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#1 · (Edited)
2008.01.04

The Great Wall in Badaling, Beijing



Beijing


Badaling (八达岭) is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately 50 miles (80 km) northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military outpost reflecting the location's strategic importance.The highest point of Badaling is Beibalou, approximately 0.63 miles (1,015 m) above sea level.
The portion of the wall at Badaling has undergone heavy restoration, and in 1957 it was the first section of the wall to open to tourists. Now visited annually by millions, the immediate area has seen significant development, including hotels, restaurants, and a cable car. The recently completed Badaling Expressway connects Badaling with Beijing city.
 
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#5 · (Edited)
Lujiazui and the Bund and Huangpu river and..., Shanghai aerial view

2008.01.05.
Extra weekend photo




Shanghai


In China there is a saying that 'Xian has witnessed 2,000 years of history, Beijing has witnessed 1,000 years of history while Shanghai bears witness to the last 100 years.' For anyone who is interested in the history of modern China, Shanghai serves as an ideal starting point. Regarded as the 'Oriental Pearl', the city has a unique and important place in modern China and its rich heritage is worthy of exploration.
Shanghai, Hu for short, is situated on the estuary of Yangtze River, a position that led to frequently unwelcome intervention from foreigners seeking to impose their exports on the Empire during the nineteenth century. However, in the 1920s and the 1930s, Shanghai became an important international trade center. With its advantaged natural conditions, rapid development and splendid oriental culture, Shanghai was famed as the 'Oriental Paris' and attracted many entrepreneurs and established businesses. In addition, many foreign scientists, literary figures and artists chose to live, give lectures or just experience the Chinese charm in Shanghai. They included Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Bernard Shaw and the poet Rabindranath Tagore, to name but a few. However, by the middle of the 20th century, the glory of the city was in decline.
Having suffered the ravages of war, turmoil and economic crisis, the fortunes of Shanghai have been revived thanks to the great Reform and Opening Up since 1978. A favorable national policy, efficient administration, regular market mechanism and a large number of talents have come together to enhance by leaps and bounds the city's economic development in recent years.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Karakul Lake & Muztagh Ata, Xinjiang

2008.01.06












Xinjiang


Karakul Lake (喀拉库勒湖) is located approximately 200km from Kashgar, Xinjiang, in Akto County, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture on the Karakoram Highway, before reaching Tashkurgan, the Khunjerab Pass on the China - Pakistan border and Sost in Pakistan. At an altitude of 3600m, it is the highest lake of the Pamir plateau, near the junction of the Pamir Mountains, Tian Shan and Kunlun Shan mountain ranges. Surrounded by mountains which remain snow-covered throughout the year, the three highest peaks visible from the lake are the Muztagh Ata (7546m), Kongur Tagh (7649m) and Kongur Tiube (7530m). The lake is popular among travellers for its unreal scenery and the clarity of its reflection in the water, whose color ranges from a dark green to azure and light blue. There are two Kirgiz settlements along the shore of Karakul lake, a small number of yurts about 1km east of the bus drop-off point and a village with stone houses located on the western shores.
Muztagh Ata, or Muztagata ('ice-mountain-father', 慕士塔格峰), is the second highest (7546 meters) of the mountains which form the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau (not the second highest of the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau). It is sometimes regarded as being part of the Kunlun Shan, although physically it is more closely connected to the Pamir. It is also reputedly one of the easiest 7,000 m peaks in the world to climb, due to its gentle western slope and the comparatively drier weather of Xinjiang.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong Si), Datong, Shanxi

2008.01.06
Extra weekend photo














Shanxi


The Hanging Temple (悬空寺) is a temple built into a cliff (75m above the ground) near Mount Heng in the province of Shanxi. The closest city is Datong, 65 kilometers to the northwest. Along with the Yungang Grottoes, the Hanging Temple is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area. Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is unique not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it includes Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Mount Tianmen National Forest Park, near Zhangjiajie, Hunan

2008.01.07



Hunan


Located just eight kilometers (about five miles) south of Zhangjiajie Village, Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area has been designated as the second national forest park in Zhangjiajie. Rising nearly 1,520 meters (about 4,987 feet), Tianmen is the highest peak in Zhangjiajie and is regarded as the 'soul' of Zhangjiajie. There are many graceful trees, karst hillocks and medicinal herbs and plants on the mountain. Tianmen also has its 'four wonders' - Tianmen Mountain Cableway, Tongtian Dadao (Avenue Leading to the Sky), Tianmen Cave and Bonsai Garden on Air. In addition, tourists can visit cultural scenic spots such as the Tianmen Mountain Temple and the Lingquan (Spring of Spiritualism) Temple.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Li River and rice fields, Guangxi

