Wudang, Emei & Kunlun Mountains of China

The Wudang Mountains 武当山 Wǔdāng Shān, also known as Wu Tang Shan or Wudang, are a small mountain range in the northwestern part of Hubei Province of China, just to the south of the manufacturing city of Shiyan.




Mount Emei 峨嵋山 Éméi Shān is a mountain in Sichuan province of Western China. Mount Emei is often written as 峨眉山 and occasionally 峩嵋山 or 峩眉山 but all three are translated as Mount Emei or Mount Emeishan.
At 3,099 m (10,167 ft), Mt. Emei is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China.

The Kunlun Mountains 昆仑山 Kūnlún Shān is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km.

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Kunming Rock Forest，Shilin ＝石林 ＝ Shílín

Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite.

Due to subterranean drainage, there may be very limited surface water, even to the absence of all rivers and lakes. Many karst regions display distinctive surface features, with sinkholes or dolines being the most common. However, distinctive karst surface features may be completely absent where the soluble rock is mantled, such as by glacial debris, or confined by a superimposed non-soluble rock strata. Some karst regions include thousands of caves, even though evidence of caves that are big enough for human exploration is not a required characteristic of karst.


China

• Area around Guilin and Yangshuo
• Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong National Park, (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• South China Karst, World Heritage Site
• Zhangjiajie National Forest park, forming part of the Wulingyuan scenic area, World Heritage Site

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Travelogue Ethnic Odyssey - Tibetan Horse Racing Festival at Yushu 3/3

Travelogue Ethnic Odyssey - Tibetan Horse Racing Festival at Yushu 3/3

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Travelogue Ethnic Odyssey - Tibetan Horse Racing Festival at Yushu 2/3

Travelogue Ethnic Odyssey - 

Tibetan Horse Racing Festival at Yushu 2/3

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Travelogue Ethnic Odyssey - Tibetan Horse Racing Festival at Yushu 1/3

Travelogue Ethnic Odyssey - Tibetan Horse Racing Festival at Yushu 1/3

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Ancient Warriors - The Shaolin 3/3

Kung fu (功夫)
Chinese martial arts may possibly be traced to the Xia Dynasty (夏朝) which existed more than 4000 years ago. Their origin is attributed to self-defenseneeds, hunting activities and military training in ancient China. Hand-to-hand combat and weapons practice were important components in the training of Chinese soldiers. From this beginning, Chinese martial arts proceeded to incorporate different philosophies and ideas into its practice—expanding its purpose from self-defense to health maintenance and finally as method of self-cultivation. The influence of martial ideals in civilian society spread into poetry, fiction, and eventually film.

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Ancient Warriors - The Shaolin 2/3

Chinese martial arts may possibly be traced to the Xia Dynasty (夏朝) which existed more than 4000 years ago. Their origin is attributed to self-defenseneeds, hunting activities and military training in ancient China. Hand-to-hand combat and weapons practice were important components in the training of Chinese soldiers. From this beginning, Chinese martial arts proceeded to incorporate different philosophies and ideas into its practice—expanding its purpose from self-defense to health maintenance and finally as method of self-cultivation. The influence of martial ideals in civilian society spread into poetry, fiction, and eventually film.

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Kung fu (功夫) . Wushu (武术) Ancient Warriors - The Shaolin 1/3

Kung fu (功夫) . Wushu (武术)
Chinese martial arts may possibly be traced to the Xia Dynasty (夏朝) which existed more than 4000 years ago. Their origin is attributed to self-defenseneeds, hunting activities and military training in ancient China. Hand-to-hand combat and weapons practice were important components in the training of Chinese soldiers. From this beginning, Chinese martial arts proceeded to incorporate different philosophies and ideas into its practice—expanding its purpose from self-defense to health maintenance and finally as method of self-cultivation. The influence of martial ideals in civilian society spread into poetry, fiction, and eventually film.




Historical places
Shaolin Monastery (少林寺)
Wudang Mountains (武当山)
Mount Emei (峨嵋山)
Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山)


Historical people
Bodhidharma / Putidamo / Damo (菩提达摩)
Zhang Sanfeng (张三丰)
Five Elders (五祖)
Yim Wing-chun / Yan Yongchun (严咏春)
Hung Hei-Gun / Hong Xiguan (洪熙官)
Dong Haichuan (董海川)
Yang Luchan (杨露禅)
Wu Quanyou (吴全佑)
Chen Fake (陈发科)
Chan Heung / Chen Xiang (陈享)
Wong Fei Hung / Huang Feihong (黄飞鸿)
Huo Yuanjia (霍元甲)
Yip Man / Ye Wen (叶问)
Bruce Lee (李小龙)

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Chinese Calligraphy . Chinese arts

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The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China (Part 9)

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秦始皇 Qin Shi Huang (Part 8)

秦始皇 Qin Shi Huang

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Giant Panda=熊猫

The Giant Panda is listed as endangered in the World Conservation Union's 
Red List of Threatened Animals. It is one of the most critically endangered 
species in the world. There are only about 1,000 population left in the world。
About 140 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, mostly in China.

