Tag Archives: travel

China, Shanghai, Travel

The Centennial Shanghai Old Street, rich Chinese folk customs

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Shanghai_Old_Street_01

Most tourists to Shanghai will go to Yu Garden to have a look, but in fact, many people do not notice Shanghai Old Street not far from Yu Garden, it used to be the small east gate of Shanghai.

The small east gate in the late Qing Dynasty was the bustling place in Shanghai. At that time, people in Shanghai came to the small east gate to stroll around during every Chinese festival, at the east gate, thousands of black-awning boats were dorked along the river, the boatmen waited for their master to come back with many shopping bags, then he rowed the master home.

Once on this old street gathered the former jewelry store, business house, money shop, wine shop, theatre; walking on this street now, sometimes it is almost as if I can perceive the appearance of Waitan in the past.

Shanghai is a place of great change, once this street faced demolition, later, it is transformed into the Late Qing Period street, the money shops and business houses on the old street have been able to retain complete its original appearance. The teahouses are most easily seen on this street nowadays, many people come here specially to drink tea and chat.

Shanghai Old Street is divided into the eastern segment and the western segment, it is bounded by Guanyi Street, the eastern segment is dominated by the Late Qing Period buildings, the western segment is dominated by the ancient buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties, I see a lot of hundred-years-old stores here. In fact, in Shanghai old street, there are many small alleys, a lot of residents live and work in peace and contentment, they speak regional dialects.

For Shanghai, it is not only Shanghai Old Street that can show the old days, perhaps this old street is just a microcosm of the old Shanghai, I wander in the street looking into the night embraced by the mellow voice of Zhou Xuan coming from the teahouse, time will be slow on the way of reminiscence, the old neighborhoods and small alleys possess the exclusive memories of Shanghai.

Beijing, Travel

The Palace Museum Clock Museum

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The Forbidden City, which spans the Ming and Qing dynasties and has a history of 600 years, is a priceless place. It collects more than 1.8 million precious cultural relics, such as “Ping Fu Tie” and “Along the River During the Qingming Festival”. Among the vast majority of collections, the clocks and watches are imported from the Western world, they were brought to China imperial court by the missionary Matteo Ricci during the Ming Dynasty, it’s history is not long, but it is also the most exquisite and gorgeous shows of the Forbidden City.

The Clock Museum is located in Fengxian Palace, to the east of the imperial palaces in the Forbidden City. There are over 120 all kinds of watches and clocks made at home and abroad in the 18th and 19th centuries on exhibition in the museum. According to different manufacturing places, they are divided into the clocks made in the Qing Palace, the clocks made in Guangzhou, and the clocks made in foreign countries. Not to mention the manufacturing process, just from the appearance, each category has its own distinct characteristics.

The clocks made in China are mostly round-shaped, their shapes are greatly simplified, mostly decorated with gold, pearls, jade, and precious stones. The clocks shapes produced in Britain, France and other countries are mainly of western architecture and vehicles and horses due to more mature craftsmanship and complex shapes.

This copper-plated enameled folding screen clock is made in France. The whole clock is half-moon-shaped. It is very reminiscent of the magnificent and huge church built in the Renaissance. It is brightly colored and is characterized by elaborate and meticulous workmanship.

The concise furnishings and single light create a dazzled world of clocks for people. In addition to the timekeeping function, these clock have extremely high ornamental value, the figures, trees, flowers, birds and beasts are vivid and lifelike. Walking in the Clock Museum, we enjoy these clock one by one, it is inevitable to have a dazzling feeling.

The names of clocks are mostly complicated and awkward-sounding, the Clock with Flower and Bird is made in the United Kingdom. the cage was woven from glod-plated copper wire, a bird stands on the pole when caged. When the machine starts, the bird turns left or turns right, spreading its wings and shaking its tail, jumping back and forth between horizontal bars, and the sound of birds chirping loudly. With the sound of music, the inner cylinder opens in the cage, the water valve rotates inside, it resembles a waterfall. The treasure star flower at the top alternately rotates, radiating brilliant light, very gorgeous.

Time is a fascinating concept. Days and nights, time, the flight of time…there are countless words and sentences related to time. The invention of clocks allow human beings to accurately describe time and record time. These tools containing wonderful thoughts exist in people’s life in various appearances.

