Xi’an, once called “Chang’an”, ranks the first among the seven ancient capitals in China. And it is regarded as one of the “Four Ancient Civilizations of the World”. It has witnessed the rise and fall of 15 dynasties, including the Western Zhou, the Qin, the Han, the Sui and the Tang. It is also the starting point of the Silk Road.

photo credit: kevinpoh

There are a great number of historic relics in Xi’an, such as the Terra Cotta Warriors, the City Wall, the Famen Temple, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower.

Xi’an has been one of the favorite destinations of tourists home and abroad.

Edited by Mengying Hao

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Lake Kanas lies near the Altai mountains,in Xinjiang,China. It is China’s deepest freshwater lake. About 117 different kinds of birds live along it.

There is a large population of  Tuvans in the area.

There have been sightings of large lake creatures in the waters. A video was taken and shown in the local Chinese media where numerous unidentifiable creatures can be seen. And the water’s colour of the Kanas lake changes incredibly oftentimes.

Wolong National Nature Reserve  is a protected area located in Wenchuan country, Sichuan Province.Wolong National Nature Reserve houses more than 150 highly endangered giant pandas.On 5.12 earthquake,3 pandas were missing,5  staff members were killed,14 houses were all damaged.

Here is a picture of a panda seeing a policeman after the earthquake.

Though the other 86 pandas in Wolong had no casualty,the origin place of the pand’s  food,bamboo,was affected by the earthquake.

The wild giant pandas are still at risk.Concern about the lovely ancient animal,giant panda.

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    It is said that there are two Chinese Valentine’s Day,one is on  lunar July 7th,the other one is on lunar January 15th which is celebrated as Lantern Festival.

    It was an interesting 15th day this year. The full moon appeared larger and brighter than usual because it has come closest to the Earth than at any time since 1957. It was about 305,000km from Earth as compared to the average distance of 350,000km.

Lantern Festival often marks the end of the Chinese New Year.This day’s important activity is watching lanterns. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited.

    In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.

Here is a fireworks shot in Harbin.

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China and Taiwan.

Here is the picture from Tom Carter,taken in Beijing

2009  is “The year of  the ox” according to the Chinese animal sign.Ox ,牛,is pronounced NIU in Chinese，the same as the NEW.So Happy Niu Year to the world!

These two photo from Dbf were taken in Beijing.

这两张图片都是Dbf在北京照的.

The first one was taken in Da Bei Ku

第一张的地点是在北京的大北窟

The skyscraper in the second picture is the Sohu Modern Town

第二张图片里的建筑是Sohu现代城

These two photo were taken by Antonio Ho in the Bird’s Nest stadium.

这张图片是Antonio Ho在鸟巢体育馆拍的.

90,000 spectators fell silent at the announcement that Liu Xiang’s was unable to compete at the giant Birdsnest stadium. This overwhelmingly emotional announcement was soon replaced by cheers from the crowd for encouragement on Liu Xiang and the other competitors.

在“鸟巢“中,90,000名观众因为刘翔退出比赛而沉默起来,但这寂静的气氛很快便被

鼓励及支持刘翔和其它运动员的声音所取代.在“鸟巢“外,人们照旧装扮起来,庆祝奥运的举行

This picture is from Antonio in an army base in Taizhou.

这张图片是Antonio Ho在台州的一个陆军基地照的.

Soldiers couched in a circle to light candles to form a shape of the Olympic rings.

在图片中,五个陆兵士兵们蹲在地上用蜡烛拼出一个奥运五环.

These two photos of Beijing’s New National Grand Theater are from Matt Lee.

这两张图片国家大剧院是Matt Lee拍的

The theater was designed by French architect Paul Andreui and is located on west of the Great Hall of the People. It can seat 6,500 people in three halls.

国家大剧院由法国建筑师Paul Andreu设计,它 位于人民大会堂的西面.它的三个大堂能容纳6500个观众.

Matt said in the picture description that entrance into the theater is under the blue part, so the hallway is underneath the pond

Matt在他图片的描述中提到剧院的入口在图片蓝色的部分下,也就是说进剧院的走廊是在水池下面了

With its unique shell structure and the artificial lake that surrounds it, the theater looks like a lucent peddle on the water.

独特的壳状设计和围绕着的人造湖,剧院就像一个躺在水面上的,发光的鹅卵石.

As you look closely at the beautiful theater, you can even see tiny gleaming “stars” on the roof.

如果你仔细看的话,你会发现剧院外部顶上布满了闪闪发光的小”星星”