Old silk road town under restoration
Old silk road town under restoration
WATCH VIDEOSource: CCTV.com
10-17-2008 08:58
Along the mysterious silk road, many ancient cities are scattered. Hei Shui, is believed to be the best preserved. The ruins, located in Inner Mongolia continue to be battered by wind and sand and urgent efforts have begun to protect the site.
Restoration of ancient Hei Shui has just begun. The city ruins are located in the Gobi area of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The renovation includes rebuilding collapsed sections of the city walls and paving the path where visitors can climb along the walls. The restoration will revive the old city, to the way it looked hundreds of years go. Materials and techniques must replicate the originals. The restoration also will see the removal of sand accumulated near the walls.
The project is jointly sponsored by the National Administration of Cultural Relics, and the Local government. The project will cost over four million yuan, or about 600,000 US dollars.
The Black Water ancient city was built during the Xixia Kingdom, from the 11th to the early 13th century AD. Relics of the Xixia kingdom were found nearby at the turn of 20th century. The relics included Buddhist manuscripts, coins, books and paintings. Though Black Water is the best preserved among all cities along the silk road it remains under threat from driving wind and sand.
Yangtze River | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:02:09 1 Names
00:02:19 1.1 Chinese
00:03:12 1.1.1 iChang Jiang/i – Long River
00:05:48 1.1.2 iJinsha Jiang/i – Gold Sands River
00:06:59 1.1.3 Tongtian River
00:07:39 1.1.4 Tuotuo River
00:08:47 1.2 English
00:12:01 1.3 Tibetan
00:12:39 2 Geography
00:17:05 2.1 Image gallery
00:17:14 3 Characteristics
00:20:27 4 History
00:20:36 4.1 Geologic history
00:21:14 4.2 Early history
00:28:45 4.3 Age of steam
00:31:10 4.4 U.S. and French conflicts
00:34:19 4.5 Navigation on the upper river
00:41:33 4.6 Navy ships
00:46:56 5 Hydrology
00:47:05 5.1 Periodic floods
00:50:01 5.2 Degradation of the river
00:52:49 5.3 Contribution to ocean pollution
00:53:19 5.4 Reconnecting lakes
00:55:47 6 Major cities along the river
00:55:57 7 Crossings
00:58:43 8 Dams
00:59:30 9 Tributaries
01:00:52 10 Protected areas
01:01:11 11 Wildlife
01:01:32 11.1 Fish
01:06:58 11.2 Other animals
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I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Yangtze or Yangzi (English: or ), which is 6,300 km (3,915 mi) long, is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. Its source is in the northern part of the Tibetan Plateau and it flows 6,300 km (3,900 mi) in a generally eastern direction to the East China Sea. It is the sixth-largest river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population.The Yangtze has played a major role in the history, culture and economy of China. For thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking and war. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of the PRC's GDP. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. In mid-2014, the Chinese government announced it was building a multi-tier transport network, comprising railways, roads and airports, to create a new economic belt alongside the river.The Yangtze flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is habitat to several endemic and endangered species including the Chinese alligator, the narrow-ridged finless porpoise, the Chinese paddlefish, the (extinct) Yangtze River dolphin or baiji, and the Yangtze sturgeon. In recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, plastic pollution, agricultural run-off, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves. A stretch of the upstream Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Chinese Civil War | Wikipedia audio article
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Chinese Civil War
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Chinese Civil War was a war fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China and the Communist Party of China (CPC). Although particular attention is paid to the four years of Chinese Communist Revolution from 1945 to 1949, the war actually started in August 1927, with the White Terror at the end of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition, and essentially ended when major hostilities between the two sides ceased in 1950. The conflict took place in two stages: the first between 1927 and 1937, and the second from 1946 to 1950, with the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937–1945 separating them. The war marked a major turning point in modern Chinese history, with the Communists gaining control of mainland China and establishing the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, forcing the Republic of China (ROC) to retreat to Taiwan. It resulted in a lasting political and military standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, with the ROC in Taiwan and the PRC on mainland China with both officially claiming to be the legitimate government of all China.
The war represented an ideological split between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Nationalist Party of China (or Kuomintang). Conflict continued intermittently until late 1937, when the two parties came together to form the Second United Front to counter the Imperial Japanese Army threat and to prevent the country from crumbling. Full-scale civil war in China resumed in 1946, a year after the end of hostilities with the Empire of Japan in September 1945. Four years later came the cessation of major military activity, with the newly founded People's Republic of China controlling mainland China (including the island of Hainan), and the Republic of China's jurisdiction restricted to Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu and several outlying islands.
As of November 2018 no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed, and the debate continues as to whether the civil war has legally ended. Relations between both sides, officially called the Cross-Strait relations, have been hindered by military threats and political and economic pressure, particularly over Taiwan's political status, with both governments officially adhering to the One-China policy. The PRC still actively claims Taiwan as part of its territory and continues to threaten the ROC with a military invasion if the ROC officially declares independence by changing its name to and gaining international recognition as the Republic of Taiwan. The ROC, for its part, claims mainland China, and both parties continue the fight over diplomatic recognition. As of 2018 the war as such occurs on the political and economic fronts without actual military action. However, the two separate governments in China have close economic ties.
Genghis Khan | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Genghis Khan
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin, c. 1162 – August 18, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire and being proclaimed Genghis Khan, he launched the Mongol invasions that conquered most of Eurasia. Campaigns initiated in his lifetime include those against the Qara Khitai, Caucasus, and Khwarazmian, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by large-scale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in the Khwarazmian and Western Xia controlled lands. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.
Before Genghis Khan died he assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor. Later his grandsons split his empire into khanates. Genghis Khan died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. By his request, his body was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia. His descendants extended the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering or creating vassal states in all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and substantial portions of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. Many of these invasions repeated the earlier large-scale slaughters of local populations. As a result, Genghis Khan and his empire have a fearsome reputation in local histories.Beyond his military accomplishments, Genghis Khan also advanced the Mongol Empire in other ways. He decreed the adoption of the Uyghur script as the Mongol Empire's writing system. He also practiced meritocracy and encouraged religious tolerance in the Mongol Empire, and unified the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. Present-day Mongolians regard him as the founding father of Mongolia.Genghis Khan was known for the brutality of his campaigns, and is considered by many to have been a genocidal ruler. However, he is also credited with bringing the Silk Road under one cohesive political environment. This brought relatively easy communication and trade between Northeast Asia, Muslim Southwest Asia, and Christian Europe, expanding the cultural horizons of all three areas.