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Qingyuan is a major economic and transportation hub. The Beijing–Guangzhou Railway, National Highways 106 and 107, and the Bei or North River cross through the city. The maritime infrastructure in Qingyuan plays a vital role in transporting goods to other regional centers in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.
The Namazu, also called the Onamazu, is a creature in Japanese mythology and folktales. The Namazu is a gigantic catfish said to cause earthquakes and tremors. Living in the mud under the Japanese isles, the Namazu is guarded by the protector god Kashima, who restrains the catfish using the <i>kaname-ishi</i> rock. Whenever Kashima lets his guard down, Namazu thrashes about and causes violent earthquakes.<br/><br/> The Namazu rose to new fame and popularity after the Ansei great earthquakes that happened near Edo in 1855. This led to the Namazu being worshipped as a god of world rectification (<i>yonaoshi daimyojin</i>), sent by the gods to correct some of the imbalances in the world.<br/><br/> Catfish woodblock prints known as <i>namazu-e</i> became their own popular genre within days of the earthquake. They were usually unsigned and often depicted scenes of a namazu or many namazu atoning for their deeds. They were quickly squashed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, the prints censored and destroyed, with only a handful surviving to this day.
Water Puppetry or Múa rối nước, literally 'puppets that dance on water' originated in the Red River Delta. The puppets are carved from water-resistant wood to represent traditional rural lifestyles and mythical creatures. Standing behind the watery stage, waist-deep in water, the hidden puppeteers skillfully manoeuvre their wooden charges to the music of a traditional orchestra.
<i>Hikifuda</i> are advertising handbills that became popular in late 19th to early 20th century Japan. Showing the increasing sophistication of Japanese commerce, the handbills were produced to advertise a company or promote a product, and sometimes they were even used as wrapping paper.<br/><br/> While <i>hikifuda</i> began to be produced as woodblock prints in the late 17th century, they witnessed a boom in the later 19th century when they were cheaply printed using colour lithography.
The streets of the capital, Hanoi, and especially the largest city, Ho Chi Minh City bustle with enthusiasm and business energy. The abandonment of socialist economics and its gradual replacement by limited market-oriented capitalism has been welcomed by the populace. People everywhere are angling to make money, and the streets are filled with small-scale private enterprises selling all manner of items.
The streets of the capital, Hanoi, and especially the largest city, Ho Chi Minh City bustle with enthusiasm and business energy. The abandonment of socialist economics and its gradual replacement by limited market-oriented capitalism has been welcomed by the populace. People everywhere are angling to make money, and the streets are filled with small-scale private enterprises selling all manner of items.
A yi (Chinese: 匜; pinyin: yí) is a shape used in ancient Chinese ritual bronzes. It has the shape of half a gourd with a handle (often in the shape of a dragon) and usually supported by four legs. It is believed it was used to contain water for washing hands before rituals like sacrifices.
The National Palace Museum (Chinese: 國立故宮博物院; pinyin: Guólì Gùgōng Bówùyuàn) is an antique museum in Shilin, Taipei, Taiwan.<br/><br/>It is one of the national museums of the Republic of China, and has a permanent collection of more than 696,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest in the world.<br/><br/>The collection encompasses over 8,000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic age to the late Qing Dynasty. Most of the collection are high quality pieces collected by China's ancient emperors.
The earliest mention of Kashgar occurs when a Chinese Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) envoy traveled the Northern Silk Road to explore lands to the west.<br/><br/> Another early mention of Kashgar is during the Former Han (also known as the Western Han Dynasty), when in 76 BCE the Chinese conquered the Xiongnu, Yutian (Khotan), Sulei (Kashgar), and a group of states in the Tarim basin almost up to the foot of the Tian Shan mountains.<br/><br/> Ptolemy spoke of Scythia beyond the Imaus, which is in a 'Kasia Regio', probably exhibiting the name from which Kashgar is formed.<br/><br/> The country’s people practised Zoroastrianism and Buddhism before the coming of Islam. The celebrated Old Uighur prince Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam late in the 10th century and his Uighur kingdom lasted until 1120 but was distracted by complicated dynastic struggles.<br/><br/> The Uighurs employed an alphabet based upon the Syriac and borrowed from the Nestorian, but after converting to Islam widely used also an Arabic script. They spoke a dialect of Turkic preserved in the Kudatku Bilik, a moral treatise composed in 1065.
