It is regarded as the best leisure tourism destination in China.Shapotou Tourism Area is regarded as one of the five most beautiful deserts in China, and is widely recognized as the Capital of Sand. Standing on the sand hill, one can see the desert extending to the north, and to the south, a boundless oasis. Both the grandeur of the north of China and the elegance of the south come together in this lovely place.

Floating along the Yellow River on a sheepskin raft – the most unpretentious of vehicles – is something of a special thrill. When a sheep is killed the locals will remove the skin and skillfully make a balloon out of it. A number of these balloons are strung together to form a buoyant base for a floor of bamboos. This sheepskin raft may look flimsy, but it is eminently safe. The drift requires great courage, but this does not mean that it is unsafe. Experienced boatmen will make sure that you cannot only sense the excitement but also enjoy the fascinating scenery along the way. The ruins of a part of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty are there, as is the site of ancient waterwheels-an image of the Yellow River culture.

Shapotou International Sand Slide Center is the biggest natural sand slide field in China. It is also one of China’s Four Sounding Sand Fields. It has a length of about 1,000 meters, a height of over 100 meters and a slope of 60 degrees. When the weather is fine, people sliding down the sand hill can hear the sound of sand underneath them, for all the world like tolling bells. It is adventurous, breathtaking, strange and heady experience-not designed for the weak of heart.

The cableway slide across the Yellow River at Shapotou has won fame as the First Yellow River Cableway Slide. The cableway here is 820 meters long, 54 meters high above the water and the slide is at an average speed of 8 m/s. The cableway at Shapotou is unique in China, in that it depends totally on gravity to set it in motion.

Besides, tourists can enjoy the beauty and mystery of the desert from the vantage point of a camel’s back. Sunset on the Yellow River and sunrise in the desert are particularly memorable. One can spend an evening in a Mongolian camp or sit by a bonfire enjoying an ethnic-style performance or even take part in a dance. If one prefers a more gentle experience, one can take a yacht along the Yellow River and visit the show of local sand-controlling achievements.

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Together with the Shaolin School in the north, Wudang School in the south is the most typical representative of traditional Chinese Kung Fu. At present, its major skills are well presented by Tai Chi (Taiji), (Xingyiquan and Baguazhang.

Wudang Martial Arts were created based on the Taoist ideology. Taoism holds that there are basic, everlasting and supernatural principles in the earth which are called “Tao” suggesting softness, quietness, emptiness, unification, fairness and harmony. All these can be presented according to Tai Chi, Yin and Yang, the Five Elements (water, gold, fire, wood and earth) and the Eight Diagrams tactics. Under the direction of these philosophical theories, this Kung Fu style gains good effects in the boxing and sword skills.

Wudang Boxing, a kind of Internal Boxing Art (Neijiaquan), observes the ideas in the Book of Changes and takes the changes of Yin and Yang as presuppositions. The Eight-Diagram Palm, also named Circuit Palm, presents the self-defence skills by the practice of moving in a circle. The learners cultivate the skills by circuit walking, which seems to move along the lines of the Eight Diagrams, an important Taoist characteristic. Sometimes, the walking trace looks like the inner or external profile of the Eight-Diagram tactics. This special skill takes advantages of the palm strength to give full play to the strength of the hand.

Although the Taoist theurgy and alchemy are full of mystery, the basic principles are to mintian fitness. Wudang Kung Fu includes many boxing styles and weapon skills which are all created to adapt to the human body. Practising these skills is beneficial to the stimulation of blood circulation. It relaxes muscles and joints, nourishes the physical organs and cultivates physical and mental health.Tai Chi is the best example of its fitness function. The practice pace of Tai Chi is slow. It functions to defeat the strong in a weak way and beat the moving in a standstill manner. Qigong used in Tai Chi cannot only practise the Kungfu skills, but also develop wisdom and strengthen the body. The Taiji Sword is an important part of Tai Chi concerning the characteristics of Tai Chi and swordplay. On the one hand, its motions need to be agile and soft emphasizing the fitness spirit as Tai Chi; on the other hand, it has to be elegant and flexible showing the vivid manner of sword playing.

