Another attraction of Huaqing Pool is a hillside pavilion where Chiang Kai-shek(1887-1975) was arrested in the famous Xi'an Incident of 1936. Early in 1936, the Young Marshal, Zhang Xueliang (1901-2001) quietly instructed his troops on the frontier to stop shooting at red guerrillas. He hadreached the conclusion that most of China's Communists were driven into the arms of the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) by the degradation of the country at the hands of Chiang Kai-shek and the foreign powers. Chinese, he decided, should no longer fight Chinese while foreign invaders were ravishing the nation.  That June he met privately with Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) to see if they could put aside differences and develop a joint strategy.  He came away with his conviction reaffirmed that the answer laid in a united front.  He was good to his word.  All military action halted, liaison was set up between their two headquarters, and bureaus of the National Salvation League were organized throughout Northwestern China. Realizing the northwestern command was unreliable, at a time when his latest "Communist annihilation "was about to begin.  Chiang Kai-shek decided to fly -to the Young Marshal's headquarters in Xi'an, and bully him into line. When Chiang Kai-shek arrived, the Young Marshal told Chiang Kai-shek that his anti-red campaign should be scrapped and a united front formed with Mao Zedong (1893-1976).The time had come for a patriotic war,  not a civil war.   Chiang Kai-shek hotly rejected the argument and stormed off to his field headquarters at Luoyang 392kilometres away.  When the Young Marshal followed him to argue further,  he was rebuked angrily.  On December 4, 1936,  Chiang Kai-shek returned to Xi'an to announce that he was going ahead with the annihilation campaign, to begin on December 12.

Dalian is located in the southern tip of Liaodong Peninsular and the terminal of Shenda (Shenyang-Dalian) Railway.  Its main industries include ship-building, machinery, chemicals, oil refinery, textiles, and food processing. Dalian Port is a deepwater one, and is one of the important foreign trade ports of China. The city is blessed with a beautiful environment, favourable location and strong industrial base. Its advantage as a port for overseas investors.  Dalian tries to city has been the most attractive feature upgrade its port and build itself into a regional and international shipping centre.

The Ten Best Scenic Spots in Dalian
(1) Dalian Golden Pebble Beach National Tourist Resort
(2) Dalian Xinghai Square Scenic Spot
(3) Dalian Forest Zoo
(4) Dalian Hutan Amusement Park
(5) Dalian Labour Park
(6) Dalian People's Square
(7) Dalian Haizhiyun Square
(8) Dalian Shengya Marine World
(9) Dalian Bangchuidao Scenic Spot
(10)  Zhuanghe Bingyugou Provincial-Level Tourist Resort

Approximately 40 minutes from the mouth of the Daning River, at its confluence with the Yangtze River,  the entrance to the Dragon Gate Gorge-the first of the gorges-is reached. The gorge is 3 kilometres (2miles) long. On the cliff face to the right is the 1981 flood mark, over 40metres above river level. The mouth of the gorge is like a massive gateway through which the river rushes like a green dragon, hence the Dragon Gate Gorge. The gateway appears to shut once the visitor has passed through. On the east side is Dragon Gate Spring and above it Lingzhi Peak, topped by Nine-Dragon Pillar.

On the peak, one legend has it that strange plants and the lingzhi fungus of immortality are grown and guarded by nine dragons. On the western bank, two rows of 15-centimetre square holes, continuing the entire length of the little gorges and numbering more than 6,000 are all that remain of an astonishing plank walkway, which was first constructed in the Han Dynasty and recorded in the Annals of Wushan County in 246 BC. Wooden stakes inserted into these hand-hewn holes supported planks and large bamboo pipes,which stretched for 100 kilometres (62.1 miles) along the Daning River.This pipeline conveyed brine, while the planks provided an access for maintenance. In the 17th century, the peasant leader Li Zicheng (1606-1645)and his army used the pathway in their uprising against the Ming Dynasty,was destroyed by the imperial army.

Abbbreviation:
Capital: Jinan
Area: More than 150,000
Population: 90.69 million square kilometres
Location:  In the east coast of China and the lower reaches of the Yellow River

Shandong boasts the best transportation network in China. It takes a maximum of only five hours to travel between Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong Province, to anywhere else in the province. Even starting from Weihai, the city that is farthest from Jinan (more than 500 kilometres) , the tourist can still make a round trip in one day.
Having developed quickly from 1996 to 2003, Shandong has been able to build a "one-day life cycle"  that  links its large and medium-sized cities. The length of Shandong's expressways to talled nearly 3,000 kilometres by the end of 2003. To date, Shandong has the greatest length of expressway of all the provinces in China, accounting for one-tenth of the country's total. At present, the province has more than 60,000 kilometres of highways. Quality asphalt roads link 141 counties and 98 per cent of Shandong's administrative villages connect with highways. All in all, the province has the best road system in China.  Its first expressway, linking Jinan, Zibo, Weifang, and Qingdao, opened to traffic in December 1993. The expressway passes five cities, and took a total investment of 3.1 billion yuan ( US$ 375 million) .

Construction of China Grand National Theatre officially started on December12, 2001 after four years preparation and will be completed in 2005. Some revisions have been made to the original plan to reduce costs and construction area. The current estimated cost of the project is 2.688 billion yuan ( US $ 325million) , substantially less than the original 3 billion yuan ( US $ 362 million) .The reduction in cost comes mainly from the cancellation of the complex'stheatre, which will leave it with a 2,500-seat opera house, mainly receiving world-renowned. operas and ballet companies; a 2,000-seat concert hall, the site of concerts of symphony and traditional Chinese music; a 1,200-seat theatre for modern drama, Peking Opera and other local Chinese operas and art9alleries. Total construction area has been cut from the original 180,000square metres t0 149,500 square metres, because the 30,000 square metre Parking lot, originally included in the plan, is going to be built separately.This new underground parking lot will provide the entire Tian'anmen Square area with its first major parking lot. When the parking lot is finished,  it will be able to accommodate 1,000 vehicles and l,400 bicycles. Parking will no longer be a headache when there are major activities in the square.
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Located on the west side of the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing, the theatre will be built to a modernistic design by French architect Paul Andreu. Although the theatre will not be the world's most luxurious, will present "some pleasant surprises:"some of the world's best performance facilities.

The entire design insisted on the creation theme of "a theatre within the cityand a city within the theatre."
The theatre will be China's largest, as well as its first comprehensive and multi-functional theatre. The design should bring home at sight that it is a theatre, nothing else, with Chinese characteristics and in harmony with the other buildings in Tian'anmen Square.  The building's height shall not exceed45 metres,  keeping it below the height of the Great Hall of the People.