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Post by chefying on Jul 15, 2014 14:13:34 GMT
i'm always so envious when friends show me pics of places in china i have yet to go, but more so than any other place, the forbidden city ones really make me green with envy because even though i technically walked through it (from front gate to back one), i was completely gyped by our stupid tour guide. we got one hour there, which was enough time to walk the straight line from door to door, without any time to explore the massive space in between. why were we so rushed? she wanted to take us to a factory that sold ugly replicas so she could get her commission from them. That is one irritating thing about joining a tour group. However, the convenient part is that one does not have to worry about booking the accommodation, arranging for transport to various sights etc. Being a guy, shopping is not high on my priority, so if I were to be rushed off to do some shopping I would not be too happy. I visited the Forbidden City twice, and twice I spent six hours just roaming around the place. Granted I repeated my visit to certain places in the Forbidden City, but suffice to say, despite my total of 12 hours there, I have not seen half of the places open to visitors. |
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Post by chefying on Jul 15, 2014 14:22:27 GMT
This picture is a panel of the windows of one of the more important halls in the Forbidden City. I do not know if it is made of gold, but it sure was shiny! All the dragons have five claws, the use of which is the sole preserve of the Emperor.  Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the chambers of Cixi, the Empress Dowager, can be seen this statue of a Dragon. Cixi was not entitled to use the statue of a dragon in her chambers, but since she was Emperor in everything but name, I suppose no one dared defied her.  |
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Post by chefying on Jul 15, 2014 14:27:36 GMT
The following are some pictures from the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace in Beijing. I seem to recall the Summer Palace was mentioned in Duke of Deer Mountain. The Summer Palace, in its present form, was built by Emperor Qianlong. The hill on the Summer Palace was named Longevity Hill by Emperor Qianlong, in celebration of his mother's 60th birthday. The famous Long corridor is decorated with paintings from various Chinese fables and legends.  This painting on one of the beams of the Long Corridor is from the Journey To The West - Xiyou Ji. It depicts the end of their journey, with the monk bringing back Sutras from India.  |
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Post by chefying on Jul 15, 2014 14:30:35 GMT
This painting is from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The episode depicted was prior to the Battle of the Red Cliff, and tells of how Zhuge Liang "borrowed" arrows from Cao Cao's army (the enemy) using straw men.  This painting is not wuxia related, but instead, is from one for the four great literature pieces of China, Dream of the Red Chamber. This picture depicts the death of Lin Daiyu, one of the 12 main female characters in this story.  |
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Post by chefying on Jul 15, 2014 14:32:39 GMT
One more photo from the summer Palace, the infamous marble ship. Empress Dowager Cixi, diverted some 30 million taels of silver meant for the upgrading of the Chinese navy into the reconstruction and enhancement of the Summer Palace. This immobile marble ship was part of her enhancement to the Summer Palace.  While not exactly wuxia related, any "xia" would feel indignant and would be annoyed with Empress Dowager Cixi because, having used the money on the Summer Palace, the Chinese Navy was not upgraded. Six years later, China lost the First Sino-Japanese War. This war was fought between China and Japan for control of Korea in 1894. The Japanese army and naval force defeated the Qing Army, and lost the Chinese port of Weihaiwei to Japanese hands. UNESCO added the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List in 1998. |
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Post by siuyiu on Jul 15, 2014 17:06:25 GMT
i'm always so envious when friends show me pics of places in china i have yet to go, but more so than any other place, the forbidden city ones really make me green with envy because even though i technically walked through it (from front gate to back one), i was completely gyped by our stupid tour guide. we got one hour there, which was enough time to walk the straight line from door to door, without any time to explore the massive space in between. why were we so rushed? she wanted to take us to a factory that sold ugly replicas so she could get her commission from them. That is one irritating thing about joining a tour group. However, the convenient part is that one does not have to worry about booking the accommodation, arranging for transport to various sights etc. Being a guy, shopping is not high on my priority, so if I were to be rushed off to do some shopping I would not be too happy. I visited the Forbidden City twice, and twice I spent six hours just roaming around the place. Granted I repeated my visit to certain places in the Forbidden City, but suffice to say, despite my total of 12 hours there, I have not seen half of the places open to visitors. trust me, when i'm touring, i want to see the sites, not shop! i would ideally love to spend a week in beijing just to explore the forbidden city bit by bit. |
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Post by chefying on Jul 19, 2014 4:22:06 GMT
Dali was the seat of power of the Duan family, mentioned in Jin Yong's Tian Long Ba Bu - Demi Gods and Semi Demons. The Duan family also appeared in Legend of the Condor Heroes and Return of the Condor Heroes in the form of Southern Emperor, who abdicated and became Monk YiDeng. This is the Three Pagoda Temple - this shot was taken from the front of the temple.  And this is a group of minority tribe visiting the temple.  |
