yangshuo-guilin--tour

Dingling (Royal Security)

On your left at the foot of the hill stands the Underground Palace of Dingling amidst pines and cypresses. Dingling (royal security) is the tomb of Emperor Wanli, the 13th Ming Emperor. He was born in 1563, and was chosen and named crown prince when he was six years old. He ascended the throne at the age of 10 and ruled for 48 years until he died in 1620.

Dingling is the only one of the Ming Tombs excavated so far.  Excavation work took more than two years from 1956 to 1958.  You may find the following background information interesting. Emperor Wanli (1563-1620; reigned 1573-1620) had two wives.  The first wife empress Xiaoduan died only a few months before his death. The second wife Empress Xiaojing died in 1612, eight years before and was buried in a nearby tomb reserved for imperial concubines.

The first wife had no son while the second wife had one.  He succeeded Emperor Wanli and died 29 days after his succession. He left the throne to his son. As Xiaojing was the second wife, she was not entitled to the privilege of sharing the Emperor's tomb.  When her grandson became emperor, she was promoted to the rank of Empress Dowager. And it was decided that her body be moved into the tomb.

The construction of the tomb and the underground palace started in 1584 when Emperor Wanli was only 22 years old.  Six years and 8 million taels of silver (250,000 kilograms of silver) were spent on it.  The bricks were brought from Shandong Province, the stone from the nearby district of Fangshan, Southwest of Beijing and the wood from the southern provinces.

In 1644 when the Ming Dynasty collapsed, the buildings were damaged in a peasant uprising and were not restored until the reign of the Qing emperor Qianlong. They were burned down again at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1956, a decision was made by the Chinese Government to open up the tomb. It was the first time that an imperial tomb was excavated in China in a scientific way.

Dingling is now a museum made up of three sections: the Underground Palace and two exhibition rooms. The objects on display are mostly originals. The trip to the Ming Tombs certainly gives us a better understanding of the Ming dynasty art, the tomb structure and the emperor's extravagance in building the tomb.

I'll tell you more as I show you round. Thank you for your attention. Here are two sketch maps. One shows the Underground Palace of Dingling and the other gives you a panorama of the 13 Ming tombs.

We just passed through the gate of Dingling. We are now here at the sketch maps. The two exhibition rooms are here, one on each side. That's the soul tower, behind it is the tomb mound.  Beneath the mound lies the Underground Palace.

This map shows the 13 Ming tombs in this area. The soul towers show the location of the tombs. This one is Dingling and that one is Changling, the first Ming tomb built in Beijing for the third emperor, but not yet opened up.

 When you pay a visit to the Ming Tombs area you will definitely be impressed by the beauty of the location and the tranquiUity of the surroundings. It is now a favourite picnic spot for overseas residents in Beijing, and if you go there on a weekend you will find many families sitting on the grass under the old pine trees that dot the grounds.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

Soul Tower

The Soul Tower is a square double-eared structure towering in front of the tomb mound.  The plaque bears the name Dingling, meaning the Tomb of Security.

The whole building is of stone and brick. The four corner stones are made of whole pieces of marble, and the rafters and brackets are carved out of stone and painted with green and blue floral patterns.  The tower is beautiful and solemn, strong in structure, with no damage from erosion by rain and wind in the past four hundred years.

Inside the tower is a huge stone tablet inscribed in regular script "The Mausoleum of Emperor Shenzong (posthumous title) of the Great Ming." The top of the tablet has an intertwined dragon design. The base is square, carved with designs of sea waves, mountain cliffs and dragon amidst clouds. The carving is exquisitely done and better than that of other tombs.

The wall surrounding the tomb mound is known as "precious citadel," about 750 metres in length.  Its two ends are connected with the left and right outlets.

The wall has indented parapets and is filled with earth. Pines and cypresses grow on the mound, known as the "precious top," under which lies the Underground Palace.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

Here at the location of the white brick, the stone slab showing the whereabouts of the Underground Palace was found, about one foot below the surface. Construction of the tomb started in 1584 and it took eighteen years complete, with a total cost of 8 million taels of silver (250,000 kilograms of silver).  The emperor died in 1620 and was buried here with his two empresses.

   The excavation started in May 1956 and was finished in July 1958.  A spiralling "staircase of 160 steps leads down to the Underground Palace. Those who find it inconvenient to take so many steps down may walk slowly back to the coach.

Front Chamber

The stone gate is made of marble, 2.3 metres high and 1.7 metres wide. Each door slab weighs 4 tons. On it are 81 round studs and a door ring carved with the facial design of a mythological guardian known as Pushou. The door slab is thicker at the hinges, 40 centimetres, but tapers off toward the middle, thus lessening the weight and relieving pressure on the pivots.  This makes the whole thing easy to open. To secure the huge stone gate, a bronze crossbeam weighing about 10 tons was installed on the top.

   The stone block, known as "self-acting stone," is a slab to shut the gate from behind.  It is 1.6 metres high, and a little wider at the two ends carved with lotus petal design. When the stone gate is closed, the lower end of the slab is fitted into a hole cut into the ground while its upper end leans against the back of the gate.  You can't open from outside. To open the gate, the people doing excavation work fitted in a wire through the 4 centimetres wide gap between the two door slabs, turned it around to hold the stone block and then pushed back the block with a plank. The stone gate was thus opened. The first stone block bears ink-writing in regular script:  "The self-acting stones of seven gates in the palace are not yet tested. "Hence the name "self-acting stone."

Middle Chamber

In the front part of the middle chamber stand two marble thrones, both carved with phoenix heads on their arms.  They were for Empress Xiaoduan and Empress Xiaojing. Further down the chamber, there is another marble throne carved with dragonhead design on the back and on its arms.  That was for Emperor Wanli.

    In front of each throne are five glazed pottery altarpieces: an incense burner, two candlesticks and two beakers, and a blue and white porcelain jar with a cloud and dragon design. The jars were originally filled with sesame oil and had each a coper tube'with a wick inside.  It is called "Everlasting Lamp," lit when the coffins were brought in. After the tomb was covered up, the light naturally went out due to lack of oxygen.

Rear Chamber

The rear chamber is 30.1 metres long, 9.1 metres wide and 9.5 metres high. The floor is paved with polished porphyritic rocks.  In the middle of the platform is placed the coffin of the emperor. On its left is the coffin of his first wife, Empress Xiaoduan. On its right is the coffin of Empress Xiaojing. Her title was conferred posthumously. The emperor died in July 1620 and his first wife died in April the same year. His second wife died eight years before and was buried at the East Pit--a burial ground reserved for imperial concubines. When the emperor and Empress Xiaoduan were buried, the coffin of Empress Xiaojing was moved here from the East Pit to join them.  Around the three coffins are 26 red-lacquered chests containing the funerary objects and some pieces of uncut jade. Sandalwood and blue and white porcelain vases have been taken away.  The historical relics are now put on display after sorting and cleaning.

    The original coffins and chests already decayed. The ones you see here are reproductions. More than 3,000 artifacts were exhumed (unearthed) from the tomb.

    The charts and pictures on the walls show the amount of money and labour spent on construction, sixty five million man days were spent, with 30,000 people working everyday.

    A span of six years and 8 million taels of silver were spent. That amount would have been enough to feed one million peasants for six years and a half.

Left and Right Annex Chambers

The left and right annex chambers are two symmetrical structures. Each is 26 metres long, 7.1 metres wide and 7.4 metres high.  In the middle of each chamber close to the wall is a coffin platform, which is framed with white marble and paved with "Gold Bricks." Right in the centre is a square hole filled with loess linking the coffin with the ground.  It is known as "Gold Well." There is an old Chinese saying：buried with jade on a "Gold Well. " The "Gold Well" refers to the square hole, and the jade was supposed to have the power to prevent the body from decomposing. That's why uncut jade was found around the coffin, as you saw in the rear chamber. To the west of the platform are the entrance and a section of the underground passage. According to the Ming funerary institution, the coffins of the empresses were to be brought in through the left and fight passages and placed on the platforms. When the Underground Palace was opened up in 1958, these two annex chambers were empty. The coffin of the emperor and those of the empresses as well as funerary objects were all kept in the rear chamber. Presumably there was not enough time to open up the passages leading to the annex chambers. All the three coffins were brought in through the front entrance.  But the doorways of the annex chambers were too narrow, so they could only be placed in the rear chamber.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

Changling

Changling is the tomb for Emperor Yongle, the third Ming emperor, and his wife Empress Xu. He ruled for 22 years and made some achievements in political, military, economic, cultural and diplomatic fields.

