Laolongtou Great Wall （The Dragon Head）

Lying five kilometers (three miles) south of Shanhaiguan Pass in Qinhuangdao City in Hebei Province, Laolongtou Great Wall is the eastern starting point of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall. It stretches 23 meters into the sea like a dragon drinking water, hence its name. This part of the Great Wall was built in the 7th year of Wanli reign in the Ming dynasty (1579) and was mended in the 7th year of Kangxi reign in the Qing dynasty (1668).

Laolongtou Great Wall comprises the Chenghai Pavilion, the Nereus Temple, the Estuary Stone City, the Jinglu Beacon Tower, the Nanhaokou (Southern Estuary) Pass and the Ninghai City. In 1900, the Eight Power Allied Force invaded Shanhaiguan Pass and destroyed the Laolongtou. In 1984, it was rebuilt by the people of Shanhaiguan City.

The Chenghai Pavilion is the most celebrated architectural structure. It is a two-story building built with bricks and wood. Emperors in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) including Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong once visited there on their way to Mukden (Shenyang City) to worship their ancestors and  left many poems and inscriptions. A plaque with four Chinese characters 'Yuan', 'Qi', 'Hun' and 'Mang' and a pair of couplets written by Qianlong still hangs on the lintel and columns of the hall. Poems from other famous literary figures are inscribed on the tablets which are embedded on the walls. In front of the

Reconstructed in 1988, the Nereus Temple is about 350 meters (0.2 mile) from the Laolongtou Great Wall. It consists of many archways, the Drum Tower, the Nereus Hall, the trestle bridge and the Hall of the Goddess of Heaven; the Nereus Hall and the Hall of the Goddess of Heaven being the main structures of the temple. Inside the temple are sculptures of Nereus, Goddess of Heaven, Eight Immortals and the Door Gods. A plaque inscribed by Qianlong hangs on the door lintel.

The Estuary Stone City was built by Qi Jiguang, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty. It used to serve as a defense work to resist the aggression of Nuchen and Mongolia. The Stone City was based on natural reefs and constructed with huge rocks, which were rabbet and connected by cast iron chains. With battlements placed on walls the Stone City extends into the sea and is very grandiosity.

Gate Tower of LaolongtouJinglu Beacon Tower was built in 1565. Following extensive reconstruction, the beacon tower stands about 15 meters (49 feet) high. The tower has three rooms which are connected by six door openings and nine windows in all, making the rooms well ventilated. It functions as a defence system together with the Chenghai Pavilion, Nanhaikou (Southern Estuary) Pass.

The Ninghai City and the the Nanhaikou (Southern Estuary) Pass are also worth a visit. Ninghai City is the city where Chenghai Tower (a defensive arrow tower) locates. It is about 6.6-meter-high and 500-meter-long in circumference and has 2 gates, one in the west and another in the north. The city wall was built with bricks on a stone basement and was rammed with loess inside the walls. The city has now been rebuilt and is open to tourists. The Nanhaikou (Southern Estuary) Pass is the No.1 Pass of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall according to the location order.
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Grand Epoch City

The Grand Epoch City lies in Xianghe, a county 50 kilometers in the southeast of Beijing and along the Beijing-Shenyang Highway. It is only 60 kilometers away from the Capital Airport. Grand Epoch City is a large tourist resort that recreates the original scenery of old Beijing during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It is a reproduction of an ancient architectural complex which conveys the essence of Chinese culture in both past and present times.

The Grand Epoch City is a large-scale international conference & exhibition center which integrates tourism, leisure, holiday, recreation, fitness, cate, shopping, video filming, conference, and exhibition. Its appearance imitates the style and features of the city walls of the Capital--Beijing of Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Grand Epoch City is an amazing place for visitors who are interested in having a look at what Old Beijing looked like. Hundreds of thousands of replicas of old Beijing are displayed inside the city's wall. Every roof is adorned with ornate sculpture; every building graced with hand-painted scenes of battle and hunting and courtly life; expansive ponds are bordered by exquisitely crafted covered walkways and little gazebos, giving visitors the chance to see bronze statues of mythical monsters with bulging, scaly haunches.

Grand Epoch City is composed of an outer city and an inner city. From the vast square in front of the inner city, you can see the moat and the Golden-River Bridge across it. Every morning, at nine o'clock, there is a grand ceremony recreating the traditional way of opening the city gate. Walk across the Golden-River Bridge and you come to the most unique place in Grand Epoch City. Here, the old Beijing City Wall has been reborn. There are ten city gates which have been built to replicate the originals. They are Yongding Gate, Zuoan Gate, Youan Gate, Guangan Gate, Guangqu Gate, Dongbian Gate and Xibian Gate as well as two turrets and one embrasure watchtower. 

Pass through the huge Yongding Gate, and you enter the inner city where a replica of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanming Yuan) lies in the eastern quarter. Covering an area of 186,574 square yards, it was rebuilt to include eight scenic sights according to the original look of Yuanming Yuan. They are Zhengda Guangming (Open and Aboveboard Hall), Pinghu Qiuyue (Smooth Lake and Autumn Moon Hall), Jiuzhou Qingyan, Wanfang Anhe, Shangxia Tianguang, Dashuifa, Yuanyingguan and Wanhuazhen. Here, you can experience and admire the extravagant luxury of Yuanming Yuan in the past.
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Hengshui City and Its Attraction

Situated in the southeast of Hebei Province, Hengshui City is bordered by Shandong Province in the southeast and north to Beijing in about 250km. The city is located in alluvial plain area in North China, with its terrain gently sloping downward from southwest to northeast. Gentle slopes and depressions constitute the main types of the city's landform. It is crisscrossed by a net work of rivers. The Hengshui Lake is the big waterfilled depressions in North China Plain (Huabei Plain) only second to the Baiyangdian Lake in Baoding City.                        

The city enjoys a temperate and semi-arid continental monsoon climate. The weather features distinct four seasons and notable changes in temperature and air moisture. Spring and winter are arid and the rain usually falls in summer. Autumn is cool but overcast and rainy.

Hengshui Lake

The Hengshui Lake is the main attraction in this tourist spot. It is considered as the second largest inland freshwater lake. It covers a total area of 75 square kilometers (29 square miles) in the outskirt 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of city downtown area. In the vast reed marsh inhabit many birds, including red-crowned cranes, swans, pelicans, wild gooses and gulls. Nowadays, wetland nature reserve for birds has been set up. In the rear of the reserve is the far-reaching blue lake and azure sky.

Over the years, a lot of local inhabitants also depend on the abundant resources that they obtain from the lake. Hence, fishermen can also be seen sailing along the graceful waters. Some locals also offer boat rides for tourists who would like to come closer to the beauty of the water.

For tourists, the best time of the day to stay in the Hengshui Lake is in the afternoon. They can set-up a picnic blanket in one corner and enjoy the mild sunshine which is also filtered by the trees and plants. The wind is cool even during the summer months so it is the perfect place to relax and unwind. And also, this city do not have its own airport, visitors should have the aid of Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport or take train to this city.
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Jingniang Lake----- A Pearl of Taihang Mountains

Jingniang Lake is an enchanting land with green hills and clear water. It is located in the northwest of Wuan city and about 37 miles away from Handan City. Its name originated from the touching story of Zhao Kuangyin, the first emperor of the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) who sent off the girl he rescued, Jingniang.

Regarded as the pearl of Taihang Mountains, Jingniang Lake has a splendid landscape of lofty gorges and verdant forest. At an altitude of 1,300 meters, the lake stretches for 15 kilometers with a water surface area of 1,782,000 square meters. It is divided into three parts in the area which is open to the public which accounts for 18.5 square kilometers – a relaxing area, a water sighting area and a natural reserve.

