About Tibet
Tibet is so called 
as the third pole
of the earth, the highest and youngest plateau and one of the most attractive places with
mystique. It was, but now is changing, one of few places where there were little human
activities. The biggest charm of Tibet is probably its unique geographic environment and
the special ecological character derived from the former.
Tibet has an area of 1,200,000 km2
with the lowest population density in China. The central part where most people live is
along the middle reaches of Brahmaputra River with the elevation of 3700 a.b.s (around
Lhasa). Tibet displays its diversified and colorful facts in each season. The best season
to visit Lhasa is July, August, and September. You can enjoy a great vertical-level
contrast in climate and vegetation between the top of the mountains and the bottom of the
canyon. Tibet attracts visitors also with its full-bodied culture with religionary hue.
Tibetan music and song are resounding and elegant. Tibetan dance shows composure,
fortitude, freedom, passion and vitality. The Tibetan indulges in Buddhism deeply,
especially the old generations. Temples and monastery spread all over Tibetan area. The
Potala Palace may be the most beautiful and magnificent building in China with its grand
and coise style and the best arrangement and color. The people living in the river valleys
are engaged in producing crops and those living in high tableland in grazing, but wherever
you go, you could come across with yak (wild or domestic).
Please go to see your doctor for advice
before you go to Tibet. The first change to a person to Tibet is altitude reaction when
you arrive at Lhasa airport by plan. You will see the azure and huge mountain with white
head, and you will breathe the clear and cool air. But please remember not to be exited.
Keep quiet and act slowly at least for half a day. After several hours, you would feel
difficulty in breathing if you act fast. You would get headache in first 1 or 2 nights.
When you feel uncomfortable, consult the
doctor. You could breathe with an oxygen sack or box in emergency. If you are in good
condition of health, everything could come to be all right with nothing serious.
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About The Yangtze Three Gorges and Three
Gorges Project
The Three Gorges is the most
spectacular section of the Yangtze River, stretching some 193 km long and integrating
itself with majestic Qutang Gorge, deep and quiet Wuxia Gorge
, and
shoal and rapid Xiling Gorge. It is suffused with so much myth, legend and glory. A
natural gallery is described in such enthusiastic details. Qutang Gorge boasts the
grandest landscape in the world with sheer cliffs and steep mountains on both sides of the
river. Wuxia Gorge extends 53 km, winding its way through twelve peaks, veiled with clouds
and mists all year around. The legend of the nymph peak adds to its beauty and grandeur of
more imaginations. Xiling Gorge was full of more shoals and rapids, and concluded with the
Gezhouba Dam, the first dam in the Yangtze River, which makes it more attractive.
The Three Gorges Project (TGP) is the
biggest dam ever built in the world, situated at Sandouping, the middle section of Qutang
Gorge, 40 km from the Gezhouba Dam. The project is composed of a dam, power plant and
navigation facility. The dam is of concrete gravity type, 2309 m long, with the crest
elevation of 185m a.b.s. Twenty-six generator units are located on both sides of the dam,
700 MW for each unit with the total capacity of 1820 MW. The navigation facility is
composed of a permanent ship lock and a ship-lift. The ship lock is designed as a
double-way and five-step locks, with each chamber dimensioned of 280´ 34´ 5m,
passing which a barge fleet of 10,000t can reach Chongqing city. The ship-lift is of
one-way vertical hoisting type with a container sized 120´ 18´ 3.5m. One 3,000
t passenger or cargo boat can pass through it each time. The project lasts 17 years and
the construction schedule is divided into 3 periods: 1993 to 1997, 1998 to 2003 and 2004
to 2009. The main course of the Yangtze River was blocked in 1997. The first turbine
generator will be put into operation by 2003, and the whole project will be completed by
2009.
The most important benefits of TGP are
flood control, power generation and navigation. The total storage capacity of the
reservoir will be 39.3 billion m3, with its flood control storage capacity of
22.15 billion m3. The flood control capacity of the Jingjiang section of the
Yangtze River will be raised from the present 10-years frequency to 100 year, and the 600
km long waterway from Yichang to Chongqing will be obviously improved.
Huangshan
Huangshan Mountain is located in
Southern Anhui Province and has long been praised as the No.1 Mountain of Wonders on the
Globe, the Magic Mountain, and a Paradise on Earth. It is gifted with all the natural
charms found on other mountains in China. It is as imposing as mount Taishan and as steep
as Mount Huashan. It has the same seas of clouds as Mount Hengshan, a thundering waterfall
like that of Mount Lushan, the coolness and quietness of mount Emei, and rocks as
spectacular those of Mount Yandang. Marvelous, imposing, fascinating, and dangerously
steep, it has distinctly shaped, jade-black peaks, and the top is enshrouded in mist and
clouds all year round. The odd-shaped pines, spectacular rock, seas of clouds, and hot
springs are famous as the Four wonders of Huangshan.Huangshan Mountain also has many
unusual rocks, which form a marvelous picture with the peaks and odd-shaped pines. The
rocks resemble humans, animals, birds, or other objects. The most notable rocks are
Rooster Crowing at Dawn, Monkey Watching the Sea, and Squirrel Jumping into Heavenly
Capital, all named from beautiful legends.
