Kung Fu is a general term that refers to all Chinese martial arts. Kung Fu literally translates to "disciplined person." An important component of martial arts is the instruction and guidance provided by a martial arts teacher. Unless you can find a teacher who is willing to train you at home, your home martial arts training will be lacking an integral component. With this caveat in mind, here are some ways to begin learning Kung Fu at home.
o 1Find someone who is trained in the martial arts or who is also seeking to learn. You will need a partner with whom you can practice sparring, or simulated fighting.
o 2Read about basics, forms and applications. Many books provide detailed descriptions of exercises and drills that can be used to develop your martial arts skills. Imitate the stances demonstrated by the people in the photographs. A good starter book is "Kung Fu Basics."
o 3Use a video or DVD to learn the basics. A good video will provide instruction and easy-to-follow demonstrations.
o 4Watch free online video demonstrations. Visit the link in the Resources titled "Martial Arts Directory: Videos" for access to over 50 of these videos.
o 5Watch videos from Kung Fu tournaments such as the LEGENDS of Kung Fu World Martial Arts Championship & Taiji Legacy hosted by the USA Chin Woo Federation.
o 6Watch Bruce Lee or any other Chinese martial arts movies. The more you can expose yourself to demonstrations of the martial arts, the better. Keep in mind that these movies are produced for entertainment purposes only and are not intended to be used as instructional tools.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Facts of the Present Day Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is one of the world's most recognizable structures. Located throughout China, the wall was originally built as a series of stone and earth fortifications. It was rebuilt and reconstructed over a time period that stretches from the third century B.C. to the 16th century and was originally intended to act as a defensive barrier to keep out attacking nomads from the north.
Record Breaker
Covering more than 4,000 miles, starting in Shanhaiguan in the east and finishing in Lop Nur in the west, the Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure the world has ever seen. Its enormous length creates a huge surface area, making it the second-largest man-made structure ever constructed after the Fresh Kills Landfill in New York.
Defense
The Great Wall of China was more than just a wall; it was a large defensive project with numerous watchtowers, garrison towns, beacon towers and other fortifications. At its peak, the wall was protected by 1 million guards, and estimates put the human cost for building the wall over the years between 1 and 3 million lives.
Ming Wall
The oldest of the four major walls in China's history dates to the Qin Dynasty in the third century B.C., when the dynasty's first emperor connected a series of walls previously built by regional states. It was situated much farther north than today's wall. Work on the present wall commenced during the Ming Dynasty, from 1368 to1620, with work and extensions continuing as successive rulers came to power. For the first time, the wall was made of stronger and longer lasting materials, such as brick and solid stone. The main reason for the extension of the wall was to ensure that raiding nomadic Mongols could not get through and pillage Chinese land.
Materials
The first versions of the wall were made of earth, stones and wood. Tthe Ming Dynasty, however, saw the introduction of fired bricks and tiles to the building of the wall in many areas. Stone was still used in the foundation due to its better ability to absorb weight. The materials used depended on what could be produced locally. In some areas, the wall is constructed of limestone blocks and in others quarried granite that is kept together with a mixture of rice and egg whites. The western part of the wall, which lacked good local materials, is made of a mixture of soil and wood interwoven with mats.
Wonder
The Great Wall of China was included in the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World, a list that probably was drawn up after the 16th century. The wall joined the likes of Stonehenge in England, Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and the Leaning Tower of Pisa on the list. In 1987, the Great Wall of China was added by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Not Visible from Space
One of the many myths about the wall is that it can be seen from space and the moon. The myth dates to Richard Halliburton's 1938 book "Second Book of Marvels." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has stated that the wall certainly isn't visible from the moon and isn't even visible by the naked eye in a low Earth orbit. That is because the wall's color does not distinguish it from its surroundings.
Record Breaker
Covering more than 4,000 miles, starting in Shanhaiguan in the east and finishing in Lop Nur in the west, the Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure the world has ever seen. Its enormous length creates a huge surface area, making it the second-largest man-made structure ever constructed after the Fresh Kills Landfill in New York.
Defense
The Great Wall of China was more than just a wall; it was a large defensive project with numerous watchtowers, garrison towns, beacon towers and other fortifications. At its peak, the wall was protected by 1 million guards, and estimates put the human cost for building the wall over the years between 1 and 3 million lives.
Ming Wall
The oldest of the four major walls in China's history dates to the Qin Dynasty in the third century B.C., when the dynasty's first emperor connected a series of walls previously built by regional states. It was situated much farther north than today's wall. Work on the present wall commenced during the Ming Dynasty, from 1368 to1620, with work and extensions continuing as successive rulers came to power. For the first time, the wall was made of stronger and longer lasting materials, such as brick and solid stone. The main reason for the extension of the wall was to ensure that raiding nomadic Mongols could not get through and pillage Chinese land.
Materials
The first versions of the wall were made of earth, stones and wood. Tthe Ming Dynasty, however, saw the introduction of fired bricks and tiles to the building of the wall in many areas. Stone was still used in the foundation due to its better ability to absorb weight. The materials used depended on what could be produced locally. In some areas, the wall is constructed of limestone blocks and in others quarried granite that is kept together with a mixture of rice and egg whites. The western part of the wall, which lacked good local materials, is made of a mixture of soil and wood interwoven with mats.
Wonder
The Great Wall of China was included in the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World, a list that probably was drawn up after the 16th century. The wall joined the likes of Stonehenge in England, Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and the Leaning Tower of Pisa on the list. In 1987, the Great Wall of China was added by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Not Visible from Space
One of the many myths about the wall is that it can be seen from space and the moon. The myth dates to Richard Halliburton's 1938 book "Second Book of Marvels." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has stated that the wall certainly isn't visible from the moon and isn't even visible by the naked eye in a low Earth orbit. That is because the wall's color does not distinguish it from its surroundings.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
How Did the Watchtowers on the Great Wall of China Function?
The
Great Wall of China is a 4,000-mile long barricade built to keep invaders out.
Stretching across mountains, deserts and grassy plains, it took more than 1,500
years to build, and is today a cultural icon of the Chinese people.
Time Frame
Construction on the Great Wall of China began
during the Qin dynasty in the third century B.C. as a series of earthen and
wooden fortifications. Construction continued during the ensuing Han dynasty
and was completed during the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1644.
Features
The watchtowers are two-stories tall, with
the first floor serving as barracks and storage space and the upper floor
acting as a lookout tower and signal beacon.
Significance
Signal fires were used to send messages from
tower to tower. One puff of smoke meant 100 enemy soldiers approaching; two
puffs meant 500, and each additional puff another 500. It took several hours to
send a message the entire length of the Great Wall.
Military Purpose
Cannons were placed on top of the towers to
fire at enemy soldiers. If an opposing army scaled the wall, the defenders
retreated inside the narrow towers, forcing their enemies to enter single file
where they could pick them off one by one.
Different Towers
The watchtowers were not evenly spaced,
ranging from less than half a mile to several miles apart. Most towers were
square, but some were rectangular and others round, and they were built with
various materials, depending on what local supplies were available.
Fun Fact
The signal fires were called langyan, meaning
"wolves' smoke" because the fires were sometimes kept burning with
wolf dung.
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Great Wall and Great Expectations
It's raining today, but that doesn’t dampen our spirits as we listen to the rain and windshield wipers as we drive 1.5 hours to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. We have great expectations – since we were kids, we knew about China’s Great Wall, and now we’re actually going to be there. What a kick!
The combination of a weekday and rain seems to have made this a slow day at Mutianyu as there is virtually no line to get our tickets for the cableway to Tower 14. Other tourists have umbrellas but we’re suited up in our trusty waterproof rain jackets with hoods and lightweight quick drying pants. As we ascend in the cable car into the fog and rain, there is almost zero visibility. I am so excited that the implication of this doesn’t immediately come into my awareness. When we step off the cable car, there is a warning sign about the slippery conditions and advising us to look out. No worries, I have every intention of keeping my eyes wide open and absorbing everything I can.
Our first steps on The Great Wall will always be imprinted on the screen of my mind. You can see what we saw in the first photos in the slideshow. What do you see? I gazed at the stones of the wall, the pathway and the fog wrapping around the distant fortifications and saw that the rain had paused for the moment. I kind of squinted my eyes to remove the few people that were there at the time and felt transported to some mysterious time and place that was quietly and shyly revealing itself. I took a deep breath. What a treat to be here with this fog draping around the mountains and The Wall, what fantastic images my camera will capture! Before we started to walk to our left, a German tourist who sees me taking photos says to us how disappointed he is with the weather conditions and that he won’t be able to take really good photos. He was expecting better visibility where you can see the wall for miles and miles. He seemed to be really frustrated and disappointed. I tried to share my feelings, but he wasn’t interested. And so here we are, two tourists who have traveled thousands of miles to be here, both with Great Expectations, both with different perceptions of the same reality. Isn’t it interesting how we can frame our perceptions and how it can affect our satisfaction with life? Harvey has said to me many times that you can’t change what life brings you, but you can change your perception of it, your attitude. Here it is again with red neon lights!
