This is a giant village house supported by 1,322 timber columns, located on the outskirts of Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province.
Shaoxing is an ancient city with a rich cultural tradition and the homeland to some prominent figures in Chinese history, including the greatest hydraulic engineer and last ruler of Xia Dynasty Yu the Great (大禹, 4,000 BC), China’s greatest calligrapher Wang Xizhi (王羲之303-361), a well-known Song Dynasty poet Lu You (陆游 1125-1210), the great anti-Manchu revolutionary heroine Qiu Jin (秋瑾1875-1907), one of the greatest Chinese scientists Qian Sanqiang (钱三强 1913-1992), the great meteorologist Zhu Kezhen (竺可桢 1890-1974) and the great statesman and the first premier of PRC Zhou Enlai (周恩来 1898～1976).
Of course, Shaoxing is also the birthplace of some bastards, such as Ma Yinchu, the one who practiced polygamy but successfully sold his sinister and disastrous One Child Policy on Han Chinese to Deng Xiaoping.
COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS
Mile HsiangYang Lee
I have Been to MOST MAJOR 1st Tier Cities in CHINA. But SMALLER 3rd Tier Cities, I Have Been to ONLY A FEW. I Imagined SMALLER CITIES are MORE PEOPLE FRIENDLY Than LARGER METROPOLIS as EVERYBODY Knows EVERYBODY in SMALLER SETTING, Pretty Much The Same in Smaller Towns in USA. But SMALLER CITIES in CHINA is Still A FEW HUNDRED THOUSANDS, Compared to US Just A Few Thousands 😊
All Things Chinese
I believe they don’t have much choice as most regions in China are mountainous areas.
Mile HsiangYang Lee
Oo 😮 Is That Why? 😐
All Things Chinese
Hmmmm …. I think this is the most common landform on the planet Earth – full of highs and lows.
Of course, our environment is the externalisation of our internal state…..
On the other hand, there are some regions on Earth with the landform pretty flat, like inland Australia where waterways are few so are mountains, and …… and, you may like to figure out the rest yourself.
Mile HsiangYang Lee
+In TEXAS, It’s VERY VERY FLAT 😐 The Reason When HURRICANE Hits, Everything Goes Under Water as The GOVT is TOO STUPID to Build CANALS + RESERVOIRS like They Did in CHINA as Use for WATERWAYS, WATER RETENTION RECEPTACLE + FLOOD CONTROL from FLASH FLOODS + SUDDEN HURRICANE + CLIMATE CHANGE 😑
All Things Chinese
A flat land can either mean to be a paradise if lush with vegetation (peace, fairness, inclusiveness) or a reflection of a collective bleak mental state if the landscape is barren.
Mile HsiangYang Lee
A FLAT LAND with DESERT QUALITY SAND That Does Not Absorb WATER WELL, Hence, FLASH FLOOD in A HURRICANE STORMS 😡 On Top of INCOMPETENT STATE + FEDERAL GOVT 😕 Definitely Not Lush 🙅
All Things Chinese
People’s mental state and their environment have a mutual influence to each other.
Mile HsiangYang Lee
MENTAL STATE + MILIEU have CORRELATION? 😮 Come to Think of It – YES – A BIG YES. Why Didn’t I Think of That?
All Things Chinese
Yes, because we live in a world manifested by our imaginations, while our imaginations are prompted by external stimulations.
They are like two mirrors – one inside us and one around us – they reflect each other.
We are trapped as we keep repeating the same mistakes and reliving similar lives, because the two mirrors keep reflecting each other.
Everything that is happening has already happened countless times before; all things that we come to know we’ve already known long long time ago.
Tutu Dutta
I don’t think China’s One Child Policy is a disaster. In fact, some of the economic gains made by the country could be attributed to this policy. Started in 1979, the policy affected urban dwelling Han Chinese mainly. China achieved zero population growth in 1993 and only ended the policy in January 2016. There are major social repercussions of the policy but China may have saved the world.
All Things Chinese
If 90% of Chinese have stopped breeding altogether, that might ultimately save the world, because their land can be eventually made vacant for a crowded world ~_^ Don’t you agree?
Zhao Baige, the former boss of China’s family planning committee and a woman with a Manchu heritage, once made a similar announcement proudly at an international forum.
That woman has accomplished what her ancestors had not achieved between 1644 and 1911 and during the Japanese occupation around WWII.
Tutu Dutta
Whoever Zhao Baige is, she made China a well respected country. With almost 50 million births averted, China is no longer sending desperate Chinese all over the world to earn a living. Perhaps you should read up on your history especially the coolie trade, and the hardships they endured.
All Things Chinese
That Manchu woman Zhao did earn gratitude from those who wish Chinese to vacate their land for other people, I have no doubt about that.
Probably you ought to read Chinese history not just the part began with Zhao’s ancestors’ invasion of China in the late 17th but at least since the Autumn and Spring Era 2,500 years ago to compare the population effect on Chinese civilisation before labelling Chinese as a desperate people.
Tutu Dutta
I have no doubt your knowledge of Chinese history is much deeper than mine. My knowledge is limited to the Chinese diaspora – the Chinese community living in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand; and also smaller communities in Indonesia, Brazil (?) and the USA. They had to leave China in the 19th and early 20th Century. I am not pro-Manchu or anything, but Zhao Baige may have prevented a catastrophic population explosion in the 20th Century.
All Things Chinese
Chinese began to flee China since the 12th century when Mongols invaded and ruled the entire China. Many of them resettled in southeast Asia and brought with them Song Dynasty traditions.
The second wave of migration occurred in the second half of the 17th century when China was once again invaded and ruled, this time, by Manchus.
The third wave happened in the first half of the 20th century when Japanese invaded China and as the result of civil war …..
These people were forced to leave their homeland because of foreign invasions and wars.
COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS
Mile HsiangYang Lee
It’s Made of BAMBOO? 😮😮😮😮😮
Siang Hooi Lim
NO, wood I think. bamboo not very good as construction material.
All Things Chinese
Bamboo stalk is empty in the middle so won’t be able to bear much weight.
There are some permanent houses made of bamboo in subtropical southern China such as in Yunnan, but these bamboo houses normally have no brick external walls and no non-structural partitions with very little immovable fixtures, so the dead load isn’t great.
The house is located on the outskirts of Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province. For centuries, the family keep the giant village house in a good shape through constant repair and refurbishment.
COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS
Lord Vivec
so that’ why they always look new, so much craftiness!
All Things Chinese
According to the theory of feng shui (a science studying the movement of qi in the physical environment), a house should be renovated and/or refurbished everything 30 years.