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Post by chefying on Jul 19, 2014 4:26:04 GMT
On the topic of Dali, this is a bird's eye view of the Ancient City of Dali, where, according to Shidiao Yingxiong Zhuan - Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Southern Emperor would have ruled, and practiced his Yi Yang Zhi.  I imagined Ying Gu and Zhou Bo Tong to have wandered around in this garden and this would have been where Ying Gu's baby was conceived.  And in my imagination, the Nan Cheng Men - South City Gate at the top of the picture was where the Iron Palm Clan leader entered Dali to injure the baby.  |
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Post by chefying on Jul 19, 2014 4:29:03 GMT
Confession time - I had wanted to go take a picture of a City Gate at dawn, but I simply could not bring myself to crawl out of my soft, warm bed while it was barely light outside, so ... I turned over and slept again, only to wake up about about 9 am. Hey, I was on holiday, I am entitled to get up at 9 am ! So instead, here is a photo of a City Gate on the west side - it is known as the Cang Shan Men 苍山门 in the evening. The Gate is known as such because it faces Cang Shan, which in turn was used to be known as 点苍山 - yes, as in 点苍派 as mentioned in Jin Yong's Bi Xue Jian - Sword Stained with Royal Blood  |
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Post by chefying on Jul 21, 2014 13:27:24 GMT
On the topic of Cang Shan, yes, I did go up Cang Shan, from which the pictures of Dali was taken. No, the were no signs of Dian Cang Pai at all. However, there is an old building/temple (?) up there. It was pretty run down, but it does look like it had its glory days. Now it is pretty much overgrown.... Who knows if this was where the DianCang Sect members rested - if they had existed at all, of course.   And the chick blinds are not the only things that need repaired.  |
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Post by chefying on Jul 21, 2014 13:31:25 GMT
I imagined that once, in the glory days of DianCang Sect, this place was beautifully decorated.... vestiges of it can still be seen.  When I saw this, I heard in my mind the instructions barked out by the Chief of Security "Tie him up and throw him into the wood shed! The Master will deal with him tomorrow morning!"  Yes, I know, I have an overactive imagination. |
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Post by Admin on Jul 22, 2014 5:08:34 GMT
And in the background with the pavilion is XiangShan 香山 - Fragrant Hill, viewed from within the Forbidden City.  XuanWu Men leads to a main street outside the palace. Cross the road and it will eventually lead to Fragrant Hill, apparently the favourite place for the locals to view the colourful autumn leaves. In the case of one Emperor, it was the perfect place to hang himself. Are you it's Xiangshan? I think that is Jingshan. The hill exactly behind the forbidden city. From the Forbidden City to XiangShan (Fragrant Hill) is around 15-20 km in distance though! |
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Post by chefying on Jul 23, 2014 10:37:33 GMT
Are you it's Xiangshan? I think that is Jingshan. The hill exactly behind the forbidden city. From the Forbidden City to XiangShan (Fragrant Hill) is around 15-20 km in distance though! admin, you are right, I got my hills mixed up. The hill in the photo is JingShan 景山 - wikipedia translated it as "Prospect Hill". According to wikipedia, the tree that the Ming Emperor hanged himself was called "juikui" 罪槐 - Guilty Scholar Tree. The tree that is seen in the JingShan park these days is a replica. The one from which the last Ming Emperor ChongZhen hanged himself in April 1644 was pulled down during the Cultural Revolution. Personally, I do not see why it should be pulled down. As a Communist and a Cultural Revolutionist, would it not be more meaningful to leave the tree there to remind all and sundry what happens to Emperors, and exemplify the power of the peasants? |
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Post by Admin on Jul 24, 2014 16:21:27 GMT
Are you it's Xiangshan? I think that is Jingshan. The hill exactly behind the forbidden city. From the Forbidden City to XiangShan (Fragrant Hill) is around 15-20 km in distance though! admin, you are right, I got my hills mixed up. The hill in the photo is JingShan 景山 - wikipedia translated it as "Prospect Hill". According to wikipedia, the tree that the Ming Emperor hanged himself was called "juikui" 罪槐 - Guilty Scholar Tree. The tree that is seen in the JingShan park these days is a replica. The one from which the last Ming Emperor ChongZhen hanged himself in April 1644 was pulled down during the Cultural Revolution. Personally, I do not see why it should be pulled down. As a Communist and a Cultural Revolutionist, would it not be more meaningful to leave the tree there to remind all and sundry what happens to Emperors, and exemplify the power of the peasants? pulled down? I think the last time I went there, I still saw it. or perhaps that's another newly planted tree! |
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Post by chefying on Jul 25, 2014 16:13:14 GMT
pulled down? I think the last time I went there, I still saw it. or perhaps that's another newly planted tree! Yes, you are right, the one you saw was a replacement - according to wikipedia, that is. I suppose the tree must be quite big and strong now, because some 30 years had passed since the end of the end of the Cultural Revolution. On the assumption a replacement tree was planted some five years after the end of the Cultural Revolution, the tree would be about 25 years old. |
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