the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses

The Terracotta Army of China was discovered in March 1974 by local farmers drilling a well to the east of Mount Li. Mount Li is the name of the man-made necropolis and tomb of the First Emperor of Qin; Qin Shi Huang. Construction of this mausoleum began in 246 B.C. and is believed to have taken 700,000 workers and craftsmen 36 years to complete. Qin Shi Huang was interred inside the tomb complex upon his death in 210 B.C. According to the Grand Historian Sima Qian, The First Emperor was buried alongside great amounts of treasure and objects of craftsmanship, as well as a scale replica of the universe complete with gemmed ceilings representing the cosmos, and flowing mercury. representing the great earthly bodies of water. Recent scientific work at the site has shown high levels of mercury in the soil of Mount Li, tentatively indicating an accurate description of the site’s contents by Sima Qian.

The tomb of Qin Shi Huang is near an earthen pyramid 76 meters tall and nearly 350 meters square। The tomb presently remains unopened। There are plans to seal-off the area around the tomb with a special tent-type structure to prevent corrosion from exposure to outside air। However, there is at present only one company in the world that makes these tents, and their largest model will not cover the site as needed.

Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis complex was constructed to serve as an imperial compound or palace. It is comprised of several offices, halls and other structures and is surrounded by a wall with gateway entrances. The remains of the craftsmen working in the tomb may also be found within its confines, as it is believed they were sealed inside alive to keep them from divulging any secrets about its riches or entrance. It was only fitting, therefore, to have this compound protected by the massive terra cotta army interred nearby.

Emperor Qin Shihuang

The terracotta figures were buried with the first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) in 210-209 BC। Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Army."

Emperor Qin Shihuang (259-210B।C.) had Ying as his surname and Zheng as his given name. He name to the throne of the Qin at age 13, and took the helm of the state at age of 22. By 221 B.C., he had annexed the six rival principalities of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei, and established the first feudal empire in China’s history.

Emperor Qin Shihuang，for his own pleasure, conscribed several hundred thousand convicts and went in for large-scale construction and had over seven hundred palaces built in the Guanzhong Plain. These palaces stretched several hundred li and he sought pleasure from one palace to the other. Often nobody knew where he ranging treasures inside the tomb, were enclosed alive.

Beijing

Beijing， the capital city of China， is a very beautiful and important city. It is one of the most ancient cities in China. There are many famous wonders and beautiful spots， such as the Great Wall， the Forbidden City， the Summer Palace， Beihai Park and so on. Beijing is also the centre of politics， economy and culture of our country. Owing to the open-door policy， great changes have taken place since 1978. Many new houses and tall buildings can be seen everywhere. The living condition of Beijing citizen is getting better and better. Beijing has been successfully in her bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games. I'm sure greater changes will take place in Beijing in the next few years. I love Beijing!

Beijing will host(主办) the Olympic Games in 2008,so people are doing a lot to make the city more beautiful.In 2008 the streets in Beijing will be wider.The building in Beijing will be higher and there will be more trees and flowers.Not new lights, and not cross the line, and not drink driving, not Luantingluanfang.Arbitrarily and lines, stop, drink driving, etc., these uncivilized acts, not only to Lu Tian Du, the more people they Tiandu. The Beijing transit, a taxi driver driving initiatives civilization is the civilization with their own actions contribute to the improvement of the Beijing traffic, but also for Olympic glory. Only people are civilized, to comply with laws, regulations and public morality, I believe 08 of the Olympic Games will be the best Olympic Games ever.

Suzhou gardens

The Suzhou Garden is one of China Classical gardens, it is different with the China Northern Royal Garden.

Give the Enemy a Ray of Hope

In 206 B.C., Cao Cao (155-220), a great statesman, artist of war and man of letters, led his army to attack the city of Huguan. As the city was strategically located and very difficult to access, Cao's army could not take it in spite of great efforts. Cao got extremely outraged and said, "Once I get into the city, I will have all those in it buried alive."
Soon his words were spread throughout the city. As the defenders in the city feared that it would really happen to them, they waged a desperate resistance. As a result, Cao's army found it even harder to win the battle. They made months of attempts to get in but in vain. Cao became more uneasy and consulted with his generals for a scheme.
At a meeting, General Cao Ren rose from his seat and said, "The art of war tells us that we should not put the enemy in too tight a ring, that the enemy should be left a way to survive. But now we have been trapping our enemy in a deadly corner. What's more, you have declared to have them all buried alive. This will only make them battle desperately against us, for they would rather fight to death than be buried alive. As I estimate, the enemy has almost run out of supplies. If we now give them a ray of hope by leaving an open in the ring, they are very likely to surrender to us, for they would rather survive than fight to death for nothing."
Cao Cao thought the idea quite sensible and ordered to do as the general said. As had been expected, the defending troops in the city soon crossed over to Cao's side. The city was finally seized without a cruel fight.

A Foolish Man Buys Shoes

In the past there lived a foolish man in a small kingdom called Zheng. One day he wanted to buy himself a pair of new shoes. He measured his feet with a ruler first and wrote down his size. But he was in such a hurry to set out that he left it at home.
When he arrived at a shoe shop, he felt in the pocket only to find that it was not there. So he said apologetically, 'I have left the measurement at home and don't know the size. I'll fetch it in one minute.' With these words he hurried off as fast as his legs could carry him.
He ran back home, found it and then to the shop again. But still it took him quite a while and the shop was already closed then. He had gone to all this trouble for nothing and did not get his shoes.
Then someone asked him, 'Did you buy the shoes for yourself or someone else?' 'For myself, of course.' he answered. 'Then why don't you try the shoes on by yourself?'

The Donkey of Guizhou

Once upon a time there was no donkey in Guizhou. So someone officious shipped one there, but。finding no use for it, he set it loose at the foot of the mountain. A tiger ran out from the mountains. When he saw this big tall thing, he thought it must be divine. He quickly hid himself in the forest and surveyed it from under cover. Sometimes the tiger ventured a little nearer, but still kept a respectful distance. One day the tiger came out again. Just then the donkey gave a loud bray. Thinking the donkey was going to eat him, the tiger hurriedly ran away. After a while he sneaked back and watched the donkey carefully. He found that though it had a huge body it seemed to have no special ability. After a few days the tiger gradually became accustomed to its braying and was no longer so afraid. Sometimes he even came near and circled around the donkey. Later the tiger became bolder. Once he walked in front of the donkey and purposely bumped it. This made the donkey so angry that it struck out his hind legs and kicked wildly. Seeing this the tiger was very gleeful, 'Such a big thing as you can do so little!' With a roar he pounced on the donkey and ate it up.

Plucking Up a Crop To Help It Grow

XChinese proverbs are rich and they are still widely used in Chinese people's daily life. There are often stories behind Chinese proverbs. We will introduce one proverb, 'plucking up a crop to help it grow.' This Chinese proverb is based on the following story.
It is said that a short tempered man in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) was very anxious to hope his rice crop growing up quickly. He was thinking about this day and night. But the crop was growing much slower than he expected.
One day, he thought a solution to this. He plucked up all of his crop a few inches.
Even though he was very tired after doing this for a whole day, but he felt very happy since the crop did 'grow' higher.
His son heard about this and went to see the crop. Unfortunately the leaves of the crop began to wither.
This proverb is saying we have to let things go in its natural course. Being too anxious to help an event to develop often results in the contrary to our intent.