If you observe carefully, you will find that these clock can tell time in a variety of ways. This gilded copper man English clock, there are three horizontal clock dials that respectively represent the three main functions: hour, minute and second, one person stands in the center of each dial, the long rod in their hands acts as pointer. After winding the clock, each person on the clock dial rotates at a fixed speed, and the person on the second dial rotates the fastest. The idea for the clock is ingeniously conceived.

Imagine this: if you stand in this cleverly shaped clock, you should have a feeling of looking up at the starry sky.

Clock with a writing figure is shaped like a pavilion, it is obvious to everyone that the writing machine man is a Westerner, he kneels down on one knee, holding a corner of the table in one hand and a pen in the other. The subtlety of the whole clock is that the writing machine man can write with Chinese writing brush when the clock switch is opened.

The emperor of Qing Dynasty always insisted on the best at everything. No matter whether the home-made clocks or imported goods, accurate timekeeping, exquisite design, gorgeous colors, beautiful music, and auspicious meaning win the hearts of the emperor, and these clocks have become precious decorative furnishings. Today, the emperor was expelled from the palace, but these clocks are running as usual.

All the while, the clock is ticking, the museum seems to collect the time of the world, we have seen countless stories about time, the most gorgeous, probably.

Inner Mongolia, Travel

Inner Mongolia Museum is full of national characteristics

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Since ancient times, Inner Mongolia has been the central region of the settlement and activities of the ethnic minorities in northern China, From the Emperor Qin and the Emperor han to the Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan, from the Rong tribes, the Di tribes and the Hun tribe to the Ming Dynasty generals and the Qing Dynasty troops, these people took turns on the stage of history and left their mark on history. In the Inner Mongolia Museum, the cultural relics on display give people today a glimpse of the extraordinary experience that the grassy plain has ever had.

Inner Mongolia Museum was built in 1957. Several buildings together form the building complex of the Inner Mongolia Museum, Blue sky and green grass are two indispensable themes in Inner Mongolia.

If someone talks about the natural landscape of Inner Mongolia, between the vast sky and the boundless grassland flocks and herds grazing will naturally appear in people’s mind. Prairie charm is the most recognized charm in Inner Mongolia, plants are the elements that make up the grassland. In the museum, various plants on display are an eye opener.

Speak of the history of Inner Mongolia, what do you think of? The speeding cavalry troop，the knights riding horses and hunting eagles with bow and arrows. The bold and tough nomads are synonymous with Inner Mongolia.

The main body of the entire museum is divided into four floors, the internal space is open, the number of cultural relics in the museum is as many as 4 million. Every cultural relic and every picture recorded the lives and experiences of people at that time.

These collections are carefully placed one by one and together form a continuous time line, let the visitors who has been inside brush away the dust of history and admire the grassland culture and civilization built by the ancestors.

The magical Inner Mongolia not only gave birth to a unique nomadic culture, but also had an immeasurable impact on the agricultural civilization of the Central Plains. A variety of finely crafted ceramics and exquisitely carved jade ware are presented in front of the visitors’s eyes.

The Mongolian martial robes and bows and arrows let people as if back to the battlegrounds where the battle steeds neighed and the bows and arrows flew beyond the Great Wall.

The throne engraved with dragons is old-fashioned and still follows the wild style of ethnic minorities alone. The throne was once the seat of royal highness Dalizaya in Alashan Huoshuote Flag, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and is currently the only Zhasake dragon throne preserved in Inner Mongolia.

The golden hawk crown in the Warring States Period is one of the greatest treasures of Inner Mongolia Museum. It was unearthed in the tomb of the Huns in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. It is the only golden crown of the Huns found in China. The golden crown weighs 1394 grams, the whole golden crown is exquisitely made and make people revise their original impression of the clumsy craftsmanship of the northern nomads.

Some of them were once the treasures of the country, and some were curios for the royal family. They are either hidden in the Palace or flowed into troubled times. As time goes by, these ancient artifacts from different dynasties are displayed in the Inner Mongolia Museum. The scars are faintly discernible, with a little vicissitudes but full of mystery.