Hangzhou
Hangzhou is located on the low reaches of Qiantang river
in southeast China, with a distance of 180 kilometers to Shanghai. It is one of the key
cities in the Yangzi Delta area.Hangzhou is one of the important tourism cities in China,
famous for its natural beauty and historical and cultural heritages. Hangzhou is the
capital of Zhejiang province. It is the political, economic and cultural center of the
province as well.
Hangzhou is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. It is one of the seven ancient
Chinese capitals, famous for its historical and cultural heritages. The city has a history
of more than 2200 years since it was established as a county by the First Emperor Qing.
Lying on the west edge of Hangzhou city, West Lake is the symbol of Hangzhou as
well as one of the most beautiful sights in China. Early in the Song dynasty, the famous
poet Su Shi compared the lake to Xizi, a Chinese Cleopatra: "Ripping water shimmering
on sunny day; Misty mountains wonder in the rain; Plain or gaily decked out like Xizi; the
West Lake is always alluring". So the Lake is also known as Xizi Lake. With an area
of 6 sqkm and a circumference of 15km (9 miles), West Lake, surround in three sides by
rolling wooded hills, has captivated countless visitors for centuries.
Tianhuangping
The
Tianhuangping Pumped Storage Plant is located in Anji County north of Zhejiang Province,
180 km from Shanghai and Nanjing, 57 km from Hangzhou.The installed capacity of the Plant
is 1,800 MW (6 x 300 MW). It is a daily regulation reservoir, with the annual power
consumption of 4,280 GWh for pumping water and the annual power output of 3,160 GWh. When
the Plant is completed, it will play an important role in taking peak load, supplying
valley load and improving the composition of power sources. The construction commenced on
March 1, 1994. The first generating unit was put into operation in September 1998 and
completed in 2000.
Shanghai
Shanghai is China's most
comprehensive industrial and commercial city, ranking No.1 in population and population
density, and as a sea port, science and technology center, and business center. As a
tourist city, it attracts travelers from both home and abroad by its commercial activity
rather than scenic beauty. Shanghai was already known as a
trading center in the AD 960 and flourished in the following centuries where it become an
important port with wine houses, temples, shops, schools and storehouses. Many buildings
from colonial times have survived the revolution and the wars.Pudong area is at east-south
part of Shanghai, which is the special economic district in Shanghai and developing
rapidly in recent years. The famous World Wealth Forum was held successfully in 1999 at
Pudong area.
Liujiaxia Hydropower
Station
The Liujiaxia Hydropower station is located in
Gansu Province and equipped with 5 hydro-generating units with the design installed
capacity of 1225 MW and the annual design energy output of 5.7 TWh. It is the first
large-scale multipurpose water control project in the main stream of the Yellow River,
with the power generation as its main function and concurrently with the flood control
irrigation, ice prevention, cultivation and navigation. By the end of march 1969, the
first generation unit was put into operation. The main dam for the Plant is a concrete
gravity dam with the length of 840m, the height of 147m and the crest width of 16m. The
reservoir has the design storage of 5.7 billion m3. The releasing structures of the Plant
are sluicing way in the left bank, flood-releasing tunnel in the right bank, spillway and
desalting tunnel. The completion and operation of the reservoir can effectively
retain the upstream flood water and control the releasing discharge, in order to protect
the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River from flood water and to enhance the
irrigation guaranteed rate from original 65% to 85% in those districts diverting water
from the Yellow River for irrigation. In addition through the regulation of reservoir, it
also can guarantee the industrial water use in the industrial bases.
Dunhuang
A city of Gansu province; a town of military
importance on the Silk Road; used to be called Shazhou; a throat for the East and West
communication; in 1986, it is entitled to be "China historical and cultural
city".
Echoing-sand
Mountain
The
Echoing-sand Mountain is located six kilometers south of Dunhuang city. It is a sand
mountain, which is over 40 kilometers long from east to west, and over 20 kilometers wide
from south to north. Its peak, surrounded by rolling ridges and precipitous cliffs, has a
relative height of 250 meters.
Crescent Moon Lake
The lake is 6km
south of the center of Dunhuang at the Singing Sand Mountains, where the oasis meets the
desert. Spring water trickles up into a depression between huge sand dunes, forming a
small, crescent-shaped pond (not to be confused with the concrete storage pool nearby).
