Shanghai China Website

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Lingyin Temple

    Lingyin Temple

  • Lotus in Breeze at Qu Garden

    Lotus in Breeze at Qu Garden

  • 3 Pools Mirroring The Moon

    3 Pools Mirroring The Moon

  • Mount Putuo

    Mount Putuo (Putuoshan) is considered to be one of China’s four sacred Mountains and as such is yearly visited by reverent followers, all here to pay their respects to Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy. This is a great place to come, littered with temples and shrines, and, at a mere 12 square km, is easily navigated…

  • Hangzhou

    Hangzhou’s fame rests mainly with the picturesque West Lake,so named because it is located on its western fringe. Covering about four square miles,West Lake is sur-rounded on three sides by rolling wooded hills.At the center are therr isles-Lesser Yingzhou,Midlake pavilion and Ruanggong Isle. Solitary Hill stands by itself on the northern lake shore.It can be…

  • Broken Bridge

    Broken Bridge

  • More about Mount. Yandang

    In talking about the Yandang Mountain tour, people would summarize in such a way: “It’s a real wonder in the world, and a remarkable beauty by the sea”. This, is no exageration at all. As one of among the first group of the National Scenic Zones declared by the State Council, Mt. Yandang is the…

  • Mount. Yandang

    Fascinating as the landscape is in such a frame, the splendeur of the Yandang Mountain has been noticed since the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Located by the East China Sea and infused in a natural as well as cultural climate, the charisma of the mountain can by no means be framed in photos. It’s immensely large–…

  • Wenzhou – City of Commerce and Culture

    Many people think of Wenzhou, whose many small commodities such as lighters, shoes and locks are well known the world over, as a commercial city. Shops line its streets, and Wenzhou people have such business acumen, they are popularly known as China’s prize wheeler dealers. On arrival, however, the traveler discovers that commercial as it…

  • The Yandang Mountain

    A Leisure Area with Wonderful Scenery The Yandang Mountains are one of the ten famous mountain ranges in China, located in the coast northeast of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is composed of North Yandang, Middle Yandang  and South Yandang. The mountains, the largest among the 44 key scenic resorts of the country, cover an area…

  • Hangzhou Tourism Resources

    Hangzhou is extremely rich in tourism resources. Its unique environment endowed by nature and the culture accumulation of several thousand years, have formed many world famous natural, historical and cultural sights. There are two State-level scenic areas within the city area: West Lake scenery area and Fuchun river-Xin’an river – A-Thousand-Islet Lake scenery area. There…

  • Dianchi Lake

    Dianchi Lake, also known as Kunming Lake, lies at the foot of Xishan Hills. It was formed by a fault on the central Yunnan Plateau and receives more than 20 streams.

  • Xishuangbanna

    Xishuangbanna Dai Auto-nomous Prefecture is located in the southern part of Yunnan Province, over 500 kilometres from Kun-ming, the provincial capital and covering an area of 25,000 square kilometres. It is bounded on the south by Laos and Burma, with River Lancang running through the whole region. This autonomous prefecture has under its jurisdiedinnthres coun-ties…

  • Kunming

    Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, is situated 1,895 metres above sea level on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southwest China. Rimmed by mountains on three sides with Dianchi Lake to the south, this beautiful city and its outskirts cover an area of 6,500 square kilo-metres. It has a population of 1.93 million, of 12 different…

  • Da Li

    Da Li is situated between Dian Cang Mountain and Er Hai Lake. The western Dian Cang Mountain meanders its way southward, with a total length of 45 kilometers. the eastern Er Hai Lake is a freshwater lake in the south-west plateau of our country, with an altitude of l,972 meters. Between Dian Cang Mountain and…

  • A Tour to Yunnan

    The Xishuangbanna Tropical Rain Forest & Dai Ethnic Folklore Tour The major scenic spots on the route are Dai stockades, the Manfeilong Buddhist Pagoda and the Mengla Tropical Botanical Garden. Xishuangbanna lies in southern Yunnan. In the thick forest on both sides of the Lancang River live dozens of ethnic groups including the Dai, Hani…

  • A Tale of Two Yunnan Cities

    Known as the hometown of Princess Peacock, Yunan Province is where the largest ethnic minority population lives in China. Apart from its capital city Kunming, the host city of the ’99 International Horticultural Expo, Dali and Lijiang are two cities with exceptionally appealing landscape and strong ethnic aroma. Located between Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain,…

  • Brief introduction to Yunnan

    Yunnan, on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the southwest of China lying just below the Tibetan Plateau and abutting Vietnam, Laos and Burma, is a mysterious land of great natural beauty. It covers an area of 394,000 square kilometers, and has a population of 40,000,000. Even today many Chinese think of it as a ” frontier…

  • Chengdu

    Centrally located in the western Sichuan Plain, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, is renowned for its fertile land and agricultural wealth which have earned the city the nickname “Storehouse of Heaven”. It covers an area of 3,861 sq. km., of which only 50 sq. km. is in the city proper with a population of…

