西(xī) The sun sets in the west. After a day of work, people return home. And the birds, too, return to their nests. Therefore, the character “西” originally depicted a bird’s nest. Many metals are..

南(nán) The original form of the character “南” (south) resembles a musical instrument. Some people argue that this instrument was extremely popular in southern China and was thus need to represent “south”. Others argue that..

北(běi) The original form of the character “北” resembles two people with their backs to each other. The original meaning of it was “back” (背bèi). In the past, losing a battle was known as “败北(bài..

There are three main types of clothing in China in the latest dozens of years: western-style clothes, traditional Chinese garments and National clothes. All of these exist together. Over the past two years in China,..

The people of Xi’an like to participate in several activities involved in recreating the past, like holding contests to find women who resemble Yang Guifei, the beautiful imperial concubine of the Tang Dynasty. Some people..

Xi’an’s Forest of Stone Tablets Museum, located on Shuyuanmen Avenue, and has been called China’s largest stele archive. It contains more than 11,000 cultural articrafts such as steles, engravings and sculptures from the Han and..

Sima Qian (145BC-90 BC) was born in Longmen, near present-day Hancheng in Shaanxi Province. His father was a historian in the court of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Sima Qian inherited his father’s position..

The ancient Chinese people believed that the entire world was composed of five basic elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. All materials are composed of “气(qì)”. The original form of the character was like..

A magazine ran a column on the special characteristics of different cities, and Nanjing earned a peculiar superlative as the most mournful city in China. They believed that Nanjing had suffered a painful story, and..

According to the people of Nanjing, their special characteristics are really special. Their favorite market place is the Confucius Temple; their signature dish of salted duck; their favorite TV program is “Extraordinary Weekend”. The Confucius..