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With the passage of time, this group of tombs has become a key cultural relic protection unit and a 5A scenic spot. In 2003, UNESCO listed the Ming tombs (Ming tombs) as a world cultural heritage site. In addition to its long history, the Ming tombs are larger in area and better preserved in surface structure.

In fact, Ming Tombs comprises thirteen tombs of emperor, seven tombs of concubines and one tomb of concubines, in covering more than 120 square kilometers. The other tombs are mostly within 8 kilometers away from Changling Tomb. In spite of having own unit and various structures, the tombs share a similar layout with a square yard at the front and a round yard at the back. Each tomb has a huge temple on the ground, and the main architectures were built in the axis, from front to back as follows: Memorial Tablet, Front Arch, Ling’en Gate, Ling’en Palace, Lingxing Gate, Ming Tower and Bao Pavilion etc.

Changling is located at the southern foot of the Tianshou mountain. It is the tomb of emperor Yongle and empress Qian. During his 22-year reign, emperor Yongle made great progress in the political, economic, military, cultural and diplomatic fields. So later generations speak highly of him. Among the Ming tombs, Changling is the largest, best preserved and oldest. As the first tomb in the Ming dynasty, Changling has also become a major attraction in the region.

In architecture design, it is square in the front and round in the rear. The whole architectural complex is divided into three parts and main buildings on the central axis still exist. Ling’en Palace in Changling Tomb is the most important building. It is so imposing and majestic that it can be on a par with Taihe Palace in Forbidden City. The skirt-roof is decorated in yellow glazed tiles. The material of the entire beam, column, purlin and other wooden construction are selected from the precious staleproof Nanmu. Except for the plafond, the insider palace is simple and unadorned without any over-colorful painting. There are no existing books about building written in Ming Dynasty or Yuan Dynasty, so the ancient architectures became important mater for historian to learn the style and features of architectures in the two dynasties. Ling’en Palace Tomb is regarded as an indispensable material for study on Ming’s architectures.

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China’s walls are a defensive system to protect towns. The xi ‘an ancient city wall perfectly embodies the defensive function. The rectangular wall is 13.75 km long (about 4 hours’ walk), 12 m high, 12 m to 14 m thick at the top and 15 m to 18 m thick at the bottom. The width of the wall was thicker than its height, so the wall was as strong as a mountain, and the city was strong.

Ancient weapons backward, the gate is the only access to the city, so the gate is the focus of the city defense system. The wall had four main gates, each with five lines of defense.

As a first line of defense, the moat around the wall has a drawbridge at each gate. As the only access, the bridge was laid during the day to facilitate people’s access, and was lifted at night to cut off access to the city. The second line of defence is the lock tower, which controls the drawbridge and is responsible for alerting and alerting the night watchmen. Behind the water tower is the archery tower, which is located outside the water tower.

The arrow tower is more than 30 meters high and has a vertical facade. The fourth line of defense is the closed space between the tower of arrows and the tower of gates, to strengthen the city’s defenses, and if the enemy enters here, the garrison will shoot them from a height, like fishing in a barrel. The last line of defense is, of course, the main gate. It is extremely hard to break five lines of defence for the enemy.

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History of Putuoshan Mountain

Putuoshan Mountain’s original religious activities date back to the qin dynasty, when Taoist gods practiced alchemy here, and remnants can still be found today. In 847, a foreign monk came to the cave and felt the goddess of mercy. During the song and yuan dynasties, putuo mountain developed rapidly and its economy flourished. In its heyday, it was known as the largest buddhist kingdom in China, with 4 large temples, 106 small temples, 139 huts, and 4,654 monks.

Main Attractions

Puji Temple is the main temple of Putuoshan Mountain and all important Buddhist activities are held here. Covering an area of 37,019 square meters, it contains Grand Yuantong Palace, Hall of Heavenly Kings, Depository of Buddhist Sutras and 357 other buildings. Fayu Temple was built along the uphill with grand building groups and extraordinary manners.Among the 294 halls of Fayu Temple, Nine Dragons Guanyin Palace(also called Grand Yuantong Palace), said to be a Buddhist Temple transported from the imperial palace of Ming Dynasty, acts as the most magnificent one.