The earliest mention of Kashgar occurs when a Chinese Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) envoy traveled the Northern Silk Road to explore lands to the west.<br/><br/> Another early mention of Kashgar is during the Former Han (also known as the Western Han Dynasty), when in 76 BCE the Chinese conquered the Xiongnu, Yutian (Khotan), Sulei (Kashgar), and a group of states in the Tarim basin almost up to the foot of the Tian Shan mountains.<br/><br/> Ptolemy spoke of Scythia beyond the Imaus, which is in a 'Kasia Regio', probably exhibiting the name from which Kashgar is formed.<br/><br/> The country’s people practised Zoroastrianism and Buddhism before the coming of Islam. The celebrated Old Uighur prince Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam late in the 10th century and his Uighur kingdom lasted until 1120 but was distracted by complicated dynastic struggles.<br/><br/> The Uighurs employed an alphabet based upon the Syriac and borrowed from the Nestorian, but after converting to Islam widely used also an Arabic script. They spoke a dialect of Turkic preserved in the Kudatku Bilik, a moral treatise composed in 1065.
The Eight Immortals (Chinese: Baxian; Pa-hsien) are a group of legendary 'xian' (immortals; transcendents; fairies) in Chinese mythology. Each Immortal's power can give life or destroy evil. Most of them are said to have been born in the Tang Dynasty or Song Dynasty. They are revered in Daoism (Taoism) and are also a popular element in secular Chinese culture. They are said to live on a group of five islands in the Bohai Sea which includes Penglai Mountain-Island. The Immortals are:<br/><br/> 1. Immortal Woman He (He Xiangu)<br/><br/> 2. Royal Uncle Cao (Cao Guojiu)<br/><br/> 3. Iron-Crutch Li (Tieguai Li)<br/><br/> 4. Lan Caihe<br/><br/> 5. Lu Dongbin, (leader) 6. Philosopher Han Xiang (Han Xiang Zi)<br/><br/> 7. Elder Zhang Guo (Zhang Guo Lao)<br/><br/> 8. Han Zhongli (Zhongli Quan)<br/><br/> In literature before the 1970s, they were sometimes translated as the Eight Genies. First described in the Yuan Dynasty, they were probably named after the Eight Immortal Scholars of the Han.
Bitter melon originated in India, and it was carried to China in the 14th century.<br/><br/> Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
Fenghuang is Chinese for Phoenix and refers to the mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, and (according to Sanchuniathon) the Phoenicians.<br/><br/> Legend suggests that two phoenixes on discovering the town hovered overhead for some considerable time before reluctantly flying away.<br/><br/> Fenghuang town is a well-preserved ancient town supposedly dating back to 248 BC. It is home to the Miao and Tujia minorities. The distinctive architecture includes Ming and Qing styles.
Fenghuang is Chinese for Phoenix and refers to the mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, and (according to Sanchuniathon) the Phoenicians.<br/><br/> Legend suggests that two phoenixes on discovering the town hovered overhead for some considerable time before reluctantly flying away.<br/><br/> Fenghuang town is a well-preserved ancient town supposedly dating back to 248 BC. It is home to the Miao and Tujia minorities. The distinctive architecture includes Ming and Qing styles.
Built on the banks of Lake Dian and surrounded by limestone mountains, Kunming was an important ancient trade route between Tibet, China and Southeast Asia. The city, then called Yunnanfu, suffered at the hands of rebel leader Du Wenxiu, the Sultan of Dali, who attacked and besieged the city several times between 1858 and 1868, razing most of the city's Buddhist temples.<br/><br/> In the 1890s, an uprising against working conditions on the Kunming-Haiphong railway line saw 300,000 laborers executed after France shipped in weapons to suppress the revolt. The railway line, only completed in 1911, was built by the French so that they could tap Yunnan's mineral resources for their colonies in Indochina.<br/><br/> Today, Kunming is a city of over 6 million people, and is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan.
Built on the banks of Lake Dian and surrounded by limestone mountains, Kunming was an important ancient trade route between Tibet, China and Southeast Asia. The city, then called Yunnanfu, suffered at the hands of rebel leader Du Wenxiu, the Sultan of Dali, who attacked and besieged the city several times between 1858 and 1868, razing most of the city's Buddhist temples.<br/><br/> In the 1890s, an uprising against working conditions on the Kunming-Haiphong railway line saw 300,000 laborers executed after France shipped in weapons to suppress the revolt. The railway line, only completed in 1911, was built by the French so that they could tap Yunnan's mineral resources for their colonies in Indochina.<br/><br/> Today, Kunming is a city of over 6 million people, and is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan.
Built on the banks of Lake Dian and surrounded by limestone mountains, Kunming was an important ancient trade route between Tibet, China and Southeast Asia. The city, then called Yunnanfu, suffered at the hands of rebel leader Du Wenxiu, the Sultan of Dali, who attacked and besieged the city several times between 1858 and 1868, razing most of the city's Buddhist temples.<br/><br/> In the 1890s, an uprising against working conditions on the Kunming-Haiphong railway line saw 300,000 laborers executed after France shipped in weapons to suppress the revolt. The railway line, only completed in 1911, was built by the French so that they could tap Yunnan's mineral resources for their colonies in Indochina.<br/><br/> Today, Kunming is a city of over 6 million people, and is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan.