The "Bird Nest"
Beijing National Stadium |
The Beijing National Stadium, located in the heart of Beijing, is one of the most famous sports buildings in the world. The stadium is called the Bird's Nest due to its unique architectural characteristic. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
The Bird's Nest also represented China's modernization, after years of lagging behind the other countries due to sino-centrism. It was then that China finally, standing equally between the rest, shows how they had reached their pace. This is how the Bird's Nest meant something special to the Chinese. It reminds them of the history, when China still regard themselves as the superior while times had changed China into a modern country everyone knows today.
Like humans, buildings have life. The Bird's Nest stands apart from any other stadium as a one of a kind structure unique in its design and social significance. The Bird's Nest will forever be a piece of Beijing's history and Chinese culture. Explore the creation of this magnificent structure from the beginning stages through the construction and completion. You'll hear from the designers, architects and welders who each played a part. The construction for this AWESOME building started in 2003, but came to a halt due to spiraling costs. Consequently, the project organizers were forced to change their original plans and leave out the stadium's roof. However, according to experts, that decision actually helped to make the building more secure against earthquakes. A blessing in disguise indeed:))
The 13,170miles-long Wall
A segment of the Great Wall of China
As one of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China has become the symbol of the Chinese nation and its culture. Lots of stories at the Great Wall of China took place along the construction. One includes the story of 孟姜女哭长城。
This story indictates that the wall is a production of tens of thousands of Chinese commoners.
Unification of China
The Great Wall is a powerful symbol. It represents the unification of China, because it was linked together as China was unified for the first time in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). It represents the awesome ability of the Chinese to work together for the good of the country.
Separation of a Nation
While it represents unity on the China side the Great Wall represents separation from the rest of the world on the other, along with the lengths a nation will go to to preserve their culture and keep invaders out.
The Great Wall of China was built by thousands of people working closely together. The ability of the Chinese to work together for the good of the country is not an easy task. We should learn how to work together like them, so that our country, too, will be one that unites together well. Another great learning point is from the separation of the nation. In the past, China was Sino-centric and thought that they were always the superior one. As a result, they lost wars due to the low technology of weapons that they had which built a weak military force. If they had not been so sino-centric, none of these would have happened. Hence, we should always not take things for granted and must be humble, for what we have will not always be. To do that, we must listen from the opinion of others and change accordingly. Same for the country, accept the flaws and change it!
The First President of China
Yuan Shikai, an influential figure in the 1911 revolution
Yuan Shikai (16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese general, politician and emperor during the times of the 1911 revolution. The revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and established the Republic of China. The revolution was named Xinhai because it occurred in 1911, the year of the Xinhai stem-branch in the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar.
The revolution consisted of many revolts and uprisings. The turning point was the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911, that was a result of the mishandling of the Railway Protection Movement. The revolution ended with the abdication of the "Last Emperor" Puyi on February 12, 1912, that marked the end of over 2,000 years of imperial rule and the beginning of China's republican era.
The revolution arose mainly in response to the decline of the Qing state, which had proven ineffective in its efforts to modernize China and confront foreign aggression, and was exacerbated by ethnic resentment against the ruling Manchu minority. Many underground anti-Qing groups, with the support of Chinese revolutionaries in exile, tried to overthrow the Qing. The brief civil war that ensued was ended through a political compromise between Yuan Shikai, the late Qing military strongman, and Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the Tongmenghui. After the Qing court transferred power to the newly founded republic, a provisional coalition government was created along with the National Assembly. However, political power of the new national government in Beijing was soon thereafter monopolized by Yuan Shikai and led to decades of political division and warlordism, including several attempts at imperial restoration.
The revolution eliminates the numerous faults of the Qing government's incompetent ruling like the detrimental hereditary system, prevalence of corruption, the arrogant believe of sino-centrism and many more. However, with the start of a presidential system, wars broke out between warlords due to the prevailing thirst for power. A revolution to improve people's life by reforming a faulted system ultimately result in more pain and sufferings, defeating it's purpose of improving lives. Nonetheless, this revolution is an important milestone in China's history and the start of reforms to open up China's door to foreign influences.
Gate of Heavenly Peace
Front view of the majestic Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the fourth largest city square in the world, covering a staggering 44 hectares. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. The square is best known in recent memory as the focal point of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, a pro-democracy movement which ended on 4 June 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government and the death of several hundred or possibly thousands of civilians.
The Tiananmen Square protests is a student-led popular demonstrations in Beijing which took place in the spring of 1989 and received broad support from city residents, exposing deep splits within China's political leadership. The protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law in the country's capital. The crackdown that initiated on June 3–4 became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre as troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted casualties on unarmed civilians trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, which student demonstrators had occupied for seven weeks. The scale of military mobilization and the resulting bloodshed were unprecedented in the history of Beijing.
The protests were triggered in April 1989 by the death of former Communist Party General Secretary, Hu Yaobang, a liberal reformer, who was deposed after losing a power struggle with hardliners over the direction of political and economic reform. University students marched and gathered in Tiananmen Square to mourn. Hu had also voiced grievances against inflation, limited career prospects, and corruption of the party elite. The protesters called for government accountability, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the restoration of workers' control over industry. At the height of the protests, about a million people assembled in the Square.
The protest signifies the unhappiness of the people after the 1946 civil war. Even after the shift of power, the people were still not adequately taken care of, furthermore, the government reacted poorly to this display of dissatisfaction by initiating a massacre on the protesters, staining the name of the government and causing outsider to perceive the government as merciless and cruel.
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