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History and Culture
Hutong and Siheyuan
History and Culture

        Siheyuan
The word "hutong" (hú tóng 胡同) means "water well"(shuǐ jǐng 水井) in Mongolian. The Mongolians keep the nomadic tradition of settling down around springs or wells. A hutong is the passage formed by lines of siheyuan (sì hé yuàn 四合院, four-side enclosed courtyards). Strictly, hutong alleys are less than nine meters wide. Most hutongs in Beijing run in an east-west or north-south direction, with most houses facing south to take in as much sunshine as possible.

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Classical Gardens of China
History and Culture

 Classical Garden
Classical Chinese garden design, which intend to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, is nowhere better illustrated than in the nine gardens in the historic city of Suzhou (sū zhōu 苏州). They are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of the genre. Dating from the 11th-19th century, the gardens reflect the profound metaphysical importance of natural beauty in Chinese culture in their meticulous (yì sī bù gǒu 一丝不苟) design.

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Suzhou Gardens
History and Culture
Suzhou is China's well-known "city of gardens", which tops all gardens in both the number and the artistry. Suzhou's art of gardening has undergone a history of 1,500 years. According to chorography, there were once over 200 gardens in the city, and 69 of them are still in good preservation today.

Suzhou gardens seek the return to Nature and the cultivation of temperament, with hills and waters, flowers and trees, pavilion, terraces, towers and halls composing the basic garden elements.
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Chinese Pagoda
History and Culture

               Big White Goose Pagoda
Pagoda (tǎ 塔) is an important symbol of civilization and culture of ancient China. It’s also a significant style of ancient architecture in China. Since Buddhism introduced to our country, pagodas with Chinese characteristics has increased rapidly. And it has become an important part of the temple. Mini-pagodas can be taken as a sculpture and souvenir. Tall pagodas are with ancient multi-story structure, reflecting the situations such as technology development in different historical periods.

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Chinese Temple
History and Culture

  Mahavira Hall
Temples is the symbolization of the long history and rich culture of China, and are regarded as valuable art treasures. Generally speaking, temple is not only related to Buddhism. However, in Buddhism, there are many kinds of titles for temple: such as "Temple", which does not refer to Buddhist temple. Official residences were known as Temple since the Qin Dynasty (qín cháo 秦朝). In the Han Dynasty (hàn cháo 汉朝), the living place of the monks from the West also known as Temple. From then on, temple has become professionals of Chinese Buddhist architecture gradually. It also can be said that when Buddhism spread to China, Chinese people called t the Buddhist architecture as temple so as to show respect for Buddhism.

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Imperial Palace
History and Culture

gongting

The imperial palace, the official residence of the emperor and his family, is the most vital architecture in ancient China.
There were certain architectural features that were reserved solely for buildings built for the Emperor of China. One example is the use of yellow roof tiles; yellow having been the Imperial color, yellow roof tiles still adorn most of the buildings within the Forbidden City (gù gōng 故宫). The Temple of Heaven (tiān tán 天坛), however, uses blue roof tiles to symbolize the sky.

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