Bartholomew Johnson: Xian: My Favorite City

Bartholomew Johnson: Xian: My Favorite City: Xian is a city I like most. In this international metropolis, classic and modern elements are perfectly combined. The charming history and...

The Snow-covered Jinshanling Great Wall

Six days ago, the white snow fell down. Last Sunday is the coldest day in the past ten years in Beijing. Branches of green pines and verdant cypresses, eaves and ridges of houses are all dotted with the precious and saint white snow. Even the chilly weather could not stop my desire for photographing.

Destination: Jinshanling Great Wall, 160 kilometers away of downtown Beijing.
Vehicle: my JIMNY

Drive along the Beijing-Chengde expressway and follow the signs, I arrived at Jinshanling Great Wall. Jinshanling Great Wall is located at the junction of LuanPing county of Hebei Province and Miyun County of Beijing. A wide field of vision is the greatest feature of the Great Wall here. The wall spirals tortuously among the lofty ridges and towering mountains, there is a forest of lookout tower, and the imposing manner is very magnificent. This is the unique scenery of the Great Wall. There is a more distinctive feature of contract, is that many sets of obstruct wall was constructed vertically with the Great Wall's edge at some section.

The whole section of Jinshanling Great Wall is about 10.5 kilometers long, with 67 watchtowers, 2 beacon towers, and 5 passes. All of this is not only the Great Wall's features here but also reflects the ingenuity of the Craftsman. In 1987, the Great Wall of Jinshanling was list in The World Cultural Heritage List. Now, it is a National Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit and a national scenic spot.

Beijing: Town of Changyu

It was a day after the first now in early November this year. Several bloggers and planed a western Beijing’s ancient Great Wall tour. Most tourists come to Beijing for the famous Badaling Mountain in their Beijing Xian tour, but for me, I like the unrepaired Great Wall more.
Town of Changyu, Zhenbian and Baiyanggou are called as “the three towns of Beijing frontier”. 50 days have passed since the last snow, some feelings have gone away gradually with the time. When I view these photos again, I do not know how to describe my feelings at that time. So I have to provide more pictures for sharing.

Stepping on the thick snow and walking through the forest, it give me a delusion of the scene described in the novel The Guerrilla Warfare. It reminds me of my Xian tour last winter in the Xian City Wall suddenly.

Standing on the beacon tower and overlooking, we had a panoramic view of Huanglouwa Great Wall and Badaling remnant Great Wall. I couldn’t help to recite the famous poem to the tune of Chin Yuan Chun composed by the great Chaiman Mao:
North country scene:
A hundred leagues locked in ice,
A thousand leagues of whirling snow.
Both sides of the Great Wall One single white immensity.
The Yellow River's swift current
Is stilled from end to end.
The mountains dance like silver snakes
And the highlands charge like wax-hued elephants,
Vying with heaven in stature.
On a fine day, the land,
Clad in white, adorned in red,
Grows more enchanting.

This land so rich in beauty
Has made countless heroes bow in homage.
But alas!
Chin Shih-huang and Han Wu-ti Were lacking in literary grace,
And Tang Tai-tsung and Sung Tai-tsu
Had little poetry in their souls;
And Genghis Khan,
Proud Son of Heaven for a day,
Knew only shooting eagles, bow outstretched
All are past and gone!
For truly great men
Look to this age alone.

Shanghai: Longhua Temple Fair

The third day of third month of Chinese lunar calender is the traditional temple fair day. It was sunny day, my last day of Shanghai Xian tour, I couldn’t help to take my camera and go to the Shanghai Longhua Temple Fair. Shanghai Longhua Temple Fair is one of the oldest traditional temple fairs that still remains today in eastern China. It is a comprehensive and unique temple fair of Shanghai culture that combines which goods market, folk belief and folk entertainment activity together. It not only has a great influence on Shanghai area, but also takes a profound and lasting effects on the Yangtze River Delta region.

With Longhua Temple as the center, Longhua Temple Fair mainly spread in the corridor area where with north to Maogong Bridge, Longhua Road and south to the junction of Zhongshan Road and Tianyao Bridge Road. Nowadays, the temple fair location is the Longhua Street, Xuhui District, which is one of the most developed districts in Shanghai.

In the pedestrian street in front of Longhua Temple, various characterized stores lined up, some are making dough figures, some are paper cutting, some for perfume satchel. Egg decorating, seal cutting, craft umbrella, Chinese knot, Pearl string, cotton candy etc surged into my eyes. But what attracts me most is the folk performance from all over the country on the big stage.

