Here are three more photos from our friends at the China Photo Contest:

This photo from Ricardo Duarte comes from Xian in Shaanxi Province.

This photo from Robert DaBoss was taken in Guangzhou.

And this photo from Joew Huang was taken in Guangdong Province.

We’ll announce more photos and contest winners in the next couple of days.

One of my favorite spots in Guangzhou (and a place that’s unusually quiet in a city known for its loud, delicious restaurants) is The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.

An ancient Buddhist holy site built in 537 AD, during the Liang Dynasty in Guangzhou, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (六榕寺) was originally called the Baozhuangyan Temple, which probably means means something like . During the Northern Song Dynasty, a writer called Su Shi wrote the inscription Liu Rong (Six Banyan Trees) because of the six banyan trees he saw there. (The Chinese for “Captain Obvious” has escaped me). Ever since, the place has since been called the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.

Just as dynasties in China rise and fall, so did the Temple. One of the dynasties burned the temple down, and it was rebuilt in the Northern Song Dynasty (989 AD). The Flower Pagoda, the main structure of the temple, was built in 1097, and was named for its colorful exterior. Though its original base was square, it was given an octagonal base during the rebuild in 1097. It was rebuilt again in 1373 AD after another fire in the early Ming Dynasty period, and finally restored in 1900. In all, this temple has over 1,400 years of history.

After entering the main gate, Tianwang Hall is the first major area, and The Laughing Buddha is there to welcome visitors. Next comes Weituo Hall. An old Chinese legends tells of a general Weituo who recaptured the Buddhist relics which had been stolen. In contrast to the laughing Buddha, Weituo keeps a straight face–apparently getting the relics back didn’t do all that much for his mood.
The piece of architecture that most often catches a visitor’s eyes is the Six Banyan Pagoda, where the Buddhist relics are placed. Its roofs curve upward and appear to be dark red flower petals, while the tip of the pagoda is like stamens. The whole construction looks like a huge stigma high in the air. Therefore, people like to call it the Flower Pagoda. The pagoda not only is architecturally elegant, but also provides visitors a good place to overlook enchanting scenery around.

To the west of the Six Banyan Pagoda is Daxiong Baodian Hall - the main hall of the temple. The three biggest copper Buddhist statues placed there are among the biggest and most ancient Buddhist statues in Guangdong. In the center is Sakyamuni; to the left, the Amitabha; and to the right, the Apothecary. Together, they represent for present, past, and future.

Burning incense sticks is a major part of visiting the temple and paying respect. Thus, every year on the night before the Chinese traditional Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, the temple swarms with people. Masses queue to light and burn the first joss sticks so that they are blessed with good fortune in the coming year.

Nowadays, the temple’s proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzou has made it a regular destination for families participating in the international adoption of children from China. Typically families receive blessings for their newly adopted children at this temple in front of the statue of Kuan Yin.

Cal Poly, home of one of the best international MBA programs, and a great China MBA blog, has arrived. On youtube, at least. The video offers a peak at the ten-day trip the 40 intrepid MBA students and professors took across China and into Beijing, Macau, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou and features such places as the forbidden city in Beijing, the Sands Casino in Macau, and Shenzhen and Shanghai factory visits.

Thanks to Steve Rodger and Kooltree productions for putting this together.

China Travel: Guangdong Province

Andy Lai is the photographer behind this photo. This is a mosaic photo from a Cantonese Opera.

Guangdong Province lies in the southernmost part of China. With its location on the South China Sea, the province is a natural entry point to south China and has long served as a gateway for Westerners interested in China. Bordered by Jiangxi and Hunan provinces to the north, Fujian province to the east, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to the west, Guangdong has easy access to many other key parts of south China. Guangdong province also claims 651 islands, many of which are located in the Pearl River Delta, which has recently become a center of great economic development in the region. It is estimated that Guangdong Province generates as much as a quarter of the GDP in China.

(This photo of Guangzhou’s skyline and all the photos below were taken by Shenxy.)

The provincial capital of Guangzhou has a long history of international trade and cooperated. Originally transcribed by Portugese traders as “Canton,” who took the name of the region for the name of the city, the name Guangzhou literally means “wide state.” The name Canton is still used informally for events such as the Canton Trade Fair, the world’s largest trade and outsourcing fair. Guangdong was named during the Ming Dynasty, and it was at this time that it began to serve as a major trade hub for China and Europe, with Portugal and England contributing much to the region’s multiculturalism and international fame (see our posts on Macau and Hong Kong for more information). Guangdong was famous for its hongs (trading houses) and its traders known compradors, (which comes from the Portugese word for “to purchase,” comprar). Perhaps because of the powerful international influence and centuries of contact with foreigners, Guangdong people have a long history of immigration and worldwide travel, with large groups of them moving to the US and Canada in the 1800s. To this day, Cantonese is the dominant language in many Chinatowns and Chinese communities across North America (as well as other parts of the world).

