Dig Beijing

  My favourite teenage drama-”Veronica Mars”, Which has been cancelled by CW.

  An old story, a rich boy fell in love with a cinderellar, mixed with detective things,this show is very attactive.  I spent a lot of time on thinking about why they broke up again. Funny,right?  You can laugh at me because I am addict to this drama. I am such person who is emotional.

  What surprise me is that I found out the actor who plays Logan is almost 30 and I find him in another show “Moonlight” acting a 600 years vampire who looks like 30. I can’t belive that a 30 years old man can play a teenager. Sometimes,looking at his face, it is exactly a distinguish difference on his face between season 1 and season 3. Forget about it. What  I like most in this show is Veronica mars,a private investigator in high school.

  I miss this show. It is conciliative that I have seen Kristen Bell in “Heroes”. She is Elle in it. I think she will be an important role because she is involved with Peter. I believe that Peter will finally fall in love with her. That is my wish.

 In Chinese, “Jie” means festival.

1.       ChuXi(Lunar December 30th)–New Year’s Eve

2.       Chunjie–The Spring Festival

3.       Yuanxiao Jie(Lunar January 15th)–the Lantern Festival

4.       Duanwu Jie(Lunar May 5th)–the Dragon Boat Festival

5.       Zhongqiu Jie(Lunar August 15th)–Mid-autumn (Moon) Festival

6.       Chongyan Jie(Lunar September 9th)–Double-ninth Day

7.       Qingming Jie(Aprial 5th)–Ching Ming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Festival

8.       Guoqing Jie(October 1th)–National Day

9.       Jiaoshi Jie(September 10th)–Teachers’ Day

10.      Guojilaodongfunv Jie(March 8th)–International Working Women’s Day

11.      Zhishu Jie(March 12th)–Arbor Day

12.      Youzheng Jie(March 20th)–Postal Day

13.      Shijieqixiang Jie(March 23th)–World Meteorology Day

14.      Guojilaodong Jie(May 1st)–International Labour Day

15.      Qingnian Jie(May 4th)–Chinese Youth Day

16.      Guojiertong Jie(June 1st)–International Children’s Day

17.      Jianjun Jie(August 1st)–the Army’s Day

 I like American dramas. I saw my first American drama when I was in college. It seems to be around 2002. The first drama I saw is “Alias”. When I think about it, I can think about the beginning of the show “My name is Sydney Briston. I was recruited about 6 years ago by SD-6…..”.  The show is about a double agent-Sydney Briston. She became a agent when she was in college. She thought she was in CIA about the truth is that she worked for the emeny of her country.  She didn’t find the truth until she got his fiance killed by tell him she was a spy.  Then she began her revenge….

   This is the first American drama I download from Internet.  From then on ,I fall in love with American TV.In China,It is not easy to receive American TV signal but we can find popular American dramas online. There are these people called “caption team”. In these organizations,their members who are in US are responsible for trancribling both shows  and their closed caption on TV then upload them to Internet. Then their members in China download them and they are responsibe for translating the caption to Chinese.Finally there are another people will put on the caption and transfter the shows format. Most of the time are “rmvb”.  Sometimes,especially for the popular dramas,like “Desperate Housewives”,it almost only cost less than 24 hours to see it. For example, when ABC broadcasts it on Sunday night(US) and Chinese fans can see web edition  with Chinese caption  in Monday evening. Very fast,right? Most famous “caption team” in China are YDY(www.ydy.com) and FR(www.1000fr.com).

    I never miss any episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”,”Heroes”,”Prison Break”,”Supernatural”,”Shark”,”Desperate Housewives”,”Ugly Betty” and etc. A lot of dramas. I like them and watch them like I am in US.  One of my hobby is watching those TV. How happy I am! Thanks for these teams. They are dedicated people who do so many things for we American dramas fans without asking return.

