canal. Linking the city in the south with Beijing in the north, this is the longest man-made waterway in China and surpasses both the Suez and Panama canals. Boating on the old Canal is one of the best ways to get a panoramic view of the landscape of typical river towns in southern region of the country, which include ancient dwellings, stone bridges of traditional designs and historical relics.
Six Harmonies Pagoda
The Heavenly King
The Statue of Yue Fei
Around the city area, there are also some places worth visiting. For example, Wuzhen, ranking first among the six ancient towns south of the Yangtze River was authorized as the Provincial Ancient Town of History and Culture. Xitang is a famous town with thousands of years of history. Mogan Mountain has been listed as one of the 'Four Best Summer Resorts in China' along with Beidaihe Scenic Spot, Mt. Lushan and Jigong Mountain. Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area is known for its beautiful scenery and for being the cradle of the Tiantai Sect of Chinese Buddhism.

Have a Heavy Shopping in Grand Pacific Mall !

Open since December of 2003, Grand Pacific Mall is presently one of the largest mall in Beijing (the capital of China).

Grand Pacific Mall is located in the central business area, with a good business environment and excellent services. The mall is well designed with world-class equipment, including lighting systems, audio equipment, elevators and bathrooms. Above all, the mall is home to many international-level brands, fashionable and trendy elements and the best service, which makes
The Grand Pacific Mall has a large variety of cuisine services, including both featured Chinese food and world famous brands like Pizza Hut, KFC, Haagen Daz, Fruit Fishing, Bread Talk, CHAMATE,  Tous Les Jours, LeJazz, Jiajingxuan Restaurant, Kyo-Nishi Restaurant and  Starbucks. These food services meet the needs of different customers.

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.

The Temple of the Reclining Buddha

The Temple of the Reclining Buddha, or Wofo Si, is situated at the foot of the Western Hills about 30 kilometers west of Beijing. It was first built in the 7th century at a cost of 5 million taels of silver. When it was renovated and expanded in the Yuan Dynasty, a huge statue of the reclining Buddha was cast. It was renamed the Temple of Eternal Peace during the Ming period. When it was restored under the Qing Dynasty, it was given another name: the Temple of

Universal Awakening. It is generally referred to as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.
The way leading to the temple is lined by towering ancient cypresses, with a glazed archway standing right in front of the temple. The archway is made of marble and crowned with glazed tiles of various shapes and colors.
In the centre of the first courtyard is a little pond with a stone bridge spanning it. The Bell Tower and the Drum Tower stand respectively on each side of the courtyard.
The buildings are symmetrically laid out. Five main halls stand one after another; each has side halls on both sides. The third hall is the Hall of the Reclining Buddha and contains a copper statue 5.2 meters in length in a reclining position with one arm straightened and the other turned to support the head. It was claimed that 250,000 kilograms of copper was used to cast the enormous statue. The statue was completed in 1321. Around the Reclining Buddha are twelve smaller statues. It is said that the posture of the group represents a scene in which Sakyamuni was giving instructions to his disciples under the bodhi tree while he was ill. To make the setting conform to the story, several bodhi trees were planted in the temple. They are believed to have come from India. The bodhi tree has long, narrow, dark-green leaves and its white flowers blossom in late spring and early summer and they resemble myriads of little white jade pagodas hanging upside down amidst the dark leaves. The buildings were renovated and redecorated after 1949.

