Perhaps better known as "Tsingtao," thanks to the use of the old spelling that appears on millions of bottles of China's most famous beer, this city on the Yellow Sea is a fabulous destination for its clean ocean air, beaches, mountainous landscape and German colonial-era architecture, not to mention the aforementioned brew and the Shandong seafood dishes that go so well with it. 
The city also has its inevitable fast-paced modern side, and since it was chosen to host the 2008 Olympics sailing events, it is enjoying an across-the-board upgrading of facilities in anticipation of waves of new visitors. Qingdao isn't new to the tourist game, however, as it's long been favored as a summer-time escape from Beijing's hot and dusty dog days. 
Qingdao's deep water harbor and proximity to Korea and Japan have long made it a strategic port (hence the interest of the Germans), and immigrants and visitors have given the city an additional international twist: Why not try a little kimchi on your bratwurst instead of saurkraut? It all goes down well with a cool Tsingtao beer, brewed with spring water from the holy Taoist mountain Lao Shan, which makes for a beautiful day of hiking and taking the spectacular views.
History
Qingdao was little more than a fishing village in a scenic bay before the end of the 19th century. By 1891, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had decided to exploit the bay's strategic position and turn it into a naval base, but the tragic farce of the Boxer Rebellion unleashed a series of events that would deliver Qingdao to the Germans, eager for a stake in East Asia.
The Boxers consisted of Chinese who'd had enough of seeing their country pushed around by European colonial powers while the Qing leadership seemed to stand by helplessly. The Empress Dowager Cixi, who held power in Beijing while her young imperial ward stood in as figurehead, cynically attempted to redirect the Boxer's anger at the Qing toward foreigners. 
It worked for a short while, and the Boxers attacked and killed a number of foreigners, as well as foreign-influenced Chinese (for example, Christian converts) before the vastly superior militaries of England, France, Germany and the United States came into play. After besieging the foreighn legation in Beijing in 1900, the Boxers were crushed by an international force and Cixi had to flee Beijing in disguise. 
By that time, Qingdao had already fallen under German domination, thanks to Kaiser Wilhelm II's exploitation of the murder of two German missionaries in 1897. Germany easily forced the hapless Qing Dynasty to grant a 99-year lease to Qingdao, and they immediately moved in and started building (and brewing beer).
Germany had big plans in East Asia, but the onset of World War I sank those hopes. The ambitious Japanese took advantage of the outbreak of war in Europe to seize Qingdao in 1914, getting an assist from Great Britain, which was only too happy to damage the Kaiser in any way possible. After the war ended, China suffered yet another humiliation at the hands of the Great Powers of the time, as the Treaty of Versailles granted Japan continued rule of the former German colonial outpost. 
This lead to another popular outcry from the Chinese, with the "May Fourth Movement" protests in Beijing stirring nationalist pride and anti-foreign feeling. Many see this period as setting the stage for the eventual triumph of the Chinese communists who, at that time, were beginning to organize. Qingdao did, return to China in 1922, only to be invaded by the Japanese in 1938 and held for the duration of the Sino-Japanese War. 
The city has since weathered the turbulent times surrounding the establishment of the PRC and the Cultural Revolution and emerged as China's fourth largest port and the center of the Shandong Pinensula's booming economy while retaining the charm of a seaside resort with a unique architectural heritage. Spend a few days in Qingdao, and it's easy to see why it was chosen as one of China's Olympic cities.
Climate
Qingdao enjoys coastal weather—mild and moist—with summer months in the mid- to upper 20sº C (upper 70s to mid-80sº F). January is the coldest month with the temperature hovering around freezing. June and July are the rainy months and August brings warm water temperatures perfect for swimming at the beach. The transitional seasons of spring and fall are very pleasant.
Xi'an
Xi'an was once a major crossroads on the trading routes from eastern China to central Asia, and vied with Rome and later Constantinople for the title of greatest city in the world. Today Xi'an is one of China's major drawcards, largely because of the Army of Terracotta Warriors on the city's eastern outskirts. 
