#kunming lake

[anamericaninhuaibei]

This was the last photo I took before I nearly collapsed in a coughing fit after getting COVID for the second (third?) time this summer and had to go to the hospital for the second time in three days, but that's a story for another day!

[casadabiqueira]

Dead Lotus Flowers on the Kunming Lake, Former Imperial Summer Palace

René Burri, 1964

[bostonfly]

Kunming Lake, Beijing, China, 1964 Photograph: Magnum Photos/René Burri

[dailyunsolvedmysteries-movedd]

Kingdom of the Little People

The Kingdom of the Little People is a theme park near Kunming, China that features comic performances by people with dwarfism. Supporters of the park claim that it provides employment to people who would otherwise be unable to find work, but it has been criticized for treating dwarfism as a humorous condition.

As of 2010, there were over 100 employees whose ages ranged from 19 to 48. The park requires employees to be less than 51 inches (130 cm) tall. The employees live in nearby dormitories which were specifically constructed to be accessible to short people. During the performances, the actors pretend to live in small mushroom shaped houses.

The park was founded in September 2009 by Chen Mingjing, a wealthy real estate investor. Although many visitors to the park are students from nearby towns, Chen hopes to make the park a destination for tourists visiting China. He provides English lessons for his employees to help them interact with foreign tourists. He aims to eventually employ 1,000 people with dwarfism.

The performers sing, dance, and perform onstage for visiting tourists. They often act out Qigong, scenes from fairy tales, or ballets such as Swan Lake. They also occasionally perform hip-hop dances. The performances often feature a "Dwarf King.” The king, who is only 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall, often wears a gold silk cape and rides a three-wheeled motorcycle during performances.

The park has been criticized by several organizations, including the Little People of America and Humanity & Inclusion. Critics contend that the park resembles a human zoo and isolates its employees from the rest of society. Chen claims that the business provides employment for many who would otherwise be unemployed, allowing them to build self-respect. Many employees have said that they enjoy living with other short people and feel less lonely at the park. They say that before they were employed by Chen they were unable to find work or were exploited by employers. The American television channel, Vice, started partly by director Spike Jonze, filmed a piece for their show, Vice Essentials, at the Kingdom of the Little People in 2015. In their short documentary they interviewed some of the staff and were taken on a tour of the park, including the dorms and behind the scenes places that visitors are not normally privy to.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

//...René Burri...// Former Summer Palace. Dead lotus flowers on the Kunming Lake. Beijing, China, 1964.    ::  [Verocska Kosch's Art Corner]

* * * *

THE ART OF LETTING GO It is good to remember that a part of you has always loved God. There is a part of you that has always said yes. There is a part of you that is Love itself, and that is what we must fall into. It is already there. Once you move your identity to that level of deep inner contentment, you will realize you are drawing upon a Life that is much larger than your own and from a deeper abundance. Once you learn this, why would you ever again settle for scarcity in your life? “I’m not enough! This is not enough! I do not have enough!” I am afraid this is the way culture trains you to think. It is a kind of learned helplessness. The Gospel message is just the opposite — inherent power. Thomas Merton said the way we have structured our lives, we spend our whole life climbing up the ladder of supposed success, and when we get to the top of the ladder we realize it is leaning against the wrong wall—and there is nothing at the top. To get back to the place of inherent abundance, you have to let go of all of the false agendas, unreal goals, and passing self-images. It is all about letting go. The spiritual life is more about unlearning than learning, because the deepest you already knows (1 John 2:21). Richard Rohr: Adapted from The Art of Letting Go (CD)

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Kingdom of the Little People

The Kingdom of the Little People is a theme park near Kunming, China that features comic performances by people with dwarfism. Supporters of the park claim that it provides employment to people who would otherwise be unable to find work, but it has been criticized for treating dwarfism as a humorous condition.

