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!

Taken in Jiansu and Shanghai these are two pictures by China Photo group member Richard Duarte.

Taken in Shanghai, China:

Beijing Bikes:

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

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”

Here is the place where you can bid for the coins and pins we are currently offering to raise some much-needed funds for our students. To bid, just list the item and amount you want to bid in the comments section. You are free to use an anonymous screenname. Please check the comments to be sure you are not accidentally underbidding anyone…and remember, all of these funds go to our help our students on the Dreamblogue.

You can see our video about the items here!:

DAVID AND the TORCH TAKE 12!
Or if you can’t stomach eight minutes of Dawei talking to Yanzhi’s disembodied voice, or if you don’t have a facebook account, you can always just look here to see the items available:

These are the commemorative Olympic pins Lenovo sent me. They are an extremely limited edition of six pins featuring little children using computers, and we’d really like to auction these pins to raise some money in support for Coffee and helping her leg.

Next are the landmark coins:

This set of coins is limited to 80,000 and features famous landmarks acrosss Beijing and China, including the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. The coins come with a certificate of authenticity that they are licensed official Olympic Beijing products.

The last set of coins we are offering are the flower coins:

This limited set of 30,000 coins features a number of plants and flowers with a special meaning in Chinese culture, including bamboo, orchids, plum blossoms, and chrysanthemums.

And while you are here, remember to add the China Dreamblogue to your Technorati favorites!

BID HERE!

Chinese Panda Beijing Zoo: Daily China Photo

Today’s photo from Daz features a giant panda, normally found in Sichuan Province (四川), housed in the Beijing Zoo (北京动物园)。

To see your photos here, send them to   or to .  And keep dreaming!

China Daily Photo: Forbidden City Beijing

Lonnie is headed for Beijing next week while David takes on Qi Qing Yan in Guangdong, so it seemed appropriate to post a spectacular Beijing preview. Dalian photos and commentary later today!!

Today’s daily photo comes from Ken Leaf and was taken at the Forbidden City:

To see your photo on The Dreamblogue, send it to photos (at) blogofdreams (dot) com.

China Daily Photo: Beijing Train Station

Today’s photo is from Ken Leaf and was taken in Beijing:

Send your photos to to see them on the blog of dreams.