Zhejiang''''s Bridges

Zhejiang is endowed with rivers and lakes. The land is noted for bridges. According to Zhejiang Chronicle in the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 10,000 bridges at that time in this coastal province. Due to backward science and technology, those bridges were short narrow bridges made of stone. The first modern bridge in Zhejiang happened to be China's first bridge designed and made by Chinese. It was Qiantang River Bridge in Hangzhou. The bridge was built in 1937, engineered by Mao     

Reading is Life''''s Biggest Joy

Quicksand River is a strange Chinese penname for an author. Few know his real name, but the name of the penname is the fame. Approaching 70, the writer's popularity is still growing. In the autumn of 2002, Quicksand River, his wife and some friends visited Nanjing. I was with them as a local host and took them around. Here are some anecdotes of his visit to Nanjing.It was his first visit to the ancient city, a city where six different dynasties in ancient times ruled the vast territory across China. As he had read so much about Nanjing, he commented that his     

Unique Wetlandin the Yangtze River Delta

A unique wetland in the Yangtze River delta,Lake Xiazhu features a harmony of waters andmountains. According to historical records, thelake area is where Fangfeng kingdom was duringthe reign of Emperor Yu of the Xia Dynasty circa21st-16th century B.C.).But the history of the wetland dates back tomuch earlier years. About 200 million years ago,the ocean swelled and ebbed here. Later the earthcrust moved and the shoreline moved eastward,leaving behind lakes, ponds, and streamsscattered and …     

Why Qiu Jin was Buried by the West Lake?

On the early morning of July 15~(th), 1907, Qiu Jin was executed in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. The heroine died a martyr at 32. Her body was deserted at the execution ground, which was a place in the downtown Shaoxing. Qiu Jin had fought all her life in a bid to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and save China from being carved up by foreign powers. Her execution plunged Shaoxing into a great terror. Her family and relatives fled immediately, dreading the government might go after them. Her body abandoned at the execution ground and her burials gave rise to a long series of stories. The first man who came to pick up her body was a staff member at Datong School where Qiu Jin had taught. He sneaked in one night and rolled her in     

Artist''''s Mimories of Jiang Weiguo

Liang Guyin is one of the first-generation Kunqu Opera artists after the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949. She met Jiang Weiguo (1916-1997) three times during her visits to Taiwan in the 1990s. Jiang Weiguo was the second son of Chiang Kai-Shek, who had ruled China before 1949 and fled to Taiwan in 1949.In May 1993, Liang was about to pay her first visit to Taiwan at the invitation of the Central University and the China Cultural Foundation in Taiwan. She was asked by     

Penguin Buys Wolf Totem

Hubei Yangtze River Publishing Group andPenguin Group held a signing ceremony onAugust 30th, 2005 at the Great Wall HotelBeijing. The ceremony marked Penguin’spurchase of the copyright of the worldwideEnglish language version of Wolf Totem, aChinese bestseller in 2005.Wolf Totem, a novel composed of dozens ofwolf stories, was first published in April 2004by Yangtze River Arts Press. The bestseller hasreached the threshold of one million copies.Western media have covered the novel and…     

TEA Merchant''''s Business Secret

Lu Jiangmei can never forget her first visit to Beijing in 1994. While promoting the sales of her tea in Shanghai, Lu learned that the newly opened Lufthansa Youyi Shopping Center in Beijing was looking for someone who could sell Dragon Well Tea produced in Meijiawu, Hangzhou. She decided to try her luck in Beijing. She went to Beijing with her mother and three tea processing masters from her home village. It was her first visit to the capital. As soon as she jostled her way out of the railway station, she lost her mother and the three villagers in the crowd. She cried before she     

Pioneer of Oil Painting in China

Li Tiefu's unique position in China's oil painting history is testified by An Anthology of Best works of the 20th Century Oil Painting Exhibitions of China. Li's masterpiece, An Unfinished Portrait of An Old Man, is in the first page of the authoritative collection.Li Tiefu was the first Chinese painter who went overseas and studied Western oil painting. He lived in Britain, the United States and Canada for over 40 years in pursuit of the Western art. In order to absorb the essence of the Western art, he followed several masters and devoted himself to the study for more than 60 years. In order to put all his heart and soul into the painting, he never married.     

Probing into the Past

"There were 11 people in my family. Eight died of plague deliberately spread by Japanese troops in the germ warfare. My fathered roared like a lion in extreme agony and died. My mother died in pain too, her fingers scratching the bed, all the nails out of place and bleeding. I don't want to recall the scene. Say no more," cried Wang Rongliang, a farmer in a small village called Chongshan Village, Yiwu City of Zhejiang Province. He wiped his eyes while telling me about the past. It was summer of 1991, when I was first meeting the germ war victims. The gettogether was shocking. I first came to know the germ incident in Chongshan Village through a book called Atrocities Committed     

A Visit to the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature and Masters

China Modern Literature Museum, located in the eastern sprawl of Beijing, was not very well known to the local Beijing people when it first opened to visitors in May 2000. Even the taxi driver who took us didn't know where it was. Once we arrived on the scene, we forgot all about the troubles we had in locating it. We were facing a masterpiece where all the past literary masterpieces in China in the 20~(th) century are on display and we faced familiar great masters, their works, their life stories, even their studies, and their statues.     

