About 20 years ago, Shuangfeng was also an unknown small village with about 30 houses in it and deep in a big mountain near to Mudanjiang city in northeast of China.
One day, a photographer been there. He was surprised to the scene in his sight. The houses in the village were covered with thick white snow and just look like some huge mushrooms hided among the mountain embellished few red lantern between them. He shoot off all the films he bring with him soon. But he had not given full expression to his views. Next winter he came again with some friends they were also photographers and bring more enough films with them. They had taken a lot of beautiful pictures, weeks later some of the pictures were published on many news papers and magazines in China. The small mountain village has been well-known in whole country as if during one night. Today the small mountain village named Shuangfeng is already a famous place to vist.
The Jingbo Lake is situated at the boundless range of mountains to the southwest of Ningan County of Heilongjiang Province, 80km from Mudanjiang City. It is a famous high mountain clogged up lake of China. There is water in the mountains and mountains in the water with charming and gentle scenery.
The lake water is so clear that you can see the bottom through the water and fish swimming around. “Jingbo” means “mirror” in Chinese. According to a legend, a beautiful and kindhearted girl named Hongluo lived here. She had a magic mirror. Wherever disaster occurred, she would flash her magic mirror and restore happiness to the people. The celestial empress wanted to get hold of the mirror and sent a deity to steak it away. Hongluo followed the rays of the mirror to the celestial palace trying to take it back. But in the scramble with the empress, the mirror fell from the sky to the earth – where it instantly became the beautiful ” Mirror Lake”.
The Jingbo Lake is, in fact, a dammed lake caused by an ancient volcanic eruption during which the Mudan River was blocked by lava. Covering 1,200 square kilometers, the quiet and clear lake is surrounded by towering mountains and dense forests.Water flowing out from the north bank of the lake forms a waterfall called Diaoshuilou, the biggest in Northeast China.
During the overflow period in autumn, the waterfall can reach 25 meters in height and 40 meters in width, flying down from the precipice, which gives rise to clouds upon clouds of water vapor forming one rainbow after another like the Milky Way standing upside down. It can be heard miles away. The scenery is simply magnificent.
In 1998 Chinese New Year. I shoot these pictures in a small vallige in a mountain. When it just getting bright. I went out of the farmer’s house that I sleep in with my cameras. The village girl looked at me a stranger to her. I shoot down this picture.
The Chinese words on the door pronounced “ƒǔ” and it meanings blessing. Every door will put it on in china when the spring festival comes.Though the families in the mountain village look like poor and backward.but the peoples there are very honest and happy.
Posted on Jan 29, 2008 under Harbin Ice lantern Show |
The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has been held since 1963. It had been interrupted for a number of years during the Cultural Revolution until it was resumed in 1985.Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province ofPeople’s Republic of China, is one of the sources of ice and snow culture in the world. Geographically, it is located in Northeast China under the direct influence of the cold winter wind from Siberia. The average temperature in summer is 21.2 degrees Celsius, -16.8 degrees Celsius in winter. It can be as cold as - 38.1 degrees Celsius in winter.
Officially, the festival starts from January 5th and lasts one month. However often the exhibitions open earlier and last longer, weather permitting. Ice sculpture decoration ranges from the modern technology of lasers to traditional ice lanterns. There are ice lantern park touring activities held in many parks in the city. Winter activities in the festival include Yabuli alpine skiing, winter-swimming in Songhua River, and the ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden. Snow carving and ice and snow recreations are world famous.
The Harbin festival is one of the world’s four largest ice and snow festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.The 2007 festival featured the Canadian theme, in memoriam of Canadian doctor Norman Bethune. It also a Guinness Record of the largest snow sculpture: 250 metres long, 28 feet high, using over 13,000 cubic metres of snow. The composition consisted of two parts: “Niagara Falls” and “Crossing the Bering Strait” .
Long time ago they began to make ice lantern. It was very cold in winter in north of China.The peoples there put pails with full of water out side. minutes later filtered the water not freezed. Pull out the ice inside and put a candle in it. and a ice lantern came. The ice lanterns made their yards bright. It is the beginning of the ice lantern show today,I think.
The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, bordering to the north with both the Republic ofMongolia and Russia, is the widest province in China (by its latitude). It is the third largest Chinese province (over 1.1 million square kilometers or 424,736 square miles) but not very populated. The province has about 24 million inhabitants. Many ethnic groups are living in this area including Mongolian, Daur, Oroqen, Ewenki, Hui, Han, Korea and Manchu. Hohhot is the capital of Inner Mongolia.
Climate in Inner Mongolia is very different during the year. Winter is cold and can be very long, with frequent blizzards. Usually summer is short and warm. The climate changes from arid to semi-humid from west to east, and to humid in the northeast. The annual rainfall is 80 - 450 millimeters, also increasing from west to east. The main feature of the climate here is that the different in temperature between days and nights is very big, so tourists should wear layer of clothes when traveling here.
I had been to Hailaer Inner Mongolia for cover a news in January 1, 2000. The post office there lend me a jeep. The boundless grasslands was covered with white snow. I driven to lonely Mongolia house made of felt on the grasslands. Young Mongolia couple admit me with hot Mongolia milky tea and bread. They talked less words, But they were very warmly. They told me they have a daughter and they have good grasslands there for them cattle and horses to graze on. They were happy to live there. The young Mongolia couple put on new dresses and shot this picture down.
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