Thursday 20 August 2015

Mainshan Mountains, China

Mainshan Mountains, located in central Shanxi Province, central North China. Covering an area of 75 square kilometers, the mountain is a national scenic spot with 14 tourist areas and 400 attractions. Mianshan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
According to web Chinahighlights, A history dating back some 2,500 years ago, Mian Shan boasts enchanting natural scenery and cultural significance. Besides, there are several restaurants and hotels that were built hanging on the steep cliffs, which provide a unique dining or accommodation experience for travelers. The spectacular scenes and cultural relics at Mian Mountain provide tourists with many activities, such as watching sunset or sunrise at Dragon Head Temple, visiting Daluo Palace (the largest Taoist temple in China), walking on Sky Bridge and enjoying the natural beauty of Shuitao Valley. Dragon Head Temple is the best place to watch sunrise or sunset in a sea of clouds. It is also a landmark of Mian Shan with its exquisite architecture. Daluo Palace is the largest Taoist temple in China. It was built and restored during the Tang Dynasty of 618–907, and the supreme spirit of Taoism and other folk gods are worshipped there. Daluo Palace also has the largest Taoist sutra depository over the country. Sky Bridge was built between steep cliffs, 300 meters or 328 yards long and no more than one meter or 3.3 feet wide. It is suspended over 300 meters or 980 feet from the bottom of a valley and over 200 meters or 660 feet from the mountain tops. [First Image credit dana.jensen]

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit dana.jensen

Mian Shan is also called Jie Shan "Jie Mountain" after Jie Zhitui (?–636 BC) a loyal defender of the Duke of Jin "697–628 BC". Jie Zhitui is reputed to have made soup with the flesh of his own leg for the duke when he was starving. After Jie had resigned his service to the duke, he lived on Mian Shan. The duke later wanted to reward him, but could not find him, so he had the mountain burnt in an effort to drive Jie out. Jie and his mother were later found tragically burnt to death on the mountain. The Duke of Jin then instituted Hanshi (Cold Food) Day in 636 BC in remembrance of Jie, which later became the Qingming Festival. Jiexiu, the city to the north of Mian Shan and the prefecture in which Mian Shan lies, means “The Resting Place of Jie”.

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit dana.jensen

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit dana.jensen

Mianshan - Sky Bridge —  This is a breathtaking place! The temple structures and the sky walk built on the mountain with the scenery around are just amazing!
Mianshan - Sky Bridge —  This is a breathtaking place! The temple structures and the sky walk built on the mountain with the scenery around are just amazing! Image credit benyeuda

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Mian Shan is a sacred mountain for Buddhist and Taoist religions alike where temples have been built on the face of the cliffs. Image credit Julie Laurent

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit dana.jensen

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit Julie Laurent

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit Susanna Wang

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit Julie Laurent

Mian Shan "Silky Mountain" is noted for its natural scenery, especially for its cultural and religious relics. It is also the birthplace of Qingming Festival "Grave Cleaning Day", which is one of China’s most important traditional festivals and items of intangible cultural heritage.
Image credit Julie Laurent

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Lisa Adams, Queensland based self-taught, realist artist who lives remotely on a bush property in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Working 6 hours a day, 6 days a week in her isolated studio downstairs, she produces surreal paintings depicting arresting views with occasionally improbable imagery. Although a painter for over twenty-five years, she has had only three commercial shows, as a result of her slow rate of production. Despite painting daily, she may produce only three or four paintings in a year, five during her most prolific years. It takes months to produce a single painting. Often, she would overpaint an image two or three times to get it right.

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams


Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Self-Taught Paintings by Lisa Adams

Source — Artcollector | AmusingPlanet | Lisaadams

Monday 17 August 2015

10 World’s Largest Countries

10 largest countries in the world in terms of land area. We exclude Antarctica (14.0 million square kilometres), because there are no permanent human residents, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent and which would be in the second position right now. Here are10 Biggest countries in the world.

World's Largest Countries

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10 Algeria10. Algeria — People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), 90% of which is desert, Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world and the largest in the Arab world and Africa. It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia, to the east by Libya, to the west by Morocco, to the southwest by Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali, to the southeast by Niger, and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea.

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Map of Kazakhstan09. Kazakhstan  — The Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country in Central Asia, with a minor part west of the Ural River and thus in Europe. Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country by land area and the ninth largest country in the world; its territory of 2,724,900 square kilometres (1,052,100 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It has borders with (clockwise from the north) Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also adjoins a large part of the Caspian Sea.

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Map of Argentina08. Argentina — The Argentine Republic, is a federal republic located in southeastern South America. Sharing the Southern Cone with its smaller neighbour Chile, it is bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north; Brazil to the northeast; Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east; Chile to the west and the Drake Passage to the south. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi), Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second-largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica.