    In the middle of Beijing was the Forbidden City(Zijincheng). ),also called Palace Museum.where the emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties used to live in.T. It is one of the most important sights of Beijing. Generally speaking, People in china travel to Beijing. There are three spots they would not miss: the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum.  I have been to Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum twice,but I havn’t been to the Great Wall. The trip is on the schedule.

 It is said that the Forbidden City was the home of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qin dynasties. Naturally it was the scene of many important events affecting the course of Chinese history.

Palace Museum visiting tips:
1.They provide audio Guide Device,including Chinese, Cantonese, English, French, Japanese, German, Korean, Russian, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic and Italian. You can rent it from the tour guide service at the Meridian Gate (Wumen) and the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwu Men). The cost is 40 RMB(Chinese and Cantonese are both 10 RMB), along with a deposit of 100 RMB.
2.Chinese, English and Japanese-speaking tour guides are available.
3.Opening Hours:08:30 -16:20 (Oct. 16 to Apr.15)
                08:30 - 17:00 (Apr. 16 to Oct. 15)
4.routes
Bus Route: No. 124, 810, 812, 814, 846, 855 (Night Bus: No. 202 and 211)
No. 101, 103 and 109 (Trolleybus)
No.1, 4, 20, 52 (get off at East Tian’anmen Bus Stop)
5.website:
http://www.dpm.org.cn/

  I recommend you to take at least 4 hours to visit Palace museum.

1.China National Museum  (closed until 2010 )

All the exhibits will be temporary closed during the 2007 - 2010 construction period.
Ticket Prices:Full Price: RMB 30;
Address: 16, East Chang’an Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing 100006,
Office Address:Building No. 26, Jing’an East Street, Zuojiazhuang, Chaoyang district, Beijing China. 100028
Tele: (8610) 8447-4914 (English)

E-mail:nationalmuseum@163.com

website:
http://www.nationalmuseum.cn/
Opening Hours: 8 a.m.–6 p.m. (peak season), 9 a.m.–4 p.m. (low season)

2.Capital Museum

Articles exhibited in the new Capital Museum are mainly past years’ collections and unearthed historical heritages of the Beijing area, combined with the latest research results concerning the history, cultural heritages, archeology and relevant subjects of Beijing. Furthermore, by studying the successful experiences from museums both at home and abroad, modern exhibitions featured by Beijing characteristics are shaped.  

Open Time: 9:00 to 17:00 Tuesdays through Sundays (sales stop at 16:00)
Ticket Prices: Full Price: RMB 30; Half Price: RMB 15
routes:
Subway: Muxidi Station, Line 1
Buses:
Bus No. 1, No. 4, No. 52 and No. 37 to the stop “Gonghuidalou” (Labor Union Building)
No. 937, No. 727, No. 717, No. 650, No. 708, No. 26, No. 319 to the stop Baiyun Rd.
Special Bus No. 1 to the stop “Muxidi”
Number for telephone reservation: 63370491 63370492
Website:
http://www.capitalmuseum.org.cn/

3.Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum
The Memorial Hall is to memorize the founder and first Chairman of the People’s Republic of China. It provides people with a place to show their respects to Chairman Mao.Chairman Mao is the founder of the People’s Republic of China and he is one of the essential characters in the modern history of China.
Until now, almost ten million people have come to the Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum, people from all over the world have visited and paid their respects to one of the greatest politicians in China.
Open Time: Open 8:30-11:30 Tues-Sun and 2:00-4:00 Tues and Thurs
Ticket Prices:Free
address:11 Qianmennan Dajie, southern Tian’ anmen Square，Chongwen District
routes
subway:Qianmen station Line2
buses:2、5、22、9、44、48、703、744、808、821、859、Special Bus No2、Special Bus No4、Special Bus No7  at QianMen Stop