My Visit to Japan in Cherry Blossoms Season

I started my visit to Japan on March 21st thisyear in the hope of viewing cherry blossomsblooming in the island country. My firststop was Tokyo and I stayed at theImperial Hotel, just opposite to HibiyaPark, famed for cherry blossoms inspring. However, I didn't have time fora visit to the park in the first two or threedays as I was busy meeting officials ofthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs andworking according to the schedule.Besides, it had been cloudy and rainyfor days. I found time one …     

Artist Adds Sculptures to World

Artist and entrepreneur Ruan Wenlong now runs his business specialized in creating large-sized sculptures for cities. The desire for art first came to him not for the sake of art but for the sake of living a better life. Born into a farmer's family in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province in September 1964, Ruan was known for his never-say-die personality and determination to get rid of the poverty that was born with him.     

Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum in Nanjing

Sun Yat-Sen, father of the 1911 Revolution that toppled the Qing Dynasty and ushered in the first republic in China's history, died in 1925. He wanted to have himself buried in Nanjing where he was sworn in as President of the Republic of China after the revolution succeeded. The construction period of the grand mausoleum spanned from 1926 to 1931. Sun Yat-Sen's Mausoleum does not stand alone. A series of memorial buildings came into being in years after the mausoleum was completed. These buildings include a memorial house where many objects used in the     

Xikou Revisited in Spring

On the fourth day of January of the Lunar Calendar this year,my friend Wang,my sister and I went on a tour to Xikou.A scenic spot wellknown all over China,Xikou lies to the west of Fenghua,my home town.It is also not far from Ningbo,the oriental port city.These three placesform a big triangle.I remember very clearly my first visit to Xikou.It was more than 40 years ago when I just graduated from primary school.Mypals and I went on a spring excursion and visited Xikou.It was the first time I saw a wide,straight street that was paved with concrete.And thewonderful street was 1.5 kilometers long!We whooped with excitement,thinking was the most magnificent street in the world.Today this little street,known as“half side street”,is no longer a rare sight.It has been rebuilt and widened,but even wider and longerstreets network in the new area of Xikou,forming the most prosperous commercial area of the city.I remember that people in the town used to hang dragon lanterns in January of the Lunar Calendar year.B     

City God Pavilion on the Wu Hill

The year 2000 witnessed the City-God Temple appear on the top of the Wu Hill. The newly restored grand pavilion has now become a landmark of the ancient city. The Wu Hill stands right in the heart of Hangzhou, separating the West Lake and the Qiantang River. In the Five Dynasties, King of the Yue Kingdom had a city god temple built on the top of the Wu Hill. It has been also known as the City God Hill since then. Emperor Qinglong of the Qin Dynasty visited the Wu Hill for six times respectively during his reign when he came to inspect the southern part of China six times. For hundreds of years, the Wu Hill was a scene that appeared in many     

Hong Village:A Quiet Shangri-La

Hong Cun used to be a tranquil and remotevillage in Yixian County, Anhui province. Butsince it was added in 2000 to the UN list of worldcultural heritage, it has attracted visitors fromthe outside world. They come, they see, and theyare conquered.Hong village was first set up in the early 12thcentury. Fascinated by the scenery on their wayto find a nice place to settle down, somemigrating families surnamed Wang decided tomake the place their home. They named theirnew Village Hong, which in…     

Novelist''''s Next Focus:SARS Crisis

When I first heard Liu Jianwei was going to write a novel on SARS, I was not surprised. A writer extremely sensitive to social changes, he has produced four epic novels, all of which throb with the pulse of our times. I have talked with him about his latest theme of SARS. I asked why he made such a quick response to the epidemic.Liu Jianwei says he is a writer who worries about possible dangers and crises. He compares himself to the man of Qi in a Chinese fable, who entertained groundless fears that the sky might fall. "Thrive in adversity and perish in soft living. This is     

Poet and Scholar

Zhong Jingwen (1903-2002) lived a long life. He was known for his academic books and his productive teaching career. In addition to his academic works, Zhong was an established essayist and poet. Yu Dafu (1895-1945), one of the most outstanding novelist and poets in the first half of the 20th century, anthologized a two-volume     

A Visit to Neruda’s Former Residence

The first thing that popped into my mind whenI was about to go to Chile was to visit PabloNeruda’s former residence.I came to know of the poet when I read hisTwenty Love Poems and A Despair Song. Hislife was a legend in my eyes. The world-famouspoet came…