英语导游考试资料10年.doc

I. Tourist Resort Explanation 1 The Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall Sun Yat-Sen was the forerunner of the Chinese bourgeois democratic revolution. He was born on November 12, 1866 in a farmers family in the Cuiheng Village in Xiangshan County (the present -day Zhonghan City ) in Guangdong Province. At the age of 12, he went to Honolulu, where his elder brother sent him to a missionary school. Later, he came back to Hong Kong to study in a college of Western medicine and, after graduation, practiced medicine in Guangzhou and Macao. So, ever since he was a child, he had been influenced by the Western ideas of Christianity and democracy and this had helped him make up his mind to cure the ills of the old feudal China and turn it into a democratic and strong nation. At first, he had illusions about the Qing government and hoped to save this moribund regime trough reforms. But, Chinas defeats by foreign invaders and the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government intensified his patriotic indignation. He decided that the Qing court was rotten to the core and must be overthrown and replaced by a democratic republic. So, in 1894, together with some twenty Chinese shop-keeper and farm-owners in Honolulu, he established the first Chinese bourgeois revolutionary organization-the Society for the Revival of China (the Xing Zhong Hui ). In the following spring, he returned to Hong Kong and staged the first armed uprising against the Qing Dynasty in Guangzhou; but it ended in failure. Then, in 1905, he went to Japan, where he founded Chinas first political party called party called “China Revolutionary League” (the Tong Meng Hui), which later developed into the Nationalist Party (the Guomintang). Since then he had made successive attempts to topple the Qing regime and finally succeeded in the Wuchang Uprising that broke out in October 1911. The Qing regime was overthrown and he was elected the provisional president of the interim government of the Republic of China in Nanjing. This political power, however, was soon taken over by the warlords. Then in 1920, Sun Yat-Sen came back to Guangzhou to set up a new government called the South Revolutionary Government. In 1921, he proclaimed his extraordinary presidency in Guangzhou. In 1925, he died of illness in Beijing and was buried later in Nanjing. Sun Yat-Sen had devoted all his life to the cause of the Chinese democratic revolution, and the 1911 revolution he led had put an end to the feudal monarchy that had existed in China for several thousand of years. To commemorate his great contributions to the Chinese revolution, people of Guangzhou had this memorial hall built in 1929-1931, at the original site of the former presidential house of the South Revolutionary Government, which was burned down in 1922 by a rebel warlord, Chen Jiongming by name. The Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall is an octagonal palace-like reinforced concrete structure, 58 meters high with a floor space of 12 thousand square meters. It looks like a traditional Chinese palace in appearance but was constructed with modern architectural technique. In front of the hall stands a bronze statue of Sun Yat-Sen, which is 5.5meters high and weighs 3.9 tons. Up on the facade below one of the eaves is written Sun Yat-Sens motto, meaning “China Belongs to the People” in English (or literarily “Let Public Spiritedness Rule under the Sky”). Inside the building is a conference hall with a seating capacity of 3,238 people. And, thanks to the ingenious designing of the architect, the acoustics of the hall are excellent and there is no pillar to obstruct the spectators view because the eight pillars sustaining the four long-spanned steel trusses supporting the huge domed roof are hidden in the walls. Today, the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall is still one the main places for mass meetings or theatrical performances in Guangzhou. At the back of the hall, there is a 2-storied building on each side. In the backyard are planted over 70 species of trees and flowers. Among them a kapok tree is already over 300 hundred years old and the two magnolia trees on both sides of the garden are over 70 years old. These two magnolia trees are the oldest magnolia trees in Guangzhou and have grown up to 90 centimeters in diameter, each giving a shade of over 200 square meters. The magnificent Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall was designed by a young Chinese architect, by the name of Lu Yan-zhi, who was born in Tianjin, graduated from the Qinghua University in Beijing and later studied architecture in the Cornell University in the USA. He died of long cancer in 1929, at the age of 36, before the hall was built.2 Kaiping Diaolou and Li YuanSightseeing SitesGeneral Introduction_ Architectural style of Diaolou _ Diaolou Clusters in Zili Village _Yinglonglou in Chikan Town _ Ruishilou in Xiangang Town _Denglou of the Fangs Family in Tangkou Town _Kaiping LiyuanGeneral Introduction Ladies and gentlemen, welcome you to Kaiping. Kaiping city is located in the southwestern part of the Pearl River Delta. It is 100 km away from Guangzhou in the northeast. Kaiping is one of the renowned homes to overseas Chinese. It is famous for the multifunctional village houses with their own style. Shall I spare a few minutes to give a brief background of these constructions? Yes. OK. Chinese people, especially overseas Chinese, have long been known to have a strong homesick complex. Many of them sent their savings back home. Quite a lot returned to hometown to buy a piece of land, build their own house and get married. In the late Ming and the early Qing Dynasties, they started to build multi-storeyed, defensive houses called Diao Lou. Do you have any ideas why they made their houses in that way? Haha, here come two main reasons. One is that floods frequently struck this city as it was in a relatively