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The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China (Part 7)

Qin Shi Huang, a brutal but great historical figure, left us with his immense and monumental Qin Mausoleum, the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, creations made of countless broken families and human lives.

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The Numbers 88 and 168红包

The amount of money contained in the red envelope (红包）usually ends with an even digit, in accordance with Chinese beliefs.  88 and 168 are both lucky numbers.

Do not give odd-numbered money gifts are traditionally associated with funerals. 

Money should not be given in fours, or the number four should not appear in the amount, as the pronunciation of the word "four" resembles that of the word "death", and it signifies bad luck for many Chinese. 

压岁钱, meaning "money warding off evil spirits", and was believed to protect the elderly from sickness and death. While at weddings, the amount offered is usually intended to cover the cost of the attendees as well as a goodwill to the newly weds. 

'Lai See' is what it is called in Hong Kong. They are small red and gold envelopes containing money and are given at Chinese New Year. The envelopes must be red and gold as these signify prosperity and good luck. 

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The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China (Part 6)

Emperor Chin or Shi Huangdi [246-210 BC]

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Umberto Eco – Six Walks in the Fictional Woods Tamás Lévai

‘It is right for me while walking in the wood to use every experience and every discovery to learn about life, about the past and the future. But since wood is created for everybody, I must not look there for facts and sentiments which concern only myself.’

Umberto Eco – Six Walks in the Fictional Woods


Tamás Lévai
architect


ARCHITECTURAL INTRODUCTION

‘There are two ways of walking through a wood. The first is to try one of several routes […] the second is to walk so as to discover what the wood is like and find out why some paths are accessible and others are not.’


Umberto Eco – Six Walks in the Fictional Woods

GÖMBÖC

Gömböc, as a hungarian invention, is the central element of the exhibition, a two meter high solid plexiglass moving object.

What is Gömböc (pronounced as ‘goemboets‘)?

'Gömböc' is the first known homogenous object with one stable and one unstable equilibrium point, thus with two equilibria altogether on a horizontal surface. It can be proven that no object with less than two equilibria exists.


NON MATERIALS

The discovery of the inaccessible path has led to the idea of GÖMBÖC. The pavilion as wood is intended to represent this path, and since it is of immaterial nature, we are trying to evoke it with non materials: empty space, light and sounds.


EMPTY SPACE

GÖMBÖC, as a distinguished pebble analogy, helps to understand empty space and to recognize its uniqueness and greatness. In order to represent it in architecture, we had to combine features that are used by both mathematics and architecture: homogeneity, abstraction, dynamics and playfulness. The buffer space behaves as a wood opening, being created from a three dimensional matrix of vertically moving wooden sound tubes.

The phenomenon as a whole can only be seen in our mind, mainly as a play of light and shadows while moving in space.


NATURAL LIGHTS

The sunshine is reflected on the light, glossy floor and illuminates the entire structure from beneath.
Outdoor there would be a pipe structure, functioning as a ‘curtain’, in which water is circulated with air bells.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS

Light sources are built into the wooden sound tubes as stars in the sky.

SOUNDS

The wooden installation in itself is like a musical instrument, tubes are sound-boxes.
AFTERLIFE OF THE ARCHITECTURAL INSTALLATION

The appearing elements in the exhibition space constitute a harmonic unity in them, embodying the phenomenon that is created through the structur, it raises the opportunity of open-air exhibition with the moving light-sound-space, as a synthesis of nature.

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The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China (Part 5)

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The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China (Part 4)

Qin Shi Huang - Bio
259 BC: Born 246 BC: Succeeded the throne of the State of Qin 221 BC: Defeated the other six warring states and built the first centralized empire in China 210 BC: Dead 206 BC: Qin Dynasty collapsed

