Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Wutaishan Gymnasium

The Wutaishan Gymnasium is an indoor arena in Nanjing, China. The arena is used mainly for indoor sports such as basketball, and it hosted the final round of the 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women. The facility has a capacity of 10,000 people.

Tong Ren Tower

The Tong Ren Tower is a building project in Nanjing, China which is under construction. When completed in 2007, it will be 182 metres tall with 48 floors. Construction began in 2003 and was designed by P & T Architects & Engineers Ltd. A 68 storey building design for this site was cancelled in 1996 however it was redesigned and resulted in its approval. The building will be used for offices.

Taiping Kingdom History Museum

The Taiping Kingdom History Museum () is a museum dedicated to artifacts from the Taiping Rebellion. It is located in Nanjing, .

The building was originally a palace of the first ruler of the Ming Dynasty, . In 1853, it became the residence of Yang Xiuqing, a military leader in the Taiping Rebellion. In 1958, it became the site of the current museum.

Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum

The Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen is situated at the foot of the second peak of Mount Zijin in Nanjing, China. Construction of the tomb started in January of 1926 and was finished in spring of 1929. The architect was Lu Yanzhi, who died shortly after it was finished.

History


Dr. Sun was born in Guangdong province of China on November 12th, 1866, and died in 1925 in Beijing, China. On April 23rd, 1929, the Chinese government appointed He Yingqin to be in charge of laying Dr. Sun to rest. On May 26th, the coffin departed from Beijing, and on May 28th, it arrived in Nanjing. On June 1, 1929, Dr. Sun was buried there. Sun, considered to be the "Father of Modern China" both in mainland China and in Taiwan, fought against the imperial government and after the ended the monarchy and founded the Republic of China.

Selection of the Design


A committee decided to host a design competition for the plans for the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. The committee published advertisements in newspapers on May 5, 1925, inviting architects and designers within China and abroad to send plans. In exchange for a ten yuan charge, the committee would provide the designer with twelve pictures of the site.

The design would have to adhere to guidelines. It had to be done according to an ancient Chinese style, it had to have special and memorial substance, and it had to evoke the Chinese architectural spirit and add creativity. Designers were asked to keep the proposed construction costs within 300,000 yuan. Over 40 proposals were received.

On September 20, 1925, the committee convened in Shanghai and unanimously selected Lu Yanzhi's proposal.

Architecture



Reclining on mountain slope, the majestic mausoleum blends the styles of traditional imperial tombs and modern architecture. Lying at the mountainside, the vault is more than 700 hundred meters away from the ''paifang'' on the square below, which is the entrance of the mausoleum. There is a three-tier stone stand on which a huge bronze , an ancient Chinese vessel symbolizing power, perches. To the north of the square, the ''paifang'' towers high. Beyond is the 480-meter-long and 50-meter-wide stairway which has 392 stairs, leading to the vault. On both sides, pine, cypress, and guard the way. At the end of the stairway is a gate which is 16 meters high and 27 meters wide. The tri-arched marble gate is inscribed with four Chinese characters written by Dr. Sun, "Tian Xia Wei Gong" which means "What is under heaven is for all". Inside of the gate, there is a pavilion in which a 9-meter-high stele is set, which is a memorial monument set by the Kuomintang . A few stairs up is the sacrificial hall and the vault.

In front of the sacrificial hall there stands a pair of ''huabiao'', ancient Chinese ornamental columns, which are 12.6 meters high. The sacrificial hall is actually a palace of 30 meters in length, 25 meters in width and 29 meters in height. In the center of the hall a 4.6-meter-high statue of Dr. Sun sits. The statue was sculptured out of Italian white marble. The ceiling of the hall features the flag of the Kuomintang. Biographical information on Dr. Sun is available to visitors in the hall. North of the hall lies the bell-shaped vault, wherein lies the sarcophagus of Dr. Sun.

Architectural influence of the Mausoleum's design is evident in Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Recent events


On 27 April 2005: then-Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan, his wife, and other KMT members visited the Mausoleum. It was the first visit of KMT members to the site since 1949.

On 15 November 2006 another visit was made to the Mausoleum by Dr. Sun's granddaughter, Sun Huiying, who was by then over eighty years old.

