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Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

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By tye zai zhongguo
June 17th 2008

Week 3 update

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

"You're been spending your time/Thinking about why you think so much/If there was ever a time/now would be time to see your time is limited "Everybody here is a cloud/And everybody will evaporate since/You came up from the ground/From a million little pieces, have you found where your place is?" --Cloud Cult 6/13 12:15PM beginning of bus ride Every place is the same place until you force yr insides to change Vaporize the parts that try to change things Killyrself so identity can re-burst peeking newborn Cocoon children finally running naked around new place All the city si [View Full Entry]

By pohl position
May 10th 2008

Stairway to Heaven

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Stepping Up
Lots and Lots o stairs!

Although I didn't get a chance to climb Mt. Fuji, I knew there would be other mountain climbing opportunities on my trip. I wouldn't have to wait very long and a week into China, I found myself climbing Mt. Tai Shan. Tai Shan is the most revered of China's five sacred Taoist peaks. Emperors, Chairman Mao, and even Confucious himself has risen to the challenge of reaching its summit. It's said that if you climb Tai Shan you will live to be 100 years old. I'll let you know in 2078 if that's true or not. The mountain is 1545m above [View Full Entry]

By Amicu
November 24th 2007

The rather more than 39 steps.

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Amy and Emanuel at the bottom
Bold adventurers preparing to set off.

Taishan Mountain This weekend we finally managed to climb Taishan, the large 4000ft mountain which we are staying under. Regular readers will know we had been to the top of the mountain on National Day by bus and cable car although due to bad weather we were not really able to see anything at all. Our trip this time was quite different; the weather was cool and a little misty. We started from the main eastern entrance on our steady climb. Our friend Emanuel, another foreign English teacher also came with us. Emanuel’s parents are from Hong Kong he was born [View Full Entry]

By Hugh and Sarah
October 17th 2007

Trans Mongolian & beyond

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Mao Revival

It's been a little while, as we've been busy..... I think we left you in Ulaan Baatar where we were staying in an apartment some way from the centre of town. The following morning as we were getting ready to go out what appeared to be disaster struck. An awkward twist in the small room & my back seized up. While not as bad as it has been, I (Sarah) still could not stand up straight and walk without a limp. After some debate and testing of it, we decided that, at the very least, I needed to be near the [View Full Entry]

By Amicu
October 3rd 2007

A Free Lunch

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Our Chariot
Bigger than a minibus, smaller than a coach. This took us up to the halfway point and back.

Laura: "Well, look at it this way: If anyone back home asks, they won't believe what you did for National Day." Amy: "It's certainly priceless." Chris: "Definitely 'without price'..." October the 1st is China's National Day. This year the Powers that Be are making a thing of it being the last National Day before the Olympics starts. All us Foreigners were invited by the University to go on an all-expenses-paid trip up to the top of Mount Tai by bus and cable-car, see some official show thing, and have a free lunch at the Ramada afterwards. Now, as we're now officially [View Full Entry]

By ZLD
September 21st 2007

Tai' shan 6660 steps into the clouds.

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

At the top of Tai'shan

Enroute from Nanjing to Beijing, it was well worth 3 nights stopping at Tai'an, at the foot of Mount Tai'Shan. Mount Tai' a popular pilgrimage for Chinese Buddists and tourists alike. Many visitors opt for a bus, cable car trip to the summit, like us, rather than facing the challenge of climbing a vigorous 6660 steps! (We did descend to the mid way gate, covering 2500 steps!) Temples, shrines, few shops and hotels can be found high in the sky. Simply amazing views, achitecture and atmosphere above the clouds. To think that the construction of such buildings were possible hundreds of [View Full Entry]

By Jake427
September 10th 2007

First Week of Teaching and My First Adventure

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Train from Hell 1
The image is really poor, but you get the idea. I didn't want to attract more attention to myself than I had already done just by being there in the first place so I refrained from using the flash.

Wow, where do I begin? Slowly but surely I am getting settled in, acquainting myself with the immediate and non-immediate surroundings and gaining more confidence in my ability to do anything and everything. I have begun teaching two of my classes thus far-- an adult Oral English class and a freshman/sophomore American & British Culture. The adult class turns out to be 17 professionals from an oil company located in Henan province. They all seem to be very intelligent, motivated and disciplined, yet their English is definitely lacking. A few of the students speak fairly well, but most [View Full Entry]

By odedromi
July 11th 2007

Tai Shan - We did it! - even if we don't have the pictures to prove it!!!

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Mount Tai is known as one of the "Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism" and is described by the Lonely Planet as the most climbed mountain in the world (though I doubt this to be true). It is said to be associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and they say those who climb it live to be 100 (Which I sure hope is NOT true!). Just so you understand, this mountain is 1545 metres high with some 6,293 official steps. And for some unknown reason Oded and I decided it would be a great idea to climb each and every one of [View Full Entry]

By ElizabethR
June 7th 2007

Qufu and Taishan: Following the footsteps of Confucius

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

A handful of us ventured out to Qufu and Tai an the last week of May. Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius. Tai-an is home to Taishan, one of five sacred mountains in China, and a mountain that Confucius himself climbed. We took the train to Qufu, and this was my first time on a "regular" Chinese train. My trip to Beijing was on the "fast"train - new high-speed train - which is quite luxurious. The "regular" or slow train is how most Chinese get around China. That or the travel bus. The regular train has banquettes where 4 or 6 [View Full Entry]

By China 2006 2007
May 11th 2007

Tai'an en Taishan - Praktische informatie

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

We namen in Qufu de bus naar Tai'an (16Y - 1 uur), daar werden we afgezet op het plein vóór het treinstation. Je wordt er onmiddellijk aangesproken door mensen die hotels aanbieden. We probeerden eerst wat informatie in te winnen en een Engelstalige kaart van de Taishan te bemachtigen in het "Touist Information Service" kantoor op het stationsplein. Men gaf er wel de nodige uitleg over bussen en treinen om Tai'an weer te verlaten, maar hadden geen Engelstalige stadskaarten en wilden vooral hotelkamers boeken. We namen een taxi naar het Taishan Grand Hotel (Taishan Dajiudian), een ge [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan