Big Ben has always been world-renowned for its resilience and accuracy, and during World War II, after being bombed 12 times by the Germans, it still functioned normally and accurately chimed the time for the citizens of London. However, this big clock has also been "a few moods". 1962, it came in the New Year 10 minutes after the time, analyzed that because of the pointer on the snow caused; in 1977, nearly two centuries of operation of Big Ben, has been in disrepair due to the age of not working, after a few weeks of overhauling, only to return to normal operation; On April 30, 1997, 24 hours before Blair and his Labour Party came to power, the clock suddenly stopped ticking, and three weeks later it mysteriously stopped again. No one could give a reason for these two stoppages. Every hour, the clock rings heavily and resonantly according to Greenwich Mean Time, and the reverberations can be heard for miles.
The Forbidden City, also known as the Forbidden City, is located in the center of Beijing. Home to 24 emperors, it was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) and is now known as the Forbidden City Museum. The Forbidden City's entire building is splendid, solemn and gorgeous, known as one of the world's five major palaces (the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, the White House in the United States, the Kremlin in Russia), and by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a "world cultural heritage".
The Palace of the Forbidden City is China's largest existing palace buildings, the most complete complex of ancient buildings, with a total area of more than 720,000 square meters, there are 9,999 rooms and a half of the Palace, known as the "sea of halls", the grandeur of the magnificent, extremely spectacular. Whether it is the plane layout, three-dimensional effect, or the form of majestic hall, can be called an unparalleled masterpiece.
A central axis through the entire Forbidden City, this axis and in the central axis of Beijing. The three great halls, after the three palaces, the Imperial Garden are located on this axis. In the center of the palace on both sides, but also symmetrically distributed many halls, are also magnificent. These palaces can be divided into two major parts of the outer and inner court. Outside the dynasty to the center of the three halls of taihe, in the and, baohe, Wenhua, wuying hall for the two wings. The inner court to Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Hall, Kunning Palace as the center, East and West six palaces for the two wings, the layout is rigorous and orderly. The four corners of the Forbidden City have exquisite corner of the exquisite and beautifully constructed. Palace surrounded by 10 meters high, 3400 meters long wall, outside the wall has a 52-meter wide moat.
Now, some of the palaces in the Forbidden City set up a comprehensive history and art museums, painting museums, classified ceramics museums, bronze museums, Ming and Qing craft art museums, engraving museums, toys museums, cultural treasures museums, playthings museums, treasure museums, clocks and watches museums and the Qing dynasty palace canonical relics exhibition, etc., the collection of a large number of ancient art treasures, according to the statistics **** amounted to 1,052,653, accounting for one-sixth of the total number of Chinese cultural relics, is the largest collection of cultural relics in China. One-sixth of the total number of Chinese cultural relics, is the richest collection of cultural relics in China's museums, but also the world-famous museum of ancient culture and art, many of which are unique and priceless national treasures.
On July 1, 2004, the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee in Suzhou, China, approved the inclusion of the Shenyang Imperial Palace in China as an extension of the cultural heritage of the Ming and Qing palaces on the World Heritage List.
Washington is a city with a strong political flavor. It is the political center of the United States, where the highest legislative, executive and judicial organs of the United States are located. The strong political atmosphere can also be y felt from the city's main attractions. All the institutions here, including the White House and the Capitol, are open to general visitors. The Washington Memorial Tower, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Kennedy Center for the Arts express the American people's deep remembrance of these presidents who have made outstanding contributions to American history. In addition, the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial are symbols of the American people's deep introspection of the war, and to this day, many people come here to pay their respects.
Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is located between Maryland and Virginia, surrounded by mountains. The scope is the same as the District of Columbia, with a metropolitan area of 174 square kilometers and a population of 57.8 million, of which blacks account for about 70%. The Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) also includes two counties in Maryland, four counties in Virginia, and three towns, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Alexandria, with a population of 3.2 million. The metropolitan area is located on the northeastern shore of the Potomac River and the confluence of the Anacostia River, and is flat with an average elevation of about 22 meters above sea level, with only gently rolling uplands in the northwest corner. The climate is cold in winter, hot in summer and humid throughout the year. The average annual temperature is 12.6 ℃, July 20-31 ℃, January 3-6 ℃, the average annual precipitation of 1068 mm, seasonal distribution is more uniform.
