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The Forbidden City
The Forbidden
City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming
and Qing dynasties. It is divided into two parts.
The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised
his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner
Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last
emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the
Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here.
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Our Hostess -
Betty Zhao
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Inside
the Forbidden City
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Starbucks!
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The Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven is much bigger than the Forbidden City and smaller
than the Summer Palace with an area of about 2,700,000 square meters. The
Temple was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice
to Heaven. As Chinese emperors called themselves "The Son of Heaven", they
dared not to build their own dwelling, (The Forbidden City), bigger than a
dwelling for Heaven.
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The Great Wall of
China
The Great Wall of China is
the longest structure ever built. It is about 4,000 miles long, and it
was built entirely by hand. About 1, 200 - 1, 500 miles of the Great
Wall were built during the reign of Emperor Shi Huangdi (Qin Dynasty).
The Great Wall crosses northern China from the east coast to the central
part of China.
The Chinese built walls along their borders as early as the 600's B.C.
During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, walls were built between Chinese
regions which were fighting with each other. Walls were also built to
protect China from outside invaders.
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Awesome!! |
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Hongqiao - The Pearl Market
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Hongqiao is a big indoor market with 4 floors
with booths that sell everything you can think of. The shop keepers
will always state an initial price 2-3 times higher than the actual price,
but you bargain for whatever you buy.
The basement is a fish market.The first floor consists of toys,
stationery products, electrical devices, kitchen utensils, watches, food,
make-up and silk ties, etc.
The second floor is mostly for bags and
shoes. The third floor is mainly for clothing and the fourth floor is
famous for its pearls. You can buy real cultured pearls for a
very good price.
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