Explore Heze: The Land of Peony and Martial Arts

1. 山东省菏泽市 Heze Shandong MY HOMETOWN

2. 菏泽位于山东省西南部，苏、鲁、豫、皖四省交界处。京九铁路与新欧亚大陆桥在此交汇，使菏泽成为我国纵连南北、横贯东西的重要交通枢纽。可以说是地理区位优越，交通便利。菏泽位于山东省西南部，苏、鲁、豫、皖四省交界处。京九铁路与新欧亚大陆桥在此交汇，使菏泽成为我国纵连南北、横贯东西的重要交通枢纽。可以说是地理区位优越，交通便利。 菏泽古称曹州，历史悠久，文化灿烂，素有“牡丹之乡”、“戏曲之乡”、“武术之乡”、“书画之乡”的美称。 菏泽是中国的牡丹之乡，是目前世界上种植面积最大、品种最多的牡丹生产基地、科研基地、出口基地、和观赏基地。经国家旅游局批准的菏泽国际牡丹花会每年4月18日——5月5日在菏泽举行。花开季节，真是人如海花如潮，逾百万中外宾客云集一起，形成一派热闹非凡的景象。 Located in the south of shandogn province, Heze is an intersecting point of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui. With Jinhjiu Railway and New Asia-Europe Railway crossing here, Heze is a transport junction which links south China and north China together, and which runs from east to west in China. Heze is a city with superiority of location and good communications Once upon a time, Heze is called Caozhou, with a a long historical standing and a culture of great splendor. It gains good names for a land of peony, a land of dramatic, a land of martial arts, a land of painting and calligraphy. With the good name of peony, Heze is the production base, reseaching base, exportation base, and admiring base of peony. Heze International Peony Fair approved by National Tourism Administration is held in Heze from April 18 to May 5 of every year. When peonies blossoming, millions of customs and travellers from home and abroad come to Heze, forming a scence of the sea of persons and the tide of flowers.

3. 曹州书画院 • Caozhou painting hospital, founded in October 1985, at the world-famous town Peony - Heze, occupies a total area of 16,000 square meters, construction area of 9,000 square meters, built exhibition hall, creating floor, Zhao Dengyu Memorial Hall, Caozhou painting and calligraphy works on display The National Museum and the famous Caozhou Beilang. Construction of both traditional ethnic characteristics, the gardens have a modern style, the hospital rattan Gallery, pavilions, rockery, fountains, Doo Song-Zhu Qi, flowers Zhengyan, landscape elegant, they are advised to book to painting. Caozhou painting to the National Hospital is currently the largest municipal hospital painting, calligraphy and painting homes Beilang Caozhou for the longest Beilang, Heze has become a major tourist viewing spots in 1991 by the National Tourism Administration into the world tourism information database .

4. 天香公园 • Heze City Park is located in the city's gold-banded Chinese Road East, Park-sik, a gold-banded to the color - consisting mainly of various kinds of peony flowers. The park was built in the early 1990s, once because of water shortage and water pollution而使Park landscape poor, since the beginning of 2005 from the Yellow River Peony He Wuju Liuzhuang gates lead to the Yellow River Yellow River water, not only to Park update of the lake, but also the types of plants for the garden in time with the hot water rich in minerals, but also purify the air of the park. Now the park Bibo Dangyang, tree-lined, blooming flowers, fresh air, the environment elegant, walk through them, it is delightful, Liulianwangfan.

6. Tree peony • Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa)and herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora),is a very beautiful plant originatingin China.The choice of tree peony in 1994as the Chinese national flower was yet anotherhonor to be added to the accolades and honorifictitles bestowed on it over the centuries.For example,Tree peony other name "Richesand honor flowers","Kilogramsgold",to tree peonies indicate thatthe flower is the symbol of happiness andgood luck.The tree peony symbolizes thecharacteristic temperament and cultural featuresof the Chinese nation,the prosperity ofthe country,and the diligence of the people. Tree peony was not untilthe period between the Qin and Han Dynasties(221BC-220AD)thatMudan-tree peony was differentiated from220to 589AD,and has continued for morethan 1500years.During this time,a gradualprocess of propagation and selection hasled to the wide range of tree peony cultivatesavailable now.