low-lying place. The other is that the city used to have bad social order. Those returned overseas Chinese or those who had relatives abroad were pretty well-off. They suffered a lot from the rampant bandits or gangsters. Diaolou, or watchtower, to put it in the other way, was constructed to solve the aforementioned two problems. A combination of Chinese and exotic architectural stles is one of the features of this kind of building. Diaolou in Kaiping appeared on a large scale. The total number of buildings reached 3,300 in its peak time. Nowadays the number of registered houses is 1,833. Diaolou is well recognized. Some titles were awarded to it. One is Classic Works Representing the culture of Overseas Chinese. The second is Showcase of Worlds Architectural Art. Diaolou are inscribed upon the list of the National Protection Cultural Relics by the State Council of China. On June 28th , 2007, Kaiping Diaolou and Villages were inscribed on the UNESCOs World Heritage List, and it is the first heritage from Guangdong.Architectural style of Kaiping Diaolou Kaiping Diaolou enjoys its diversity in function, building materials and styles. When we talk about its function, buildings of this kind take three forms. Firstly, they are residential towers built by individual rich families and used as fortified residences. Secondly, they are communal towers built by several families and used as temporary refuge. Thirdly, they are vigil towers used for time telling and neighborhood security watch. Four kinds of building materials have been used. They are mainly stone, pise, brick or concrete. As I just mentioned, Kaiping people had migrated to live in different parts of the world. Those returned overseas Chinese brought back home exotic ideas and applied them to village house building. This is reflected in the architectural styles of Diaolou. Their watchtowers not only boast ancient Greek and Roman flavors, but also blend Gothic, Islamic, baroque and rococo styles. These buildings feature the harmonious integration of varying foreign architecture patterns and the preference of the house owners. I have been talking quite a lot about the diversity of these watchtowers in terms of function, building materials and architectural style. What is their shared part, then? These buildings feature the harmonious integration of varying foreign architecture patterns and the preference of the house owners. I have been talking quite a lot about the diversity of these watchtowers in terms of function, building materials and architectural style. What is their shared part, then? Do you still remember the problems the local rich people suffered hundreds of years ago? “Yes”. “Good”; “No. No”. To fulfill its function to defend against bandits, all the watchtowers have narrow iron doors, small steel windows, and solid walls with embrasures. In some watchtowers, hornworks, locally called “swallow nests”, thrust outward on the four corners of the top floor. Those “swallow nests” exert omni-directional control over the surrounding areas. On the top floor of the watchtowers often stand observation posts, equipped with primitive firearms, electric generators, sirens, searchlights, stones, gongs and other defensive devices. From their similar looks and styles, we may say that those watchtowers were mainly used to guard against bandits attack. Kaiping watchtowers have played different roles in different historical periods. In the later stage of Chinas War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, some were used as military strongholds. The most famous one was South Watchtower in Tengjiao village, Chikan town. In the 1920s and 1930s, Kaiping Diaolou were served as secret sites for the Chinese Communist party to take up underground revolutionary activities. The most renowned two were Shilu and Zhongshanlou. With my long-winded introduction to Diaolou, I am now guiding you to see watchtower clusters. One thing I have to point out is that they differ quite a lot in styles, as towers of this kind were built in different periods of time.Diaolou Clusters in Zili Village A showcase of Diaolou Clusters is in Zili Village. This village lies in Tangkou Town, about 12 kilometers from Kaiping city center. It enjoys the most exquisite, best-preserved, densely located buildings of such kind. Fifteen houses in existence in this village are all ranked as cultural relics of national importance under the protection of the state. Mingshilou, a five-storey residential house, is the fanciest. It was built in 1925, made of armored concrete. At its top stands a hexagonal observation tower, displaying a fusion of Chinese and western structural and decorative forms. On every corner of its fifth floor rises a hornwork. Local people called them “Swallow nest”. As you can see, this house has a massive body, solid iron doors and windows. It has quality designed furnishings and complete living facilities.Yinglonglou in Chikan Town The oldest is Yinglonglou (Dragon Meeting Tower) in Chikan Town. It was built in the period of Jiajing, Ming Dynasty (1522-1566). The design and construction of this house was free from the exotic architectural influence.Rouishilou in Xiangang Town The highest and most luxurious Diaolou in Xiangang Town is Ruishilou. The nine-storey tower is 25 meters in height, made of armored concrete. The indoor elegant furnishings are arranged in a traditional Chinese style. It is ranked as No. 1 tower in Kaiping.Denglou of Fangs Family in Tangkou Town The most typical Diaolou belongs to the Fangs clan. It was built in 1920, made of armored concrete. Located in an open area, this typical vigil tower was designed to watch neighborhood security. It was equipped with such defensive devices as electric generators for emergency, searchlights, and firearms. Did you notice that we are back to Tangkou Town? Anything else to see in this town? Yes, a garden called Liyuan.Kaiping Liyuan Liyuan is located in Beiyi Village, Tangkou town. This