Beautiful Snow County Is My Home : song

Summer 2012.

Spring is coming soon - welcome ...

A beautiful film from JiangSu province, east China ... Includes scenes from TaiHu Lake Scenic Area, just to the west of SuZhou.   SuZhou - A city for the poetic life 苏州：诗意生活 A wonderful animation in traditional Chinese painting style ... The classical gardens, temples and canals of SuZhou

Continuing our visitors' Chinese language guide ...

With Souped Up Recipes ... Bonus film - the most essential everyday ingredients / flavorings ...

What started supposedly as a protest over a mundane and non-controversial bill (now long abandoned) that would only truly concern serious criminals, HK is now gripped by violence. But would real protesters seek to destroy their own city and its international reputation, even targeting tourists, and raise foreign flags ? It is very clear that there is much more to it, and the non-violent 'protestors' are being used. All the cancelled flights will have lost millions of dollars. But the long-term losses are far greater - it might take 10 years for the city to recover, or, put another way, it might well never really regain what it could have been. These riots are not in the interests of HK; they are in the interests of external powers.

One missile - 16 people died, to silence truth. Michael Hudson on how human rights have been privatized / commercialized (monetized) in the US ...

BeiHai Park, JingShan Park and YuanMingYuan (Old Summer Palace). With Walk East ... Bonus film - The Temple of Heaven / TianTan - with Walk For You ...

The magnificent Temple of Heaven (TianTan) was constructed between 1406 and 1420 (Ming dynasty) during the reign of the emperor YongLe who also oversaw the construction of the Forbidden City.The Temple of Heaven was where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for good harvests. The temple complex was extended during the reign of emperor JiaJing during the 16th century (Ming dynasty). JiaJing also constructed three other key temples in Beijing : the Temple of the Sun in the east, the Temple of the Moon in the west, and the Temple of Earth in the north. Emperor QianLong directed a renovation of the Temple of Heaven during the 18th century (Qing dynasty). The architecture and layout of the Temple of Heaven is based on elaborate symbolism and numerology. One example is that the buildings and their settings reflect ancient Chinese religious beliefs that imagine heaven as round and earth as square. Because the Temple of Heaven was to be the place representing Heaven on Earth, it needed to be larger than the Forbidden City; it covers approximately twice the area and is about 2 kilometers from north to south, the primary axis with three main structures; indeed, it is the largest group of constructions for worship in the world. In 1998, the Temple of Heaven was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. In early 2005, the Temple of Heaven underwent a 47 million yuan (6 million USD) renovation that was completed on May 1st, 2006. The Temple of Heaven is a delightful place to spend some time. Arrive in the early morning to watch the Tai Chi experts, although the park is lively all day and into the evening with kite flyers, musicians, singers, dancers and games players (from badminton to Chinese chess).

Just north of the Birds Nest lies a huge park. Don't forget to visit here this coming summer ...

A film by kinabaloo.com ...