Located in the southeast of Hebei Province, Cangzhou has a total area of 14,000 square kilometers. It faces the Bohai Sea on the east and the Baiyang-dian Lake-"North China Pearl"is to the west. It is south of Beijing and is bordered on the north by Tianjin. Shandong Province is to the south of Cangzhou. Under its jurisdiction, there are four county-level cities, ten counties, two districts and two county-level state-owned farms. Cangzhou has a population of 6,690,000, among which there are 210,000 minorities of which 91 percent are of the Hui nationality. Cangzhou is rich in history. Its Qingxian County's Pangu Town was the very place where the legendary god Pan Gu created the universe. It has also been widely known as the place where Lin Chong, a trainer of the 800,000 palace guards in the Northern Song Dynasty, was unjustly sent for penal servitude described in The Outlaws of the Marsh, a Chinese classical novel. It is also known as the "Lion City"with the famous Iron Lion which is described later. Meaning "Wide Sea"in ancient times, Cangzhou was set up as a zhou, an administrative division in the Northern Wei Dynasty in 517AD. The location of its government was in Rao'an, now Qiantong zhen, Yanshan County. The place was called "Qiantong Town" in the Qin Dynasty, where with First Emperor's allotment, Xu Fu trained one thousand boys and girls and one hundred master craftsmen and left for the eastward sea-voyage to seek a mythical fountain of youth. There had been many ancient cities and counties here as well. Among the 800 relic sites, there are many sites of ancient cities, tombs and bridges. Due to its rich history, Cangzhou is very peculiar in its customs, conventions and cultures. It has been, an still is, well-known for its martial arts, acrobatics, casting, religious culture and the Hui customs. Rightly so called home of martial arts, of acrobatics and of the first overseas Chinese. It has also been known as the birthplace of many famous people like Bian Que-a miracle-working doctor in the Warring States. Jia Dan-a geographer in the Tang Dynasty, Ma Zhiyuan-one of the four famous dramatists in the Yuan Dynasty. Ji Xiaolan eneral editor of Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature in the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Zhidong-Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Huo Diange and Huo Yuanjia-famous martial art masters during the reign of Xuantong Emperor. And Xun Huisheng-a famous Beijing opera actor. Located east of the North China Plain, in the Heilonggang Basin and close to the sea, Cangzhou is peculiar in its scenery as well. It is flat and has many marshlands. There are over twenty rivers converging here into nine which continue on into the sea. With all of this water there are many wetlands which are ideal for over two hundred species of migratory birds which pass through. Along the coast, there are six ancient shell ridges, which are rare, and some volcanic hills with an altitude of 39 meters and an area of 20 square kilometers over twenty thousand years old. In addition, the Baiyangdian Lake converges into the Daqing River in Renqiu City, which flows toward Tianjin. Cangzhou is also rich in products. Along the coast, there is a large area of mud flats suitable for salt-making and aquaculture. Being the breeding place of the aquatic resources of both the Bohai Sea and the Huanghai Sea, the sea waters near Cangzhou abound with prawn, shrimp, swimming crab, jellyfish, clam and other aquatic resources. Cangzhou is also aboundant with subsidiary agricultural products such as ya pear, Cangzhou date, winter date, preserved cabbage and so on. There are also many peculiar local foods such as Renqiu's smoked fish and donkey-meat cake, Hejian's crunchy candy, Yanshan's preserved egg, Baiyangdian Lake's preserved egg, Nanpi's corn bread, Jiaohe's pancake, Wuqiao's thin floured pancake, Qumei sausage, the Feng's sausage and etc. Besides, there are several brands of liquor produced in Cangzhou such as Cangzhou City's "King Iron Lion"and Yuhechun" Botou City's Shilixiang" Zhongjie Farm's "Wuguchun" Yan-shan County's "Qiantong"and "Dongdu". It also possesses fast and convenient traffic and transport. Running across it are the highways G104, G106, G205 and G307, the Beijing-Shanghai Expressw-ay, the Shijiazhuang-Huanghuagang Expressway. The Beijing-Shanghai Railway, and the Beijing-Jiulong Railway. All of theese transportation routes are connected to each other as well. Furthermore, the Huanghua Harbor has begun to take shape, too. There are dozens of places to stay, both small and large, among which many are of star-rating hotels. There are over thirty travel agencies as well. Our friendly and hospitable Cangzhou people welcome you to have a tour here. For further information, please contact the Tourist Office of Cangzhou City at No. 88, Middle Xihuan Street, Cangzhou City or phone 86-317-2088786.

Zhiyuan Dongli Ma also known as Qianli dramatist , scholar Ma Zhiyuan was an acclaimed dramatist during the Yuan Dynasty. He is considered to be one of the four greatest playwrights of the Yuan Dynasty, along with Guan Hanqing, Bai Pu, and Zheng Guangzu. Ma Zhiyuan was admired as the greatest Qu poet in the Yuan Dynasty, and was often hailed as the scholar of Qu poetry. Background Ma Zhiyuan(马致远, AD 1250 - 1321), courtesy name Dongli, pseudonym Qianli, was a native of Масitang Village of Dongguang county. We can deduce from his sanqu that he was keen to build a career in politics and serve the country. However, he never had the chance to do so. After 20 years of wandering, he retired to live a reclusive life. Career Ma Zhiyuan participated in the creation of zaju from a young age. He was a core member of the Literature Society of Zhenyuan, and was an acquaintance of other literary figures like Wang Bocheng and Li Shizhong. He was ranked among the finest dramatists of his day, and is considered one of the four greatest playwrights of the Yuan Dynasty. Ma Zhiyuan was involved in the production of zeju for a long period of time. He was famed as the scholar of qu poetry. Only six of his 15 works are still extant including his most famous work titled Autumn in the Нал Palace. His other works are Yueyang Tower, Tears on a Blue Gown, Chen Tuan, The Immortal, and Renfengzi. Ma Zhiyuan also co-authored The Yellow Millet Dream {ft Ш with a few other writers. Dongli Yuefu was one of his sanqu. His song Autumn Reflection also enjoyed great popularity for its originality The song was natural and smooth, and was hailed as the best song about autumn reflections. The song "expressed emotion through its descriptions of scenery". Ma Zhiyuan lived in a period where the Mongolian rulers had begun to emphasise Chinese learning and were engaging the services of the Chinese. However they did not implement this practice fully, which resulted in more disappointment amongst the Chinese. Ma Zhiyuan claimed that he had once submitted poems to the imperial government, but had not received any reply. He later served as a junior official, but not for long. Ma Zhiyuan soon grew disillusioned and chose to live in seclusion, seeking consolation in Taoism. Autumn in the Han Palace is one of Ma Zhiyuan's most popular works. It is a drama of high literary value. Works • play o The Yellow-Millet Dream o Yueyang Tower o Tears on the Blue Gown • tragedy o Autumn in Han Palace

By Chen Nan ( China Daily ) Low clouds and mist shroud the Simingshan mountain area in Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province. The long-haired guitarist, Chen Zezhao, wearing a light blue gown and loose pants, sits near a river and strums away. This scene is pictured on the CD cover of Chen's latest album, Landscape of Chinese Ink IV, which was released in Ningbo on Saturday. The guitarist started the music series Landscape of Chinese Ink in 2007 with the aim of interpreting traditional Chinese poetry using the guitar. His first two albums, Landscape of Chinese Ink I and Landscape of Chinese Ink II, adapted some well-known ancient Chinese musical works that were inspired by Chinese poetry, such as Spring River in the Flower Moon Night by Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) poet Zhang Ruoxu. His third album, Landscape of Chinese Ink III, featured original compositions based on Chinese poems and incorporated a number of Chinese instruments like the pipa (four-stringed lute), Chinese flute and morin khuur (horse-head fiddle). Some critics say that Chen's guitar sounds similar to Chinese instruments like the guqin and guzheng. For his fourth album, Chen has composed four works and used only the guitar. He has also produced four short films based on the tracks. "The ultimate goal of my music is to present a comprehensive work which promotes traditional Chinese culture. My music is like a conversation between a guitar and Chinese poetry," says Chen, adding that he doesn't use other instruments to keep this dialogue unaffected. One of the traditional Chinese poems selected for the new CD is Autumn Thoughts, which was written by Chinese poet and playwright, Ma Zhiyuan of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The poem expresses the poet's feelings in late fall and one of its most well-known lines is: "On the horizon at sunset is a heart-broken man far, far from home". Chen responds to the poem by using his guitar to compose deep, slow and intensive melodies. "Many people, like me, have been reciting these poems since childhood. I believe that we all understand them very well, so it is not difficult to play music based on them," says Chen, 47. "The guitar is a popular Western instrument. So I believe that the emotion in the music can be experienced by all kinds of listeners." Chen says that the guitar is an instrument without borders. He has adjusted his guitar strings to make the instrument suitable for performing Chinese works. Born in Beijing, Chen taught himself classical guitar in the 1980s and later joined the China National Opera House and China Oriental Performing Arts Group Corp. Besides playing the guitar, he is also a tuba player. In the 1990s, Chen played in rock and electronic bands, but he says that the more he played Western music, the more he thought about traditional Chinese music. Classical guitarist Wang Youmin says: "Chen's music is not pop or rock. However, with traditional Chinese culture, there is a vast resource for him to explore, which will make his music fresh." According to Han Ke, the artistic director of Chen's Landscape of Chinese Ink series, after the first three albums, they received feedback from listeners that Chen's music helped them relax. His use of the guitar also gives new dimensions to traditional Chinese poems. "Few people, especially from the younger generations, read ancient Chinese poems these days. We hope that this music can draw them back to traditional Chinese culture," says Han.