1.
San Francisco, California
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San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the birthplace of the United Nations, the California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856, after three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines, San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. Dolby, Airbnb, Weebly, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation, as of 2016, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings. The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7,1846, during the Mexican–American War, montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers, with their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships, saloons and hotels, many were left to rot, by 1851 the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870 Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land, buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850 and the U. S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate, silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush
San Francisco, California
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San Francisco and the
Golden Gate Bridge from
Marin Headlands
San Francisco, California
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Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)
San Francisco, California
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1853
United States Coast Survey Map
San Francisco, California
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Francis Samuel Marryat, Hilltop of San Francisco, California, Looking toward the Bay, 1849. M.& N. Hanhart Chromolithograph
2.
Chinese New Year
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Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in modern Mainland China, is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. Celebrations traditionally run from the preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month. The first day of the New Year falls on the new moon between 21 January and 20 February, in 2017, the first day of the Chinese New Year was on Saturday,28 January, initiating the year of the Rooster. The New Year festival is centuries old and gains significance because of several myths, traditionally, the festival was a time to honor deities as well as ancestors. Chinese New Year is considered a holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese New Year vary widely, often, the evening preceding Chinese New Years Day is an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to clean the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune. Windows and doors are decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of fortune or happiness, wealth. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes, in about one third of the Mainland population, or 500 million Northerners, dumplings feature prominently in the meals celebrating the festival. It is one of the worlds most prominent and celebrated festivals, the lunisolar Chinese calendar determines the date of Chinese New Year. In the Gregorian calendar, Chinese Lunar New Year begins at the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February, the median date of Chinese New Years Day is lichun on 4 or 5 February, the solar term next to Dahan. In the Chinese calendar, winter solstice must occur in the 11th month, to determine whether a year has an intercalary month, one only needs to check whether Chinese New Year is within the month of January. The Gregorian Calendar dates for Chinese New Year from 1912 to 2101 are below, along with the years presiding animal zodiac, the traditional Chinese calendar follows a Metonic cycle, and returns to the same date in Gregorian calendar roughly. The names of the Earthly Branches have no English counterparts and are not the Chinese translations of the animals, alongside the 12-year cycle of the animal zodiac there is a 10-year cycle of heavenly stems. Each of the ten heavenly stems is associated with one of the five elements of Chinese astrology, namely, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, the elements are rotated every two years while a yin and yang association alternates every year. The elements are distinguished, Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire. These produce a cycle that repeats every 60 years. For example, the year of the Yang Fire Rat occurred in 1936, many people inaccurately calculate their Chinese birth-year by converting it from their Gregorian birth-year
Chinese New Year
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Prayers and simple offerings to the gods.
Chinese New Year
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Chinese New Year celebration in
Chinatown, Manhattan.
Chinese New Year
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House decorated for the New Year.
Chinese New Year
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Chinese new year in Singapore chinatown.
3.
Lantern Festival
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The Lantern Festival or the Spring Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar. It marks the day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, it had become a festival with great significance, during the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns. In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor, in modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now made in the shape of animals. The lanterns can symbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones, the lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is commercialized as the Chinese equivalent of Valentines Day and it is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is sometimes also known as the Lantern Festival in locations such as Singapore and Malaysia. Now the Chinese Lantern Festival is becoming popular in Western countries, in London, the United Kingdom has the Magical Lantern Festival. The first month of the Chinese Lunar month is called the yuan month, the fifteenth day is the first full moon of that lunisolar year. People will try to solve puzzles on lanterns, eat lots of food like rice balls named after the festival, (also known as tangyuan. There are many different beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival, however, one likely origin is the celebration of the declining darkness of winter and communitys ability to move about at night with human-made light, namely, lanterns. During the Han Dynasty, the festival was connected to Ti Yin, one legend tells us that it was a time to worship Taiyi, the God of Heaven in ancient times. The belief was that the God of Heaven controlled the destiny of the human world and he had sixteen dragons at his beck and call and he decided when to inflict drought, storms, famine or pestilence upon human beings. Beginning with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, the emperor would ask Taiyi to bring favorable weather and good health to him and his people. Wudi of the Han Dynasty directed special attention to this event, in 104 BCE, he proclaimed it to be one of the most important celebrations and the ceremony would last throughout the night. Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with Taoism, Tianguan is the Taoist god responsible for good fortune. His birthday falls on the day of the first lunar month. It is said that Tianguan likes all types of entertainment, so followers prepare various kinds of activities during which they pray for good fortune, another legend associates the Lantern Festival with an ancient warrior name Lan Moon, who led a rebellion against the tyrannical king in ancient China
Lantern Festival
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Lantern Festival at night in
Taipei,
Taiwan
Lantern Festival
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Red lanterns, often seen during the festivities in China
Lantern Festival
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Lanterns in
Qinhuai Lantern Fair
Lantern Festival
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This painting, by an imperial court painter in 1485, depicts the
Chenghua Emperor enjoying the festivities with families in the
Forbidden City during the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival. It includes acrobatic performances, operas, magic shows and setting off
firecrackers.
4.
