China is the ultimate holiday destination. It changes more every day, modernizing and adding new buildings and venues. On your next holiday, choose China and discover its past as well as its future. A very important event is taking place in Beijing known as the 2008 Summer Olympics. The eyes of the world will be on Beijing in the summer of 2008.
Any trip to Beijing for a holiday would not be complete without visiting The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Lama Temple.
The Great Wall is open 24 hours a day for holiday visitors to experience the historic Wall. Independent kingdoms built separate sections of the Wall around the 7th Century BC to keep intruders out of their lands and from pillaging their resources. China’s first emperor connected the sections into one continuously flowing Wall between 221 BC and 207 BC. It is one of the most spectacular manmade creations on Earth and is one of the few structures that can be detected from outer space. The Great Wall extends for more than 5,000 km in an east-west direction and is one of the most popular holiday destinations in China.
Tiananmen Square became infamous in 1989 for the demonstrations that took place there. Given that recent history, however, the Square is still the largest public square in the world and a great place for holiday tourists to stroll. Around its edges are famous complexes including The Forbidden City, The Great Hall of the People, the Tiananmen Gate, The Monument of People’s Heroes, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. This celebrated Square is also open 24 hours a day for holiday visitors.
The Forbidden City is well known as the “Former Palace” and Imperial residence of two formidable dynasties: The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Its hours of operation extend from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day. More than 9,000 rooms and 70 buildings are available for viewing by holiday guests. It is contained within high walls and surrounded by a moat. It houses a magnificent collection of great treasures and was turned into a museum in the early part of the 20th Century. A beautiful royal garden also exists on the grounds for holiday visitors to tour.
The Temple of Heaven is an attraction composed of two parts. The Outer Park is open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily and the Inner Park is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily for holiday guests. The Temple of Heaven is located in the southern part of Beijing and was built between 1406 and 1420. This was the place emperors came to pray for a good harvest or for rain. It is said that if you whisper at any point on the Echo Wall, it can be heard anywhere else along the wall. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a symbol for the City of Beijing.
The Lama Temple (or Yonghegong) was built in 1694. Its name means “Palace of Peace and Harmony” and it was the residence Prince Yin Zhen. The Prince was the son of Emperor Kang Xi of the Qing Dynasty. When the Prince became Emperor, half the palace was used for his royal residence and the other half was designated for a lamasery. A lamasery is a Tibetan religious center. Inside is a collection of exquisite artifacts and Tibetan murals. Located outside are five stunningly landscaped courtyards that will delight any holiday tourist.
The history of China is as vast as the land itself. A visit to China is a must for any well-traveled holiday tourist. When planning your next holiday destination, choose China.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
How to save money buying groceries for a family of five
In today’s tough economic climate, it is increasingly difficult to go grocery shopping and leave the store not feeling as though you’ve just spent your life savings on one week’s provisions. The economy doesn’t really look like a quick-fix scenario is going to turn up anytime soon, so you need a plan that will help your family survive this impending recession.
How do you decide what expenses to trim? What else can you cut, after you’ve probably already gone through a list and eliminated every non-essential cost you can think of? Here are some tips for saving money when purchasing groceries.
Plan your meals. Plan your family’s meals ahead of time and STICK TO YOUR PLAN. It is very easy to get off-schedule or change your meal plans, and that could add unnecessary costs to your food budget.
Use coupons. Coupons can be a great tool if you use them wisely. The problem with coupons is if you clip them out to buy a product you normally would not purchase, and very well may not use in the end, you are wasting money, not saving money. ONLY clip and save coupons for food products that you KNOW absolutely you will put to good use.
Visit the grocery store less often. Try making a list of the items you need and schedule your trips for once every two weeks, or, if you can manage it, once a month. This will save on gas (which is especially important these days), and it will also save on impulse-buying, which seems to occur more often, the more you visit the grocery store.
Watch newspapers for sale ads. Grocery stores often advertise sales in local newspapers. Do not make an extra trip to the store just to save a few cents on one or two products; combine any sale ads with your semi-monthly, or monthly, trek to the store.
Shop the clearance section. Many times you can find perfectly good items, just maybe a little closer to their expiration date than items stocked elsewhere in the store, which will suit your purposes just fine. Numerous items may be located in the clearance sections of grocery stores, including milk, bread, and meat -- the basic staples you need! There is nothing wrong with foods on clearance. You just may need to use them sooner, which is probably what you’ll end up doing anyway.
