Source: CCTV.com

04-28-2007 10:01

Special Report:   May Day "Golden Week"

The May day holiday is coming which means seven days off work for most of us in China. And, as is traditional,travel fever is taking hold! From a picturesque ancient town near Shanghai to the amazing ethnic folk culture in southern Guangxi, there are exciting attractions to get people out and about, all over the place.

The ancient town of Zhouzhuang near Shanghai is staging its first tourist festival for this travel peak. Folk art is in the spotlight along with an exhibition of the original works from recently deceased artist Chen Yifei. 18 miles southeast of Suzhou city, Zhouzhuang is well-preserved with ancient residential houses, stone bridges, and a tradition that dates back to Spring and Autumn Period about two thousand years ago.

And not far from Zhouzhuang, the home of Ming Dyansty philosopher, Wang Yangming, is re-opening to the public in his hometown Yuyao. Wang is famed for his belief in the importance of the balance between knowledge and practice, and spontaneous intuitive insight. After the renovation, three exhibition halls are set to tell the story and ideas and family history of the extraordinary scholar, philosopher and statesman.

In the deep south around Baise city in Guanxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the ethnic Zhuang people are staging a series of cultural festivals. Tianyang and Xilin counties are presenting primal art of the ancestors; Debao and Tiandong counties have displays of the colorful Zhuang costumes; Longlin and Pingguo counties are taking pride in their singing while Jingxi and Napo counties invite you to join the beat and get your body moving to the unique Zhuang black suit dance.

And for those looking for something quieter, the coastal city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province is offering its latest archeological findings. A stone age burial site and a group of tombs from the Western Han were discovered during recent construction work. Among the findings is a brown porcelain pot, rarely seen in northern China and believed to have been brought from the south. The tomb is believed to have belonged to an aristocratic family from the Han Dynasty, more than 2,000 years ago.

 

Editor:Liu Fang