Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
China's Dynasties
Xia ca 2205 – 1766 B.C.
Shang ca 1766 – 1122 B.C.
Zhou
Western ca 1122 – 7771 B.C.
Eastern ca 771 – 256 B.C.
Qin 221 – 206 B.C.
Han
Western 206 B.C. – A.D. 9
Xin (Wang Mang) A.D. 9 – 23
Eastern A.D. 25 – 220
Three Kingdoms period 220 – 265
Jin
Western 265 – 316
Eastern 317 – 420
Northern
Northern Wei 386 – 534
Eastern Wei 534 – 550
Northern Qi 550 – 577
Northern Zhou 557 – 581
Southern
Song 420 – 479
Qi 479 – 502
Liang 502 – 557
Chen 557 – 589
Sui 581 – 618
Tang 618 – 907
Five Dynasties
Later Liang 907 – 923
Later Tang 923 – 936
Later Jin 936 – 947
Later Han 947 – 950
Later Zhou 951 – 960
Song Northern 960 – 1127
Southern 1127–1279
Yuan 1279 – 1368
Ming 1368 – 1644
Qing 1644 – 1911
Republic of China 1911 – 1949 (maintained in Taiwan)
People's Republic of China 1949 – present
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Hotel Kapok Beijing
While not exactly nestled down a quiet alleyway, Hotel Kapok has an enviable location. If you want to be any closer to the Forbidden City, you'll have to move into the Emperor's old bedroom. And all the retail diversions of Wangfujing are nearby. A fledgling local brand, Kapok offers 62 standard rooms and 27 suites. Conceived by local architect Zhu Pei, the hotel was fashioned out of a gutted five-storey former government building to incorporate the ideas of "translucence" and "blur". With its distinctive exterior wrapping of gridded, frosted fibreglass – which causes the hotel to softly glow at night – and its generous use of natural interior light, the overall effect is indeed one of light and air – so welcome in a city that is somewhat short on both. Rooms are fresh and modern, with wooden floors, ginkgo-print wallpapers and plenty of glass and mirrors to give a sense of space (although the rooms are not at all shoe-boxey); huge bathtubs and little pebbled courtyards (not in all rooms)are memorable touches. Rooms are arranged around a central atrium and there's a bar, business and fitness centres, restaurant, sauna and in-room internet.
16 Donghuamen Dajie, Dong Cheng District
www.kapokhotelbeijing.com
- fledgling (adj): a person or organisation that is immature, inexperienced or undeveloped.
- translucence (adj): allowing light, but not detailed images, to come through.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Chinese Ethnic Culture Park
A large museum displaying and studying the folk cultures and social life of China's 56 ethnic groups. On a land of nearly 500,000 sq m, the museum collects over 100,000 cultural relics, in addition to replicas of architecture and living environment of Tibetan, Mongol and several other ethnic minorities. www.emuseum.org.cn
- relic (n) an object surviving from an earlier time esp one of historical or sentimental interest.
Olympic Sports Centre
Covering an area of 975,000 sq m, the center has 50 buildings, including the natatorium, gymnasium, track-and-field area and hockey stadium, along with the Asian Games Village, conference center, hotels, office buildings, apartments and entertainment center for journalists and athletes. The newly completed "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube", major venues of the 2008 Olympic Games, are in close vicinity.
- natatorium (n): swimming pool, eps ones indoors.
- track and field (n): athletic events that take place on a running track and a nearby field, such as: biathlon, hurdles, shot put, cross-country run, javelin throw, steeplechase, decathlon, long jump, triathlon, discus throw, marathon, triple jump, hammer throw, modern pentathlon, walk, heptathlon, pole vault, high jump, relay
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Delicious colors
What drawn me to this picture is not so much what it is, it is the colors that jump out the page to me. How delicious! it's quail.
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