(This is a photo of Hua Nan Xin Cheng 华南新城, one of the areas of Guangzhou in Panyu District)

Though Guangzhou has a complex and interesting relationship with the outside world that has lasted for centuries, it also has a fascinating internal history of diversity. Many people who live in Guangdong are of the Han Chinese nationality, which comprises the largest single ethnic group worldwide. Still, Guangdong has a diverse, multi-cultural population, with members of forty-two different ethnic groups making their home here. In addition to Mandarin, Cantonese, the local dialect, is the most common tongue and one of the most important dialects of Chinese spoken inside and outside of the PRC. Other languages spoken include Hakka, Kejiahua, Min Nan, Xiang, Dzao Min, Zhuang, and many others.

In addition to rich environment of culture and language, Guangdong’s physical environment features a subtropical climate, with high humidity and hot weather in the summer and brisk and humid winters. Be careful about visiting during the rainy season in March and April! Due to its favorable geography and mild weather, Guangdong is the area’s major producer of rice, tea and tropical crops. Less than a quarter of all the land in Guangdong is used to produce food, so the areas that are set aside for agricultural purposes are farmed intensively.

(This is a photo of Shenzhen’s Dapeng Bay, 深圳大鹏湾).

In terms of its economy, light industry has brought an economic boom to Guangdong, and Guangzhou, not Beijing or Shanghai, boasts the highest GDP per capita in mainland China. Food processing, including sugar refining, as well as textile manufacturing and weaving are major industries here, as well as heavy industrial pursuits such as shipbuilding and repair and machine manufacturing, among others.

(This is a photo taken near Hailing Island in Guangdong Province.)

Perhaps more than anything, Guangdong is famous for its Cantonese cuisine. Because Guangzhou was a major trading port, its access to trade from all over the planet brought a wide variety of foods to the city, creating a huge amount of diversity within the cuisine. Someone once said, “the Cantonese eat every thing that flies except planes, every thing on the ground except cars, and every thing that is in water except boats,” and the saying has stuck. Fresh ingredients, mildly spiced, are favored, and the flavors are brought out with steaming, stir and deep frying. Because Guangdong is on a sea coast, seafood is often featured. Choice dishes include dim sum, hot pot, steamed eggplant, wonton noodles, fish balls, and beef brisket.

Visitors to the Guangdong province enjoy the scenic beauty of the Danxia, Zijiao, Luofu, and Dinghu mountains. In Guangzhou you will also want to visit Yuexiu Hill and Park, as well as the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, an ancient Buddhist temple. There are many beautiful temples to see in Guangdong, including the Nanhua Temple located in Shaoguan. You will also find the informative Guangdong Provincial Museum in Guangzhou. Offering examples of Chaozhou wood carving, ceramic figures, old Chinese pottery and traditional Chinese calligraphy posters, you can enjoy the best of Guangdong’s culture, past and present.

Guangdong is also the home of Coffee, Yue Ying, and the League of Extraordinary Chinese Women.

Look for posts here soon about Yanzhi and Dawei’s adventures in Baiyun Mountain and Qi Xin Yan, two of the most scenic areas in Guangdong Province.

 The Dreamblogue Golf tournament will be held at the incredible Mission Hills golf course to benefit the China Dreamblogue Internship program.
This will be a 2 and 4 player Best ball tourney with prizes for longest drive, closest to the pin, straightest drive, hole-in-one, and more including random door prizes…

Caddie, Cart, Tournament Balls, tournament fees and Lunch are included! We will play one of 12 championship courses at Mission Hills: Home to the world’s largest golf facility designed by golf’s greatest players: The Golden Bear, Singh, Norman….

We will be joined for instruction and play by Paul Surniak: PGA Professional and 6-time Colorado Long Drive champion from America…Paul Surniak Interview (mp3)

Dinner, Entertainment, transportation from the airport and reduced rates for those who wish to stay overnight, use the clubhouse, spa or stay on to play night golf…

Facilities for families accompanying, but not playing: kite flying, driving range, pool, sauna….

Leave a comment and we will provide you the link later to registration forms, reservation and transportation details for those who will stay more than one day….Your email address will not be published or distributed nor used beyond this tournament.

The tournament venue is only 90-minutes from HK, Guangzhou, or Macau…

Total cost for eighteen holes, dinner: and show: RMB 1800.

