Major Tourist CitiesMajor Tourist Cities

An Outline of Traditional An Outline of Traditional Chinese CultureChinese Culture

Heilong River

Ningxia

Inner MongoliaGansu

Tibet

Sinkiang

QinghaiaiHenan

Guizhou

GuangxiYunnan

Sichuan

JiangxiHunan

Anhui

Beijing

HebeiShanxi

Shanxi

Hubei

Chongqing

Guangdong

Fujian

zhejiang

Jiangsu

Shandong

Liaoning

Jilin

Taiwan

Hainan

travel

Places of interests introduced

Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guiling, Xi’an, Nanjing, Yangshuo, Tibet, Hunan etc.

Beijing

Beijing, China’s capital city, is located in the northern part of the North China Plain. This teeming modern city and its surroundings abound with cultural relics, historic sites, and captivating landscapes. Cultural events and theatrical performances are also a great attraction here.

Forbidden CityThe Forbidden City is a vast

ancient architectural complex located in the center of Beijing, covering an area of 72 hectares. It is regarded as the finest example of traditional Chinese architecture.

Surrounded by a six-meter-deep moat (护城河 ) and a ten-meter-high wall are 9,999 rooms.

Opposite the Tian’anmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Divine Might (神武门 ), which faces Jingshan Park.

There are unique and exquisitely structured watchtowers on each of the four corners of the curtain wall (宫墙 ).

Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Forbidden City is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.

Tian’anmen SquareThe symbol of New China,

is one of the largest squares in the world, large enough to hold 1 million people.

Tian’anmen Square

The Tian’anmen Gate tower stands imposingly at the northern end of the square.

The Five-Star Red Flag flies high above with the Monument to the People's Heroes dominating the center of the square.

The Great Hall of the People flanks the east, while the National Museum of China is to the west.

The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall and the Qianmen Gate sit to the south of the square.

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven, a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design, is situated in the southern part of Beijing. It stands as the finest of all China’s temples. It was once the place where the Ming and Qing emperors worshipped Heaven and prayed for good harvests.

A long wall encloses the Temple of Heaven. The northern wall is semicircular (半圆形 ) symbolizing Heaven and the southern section of the wall is square symbolizing Earth.

The most magnificent buildings from south to north are the Circular Mound Altar(圜丘坛 ), the Imperial Vault of Heaven (天坛 )and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest ( 祈年殿 ).

Additional structures include the Three Echo Stones and the Echo Wall.

The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace lies about 20 kilometers northwest of Beijing. It is the largest imperial garden in the world. It is a veritable museum of classical Chinese garden architecture.

The marble bridge leads the eye to the rocky South Island in the middle of the lake, the wooden pavilions dotted sparingly on the gentle hills that adorn the lakeside.

The grandiose temples that climb the man-made Longevity Hill (万寿山 ).

The Thirteen Ming Tombs

The Thirteen Ming tombs are situated at the foot of the Heavenly Longevity Mountain (天寿山 ) to the northwest of Beijing. Among the 16 emperors in the Ming Dynasty, 13 were buried in the Ming tomb area, along with 23 empresses, and many concubines (妃子 ), princes, princesses and maids.

The Great Wall

The first major wall was built during the reign of the First Emperor of Qin in the 3rd century BC. This wall was not constructed as a single endeavor, but rather was created by the joining of several regional walls built by some states in the Warring States Period.

The Great Wall

The Great Wall stretches over a formidable 6,350 km, from Shanhai Pass (山海关 ) on the Bohai Gulf in the east to Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the west. The Great Wall is unique for its architectural style. Mainly consisting of walls, the Great Wall links 100-plus strategic passes, watchtowers, and signal towers.

Shanghai

China’s largest city Shanghai, with a history dating back to the third century BC, has a population of more than 13 million. It is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government of China and is often likened to a dazzling pearl in the center of the east coast, where the golden channel of the Yangtze River flows into the sea. It is a thriving port and China’s largest industrial base, as well as the financial and trade center.

the Bund ( 外滩 )

The 1.5 km belt along the Huangpu River between Waibaidu Bridge and East Yan,an Road is called the Bund.

