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.