Authorized by Hunan Bureau of Qulity Supervision and drafted by Zhangjiajie Gold salamanders biological engineering CO.,LTD, local standard of the product of Geographical indication Zhangjiajie giant salamander was released on June 17th and put into effect on August 17th. This standard filled the blank left by raising and training giant salamander.Zhangjiajie giant salamander was authorized as product of geographical indication in 2010 by National Bureau of Quality Inspection. This standard released carried out recently comprehensively absorbed experience and skill of Zhangjiajie giant salamander breeding companies accumulated in the process of raising giant salamander. At the same time, they got suggestions from provincial giant salamander rescue center, Zhangjiajie animal husbandry administration and Jishou University research institution of giant salamander.In the long run, this standard will normalize the skill in raising and training giant salamander, improve the quality of Zhangjiajie giant salamander, boost its protection and guide the healthy development in this field.Translated by Becky

2013-08-22 22:52 View：742

During the session of country singles, there will be more than 200 media focus on zhangjiajie, all-round report 2013 international country singles pomp, to show zhangjiajie’s unique charm.According to introduction, This country singles publicity will adopt vertical promotion mode. The channel covers television, print, network and so on. With comprehensive attacking, more than 200 domestic and overseas media will concentrate on the propaganda and follow-up reports, to form a powerful public influence. At present, around the music preparation, activity subject, iteam, etc.,CCTV, xinhua news agency, China news agency, hunan daily, Massachusetts and dozens of media has been underway for a comprehensive range of previous forecast, which effectively expanding the zhangjiajie foreign brand image.At the opening ceremony, hunan satellite TV broadcast live across the international channels. CCTV, Phoenix TV, Dragon TV, CNN, The People’s Daily, Economic daily, and so many print media will combine country singles theme activities, carry out various news report. The central people’s broadcasting station, the voice of America, the BBC, Chinese radio stations of Hong Kong will also be the first time to pass zhangjiajie “the sound of music”.In addition, The Associated Press, ria novosti news agency, Reuters, agence France presse, the kyodo news agency and other major foreign media will be synchronized to the global coverage of zhangjiajie music awards. At the same time, by using weibo, micro letter communication effect, we can “all-weather” release the latest dynamic of the music, and interact with local netizens to exchange and expand the influence.Translated by Sophia

2013-08-21 22:51 View：943

On August 19th, The Prose and Poetry Contest–ZJJ “Beautiful Wulingyuan” is officially initiated. It is reported that the time for soliciting articles is from August 19th to the end of October; domestic prosers, poets and literature lovers can apply for the contest; the top three can award 300-800 rewards, but also have a chance visiting Wulingyuan core scenic spot without any charge.Under the joint effort of Federation of literature and art of Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan, Zhangjiajie writer’s association, Zhangjiajie Daily and Wulingyuan News Net, the contest is to prosper Wulingyuan’s tourism and culture and develop and stimulate more people to pay attention and love Wulingyuan by producing prose and poetry. The theme of all the articles is focused on Wulingyuan and the styles are prose and poetry. Only online submission is accepted, the email is 1308977062@qq.com.By Crystal

2013-08-21 22:50 View：876

On August 19th, source from ZJJ Wulingyuan tourism sector has learned that Xibu Streetrises in rank of national 4A tourism attraction and enters into the final process of quality assessment of tourism attraction.Xibu Street has made efforts in terms of the tag system, tourists service center, cultural spots and software. In future, it will become a comprehensive 4A tourism attraction rolled sightseeing, entertainment, shopping and cater into one in Hunan.According to the report, after awarded national 3A tourism attraction in last year,Xibu Street starts construction projects in scenic spot with a investment of over 10 millions in terms of eco-car parking lot, bridge, tourist map, signs, toilet and night view lighting. At the same time, relevant preferential policies for travel agencies and win-win for Xibu Street have been come out.The person in charge of Xibu Street indicates that taking national 4A tourism attraction as a chance, Xibu Street will build Xiou qiu platform, Love Wall and Xilan square that displays blind date and love culture of Tujia people; reconstruct waterwheel square that presents the production, life and farming culture of Xiangxi ancestors; establish delicate garden with Tujia characteristics based on sakura, peach blossom and plum blossom. Above are just some examples, when you come here at that time, the fascinating scene will feast your easy.It is reported that the evaluation committee of the national tourism attraction quality class will make assessment on Xibu Street’s declaration for national 4A tourism attraction.By Crystal

