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Showing posts from January, 2010

HENGSHAN HANGING MONASTERY

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Located at Hunyuan County of Shanxi Province, Hengshan Hanging Monastery was built at the later period of northern Wei about 1400 years ago. It is an immortal masterpiece of ancient architecture and a piece crystallization of workmanship and resourcefulness. The Hanging Monastery with Cuiping Mountain behind is opposite to the north mountain - the Hengshan Mountain. The clusters of architecture, over 40 buildings of them, are evenly distributed and well-balanced in height. In the monastery are over 80 statues; some are cast with bronze, some with iron, some with clay and some are carved out of stone. Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, the Child Giving Avalokitesvara, Ludongping of Taoism and others are living together friendly and harmoniously which give one some thought that each and every sect of religions wants to capture a seat in such an extraordinary monastery. The Hanging Monastery has established its unique position among the various temples and monasterie

METEORA

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The Metéora (Greek: Μετέωρα , "suspended rocks", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above") is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos . The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The nearest town is Kalambaka. The Metéora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria I, II, IV, V and VII.  HISTORY In the 9th century, an ascetic group of hermit monks moved up to the ancient pinnacles. They were the first people to inhabit Metéora. They lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers, some of which reach 1800 ft (550m) above the plain. This great height, combined with the sheerness of the cliff walls, kept away all but the most determined visitors. Initially the hermits led a life of solitude, mee

BURJ KHALIFA

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Burj Khalifa  formerly known as  Burj Dubai , is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010. The building is part of the 2 km 2  (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Burj Khalifa at the "First Interchange" along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district. The total cost for the Burj Khalifa project was about US$1.5 billion; and for the entire new "Downtown Dubai", US$20 billion. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the Chairman of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said in March 2009 that the price of office space at Burj Khalifa had reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m 2 ) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, were selling for US$3,500