The Forbidden City - Must go in Beijing

Address: 4 Jing Shan Qian Jie, Dongcheng, Beijing, China
Phone: +86 10 8500 7428

The Forbidden City is not onlythe essence and culmination of traditional Chinese architectural accomplishment but also the largest ancient palatial structure in the world. This former imperial palace, which is called Gu Gong in Chinese, is located at the Beijing’s heart. It was the imperial palace for twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In other words, it witnessed the enthronement of fourteen Ming and ten Qing emperors over the following 505 years until the Republic overthrew the last Qing emperor.The Imperial Palaces of Beijing was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987.

The construction of the grand palace was built throughout 14 years, started in the fourth year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406), and ended in 1420. It is such a divine place was certainly forbidden to ordinary peopleto enter without special permission of the emperor. That is the reason why it is named “The Purple Forbidden City” or “The Forbidden City”.

The Forbidden City - Must go in Beijing

Enclosed by a 10-meter-high defensive wall with a circumference of 3, 430 meters, the Forbidden City is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of ancient buildings in the world. Extending 753 meters from east to west, and 961 meters from north to south, the Forbidden City covers an area of about 72 hectares with a total floor space of approximately 150,000 square meters. There are 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms in it.

City walls were 10 meters in height, and a 52 meter - wide moat surround the Forbidden City. The wall extraordinarily is very strong because of their incredible materials. They are the bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites.

The Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the outer court and the inner palaces. The Outer palace, includes the Hall of Central Harmony, the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony comprise, where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation whereas the Inner, comprisesthe Hall of Union, the Hall of Heavenly Purity and the Hall ofEarthly Tranquility, where he lived with his royal family.The Forbidden City can be called a masterpiece in Chinese, even world, architectural history because its buildings fully show the artistic features and style of ancient Chinese palace architecture.

This palace is known as called the Palace Museum orthe largest museum of cultural relics in China. It collected and displayed some one million precious historical relics from the Shang Dynasty (16th century -771 BC) through to the Qing Dynasty.

The Temple of Heaven - You can not ignore when to Beijing!

 Address: China, Beijing, Dongcheng, 天壇東路1号
Hours: Open today · 6:00 am – 8:00 pm
Phone: +86 10 6702 8866

The Temple of Heaven is one of four international temples in Beijing includes the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of Earth, the Temple of the Moon and the Temple of Sun. Among them, the Temple of Heaven is the largest, most important and best known in Chinese history. The Temple of Heaven is not only China's largest and most representative existing masterpiece but also the most holy of Beijing's imperial temples.

The Temple of Heaven Park is located in the Chongwen District, southern Beijing. This is the place where the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644) and Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911) would worship the god of heaven and solemnly pray for a good harvest once a year at winter solsticeor in other words, they held the Heaven Worship Ceremony.The Temple of Heaven has also been listed as one of the World Cultural Relics by the UNESCO in 1998.

The Temple of Heaven was built in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1420) by the emperor by the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Yongle. During the reigns of the Ming emperor Jiajing and the Qing emperor Qianlong, it was extended and rebuilt.

The Temple of Heaven - You can not ignore when to Beijing!

To better symbolize heaven and earth,the northern part of the temple is circularwhich symbolizes the heavens, and the southern part is square - symbolizing the earth, which reflect the ancient Chinese belief. The northern part is higher than the southern part shows that the heaven is high and the earth is low. Its mighty architectural style and deep cultural meaning givesan insight into the practices of the ancient Eastern civilization.
Covering an area of 273 hectares, the temple is divided by two enclosed walls into inner altar and outer altar.The main buildings lie from the south to north of the middle axis of the inner part. The main buildings are the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Circular Mound Altar and Imperial Vault of Heaven.