4.Ancient Observatory

Open Time: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m,9 a.m-6 p.m in summer,
Ticket Prices:10 RMB
address:Address: 2 Dongbiaobei Hutong, Jianguomen Subway Station, Dongcheng District
Tel:+86 10 6512 8923
routes
subway:Jianguomen station
buses:1, 4, 52, 403 at Jianguomen station

5.Beijing Planetarium

Beijing Planetarium is a national leader in public astronomy, a beloved civic visiting place, and one of Beijing’s most popular attractions. It contains two parts: Beijing Planetarium and Beijing Ancient Observatory. Beijing Planetarium consists of new building and the old Planetarium. The new facility has several exciting parts: Digital space theater, 3D theater, 4D theater, exhibition hall, two observatories. After 50 years of public use by roughly 18 million visitors, it’s under rebuilding and will be reopened in March 2008. There are a planetarium and two exhibition galleries in old Planetarium. Beijing Planetarium is one of the powerful planetaria in the world. It has made great contributions to popularize astronomy.
Open Time: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. (Sat.), 10 a.m.–4 p.m. (Wed.–Fri.)
Ticket Prices:
New building exhibition hall:10 RMB
Space theater:45 RMB
3D theater:30 RMB
4D theater:30 RMB
address:38 Xizhimenwai Dajie, Haidian District 
Tel:+86 10 6831 2517
routes:
buses: Special NO 4, 271,Yuntong 104,Yuntong 105,Yuntong106, Yuntong205,206,209,347,360,362,601,632路 634,660,708,714,716,732,808,814 at Dongwuyuan Stop
website:http://www.bjp.org.cn/

6.China National Science and Technology Museum
Open Time: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (closed Mon.)
Ticket Prices:
A:30 RMB
B:30 RMB ,you can see movie there
A+B:50 RMB
C: 20 RMB for Children,10 RMB for adult
address:1 Beisanhuan Zhonglu, Xicheng District
Tel:+86 10 6237 1177
routes
buses:300、302、367、387、702、718、801、Yuntong 101 at Zhongguokejiguan Stop
website:
http://www.cstm.org.cn/

A movie about her named Hua hun (1994)

 Director:

Shuqin Huang

Writers:

Min Anqi
Shuqin Huang

cast:

                                Li Gong …  Pan Yuliang
                                                      Fang Cen …  Xiao Lan
                                                    Shichang Da …  Wang Shouxin
                                                    Tung-Shing Yee …  Pan Zanhua (as Er Dongsheng)
                                                   Zunxia Gao …  He Qiong
                                                    Shen Hairong …  Pan’s 1st wife
                                                   Zhou Shaodong …  Xun Wu
                                                  Sabine Bail …  Yuliang’s best French friend

    Pan Yuliang(潘玉良), renowned for her own model, self-portraits and bathing women, who was condemned as “depraved” in the 1930-40 by conservative officals and art critics in China, now gains her reputation — a female pioneer painter of western painting.

    She was an orphan.When she was 14, her uncle sold her to a brothel. In 1916, a local customs officer, named Pan Zanhua, bought her out of the brothel.

Thus, she went with Pan to Shanghai to study, renaming herself as Pan Yuliang,taking her husbands family name. In 1918, she passed the exams and entered Shanghai Art School to learn western painting from Wang Jiyuan.

After graduating from Shanghai Art School she went to France to study in Lyons and Paris, sponsored by Pan Zanhua. She was awarded the Roman scholarship due to her excellent achievement in 1925, which enabled her to take further study in the Roman Royal Art Academy in Italy, studying painting and sculpture.

In 1926, her works won the Gold Prize at the Roman International Art Exhibition. In 1929 Liu Haisu invited her to teach at Shanghai Art School while she was in Rome. And she returned to China in the same year.

She held a personal exhibition in Shanghai, honored as the first Chinese female western painting artist. She was also invited to be a professor of the Art Department of the Central University of Nanjing. She gave five personal exhibitions in China from 1929 to 1936.