In May 2008, Wu Po-hsiung became the first ruling Kuomintang chairman to visit the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum since 1949. There were concerns that the 392 steps leading to the tomb would be too taxing given Wu's leg injuries.

Stone City

The Stone City is the popular name of an ancient fortified city within the current city of Nanjing. Almost all of the original city is gone; all that remains are portions of the massive city wall.

The original town was built during the Warring States Period by the kingdom of . The city was expanded during the Later Han Dynasty and a wall, about nine thousand meters in circumference, was built around the existing Chu-era city. Today the Stone City lies within the confines of Nanjing's Qingliang Park. The ancient city is strongly enough associated with Nanjing that Nanjing itself is sometimes referred to as "Stone City".

Second Historical Archives of China

The Second Historical Archives of China is located on 309 East Zhongshan Rd., Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. It was formerly the relic of West Palace of Ming Dynasty. It was founded in February 1951, and originally named "Nanjing Historical Documents Management Bureau". From 1964, it became affiliated to the State Archives Administration of the People's Republic of China, and was renamed ''The Second Historical Archives".

The Second Historical Archives of China collect archives of former central governments during the Republic of China period , including the governments in Nanjing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Beijing. It also has the archive of government led by Wang Jingwei during Japanese occupation era. In addition, there are a large quantity of documents concerning celebrities and senior officers of Kuomintang in modern China.

Potential users need to be aware that the Archives has that it is severely restricting access to files from October 2008 onwards, as part of a comprehensive ditigitization program that aims to restrict access only to digitized files.

Purple Mountain Observatory

Purple Mountain Observatory , also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in Nanjing, China.

The longtime director of the observatory was Zhang Yuzhe .

The observatory discovered the periodic comets 60P/Tsuchinshan and 62P/Tsuchinshan, and also the non-periodic C/1977 V1 , also known as Comet 1977 X.

Many asteroids were also discovered at the observatory, including the Trojan asteroids 2223 Sarpedon, 2260 Neoptolemus, 2363 Cebriones, 2456 Palamedes, as well as the eponymous 3494 Purple Mountain.

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the first bridge to be built across the Yangtze River in Nanjing, China. It was completed in 1968 and is the first double-decker, double-track highway and railway bridge designed and constructed by the Chinese without outside engineering assistance.

After the withdrawal of Soviet experts following the Sino-Soviet Split, China was thought to be unable to build a bridge on such a scale by themselves, without outside support. The project was undertaken to prove that Chinese engineers were able to overcome this perceived lack of ability.

It's a gigantic masterpiece and includes a bus stop at the top of it, next to a museum. On the western side of the bridge, a new city is currently being developed.



It is 6,772 meters long and has a span of 160 m --it can take up to 15 minutes to cross during regular traffic periods.

Nanjing Olympic Sports Center

Nanjing Olympic Sports Center is a multi-use stadium in Nanjing, China. It is currently used mostly for matches and events. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 people and was built in 2005.

Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall

The Memorial for compatriots killed in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Forces of Aggression is the Memorial Hall for the people killed in the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese army in and around the then capital of China, Nanjing, after it fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on December 13 1937. It is located in the southwestern corner of Nanjing known as Jiangdongmen.

Nanjing Massacre



The Nanjing Massacre was committed by the Japanese military. On December 13 1937, the Japanese army occupied Nanjing . During the occupation, the Japanese army committed numerous atrocities, including rape, arson, and mass executions.

Chinese government insist An estimated 300,000 civilians and unarmed Chinese soldiers were brutally slaughtered by beheading, burying alive, or burning the victims. Japanese soldiers were also reported to have conducted killing competitions and bayonet practice using live Chinese prisoners.

some scholars claim that Over 20,000 women were raped, and many were then killed. About one third of the structures in the city were burned down. Countless shops, stores, and residences were looted and sacked. Corpses littered the streets and were seen afloat on rivers for weeks. Even children, the elderly, and nuns suffered at the hands of the Japanese army.

The Memorial Hall



The Nanjing Memorial Hall was built in 1985 by Nanjing Municipal Government in memory of the 300,000 victims who lost their lives during the Nanjing Massacre. In 1995, it was enlarged and renovated. The memorial exhibits historical records and objects, and uses architecture, sculptures and video to illustrate what happened during the Nanjing Massacre. It occupies a total area of approximately 28000 square meters, including about 3000 square meters of building floor space.