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2010上海世博会

the Chinese character 世 ='world'
shi4

242 Participating countries/organizations:-
上海世博会的国际招展工作顺利推进，截至2009年9月23日，已有242个国家和国际组织确认参加上海世博会。以下是已确认参展国和国际组织的名单。

　　非洲：阿尔及利亚、布隆迪、多哥、厄立特里亚、佛得角、刚果（布）、几内亚、科摩罗、莱索托、马里、毛里塔尼亚、塞舌尔、赤道几内亚、尼日利亚、吉布提、贝宁、中非共和国、科特迪瓦、安哥拉、埃及、坦桑尼亚、塞内加尔、津巴布韦、赞比亚、纳米比亚、苏丹、肯尼亚、摩洛哥、加蓬、喀麦隆、卢旺达、突尼斯、塞拉利昂、马达加斯加、刚果（金）、乌干达、埃塞俄比亚、毛里求斯、尼日尔、莫桑比克、几内亚比绍、利比里亚、乍得、索马里、加纳、博茨瓦纳、南非、利比亚、马拉维、布基纳法索、冈比亚

美洲：古巴、加拿大、多米尼克、玻利维亚、美国、哥斯达黎加、危地马拉、特立尼达和多巴哥、阿根廷、乌拉圭、智利、秘鲁、圭亚那、海地、牙买加、苏里南、厄瓜多尔、委内瑞拉、格林纳达、墨西哥、尼加拉瓜、巴西、安提瓜和巴布达、萨尔瓦多、多米尼加、巴巴多斯、 巴哈马、巴拿马、巴拉圭、洪都拉斯、伯利兹、圣卢西亚、圣基茨和尼维斯、圣文森特和格林那丁斯、哥伦比亚

欧洲：法国、荷兰、摩纳哥、瑞士、乌克兰、意大利、西班牙、匈牙利、德国、克罗地亚、英国、保加利亚、波兰、卢森堡、阿尔巴尼亚、土耳其、比利时、立陶宛、黑山、摩尔多瓦、白俄罗斯、俄罗斯、葡萄牙、塞尔维亚、芬兰、阿塞拜疆、希腊、捷克、前南斯拉夫马其顿共和国、罗马尼亚、爱尔兰、塞浦路斯、奥地利、丹麦、瑞典、圣马力诺、挪威、斯洛伐克、爱沙尼亚、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那、冰岛、马耳他、斯洛文尼亚、拉脱维亚、列支敦士登、亚美尼亚、欧盟

亚洲：中国、巴基斯坦、巴林、柬埔寨、蒙古、尼泊尔、斯里兰卡、塔吉克斯坦、土库曼斯坦、新加坡、越南、缅甸、哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、乌兹别克斯坦、菲律宾、马来西亚、老挝、也门、日本、沙特阿拉伯、巴勒斯坦、印度、印度尼西亚、韩国、文莱、黎巴嫩、格鲁吉亚、不丹、泰国、伊拉克、阿曼、伊朗、马尔代夫、阿富汗、孟加拉国、阿拉伯联合酋长国、叙利亚、朝鲜、约旦、以色列、卡塔尔、科威特国、东帝汶

大洋洲：新西兰、澳大利亚、巴布亚新几内亚、瓦努阿图、帕劳、汤加、密克罗尼西亚、萨摩亚、斐济、库克群岛、纽埃、所罗门群岛、图瓦卢、基里巴斯、马绍尔群岛、瑙鲁

Africa: Algeria, Burundi, Togo, Eritrea, Cape Verde, Congo (Brazzaville), Guinea, Comoros, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Djibouti, Benin, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Angola, Egypt, Tanzania, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Sudan, Kenya, Morocco, Gabon, Cameroon, Rwanda, Tunisia, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Congo (DRC), Uganda, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Niger, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Chad, Somalia, Ghana, Botswana, South Africa, Libya, Malawi, Burkina Faso, the Gambia

Americas: Cuba, Canada, Dominica, Bolivia, the United States, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Ecuador, Venezuela, Grenada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, Antigua and Barbuda, El Salvador, Dominica, Barbados, Bahamas, Panama, Paraguay, Honduras, Belize, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia

Europe: France, Netherlands, Monaco, Switzerland, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Luxembourg, Albania, Turkey, Belgium, Lithuania, Montenegro, Moldova, Belarus, Russia, Portugal, Serbia, Finland, Azerbaijan, Greece, Czech Republic, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Ireland, Cyprus, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, San Marino, Norway, Slovakia, Estonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Malta, Slovenia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Armenia, the European Union

Asia: China, Pakistan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Laos, Yemen, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Brunei, Lebanon, Georgia, Bhutan, Thailand, Iraq, Oman, Iran, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Syria, North Korea, Jordan, Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, Timor-Leste

Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Palau, Tonga, Micronesia, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru

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World Cities and its Ranking=世界都市

• Alpha World Cities ++:
  

  • New York City, London

  Alpha World Cities +:
  

  • Hong Kong, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing

  Alpha World Cities:
  

  • Milan, Madrid, Seoul, Moscow, Brussels, Toronto, Mumbai, 
  • Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpur

  Alpha World Cities –:
  

  • Warsaw, São Paulo, Jakarta, Zurich, Mexico City, Dublin, 
  • Amsterdam, Bangkok, Taipei, Rome, Istanbul, Lisbon, Chicago, 
  • Frankfurt, Stockholm, Vienna, Budapest, Athens, Prague, 
  • Caracas,Auckland, Santiago

  Beta World Cities +:
  

  • Melbourne, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Manila, 
  • Bogota, New Delhi, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Tel Aviv, 
  • Bucharest, San Francisco, Helsinki, Berlin, Dubai, Oslo, 
  • Geneva, Riyadh,Copenhagen, Hamburg, Cairo

  Beta World Cities:
  

  • Bangalore, Jeddah, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Munich, 
  • Kiev, Dallas, Lima, Boston, Miami

  Beta World Cities –:
  

  • Sofia, Düsseldorf, Houston, Beirut, Guangzhou,
  • Nicosia, Karachi, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, 
  • Bratislava, Montreal, Ho Chi Minh City

  Gamma World Cities +:
  

  • Panama City, Casablanca, Chennai, Brisbane, 
  • Quito, Stuttgart, Denver, Vancouver, Zagreb, 
  • Guatemala City, Cape Town, San Jose, 
  • Ljubljana, Minneapolis, Santo Domingo, Seattle, Manama,Shenzhen

  Gamma World Cities:
  

  • Guadalajara, Antwerp, Kolkata, Rotterdam, Lagos, 
  • Philadelphia, Perth, Amman, Manchester, 
  • Riga, Detroit, Guayaquil, Wellington, Portland

  Gamma World Cities –:
  

  • Edinburgh, Porto, Tallinn, San Salvador, St. Petersburg, 
  • Port Louis, San Diego, Calgary, Almaty, 
  • Birmingham, Islamabad, Doha, Vilnius, Colombo

  
  


• 
  
  第1级世界都市++
  
  • 纽约、伦敦
  
  


• 
  
  第1级世界都市+
  
  • 香港、东京、巴黎、新加坡、悉尼、北京、上海
  
  


• 
  
  第1级世界都市
  
  • 米兰、马德里、首尔、莫斯科、布鲁塞尔、
  • 多伦多、孟买、布宜诺斯艾利斯、吉隆坡
  
  


• 
  
  第1级世界都市-
  
  • 华沙、雅加达、圣保罗、苏黎世、墨西哥城、
  • 都柏林、阿姆斯特丹、曼谷、台北、罗马、
  • 伊斯坦布尔、里斯本、芝加哥、法兰克福、
  • 斯德哥尔摩、维也纳、布达佩斯、雅典、
  • 布拉格、加拉加斯、奥克兰、圣地亚哥
  
  


• 
  
  第2级世界都市+
  
  • 墨尔本、巴塞罗那、洛杉矶、約翰内斯堡、
  • 马尼拉、波哥大、新德里、亚特兰大、
  • 华盛顿特区、特拉維夫、布加勒斯特、旧金山、
  • 赫尔辛基、柏林、迪拜、奥斯陆、日内瓦、
  • 利雅得、哥本哈根、汉堡、开罗
  
  


• 
  
  第2级世界都市
  
  • 班加罗尔、吉达、科威特城、卢森堡、
  • 慕尼克、基辅、达拉斯、利马、波士顿、迈阿密
  
  


• 
  
  第2级世界都市-
  
  • 索菲亚、杜塞尔多夫、休斯敦、贝鲁特、
  • 广州、尼科西亚、卡拉奇、蒙得维的亚、
  • 里约热内卢、内罗毕、布拉迪斯拉发、
  • 蒙特利爾、胡志明市
  
  


• 
  
  第3级世界都市+
  
  • 巴拿马城、卡萨布兰卡、欽奈、布里斯班、
  • 基多、斯图加特、丹佛、温哥华、萨格勒布、
  • 危地马拉市、开普敦、圣荷西、卢布尔雅那、
  • 明尼阿波利斯、圣多明各、西雅图、麦纳麦、深圳
  
  


• 
  
  第3级世界都市
  
  • 瓜达拉哈拉、安特卫普、鹿特丹、拉各斯、
  • 费城、珀斯、安曼、曼彻斯特、里加、
  • 底特律、瓜亚基尔、威灵顿、波特兰
  
  


• 
  
  第3级世界都市-
  
  • 爱丁堡、波图、塔林、圣萨尔瓦多、圣彼得堡、
  • 路易港、圣地亚哥、卡尔加里、阿拉木图、
  • 伯明翰、伊斯兰堡、多哈、维尔纽斯、科伦坡
  
  

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