Stone Forest
Stone Forest is the symbol of Kunming. It is situated 120km away from Kunming City. It becomes the holy place for Bai people. There is a romantic story regarding this place. The story is about a girl named Ashma who fell in love with Ahai. Their love was abundant by the landlord who kidnapped Ashma. Ahai, the love of her life came to save her. During the escape, Ashma died and turned into a rock. The rock of Ashma becomes a holy stone, which the Bai people usually gather and pray every year.The formation of Stone Forest started 200 million years ago. The height of stone trees reaches five meters to thirty meters and covers 26000 hectares. There are several figures can be found in this Stone Forest. The figure include human figure, which is believed as the bodies of Ashma and Ahai. Besides, there are animals and plants figures. (Silvia)
Giant Panda
Giant Panda is a mammal which is one of the scarce animals in the world. This animal originated from China. Giant Panda lives in the mountain area such as Sichuan. Fossil evidence states that the early Pleistocene, approximate 2- 3 millions ago, giant pandas’ fossils were found around eastern and southern China. Giant pandas’ fossils have also been found in northern Myanmar and northern Vietnam. Nowadays, giant panda is well- known as a symbol of China. It is called ‘mao xiong’ in Chinese word, means cat-bear. Giant pandas are about 150 cm long from nose to rump, with 10- 15cm tail.
Giant panda is an omnivore, their favorite food is bamboo leave. Besides, they also eat eggs and insects. These foods fulfill their protein needs. The birth rate of giant panda is low. A baby panda’s weight is only 90- 130gr. It becomes the smallest newborn mammals compare to its mother size. It needs an extra protection after they newly born. A life span of giant panda in the wildlife is approximate 14- 20 years. Today, the number of giant panda in the world is about 1.600 pandas. Giant panda also becomes the icon of WWF (World Wildlife Fund), an organization of nature conservation. (Revita)
Chinese Astrology
More than 3,000 years ago, Chinese people invented the 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches for chronological purposes. These signs are used to designate the hours, days, months and years. However, since most people at that time were illiterate, the signs were difficult to use. Later, to make things easier to memorize, people used animals to symbolize the 12 Earthly Branches. The animals in order are the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person's birth is the primary factor in determining that person's personality. Many fortune-tellers, when telling your fortune, say what they need to know is your exact time of birth. Then, whether you are successful in your life and career, or whether you will be happy is clear to the fortune-tellers.
A lot of the Chinese looked to the stars, but some were drawn to the Earth, trying to solve riddles and mysteries of math. They did not know that everything was made from hundreds and millions of atoms, but instead they thought everything was made up of the five elements: fire, earth, metal, water and wood. They looked at how these elements could change, and explained how nature worked in those terms. Wood goes through a basic change to become fire (flames), fire turns into the earth (ashes), earth makes the metal (iron and other metals) mined from the earth. Metal brings water (metal collects dew if outside over night). And to make the circle, water produces wood (wood plants need water to grow). The scientists did not think of the five elements as DNA, but more like changing things in nature; and that is how the Chinese viewed life and nature.
Chinese astrology is based on the astronomy and traditional calendars. The Chinese astrology does not calculate the positions of the sun, moon and planets at the time of birth. Therefore, there is no astrology in the European sense in China.
The Chinese zodiac refers to a pure calendrical cycle; there are no equivalent constellations like those of the occidental zodiac. In imperial times there were astrologers who watched the sky for heavenly omens that would predict the future of the state, but this was a quite different practice of divination from the popular present-day methods.
Background
The ancient Chinese astronomers called the 5 major planets by the names of the element they were associated with: Venus corresponds to Metal (gold); Jupiter to Wood; Mercury to Water; Mars to Fire; Saturn to Earth. According to Chinese Astrology, a person's destiny can be determined by the position of the major planets, along with the positions of the Sun, Moon and comets and the person's time of birth and Zodiac Sign. The system of the twelve year cycle of animal signs was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of Jupiter, the Year Star). Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years (from 11.86). Suixing was associated with Sheti (Bootes) and sometimes called Sheti.
The elements are combined with the binary Yin Yang cycle, which enlarges the element cyle to a cycle of ten. Even years are yang, odd years are yin. Since the zodiac animal cycle of 12 is divisible by two, every zodiac can only occur in either yin or yang: the dragon is always yang, the snake is always yin, etc. This combination creates a 60-year cycle, starting with Wood Rat and ending with Water Pig. The current cycle began in the year 1984.
The Chinese zodiac signs are used by cultures other than Chinese also. For one example, they usually appear on Japanese New Year's cards. The United States Postal Service and those of several other countries issue a postage stamp each year to honor this Chinese heritage. However, those unfamiliar with the use of the Chinese lunar calendar usually just assume that the signs switch over on January 1 of each year.
