Longji Terraced Rice Fields (Dragon’s Backbone Terraced Rice Fields) are praised as the marvel of the agricultural art in China! These ancient farming legacies drench in the strong local colors, and have a history of 700 years. They boast their artistry, availability, and the fantastic surroundings. I think everyone who look at Longsheng Terrace Fields will be surprised by the great beautiful and spectacular scenery. Its agriculture value has nearly replaced by its visual value.

Located in Heping, southeast Longsheng County (78 km away from Guilin), all the terrace rice fields scatter on the mountains.The fields are mainly cultivated by Zhuang people in Pingan and the Red Yao people.Giving a bird’s eye view, the fields look like great chains or ribbons as they are built along the slopes winding from the feet (usually from the banks of brooks) to the tops of the hills.The sceneries of the terraced fields are changing all the year round. In spring, the water glittering in the sun, the hillsides are divided into tier upon tier; in summer, green rice seedlings grow in layers; in fall, the layered rice turn golden; in winter, layers of silvery frost or snow cover the fields. All these show a great momentum and imposing beauty.

Remember that come to this spot before July as there is water in the fields and you can have your photo taken with water reflection, otherwise, other tiem only give you an empty terrace fields and you will find no water reflection in the fields and your photo looks as as good as those taken with water reflection.

Besides the Guilin, Yangshuo, I very recommend you visit the Longsheng Together during your tour.

My favorite Sports is basketball. It looks so cool in TV that I was crazy about those basketball stars ever since I was little.

Women’s basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson, a physical education teacher, modified Naismith’s rules for women. Shortly after she was hired at Smith, she went to Naismith to learn more about the game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game on March 21, 1893, when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another. Her rules were first published in 1899 and two years later Berenson became the editor of A.G. Spalding’s first Women’s Basketball Guide, which further spread her version of basketball for women.

Basketball requires speed, height and skills. I run, jump, switch, and try to hit! All parts of my body are exercised in this sport. I feel that I’m like wind flying in the playground for my goal, which makes me feel so great! Basketball needs quick reaction and decision. When chance comes, it may disappear in the next second. I should keep an eye watching as an eagle, decide and judge quickly as a leopard, and run for it as a wolf.

Further more, basketball is a sports more than just exercising, It needs team work. No one can play himself. A team should work together. So I learn to cooperate with others in this game. I should understand what my teammate doing and what he needs me to do for him. On the other side, I should learn to show my teammate what I need. At the same time, I need to keep an eye on the whole game, knowing how is the situation of our team and how is the other team. It involved more cooperation and strategy.

I played basketball more for about 5 years now. I make many good friends through this sports. It is proud to win honor for my team and my school. Also I enjoy all games with my friends. Basketball will be my best friends in the future and my best memory about school life.

Chinese Valentine's Day

A legend of the festival
Chinese Valentine’s Day is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar (August 26th in the year 2009). A love story for this day is about the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven and an orphaned cowherd. The seven daughters of the Goddess of Heaven caught the eye of a Cowherd during one of their visits to earth. The daughters were bathing in a river and the Cowherd, Niu Lang, decided to have a bit of fun by running off with their clothing. It fell upon the prettiest daughter (who happened to be the seventh born), to ask him to return their clothes.

Of course, since Niu Lang had seen the daughter, Zhi Nu, naked, they had to be married. The couple lived happily for several years. Eventually however, the Goddess of Heaven became fed up with her daughter’s absence, and ordered her to return to heaven. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. However, the mother took pity on the couple and allowed them to be reunited once a year. Legend has it that on the seventh night of the seventh moon, magpies form a bridge with their wings for Zhi Nu to cross to meet her husband. If the night Chinese Valentine’s Day rains, the rain is the tears of the Weaving Maid and Cowherd.

Traditional customs of the festival
The Chinese Valentine’s Day is also called The Daughter’s Festival. Long ago, Chinese girls always wanted to train themselves having a good handcrafting skill like the Weaving Maid. The skill is essential for their future family. On that night, the unmarried girls may pray for the Weaving Maid star to let them become smarter. When the star Vega is high up in the sky, girls do a test, which is to put a needle on the water surface. If the needle doesn’t sink, then girl is already smart enough and ready to find a husband. Girls may ask for any wish, but only one per year.

In some Chinese provinces, people believe that decorating the flowers on the ox’s horn on the Chinese Valentine’s Day enables to prevent from the disaster. On the night of Valentine’s Day, women wash their hair to give it a fresh and shiny outlook. Children wash their face in the next morning of the Valentine’s Day using the overnight water in their backyards to have a much more naturally beautiful appearance. Girls throw the five-color ropes, made at Chinese Dragon Boat festival, on the roof for magpies. Magpies will carry ropes to build the bridge.

However, nowadays, young people are not familiar with this traditional Chinese festival. Instead, they celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th. I think it is a pity that the Western Culture is more popular than Chinese traditional culture among young people.