As of 2010, there were over 100 employees whose ages ranged from 19 to 48. The park requires employees to be less than 51 inches (130 cm) tall. The employees live in nearby dormitories which were specifically constructed to be accessible to short people. During the performances, the actors pretend to live in small mushroom shaped houses.

The park was founded in September 2009 by Chen Mingjing, a wealthy real estate investor. Although many visitors to the park are students from nearby towns, Chen hopes to make the park a destination for tourists visiting China. He provides English lessons for his employees to help them interact with foreign tourists. He aims to eventually employ 1,000 people with dwarfism.

The performers sing, dance, and perform onstage for visiting tourists. They often act out Qigong, scenes from fairy tales, or ballets such as Swan Lake. They also occasionally perform hip-hop dances. The performances often feature a "Dwarf King.” The king, who is only 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall, often wears a gold silk cape and rides a three-wheeled motorcycle during performances.

The park has been criticized by several organizations, including the Little People of America and Humanity & Inclusion. Critics contend that the park resembles a human zoo and isolates its employees from the rest of society. Chen claims that the business provides employment for many who would otherwise be unemployed, allowing them to build self-respect. Many employees have said that they enjoy living with other short people and feel less lonely at the park. They say that before they were employed by Chen they were unable to find work or were exploited by employers. The American television channel, Vice, started partly by director Spike Jonze, filmed a piece for their show, Vice Essentials, at the Kingdom of the Little People in 2015. In their short documentary they interviewed some of the staff and were taken on a tour of the park, including the dorms and behind the scenes places that visitors are not normally privy to.

[drunken-boat]

Common Merganser on Kunming Lake

Summer Palace, Beijing 2023

[valorstudio90]

Summer Palace

Di Hòa viên, hay còn gọi là Cung điện mùa hè, tiếng Trung Quốc là ‘Yíhé Yuán’ (nghĩa đen là “khu vườn nuôi dưỡng sự ôn hòa”). Di Hoà Viên nổi tiếng nhờ ông hoàng đế thân thuộc thời anh em cuối 8x, Càn Long trong hoàn châu cách cách :))

Bộ hình này là mình đi dọc 1 đoạn hồ Côn Minh (Kunming Lake), nếu nhìn từ trên cao xuống hồ sẽ nhận thấy ẩn ý trong bố cục sơn thủy, trông giống như trái đào mừng thọ. Hồ Côn Minh diện tích khoảng 2,2 km² và được bao quanh bởi các đồi núi và khu rừng xanh mát. Nước trong hồ có màu xanh biếc lấp lánh, phản chiếu ánh sáng mặt trời tạo ra một cảm giác yên bình.

[odkrycia-nauce-i-foldery-online]

Nature's stunning exodus

Researchers film incredible journey of one of the world's largest animal migrations, report Xu Fan and Li Yingqing in Kunming.

An ever-alert wolf and a Tibetan antelope featured in the documentary Biodiversity on Earth — Zhuonai Lake, produced by the second comprehensive scientific expedition team to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.[Photo provided to China Daily] Updated: 2023-01-28 13:32

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.20

AD 69 – Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian. 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade. 1334 – Cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, is elected Pope Benedict XII. 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans. 1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins. 1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands. 1848 – 1848 French presidential election: Having won the popular vote in a landslide, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is inaugurated in the chamber of the National Assembly as the first (and only) president of the French Second Republic. 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States with the South Carolina Declaration of Secession. 1915 – World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli. 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded. 1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison. 1940 – Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published. 1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers", in Kunming, China. 1942 – World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India. 1946 – It's a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York to mixed reviews. 1946 – An earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan causes a tsunami which kills at least one thousand people and destroys 36,000 homes. 1948 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia. 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs. 1952 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87 of the 115 people on board. 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom. 1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight. 1967 – A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 249 kilometres per hour (155 mph) on their New York Division, also present-day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. 1973 – Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco: A car bomb planted by ETA in Madrid kills three people, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. 1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines. 1984 – Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 24 km (15 mi) southeast of Jonelle's home. The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head." 1985 – Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day. 1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official). 1989 – The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega. 1991 – A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina. 1995 – NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia. 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia, killing 159 of the 163 people on board. 1999 – Macau is handed over to China by Portugal. 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days. 2019 – The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.

