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Is it possible to walk across China in one day?
One place where I could do only it is in the Ethnic Culture Park of China, south of the Bird's Nest and the Olympic Park.
The huge park has been a labor of love and precisely recreates life in the 56 ethnic groups in China.
From some of the "mountains" or "plateaus" can see the main sites Beijing Olympics and the Three Towers of Dali in Yunnan Province, living replicas of the Jokhang Temple and many other ethnically significant buildings.
The park covers 45 hectares of land in the North Fourth Ring Road and take a walk across six or seven hours. It is also a Museum of Anthropology, China Nationalities Museum.
When construction began in 1992, was part of China's plan to bid for the 2000 Olympics. China lost the tender in 1993, winning only eight years after the 2008 Games.
"It's actually a good thing for us since he was eight more to do research work for the museum and collect cultural relics of various ethnic groups, "says museum curator Wang Ping.
It took three to five years for the park and museum preparation for the construction of the zone of each ethnic group. Although the first phase of the park opened in 1994, has worked non-stop ever since.
"I have done fieldwork in all regions of ethnic minorities in China - I've never been to some places of interest as the Huangshan mountain resort, or Taishan Mountain but I have been to many villages around the Himalayan mountains, "says Wang.
Each group ethnicity has a "village" in the park to show its architecture, religion, lifestyle and cultural relics. Various crops are also planted in accordance with different ethnic groups, including paddy rice for the Dong people, highland barley for the Tibetans and buckwheat for the Yi.
"We We hope to encourage visitors to enter the lives of different ethnic groups, "says Wang
Some buildings in the park are original, taken apart in their original locations and then transported and reassembled in Beijing. Others were prepared in the original place and assembled in Beijing.
For example, the symbol of the village of the Salar, a Muslim ethnic group in northwest China, is a minaret of the village Shangbaizhuang, Baizhuang township, Xunhua County Salar autonomous Qinghai Province. The minaret was built around 300 years ago, and was transferred to the ethnic Chinese Culture Park in 2003.
In the southern part of the Park Ethnic Culture in China, you can visit a replica of the Ermin Tower, an ancient tower in Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Standing on a tower 44 meters is exactly the same size as the original. The gray yellow brick were made manually in Xinjiang and assembled in Beijing by Uygur craftsmen from Xinjiang.
At the north end of the park, a drum tower, opera stage and "rain and wind bridge" represent the environment of a village of Dong people. A field paddy rice and ducks and fish in the lake add to the idyllic atmosphere of the environment.
The park also features live cultural performances. Every morning real lamas from the Tar Monastery in Qinghai Province of Tibet chant Buddhist sutras to pray for peace in the Tibetan monastery, while a priest Dongba burning incense and said prayers at the Naxi people.
Then, the interpreters of the Miao minority, a show of "walking in leaves" a traditional Miao stunt, while singers and dancers from other ethnic groups, such as Va, Jingpo and Tu entertain visitors with their program in each village.
During throughout the year, festivals of various ethnic groups are held, including the Tibetan Festival Shoten, water sprinkling Festival of Dai people and the Lantern Festival Yi.
"Most minorities are very good at singing and dancing. Participants in the activities helps us understand and respect their cultures more," says Lei Feng, a 47-year-old to park visitors.
Liu Li, a 29-year-old visitor, took part in the "bamboo pole dance" the Dai people and found in it a long-lost joy like the "rubber band jump" game in its infancy.
"In the past, I go a long way to experience lies the minority of people, but now I have found in Beijing, "he says." separated only by a wall from the hustle and bustle of the Fourth Ring Road North, which is a totally different world here. "
Wang says that after the outer construction of the ethnic Chinese Culture Park and Museum of Nationalities of China is completed, you still have much work to do, especially in improving the presentation of the ethnic culture and enriching collections.
The Museum of Nationalities of China so far has collected over 100,000 cultural relics of various ethnic groups. Especially valuable among them are 5,000 cultural relics of the Qiang people, housed in a typical watch tower. In the recent earthquake in Sichuan, the county Beichuan Qiang Autonomous was badly hit and many cultural relics were destroyed.
"If we had not collected these cultural relics, which probably would have been lost forever, "says Wang
As an anthropological museum, Museum of Nationalities of China, mainly includes items that reflect ordinary life of people and on 15 July, the museum will open a new exhibition titled Ordinary People's Exhibition - Our history and our roots, displaying items such as needles, containers and bags.
The preface to the exhibition states: "Most of the production tools and utensils everyday common people arelost without any trace of history. However, these articles give us a vivid picture of our life and culture that tell us about aa our history and help find our roots. "
"What should we present to the world during the Olympics? It is our culture and our people, I think, "says Wang
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