Cold and flu attack is a common health disorder of transitional seasons. There are Over 200 different viruses can cause cold symptoms of varying severity. However, it is better to learn the preventions of cold and flu infection than its cures. A few simple precautions are described here which can really prevent cold and flu from bothering us.

Wash your hands often. This is probably the single best measure to prevent transmission of colds. Especially after shopping, going to the gym, or spending time in public places, hand washing is critical. Frequent hand washing can destroy viruses that you have acquired from touching surfaces used by other people. You can also carry a small tube of hand sanitizer or sanitizing hand wipes when visiting public places. Teach your children the importance of hand washing too.

Don’t touch your face. Avoid touching your face, especially the nose, mouth, and eye areas, if you are around someone with a cold or have been touching surfaces in a public area.

Keep household surfaces clean. Door knobs, drawer pulls, keyboards, light switches, telephones, remote controls, countertops, and sinks can all harbor viruses for hours after their use by an infected person. Wipe these surfaces frequently with soap and water or a disinfectant solution.

Drink Plenty of Fluids. Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it rehydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs eight 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day. How can you tell if you’re getting enough liquid? If the color of your urine runs close to clear, you’re getting enough. If it’s deep yellow, you need more fluids.

Get Fresh Airs. A regular dose of fresh air is important, especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. Also, during cold weather more people stay indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded, dry rooms, open windows when weather permits to circulate fresh air.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle. While there isn’t direct evidence to show that eating well or exercising can prevent colds, maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, with adequate sleep, good nutrition and physical exercise can help ensure that your immune system is in good condition and ready to fight infection if it occurs.

Control stress. Studies have shown that people experiencing emotional stress have weakened immune systems and are more likely to catch a cold than their calmer counterparts.

Don’t Smoke. Statistics show that heavy smokers get more severe colds and more frequent ones. Even being around smoke profoundly zaps the immune system. Smoke dries out your nasal passages and paralyzes cilia, the delicate hairs that line the mucous membranes in your nose and lungs that sweep cold and flu viruses out of the nasal passages. Experts contend that one cigarette can paralyze cilia for as long as 30 to 40 minutes.

Use disposable items if someone in your family is infected. Don’t share drinking glasses. Instead, use disposable cups in the kitchen and bathroom, using each cup only once and then disposing. Use disposable tissues when blowing your nose; use each tissue once, throw it away then wash your hands thoroughly. Bacteria and viruses can live on hand towels and sponges for hours. Use disposable paper napkins and towels in the kitchen.

Huashan Mountain and spectacular sunrise become a unique and characteristic landscape. The place for watching the sunrise on Huashan Mountain is located on the eastern peak of Huashan Mountain, where is the best location for watching sunrise.

Situated in Huayin City, 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) east from Xi’an City of Shaanxi Province, Mt. Huashan is known as ‘The Number One Precipitous Mountain under Heaven’. It is one of the five sacred mountains in China. The other four mountains are Mt. Taishan in Shandong, Mt. Hengshan in Hunan, Mt. Hengshan in Shanxi, and Mt. Songshan in Henan.

The best place of Mt. Huashan for watching sunrise is East Peak. It takes about 4 to 6 hours to climb up the mountain.Tour guides may promote climbing the mountain at night to see the sunrise.The reference time for sunrise and sunset is 5:00a.m.-6:00a.m. in spring, 4:30a.m.-5:20a.m. in summer, 5:00a.m.-5:20a.m. in autumn, 5:30a.m.-6:00a.m. in winter.

I enjoyed the night view over the villages, valleys, and few lights that I could see below. I don’t know any other word but “majestic” (again) to use to describe it.Grey light began appearing aroudn 4:15am, but it was nothing special. Somewhere between 4:30am and 5:30am I fell asleep, not sure where, ha, but when I woke up there was one other person near my location so I decided to get up and move around to stay warm. I waited as the sun slowly began to play with the colors of the sky, making them scenic enough for a picture. I met a British couple and a guy Iowa State while on the peak.

Xi’an  is not only famous for its ancient culture and scenic spots, it is also well-known for its prosperous food and beverage industry. The wheated food is the typical xi’an’s food. There are so many kind of food made of wheat that tasted very delicious. If  you are fond of wheated food, you must come to Xi’an to try.

dumpling banquet

Xi’an Dumpling Banquet
Xi’an Dumpling Banquet was originated from the dumplings of Tang Dynasty and traditional dumplings in folk community.The dumplings made are impressive and characterized for their shapes. Xi’an Dumpling Banquet is famous for its multiple diversity and variety of dumplings on the table.

Liang Pi
Liang Pi is made from wheat flour (or other starch). It looks translucent and tastes cold, and known for its white color, thin shape, smooth surface, pliable texture, tender and savory taste.

liangpi

It is eaten along with garlic, ginger, pepper, sauce, vinegar, bean sprouts, capsicum flour, salt, sliced cucumber, caraway, chicken essence, sesame oil etc. All of the girl in Xi’an like to eat laingpi, but the men seems not very interested in it.
Roujiamo (Chinese-style Hamburger)
You may not know Xi’an has it’s own hamburger that are very different form hambuiger of KFC or Mcdonald’s. It is called Roujiamo.Roujiamo is made of mincemeat wrapped by griddle steamed bread.

roujiamo

 Meat used in Roujiamo is a kind of cured meat stewed with assorted sauces in a kettle. This makes the meat soft, eay to chew and taste with a lasting flavor. HIgh culinary skill is required to produce this kind of meat.