She left Shanghai for France again in 1937, and settled down in Paris. She was selected by the overseas Chinese artists in France to be the chairman of the Chinese Art Association, and her works were often exhibited in France as well as in Britain, U.S., Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Greece.

Her works were collected by many places including the Paris Municipal Government, the French Miniastry of Education, the National Modern Art Gallery and Cernushi Museum.

In 1959, Pan Yuliang was awarded the Paris Gold Prize and the Belgium Silver Prize. She died on July 22, 1977, in Paris, and her works were sent back to China in 1985.

Her works are now in collection at China National Art Gallery in Beijing and Anhui Provincial Museum in Hefei.

Here are some photoes I take in China National Art Gallery in Beijing

The entrance:

Here are old photoes about her.

 Some of her paintings:

A lady wearing Flowers and Holding a Fan:

Temple

white cat:

 Anchor the Boats at the Ferry Late at Night

An Old Man in Red

Self Portrait(1949)

Nude on the Beach(1959)

Nude with a cat(1964)

A Girl and Basket (1957)

  You can enjoy four seaons here,unlike in the middle south of China, such as Jianxi province,Hubei Province,where you only find summer and winter. Some people don’t like Beijing because its cold ,dry winter and strong wind&dust in spring. January is the coldest month and July is the warmest.The average temperature throughout a year is 11.7℃. The average temperatures of the hottest month, July and the coldest month January range from 27℃ and -4.6℃.

    It is dry, windy and sandy in spring. Beijing spring is relatively short, and people used to say that when the last day of the winter is gone, the summer is about to set in.If you come to Beijing in spring, you should wear a thin sweater, a pair of sweat pants, and a coat. But sometimes it may be a good idea to bring a warm cap and a pair of glasses because of the wind and sand.

   The summers are hot.It last from June to August. It is also considered as peak season. It is very hard to find hotel this time and you need to book it in advance. In this season,there are so many tourists in Beijing. It is said that the Great Wall nearly collapses under the weight of crowded tourists. You can see nothing in Forbidden city but people’s heads.T-shirts and light pants or shorts are enough in summer here.

    The autumn months between September and November have the best weather and fewer tourists. Autumn days are cool with clear sky and gentle breeze.Jeans and a sweater are usually enough. The autumn here is very beautiful. You can see the worldwide known red coloriong of leaf in Xiangshan Mountain. The best time is around the first week of November.

   The Beijing winter is cold, but it is also beautiful. The best scence I think is the snow-covered roofs of the Forbidden City; or a light frost blanketing the rustic grounds of the Temple of Heaven. If you come to Beijing this time, you should not miss it.For clothing, you need to dress in layers: long underwear and jeans, shirt, sweater and down jacket or cotton-padded jacket.

   How to buy a Beijing subway ticket? It is very useful when you visit Beijing.  Traffic jam here is very terrible especially in rush-hour.  No matter what you take ,bus or taxi, you will meet the traffic jam in Beijing. Take subway is  a good choice. Let’s know the subway system first.

 In Beijing Traveling via the subway is quick and clean.  There are 5 subway Lines in Beijing now. They are Line 1, Line 2, Line 5, Line 13 and Line Batong . Line 1  is the horizontal line and “2″ is the loop line that follows the inner ring road. Line 13  is a semicircular line runs the north of Beijing from Xizhimen to Dongzhimen (both are also stations on the loop Line 2). Line Batong is a extesional line from Line 1 extending eastward from Sihui to Tuqiao in Tongzhou District. Line 5 has opened at 2:00 PM on Sunday,  Oct 07,2007 . It runs through the heart of the city from north to south,first north-south underground line. It Big news for those people who work in North but live in South.

   Now, I will tell you how to buy a Beijing subway ticket.

  In Beijing subway stations, somewhere you will find a counter  which is selling tickets.  Nowadays it conveniently states “Tickets” along with the Chinese.  Since October 7th,2007, it only cost you 2 RMB to buy a ticket. In the past,3 RMB only take you anywhere on the main two subway lines(1&2),but now 2 RMB take you anywhere on 5 Lines.

