Qingming Festival (also called Pure Brightness Festival) is a traditional Chinese festival on the 106th day after the winter solstice, occurring on April 4 (leap years) or April 5 (other years) of the Gregorian calendar. It marks the middle of spring and above all, a sacred day of the dead.

Sometimes “Jianghu” is also simple to explain. It’s a small cozy bar inside an old Hutong in Beijing. A place for music, alchol, love, and friendship.

A traditional Beijing Siheyuan has been transformed into this nice little space.

The bar just celebrated its 2nd birthday.

A picture took by the owner. A woman holding a baby in front of the freaky new CCTV building.

Latterns inside the yard.

Some art crafts and an oil painting of a traditional Beijing opera figure.

Elements of traditional Hutongs and Siheyuans.

An old phone.

Al on the roof.

The corner where music originates.

A couple of my friends having a break after a blues session.

That’s me singing some Beatles songs.

Mr. Wang Tianxiao, outstanding saxophone player, an easy-going, funny, and compassionate musician, one of the creators of “Jianghu”.

“Jianghu” is located in Dong Mianhua Hutong near Jiao Dao Kou. Click here for a detailed map.

Where there is people, there is Jianghu…

A huge stone turtle carrying a huge stone tablet, on which records of important events of the empires are carved. Most of these history-changing events are suppression of riots or winning of wars.

Look closely, the graffitti on the tablet says “the great unity of revolution”. It must has been written on it during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, during which time lots of these ancient relics were destroyed for stupid reasons.

More of these small houses for the stone tablets.

A 700 years old tree, called Chu Jian Cypress. It got the name because it is said that the tree has the ability to identify corrupted officials.

In Ming Dynasty, one of the branches of the tree, driven by wind, lifted one of the ministers’ black guaze hat (worn ay an imperial official to indicate their position) when they were offering sacrifices to Confucius. The minister was later found to be wicked and corrupted.

I hope the tree can still perform the magic today.

This is where you pay your respect to Confucius.

Ancient music instrument used during sacrificing ceremonies.

An old picture of a sacrificing ceremony.

A very interesting cartoon telling the story of young confucius.

Tomorrow we’ll continue our Chinese learning sessions, after which I’ll talk about the influence of Confucius and his philosophy around the world.

The entrance.

Immediately after stepping into the temple, you’ll find a row of stone tablets standing on the right side of the gate. Names of those who passed the national level exams in ancient times are carved on the tablets. Anyone who passed the exam was guaranteed a job in the government, not like today, a master degree cannot guarantee anything.

The surface of the tablet is now like a long lost map of treasure. Names are hard to identify.

More these stone tablets on all 4 corners, on which are names of the well-known historical figures, good and bad alike.

A stone sculpture of Master Confucius.

Stepping on the, well, I don’t how how many years old steps.

Stone sculptures of dragon, along side the steps to the entrance of the sacrificing hall.

To be continued…

A stone incense stove near the entrance. Also note the sculpture at the background and the two stone piers on both sides of the gate. These are all common elements of traditional residential architecture.

During the time when traditional Siheyuans and Hutongs were being torned down to make room for modern corporate buildings, lots of the stone piers were bought by antique dealers for extremely cheap prices and were re-sold for 100 times profit at antiques markets.

A stone fish pond.

Delicate stone sculptures of fairies.

Various small stone sculptures from the roofs of traditonal buildings.

Delicate and sophiscated stone carving on the wall.

A small shop inside Mr. Li’s Siheyuan, selling traditional papercuts and other art works.

The back door of the “giving name” shop connects Mr. Li’s yard. The owner claimed he’s the best in the industry and tried to persuade everyone visiting the museum to have a chat with him.

Mr. Li Songtang undoubtedly has the finest and the most expensive residence in Beijing, if not the whole country. I left the museum without checking out the other collections inside the rooms due to lack of time. But I’ll definitely come again.

The museum is located near the entrance of Cheng Xian Street, just a few steps away from Lama Temple.

Cheng Xian (meaning “becoming a virtuous man”) Street, also called Guozijian Street, has a history of over 700 years. Entrance to the street is located on the east side of Bei Xinqiao Street, opposite to Lama Temple. Guozijian, now NO.15 on Cheng Xian Street, used to be the highest educational institution in Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty.

Near the entrance of the street are jammed with “giving names” shops, in which the fortune tellers claim they can change your fate by giving you a new, more fortunate name. They also give names to businesses such as real estate. I guess the developers must be visiting them frequently these days due to the increasing decline of the housing market.

