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Emperor Guangxu
Born in August 14th in 1871, Emperor Guangxu was named Aixinjueluo Zaitian, whose father was the seventh son of Emperor Daoguang. In 1874, Emperor Tongzhi died of an illness....
Born in August 14th in 1871, Emperor Guangxu was named Aixinjueluo Zaitian, whose father was the seventh son of Emperor Daoguang. In 1874, Emperor Tongzhi died of an illness. Since he had no heir to take over the throne, the powerful and tactful Empress Dowager Cixi chose Zaitian (whose mother was a sister of Cixi), so that she could still keep her domination over the imperial power. In 1887, Emperor Guangxu held the inauguration ceremony. However, the real power was still grasped by Cixi who continued to hold court from behind a screen for another two years. Seeing from Emperor Guangxu's accession to the throne, he was bound to manipulated by his 'foster mother' Cixi.
During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the most two remarkable events were the Sino-Japanese War and the Wu Hsu Reform in 1898. In dealing with the Sino-Japanese War, he strongly objected to compromise and for many times forced the Qing army to fight against the Japanese army. Nevertheless, he was overpowered by the weak corrupt Qing court and the Qing court underwent a fiasco in the Sino-Japanese War. After learning the painful lessons, Emperor Guangxu began to think over the renovation to adjust the court order and prevent the entire state from declining. In 1898, along with a group of reform advocators, he promulgated the prescript called Ding Guo Shi Zhaoto commence the renovation. Unfortunately, lasting for only 103 days, the vigorous reform movement was killed by the opposite parties who launched a coup against all reform parties. After that, Emperor Guangxu again lost his imperial power to the hands of Cixi and he was later house arrested by Cixi.
In 1900, the so-called Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China. Confronting the fatal crisis, Emperor Guangxu ever decided to stay in the capital to stabilize the public mind but he was taken to Xian by Empress Dowager Cixi before the fall of Beijing. The next year when they came back from Xian, he was still kept away from the state affairs. Till 1908, he died in depression and gloom was buried in the West Qing Tombs.
the Empress Dowager Cixi
Usually, when we refer to the Empress Dowager Cixi, we tend to compare her with the great empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907)....
Usually, when we refer to the Empress Dowager Cixi, we tend to compare her with the great empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). Admittedly, these two powerful women indeed had much in common: they both assisted three successive emperors being their husbands and sons and they both held real imperial power for nearly half a century. However, what was different between the two was that Wu Zetian ascended to the throne herself and her reign was considered as an indispensable connection between Li Shimin's Zhenguan Reign and Li Longji's Heyday of Kaiyuan; whereas Cixi's ruling period was regarded as the weakest period of the Qing Dynasty. Hence, she has always been remembered as a notorious lady who even betrayed her country.
The history of the Summer Palace
Situated in the Haidian District northwest of Beijing, Summer Palace is 9 miles (15 kilometers) from the downtown area....
Situated in the Haidian District northwest of Beijing, Summer Palace is 9 miles (15 kilometers) from the downtown area. Being the largest and most well-preserved royal park in China, it greatly influences Chinese horticulture and landscape with its famous natural views and cultural interests, which also has long been recognized as 'The Museum of Royal Gardens'.
The construction started in 1750 as a luxurious royal garden for royal families to rest and entertain. It later became the main residence of royal members in the end of the Qing Dynasty. However, like most of the gardens of Beijing, it could not elude the rampages of the Anglo-French Allied Force and was destroyed by fire. According to historical documents, with original name as 'Qingyi Garden' (Garden of Clear Ripples), the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) was renamed after its first reconstruction in 1888. It was also recorded that Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled navy funds to reconstruct it as a resort in which to spend the rest of her life. In 1900, Yiheyuan suffered another hit by the Eight-Power Allied Force and was repaired in the next two years. In 1924, it was open to the public. It ranked amongst the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1998, as well as one of the first national AAAAA tourist spots in China.
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.
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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.
...Read moreDay 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.
...Read morePingyao 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