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More than five decades after its initial discovery, an archeological site in Dali dating back more than 3,000 years ago is suspected of being the world's largest Neolithic dig, according to a China Daily report. The site, located on the banks of Jian Lake in Jianchuan county, Dali prefecture, was first discovered in 1957 by workers digging a canal, but excavation at the site – which has to date yielded more than 3,000 artifacts – only began in earnest in January of this year. In addition to pottery, iron implements and bones, the site features more than 2,000 wooden poles dug 4.5 meters into the ground. "I was shocked when I first saw the site. I have never seen such a big and orderly one. This could be only a small fraction of the actual community that existed at the time," China Daily cited Yan Wenming, history professor at Peking University, as saying. The Neolithic period began about 10,000 years ago in the Middle East and is considered to be the end of the Stone Age. It is marked by the emergence of rudimentary agriculture and ended with the appearance of metal tools, either bronze or iron, depending on the part of the world in question. Yan said the site is already bigger than the Neolithic site at Hemudu in Zhejiang province, which is considered to be the cradle of the Yangtze River civilization. Other similar in China have also been found in Hubei and Guangdong provinces. "Right now there is also such a site being excavated in Switzerland. But that site is smaller than the one in Yunnan. The Yunnan one could be the largest in the world," Yan said. Twenty-eight excavations have been made at the Jianchuan site, covering a total of 1,360 square meters. Min Rui, a Yunnan Archaeological Institute researcher leading the excavation, said the area may eventually cover 4 square kilometers. Image: China Daily Tags: archeology, Dali, Guangdong, Hemudu, Hubei, Jian Lake, Jianchuan, Min Rui, neolithic, Peking University, Yan Wenming, Yunnan Archeological Institute, Zhejiang China coping with its third major disaster of 2008Tuesday, 17th June 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
First came the great winter storm of 2008, then the devastating Wenchuan earthquake, whose official death toll now stands at nearly 70,000. Now China is coping with its third major natural disaster of the year as heavy rains and floods batter the country's south. Continuing heavy rains in Yunnan and across southern China since June 6 have led to 57 deaths and 1.27 million people fleeing their homes, with more rain expected throughout the region over the coming days. According to Xinhua reports more than 17 million people have been affected by the flooding with more than 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in damage incurred so far. The rains have led to the swelling of rivers in China's south, with key manufacturing province Guangdong experiencing its worst flooding in 50 years. On Monday, Guangdong's provincial flood control bureau ordered local governments in Guangzhou and eight other cities to reinforce river embankments and make evacuation preparations. Although damage in Yunnan has been relatively light compared to Guangdong and other lower-lying areas including Jiangxi, Guizhou and Hunan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, rains here are a major concern as many of the flooding rivers – including Guangdong's Pearl River – have their headwaters in Yunnan. China's National Meteorological Center is forecasting more rains in southern parts of the country - including Yunnan - over the next few days. Image: Xinhua Tags: flooding, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guangzhou, Guizhou, Hunan, Pearl River, Wenchuan earthquake, winter storm Auguste François, Yin Xiaojun and Kunming at the end of the Qing DynastyThursday, 29th May 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Like most other Chinese cities, Kunming has been racing toward abstract ideas such as 'modernity' and 'development' via extensive demolition of the remaining older parts of the city to make way for gleaming high-rises filled with offices, apartments and retail space. First-time visitors to Kunming, be they Chinese or foreign, have to put a real effort into finding the few older parts of the city that are still around. Until 1952, Kunming was a walled city – the wall and its gates are long gone, but their existence still echoes today in place names like Xiao Ximen (小西门, 'Lesser west gate') and Beimen Jie (北门街, 'North gate Street'). There are also less obvious connections to the wall, such as Qingnian Lu (青年路, 'Youth Road'), which was once Kunming's east wall. The city government in 1952 ordered hundreds of young people to tear down the wall and use its bricks to make a new road running north-south. To show its appreciation for the young people that demolished the east wall, the city government named the new street after them. With the wall out of the way, Kunming began marching toward a future in which for several decades development trumped culture heritage. History is one of the primary contributors to any city's character, with