Saturday, September 12, 2009
Day 12 - East Lake,Hubei Provencial Museum & Yellow Crane Tower
Today we have a very packed schedule as we need to go and visit 3 place that is very well-known which is East Lake,Hubei Provencial Museum & Yellow Crane Tower. We have to wake up early in the morning, we head up the bus and realise that most of the seats in the bus are filled up. Most of the time, I will be sitting beside Eshlyn but this time I sitting with Dr Tan from another course. During the trip, he biefly tell me 2 key artifact which is Sword of Goujian(越王勾踐劍) and Spear of Fuchai (吳王夫差矛). Later I will explain further.
First we went to East Lake(东湖), it covers an area of 87 square kilometers (33 square kilometers of water area) that is five times greater than the area of the West Lake in Hangzhou! Because of its winding banks and crisscrossing ponds and brooks, it is known as 'a lake with 99 bays'. The East Lake gate opens to the Tingtao scenic area featuring the rare sequoia especially elegant in late autumn. The Listening-to-the-Waves Tower (听涛轩 ), with its classic elegance is one of the famous buildings in this area, along with Land of Water and Cloud (水云乡) which serves as a teahouse, and the Tingtao Inn of Wine, a restaurant offering local fish dishes. On the north, the center of this area, is the Poetry-Reciting Pavilion (行吟阁), built for memorizing works of Qu Yuan, the great patriotic poet of the State of Chu (one of the seven warring states before Qin (221BC-206BC) in China's first feudal dynasty). Many exhibits about Qu Yuan are featured in this building including his great literary masterpieces, it is too bad that with my current chinese standard, I am unable to understand his pain,sorrow and the feelings that he want to express but I promise myself that I will improve my Chinese in order to understand the wonderful poems wrote not only him but other poets. In addition, the first allegory sculpture park in China is here displaying wonderful sculpture and allegories. Characterized by beautiful landscape, abundant plants, the customs of the State of Chu and unique gardens design of the place, the Mo Hill Scenic Area attracts many tourists. In this area, the Chu cultural theme park displays the Chu culture in China. The lotus at the pond is very beautiful, when i see the lotus, I finally understand the meaning of growing from mud, it is unstained(出淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖). Somethings in life you have to see for yourself before you can understand and this is one of them.
Next, we got on the bus and I realise that we are the first few that got up so Eshlyn & I quickly grab a seat but the journey to the next location only took lik 10 mins. When I reach at the Museum(湖北省博物馆), I can feel my blood is rushing down my vein as I can see one of the greatest weapon ever made in the history!This museum is divided into three parts: the Chime Bells Exhibition Hall, the Chu (a state in the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC)) Culture Exhibition Hall, and the last one is about the Romance of The Three Kingdom but it is also the only need to pay in order to get in(10rmb). The first 2 artifact we see is the sword and spear, tour guide explain to us that the owner's of the sword country is being destory by the owner of the spear so after his country being destory, he everyday trained himself,sharpen his personal sword, read war books and lick the bile in order to remember himself that he have seek revenge to get back his country that is how 卧薪尝胆 came about. After that we get to see the tomb of 曾侯乙墓 Yi (the king of the Zeng Sate in the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) which is unearth in Sui County of Hubei Province , such as the exquisite bronze vessel known as 'Crane Standing on the Antler', ancient halberds, triangle-shaped swords called Shu, and the bamboo slips that were used for writing on in ancient times. One of the masterpiece of the tomb is Chime Bells, which is the largest bronze musical instrument ever discovered.
After that we went to a food street, the food there is really very tasty. We need to buy a card in order to buy food there, pretty classy right?There is a wide variety of food and ShunQing,Eshlyn and I at least tried 10% of the food, I think we done well.
The main attraction is the Yellow Crane Tower, Yellow Crane Tower is located on Snake Hill in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Enjoying the fame of 'The First Scenery under Heaven', it is one of the most renowned towers south of the Yangtze River. Its cultural significance led to its being made the symbol of Wuhan City.If you come over to Wuhan and do not visit the Yellow Crane Tower, I believe that you cannot say that you have visited Wuhan before.
According to my tour guide there is a legend in Yellow Crane Tower, it was said that the tower was built by the family of an old pothouse owner living in Wuhan City long ago, named Old Xin. One day, a shabbily dressed Taoist priest came to the pothouse and asked for some wine. Old Xin paid no attention to him, but his son was very kind and gave the Taoist some wine without asking for money. The Taoist priest visited the pothouse regularly for half a year when one day the Taoist said to the son that in order to repay his kindness, he would like to draw a crane on the wall of the pothouse, which would dance at his request. When people in the city heard of this, they flocked to the pothouse to see the dancing crane. The Xin family soon became rich and they built the Yellow Crane Tower as a symbol of gratitude to the Taoist priest.
The Yellow Crane Tower has a very long and complicated history. It was first built in 223, during the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280). Due to the ideal location, it was built by Sun Quan (182 - 252, King of Wu) as a watchtower for his army. After hundreds of years, its military function was gradually forgotten and the tower was enjoyed mainly as a picturesque location.
During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), many popular poems were written in praise of the Yellow Crane Tower. It was these poems that made the Tower so renowned and induced for people to visit. During the following centuries, it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. During the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties alone the tower was destroyed seven times and rebuilt seven times. In 1884, it was completely destroyed in a fire and was not rebuilt until 1981.
The tower had different architectural features in different dynasties. However the tower which stands today is based on the one designed during the Qing Dynasty. It stands 51.4 meters (about 168 feet) high and has five floors with lift which we need to pay for it if we want to go the top of the tower or the level 1 of the tower. The appearance of the tower is the same regardless of the direction it is viewed from. The roof is covered by 100,000 yellow glazed tiles. With yellow upturned eaves, each floor seems to have been designed to resemble a yellow crane spreading its wings to fly. Another amazing view is the bell of the Yellow Crane Tower in front of the bell there is 2 words called 幸福 means happiness.
Dr Tan & I in the bus =)
Red Light! There are people selling gums and newspaper while the vechicle stop.So dangerous but I believe that they have not choice since China have such a wide poplulation and people are so poor here, they just have to take some risk in order to make some money.
The View in East Lake!
Cannot breath anymore cause it is breathtaking!
Just want to slow down my pace and take photos!
They have a special place to train people to play chress as a job. Sound so cool.
Yoke May did a jump shot and fall down. She still laughing, I thought she will cry. Such a Stong Girl!
More Lotus! Feel like bring some back to Singapore but I did not!
Nice View From Here right?
Opps! I Poker Xanier!
We Did What The Sign Says
I Want The Stone Ball!
Bell!
Here is the Tomb!
The Strongest Sword in The World!越王勾踐劍 (Yue Guo)
The arch weapon against the Sword!吳王夫差矛 (Wu Guo)
This is one of the national treasure, I heard that this art piece have uncountless snakes even the Amercia is unable to count the number of snakes in this piece of art!
This is the one that shows the statue of the person in the tomb. it have 9 big piece and 8 small piece means that he is a king!
The HEAVIEST piece of instrument in the world!
So many arrow heads!
A figure of the soliders during that era!
The making of the rod!
Really like the cups!
Each cup represent one animal of the Chinese horoscope!
Picture of the internal tomb
external tomb to cover over the internal tomb to protect the body.
How the king look like!
This is the protector of the tomb, it was said that it will protect the soul and bring it to a place where there is no war and unhappiness.
Food Street!
Food & Drinks
MORE FOOD!
Here is the history of the smelly tofu if you are wondering!
Top View From the Yellow Crane Tower!
The picture of the crane is post on the wall!
Sqeeze!
Time to Go!
