Celebrating Christmas Day in China

Christmas Day is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that marks and honors the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. People often celebrate from December 24 - the Christmas Eve.

Modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, church celebrations, and the display of various decorations—including the Christmas tree, lights, mistletoe, nativity scenes and holly. Santa Claus (also referred to as Father Christmas, although the two figures have different origins) is a popular mythological figure often associated with bringing gifts at Christmas.

As the Christmas approaches, department stores, shopping malls, official buildings will be decorated with Christmas trees (Christmas trees are usually decorated with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns), colorful lights and even Chinese lanterns. Christmas carols can be heard over the noise of the crowds and the Chinese "Father Christmas" helps to make the scene complete.

It is different from the weaterners that the Chinese family often skips the large meal - Christmas tree, but everyone still exchanges gifts. Exchanging Christmas Cards and Gifts is a very important part of Chinese Christmas Day. It is a chance to strengthen the relationships between friends, families and loved ones by exchanging Christmas cards and gifts. For many young Chinese people, Christmas Day is more like another Valentine’s Day rather than the family-get-together of western counties. They invite their loved ones for celebratory dinner, exchange gifts and enjoy a romantic night.

Chinese Christmas Day is also an occasion to share goodwill and be generous to people in need like orphans, lonely old people, the sick and homeless people. Many Chinese people will bring gifts to orphanage, Old People’s Home and hospitals to encourage these people.

As in western culture, Christmas day was a time to spend with family. Judy recalls sitting down with relatives to a large meal on Christmas day, but it could be served at either lunch or dinner. Instead of turkey, her father would prepare foods such as roast barbecued pork, chicken, and soup with wood ears. Reminiscing, she says the meal had more in common with a Chinese New Year's banquet than a traditional Christmas dinner.

Do You Hear of "Air Condition Tent"?

As we are know, when we are camping, we should take some anti-cold clothes or quilts. Have you ever think of that your tent could be fit with an air conditioner as the above picture? It sits on three bricks in the rear door. But not every one could fit an air conditioner anywhere. There's three things you must consider before installing an air conditioner in your tent:

1. The air conditioner must pull no more than 6 or 7 amps.

2. The extension cord must be rated for 15 amps or more.
3. The extension cord must be rated for outdoor use.

And you should note that the plug is inside the tent to keep it out of rain and the 50 foot extension cord running from the air conditioner to the campsite's electrical outlet pole in the right background.

There is a reason for that. Plug-in electrical connections generate heat. You don't want the tent end of the extension cord to get hot to the touch. Slighty warm is ok; hot is dangerous. Buy a low-amperage air conditioner and a high-amperage extension cord. Tents make dandy bonfires.

The unit, shown in the photo, pulls 5.3 amps. It's a Daewoo Model WM-501, rated 5,150 BTU. I picked it from several different brands because it pulled the least amps. In fact, those units, all in the 5,000 BTU range, pulled from 5.3 to 8+ amps.

5,150 BTUs are more than enough. The tent is a huge 9-man tent, and even on the hottest Delta afternoon it's cool and comfortable inside. In fact, you never have to turn the control knob past "Low Cool." At night, you turn the thermostat just high enough to cycle the compressor every once in a while. To do otherwise is like sleeping inside a refrigerator.

The air conditioned tent could allow you to do things you couldn't do before.

- You can now sleep late in the mornings. The hum of the fan and compressor motors drowns out the sounds of morning birds and insects. Ever noticed that morning birds are happiest when you have a hangover?

- On hot afternoons, you can now use your computer in the tent. Before, you should had to find someone willing to loan me the use of their air conditioned room and their electrical outlets. Now you put a roll-up table in a corner of your tent and use the table like a desk, notebook computer and Zip drive on its top and powered via a regular extension cord.

If you camp somewhere without electrical outlets, a wildlife management area primitive campground, for example, you can't use my air conditioner. But you can use your computer and Zip drive. The Bluesmobile is equipped with a diode-isolated auxiliary battery. You could install it behind the driver's seat because of no room under the hood.

A Perfect Way To Brighten Your House Up

Whether you are new to decorating or are an old hat, I want to bring you the information you need to create a beautiful home. Many people find color to be intimidating and are afraid to experiment with it when decorating. But color is one of the most important tools a decorator has at their disposal.

Why not thinking about recovering your light switches and other electrical outlets! It's a fun and unexpected way to bring color, whimsy, and of course light into a space. Here I will show you some interesting ways.

You may not think of a light switch plate covers as an ideal starting point for the redesign of your space. However, professional designers have been known to choose a color palette from any interesting piece of art, even what you could use to cover your lights.

Light switch plate covers come in all different styles, textures, colors and patterns. Shopping online will return a plethora of options for your selection. A great way to begin is to perform a keyword search for them. You will instantly be given a list to many different interesting sites. You can then start to narrow down all those options by adding in search words that describe what you are really looking for such as 'modern', 'country', 'Victorian', etc.
If you are searching for a specific kind of light switch plate covers, you may also have luck searching for keywords like "wallplate" and "switchplate" as these are also commonly used terms.

This is also a great opportunity to get the entire family involved in a craft project together. If you are up for it, try making your own light switch plate covers using clear contact paper, glitter, glue, scissors, and various decorations. With the kids, it will be fun to make special light switch plate covers that are decorated as part of a holiday celebration or gift idea.

Light switch plate covers aren't just for the younger generation; there are many different styles available for a more sophisticated crowd. Try copper, brass or other metals to compliment a modern décor. Many of the metal options on the market have been created from molds of real antique plates that have been taking from historical homes. Also, try natural prints, floral, or paisley prints for a more relaxed but grown-up feel.

So, light switch plate covers no longer have to be those boring boxes on the wall. Remember to have fun and keep your eyes open for new and interesting selections for gift and décor ideas.

Colorful Yunnan Tour

Lijiang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Yunnan Province, 527 km from the provincial capital Kunming. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, located ten miles from Lijiang, has one of the closest glaciers to the equator. The mountain peaks at 18,000 feet above sea level at the Shanzidou peak which looks like a snow-covered dragon. To the west of Lijiang the River of Golden Sand - the Jinshajiang (or Upper Yangtze) - makes a sharp turn north at Shigu and from here to the next major river valley - the Lancangjiang (Upper Mekong) - mountains predominate.

Lijiang has a population of 1,040,000 and is the main region inhabited by Naxi Group. The Bai, Yi, Miao, and other ethnic minorities accounted for 58%, Lijiang is therefore with very different and colorful ethnic customs. Naxi ancient music is known as the "Chinese classical music living fossil" . In its long history, the local residents have established their splendid Dongba Culture which has absorbed aspects of the culture of Tibet and the Central Plains along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. The various souvenirs marked with these Dongba hieroglyphs are very popular with visitors from home and abroad.

Dali is located on a fertile plateau between the Cangshan mountains to the west and Erhai lake to the east. It has traditionally been settled by the Bai and Yi minorities. It is also the capital of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture.
The long history and splendid culture of Dali left us rich cultural relics. Cangshan Mountain, Erhai Lake, Butterfly Spring, and the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are praised as Dali's leading scenic areas.

Ethnic minorities have inhabited Dali for generations, with the Bai Minority making up the majority of Dali's population (65%). The customs of the ethnic minorities bring charm to daily life in Dali. Each spring, celebrations and festivals bring the city to life. Celebrations such as the March Street Festival and Butterfly Fest provide excellent opportunities to learn about local folk customs. Dali city has attracted many tourists from abroad. There is a famous street called "Foreigner Street" around Huguo Road.

The Xishuangbanna sees Golden Peacock as its symbol. Dai town of Xishuangbanna is the hometown of Golden. Xishuangbanna looks like a elegant and beautiful picture: the dense forests, the leisurely walking elephants, flying peacock, magnificent countryside, whirling Feng Weizhu, areca arch , The Dai's bamboo bulding, Golden Temple pagoda, and Dai women's graceful figure...

Following with "Mei Lanfang" to Chase for the Lost Beauty

Mei Lanfang(梅兰芳), Shang Xiaoyun (尚小云), Cheng Yanqiu (程砚秋) and Xun Huisheng (荀慧生) were known as Four Great Dan in the golden era of Peking Opera. Mei really a culture hero. The new moive "Mei Lanfang" gave us an opportunity to touch the classic tradition and the culture of Beijing Opera. It also gave us an opportunity to clean up our souls at these artistic Masters' hometown.
Mei's House in Taizhou, Jiangsu

With a history of over 2100 years, Taizhou enjoys the reputation of "Ancient County in Han and Tang Dynasties and Famous District alongside the coast of the Yellow Sea". Through ages, it has seen gatherings of great talents and famous merchants. Roaming about the streets in Taizhou, you could feel its thick culture history.

