Learn mandarin - Museum of Slave Society of Yi Nationality in Liangshan

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Museum of Slave Society of Yi Nationality in Liangshan

The Museum of Slave Society of Yi Nationality in Liangshan lies in the middle of Lushan scenic spot in Xichang City of Sichuang Province. It was opened to the public in August 1985.

The museum is a classical Yi nationality architecture. The main building was in three traditional colors of red, yellow and black, painted with pictures of sun, moon, mountains, rivers, sheep and other motifs from nature.

The museum has a construction area of 5,000 square meters, with about 1,000 square meters for exhibition, which is divided into nine show halls: Social Productivity, Social Classes, Family Custom, Religion, Marriage and Family, Literature and Art, Folklores, Struggle between Slaves and Slave
System, and Handwriting of National Leaders and Foreign Guests. Among the cultural relics on display, relics of Yi nationality total 4,196 items, including gold, jade, bronze, iron, bamboo, bone, and silk, etc.

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Chinese Mandarin - Qu Yuan Memorial in Zigui

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Qu Yuan Memorial in Zigui

Located in Zigui County in Hubei Province, the Qu Yuan Memorial in Zigui is a memorial of Chinese historical figures. It was opened to the public in 1981.

There are two floors of exhibition halls -- the second floor displays more than 800 unearthed relics in the county, such as ancient daggers, spears and swords, the most precious of which is the sword of the Yue King Goujian of the Warring States Period (475-221BC); the first floor showcases
cultural relics related to Qu Yuan, including the precious poetryChu Ci(literally, poetry of the Chu Kingdom), 500 sets of books collected by Qu Yuan, and over 300 calligraphic works and paintings of various dynasties collected by him.

The memorial also houses the stone sculpture and bronze sculpture of Qu Yuan, the Jusong Pavilion (the pavilion used to praise tangerines), and the stele corridor. The stone sculpture of 103 centimeters tall was made in the 16thyear (1573) during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1644-1911)
with the money donated by the common people in Guizhou, and is the earliest extant stone sculpture of Qu Yuan in China. The bronze sculpture stands in the center of the memorial, its pedestal made of granites is 2.5 meters high and the body is 3.92 meters tall. In the tangerine grove 50 meters
away from the Qu Yuan Tomb, there are 60 steles carved with 25 pieces of Qu Yuan's poetryLi Sao(Sorrow after Departure).

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Learning Chinese - Tianjin Museum

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Tianjin Museum

http://www.tjbwg.com/

TheTianjinMuseum, located at the southern side of the scheduled Tianjin Municipal Administrative andCulturalCenterat Hexi District, covers an area of 5.02 hectares with the total building space of 31,400 square meters. The Museum, a shell structure, is designed in the shape of a giant swan. In
front of the Museum is a 10,000 square meters wideSwanLakeand before theLakeis a large green patch with the space of 240,000 square meters. The Museum, expected to be completed in October this year, is to be built into a large modern spot for the collection, protection and research of historic
relics as well as a place for education, leisure and touring.

When completed, theTianjinMuseum, a combination of theTianjinArt MuseumandHistoricalMuseum, will contain all the 150,000 pieces of valuable historical and cultural relics of the two museums, and aperiodic exhibitions will be held by turns.

The building of theTianjinMuseumis a product of the cooperation betweenChinaandJapan. From the designing schemes put forward by twelve designing institutes, both domestic and foreign, the related specialists have finally chosen the scheme put forward by a Japanese designing office and the Swan
comes out of its egg. In the concept of the world famous Japanese architectural master, the design of shell structure gives one a sensuous pleasure by combining the manmade lake with the entrance corridor, just like a swan with its wings spread out. In addition, the appearance of the building
gives one the feeling of a theater. It offers an epoch-making beautiful scenery that can be compared favorably with the Sydney Opera House.