Parade
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Parade is an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Athlon Publishing, the most widely read magazine in the U. S. Parade has a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 54.1 million, as of 2015, its editor is Anne Krueger. The magazine was started by Field Enterprises in 1941, john Hay Whitney, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, bought Parade in 1958. Booth Newspapers purchased it in 1973, booth was purchased by Advance Publications in 1976, and Parade became a separate operating unit within Advance. The magazine is printed on newsprint, although usually a quality of newsprint than the rest of the newspapers it accompanies. The magazine has one feature article, often a smaller feature article. There is also a significant amount of advertising for consumer products, Parade Digital Partners is a distribution network that includes the web site Parade. com and over 700 of the magazines partner newspaper web sites. Occasionally she will pose a brainteaser of her own or poll her readers, cartoon Parade, Panel cartoons by various creators, including Dave Coverly, Carla Ventresca, Dan Piraro, and Gary McCoy. By 2016, due to the expense and lack of interest, in Step With by James Brady, Celebrity interview column which ceased after Bradys 2009 death. “Intelligence Report, Your guide to health, life, money, entertainment, Numbrix was introduced in July 2008. In addition to the print version, vos Savant also produces daily Numbrix puzzles for Parades Web site. Since 2014, Parades site has published a much more difficult variant, Jadium. Our Towns is a feature written by journalists from Parade newspaper partners. The Parade High School All-America Teams, This sports franchise honors as All-Americans the best U. S. high school athletes in boys and girls basketball, football, Parade began its series in 1957 with its boys basketball honors, and expanded to football six years later. Girls basketball was added in 1977, boys soccer in 1979, in 2010, Parade introduced its All-America Service Team, which honors high-school students for commitment to service and volunteerism. Walter Scotts Personality Parade by Walter Scott, In Q&A sessions, views, an editorial column by various authors, including CNN political analyst David Gergen and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Connie Schultz. Keeping Up with Youth Fresh Voices, A former column where readers would give their opinions on a different topic
Parade
5.
Grant Avenue
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Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California is one of the oldest streets in the citys Chinatown district. It runs in a north-south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and it resumes at North Point Street and stretches one block to The Embarcadero and the foot of Pier 39. Grant Avenue is primarily a street, automobile traffic can only travel northbound. In the following years, Dupont Street became the location for various opium dens, brothels, when San Francisco was rebuilt after being leveled in the 1906 earthquake, Dupont Street was upgraded and given a new name, Grant Avenue, after President Ulysses S. Grant. Today, the intersection of Grant Avenue and Bush Street marks the entrance to Chinatown. Grant Avenue is still written and said in Chinese as Dupont Gai, sanFranciscoChinatown. com, Grant Avenue in San Francisco
Grant Avenue
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Grant Avenue at Bush Street: The "Dragon Gate" at the entrance to Chinatown
Grant Avenue
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Numbered streets
6.
Kearny Street
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Kearny Street in San Francisco, California runs north from Market Street to The Embarcadero, with a gap on Telegraph Hill. Toward its south end, it separates the Financial District from the Union Square, further north, it passes over Telegraph Hill. Kearny Street was originally named La Calle de la Fundacion by the Spanish, translated, this means street of the foundation. The origin of the present name, Kearny Street, is assumed to be Stephen Watts Kearny. Another possible namesake includes General Philip Kearny, at Kearny and Clay, the first cable car in America, invented by Andrew S. Hallidie on August 2,1873, climbed five blocks up the Clay Street hill. From the turn of the century until 1977 the area around the intersection of Kearny and Jackson Streets was home to a large Filipino population. Located at 848 Kearny Street, the International Hotel served as the heart of Manilatown, in its heyday of the 1920s and 1930s the estimated population of Manilatown was between 20,000 and 40,000 people. In 1968 the hotel was sold to developers intending to replace it with more profitable commercial property, after a protracted court battle, the remaining two hundred odd tenants were forcibly evicted on 4 August 1977. The hotel and other buildings to the south of it on that block were quickly torn down, on 27 July 2004, a two block stretch of Kearny Street was officially declared to be Manilatown. Kearny Street is a song by American composer Rod McKuen, oBrien, Robert, This is San Francisco
Kearny Street
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Kearny Street.
Kearny Street
–
Numbered streets
7.
Market Street (San Francisco)
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Market Street is a major thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. Beyond this point, the roadway continues as Portola Drive into the southwestern quadrant of San Francisco, Portola Drive extends south to the intersection of St. Francis Boulevard and Sloat Boulevard, where it continues as Junipero Serra Boulevard. Market Street is the boundary of two street grids, Streets on its southeast side are parallel or perpendicular to Market Street, while those on the northwest are nine degrees off from the cardinal directions. Market Street is a major artery for the city of San Francisco, and has carried in turn horse-drawn streetcars, cable cars, electric streetcars, electric trolleybuses. Today Munis buses, trolleybuses, and heritage streetcars share the street, while below the street the two-level Market Street Subway carries Muni Metro and Bay Area Rapid Transit. While cable cars no longer operate on Market Street, the cable car lines terminate to the side of the street at its intersections with California Street. Market Street cuts across the city for three miles from the waterfront to the hills of Twin Peaks and it was laid out originally by Jasper OFarrell, a 26-year-old trained civil engineer who emigrated to Yerba Buena. The town was renamed San Francisco in 1847 after it was captured by United States troops during the Mexican-American War, OFarrell first repaired the original layout of the settlement around Portsmouth Square and then established Market Street as the widest street in town,120 feet between property lines. It was described at the time as an arrow aimed straight at Los Pechos de la Chola, a friend warned OFarrell, before the crowd had dispersed. He rode with all haste to North Beach, took a boat for Sausalito and he found it discreet to remain some time in the country before venturing to return to the city. The city soon filled in the ground between Portsmouth Square and Happy Valley at First and Mission Street, the dunes were leveled and the sand used for fill. The first horsecar-powered railway line to open in San Francisco commenced running down the thoroughfare on July 4,1860, the two Union Railroad tracks were on the inside and the two San Francisco Municipal Railway tracks were on the outside. In 1892 The Owl Drug Company was established at 1128 Market Street, Market Street underwent major changes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Muni Metro service was moved underground in concert with the development of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Construction of the Market Street Subway commenced in July 1967, prolonged disruption to what had traditionally been the social and economic center of the city contributed to the decline of the mid-Market shopping district in later years. In 1980, Munis surface operations were partially routed underground with full service changes occurring in 1982, in the days of the first United Nations conferences, Anthony Eden, Molotov, Stettinius, and Bidault rode up Market Street, waving to the crowds of hopefuls. On Christmas Eve 1910, opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini sang a free concert to a crowd some estimated at 250,000. Another historic Market Street event was the New Years Eve celebration at the Ferry Building on December 31,1999, over 1.2 million people jammed Market Street and nearby streets for the raucous and peaceful turn-of-the-century celebration. The San Francisco Gay Pride parade runs down Market Street, attracting many people every year, victory parades celebrating the San Francisco Giants World Series titles were held on Market Street in 2010,2012, and 2014
Market Street (San Francisco)
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Market Street is conspicuous in the view from
Twin Peaks.