The entrance to Songtang Museum, the first private museum showcasing traditional residential architecture in Beijing. I’ll talk more about the museum tomorrow.

People playing chess outside of the museum.

One of the Dismount Stones outside of the Confucius Temple. Built in Qing Dynasty, this was where everyone came to worship Confucius got off their horses to show respect.

Beijing Guozijian Elementary School, one of the finest basic education institutions in Beijing.

Walking outside of the street, I was attracted to a very interesting gift shop selling pottery dolls mocking a very common scene during the Cultural Revolution, where innocent intellectuals were being charged with various accuses including treason.

Hey! Say hello to Chairman Mao!

More pictures coming tomorrow.

The 2008 Xiangshan Red Leaves Festival officially started today. Time to leave the stress, routines, and pollution behind and breathe some fresh and sweet air at Fragrant Hills.

The name of the hills was not derived from the aroma around the area as you may have imagined, but rather the shape of the hills. Looking at the hills from certain distance and use some imagination, you can see a faithful worshipper burning incense at the peak of the hills.

The best time to visit Fragrant Hills is in autumn when the leaves, mainly on Sumac and Maple trees turn red. The whole Xiangshan Park is covered in this warm and passionate color, embellished with green, yellow, grey, and the color of the earth.

Lots of native Beijingers come to the Park every year to collect red leaves on the ground. Some who live in the neighborhood climb the hills every morning as a form of exercise.

The Fragrant Hills Park, also known as Garden of Congenial Tranquility, used to be one of Emperor Qianlong’s favourite country retreats. It was built in 1186 by the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty as a place for Buddhism worship. In 1860 and 1900, the park was severely damaged by war and fire, and was rebuilt in 1949.

The park is located west to Haidian district, 25 miles from central Beijing. Best use public transportation to get there for you wouldn’t want this beautiful place to be surrounded with gas. It’s called Fragrant Hills after all.

Use the following buses: 331, 360, 634, 714, 696, 698, and 318, and try to avoid weekends.

For more information please visit Xiangshan Park.

Photos courtesy of blacart.

Daily visitors at the Olympic Green, in which Bird’s Nest and Water Cube are located, exceeded 200,000 during the 7 day “golden week”.

Standing under the Bird’s Nest gave me a feeling of tightness and pressure.

The Water Cube.

Boy can’t hold it. Too much Cocacola.

Interesting poses:

People were really having a good time.

Inside a night bus. Bus clerk wearing the armband is now one of the security volunteers.

Student volunteers crossing street.

A Golden Retriever peeking outside of the car window.

Dozing in a bus.

Kids playing with their grandma at the entrance of a residential building.

The elderly of the residential building are now volunteers.

A cleaner having a cigarette break.

Street barber.

An old man sitting on the side of the road, reading newspaper.

Elderly playing cards.

Kid playing with dirt.

Vegetable vendor enjoying beer and cigarette.

Young man having a rest under the shadow of the tree.

Tired bicycle technician, who’s also a volunteer.

A busy volunteer service kiosk.

Family taking pictures in front of the new cross-city shuttle train which maxes at 350 miles/hr. It only takes 30 minutes from Beijing to Tianjin.

]]> http://www.recordingbeijing.com/olympic-moments-from-a-different-angle-final-part/feed/ 0 http://www.recordingbeijing.com/olympic-moments-from-a-different-angle-part-4-more-on-south-luogu-lane/ http://www.recordingbeijing.com/olympic-moments-from-a-different-angle-part-4-more-on-south-luogu-lane/#comments Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:07:13 +0000 huibo http://recordingbeijing.com/?p=378 Wondering in the Hutongs.

A craftsman showing off his works of “Hairy Monkeys”, a traditional craftsmanship. Cicada legs and Magnolia are being glued together to make miniatures of monkeys, which play different roles in a series of stories.

Kids playing with a bronze basin (don’t remember what it’s called in Chinese), when rubbing the sides of the basin, bubbles come out from the bottom of the water. I’m not familiar with the mechanics behind it since I’ve never passed a Physics exam in high school.

Peeking into a shop window.

An interesting and creative gift shop.

T-shirts with a taste of the old Beijing.

Trace of the revolutionary slogans can be found on the wall.

People waiting for cheese outside of Wenyu Cheese Shop.

Fish Nation, offers great fish & chips and Greek salad.

A pottery shop.

A very interesting and unique hotel inside a Hutong. Some reported seeing floating head in the hotel. You might wanna try here if you come to Beijing