Uncovered in 1974, over 10,000 figures have been sorted to date. Soldiers, archers (armed with real weapons) and chariots stand in battle formation in underground vaults looking as fierce and war-like as pottery can. Xi'an's other attractions include the old city walls, the Muslim quarter and the Banpo Neolithic Village - a tacky re-creation of the Stone Age. By train, Xi'an is a 16 hour journey from Beijing. If you've got a bit of cash to spare, you can get a flight.
Shanghai
Although the lights have been out for quite some time, Shanghai once beguiled foreigners with its seductive mix of tradition and sophistication. Now Shanghai is reawakening and dusting off its party shoes for another silken tango with the wider world.
In many ways, Shanghai is a Western invention. The Bund, its riverside area, and Frenchtown are the best places to see the remnants of its decadent colonial past. Move on to temples, gardens, bazaars and the striking architecture of the new Shanghai.
Macau The charm city of china 
Macau may be firmly back in China's orbit, but the Portuguese patina on this Sino-Lusitanian Las Vegas makes it a most unusual Asian destination. It has always been overshadowed by its glitzy near-neighbour Hong Kong - which is precisely why it's so attractive.
Macau's dual cultural heritage is a boon for travellers, who can take their pick from traditional Chinese temples, a spectacular ruined cathedral, pastel villas, old forts and islands that once harboured pirates. A slew of musuems will tell you how it all came about.
Hong Kong has the big city specials like smog, odour, 14 million elbows and an insane love of clatter. But it's also efficient, hushed and peaceful: the transport network is excellent, the shopping centres are sublime, and the temples and quiet corners of parks are contemplative oases.
Hong Kong has enough towering urbanity, electric streetscapes, enigmatic temples, commercial fervour and cultural idiosyncrasies to utterly swamp the senses of a visitor, and enough spontaneous, unexpected possibilities to make a complete mockery of any attempt at a strictly organised itinerary.
Beijing
If your visions of Beijing are centred around pods of Maoist revolutionaries in buttoned-down tunics performing t'ai chi in the Square, put them to rest: this city has embarked on a new-millennium roller-coaster and it's taking the rest of China with it.
The spinsterish Beijing of old is having a facelift and the cityscape is changing daily. Within the city, however, you'll still find some of China's most stunning sights: the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven Park, the Lama Temple and the Great Wall, to name just a few.
Emperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum and the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum
发帖者 China Tourism 标签： Emperor, Horses Museum, Mausoleum, Qin Shihuang, Terra-cotta WarriorsEmperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum and the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum
Emperor Qin Shihuang (259-210B.C.) had Ying as his surname and Zheng as his given name. He name to the throne of the Qin at age 13, and took the helm of the state at age of 22. By 221 B.C., he had annexed the six rival principalities of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei, and established the first feudal empire in China's history.
In the year 221 B.C., when he unified the whole country, Ying Zheng styled himself emperor. He named himself Shihuang Di, the first emperor in the hope that his later generations be the second, the third even the one hundredth and thousandth emperors in proper order to carry on the hereditary system. Since then, the supreme feudal rulers of China's dynasties had continued to call themselves Huang Di, the emperor.
After he had annexed the other six states, Emperor Qin Shihuang abolished the enfeoffment system and adopted the prefecture and county system. He standardized legal codes, written language, track, currencies, weights and measures. To protect against harassment by the Hun aristocrats. Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered the Great Wall be built. All these measures played an active role in eliminating the cause of the state of separation and division and strengthening the unification of the whole country as well as promotion the development of economy and culture. They had a great and deep influence upon China's 2,000 year old feudal society.
Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered the books of various schools burned except those of the Qin dynasty's history and culture, divination and medicines in an attempt to push his feudal autocracy in the ideological field. As a result, China's ancient classics had been devastated and destroy. Moreover, he once ordered 460 scholars be buried alive. Those events were later called in history “the burning of books and the burying of Confucian scholars.”
Emperor Qin Shihuang, for his own pleasure, conscribed several hundred thousand convicts and went in for large-scale construction and had over seven hundred palaces built in the Guanzhong Plain. These palaces stretched several hundred li and he sought pleasure from one palace to the other. Often nobody knew where he ranging treasures inside the tomb, were enclosed alive.
Emperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum has not yet been excavated. What looks like inside could only be known when it is opened. However, the three pits of the terra-cotta warrior excavated outside the east gate of the outer enclosure of the necropolis can make one imagine how magnificent and luxurious the structure of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum was.
No.1 Pit was stumbled upon in March 1974 when villagers of Xiyang Village of Yanzhai township, Lintong County, sank a well 1.5km east of the mausoleum. In 1976, No.2 and 3 Pits were found 20m north of No.1 Pit respectively after the drilling survey. The terra-cotta warriors and horses are arrayed according to the Qin dynasty battle formation, symbolizing the troops keeping vigil beside the mausoleum. This discovery aroused much interest both at home and abroad. In 1975, a museum, housing the site of No.1 and covering an area of 16,300 square meters was built with the permission of the State Council. The museum was formally opened to public on Oct.1, the National Day, 1979.
No.1 Pit is 230 meters long from east to west, 62m wide from north to south and 5m deep, covering a total area of 14,260 square meters. It is an earth-and-wood structure in the shape of a tunnel. There are five sloping entrances on the eastern and western sides of the pit respectively. The pit is divided into eleven corridors by ten earthen partition walls, and the floors are paved with bricks. Thick rafters were placed onto the walls (but now one can only see their remains), which were covered with mats and then fine soil and earth. The battle formation of the Qin dynasty, facing east. In the east end are arrayed three lines of terra-cotta warriors, 70 pieces in each, totaling 210 pieces. They are supposed to be the van of the formation. Immediately behind them are 38 columns of infantrymen alternating with war chariots in the corridors, each being 180m long. They are probably the main body of the formation. There is one line of warriors in the left, right and west ends respectively, facing outwards. They are probably the flanks and the rear. There are altogether 27 trial trench, it is assumed that more than 6,000 clay warriors and horses could be unearthed from No.1 Pit.
No.2 Pit sis about half the size of No.1 Pit, covering about 6,000 square meters Trail diggings show this is a composite formation of infantry, cavalry and chariot soldiers, from which roughly over 1,000 clay warriors, and 500 chariots and saddled horses could be unearthed. The 2,000-year-old wooden chariots are already rotten. But their shafts, cross yokes, and wheels, etc. left clear impressions on the earth bed. The copper parts of the chariots still remain. Each chariot is pulled by four horses which are one and half meters high and two metres long. According to textual research, these clay horses were sculptures after the breed in the area of Hexi Corridor. The horses for the cavalrymen were already saddled, but with no stirrups.
No.3 Pit covers an area of 520m2 with only four horses, one chariot and 68 warriors, supposed to be the command post of the battle formation. Now, No.2 and 3 Pits have been refilled, but visitors can see some clay figures and weapons displayed in the exhibition halls in the museum that had been unearthed from these two pits. The floors of both No.1 and 2 Pits were covered with a layer of silt of 15 to 20cm thick. In these pits, one can see traces of burnt beams everywhere, some relics which were mostly broken. Analysis shows that the pits were burned down by Xiang Yu, leader of a peasant army. All of the clay warriors in the three pits held real weapons in their hands and face east, showing Emperor Qin Shihuang's strong determination of wiping out the six states and unifying the whole country.
The height of the terra-cotta warriors varies from 1.78m, the shortest, to 1.97m, the tallest. They look healthy and strong and have different facial expressions. Probably they were sculpted by craftsmen according to real soldiers of the Qin dynasty. They organically combined the skills of round engraving, bas-relief and linear engraving, and utilized the six traditional folk crafts of sculpturing, such as hand-moulding, sticking, cutting, painting and so on. The clay models were then put in kilns, baked and colour-painted. As the terra-cotta figures have been burnt and have gone through the natural process of decay, we can't see their original gorgeous colours. However, most of the terra-cotta figures bear the trace of the original colours, and few of them are still as bright as new. They are found to be painted by mineral dyestuffs of vermilion, bright red, pink dark green, powder green, purple, blue, orange, black and white colours.
