Beijing: Magnolia Flower — the First Flower in Spring

White Magnolia is one of the rarest and most precious flowers in China. What spreads in Beijing is exactly the white magnolia. In old times, Beijing citizens would like call it “Wangchun shu”(expecting Spring), because when white magnolia flowers blossom, spring is coming.

In March, when north China is till covered by white snow, the White Magnolia in China’s capital city begins to blossom. In Zhongnanhai, west Chang’an Street, dozens of white magnolia are in full bloom at the same time. The flowers are as white as snow, blossoming in the wind and reflecting on the red walls and green tiles on the roof, which makes viewers linger around and unwilling to leave. Tanzhe Temple, Dajue Temple and the Summer Palace are all good places for viewing white magnolia. In Tanzhe Temple, Winter sweet and Winter Jasmine are successively in full bloom. They serve as a foil to the elegant and magnificent of White Magnolia. In Dajue Temple, there even grows ancient magnolia for nearly 350 years. I was lucky to see the beautiful flowers in March this year when I joined a Beijing to Xian day tour. And during my Xian tour, I visited the Sakura in Qinglong Temple, which is also eye-catching.

As of the Summer Palace, it is the best place to appreciate white magnolia. The Ziji white magnolia at the back of Leshoutang Palace is said to be planted by Emperor Qinglong in Qing Dynasty(1616-1912). Two hundred years have passed, but the white magnolia still grow vigorously.

Shangdong: Confucian Temple

Located in the center of Qufu City, China’s east Shandong Province, north of Shanghai, and South of Xian, Confucian Temple (“Kong miao” in Chinese)is the earliest temple built to commemorate the great philosopher Confucius. Originally built in 478 BC, with Confucius former residence as the basis, and built according to the specific for imperial palaces, it is one of the three ancient building complexes in China.

If you are planing Beijing-Xian tour, then Confucian Temple is a must-see attraction along the trip. Covering an area of 50 acres, it consists of 9 yards inside the complex, among which each has its own characters. The main buildings along the middle route are Kuiwen Pavillion, Thirteen Stele Pavilion, Xingtan Pavilion, Dacheng Hall, Hall of Confucius' Wife and Shengji Hall, among which the Dacheng Palace and the Kuiwen Cabinet are the most important buildings. Same with many temples which I have seen in my Xian tour, there are many ancient pine in this temple, standing there as shelters of the ancient buildings.

 First built in the year only after Confuciu death (478 B.C.), King Lu had the sage residence turned into the Confucius Temple (kong miao). After that, it has undergone several renovations and expansions. And the last rebuilt is during Yongzheng reign(1723-1735) of Qing Dynasty, as you can see now.

Guizhou Zhenfeng: the Two Breast Peaks

Located in the arterial road from Zhenfeng County and Zhexiang Town, 9 kilometers away of the County, the Two Breast Peaks of Zhenfeng is hailed as “world wonders” and “peerless work of geography”. Covering an area of 40 hectares, and 1265.8 meters at altitude, 261.8 meters from the ground, the two peaks look like a pair of woman’s breast, vividly and lifelike.

What’s really amazing is that it would present you a vision of breast of different ages when viewing from a different angles and distances. For example, looking from the viewing platform, they are breast of twenties, while viewing from another perspective, they are breast of forties, sexy and inviting, which is really a splendid work of nature. The Two Breast Peaks(“Shuangru feng” in Chinese, “shuang” means two, “ru”means breast) got its name by it’s appearance. 　　

From the point of geology, the Two Breast Peaks is a peerless hoodoo of karst landform. According to geographers, the vivid breast peaks only can been seen in China, and there is no similar peaks in the world. Every year, it attracts numerous geographers from China, America, England and France etc here to geological researches.

Guangxi: the Longji Terrace Field

The Longji Terrace Field is located at Longji Mountain, Ping’an Village, Guangxi Longsheng Autonomous Region, 80 km away from downtown Guilin. Covering an area of 66 square kilometers, the Longji Terrace Field, also known as “Longsheng Terrace Field”, is a fascinating scenic spot for tourists.

First constructed in the Yuan Dynasty and completed in the early Qing Dynasty, the field has a history of nearly 700 years. Word has it that the Zhuang people(one of the 55 minority nationalities in China ) here migrated from the seaside of Shandong Province to avoid wars in the Song Dynasty.

The altitudes of the terraces vary with the differing grades of the slopes, with the steepest slope standing at an angle of 50°. In South China, you can see terraces field everywhere, but among which the Longji Terrace Field is the largest and the most beautiful one. With Zhuang people and Yao People living there, the field is embodied with unique cultural characteristics. It is regarded as a precious cultural relic for these minority people and is considered an outstanding scenic spot across the country.