2013-08-21 22:50 View：875

On August 17th, afternoon,“Final Battle in Tianmen–Red Bull Heaven Road Drift Contest” is kicked off in ZJJ Tianmen Mount scenic spot. Deng zhilun, A drifter from HK, China, and Federico from Italy ride their racing cars that have been specially modified, start from Heaven Road and arrive in the parking lot of Tianmen Cave after passing 99 super curves on the six-meter sky way. The whole journey covers 11 kilometers and has 99 curves including 30 hairpin curves with 180°and 13 curves adjacent to the cliffs. During the contest, both of them not only have to finish the whole road, but also compete in speed, drift angles and coherence, and the final winner comes out after severe judgments from the professional judges. After comprehensive assessment, Federico crowns the “King of the Heaven Road Drift” with the average score of 96.5.On that day, many tourists and Zhangjiajie citizens appreciate the grand occasion and shout their cheers and congratulations.By Crystal

2013-08-20 22:49 View：1485

The world natural heritage, The third international country singles will kick off at the end of the month. As the hosting site of the opening ceremony,Wulingyuan huanglong hole is making preparations.Country singles, this year, is given priority to simple tone, and fully embodies the tujia folk characteristics. Fifty thousand flowers will decorate huanglong hole, and every music notes will be marked with a variety of flowers. At that time, the whole ecological square will be a sea of flowers.As we have learned, earlier this year, Wulingyuan huanglong scenic spot has hired experts to carefully nurture purple leaf rice, yellow rice, black rice and characteristical melons and fruits, and other crops, which increases the intensity of ecological landscape. With the maximum reduction of tujia farming culture, it will enhance the look of scenic spot.After the opening ceremony, bands from all over the world will dance in the fields of the square. The audience will sit in the middle of the paddy fields to appreciate the original music feast.Translated by Sophia

2013-08-20 22:46 View：794

Changsha county has soared up China's rankings for tourism competitiveness, reaching top 100 for the first time according to a recent index, published at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. The county's abundant tourism resources and profound cultural heritage have landed it the 55th place on the list of the nation's top 100 county-level cities, prefectures, and counties.The county is home to a wide variety of historical sites, including national key cultural relics protection unit "Former Residence of Huang Xing", national 4A level scenic area "Former Residence of Yang Kaihui", provincial key cultural relics protection unit "Former Residence of Xu Teli", "Belated temple from the Six Dynasties" Taogong Ancient Temple, ""Ten Direction Temple" Tielu Temple, Mingyue Nunnery, and the Tomb of Zuo Zongtang.It also has plenty of attractive scenic spots, such as national 4A level scenic area Shiyan Lake in Tiaoma town, national 4A level scenic area Changsha Ecological Zoo in Muyun town, Bailu Lake in Gaoqiao town, and Yingzhu Mountain in Fulin town.In recent years, the county has been successfully arranging red cultural tour routes, green ecological tour routes, romantic industrial tour routes, bike tour routes and a water tourism routes along Songya Lake, Shiyan Lake, and Liuyang River.Hunan's Fenghuang county and Shaoshan city are also in the list at the 25th and 80th place respectively.Translator: Liu FenSource: hunan.gov.cn