Thousands of real weapons were unearthed from these terra-cotta army pits, including broad knives, swords, spears, dagger-axes, halberds, bows, crossbows and arrowheads. These weapons were exquisitely made. Some of themes are still very sharp; analyses show that they are made of alloys of copper and tin, containing more than ten kinds of other metals. Since their surfaces were treated with chromium, they are as bright as new, though buried underground for more than 2,000 years. This indicates that Qin dynasty's metallurgical technology and weapon-manufacturing technique already reached quite a high level.
In December 1980, two teams of large painted bronze chariots and horses were unearthed 20 metres west of the mound of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum. These single shaft four-horse chariots each comprises 3,462 spare parts, and has a body with two compartments, one behind the other, and an elliptical umbrella like canopy. The four horses harnessed to the chariot are 65-67 centimeters tall. The restored bronze chariots and horses are exact imitations of true chariot, horse and driver in half life-size.
The chariots and horses are decorated with coloured drawings against white background. They have been fitted with more than 1,500 pieces of gold and silvers and decorations, looking luxurious, splendid and graceful. Probably they were meant for the use of Emperor Qin Shihuang's soul to go on inspection. The bronze chariots and horses were made by lost wax casting, which shows a high level of technology. For instance, the tortoise-shell-like canopy is about 4mm thick, and the window is only 1mm thick on which are many small holes for ventilation. According to a preliminary study, the technology of manufacturing the bronze chariots and horses has involved casting, welding, reveting, inlaying embedding and chiseling. The excavation of the bronze chariots and horses provides extremely valuable material and data for the textual research of the metallurgical technique, the mechanism of the chariot and technological modeling of the Qin dynasty.
No.2 bronze chariot and horses now on display were found broken into 1,555 pieces when excavated. After two-and-half years' careful and painstaking restoration by archaeologists and various specialists, they were formally exhibited in the museum on October 1, 1983. No.1 bronze chariot hand horses are on display from 1988.
Spring mysterious Huaqing Pool in Shanxi，Xian
发帖者 China Tourism 标签： Huaqing Pool, mysterious, Shanxi, Spring, XianHuaqing Pool is situated about 35 kilometres east of the city of Xi'an. Historically, the Western Zhou dynasty saw the construction of the Li Palace on the spot. In the Qin dynasty a pool was built with stones, and was given the name Lishan Tang (the Lishan Hot Spring).
The site was extended into a palace in the Han dynasty, and renamed the Li Palace (the Resort Palace). In the Tang dynasty, Li Shimin (Emperor Tai Zong) ordered to construct the Hot Spring Palace, and Emperor Xuan Zong had a walled palace built around Lishan Mountain in the year of 747. It was known as the Huaqing Palace. It also had the name Huaqing Pool on account of its location on the hot springs.
Huaqing Pool is located at the foot of the Lishan Mountain, a branch range of the Qinling Ranges, and stands 1,256 metres high. It is covered with pines and cypresses, looking very much like a like a dark green galloping horse from a long distance. So it has the name of the Lishan Mountain (Li means a black horse).
The Tang dynasty Emperor Xuan Zong and his favourite lady, Yang Gui Fei used to make their home at Frost Drifting Hall in winter days. When winter came, snowflakes were floating in the air, and everything in sight was white. However, they came into thaw immediately in front of the hall. It owed a great deal to the luke warm vapour rising out of the hot spring. This is the Frost Drifting Hall that greets us today.
Close by the Frost Drifting Hall lies the Nine Dragon Pool. According to legend, the Central Shaanxi Plain was once stricken by a severe drought in the very remote past. Thus, by the order of the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Heaven), an old dragon came at the head of eight young ones, and made rain here. Yet when the disaster was just abating, they lowered their guard so much that it became serious again. In a fit of anger, the Jade Emperor kept the young dragons under the Jade Cause Way (玉堤), with the Morning Glow Pavilion and the Sunset Pavilion built at both ends of it respectively, to make the young dragons spout cleat water all day long to meet the needs of local irrigation. Besides, he had the old dragon confined to the bottom of the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion situated at the upper end of the Jade Causeway, and obliged him to exercise control over the young.
