mandarin reading skill / chinese reading skill

You can read novels, the newspaper, and work as mandarin reading materials.

Choose those story that isn't too complicated, then you get a chance to enhance your reading speed and smoothness level. You can learn a lot of new expression from them.

first step:try to read page after page without stopping. Just guess the meaning of the words that you don’t really know , and you can underline them .

second step:after reading ,you can check from the dictionary,and note those really “new” words for you .

last step , read the reading materials again to review the new words .

Method-2

I recommend that you can just play some famous and traditional computer games in Chinese, such as THE CHINESE LOVE STORY(Chinese name is: 仙剑奇侠传).

Method-3

reading children's books and watch those television program for children, try the Chinese online streaming video site from CCTV. You can see the children's section here. Most videos have sub titles. or some children's DVDs with Chinese subtitles.

One of the five scared mountains --- Mount Heng

Mount Heng is one of the five sacred mountains. It is called Heng Shan.Heng Shan has been considered a sacred mountain since the Zhou Dynasty.

During the Han Dynasty, a temple called the Shrine of the Northern Peak (Beiyue Miao), dedicated to the mountain god was built on Hengshan's slopes.

The most famous temple at Hengshan is not Daoist, but is actually the Buddhist Hanging Monastery (Xuankong Si).The Hanging Monastery stands at the foot of Mt. Hengshan and is one of the most dramatic sights at Hengshan - a wooden temple clinging to the cliff side, appearing to defy gravity with only a few wooden posts as support. The Hanging Monastery, built in 491, has survived more than 1,400 years.

One of the five scared mountains --- Mount Song

Mount Song, known in Chinese as Song Shan (Simplified Chinese: 嵩山; Pinyin: Sōng Shān), is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism and is located in Henan province on the south bank of the Yellow River in China. Its summit is 1,500 meters above sea level.

Songshan is made up of several mountains that rise to 1500 m in the Dengfeng district of Henan province.Song Mountain is called the Central Mountain of the Five Sacred Mountains in China. It has 36 peaks and stretches 60 kilometers, composed of Taishi Mountain and Shaoshi Mountain. The highest peak is 1494 meters above sea level. The seven peaks of Song Shan stretch for 64km between the cities of Luoyang and Zhengzhou. The slopes rise steeply from the valley and are thickly clad with trees, giving them an impressive appearance, but the highest peak (Junji) reaches only 1500m in altitude.

It contains important Taoist temples such as the Zhongyue Temple; It is home to the Shaolin Temple, traditionally considered the birthplace of Zen Buddhism, and the temple's collection of stupas is the largest in China. The Zhongyue Temple is also located here, one of the earliest Taoist temples in the country. The Songyang Academy nearby was one of the four great academies of ancient China. The mountain and its vicinity are populated with Taoist and especially Buddhist monasteries. The 6th century Songyue Pagoda is also located here, as well as Tang Dynasty (618–907) pagodas within the Fawang Temple.

Yu the Great conquered the flood

According to legend, the Yellow River flooded during the reign of Emperor Yao and Shun, and the people were forced to abandon their villages, and go to live in trees or on mountaintops. The flood brought great misery to the people. Emperor Yao, the chieftain of the Yan-Huang tribal alliance, appointed Gun to harness the flood. Gun built dikes to keep back the water, but failed, and he was sentenced to death.

After Gun died, Gun's son Yu was appointed to continue with the flood-harnessing work. Yu adopted the dredging method to lead the flood waters to flow along river courses into the sea. Yu worked very hard. It was said that during the 13 years he spent taming the floods, he passed his home three times, but did not enter until his task was completed. As a result of his successful efforts, the people bestowed on him the title "Yu the Great" and Shun chose Yu as his successor, with the approval of the tribal chieftains.

Kuafu races with the Sun

It is said that in antiquity a god named Kuafu determined to have a race with the Sun and catch up with him. So he rushed in the direction of the Sun. Finally, he almost ran neck and neck with the Sun, when he was too thirsty and hot to continue. Where could he find some water? Just then the
Yellow River and Wei River came into sight, roaring on. He swooped upon them earnestly and drank the whole river. But he still felt thirsty and hot, thereupon, he marched northward for the lakes in the north of China. Unfortunately, he fell down and died halfway because of thirst. Then the cane he dropped down became a stretch of peach, green and lush.

And so the idiom “Kuafu races with the Sun” becomes the trope of man's determination and volition against nature.

The Ancient Centre of Power—The Forbidden City

The Ancient Centre of Power—The Forbidden City

Located in the centre of Beijing, the Forbidden City, named Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace to 24 emperors from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is the best preserved imperial palace in China and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world. Thus, the Forbidden City was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. It’s a real treasury vault of Chinese cultural and historical relics.

The Forbidden City is the world’s largest palace complex, which covers 72 hectares with a total floor space of approximately 150,000 square meters and consists of 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms. It is recognized as one of the most important five palaces in the world with the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in the UK, the White House in the US and the Kremlin in Russia.

The gorgeous architecture of the Forbidden City speaks well for the essence and culmination ofaccomplishment. The grand palace took millions of people including one hundred thousand artisans 14 years(1406-1420) to finish its construction. Stone were quarried from the suburbs of Beijing. Some are as heavy as hundreds fo tons and it was  said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter o slide huge stones on ice ino the city. Large amount of timber and other materials were freighted from provinces in Southern China like Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi, etc.