  • Wu Gorge

    While the magnifcence of Qutang Gorge is left behind, the splendour ot Wu Gorge comes in sight.”   Coming out of Qutang Gorge and saling through an open area where the hills are low and the river is gentle,you enter Wu Gorge,which is charactersed by beautiful peaks and steep cliffs on either side Wu Gorges named…

  • Qutang Gorge

    Qutang Gorge extends eastward from White King Town to Daxi Town.Although the gorge is no more than eight kilormeters long and a down stream voyages only a wink.It has a momentum of control-ling the waters from Sichuan on the east and dominating the moun-tains of Hubei on the east.The river is flanked with steep cliffs…

  • Nine-Village Gully

    Jiuzhaigou (Nine-Village Gully) is a scenic spot tucked away in the depth of mountains at Nanping, a county in the norihcrn part of Sichuan Provincelt is 470 kilo-metres away from Cheng-du, the provincial capital, with an elevation of about 2.500 metres.The secenic spot actually consists of three major gullies, spread over a total area of…

  • E’mei Mountain

    Located in the southwest of Emei County, Sichuan Province, the Emei Mountain is one of thefour Buddliist shrines.The mountain is known for its stiff cliffs, highrising peaks,roating waterfalls, gurgling springs, towering ancient trees and fragrant flowers. It has been described as a beauty spot under heaven” by Chinese men of lettera since ancient times. The…

  • Sichuan

    Du Fu Thatched Cottage Park Du Fu, one of the greatest Tang Dynasty poets, was a famous figure in China’s history. In his life time he wrote hundreds of poems that have lasted for several centuries. Even now his poems are still well recited by people. The Du Fu Thatched Cottage Park was built in…

  • Mt Huashan

    Mt Huashan, also called “The great west Moun-tain” in the past, is one of China’s five sacr-ed mountains. It is located to the south of Huayin County, 120 kilometres east of Xi’an City, Shaan-xi Province, With an ele-vation of 2,200 metres, the mountain overlooks the Huanghe River and the Weishui River the north and links…

  • Dayan pagoda and Xiaoyan pagoda

    Dayan(big wild goose) pagoda and Xiaoyan pagoda Dayan and Xiaoyan Pagodas in Xi’an are still well preserved from Tang Dynasty. They are not only famous at home, but have high reputation in the world as well. Dayan pagoda was first con-structed in 3rd year of regime period of Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. Mounting on Ci’en…

  • Shanxi

    Shanxi is not only one place of Chinese origin, but also a source of those age-old culture. The purpose of the Shaanxi Window is providing a window which can promote your under-standing to Shaanxi. Welcome to the Shaanxi Window! Here, the people who have the same clan can visit wellknown scenic spots, discuses things of…

  • Shanxi History Museum

    Shaanxi Province stands out as one of the cradles of the Chinese nation and its long civilization. Before the 10th century, it had been the political, economic and cultural center of China. For a duration of more than 1,100 years, Xi’an served as the capital for fourteen feudal dynasties, including the Zhou, the Qin, the…

  • The Terra-cotta

    Another indication of the probable magnitude and grandeur of the not-yet-excavated mauso-leum is the vaults contain-ing an army of guards for the first emperor which have been discovered 1,500 metresto the east of the tomb. Commune members digging an irrigation well made the first discovery by chance in 1974 of what is now called Vault…

  • More about the Mogao Grottoes

    Dunhuang lies at the western end of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province in Northwest China, an oasis on the eastern edge of Takli- makan Desert. It is nourished by melted snow water from the Qilian Mountains. The ancient town used to be an important stop-over point on the Silk Road. The name “Dunhuang” was…

  • Mogao Grottoes

    Located in Gansu Province near Dunhuang Building started in 366 AD and continued for 10 centuries. The practice of carving rock temples dedicated to the Buddha originated in India. The practice came to China from the west, one of the earliest examples being at Dunhuang, Gansu Province (Mogao Grottoes). According to legend, in 366 AD…

  • The Feat of the Yellow River

    The Yellow River runs ceaselessly day and night. it has nurtured the Chinese nation and bred the Chinese civilization. The Yellow River is what we proud of the most. The Yellow River from its place of origin passes Qinghai and Gansu, turns north at ningxia’s shizuishan to Inner Mongolia. Then the Yellow River becomes mild…

  • Brief Introduction of Xi’an

    Xi’an was one of the most important cradles of Chinese civilization. It marked the start of the famous “Silk Road” that linked China with central Asia and the Roman Empire. And it served as the first capital of a unified China and capital of 11 dynasties periodically from the 11th century B.C. to the early…

  • The Silk Road

    As one of the journalists drumming the fanfare for Adelaide’s Crafers Highway earlier this year – a construction widely regarded as an infrastrucutral, social and economic miletone – it comes as a humbling experience to be standing only a few months later at the crossroads of history. But just what feature of the ancient trading…

  • Dunhuang Murals Encompassing Ten Dynasties

    In the vast desert in Northwest China, there is a small leaf-shaped oasis about 25 kilometers to the southwest of the city of Dunhuang in Gansu Province. This is where the famous Dunhuang Murals were found in the Mogao Grottos. In December 1987, Dunhuang appeared, together with Mount Tai, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City…

