GOD MUST have SPENT a little MORE time on CHINA

[hohoho]

Originally Posted by YeahWho

South Sand Islands are beautiful., But, sorry, they don't belong to China as their sovereignty is still in dispute among Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan (not if the Phillippines is included).

The South China Sea Islands stand at the crossroads of the shipping lanes between Pacific and Indian Oceans, Asia and Oceania ,and are of great importance to transportation and national defense.

Long ago ,the ancestors of the Chinese people began to live there so that China has alwasys had sovereignty over the area.




The controllers of The South China Sea Islands.

wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_Sea_Islands


The South China Sea Islands (or Nanhai Islands, simplified: 南海诸岛, traditional: 南海諸島, pinyin: Nánhǎi Zhūdǎo) consist of over 250 around 1-km² islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars in the South China Sea.

The Spratly Islands, disputed between Brunei, China(Hainan), Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam
The Paracel Islands, disputed between China(Hainan), Taiwan, Vietnam
The Pratas Islands, disputed between China, Taiwan
The Macclesfield Bank, disputed between China, Vietnam, Taiwan
The Scarborough Shoal, disputed between China, the Philippines, Taiwan

There are minerals, natural gas, and oil deposits on the islands and their nearby seafloor. Because of the economic, military, and transportational importance, the control, especially of the Spratlys, has been in dispute by China and several Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, in the mid-20th century onwards. True occupation and control are shared between the claimants. (See Claims and control)

History

The countries with the most extensive participation and well documented history on the South China Sea Islands are China and Vietnam.

The South China Sea Islands were collectively named the Tough Heads of the Surging Sea (漲海崎頭 Zhànghǎi Qítóu) and Coral Cays (珊瑚洲 Shanhu Zhou) since their discovery by the Chinese in the Qin Dynasty. But seafaring did not occur until the next dynasty, the Han Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, the Islands had been called The Thousand-Mile Long Sands (千里長沙) and Myriad-Mile Stony Embankment (萬里石塘).

There are houses dated back to the Tang or Song Dynasty on Ganquan Island (甘泉島), which nowadays is under dispute with Vietnam. In 1045, during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song China, imperial troops (王師) were sent to the Paracel Islands. The fishermen of Hainan composed various "Notebooks on Paths and Timing" (更路簿) that recorded over 200 routes, the time needed for sailing among the different isles, and the names of over 100 islands commonly used by the fishermen.

Some of the voyages of Zheng He passed by the Islands, though they probably did not dock on them. There is an atoll in the Spratly Islands named after Zheng He though.

Vietnamese fishermen and merchants also have been exploring the South Sea Islands, with a less well-known presence, due to the historically unofficial capacity and shorter records. Vietnamese official documents cite Vietnamese ancient historical records of control and exploitation of the island, and dispute Chinese claims and records.

In the 19th century, as a part of Occupation of Indochina, France claimed control of the Spratlys until the 1930s, exchanging a few with the British. During World War II, the Islands were annexed by Japan.

The Republic of China founded in 1911 claimed the islands as part of the province of Canton (Guangdong).........

[HKG]

the second largest island in China.

One will enjoy tropical scenery everywhere on Hainan.There is a large area of tropical forest,a variety of evergreen plants,palm trees,plus many special biological phenomena ,such as plate - like roots,blossoms on old stems and so on.

Hainan is the main production area for tropical cash crops such as rubber,coconuts,oil palms,sisal and pepper...........

It is a famous tourist place,reputed to be a ''pearl'' in the South China Sea.
Moreover ,Sanya City in the south has green seawater ,blue sky and charming scenery.Many famous scenic spots attract thousands of visitors every day!

Sanya location


Hainan location

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Hainan Island was originally connected to the mainland,untill the land sank to let in the sea and form Qiongzhou Strait ,whose narrowest point is only 18km wide.

Hainan Island has an abundance of resources ,these include the most famous iron ore in China ,the renowned Yinggehai Salt Field ,and the rich natural gas fields that lie under the sea basin from the mouth of the Pearl River to Beibu Bay.

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Hotels in the Island

all images found in Chinese goolge:Sanya,or in the Hainan travel websites.

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Mount WuYi,situated in the northwest of Fujian Province,has green water and peaks that are fantastic ,precipitous,elegant and beautiful.Since ancient times ,it has enjoyed the reputation of being '' the most marvelous and elegant mountain in the southeast''. UNESCO lists it as a world nature and cultural heritage. It is known as a '' biological showcase of the world''.

Do you know,Mount WuYi is one of the original places of Taoism 道教?

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The Nine-curve Stream

The essence of Mount WuYi is the Nine-Curve Stream,which has nice curves and is about 7.5 km long.The stream is green and crystal clear and winds its way among the mountains.If you take a bamboo raft to visit the Nine-curve Stream,you can enjoy the beautiful scenery on both banks.





nice shape of the Nine-Curve Stream

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Mount Wuyi contains 36 peaks that adopt different postures.
The highest peak is the Three Admiration Peak which is 717.7m high.

