China ABC book By: Vanessa Morales

Age of division 200-600 CE Invention of gunpowder Tea! At the end of this period, which helped to end it! Tea! Confucius probably never tasted tea, and it really didn't become popular until T'ang times, but this era is when it first started to be enjoyed.

Buddhism One day, while sitting under a fig tree, an understanding came to him. This understanding was a way to end suffering. That was the day Prince Siddhartha Gautama began to earn a new title, the Buddha, which means "Awakened One".

Chinese new year New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

Horse Ears Beer Horns Pig Hair Tiger Teeth OX Face dragons Horse Ears Beer Horns Pig Hair Tiger Teeth OX Face

Forbidden city Construction of the Forbidden City began in relatively modern times, in the year 1406. The construction took an estimated one million workers 14 years to build hundreds of perfect and beautiful buildings. The Forbidden City served as the seat of government for the Ming Dynasty. Today, it is a museum. There are 800 buildings that have in total about 9,000 rooms. The Forbidden City is the world's largest palace complex. Millions of people visit this incredible place each year and gaze in awe.

Great wall of china The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 8,851.8 kilometers (5,500 miles) from east to west of China. With a history of more than 2000 years, some of the sections are now in ruins or have disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance.

Himalaya Mountains The Himalayan Mountains are some of the most beautiful features of nature and are today home to many different groups of people. The mountains span the countries of India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet in South Asia and are the location of the tallest mountains in the world. The Himalayan Mountains, however, have not always been the natural wonder that they are today. 100 Million years ago, in fact, the whole Indian sub- continent, sans Himalayas, was its own island.

Inventions Ice cream was invented in China around 2000BC when the Chinese packed a soft milk and rice mixture in the snow.

Lantern Festival There are many wonderful stories about how the Lantern Festival first began. One story is that in ancient times, people would go in search of spirits with burning sticks. They thought the spirits could be seen during a full moon. Another is about a lonely young girl, in Han times, who tricked an emperor into having a wonderful festival just so she could visit with her family! The emperor had such a good time, he decided to make this festival an annual event!

Ming Dynasty The Ming Dynasty was a time of adventure and travel. The great Chinese mariners mapped the world. They brought back treasures from around the globe. Out of all the incredible things they brought back, some of which are on display today in the Forbidden Palace, one of the most popular items was the folding fan. Mariners brought many fans home from Japan and Korea. Fans had always been popular in ancient China, but the concept of a folding fan caught on quickly.

Opera Like the Han and the Tang Dynasties, the Song Dynasty was a time of wonderful invention and art. Chinese opera began during this period, as did the art of paper cutting. So many things were invented during the Song Dynasty that this period in history is sometimes referred to as China's Age of Invention. Legend says that out of all the wonderful things that Marco Polo discovered in the Song Dynasty, he was most most impressed by the fabulous new creation, the Rainbow Bridge.

Paper Fans Over the years, the clever Chinese people made fans from all kinds of materials including straw and wood. But it was not until the Ming Dynasty that the Chinese discovered the art of paper fan folding. They did not invent the folded paper fan. That invention arrived from Japan and Korea on the Ming ships that wandered the earth in search of treasure. Once the folding paper fan was introduced into ancient Chinese society, it was immediately adopted. Everyone had to have a folded paper fan. Fans were embroidered and painted and decorated and hung. It was more than a fad. It soon became a national activity - nearly everyone made and carried gorgeously decorated folding paper fans.

Qin Many dynasties in Ancient China lasted for hundreds of years. But the Qin Dynasty lasted for only 15 years. Yet, First Emperor Qin accomplished an amazing amount of change. Qin was the first man to control all of China. He did not want to be called a king. he called himself First Emperor Qin. He died of natural causes. But in the short time that he ruled China, he readied China to be pulled together as one country. But at what cost?

Song Dynasty Like the Han and the Tang Dynasties, the Song Dynasty was a time of wonderful invention and art. Chinese opera began during this period, as did the art of paper cutting. So many things were invented during the Song Dynasty that this period in history is sometimes referred to as China's Age of Invention. Legend says that out of all the wonderful things that Marco Polo discovered in the Song Dynasty, he was most most impressed by the fabulous new creation, the Rainbow Bridge.

The Great Panda Lifespan 20-30 years in captivity Looked upon as the ambassador for all endangered species, the giant panda is a well-recognized symbol of international wildlife conservation. Giant pandas have black fur on their ears, around their eyes (eye patches), muzzle, legs and shoulders. Good tree climbers, pandas can also swim to escape predators. Pandas use an enlarged wrist bone that looks like a thumb to grasp objects like bamboo. Giant Panda and Human - ScaleFast Facts Height: 2.5 feet (.8m) at shoulders. Length: 5 ft (1.5m) (with a 6 inch (.2m) tail). Weight: Around 250 lbs (113 kg) (males); around 220 lbs (100 kg) (females). Lifespan 20-30 years in captivity

Writing The Chinese writing system is an open-ended one, meaning that there is no upper limit to the number of characters. The largest Chinese dictionaries include about 56,000 characters, but most of them are archaic, obscure or rare variant forms. Knowledge of about 3,000 characters enables you to to read about 99% of the characters used in Chinese newspapers and magazines. To read Chinese literature, technical writings or Classical Chinese though, you need to be familiar with at least 6,000 characters.

The early Han dynasty (207 B. C. -9 A. D The early Han dynasty (207 B.C.-9 A.D.) devoted itself to regaining the same level of central government as the Ch'in (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) and the Legalists had so ruthlessly accomplished. This ideology of central government, along with the Legalists' attempts to standardize Chinese culture and Chinese philosophy, led thinkers of the Han to attempt to unify all the rival schools of Chinese thought and philosophy that had developed over the previous three hundred years.

Xia dynansty About 3,000 BCE, another farming group appeared, the Lungshan people. The Lungshan were very advanced for their time. They harvested silk, and used it to weave fine fabrics. They used the potters wheel. They baked strong bricks in ovens, and used them to build their homes. They worked together on flood control and irrigation projects. They had great engineering skills. Legend has it that their "Great Engineer", Yu, founded the Xia (sometimes called the Hsia) Dynasty in about 2,000 BCE.

Chinese Yin Yang Symbol China Culture Chinese Lady Picture History of Chinese In Chinese culture, Yin and Yang represent the two opposite principles in nature. Yin characterizes the feminine or negative nature of things and yang stands for the masculine or positive side. Yin and yang are in pairs, such as the moon and the sun, female and male, dark and bright, cold and hot, passive and active, etc. But yin and yang are not static or just two separated things. The nature of yinyang lies in interchange and interplay of the two components. The alternation of day and night is such an example. Yig and ya