Circular Mound Altar is the center for the emperors would offer sacrifice here to Heaven on the day of the Winter Solstice every year. A circular wall of polished bricks known as the Echo Wall encloses the Imperial Vault of Heaven, where houses the Gods’ tablets to be used at the Heaven Worship Ceremony. The Altar of Prayer for Good Harvest stands on a round foundation built with three levels of marble stones, where the emperor held the worship ceremonies to pray for good weather and abundant harvests.

When tourists go into the Temple, they can have a feeling of solemnity, respectfulness, holiness and quietness will well up in the mind.

Zhujiajiao Ancient Town – The Venice of Shanghai

Situated forty seven kilometers away from Shanghai city, Zhujiajiao Water Town is a popular tourist location to escape the noisy modern city. Covering an area of 47 square kilometers, it is a typical and ancient water town well-known throughout the country, in Qingpu District, south of the Yangtze River, with a history of more than 1700 years.

Zhujiajiao is the best-preserved ancient water town among the four ancient towns in Shanghai. Zhujiajiao is the little fan-shaped town which are compared with a bright pearl in the landscape of lakes and mountains. With lovely waterways, old streets cemented with stone, curved rock bridges and over 10,000 buildings dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911), Zhujiajiao is considered as Shanghai's Venice.

In the centuries past Zhujiajiao was a trading area due to the canals, which were used to ferries along in little boats and barges, especially in Ming dynasty. Now Zhujiajiao is a graceful and peaceful town. The graceful ancient town is well-decorated with water ways, 36 unique old bridges in different shapes and styles, from wooden to stone to marble across bubbling streams, small rivers shaded by willow trees,unsophisticated local people, traditional Chinese-style residences with courtyards attached all transport people who have been living among the bustle and hustle of the modern big city to a brand-new world full of antiquity, leisure and tranquillity.All of these are the charm of the small town.Young people and those who want to unwind after a day’s work go there from Shanghai to relax.

Zhujiajiao Ancient Town – The Venice of Shanghai

Zhujiajiao has numerous historical sites and private gardens. Those gardens were designed and built between the Qing and Ming dynasties. The most famous destinations here are Fangsheng Bridge, Kezhi Garden andPost Office of Qing Dynasty. Fangsheng Bridge is the longest, largest and tallest stone bridge in Zhujiajiao and in the Shanghai region, resting on five arches. A stone tablet named Dragon Gate Stone engraved with 8 coiling dragons encircling a shining pearl is stood on the bridge. On top of the bridge are 4 lifelike stone lions.Kezhi Yuan at the northern edge of the old district on Xijing Street is a garden dating to 1912.Among the ancient architecture, Ke Zhi Yuan garden is the largest manorial one.There are three different parts in this destination which is the main hall, the garden and the artificial hill area.Post Office of Qing Dynasty was an official body introduced from the Western Europe. It is more than just a depository of mail.This place also has an exhibit of old post cards and letters.

Visitors go there not only to see the old buildings, shop, and but also to eat in the many restaurants and coffee shops.

Lingyin Temple – a destination for Buddhist faithful

Address: China, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Xihu, 灵隐路法云弄1号
Phone: +86 571 8796 8665

Lingyin Temple (Temple of Soul's Retreat) located in a long, narrow valley between Peak Flown From Afar (Fei Lai Feng) and North Peak to the northwest of the West Lake at Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. It is one of the oldest, beautiful and most significant ancient Buddhist temples of China. With the long history and charming scenery,thousands of visitors and Buddhist faithful from home and abroadfor tourism and pilgrimswas attracted to come here every day.
Ling Yin Templewas first built in AD 326 by the Indian Monk Huili at Eastern Jin Dynasty and has a history of over 1600 years. It has been damaged and undergone several renovations.
Lingyin in Chinese means the soul's retreat so that the temple also can be named Temple of Soul's Retreat. Sheltered by forested hills on three sides, this temple is a quiet and sheltered sanctuary place. The temple covers an area of 5.66 square kilometers and has many scenic spots, including Xiaoyingzhou (Lesser Yingzhou, an islet) and Santan Yingyue (Three Pools Reflecting the Moon, a part of Lesser Yingzhou). Surrounding hills are manypagodas, temples, caves, rock carvings and natural springs.