Every year, the tourist activity will attract as many as 5,000,000 visitors. Temple fair is a common celebrating activity in China’s Spring Festival. In Xian tour, usually you would see a temple fair of Qin (the abbreviation of shaanxi Province) flavor. 　　

Beijing Pinggu District: Log Cabin in Jinhai Lake

In the bank of Jinhai Lake, there is a peculiar and eye-catching place which is called “Lakeside Log Cabins of Wisteria Blossom ”. In the last summer vacation of Beijing Xian tour, I went there and took some photos. And I have to say, it is really really beautiful!

On the hillside, the exquisite and unique log cabins are properly distributed, with the gravel walk connecting the over-20 log cabins of various styles on the hill together. Why we say it unique, there are two reasons: Firstly, it is the only one in Beijing; Secondly, the log cabins are all built in the trees, which is obviously well-designed. The cunninghamia lanceolata supporting “Diaojiaolou” (a kind of wood columns supporting building which is a residential house and is usually seen in southeastern China) gives you a delusion of an ancient town of south China. What the most peculiar are the two on-tree log cabins, which became the focus of tourists’ attention. Walking among it, you will experience the warm and peace of the nature and get far away the madding crowd.

Jinhai Lake is 85 kilometers away of downtown Beijing. It is a famous tourist attraction in Beijing and therefore became a desirable place of leisure and entertainment for young people on vacations.There is the largest comprehensive water amusement park here, with being embraced on three sides by mountains. The colorful water sports have attracts a great number of tourists. After the Beijing travel, I continued my Xian package tour, which also left me a deep impression. Stories to be told next time.

Beijing: Peking Opera Mask Showtime

Shichahai Lake is a famous scenic spot in Beijing. It kept many ancient Hutongs and messuages, which make it a perfect place for tasting the flavor of ancient Beijing.

In recent years, with the development of the thriving tourism industry, it promotes a new trend of the traditional artifacts in Shichahai Lake and the surrounding area. Various stores stand along the street, proving omnifarious handicrafts which mostly relate to “ancient Beijing”. But in general, the real good things are so few. But what is the real good thig? As for my part, those things that inherited the real traditional techniques and crafts and developed in the following practices based on the historical experiences.

In the NO. 32 of Nanguanfang Hutong, there is a place which is called “Songzhushe” Family Art Gallery can provide you the real good things.

Although the storefront is not in big-size, the clay Peking Opera masks are renowned in Beijing. Let me brief you the story about the clay Peking Opera masks of ancient Beijing:

During the Guangxu Reign of Qing Dynasty(1644-1912), there was a Man People(one of the 55 minority nationalities in China) who surnamed Gui. He made a living on his official salary, and loved the Peking Opera. He was good poems and paintings, and particularly fond of the Peking Opera Masks. When he saw a craftsman pinch up clay figures occasionally in a temple fair, he came up with a thought that combining the Peking Opera masks with the clay figures. After back home, he made the feature with plaster, and painted it by imitating some famous opera stars. The masks were very welcomed by his friends and relatives. This is the first clay Peking Opera Mask.

Nowadays, Songzhushe has inherited predecessor’s techniques of clay mask and scale them up globally. Last time when I joined a Beijing to Xian tour, I went there and bought a black Baogong mask and red Guanyu mask. And during my Xian day tour, Shaanxi Province presents me another great ancient drama — Shaanxi Opera (Qin Opera).

Nanjing: Qinhuai River

People who visit Nanjing will absolutely go to Qinhuai River, just like one travel to Xian, he/she will definitely put the Terra-cotta Warriors in the schedule. No matter in day or at night, Qinhuai River is always the best gathering place for tourists. Is it a commercial appeal or a kind of cultural attraction? In fact, Qinhuai River is the miniature of culture and history od Nanjing City. Maybe there are no reasons needed for coming to Qinhuai River.

The first time when I came to Qinhuai River bank, what I saw is a little bit different from what I imagined. It was not a quiet and lonely river in the history anymore. Tourists from different countries and regions had brought various elements and colors here. Different languages sounded around my ears, busy and noisy. But now when I walking along Qinhuai River, the rustling scene is no longer uncommon for me, after all, many ancient towns and cities have got commercialized by tourism.

When I see the boats moored on the river, it reminds me that hundred years ago, how many men of letters had written proses and poets here? And how many beauties had sang gently here? Qinhuai River has left visitors different impression, some good and some bad. As a pure tourist, I won’t make any remarks. As a lifeline of the city, Qinhuai River has always presenting its charm to its visitors till now.

Nanjing is not far from Shanghai, so if you join a Shanghai Xian tour, why not go to Nanjing first and have a sight of the renowned Qinhuai River?