Embraced by verdant mountains, Jingniang Lake is picturesque with a variety of both natural and artificial formations. The latter is ever so vividly created that they blended well in to the environment and were created based on historical stories. There is very beautiful scenery here, with broad and limpid lake surrounded by groups of hills. In the distance, mountains fluctuate, with steep and straight cliff, just like the natural beauty created by the fairy. There are 18 scenic sights in all, including Gaoxia Pinghu (Calm Lake Rising from the Steep Gorge), "Fury Lion Raises Its Head", Jingniang Gorge, Songzu Gorge and Xianling Gorge.

Jingniang Lake was originally known as Koushang Reservoir which is the inverted Chinese character "人" and has eastern and western branches. After years of exploration and development, it has become a tourist resort. For tourists, the Jingniang Lake scenic area is a destination for natural sightseeing, fishing by the lake, a thrilling adventure over the lake or idyllic life experience. 

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Wahuang Palace of Handan

Wahuang Palace was constructed in remembrance of Nuwa, a goddess in Chinese mythology. It is located on the Tangwangjiao Mountain, a branch of the Taihang Mountains, with a range of scenic and forested mountains in the west of Handan. It is also known as Nainai Ding and Granma Top. The main Wahuang Palace is situated on the right side of the mountain. It is four storey high and measures 75 feet tall.

Built in the Northern Qi Dynasty, it is the largest temple in China to commemorate the ancient Creator-goddess (Nuwa). It is said that in the primeval ages, no living things existed. The Creator-goddess "created humans with clay, and melt stones to mend the sky ". Thus all living things on the earth were made. In honor of the great mother, Wahuang Palace was built here. It consists of two parts. Down the hill there are Chaoyuan Palace, Tingcan Palace and Guangsheng Palace. Climbing up the mountain, you can get to Wahuang Temple. It was skillfully built o­n a semi-circular stone pit by the dangerously steep precipice, and so were some other temples and pavilions.

The whole structure was built along the contour of the mountain. There are 135 houses, three grottoes and six cliff sutra inscriptions of the Northern Qi Dynasty and 75 inscribed stone tablets of successive dynasties. At present, it covers an area of 760,000 square meters. The main Wahuang Palace is situated on the right side of the mountain. It is four storey high and measures 75 feet tall. The nine iron chains secure Badian Hall, Qingxu Pavilion, Zaohua Pavilion and Butian Pavilion to the cliffs from the bottom to the top. It is really amazing to see the technology of ancient China,

The roof is made of glazed tile in Xieshan style. The four-storied building is 23 meters in height. The back wall is joined to the rocks by eight iron chains. Whenever tourists gather here, the iron chains stretch tightly like bowstrings, so it is also called " Suspension Temple, or " Moving Pavilion ". It has consummate craftsmanship and wonderful workman-ship in combining nature and building o­n the cliff outside Wahuang Temple were inscribed six sections of Precipice Buddhist Scripture with more than 130,000 characters. They are known as “No.1 Cliff Scripture Group under Heaven” and are invaluable in Buddhist books and records in China.

The elegance of the construction demonstrates the ingenuity and high level of Chinese ancient architecture. As the largest and earliest group of buildings, Wahuang Palace attracts numerous visitors not only because it was built to commemorate the Goddess Nuwa but also to admire the exquisite craftsmanship of Chinese ancient architecture.
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Cangzhou Iron Lion----- "Sea Guard Howler"

The iron lion is an important cultural icon in Cangzhou, the city is referred to as the "Lion City". The Iron Lion of Cangzhou is a cast iron sculpture located in the town of Cangzhou in Hebei Province, about 180 km (110 mi) southwest of the national capital Beijing. Cast in 953 AD, the iron lion is the largest known and oldest surviving iron-cast artwork in China.