The Nine-Bend Corridor west of the Nine Dragon Pool leads directly to the Marble Boat, which resembles a dragon boat on the water surface. In the Marble Boat lies the Nine Dragon Tang (the Nine Dragon Hot Spring where Emperor Xuan Zong used to take baths). At the head of his court ladies and hundreds of his officials, he would come to the Huanqing Palace to spend his winter days in October of the Lunar calendar and return to Chang'an City as the year drew to its close. The Nine Dragon Hot Spring was originally built with crystal jade, whose surface was decorated with the carvings of fish, dragons, birds and flowers. In it twin lotus flowers also carved with white jade could be seen as well. The spring water welled from the break of an earthen jar, and spouted up to the lotus flowers. Hence the name Lotus Flower Tang (the Lotus Flower Hot Spring).
The Gui Fei Bathing Pool was where Yang Gui Fei, Emperor Xuan Zong's favorite lady, used to take bath. It was originally built with white jade, and in its center a blooming flower spouted water like a spring. The pool looked very much like a Chinese flowering crabapple; Hence its name the Chinese Flowering Crabapple Hot Spring or the Lotus Hot Spring……
Lady Yang used to make a stay in this pavilion to see sights or to air her hair after a bath. Therefore, it was named the Hair Airing Pavilion. Whether the sun was rising or setting, the pavilion was aglow with sunshine; hence the name the Flying Roseate Pavilion.
Southwest of the Gui Fei Bathing Pool stands a brick-built pavilion. On its head three big Chinese characters “Xi Jia Lou” (Fine Sunset-Bathed Pavilion)are inscribed according to the model of the most celebrated according to the model of the most celebrated Chinese calligrapher, Yu You Ren, here is the source of the spring water.
At this spa there are four hot springs. They have an hourly flow of 112 tons, and a constant temperature of 43°C. The spring water contains lime, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate and other minerals, which makes it suitable for bathing and considerable treatment of quite a few diseases such as dermatosis, rheumatism, arthritis and muscular pain. The Fine Sunset-Bathed Pavilion marks the first source of the spring water, which was discovered some 3,000 years ago, roughly in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Its water flow averages 25 tons per hour. Take up the steps east of the source of hot springs, you will gradually see the Five-Room Pavilion where Chiang Kaishek made a temporary stay during the Xi'an Incident.
The Xi'an Incident took place on December 12, 1936, and it is also known as the Double Twelfth Incident. After the Incident of September 18, 1936, the Japanese imperialists seized the three provinces northeast of China, and intensified their invasion of North China. This was the very moment vital to the Chinese nation. Yet Chiang Kaichek persisted doggedly in carrying out his reactionary policy “domestic tranquility is a must for the resistance against Japanese invades,” and commanded the Northeast Army and Northwest Army, respectively headed by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, to attack the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. Inspired by our Party‘s policy “let us stop the internal war and unit to resist the Japanese aggressors,” those two generals made to Chiang Kaishek the proposal of forming a united front with the Communist Party for the resistance. Not only did he reject the proposal, but flew to Xi'an to scheme the “suppression of the Communist Party.” And the slaughter of the patriotic youth. Out of patriotism, Zhang and Yang started the famous Xi’an Incident.
Very early on the morning of December 12, 1936 the Incident was impending. Zhang Xueliang, together with Yang Hucheng ordered a squad of bodyguards to surround the Huaqing Pool. They fought a fierce battle there, and wiped out Chiang's bodyguards in one vigorous effort. The sound of firing came to Chiang Kaishek, and he was so terrified that he crept out of the window with his nightgown and slippers only. What‘s more, he hurt his spinal bone, and lost one of his slippers while crossing over the back wall. He staggered up Lishan Mountain, and hid himself behind a stone in the crevice halfway on it. Those brave soldiers began to search the mountain immediately when they rushed into the Five-Room Pavilion to find that Chiang's hat and clothes were still there and that his quilt remained warm. In the end they found Chiang Kaishek, and thus escorted him to Xi’an.
In order to avoid a civil war and try t establish a national united front for the resistance against Japan, Mao Zedong on behalf of the C.C.P.C. insisted on a peaceful settlement of the Incident. Therefore, a delegation headed by Zhou Enlai was sent to Xi'an. Zhou Enlai and his suite did a large amount of work there, took everything possible into consideration, and ultimately forced Chiang Kaishek to accept the proposal by his two generals. On December 25, Chiang was freed, and flew back to Nanjing. The Xi‘an Incident was so peacefully settled.