Lingyin Temple – a destination for Buddhist faithful

The temple consists ofthe Hall of the Great Hero, the Hall of the Heavenly King, the Hall of the Buddha of Medicine, the west wing,, the East and West Winding Corridors,  the Liandeng Tower, the Dabei Tower, the dining halls and the Abbot's Room.In front of the Ling Yin Temple is the Hall of the Heavenly King, which is the main entrance of the temple. In the center of the hall, there is a statue of Maitreya - the laughing Buddha, with a smiling face and a bare belly. Hall of the Great Hero is the temple's most magnificent building. It is 33.6 meters high. It contains the largestand most magnificent statue of Sakyamuniin the lotus position.Behind Sakyamuni is a colorful sculpture of 150 Buddhas. Another recently added hall holds the 500 Arhats. Hall of Medicine Buddha enshrines the statue of the Medicine Buddha which is also called Bhaisajyaturu.

Lingyin Temple in China is considered to be one of the wealthiest temples. It contains an important collection of Buddhist literature together with many other treasures. As a result, it is a great storehouse of information for those who wish to study aspects of Chinese Buddhism in detail.Moreover, it has tranquil and deep mountains,old and lofty trees, ancient Buddhist temples as well as the varied clouds and mist.

Map of Lingyin Temple:

Discovery Jiuzhaigou - "Paradise on the earth"

Located in north of Sichuan Province,China,about 400 km from the capital, Jiuzhaigou is a famous scenic spots not only of China but also the world and is known as "paradise on the earth ".

Jiuzhaigou including 3 valleys ranked in a Y shape. Gou Gou and Rizevalleys are two Valleys running from south to meet in the center of the region, where is the beginning of the Shuzheng Gou run into northbound.
With white snow cover mountains and spread of endlessly green pine forests. Path to Jiuzhaigou is covered by forests four-season very romantic. Visitors will be immersing in the most beautiful land on earth. Jiuzhaigou has hundreds of large and small lakes, rapids which are picturesque charm and nestled in along the narrow ravine. Water can change color depend on the light of the sun reflector.

Address: Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, China
Phone: +86 837 773 9753

Leaning the side of clear water like a sea of emerald is red, yellow and green color of the trees change colour forth-season. Grass carpet of the reeds on waves waft in the wind makes it as paradise peaceful scene. Autumn in Jiuzhaigou, you can walk along paths of wood are set parallel or around the lake so you can go deeper into the woods. Paths were built in many different styles, but they are all beautiful, romantic and great places to take the poetic photos.  When winter comes, white snow covers forests. Lake carries a mystery color. However, although any season, Jiuzhaigou always carries in its beauty thatnowhere in the world can be. The beautiful as Penglaiscene, Jiuzhaigou is compared heaven on earth and the European landscape inside Asia. Some came to Jiuzhaigou because of infatuation unspoiled natural beauty, other came to it because of teemed bamboo forests wobbly in the wind and it was not little people visited the beautiful lakes because it has been recorded picture in many famous film like  "heroes" , "The Condor Heroes", "Xi You Ji Journey to the West"

There are some species that are endangered Giant Panda and snub-nosed monkey. Both species are small and exist in isolation, in which the panda population just less than 20 individuals. Jiuzhaigou is also a home to about 140 species of birds.

Jiuzhaigou in the Tibetan language means "Valley of nine villages" it is to shows nine villages located along its length.Currently, seven of nine villages are still have Tibetans live in. This landscape has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and the World Biosphere Reserve in 1997.

If came to the Chinese in your journey, Jiuzhaigou is surely a location to travel never make you disappointed.

