Imperial five-clawed dragon on the Nine Dragons wall-Forbidden City, Beijing.
The Chinese dragon is the symbol of power, strength, and good luck. It can fly, swim, change into other animals, bring rain and ward off evil spirits.
CHINA 2012
Our trip: Vancouver →Beijing→Datong (Yungang Caves, Xuankong Si -Hanging Temple)"→Guilin -Yangshuo Longsheng (Dazhai Village)Lijiang→Huangshang-Yellow Mountain; Huizhou Villages (Hongcun, Xidi, Nanping, Mukang)→Shanghai →Vancouver
BEIJING - China
Beijing (北京) means “the Northen Capital” and is the second largest Chinese city: 20,000,000 people live here.
It spreads out in 5 bands of concentric ring roads over 180 km x 160km
Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City
The whole Forbidden City is built with the odd numbers in mind, that represent the ‘yang’, the masculine element associated with the Emperor. Odd numbers are used in many architectural details. The Forbidden City is said to have 9,999 rooms, as nine was considered the best odd number.
The Summer Palace '颐和园' is an imperial summer retreat. It is the largest and best preserved imperial garden in China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site
BEIJING - The Summer Palace
Temple of Heaven and Lama TempleTemple of Heaven was the place where the Emperor would pray for good harvest and make sacrifices. Seen from above the temples are round and the bases square, a pattern deriving from the belief that heaven is round and earth is square.
The Lama Tibetan BuddhistTemple integrates Han, Man, Tibetan, and Mongolian architectural styles. It has 5 large halls and 5 courtyards. Walking from the southern main gate and heading north, the courtyards become smaller and smaller while the main buildings get bigger and bigger.One building also features a 25m high Buddha.
BEIJING -Temple of Heaven
BEIJING - Old and New
Shanghai ('上海') is the biggest city in the world. 24 million people live here. It feels a bit European/North American in a Chinese setting.
SHANGHAI, China
Lijiang's Old Town is a maze of cobbled alleys with wooden house.
A major earthquake hit Lijiang in 1996, destroying 186,000 homes. Amazingly, many of the traditional wood homes held up quite well leading the government to reconstruct by replacing many of the newer concrete buildings with traditional houses.
Today, Lijiang seems to be overtaken by the tourists and souvenir shops, a source of concern for UNESCO who put the town on "examination" status which may eventually result in de-listing.
LIJIANG / Yunan, China
Datong is a 'small' Chinese city of 3 million people with a big coal mining industry and a reputation as one of China's most polluted cities.
Yungang Caves 16 km west of Datong, carved into sandstone cliffs, the Yungang Caves are famous for their 252 grottoes with over 51,000 Buddha statues from the 5th century AD. The caves received a UNESCO World Heritage site designation;
DATONG / Shanxi -Yungang Caves
The Hanging Temple, built inn the 5-th century, restored around 1900 AD, is supported by sturdy timber that extend deep into the mountain. It consists of 40 rooms connected by covered walkways and it is dedicated to 3 religions, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism all worshiped within the temple. The Wooden Pagoda, built in 1056 is the China's oldest surviving wooden pagoda. It has a very complex wood bracket supporting system, without using any nails
ShanxiTemple (Xuankong Si) / The Hanging Temple
Wooden Pagoda (Ying Xian Mu Ta)