Changling is located at the foot of Tianshoushan (Heaven and Longevity) Mountain and is the first and the largest of the Ming tombs. The tomb was constructed in 1409 and completed in 1427. It took almost 18 years.

In architectural design, it is square in the front and round in the rear, and is divided into three courtyards. The main buildings on the central axis are still standing.

Ling'an Hall, or the Hall of Eminent Favour, is grand and magnificent.  It is 66.67 metres long from east to west and 19.31 metres wide from north to south. The 32 gigantic columns carved out of nanmu, a kind of cedar (this kind of nanmu can give off an unusual scent reputed to repel mosquitoes in summer), support the entire building.  The four columns in the middle are the biggest, 1.17 metres in diameter and 14.3 metres in height. Each is made of a whole trunk. This kind of valuable timber came from Southwest China. The succeeding emperors used the hall for offering sacrifices to their ancestors.

According to historical records, 16 imperial concubines were buffed alive with the third Ming emperor, and the imperial concubines were permitted to be buried in the tomb of the emperor, various tomb grounds known as "pits" were built on either side of Changling. They were called pits because they were vertical shafts without horizontal tunnels.

Human sacrifice was a common practice in the slave-owning society in feudal China. From the Qin and Han dynasties onwards, wooden or earthen human figures were used instead, like the ones in Dingling. The first Ming emperor restored the old system. Those buried alive were granted honorable titles and their family members were usually assigned official posts.

This practice came to an end when the sixth Ming emperor made an edict in mid 15th century to abolish the system of human sacrifice.

A bronze seated statue of Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was designed by Miao Xintian, a sculptor in Shanxi Province and manufactured by the Dalian Daqing Metal Company Ltd. , was placed in Changling Tomb. The statue is 2.75 metres tall, 2.18 metres wide, and the total height is 4.08 metres, weighing 5.6 tons. A ceremony for placing the statue was held in Changling Tomb on September 18, 1999.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

Yonghegong Lamasery (The Lama Temple)

Yonghegong Lanasery is a famous lamasery located in the northeastern part of the old city of Beijing.  It was a palatial residence built in 1694 by Qing emperor Kangxi for his fourth son, Prince Yongzheng who later succeeded to the throne. This magnificent temple consists of five main buildings lying on the north-south axis, with annex halls standing on both sides. The temple is listed by the Chinese Government as one of the important historical monuments under special preservation. After the death of his father, Emperor Yongzheng moved to the Forbidden City. The compound was closed to ordinary people and was renamed Yonghegong (the Palace of Harmony).  Yellow ones to suit a monarch's home replaced green roof tiles.  In 1744 his successor Emperor Qianjong converted the palace into a lamasery.

Several renovations have been carried out since 1949. The temple has taken on a new look and was reopened to the public in 1981.  It is now not only a functional lama temple, but also a tourist attraction.

Yonghemen (Gate of Harmony)

It is actually a hall rather than a gate. Following the Buddhist tradition, the first hall in a lamasery is usually called the Maitreya's shrine or the Hall of Heavenly Kings.  In this hall Mile or Maitreya in Sanskrit, the Laughing Buddha always greets people with a smiling face.  A Bodhisattva often worshipped in China as a fat, laughing man. He is known in China as the Big Belly Buddha. Legend has it that he was born 1,000 years ago and became a monk in Yuelin Temple in Fenghua County, Zhejiang Province.  He often went spreading Buddhism with a hag in his hand begging for food, so people usually called him the Bag Buddha. He is also known as the Laughing Buddha because he always smiles.  It is said that before his death he was sitting on a piece of stone slab, telling people that he was the reincarnation of the Future Buddha Maitreya.  According to what he said people called him Buddha Maitreya after his death.

On each side of Buddha Maitreya, there is a sandalwood pagoda. On the pagoda stand many small Buddhist images, which were symbols of longevity.  Hence, the Longevity Pagoda. On both sides of Maitreya's shrine are seated four fearsome looking Heavenly Kings or Celestial Guardians, two on each side.

The Buddhist theory goes that the earth is divided into four worlds: northern, southern, eastern and western. Each of the four worlds is guarded by one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

The one with a sword is the Southern World Heavenly King named Zengzhang. When ghosts and monsters dare to step in, he chants an incantation and throws his magic sword up into the sky.  In a flash the sword flies down like lightning, hitting, sometimes even killing the intruder.

Next to him sits Chiguo, the Eastern World Heavenly King, who plays a pipa, a 4-stringed Chinese lute. On the battlefield, he plucks the musical instrument and gives his enemy a headache. So he wins the battle.

Opposite to him is Duowen, the Northern World Heavenly King, who carries a huge umbrella. Whenever he puts up his umbrella, the sky over the battlefield turns dark and a cyclonic storm howls, sending sand and rocks whirling about. The eyesight of his rivals is sure to be impaired. Hardly has he shut up the umbrella when the rivals are drawn into it and arrested.

The one with a water snake is the Western World Heavenly King Guangmu. Once released, the snake mounts the clouds and rides the mists.  All of a sudden, this animal spurts out water and disperses his enemy.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

In the pavilion there is a stone stele erected in 1792.  On the stele are inscriptions in four languages: Manchu on the front side; Mongolian on the eastern side; Tibetan on the western side and on its back Han language written by Emperor Qianlong. It records the origin of Lamaism and the emperor's attitude towards it. That's why the pavilion is called Imperial Handwriting Pavilion. The inscriptions are in four languages, so it is also known as the Pavilion of Four Languages.

Lamaism was quite popular in the Qing Dynasty.  Lama means "teacher" or "superior being." At the very beginning only the monks on the top ranks were called lamas.  Later it became an honourable title for all the monks.

Mount Sumeru* (Mount Xumi)

Mount Sumeru, a Ming bronze sculpture, is a representation of the Buddhist world outlook. According to Buddhist tradition, Mount Sumeru is supposed to be the center of the world. On the top of it lies the legendary paradise where Sakyamuni and men of moral integrity live after death. The position of the stars near the peak roughly corresponds to the findings of modern astronomy. On the slopes are the dwellings for mankind and the Heavenly Kings. At the bottom, the floral design stands for sea waves.  Below the seas evil spirits, devils or criminals abide in Hell.

Four Study Halls

On either side of the courtyard are four subsidiary halls devoted to the lamas' studies of specialized subjects: medicine in the Medicine Hall; mathematics in the Mathematics Hall; esoteric in the Esoteric Hall; Buddhist philosophy in the Esoteric Hall. Twenty-six students of Tibetan and Mongolian nationalities were sent from Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Liaoning. They came to study at Yonghegong Lamasery in spring 1981 and have taken part in Buddhist ceremonies. The youngest was 20 years old and the oldest 34. They all came from Buddhist families.  The courses are: Tibetan language, the religious discipline of the Yellow Sect, the traditional sutras and religious rituals. Half of their time is spent in classroom studies and the rest in services in the compound.  They follow monastic discipline and are expected to become successors to the elder lamas staffing the temple at present.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

When Tsong Kha-pa was alive, he had two famous disciples named Dalai and Panchen, who were later deemed the reincarnations of Tsong Kha-pa and succeeded to the throne of the Living Buddhas after Tsong Kha-pa's death with the titles of the First Dalai Lama and the First Panchen Erdeni. After that, the succeeding Living Buddhas inherited the titles. Up till now already the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and the Eleventh Panchen Erdeni exist. On either side of the statue of Tsong Kha-pa is a throne, the one on the left is for Dalai Lama when he came to preach; the one on the right for Panchen Erdeni. In 1954 Panchen Erdeni held Buddhist ceremonies here. "Dalai" means vast sea in Mongolian, and "Lama" means teacher in Tibetan.