TheTianjinMuseumis a three-storeyed building. From the hall on the ground floor, you can get to the top floor, the Historical Exhibition Hall, directly by the staircase. You can not only enjoy the rare historical collections but also enjoy the sunshine coming from the feather-shaped skylight in
the dome. Then you can get down by the stairway to the second floor, where there are exhibition halls of historical and cultural relics as well as folk custom exhibits, showing mainly the rare collections of the historical museum and the art museum. In accordance with the duration of the
exhibition, the exhibition halls can be divided into two kinds. The first kind is arrayed for basic display with the exhibits kept relatively stable while the exhibits of the second kind can be readjusted and changed as needed. The two exhibition halls are relatively independent with their
respective special accesses and passageways. Finally, you can return to the ground floor, which has a space of 10,000 square meters used for warehouse to store exhibits, offices and reading room. You can take a short rest and have a cup of coffee here in the lounge, which offers a unique visual
field for enjoying the surrounding sceneries of the Museum.

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Chinese Mandarin - Jue Se and Jiao Se

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Library>Culture ABC>Opera>Introduction

Jue Se and Jiao Se

In Chinese opera,Jue SeandJiao Sehave quite different meanings.

Jue Serefers to which figure in the play the actor represents.Jiao Se, orHangdan,is basically classified asSheng, Dan,Jing,MoandChou.

According to the age and social status of the characters,Shengfalls into three sub-groups:Laosheng, XiaoshengandWusheng;theDanroles are subdivided intoZhengdan(orQingyi), Huadan, Wudan, Laodan, Caidan, Daomadan, and Guimendan;theJingroles, Dahualian, Erhualian, Wuer
HualianandYouhualian;theChouroles, WenchouandWuchou.

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Chinese Pinyin - Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association

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Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association

Address: No.10, Nanli, Nongzhanguan (Agricultural Exhibition Hall), Beijing

Post Code: 100026

Tel: (86-10) 65004622

The Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association was established in March of 1950. It now has nearly 4,000 members. Its subordinated organs include the Chinese Story Society, Chinese Fairy Tales Society, Chinese Ballad Society, Chinese Proverb Society, Chinese Folk Art Society and the Chinese
Paper-Cutting Society. It publishes the magazinesFolk Literature(monthly),Opinions on Folk Literature(bimonthly) andFolk Customs(monthly).

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Study Chinese - Chinese Manglietiastrum

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Library>China ABC>Fauna Flora>Introduction and Regulations>Class I Plants>Angiosperm

Chinese Manglietiastrum

It belongs to the Magnoliaceae Family, with the Latin name ofManglietiastrum sinicum.

The evergreen mega-arbor can attain the height up to 40 meters with the chest diameter of 1.2 meters. It has a gray bark. The annual shoot is green. The large keratinous leaves are elliptic or obovoid, and usually 15 to 26 centimeters long, or even 30 centimeters. The aromatic flower bears 9 to 11
fleshy tepals, 3 elliptic felly, which is deep red outside and white inside, and 2 white inside rings. The obovoid or oval fruits, bearing sparse lenticels, are usually 5 to 8.5 centimeters in length, with a diameter of 3.5 to 6.5 centimeters. It contains 1 to 3 seeds inside, wrapped in red outer
coat.

It's native to broad-leaved evergreen forests in South Asia tropic monsoon area, in ravines facing the sunlight on the upper part of the hillside 1,300-1,550 meters above sea level. The mountain yellow earth or yellow brown earth there is developed from sandstone and sand shale which have a pH
value of 4.8 to 5.7 and contain 20% or more organic matter. Chinese Manglietiastrum haswide crowns above the level of the forest canopy, with developed root system. It blossoms once every 1 to 2 years with a florescence in the last ten days of April. It doesn't bear many flowering branches and the
fruit-bearing rate is low. It bears fruits from September to November.

Chinese Manglietiastrum is an endemic species of China, with a fairly small distribution area -- only found in southeast of Yunnan Province where there are only 7 individuals. It's of academic value for the study on the classification system and the palaeo-flora of the Magnolia Family. It has a
straight trunk and is rot-proof and bug-proof, with silk-like luster. Therefore, it's a precious timber tree in south of Yunan Province. Bearing fresh and aromatic flowers, it can be used for ornamental purposes.

