Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅲ>Contructions

Lingxiao Pagoda

The Lingxiao Pagoda sits to the west of Xinglong Temple in Zhengding County, Hebei Province.

The Lingxiao Pagoda is commonly known as the Wooden Pagoda among local people since it is entirely made of wood. It is one of the few extant wooden pagodas in China. According to historical records, the pagoda was built in 860 during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and was frequently renovated during
the Song (960-1279), Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. The present pagoda was mainly constructed in the Song-Yuan period.

Octagonal in shape, the nine-storied pagoda is 42 meters high. From the first to the fourth floors the pagoda is made of bricks and wooden eaves. From the fifth floor to the top, it is made entirely of wood. The pagoda body rises from the second floor to meet the top, layer by layer. Its most
distinct feature is the firm column at its center. This particular construction style has long disappeared. Among the existing wooden pagodas, including the Shijia Pagoda of the Fuguan Temple in Shanxi Province and the Cishi Pagoda of Dunhuang in Gansu Province, such semi-wooden-elements only
remain in the Zhangye Wooden Pagoda in Gansu and the Lingxiao Pagoda in Zhengding (the latter is many years older than the former). Hence, the Lingxiao Pagoda is important to the study of ancient Chinese architecture. The Lingxiao Pagoda was partly destroyed during an earthquake in 1966, but was
later repaired and opened to the public.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese online, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅲ>Contructions

Ancient Track Road

The Ancient Track Road is located in Shaoxing City of Zhejiang Province.

Built in 815 during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Ancient Track Road was constructed along the Xiao, Shao, and Yu canals and through all of Shaoxing from east to west, stretching for more than 40 kilometers. The Ancient Track Road parallels with the current Hang-Yong Railway and highroad.

After its completion in the Tang Dynasty, the Ancient Track Road experienced continuous destruction and restorations. The center of the current track road is located between Keqiao and Nanqianqing, with a length of seven kilometers and a width of 1.5 to 2 meters. Since one side of the track road
is periodically submerged under water, this side has one bridge piers built every two meters to control water flow. The other side of the track road that leans on land was built with stone bars. These stones were laid underneath the water and covered with rectangular black stones. Over 100 various
bridges were built over the Ancient Track Road, including a flat bridge, arch bridge and agirder bridge. The Taiping Bridge, constructed in 1620 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and renovated in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is firmly built, gracefully sculpted and exquisitely carved.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Free Chinese Lesson, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅲ>Contructions

Confucian Temple in Beijing

The Beijing Confucian Temple is located on Chengxian Street inside Andingmen, Beijing.

The Confucian Temple is where emperors of the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties offered sacrifices to the Ancestor Confucius. Facing the Imperial College, the temple was built in the sixth year (1302) of the Dade reign in the Yuan Dynasty and underwent a number of
renovations during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. With buildings constructed in three rows, the temple covers an area of about 20,000 square meters. Buildings constructed on the central axis include the Xianshi Gate, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, Chongsheng Gate and the Chongsheng Ancestral Temple.
The central gate of Xianshi retained the typical style of the Yuan Dynasty, with big and thin dougongs (a system of brackets in Chinese building with wooden square blocks inserted between the top of a column and a crossbeam). Roofs of the buildings were originally covered with cyan glazed tiles
which were changed to yellow glazed tiles during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. Starting from Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, every new emperor had to write something on a horizontal tablet and hang it inside the Dacheng Hall. On both sides of the Xianshi Gate are 198 stone
tablets with inscriptions written by successful candidates in the highest imperial examination of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. A total of 118 tablets were erected between 1646 and 1904, recording 51,624 candidates’ names, birthplaces and examination places, providing precious historical
insight into the study of the imperial examination system.

The Confucian Temple was rebuilt into the Capital Museum. A Beijing showroom was set up in the museum displaying a great number of valuable relics and documents between the Paleolithic Age and the Qing Dynasty — all of which have distinct local features of Beijing. Over 80,000 other relics are
also kept in the museum.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Chinese Online Class, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅲ>Tombs

Tomb Group of Longtou Mountain

The Tomb Group of Longtou Mountain is located on Longtou Mountain in Helong County, Jilin Province.