Address: 170 Anyuan Road, Jing'an, Shanghai, China
Opened: 1882
Phone: +86 21 6266 3668

Jade Buddha Temple is avenerable and famous Buddhist temple inthe western part of Shanghai. It was founded in 1882 to house two white jade Buddhas brought fromMount Putuo, Burma the year before by a monknamed Huigen of Putuo Shan. Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai is a temple which has 70 resident monks living and working there.

Hui Gen had a pilgrimage to Tibet via Mount Wutai and Mount Emei - two famous Buddhist mountains. Then, he arrived at Burma in which Hui Gen got five jade statues of Buddha donated by an oversea Chinese resident. Passing through Shanghai, he left two jade statues. And the Jade Buddha temple was built for keeping them.

The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911. In 1918, the Temple was reconstructed. But in Culture Revolution, the temple was destroyed again.Fortunately the statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928.The temple was built in the style of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Jade Buddha Temple

Outside, the temple has symmetrical halls and courtyards, upturned eaves with bright saffron yellow walls.The temple contains Hall of Four Heavenly King, Grand Hall, Jade Buddha Chamber, abbot room and public restaurant. But it is not famed for its architecture. The temple is renowned for the two jade statues of Buddhahoused within. They are made of sparkling and crystal-clear white jade in Burma and depict Shakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, they are not only rare cultural relics but also porcelain artworks. The more impressive of the two is the Sitting Buddha, which is 190 centimeters in height and 1 ton in weight, depicting the Buddha at the moment of his meditation and enlightenment. It was installed after a monk brought it from Burma to Zhejiang Province in 1882.  It encrusted with the agate and the emerald and weigh about one thousand kilograms.A smaller, a reclined Buddha, is in the west section of the temple. A Singapore believer donated areclined Buddha enshrined on the opposite side of the jade reclined Buddha in 1989. It lies on a redwood bed. This jade Buddha shows the peaceful mood of Sakyamuni when he left this world.

Moreover, there are many other ancient paintings and Buddhist scriptures distributed in the different halls here.Over 7,000 volumes of precious Buddhist scriptures were hold in cabinets in halls. Especially, abbot room, on the first floor, has a Sakyamuni portrait is hanged on the wall.
Nearby the temple, there is astore which sells miniature sandalwood drums and gongs, replicas of the large ones used in ceremonies.

Hutongs – a unique features in Beijing

Surrounding the Forbidden City, a hutong, which is an old-style city alley or typical lanewhere old Beijing residents lived, is one of the most distinctive features and must-see attractions in Beijing.The Beijing Hutongs (old lanes), have become representatives of Beijing's rich history and culture. They give a fantastic glimpse into yesterday’s world but also the old way of life and traditional Beijing culture, and highlight the profound changes the rest of Beijing has undergone.Therefore, it is the first choice for people who would like to learn about the local history, to get a better experience of the unique culture of ancient Beijing. They attract a lot of tourists from home and abroad.

There are thousands of hutongs in the city,they were built during the Yuan (1206-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. However, Hutong originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). “Hutong”is a Mongolian word meaning water well. In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolians focus on the importance of water, so almost every community in the city dug a well and then lived around it, which provided the daily water for the locals. Until now, people can still find dry wells in Hutongs.

Hutongs was near the palace to the east and west were for imperial kinsmen and aristocrats. And another kind is the simple and crude hutong where merchants and other ordinary people live, was mostly located far to the north and south of the palace.

Dongxijiaominxiang is the longest hutong in Beijing with 6.5 kilometers in length. It is to the east side of the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Tiananmen Square and downtown Beijing. In the contrast, Yichidajie, also called One Foot Street, is the shortest hutong. It is only about 10 meters long and is located in the south-east, on the eastern side of Glass Street. LingjingHutong is an east-west oriented hutong in Beijing Xidan District. With 32.18 meters in width, it is the broadest hutong. QianshiHutong, which has long been the narrowest hutong in Beijing, is to the west side of Beijing Zhubaoshi Street, near the famous commercial area of Dashanlan. The Oldest One must be refer to SanmiaojieHutong. It can be dated back to 900 years ago, to the Liao Dynasty (907 AD-1125 AD).