   After buying your ticket you then proceed down the stairs to the platforms.  Some officials will ask you for your ticket at this point. There is a bus  Most people in Beijing give them the whole ticket, as no-one will ever ask you for it beyond this point.  Outsiders may feel uncomfortable without half of this ticket so if you insist, they will rip it in half for you allowing you to proceed with your proof.

    Once you’re on the platform you then have the joy of figuring out where you are and where you’re going.  You usually only have two directions to choose from and there will only ever be a 2 line transfer station, so you shouldn’t have too many difficulties from thereon.  

    Next time, I will tell you how to figure out right station you need to transfer.

                      Long long ago,in the remotest antiquity,there were 10 suns around the earth. They are were sons of Jade Emperor(Yu Di).The ancient Chinese believed that the universe was divided into threeworlds: the heaven, the earth and hell. Heaven was a place of paradise andpresided over by the Jade Emperor. The heat from ten suns shining all at once made the earth intolerably hot. People and animals died of heat, rivers dried up, land became barren and forests scorched and burned. Then a man named Hou Yi,an excellent marksman with the bow and arrow, climbed to the top of Kunlun mountain and shot down all but one of the suns and saved the Earth. Hou Yi was hailed as the hero by the people. In gratitude for saving their lives the people elected him as their King. King Hou Yi married Chang Er and their life together was blissful.
   As a reward, the Heavenly Queen Mother(Wang Mu Liang Liang) gave Hou Yithe pill of immortality.She also told him that if he cut the pill into two halves and shared it with another, they could live forever. The pill had to be taken on the 15th night of the eighth month when the moon was fullest. Hou Yi was very happy and thanked the Heavenly Queen Mother exuberantly and went home to Chang Er. They decided to divide the pill and take it at the proper time so that they could both attain immortality.  He loved Chang Er very much, so he gave the magic pill to her. Chang Er kept the pill secretly.
   Three days before the 15th day of the eighth month, Hou Yi heard of a medicinal solution called “jade elixir” that could be found on Tienshan mountain, an elixir that could could prevent women from aging and allow them to stay eternally beautiful. Hou Yi wished to please Chang Er and resume a happy life at home, so he decided that he could make the trip in three days to obtain this wonderful medicine and to surprise his wife. He left for Tienshan mountain immediately. Unfortunately, Hou Yi had a student named Feng Meng, who found the couple’s secret and tried to force Chang Er to give him the pill. Chang Er knew that she couldn’t beat him, so she took the pill. Chang Er became
very frightened when Feng Meng chased her around the chamber. Eventually she ran out of the chamber with the men in hot pursuit.Reaching a dead end at the top of the palace and with no escape insight, Chang Er jumped out of an open window.   Strangely, she did not fall to the ground but instead went floating up into the sky. The pill of immortality had immortalised her and she became a fairy. She kept floating skyward. At this moment Hou Yi arrived back with the jade elixir and saw Chang Er ascending faster and faster.
  The gods and goddesses in heaven despised Chang Er because she had abandoned her husband Hou Yi. Chang Er had to change her direction and head toward the cold palace in the moon. Hou Yi watched from the earth and took out his magic bow to shoot down the moon. He aimed but he could not bear to kill his wife. Frustrated and saddened, he destroyed his magical weapons and took to drink.
   Hou Yi’s enemy Feng Meng watch and waited until Hou Yi was senselessly drunk, then he attacked Hou Yi then and killed him. When Chang Er arrived at the cold palace in the moon and saw how her husband had been cruelly murdered she deeply mourned what she had done. She was cut off from the happy life in heaven and committed to eternity alone in the moon, becaming the moon goddess.
  Each year on the 15th day of the eighth month, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, people look at the moon and try to see in it the image of a beautiful maiden. It has become a festival “The Middle Autumn Day”.