Washington is named in honor of Washington, the first President of the United States. Here is a concentration of important departments of the U.S. state organs, such as the federal government's highest state organs of the Presidential Palace, Congress, the State Department, the Department of Defense, etc., is the United States of America's highest command center and the center of political and cultural activities. Between the Capitol and the White House, there is the "Federal Triangle" complex, including the federal government ministries, agencies, and the National Gallery, the National Archives, the Pan American Union, the Smithsonian National Museum and the Federal Reserve Building and so on. The Capitol Building east of the Supreme Court Building, the nearby Library of Congress for the world's second largest library after the Lenin Library in Moscow, adjacent to the Shakespeare Library for the collection of Shakespeare's writings and its research literature known to the world. The Pentagon, which houses the Department of Defense, is located on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River. Washington, D.C. is a rectangular city with an area of 178 square kilometers. Centered on the Capitol, it is divided into four districts: Southeast, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. North-south streets are named in Arabic numerals, east-west streets are named in English letters, and 13 diagonal avenues are named after the 13 earliest states of the United States. The Northwest District is the heart of Washington, with the most important government buildings and monuments and museums. North of Pennsylvania Avenue is the main business district. The part of Massachusetts Avenue that stretches northward is the embassy district.
Washington is one of the few major modern cities in the world that is focused solely on the administrative functions of government. Revenues are based primarily on government services and the business activities of corporations, and to a lesser extent on tourism. Manufacturing accounts for only a small portion of the economic structure. The federal government prohibits industrial development in the city.
There are hundreds of commemorative buildings, monuments, statues, etc., throughout Washington, most of which are associated with past presidents. In the western part of the city, the green area on the east bank of the Potomac River, there are three presidents in history: Washington Memorial Tower facing the Potomac River Park, for the white marble obelisk, 169 meters high, overlooking the city's scenery. Along the river is the famous Japanese cherry blossom forest; Memorial Tower west of the Lincoln Memorial, for the ancient Greek-style architecture, the hall outside the 36 white marble columns, symbolizing the 36 states that made up the country at the time; inside the Lincoln sitting statue; Memorial Tower south of the Jefferson Presidential Memorial, outside the hall, there is a statue of him on horseback. 1971 and built the John F. Kennedy Center, including modern theaters, concert halls, opera houses, symphony house and the Ballet Theater, etc.
Washington has many parks, boulevards and grassy squares. The largest is Roark Park, which covers 710 hectares, northwest of downtown. Famous universities include Georgetown University, founded in 1789, as well as George Washington University, American University, and Howard University, the latter being the largest university in the country with a predominantly black student population.
In the 1960s, the city's 158-mile-long "rail transportation system" was completed. This included both underground and overground railroads to all parts of the city and suburbs. The largest railroad station, Federal Station, is located northeast of the Capitol. There are three international passenger airports, Washington, Dulles and Baltimore Washington, of which Washington National Airport is the busiest domestic airport in the United States.
Every December, the streets of Washington, D.C. are filled with the Christmas spirit, the Oval in front of the White House and the Capitol Plaza is decorated with two large Christmas trees, surrounded by the names of the 50 states and small trees or reindeer huts. The Christmas tree inside the White House is also beautifully decorated, no less than the square of the Christmas tree, then as long as the queue, you can enter the tour.
