Typical evening activity in China

Illustrated by works from China at the Asian Art Museum of San Frascisco, one of the largest collections of Chinese art outside China.

Near the city of YanTai.

YuanMingYuan, also known as the 'Old Summer Palace', was constructed during the 18th and early 19th century and was a wonderland of lakes and waterways, bridges, hills and pavilions. One third of the ground of YuanMingYuan was taken up by over 200 small hills with steep sides, secluded valleys, rock walls and stone caves. Half of the garderns are covered by the waters of lakes, winding streams and ponds. It was at YuanMingYuan that the emperors of the Qing Dynasty resided and handled government affairs - until it was destroyed; the Forbidden City was mostly used only for formal ceremonies at this time. The southern part of YuanMingYuan was where emperors handled state affairs, while the other parts were primarily for personal use and comprised of more than 150 scenic spots, involving rare exotic flowers and trees from different parts of the country. There were originally towers, terraces, pavilions, halls, corridors, pagodas and bridges with a total construction area of 150,000 square meters - corresponding in scale to that of the Imperial Palace. Artisans were recruited from all over China to enact the exquisite settings. The various styles of architecture, standing encircled by hills and rivulets, presented a most picturesque view. Many were reproductions of scenic mountains, rivers and famous gardens in China (mostly southern China). During his many tours of the country, emperor QianLong made it a point to have pictures of famous gardens and scenes drawn so that he could have replicas built in Beijing. Most famous of these were the ten scenic spots of the West Lake in HangZhou. The Old Summer Palace is often associated with the European-style palaces (Xi Yang Lou) that were built of stone. The designers of those structures, the Jesuits Giuseppe Castiglione and Michel Benoist, were employed by emperor QianLong to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings and objects. However, more than 95% of the Imperial Gardens consisted of essentially Chinese-style buildings. There were also a few buildings in Tibetan and Mongolian styles, reflecting the diversity of the Qing empire. In addition, hundreds of invaluable Chinese art masterpieces and antiquities were stored in the halls, including some unique copies of literary works and collections. In 1860, during the 'Second Opium War', the British and French expeditionary forces looted the Old Summer Palace. Later, on October 18 1860, a British general - despite protestations from the French (who in fact had began the looting) - gave the order to set fire to the huge complex, which burned to the ground. In 1900, those buildings that had partly survived or been restored were burnt for good by the Western expeditionary forces sent to quell the 'Boxer Rebellion'. Many priceless artifacts were plundered and made their way to museums and private collections in Europe. The ruins were further plundered by the warlords of the early republican period and further destruction of the ruins took place during the 'Cutural Revolution'. After all this destruction, what was left was truely just an empty shell. Empress dowager CiXi later directed the forming of YiHeYuan (Garden of Nurtured Harmony), into a new Summer Palace; this was near to the Old Summer Palace, but on a (somewhat) smaller scale. Nearest subway station : YuanMingYuan on line 4.

A great film of the Great Wall north of Beijing, including 'wild wall', accompanied by great music (踏古 (Ta Gu) by Lin Hai, 'Walking into Ancientry', with Chinese lute (pipa)). We [mum, dad - videographer - and son and daughter, from Singapore] hiked 3 sections of the Great Wall in winter, without any guides after studying blogs and posts by fellow hikers. All these sections are different. From the unrestored GuBeiKou Great Wall where we were the only people around, to the wonderful JinShanLing, where the climb is steep and every direction gives you good photo opportunities, to the restored MuTianYu where we hiked in heavy snowfall. We stayed at local farmhouses on both nights, dined with the locals and hitched rides to nearby bath-houses. Temperature ranged from -5 deg C (day) to -12 deg C (night). Winter daybreak is at 7am and the sky becomes dark by 5pm so one has only 10 hours of daylight, so plan your travelling and hiking schedules carefully. This once-in-a-lifetime experience was captured on video and we would like to share it with you. The feelings just can't be described - you need to experience it first hand. Take only memories, leave only footprints and kindness ... A wonderful animation combining traditional Chinese painting and dance - don't miss it ! 踏古-林海 作曲：林海 视频作者：中国传媒大学动画学院

From green Mung Beans ... Sprouted beans add a nice soft crunch to stir-fries, and also make the nutrition they contain more easily absorbed. There are many other herbs, seeds, garlic shoots and more to explore, without a farm, or even a garden.

A tad late this year, but here it is ... Fire up your huo guo (hot pot) or pop that corn, kick back and enjoy our music selection ... If you can, please support this site with a donation; it really does help us keep going ... Thank you from the BeijingBuzzz team !

An awesome film - don't miss it ...

[videogallery type=playlist id=PLBRLKmBip4306Uyi3bz8nvAd83iOqMl26]

ZhouZhuang, part of the area that Marco Polo described as the 'Venice of the East', lies just 37 miles west of Shanghai (about an hour's drive) ...

This beautiful water town, often referred to as 'the Venice of the East', lies in the ancient Kingdom of Wu, between ShangHai, SuZhou and HangZhou, in ZheJiang province, east China.