Beef and Mutton Sups with Shredded Cake
The last one I want to introduce to you is Beef and Mutton Sups with Shredded Cake.

mutton sups

There is a piece of hearsay like this: the first emperor of Song Dynasty was in trouble when he was in Chang’an before his enthronement as the emperor of Song Dynasty. He led a belly-pinched life in Chang’an all the time. One day, he came to the front of a shop. The shopkeeper found he was so poor that he cooked a bowl of beef and mutton soup for him. He devoured the food ravenously and felt it was the best delicious one in the world. After he became the first emperor of Song Dynasty, and one day he went by Chang’an but could not forget the food he ate in hard time. He found out that shop with many officials and ate Beef and Mutton Sups with Shredded Cake once again. He still felt it was much too tasty, so he awarded this kind-hearted shopkeeper too much.

Besides these delicious food, there are too many others. You can come to Xi’an and taste yourself.

If you want to learn about China, you can choose to travel to Xi’an. one of the most famous of the ancient cities in China,also is one of the four major ancient civilization capitals in the world, together with Athens, Cairo and Rome.Today the capital of Shaanxi Province, Xian is the largest base of scientific research, higher education, and National Defense and high-tech industries in Western China.

Xi’an has  plenty of  monument and wonderful scenery with a long history. You can not visit all of these site in a short time, But you can choose some of  typical place to visit.

The Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army is known as the eighth wonder of the world. These terracotta soldiers were made 2,200 years ago.Every figure differs from those around in facial features and expression, clothing, hairstyle, and gestures. Many of the figures originally held real weapons of the time, such as bronze swords, longbows, arrows, spears, dagger-axes and other long-shafted weapons. Surface treatment of the weapons made them resistant to rust and corrosion so that after being buried for over 2000 years they were still sharp.The first part of the Terracotta Army site to be discovered was named Vault One. In 1976, two other vaults were uncovered 20-25 meters from Vault One, and were named Vault Two and Vault Three. Standing in the vaults, you would be amazed by such a grand ancient army formation, which would transport you back to the ancient warring states period. The tomb is a treasury for the Chinese people, and for the whole world as well.

Ancient City Wall
Xi’an City Wall was erected in the 14th century Ming Dynasty, under the regime of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.It is the first landmark visitors will encounter in Xi’an, and retches round the old city.Xi’an was originally a walled city, and even today the wall is considered a landmark dividing the city into the inner part and the outer part. The city wall is massive – tall, long and thick.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Big Wild Goose Pagoda is one of the most famous Buddhist pagodas in China which was built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) for the study of Buddhist scriptures. Although it has been attacked by centuries of weather, war and seismic activity, which destroyed most of the original material of the structure, a pagoda by this name and style still exists on the site. The grand body of the pagoda with its solemn appearance, simple style and high structure, is indeed a good example of Chinese traditional architecture.

Xi’an’s Drum Tower
It was erected in 1380, also during the Ming Dynasty. The Drum Tower got its name from the huge drum hung within it. On the outside of the Drum Tower at ground level hang many large drums. Each one is decorated with beautiful Chinese writing, which invokes good fortune. Inside the Drum Tower is a drum museum, where a variety of drums are on display, some of which can be dated back a thousands years.

Xi’an was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road that extended from Asia to Europe and played an important role in cultural exchange between the East and West in ancient times. Welcome to Xi’an,China.

Flower stands for love

Flower is the best gift for your girlfriend or wife.Nothing is going to change with the way women feel about flowers, they have always loved it in the past and will continue to love it for generations. Receiving flowers make them feel special and loved and appreciated.

Give her a suprise on the common day
There are sevaral important days in a year: Her birthday,Your Anniversary and Valentine’s Day. Do remember give her a surprise on these days. If you can not decide what to give her, flowers is not a bad chioce. Certainly, Beside these special days, you can give her some surprise some times. You should send her flowers for “no special reason” at her work place, that would really thrill her and she will certainly be surprised, and will probably fall in love with you all over again. These are romantic gestures, and women love romance, no matter what age, they love being pampered.

What flowers do you choose?
Rose stands for love, so it is the most common flowers for lover. Beside, You can choose other kinds of flowers:such as Lily which stand for love for all seasons.So it is another good chioce for lovers.Certainly, you can choose a mixture of blooms as soon as she like.Maybe some daisies, alstromaria, and maybe a couple of special roses. Take it home or have it delivered to her work place and make all her co-workers jealous. Best of all…she’ll feel special.

Don’t forget the message card!
Writing a card should not be an intimidating event, and keeping it simple works for every occasion.Remember that your words is the most precious than all the other gifts.