Learn Chinese - Qianmen Market Street and Dashilan

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Qianmen Market Street and Dashilan

( 2008-07-08 )

The Qianmen Gate, linking the aristocratic “inner city” and common-folk “outer city”, leads to the oldest commercial street in Beijing -- Dashilan, which was and is still packed with time-honored stores.

To the south of Tian’anmen Square and Qianmen Gate is a straight street running due south. This is the Qianmen market street, the oldest market street in Beijing with a history of five centuries. An east-west lane opening onto the street on its western side is the famous Dashilan. Most of the
shops along the lane are hundreds of years old, and some still retain their traditional appearance, though there are also some new ones in between. This is the most traditional market street to see in Beijing and is a good place to buy silk or traditional Chinese medicine in the old shops there.

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* The Russia Star Ballet

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HSK - Beihai Park

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Beihai Park

( 2008-07-08 )

Beihai Park

The Beihai (North Sea) Park is situated in Beijing downtown, to the northwest of the Forbidden City. The park, about 500 meters to the northwest of the Forbidden City and the Jingshan Hill, is one of the earliest and best-preserved imperial gardens in China.

Actually, Beihai Park was initially built in the Liao Dynasty (916 - 1125) and was repaired and rebuilt in the following dynasties including Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing (1115 - 1911). The large-scale rebuilding in the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) generally established
the present scale and pattern of Beihai Park. In 1925, the park was first opened to the public, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world every year.

The park is vast in its water surface, which accounts for a half of the park's total area of 0.71 sq km (about 0.27 sq miles). In the Ming Dynasty, Beihai (North Sea), Zhonghai (Central Sea) and Nanhai (South Sea) were collectively named as Three Seas or the Taiye Lake, which was the forbidden
garden. At the beginning of the Republic of China, Zhonghai and Nanhai were merged into an integral whole called Zhongnanhai (Central and South Sea). Behai was separately built as a park.

In the middle of the lake and on the central axis of the whole park lies the Jade Flowery Islet, topped by the imposing White Dagoba which is the landmark of Beihai Park. Besides the Jade Flowery Islet, the park has four main scenic areas: the Eastern Shore Area, the Northern Shore Area, the
Botanical Garden and the Circular City near the north gate. There are many famous and beautiful places you should not miss when touring Beihai Park.

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　 Emblems More

* Dancing Beijing -- Beijing 2008 Olympic Emblem

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

* Beijing Paralympics Emblem ( 07-10 )
* Environmental Emblem of Beijing 2008 ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing 2008 OYC ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival ( 07-10 )

News More

* Museums to exhibit 1,000 national treasures
* Creating new rituals, Beijing style
* Marine mural unveiled in capital
* Illustrated Olympic giant panda story comes out
* Ten recommended Beijing shopping streets

Meet in Beijing More

* Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival
* Concert by Macao Chinese Orchestra
* Kataklo Athletic Dance Theatre
* UK Contemporary Exhibition
* The Russia Star Ballet

Olympic on Beijing's Axis

　 Online Tour

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

| About us | E-mail | Contact |

Constructed by .cn
Copyright 2003 Ministry of Culture, P.R.China. All rights reserved

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Learn Chinese online - Nightlife

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Nightlife

( 2008-06-27 )

Beijing will not only ensure that you have a full and interesting day but will also present you with colorful choices when darkness falls.

Traditional performances such as the Beijing Opera, acrobatic shows and dramatic performances in the teahouses are popular with the more mature visitors to the city, while the younger generation seems to favor the snack markets, pubs, clubs and cafes. For the stranger who wishes to become
acquainted with the city, a stroll along Chang'an Street to Tian'anmen Square is highly recommended.

One place that cannot be omitted when considering the nightlife options for the old Beijinger is the Tianqiao Area, a location popular for gathering to eat, drink and to enjoy the entertainments and amusements on offer there. Tianqiao has been a favorite venue for ordinary folk since the Yuan
Dynasty (1271-1368).

The area has changed somewhat over the centuries but the quality of the entertainment here continues to be of a high standard. Two of the most famous venues are the Tianqiao Theater and Tianqiaole Tea House. The theatre specializes in modern song and dance performances while by contrast the
teahouse offers the more traditional arts of Beijing Opera, Acrobatics, Martial Arts as well as folk songs.

Other places to explore Chinese folk culture include the Laoshe Tea House (Xidajie, Qianmen), where you can experience the famous Chinese tea culture and find a quiet place to relax and maybe do some reading. There is also the Liyuan Theater (inside Jianguo Hotel, Qianmen) here there are nightly
performances at 19:30 pm of genuine Beijing Opera and other folk performances.

Chinese acrobatics have a long history and is one of the most popular art forms among Chinese people. Acrobatic Shows can be seen at the Wansheng Theatre, 95, Tianqiao Market, Xuanwu District beginning at 19:15pm every evening.

Other traditional Chinese performances such as puppet shows, exotic ballet, opera, concert and modern drama are put on every day in Beijing. We recommended some popular places for such performances here:

Huguang Huiguan Ancient Opera Building

Address: 3, Hufang Lu, Xuanwu District

Beijing Concert Hall

Address: 1, Xinhua Bei Jie, Xicheng District

Beijing People's Art Theater

Address: 22, Wangfujing Da Jie

Sanlitun Pub Street

Sanlitun Pub Street and the surrounding Embassy Area in Chaoyang District is also a must for many foreign visitors and young people. The various bars attract the staff from the Embassies and white-collar workers alike. Here you will find rock-and-roll, hip-hop and Jazz among the many activities.
This is a good place to see first-hand something of modern China after a day of exploring its historical past.

Location: in the east inside of the North Entrance of Gongti, Chaoyang District

Opening hours: 20:00 - 03:00

Cost for ticket: 30 Yuan at weekend, 20 Yuan on Wednesday (Lady's night) and women can enjoy cocktail for free at that night (excluding special activities)

Music: Hip-hop, R&B

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　 Emblems More

* Dancing Beijing -- Beijing 2008 Olympic Emblem

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

* Beijing Paralympics Emblem ( 07-10 )
* Environmental Emblem of Beijing 2008 ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing 2008 OYC ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival ( 07-10 )

News More

* Museums to exhibit 1,000 national treasures
* Creating new rituals, Beijing style
* Marine mural unveiled in capital
* Illustrated Olympic giant panda story comes out
* Ten recommended Beijing shopping streets

Meet in Beijing More

* Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival
* Concert by Macao Chinese Orchestra
* Kataklo Athletic Dance Theatre
* UK Contemporary Exhibition
* The Russia Star Ballet

Olympic on Beijing's Axis

　 Online Tour

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

| About us | E-mail | Contact |

Constructed by .cn
Copyright 2003 Ministry of Culture, P.R.China. All rights reserved

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HSK - UCCA's First International Exhibition

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UCCA's First International Exhibition

UCCA’s first international exhibition presents six independent-minded artists who are transforming the landscape of contemporary art.

April 12 – July 13, 2008

Artists:

Matt Bryans

Amy Granat (including collaborations with Emily Sundblad and C. Spencer Yeh)

Lim Tzay Chuen

Takeshi Murata

Robin Rhode

Sterling Ruby

Curated by:

Kate Fowle, International Curator, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art

Presented in exhibition halls 2 & 3 and the nave.

Matt Bryans's work

Robin Rhode's work

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Learn mandarin - Forbidden Dreams

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Forbidden Dreams

Composer Guo Wenjing says the most challenging part he created for the original ballet The Peony Pavilion are the two pas de deux between the leading female role Du Liniang and her lover Liu Mengmei. One is the first scene in Act I in which the lovers embrace in the dream. The other is the last
scene of the ballet in which the ghost of Du makes love with the living Liu.

Wang Qimin (left) and Li Jun play the leading roles in the ballet version of The Peony Pavilion.

"It's so hard to write the music because I neither make love in dreams nor with ghosts," Guo says half joking half serious.

"But it's interesting and I believe that art first of all must be interesting," he adds.

From May 2 to 7, the National Ballet of China (NBC) will premiere the "interesting" ballet version adapted from the Chinese classic The Peony Pavilion at Tianqiao Theater.

It has taken NBC seven years to complete its take on this classic written by Tang Xianzu of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), according to Zhao Ruheng, the president of NBC.

"We all enjoy working on the ballet because our creation is based on a very good story. It is such an extreme tale that it gives us many possibilities. A woman falls in love with a man whom she's only met once in a dream and dies longing for him. Then she tries to come back to life to continue the
love," says director Li Liuyi who is a veteran theater director with Beijing People's Art Theater.

"Tang Xianzu left us a dream. Over the past 400 years, so many people have tried to interpret it. Now we are trying to dance into the dream," says the director who himself has been fascinated by the story for years and has read a large number of works about it.

"We are trying to make this dreamy ballet extremely beautiful and true," Li adds.

In his eyes, The Peony Pavilion is so much more than a love story. It's also a scathing indictment of the limitations of the super-rationalist, but rather clueless, world of Neo-Confucian politics.

