The longest bridge in China

Hangzhou Bay Bridge

Hangzhou Bay Bridge (simplified Chinese: 杭州湾大桥) is a long highway bridge with a cable-stayed portion across Hangzhou Bay in the eastern coastal region of China.

It connects the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. At 117028 ft. (22 mi) in length, Hangzhou Bay Bridge is the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world, but it does not have the longest cable-stayed main span.

The bridge is built in 43 months, from Nov, 2003 to Jun, 2007. It costs about 2.8 billion dollars.

Contributors: Qian, Linxuan

ALP-UNFORGETABLE

THE ART OF EBRU

Some thirty years after the first Turkish tulip bulbs, carefully wrapped in gauze, were taken to Europe, the Europeans similarly became acquainted with the art of paper marbling, or 'Ebru' in Turkish. In those years, a German traveler by the name of Reinhold Lubenau, who happened to be in the Ottoman capital Istanbul from 1586 to 1589, saw and admired several examples of such work on sale in a shop. Dubbing it 'Turkish paper', he sent some back to the House of Hapsburg. Since it consists of designs made on paper, 'Turkish Paper', or the art of Ebru, has also been called 'Marbled Paper' or the 'Turkish art of paper marbling'.

Although it is not known with certainty when the art of creating designs on water originated, it does date back as far as the 8th-9th centuries. The Turks took up the art of marbling in Turkestan in the 15th century and brought it with them across Iran to Anatolia via the Silk Road. The word 'ebre' in the Chaghatay language of Turkestan means 'veined or water-marked'. In Persian, the word 'abru' means 'water surface', while 'ebri' has the meaning 'cloudy'. In the dictionary of the Turkish Linguistic Society, the word 'ebru' is defined as “a sort of water paper on which decorators produce designs in a variety of colors.”

The materials used in ebru include the basin that contains the water, the substances used as thickening agents (gum tragacanth, carrageen, sahlep root), ox bile, the dyes, which are oil-based and not water soluble, the brushes, and the needles of varying degrees of thickness

Tajikistan

I want to tell you about my country(Tajikistan) a little bit.

Our neighbors are: Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. My country is not too small, but isn't not so large as Russia or Canada. 93 percent of territory is mountains; we have a lot of mountains. The biggest one is "Pamir”:

The highest point in Tajikistan is peak: "Ismoil Somoni" with elevation 7,495 m (24,590 ft.) Also, Pamir has the longest glacier in the world called: "Fedchenko Glacier". Square of the glacier about 700 km ² (270 sq mi) with length 77 km (48 mi)

Next, I want to tell you about some animals. Peacock is one of the most beautiful kinds of birds. In the past we had a lot of them, but now they are very rare. I could see them in many places. Currently we can see them only in zoos or rich people's home.

Here are some pictures:

I have seen them in the nature, they are really beautiful.

Another kinds of birds is pheasant. Pheasant is like wild chicken, but more beautiful, smaller and more delicious then chicken. In my country people hunt for them. My uncle hunted for them too. One time he killed 3 pheasants in the hunt and he invited my family to have supper together. So, we ate pheasants, they were very delicious.

Pictures:

We have lynx. They are very fast, strong and beautiful. They are very rare and they are extincting.

Saudi Aribia food recipi

Al kabsah    Al Saudi

On special occasions of Saudi Arabia such as weddings and consolation must be provided with Food which  includes banquets, "Mfattah" the whole lamb, because in the events it's necessary to provide the launches or dinner. But all the Saudi  families prefer eating "Kabsah" which is rice with meat, chicken, shrimp or Vegetables and a group of certain spices.  So I will give a simple and quick recipe to my classmates or who ever likes eating Saudi food.

Recipe

1-   One chicken cut four parts, and clean with little Vinegar   .

2-   Group of certain spaces such as one stick cinnamon, half a teaspoon each of ( whole cloves, whole black pepper, cumin, cardamoms, coriander) Some black lemon dry as 3 -4 pieces, Salt.

3-   A head of garlic and beats,   one large onion and cut small pieces.

4-     Tomatoes paste, or  3 pieces tomatoes cutting small or mixed in the mixer.

5-   Small cup Oil or 2 spoon Margarine.

6-   2 cups rice Basmati or Uncle Penz.

Now start:

Put the oil or margarine inside the pot then put it on the stove
, put the onion , garlic and stir those until become yellow, then add the chicken with all the spices and stir again with  flipping the chicken on both sides. After ten minutes put the tomatoes  (or the tomato sauce) and add 6 cups water.      

7-   After one hour take off the pieces of chicken and add the rice. Make sure the stove on very low after no water on the rice otherwise the food could be burn .  .   

8-   Take the chicken to the oven , brush it with some oil to have the golden color. Then when everything is ready you put the rice in a big special plate and put the golden chicken on the top .You can add some nuts to it.

9-   Now it is ready to be served.

Saudi Aribia food recipi

Japanese Paper Art “ Origami”

Origami is a traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in 17^th century and it has evolved into modern art.

info: “Ori” mean “folding” and “ Gami” mean “paper”

The purpose of this art is to transform a flat sheet of material into a finished sculpture by folding and sculpting techniques.

Different wonderful Origami:

Actually the original Origami is made of square sheet of paper whose sides different color and using cuts or glue are not consider to make Origami, but the modern Origami rules have been less strict, sometimes they cutting the paper or using non-square shapes of paper.

Some Origami which are made of Dollar bills:

The number of basic Origami folds is small, but they can be combined in different ways to make intricate designs. the most popular Origami model is "The Crane".

Different Cranes:

(the traditional shape)

The largest Crane

(weighs 35,000 pounds, height 45 foot)

The smallest Crane

The Japanese have tried to involve this art to their life, they use it in different area such as :

-lighting

-Furnishing

(sofa made of leather the design inspired by Origami)

(bookshelf could be made of wood inspired by Origami)

-Decoration

(decor made of small Origami Crane)

-Finally.. build habitat !!

This Origami inspired house in Tokyo ..

with integrated car park..

(designed by architect Yasuhiro Yamashita)

Paper art had became a significant part of Japanese ceremony and japanese history, but now it becomes part of their daily life.

Actually I congratulate Japanese people they have succeed to combine their art with real life, that is called "Smart Art".

Nasser Bander