2013-08-27 22:45 View：995

BEIJING,Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- In the past, young girls in China had to learn needlework at a very early age because the ability was seen as the key to finding a good husband.In most parts of the country, it seems the tradition has gone the way of the dinosaur, but in the remote areas of China's Hunan province, the tradition is still alive.Ethnic peoples, such as the Tujia, the Miao, the Dong and the Yao, have dwelled in the west and south of Hunan for many generations. They have created several renowned textile crafts that are regarded as treasures of traditional Chinese culture.For instance, there is a branch of the Yao ethnic group called Huayao - or "Flowery Yao" - because they are known for their special and colorful clothes as well as outstanding cross-stitch embroidery.In a Huayao village located at the foot of a mountain in southwest Hunan, cross-stitch embroidery is still the most important skill for women."Normally from the age of 7 or 8, a Huayao girl has to learn counting threads, using needles and gradually grasping the cross-stitch embroidery techniques under the instruction of her mother or sisters," said Feng Xuemei, an inheritor of the Huayao cross-stitch embroidery craft.Unlike machine-aided embroidery, the cross-stitch technique does not require a draft design or embroidery frame but only hands and skills.Huayao women follow the veins of the hand-woven cloth and make embroidery according to a picture in their mind.The women always carry their needles and embroidery work with them so that they can make cross-stitch whenever they have time.They are often seen with their needles and cloth in front of a diaojiaolou, a wood-structured house over the water, on a stone near a brook or in the forests.The hand-woven cloth in plain colors of blue, white or gray becomes art with aid from the needles of the Huayao women. Images of flowers, Mandarin ducks, golden sunsets and rainbows transform plain cloth into something extraordinary.These are then made into scarves, cloaks, belts, skirt lace and underwear.Women from the Miao and the Dong add even more romantic elements to their craftsmanship.They not only make clothes for family members but also bed covers, handkerchiefs and pillows.They even weave flower belts using colorful threads as tokens of affection.Pursuit of beauty"The Miao ladies are passionate and have a love of beauty. However in past periods of scarcity, they had to make every effort to make adornments by hand and make themselves look better," said Wu Jinglian, the only inheritor of the tie-dye technique in the county of Fenghuang."The pursuit of beautiful things is just one reason for the prosperity of ethnic embroidery," said Sun Wenhui, member of the Hunan intangible cultural heritage expert committee."The origin of the ethnic groups' colorful and picturesque clothing started with the demands of offering sacrifices during the long-past totem worship period."For example, animal imagery is another important theme of the Huayao's cross-stitch work. The snake is one of the most widely used images.Dwelling in deep forests where snakes usually appear, the Huayao people worship this animal because they find that it has many skills that human beings lack.Huayao's worship of snakes is similar to the Han people's worship of dragons, experts say.The brocade used by the Dong people for sacrifice has the images of their totems, including a legendary creature that looks like a mixture of a dog and a dragon.Brocade also plays an important part in the Tujia people's sacrificial ceremonies. Ever since the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1100 BC), the Tujia people have used delicate brocade to decorate shrines. They also wear brocade handiwork for their traditional dances.The folk crafts are more than just techniques for making useful items. They also tell the stories of ancient civilizations.And the Tujia brocade also plays a very important role in people's daily lives.Once a Tujia baby is born, the grandmother will give him or her a piece of brocade as a present. The infants will use bed covers made by brocade.The Tujia girls learn the brocade skills and when they get married, their parents and relatives will give them brocade as a dowry. The more brocade bed covers a bride gets from her family, the more distinguished she is.The color of the brocade changes with occasions, too. Brocade silently records the Tujia people's customs and lifestyles.Developing with timesAmong these traditional textile crafts in Hunan, the most renowned form is called Xiangxiu, or Hunan embroidery, one of China's four major embroidery forms. An art belonging to the Han people, it is perhaps the one that best follows the time and caters to market demands.The art form comes from daily life and changes with the times, enabling Xiangxiu embroidery to survive and develop in the modern era, experts say.The Shaping township in the suburbs of Changsha, Hunan's capital, is the cradle of Xiangxiu.Embroidery is so popular there that locals say "every family has an embroider, and every village has an expert."However, contemporary Xiangxiu has taken on some modern elements and become more fashionable and vivid.In the past, the Xiangxiu used threads instead of pens to record history. Today, on the basis of traditional skills, the embroidery incorporates skills from traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy.Besides, the embroidery is better mounted and packaged to cater to market demands.Compared to Shaping township, traditions are better preserved in the Miao and Tujia villages in the mountainous areas of western Hunan because these places are relatively more isolated from modern civilization.Some elderly people still use bed covers made of traditionally tie-dyed fabrics. Old wedding and festival customs related to traditional embroidery are also kept.However, since the traditional techniques require a very comprehensive set of skills that not many people master, just a few are preserved till now.Now governments at all levels have realized the cultural importance of the traditional craft and are already working toward its preservation.Several textile arts have been listed among the country's intangible cultural heritages.In 2006, Xiangxiu embroidery, Huayao cross-stitch embroidery and Tujia brocade entered the country's first State-level list of intangible cultural heritage.In 2008, the Dong brocade, the Miao cross-stitch embroidery and the Miao embroidery were placed on the second State-level intangible cultural heritage list.Besides embroideries, some local traditional clothing has become intangible cultural treasures, too. One of them is the Miao dress and personal adornment, which are known for their variable kinds and styles as well as delicate craftsmanship.Despite protection, some techniques, especially embroidery, are still faced with extinction, said Xiao Lingzhi, deputy chief of Hunan's provincial department of culture."Now fewer and fewer young people are willing to learn traditional skills and techniques," Xiao said.Xiao called on the young people to learn traditional folk techniques and pass down these cultural heritages to more generations in the future.The inland province of Hunan is home to a number of ethnic groups, who have together created 99 State-level and 220 provincial-level intangible cultural heritage items, according to the provincial cultural department.Source: xinhuanet