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Learn mandarin - Shanxi Chengni Inkstone

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Library>China ABC>Geography>Local Products

Shanxi Chengni Inkstone

Chengni inkstone, one of the four most important inkstones in China (the other three are She, Duan and Tao inkstones), is produced in Xinjiang County of Shanxi Province in northern China. It is definitely an item not to be neglected. It differs from most of its brethren because of the way of
making it. Instead of using a big chunk of hard rock, the stone is made from the soft soil from the bed of a local river.

Chengni inkstone originated in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and was then a precious article of tribute. Unfortunately by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the craft of kilning the once famous Chengni inkstone had already lost its heritage due to various reasons. It regained its past prosperity after
unremitting effort by craftsmen in recent years.

The very fine mud under the bed of the Fenhe River is filtered, mixed with bounding material, dried and carved into inkstone, then fired in the kiln. Because of the different minerals in the mud and also the different temperature of the firing, final products have different colors. The process has
nine steps: mud choosing, filtrating, depositing, molding, baking, carving, firing, waxing and polishing. Chengni inkstone has the following characteristics: easy to generate ink, no harm done to the brush, and portable.

In terms of artistic design, Chengni inkstone, now with about a hundred designs, stresses on patterns and shapes, with elegant and simple but beautiful colors.

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Chinese Tutor - Beijing Roasted Duck

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Beijing Roasted Duck

Beijing Roasted Duck has the reputation of being the most delicious food in Beijing. It is usually a fixed item of dinner on any Beijing tour itinerary. Eating Beijing Roasted Duck is also one of the two things you are absolutely supposed to do while in Beijing -- the other one is climbing the
Great Wall.

The hometown of roasted duck is actually Nanjing City of Jiangsu Province in East China. In the 19thyear (1421) during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and hence roasted duck was introduced to Beijing and became an imperial
dish.

Beijing ducks are called force-fed ducks, which are raised for the sole purpose of making the food. Force-fed, they are kept in cages which restrain them from moving about, so as to fatten them up and make the meat comparably tender.

Beijing Roasted Duck has two kinds: Menlu Roasted Duck (duck roasted in the oven) and Gualu Roasted Duck (duck roasted over the fire). The preparations include: first rubbing the ducks with spices, salt and sugar, and then hanging them in the air for some time. To make a Menlu Roasted Duck, first
burn the Kaoliang stalks in the oven till the sides of the oven turn hot, then put the ready-duck inside until the duck is baked date-red and shining with oil by the heat of the oven and the remaining heat of the ash. To make a Gualu Roasted Duck, the ready-duck is baked in the oven directly over
the burning wood of peach, jujube or date trees, which gives off a special fragrance, with very little smoke; bake until the duck becomes brown with rich grease perspiring outside and have a nice odor. The best roasted duck has a crisp skin and tender meat.

Beijing Roasted Duck is always served in well-cut slices. The chef cuts the meat into thin slices, each having a piece of skin and perfect with the complete layers of the meat. Then the meat is served with very thin pancakes, Chinese onions and special sauce -- usually sweet bean sauce. The way to
eat it is to coat the thin pancake with sauce, slap on a few pieces of meat and roll up the pancake. Chopsticks are optional: it is much easier just to grab the thing with your bare hands. Normally there are many dishes served with the duck, including a dish of fine-cut shallot bars, a dish of
cucumber bars and finally a dish of paste-like soy of fermented wheat flour. The dinner usually ends with a rich cream-colored duck soup made from the duck.

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Chinese Class - Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve

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Library>China ABC>Fauna Flora>Nature Reserves

Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve

The first nature reserve in China isDinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve. It was established in 1956 near Zhaoqing City in Guangdong Province mainly to protectevergreen monsoon rain forests of the south subtropical zone. The Reserve lies between east longitude of 112o30′- 112o33′ and north
latitude of 23o09′- 23o11′ with an area of 1,133 hectares.The natural forest of the region is one of the special natural forest types in the world,and therefore it is of high science and research value. In 1979, Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve was included in the International Man and
Biosphere Reserve Network of the UNESCO as a global conservation spot for the research of ecosystem in tropical and subtropical forest.

Climate

The climate here isdamp monsoon climate of south subtropical zone. It is moist and rainy, providing favorable conditions for plants to grow. The temperature is quite different in summer and in winter. The annual average temperature is 20.9℃. The average temperature in July, the hottest month, is
28.0℃with the extremely highest temperature of 38.0℃. In contrast, the average temperature in January, the coldest month here, is 12.6℃with the extremely lowest temperature of 0.2℃below zero. The annual precipitation tops 1.929 millimeters. The annual relative humidity averages 82%. July,
August and September are typhoon months and about 4 typhoons hit the region every year.

Physical Features

Dinghu Mountain is one of the four famous mountains -- Danxia, Dinghu, Xiqiao and Luofu in Guangdong Province. Dinghu Mountain has more than 10 peaks such as Dinghu, Sanbao, Fenglai, Jilong, Fuhu and Qingshi. The peaks are about 500 meters above sea level. The highest peak is Jilong with an
altitude of 1,003 meters. There is over 900 meters in terms of altitude between the highest peak and the lowest one. There is red soil in each zone in the Reserve. Yellow soil and grassy marshland are vertically distributed in the Reserve. Two streams rising in Jilong Mountain run perennially from
northwest to southeast and join at the entrance of Dinghu Mountain National Natural Reserve before flowing into Xijiang River.

Biological Features

The forest coverage in the Reserve reaches 78%. Evergreen broad-leavedforests of south subtropical zone with a history of 400 years are well protected. As top vegetation in the monsoon zone, they are precious natural heritage belonging to China and the whole world. The vegetationis vertically
distributed with rich and conspicuous features into several types including monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forests and mountainous evergreen broad-leaved forests.

There are abundant animal and plant resources with great variety. More than 2,400 species of plants are distributed here, and of these species, about 1,700 higher plants including 320 xyplants and over 900 plants for medicine, 110 fibrous plants and 70 oil plants among which 22 rare, precious and
endangered plants under the special state protection including Lichi chinensis and Cycas spp. In addition, there are more than 170 species of birds, 30 species of animals and 20 species of pythons, among which leopards, serows and silver pheasants are under the state protection. Silver pheasant is
the official bird of Guangdong Province.

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Chinese Speaking - Sable

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Library>China ABC>Fauna Flora>Introduction and Regulations>Class I Animals>Mammalia

Sable

Also known as Mink, Marten, Red Mink and Grand Foliate, it belongs to the Mustelidae family of Carnivora order. Its Latin scientific name is Martes zibillina, and English name is Sable.

Its body is slender, with four stout limbs, and the body shape is like yellow weasel but slightly larger. The male is generally larger than the female. It has five toes with sharp and bent claws. Its ears are large and erect, slightly triangular-shaped. The tail hair is tousy. Its body color is
black brown, slightly mixed with white acicular hair; and the head is light grayish brown, with the ear brim spotted with white color. It has yellow or yellowish white larynx spots. Thei chest has tan hair, while the belly is in lighter color. Its winter pelt is of top quality due to its dense,
rich and generous fuzz, and also because of the cutis plate with good elasticity.

It lives in coniferous forestss or mixed broadleaf-conifer forests in sub-frigid zone, mostly building nests in tree holes or on stone heaps. Except mating time, it mostly lives alone, with acute sight and audition, as well as quick action. Once astonished, it will instantly disappear in the
woods. Feed on mini-type rodent, avifauna, pine nuts, wild fruits, and bird ova, it regularly looks for food at night on the ground or under snow; when there is a food shortage, it also come out in daytime for hunting. Its range of movement is within 5 to 10 square kilometers. The estrous period
is from April to May every year, and the gestation period lasts 9 to 10 month. It has 2 to 4 babies per fetus, and grows to sexual maturity at the age of 3. Its main natural enemy is Yellow-throated Martens and birds of prey.