Here, those European-style buildings, once housing foreign consulates, banks, commercial firms and newspaper offices, are still in use today. When evening comes, the banks of the Huangpu River are busy with strolling young couples and throngs of foreign tourists.

Shoppers’ Paradise

Shanghai is the most exciting and fashionable city in China. It is quickly earning an international reputation as one of the world’s fashion centers. It is known for its shops stocked with goods of excellent quality, and the service is also impeccable. Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road and the Chenghuangmiao are popular shopping areas.

Pudong New Area

Bordering the East China Sea and the estuary of the Yangtze River, Shanghai’s Pudong New Area is situated at the junction of China’s “golden coast” and “golden waterway”.

Shanghai and the 2010 World Exposition

On December 3, 2002, China won the bid to host the 2010 World Exposition. The slogan of the event is “Better City, Better Life”. The triumph marked the extension of this global event to a developing country for the first time.

Zhejian

bamboo Of Anji

Hangzhou:Wuzhen:

Hangzhou

Hangzhou is famous for its surrounding hills and beautiful scenery, especially the West Lake. Other tourist attractions include: Pagoda of Six Harmonies, Lingyin Temple (Soul’s Retreat Temple), The Peak That Flew Here ， Hangzhou Oriental Park, the newly-built Leifeng Pagoda, and the “Thousand-Island Lake”.

West Lake

Hangzhou’s fame is largely due to the picturesque West Lake. Situated to the west of the city, it is enclosed on three sides by low hills and covers an area of 5.65 square kilometers.

Others

Pagoda of Six Harmonies and Lingyin Temple (Soul’s Retreat Temple)

The Peak That Flew Here and Hangzhou Oriental Park

Hangzhou’s Silk and Tea

Hangzhou is famous not only for its natural beauty but also for its cultural tradition. It is also the home of silk in China. Its silk is famous for its soft, fine, smooth texture, and wonderful sheen. Besides, Hangzhou’s Longjing Tea (龙井茶 ) is famed for its fragrance, luscious flavor, pleasant leaf shape and emerald color.

Guilin The city is known for its verdant

mountains, elegant rivers, magnificent crags and fantastic caverns and it has a reputation as having the “the finest mountains and waters under heaven”.

Karst (石灰岩 ) peaks surround Guilin. They rise steeply out of flat ground resembling jade bamboo shoots, swords and spears. The clear Lijiang River flows from northeast to southeast like a jade ribbon meandering past Guilin. Along the river there are many fascinating hills of various shapes including Folded Brocade Hill, Wave Curbing Hill and Elephant Trunk Hill.

Guangxi

In nearby Yangshuo County, there are over 20,000 karst hills. The Lijiang River winds through Yangshuo for 56 km. On both sides of the river are serene mountains, magical peaks and green bamboo which leave intoxicating reflections in the sparkling water.

Solitary Beauty Peak (独秀峰 )

Elephant Trunk Hill

Seven–Star Cave

Reed Flute Cave芦笛岩

Xi’an

Xi’an has the longest history as China’s capital spanning 1,000 years and about 10 dynasties, including the Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties, etc. With a history of over more than 3000 years, Xi’an is one of the four major ancient capitals, together with Rome, Athens and Cairo.

Xi’an and its surrounding areas are regarded as China’s museum of nature and history because of its long history, rich culture and beautiful scenery.

The city wall of Xi’an

The Bell Tower

The Greater and the Lesser Wild Goose Pagodas

The Forest of Steles

Huaqing Hot Spring

Terra-cotta Army in the tomb of the First Emperor of Qin

Archeologists excavated a 14,000-square-meter vault in which thousands of terra-cotta warriors and horses had remained entombed for over 2,000 years. It is regarded as one of the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century.

So far, three pits containing terra-cotta figurines have been excavated. They cover a total area of 20,000 square meters. Some 8,000 life-sized warriors confirm the powerful military array (排阵 ) under the rule of the First Emperor 2,200 years ago.

Kunming

Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, is known as the Spring City. Neither cold nor hot, the locals enjoy flowers throughout the year. Major tourist attractions include the site of the ’99 World Horticultural Exposition Garden (世界园艺博览园 ), the Stone Forest, Dianchi Lake (滇池 ) and the Yunnan Nationalities Villages.

’ 99 World Horticultural Exposition Garden

The ’99 World Horticultural Exposition was held in Kunming from May 1 to October 31 lasting 184 days.

Tibet:

Lhasa

Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, is one of the highest cities in the world. Its recorded history dates back more than 1,300 years. It is a city of breathtaking beauty, with a unique landscape and a holy atmosphere.

The major landmarks are Potala Palace, Jokhong Monastery, Norbulingka, Barkhor Street and Gandan Monastery.

Potala Palace

The Potala Palace is located on the Red Hill to the west of old Lhasa.

The old Potala Palace was built in the 7th century. At that time, Song Tsan Gam Bo (松赞干布 ) established Tubo (吐蕃 ) Kingdom in Tibet and Lhasa was the capital. When the emperor of the Tang Dynasty sent Princess Wencheng (文成公主 ) to marry him, Song Tsan Gam Bo decided to build “a city to show glory” and started to build the Potala Palace on the Red Hill, but it was destroyed later in a war.

The present Potala Palace is 119 meters high with 13 floors. The entire building is made of stone and wood with walls being three meters thick on average. The palace also has a large collection of sculptures, murals, scriptures and other valuable cultural relics.

Nanjing

Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, is an important central city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It is a transportation and telecommunication hub (中心 ) in east China, and the second largest international trading port after Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta.

Important sights in Nanjing include: the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, Xuanwu Lake, Confucius Temple, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, a Ming Tomb, Linggu Monastery and Zijinshan

Observatory.

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

Designed by Chinese and constructed with local materials, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was opened to traffic in October 1968. It is a double-decked bridge with a four-lane, 4,589-meter-long highway and 6,772-meter-long double railroad tracks.

Confucius Temple

The Nanjing Confucius Temple, lying in the south of Nanjing, is for consecrating and worshipping Confucius, the great thinker and educator of ancient China. The Confucius Temple was built during the Song Dynasty and expanded in The East Jin Dynasty.

In the area surrounding the temple, residential houses, pavilions, teahouses and inns sprawl in picturesque disorder along the Qinhuai River. Many businessmen and men of letters gather there.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum

Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum is the tomb of the great revolutionary forerunner, Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The Mausoleum complex is composed of a memorial archway, a tomb passage, a mausoleum gate, a stele pavilion, a sacrificial hall and a coffin chamber, all located on an axis.

From the entrance of the mausoleum to the granite hall, there are 393 ascending steps with 10 landings in between, covering a length of 700 meters and a height of 70 meters. Built of white granite and dark blue tiles, and surrounded by green mountains, the mausoleum is solemn and imposing.

Rape of Nanjing Memorial Hall

In December 1937, Nanjing fell to the Japanese invaders. The Japanese army launched a massacre (屠杀 ) that continued for six weeks. According to the records of several welfare organizations that buried the dead after the massacre, around 300,000 people, mostly civilians and POWs (prisoner of war), were brutally slaughtered.

Over 20,000 cases of rape were reported. Many of the victims were gang raped and then killed.

Heilong River

Hannan:

Discussion

Among those tourist cities introduced in this chapter, which one would you like to go first? Why?

HomeworkHomework

China has had 35 sites added to the China has had 35 sites added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO. While World Heritage List by UNESCO. While being proud of our ancient civilization, being proud of our ancient civilization, we still worry about the overexploitation we still worry about the overexploitation of some heritage sites. Please discuss of some heritage sites. Please discuss and give some good suggestions to deal and give some good suggestions to deal with possible problems.with possible problems.