Fujian Province location

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Oolong tea from the Wuyi mountains in the Fujian province of China. Wuyi Oolong grows defiantly in the gaps of the mountainous rock, rendering cultivation both arduous and spellbindingly beautiful. This tea is famous for its 'dragonfly's head, frog's limbs and three colors.

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The Tarim Basin encircled by the Tianshan Mountains,Kunlun Mountains,Altyn Tagh Mountains and the Pamirs. With a total area of 530,000 km2, is the largest inland basin in the world.Because of the mountain barriers , the weather there is extremely dry. It has a typical geomorphology of dry wind erosion and wind deposit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarim_Basin

The periphery of the Basin is Gobi land made up of stone fragments. The Gobi land is very permeable . In summer the melted ice and snow from the high mountains flow down and permeates the ground so that the surface of the Gobi is always dry.

Within the Gobi land,there are intermittent oasis forming a strip-like belt.Each oasis is rich in grass and water flowing through a network of channels and farmland,with many trees to provide shelter.This has helped the local economy to develop and the people of the basin mostly live here.

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The Taklamakan Desert located in the Tarim Basin ,is about 1,000 km long from east to west and about 400 km wide from south to north.It has an area of about 330,000 km2 and is the largest desert in China.

Various dunes can be found in the Taklamakan Desert , some are like new moon,some like waves. The average height is more than 100 m and some can be 200 or 300 m high.

The desert area is very dry,with no rain at all throughout a year, making conditions for life extremely difficult.

Rich oil deposits are buried under the Tarim Basin so that people call it an ''oil sea''. In recent years
more and more scientists and explorers have traveled there for reseach.

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The Yangtze River (chinese= ChangJiang,means long river ).

Yangtze River originates from the main peak of the Tanggula Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau , and passes through 11 provinces,cities and autonomous regions. Finally flowing into the East China Sea. With a length of more than 6,300 km,it is the longest river in China and the third longest river in the world.

Geladandong snowy mountains is the source of the Yangtze River in Qinghai Province.







map of major rivers
http://www.chinapage.com/river/river.html

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The upper reaches of the Yangtze feature a big vertical drop,with torrents and many gorges flanked by towering mountains ,such as the Tiger-Leaping Gorge, Three Gorges ,and so on.

The Tiger-Leaping Gorge located in LiJiang Naxi Autonmous County of YunNan Province,the Tiger-Leaping Gorge is about 16 km long. The mountains on both banks of the gorge rise over 3,000 m above the river and the drop of the roaring river reaches 200 m. At its narrowest point ,the gorge is only 30 m wide .It is said that there was once a huge tiger that leaped over it,hence the name ''Tiger Leaping Gorge''.

web-
http://www.doyouhike.net/forum/183193,0,0,2.html






The Three Gorges

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Tibet,August 2007

Photos by 麦哲伦

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The Yarlung Zangbo River is one of the highest rivers in China,originating from the northern peaks of Himalayas. The part flowing through Chinese territory is altogether 2,057 km long.

The upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River lie in a frigid zone.Here are broad river valleys,most of which are flat and shallow.The current here is slow and there are many lakes and swamps.The large area of aboriginal grassland is a paradise for wild animals,such as the Tibetan antelope .blue sheep ,wild donkeys and wild yaks.

The middle reaches of the river alternate between narrow and broad river valleys that are distributed like a string of beads.

large picture
http://gxs.shiyan.gov.cn/old/ADMIN/s...6622190653.jpg


satellite from the sky

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In the lower reaches, the river rounds a high mountain in the eastern part of the Himalayas and turn south ,forming the largest canyon in the world - the Yarlung Zangbo Canyon.

[phillybud]

Originally Posted by VaastuShastra

I love Chinese landscapes!

India, China, Europe (and Russia), Japan, Korea, South East Asia, Brazil - my favorite places on Earth.

Conspicuous by it's absence from your list of favorite places is North America and Africa.

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Suzhou is a famous historical and cultural city,it was first built in the 6th century.

There are many gardens and the city is crisscrossed with streams and have more than 380 bridges.

In December 1997,UNESCO listed the classical gardens of Suzhou as a world cultural heritage site.

Here is a satellite image of Suzhou City,gardens are all over the city!

http://bbs.godeyes.cn/Upload/2006/10/26/193822.jpg

Suzhou City location



Suzhou river city









a part of the Suzhou river city map

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These kind of traditional buildings ad bridges were designed by ancient Chinese for thousands of years,their cultures were spread to Japan,Korea,southeast Asia and Tibet.

Suzhou gardens

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Suzhou gardens man made rocks,another ancient culture for designing a garden.

( all these images are found in google search and Baidu.com=suzhou )

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The traditional Chinese style gardens were highly influenced to the neighbors of Japan and Korea ,hence Japanese and Korean gardens are looked close to Chinese classical gardens,but Chinese gardens are much larger and number less!