Portfolio6-the Stone Forest

In Yunnan Province, the Stone Forest (Shilin) is the place of interest that attracts me most to travel there because it is a famous complete range of karst formation in China. There are several scenic spots in the Stone Forest, such as Lesser Stone forest, Outer Stone Forest, Underground Stone Forest, and Stone Forest Lake. After listening to the guide’s introduction, I basically knew the formation of the Stone Forest. It used to be a shallow sea but the deposits of sandstone by limestone accumulated in this basin long time ago. Then this region was uplifted and eroded by wind and running water forming the limestone ridges. So the Stone Forest can be seen as a region of typical karst formation. When I was walking through the Stone Forest, I was surprised by the natural stone masterpieces. Some stones looked like animals, some looked like plants, and even a stone looked like Ashima, a beautiful and friendly Sani girl who was collecting herbs. So there was no doubt that a lot of illusions created here based on naturally amazing shape of the stones. The local people, like Yi and Sani ethnic group, provided their traditional custom for visitors to take a picture in order to both make money for themselves and introduce their culture to visitors. Therefore, the tourism is well developed in Kunming since a great number of people are attracted by the enchanting sculptures in the Stone Forest.

Portfolio5-Taklamakan Desert

the Taklamakan desert

Xinjiang is located on the northeast of China having over one sixth of total territory. In Xinjiang, there are three main desert Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert,Kumtag Desert and Taklamakan Desert. Among them, Taklamakan Desert is very famous, which is well known as one of the largest sandy deserts in the world. Because of affect of the cold air mass from Siberia, the temperature here in winter is pretty much low. Even in the night of the summertime, the coldness is still unaccepted. Even though it is in the heart of the Asia being far away from the water, there is still water occurring between the mountain ranges, forming oasis. Therefore, the oasis towns are built there for inhabitation. In the past, the oasis city was provided for the merchants who were on the Silk Road to have a rest. The Silk Road is the historical sign which is often related to the Taklamakan desert whenever the desert was mentioned by people. Since starting with the Tang Dynasty, the Silk Road was well developed by China to transport products, mainly silk to other countries, especially India, Persia and Mediterranean countries for trading and culturally exchanging.

Portfolio 4-Ice Sheet

the Eastcoast of the Greenland

An ice sheet is identigied as a plenty of glacier ice which covers surroundings Antarctica and the Greenland have the only current ice sheets.The surface of the ice sheet is cold, but the base is warmer, so melting at the bottom occurs to help the ice sheet’s flowing. Because of rapid devevlopment of the continental glaciaiton in the Greenland, the fossils of plants are protected well.The Greenland ice sheet covers 80% of the surface of the Greenland, which is the second largest ice body in the World, Most of the ice occurs in the central area of Greenland. the mountains occur around which prevents the sheet go across its boundaries in case of the disapperance of ice sheet.The population in the Greenland congregate along the Western coast, which has no ice exist. The culture of Greenland is much similar with Inuit tradition because majority of people are the generation of Inuit. People still remain some traditional activities, suchias go ice-fishing and celebrate annual dog-sled races.Nevertheless, even though fishing has been gradually replaced by the use of modern technology today, the fishing industrial is dominant in the Greenland as well as the mineral exploration. Recently, Tourism is gradually developed and seen as a potential industrial. However, it is still limited by the short acceptable season and high cost.The lossing mass of the ice sheet in the Greenland becomes seirous, which can directly reflects the level of global warming.The scientific expedition stations have already established to help to observe and measure the sea level rise.

Portfilio 3-Changbaishan Mountain

Tianchi

I ever climbed Changbaishan Mountain, a dormant volcano, in Jilin Province. As a result of Changbaishan mountain unique geography structure, it had formed along with the high increase from the temperate zone to the frigid zone four landscapes belt, which was said as " the mountain has the four seasons, ten mile different day". What mainly attracted me here was he most famous of places in the Changbai region was the Heavenly Lake (Tianchi), literally meansing "heavenly pool". The Lake was the starting point for any hikes around the area and the bus dropped me off at the entrance. When I appreciated the egg-shaped Tianchi, I was shocked since it is so enchanting, being like a sapphire in gold. I surmised whether I could discover the myths——dragons or monsters that dwell in the depths, but unfortunately I failed. The climate around the lake was seen as an obstacle to watch the lake since it always had mists and rain. However, I was lucky meeting a cloudless day. Because the lake was located over two thousand metres above the sea level, I had to keep sunscreen in order to avoid the burn of solar radiation.

Portfilio 2-the Songhua River

Songhua River on the east of Harbin. Oxbow lakes are common along the sides of the river.



the section of Songhua River across Harbin



the dam of the Fengman Reservoir on the Songhuajiang River in Jilin





Gui fish baked with cream


The Songhua River is the largest tributary of the Heilong River in Northeast China, flowing from Changbai Mountains through the Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. The river has a dam at Fengman, being used for hydroelectricity production. Below the dam, the river flows northwest until its largest tributary, the Nen River, which flows into the northern Manchurian Plain. The flatness of the Manchurian Plain causes the river to meander widely, so the river is surrounded by a wide plain that is filled with curves, showing paths of the River. The Songhua River is mainly used for transportation is navigable up to Harbin. However, when I was in Harbin, I only saw the frozen Songhua River instead of the flowing one since I was there during the winter. I watched the wonderful ice sculptures in Harbin being made of a great number of ice blocks from the Songhua River. Sculptors collected ice blocks from the upstream of Songhua River and transported to Harbin. The ice blocks were so transparent, showing the cleanness of the river. However, in 2005, the Songhua River was not as clean as it is now; it was contaminated with benzene at that time, leading to lack of water supply towards the local people. Once the river’s cleanness was recovered again, not only people had enough fresh water, but also fish industries were run regularly. Among the plenty fishes in the river, Gui fish is famous, which tastes delicious. Because of that, most tourists in Harbin go to the Huamei Restaurant—a Russian restaurant in Zhongyang Avenue, to have a taste. For me, I also went there and had their recommended dish— Gui fish baked with cream.

Portfilio 1-Harbin Travelling

snow sculptures at the Sun Island

“Ice and Snow World”



St. Sophia Cathedral

During the winter holiday, I had travelled to Harbin for three days. It was much colder that it was in Dalian. Even though I dressed a lot, I could still feel freezing after getting off from the train. Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River. Because of its location and history, it is famous for its Russian and European-influenced architecture. Among its unique constructions, The St. Sophia Cathedral located in this central district of Daoli is outstanding, which is the first place I chose to visit. I also went inside Saint Sofia Church, finding that it has been made into a museum for showing Harbin’s multi-cultural architecture to the visitors. Harbin has a famous nickname, Ice City, since it is located in Northeast China under the direct influence of the cold winter wind from Siberia. During the days I was traveling, the temperature was about −15degrees Celsius. Because of the coldness, it is well-known for its ice and snow culture in the world. Without a doubt, I went to the “Ice and Snow World” in Harbin in one night. In Ice and Snow World, various full size buildings made from blocks of ice within lamps, so the ice-made buildings were so colourful at night. I also went to the Sun Island for watching snow sculptures. Harbin is near the Russia, being known as China’s gateway to trade with Russia, so even though Harbin is belongs to China for a long time, it is still strongly influenced by its Russian past, especially its local cuisine; such as its notable product, bread(lie-ba) and sausages (qiu-lin hong-chang) I preferred sausages which I thing they have the European taste other than others in China.