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THE BUND
The_Bund is one of the most recognizable architectural symbols of Shanghai. The word ‘bund’ derives from an Anglo-Indian word for an embankment along a muddy waterfront and that is what it was in the beginning, when the first British company opened an office there in 1846. It became the epitome of elegance during Shanghai’s history as a city of trade.
Now many attractive new constructions have been erected in addition to the historical buildings. A 771-metre long retaining wall for flood control was built. Atop the wall is a spacious walkway for sightseeing.
Paved with colorful tiles and dotted with flower beds and European-style garden lights. It is a good place for a leisurely stroll and a view of the Huangpu River.
The Bund, which extends from Jinling Road in the south to the Waibaidu Bridge over the Suzhou Creek in the north, is on the western bank of the 114 kilometer long Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.
Looking out on the river, various cargo vessels, speedier tourist ferries and other locally owned boats navigate. Towering skyscrapers such as the Oriental Pearl Tower line the river, and the neon lights indicating the offices of top world brands and European architecture surrounding them.
The wharf for pleasure boat rides is also at the end of Nanjing Road. A boat ride on the Huangpu River will take visitors down to the estuary of the Yangtze River and back in just over three hours.
JIUZHAI GUO VALLEY
Jiuzhaigou in brief Jiuzhaigou, also known as the Jiuzhai Valley or the Nine Village Valley, is a natural reserve located in the North of the Sichuan Province. Ranked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, Jiuzhaigou is a high tourist area extremely famous for its mirror lake of an extreme blue color and its crystal clear waterfalls.
As the saying describes "when coming back from the Huangshan Mountains one does not want to see a mountain; when coming back from Jiuzhaigou one does not want to see water." There is great tributary in the Gully which is the water source of Jailing River of the Changjiang river system, the Gully is formed into a "Y" type embraced by free mountains. The Mountain peaks are towering around and the snow summits are rising in the sky.
The essence of Jiuzhaigou, known as "king of Chinese water scenes", lies in its waters: lakes, spring waters, streams, waterfalls, rivers and shoals. Jiuzhaigou got its name from the nine Tibetan Villages in the area.
The valley covers 720 km2 (278 sq mi), with buffer zones covering an additional 600 km2 (232 sq mi). Its elevation, depending on the area considered, ranges from 1,998 to 2,140 m (at the mouth of Shuzheng Gully) to 4,558 - 4,764 m (on Mount Ganzigonggai at the top of Zechawa Gully).
The climate is cool temperaturewith a mean annual temperature of 7.2 °C, with means of -1 °C in January and 17 °C in July. Total annual rainfall is 661 mm, 80% of which occurs between May and October.
Jiuzhaigou's best-known feature is its dozens of blue, green and turquoise-colored lakes. The local Tibetan people call them "Haizi" in Chinese, meaning "son of the sea". Originating in glacial activity, they were dammed by rockfalls and other natural phenomena, then solidified by processes of carbonate deposition.
Some lakes have a high concentration of calcium carbonate, and their water is very clear so that the bottom is often visible even at high depths. The lakes vary in color and aspect according to their depths, residues, and surroundings.
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GREAT WALL OF CHINA
Great Wall of China is one of the most awesome sights in the world, and also known in China as the Great Wall of 10,000. It is an ancient Chinese fortification built from the end of the 14th century until the beginning of the 17th century, during the Ming Dynasty, in order to protect China from raids by the Mongols and Turkic tribes. It is a paved, elevated highway that snakes across the hills for more than 3,000 mi/4830 km.
It is wide enough for carts and horsemen to travel along the top. A barrier to persistent invaders from the north, it was also a dividing line between settled agriculture on the plain and nomadic life in the mountains.
It is built of brick and stone and filled with earth as well as the bodies of conscripted laborers who died building it. Much of it is in disrepair, but several sections have been reconstructed near Beijing. When it was originally built 2000 years ago by the Qing dynasty it was a sturdy "No Trespassing" sign directed at neighboring kingdoms. To peasants in rural areas the Great Wall is less majestically considered as "old frontier".
