Art & Culture

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

The shape, size, stretch and type of hair in the brush, the color and density of the ink, as well as the absorptive speed and surface texture of the paper are the main physical parameters influencing the final result. The calligrapher also influences the result by the quantity of ink/water he lets the brush take up, then by the pressure, inclination, and direction he gives to the brush, producing thinner or bolder strokes, and smooth or toothed borders. Eventually, the speed, acceleration and deceleration of the writer’s moves, turns, and crochets, and the stroke order give the “spirit” to the characters by influencing greatly their final shape.

Hutongs are a type of narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with Beijing, China. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences.

Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.

Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, most hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history.

If you have the privilege to stay at the Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai overlooking the magnificent Bund you will quite appreciate at a few steps close the millenary art of keeping healthy through the world’s oldest soft style martial art known as Tai chi ch’uan. It’s very important though to wake up very early in the morning to practice your Chi correctly.

One day Japanese real estate real mogul Minoru Mori was looking at the sky from his renowned Roppongi Hills complex over a cup of green tea. Among the crowded stars he reached out for God with the following plea: ” Dear God, now that I have recently built the in the city of Shanghai, the SWFC , world’s tallest building with the help of by Petersen Fox design team , I would like now with your permission to create the world’s best hotel; what would be your grace’s auspicious suggestions?”

The construction of a Neapolitan crib traditionally begins the on the eight of December from storage pulling out the “basis” of the previous year (a skeleton cork and cardboard resting on a wooden table, without pastors and various decorations) and the possible enlargement like adding the wood oven or ruscelletto (small river) with water and a few more sheep in the flock is discussed in the family and with children.

If you do decide to get married away from home the world is a full plate of unforgettable opportunities!. They call those, Destination Weddings.

Giotto found the kindling, Fra Angelico, Brunelleschi and Donatello built the fire. Massaccio and Verrocchio struck the match, then Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli and Raphael threw gasoline — the result was the greatest blaze of art the world has ever seen.This city is literally one huge, glorious, easily walkable treasure chest. I have prepared all kinds of tips in case you decide to go. Have yourself your very own Renaissance…

At the age of 6, my parents left me in the lobby of the Haifa Dan Panorama hotel for a little more than an hour, and I needed some time alone …When they came back they found me at the trendy bar recomposed having a cocktail side by side with Omar Sharif.

India is a mosaic of different religions varying from the ancient animistic beliefs of the tribal communities to the rigid orthodoxies of the Hindu caste system. I wandered through different degrees of spiritual energies, absorbing openhearted all that surrounded me with great passion and an observer’s devotion.

The St. Agnes convent was built in the 13th century by Agnes, sister of King Wenceslas, and now houses a magnificent collection highlighting Bohemian and Central European Medieval art from 1200 to 1550.