The peaceful settlement of the Incident put an end to the internal war which had lasted for ten years, and accelerated the formation and development of the national united front for the anti-Japanese drive. Moreover, it showed that the co-operative relationships between the Communist and Nationalists arrived at a new stage. It marked a great turning point in modern Chinese history.
In the year of 1946 the KMT government had a “National Rejuvenation Pavilion” built near the crevice where Chiang Kaishek had hidden himself in the Incident. It was also called “Vital Energy Pavilion”. After the national liberation it was renamed “Catching Chiang Pavilion”. Close by the pavilion stands a wooden board which carries a brief introduction to the Xi'an Incident. Iron chains and rings in the crevices east of the pavilion, by which visitors can climb up to take a look at Chiang Kaishek‘s shelter.
Up the winding path east of the Five-Room-Pavilion you will catch sight of a bridge-like construction. It shines regularly with a myriad of evening sun rays both in summer and autumn, and looks very much like rainbow. So it has the name of the Hovering Rainbow Bridge.
Located on the Xixiu Ridge (the West Embroidery Ridge) of the Lishan Mountain, the remains of the beacon tower of the Western Zhou Dynasty seem easy to identify.
The beacon tower was mostly built at the top of the mountain to give border alarm in ancient times. It was constantly under special control. Once the enemies were pressing on towards the border, the beacon tower began to take effect: it was made to smoke in the daytime while set on fire at night.
The story goes that Bao Si, Queen of the Western Zhou dynasty was highly honored, yet she never cracked a smile. King You tried many ways to put a smile on her face, but he failed over and over again. He “called his court band to toll bells and beat gongs”, and she pulled a long face. Then the band were asked to “play the bamboo flute and strings” and she remained displeased. Afterwards, “maids of honour served wine, festively singing and dancing,” and she did not let out a smile at all.
“You don't like music! What on earth are you fond of?” the King asked.
“I nearly have a liking for nothing. But I can still well remember I liked to give ear to the sound of tearing a piece of coloured silk when I was a child. It was clear anf melodious,” she replied. King You said in excitement, “That is very simple. How come you didn't let me know it earlier?”
Thus he ordered the officially appointed property manager to offer coloured silk, and made fresh and energetic maids of honour to tear it into pieces. Hundreds of bolts of coloured silk were utterly torn, but Bao Si remained unmoved.
“Why didn't you let out a single smile then?” he asked.
“I have never smiled so far, ” the Queen replied.
The King tried over and over again, but failed repeatedly, and in the end he gave orders, “Anyone both in and out of court who can amuse Bao Si will be awarded one thousand pieces of gold.”
Afterwards Guo Shifu, a treacherous court official came and offered advice: “Set the beacon tower on fire and fool your sovereign rulers.” That night the King and Queen reached the Lishan Mountain by carriage, and gave the order. In the split second the flames of the fire lit up the sky ad the sovereign rulers moved their troops immediately to the Lishan Mountain. There they found nothing but that the King and Queen enjoyed drinking festively. The King then dispatched his bodyguard to inform them that “Everything should have been all right. I have just been joking with you.” When they got this, they looked at each other in blank dismay, and left disappointed. Sure enough, Bao Si burst into laughter, stroking her hands when she noticed all the troops come in vain and go noisily. Accordingly, Guo Shifu got a prize of one thousand pieces of gold. Later on King You did so more often than not. In 771 B.C. Quan Rong (a then minority tribe) staged an armed rebellion against the Western Zhou Dynasty. King You ordered urgently to set the beacon tower on fire, but all the sovereign rulers remained unmoved. Consequently King Yu was killed, and Bao Si was taken away. The Western Zhou dynasty vanished. Herein come the Chinese idiom “A single smile costs one thousand pieces of gold” and “The sovereign rulers are fooled by the beacon fire.”
u ordered urgently to set the beacon tower on fire, but all the sovereign rulers remained unmoved. Consequently King Yu was killed, and Bao Si was taken away. The Western Zhou dynasty vanished. Herein come the Chinese idiom “A single smile costs one thousand pieces of gold” and “The sovereign rulers are fooled by the beacon fire.”