Reflection
I really enjoy the views and I heard the tour guide told us that Mao Zedong which is one of the most important figure in China, once stay near the lake which now only take in important oversea important people only. How I wish that I am able to see it for at least one time. This trip have make me understand more about the war era in the China's five thousand history, I can imagine the sight of such beautiful and breath-taking sight even through many people have exchange their life,family and etc for the peace and create a new chapter of China. If I have free time during this trip, I am willing to go and see the Romance of the Three Kingdom!
First we went to East Lake(东湖), it covers an area of 87 square kilometers (33 square kilometers of water area) that is five times greater than the area of the West Lake in Hangzhou! Because of its winding banks and crisscrossing ponds and brooks, it is known as 'a lake with 99 bays'. The East Lake gate opens to the Tingtao scenic area featuring the rare sequoia especially elegant in late autumn. The Listening-to-the-Waves Tower (听涛轩 ), with its classic elegance is one of the famous buildings in this area, along with Land of Water and Cloud (水云乡) which serves as a teahouse, and the Tingtao Inn of Wine, a restaurant offering local fish dishes. On the north, the center of this area, is the Poetry-Reciting Pavilion (行吟阁), built for memorizing works of Qu Yuan, the great patriotic poet of the State of Chu (one of the seven warring states before Qin (221BC-206BC) in China's first feudal dynasty). Many exhibits about Qu Yuan are featured in this building including his great literary masterpieces, it is too bad that with my current chinese standard, I am unable to understand his pain,sorrow and the feelings that he want to express but I promise myself that I will improve my Chinese in order to understand the wonderful poems wrote not only him but other poets. In addition, the first allegory sculpture park in China is here displaying wonderful sculpture and allegories. Characterized by beautiful landscape, abundant plants, the customs of the State of Chu and unique gardens design of the place, the Mo Hill Scenic Area attracts many tourists. In this area, the Chu cultural theme park displays the Chu culture in China. The lotus at the pond is very beautiful, when i see the lotus, I finally understand the meaning of growing from mud, it is unstained(出淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖). Somethings in life you have to see for yourself before you can understand and this is one of them.
Next, we got on the bus and I realise that we are the first few that got up so Eshlyn & I quickly grab a seat but the journey to the next location only took lik 10 mins. When I reach at the Museum(湖北省博物馆), I can feel my blood is rushing down my vein as I can see one of the greatest weapon ever made in the history!This museum is divided into three parts: the Chime Bells Exhibition Hall, the Chu (a state in the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC)) Culture Exhibition Hall, and the last one is about the Romance of The Three Kingdom but it is also the only need to pay in order to get in(10rmb). The first 2 artifact we see is the sword and spear, tour guide explain to us that the owner's of the sword country is being destory by the owner of the spear so after his country being destory, he everyday trained himself,sharpen his personal sword, read war books and lick the bile in order to remember himself that he have seek revenge to get back his country that is how 卧薪尝胆 came about. After that we get to see the tomb of 曾侯乙墓 Yi (the king of the Zeng Sate in the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) which is unearth in Sui County of Hubei Province , such as the exquisite bronze vessel known as 'Crane Standing on the Antler', ancient halberds, triangle-shaped swords called Shu, and the bamboo slips that were used for writing on in ancient times. One of the masterpiece of the tomb is Chime Bells, which is the largest bronze musical instrument ever discovered.
After that we went to a food street, the food there is really very tasty. We need to buy a card in order to buy food there, pretty classy right?There is a wide variety of food and ShunQing,Eshlyn and I at least tried 10% of the food, I think we done well.
The main attraction is the Yellow Crane Tower, Yellow Crane Tower is located on Snake Hill in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Enjoying the fame of 'The First Scenery under Heaven', it is one of the most renowned towers south of the Yangtze River. Its cultural significance led to its being made the symbol of Wuhan City.If you come over to Wuhan and do not visit the Yellow Crane Tower, I believe that you cannot say that you have visited Wuhan before.