Walking on The Wall was like being on a stairmaster, with some steps quite steep and a bit scary. The Wall follows the natural contours of the mountains so the vistas naturally keep changing as we walked and as the fog was also shifting every few seconds, the distant sections of the wall were playing peek-a-boo going in and out of visibility. We listened to others speaking languages that we could recognize from Russia, Norway, France, Spain, China and Holland. When we got to the end of the restored section, there was a woman selling drinks and souvenirs. We learned she carries the stuff up there every day. She had a giant umbrella and the rain had begun to pore down, so we ducked under and purchased a drink. We didn’t realize that we should have negotiated and not accepted the asking price, but we did get to wait out the heavy rain under her umbrella!
It was at this point where there was a sign that the unrestored section was closed. We simply continued on past the sign. It seemed to us that this area had also been restored and it looked like we could walk on & on. The Wall after all is 4,000 miles long! In this section we met two Russian young women who were in China studying Mandarin. They offered us chocolate covered cookies with marshmallows that we gladly accepted. It would have been a good idea to bring along some snacks with us. At some point we decided to head back. We would be walking past the cable car to the chair lift on Tower 6 and it was at least 1.5 hours away. We were heading for a late lunch and we didn’t want it to be a super late lunch.
At the base of the chairlift we made a right turn and walked a short distance to the Dream City of Stone (also known as the China Stone Museum). This place has rocks and stones from all over China beautifully displayed. For some unknown reason, I am drawn to stone and I found the displays in the garden and in the museum showcased the shapes, designs and textures beautifully. It is an interesting counterpoint to the walk on The Wall.
Before getting into the car, I took a photo of a rain drenched but smiling Harvey. Both of us felt like we had been standing in a shower all day from the sweat and rain. But it was totally worth it!
The blue skies emerged just as we walked into lunch at the Xiao Long Pu Restaurant not far from The Wall. Our guide had called to see if they could accommodate us as we were so late. We felt like we earned the wheat flour soup, excellent mushrooms, chicken & chestnuts and beef with onions. We’ve had some fascinating conversations with our guide, Gerry. I don’t remember everything, but what stands out from today’s lunch is that men are encouraged to marry in their 40’s after they have bought a home and car, and to choose a girl in her 20’s. I love to hear about cultural expectations.
As we drove back to Beijing, our cell phone rang and it was Eva Wang from China Highlights who had helped me to coordinate our trip. She sounded like a sweetie; she was just welcoming us to China and checking that everything was okay. It was reassuring to know that we could contact her at anytime if we needed assistance.
We were getting back to Beijing close to 5:00 PM and Gerry mentioned that there was time to go to the Acrobatics show if we wanted. He called ahead to get seats and we were in our seats about 3 minutes after the show started. We had made the priority The Wall today and we were there as much as we wanted. What a bonus that we had time to fit this show in and a guide to make it happen. I liked going with the flow of the day and the spontaneity of going to the show. I was fascinated how the performers could move their bodies. Can our bodies really do this?
We were so tired and not really hungry by the time we were dropped off at our hotel. We walked around the corner from our hotel to a mini-mart and bought some bananas, a peach, apricot and some unknown fruit and had a picnic in our room. We put our heads on the pillow and we were out for the night.
The combination of a weekday and rain seems to have made this a slow day at Mutianyu as there is virtually no line to get our tickets for the cableway to Tower 14. Other tourists have umbrellas but we’re suited up in our trusty waterproof rain jackets with hoods and lightweight quick drying pants. As we ascend in the cable car into the fog and rain, there is almost zero visibility. I am so excited that the implication of this doesn’t immediately come into my awareness. When we step off the cable car, there is a warning sign about the slippery conditions and advising us to look out. No worries, I have every intention of keeping my eyes wide open and absorbing everything I can.