7. 武术之乡 • In the center of the vast Chinese nation lies the Mountain of Songshan, one of the country’s holiest      spots and home to the Shaolin 1)Monastery, the birthplace of kung fu.      The Buddhist monks of Shaolin were 2)pacifists, who mastered a deadly art using kicks, weapons and well-placed 3)punches. They were able to kill a man with the palm of a hand. These deadly skills are 4)in line with their faith and 5)spirituality, because Buddhists believe that, in order to follow the path of 6)compassion, they must 7)root out the heart of evil.      In AD 527 the religious teacher, Da Mo, traveled from India to Shaolin to spread the word of Buddha. He spent nine years living alone and 8)meditating in a cave above the Shaolin temple. To keep his muscles healthy, he developed a series of movements and breathing exercises based on the movements of      animals. These were to become the basis of kung fu.      When Da Mo returned to the Shaolin temple, he began to teach the monks these techniques, and his tool of meditation evolved into a tool of 9)combat. Kung fu was born.      As Shaolin’s 10)reputation grew, more and more young 11)novices traveled from all over China and attempted to join the 12)order. They had their heads shaved as an external sign of inward purity, and they swore an 13)oath of 14)obedience to their masters. Their training was 15)relentless. Their fists would      become as hard as iron and their bodies almost      16)impervious to pain. Training would leave its mark not just on the students but also on the temple itself, as over the centuries their pounding feet crushed the stones beneath them.      Kung fu, which in Chinese means “learned skill” or “great achievement,” has now given rise to more than 1,000 styles of martial arts. The Shaolin style is still probably the most famous of all.      Today, the temple welcomes millions of tourists a year and sells them a 17)commercialized version of its history. But in the less visited temples of the

9. 戏曲之乡 • Chinese Operas were based on old tales of heroes and the supernatural. Today the stories often deal with heroes of the communist revolution or with great historical events of the recent past. The variety of Chinese Opera known as Beijing Opera is the most familiar in the west. It was developed in the 19th century as a synthesis of earlier provincial forms. Beijing Opera, which is also known as Peking Opera, has existed for over 200 years. It is widely regarded as the highest expression of the Chinese culture. It is perhaps the most refined form of opera in the world. Although it is called Beijing Opera its origins are not in Beijing but in the provinces of Anhui and Hubei. It was originally staged for the royal family and was introduced to the public later. Beijing opera was regarded to as one of the rare forms of entertainment. There are thousands of opera pieces covering the entire history and literature of China. The development of the art of painting faces is closely related to that of dramatic art, although the earliest painted faces, or their precursors appeared long before Chinese drama took shape. As Chinese dramatic art developed, the drawbacks of wearing masks became increasingly evident, for masks prevented the actors from showing their facial expressions. A vividly painted face however enables audiences to see expressions clearly. In the beginning only three sharply contrasting colours - red, white and black were generally used in facial make up. The earliest painted faces were simple and crude but within time the designs became more elaborate and ornamental.

11. 书画之乡 • Calligraphy and Painting • Chinese characters evolved from pictures and signs, and the Chinese art of calligraphy developed naturally from its unique writing system. Through the ages, great calligraphers developed representative calligraphic styles of their times. The love of calligraphy is deeply ingrained in Chinese scholars, and has been handed down to the present day. • The roots of Chinese painting can be traced back to paintings on Neolithic pottery six or seven thousand years ago. Since similar tools and lines were used for the earliest painting and writing, painting is said to have the same origin as calligraphy. Thus, Chinese paintings usually integrate poetry or calligraphy with themes that include figures, landscapes, flowers, birds and other animals. Traditional Chinese painting remains a highly valued genre, often on exhibit in China as well as other countries. The contemporary art world in China is also very active. Some Chinese artists have become adept at Western-style painting, both oil and watercolor. Many Chinese painters have created works that combine traditional Chinese painting techniques with those of the West, enhancing both forms. The China Art Gallery and other art galleries hold individual or joint art exhibitions year in year out. Art expositions are held each year in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.