According to my tour guide there is a legend in Yellow Crane Tower, it was said that the tower was built by the family of an old pothouse owner living in Wuhan City long ago, named Old Xin. One day, a shabbily dressed Taoist priest came to the pothouse and asked for some wine. Old Xin paid no attention to him, but his son was very kind and gave the Taoist some wine without asking for money. The Taoist priest visited the pothouse regularly for half a year when one day the Taoist said to the son that in order to repay his kindness, he would like to draw a crane on the wall of the pothouse, which would dance at his request. When people in the city heard of this, they flocked to the pothouse to see the dancing crane. The Xin family soon became rich and they built the Yellow Crane Tower as a symbol of gratitude to the Taoist priest.
The Yellow Crane Tower has a very long and complicated history. It was first built in 223, during the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280). Due to the ideal location, it was built by Sun Quan (182 - 252, King of Wu) as a watchtower for his army. After hundreds of years, its military function was gradually forgotten and the tower was enjoyed mainly as a picturesque location.
During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), many popular poems were written in praise of the Yellow Crane Tower. It was these poems that made the Tower so renowned and induced for people to visit. During the following centuries, it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. During the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties alone the tower was destroyed seven times and rebuilt seven times. In 1884, it was completely destroyed in a fire and was not rebuilt until 1981.
The tower had different architectural features in different dynasties. However the tower which stands today is based on the one designed during the Qing Dynasty. It stands 51.4 meters (about 168 feet) high and has five floors with lift which we need to pay for it if we want to go the top of the tower or the level 1 of the tower. The appearance of the tower is the same regardless of the direction it is viewed from. The roof is covered by 100,000 yellow glazed tiles. With yellow upturned eaves, each floor seems to have been designed to resemble a yellow crane spreading its wings to fly. Another amazing view is the bell of the Yellow Crane Tower in front of the bell there is 2 words called 幸福 means happiness.
Dr Tan & I in the bus =)
Red Light! There are people selling gums and newspaper while the vechicle stop.So dangerous but I believe that they have not choice since China have such a wide poplulation and people are so poor here, they just have to take some risk in order to make some money.
The View in East Lake!
Cannot breath anymore cause it is breathtaking!
Just want to slow down my pace and take photos!
They have a special place to train people to play chress as a job. Sound so cool.
Yoke May did a jump shot and fall down. She still laughing, I thought she will cry. Such a Stong Girl!
More Lotus! Feel like bring some back to Singapore but I did not!
Nice View From Here right?
Opps! I Poker Xanier!
We Did What The Sign Says
I Want The Stone Ball!
Bell!
Here is the Tomb!
The Strongest Sword in The World!越王勾踐劍 (Yue Guo)
The arch weapon against the Sword!吳王夫差矛 (Wu Guo)
This is one of the national treasure, I heard that this art piece have uncountless snakes even the Amercia is unable to count the number of snakes in this piece of art!
This is the one that shows the statue of the person in the tomb. it have 9 big piece and 8 small piece means that he is a king!
The HEAVIEST piece of instrument in the world!
So many arrow heads!
A figure of the soliders during that era!
The making of the rod!
Really like the cups!
Each cup represent one animal of the Chinese horoscope!
Picture of the internal tomb
external tomb to cover over the internal tomb to protect the body.
How the king look like!
This is the protector of the tomb, it was said that it will protect the soul and bring it to a place where there is no war and unhappiness.
Food Street!
Food & Drinks
MORE FOOD!
Here is the history of the smelly tofu if you are wondering!
Top View From the Yellow Crane Tower!
The picture of the crane is post on the wall!
Sqeeze!
Time to Go!
Reflection
I really enjoy the views and I heard the tour guide told us that Mao Zedong which is one of the most important figure in China, once stay near the lake which now only take in important oversea important people only. How I wish that I am able to see it for at least one time. This trip have make me understand more about the war era in the China's five thousand history, I can imagine the sight of such beautiful and breath-taking sight even through many people have exchange their life,family and etc for the peace and create a new chapter of China. If I have free time during this trip, I am willing to go and see the Romance of the Three Kingdom!
# posted by Alvin Lee @ 9:00 PM 
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