Mt.Emei is one of the "four famous mountains"in China. It lies about 168km from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. Before the tour of the holy mountain, it is important to obtain some inforation about the spread of Buddhism in China, Buddhism in Mt. Emei and its hiking routes.
The Spread of the Buddhism
Buddhism was founded in India around the 16th century BC. It is said that the founder was Sakyamuni. Sskyua was the name of the clan to which his family belonged. Sakyamuni was a prince and was brought up in luxury. In his 20s, he became discontented with the world. Every day he had to face with sights of sickness, death and old age since the body was inescapably involved with disease, decrepitude and death. Around the age of 30 he made his break from the material world and plunged off in search of enlightenment.
Sakyamuni began by studying Hindu philosophy and Yoga. Then he joined a band of ascetics and tried to break the power of his body by inflicting severe austerities on himself. However, no matter how he held his breath until his head burst and starved his body until his ribs jutted out, he failed to enlighten himself. Finally Sakyamuni followed the principle of the middle way in which he would live between the extremities of asceticism on one hand and indulgence on the other. As the story goes, he devoted the final phase of his search for enlightenment to meditation and mystic concentration. One evening he sat beneath a fig tree, slipped into a deep meditation and achieved enlightenment from his mystic concentration.
Sakyamuni founded an order of monks and for the next 45 years or so peached his ideas around 480 BC. Sakyamuni teaches that all life is suffering. Everyone is subjected to the trauma of birth, to sickness, decrepitude and death. Real happiness can't be achieved until suffering is overcome.
The cause of unhappiness is 'desires',specifically the desire of the body and the desire personal fulfillment. In order to overcome the desirs and achieve happiness, it requires the following eight-fold path.
Du Fu(712~770)Thatched Cottage used to be the former hone of Du Fu, one of the greatest poets in the Tang Dynasty. Located in the western suburbs of Chengdu, the spot is marked by a stream, ancient style architecture, pavilion pagodas and age -old trees.
The cottage consists of six important parts, They are the Front Gate, the Lobby, the Hall of poem History, the Water Pavilion, the Gongbu Shrine and the Thatched Cottage.
At the time of the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu's poetry first came to be recognized. Readers of many different periods have considered Du Fu to be the greatest poet of the Chinese tradition. Such general agreement can partially be explained by the immense variety of his work, which holds up quite well to different tastes and historical changes in fashion. Like Shakespeare in English tradition, Du Fu's poetry came to be so deeply bound up with the constitution of literary value that generation after generation of poets and critics rediscovered themselves and their interests in some aspect of the poet'
Chinese critics from the Song Dynasty referred to Du Fu as the"poet-historian". Both before and after the An Lushan Revolt, Du Fu witnessed a typical political and social situation; the common people still lived in poverty while the emperor and his top officials enjoyed a foolishly luxurious life. He composed many poems such as "Song of the War Chariots", "Three Officials"，and "Three Departures"。His poems expressed his dissatisfaction with the government and his great pity for the common people. Du Fu used his poems to comment on current events and historical images. Du Fu became the historian by creating his responses to particular situations.
Du Fu was talented. When he was young, he wanted to get a good job in the government. Unfortunately Du Fu was refused several times. He was in his fifties when he began to serve as a minor official in Changan (Xi'an). Gongbu was his official title and probably he was in charge of the lical industry.
Du Fu was not a skilled survivor in government politics. He was dismissed in the form of a transfer to the post of personnel administrator in Huazhou and so left Changan. Du Fu soon gave up this minor post in disgust and set off with his family to Qinzhou in the Northwest. After a short stay he moved on again and in 759 he arrived in Chengdu. He set up a modest cottage with some money he borrowed from his friend who served as a local governor. In the cottage he had a simple and peaceful life for three years, writing about 240porms. Mostly inspired by the cottage, the stream nearby and the scenery in Chengdu. These poems give the impression that he was happier in Chengdu than any other time in his life. The poems of this period sound relaxed and happy. Here are some of them.