Green Heating System in Forbidden City

During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) Dynasties, China went through the Little Ice Age. During the two cold waves in the early Qing Dynasty, even Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang in Southern China had frozen over. The capital, Beijing, counted more than 150 extraordinarily cold days each year, during which the temperature fell between […]

Proliferation of Genetic Modified Foods (2)

Despite endless controversy, China has experienced a boom in transgenic crops with the support of the Beijing government. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) released in March its 2012 Annual Report on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops. The report refers to China as the sixth biotech crop producers after […]

Who is Your Real Friend?

1. They are there for you unconditionally They are willing to support you unconditionally, simply because they believe in you and accept you. If they know someone who is gossiping behind your back, they will resolve the problem by clearing up any misunderstandings and say good things about you. Such people accept you from the […]

Qin Gao Riding a Carp—A Story from Biographies of the Immortals

figcaption{text-align:left !important;} According to Liexian Zhuan, (Biographies of the Immortals), Qin Gao lived in the country of Zhao during the Warring States period (around 475 to 221 BC), and he was known to be a good at playing the Qin —an ancient plucked Chinese seven-string instrument. He was once an official guest of King Kang […]

Fengguo Temple—A Treasure among Treasures

Yi County is a little-known place in Liaoning Province, China. In its northeast corner stands a Buddhist temple, called Fengguo Temple, which is virtually unknown to  ordinary people. Within the circle of religious architecture, however, its fame probably surpasses that of any other temple in China, because it is a royal temple built during the […]

The Proliferation of Genetically Modified Foods (1)

Simply speaking, transgenic is a process that transfers some genes in biological organism A to biological organism B, giving B some of the biological traits of A, such as resistance to insects, cold, drought, etc.; or the process that implants genes from bacteria into crops to make the plants produce toxins that will kill insect […]

Tea Production and Trade in the Late Qing Dynasty

From the 17th century, Chinese tea began replacing Chinese silk as the most popular export among Europeans. Accordingly, paintings depicting tea cultivation were offered by tea merchants as giveaways for the promotion of tea products. With the adoption of Western perspective techniques in China, a large number of Chinese artists painted scenes from the tea […]

Three Easy Health Methods

In simple terms, promoting health prolongs life. There were many different health practices in ancient times. But exactly how does one promote health? Professor Deng Tietao talks about the three aspects of becoming healthy. What are these three aspects? First, you must adjust your heart and state of mind. As the saying goes, “Benevolent people […]

Nansheng Liu’s Inspirations

During the Chinese New Year of 1998, I returned to China and was lucky enough to engage in local celebration events and temple festivals in Wugang City of Hunan Province. After years of being away, the rural festivities still made a deep impression on me. Crowding onto the streets filled with numerous tourists, I gazed […]

Flying Rockets in Ancient China

Modern science defines a rocket as a craft propelled by the counterforce produced by fuel combustion. Historical records reveal that ancient Chinese had mastered the principle of rocket propulsion and applied it to military use as early as 1700 years ago. The word “Huo (fire) Jian (arrow)” appeared in Chinese literature, along with a record […]