The tomb group covers an area of 500 meters from east to west and 400 meters from south to north.

The excavated tomb belongs to Princess Xiaozhen, the forth daughter of King III of the Bohai Kingdom. The tomb was built at the end of the eighth century with a brick tower, which was later destroyed; only the coffin chamber remains today. The most valuable treasures of the tomb are the 12 figures
painted on the wall — the first-discovered mural of the Bohai Kingdom. The east and west walls of the passageway display warriors, and in the square chamber are four painted servants on the left and right walls, with two servants on the back wall. The warriors are depicted in armor, scarves and
elegant gowns. All of the subjects in the colored paintings have rotund figures, which reflected the character of the early Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the great influence of the advanced cultural art of the Central Plains area, to the ethnic groups in the border area. The walls of the chamber are
made of brick. The inscription on the memorial tablet in the tomb was written in the regular script, recording Princess Xiaozhen’s life story.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learning Chinese, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,

Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅱ>Sites

Hemudu Site

The Hemudu Site is located in Humudu Village in Luojiang Town of Yuyao County, Zhejiang Province.

In the summer of 1973, the Hemudu Site was discovered accidentally by farmers of Hemudu Village when they built drainage facilities in the northeast of the village. The renowned Hemudu site, covering an area of about 40,000 square meters, is an important village site in the New Stone Age, with
cultural relics of about 4 meters thick. The site has four cultural layers overlapped. According the measurement of C14, the fourth layer dates back to 6,000 and 7,000 years ago.

Rows of wooden poles and board stakes were orderly arranged along the small hill. This was a railing-style construction, with large stake of 23 meters long and 7 meters deep and the front porch about 1.3 meters deep. Most of these wooden poles had mortises and tenons, the earliest ones that have
ever been found in China, indicating that such kind of techniques were adopted then.

A large amount of rice was unearthed in the site. The well-preserved rice, including indica rice and japonica rice, was proved to be cultivated rice. The large amount of well-preserved rice with a wide distribution area made the Hemudu Site a rare Neolithic site in China and wrote a new page in
the archaeological history of the Neolithic Age with the first-time discovery of indica rice. Other objects unearthed included tools used in agricultural production and processing, such as spade-like bone plough, wooden box, bone sickle, and timber. These proved that agricultural production had
become a main sector in local area 6,000 and 7,000 years ago. The discovery of rice in the Hemudu Site has another significant meaning. People originally believed that India was the origin of Asian rice, while the discovery in Hemudu proved that rice unearthed there was over 3000 years older than
that discovered in India.

Also unearthed in the Hemudu Site was a large amount of animal bones, including man-feed pig, dog, buffalo, wild deer, red elk, river deer and bear as well as some extinct species such as elephant and rhinoceros. These bones provided important data to the study of weather changes in ancient times
and the beginning of primitive stockbreeding.

The Hemudu Culture had a colorful primitive art. Pottery wares were decorated with animal and plant patterns. Other relics included pig, sheep and human head figures made of pottery, and bone-enchased and ivory-enchased objects. The unearthed bone whistle can still make sounds.

The discovery of the Hemudu Site bears proof that as early as 6,000 and 7,000 years ago, there appeared quite developed primitive culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River that is believed to be one of the cradles of the ancient Chinese civilization.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,

Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅱ>Contructions

Tianyi Pavilion

The Tianyi Pavilion is located in the west of Yuehu Lake in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.

First built by Fan Qin, a high-ranking official equivalent to today’s national defense minister, during Emperor Jia Jing’s reign in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Tianyi Pavilion Library is the oldest well-preserved private library in China today. It is a combination of culture, social studies,
history and art.

Fan Qin loved collecting ancient books all his life, and his collection of books reached 70,000. To protect the books, Fan Qin made strict family rules that all the posterity should abide by the teachings of the deceased, Never discard the books, and never take the books away. However, many books
disappeared as the years passed by. In the thirteenth year (1808) of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, books in the pavilion totaled to 4,049 in more than 53,000 volumes. During the Opium War, British aggressors plundered many books and sold them to French missionaries and paper mills. After
many accidentals, books in the pavilion merely totaled 1,591 in 13,038 volumes in 1940. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, special management departments were set up to protect the Tianyi Pavilion. More than 3,000 volumes of missing books were found.

Now, the Tianyi Pavilion keeps a large collection of about 300,000 ancient books, among which 80,000 are rare copies including the woodcut copies and handwritten copies of the Song and Ming Dynasties. They are rich sources of local chronicles and imperial examinations and are precious materials
for the study of history, people, social customs and habits. The Tianyi Pavilion Library is called the “Book City of South China”. The Tianyi Pavilion is not only world famous for its wide collection of books, but also for its unique architecture and elegant landscape.

The Tianyi Pavilion has a flush gable roof, and is six bays wide and deep, with a corridor extending from the front to the back. In front of the pavilion is a pond that stores water for fireproof. Fan Wenguang, Fan Qin’s great-grandson, rebuilt the pavilion by laying rockery around the lake,
building kiosks and bridges, planting flowers and grass in the fourth year (1665) of the Kangxi reign in the Qing Dynasty. The whole pavilion and the milieu feature the style of private gardens south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. During its rebuilding in 1933, the Zunjing Pavilion of
Confucian Temple in Ningbo was moved to the backyard. Steles from the Song (960-1279) to Qing Dynasties in Ningbo City were also put there. These steles and the Zunjing Pavilion are called the Stele Forest in Mingzhou.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learning Chinese, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,

Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅱ>Revolutionary Sites

Sites of the Pool of Lin Zexu Destroying Opium and the Humen Batteries

The site of Lin Zexu Opium-destroying Pool is located at the gate of Taiping Town, Dongguang County, Guangdong Province. There are Humen People’s Anti-British Monument in the Opium War (1840) and Opium War Museum.

The site of Lin Zexu Opium-destroying Pool is leaning on Niubei Mountain in the north, with the Pearl River in the south. In its west, there stands the pass of the Taiping Town.

In the late 1930s, the smuggling of opium to China from Britain and America was rampant, posing a big threat to the Qing Regime. With the support of the great mass, Lin Zexu, Imperial Commissioner of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was determined to ban the entry of opium. He even forced British and
American dealers to hand over more than 20,000 boxes of opium, weighing over 118.5 million kilograms altogether, and burnt them in public from June 3 to 25, 1839 in Humen. Two quadrate pools, with each side measuring 45 meters, were used to destroy the opium. The pools are made up of flagstones on
its bottom, having rails around. There are a culvert near them and a drain behind. When burning the opium, people first filled the pools with water and then put salt into them to turn the water into thick brine. Opium was put into the thick brine then to be dissolved, and at last quicklime was put
in it to get the opium disintegrated completely. The destroyed opium was drained to the river.

The Site of Humen Batteries is located on the Chuanbiyang, the estuary of the Pearl River, Guangdong Province. As there are two mountains named Mount Big Tiger and Mount Small Tiger around the Pearl River, the place got a name Humen, meaning Tiger’s Gate. There exist Shaojiao Battery, Weiyuan
Battery, Lin Zexu Monument, tombs for these who fell in battle named Tombs of the Valiant and Tombs of the Devoted available for people to memorialize.