older physical structures offering the most palpable connection to the past. In 2008, almost all of pre-1949 Kunming has been razed to clear a path for modernity. On some levels this could be considered true progress as many of Kunming's older buildings were built of earth and lacked simple amenities such as plumbing. That said, some may argue that wholesale demolition of a city comes at a psychological cost. "I feel that many Chinese people have no faith," Kunming native and private photo collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊) told GoKunming. Yin has spent the last 10 years researching a collection of photos by Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming and elsewhere in Yunnan working on obtaining a concession from the local government to build the rail line from Vietnam to Kunming, which was then known as Yunnan-fu (云南府). "Many of us are looking for where we've come from and where we're going," Yin said. "Through the extensive photography of Auguste François, we can discover where we've come from. His photography is the earliest, largest and most complete collection of photographs documenting Chinese society at the end of the Qing Dynasty"
Over the last ten years, Yin has researched his entire collection of François' photographs, comparing them to documents from the Yunnan provincial government's archives as well as translations of François' memoirs. In order to make the photos more useful in a historical context, he has spent the last decade ascertaining the subject, location, social background and photographer. After acquiring 1,241 François photographs and motion pictures via purchase and exchanges with French cultural organizations, Yin held his first exhibition of 360 photos from the collection in Kunming in 1997 at the Yunnan Provincial Museum. More than 250,000 people bought tickets to take a look at Kunming at the start of the 20th Century, setting an attendance record for a single exhibition at the museum that still stands today. Subsequently Yin was invited by 44 mainland cities to bring his collection to their top museums – he chose four: Beijing, Xi'an, Zhengzhou and Chengdu. In 1999 he ceased exhibiting the photographs because he felt a need to find out as much as he could about each shot's story. Fast-forwarding to today, Yin says he has completed his research and is preparing several projects related to the François photo archives. In October of last year, he traveled to the locations of all the François photos to document the current conditions of the places François shot more than a century ago. His travels took him to Singapore, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan and Shanghai. He is planning on using the then-and-now photos in a new book he began writing this year. Yin said he would also like to organize a new exhibition of François' photos highlighting the massive change in China over the last century. His end game, however, is to build a museum that displays the collection permanently. GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing a sample of photos from the François archives to share with our readers. Over the coming months we will publish 25 photos and their stories every Wednesday. We hope that the photos will help bridge the gap between Kunming's distant past and its dynamic present. Contact Yin Xiaojun: His ten years of researching the François photos behind him, Yin Xiaojun is open to discussing possible cooperation with individuals and organizations interested in the collection. Yin can be contacted at yinxiaoj(at)public.km.yn.cn. Auguste François image: Association Auguste François Tags: Auguste François, Beimen Jie, Guangdong, Guangxi, history, Hong Kong, photography, Shanghai, Sichuan, Singapore, Xiao Ximen, Yin Xiaojun, Yunnan-fu
Today 243 people injured in last week's Wenchuan earthquake arrived in Kunming for medical treatment. As Sichuan's medical infrastructure feels the strain of tens of thousands of dead and hundreds of thousands of injured, the Chinese government is shifting 8,000 injured out of Sichuan to Chongqing, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Guangdong and Yunnan. It is the largest shifting of injured since the Tangshan earthquake in 1976 that killed a quarter of a million people. Hospitals including Stone Forest Tianqi Hospital are preparing entire floors of beds for quake victims. The hospital said it had been preparing more than 200 beds taking up three floors since Monday. Located on Sichuan's southern border and home to a large Sichuanese population, Yunnan has made significant contributions to the relief effort. According to Kunming media, as of 2:00 pm on Wednesday the entire province had donated nearly 370 million yuan (US$53 million) in goods and more than 338 million yuan in cash to the cause. Yunnan schools are also accepting children from Sichuan whose schools were destroyed or damaged in the 8.0 magnitude quake. Image: clzg.cn Related article: Earthquake benefit raises more than 10,000 yuan Tags: Chongqing, Guangdong, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Wenchuan earthquake |
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