2013-08-26 22:35 View：1010

The 2013 Fenghuang Border Town Music Festival was staged at the National Sports Center of Fenghuang County on the evening of August 23. With its Art Director Zhao Muyang, known as the "Drum King" in Northwest China, beating the drum on "Fengtai " (Stage of Male Phoenix) and Wu Juan, a Miao minority girl who won the gold award in the Singing Contest for Youth, singing on "Huangtai " (Stage of Female Phoenix), the three-day music festival announced the curtain-up. "The music festival attempts to build a Chinese Roots music brand featuring the integration of folk-custom and rock as well as the harmonious inheritance between the traditional and the modern. It is expected to enhance the county's new image as a cultural tourism destination of international standard", said Cai Long, deputy county chief of Fenghuang. The festival has set up two stages, "Fengtai" and "Huangtai", as the "Feng Qiu Huang" (Phoenix Courtship)，indicating Fenghuang County’s courtship to talents. During the festival, well-known domestic artists and 15 top bands will give performance on "Fengtai" and 17 local bands selected from Hunan, Guizhou, Chongqing and Sichuan will roll out a show on "Huangtai". The 2013 Fenghuang Border Town Music Festival is held at the National Sports Center of Fenghuang CountyPerformance by a rock bandTranslator: Wang BilianSource: hunan.gov.cn

2013-08-25 22:32 View：1026

Eight Tujia women living in Zhangjiajie’s Sangzhi County endorsing the 2013 Zhangjiajie International Country Music Week have become an Internet sensation recently, earning themselves the title of “the most beautiful middle-aged women”. According to principals of the event, They will perform “Huadajie (Charming Tujia Ladies)”, a Chinese folk song with joyful rhythms and distinct Sangzhi characteristics at the opening ceremony.    Mr. Zhang, principal of the music event, said that compared with inviting stars, it is much more suitable, convenient and cost-effective to invite local Tujia women to endorse the festival. Translator: Tang LiSource: hunan.gov.cn　

2013-08-24 22:25 View：1097