village is known as the hometown of many overseas Chinese. Completed in 1936, it is a stately home with a canal, two gardens and many other things. Liyuan takes in and displays the elements from both Chinese and western garden. The two Chinese characters “LiYuan” are there on the tall arched gate. Liyuan is divided into three areas: villa area, big garden area and small garden area. Its main constructions include a torii with the two Chinese characters “Li Yuan”, a decorated archway with the four Chinese characters “Xiu Shen Li Ben”, four kiosks on the bridges, and two ancient roman-style structures (“birds nest” and “vine kiosk”). Couplets and calligraphy from famous people that we see here and there create traditional Chinese cultural milieu in Liyuan. A canal was dug to bring together the aforementioned three areas. Long cloisters go along with the water. Spotted on the canal are small bridges, kiosks and pavilions. The design of the canal is the most eye-catching feature in Liyuan. Walking along the cloister with colored paintings for 100 meters, we will come to Li Yuans villa area. “Pan Li” and “Pan Wen” are the two most spectacular villas among the total of six. From the design of the villas, we can see the combination of Chinese and western elements. The roof of the villa follows the architectural styles of Ancient Chinese palaces while its body adopts western architectural patterns. The stairs, floors, the decorations of the walls are not the exception. Telling examples are the western-style fireplaces, droplights, Italian ceramic tiles, Chinese-style mahogany furniture, folktale frescos and gilded woodcarvings.Liyuan enjoys not only an exquisite art of architecture, but also rich traditional Chinese culture. The host of Liyuan held the philosophy of life that self-cultivation is the most important thing in ones life. So when he placed emphasis on cultivating lofty virtues, he encouraged to have high quality leisure time.3 The Ancestral Temple in Foshan Sightseeing SitesIndroduction _ The Triple Doorway Entrance _ The Front Hall _ Between the Front Hall and the Main Hall _ The Jinxiang Pond _ The Wanfu Stage _ The Huang Feihong Memorial HallIntroduction The Ancestral Temple, first built during the Northern Song Dynasty (1078-1085), is an ancient structure in Foshan City. The original structure was destroyed by fire during the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) and was rebuilt in 1372 during the Ming Dynasty. The temple was formerly called “Ancestral Hall” and was a shrine for the workers of the metal-casting industry to worship their ancestral masters. It was turned into a Daoist temple during the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming emperor believed in Daoism. Now it houses the Foshan City Museum. The temple is built in the style of the Chinese traditional architecture. Its building complex is compactly laid out with the halls interspaced by courtyards and connected with corridors. Its roofs are constructed in the traditional “Xieshan” style, that is, each roof has a horizontal ridge at the top, which is joined at both ends by four inclined but bent-up ridges, with a slope on each of the four sides. The roof structure is supported by a wooden system of brackets inserted between the tops of columns and the crossbeam. These wooden brackets are connected by mortise and tenon joints and not a single nail is used for connection. While being constructed in the national architectural style, the temple structure is unique in the way it is decorated, the way that is characteristic of Guangdong Province. Pottery sculptures, lime sculptures, brick carvings, wood carvings and other works of art can be found on the ridges, the eaves, the walls or elsewhere. These works of art are not only used for the purpose of decoration but are also depictions of various scenes from Chinese folk stories and legends. They are delicately made to be life-like and are all master pieces of ancient Chinese folk art, so the temple is known as The Palace of Oriental Folk Art.The Triple Doorway Entrance The structure with three doorways is the main entrance to the temple and was built in 1450 during the Ming Dynasty. Up on the ridge, about 30 meters long, there are 152 pottery figurines and below the eave is a row of golden wood-carvings, depicting different Chinese folk stories.The Front HallThe Bronze Bell: This bronze bell was cast during the Ming Dynasty and weighs 900 kilos. In the old days, when the pilgrims wanted to show their piety to the North God, they would pay a sum of money to the temple keeper, who would then sound the bell to call for silence. The God, it is said, would then be aroused and get ready to receive the pious worshippers.The Iron Tripod: This iron tripod was used for burning incense and paper ingots. It was cast during the Ming Dynasty and weighs 1.5 tons. On its body are cast the names of the donators and two verses of prayers: May the state proper and the people live in peace! May the wind and rain nourish the crops!The holy table: The decorative wood-carving on the holy table, on which 126 people are carved, tells the story about a Tang Dynasty Li Yuanba taming a fierce horse. This horse is said to be extremely fierce and nobody but Li Yuanba, who was noted for his great strength, could ever get it under control. The table was made in 1899 in the later stage of the Qing Dynasty when China was subjected to invasion and humiliation by the Western colonialists, so the picture is actually an implicit illustration of the Chinese peoples struggle against foreign invaders. These men wearing tall hats and tailcoats are supposed to be the foreign aggressors. They are made either to fall on their backs or go down on their knees begging for mercy.The Camphor Wood Screen: This is a camphor wood screen on which several lions are carved and its two sides are made to look exactly the same. The lion looking after a baby-lion are carved and its two sides a