[alpinebirdingworld-blog]

Benefits of Going to Yunnan in China for a Birding Trip 

Watching birds live their lives in their natural homes can be extremely relaxing for anyone. If you are wondering about going on a bird watching trip to an exotic country, then you should think about booking one of the popular Yunnan birding tours in China. Yunnan is popular for its rich biodiversity and its extensive natural landscapes are home to hundreds of different types of birds. Going on a bird watching trip to a different country also allows you to enjoy the benefits of traveling while you enjoy delving into your passion for observing the birds. 

Bird Species in the Yunnan Region 

The Yunnan Province of southwestern China is home to more than 900 species of birds. The lakes, mountains, plateaus, plains, and wetlands create a unique environment that provides the perfect space for these birds to grow and thrive. So when you come down to the birding sites in and around the Yunnan Province, you can see many different types of pheasants, hornbills, babblers, laughingthrushes, and parrotbills. The popular birds in the Yunnan Province include the White-cheeked Partridge, Kalij Pheasant, Great Hornbill, Long-tailed Broadbill, Golden-throated Barbet, and Lady Amherst’s Pheasant. 

Major Attractions of a Birding Trip in Yunnan 

Have a look at the main highlights of your birding excursion to Yunnan.

Visiting the Kunming Botanical Garden and Zixi Mountain Forest Park 

Kunming Botanical Garden is a huge garden that offers a nice habitat for different types of resident and wintering birds, such as Red-tailed Minla, Red-billed Leiothrix, Blue-winged Minla, and Japanese White-eye. The Zixi Mountain Forest Park is yet another popular site in the region that is known for its unspoiled natural beauty. It is also the home to many popular birds in the Yunnan region.

Gonggangling 

Next, you can visit the lush Alpine forests of Gonggangling covered with coniferous trees. These trees are home to numerous forest birds, such as the Sichuan Wood Owl, Blue Eared Pheasant, Blood Pheasant, Chinese White-browed Rosefinch, and Three-banded Rosefinch. 

Ruoergai

Ruoergai is an extensive grassland spreading across the Tibetan Plateau that offers stunning views of the surrounding mountains. It is the perfect place for you to go for a nice drive. When you are here, you can spot some of the local birds, such as the Himalayan Griffon, Amur Falcon, Upland Buzzard, Common Kestrel, and the Black Kite.     

Importance of Availing Custom Birding Trips 

Exploring the unique sights and sounds of the Yunnan region can be an unforgettable adventure that is going to leave a lasting impact on your senses. However, you need some professional help to get there and visit the numerous notable birding sites for which the Yunnan region is so famous. Consulting with a reputed tour operator like Alpine Birding can help you to know all about the region in advance so that you can plan your trip properly.

Whether you take an academic interest in birds, love to watch them in their natural surroundings, or are an avid photographer, you can benefit a lot from booking a curated birding trip to China’s Yunnan Province. 

[joancoyechina]

DAY 8: Beijing Rickshaw ride, Panda Gallery, Summer Palace & the mall

Started the day with a rickshaw ride through the Hutong District, a maze of narrow alleys, local merchants and restaurants and basic housing (shared kitchens and use of public toilets).  A definite flavor of the simple every day life of some in Beijing.

The largest zoo in China, the Beijing Zoo’s Panda gallery offers Giant Pandas  indoor and outdoor habitats and plenty of bamboo. Though mostly sleeping, these national treasures were adorable and a fun short stop.

Rounding out our morning was a stroll through the Summer Palace, a vast complex of lakes, gardens and palace buildings.  It was most notably the summer residence of the Empress Dowager Cixi, the “Dragon Queen” who controlled the Quing dynasty government for almost 50 years (1861-1908).  