Market Street (San Francisco)
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An
F Market streetcar turns at the foot of Market Street, in front of the Ferry Building.
Market Street (San Francisco)
Market Street (San Francisco)
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Market Street after the
San Francisco Giants World Series win
8.
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
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The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. It is the oldest of the four notable Chinatowns in the city, since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, there are two hospitals, numerous parks and squares, a post office, and other infrastructure. Chinatown has been defined by the neighborhoods of North Beach, and Telegraph Hill areas as bound by Bush Street, Taylor Street, Bay Street. Officially, Chinatown is located in downtown San Francisco, covers 24 square blocks, within Chinatown there are two major thoroughfares. It is dominated by buildings that are three to four stories high, with shops on the ground floor and residential apartments upstairs. A major focal point in Chinatown is Portsmouth Square, since it is one of the few open spaces in Chinatown and sits above a large underground parking lot, Portsmouth Square bustles with activity such as Tai Chi and old men playing Chinese chess. A replica of the Goddess of Democracy used in the Tiananmen Square protest was built in 1999 by Thomas Marsh and it is made of bronze and weighs approximately 600 lb. According to the San Francisco Planning Department, Chinatown is the most densely populated area west of Manhattan. In the 1970s, the density in Chinatown was seven times the San Francisco average. The estimated total population in the 2000 Census was at 100,574 residents, during the time from 2009 to 2013, the median household income was $20,000 - compared to $76,000 citywide - with 29% of residents below the national poverty threshold. The median age was 50 years, the oldest of any neighborhood, as of 2015, two thirds of the residents lived in one of Chinatowns 105 single room occupancy hotels,96 of which had private owners and nine were owned by nonprofits. Most residents are speakers of Mandarin or Cantonese, in 2015. Many of those Chinese immigrants who gain some wealth while living in Chinatown leave it for the Richmond District, working-class Hong Kong Chinese immigrants began arriving in large numbers in the 1960s. Despite their status and professional qualifications in Hong Kong, many took low-paying employment in restaurants, an increase in Cantonese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong and Mainland China has gradually led to the replacement in Chinatown of the Hoisanese/Taishanese dialect by the standard Cantonese dialect. These outer neighborhoods have been settled largely by Chinese from Southeast Asia, there are also many suburban Chinese communities in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially in Silicon Valley, such as Cupertino, Fremont, and Milpitas, where Taiwanese Americans are dominant. Despite these developments, many continue to commute in from these neighborhoods and cities to shop in Chinatown, causing gridlock on roads and delays in public transit. To address this problem, the public transit agency, Muni, is planning to extend the citys subway network to the neighborhood via the new Central Subway
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
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The Gateway Arch (Dragon Gate) on Grant Avenue at Bush Street in Chinatown
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
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Washington Street in Chinatown with
Transamerica Pyramid in the background.
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
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Stockton Street
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
–
Grant Avenue during
Chinese New Year.
9.
California Gold Rush
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The California Gold Rush began on January 24,1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutters Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States, the Gold Rush initiated the California Genocide, with 100,000 Native Californians dying between 1848 and 1868. By the time it ended, California had gone from a thinly populated ex-Mexican territory to the state of the first nominee for the Republican Party. The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial, whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called forty-niners. The first to hear confirmed information of the rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and Latin America. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California, in 1849 a state constitution was written. The new constitution was adopted by vote, and the future states interim first governor. In September,1850, California became a state, at the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of staking claims was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, although the mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around the world. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service, by 1869 railroads were built across the country from California to the eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, Gold worth tens of billions of todays dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home with more than they had started with. The Mexican–American War ended on February 3,1848, although California was firmly in American hands before that, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided for, among other things, the formal transfer of Upper California to the United States. The California Gold Rush began at Sutters Mill, near Coloma, on January 24,1848, James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American River. Marshall brought what he found to John Sutter, and the two tested the metal. However, rumors started to spread and were confirmed in March 1848 by San Francisco newspaper publisher
California Gold Rush
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Sailing to California at the beginning of the Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
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Merchant ships fill
San Francisco harbor, 1850–51
California Gold Rush
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Panning for gold on the
Mokelumne River
California Gold Rush
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"Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", circa 1850. The gold hunter is loaded down with every conceivable appliance, much of which would be useless in California. The prospector says: "I am sorry I did not follow the advice of Granny and go around the Horn, through the Straights, or by Chagres [Panama]."
10.
