The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang. For over 2,000 years, an underground army of life-sized terracotta warriors secretly guarded the tomb of China’s First Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, until a chance discovery in 1974 unlocked the mysteries of a vanished empire. The Terracotta Army is part of a much larger necropolis. Ground-penetrating radar and core sampling have measured the area to be approximately 98 square kilometers. The necropolis was constructed as a microcosm of the emperor’s imperial palace or compound, and covers a large area around the tomb mound of the first emperor. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape, and is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. The necropolis consists of several offices, halls, stables, other structures as well as an imperial park placed around the tomb mound.

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Museum is located in the southwest of the Jianfu Temple, It was opened to the public on the World Museum\’s Day, May 18th, 2007. Xi’an Museum has an overall coverage of 245 hectares. This museum collectively reflects the long history of Xi’an city and consists of three main parts of the small Wild Goose Pagoda, which is the national key protection culture unit, the ancient building groups of Jianfu Temple, and the modern culture relic exhibition hall. It’s located on West Youyi Road, outside the south gate in Xi’an city, Shaanxi province.

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The Three Gorges Dam Project is the world’s largest hydropower complex project located in one of the three gorges of the Yangtze River: the Xilingxia Gorge in Hubei province, China. The dam’s name refers to the majestic limestone cliffs of the Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges, which stretch for about 200 kilometers from Fengjie. Construction of the controversial Three Gorges Dam began in 1994. Its first turbine was connected to the grid in 2003, with the final one was connected up in 2012. Made of concrete and steel, the dam is 2,335 m long and the top of the dam is 185 metres above sea level. The project used 27.2 million cubic metres of concrete , 463,000 tonnes of steel and moved about 102.6 million cubic metres of earth. A total of 1.3 million people had to be relocated from their homes.

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The Forbidden City, also called Zijin Cheng, is a 72-hectare palace complex in Beijing that was used by the emperors of China from A.D. 1420 to 1911. The Forbidden City served as a fortress to protect the emperor and his family. The complex consists of about 980 buildings, mainly in yellow and red colors, surrounded by a wall 10 meters high. The well guarded palace is surrounded also by a moat 3,800 metres long and 52 metres wide. Intruders were discouraged by guards in watchtowers with bow and arrows.

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The Yungang Grottoes lie in the northern part of Shanxi province about ten miles west of the industrial city of Datong. The approximately fifty caves carved in the sandstone cliffs of the Wuzhou mountain range stretch for about a kilometer along the Wuzhou River. The construction of the caves was started under the auspices of the noted monk Tan Yao in 453 and took 50 years to complete. The 53 grottoes in Yungang Grottos include some 1,000 niches with about 51,000 statues – a treasure-trove of cave art that combines traditional Chinese art forms with foreign influence, particularly Greek and Indian. Sculptures here are noted for their vigorous features and rich variety that range from the smallest, only 2 centimeters high, to the tallest – a Buddha 17-meters high.

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National Centre for the Performing Arts is located in the heart of Beijing, neighboring the Great Hall of the People and Tian’anmen Square and covering 118.9 million square meters, and its total construction area is 217.5 million square meters, including nearly 46.6 million square meters underground garage. The NCPA, also known as the National Grand Theatre, is a surreal location in which to catch a show. Technically, it’s an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake and vast expanse of green space, but the Egg or Water drop building is much easier on the tongue.

credit: La Priz 

credit: La Priz 

credit: das farbamt

credit: das farbamt

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credit:  mklapper

credit:  mklapper

credit:  Jorge Lascar

CRH380A is high speed rolling stock which was developed by the China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation. The CRH380A topped out at speeds of 302 mph. The 302 mph top speed makes this the fastest legal way to travel by land. However, the speed of the train is reduced in regular operations. The CRH380A high-speed train is one of the four Chinese train series which have been designed for the new standard operating speed of 380 kmh or 236 mph on newly constructed Chinese high-speed main lines.

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Reed Flute Cave known as the Palace of Natural Arts is located in the northwest of Guilin City, 5 kilometers away from the center of the city. It is a cave on the southern shoulder of the Guangming Hill. A natural cave carved out of the karst limestone mountains over millions of years, today tourists go through the artificially lit cavern and wonder at the amazing formations and underground lakes. The cave is enormous so you won\’t be able to shine a small torch up to the ceiling. At the height of summer it is still very cool in the caves. If you are someone who gets cold easily you may want to bring along a light sweater or jacket.

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A dragon boat team consists of 20 paddlers sitting two abreast, plus a Cox who steers the dragon boat from the rear and a drummer who sits at the front. The team of paddlers work in unison to propel the boat forwards from a standing start, the aim being to reach the finish line in the fastest time. Generally a race consists of between 4 and 6 boats. They usually have brightly decorated designs that range anywhere from 40 to 100 feet in length, with the front end shaped like open-mouthed dragons, and the back end with a scaly tail. Boat were traditionally made in the Pearl River Delta region of China\’s southern Guangdong Province out of teak wood to various designs and sizes.

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Snow and ice sculptures was taken at the 29th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. It is one of world’s four largest international ice festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival. It is home to massive ice sculptures that have been created for a special winter festival that attracts millions of visitors every year.

credit: Bert van Dijk