Beijing: visit Eunuch Tianyi’s Tomb

I am obsessed with all of ancient buildings. To be more specific, I like to explore the age-old culture behind them. Traveling through around Beijing, I can see the cultural relics of Ming and Qing Dynasties everywhere. I have been to the Imperial palace, various temples, old streets and ancient tombs. But this time when I claim that I’m planning to go to Tianyi Tomb, my best friend strongly objected: “ Why are you so interested with tombs? You have just been to East Qing Tombs not long ago, let alone it is a eunuch tomb.” He means graveyard is is a inauspicious place, but in my heart, I don’t see it as a horrible place. I go there for the history.

Tian Yi (1534-1605) was a eunuch of the imperial court for 63 years. He served three emperors and eventually became the director of ceremonies, the fourth ranking position in the political structure of the time. After Tian Yi's death, Ming Emperor Wan Li ordered a tomb erected in honor of Tian Yi's lasting service to the country. Six other eunuchs chose to be buried alongside him out of respect and admiration for his work.

The most eye-catching feature of Tianyi’s mausoleum is the stone carvings. Many auspicious motifs such as dragons, lions and deer and also plants like Asiatic plantain and Ganoderma mushrooms.Marble sculptures around the tombs depicts ancient anecdotes, such as Sun Kang studying by the light of snow, Su Wu tending sheep and Yang Xu hanging fish.

In fact, many glorious history were made by eunuchs like Cai Lun’s paper-making techniques and Zheng He’s voyage to western ocean.

The Catholic Church in Tibet

We left from Feilai Temple and drove along 214 national highway of Yunnan-Tibet Line which was built along Lanstang River. After turning numerous corners, we stepped into Yanjing County, Changdu Region in Tibet.

Yanjing is not only famous for well salt but also renowned for a special place— Yanjing Catholic Church. In the eyes of most people, Tibetan Buddhism is the only religious belief of Tibetan people. But in this village, the God in their believes is not Sakyamuni in east world, but the western Jesus. It is only Catholic church in Tibet.

Therefore, it aroused my curiosity about its history. It is said that catholicism was introduced into Tibet in 1856 and there were 17 foreign God-fathers from 1865 to 1949. In 1865, two God fathers who are named Deng Deliang and Bill respectively came to Genla Village in Yanjing from Pengka and bought the land from lama Gongge and built the Catholic church.

This is the only church that is built by combing western architectural style with Tibetan characteristic.Except the photos of Jesus and Madonna, there are red lanterns and white Kha-btags in the church, which are harmoniously existing in the church, which, I guess, is one of the charms.

Inner Mongolia: the Hu poplar in thousands of postures

Hu poplar(“Tao lai” in pinyin in Mongolian) is a member of genus deciduous trees with soft wood and big leaves. It has strong drought tolerance and is one of the rare tree species in mature.

The Hu poplar forest in Ejina Banner of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is one of the last three Hu polar forests and the best preserved one in the world. Endowed with tenacious vitality, Hu poplar was known as “the Living Fossil of Plants”. Each Hu poplar’s taproot can reaches more than 100 meters beneath the ground. That explains the saying that Hu poplar will not die even though it has fell down for 1000 years and it will not be rotten even though it has been dead for 1000 years. Now some polars that have grown for hundred years are still alive, which can be said as a miracle in the nature.

There is a rotten Hu poplar forest in the southwest of Dalaihubu Town, Ejina Banner, where had been a primeval forest hundred years ago. Later, groups of Hu poplar became rotten and fell down in different directions, presenting various postures due to natural reasons. The dead bodies of these polar lie on the vast ground and make you feel creepy in dark night and windy dawn.

Chengdu-known as “storehouse of heaven”

The prime sights in Chengdu are Thatched Cottage of Du Fu 杜甫草堂, which is a commemorative museum in the form of a traditional Chinese-style garden built at the site where Du Fu (712-770), one of China' greatest poets, lived for nearly four years. He composed more than 240 poems reflecting the misery of the labouring people and his enlightened views about it. Du, whose poems prescribed reading for any foreign students majoring in Chinese literature, was a humanist. His writing style is revered both for its manifest sympathy for people’s sufferings and resentment of injustice and corruption; Wuhouci Temple (Marquis Wu Shrine) 武侯祠built in the sixth century, the temple, which covers 37, 000 square metres, is a shrine dedicated to Zhuge Liang (181-234), prime minister of Shu Kingdom of the Thee Kingdom period (220-265) which witnessed one of the most fierce wars in China fought by three rival states trying to reunify the country. Zhuge is the personification of wisdom and loyalty in China; Dujiangyan Irrigation System 都江堰水利工程constructed in the period 306 to 251 BC by the local people under the guidance of Li Bing, the then leader of Shu Prefecture in the Kingdom of Qin, and his son, Erlang, and Yongling Mausoleum 永陵 is the tomb of Wang Jian (847-918), founder of the Former Shu Kingdom (903-925) in the Five Dynasties (907-960) and 10 Kingdoms Period (902-979). The mausoleum is China’s only imperial tomb built above ground. Archaeologists believe its relief sculptures are the most completely preserved sculptures of the imperial band of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The tomb is 15 metres in high and 80 metres in diameter. It was exhumed in 1942, and was revamped in 1960s on several occasions.