There are a lot of things to do in Beijing’s Hutongs. You can experience the culture and learn some basic skills in Chinese cooking, especially dumpling and enjoy the meal when you visit a local family in traditional house. You can learn how to make a Chinese Paper Cutting, which is a traditional Chinese handicraft in the Hutong area, with profound cultural connotations. Another traditional handicraft is Chinese knot. Each knot is woven out of one single silk thread. Besides that, you can have chance to experience how to play Mahjong, about Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Yoyo, Cricket Culture and Yangko dance, which is a folk dance with a history of 1000 years in China.

Dunhuang Mogao Cave

Address: Dunhuang, Gansu, China
Phone: +86 937 886 9060

At outskirts of city Dunhuang, Gansu province northwest China, there is a mountain called "Mountain of sand call". At the mountain’s the eastern foot, there is a system of caves 5 floors with 492 undulating temples, which are irregular in order together and looks very magnificent. That is DunhuangMogao cave world famous
It is also known with the name of Buddha cave or Dunhuang cave. Although called the cave, but the fact this place is not a cave,it is in form of carved in stone architecture. Mogao Cave is the largest and best preserved Buddhist art treasures in the world today. It is famous in the world because of statues and the frescoes represent to Buddhist art in thousand years.

 It was started in the year 366 and continued to be built during later dynasties, the number of caves continued to increase, until the 7th century Tang Dynasty, there were more than a thousand caves. Mogao Cave is the palace of art combine ancient architecture, frescoes and clay statues. During digging the cave, people’s dynasties has molded a lot of statues in cave and drawing up varied frescoes.

Dunhuang Mogao Cave

 Although it is going through the changes of history and ruined by man, but until now Mogao cave retains nearly 500 caves, preserving about 50 thousand kilometers squares murals and more than 2,000 statues buddha statues. The statue of Buddha in cave multifold type with different position reflects the colors of the different dynasties. In addition, in caves contain Buddhist scriptures also found about 5 thousands manuscripts of Buddhist scriptures and other historical materials. In it, there are thousands of silk paintings, wood carvings, embroidery pictures and calligraphic works. Mogao Cave murals are the most splendid, if the frescoes connected together can create a range row of nearly 30 kilometers meters.

The frescoes here are mostly carrying Buddhist topics, e.g. drawings of Buddha, Bodhisattva, the emperor. Drawings continuous follow the plot in Buddhist scriptures or paintings of Buddhist history etc. and it also combined with the fabled character and history of Buddhism in India, Central Asia and China. It is not only religious art, but it is also a historical picture of the era which is reflected the social life, costumes, and jewelry, forming of architecture of ancient music or dance. Simultaneously,it is also reflects the brutality, deception of the ruling class.so that, the Western scholars call frescoes cliff Dunhuang is "Libraries on the cliff".

Mogao cave is far away from the Dunhuang to show how Buddhist thought" leave secular life, integrate into the great nature ". Caves lean on the mountain and overlooking a river. Water in the river which by the streams forme is nurtured green water around the cave. Mogao Oasis not only formsa peaceful and unique landscape, but also prevents the radiation of sunlight for the entire caves here.

Map of Dunhuang Mogao Cave 

Top ten fantastic and wonderful islands of Thailand

If you are keen on discovering the nature and beautiful spots, playing underwater sports and taking part in fascinating activities on the beach. Thailand may be an ideal and must-go destination for your vacation.

As we know, Thailand is famous for its temples and unique architecture intact. However, coming to Thailand, you still have a lot of chance to immerse yourself in nature and enjoy the beautiful archipelagoes. There are ten beautiful and interesting islands and archipelagoes you should not miss when coming to Thailand that I am going to introduce you now.