Our first steps on The Great Wall will always be imprinted on the screen of my mind. You can see what we saw in the first photos in the slideshow. What do you see? I gazed at the stones of the wall, the pathway and the fog wrapping around the distant fortifications and saw that the rain had paused for the moment. I kind of squinted my eyes to remove the few people that were there at the time and felt transported to some mysterious time and place that was quietly and shyly revealing itself. I took a deep breath. What a treat to be here with this fog draping around the mountains and The Wall, what fantastic images my camera will capture! Before we started to walk to our left, a German tourist who sees me taking photos says to us how disappointed he is with the weather conditions and that he won’t be able to take really good photos. He was expecting better visibility where you can see the wall for miles and miles. He seemed to be really frustrated and disappointed. I tried to share my feelings, but he wasn’t interested. And so here we are, two tourists who have traveled thousands of miles to be here, both with Great Expectations, both with different perceptions of the same reality. Isn’t it interesting how we can frame our perceptions and how it can affect our satisfaction with life? Harvey has said to me many times that you can’t change what life brings you, but you can change your perception of it, your attitude. Here it is again with red neon lights!
Walking on The Wall was like being on a stairmaster, with some steps quite steep and a bit scary. The Wall follows the natural contours of the mountains so the vistas naturally keep changing as we walked and as the fog was also shifting every few seconds, the distant sections of the wall were playing peek-a-boo going in and out of visibility. We listened to others speaking languages that we could recognize from Russia, Norway, France, Spain, China and Holland. When we got to the end of the restored section, there was a woman selling drinks and souvenirs. We learned she carries the stuff up there every day. She had a giant umbrella and the rain had begun to pore down, so we ducked under and purchased a drink. We didn’t realize that we should have negotiated and not accepted the asking price, but we did get to wait out the heavy rain under her umbrella!
It was at this point where there was a sign that the unrestored section was closed. We simply continued on past the sign. It seemed to us that this area had also been restored and it looked like we could walk on & on. The Wall after all is 4,000 miles long! In this section we met two Russian young women who were in China studying Mandarin. They offered us chocolate covered cookies with marshmallows that we gladly accepted. It would have been a good idea to bring along some snacks with us. At some point we decided to head back. We would be walking past the cable car to the chair lift on Tower 6 and it was at least 1.5 hours away. We were heading for a late lunch and we didn’t want it to be a super late lunch.
At the base of the chairlift we made a right turn and walked a short distance to the Dream City of Stone (also known as the China Stone Museum). This place has rocks and stones from all over China beautifully displayed. For some unknown reason, I am drawn to stone and I found the displays in the garden and in the museum showcased the shapes, designs and textures beautifully. It is an interesting counterpoint to the walk on The Wall.
Before getting into the car, I took a photo of a rain drenched but smiling Harvey. Both of us felt like we had been standing in a shower all day from the sweat and rain. But it was totally worth it!
The blue skies emerged just as we walked into lunch at the Xiao Long Pu Restaurant not far from The Wall. Our guide had called to see if they could accommodate us as we were so late. We felt like we earned the wheat flour soup, excellent mushrooms, chicken & chestnuts and beef with onions. We’ve had some fascinating conversations with our guide, Gerry. I don’t remember everything, but what stands out from today’s lunch is that men are encouraged to marry in their 40’s after they have bought a home and car, and to choose a girl in her 20’s. I love to hear about cultural expectations.
As we drove back to Beijing, our cell phone rang and it was Eva Wang from China Highlights who had helped me to coordinate our trip. She sounded like a sweetie; she was just welcoming us to China and checking that everything was okay. It was reassuring to know that we could contact her at anytime if we needed assistance.
We were getting back to Beijing close to 5:00 PM and Gerry mentioned that there was time to go to the Acrobatics show if we wanted. He called ahead to get seats and we were in our seats about 3 minutes after the show started. We had made the priority The Wall today and we were there as much as we wanted. What a bonus that we had time to fit this show in and a guide to make it happen. I liked going with the flow of the day and the spontaneity of going to the show. I was fascinated how the performers could move their bodies. Can our bodies really do this?
We were so tired and not really hungry by the time we were dropped off at our hotel. We walked around the corner from our hotel to a mini-mart and bought some bananas, a peach, apricot and some unknown fruit and had a picnic in our room. We put our heads on the pillow and we were out for the night.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Shangfangshan National Forest Park
The Shangfangshan National Forest Park, with an area of 340 hectares (840 acres), is situated in Hancunhe Village, Fangshan District, and about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from Beijing. With its main peak 860 meters (2,820 feet) high, the park is characterized by vast area of woods, nine marvelous karst caves, twelve stupendous peaks, seventy-two ancient temples, and the largest stupa group in North China.