Foshan
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Foshan, formerly romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province in southeastern China. The entire prefecture covers 3,848.49 km2 and has a population around 7.2 million. It forms part of the side of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. Foshan is regarded as the home of the Cantonese forms of Chinese opera, kung fu, lion dancing, fóshān is the pinyin romanization of the citys Chinese name 佛山, based on its Mandarin pronunciation. The Postal Map spelling Fatshan derives from the same names local Cantonese pronunciation, other romanizations include Fat-shan and Fat-shun. The town grew up around a monastery founded nearby that was destroyed in 1391, the towns nicknames include the Hometown of Cantonese Opera, of Lingnan Kung Fu, of Lingnan Lion Dancing, and of Lingnan Dragon Boat Racing. Foshan remained a settlement on the Fen River for most of Chinas history. It grew up around a Tang-era Buddhist monastery that was destroyed in 1391, the Foshan Ancestral Temple, a Taoist temple to the Northern God that was rebuilt in 1372, became the new focus of the community by the 15th century. By the early Ming, Foshan had grown one of the four great markets in China, primarily on the strength of its local ceramics. Under the Qing, its harbor on the Fen River was limited to ships of a thousand tons burden, by the 19th century, it was considered the Birmingham of China, with its steel industry responsible for the consumption of the majority of the provinces iron production. It was connected to Guangzhou and Sanshui by rail in the early 20th century, the Ancestral Temple was converted into the Foshan Municipal Museum upon the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Foshan remained primarily focused on ceramic and steel production until the 1950s, on 26 June 1951 it left Nanhai County to become a separate county-level city and, in 1954, it was made the seat of the prefectural government. In 1983, Foshan was promoted to a city with its former core becoming the new Chancheng District. On 8 December 2002, Shunde and Nanhai joined its urban core as a full district, Shunde has gone on to obtain an unusual autonomous status in 2009, placing its oversight in the hands of the provincial government rather than the prefectural one. Foshan lies on the Fen River in the making up the west side of the Pearl River Delta. Guangzhou lies 25 kilometers to the northeast, Zhongshan to the southeast, Jiangmen to the south, Qingyuan to the west, Foshan experiences a humid subtropical climate. The prefecture-level city of Foshan administers five county-level divisions, all of which are districts, the five districts are, Chancheng, Nanhai, Sanshui, Gaoming and Shunde. These are further divided into 64 township-level divisions, including 37 towns and 27 subdistricts, Foshan is close to Guangzhou and considers its link with Guangzhou very important
Foshan
–
Clockwise from top right: Zumiao of Foshan, Qingyun Tower in Shunfengshan Park, Statue of
Guanyin on top of Xiqiaoshan, & Downtown Foshan in
Chancheng District
Foshan
–
Foshan railway station
Foshan
–
Statue of
Guan Yin on Mount Xiqiao, in Nanhai
Foshan
–
Foshan University's front gate
11.
Southwest Airlines
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Southwest Airlines Co. is a major U. S. airline, the worlds largest low-cost carrier, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The airline was established in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and adopted its current name in 1971, the airline has more than 53,000 employees as of October 2016 and operates more than 3,900 departures a day during peak travel season. As of 2014, it carried the most domestic passengers of any U. S. airline, as of December 2016, Southwest Airlines had scheduled services to 101 destinations in the United States and eight additional countries. Service to both Grand Cayman and Cincinnati begins June 4,2017, Southwest Airlines has used only Boeing 737s, except for the period from 1979 to 1987 when it leased some Boeing 727-200s from Braniff International Airways. As of January 2016, Southwest is the largest operator of the Boeing 737 worldwide, with over 700 in service, in 1966 Southwest Airlines was founded by Rollin King and Herbert Kelleher, in 1967 it was incorporated as Air Southwest Company. It was not until 1971 that the airline began scheduled flights, the same year the organization adopted the name Southwest Airlines. The expansion of flights started in 1975, to cities throughout Texas, Service to the East and the Southeast started in the 1990s. The company has employed humor in its advertising, the airlines current slogan is Low fares. Instead of a lawsuit, the CEOs for both companies staged an arm wrestling match, a promotional video was created showing the CEOs training for the bout and distributed among the employees and as a video press release along with the video of the match itself. Herb Kelleher lost the match for Southwest, with Stevens Aviation winning the rights to the phrase, kurt Herwald, CEO of Stevens Aviation, immediately granted the use of Just Plane Smart to Southwest Airlines. The net result was both companies having use of the trademark, $15,000 going to charity and good publicity for both companies, Southwest Airlines is the official commercial airline of the Honor Flight Network. Honor Flights are dedicated to bringing aging and ailing veterans to visit the monuments in Washington. The Southwest Airlines headquarters is located on the grounds of Dallas Love Field in the Love Field neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, on September 17,2012, Southwest broke ground on a new Training and Operational Support building. The TOPS Building is across the street from its current headquarters building, the property includes a two-story,100, 000-square-foot operations building that can withstand an EF3 tornado. It also includes a four-story,392, 000-square-foot office and training facility with two levels devoted to each function, the new facilities house 24-hour coordination and maintenance operations, customer support and services, and training. The project was completed in late 2013, with occupancy beginning in 2014, as of December 31,2016, Southwest Airlines has more than 53,000 employees. Gary C. Kelly is Chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines, Kelly replaced former CEO Jim Parker on July 15,2004 and assumed the title of President on July 15,2008, replacing former President Colleen Barrett. In July 2008, Herb Kelleher resigned his position as Chairman, Colleen Barrett left her post on the Board of Directors and as Corporate Secretary in May 2008 and as President in July 2008
Southwest Airlines
–
Southwest Airlines
Boeing 737 -200 wearing the original livery while landing in 1975
Southwest Airlines
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Boeing 737-200 at
William P. Hobby Airport in 1983
Southwest Airlines
–
Southwest Airlines
Boeing 727-200 at
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in 1984
Southwest Airlines
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A 737–300 (N648SW) pictured in Southwest's original desert gold livery.
12.
Miss Chinatown USA
–
The Miss Chinatown USA pageant, based on Chinese communities within the U. S. greets delegates around the country. The pageant has been an annual Lunar New Year event since 1958, the winners of this pageant represent the Chinese community and act as ambassadors promoting Chinese culture and heritage. Encyclopedia of New Years Holidays Worldwide, oakland Tribune US Fed News Service Cypress Creek Mirror The Daily Journal San Francisco Chronicle Global Times Northwest Asian Weekly East West European Glocalization in Global Context. Miss Chinatown USA Pageant Chinese Pageant Pictures
Miss Chinatown USA
–
Karen Li, Miss Chinatown U.S.A. 2014
Miss Chinatown USA
–
Crystal Lee, Miss Chinatown USA 2010,
Miss California 2013
13.
