It is a widespread famous school song with distinctive ethnic features. It is produced in the early years of Republic of China (1912), became popular in the 20s and 30s of 20th century.

Honestly, I learned this beautiful song/music in primary school and have believed since then this is an ancient song written 2000 years ago in Han Dynasty. I did not realize it is actually not that ancient until I planned this post and searched information online.

I have a weird habit. When I go to a classical music concert by an orchestra, I like to look at the individual musicians on the stage one after another. See their facial expressions and body gestures, see how they enjoy the music by themselves, how they pause and rest, how they response to the conductor, and try to catch some little things happened on the stage, or see if everyone is fully devoted to the performance.

For this Scenic Splendor of China selection, most categories are about natural scenes like mountains, rivers, and lakes, etc.. Besides, there are indeed a couple dedicated to humanity. Today, I am going to show you the most beautiful urban districts in China.

A bit unfortunately, due to social and political turmoil in the recent 200 years, very few traditional Chinese urban districts are preserved from destruction and modernization. Among the top 5 urban districts I will show you below, three of them are western urban districts built by European colonists in early 20th century.

Jin, literally means “forbidden”. It was used from early West Zhou Dynasty to Warring States Period.

Why was it named “forbidden”? Because the Zhou People concluded from history that both Xia and Shang Dynasties were failed because of alcohol abuse. So in Zhou Dynasty, the King announced the first Alcohol Ban in Chinese history: Wine Rules.

I am a big New Age music fan. My favorite musician is Yanni. Among Asian New Age musicians, Kitaro is one of the best. However, although New Age music is very popular in China, Chinese musicians have not achieved major success in this relatively new genre, yet, comparing to their famous foreign peers.

There are several promising young musicians who are trying to make some China voice in this field. Li Hai is one of them.