Chiristmas at a city in south China 珠海聖誕節

I visited Zhuhai, one hour trip by ship from Hong Kong. It's still warm in winter. The hotel I stayed is on right side of the photo.
This is one of Christmas decorations in the hotel. Wo ho ho!!!
Beside of the hotel, there was another hotel displaying Santa Claus on a reindeer sleigh and a Christmas tree. Many waitress and shopgirls wore a hot cap under Christmas songs. China has tried to accept western culture. It can be said China is in new age.

National Park (2) 國立公園 有山有水

Red leaves under the blue sky
After 40minutes walk we saw a big fall. Captured by the unexpected view and the overwhelming sound, I forgot my daily life for a while.
A rapid mountain stream is biting rocks. 白龍遊泳

Late autumn in national park 晚秋看紅葉洗溫泉

Last Sunday we went to Nikko national park 120miles north of Tokyo and stayed one night in a cabin. We soaked in a good hot spring.

我們去日光國立公園在小房住了一天。也洗溫泉了。

The river has the winter color, glittering black.
The maple leaves still keep red. 紅葉可美啊。
In upper mountains, the trees have already shed leaves. I love to walk in this scene with warm sunshine and silence.

Ginkgo 公孫樹

Ginkgo leaves have turned. Yellow ginkgo and red maple leaves have people notice that autumn has deepened and winter will come soon. When I was a child, I loved to collect fallen ginkgo leaves.

Chrysanthemum exhibition 菊花開得很美麗

Long branch full of pretty flowers. They give us an autumn fragrance.

Made in a typical BONSAI shape. 盆景形狀。This looks like a pine tree. 好像松樹一樣

Gorgeous type.

Gratitude for harvest 舉行神樂舞蹈感謝豐收

In autumn people play sacred dances to express their gratitude for good harvest .

Fox is a symbol of agriculture.
He brings happiness to people.
He shoots arrows to exterminate evils.

Pleasure during degradation

"帝怒將抵以死, 大臣皆為愈言, 乃貶潮州刺史。"

韓愈不忘欣賞大自然的妙趣而說: 人生如此自可樂 豈必侷促為人几鞿 !

In ancient China, officials in the central government were often degraded by an emperor's emotional decision and shunted to the office in a remote place. Han Yu was one of them. But he never forgot to enjoy the beauty of nature. He made a poem saying human beings should enjoy his life, no need to be with feelings of gloom.

Sweet Osmanthus 丹桂盛開 芬芳四溢

Now sweet osmanthus is in full bloom. We can enjoy its fascinating fragrance under the blue sky and feel the autumn of 2009 has come.

秋天到了。天空藍得透明, 空氣又新鮮。現在桂花盛開。桂花有數種例如丹桂,金桂,銀花等等。我們在日本常見的是丹桂。城市,山野充滿著馥鬱的香氣。

陰曆八月十七日,蘇東坡在杭州誦了一首詩: 月缺霜濃細蕊乾 此花元屬桂堂仙人 云云

The Harvest Moon 2009 中秋名月

In the lunar calendar, the harvest moon is set on Aug. 15th. The harvest moon of this year was on Oct. 3rd. It was rainy that day, but we watched the moon night.

月圓人團圓

三五夜中新月色 二千里外故人心

Flying

For the first time, I watched the stunt flying by a single-engine plane. That was really amazing. The pilot showed us loops, nose dives, spins and back flying.
It was a fine day.

Swimming at the Pacific seaside 遊泳於太平洋沿岸

We went swimming at the east seaside. The opposite side is Hawaii.

How are you? 你們好。

I went to Ghibli museum exhibiting animations. On the roof there was a big robot welcoming children under the blue sky.

我去動畫片博物館。屋頂有一個巨大機械人歡迎參觀人。很多華人也跟他一起照像做個紀念。

Solar eclipse 日蝕壯觀 !

Yesterday morning, a weather forecast said it would be almost impossible to watch the solar eclipse due to too thick clouds. But very fortunately I did watch it. Great!

天氣預報說由于多雲看不見日蝕。但是雲間我看見了那神秘的瞬間。 這以後果然就看不見了。真是太巧了。

Summer again 夏天又來了

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." - The Great Gatsby -
The first edition was published 84years ago. The same sunshine invites us to this season now.
夏天就是生氣充溢的一個象征。在冒險或挑戰上情緒高漲起來。在這個季節你想做什麼?

The gateway to a Shinto shirine 鳥居

This is the gateway to Furumine shirine. The gate is called as "torii". It is said that this word means the place a bird perches on. Ancient people believed that birds were a messenger of gods. However, the ethmology of this old word is not clear now.

Some minor groups living in mountains in Thailand build a gate at the entrance to their villages, placing a wooden bird on it. Is this a curious coincidence? Anyway, religions in east Asia are thought to have deep relations with rice farming.

神社入口的牌坊叫鳥居。有人解釋這個詞是指鳥在落上的地方。古代人有信仰鳥是神靈的使者。有些住在泰國山岳里的少數民族在村莊入口建個大門, 門上放著一只木制鳥。不知鳥居跟這個門有沒有關係。

The holy tree 神聖樹

This giant cedar is in the silent precinct of the Shinto shrine named Ikiko Jinja. It is believed that a god comes down on this holy tree. Many people come to this shrine to pray the god to guard their children. The rope with special paper shows that trees and rocks tied with it are holy objects.

這棵杉木又大又高。保護孩子的神降臨到這棵樹上。神社稱為生子神社。

Rue - the herb of grace 芸香開花了

In European folklore, this herb had been believed to have a special power. Rue was used as brushes to sprinkle the holy water. People planted rue outside of the doorway to prevent the invasion of evil things and get blessings into their houses.  

In China, dried rue was put into books to prevent bookworm. 

浙江寧波有一棟馳名中外的藏書樓天一閣。就是一位明朝兵部侍郎致仕回鄉後修建的。天一閣用芸香防蠹害下來, 到現在還保存著許多珍貴書畫。

In all her splendor 國色天香

In China more than 1000 years ago, people in the capital of Tang dynasty loved peony flowers very much.  A poet said they got mad and lavish in buying precious peonies.

有一個唐代詩人云: 牡丹濃艷亂人心, 一國如狂不惜金。

你喜歡看牡丹嗎?

Gateway to success

Quite a lot of carp flags on the river. When a wind comes into their mouths, they begin to swim in the air.  Carp were believed to become a dragon when they passed the rapid stream. Dragon is a symblo of excellence. People fly carp flags and do hope their children will have a successful life with brilliant abilities.

Holy dance

This is "Kagura", a holy dance played in a Shinto shrine.  The stories of Kagura are based on ancient myths collected about 1200 years ago. People in villages hold Kagura in spring to pray for good growth of  grain.

Warm sunshine

This is another park opened about 7 years ago.

You can see the cherry tree in full bloom.  Variety of pansies are smiling around him. 

櫻花和五顔六色的菫。

Yesterday we went to see the big cherry tree in full bloom on the top of the hill.

Pleasure of spring

Now cherry blossom is in full bloom.

To begin with

Hello

From today I'm going to write my blog.