A UNESCO World Heritage site, it  displays lush natural landscapes of hills and open water and combines with pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges which form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.  It was a peaceful pleasure to stroll along the long ornately painted covered corridor and view the Dragon boats gliding across Kunming Lake.  At the summit of Longevity Hill (created from the lake excavation) is perched the majestic 9 story Tower of Buddhist Incense - a spectacular sight!  

I so enjoy the Chinese naming of their buildings, as today we saw the Sea of Wisdom, Hall of Joy & Longevity, Garden of Harmonious Pleasures and the Pavilion of Precious Clouds….so poetic! The Summer Palace was my favorite sight....after the Great Wall of course!

Our afternoon was customized for Wade’s curiosity not only of the ancient, but also the cutting edge.  We went to one of the largest malls in Beijing with the goal of visiting a Huawei store and BYD (Build Your Dream) electric vehicle showroom.  We found the Huawei store right off and were very impressed with their newest mobile phone that has one screen on the front and when you unfold the phone makes another seamless small tablet sized screen!  They also had a watch that contained earbuds inside, large screen TV’s, their own brand of EV’s. Very cool!

Although there was no BYD store in the mall, there were at least 10 other electric car showrooms, including Tesla, HiPhi, Zeeker, Avatar, Arcfox, AITO and even Volkswagen!  They ranged from sports cars to minivans and SUV type models and were priced from USD $25,000 to $85,000.  All had sleek interiors and lots of screens of various shapes, one featured an AI bot, VR glasses and sensors that opened and shut the doors for you.  It was quite a surprise for us to see the huge variety and of both fully electric and hybrid brands available....and the color choices!!

Other mall stops included a DJI drone store and a store selling robots for mowing the lawn: the “GOAT”, and a robotic Rumba that also mops the floors.  For the most part, the other stores were jewelry stores (lots!), and international chain stores.

[suntelecomcn]

Sun Telecom was at The China-South Asia Expo

On August 16th, the 7th China-South Asia Expo was officially held at Kunming Dianchi Lake International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Sun Telecom, as a specialized, excellent, differentiated, and innovative enterprise, was chosen as one of the exhibitors in Shanghai. Sun Telecom showcased “Fiber Optic Pre-connectorized Solution” and a wide range of products at the Expo.

[rasmasandra]

Kunming on the Panlong River

Kunming is the modern capital city and transportation hub in the southern Yunnan province of China. The city is known as “The City of Eternal Spring” since it is like spring all the time. It has a large student population. There are lovely bridges, pavilions, and temples. In an amazing location, it’s surrounded by snowcapped mountains and red lands. Green Lake Park is a beautiful green space for…

[jeremyshih]

Lake Bank Dam, Western Hills, Kunming, Yunnan.

[wildlifeday]

Statement from the U.N. Secretary-General for World Wildlife Day 2023.

On World Wildlife Day, we reflect on our responsibility to protect the magnificent diversity of life on our planet.

And we recognize our abject failure.

Human activities are laying waste to once-thriving forests, jungles, farmland, oceans, rivers, seas, and lakes.

One million species teeter on the brink of extinction, due to habitat destruction, fossil fuel pollution and the worsening climate crisis.

We must end this war on nature.

The good news is that we have the tools, the knowledge, and the solutions.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which has helped protect thousands of plants and animals.

And last year’s agreement on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework marked an important step towards putting our planet on a path to healing.

As this year’s theme – ‘Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation’ – highlights, we need to work across governments, civil society, and the private sector to turn commitment into action.

And we need much bolder actions now to cut emissions, accelerate renewables, and build climate resilience.

Throughout, we need to place the voices of local communities and indigenous people – our world’s most effective guardians of biodiversity – front and centre.

Today and every day, let us all do our part to preserve natural habitats and build a thriving future for all living beings.