Sable isdistributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, as well as Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

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Chinese Online Class - Giant Panda

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Library>China ABC>Fauna Flora>Introduction and Regulations>Class I Animals>Mammalia

Giant Panda

It belongs to the Ailuropodidae family of Carnivora order. Its scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Latin), or Giant Panda, or Bamboo Bear (English)

The body length of adult male is150 to 180 centimetersand the height of shoulder is 65 to 70 centimeters. The tail is 12 to 14 centimeters long. Generally it weighs 80 to 125 kilograms, and the female is 10 to 20 percent smaller than the male. The form of the body is like the black bear, with
round and large head and rather short tail. Its trunk and tail are white, while the ears, eyes and four limbs are black.

Inhabiting in high mountain forests at an elevation of 1,300 to 3,600 meters, it is most often seen in mixed broadleaf-conifer forests under which there are arrow bamboos, square bamboos or other canebrake. Except estrous period, it leads a solitary life, good at climbing trees and swimming. Its
main food is bamboo and bamboo shoots, as well as Chinese gooseberry and other fruits, and once in a while it also eats dead animals. The oestrus is from the last ten days of March to the middle ten days of May. The gestation period lasts 97 to 163 days. The actual growth of the embryo is about
1.5 month. It procreates once every 2 years, with generally one baby per fetus, once in a while two babies. The newborn baby weighs only 90 to 130 grams; it begins to eat bamboo 5 to 6 months after birth and is ablactated at the age of 8 to 9 months. At about 18 months old it leaves its mother. In
general, it grows to sexual maturity at the age of 55 to 65 months. Under breeding condition, it has a lifespan of 26 years.

Giant panda is a precious and rare animal endemic to China and in the verge of extinction, only distributed in Sichuan Province, Gansu Province, and Qinling of Shaanxi Province, with the present quantity of about 1000.

Belonging to national first-grade animal species under protection, it has been listed in Appendix I ofInternational Trade Convention on Endangered Wild Animal and Plant Species. Owing to great difficulty in propagation, the quantity under artificial breeding condition is limited. By far, zoos and
farms of natural protection areas in China and abroad, have obtained more than 240 of Giant Pandas from open fields, for the requirements of exhibition, breeding and research. At present there are less than 100 heads under artificial breeding (including self-bred quantity).

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Chinese Studies - Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival

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Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival

( 2008-07-15 )

The famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival depicting in great details the economy, culture, and customs of the Northern Song dynasty almost a thousand years ago nowadays is choreographed into a folk dance by several veteran Hong Kong artists. The creative dance performance
displays the prosperity of the ancient capital city with an modern expression.

During the Song Dynasty, dance trickled its way down from the imperial palace to the common man, spurring the art form on toward its golden age. The dance drama Along the River during the Qingming Festival rests on the foundation of Chinese traditional culture, bringing together a rich array of
Central Plains dance culture as source material. Rather than using a traditional story line, it is made up of eighteen poetic chapters, using a unique "freehand" style to portray the rich and multi-faceted life along the Bianhe River during the Northern Song Dynasty. A myriad of dance forms along
with a real sense of modern art bring life to traditional folk dance, invoking musings on the ancient past, leading the audience—following the dancers' steps—into a dazzlingly and flourishing age.

This performance will be staged from July 16 to 17 at National Centre for Performing Arts.

The historical dance drama Along the River during the Qingming Festival was first performed as a gift in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the Mainland in July of 2007, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. Following, during November and December of the same
year, the production made its way to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing, including performances at the "Shanghai Creative Industry Activity Week" and "The Fifth Beijing International Dance Season".

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* Dancing Beijing -- Beijing 2008 Olympic Emblem

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* Beijing Paralympics Emblem ( 07-10 )
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Chinese language - Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

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Library>China ABC>Geography>Introduction

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Geography

Xinjiang was set up as an autonomous region on October 1, 1955. It has an area of more than 1.66 million square kilometers, one sixth of the total size of China and larger than any other province or autonomous region.

Climate

Situated deep in the interior of Asia and not penetrated by the air currents from the oceans, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has conspicuous continental climate, with highly changeable temperature, great difference in temperature between day and night, abundant sunshine, intense evaporation
and little precipitation. The mean annual temperature of Xinjiang is 11.7oC -- the hottest month, July, averaging about 25oC and the coldest month, January, -20oC in the north) and -10oC in the south -- and a mean annual precipitation of 150 mm.