The Reincarnation System

The Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682) declared that in the future when a Dalai Lama died his spirit would pass out of the corpse into an infant boy who had been born right at the moment of the Dalai Lama's death. The problem was to find the right child. In some cases the dying Dalai Lama would predict where his incarnation could be found. Quite often there were many babies born at the same moment and the investigation had to last for years. The childs boy must confirm to the ideal shape, notably a large head and generous ears, which were considered indicative of wisdom. Objects belonging to the Dalai Lama were identified, which would help establish whether the child was the living incarnation of the Dalai Lama. When he was two to six years old, his regents took him to Lhasa from his home for training. The parents of the chosen child, usually of humble origin, were also brought to Lhasa and given noble status. The Regents exercised full power until the Buddha incarnate reached the age of eighteen.

As the old reincarnation system had many disadvantages, Emperor Qianlong introduced in 1792 a new method of "drawing lots from the gold urn." The new system stipulated that many children were to be selected from various places after the death of a Living Buddha, and each child had a lot with his name inscribed on it. All the lots were to be put into a gold urn; lamas were to recite Buddhist scriptures. Buddhists believed that recitation of Buddhist scriptures was a process to reincarnate the dead. While people were watching, the high commissioners sent by the emperor would pick up the lot dropped out of the shaking urn and show it to the people. Therefore, the child with his name on it would be considered the reincarnation of the Living Buddha.

Scripture-Turning Wheel

The wheel is called the Scripture-Turning Wheel. It is said that each wheel, big or small, is stuffed with Buddhist scripture.  If you turn it one revolution, it means you have already read all the Buddhist scripture once.

Buddhist Scriptures

Along the walls on both sides of the hall stand bookcases holding 108 volumes of the Buddhist Sutras in Tibetan language translated from ancient Indian language. It is titled The Great Tibetan Buddhist Sutra, with 207 volumes of the sequel of the Sutras. Now very few such Buddhist scriptures are preserved in perfect condition.

Mountain of Five Hundred Arhats ck wood and the arhats modeled out of gold, silver, bronze, iron and tin. Five hundred arhats are worshipped in some Buddhist temples.  When Sakyamuni preached, there was no written scripture. Later his 500 disciples wrote down the Great Tibetan Buddhist Sutra according to what he preached.  For their contributions, they were upgraded from lamas to arhats.  Here a vivid picture shows they were on the road to Buddhahood.

Fish-and-Dragon Evolving Basin

This Fish-and-Dragon Evolving Basin is carved out of ebony wood. Buddhism has it that human beings evolved from fish, and those who have both ability and political integrity could continuously evolve to dragons. Emperor Qianlong had a bath in the basin when he was three days old. His mother hoped that her son would evolve to a dragon. So the basin is also called Three-day-old emperor Washing Basin.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

This pavilion is also named the Tower of the Great Buddha.  In the centre of the building is a huge statue of Maitreya, Buddha of the Future, carved out of a single trunk of white sandalwood with a total cost of 80,000 taels of silver (2,500 kilos of silver) an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1990. It is 26 metres high, 18 metres above the ground and 8 metres under the ground, and 8 metres in diameter.  More than 1,000 metres of satin was used to make a yellow robe for the huge Buddha.

The temple was converted into a lamasery in 1744, but this part was not completed until 1750. Emperor Qianlong felt that the area at the rear of the lamasery was too bare and planned to build a high tower as a protective screen, but it was very difficult to find a sandalwood tree of such size. The Tibetan envoy learned of this in Beijing and told the Seventh Dalai Lama about it. Shortly afterwards, a white sandalwood tree was brought to Nepal from India by the king of Nepal. The Seventh Dalai Lama bartered this huge sandalwood tree with huge precious gems from Nepal, and sent it here as a gift to the emperor to express his thanks because Emperor Qianlong had sent troops to Tibet to put down a rebellion and turned back the power to the Seventh Dalai Lama. It took three years to ship this huge tree from the banks of the Yangtze River, through the Grand Canal and up to Beijing and another three years for carving and erection.  The hall was built later.  In 1750 it was entirely completed. Behind the Great Buddha, there are ten thousand small Buddhas on three stories. Hence the name, Ten-Thousand-Happiness Pavilion.