There is a new kid on the China SEO Block! Well, actually it is a group of old hands who have pooled their talent to create a powerfully needed new company: Culture Fish Media. CFM supplies work for the internship program that enables the Dreamblogue, in addition to the generosity of folks like the Cal Poly Business School, to continue on its way.

A bit about CultureFish:

CultureFish Media personalizes their China-US business partnerships with emerging and established companies to create recipes for growth in new market media using language and approaches sensitive to local tastes. CFM is a talent trust of friends dedicated to introducing ethical and passionate ideas effectively and sensitively into any cultural medium through Cultural SEO (CSEO) and SEM.

CultureFish has secured many solid connections like the one we are fostering with Baidu and  Madhouse, China’s leading mobile advertising group as well as Alibaba the world’s largest B2B portal. All of them   understand that CultureFish not only knows the Chinese market, but the sub-markets inside of China, so we will create higher ROIs and higher return advertsing rates.

So, as a result: a new standard in digital advertising in and from China has opened for business: CultureFish Media has joined together the world-class talents of an artistic and tech-savvy team to create culturally sensitive SEO (CSEO), SEM,Branding and Identity Management, Social Media Marketing & Tracking, Content Creation and Management in multiple languages, Ad Campaign Management: Print, Film, Digital,Interactive and Conventional (PPC, Banner, RSS, CPM…) Marketing while providing cost saving analytic Reports and ROI Maximization for emerging and established companies.

CSO, a new approach in on line content management and advertising and involves: Culturally Sensitive and Appropriate Keyword Programs for Countries and Targeted Regional Campaigns, language specific writing and editing, native translation and foreign language content management like website translation services,

CultureFish, whose clients include pizza parlors, camera shops, vacation clubs universities such as Cal Poly and Fortune 500 concerns like Oracle, can: Design Logos, Banners, CSS, and Total Campaign Management including China Web Design and other International Set-up, Email Campaigns, Feed Management, PR Releases and Optimization and Interface and partnerships with country portals and ISPs like the above mentioned Baidu, Naver, Alibaba, and Madhouse.

CultureFish (文化鱼), via its slogan, “如鱼得水” (Like a fish in water), implies skill and dexterity at a task. Our English slogan, “Making Digital Waves,” speaks to our use of sophisticated content management, cutting edge networking, interactive and visual media, paid ad campaigns, organic search empowerment and public relations to pursue excellence through new media that will best reach consumers in their native tongues. The team, together fluent in more than 10 languages, offers world class services to bloggers, SMEs and multinationals in any geographical region.

Each member of the diverse CFM team, hailing from America, Canada, China, Israel, and Singapore, is ethically and socially bound to best practices in SEO/SEM, and all aspects of business. Some profits are set aside for environmental and humanitarian causes: The , Charity and Overseas Education site The Blog of Dreams, our digital internship program, the online Olympic Souvenir Store for shopping online in China are three such projects. CultureFish will always provide generous time and talent to nurture promise, especially in individuals or enterprises facing socially difficult challenges or, through an affiliation with the China Business Network, SMEs doing business in China and other important digital markets.

中文

Today’s picture was taken by Cyphen, an active member of The Photography Association of Sun Yat-Sen University. The mountain pictured here is called Mei Li Moutain. Located in Yunnan Province, the mountain range straddles the line between Tibet and Yunnan Province. Not to be confused with the famous Soul Moutain, this range has claimed the souls and hearts of many of the moutain climbers and visitors who come to see and climb it. The mountain range, one of the eight sacred peaks of Tibetan Buddhism, also contains the tallest mountain in Yunnan Province, Kawabego Peak.

To see your photos here, send them to [*photos@blogofdreams.com *] or [*dawei@blogofdreams.com* ].
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中文
I wanted share some photos sent to us by a local student interested in the blog and in food. This student graciously sent us some photos of some delicious Chinese food from his home city of Zhanjiang. Hope this makes your mouth water. These foods come from the traditional Cantonese or Yue style of food, one of the eight great cuisines of China.

To see your photos here, send them to [*dawei@blogofdreams.com *] or [*photos@blogofdreams.com *].
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Chinese Tibet Yak: A Daily China Photo

中文

This week’s photos come from Guangzhou native Lydia Kong, who is now studying in the US. Her recent trip to Tibet was full of wonderful and interesting photos, including these yaks.

While the Yak isn’t the most noble or graceful looking creature, they are intergral part of the Tibetan experience for travelrs, and yak butter tea (as well as yak meat) is a delicacy everyone should try at least once.

To see your photos here, send them to [*photos@blogofdreams.com *] or [*dawei@blogofdreams.com *].

Read on »