2008.01.08



GuangXi


The Li River or Li Jiang (漓江) is a river in Guangxi Province. The Li River originates in the Mao'er Mountains in Xing'an county and flows through Guilin, Yangshuo and Pingle, down into the Xi Jiang, the western tributary of the Pearl River in Wuzhou, its course of 437 kilometers is flanked by green hills. Cormorant fishing is often associated with the Lijiang. Its unusual karst topography hillsides have often been compared to those at Halong Bay, Vietnam.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Heicheng Pagoda near Onotin Sair, Inner Mongolia

2008.01.09



Inner Mongolia


Heicheng Site is located at 25 kilometers southeast of Dalaihubu Town of Ejin Banner. Itis the most complete protected ancient city along the "Silk Road".
Heicheng was built in the Western Xia Dynasty and expanded in the Yuan Dynasty and became an important post house along the road from the Gansu Corridor to the north of Yunling. It was abandonedat the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. Heicheng has a rectangular shape with a perimeter ofabout two li. With a total length of470 meters from the east to the west and 384 meters from the north to the south, the total area of the city is 180,500 square meters. There are five pagodas made of original adobe on the 10 meter-high city wall foundations at the northwest corner. The ruins of pagoda shaped like an overturned bowl still stand at a height of 12 meters. The pagoda can be seen fromadistance of over 10 kilometers. It is very magnificent and is a symbolic building of Heicheng. A great number of rare relics have been found in the ruins of the city, including the earliest moveable-type print and the earliest currency of China -- Jiaozi.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Zhapo Dajiao Bay, Yangjiang, Guangdong

2008.01.10



Guangdong


Zhapo Dajiao Bay of Yangjiang City is located southeast of Zhapo Town on the Hailing Island. It is surrounded by peaks on three sides and faces the boundless South Sea. The beach is 2.5 kilometers long and 100 meters wide.
It is in the shape of ox horn, whence came the name of Dajiao Bay. It is the best known scenic spot o*n the Hailing Island. A mountain can’t be called beautiful without water and a peak can’t be charming without clouds. The bay has gentle breeze and waves and the peaks are shrouded by clouds.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Dongting Lake Bridge, between Hubei and Hunan

2008.01.11





Lake Dongting, or Dongting Lake (洞庭湖) is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province. It is a flood-basin of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang); hence the lake's size depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake: Hubei means "North of the Lake" and Hunan means "South of the Lake" in Chinese.
Dongting Lake is famous in Chinese culture as the place of origin of Dragon boat racing. It is the site of Junshan island, and is a home to the Finless Porpoise, which is endangered in China.
In the July-September period, flood water from the Yangtze flows into the lake, enlarging it greatly. The lake's area, which normally is 2,820 km², may increase to 20,000 km² in flood season, when vast amounts of water and sediment from the Chang Jiang flow into the lake.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Rapeseed Fields, Gansu

2008.01.12



Gansu


Rapeseed (Brassica napus), also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rapaseed and (in the case of one particular group of cultivars) canola, is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family). The name derives from the Latin for turnip, rāpum or rāpa, and is first recorded in English at the end of the 14th century.
Rapeseed is grown for the production of animal feed, vegetable oil for human consumption, and biodiesel; leading producers include the European Union, Canada, the United States, Australia, China and India. In India, it is grown on 13% of cropped land. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, rapeseed was the third leading source of vegetable oil in the world in 2000, after soybean and oil palm, and also the world's second leading source of protein meal, although only one-fifth of the production of the leading soybean meal.
Gansu Province occupies the geographic centre of China. With an area of 454,000 km2, latitudes ranging from 32°3′N to 42°57′N and elevations varying from 500 to 6200 m, the province has an extremely diverse climate and topography. Stretching 1653 km along the ancient Silk Road, Gansu also has a long history of agriculture (6000 years) and for centuries was exposed to dynamic cultural exchanges between the East and the West. The unique combination of these conditions allowed rapeseed to be introduced from Europe and the Middle East, to evolve over a long time of cultivation and to diversify to adapt to many types of ecological conditions and cropping systems in Gansu.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Hong Kong, skyline at night from Victoria Peak

2008.01.12

Extra weekend photo



Hong Kong



Hong Kong (香港), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a largely self-governing territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south. Hong Kong is a global metropolitan and international financial centre, and has a highly developed capitalist economy.
Beginning as a trading port, Hong Kong became a crown colony of the United Kingdom in 1842, reclassified as a British dependent territory in 1983, and remained so until the transfer of its sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Under the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy in all areas with the exception of foreign affairs and defence, which are the responsibility of the PRC Government. As part of this arrangement, Hong Kong continues to maintain its own currency, legal system, political system, immigration control, rule of the road and other aspects that concern its way of life, many of which are distinct from those of mainland China.
Renowned for its expansive skyline and natural setting, its identity as a cosmopolitan centre where the East meets the West is reflected in its cuisine, cinema, music and traditions. The city's population is 95% Chinese and 5% people of other ethnicities. With a population of 7 million people but land area of 1,108 km2 (428 sq mi), Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
 
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