There are entrances to the Forbidden City in all four directions and it’s suggested to enter the Forbidden City from the Tiananmen Gate, the traditional “front door” to experience the carefully laid out complex to best effect. The Forbidden City can be divided, by the Gate of Heavenly Peace, into two parts: The southern section is the “Outer Court” and the northern part is the “Inner Court”. Walking straight ahead northwards, you will reach the main entrance to the palace, the meridian Gate, wher the Emperor announced the new lunar calendar on the winter solstice. Enter the Meridian Gate, and go across the Golden Stream Bridge you will arrive at the outer court.

The Outer Court consists of three halls used for ceremonial purpose and other state affairs. You will be greeted by the magnificent Hall of Supreme Harmony, in which there is  the emperor’s Dragon Throne. The next is the Hall of Central Harmony , the resting palace of the emperor before presiding over grand events held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The last hall is the Hall of the Preserving Harmony used for banquets and later for imperial examinations.

The northern section, the Inner Court, was where the emperor lived with his family, eunuchs and maid—servants. The first part of the Inner Court is a series of three halls: the Palace of Heavenly Peace, which was the emperors’ sleeping quarters, the Palace of Union and Peace, where the imperial seas were kept and the Palace of Terrestrial Tranquility, the emperors’ wedding room. Besides the three main buildings there are the six eastern palaces and six western palaces , where the emperor and concubines were living. Those palaces have been converted into exhibitions halls.

Exiting and going further north, travelers will find the Imperial Garden, behind which there is the main exit gate of the Forbidden City, the Gate of Diving Minght. For security the Forbidden City is enclosed by a 10 meters high and 3,400 meters long outer wall. There is a watchtower at each corner of the Forbidden City and around the city there is six meter deep, 52 meter wide moat as the first line of defense.

Nowadays, any tour of Beijing would be incomplete without a visit to the grand palace. The introduction here about the Forbidden City is just the tip of an iceberg. You would never realize how great it is unless you visit there by yourself to enjoy the splendid painted decoration, the grand and deluxe halls, with the surprisingly treasures.

The Miracle of All Times----The Great Wall

The Miracle of All Times----The Great Wall

Listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, the Great Wall is a true marvel and a testament to the long history of the Chinese Civilization. The Great Wall stretches from ShanHai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey in April 2009, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 kilometers.

It’s believed that the Great Wall was firstly in Warring States period(475-221 B.C.), and primarily strengthened in three dynasties: the Qin(221-206B.C.), the Han(202B.C.-220A.D.), and the Ming(1368-1644). In the early days, the Great Wall was as much a demarcation of territory as a defense as such, but as the Great Wall became stronger, its defense role increased. The building styles of each dynasty added their own flavor and advanced the techniques learned from the previous. Where possible, natural barriers were integrated into the path of the wall. It’s said that the length of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers is about 2,232.5 kilometers.

The first emperor, Qin Shihuang, who unified China by force set about constructing one Great Wall—by joining existing one and filling the gaps. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Some parts of the Great Wall have almost disappeared. Some parts have been overwhelmed by the elements. Some have been buried by the desert. Others eroded by local people recycling the wall’s materials for constructing in their villages. Most of the walls that we are familiar with today were built in Ming Dynasty, which built the biggest, longest, strongest and most ornate Great Wall ever.

The Ming Dynasty Great Wall starts on the eastern end at ShanHai Pass, near Qin hungdao, in Hebei Province, next to Bohai Sea. It once spanned 9 provinces and 100 counties, but the final 500 kilometers of the  Great Wall to the west have all but turned to rubble. Today, the western end of the Great Wall effectively ends at the historic site of Jiayu Pass, in northwest GanSu Province, at the limit of the Gobi Desert and the oases of the Silk Road.

The ShanHai Pass mentioned above is one of the most famous passes of the Great Wall. It’s known as the First Pass under Heaven. To the east of it, there is a Meng Jiangnv Temple, which was built in memory of Meng Jiangnv, the heroine of the most popular folklore concerning the Great Wall of China. The husband of Meng Jiangnv was forced to go to the construction site for the Great Wall in the nuptial night. Meng JIangnv waited for the return of her husband and months went by like centuries. When winter came, she decided to visit him and bring him some clothes. However, she arrived at the site only to find her husband toiled to death and buried under the Great Wall. She was so sad that she kept crying for 7 days and nights. Finally, part of the Great Wall fell apart and the body of her husband appeared.

Besides the ShanHai Pass, another famous part of Great Wall should be Badaling, which is the most representative and best-protected part the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty. More than 400 celebrities like Nixon, Margaret Thatcher and Viadimir Putin etc. have visited and 130 million tourists have been there. After the Beijing Olympics,  you could visit there, being greeted by the Olympic structure “ One World, One Dream”, which could be seen in the MV of Beijing welcomes you.

Today, more and more people from all over the world are visiting the Great Wall of China, to stand on a watchtower and view the wall snaking into the distance. Why don’t you stand up, take a package with you and walk on the Great Wall? The one who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. You might take a photo with certain head of state, if you’re lucky enough.