With over ninety percent of the area covered by woods, the forest park is a natural kingdom of woods and plants. The primary forest and secondary forest which are rare in North China cover a vast area here. Besides, the park has the most of the ancient trees in Beijing, including a ginkgo, a cypress tree, a pine, and a pagoda tree. It is also abundant in exotic plants of over 600 varieties. Cedrela sinensis, sealwort, and another fruit are called as the three treasures of the mountain and they enjoy a high prestige.
The Doulv Temple is only accessible by scaling a stairs of 262 stone steps which was cut into a perpendicular cliff during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Fifty-four ancient stupas account for a quarter of the total stupas in Beijing, making this the largest stupa group in North China.
The park is also known as a Buddhist shrine for its seventy-two ancient temples. The most famous one, Doulv Temple, was originally built in the Sui Dynasty (581-618). This majestic and lofty temple with a stately Buddha was the former residence of the abbots. The back wall of the main hall was engraved with the Sutra of Forty-two Sections which are the soul of the Buddhist sutra. In the court of the temple are stone tablets and sutra pillars.
Yunshui Cave, the first karst cave opened in North China, gives the best expression to the unique natural karst caves in the mountain. Over 1,400 years ago, Buddha had been to this amazing cave. 108 miraculous landscapes inside were named after the Buddha of past dynasties. Various interesting rock formations, such as stalactites, stone pillars, stalagmites, and stone curtains, are there to delight and surprise the visitor. An overwhelming stalagmite, 38 meters (125 feet) high, is the greatest in Asia and ranks the third in the world. A mysterious pit, a special karst landscape in North China, was found here with valuable fossils of animals and plants.
Fees:
|
Entrance Charge:
|
CNY 40
|
Cable Car:
|
CNY 60 (round-trip)
| |
CNY 40 (one-way trip)
| ||
Opening Hours:
|
08:00-18:00
| |
Bus Route:
|
917 (Tianqiao Long Distance Bus Station-Fangshan Bus Station) (天桥长途汽车站-房山汽车站), and transfer to a small bus to the Shangfangshan National Forest Park (上方山国家森林公园).
| |
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Kangxi Grassland
The Kangxi Grassland is celebrated for superb scenery and large number of sheep and cattle. From late spring to summer, the grass begins to revives, like a cushion stretching out as far as one can see; innumerable flowers bloom, as if they are competing with each other for beauty. With the rising and falling sound of songs, horses dash in the scattering of Mongolian style yurts, sheep and cattle sport leisurely over the land. Owing to its geographical position, the grassland has a distinctive flavor with a perfect harmony of mountain, water, grass and animals.
Covering an area of about 5,270 acres, Kangxi Grassland is Beijing's biggest grassland. Situated to the west of Badaling Great Wall, Yanqing County, it is sandwiched between Haituo Mountain and Guanting Reservoir. In the summer it is a good place for an outing, due to the cooler temperature found here.
Covering an area of about 5,270 acres, Kangxi Grassland is Beijing's biggest grassland. Situated to the west of Badaling Great Wall, Yanqing County, it is sandwiched between Haituo Mountain and Guanting Reservoir. In the summer it is a good place for an outing, due to the cooler temperature found here.
The grasslands themselves are abundant with plants and animals. There are more than 50 kinds of grass beings, including alfalfa and wild chrysanthemum, and over 10 species of wild life, ranging from fox to hare. Besides, there are about 20 kinds of birds, like the wild duck, wild goose, and some others. Occasionally, swans fly out of the grass, adding vitality to this paradise.
The vast grasslands here offer a wide range of activities: horse riding, camel riding, boating, fishing, skating, and some more. Horse riding is the most attractive. The grasslands have the biggest racecourse in China and a standard racetrack as well. Large quantities of sturdy horses, wild or gentle, are kept here for riding. The staff of horsemanship club can help in choosing a horse and professional riding trainers offer training for tourists. Boating and fishing offer tourists a picturesque view of the lake and the hills. In winter, the nearby Wild Duck Lake is frozen, providing a natural place for skating.
At night, tourists can sit around the bonfire, having a party and barbecuing, and dancing around the fire. Spending a night in the well-appointed Mongolian style yurts, and enjoying such rural life are great delights.
Admission Fee:
|
CNY 30
|
Opening Hours:
|
08:00-17:00
|
Bus Route:
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919 Zhi (919 支) (Deshengmen-Kangxi Grassland) (德胜门-康西草原)
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Friday, December 23, 2011
History of Mutianyu Great Wall
To the northeast of beijing in huairou district, 80kms away from city center. mutianyu great wall measures 2,250 meters in length, with an elevation of 535 meters. studded all along the wall are 22 turreted-fortresses, and the section is accesible by cable cars from below. known as best section of the great wall in beijing, it is able to receive 20,000 visitors daily.
The first wall in this area was built some 1,400 yearsago. construction of the present wall began in the early years of the ming dynasty (1368-1644) and was not completed untill the 15th century. the mountain around the valley are heavily forested,there are many natural springs and thick,beautiful foliage.in the past,these were important military considera- tions, today,they make this section of the wall a very pleasant place to visit.the watchtowers at mutianyu are said to have been designed by QiJigang,the Ming general who won many battles in southeast china. a number of his soldiers were from south china, and perhaps they influenced the architecture style of the brick watchtowers-the shape of the lookout openings at the tops of the towers greatly resembles a fence design popular in that region .
In 1987, Mutianyu Great Wall was appraised as one of the 16 scenic spots in new Beijing and in 1992, it was appraised as the World Best of Beijing Tourism. In 2002, it was appraised as 4A grade scenic area and is the essence of Great Wall.
The architecture of Mutianyu Great Wall is of special style. It has closely packed enemy towers and [perilous passes. It was built up with battlements on both side of walls. On southeast side, there is one general gateway platform connected with three enemy towers together, which is quite rare in the whole Great Wall; in northwest side, there are the Great Wall section named as Ox Horn Edge built above the sea level of over 1000 meters and the sections named as Arrow Buckle and Flying Eagle Facing Upward built on the knife-steep mountain peak, which look extraordinary and rugged. The whole section of Great Wall stretches and winds like a huge flying dragon .
Mutianyu Travel Area is surrounded with mountains and is of beautiful scenery. In spring, fragrant flowers are vying with each other in beauty and are blooming; in summer, mountains are covered with green coats and you can listen to music of flowing lake; by autumn, it is fruitful and can see red leaves dancing; by winter, Great Wall is painted of pure white and coated with silver costume, showing a northland scene. It enjoys a reputation of “Mutianyu surpassing others of Great Wall” and is the best scenic spot.
Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Area is equipped with complete devices and functions and can provide you an all-around service. Within the scenic area, there are cable cars, running with complete automatic operation systems, so climbing the Great Wall by taking the cable car will bring security, convenience and rapidness. The cable car is reputed as “No. 1 Cable Car for Great Wall”. The mountain lodge of Great Wall sits in the root of Great Wall and its architecture is of ancient style. Its court is unsophisticated and elegant. It is bestowed with fresh air and admirable scenery. In 2000, it was appraised as the second grade of hotel and is able to accommodate 100 at the same time.
Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Area will provide you abundant contents and it is built up with Chinese Dream Stone City and SHIBIDE slideway. Chinese Dream Stone City has gathered rare stones and extracts collected from all over the country. SHIBIDE Slideway is named as Dry-Land Sledge. Taking SHIBIDE Slideway will bring you surprise and excitement, suitable for all ages of people. The tourists can finish their visits of the whole travel area with one day.
The transportation to Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Area is quite convenient. The No.6 Dedicated Line Bus runs from Beijing urban city to Mutianyu Great Wall and it departs each morning in Xuanwumen and Dongsishitiao, directly reaching the travel area. The travelers taking air can start from Capital airport toward north, and go through Jing-Mi Expressway, then turn left at Yingbing North Ring Island in Huairou and finally reach the travel area.Mutianyu Travel Area, with its beautiful scenery, superior service and grand Great Wall, welcomes your presence.
The first wall in this area was built some 1,400 yearsago. construction of the present wall began in the early years of the ming dynasty (1368-1644) and was not completed untill the 15th century. the mountain around the valley are heavily forested,there are many natural springs and thick,beautiful foliage.in the past,these were important military considera- tions, today,they make this section of the wall a very pleasant place to visit.the watchtowers at mutianyu are said to have been designed by QiJigang,the Ming general who won many battles in southeast china. a number of his soldiers were from south china, and perhaps they influenced the architecture style of the brick watchtowers-the shape of the lookout openings at the tops of the towers greatly resembles a fence design popular in that region .
In 1987, Mutianyu Great Wall was appraised as one of the 16 scenic spots in new Beijing and in 1992, it was appraised as the World Best of Beijing Tourism. In 2002, it was appraised as 4A grade scenic area and is the essence of Great Wall.
