Archive for August 13th, 2009

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Beijing Olympic – Robles dominates Men’s 110m Hurdles

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Dayron Robles of Cuba ran the fastest time of the Men’s 110m Hurdles semifinals at the National Stadium tonight, August 20.

Robles, world record holder, clocked 13.12s pushing him into the final as the man to beat.

“My preparation is going well. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the final,” said Robles.

World Championships bronze medalist David Payne of the United States was in second place to qualify for the final with season’s best time of 13.21s.

Ladji Doucoure from France finished in 13.22s, ranked third.

David Oliver of the United States, running fastest in both round 1 and round 2, came in fourth place in the semifinals with 13.31s.

Other qualifiers include Artur Noga of Poland, Jackson Quinonez of Spain, Jamaican Maurice Wignall and his fellowman Richard Phillips.

Eight athletes will advance to the Men’s 110 Hurdles final scheduled for 9:45 p.m. (UTC/GMT +8) on August 21 at the National Stadium.

(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)

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China Travel – Hong’an Qiliping Revolutionary Site

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

The Hong’an Qiliping Revolutionary Site is situated at the foot of southern Dabie Mountains, 25 kilometers from the city of Hong’an County (former Huang’an County) of Hubei Province where northeastern Hubei Province and southeastern Henan Province share a common boundary.

Hong’an Qiliping was an important revolutionary base during the second Revolutionary Civil War. The organization of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was established here in 1924. After the April 12 Coup, initiated by Chiang Kaishek against the revolution, it became the birthplace for strategies for revolutionary activities in Huangma District. In November 1927, the Huangma Uprising broke out and the troops rallied in Qiliping capturing Huang’an County through fierce fighting and founding the Huang’an County Peasants’ Revolutionary Political Power and the Eastern Hubei Army of the China Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. In 1929, Qiliping became the center of the base. In 1930, along with the establishment of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Border Revolutionary Base, Qiliping, renamed Lenin City, became an important base component. In November 1931, the Fourth Front Army of the China Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army was formed there.

There are still 40 well-preserved sites in the Hong’an Qiliping Revolutionary Site, including the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Border Special Region Soviet Government, the revolutionary court, the workers’ union, the bank, the meeting place for the Huangma Uprising, the station for the Huang’an County Party Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Red Army’s Economic Commune, the Lenin Primary School, and so on. On the monument in the mountains behind the town of Qiliping, are eight engraved Chinese characters that mean “eternal glory to the revolutionary heroes”, written by Dong Biwu. The Qiliping Revolutionary Memorial Hall is located on the site of the Lenin Primary School.

(Source: chinaculture.org)

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Chinese Culture – Temple of Heaven(1)

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

The most famous extant altar should be Beijing‘s Tian Tan (Temple of Heaven), or the Temple of Heaven, located on the east side of the front gate in the south city of Beijing. The Temple of Heaven is a world-level artistic treasure, its artistic theme sings the praise of the supreme “heaven”, and all artistic techniques aim to play up the solemnity and nobility of the heaven, gaining extremely outstanding achievement.

It is the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) worshipped the heaven and was built in the 18th year (1420) of the reign of Ming Emperor Chengzu. As Chinese emperors called themselves Tianzi, or the son of heaven, they had to cede supremacy to the heaven in terms of abiding. The altar, in a plane round shape, called Huanqiu Tan (Circular Mound Altar), was rebuilt in the 17th year (1752) of Qing Emperor Gaozong. The Qinian Hall (Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests) was rebuilt in the 16th year (1890) of Emperor Dezong.

The Temple of Heaven has an area of 273 hectares, which is five times the size of the Forbidden City, with a layout in two squares one inside the other. Two walls divide the ground into the outer and inner parts. The outer wall is 6,416 meters long and the inner wall is 3,292 meters long. The northern part of the outer and inner walls is a semicircle and the southern part of them is square, declining from north to south to symbolize the traditional belief that Heaven was high and round and the earth was low and rectangular.

Walking eastward from the front (west) gate, within the inner wall there is a Zhaigong (fasting-palace) in the south for the emperor to fast and bathe before worshipping. Further east is a north-south vertical axis formed by the main buildings. The five-meter-high Circular Mound Altar is in the south with a three-layered stone terrace. Within the Beiyuan courtyard of the Circular Mound Altar is a round hall or the imperial vault where the spirit tablet of the heavenly god is placed. Going further north, one can reach the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests via Danbi Bridge.

（Source: chinaculture.org）

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