Administrative Division and Population

It is divided into 2 prefecture-level cities, 5 districts, 5 autonomous prefectures, 14 county-level cities, 61 counties and 6 autonomous counties with a population of 19.25 million by 2000, of which 5 million are the Uygurs, the principal minority group there, the rest are the Hans, Kazaks,
Mongolians, Huis, Xibes, Kirgizes, Ozbeks, Tajiks, Russians, Manchus, Daurs and Tatars.

Food

Baked Full Goat, Baked Baozi, Pellicle Baozi, Kebab, Braised Jemmy and Goat's Hoof, Youtazi (Oil Pagoda), etc.

Culture

The Uygur dances, such as the "Bowls-on-Head Dance", "Drum Dance", "Iron Ring Dance", "Puta Dance" and "Sainaim Dance". Uygur musical instruments, such as the Dutar, strummed Rawap and Dap.

Brief Introduction

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xin for short) is located in Northwest China, with its capital city in Urumqi.

Surrounded by lofty mountains, Xinjiang is known far and wide as the home of fruits and melons. Its main agricultural produces include wheat, corn, cotton and plenty of fruit like Hami melon, grape, fig, Ili apple, etc. Being one of China's five major pastoral areas, it has advanced livestock
breeding. It also has rich resources of petroleum, bowlder, gold and nonferrous metals

Xinjiang is well known for the expanse of its area and richness of natural resources, as well for its wonderful scenic spots and enchanting spectacles of nature. Many "mosts" of China are found in Xinjiang -- the driest, hottest, and coldest places are in Xinjiang, and China's longest inland
river, lowest land and greatest desert are here as well. Here the tourist can see a most spectacular and engrossing topography of the world, locally known as "Yadan". The longest inland river, The Turpan Basin is the second lowest land on the earth next to the Dead Sea in Jordon, while the Mount
Qogir, 8,611 meters above sea level, is second in height only to the Mount Everest.

Historical and cultural tourism in Xinjiang is most attractive for its unique charm. The Silk Road, which runs across Xinjiang horizontally, is known to the whole world. Xinjiang is endowed with 236 ancient cultural sites, tombs, architectures, Buddhist caves, stone sculptures, and modern
commemorative monuments of historical, artistic, and scientific value. Within the territory of Xinjiang, there are a number of ancient city ruins such as Gaochang Ancient City, City Site in State of Loulan, and the Site of Niya. The region has established 22 nature reserves.

Vast in area, Xinjiang has various types of geographical conditions and multitude of regional and ethical cultures. Its scenic spots and historical sites include the Heavenly Lake of Tianshan Mountain, the Flaming Mountains of Turpan, the Mosque in Kaxi, etc.

Xinjiang is also a region of many minority groups in China, and its people is known far and wide for being excellent at singing and dancing.

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Learning Chinese - Artistic Gymnastics

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Artistic Gymnastics

( 2008-07-10 )






Venue: National Indoor Stadium

Time: Aug 9 – 10, Aug 12 – 15, Aug 17 - 20





The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) was formed on 23 July 1881 when representatives of the gymnastics associations of Belgium, France and the Netherlands met in Liège. As a governing body it is held in high esteem by both its member federations and gymnastics clubs throughout
five continents. In 1897, seventeen national associations joined together to form the basis of the European Gymnastics Federation. However, when the USA was admitted in 1921, the Committee changed its name to the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique or FIG, as it is known today.

FIG comprises three Olympic disciplines: artistic, rhythmic and trampoline.

Each discipline is controlled by a Technical Committee made up of a Technical President and six members.The Technical Committees are responsible for the coordination and control of their specific discipline in terms of the technical requirements for competition as they relate to each specific
discipline.

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the defining sports of the Olympic Games. Mixing strength and agility with style and grace, the high-flying acrobats have provided many of the most breathtaking Olympic spectacles of the past quarter-century.