First refurbished in 1953, the temple was again restored in 1978, and opened to the public in 1981.  The latest effort, which started in 1992, focused on the renewal of the Giant Buddhist Maitreya and was completed in October 1993. The two-year facelift cost more than 500,000 yuan (US$87,719) state funds most of which was spent on coating the statue with 2.5 kilos of gold foil. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Maitreya is the tallest and biggest in the world today.

Zhaofolou (Tower of the Shining Buddha)

The building was built in 1694. Qianlong's mother used to pray here. The "Five Hundred Arhats Hill" made of gold, silver, copper, iron and tin, the 18-metre-high huge Tathagata Buddha (Rulaifo) engraved from a 26-metre-long sandalwood log, and the niche for Shining Buddha carved out of nanmu (this kind of nanmu can give off a unusual scent reputed to repel mosquitoes in summer) are accredited as the three matchless masterpieces in the Lama Temple.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.

Law guarantees freedom of religious belief in China.  Normal activities of different religions can be carried out in China according to their rights prescribed by the Constitution and Law. Buddhism and Taoism (Daoism) are comparatively widespread in China.

There are more than 100 million religious followers in China, more than 85,000 places of worship, and 3,000 religious communities with 30,000 clergy to serve the spiritual needs of their followers.

Of the top five religions, Buddhism, the most influential, has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. There are now over 9,500 Buddhist temples and monasteries with 200,000 monks and nuns registered at temples throughout China. Taoism, native to the country, has a history of more than 1,700 years.  There are over 6,000 Taoist priests and nuns who live in the temples, with more than 600 temples and monasteries open to the public. Islam was introduced to China in the seventh century.  There are about 20 million Muslims and more than 35,000 mosques. Catholicism and Protestantism boomed in China with the Opium War in the 1840s. There are about 4 million Catholics, including 2,700 clergymen, and 4,000 Catholic churches, about 10 million Christians or Protestants, including 18,000 missionaries, 8,000 churches and 20,000 simply equipped meeting places in China. China now has 2,000 religious social organizations and 48 religious schools and colleges.  All religious organizations operate their own affairs independently, run seminaries to suit their own needs, publish their classical works and other publications and have service organs to serve public interest. Religious scriptures, books and magazines are published by various religions. China's Constitution stipulates that the state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state.  In order to ensure that Chinese citizens really enjoy the freedom of religious belief, religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.

President Jiang Zeming said at a three-day national work conference on the subject, which ended on December 12, 2001. China will effectively implement the policy of "freedom for religious belief" and conduct religious work according to law.  Religious work enjoys an important status in the country's affairs. Under the new situation, the Party's leadership over religion should be strengthened The work on religion is closely linked with the comity between different ethnic groups,  social  stability,  national  security  and reunification,  as well as  China's  relations  with  foreign countries.  The influence of religion on political and social lives in today's world should never be underestimated. Communist Party members do not believe in any religion but treat religion with a scientific point of view.  Freedom for religious belief is a basic right enjoyed by all citizens according to the Chinese Constitution, and to respect and protect such a right embodies the Party's commitment to protect human rights. On the one hand, each person enjoys the freedom of believing or not believing in religion, while on the other; religious work should be conducted within the scope of the Constitution and Laws.  Religious works should not obstruct social work, working order and living order. Any religion is not allowed to interfere in the country's administrative, judicial and educational works. Religion should never be allowed to be used for opposing the Party leadership and socialist system, destroying national reunification and ethnic unity, as well as harming national interests.  Religious people should love their country, support the socialist system and Party leadership, and obey the country's laws.  China adopts the principle of separating politics from religions, stressing no religion has the right to override the Constitution and laws. The principle of independence must be followed and foreign interference in China's religious work should be absolutely prohibited.

Beijng-Zhuhai Expressway begun in 1986, the 2,291-kilometre-long expressway starts in Beijing and ends at Zhuhai, a coastal city of South China's Guangdong Province, while traversing the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong.  It is the first national expressway artery to open in the country on September 30, 2004.

China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in Guilin. China has rich culture and history.

Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations. As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. For the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.

Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water scenery harmony grade of city or style, To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.

There are many relative articles on these subjects, if you want to know more about it, just click it.