"The playwright Tang also borrowed freely from Buddhist and Taoist philosophical concepts. After all, Du's love is so strong that it has the power to last three lifetimes - and karmic rebirth was a notion drawn from the Buddhist tradition," Li says.

Zhao says that they decided to adapt the Peony Pavilion because it is such a great Chinese classic and is often compared to Shakespeare.

"Both authors relied on supernatural forces to further their plots. The Flower Goddess, for instance, who brought the dream lovers together in The Peony Pavilion, is almost interchangeable with Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream or Ariel in The Tempest," Zhao explains.

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Learning Mandarin - Hip-hop Dancers Kick out the Jams

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Hip-hop Dancers Kick out the Jams

Mourad Merzouki was sent to a circus school in Lyon when he was 7, because his father wanted him to learn some discipline. Little did he know that one day his son would be at the forefront of the international hip-hop dance scene.

With a background in circus and having studied with the modern-dance choreographer Maryse Delente and Guy Darmet, artistic director of the Lyon Dance Biennial, Merzouki's style combines acrobatics, martial arts, hip-hop and many other influences.

The 34-year-old Frenchman says he wants to prove that hip-hop dance is about improvisation and that it can go in all directions.

Tonight, one of Merzouki's trademark works Recital will run at the Haidian Theater in Beijing.

In one hour, the 11 dancers, five from China's Sichuan Song and Dance Company, four from Beijing Modern Dance Company (BMDC), Merzouki and a dancer from his Kafig company will showcase hip-hop in all its varieties, popping, spinning, moon-walking, beat boxing and breaking.

The dancers pretend to play violins, embodying a visual orchestra. As for the music, Franck II Louise's score is a fusion of North African melodies and beat boxing.

Merzouki first created Recital in 1998 and over the last 10 years he has revised it every time he has worked with a different company.

The collaboration with BMDC was initiated by the French Culture Center, which organizes the annual Festival Croisements from April to June in China. They sent the video of BMDC's shows to Merzouki and asked whether he would like to work with the Chinese dancers.

"I was impressed by their energy, power and the way they dance, so I said yes," Merzouki says.

"Actually I always enjoy working with dancers from different countries and cultural backgrounds, because they bring with new vision and help me develop new choreography and approaches to hip-hop.

"For me, to put together a show with people from different origins, ages and cultures is the best way to make possible a meeting, or dialogue, between people.

"The Chinese dancers are very open-minded and are in perfect physical condition. They are eager to learn and learn very fast, even learn faster than my dancers in France."

In 1996, Merzouki established the Company Kafig, an Algerian word for cage. Most of the dancers are of North African descent.

"What is interesting in the hip-hop culture, from my point of view, is the ability to change negative energy into positive energy. That is what Kafig does," he says.

By Chen Jie

Editor: Feng Hui

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Chinese Pinyin - Photos on Beijing Olympics Exhibited in Jordan

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Photos on Beijing Olympics Exhibited in Jordan

Josseb, a 34-year-old Jordanian man, was using his mobile phone to take pictures in an exhibition which titled "New Beijing, New Olympics."

The photo that Josseb was most interested in portrayed a group of teenagers kicking a soccer at a playground. "I like the angel-bright smiles shining upon their faces," he said.

Expressing his eagerness to visit China in August 2008, he said he will take his wife and children to visit the exhibition again so that they can "learn more about Beijing, China and Olympics."

The seven-day exhibition, organized by Chinese embassy to Jordan, Jordanian Olympic Committee and Amman Municipal Government, displayed more than 80 photos about the history of Beijing, the ancient Chinese culture, the blooming economy in China and the great enthusiasm of the Chinese people's
participation in the Olympic movement. About 200 people visited the exhibition in the first day.

Jordanian Minister of Culture Nancy Bakir said that the exhibition can help Jordanian citizens to directly feel Beijing's charm, to know the great efforts that Chinese people are making in preparation of the 2008 Olympics, and to have a further understanding about the Olympic spirits.

Margaret, a lady from Canadian embassy to Jordan, said that the theme slogan for Beijing Olympic Games, "One World, One Dream" reflects the strong commitment of the Chinese government and people to world peace, development, harmony and progress.

With the motto "New Beijing, New Olympics," Beijing also promises to host a "Green Olympics," a "Hi-tech Olympics" and the "People's Olympics."

During the opening ceremony of the Fourth World Conference on Women and Sports in Jordan earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge said that China is making big strides in clearing up its air quality ahead of the2008 Olympics.

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