  • Something of Huashan

    Huashan is situated in Huayin county, Shaanxi province, with the Wei River to its north, and Qinling Mountains to the south. Its main peak is over 2200 metres above sea level. Standing in a circle and confronting each other, Huashan East, South, West, North and Central Peaks resemble a colossal lotus flower in full blossom.…

  • Daming Lake

    Daming Lake (Lake of Great Light) Located in the northern part of the Old City district, this lake has a surface area of 46.5 hectares, which is roughly one quarter of the district’s total area. It is one of Jinan’s three major tourist spots. The pavilions, kiosks, terraces, halls and temples that dot the shore…

  • Mount Tai

    Towering in the middle of Shandong Province, and stretching into the sea, the magnificent range of Mount Tai rises and falls for over 200 kilo-meters just like a giant sleeping dragon. with the Yellow River flowing at the foot of its northern slopes, it has been regarded as the first of the five sacred mountains…

  • Jinan

    Jinan, capital of Shandong Province on China’s east coast, is the province’s political, economic and cultural center. Jinan has juris-diction over five districts (Lixia, Licheng, Hua-iyin, Tianqiao and Shizhong), four counties (Changqing, Pingyin, Shanghe and Jiyang) and Zhangqiu City, with a total area of 8,227 sq. km and a population of 5.49 million, including 2.54…

  • Baotu Spring

    Baotu Spring, or Jet Spring, is known not only as the first of the 72 springs in Jinan but as the “First Spring Under Heaven”. Together with its environs, it has been turned into a park of the same name that is now one of the three major places of interest in Jinan. Baotu Spring…

  • Temple of the God of Taishan Mountain (Dongyuemiao)

    The Temple of the God of Taishan Mountain stands on Shenlu Street in the Chaoyang District. It is said that the temple was built as a place of worship for the Supreme Celestial Emperor of Taishan Mountain, one of the five sacred mountains of China. The temple was first built in the Yanyou period (1314-1320)…

  • Some Places of Taishan

    Taishan lies in Tai’an county in the middle of the Shandong Province, encompassing an area of 426 square kilometers. Its summit, 1546 meters above sea level, has a vertical height of over 1200 meters above the ground. Magnificent ancient architecture and historical and cultural sites can be found over hill and dale, and along the…

  • The Confucius Tourism Zone

    Qufu, hometown of the great thinker and educator Confucius, is listed in the first group of national famous cities of historical and cultural relics designated by the State Council. The first Chinese general history book Shiji (History) gives that it is the hometown of Shen Nong (God of agriculture), Huang Di, Shao Hao and Mencius,…

  • Tai Shan: One of the Five Sacred Taoist Mountains

    The last gate before heaven, located at the top of the main route. Tai Shan and Imperial Rituals: Known as the Mount of the East, the Mountain of the Gods, and the Eastern Peak of Heaven, Taishan rises 1,545 meters above the city of Tai’an in Shandong province, the tallest of a mountain range covering…

  • Taishan Mountain in Shandong Province

    Extracted from World Heritage Network of China in May 2001. Taishan Mountain in Shandong was included as “World Cultural and Natural Heritage” by UNESCO in Dec 1987. Taishan Mountain, a typical representative of the Chinese famous traditional mountains, is a mountain with a long history and a special historic status. In 1982, Taishan Mountain was…

  • Penglai, Land of Fairy Tales

    Penglai County in East China’s Shandong Province is a place of fairy tales. The ancient coastal castle of Penglai, about 65 kilometres northwest of Yantai, is the abode of the gods, according to mythology. The legend of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea originated here. And the famous vision or mirage, which locals claim appears…

  • Wuxi

    Situated in the southeast of Jiang-su Province, Wuxi borders the Taihu Lake on the south and the Yangtze River on the north. Beijing-Shanghai railway goes across the city from the west to the east and the age-old Grand Canal winds though if from the north to the south. Wuxi is always termed as the “Land…

  • Nanjing

    Lacated at the eastern part of China, Nanjing is the capital of jiangsu Province which is developed in economy in China and an important central city on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtse River. Nanjing is situated on the vast plain of the lower reaches of the Yangtse River and at 32°03’N, 118°47’E.…

  • Zhouzhuang

    Zhouzhuang is well known for its beautiful environment and simple architecture.Although more than 900 years have past,its architectural style is still well preserved.More than 60 percent of the residential houses were built during the Ming (1368-1644)and Qing(1644-1911)dynasties,consisting of nearly 100 classic courtyards and 60 carved brick archways. Like a lotus on the water ,the town…

  • Yangzhou

    Emperor Qian Long(1736- 1795) of the Qing Dynasty visited Yangzhou every time on the way of his six inspection tours to the south of the Yangtze River. As his majesty took delight in the scenery of mountains and waters, the local officials and salt merchants spared no money in recruiting crackajack workmen and going in…

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