The architecture of Mutianyu Great Wall is of special style. It has closely packed enemy towers and [perilous passes. It was built up with battlements on both side of walls. On southeast side, there is one general gateway platform connected with three enemy towers together, which is quite rare in the whole Great Wall; in northwest side, there are the Great Wall section named as Ox Horn Edge built above the sea level of over 1000 meters and the sections named as Arrow Buckle and Flying Eagle Facing Upward built on the knife-steep mountain peak, which look extraordinary and rugged. The whole section of Great Wall stretches and winds like a huge flying dragon .
Mutianyu Travel Area is surrounded with mountains and is of beautiful scenery. In spring, fragrant flowers are vying with each other in beauty and are blooming; in summer, mountains are covered with green coats and you can listen to music of flowing lake; by autumn, it is fruitful and can see red leaves dancing; by winter, Great Wall is painted of pure white and coated with silver costume, showing a northland scene. It enjoys a reputation of “Mutianyu surpassing others of Great Wall” and is the best scenic spot.
Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Area is equipped with complete devices and functions and can provide you an all-around service. Within the scenic area, there are cable cars, running with complete automatic operation systems, so climbing the Great Wall by taking the cable car will bring security, convenience and rapidness. The cable car is reputed as “No. 1 Cable Car for Great Wall”. The mountain lodge of Great Wall sits in the root of Great Wall and its architecture is of ancient style. Its court is unsophisticated and elegant. It is bestowed with fresh air and admirable scenery. In 2000, it was appraised as the second grade of hotel and is able to accommodate 100 at the same time.
Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Area will provide you abundant contents and it is built up with Chinese Dream Stone City and SHIBIDE slideway. Chinese Dream Stone City has gathered rare stones and extracts collected from all over the country. SHIBIDE Slideway is named as Dry-Land Sledge. Taking SHIBIDE Slideway will bring you surprise and excitement, suitable for all ages of people. The tourists can finish their visits of the whole travel area with one day.
The transportation to Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Area is quite convenient. The No.6 Dedicated Line Bus runs from Beijing urban city to Mutianyu Great Wall and it departs each morning in Xuanwumen and Dongsishitiao, directly reaching the travel area. The travelers taking air can start from Capital airport toward north, and go through Jing-Mi Expressway, then turn left at Yingbing North Ring Island in Huairou and finally reach the travel area.Mutianyu Travel Area, with its beautiful scenery, superior service and grand Great Wall, welcomes your presence.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
First Day in Beijing
Hello all from Beijing!!! I finally found wifi!! A bit of a communications issue. No internet in the rooom at the hotel but wifi in the lobby, so here I am!! Here's the trip so far. I will download some of my photos tonight and post them to my blog tomorrow. I hope all is well.
Well, I made it safely in Beijing. After a smooth and relatively painless flight from Vancouver, 11 hours, a few bad movies, and lots of crosswords later we touched down in the collosal Beijing airport. The upgrade to the exit row was well worthwhile, heaps of leg room. Slowly got through customs, baggage claim and into the huge line for a taxi and I was off on the massive freeway system to downtown Beijing. No views from the freeway, you could have been anywhere, just solid modern freeway. I found my way past the Central Train station, just down the street. I will have to make my way back there to start my train journey later to Tibet. After a quick cell phone call to the hotel by the cabby, I arrived at the quaint Dong Jiao Ming Xiang Hotel. No hassles checking in and quickly up to room 405. Not to bad, basic and relatively clean except for the carpet and the rock hard bed. I made a quick run to the grocery shop down the road for some snacks and a really bad warm beer. Back by 8:30 PM so I have been up for over 24 hours and am fading fast. I've found one English language tv channel and will try to crash now. Later.