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
–
The museum owes its origin to a donation to the city of San Francisco by Chicago millionaire Avery Brundage, who was a major collector of Asian art. The Society for Asian Art, incorporated in 1958, was the group that formed specifically to gain Avery Brundages collection, the museum opened in 1966 as a wing of the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park. Brundage continued to make donations to the museum, including the bequest of all his personal collection of Asian art on his death in 1975. In total, Brundage donated more than 7,700 Asian art objects to San Francisco, until 2003, the museum shared a space with the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. As the museum’s collection grew, the facilities in Golden Gate Park were no longer sufficient to display or even house the collection, in 1987 Mayor Dianne Feinstein proposed a plan to revitalize Civic Center that included relocating the museum to the Main Library. In 1995, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Chong-Moon Lee made a $15 million donation to launch the campaign for a new building for the museum. Lord Cultural Resources, a professional practice, was also commissioned to undertake a three-part sequence of planning studies for the relocation of the Museum. The old Main library was a Beaux Arts-style building designed by George Kelham in 1917, the new $160.5 million project, designed by Gae Aulenti, introduced an indoor sky-lit court to provide a dramatic central core to the museum. Removing some interior walls, Aulenti created a sense of openness to facilitate visitor movement, the new 185, 000-square-foot museum increased the exhibition space by approximately 75 percent compared to the former Golden Gate Park location. In October 2011, the museum launched a new identity, designed by the branding agency Wolff Olins, the logo is an upside down A, representing the idea of approaching Asian art from a new perspective. In March,2016, the announced that it will build an additional new pavilion to its current San Francisco Civic Center Building. The new pavilion will sit atop an existing, lower-level wing on the museum’s Hyde Street side, the collection has approximately 18,000 works of art and artifacts from all major Asian countries and traditions, some of which are as much as 6,000 years old. Galleries are devoted to the arts of South Asia, Iran and Central Asia, Southeast Asia, there are 2,500 works on display in the permanent collection. A Japanese tea house is displayed on the exhibition floor of the museum. This teahouse was built in Kyoto, disassembled, shipped to San Francisco, the Tea House was designed by architect Osamu Sato as a functioning teahouse, as well as a display case. It is a three and three-quarters mat room, 49-Mile Scenic Drive List of museums with major collections of Asian art Asian Art Museum official website
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
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Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
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Green Tea in
Tetsubin at the café
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
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Tibetan drawing of
Mahakala, in the exhibit halls
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
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12th-century Cambodian sculpture of
Buddha
14.
Chinese zodiac
–
The Chinese zodiac is a classification scheme that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. The 12-year cycle is an approximation to the 11. 86-year orbital period of Jupiter, nevertheless, there are major differences, the Chinese 12-part cycle corresponds to years, rather than months. The Chinese zodiac is represented by 12 animals, whereas some of the signs in the Western zodiac are not animals, the animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations spanned by the ecliptic plane. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, the following are the twelve zodiac signs in order and their characteristics. It is a misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month, by day, while a person might appear to be a Dragon because they were born in the year of the Dragon, they might also be a Snake internally, an Ox truly, and a Goat secretively. A conflict between a persons zodiac sign and how they live is known as tai sui or kai sui, within the Four Pillars, the year is the pillar representing information about the persons family background and society or relationship with their grandparents. The persons age can also be deduced from the sign of the person, the current sign of the year. For example, a person who is a Tiger is either 12,24,36 or 48 years old in 2010, in 2011, the year of the Rabbit, that person is one year older. The following table shows the 60-year cycle matched up to the Western calendar for the years 1924–2043, the sexagenary cycle begins at lichun about February 4 according to some astrological sources. Within the Four Pillars, the month is the pillar representing information about the parents or childhood. Many Chinese astrologers consider the month pillar to be the most important one in determining the circumstances of ones adult life, the 12 animals are also linked to traditional Chinese agricultural calendar, which runs alongside the better known lunar calendar. Instead of months, this calendar is divided into 24 two week segments known as Solar Terms, each animal is linked to two of these solar terms for a period similar to the Western month. Again unlike the cycle of the years, which begins with the Rat. Around summer days are longer than days, because it occurs differences of perihelion and aphelion. As each sign is linked to a month of the solar year, each of the elements is also linked to a season, and the element that shares a season with a sign is known as that signs fixed element. In other words, that element is believed to some of its characteristics to the sign concerned. The fixed element of each sign applies also to the year and hour signs and it is important to note that the fixed element is separate from the cycle of elements which interact with the signs in the 60-year cycle
Chinese zodiac
–
The 12 Chinese zodiac
jade figurines.
Chinese zodiac
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The Chinese zodiac
Chinese zodiac
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Stone carving of the Chinese zodiac
15.
