Collaboration of the Month
Shanghai (上海) is mainland China's largest economic, financial and trade center. It is well-known for its mix of east and west. Shanghai was once divided up into different "Concessions" (租界) or districts, and the boundaries of these areas still remain today. There are many different styles of architecture and design throughout the city. Today's Shanghai is a modern and fashionable city undergoing a stunning pace of development, and changing at a rate incomparable to anywhere else in the world. Shanghai covers an area of 6,340.5 sq km.
Shanghai's top attractions include Nanjing Road (南京路) (the top shopping street), the Bund (外滩) (French Colonial structures), Oriental Pearl TV Tower (东方明珠电视塔) (highest TV Tower in Asia), Pujiang Cruise (浦江游) (for the views of the Bund and the cityscape of Pudong), and Yuyuan Garden (豫园) (classical Chinese garden).
Shanghai began as a fishing village in the 11th century, but in the 13th century, it became a cotton production and manufacturing center. By the 1800s it was becoming the largest city in China, and then reached an economic peak in the early 19th century. In the mid 1800s, the industrialization in Great Britain and the cotton production in the United States essentially destroyed the cotton industry of Shanghai. (more Shanghai ...)
Royal Prime Minister’s Palace is located in Jincheng city, Shanxi Province. Once called as “the Castle and Mansion of the Prime Minister” (Huangcheng Xiangfu, or Royal Prime Minister’s Palace), by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, it was the royal residence of the prominant Prime Minister Chen Jingting, who was the royal teacher of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Mr. Chen was also a famous statesman, writer, idealist, philosopher and poet, and served as the editor-in-chief of the famous Kangxi Zidian Dictionary.
Emperor Kangxi gave this palace to Chen Jingting to show his appreciation to his teacher. The complex now hosts a great number of Chen Jingting's posthumous works and the emperor's handwritings.
Covering an area of 90,000 meters square with 19 gardens and courtyards, 640 rooms and 9 castle gates, the complex is comprised of officer's dwelling place, ancient homes of literary men and folk houses. This palace was surrounded by a wall 1700 meters long and 12 meters high, and designed and built for strong defense from inside and outside. It is also called Turtle City (which means strong for ever), because when viewed from the top, it looks like a turtle facing the northern sea.(more Royal Prime Minister’s Palace ...)
