The abbots of 29 temples in Hunan province have started a campaign to make entry to temples in the province free. The move is praiseworthy, because it is against commercialization of temples, says an article in Guangming Daily. Excerpts:There are tens of thousands of temples in China, and a person needs to buy a ticket to enter one that is even slightly popular. But making entrance tickets mandatory to visit such places is not conducive to preserving the varied culture of China. Besides, the public doesn't like commercialization of cultural sites, especially temples.Entrance tickets, however, are only the tip of the iceberg. The root of commercialization of temples lies in travel packages and industrial management offered by profit-minded companies that have no respect for faith or culture.Businesspeople don't think twice before using temples to make money. Moreover, some local governments have made incomes from temples a part of their regular revenues. Businesspeople and local governments, however, have been making money at the cost of the public.When it comes to temple-related issues, monks should have the final say, and local governments and businesspeople should be prevented from intervening in sensitive affairs.Public opinion should be respected while developing public tourist attractions such as famous mountains and ancient temples. Making entrance to 29 temples in Hunan free is a good way to stop commercialization of temples.Source:china.org.cn

News 2013-05-24 11:07 View：953

Zhangjiajie has announced that all the global primary and secondary students is accessible to visit Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan core scenic area and the Grand Canyon for free from from July 1 to Next May 31. In addition, since July 7, Wulingyuan core scenic area will comprehensively implement appointment system to control the number of guests in rush hour.Chen danfeng, the municipal party committee and deputy mayor, introduced that all the global primary and secondary students under the age of 19 can visit Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan core scenic area and the Grand Canyon for free. Those students should take ID card, residence booklet, passport and related certificate. The ticket fee for the adult in the scenic spots is 160 RMB and 118 RMB respectively. The traffic in the scenic area will cost students based on the student preference price.Given the coming of busy season, the number of popular scenic area will increase quickly; the Wulingyuan core area will be the first to implement reservation system. Anyone who visits the scenic spots should make online booking. After the booking, they can go to the ticket window to do visit formalities. Chen Danfeng revealed that the reservation system will be carried out to other scenic spots step by step, such as Tianmenshan, Yellow Dragon Cave, Baofeng Lake, the Grand Canyon.Translated by Emma

News 2013-05-23 23:21 View：2318

Zhangjiajie Municipal People's Government announced on May 16 that the core scenic area in Zhangjiajie will be free to global middle and primary students from June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014.Primary and secondary students aged under 19 from home and abroad can visit the Wulingyuan core scenic area and Great Gorge Scenic Spot for free after check-in with their valid documents like ID card, registration card or passport.The Wulingyuan core scenic area launched a system of free-ticket appointment for tourists. From July 1, 2013, all visitors shall make appointment in advance on the internet and do check-in at the ticketing booth with valid document.The appointment system is a mature practice in many domestic and international scenic spots, which helps to optimize the tourist attractions by providing good tourist safety, protecting environment, reducing waiting time and promoting tourism service. The system is expected to be popularized in other scenic spots such as Tianmen Mountain, Yellow Dragon Cave, Baofeng Lake and Great Gorge.Translator: Wang BilianSource:enghunan.gov.cn 

News 2013-05-23 22:28 View：1054

Broad Sustainable Construction (BSC), known for constructing a 30-story building in fifteen days, has just gained approval to start construction on one of their biggest projects - a 838-meter or 2,749 feet tall building called Sky City, Treehugger reports.Its height puts it about 10 meters over the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the current tallest building in the world, according to Quartz.This new monolith is meant to address China's rapidly urbanizing and still growing population. It will have 92 elevators, a 6-mile long ramp running between the floors, and even a hotel.The company says construction will take about 7 months (BSC seems to have abandoned their original do-it-in-90-days ).Construction for the Burj Khalifa took approximately 6 years.The building will have 202 floors and will be built in the middle of a field in Changsha.China will soon be home to the world's tallest building.Source: shanghaiist.com

News 2013-05-22 22:41 View：1096

Photo taken on May 18, 2013 shows the night scene of the Xibu Street in Zhangjiajie, a well-known scenic spot in central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Li Ga)Tourists enjoy a bonfire party at the Xibu Street in Zhangjiajie, a well-known scenic spot in central China's Hunan Province, May 18, 2013. (Xinhua/Li Ga)Source:Xinhua

News 2013-05-22 22:39 View：1791

On the morning of May 16th morning, Zhangjiajie Municipal Government announced that from June 1st to May 31th of next year,ZJJ Wulingyuan Scenic Area will be free to global primary and middle school students under the age of 19.It is understood that the free scope refers to the entrance tickets of wulingyuan scenic spot, without containing 65 yuan/person environmental car fare. From June 1st, the primary and middle school students who under the age of 19, with the effective certificate such as id card, residence booklet, passport, go to wulingyuan only buying environmental car fare.In addition, the manned tools in wulingyuan such as the cable car, elevator and sightseeing car will be perennial executed concessionary fares for students. This policy will also act in the peripheral area such as Huanglong hole, Baofeng lake.Translated by Sophia

News 2013-05-21 23:08 View：1197

The Blue Book on Urban Competitiveness in China (2013) was jointly released by the Financial Strategy Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Social Science Documentation Press and the Research Center of City Competitiveness of CASS in Beijing on May 19th.According to the Book, the comprehensive economic competitiveness index is a combination of economic growth index and efficiency competitiveness index. It also releases a list of  top ten most competitive cities of 2012: Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Taipei, Guangzhou, Beijing, Suzhou, Foshan, Tianjing and Macao. Among the cities in Central China, only Wuhan, Changsha and Chengdu have been included in the top 20 cities list displaying substantial competitiveness.According to the list, the top 20 most harmonious cities of 2012 were Hong Kong, Macao, Jinan, Xi'an, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Weihai, Dalian, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shenyang, Huaihua, Changsha, Beijing, Anshan, Xiangtan, Wuhan, Wuxi, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, including 3 cities from Hunan.Translator: Wang XiaoluSource: enghunan.gov.cn

News 2013-05-21 22:35 View：1684

On May 16th, 50 professional models who come from all parts of the country went into the zhangjiajie national forest park. With breathing the fresh air of nature, they felt the beautiful scenery in the world natural heritage and welcomed the 12th ACI international professional model contest.It is understood that the 12th ACI international professional model contest in China has 5 days. On may 20th, it will choose professional male and female model, the best popularity award, the best skin prize, the best charm award prize, and so on. All the winners will gain a “international professional model certificate” which issued by ACI international professional model certification body. The champion will represent China to participate in the global finals.During the finals, the organizing committee will organize all the models in huangshi village, baofeng lake, huanglong hole, military academies and other attractions to perform arts filming activities and folk experience. Through the image display, the camera performance, T stage performance and teamwork spirit, people can have a evaluation for the contestants.Translated by Sophia

News 2013-05-20 23:07 View：1131