With unique shapes and vivid images, it enjoys high artist value and is listed in Three Treasures of Putuoshan Mountain.The halls and yards of Huiji Temple were constructed in traditional Garden-Architecture Style in Zhejiang and Jiangsu In the Grand Palace is worshipped Shakyamuni with his two disciples. Southeast of the Grand Palace is a Bell Tower with double eaves. Climbing to the top of the tower and ringing the big bell, you will get a good luck. As you stand in the peak of Bell Tower, have a distant view of the mountains, sea, reefs, beaches and buildings. In the whole temple, statues, carvings and pictures of Guanyin can be found everywhere. The images of Guanyin in thousands of poses must catch your eyes and are honored the essence of Buddhist art in Putuoshan Mountain.

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Tunxi ancient street, made of marble slabs, is 1272 meters long, of which the main pedestrian street is 832 meters. It starts from the west of zhenhai bridge and is 5 to 8 meters wide at the eastern end of qingquan lane. The old street faces the green mountains and is located at the junction of rivers and rivers. The whole district is shaped like a fish. It consists of a main straight street, three lanes and 18 lanes. An ancient western European architect once visited the old street and said he had discovered “ancient Rome in the east”. The Chinese call it the flowing Qingming Festival.

Tunxi ancient street has a history of more than 630 years. The formation and development of Tunxi ancient street benefited from its position as an important water transportation hub (960-1279) since the song dynasty. Along the river, it can reach hangzhou, the city of heaven; On the river, from tunxi ancient street, it can transport goods to half of huizhou and is considered an economic and transportation hub.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, huizhou merchants began to rise, leading to the rapid development of tunxi ancient street. It flourished in the late qing dynasty, with old Chinese private Banks, pawnshops, silver shops, pharmacies, grocery stores, restaurants, shops selling tea, silk, porcelain, salt, sugar… During the republic of China period (1912-1949), it was known as “little Shanghai” because of its prosperity.

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Wudang Mountain is a famous Taoist mountain, the birthplace of Wudang martial arts. Wudang martial arts is an important school of Chinese martial arts. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the Taoist Zhang Sanfeng set up Wudang school.Chinese martial arts has a long history. Wudang martial arts is a famous school of Chinese martial arts. It is deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture for thousands of years. It contains profound Chinese traditional philosophy and mystery. It contains ancient Chinese philosophy theories such as Tai Chi, Yin and Yang, five elements, eight trigrams, etc. its essence is to explore the law of life activities,which isIt is the great wisdom produced by Wudang Taoism in the exploration of life.

Taoism is a local religion in China, with “Tao” as the highest faith. Zhang Daoling, the founder of Taoism, formally founded the missionary organization, which has a history of 1800 years. The main purpose of Taoism is to pursue immortality and save the world.

Wudang Mountain, also known as Taihe mountain, is located at 110 degrees east longitude and 30 degrees north latitude. It can be said that it is in the center of the whole China. According to Taoism, Wudang Mountain is a unique geographical location, which can not only contact God, but also connect with the earth. In this place, everything can be harmonious and the world can be peaceful. The highest level of harmony in all things is called Taihe by Taoism.

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As the world’s largest existing wooden structure of ancient buildings, it took only three and a half years to complete, which makes us once again marvel at the wisdom of the ancients. However, craftsmen also encountered many difficulties in the process of building the Forbidden City. For example, the stones inlaid on the steps in front of the Hall of Preserving Harmony weighed more than 2,000 tons.

The mining of this stone has used more than 10,000 migrant workers and more than 6,000 soldiers, and it is even more difficult to transport to Beijing. Tens of thousands of migrant workers filled the roads on the roadside where the stones were transported, and dug a well every two miles or so. In the harsh winter when the water dripped into ice, it poured into the ice channel from the well. It took 28 days to transport the stone to the capital.

According to the Palace Museum, when the Forbidden City is 600 years old, the Palace Museum will bring the best cultural experience and museum trip to the audience with more deep feelings, more diversified forms and more intimate services.

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