The first archipelago is Ko Phi Phi. It belongs to Krabi, the South of Thailand. While that, Ko Phi Phi Don is the greatest island of Ko Phi Phi and it is also the only island having the survival of people. Besides it, Ko Phi Phi Led is a famous place being the film scene of “The Beach” manufactured in 2000. Although this archipelago was affected by the great tsunami on Noel in 2004, it has been rehabilitated gradually and attracts a lot of visitors every year.

The second wonderful island is Ka Tao. This is an ideal place with a large number of resorts, bars and nightclubs for relaxation and entertainment. In addition, visitors will have opportunity to take part in underwater sports such as scuba diving, fishing, climbing and walking along the long street immersing oneself in nature.

The third island is Ko Chang. It is the third greatest island in Thailand. There is a lot of mountains and tropical forests, waterfalls and beautiful beaches. Climbing to the mountains, discovering the tropical forests and seeing the wonderful waterfalls will bring you surprising experience.

Japan - New Destination - New Experience

Traveling is a very meaningful and wonderful way for us to relax, experience, learn and discover the new destinations and interesting things. One of the most attractive and fascinating place in the world that we should not miss on our vacation. That is Japan.

Today, I want to give you a general understanding about the beautiful and exciting places in Japan with a hope that you can get more knowledge about this country. I believe that Japan will be an ideal choice for your vacation. First of all, Tokyo capital is the must-go place that you can not miss when coming to Japan. This city is one of the largest and magnificent cities in Japan. Also, it is one of the most populous cities in the world. Coming to this capital, you will have a chance to visit a lot of temples, shrines, palaces and architecture intact with the ancient and modern beauty.

The second interesting place is Kyoto. This city is well known for a great number of temples with 2000 temples, museums, parks, Imperial Royal Villas and traditional festivals. There are some temples recognized as World Heritage site by UNESCO such as Kamo Shine, Kyo-o-Gokokuji, Saiho-ji, Rokuon-ji, Hongan-ji, etc.

Kyoto - City of ten thousand shrines

It is said that Japan is the country with a lot of plagues and great earthquake. But people do not know that this is also a very beautiful and magnificent country with a lot of unique architecture intact and famous temples as well as shrines and palaces. Visiting Japan, Tokyo capital is a must-go place, but Kyoto is also a no less interesting destination.

Kyoto is the former imperial capital of Japan situated at the central part of island of the Honshu. This city is well-known for a lot of magnificent temples, shrines as well as palaces, gardens, architecture intact, museums and gorgeous villas. Kyoto is deemed to be the centre of Buddhism in Japan with 2000 Buddhist temples including 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines. We can list some famous temples such as Kiyomizu-dera temple – the Temple made of wooden and bolstered by pillars off the slope of a mountain, Kinkaku-ji – the Temple of the Golden pavilion, Ryoan-ji – the Temple of Silver pavilion, Hean Jingu – a Shinto temple marking the royal era and celebrating ten first and last emperors in Kyoto and it is also the Kyoto Royal Palace. Besides it, there are many temples in Kyoto recognized by UNESCO as the World Heritage site including Kamo shine, Kyo-o-Gokokuji, Saiho-ji, Rokuon-ji, Hongan-ji…and Nijo Villa. Coming to Kyoto, visiters can have chance to visit the Katsura Imperial Royal Villa .

This is the most precious architecture intact in Japan. And the Shugaku-in Imperial Royal Villa, this is one of the most beautiful Japanese gardens. Coming to these Villas, visitors can take a chance to discover the beauty and interesting things here. Furthermore, visitors should not forget to visit the very beautiful and magnificent lakes of Gion and Pontocho. Visitors can not only feel the beauty of landscape but also close to the nature. There are a lot of interesting and exciting things waiting for you to discover and experience in Kyoto. Visiting museums in Kyoto will bring visitors a deeper understanding about history and people here.