New_Years_Eve

Mood: Happy Smile
Listening to: Fireworks outside of window

Most Chinese people will celebrate a cold and wet Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year, according to the Chinese Central Meteorological of China on Monday.

Snow and rain will shroud the country on Feb. 9, the Lunar New Year 's Day, the most important family holiday in China and ethnic Chinese communities around the world, sources with the station said.

The southern part of China will experience light to moderate snow or rain in the next 10 days and a drop in temperature on the second day of the New Year.

A similar cooling process will happen on Feb. 9, accompanied by fresh breeze or moderate winds in the eastern part.

Snowflakes began to fall in Beijing Saturday evening. After today's halt, light to moderate snow will begin tomorrow, the station said. The sun should appear again on Feb. 10.

Experts suggest those going out of the house to bundle up for the cold and

take caution of the slippery roads.

Regards

Kjun          

Mood: Snow
Listening to: Firecrackers bomb

Happy New Year to You all!

Forbidden City Welcomes Votes for a New Logo   China's biggest museum is accepting online votes to help choose its new logo. China's biggest museum is accepting online votes to help choose its new logo.

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, began its search for a new design last June, and 2,788 submissions were received from around the world by the closing date of September 30.

Six, short listed by designers, specialists and architects in an appraisal meeting on January 19, were published on the museum's website, www.dpm.org.cn, on January 25 and visitors can vote for their favorite until February 15.

"It's important to have a logo to celebrate the museum's 80th birthday, as it is one of the greatest ancient imperial palaces in the world," said Feng Nai'en, from the museum's administration.

Prize money worth 80,000 yuan (US$9,760) is being offered by the organizing committee.

"The active feedback from home and abroad has been beyond all expectation," said Kjun.

The majority of ideas have come from professional and amateur designers living on the Chinese mainland, said Feng. "A clear focus and impressive presentation with a good historical sense were required." 
                                                                                                                         The Last Emperor, Puyi, was given a bicycle by his British tutor, Reginald Johnston

    The final result is expected to be revealed in March or April. The winning design will be used in celebrations for the museum's 80th anniversary on October 10.         

             Welcome to the Alison's Wonderland tour  of   Beijing's Forbidden City.

• Tribute-bearers
  Ten Thousand Envoys Come to Pay Tribute
  Artist: anonymous
  Color on silk
  1761, with Qianlong seals
  
• Bearing gifts, ambassadors enter the Forbidden City through ranks of officials and guards who mark the New Year’s celebration. For centuries the world’s treasures have poured in as tribute to China and its emperors. This exhibition presents an array of objects from the Palace Museum in Beijing that were given to, created for, and, in some instances, designed by one of China’s greatest emperors: Qianlong. From the catalog:
  One of the iconic art objects of the Qianlong period, this very large painting by court artists depicts foreign tribute missions gathering in the courtyard just inside the southern gate of the Forbidden City, waiting to present their gifts to the emperor during the New Year celebrations. The presentation will take place in the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian), in front of which eunuchs and officials are waiting. Most of the palace is veiled in mist but in the space to the right of the Taihe Dian a group of eunuchs is preparing sets of return gifts for the envoys.
  Photos courtesy of Palace Museum, Beijing
  
  
  The Palace Museum was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) between 1406 and 1420. Covering an area of 720,000 square meters, it accommodated two dozen or so emperors until 1924, when the deposed Qing (1644-1911) Emperor Pu Yi was expelled from it.
  Hopefully you won that prize!

Regards

Kjun