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The Sun Yant-Sen Memorial Hall

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, a key historical relic protected by Guangdong province, is a memorial building built with the funds raised by the Guangzhou people and overseas Chinese in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the great revolutionary forerunner. Located in the original site of the the...

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, a key historical relic protected by Guangdong province, is a memorial building built with the funds raised by the Guangzhou people and overseas Chinese in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the great revolutionary forerunner. Located in the original site of the then Sun Yat-sen's Presidential Office, it was designed by Mr. Lu Yanzhi, the great architect of the country. Construction work started in 1929 and finished in 1931.

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is a gorgeous octagonal structure, with solemn and magnificent looks, and strong national features. The designer smartly applied the structural theory of architectural mechanics and adopted the mixed structure of reinforced concrete. The construction space with the span of up to 71 meters is pillar-less, much to its grandeur. The memorial hall and the courtyard cover a land area of six hectares. The principal building occupies an area of 12,000 sq. meters, and 47 meters high. The stage measures 15 meters at the front and 20 meters in depth, together with 3,238 seats. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is the most symbolized building of Guangzhou, and a key venue for the city's large-scale meetings and performances as well.

Shortly before Liberation, the memorial hall was severely damaged as it had long been out of repair. After Liberation, the people's government had all its facilities repaired and improved for seven times from the '50s to 1988. 1998 saw 60 million yuan allocated for the comprehensive overhaul of the memorial hall, replacing the central air-conditioning system, lights, acoustic equipment, seats, remodeling the VIP room, makeup rooms and the stage, adding fire-spray system and security controlling system. The statue of Sun Yat-sen in front of the hall was cast with bronze for a change. The square and the surroundings have also been further beautified. All these have made this time-honored building shine with vitality and a famous scenic spot loved by visitors from home and abroad.

Yaoji Tibetan village

Yaoji Township (硗碛)is a small village in Baoxing County, Ya'an, with an average elevation of 2500m, an area of 880 square kilometers, and with a population of only 5000 people. The current village of Yaoji is nestled in a couloir, carved out by a glacier many eions ago. The village was formerly l...

Yaoji Township (硗碛)is a small village in Baoxing County, Ya'an, with an average elevation of 2500m, an area of 880 square kilometers, and with a population of only 5000 people. The current village of Yaoji is nestled in a couloir, carved out by a glacier many eions ago. The village was formerly located in the valley below, but was flooded by a hydroelectric project and reservoir in 2003. only 150km from Sichuan basins, Yaoji is one of Sichuan's "gateway" to the Tibetan plateau. Given its close proximity to Ya'an and Chengdu, the culture of Yaoji shows strong influences from Han culture and lifestyles. historically Yaoji was an important gathering oint for Jiarong speaking Tibetan peoples, and a trading center between Tibetan and Han ethnicities. It was the seat of the Muping tuisi( 土司) or ethnic Tibetan hereditary headman recognized by the Qing and later Nationalist governments.

Furthermore, the village is near the site of the Long March crossing over Jiajin mountain. the Long March ( October 1934-October 1935) was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang( KMY of Chinese Nationalist Party) army. The main long march from Jiangxi province which began in October 1934. The First Front Army of the Chinese Soviet Republic, led by an inexperienced military commission , was on the brink of annihilation by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's troops in their stronghold in Jiangxi province. The Communists, under the eventual command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed over 5,000 kilometers ver 370 days. The route passed through some of the m ost difficult terrain of western China before concluding in Ya'an. where the Communists established a base and began their resurgence.  Jiajin Mountain(5000m +) was the first high mountain crossed by the Red Army, whose soliders were ill prepared for the snow and the cold, and many of whom perished. There is a memorial commemorating their efforts not far from Yaoji, which has become an important destination for modern history buffs and political pilgrims. 

Residents of the village are Gyalrong/Jiarong(嘉绒) Tibetan. in the past, Jiarong was a topographical and political refernce to a far wider area than the present day linguistic demarcation. The legendary 18 kingdoms of the Jiarong extended down as far as the present-day Muya territory. By contemporary linguistic definition, the 150,000 speakers of the different Jiarong languages are distributed across serval counties of central and southern Aba Prefecture, and corners of Ganzi Prefecture and Ya'an District. These Qiangic languages have traditionally been divided into Sibaba(northwestern) , Chabao( northeastern) and Situ( eastern). Situ, referring to an area formerly governed by four kings( Tusi), is the most widely spoken form of Jiarong and has at least two dialects. Outside the larger towns, Jiarong is still widely spoken across all ages and domains of society. Many older Jiarong people are monolingual, but Sichuan dialect is becoming widely spoken by the young and middle aged.

Jiarong tend to be people of the valleys, farming the land in terraced plots up the mountainside, though a few take to the high plateaus where they live semi-nomadic tending their yal. The Jiarong culture: their impressive stone houses decked with praer flags, ancient stone watchtowers, and women clad in colorful hand-woven belts, aprons and headresses. most Jiarong Tibetans worshop mountain gods and practice Tibetan Buddhism, though about 10% follow the pre-Buddhist religion of Bon.