It's a classic and well-preserved example of Ming defense with high and wide ramparts, intact parapets and sturdy beacon towers.
The Great Wall that can still be seen today was built during the Ming Dynasty, on a much larger scale and with longer lasting materials (solid stone used for the sides and the top of the Wall) than any wall that had been built before.
The primary purpose of the wall was not to keep out people, who could scale the wall, but to insure that semi-nomadic people on the outside of the wall could not cross with their horses or return easily with stolen property.
Great wall of China in 1907
THE FORBIDDEN CITY
The Forbidden City Also known as the Palace Museum, there are twenty-four emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived in the Forbidden City, which got its name because it was off-limits to ordinary citizens and is the biggest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was originally built in the 14th century, but because of fires and other catastrophes, it has been rebuilt several times.
Forbidden City Map
There are four unique and delicate structured corner towers overlooking the city inside and outside on the four corners. Each of the four sides is pierced by a gate, the Meridian Gate (Wu men) on the south and the Gate of Spiritual Valor (Shenwu men) on the north being used as the entrance and exit by tourists today.
Ancient Chinese people fully displayed their wisdom in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example, the ladder shaped wall has an 8.6 meters wide bottom and a 6.66 meters wide top.
The shape of the city wall totally frustrate attempt to climb onto the wall. The bricks of the wall are said made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites, and these incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are made yellow in special process.
However, there is one exception. Wenyuange, the royal library, has a black roof.
The reason is that it was believed black represented water then and could extinguish fire.
TERRACOTTA WARRIORS & HORSES
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| TerraCotta Warriors |
The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century.
Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had begun to work for his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life.
A group of peasants uncovered some pottery while digging for a well nearby the royal tomb in 1974. It caught the attention of archeologists immediately. They came to Xian in droves to study and to extend the digs. They had established beyond doubt that these artifacts were associated with the Qin Dynasty (211-206 BC).
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| Front Soldier |
The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back.
No. 2 Pit, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of No. 1 Pit. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood. It was unveiled to the public in 1994.Archeologists came upon No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses.
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| Horses |
Altogether over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed from these pits. Most of them have been restored to their former grandeur.
The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is a sensational archeological find of all times. It has put Xian on the map for tourists. It was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages.
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| Terra Cotta Musuem |
| Entrance Fee: | CNY110, including the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, the Museum of Terracotta Acrobatics, the Museum of Terracotta Civil Officials and the Museum of Stone Armor. The Museum of Terracotta Acrobatics and the Museum of Terracotta Civil Officials will be opened in 2011. The Museum of Stone Armor has not opened either. |
| Ticket Selling Hours: | 08:30-17:30 (March 16-Nov.14); 08:30-17:00 (Nov.15-March 15) |
| Transportation: | From Xian Xianyang International Airport: Visitors can take Airport Shuttle Line 2 to Xian Railway Station. The bus departs every hour from 10:15 to 19:15 at 1F of T2 and the ticket costs CNY 25. From Xian Railway Station, take tourism bus no.5 (306), bus no.914, 915 and get off at the final station. Visitors can also hire a taxi to the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses from Xian Xianyang International Airport. Remember to take the legitimate green colored taxies and the fee is about CNY 200. Please make it clear to the taxi driver that you only go to the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses and refuse to go to other scenic sites including souvenir shops. From downtown Xian: Take tourism bus no.5 (306) from the east square of Xian Railway Station or 307 from the south gate of Tang Paradise and get off at Bing Ma Yong (Qin Tarracotta Warriors and Horses) station. The whole journey takes about one hour. From Lintong District: Take bus 914, 915 or Speical Line 101 and get off at Terracotta Warrior Museum. The whole journey takes about 15 minutes. Getting Around: 30 shuttle buses are traveling between the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses and the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum for tourists' convenience. One can take them for free by showing the entrance ticket. |
| Recommended Time for a Visit: | Three hours |
