China boasts 50，000 rivers，each having a drainage area of over 100 square kilometers or 38．6 square miles．Of the 50,000 rivers，1,500 of them drain an area of more than 1,000 square kilometers or 386 square miles each．Most of them flow from west to east to empty into the Pacific Ocean． Major rivers include the Yangtze River(6,300 kilometers […]
Abbreviation: Liao辽 Capital: Shenyang Area: More than 150,000 square kilometers with a 2,912-kilometre-long coastline Population: 41.55million Location: In southern part of northeast China Located in southern part of northeast China, Liaoning is to the north of the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and to the northwest of Korean Peninsula and is one of the […]
Instead of attacking headlong a powerful, concentrated enemy, break it up into smaller, vulnerable groups. Instead of striking first, bide your time and strike only after the enemy has struck. This strategy advises one to relieve the besieged by besieging the base of the besiegers. When the enemy deploys its main force to attack a […]
Lure the enemy with counterfeits. Punish the callow youth. The expression comes from a story about two poets in the Tang Dynasty. Once, a celebrated poet named Zhao Xia was about to visit Suzhou, the city of gardens in south China. When the poet Chang Jian heard about this, he knew that Zhao was sure […]
If you have seen the Chinese classical work “Journey to the West”, you may notice every time when the Monkey King comes to a new place, he will knock the ground with his Jinggu-bang (golden-cudgel, its weapon) to ask the local Earth God about the situation of the place. Such a local Earth God is […]
In China, around the Song Dynasty, tea was used as the engagement gift, for the reason that “All tea plants have seeds and the plant will die if moved”, which symbolizes the loyalty and fertility of the couple. A man’s giving betrothal gifts to his fiancée is called “to give tea” or “to pass tea”, […]
Colorful painting is one of the most original designs in Chinese building. It is originally for protecting wood structure against dump and corrosion and insect-eating, afterwards the press of it is just the adornment. After Song Dynasty, the colorful paintings have become the indispensable adornment of palace. It is divided into 3 grades. The highest […]
yù bàng xiāng zhēng，yú wēng dé lì 鹬蚌相争, 渔翁得利 This is a very popular Chinese fable. A clam swam to the bank and opened its shell in the sun. a snipe flew over and saw it. It dived to the ground and pecked at it. Before the snipe drew back its beak, it was gripped […]
There is a saying in Chinese, “The magistrates are free to set fire, while the common people are forbidden even to light lantern”. Here is a story. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279A.D.), a mahistrate named Tian Deng made it a taboo to say the word “deng” or its homonyms to show his dignity. At the […]
The Spring Festival Picture is a special type of painting in China. It is used during the Spring Festival. It is originated in the Pre-Qin Period (before 221 B.C.). People paste the images of various gods on both sides of the door, expecting them to ward off the evils and usher in good luck. In […]