Cheng Yanqiu's House in Beijing

Beijing - the place where Peking Opera was born. On top have a visit of Hutong Tour by pedicabs，enjoying the real life of the Beijing residents and Peking Opera.

Xun and Shang both come from Hebei province. Xun is best known for his portrayal of huadan roles, women who tended to be more vivacious or even of questionable character. In addition to Shang's singing, he was known for his dance and acrobatic skills.

Fasion Christmas LED Light

It turns out some Christmas trees are more green than others. More and more people seeking to conserve energy are increasingly switching their high-voltage holiday displays to more efficient LED lighting systems.

Christmas Day is coming, we see that many holiday tree is decorated entirely with LED lights instead of the old-fashioned incandescent lights, and about half of the city's other light displays have been converted, too. More over, with less electricity needed, many people are seizing the opportunity to indulge their holiday spirit in bigger LED displays.

The technology of LED, or light emitting diodes, has grown in popularity because it uses about 10% of the energy consumed by incandescent bulbs. Rather than heating a filament inside each bulb, LED lights use a chemical compound that requires much less electricity.

The newer lights also are more durable, lasting as much as 100,000 hours, compared with traditional bulbs that often burn out after just 1,000 hours.

I think most people of the world watched the broadcast of the opening ceremonies from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, yeah? What a sight it was! Five thousand years of Chinese history flowed on a huge LED scroll that unrolled to chapters of China's 5,000-year civilization.

The old incandescent bulbs required so much power that the holiday display often blew out fuses. Along with such practical concerns, LED lights are helping the environment by conserving energy.

Only Love Traveling in Zhangjiajie in Winter

In different season, Zhangjiajie will show you a different landscape. All things are recovered in the spring; the summer with lush trees; blue sky and fresh air in autumn; in winter, Zhang jia jie will give you a unique feeling that all montains and tree are covered with white snow. What a spectacular sight!

In recent years, some of the newly developed area are becoming the favorite of winter visitors. Forwording from the Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan scenic spot about a few hundred meters, then look up and you could see an unparalleled majestic elevators (326 meters tall), which is called "Eiffel Tower of China", is built along the cliff. The modern architecture will give you a heartquake. As long as you go into the transparent elevator, it will move up with 3 meters per second. And it will only take 116 second to go to the top - Xian jie of Yuan jiajie.

In winter, you could enjoy the absolutely beatiful sight "Red maples match white snow" at the newly developed scenic spot of Zhang jiajie by Bailong Stairs. After the end of November each year, the mountain tops of Yuan jiajie will be covered by a thin layer of white snow, just like wearing white hats. Comparing with the few red maples at the forane mountainsides, the senic will absolutely impact your vision.

Tips: 3-day traveling in Zhangjiajie is a better choice. On the first day, you could visit the traditional scenic spot - Jin Bian Brook. On the second day, you could go to Yuan Jiajie. And if you have time, you could visit Tianzi Mountain to enjoy the spectacular snow sight. On the last day, you could visit Dragon King Cave and Tianmen Mountain.

The price of Traveling to Europe Goes to the Lowest

For the financial crisis and turmoil in Thailand, the travel agencies, airlines and hotels all decide to cut down their profits to give the lowest price of European traveling to sttract tourists. All European travelings are less than 8000 RMB, such as 5799 RMB to travel in Paris and 6399 RMB to travel in Switzerland.

For a long time, the quotes of European Tour are always more than 10,000 yuan. So that the European Tour is a luxury for many people. Not long ago, Beijing Caesar International Travel agency, which mainly offers European tours for many years, reduce the price for the first that 7999 RMB to traveling in Germany for 8 days.

When people are being amazed at 7999 yuan, the price of the European Tour again brush to "low." Huayuan International Travel Agency, another famous one in Beijing, offers traveling freely to 8 cities in Europe that "Traveling in Paris Free" is only 5799 yuan. The same with many other European cities such as London, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich, Athens, and so on, the price is not more than 6399 yuan.

Traveling market goes into a "winter".
According to a recent statistics of China National Tourism Administration Beura, the population of traveling to Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan is only 1,880,000, which has a 15.1% year-on-year decline. For travel agencies, this figure seems to prove that winter comes.