The Colosseum is located south of Piazza Venezia in the center of Rome, the capital of Italy, near the ancient Roman market. It is the most remarkable representative of ancient Roman architecture left to date and an eternal symbol of the ancient Roman Empire. The Colosseum was originally called the "Flavio Amphitheater". The foundation of the Colosseum was originally a small lake in the golden palace of Emperor Nero, the famous tyrant of the Roman Empire. In 72 A.D., after conquering Jerusalem, Emperor Vespasian of the Flavio Dynasty forced more than 80,000 Jewish prisoners to build the Colosseum to commemorate his great victories and powerful military achievements. This massive project*** took 100,000 cubic meters of stone and 300 tons of iron bars used to hook the bars together, and took eight years to complete by Vespasian's son, Emperor Titus. Afterwards, the Colosseum fell into decline due to lightning strikes and earthquakes, and for a time became a Roman quarry. The cornerstones of the Colosseum can still be found on some of Rome's most famous buildings, and after 1800, following several major restorations, the Colosseum took on a new look and became one of the world's most famous monuments. The Coliseum has a rounded appearance, but is actually oval when viewed from above. The entire building covers an area of 20,000 square meters, with a circumference of 527 meters, an outer diameter of 188 meters, an inner diameter of 156 meters, and a 57-meter-high perimeter wall, all made of yellowish marble. It can accommodate 87,000 spectators. The wall*** is divided into four tiers, the first, second and third of which are decorated with half-exposed columns, in the order of Dogus, Ionic and Corinthian. Between every two half-exposed columns is a rectangular arch, 80 arches in total on the first, second and third floors***. The facade of the fourth floor has a simpler surface decoration, consisting of rectangular windows and rectangular half-exposed square columns. At the height of 2/3 of this level, there are equidistant brackets for fixing the canopy at the upper end of the dome to shade the spectators during the festivities. It is said that in ancient times, the second and third floors of each archway hole and a marble figure as a decorative statue, its posture is different, heroic and handsome, so that the building looks both grand and not lose the spirit of the show, both heavy and ethereal. The overall building looks like a modernized circular stadium. Inside the arena is a stepped grandstand. According to information records, when the arena stands are divided into 3 areas: the bottom for the first area, is the emperor, the nobility, the knight class seats; the second floor is the second area, for the public seat; the highest level that is, the third area, is the civilian area. There was another floor above the third section, reserved for women, whose seats were made of wood. Above this was a larger platform where spectators could stand at will to watch the performance. For safety, a high railing parapet was built in front of the stands specifically to separate it from the performance area. In the center of the arena is an oval shaped gladiatorial arena, about 86 meters long and 63 meters wide at its widest point, which is a place for animal fights, games, horse races, songs and dances, military parades, and simulated wars. In the beginning, in order to watch the fight in the water, the lake can also be brought into the field to flood the pool. Later, many cellars were converted under the stage for the gladiators to make up and prepare for the fights and for shutting down the beasts. According to records, in 80 AD, on the day of the inauguration of the arena, there were a total of ***5000 lions, tigers and other ferocious beasts and by 3000 slaves, prisoners, criminals and religious persecution of the Kiwanis composed of gladiators, here for 100 days of continuous "performance" for the slave masters, emperors and dignitaries to appreciate the fun. As a result, many gladiators were killed and wounded on the big stage of the amphitheater, and 5000 animals also died in the "battlefield", even the designer of the arena, Gaudenzio, was not spared. This fully reflects the cruelty of the ruling class of the ancient Roman Empire at that time. Nowadays, the Colosseum's northeastern building is still basically intact. In its south there is a black stone paved road still maintains the original appearance of that year. In the north-west corner, on a lawn, there is a huge gilded bronze statue of the Emperor Nero, 35 meters high, with a beautiful sunburst adorning its head. It is said to be the work of the architect and artist Zenodoro. It is worth mentioning that in the south of the Coliseo there was originally a water fountain. It was first built by Emperor Tito and later rebuilt by Emperor Constantine. The fountain was famous for its conical shape, with the water coming down slowly from the tip, as if sweating. It was dismantled in 1936, but is commemorated by a sign near the Triumphal Arch of Constantine.
Creator of the Eiffel Tower
Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) was a very famous large-scale contractor in the world of metal architecture Gustave Eiffel. His company built more than a hundred famous structures all over the world, such as the Statue of Liberty in New York, the steel-framed skylight of the Louvre department store annex (1879), the dome of the Observatory of Nice (1886), the locks of the Panama Canal and three bridges in China. One of the last works of this "master of steel" was the Eiffel Tower. He collaborated with the famous engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, as well as the architect Stephen Sauvestre, in the construction of the Eiffel Tower, resulting in this great structure. Construction began on July 1, 1887, and it took five months to lay the foundations and twenty-one months for the final three hundred workers to assemble all the metal parts.
The structure of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower construction in the early days To date, the Eiffel Tower, the century-old man has more than a hundred years old, he is the French industrial revolution after the modern art in the field of architecture a perfect expression. His unique all-metal structure at the time is indeed too reform and innovation: Eiffel Tower by one and a half million rivets connected to the fixed, Mr. Eiffel had also decided to 18,038 cast iron fittings replaced by a more lightweight and sturdy alloy fittings, so the final completion of the Eiffel Tower is very "light". In the concrete ground on which it stands, only 4.5 kilograms of pressure per square centimeter. Its total weight is 10,000 tons, including 7,300 tons of four metal legs. It forms a square with a side length of 125 meters between its four pivot points. The Eiffel Tower's 1,665 steps take you to the top of the tower at a height of 310 meters. Together with the height of the antenna at the top of the tower, the Eiffel Tower has a total height of 324 meters. Its second level is 149 meters above the ground and the first level is 91 meters above the ground. At the time it was built, the Eiffel Tower was at one time the tallest building in the world and held that record for 45 years, until the completion of the Empire State Building in New York in 1931.
