The capital of the province of Hunan, in the south of central China, is a large modern city like Shanghai but which is very attached to its particularity. It covers 554 km2 in the north of the province, 50 km from the second largest freshwater lake in China, the famous...
SERIES : SPRINGTIME FOR GREEN TEA
Tea pickings : great Joy after little stress (I) When the first signs of spring heralded a rebirth in the plantations, great excitement is perceptible among tea producers. Because, when the tea plants wake up, invigorated by the new season, their new shoots are bursting with aromatic substances. For the...
Zhuang zi, another Tone of the Dao (II)
With the exception of a few anecdotes preserved by tradition, and whose historical foundation is far from certain, the life of Zhuang Zi is practically unknown to us. We only know that he lived in the principality of Song ( in Henan now ) around 285 BC, at the end...
RAOUL WAROCQUÉ
The late Qing Belgian diplomat A large, wealthy Belgian industrialist with his own castle, mayor of a city, passionate collector of Chinese art, Raoul Warocqué (1870-1917) led the last diplomatic mission to Imperial China in 1910! He had been received by Emperor Guangxu's brother, the Prince of Chun, a year...
A brief introduction to the concept of fiction in China
Looking over the history of Chinese literature which has experienced several millenniums, we can see that Tang poetry, Song « ci » (verses of the Song dynasty) and Yuan « qu" (a collective name for zaju and sanqu of the Yuan dynasty) are like 3 radiant pearls, sparkling in the temple of Chinese...
Fabulous Mogao Caves
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, they are located in the remote province of Gansu in northwest China. Specifically 25 km from the city of Dunhuang. At the time of the long caravans of the Silk Road, it was the oasis of the wealth of commercial exchanges....
Zhuang Zi, another tone of the Dao (I)
With the exception of a few anecdotes preserved by tradition, and whose historical foundation is far from certain, the life of Zhuang zi is practically unknown to us. We only know that he lived in the principality of Song ( in Henan now ) around 285 BC, at the end...
XI’AN (II) Inside the walls
Return to Xi'an, one of the three Chinese cities to have preserved almost all of its "imperial" walls, too. Parks have been set up around which invite you to relax. Before leaving for other intramural discoveries this time. Historic capital of the Middle Kingdom for more than a thousand years,...
Chengdu, hyper-modern but cultural
Capital of the province of Sichuan, Chengdu is a huge metropolis of some 16 million inhabitants that a flourishing industry has dredged over the decades. Resolutely modern, bristling with skyscrapers and invaded by shopping malls, it is active day and night, tireless. And when she relaxes or does tai chi,...
Zhangjiajie, an infinite world of thrills!
Located in northwestern Hunan, this city would probably be a peaceful provincial entity if…300 million years ago a spectacular cataclysm had not catapulted huge oceanic masses towards the light. Slow erosion shaped them into lofty peaks and nature took on the task of dressing them in green: plants, shrubs, conifers...