Buy in bulk. If you have one of those giant stores (like a Sam’s Club) near where you live, plan to go once a month and stock up. These larger stores tend to have bulk quantities of items for less than you would normally pay for smaller quantities.
Purchase a deep freeze. If you don’t have a very big freezer space in your refrigerator/freezer, you might want to consider purchasing a separate and larger deep freeze that can accommodate bulk quantities of food items. This can save you money in the long run as well as cut down on the number of times you have to travel to the grocery store.
Make do with what you have. If you run out of milk or bread, do not make a special trip to the store to resupply at that moment. Keep powdered milk, which has a shelf life of approximately forever, for those occasional emergency situations. Keep bread alternatives, such as box mixes of muffins or cornbread, on hand to tide you over. Or, buy an extra loaf of bread when you make your monthly trip to the grocery store and put it in the freezer so it will keep longer and will be available for emergency situations.
Ask questions; talk to the grocery store employees. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Many times, the employees of a grocery store will be happy to answer questions like, “Do you know when hamburger is going to be marked down?” or “Do you happen to know when apples or bananas may go on sale?” The grocery store wants all the food to sell, and they don’t want to have to throw any food away. Besides, people understand how hard it can be to feed a family on a small budget.
Many remedies are available to help you save money and cut costs on groceries and food items. Take advantage of all the opportunities you can find. Using these tips and helpful advice can save you a significant amount of money at the grocery store.
How do you decide what expenses to trim? What else can you cut, after you’ve probably already gone through a list and eliminated every non-essential cost you can think of? Here are some tips for saving money when purchasing groceries.
Plan your meals. Plan your family’s meals ahead of time and STICK TO YOUR PLAN. It is very easy to get off-schedule or change your meal plans, and that could add unnecessary costs to your food budget.
Use coupons. Coupons can be a great tool if you use them wisely. The problem with coupons is if you clip them out to buy a product you normally would not purchase, and very well may not use in the end, you are wasting money, not saving money. ONLY clip and save coupons for food products that you KNOW absolutely you will put to good use.
Visit the grocery store less often. Try making a list of the items you need and schedule your trips for once every two weeks, or, if you can manage it, once a month. This will save on gas (which is especially important these days), and it will also save on impulse-buying, which seems to occur more often, the more you visit the grocery store.
Watch newspapers for sale ads. Grocery stores often advertise sales in local newspapers. Do not make an extra trip to the store just to save a few cents on one or two products; combine any sale ads with your semi-monthly, or monthly, trek to the store.
Shop the clearance section. Many times you can find perfectly good items, just maybe a little closer to their expiration date than items stocked elsewhere in the store, which will suit your purposes just fine. Numerous items may be located in the clearance sections of grocery stores, including milk, bread, and meat -- the basic staples you need! There is nothing wrong with foods on clearance. You just may need to use them sooner, which is probably what you’ll end up doing anyway.
Buy in bulk. If you have one of those giant stores (like a Sam’s Club) near where you live, plan to go once a month and stock up. These larger stores tend to have bulk quantities of items for less than you would normally pay for smaller quantities.
Purchase a deep freeze. If you don’t have a very big freezer space in your refrigerator/freezer, you might want to consider purchasing a separate and larger deep freeze that can accommodate bulk quantities of food items. This can save you money in the long run as well as cut down on the number of times you have to travel to the grocery store.
Make do with what you have. If you run out of milk or bread, do not make a special trip to the store to resupply at that moment. Keep powdered milk, which has a shelf life of approximately forever, for those occasional emergency situations. Keep bread alternatives, such as box mixes of muffins or cornbread, on hand to tide you over. Or, buy an extra loaf of bread when you make your monthly trip to the grocery store and put it in the freezer so it will keep longer and will be available for emergency situations.
Ask questions; talk to the grocery store employees. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Many times, the employees of a grocery store will be happy to answer questions like, “Do you know when hamburger is going to be marked down?” or “Do you happen to know when apples or bananas may go on sale?” The grocery store wants all the food to sell, and they don’t want to have to throw any food away. Besides, people understand how hard it can be to feed a family on a small budget.
Many remedies are available to help you save money and cut costs on groceries and food items. Take advantage of all the opportunities you can find. Using these tips and helpful advice can save you a significant amount of money at the grocery store.
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