Before the outbreak of the Opium War, Lin Zexu was responsible for the consolidation of coastal defense. He rebuilt 11 batteries on both sides of Humen and on the islands in Haikou and set up more than 300 cannons. Shaojiao and Dajiao Batteries were treated as the most important ones. Nanshan,
Hengdang, Yong’an, Weiyuan, Jingyuan, Zhenyuan, Gonggu Batteries were considered as of secondary importance and Dahu the third. In waters between mountains, rafts and iron chains were set up to hinder the invasion of enemy’s warships. After the Opium War broke out on January 7, 1841, British navy
began to attack Shajiao and Dajiao Battery. Navy of the Qing Regime led by deputy general Chen Liangsheng resisted firmly. Unfortunately, the crew were all killed and the batteries fallen into the British hands due to the shortage of ammunition. On February 23 that year, the British army moved
upon Humen. Guan Tianpei and his army defended Yong’an, Weiyuan, Jinyuan and Zhenyuan Batteries. Humen was captured by the British invaders on February 26 because of the delay of reinforcements, and Guan Tianpei and more than 400 soldiers battled to death.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Chinese Mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Library>Culture ABC>Sports>Athletes

Zhan Xugang

Zhan Xugang was born onMay 19, 1974inEast China’sZhejiangProvince. Starting to practice weightlifting in 1984, Zhan entered theZhejiangprovincial team in 1987, and become a member of the national team seven years later.

He was champion in men’s 70 kg in the 1993 and 1994 World Junior Weightlifting Championships, and won the gold in men’s 70 kg forChinain the 1994 Asian Games.

In the 1995 Asian Men’s Weightlifting Championships, he claimed the men’s 70 kg title. In that year’s World Championships, Zhan was first in the total, second in the snatch and second in the clean and jerk men’s 70kg.

The following year, he ranked second in men’s 70 kg in the Asian Championships and was gold medallist in men’s 70kg at the Atlanta Olympics.

In 1997, Zhan was runner-up in men’s 70kg in the World Men’s Weightlifting Championships. One year later, he wonChinathe gold in men’s 77kg in the Asian Games, and finished second in the World Championships.

In 1999, he finished first in the clean and jerk, second in the snatch and total in the men’s 77kg in the World Championships.

In 2000, Zhan claimed the title in men’s 77kg in the Asian Championships inJapanand in men’s 77kg weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics.

He was voted one ofChina’s Ten Best Athletes for several years. In 1999, he was voted into the 50 Best Athletes in New China.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Free Chinese Lesson, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Library>Culture ABC>Sports>Athletes

Le Jingyi

Le Jingyi, one of China’s best women swimmers, was born in Shanghai on March 19, 1975. She started to practice swimming at the age of seven and entered the national team 9 years later.

Le made her Olympic debut in Barcelona in 1992 and won silver of women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay.

The following year, Le shocked the world after collecting two gold medals at the World University Games, sweeping 5 titles and breaking 5 world records in the 1stWorld Course Swimming Championships.

In 1994, she collected four titles and broke two world records in the 2nd World Swimming Championships. One year later, she won the 50m and 100m freestyle in the second World Short Course Swimming Championships.

In 1996, Le claimed 3 titles in major international competitions, including a 100m freestyle gold at the 26thOlympics. Le continued her excellence performance in 1997, collecting the 4×100 freestyle relay and 4×100 medley relay titles in the 3rdWorld Short Course Swimming Championships.

In that year, Le decided to retire and entered the Shanghai Jiaotong University to study English.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Chinese language, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Library>Culture ABC>Sports>Organization

Chinese Archery Association

The Chinese Archery Association, a national non-governmental organization based in Beijing, was established in 1964. It is a member of the All-China Sports Federation. In 1981, the International Archery Federation formally accepted China as a member.

Tasks of the Association are:

* to organize public activities so as to increase popularity of the game among all Chinese people, especially among the youth;

* to organize international games and promote international exchanges;

* to organize national games and training programs for athletes, coaches and judges;

* to formulate management rules on athletes and coaches, as well as work out competition systems;

* to select and recommend athletes and coaches for national teams;

* to organize training of the national teams and their participation in international and national games;

* to organize research programs.

There are the National Committee, the Standing Committee, the Secretariat, the Coaches Committee, the Judges Committee and the Research Committee under the Chinese Archery Association.

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese online, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet