Built during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, Rooster Post once stood as the liveliest relay on the western road out of the capital. Courier horses shattered the morning frost; messengers sped under urgent orders. In the thunder of hooves racing eight hundred li, the flames of war and the emperor’s edicts were borne across the land. Today, the scene atop the walls has changed. Beyond the battlements, rails wind toward distant mountains, and two trains pass in opposite directions, their whistles breaking the stillness of the ancient post. […]
Ancient / Landscape
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Qingbiankou Great Wall with Flowering Almonds
Late spring is fading, while early summer has yet to arrive. The crumbling walls of the Qingbiankou Great Wall lie quietly along the ridges like bones forgotten by time. The wind drifts in from afar, brushing over weathered bricks and sweeping across hills covered in flowering almond blossoms. Their shades of purplish red glow softly—like fire not yet lit, like clouds that have not yet dispersed—blooming gently between desolation and history. I walk slowly along an old path, with gravel and dust beneath my feet, yet before my eyes unfolds […]
Ancient / Astronomy
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Total Lunar Eclipse over Wanchun Pavilion and White Dagoba
Six hundred years ago, Zhu Di ascended Wansui Hill and gazed down upon the myriad lights of the Forbidden City. Three hundred years ago, the Qianlong Emperor strolled beneath the White Dagoba, listening to the drifting chant of Buddhist sutras as a few startled crows rose into the cold air. Tonight, on the Lantern Festival, red lanterns hang from willow branches, and the night sky gradually takes on the background hue of an ancient silk painting. At the moment of greatest eclipse, the dark-red shadow of the moon appears like […]
Ancient / Astronomy
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Total Lunar Eclipse over the Corner Tower
Night spreads slowly above the corner tower of the Forbidden City. The moon is drawn inch by inch into shadow. Its silver fades, until it becomes a crimson disc. At totality, even the moat and the wind hold their breath. When the light returns, scales of radiance dance upon the water, and the eaves are caressed by moonlight once more. The moon waxes and wanes, sometimes bright, sometimes dim; People mortals part and reunite, sometimes near, sometimes far. The corner tower still stands, watching through the ages as union and […]
Ancient / Astronomy / Urban
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Comet over Beijing
The skyscraper-filled Beijing CBD gazes from afar at Dingdu Peak, once admired by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. Chang’an Avenue connects the two, building a dialogue across time and space between the modern and the historic. The ancient Great Wall winds through the landscape, its weathered stones bathed in starlight, recounting the rise and fall of dynasties. At the pinnacle of Beijing, Dongling Mountain lies serenely under the Milky Way, having witnessed countless transformations of the earth. The comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), with its multi-millennial orbital period, sweeps across […]