Recently, the representatives of major media institutions from the African countries, who participated in the Seminar on Renowned Commentators and Columnists that was held in Beijing ,the a Capital of Peoples Democratic Republic of China visited some historical places and tourist attracting sites in China.
After the training program was completed, we, the representatives of major media organizations observed the Beijing historical places such as the Capital Museum, Geat Wall, Temple of Heaven, Royal Academy, Confucius Centre, Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall, Capital Museum, Xinua News Agency., Digital Media Centre of China International Publishing Group, China Science and Technology Museum, China International Publishing Centre, Commercial Facilities and others.
The Capital Museum, which is located in the Confucius Temple was prepared in 1943 and formally opened in 1981. The architectural design concept of the museum is « to take people and cultural heritage as foremost and serve the society and underlines the harmonious integration of past, history and modernism, art and nature. »
The Great Wall is a defensive horrification in ancient China, which goes across many provinces and cities. It has a length of 8851.8 kilometers. Thus, it is called «the wall of ten thousand li».( It is a Chinese unit of measure .1 li is equal 0.5 kilometer). It is one of the ten wonders in the world, and was listed on world cultural heritage in December 1987. Firstly built in Westerb Zhou dynasty and continuously constricted by the following dynasties, it was finally completed in Ming dynasty.
There is a saying goes that one who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero. So, we tried to climb up the Great Wall in order to be the hero. Before us, a lot of visitors take reaching the Great Wall as an honor. We informed that up to now, more than 300 foreign leaders and influential people in the world have reached the Great Wall, including US President Nixon and President Regan , and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher .
The Temple of Heaven in Beijing is wonderful and amazing. As our guidance described, it is a Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yongle who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of Emperor Jiajing in the 16th century.
Jiajing also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of the Sun in the east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west. The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong reign. By then, the state budget was insufficient, so this was the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in imperial times.
According to her (our guidance) the Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as “a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations…” as the “symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries.
Furthermore, the development of Imperial Academy is related with Sui dynasty that united the country and brought about the systematic education system comparatively. In the 3rd year of Emperor Guiyang (607 AD) Imperial Temple was redesigned as Imperial Academy and officially pronounced its title and function.
We, the representatives (10 Ethiopians + 24 other African friends) also visited additional historical towns and tourist attractions outside Beijing, especially in Guizhou Province, which is situated in the southwest of China. In China, there are 34 administrative regions and 56 ethnic groups; one of them is called Guizhou Province. Guizhou is considered as home of 17 ethnic minorities that have been living there harmoniously since ancient times.
Guizhou officially became an administrative unit at a provincial level in the Ming Dynasty in1413AD. In Guizhou, we found many historical places and tourist attractions. From these, Huangguoshu Waterfalls, Shexiang Museum, Qingyan, Bingan, Longli, Jiuzhou, Maotai and Zhenuyan Ancient Towns, Tianlong,Tunpu and Yunshan Villages, are included.
Likewise, the National Scenic Spot ,Bridge Museum, World Natural Heritage, Dragon Palace, Bali Azalea Belt, Fanjiangshan,Wuling, Untai and Fanjing Mountains assist Guizhou, to be a very pleasant province. Similarly, it is believed that the attractive sites such as Libo Karst Landform, Hundred li Azalea Park, Chisui National Forest Park and , Zanke River may provide pleasure and satisfaction to foreign and domestic tourists, Shiqian and Wanfeng Lakes, Chery Garden, Zhijin, Yangming, Shuanghe and Jiulong Caves, which are found there serve as sources of happiness and means of income .
We also observed the Danzhai Wanda Town ,Miao Golden Pheasant Dance and Miao costume and watch a large Miao musical situational experience drama and look over national intangible cultural heritage such as Danzhai Miao handicrafts.
One of the tourist attractions, Huangguoshu Waterfall, which has the sound of tenebrous roars, is the largest waterfall in China. It is also one of the world famous great falls, 77.8m high and 101 m wide.
When we arrived over there, we have seen thousands of tourists, who were attracted by its beauty .It is true that one cannot describe its full majesty in words. The representatives have been informed that over 300 years ago, Xu Xiake, a famous Chinese geographer and traveler, standing in awe of this beautiful scenery,exclaimed; Water cascades from the creek stone, as smoke soared in to the air, surging forward with great momentum.
Huangguoshu Waterfall includes 18 waterfalls of different areas and stretches of shining silk, it gives the impression of dangerous creation and beautiful styles forming a huge waterfall family, which is included in the World Guinness record.
As well, Sheiang Museum is a comprehensive museum of Yi history and culture, relaying on Sheiang tomb and a national relic protection unit, built in the ruins of Mu ege Castle, u ege Castle.
The Ethiopian Herald August 27, 2019
BY TADDELE GEDLIE TSEGAYE (PhD)