Well, my first full day in China. Off to an early start, didn't get must sleep last night so finally gave up and got up at 6:30. I must be on holidays! From the map in the hotel room, it seems that Tian An Men Square is a mere 500 m from the hotel so i headed out on foot to find it. After about an hour of wondering wonderful backstreets I headed back and ended up in a fantastic street fruit and veggie market. Not a tourist in site, so I tactfully tried to blend my 6'4" caucasian self in. Beautiful peaches, melons, mushroom, chestnuts, beans, and bananas. I couldn't resist and had to give in to one of the street wagons selling what appeared to be very popular breakfast fare. I caved, and bought one. It was a green onion cake like pancake with an egg fried into it, assorted other undentified garnishes and on top a wiener! I ditched the weiner and dug in. It was fantastic AND all for a whopping 4 Yuan or about 55 cents. I will wait to see if I pay for adventureousness! I finally headed down the main drag - Quain Men East and within a few blocks I could see Quan Men Tower at the end of Tian An Men Square. After coming up from the underground pedestrian crossing, there it was! Tian An Men Square!!!! A little overwhelming to stand and take it all in. It, like I'm finding so many things, is colossal in scale. Just stood and soaked it all in. It is a bit of a rainy morning here today so the square was a sea of colourful umbrellas. Almost entirely Asian tourist, once again failed at blending in! I guess I better get used to it. Walked the length of the square and across to the gates of the Palace Museum. Once again, amazing to stand and take it all in. I did a quick walk throught the Palace Museum, but I will be going back when I start my tour, I will wait to got back for a better look then. I've put on quite a few miles already today, so I have returned to the hotel to rest for a bit and the head out for some more exploring this afternoon. Good day so far, I've gotten to check of two long standing items on my bucket list today!! Tian An Men Square - BTDT, the Palace - BTDT!!
I came back to my room and opened the curtains to discover that I have a clear view of the gate at the end of Tien An Men square!!
Jeff
Well, I made it safely in Beijing. After a smooth and relatively painless flight from Vancouver, 11 hours, a few bad movies, and lots of crosswords later we touched down in the collosal Beijing airport. The upgrade to the exit row was well worthwhile, heaps of leg room. Slowly got through customs, baggage claim and into the huge line for a taxi and I was off on the massive freeway system to downtown Beijing. No views from the freeway, you could have been anywhere, just solid modern freeway. I found my way past the Central Train station, just down the street. I will have to make my way back there to start my train journey later to Tibet. After a quick cell phone call to the hotel by the cabby, I arrived at the quaint Dong Jiao Ming Xiang Hotel. No hassles checking in and quickly up to room 405. Not to bad, basic and relatively clean except for the carpet and the rock hard bed. I made a quick run to the grocery shop down the road for some snacks and a really bad warm beer. Back by 8:30 PM so I have been up for over 24 hours and am fading fast. I've found one English language tv channel and will try to crash now. Later.
Well, my first full day in China. Off to an early start, didn't get must sleep last night so finally gave up and got up at 6:30. I must be on holidays! From the map in the hotel room, it seems that Tian An Men Square is a mere 500 m from the hotel so i headed out on foot to find it. After about an hour of wondering wonderful backstreets I headed back and ended up in a fantastic street fruit and veggie market. Not a tourist in site, so I tactfully tried to blend my 6'4" caucasian self in. Beautiful peaches, melons, mushroom, chestnuts, beans, and bananas. I couldn't resist and had to give in to one of the street wagons selling what appeared to be very popular breakfast fare. I caved, and bought one. It was a green onion cake like pancake with an egg fried into it, assorted other undentified garnishes and on top a wiener! I ditched the weiner and dug in. It was fantastic AND all for a whopping 4 Yuan or about 55 cents. I will wait to see if I pay for adventureousness! I finally headed down the main drag - Quain Men East and within a few blocks I could see Quan Men Tower at the end of Tian An Men Square. After coming up from the underground pedestrian crossing, there it was! Tian An Men Square!!!! A little overwhelming to stand and take it all in. It, like I'm finding so many things, is colossal in scale. Just stood and soaked it all in. It is a bit of a rainy morning here today so the square was a sea of colourful umbrellas. Almost entirely Asian tourist, once again failed at blending in! I guess I better get used to it. Walked the length of the square and across to the gates of the Palace Museum. Once again, amazing to stand and take it all in. I did a quick walk throught the Palace Museum, but I will be going back when I start my tour, I will wait to got back for a better look then. I've put on quite a few miles already today, so I have returned to the hotel to rest for a bit and the head out for some more exploring this afternoon. Good day so far, I've gotten to check of two long standing items on my bucket list today!! Tian An Men Square - BTDT, the Palace - BTDT!!
I came back to my room and opened the curtains to discover that I have a clear view of the gate at the end of Tien An Men square!!
Jeff
Friday, December 2, 2011
This Friday
Friday again , friday means relax ,means happy ,means a lot
of free time,in the past i love friday most ,every week i expect the friday
could come here quickly,but now i am a little gloom and unhappy, even
afraid of the arriving of friday. it means i waste a lot of time.now i am
sophomore ,i still can not manage my time very well ,all of my things are in a
mess nowr,so tragic
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