China - Pekin/Beijing (english)

Introduction

China is a very big country. Today we will talk about Pekin, the capital of China. It’s a wonderful place with many temples and palaces. Many Chinese emperors lived in Pekin. There are lots of places to visit such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, Tian’anmen Place and the Summer Palace.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the residence of the imperial family but now it becomes a museum. In the past, we could never enter in the Forbidden City except the family members of the emperor (the imperial family). This is how the Forbidden City got its name. Now everyone can come to visit the museum. There are a lot of jewellery and very precious stones like the ruby. This is one of the most marvellous places of the world!

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is one of the most fascinating places, it serpents over 3000km. If we count its various ramifications, it measures almost 6000km. The Great Wall of China is one of the most amazing human constructions, we can even see it far from the sky ! 200 years before J.C., the very first Chinese emperor Qin Shihuangdi created the most amazing project to construct the Great Wall of China to protect China from being attacked. After that the Great Wall of China began to get its form under the Han dynasty. It has needed over 700 000 criminals and prisoners to finish this construction. It has needed even more people because it needed to be reconstructed after the attacks. Now the Great Wall of China is a wonderful place to visit. It was a success for Qin Shihuangdi!

The Temple of Heaven

In the ancient China, the emperor was considered as the son of the universe who did all the administration on his world. It was on 1420 that we have constructed monument of the Sky and the Earth. After we have renamed it to the Temple of Heaven. This temple has once been renovated in the 18th century. The Temple of Heaven is a really big place, this place extends to a 1,7km x 1,5km either 273 hectares. This monument is two times bigger than the Forbidden City ! The emperor comes to this temple every winter solstice to pray for a good harvest. In conclusion the Temple of heaven is a really big place and magnificent place.

Place Tian’anmen

Tian’anmen is in reality the name of the Door of Peace which is in the entry South of the Forbidden City. In the ancient story, the door was the entry point of the Forbidden City where the imperial family was at one side and the people on the other. We can see the portrait of the first president of China (Mao Zedong) on Tian’anmen.

The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is the masterpiece of the art of the gardens with a beautiful Chinese landscape. This palace was created in 1750 and destroyed a lot on 1860 but reconstructed on 1886. In the garden we have hills, natural landscape and some lakes. But there are also human manufacture things in this wonderful palace for example decorated rooms, a palace, temples and bridges. This place is just like in the paradise!

Animals - Real & Legendary

The Giant Pandas

The giant pandas are only found in China. It eats bamboos, fish and it will occasionally eat small animals. It is black and white. So the giant panda is a omnivore. They are some big eaters, they eat 12kg of bamboos everyday. This animal is 75cm tall and 1.5m long. A wild giant panda weighs 60 to 73kg. The largest record was 110kg. Males are about 1/6 larger than females. Pandas in captivity are much bigger. Giant pandas lives in bamboo forests.

The Dragon

The dragon is the symbol of China. These creatures are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology. The dragon is a imaginary creature and they are most commonly as snakes with four legs. Chinese dragons traditionally symbolise powers particularly control over water, rainfall and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it. And this is how the Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength. It is one of the 12 zodiac animals.

The 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals

China has 12 different Chinese zodiac animals. There are the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, in order, they are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and finally Pig. For example in 2015 it was the Goat. If your zodiac animal is a dog then you are born in 2006 or if you are born in 2005 then your zodiac animal is the rooster !

Legend of 'Nian'

Legend goes that in ancient China there lived a monster named Nian who, with a horn on the head, was extremely ferocious. Nian lived deep at the bottom of the sea all year round and climbed up the shore only on New Year's Eve to devour the cattle and kill people's lives. So what does we react ? We were afraid and scared but one day a old woman stuck red paper and red lanterns, the Nian was afraid so they knew they would need to stick red papers and make firecrackers to let the Nian go away.

China - Bicycle & Food:

In the past China, we mostly use bicycle to go home or to go to school and to play outside with friends, it’s pretty good. Now we still use it to go to school and coming back home but not that much for going outside to play with friends because we have now invented cars, buses and other transport. And for the food, there are a lot of Chinese food but we mainly all eat rice and green tea …. sometimes we eat dumplings and it's really yummy. We also eat spring rolls. In Pekin you must eat fried duck because Pekin’s fried duck is the best.