Nadia Comeneci's perfect 10 score at the 1976 Montreal Games, the first ever awarded, remains the high-water mark for most gymnastics fans. The 14-year-old Romanian achieved the seemingly impossible seven times in Montreal, a feat so unexpected that the scoring technology was set up for only three
digits. Her 10.00s were displayed as 1.00.

Gymnastics has a long, proud history. The sport can be traced back to ancient Greece, where such skills featured in the ancient Olympic Games. Ancient Rome, Persia, India and China practised similar disciplines, mostly aimed at preparing young men for battle. The word itself derives from the Greek
word gymnos, meaning naked - dress requirements for athletes in those days were minimal, to say the least.

COMPETITION

In artistic events (performed on an apparatus), men compete in floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars. Female gymnasts compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. The competition includes all-round events and team events, also scored over each apparatus.










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Learn Mandarin online - Hainan Province

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Library>China ABC>Geography>Introduction







Hainan Province




Geography



Situated 108'37"-117'50" east longitude and 3'58"-20'20" north latitude, Hainan Province, at the southernmost tip of China, is separated from Guangdong Province on the mainland by the Qiongzhou Straits. Established as a province in April 1988, Hainan covers an area of 34,000 square kilometers,
including the Hainan Island and the Xisha, Nansha, and Zhongsha islands and their surrounding territorial waters.

Climate

Hainan enjoys a tropical monsoon climate and is frost-free all year round. It has a mean annual temperature of 22.5oC-26oC, and a mean annual precipitation of 1,500-2,600 mm. It is frequently visited by typhoons throughout the year.

Administrative Division and Population

It is divided into 2 prefecture-level cities, 7 county-level cities, 4 counties and 6 autonomous counties, with a population of 7.87 million by 2000, mainly including ethnic groups of Han, Li, Hui, Miao and Zhuang.

Food

Nowadays, Hainan cuisine is very popular all over the world, especially the fresh and delicious seafood.

Culture

Qiong Opera, songs and dances of Li and Miao nationalities

Brief Introduction

What particularly attracts tourists, both domestic and foreign, to Hainan is its characteristic beauty of south China with sunshine, beaches, seawater and hot springs. As a result if recent efforts, Hainan has completed and put into use a series of holiday resorts with high-level hotels, becoming
a fabulous competitor in the tourist market of East Asia. Leading festivals are the Hainan International Festival of Coconuts and Third Day of Third Lunar Month Festival.

About 6,000 years ago, there were ancient people living in present Hainan area. Hainan first entered written history in 110BC, when the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) established a garrison there. In the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) it became an independent province, but was placed under Guangdong Province
in 1370 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Hainan Province, also called Qiong, is located in the southernmost part of China. The Hainan Island is like a circle island. From the center spread outward, the rugged hills, plains and sea were linked one after another. Zengmu'ansha is the hottest place in the southwest.

Established in 1988, Hainan Province is the largest special economic zone and the youngest province in China. It abounds in minerals and resources of animals and plants, especially its rich petroleum and natural gas. With the high speed of economic development, it becomes the key production base
of tropical products in China, including sugar cane, peanuts, coco, coffee, sisal, pineapple, seafood, precious timber and plastic, etc.

The Hainan Island has a coastal line of 1,580 kilometers, and it enjoys a tropical monsoon climate and is frost-free all year round. The climate is warm all year round with sunshine most of the times. The forest area covers more than 50% of the total island. Its natural beauty has gained a good
reputation among the visitors and has been widely known around the world. People call it "the Oriental Hawaii".

With blue clear sea and fresh air, the island is covered with beautiful tropical plants. There are many famous places to visit, such as the Wugong Temple (the Five Officials Memorial Temple), the scenic spot of Tianya Haijiao (the Remotest End of the Earth and Corner of the Ocean), the Dadong
River and the Yalong Bay in Sanya City.

Hainan is a multinational region, and there the ethnic villages of Li and Miao are very typical. The hospitable villagers will treat you with traditional food as well as wonderful singing and dancing performances. So the Li and Miao Villages in Hainan are well worth a visit.











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