In the ancient times, this city was a seaport and it experienced severe tidal floodings and tsunamis. In order to avert the floods, in 953 the local people collected money and invited the famous blacksmith Li Yun to cast an iron lion to confront the sea spirits. The Iron Lion was given the grand-sounding name "Zhen Hai Hou", meaning "the Roar to Calm the Sea". It was regarded as the symbol of this ancient city.

 

The lion, facing north, opens its huge mouth widely and stares angrily into the distance. Rising up its proud head, it appears in great dignity indicative of the three characters "Shizi Wang" (The Lion King) cast on its head. It bears on its back a huge lotus seat which is said to be the throne of Wenshu Bodhisattva. It is 5.78  m high, 6.5 m long, 3.17 m wide, and has an estimated weight of 40 tons. On its back, it carries a basin-shaped lotus throne with a maximum diameter of about 2 m and a height of 70 cm. presumably; the iron lion was originally displayed inside a Buddhist temple and carried a bronze statue of the bodhisattva Manjusri on the lotus seat. The bronze statue was later removed, maybe because of the higher value of the bronze.

The iron lion was cast using a piece-moulding technique in a single mould. In this technique, which has also been used in ancient Chinese bronze-casting, a clay model of the sculpture is made and covered with a new layer of clay after drying. This outer layer of clay is then cut into pieces and removed before it dries completely. In the next step, material is taken off the surface of the inner clay model in order to provide room for pouring the iron between the outer and inner mould. Hence, "seams" visible on the cast do not represent boundaries between separate iron pieces, but are impressions of the seams between the pieces of the outer mould.

Cangzhou Iron Lion is the largest iron cast cultural relic in existence in China. It is evidence of the high achievement of casting technique in ancient China. However, because of its exposure to the elements over a long period of time, the lion is severely rusted and has cracks on its limbs. Restoration work has stabilizes the deterioration, and the effort of a team of international experts is making great strides to save this national treasure. We hope that by their hard work, the Iron Lion could regain its past stately appearance.
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Eight Outer Temples

The Eight Outer Temples lies to the north-east of the Mountain Resort of Chengde. It was built in varying architectural styles drawn from throughout China. Eight Outer Temples is a collective name given to 12 temples located outside Gubeikou - a section of the Great Wall.  Together with the Mountain Resort of Chengde, the temple has been as a World Heritage Site. Now it becomes a renown scenic spot in Chengde.

The 12 temples were built in succession. Construction began in 1713 in the Qing Dynasty and completed in 1780. Six temples are now open to tourists, and each one has its own particular features and special appeal. The Eight Outer Temples were built by the Qing government to strengthen a unity with the minorities, thus the temples not only feature Han style, but also the Mongolian and Tibetan styles, with the symbolic meaning of unity in China. The architectures, inscriptions, sculpture, and murals in these temples are important materials for the study of history, culture, religion, and architectural art.

Among the eight temples, Putuo Temple is the biggest and the most magnificent building. Putuo Zongchengzhi Temple is located to the north of Mountain Resort of Chengde. Built in 1767 imitating the style of the Potala Palace, the temple is also named 'little Potala Palace'. For another reason that 'Putuo Zongchengzhi' is a Tibetan language meaning 'Potala Palace' in Chinese. The halls and pavilions in it were designed to naturally strew on hillside according to the hypsography. The Big Red Platform is the principle construction of the temple. The platform and the three halls on it are all with the copper gold tiles roof.

Also located to the north of the Mountain Resort of Chengde is Puning temple which was built in 1755. It is also known as 'Big Buddha Temple', for a big wooden Buddhist statue housed there. The Buddhist statue is unusual, being of Kwan-yin, standing 22.23 meters (approx. 72.93 feet) tall, with a thousand eyes and a thousand arms. It is made with five kinds of lignum - pine, cypress, elm, fir and linden, and is one of the biggest preserved wooden statues in China.

The Eight Outer Temples is really a great place to visit. First it lies in Chengde, which is near to Beijing and has a comfortable climate. Second, it is near to Mountain Resort, we can save time by visiting them once.
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