Possible Topics to Explore:

1. Local culture and lifestyle, compared to Han Chinese and otherr Tibetan-subgroups 

2. History of Yaoji, including pre-Communist history. and any knowledge 

3. Changes in the village, way of life, and residents' attitudes over time

4. How China's economic boom has affected Yaoji

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Top China Tours

$238 Per Day

Private Hangzhou Day Trip from Shanghai by Bullet Train

Take in the highlights of beautiful Hangzhou on a private full-day tour from Shanghai. After hotel pickup and transfer by high-speed train to Hangzhou, your private guide takes you to see some city attractions, such as Faxi temple. Moreover, enjoy a tasty lunch at a local restaurant before heading to Longjing village. There, learn about the process of farming and producing dragonwell tea, the region’s most famous product. Finally, enjoy a scenic boat cruise on UNESCO World Heritage-listed West Lake before returning to Shanghai.

This is a private, full-day trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou. After you are picked up in your hotel lobby in the early morning, you will take a bullet train to Hangzhou. This is the fastest way to Hangzhou and you can experience train speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour. Your tour begins at one of Hangzhou's signature sites, the West Lake. Enjoy a lake cruise to see the top ten West Lake scenic views. You will then be taken to experience the wonderful cuisine of Hangzhou at a local restaurant. After lunch, you will visit Faxi temple, a well-known Temple dating back to the Jin Dynasty. See its famous wooden Buddha. Here, you will see fewer tourists and more locals. Finally, enjoy a cup of green tea when you visit the famous Longjing village to see wild fields of Longjing tea bushes where the locals produce the world famous green tea- Longjing Tea. In the village, all locals are tea farmers and you will see the entire procedure of making the famous tea and will get the chance to taste the best quality emperor tea. Afterwards, you will take the bullet train back to Shanghai and you will be returned to your hotel.


$150 Per Day

Guangzhou

Day 1 Arrive in Guangzhou

Arrive in Guangzhou in the morning, you will be met and transferred to hotel, then visit Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall is a very famous historical scenic spot. It is in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the great revolutionary forerunner. After that proceed to visit the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family. It is a unique site for offering up sacrifices to worship ancestors of 72 Chen families in Guangdong. This ancestral temple is also the largest, best preserved and best decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong province.

Day 2 Guanzhou Tour 

After breakfast, you will go to Yuexiu Park first, the largest and the most famous park in downtown Guangzhou. There are three artificial lakes and seven hills of Yuexiu Mountain. Then you will visit Temple of Six Banyan Trees, which is one of the four best Buddhist temples in Guangzhou and located on the Liurong Road (meaning the Six Banyan Trees Road). The Nanyue King Tomb Museum is a must-see Guangzhou attraction, which dates back to 2,000 years ago, is the earliest large scale painted stone chamber tomb ever found south of the Five Ridges. Buried with the tomb owner in a jade shroud are a gold seal and a lot of exquisite jade adornments. It has become a world famous museum. After the day tour you will be transferred to airport for your next destination.

$53 Per Day

Pingyao Highlights Walking Tour

Pingyao Highlights Walking Day Tour

With our guide to know the Ancient Pingyao better!

Our guide will meet you at your hotel lobby at 08:00 or 08:30, then show you the ticket office to get the ticket for the museums we will visit later.

First we will visit the 700 years old City wall, We will climb up from south gate and have a walk on the wall. We are not sure how many km we can walk, because of the renovating of the wall. Normally we will walk from south gate to the Yunlu Exit.

Then visit the Confucius temple, there is a old building named Dacheng Hall which is over 840 years old. From outside, we can see the big wood joints to lift the big roof around the building which is named Dougong. Due to this design, there are less columns inside the hall for giving the big space for the statues and the prayer. We have chance to see the Confucius statue and learn the philosophy of Confucius. If you like, you can pray for you and your children to get better study.

There is the Paper Cutting master named Wentao nearby the exit of Confucius temple. She is very smart and create the new style paper cutting with much more details and good wishes on it. Her products are made by hanks. It is worth to visit and buy as a souvenir from Pingyao. From the table standing and wall hangings. Please remember, take the red one because of red is the traditional and happy color. But the white one is the best. It is really difficult to choose, because of all of them are really nice.

Then you can have coffee break or tea break if you need at Chummy coffee, after this, visit the City god temple (ChenghuangMiao) which is most beautiful temple inside the wall. Because of the roof is covered by the colorful glazed tiles. There is not only city god and also the three money gods, Now you know why pingyao was the financial center.

Next we will visit the Ancient government building, to see the pingyao politics center in the ancient time. It is the complete building with officials bed room, kitchen and private garden. Follow the guide to look the official’s life from the 250km far away from the hometown.

Have a stroll in the alley to the Rishengchang exchange bank, which is the first bank all of china.You can not miss it.

After lunch, walk to the Ming and Qing street, this is the shopping street full of the stores on the both side of street. You can find alot things here , from post card to lacquered boxes, and wall panels. One more place to see, it is the Armed escort agency also named security and transport service for the business man before the bank founded.

Inlcusions

1.private english speaking tour guide servcie

2.bottle water for the tour