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Showing posts with label Xi'an. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xi'an. Show all posts
Qixi Festival (七夕節 qī xī jié) literally "The Night of Sevens" is also known as Magpie Festival or in more modern times Chinese Valentine's Day. It falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar, which this year happens to fall today.
On the Chinese Valentine's Day, people in love like to go to the temple of Matchmaker and pray for their love and the possible marriage in China. People still single will do the same thing to ask their luck of love in the Matchmaker temple.
The Chinese Valentine's Day is also called The Daughter's Festival. Long ago, Chinese girls always wanted to train themselves having a good handcrafting skill like the Weaving Maid. The skill is essential for their future family. Young girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts, especially melon carving, on this day and make wishes for a good husband.
According to Chinese legend the love story is about the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven (织女 zhī nǚ) and an orphaned cowherd (牛郎 niú láng). They were separated by the Emperor. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. The beloved couple, a cowherder and a weaver, are allowed to meet only once a year in heaven on this day.
In true Chinese style where superstition of numbers is incredibly strong; In Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, a large-scale festival will be held at the Huaqing Pool. Residents have been invited to contribute love stories, with 77 pieces, representing the seventh day of the seventh month, being read aloud. 77 couples will participate in a collective wedding ceremony, Tang Dynasty style.
Xi’an in Shaanxi
(西安; Xī'ān) (陕西; Shǎnxī)
Xi’an is now the capital of the Shaanxi province, located in the southern part of the Guanzhong Plain. With the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Weihe River to the north, it is in a favourable geographical location surrounded by water and hills. Its monsoon climate is semi-moist and there is clear distinction between the four seasons.
Xi’an was historically known as Cháng'ān (长安). Though the name of the city itself has changed many times during the dynasties. Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road which connected Europe, Africa and Arabia to China and Asia throughout history. It is historically one of the oldest Chinese cities and boasts one of only two intact city fortifications in the country.
Xi’an has many attractions for tourists such as the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and his Terracotta Army, several burial mounds and numerous Tang Dynasty pagodas including the Giant Wild Goose and Small Wild Goose Pagodas. It also has religious buildings of importance such as the Famen Temple, Great Mosque and nearby Louguantai the birthplace of Daoism, where according to legend Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) wrote the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) and preached sermon.
However the most famous of the attractions is nearby Xi’an. Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Army (兵马俑; bīngmǎ yǒng) is one of the most famous Chinese exports and has had huge success as a travelling exhibition. The 8000 or so figures found in 1974 near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, date back to around 210BCE.
Both the Giant Wild Goose and Small Wild Goose Pagodas survived numerous earthquakes, and although both have sustained damage, they remain standing to this day.
The Bell Tower (钟楼; Zhōnglóu) and the Drum Tower (鼓楼; Gǔlóu), are in the exact city centre, and is the most convenient starting point to go anywhere in the city. From this point the streets split up into the four points of the compass. North-Street (北大街 Běidàjiē), East-Street (东大街 Dōngdàjiē), South-Street (南大街 Nándàjiē) and West-Street (西大街 Xīdàjiē).
Xi'an is a city where the old meets the new, and not in the best sense...
Xi'an does have quite a funky Starbucks design though...
Xi’an is twinned with Birmingham, UK. (amongst many other cities)Xian
simplified Mandarin character; 西安;
pinyin: Xī'ān
Photo Sources: (In order of appearance)
FlickrFlickrFlickrFlickrFlickrFlickrFlickrFlickr
