Shaolin Monastery

The Shaolin Monastery is located at Song Shan near Zhengzhou City Henan Province in Dengfeng, China. It is founded in the 5^th century. It is famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shanlin Kung Fu. In 2010, the Shaolin Monstery and its famed Pagoda Forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Famous Snacks in Hang Zhou(My Hometown)

"Pian Er Chuan" Noodle

Congbaogui

Wu Hill Crisp Cakes

There are many delicious snacks in my hometown.  I just list the most three popular here. If you have chance go to China, you should taste them. 

Famous Snacks in Beijing

Sticky rice with sweet fillings

Stir-fried Tofu

Pea Flour Cake

Pastry Made of Soy Bean Flour

Here is the website if you want to know more snacks and info:
http://www.china.org.cn/travel/beijingguide/2008-05/20/content_15346204.htm

Economy of China

China is the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world. It is also the world’s second largest economy both in nominal and PPP term after the United States. 

This picture shows the change of China's economy since 1952. In the past 30 years, China becomes the worlds's fasting-growing major economy, with average growth rates of 10%.

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is located in Beijing, China. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." 

Mogao Caves

The Mogao Caves also was called as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. It is located in an oasis of Dunhuang which is a religious and cultural arossroads on the Silk Roa. The caves is also famous for its wall paintings.

Current Leaders of The People's Republic of China

Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He was the president of China since 2003. My family did not like him since the horrible corruption of the government. He tried to solve this problem, but the work turned out was not significant. 

Xi Jinping is the Vice President of China, Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Principal of the Central Party School and the 6th ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee. Political analysts said he would be the next president of China.  

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong was officially held in high regard as a great revolutionary and savior of the nation. He played an important role in Chinese history as George Washington in American history. He led the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1976. In my history class in China, my teacher had told us one sentence “You may not know the present chairman in China, but you should not forget Chairman Mao.”

However, his social social-political programs, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, are blamed for costing millions of lives, causing severe famine and damage to the culture, society and economy of China. My grandpa felt sad when he told story about that period of time.

Anyway, he was one of the most influential figures in modern world and Chinese history.

Mount Tai

Mount Tai is one of the “Five Sacred Mountains”. It is also a mountain of historical and cultural significance. It is located north of the city of Tai'an, in Shandong Province, China. The tallest peak is Jade Emperor Peak which is 5069ft tall. It is famous for it’s a place if worship for at least 3,000 years and served as the foremost ceremonial center for eastern China during large portions of this period. In Chinese history, the name of Mount Tai is always mentioned. 

Huangshan

Huangshan is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a mountain range in southern Anhui province in Eastern China. It is famous for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly-shaped granite peaks, Huangshan Pinetrees, and views of the clouds from above. It is also one of China’s major tourist destinations. 

The well-known Ying Ke Pine, or Welcome Pine

Baiji

The Baiji was also called the Yangtze River dolphin and Whitefin Dolphin. It was a freshwater dolphin found only in the Yangtze River in China. The nickname for it was “Goddess of the Yangtze.”

The population of this kind dolphin declined drastically in recent decades. One of the reasons is the heavy use of the river for fishing, transportation, and hydroelectricity. The last known living baiji was Qi Qi who died in 2002. Even some people reported that they discovered the baiji in the river in the later year, no more evidence to support the existence of baiji. 

Mount Hua

Mount Hua is called Hua Shan in China. It is one of the most popular mountains and also known as Xiyue which means Western Great Mountain. It is located in Shaanxi Province. There are five main peaks in modern times and the highest is the South peak at 2160. The height of this mountain is not high as it is famous for the steep ascent routes and mountain.

Leifeng Pagoda

Leifeng Pagoda is another famous place in my hometown of Hangzhou. It is close to the west lake and originally constructed in the year AD 975. In 2002, it was rebuilt as it collapsed in 1924. This pagoda is a five story tall tower with eight sides.

This picture is taken before the reconstruction and the picture below is the new vision after the tower was rebuilt. 

Hangzhou West Lake

West Lake usually refers to the Hangzhou West Lake. Hangzhou is center of Zhejiang province which is my hometown. Now my family is living in Hangzhou. West Lake is a famous fresh water lake. It is nice to visit there during spring and summer. During summer, the water lily are very attractive.