The History of the Great Wall's Construction

The history of the Great Wall's construction: The history of the Great Wall's construction can be traced back
to the 9th century B.C. during the Western Zhou Dynasty as a way to resist attacks from the nomadic people to the north. Many fortresses were built to resist the invasion. Around the 7th or 8th century B.C., in order to strive for supremacy and defense, the rulers from the Spring and Autumn period began building the Great Wall on their border lines based on their own defensive needs. The Great Wall of the State of Chu in the 7th century B.C. was the first wall built, and then the states of Qi, Han, Wei, Zhao, Yan, Qin and Zhongshan also began constructing walls in succession for self defense. At that time, the characteristics of the Great Wall were: the walls were different in the east, south, west and north, and their length ranged from hundreds of kilometers to around 2,000 kilometers. In order to distinguish these walls from those built by Qin Shi Huang, the historians called them "the Great Wall of the pre-Qin Dynasty" as a whole.
In 221 B.C., Qin Shi Huang eliminated the six states, unified the whole of China, ended the chaos of war in the Spring and Autumn period, accomplished the great cause of national reunification, and established the first centralized feudal state in China. In order to ensure safe and stable production and to prevent invasions and harassment from the strong nomadic nationality to the north, the Qin Dynasty began constructing the Great Wall. In addition to using the original parts built by the states of Yan and Zhao in northern areas, the Great Wall was extended to Lintao County in the west and Liaodong in the east with a length of over 5,000 kilometers. Therefore, it was also praised as the "Wanli Great Wall," meaning it is very long.
After Qin Shi Huang, almost every emperor extended the Great Wall during their reign in central China, including the Han, Jin, Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Among them, the Han, Jin and Ming dynasties had the largest construction scale, and the walls built during the three dynasties were all 5,000 to 10,000 kilometers in length and had different locations. As for the nationalities that once took part in the construction of the Great Wall, many minorities also renovated and extended the Great Wall during their reign in addition to the Han nationality. More parts of the Great Wall were built during the reign of minority nationalities than the Han nationality. During the Kangxi Emperor period in the Qing Dynasty, although the large-scale construction of the Great Wall was stopped, some similar walls were indeed built in a few places. It can be said that during the more than 2,000 years of history from the Spring and Autumn period to the Qing Dynasty, the construction of the Great Wall had never been truly stopped.

The Best 10 Things to Do in Beijing (1)

With the advantage of a rich and long history, Beijing could experience an even greater tourism boost. Here I would like to list some incredible things most tourists do during Beijing tour. 

Shop at Silk Market

Abuts on the southeast of Ritan embassy and consulate, Silk Street has now become one of the most famous business streets all around Beijing.

Here you can purchase not only Chinese traditional silk products and exquisite handicrafts, but also many kinds of foreign well-known brands. Many customers here are foreigners with Roman nose, golden hair. They bargained with blunt Chinese and at the same time gestured to the peddleries. Most of the peddleries in Silk Street can recommended their products and bargained with simple foreign languages, some of them even told the price on calculator. It can be called one of Beijing's famous scenes.

Bicycling Around the City

Most tourists are like riding a bike in Beijing city and feel the surrounding atmosphere. They thought biking through the streets of Beijing is a cool way to see the city. With the advantages of healthy, convenient, economical and environmentally friendly, bike tour in Beijing becomes more and more popular recently.

Ride a bike to experience old Hutongs is an ideal choice, cycle at leisurely pace from site to site, stop for a local lunch. 

Worship at Local Church

For those who are Christian visitors to Beijing, worship at local church is a good choice. Downtown church provides not only a place of worship but also a good place to understand the religion's history in this vast Asian metropolis. Main Catholic and Protestant churches in the Chinese capital are expecting an influx of foreign visitors looking for the unique experience of going to a local church.

Lonely Planet Review for Capital Museum

This rewarding and impressively styled museum contains a mesmerizing collection of ancient Buddhist statues and a lavish exhibition of Chinese porcelain. Further displays are dedicated to a chronological history of Beijing, cultural relics of Peking Opera, a Beijing Folk Customs exhibition and exhibits of ancient bronzes, jade, calligraphy and paintings.

Watch Kung Fu Show

Chinese Kung Fu has close relationship to do with the religion. In Beijing at night, you can enjoy the magnificent Kung Fu Show performed by the best actors who have learned Kung Fu for many years. Kung Fu shows will bring you great enjoyment by its splendid fighting actions and graceful dances.

Wish these incredible things make your Beijing tour more wonderful.