Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Earliest 'bird' fossil on display in Liaoning Pavilion



Shanghai Corporate Joint Pavilion under curtain of night


Expo 2010 Shanghai China


Expo 2010 will be held in the city of Shanghai, China from May 1 to October 31, 2010 and is a scheduled World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions. The theme of the exposition will be "Better City – Better Life" and signifies Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as a premier global economic and cultural center. It is the most expensive Expo in the history of the world's fairs. The expo Logo features the Chinese character 世 ('world', Chinese "shì") modified to represent three people together with the 2010 date. It is also the largest World's Fair site ever at 5.28 square km.

More than 190 countries and more than 50 international organizations have registered to participate in the Shanghai World Expo, the largest ever. China expects to receive almost 100 foreign leaders and millions of people from across the world to come and visit the World Expo. More than 70-100 million visitors are expected to visit the expo, the largest in history.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Four great inventions of acient China(4)

Printing
The Chinese invention of Woodblock printing, at some point before the first dated book in 868 (the Diamond Sutra), produced the world's first print culture. According to A. Hyatt Mayor, curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "it was the Chinese who really discovered the means of communication that was to dominate until our age." Woodblock printing was better suited to Chinese characters than movable type, which the Chinese also invented, but which did not replace woodblock printing. Western printing presses, although introduced in the 16th century, were not widely used in China until the 19th century. China, along with Korea, was one of the last countries to adopt them.

Four great inventions of acient China (3)

Papermaking
Papermaking has traditionally been traced to China about AD 105, when Cai Lun, an official attached to the Imperial court during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), created a sheet of paper using mulberry and other bast fibres along with fishnets, old rags, and hemp waste.However a recent archaeological discovery has been reported from near Dunhuang of paper with writing on it dating to 8 BC.

While paper used for wrapping and padding was used in China since the 2nd century BC,paper used as a writing medium only became widespread by the 3rd century. By the 6th century in China, sheets of paper were beginning to be used for toilet paper as well. During the Tang Dynasty (AD 618–907) paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea.The Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279) that followed was the first government to issue paper currency.