Ghost Festival

Yesterday is October 31 which is the Halloween in United States. Halloween is an annual holiday that people will get together and wear costumes. People also like visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.

While in China, there is a similar holiday called Ghost Festival. It is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month. People in China believe the deceased would visit the living at Ghost Day. Family will cook same special dishes to feed the ghost.

Chinese Food (Kung Pao Chicken)

Kung Pao chicken is a classic dish in China. You can order this dish in almost every Chinese restaurant nowadays.  It is easy to learn and cook this dish. Below is the procedure that teaches you how to cook it. 

Preparation:

Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Mix in the soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, water and cornstarch. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients, whisking in the cornstarch last.

Remove the seeds from the chile peppers and chop. Peel and finely chop the garlic.

Heat the oil for deep-frying to between 360 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully slide the chicken into the wok, and deep-fry for about 1 minute, until the cubes separate and turn white. Remove and drain on paper towels. Drain all but 2 tablespoons oil from the wok.

Add the chilies peppers and stir-fry until the skins starts to darken and blister. Add the garlic. Stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Add the deep-fried chicken back into the pan. Stir-fry briefly, then push up to the sides of the wok and add add the sauce in the middle, stirring quickly to thicken. Stir in the peanuts. Mix everything together and serve hot.

(http://chinesefood.about.com/od/poultry/r/kungpaodeepfry.htm)

Panda

This is a funny part that you can see in the movie of Kung Fu Panda. It is a movie about a fat panda pursues his dream of learning Kung Fu. While in reality, the panda has served as an emblem for China in recent decades. A 2007 report shows 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country.

In China, you can see many toys are produced based on the Panda. 

This is a picture that three pandas are at rest.

This is panda is about two months old. 

This picture is took when the baby panda was born. It looks like a big rat. 

Jiuzhaigou Valley

Jiuzaigou Valley is also called the Jiuzaigou National Park. It is one of the most interests that I want to see. It locates in Sichuan Province where the 5.12 earthquake happened. This national park is famous for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

Below are some pictures of the Jiuzaigou Valley.

How to Speak Chinese

Last night, my roommate asked me how to say “see you” in Chinese. I spent five minutes to teach how to pronounce. Many foreigners think it is hard to learn Chinese. They think the pronunciation is weird and hard to say it out. Actually, the way to write the Chinese is much harder than speaking. Just as I study English, if you have a good condition to learn English, it will much easier to learn how to speak the English.    This video is showing you how to say some frequency words that people sued in China. If you have any interest, you should learn some simple words.

Terracotta Army

This is another place where I have been before I came to America. I was freshmen in my university at that time. It was the first year that I lived far away from my parents. So I thought I was finally freedom and I could do whatever I want.  One of the weekends of the first month in my college, I went to see the Terracotta Army with my friends.  We spent two hours to reach there. After visiting the terracotta army, we thought it was deserved to do this. 

The figures vary in height 1.83–1.95 meters, according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

The Great Wall

Two years ago, I went to the Great Wall at Beijing. My mother went with me as it was one of my dreams when I was young. It was awesome when you saw how great the Great Wall was. I think I will go back and visit again if I have another chance. 

The Great Wall was built between 220-206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Even though many people think he is a tyrant as he killed lots of people after he won the battle, I think he make many contributions to Chinese history. The Great Wall was one of them at that time as it prevented the resurgence of feudal lords. While the wall we can see was built during the Ming Dynasty, which was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. The Great Wall is about 5,500.3 miles long.

The Independence Day of China

Tomorrow is October 1^st and the Independence Day of the Republic of China. Independence Day probably is the most important for a country as a nation holiday. I just called back to my friends in China; they were celebrating the holiday now. Even though I am only 22 years old, I have witnessed the big change in the last 15 years. When I was seven years old, my family only could eat meat once a week. While now, my parents can eat meat every meals. The economics of China has developed a lot in last 10 years. Even the economics of the depression of the whole in did not influence too much. Actually, the living condition of China is much worse than that in the developed countries. The large population makes the life much harder for people who live in China. I will talk about this in the later post.