航天东路市政工程:求3篇,用英语介绍的世界著名建筑的文章

The Great Wall

The Great Wall, like the Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal(1) in India and the Hanging Garden of Babylon(2), is one of the great wonders of the world.

Starting out in the east on the banks of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province, the Wall stretches westwards for 12,700 kilometers to Jiayuguan in the Gobi desert, thus known as the Ten Thousand Li Wall in China. The Wall climbs up and down, twists and turns along the ridges of the Yanshan and Yinshan Mountain Chains through five provinces--Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu--and two autonomous regions--Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, binding the northern China together.

Historical records trace the construction of the origin of the Wall to defensive fortification back to the year 656 B.C. during the reign of King Cheng of the States of Chu. Its construction continued throughout the Warring States period in the fifth Century B.C. when ducal states Yan, Zhao, Wei, and Qin were frequently plundered by the nomadic peoples living north of the Yinshan and Yanshan mountain ranges. Walls, then, were built separately by these ducal states to ward off such harassments. Later in 221 B.C., when Qin conquered the other states and unified China, Emperor Qinshihuang ordered the connection of these individual walls and further extensions to form the basis of the present great wall. As a matter of fact, a separate outer wall was constructed north of the Yinshan range in the Han Dynasty(206 BC--1644 BC.), which went to ruin through years of neglect. In the many intervening centuries, succeeding dynasties rebuilt parts of the Wall. The most extensive reinforcements and renovations were carried out in the Ming Dynasty (1368--1644) when altogether 18 lengthy stretches were reinforced with bricks and rocks. it is mostly the Ming Dynasty Wall that visitors see today.

The Great Wall is divided into two sections, the east and west, with Shanxi Province as the dividing line. The west part is a rammed earth construction, about 5.3 meters high on average. In the eastern part, the core of the Wall is rammed earth as well, but the outer shell is reinforced with bricks and rocks. The most imposing and best preserved sections of the Great Wall are at Badaling and Mutianyu, not far from Beijing and both are open to visitors.

The Wall of those sections is 7.8 meters high and 6.5 meters wide at its base, narrowing to 5.8 meters on the ramparts, wide enough for five horses to gallop abreast. There are ramparts, embrasures, peep-holes and apertures for archers on the top, besides gutters with gargoyles to drain rain-water off the parapet walk. Two-storied watch-towers are built at approximately 400-meters internals. The top stories of the watch-tower were designed for observing enemy movements, while the first was used for storing grain, fodder, military equipment and gunpowder as well as for quartering garrison soldiers. The highest watch-tower at Badaling standing on a hill-top, is reached only after a steep climb, like "climbing a ladder to heaven". The view from the top is rewarding, hoverer. The Wall follows the contour of mountains that rise one behind the other until they finally fade and merge with distant haze.

A signal system formerly existed that served to communicate military information to the dynastic capital. This consisted of beacon towers on the Wall itself and on mountain tops within sight of the Wall. At the approach of enemy troops, smoke signals gave the alarm from the beacon towers in the daytime and bonfire did this at night. Emergency signals could be relayed to the capital from distant places within a few hour long before the invention of anything like modern communications.

There stand 14 major passes (Guan, in Chinese) at places of strategic importance along the Great Wall, the most important being Shanghaiguan and Jiayuguan. Yet the most impressive one is Juyongguan, about 50 kilometers northwest of Beijing.

Known as "Tian Xia Di YI Guan" (The First Pass Under Heaven), Shanghaiguan Pass is situated between two sheer cliffs forming a neck connecting north China with the northeast. It had been, therefore, a key junction contested by all strategists and many famous battles were fought here. It was the gate of Shanghaiguan that the Ming general Wu Sangui opened to the Manchu army to suppress the peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng and so surrendered the whole Ming empire to the Manchus, leading to the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. (1644-1911)

Jiayuguan Pass was not so much as the "Strategic pass Under the Heaven" as an important communication center in Chinese history. Cleft between the snow-capped Qilian Mountains and the rolling Mazong Mountains, it was on the ancient Silk Road. Zhang Qian, the first envoy of Emperor Wu Di of the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C-24 A.D), crossed it on his journey to the western regions. Later, silk flowed to the west through this pass too. The gate-tower of Jiayuguan is an attractive building of excellent workmanship. It has an inner city and an outer city, the former square in shape and surrounded by a wall 11.7 meters high and 730 meters in circumference. It has two gates, an eastern one and a western one. On each gate sits a tower facing each other. the four corners of the wall are occupied by four watch towers, one for each.

Juyongguan, a gateway to ancient Beijing from Inner Mongolia, was built in a 15-kilometer long ravine flanked by mountains. The cavalrymen of Genghis Khan swept through it in the 13th century. At the center of the pass is a white marble platform named the Cloud terrace, which was called the Crossing-Street Dagoba, since its narrow arch spanned the main street of the pass and on the top of the terrace there used to be three stone dagobas, built in the Yuan Daynasty(1206-1368). At the bottom of the terrace is a half-octagonal arch gateway, interesting for its wealth of detail: it is decorated with splendid images of Buddha and four celestial guardians carved on the walls. The vividness of their expressions is matched by the exquisite workmanship. such grandiose relics works, with several stones pieced together, are rarely seen in ancient Chinese carving. The gate jambs bear a multi-lingual Buddhist sutra, carved some 600 years ago in Sanskrit(3), Tibetan, Mongolian, Uigur(4), Han Chinese and the language of Western Xia. Undoubtedly, they are valuable to the study of Buddhism and ancient languages.

As a cultural heritage, the Wall belongs not only to China but to the world. The Venice charter says: "Historical and cultural architecture not only includes the individual architectural works, but also the urban or rural environment that witnessed certain civilizations, significant social developments or historical events." The Great Wall is the largest of such historical and cultural architecture, and that is why it continues to be so attractive to people all over the world. In 1987, the Wall was listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.

The Drum and Bell Towers

◇字体：〔大 中 小〕 本版PDF 北京青年报： Jerry Ho Chen Jie 2002年11月15日

Finding high places in and around Beijing to see the view is a popular activity and perhaps the best-known place for this is the Fragrant Hills (Xiangshan). But another ideal location for a bit of city viewing that’s a lot closer to home is often overlooked. The Drum and Bell Towers, located near Houhai, offer panoramic views of probably the most charming prt of Beijing.

To the south of the Drum Tower is Shicha Lake. Wanchun Pavilion in Jingshan Park and the White Pagoda in Beihai Park are both clearly visible. Hutongs spread in every direction around the tower, exuding the tranquility and peacefulness that is typical of old Beijing.
Drum and bell towers were built in many Chinese cities. Built in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty, the Drum and Bell Tower complex (called Zhong Gu Lou) is the biggest and oldest of its kind in China. As part of the royal architecture of the ancient capital, it sits at the north end of the longitudinal axis in the middle of Beijing. Directly to the south are Jingshan, the Forbidden City, Tian An Men, Qian Men and Yong Ding Men.

The Drum Tower is built from wood, and is 47.9 meters high. It was built on a 3 meter base made of stones and bricks. On the second floor there used to be 25 drums, one big drum and 24 smaller ones. Now only the big drum remains. It is 2.22 meters high with a diameter of 1.4 meters and the surface is made from a single piece of cow skin.

On the second floor of the Bell Tower, a big bronze bell hangs from an octagonal wooden frame. Two round logs, both two meters long, used to sound the bell are suspended on each side. At 5.3 meters tall, and weighing 63 metric tons, it is the heaviest bell in China. It was made in a bell foundry behind the tower with a kind of bronze that was particularly resonant. When struck, the sound can reach several miles away.

This was important as the towers used to act as a kind of giant alarm clock. Through the three dynasties of Yuan, Ming and Qing, the working and resting hours of all ci and government officers used to be set by the sound from the towers.

Sounding of the bell and the drum was set in a regular pattern. The bell was struck twice a day, at 7 pm and 5 am. The drum took over at night, every two hours from seven o?lock in the evening till five o’clock at dawn. Each time, the drum was struck 108 times. Striking of the drum and bell was performed by guards of honor dispatched from the royal palace. When Pu Yi, the last emperor, was expelled from the Forbidden City in 1924, the guards of honor were also dismissed and the towers’ function came to an end. Now the bell is only struck on the last day of Chinese New Year. The drum is only struck a a performance for tourists (this service is available from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon).

Near the towers there are several other places worth visiting. Among the many alleys to the west of the Bell Tower is one called Zhu Zhong Chang Hutong (the bell foundry alley), where the great bell in the tower was made. According to local people, there is a story behind the making of the bell. The master founder had some difficulties in finishing the job. So in order to help him, his daughter threw herself into the melting pot to give the human spirit that the great bell needed. People built a temple in honor of the young girl. The temple still remains but the main hall was demolished two years ago. The story is still popular in the neighborhood.

The Dou Fu Chi Hutong (Bean curd alley) next to the Drum Tower is another famous alley in Beijing. At the west end, there is a vegetable market with an arch carved in the shape of flowers. This used to be a temple of an imperial concubine. A small yard in the middle of the alley is well known as the former residence of Yang Kaihui? father. Yang was Mao Zedong? first wife. Mao himself used to live here too. To the east end of the alley there is a group of buildings that belonged to a member of the royal family in the Qing dynasty. Now it has become an office of the Municipal rity Bureau of Beijing.

You can also walk all the way through Yandai Xiejie (Tobacco Pipe Street) past Yindian Qiao (the Sycee Bridge) into the Shicha Hai lake area to enjoy the lakeside scenes.

Houmen Qiao (Backdoor Bridge) is well-known for the small shops there, selling clothes that are cheap but still quite fashionable.

There is convenient public transportation to the tower area. Buses No. 5, 107 and City Express 104 and 815 all have a stop (Gu Lou) near the towers.

The Drum and Bell Towers are open to the public from nine in the morning till five in the afternoon.

Admission to the Drum Tower costs 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for students. For the Bell Tower it costs 10 yuan for adults and 5 yuan for students.

The Summer Palace lies about 20 kilometers northwest of Beijing. It consists of Longevity Hill (59 meters high) and Kinming Lake with a total area of 290 hectares. Longevity Hill is an extension of the Western Hills. Kunming Lake used to be fed by the springs from the Jade Spring Hill lying to its west. Now it has its source from Miyun Reservoir, 102 kilometers northeast of Beijing.

The Summer Palace has a history of over 800 years. In 1153, when the Jin Dynasty made Beijing (then called Yanjing) its capital, it built an imperial palace (the Golden Hill Palace) on the present site of the Summer Palace. In 1750, Emperor Qianlong spent 4.48 million taels of silver (140,000 kilos of silver) building the Garden of Clear Ripples in 15 years and changes the name of the hill to Longevity Hill to celebrate his mother’s birthday. He also named the lake Kunming because he wanted to follow the example of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty who had trained his navy centuries before in Kunming Pool in Chang’an (somewhere near Xi’an today).

In 1860, the Anglo-French allied forces invaded Beijing and burned down the palace. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi had it restored with the funds (30 million taels of silver-937,500 kilos of silver) intended for the development of the navy and renamed it the Summer Palace. In 1900, it was again plundered, this time by the invading troops of the eight powers. The big temples and halls at the back of the Longevity Hill were destroyed. Only one temple remained, the Hall of Sea of Wisdom, a stone structure. In 1903 the Empress Dowager spent a fabulous sum of money to have the palace reconstructed a second time. The Summer Palace of today is more or less the same of the Summer Palace rebuilt in 1903. After the last Qing Emperor Puyi was thrown out of the Summer Palace in 1924, this place was turned into a park. But the admission charge was very high, about the price of a bag of wheat flour, equivalent to 60 yuan now. Today, a ticket costs 10 yuan.

Since 1949 the Chinese Government has renovated the Summer Palace several times and numerous trees and flowers have been planted. This old imperial garden has taken on a completely new look and become one of the most popular parks in Beijing.

This is the front courtyard. The annex halls on both sides were used for officials on duty.

This is Taihu rock from Taihu Lake in Jiangsu Province. The rock was formerly located in Prince Morgan’s Garden (now the site of Beijing University) and was moved here to provide grand view.

Behind the rock is a bronze Xuanni. In ancient Chinese mythology, Xuanni was one of the nine sons of the dragon. A point of peculiar interest is that it has the head of a dragon, the antlers of a deer, the tail of a lion and the hooves of an ox. It was put at the gate because the feudal rulers believed that it could detect any disloyal subject.

These are Tai Ping vats for storing water against fire in the old days. During the war, the Japanese aggressor troops attempted to take them to Japan after they invaded Beijing. After 1945, they were moved back from Tianjin.

The bronze dragons and phoenixes are incense burners. Sandal wood or Tibetan incense was burned when the feudal rulers gave an audience.

Hall of Benevolence and Longevity

Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu took charge of state affairs and received officials and foreign envoys here. The building was first built in 1750. It was then called the Hall of Industrious Government. In 1860, it was burned down, the present building was rebuilt in 1890.

In the middle of the hall stands a throne carved with a nine-dragon design. The nine dragons symbolized the supreme power of the Emperor.

By the side of the throne are two big fans made of peacock feathers, put up for dignity purpose. In the Song Dynasty, two fans were held by eunuchs, while in the Qing Dynasty they were put up by the side of the throne.

There are two column-shaped incense burners, one on each side for burning incense on formal occasions.

This is an incense burner assuming the form of a mythological animal which was supposed to have the power to prevent fire.

The inscription of the tablet says that he who shows benevolence in running the government can live a long life.

The flower basket is made of precious stones in various colors. The base is made of pear wood.

On the small table there is a Shang Dynasty bronze mirror over 3,000 years old. On the wall is a scroll with big Chinese character meaning “longevity”. The one hundred bats in the background symbolize happiness and longevity. This big character was written by the Empress Dowager.

This is a lacquer screen inlaid with ivory and green jade, made in Emperor Qianlong’s time.

The frame of the big mirror is made of mahogany. It took 3,600 mandays or one person ten years to do the job.

A pair of wooden lions is shaped from the roots of birch tree.

The elephant is a symbol of universal peace.

The small chambers on either side were places where the Emperor rested and received officials on formal occasions.

Garden of Virtuous Harmony

It consists of Daxilou (the Theater Building) and Yiledian (Hall of Pleasure Smile). The theater building was constructed in 1892, at a cost of 1.6 million taels of silver (50,000 kilos of silver). It was the biggest stage in China at the time, wit three tiers of tilted eaves. (The lower stage was named longevity stage, the middle level was called emolument level, and the top level was a symbol of happiness. Each level has its entrance and exit.) There are trapdoors in the ceiling for fairies to descend and on the floor for demons to surface from beneath. A well and five ponds were built under the stage for a good effect. During a performance, a grand water scene could be produced on the stage. Empress Dowager Cixi used to sit on a wooden bed by the window to watch the performances. Emperor Guangxu would sit at the left side of the window outside the door, while the former concubines used to sit at the right side of the window. The aisles of the stage were divided into 12 wings separated by wooden pillars. The east wings were prepared for princess, dukes and ministers. The west wings were for Li Lianying, the most favorite superintendent eunuch and the court officials. In the hall there are four screens, representing the four seasons of the year. Peach blossom stands for spring, lotus flower for summer, chrysanthemum autumn and narcissus winter.

Visitors can also see wax models of the Empress Dowager, Emperor Guangxu, his consort and the palace maids.

Hall of Happiness Longevity

This big rock in its strange shape was discovered in Fangshan Mountains near Beijing. A Ming official named Mi Wanzhong was fond of it and wanted to keep it in his garden inside the present Beijing University. Having spent all his money to shop it he finally gave it up half way and left it by the side of the road near Liangxiang, 30 kilometers southwest of Beijing. Qing Emperor Qianlong saw it on the way back from his tour south of the Yangtze River, and ordered that it be moved to Beijing.

These are bronze vases, vats, deer and storks, tow of each kind, symbolizing universal peace.

Magnolia, flowering crab-apple and peony are grown in this compound.

On the left, the deer, especially the spotted variety, is an emblem of longevity, because it is said to be the only animal which can find the lingzhi fungus of immortality.

The hall was Empress Dowager Cixi’s residence. After it was rebuilt in 1889, she lived here from May to October every year during the rest of her lifetime.

In the east outer room, she used to have her breakfast and tea.

The east inner room was her dressing room.

The west inner room was her bad room and in the west outer room she used to read and sign documents.

In the center of the hall is a large table, at which she had her meals. For each meal, the

The Great Wall

The Great Wall, like the Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal(1) in India and the Hanging Garden of Babylon(2), is one of the great wonders of the world.

Starting out in the east on the banks of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province, the Wall stretches westwards for 12,700 kilometers to Jiayuguan in the Gobi desert, thus known as the Ten Thousand Li Wall in China. The Wall climbs up and down, twists and turns along the ridges of the Yanshan and Yinshan Mountain Chains through five provinces--Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu--and two autonomous regions--Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, binding the northern China together.

1、Sydney Opera House was built between 1959 and1973, at the cost of $A100 million. It has 100 rooms and is the biggest and the busiest arts center in the world. It contains five rehearsal studios, five theatre bars, sixty dressing rooms, a lounge and canteen called the "Greenroom." The building covers about 1.8 hectares. A competition was held for the design of the Opera House. On 29th January 1957, Joem Utzon, A Danish architect was declared the winning designer.

2、Buckingham Palace is the Queen's official and main royal London home, although the Queen regularly spends time at Windsor Castle and Balmoral in Scotland.

Buckingham Palace was originally a grand house built by the Dukes of Buckingham for his wife. George IV began transforming it into a palace in 1826.

Buckingham Palace has been the official London residence of Britain's monarchy since 1837. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live there

3、Princeton University is one of the Big Three of the famous “Chinese ivy alliance” university of U.S.A. (another two are Harvard University and Yale University), in “U. S. in the university ranking in 2004, Princeton stands side by side the first place with Harvard University again. In recent years, the rank of Princeton University is in U.S.A.'s most authoritative school billboard, remain it throughout in three nail. It is obvious there are 250 histories of more than years in this, and has been keeping the highest famous school of pure academy all the time, it is really qualified School of the Chinese ivy. Princeton University is located in scenery pleasantly and covering with small cities of Princeton of the green pines and classical building. Princeton University is considered to be the most beautiful university.

French Eiffel Tower ---

Have ever heard about the Eiffel Tower which is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars, beside the River Seine, in Paris, France. It is the most famous French landmark and is used as a symbol of France. At the time of its construction in 1889 it was the tallest structure in the world, and remained so until 1930. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, it is a premier tourist destination, with over 5.5 million visitors per year.

Pyramid --

One glance at a pyramid can leave the viewer in awe of its beauty and splend or. Upon closer examination, however, one might be surprised to discover that such a grandiose structure is composed entirely of ordinary stones.?

Most people are familiar with the proverb: Rome was not built in a day. An object as grand as a pyramid is likewise not so quickly or easily constructed. Just as the greatness of the city of Rome is due to the combination of its smaller parts, a pyramid is only as strong as the stones it is comprised of. The image of a pyramid reminds us that great success is in fact an accumulation of small a chievements.?

remember that one can build a pyramid only if one is willing to work with small stones. People would be wise to abandon rash inclinations and instead try in earnest. Perseverance is sure to lead to success.

Well..hope my small composition can be help you
Good luck.........

1. Great Wall(http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569621/Great_Wall_(China).html)
I Introduction

Great Wall (China), popular name for a semi-legendary wall built to protect China’s northern border in the 3rd century bc, and for impressive stone and earthen fortifications built along a different northern border in the 15th and 16th centuries ad, long after the ancient structure had mostly disappeared. Ruins of the later wall are found today along former border areas from Bo Hai (a gulf of the Yellow Sea) in the east to Gansu Province in the west. The Great Wall is visited often near Beijing, at a site called Ju-yong-guan, and at its eastern and western extremes.

The Great Wall is probably China's best-known monument and one of its most popular tourist destinations. In 1987 it was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Great Wall is not a single, continuous structure. Rather, it consists of a network of walls and towers that leaves the frontier open in places. Estimates of the total length of the monument vary, depending on which sections are included and how they are measured. The Great Wall is about 2,400 km (about 1,500 mi) long, according to conservative estimates. Other estimates cite a length of 6,400 km (4,000 mi), or even longer. Some long-standing myths about the wall have been dispelled in recent decades. The existing wall is not several thousand years old, nor is it, as has been widely asserted, visible with the naked eye from outer space. (Astronauts have confirmed this. However, some of the wall is discernible in special radar images taken by satellites.)

II The Wall of Qin Shihuangdi

Wall building—around houses and settlements and along political frontiers—began in China more than 3000 years ago. Using the hang-tu method, pounded layers of earth were alternated with stones and twigs inside wooden frames to produce durable earthen walls. During the Warring States period (403-221 bc), before China was unified, feudal states fought for control of the area constituting most of modern-day China. The states of Qi, Yen, and Zhao were among those that built earthen ramparts along their frontiers.

The most famous early wall construction is attributed to the king of the Qin dynasty, who conquered the other states and unified China in 221 bc. Taking the title of Shihuangdi, or First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi ordered his military commander Meng Tian to subdue the nomads of the north and fortify China’s vast frontier. Historians still debate the form these fortifications took, but records mention the chang cheng (long wall) of Shihuangdi. No reliable historical accounts indicate the length of the Qin fortifications or the exact route they followed.

III The Ming Walls

Few traces exist today of the ancient wall of Shihuangdi. Today’s Great Wall, which follows a different route from that of Shihuangdi’s fortifications, consists of a series of walls built by China’s Ming dynasty beginning in the late 15th century ad. The Ming, having suffered a military defeat by the Mongols, had refused to continue to trade with them. The Mongol tribes of the northern steppe had long depended on China for grain, metal, and other goods, and China’s refusal led to further conflict between the Ming and the Mongols, which the Ming proved unable to win. The Ming rulers could not decide whether to negotiate with the Mongols or attempt to conquer them. As a compromise, they decided to keep the Mongols out by constructing walls along China’s northern border. Ultimately, the walls proved ineffective, as the Mongols were easily able to pass around or break through them during raids. For this and other reasons, sections of the walls periodically required repair.

Although the first Ming walls were built of earth in the traditional manner, by the 16th century the work had become much more elaborate and was done in stone by professional builders paid in silver. Bit by bit, in response to Mongol challenges, the Ming heavily fortified the region around the capital at Beijing. Other areas were protected with shorter walls or forts, or had no defenses at all.

Wall building and repair continued until the Ming dynasty fell to the Qing dynasty in 1644. By this time, the walls formed an incomplete and uneven network. The eastern end was at Qinhuangdao, in Hebei Province on the gulf of Bo Hai, while the western extreme was near Jiayuguan in Gansu Province. The walls spanned mountainous terrain, conforming to the territory’s numerous peaks and valleys. They included inner walls and outer walls, and some stretches had watchtowers placed at regular intervals so that alarm signals could be passed between them in case of attack. Along the top of the walls was space for soldiers to march. At their most impressive, around Beijing, the walls measured at least 7.6 m (25 ft) in height and up to 9 m (30 ft) in width, tapering from the base to the top. These dimensions varied greatly at other points.

IV The Myth of the Great Wall

Neither the Qin wall nor the Ming fortifications were called the “Great Wall of China” by their Chinese contemporaries. That label, and the myths that have come with it, appear to have originated in the West. Europeans who visited China in the 17th and 18th centuries confused the Ming fortifications with the Qin wall or walls mentioned in dynastic histories. They also assumed incorrectly that impressive masonry walls like those surrounding Beijing at the time also extended far to the west. As a result, a description developed in the West of a vast wall that had secured peace for the civilized Chinese for thousands of years by excluding the nomads. This idea captured the imagination of Westerners, and by the late 19th century a visit to the "Great Wall of China" had become a staple of the Western tourist’s itinerary.

In the 20th century the Chinese also began to adopt the idea of the Great Wall, despite the evidence presented by their own historical records. Revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, who was instrumental in establishing the Republic of China in 1912, wrote about the wall in glowing terms consistent with the Western myth. Although some Chinese scholars pointed out Sun’s errors, they never succeeded in halting the myth’s progress. Patriotic fervor during World War II (1939-1945) popularized the myth of the Great Wall, and some renovation was done to the Ming fortifications in the early 1950s. The tide changed, however, under Communist leader Mao Zedong, who came to power in 1949. In 1966 Mao launched the political campaign known as the Cultural Revolution, during which he appealed to the Chinese people to destroy anything associated with traditional culture. Unappreciated for its historic value, the magnificent wall surrounding Beijing was torn down for quarrying during this period. Other wall ruins were also destroyed.

With the end of the Cultural Revolution and the death of Mao in 1976, the political climate changed in China, evidenced in part by a rise in nationalism. In the years that followed, the myth of the Great Wall was officially propagated throughout the country. In the 1980s the Ming walls began to undergo extensive renovation at their most visited locations. In the 1990s, however, historians in both China and the West began to reestablish the actual history of Chinese wall building and to explore the development of the folklore surrounding the Ming walls.

2.Taj Mahal(http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558805/Taj_Mahal.html)
Taj Mahal, a mausoleum in Agra, India, regarded as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan had it built in memory of his wife, Arjumand Banu Bagam, known as Mumtaz Mahal (Persian for “Elect of the Palace”), who died in 1631.

Building commenced about 1632. The mausoleum was complete by about 1643 and the surrounding complex of buildings and gardens was complete by about 1653. Situated on the southern bank of the Yamuna River, the white marble mausoleum is composed of four identical facades, each containing a large central arch 33 m (108 ft) high. A large bulb-shaped dome, over 73 m (240 ft) tall, rises over the center, with four smaller domes surrounding it. The building is raised on a square podium with a minaret (tower) at each corner. It is flanked by two red sandstone buildings—a mosque and its replica, the Jawab (Answer), a building of which the main function is visual balance. Visitors approach the Taj Mahal through an imposing red sandstone gate, decorated with inscriptions from the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an (Koran). The gate and accompanying walls also contain a vast, geometrically laid out garden, 305 m (1,002 ft) on each side. The enclosed garden, itself a Muslim symbol of paradise, is centered on a large, raised pool. Canals divide it into four equal parts, each containing flower beds, fountains, and cypress trees (symbols of death).

Inside the Taj Mahal, the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal stands at the center of an octagonal hall, while the slightly larger tomb of Shah Jahan, who died in 1666, is off to one side. Both are elaborately carved and inlaid with semiprecious stones, illuminated by sunlight filtering through an elaborately carved marble screen that is also studded with jewels.

3.World Trade Center(http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701505572/World_Trade_Center.html)
World Trade Center, complex of seven commercial buildings in New York City, demolished by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The best-known buildings of the World Trade Center were twin skyscrapers designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki with the firm Emery Roth and Sons. These 110-story towers were built in lower Manhattan from 1966 to 1973 and quickly became a distinctive feature of the New York City skyline and a symbol of the city’s financial power. Tower One, the north tower, stood 417 m (1,368 ft) tall; Tower Two, the south tower, 415 m (1,362 ft). The towers briefly ranked as the world’s tallest buildings, but they were surpassed in 1974 by the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, which has a height of 442 m (1,450 ft).

The World Trade Center occupied a 6.5-hectare (16-acre) site and contained about 836,000 sq m (9 million sq ft) of office space in the twin towers. Four smaller buildings and a 47-story high-rise occupied a plaza surrounding the towers and housed shops, exhibition pavilions, and additional offices. The complex numbered more than 430 businesses and government agencies among its tenants, including the investment firm Morgan Stanley, the Bank of America, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that owned and operated the World Trade Center. About 50,000 people worked in the complex, and another 80,000 visited it daily. Subways transported people to and from a station underneath the complex. A concourse of shops was also located underground.

The modern steel-and-glass towers that Yamasaki created for the World Trade Center had a light and airy feeling. Columns of thin steel tubing sheathed the exterior and&nbs