Please note that after the excursion, you can catach the evening train to Beijing (e.g. at 19:30) or evening flight (e.g. flights after 20:00):
The local organization committee of the workshop will arrange an excursion in Apr. 10th 2011, two scenic spots are available, Mt. Taishan and Qufu Tourist Area(including the mansion, temple and cemetery of Confucius).These two excursion routes will both take a whole day (departure at about 7:00am and return in the afternoon). So, you are welcome to choose anyone of them!
Mt. Taishan
Taishan Mountain in Shandong was included as "World Cultural and Natural Heritage" by UNESCO in Dec 1987.
Taishan Mountain, a typical representative of the Chinese famous traditional mountains, is a mountain with a long history and a special historic status. In 1982, Taishan Mountain was up into the list of State key scenic spots and was formally listed in the directory of World Natural and Cultural Heritage in 1987. It becomes a precious heritage of human being.
As a mountainous scenic spot, Taishan Mountain has high values in term of aesthetics and science, especially the aesthetic value, which is the foundation for Taishan Mountain becoming a famous mountain in the history and the world natural and cultural heritage today. For thousands of years, during the process of studying on Taishan Mountain in terms of adoration, taste, religion and science, the people has created extremely abundant and valued Taishan scenic culture. Moreover, in the Taishan scenic culture, the natural scene plays the key role with the literacy scene assisting. The nature and culture penetrate into each other. Here we can see the philosophy, aesthetics and science idea about the harmonious development of Sky, Ground and Human beings. Thereby, either from the point of time or space, Taishan Mountain contains extremely abundant contents with high aesthetic, science and historic value. We can say that Taishan Mountain is the symbol of spiritual culture of China and the unique heritage of the world.
Qufu Tourist Area
Located in Qufu, Shandong Province, the tourist area, which includes the Mansion, Temple and Cemetery of Confucius(1), enjoys a worldwide fame as a traditional Chinese cultural site. They attract numerous tourists from both home and abroad annually. In 1994, they were listed as world cultural heritage sites.
The Mansion of Confucius is the living quarters of the first grandson of Confucius, a great philosopher, educator and a founder of Confucianism. It is also known as Master Yansheng's Mansion because in 1055, or the second year of the reign of Song Emperor Zhaozhen, Kong Zongyuan, the 46th generation male descendant of Confucius was given the title "Master Yansheng". The title was passed down to Kong Decheng, the 77th generation male descendant of Confucius.
The temple houses some 2,000 tablets dating from the Western Han Dynasty right up to the founding of New China. They are one of the largest collections of tablets in the country. There are now three exhibition halls displaying tablets from the Han dynasty and Six Kingdoms of Wei, stone statues from the Han Dynasty and calligraphic carvings on Yuhonglou tablets. The 17 tablets of Han Dynasty are the largest collection in the country in term of quantity reserved in one place.
The Cemetery of Confucius is about 1.5 kilometers north of Qufu and is the Confucius family cemetery. It takes up 1.998 million square meters and around it there is a seven-kilometer-long hedge. The pavilions, towers, halls and archways built in various historical periods are set in a forest. Behind the Zhushui Bridge is the graveyard, dating from the Eastern Zhou, which houses the tomb of Confucius, the tombs of his son Kong Li and grandson Kong Ji. The tomb of Confucius is 6.2 meters high and has a circumference of 88 meters.