The memorial consists of three major parts: outdoor exhibits, sheltered skeletal remains of victims and an exhibition hall of historical documents.

The outdoor exhibit include statues, sculptures, relief carvings, tablets, and a large wall listing the names of victims, as well as an atonement tablet.

The bones of massacre victims now exhibited in a coffin-shaped display hall were excavated from Jiangdongmen in 1985. 208 more bones were uncovered in 1998.

The tomb-like exhibition hall, half underground, contains more than 1000 items related to the tragedy, including an immense collection of pictures, objects, charts and photographs. Paintings, sculptures, illuminated display cabinets, multi-media screens and documentary films all serve to remind visitors of the terrible crimes committed by the Japanese military.

Ming Palace, Nanjing

The 14th century Ming Palace in Nanjing, China was the imperial palace of the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This palace was replicated in Beijing in the form of the Forbidden City by his son, the Yongle Emperor, when he moved the capital to Beijing. The palace was destroyed by the Qing in 1644, and today only some foundations, walls, carved stones and columns remain.

Linggu Temple

Linggu Temple is an archaized structure in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China.



The temple was first built in 515 under the reign of the Liang Dynasty . It used to lie at the northeast foot of Mount Zhongshan, i.e. where Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum now locates, since chose the place to be his mausoleum and then the temple was moved to the present place. The temple was named by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang himself. It used to be large and covered an area of over 300,000 square metres. Later it was destroyed in warfare under the reign of and rebuilt under the reign of in the Qing Dynasty . In the temple, except for and Bodhisattvas, Monk Xuanzang and his relic were enshrined and worshiped.

Wuliang Hall, or Beamless Hall, was constructed in 1831, and is 22-meters-high and 53.8-meter- wide. The hall enjoys high reputation for its special . It has three archways on the front and rear sides respectively. The structure was built with bricks from the bottom to the top entirely, without a piece of wood or a single nail. Thus it was called Wuliang Hall, since Wuliang means beamless. It happens that the hall originally enshrined Amitayus whose Chinese name pronounces the same with Wuliang. Later in 1928, the hall was turned into the memorial hall of soldiers sacrificed in the War of Northern Expedition . More than 30,000 soldiers were enshrined.

Linggu Pagoda was built in 1929 to memorize those soldiers. The 9 stories pagoda stands 60.5 meters high. Speeches made by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and epigraphs of Chiang Kai-Shek were inscribed on the tower.

In the temple, there is also a Three Superb Tablet, on which a painting of Monk Baozhi, painted by Wu Daozi, a famous painter, a memorial poem written by Li Bai, the most outstanding poet, and calligraphy written by Yan Zhenqing, a well-known calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty were inscribed. Since the three were all superb masters in their own field in the Tang dynasty, the tablet was considered Three Superb Tablet. Unfortunately, the original tablet was broken in warfare, the present one is a duplicate under the reign of in the Qing dynasty.

Jinling Hotel

Jinling Hotel is a hotel in Nanjing, China, located near the city's Xinjiekou district. "Jinling" is an old name for Nanjing which is often used to refer to the city in a poetic context. The hotel was Nanjing's first modern hotel and is still often regarded as the pre-eminent hotel in Nanjing.

Jiangsu Nanjing TV Tower

The Jiangsu Nanjing TV Tower is free standing telecommunications and observation tower whose antenna reaches up to 318.5 meters . It was built in 1996 in Nanjing, China.

Greenland Square Zifeng Tower

Greenland Square Zifeng Tower or the Nanjing Greenland Financial Center is a skyscraper currently undergoing construction in Nanjing, with its expected completion in 2009.

On completion, the 69 storey mixed-use tower will become the second tallest building in China and the .

Gate of China, Nanjing

The Gate of China, ''Zhonghua Gate'' or ''Zhonghuamen'' in Chinese, is the southern gate of Nanjing city. It is the greatest ancient city gate in China and the city gate with the most complex structure in the world.