Urumqi
Urumqi, the
capital of the Autonomous Region lies 900 metres above sea level is a huge town. About 75%
of its population is Han Chinese and only 10% each are Uighur and Hui people. The Museum
of the Autonomous Region is worth a visit. Apart from significant archaeological finds it
also exhibits life-size models of the houses and tools of the most important nationalities
in the region. It is worth taking an excursion to the Lake of Heaven, which is 100 km
away. It lies 1,900 metres high in the Tianshan mountains at the foot of the 5,445 metres
high Bogdashan where the journey passes some scenic landscape.
Turfan
Turfan, can be reached from Urumqi
in a half-day bus journey. Only a few old buildings have been preserved in Turfan. The
Imin Minaret, built with clay bricks in 1776 and the sparsely furnished mosque next to it
are the symbols of the town. The underground irrigation system or Karez well is worth
visiting. In Karez well, the melting water from the mountains is channeled underground to
the oasis over long distances. The local museum shows relics from the Silk Road, mummies
from the Astana Graves, silks from the early period of transcontinental trade and funerary
objects.
Korla
The political,
economical, cultural and scientific research center of the Bayin'guoleng Mongolia
Autonomous prefecture as well as the excellent tourist city in China; being the second
largest hub next to the provincial capital Urumqi.
Luoyang City
A brilliant
pearl in central China and an industrial city with modern civilization; regarded as
"the center of heaven", "the center of earth" and "the center of
China" since the ancient times. Longmen Grottoes, thirteen
kilometers to the south of Luoyang city, is the major attraction in the Henan province, as
well as one of the three famous art grottoes in China. Longmen Grottoes were first carved
in Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, and Northern-Song dynasties, it
includes 2345 grottoes and niches, 2800 stone-sculptures, 50 pagodas and 100,000 statues.
Besides, there are a great deal of historical remains about religions, paintings,
calligraphy, music, costumes, medicine, construction and sino-foreign transportation. With
these valuable treasures, Longmen Grottoes became a large stone-sculpture famous at
hone and abroad.
Xiaolangdi Multipurpose Project
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Longmen Grottoes
|
The Xiaolangdi Multipurpose Project is located in
the mouth of the last gorge in the middle Yellow River.
The project¡¯s main
functions are flood control, ice prevention and sediment reduction, incorporated with
water supply, irrigation, and power generation. The gross storage of the reservoir is
12.65 billion m3, of which the effective capacity is 5.1 billion m3.
The project enhances the flood control criterion of the downstream of the Yellow River
Basin From 60-year to 1000-year frequency flood. The project adopts the operation mode of ¡°storing clear water and discharging
muddy water¡± and
utilizes the reservoir storage of 7.55 billion m3 to intercept sediment. As a
result, the bed won¡¯t
rise along the lower reach within 20 years and an additional storage of 2 billion m3 can
be provided annually, which improves the conditions of irrigation and water supply in the
downstream area. The Project has a total installed capacity of 1,800MW, with a yearly
energy output of 5.1TWh.
The project consists of dam, flood discharging and sediment flushing system and power
generation complex. The dam is of the sloping earth core rockfill type. The dam has the
maximum height of 154m, the crest length of 1667m, and the crest width of 15m and the
maximum bottom width of 864m. The flood discharging and sediment flushing system consists
of intake structure, tunnel system, and an outtake structure. The diversion system for the
power complex comprises six diversion tunnels, one underground powerhouse, one main
transformer chamber, one tailrace gate chamber and 3 tailrace tunnels.
Xi¡¯an
As one of the
six ancient capitals in China, Xi'an served as the seat of 12 imperial capitals for 1,120
years and also a world-famous tourist city, a treasure house of cultural relics. Terracotta
Warriors: Thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers have been guarding the tomb
of the first emperor in China for over 2000 years. Every figure differs in even
facial features and expressions. No doubt thousands of statues still remain to be
unearthed on this archaeological site, not discovered until 1974. Qin, the first
unifier of China, who died in 210 B.C., is buried, surrounded by the famous
terracotta warriors, at the centre of a complex designed to mirror the urban plan of the
capital, Xianyan. The small figures, all different, with their horses, chariots and
weapons, are masterpieces of realism and also hold great historical interest. The
Shaanxi Provincial History Museum, a magnificent architectural complex in the
Tang dynasty style. It has collections of the highlights of the Shaanxi culture and shows
a elit from the ancient China. Big Wild Goose
Pagoda Originally built in 589 A.D. in the Sui dynasty, the temple was named Wu Lou Si
Temple till 648 A.D. when Emperor Li Zhi, then still a crown prince, sponsored a repair
project on the temple. However, it went into gradual decay after the downfall of the Tang
dynasty. The halls and rooms that have survived the age are structures that were built in
the Ming dynasty.