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Map of India07. India — The Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. India (3,287,590 square kilometers). South Asian country that includes most of the Indian subcontinent is the second most populous country in the world (after China) India bordering Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

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Map of Australia06. Australia — The Commonwealth of Australia, is an Oceanian country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the world’s sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. Australia’s landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi) is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world’s smallest continent and sixth largest country by total area.

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Map of Brazil05. Brazil — The Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and the Latin American region. It is the world’s fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population, It is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world, and the only one in the Americas. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and occupies 47.3 percent of the continent of South America. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and third largest in the Americas, with a total area of 8,515,767.049 km2 (3,287,956 sq mi), including 55,455 km2 (21,411 sq mi) of water. It spans four time zones; from UTC−5 comprising the state of Acre and the westernmost portion of Amazonas, to UTC−4 in the western states, to UTC−3 in the eastern states (the national time) and UTC−2 in the Atlantic islands.

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Map of United States04. The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal district. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is located in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The land area of the contiguous United States is 2,959,064 square miles (7.7 Mm2). Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state at 663,268 square miles (1.7 Mm2). Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the central Pacific, southwest of North America, is 10,931 square miles (28,311 km2) in area.

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Map of China03. China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is a sovereign state in East Asia. It is the world’s most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The People’s Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area after Russia, and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States.China’s total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi). Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook, to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook.

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Map of Canada02. Canada, consisting of ten provinces and three territories, in the northern part of the continent of North America. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles) in total, making it the world’s second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. Canada’s common border with the United States forms the world’s longest land border. Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth. The reason why Canada is in 4th place in terms of countries ranked by land area only is because Canada contains 60% of all the lakes in the world. Canada (9,984,670 km²) occupies most of the territory of North America. It bordered to the south by the continental United States. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean and the Davis Strait east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. Canada has a reputation for cold country. Indeed, the winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, with risks of blizzards, ice storms and temperatures below -50 ° C in the far north.

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Map of Russia01. Russia, officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area. Russia is also the world’s ninth most populous nation with nearly 144 million people as at November of 2014. Extending across the entirety of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait.

Source — Wikipedia

Sverd i fjell | Swords in Rock, Norway

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983. Three gigantic Viking swords 10 meter high, stick into the hard rock of the Norwegian region Møllebukta, Stavanger, in honor of the battle in 872 A.D, united all under the command of Norway Harald Hårfagre. Thus beginning one of the golden ages of the Scandinavian country. The monument represents peace, unity and freedom.

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.

Image credit Atle

The crowns and the size of the swords also symbolize the three different states which took part in the battle. The two smaller swords represent the defeated petty kings and the biggest sword represents the Viking King Harald, and symbolism the peace, since they, being nailed in the rock, will not return to be used and they may never be removed. 

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit Øyvind Andersen

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit Øyvind Andersen

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit alfred bonjoc ferolino

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit Esteban Manchado


Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit Edgar Vonk

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit bob bennett

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit bob bennett

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit Lauren Horoszewski

Sverd i Fjell or Swords in Rock, The Three Swords Monument is one of the most spectacular and imposing monuments. This Monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed and inaugurated by King Olav in 1983.
Image credit Alicia Castellano

Sverd i fjell Giant Sword Monument in Norway
Image credit Skimaniac

Source — Wikipedia

Saturday 8 August 2015

The Great Tower for London, 1890

A year after the construction of the Eiffel Tower, the British decided that “we should build a tower”. Even better, and even higher. At first, it was decided to invite the French engineer Eiffel himself, but he refused for patriotic reasons. Then in 1890 an architectural competition was held. 68 projects were presented. Vegetarian Society, for example, proposed a variant with hanging gardens in which to grow vegetables. There was a project with a spiral miniature railway. There was a copy of the Tower of Babel.
Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890As a result, the project won №37 – London tower was supposed to be on more than forty meters above Paris. The winner is not the most interesting project, copier, with impairments, Eiffel option. 1
The observation deck had to be a restaurant, a theater, an exhibition and a Turkish bath. It decided to build a park in Wembley. It was planned that this tourist attraction will greatly help the development of north London.
However, when the builders reached a height of 47 meters, ran out of money. In addition, it became clear that the swampy soil could not bear the weight of the tower. Construction freeze. Then the war started and the construction was dismantled for scrap. Now at this point Wembley Stadium.

Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Second place in the competition won the project. 3
Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Let’s take a look out of curiosity what other projects were presented.Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Competitive Designs for the great tower for London in 1890Source — 68 projectsChazhuttonsfsm