History



The was built from 1360 to 1386 under the founder of the Ming dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang was crowned Emperor, and made Nanjing his capital. The southern and eastern sections of the old city wall from the Tang dynasty were incorporated into the new wall. The northern and eastern sections were built afresh. The city wall was 33.676 kilometres long. It was 14-21 m high; 14.5m thick at its base, and 4.9m thick at the top. Thirteen gates were built into the wall, and the enclosed area was the largest of any walled city in China.

The gate today known as the Gate of China was then known as Jubao Gate . It was built on the site of the south gate of the capital city of the Southern Tang dynasty. It was the largest among the thirteen gates of Nanjing. In 1931, after the Republic of China government established Nanjing as its capital, the gate was renamed Gate of China. In one sense, this reflects the triumph of the southern factions led by Chiang Kai-shek over the northern factions of the Beiyang government in Beijing, who had named the southern gate of Beijing "" to signify its status as "gate of the nation".

Layout


The gate was made of huge strip stones 0.8 – 1.39m long, 0.7m wide and 0.26-0.35 thick and large Chinese brick 0.4m long 0.2m wide and 0.1m thick.

Its dimensions were 118.5m from east to west, and 128m from south to north. The ramparts were 20.45m high. The total area enclosed was 15 168 square meters. Three barbicans were connected by four arched gates, each of which was equipped with a Qianjingzha which could be opened up and down, as well as a pair of wooden doors. The Toudaomen consisted of 3 steps.

At the top step was used to be a wooden building to defend against the enemy. The middle step was built of brick and stone. It was 65.15m long, 47.20m wide and 9.00m high. In the north section of it were constructed 7 soldier staying holes. In the middle of the lower step was constructed an arched gate leading to Wengcheng. It was 52.60m long, 5.35m wide and 8.7m high. At the north section of it were built 3 soldier staying holes. Erdaomen was 16.14m away from Toudaomen. Its hole was 8.20m long, 4.97m wide and 8.10m high. The hole of Sandaomen 15.18m away from Erdaomen was 8.32m long, 4.82m wide and 8.1m high. 19.3m away from Sandaomen was Sidaomen . Its hole was 8.8m long, 4.8m wide and 8.1m high. At the outerside of the east and west of WengCheng were constructed 14 soldier staying holes . There are 27 soldier staying holes altogether in all the WengCheng and two paved patches from where soldiers can get up the top of the castle by horse.

ZhongHua gate has weathered wind and rain for 600 years. It still holds its original state except for the wooden structure had been destroyed and some features on the wall constructed of sticks and stones. It is rare in the world for its vast scale and sophisticated style.

Considering from the construction, it is a great engineering project of complex and intricate design, occupying an important place in the wall construction history in China. Considering from the military, the gate strength is good for the military operation and is a valuable sample for the study of Chinese military history. It was listed on the cultural and scenic spots under careful protection by Jiang Su government in 1957 and the state council in 1988.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Nanjing

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Nanjing , also known as Shigu Road Cathedral to the locals, is a historical Roman Catholic Church located at 112 Shigu Road in Nanjing, China. First built in 1870 during the Qing dynasty, it was later severly damaged during the and had to be rebuilt by the Chinese government in 1928. Since the 1930's it has served as the cathedral for the and is the only Catholic church within the city of Nanjing today. In 1982 it was also listed as a Jiangsu Provincial Historic Site.

Beginnings


The first church in Nanjing was established by the Italian Jesuit one of the first missionaries to China, Matteo Ricci, in 1599 on one of the three occasions that he came to Nanjing. He bought up a private residence on the west side of the city at a place called Luosi Zhuanwan , and with some minor modifications it was soon a centre of religious activities. It was not to last long however, for in 1618 there was an imperial decree banning the practice of Catholicism and the church was torn down.

Reconstruction


In 1870 a new church was built by the French Jesuit Adriend de Carere on a larger site that included the former site of Ricci's church and also the ruins of an old Buddhist temple. It was consecrated as the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. During the Northern Expedition War it suffered severe damages and was even used as a stables for a period of time. Afterwards, in 1928 it was restored by the National Government and it's appearance today is much the same as it was after this last restoration, despite having been somewhat damaged and closed as well during the Cultural Revolution.