Maintenance of the Eiffel Tower
Night view of the Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower is also known as the French "noblewoman (La Grande Dame)", in order to make this "noblewoman" can be youthful, routine maintenance and maintenance work is essential. and maintenance work is essential. The usual maintenance work is to keep the Eiffel Tower shining and to ensure the safety of visitors to the Tower. The general structure of the tower and the tower's elevators are therefore regularly inspected. To prevent the metal from rusting, the tower is coated all over with anti-rust paint. Since the day it was built, it has been repainted as a whole 17 times and in many different colors. It has been painted red, yellow, and finally iron brown, the color it was originally painted. The last time the whole tower was painted in 2001, a **** used up 60 tons of paint and a whole year. At night, the Eiffel Tower resembles a noblewoman in a night gown covered with sparkling stones: in 2003, she wore a starry diamond night gown, and for the Chinese New Year of 2004, she changed into a ruby gown to welcome the Chinese New Year with the rest of the world***. The present-day noblewoman awaits your arrival in a gorgeous gold gown.
Function of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower was designed to be destroyed twenty years after it was built. So Gustave Eiffel had to find another practical place for him to protect his work from destruction. In the end, the noblewoman attracted the attention of a number of scientists engaged in scientific research, a scientific laboratory has since settled in the Eiffel Tower, the laboratory is mainly engaged in meteorology, radio science and aerodynamic research. It can be said that science saved the Eiffel Tower. So on the four sides of the Eiffel Tower, that is, the skirts of this noblewoman, a *** inscribed with the names of seventy-two great scientists.
Fame of the Eiffel Tower
From the day it was built, the Eiffel Tower has caused great coaxing in the world Eiffel Tower. It has inspired film artists, photographers, poets and famous painters such as Seurat and Delaunay, and has been an iconic landmark in Paris since the beginning of the twentieth century until the present day, as well as being France's most visited historical building. In the first year of its opening to the public alone, it welcomed more than two million visitors, and to this day, more than 200 million people have visited it. But it has also been a victim of its own success, having been photographed, copied and reproduced in miniature tens of billions of times, and you can even see it in other cities around the world: Lyon (France), Shenzhen (China), Tokyo (Japan), Berlin (Germany) ......
During your visit to the Eiffel Tower, don't forget to visit the During your visit to the Eiffel Tower, don't forget to take a look at the elevator system that controls the tower's elevators on the ground floor and the stores, exhibition rooms and restaurants on the first and second floors. From the top you can see all of Paris, even 90 kilometers away in the clear sky.
The Sydney Opera House is made up of three huge shells, standing on a cast-in-place reinforced concrete structure 186 meters long from north to south and 97 meters wide at its widest point east to west. The first set of shells
is on the west side of the lot, with four pairs of shells arranged in bunches, three facing north and one facing south, and contains the Great Concert Hall. The second group is on the east side of the lot, roughly parallel to the first group, of the same form but slightly smaller in size, with an opera hall inside. The third group, to the south-west of the lot, is the smallest and consists of two pairs of shells and houses the dining room. The other rooms are skillfully arranged within the plinth. The entrance to the entire complex is at the southern end, with a grand staircase 97 meters wide. The vehicular entrance and the parking lot are located at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.
The entire Opera House is divided into three sections: the Opera Hall, the Concert Hall and the Bernieran Restaurant. The Opera, Concert Hall and Lounge are built side by side on huge granite plinths, each consisting of four large, imposing shells. These "shells" are arranged in sequence, the first three cover one another, facing the bay to embrace, and the last one is back to the bay to serve, looks like two sets of open cover upside down put the clam. High and low spire shell, the appearance of the white lattice glaze magnetic cover, in the sunlight, from a distance, both like vertical shells, and like two giant
White sailboats, floating in the azure sea, so there is a "sail roof theater," the name. That shell-shaped pointed roof, is made of 2194 pieces each weighing 15.3 tons of curved precast concrete, with steel cables tightly spliced, covered with 1.05 million white or cream-colored tiles on the outside.
According to the designer in his later years, his idea back then actually came from oranges. It was the half-peeled oranges that inspired him. And this source of creativity was carved into a small model and placed in front of the Sydney Opera House, for visitors to see this ordinary thing caused by the great idea.