Wood is an element which has the power to dig through earth and leverage stone, absorbing water nurtures wood, it kindles fire, but can be cut with metal. It is a symbol of life, a bountiful nurturing substance that can grow on mountains and planes, rise as forests that embody animals and life, a long living everlasting source of life that can fuel energy. Our human civilization needs wood for roofs to survive against the elements and as source of energy, of writing and music. Ever reviving, it is the element that symbolizes bountiful life.
Rapeseed flowers bloom yellow on the Tibetan Plateau where people still cling to traditional values of kindness and compassion at the source of the Yangtze River which is formed of glacial waters flowing into the sea.
In Xinjiang glacial waters become lakes, pools of fresh water at high altitudes where there is still blue sky and natural life.
Shandong Province winter forest scenery is stunning in its uncomplicated beauty. Shandong Province is a vestige of Chinese cultural philosophy such as Confucian thinking which pacifies people and creates harmonious society.
In Hebei Province the Bashang grasslands and forests are boundless supporting diversity of life.
In Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, traditional nomadic tents evoke days bygone that may never return. Inner Mongolia still produces much of China’s milk and cheese products, as traditional Mongolian lifestyles merge with modern economic needs.
Autumn in Yunnan’s Shangri La County: The grasslands are abundant with flowers and the cool breeze pushes clouds across the sky with their shadows shimmering across the drying grasslands.
In Yunnan Province young girls pick tea leaves using the traditional hand rolling technique. Yuannan’s Pu’er Tea is world famous and was traded from ancient times along the Tea Caravan Trail linking China to India through the Himalayas.
In Sichuan Province Du Fu’s thatched hut was where this ancient Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet lived in seclusion and wrote classic poetry amidst a bamboo forest.
Raising birds in small cages is an ancient Beijing art that can still be seen today as in this traditional Beijing quadrangle courtyard home.
In Hebei’s Gaobeidian a banquet hall in a five-star restaurant symbolizes Chinese people’s new found wealth and prosperity which they enjoy through sumptuous foods like abalone and sharks fin soup. For many Chinese every day is a banquet.
Confucian thinking and values have offered continuity in Chinese philosophy and culture, and such ideas are expressed in ancient carved wooden places displayed in Zhejiang Province’s Jinhua City. Professor Yu Dan, of Beijing Normal University, offers new ideas merging ancient philosophies concerning Confucianism with relevance for today’s living and the management of modern enterprises.
Suzhou’s ancient architecture is classic and exudes with delicate beauty and simple contrasts. In Wangshiyuan Garden elements of wood, stone and water combine to create a lifestyle of tranquility.
In modern China homes made of cement, glass and steel create a new tranquility assured by air conditioning, lighting and modern amenities. Still classic furniture and motifs can be seen reminding Chinese people of their deep traditional roots.