Lunar New Year Fair
–
Lunar New Year Fair is a type of fair held annually a few days before Lunar New Year in Chinese New Year markets in China. The Lunar New Year Fair history can be traced back to the Wanli Emperor age of the Ming Dynasty, by this time, Flower Peasants sold flowers in a market in areas south of the Pearl River. These ancient flower markets were held every day at no fixed location, in the 1860s, the flower market began to be held only during Lunar New Years Eve. A particularly big fair was held in 1919, shortly after the Peoples Republic of China was founded in 1949, many Cantonese people immigrated to Hong Kong from Guangzhou and other Pearl River Delta areas, taking the market tradition with them. In Hong Kong, fairs are held in locations, notably Victoria Park. These fairs gather hundreds of stalls for various goods, half of the area sells auspicious flowering plants like narcissus, peony, chrysanthemum, peach and fruit plants like mandarin. The other half sells dry goods for Chinese New Year, the fairs draw many visitors as part of the custom of hang nin siu or hang fa shi. The crowd peaks at a few hours before and after midnight of New Years Day, stall tenders try to sell off all their stocks in these few hours before the fair closes, because surplus flowers are normally destroyed. In the 2000s youths from various organisations, secondary schools. For example, in 2007, students from various schools set up stalls to sell many products which are related to the pig, for example Pig Tissue Holder, Fatty Pork Chop Scarf. Traditionally, the Governor of Hong Kong visited the fair annually, usually in Victoria Park, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong continues this tradition. During the rule of the PRC, the Lunar New Year Fair was interrupted only once, guangzhous fair is held 3 days before Lunar New Years Eve. It sells New Year Trees and other goods, in Guangzhou, there is at least one fair in each district, which became a custom since the 1960s. Auction of stalls by HK government
Lunar New Year Fair
–
Crowd in Chinese New Year Fair at
Victoria Park, Hong Kong
Lunar New Year Fair
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A Stall in the Yue Xiu New Years Fair in Canton, 2010
16.
Chinese candy box
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Chinese candy box is a traditional box used during Chinese New Year for storing candy and other edible goods. The box usually has a lid, some are more fancy and it is usually colored with a red or black motif, since traditional candy boxes were lacquerware. Also red symbolizes good fortune and joy, due to the higher price of lacquerware, most modern Chinese candy boxes are made of plastic, but some of them are still made of lacquerware. The box is used for Chinese New Year, though some regional Chinese cultures may use it for other important events such as Chinese marriages. Usually it consists of 8 or 6 kinds of preserved dried fruits or even dried vegetables like the bittergourd
Chinese candy box
–
Chinese candy box
17.
San Francisco Symphony
–
The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the Citys Hayes Valley neighborhood, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization. Its current music director is Michael Tilson Thomas, who has held the position since September 1995, among various awards and honors for the orchestra are an Emmy Award and 15 Grammy Awards in the past 25 years. The orchestras first concerts were led by conductor composer Henry Hadley, there were sixty musicians in the Orchestra at the beginning of their first season. The first concert included music by Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, there were thirteen concerts in the 1911–1912 season, five of which were popular music. Hertz helped to refine the orchestra and arranged for the Victor Talking Machine Company to record it at their new studio in Oakland in early 1925. Hertz also led the orchestra during a number of broadcasts, including on the The Standard Hour. The series began in 1926 when the orchestra faced bankruptcy, Standard Oil of California paid the orchestras debts, the first broadcast aired on the NBC Pacific Network, on October 24,1926. and the broadcasts continued for more than 30 years. After Hertzs retirement in 1930, the orchestra was led by two conductors, Basil Cameron and Issay Dobrowen, the French maestro Pierre Monteux, who had conducted the world premiere of Igor Stravinskys The Rite of Spring, was hired to restore the orchestra. Monteux succeeded to the point where NBC began broadcasting some of its concerts, in 1949, Monteux invited Arthur Fiedler to lead summer pops concerts in the Civic Auditorium. Fiedler also conducted the orchestra at concerts in Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco. Fiedlers relationship with the orchestra continued until the mid-1970s, stokowski made a series of RCA Victor recordings with the orchestra in 1952 and 1953. In 1954 the board hired the young Spanish maestro Enrique Jordá as music director, surviving eyewitness and newspaper accounts describe him as having youthful enthusiasm, energy, and charm. Jordá sometimes conducted so vigorously that his baton flew from his hand, szells comments, along with growing dissatisfaction among musicians and the public, led the symphony board to dismiss Jordá. In the fall of 1963, the Austrian conductor Josef Krips became music director and he quickly became known as a benevolent autocrat, and would not tolerate sloppy playing. He soon began to refine the performance of the musicians, particularly of the standard German-Austrian repertoire. One of his innovations was a tradition on New Years Eve, A Night in Old Vienna. Similar concerts continued into the 2000s, though the format has changed in recent years, Krips would not make recordings with the orchestra, insisting they werent ready
San Francisco Symphony
–
San Francisco Symphony (SFS)
San Francisco Symphony
–
Alfred Hertz on the cover of
Time magazine.
San Francisco Symphony
–
Michael Tilson Thomas
18.
Davies Symphony Hall
–
Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall is the concert hall component of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, California. The 2, 743-seat hall was completed in 1980 at a cost of US$28 million to give the San Francisco Symphony a permanent home, previously, the symphony shared the neighboring War Memorial Opera House with the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet. The construction of Davies Hall allowed the symphony to expand to a full-time, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Pietro Belluschi along with acoustical consultants Bolt, Beranek and Newman, its modern design is visually elegant both inside and out. Architects created acoustic isolation of the space by constructing a building within a building. The outer building uses one inch thick structural glass as a curtain wall, passing through a door leads to a hallway, bounded on one side by the lobby wall and on the other by the structural wall of the inner building. This continuous hallway acts as an acoustical isolator and is surfaced with sound absorbing material, however, the halls large volume and seating capacity initially resulted in less than ideal results. Kirkegaard Associates completed acoustical renovations in 1992 at a cost of $10 million which resulted in substantial improvement, in addition, risers were installed on stage to allow the musicians to both see and hear each other better. These and other improvements enhanced not only the acoustics but also the halls beauty, the Fratelli Ruffatti electro-pneumatic pipe organ with 147 ranks was added in 1984. It is designed to accommodate repertory from the pre-baroque to the present, the console can be electronically reprogrammed to correspond to the two major schools of organ keyboard organization - the German and the French. In addition to the hall itself, an adjoining building contains the Harold L. Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall. The largest of these was designed to be the size as the stage of the Opera House across the street to accommodate Opera. A proposed recital hall was never built, that portion of the site remains empty, a Henry Moore bronze sculpture, Large Four Piece Reclining Figure 1972–73, is displayed outside the hall at the corner of Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue. Davies Hall also occasionally hosts non-orchestral performances by contemporary musicians, list of concert halls Robert Commanday. Davies Hall Renovation Applauded - Symphony Opens With Glorious Sound, archived from the original on 2006-10-31. The Davies Symphony Acoustical Canopy Control System, archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall at the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall Panoramic view Davies Symphony Hall
Davies Symphony Hall
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Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall
Davies Symphony Hall
–
Inside
Davies Symphony Hall
–
Large Four Piece Reclining Figure 1972–73 by
Henry Moore, 1973. Bronze, apx. 13 feet
19.
International School of the Peninsula
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International School of the Peninsula is an independent co-ed nursery–8th grade day school located in Palo Alto, California. International School of the Peninsula offers two bilingual immersion programs, Mandarin Chinese-English and French-English, the International School of the Peninsula was established in 1979 as the Peninsula French-American School, founded by Charlotte de Géry. In 1996, the added the Mandarin Chinese-English program as well as a middle school. In September 2000, ISTP moved the elementary and middle school programs into the newly built Cohn Campus, ISTP celebrated its 35th anniversary during the 2014–2015 school year and marked the 15th anniversary of the Mandarin Chinese-English immersion program in 2011. ISTP has had over a decade of appearances in the annual San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival, the school has received several awards in the Amateur Self-Built Float Category in previous years, winning either 1st or 2nd place. In 2016, ISTP won Palo Altos 4th annual Mayors Green Business Leader Award
International School of the Peninsula
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"The International School of the Peninsula educates children through a rigorous, collaborative, bilingual curriculum that promotes active engagement and responsible international consciousness."
20.
Academy of Art University
–
The Academy of Art University, formerly Academy of Art College, is a privately owned for-profit art school in San Francisco, California, in the United States. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. Stephens in 1929 and it has 283 full-time teachers and 1154 part-time teaching staff, and about 15,000 students, it claims to be the largest privately owned art and design school in the United States. The student body and alumni come from more than 112 countries, the school is one of the largest property owners in San Francisco, with the main campus located on New Montgomery Street in the South of Market district. It was founded in 1929 as a school for advertising art, the founder, Richard S. Stephens, a painter and magazine editor, lead it until 1951 when his son Richard A. Stephens took over, who 1992 was replaced by his daughter Elisa Stephens. Under her presidency, student numbers increased from around 2000 to 18,000 by 2012, Academy of Art University has been participating in the NY Fashion Week event bi-annually since 2005. A private bus fleet transports students between dorms and classrooms located across San Francisco, in December of 2016 an agreement was reached whereby the Academy agreed to pay the city $20 million in fees, $7 million of which will go to purchasing low-income housing. The school will provide additional low-income housing for seniors as part of the deal. Academy of Art University received regional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools, the school is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. In interior architecture and design, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, the school offers associate, bachelors and masters degrees in numerous subjects. Courses are offered online with flexible scheduling options for students, approximately 5% of students complete a four-year degree within the allotted time. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 31% of students complete a degree within 150% of that time. For online-only students, the 6-year graduation rate is lower, at 6%, in mid-2015. For part-time students the 6-year graduation rate is 3%, about 58% of students are female. Among its 200 vintage cars are some of the world’s rarest and most valuable, approximately half of the cars housed in the museum are owned by the university, while the rest belong to the Stephens family. Among the cars in the collection is the Tucker 48, the 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow, the school sports teams, the Urban Knights, compete as members of the Pacific West Conference in nine sports in NCAA Division II. In the 2014–2015 season, the cross country team had a second-place finish. Valentin Pepiot, their third NCAA Nationals individual qualifier, was one of the top finishers from the PacWest in the postseason finale, the Academy of Arts earned a record 10 PacWest postseason honors. For the 2015, indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, they had seven All-Americans honors and one NCAA individual champion in Jordan Edwards
Academy of Art University
–
Academy of Art University building on
New Montgomery Street.
21.
Cirque du Soleil
–
Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company. It is the largest theatrical producer in the world, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix. Initially named Les Échassiers, they toured Quebec in 1980 as a performing troupe and their initial financial hardship was relieved in 1983 by a government grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of Jacques Cartiers voyage to Canada. Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a success in 1984 and its theatrical, character-driven approach and the absence of performing animals helped define Cirque du Soleil as the contemporary circus that it remains today. Each show is a synthesis of styles from around the world, with its own central theme. Shows employ continuous live music, with rather than stagehands changing the props. Cirque du Soleil expanded rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s, going from one show to 19 shows in over 271 cities on every continent except Antarctica, the shows employ approximately 4,000 people from over 40 countries and generate an estimated annual revenue exceeding US$810 million. The multiple permanent Las Vegas shows alone play to more than 9,000 people a night, 5% of the citys visitors, in 2000, Laliberté bought out Gauthier, and with 95% ownership, has continued to expand the brand. In 2008, Laliberté split 20% of his share equally between two investment groups Istithmar World and Nakheel of Dubai, in order to finance the companys goals. In partnership with two groups, Cirque du Soleil had planned to build a residency show in the United Arab Emirates in 2012 directed by Guy Caron. Several more shows are in development around the world, along with a deal, womens clothing line. Cirque du Soleil also produces a number of private and corporate events each year. In 2000, Cirque du Soleil was awarded the National Arts Centre Award, in 2002, Cirque du Soleil was inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame. In 2015, TPG Capital, Fosun Industrial Holdings and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased 90% of Cirque du Soleil, the sale received regulatory approval from the Government of Canada on 30 June 2015. At age 18, interested in pursuing some kind of performing career, Guy Laliberté quit college and he toured Europe as a folk musician and busker. By the time he returned home to Canada in 1979, he had learned the art of fire breathing, although he became employed at a hydroelectric power plant in James Bay, his job ended after only three days due to a labour strike. He decided not to look for job, instead supporting himself on his unemployment insurance. He helped organize a fair in Baie-Saint-Paul with the help of a pair of friends named Daniel Gauthier
Cirque du Soleil
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On stage at the 1993 finale of
Nouvelle Expérience
Cirque du Soleil
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Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
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The stage for Knie Presents Cirque du Soleil in 1992
Cirque du Soleil
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Night shot of Quidam' s grand chapiteau in Barcelona, Spain
22.
San Jose Mercury News
–
The Mercury News, often locally known as The Merc, is an American daily newspaper, published in San Jose, California. It is published by Bay Area News Group, a subsidiary of Digital First Media, formerly published as the San Jose Mercury News, Bay Area News Group announced in March 2016 that the newspaper would be re-branded as The Mercury News as part of a consolidation plan. The Mercury News launched on April 5,2016, the San Jose Mercury was founded in 1851 as the San Jose Weekly Visitor, while the San Jose News was founded in 1883. In 1942, the Mercury purchased the News and continued publishing both newspapers, with the Mercury as the paper and the News as the evening paper. In 1983, the newspapers were merged into the San Jose Mercury News, with morning, the afternoon edition was later abandoned. Because of its location in Silicon Valley, the Mercury News has covered many of the key events in the history of computing, Ridder bought the Mercury and News in 1952. Ridder merged with Knight to form Knight Ridder in 1974, on March 13,2006 The McClatchy Company announced their agreement to purchase Knight Ridder. McClatchy decided that it would be expedient to explore the immediate resale of the Mercury News, on April 26,2006 it was announced that Denver-based MediaNews Group would buy the Mercury News. The suit, which sought to undo the purchase of both the Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times, was scheduled to go to trial on April 30,2007. On April 25,2007, days before the trial was scheduled to begin, in September 2014 the Mercury News moved to downtown San Jose, leaving its purpose-built headquarters that opened in 1967. Cited as reasons for the move were that the presses were no longer on site. Tim Kawakami, a sportswriter, has been a staff employee for many years. Assistant managing editor David Yarnold was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2004 for a corruption investigation. The Mercury News was also named one of the five best-designed newspapers in the world by the Society for News Design for work done in 2001, in August 1996 the Mercury News published Dark Alliance, a series of investigative articles by reporter Gary Webb. The series sparked three federal investigations, but other such as the Los Angeles Times later published articles suggesting that the series claims were overstated. List of newspapers in California San Jose Mercury News West Magazine www. mercurynews. com, the newspapers official website
San Jose Mercury News
–
The December 22, 2011 front page of the San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
–
Mercury News headquarters (1967-2014)
San Jose Mercury News
–
Sections vary by day of the week, but Business, Sports, and The Valley are standard daily fare.
23.
San Jose, California
–
San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the economic, cultural, and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern California. With an estimated 2015 population of 1,026,908, it is the third most populous city in California and the tenth most populous in United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley, on the shore of San Francisco Bay. San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, the most affluent county in California. San Jose is the largest city in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, which contain 7.7 million and 8.7 million people respectively. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was inhabited by the Ohlone people, San Jose was founded on November 29,1777, as the Pueblo of San José de Guadalupe, the first civilian town founded in Spanish Alta California. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose became the states first capital, following World War II, San Jose experienced an economic boom, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby cities and communities carried out in the 1950s and 60s. The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from a center to an urbanized metropolitan area. Results of the 1990 U. S. Census indicated that San Jose had officially surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in Northern California, by the 1990s, San Jose and the rest of Silicon Valley had become the global center for the high tech and internet industries. San Jose is considered to be a city, notable for its affluence. San Joses location within the high tech industry, as a cultural, political. San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the United States and the world, and has the third highest GDP per capita in the world, according to the Brookings Institute. Major global tech companies including Cisco Systems, eBay, Adobe Systems, PayPal, Brocade, Samsung, Acer, Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans. The first lasting European presence began with a series of Franciscan missions established from 1769 by Junípero Serra, San Jose came under Mexican rule in 1821 after Mexico broke with the Spanish crown. It then became part of the United States, after it capitulated in 1846, on March 27,1850, San Jose became the second incorporated city in the state, with Josiah Belden its first mayor. San Jose was Californias first state capital, and hosted the first, today the Circle of Palms Plaza in downtown is the historical marker for the first state capital. The city was a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, in the period 1900 through 1910, San Jose served as a center for pioneering invention, innovation, and impact in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air flight. These activities were led principally by John Montgomery and his peers, the City of San Jose has established Montgomery Park, a Monument at San Felipe and Yerba Buena Roads, and John J. Montgomery Elementary School in his honor
San Jose, California
–
Images, from top down, left to right:
Downtown San Jose,
Hotel De Anza, East San Jose suburbs,
Lick Observatory,
Plaza de César Chávez
San Jose, California
–
South First Street in the 1940s
San Jose, California
–
Overhead panorama of
downtown San Jose.
San Jose, California
–
Looking west over northern San Jose (downtown is at far left) and other parts of Silicon Valley. See an up-to-the-minute view of San Jose from the Mount Hamilton web camera
24.
KGO-TV
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KGO-TV, channel 7, is an ABC owned-and-operated television station located in San Francisco, California, United States. The station is owned by the ABC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, kGO-TVs studios are located at the ABC Broadcast Center in downtown San Francisco north of the citys Financial District, and its transmitter is based at Sutro Tower. KGO-TV first signed on the air on May 5,1949 as the San Francisco Bay Areas second-oldest television station, in fact, KPIX had a hand in getting KGO-TV on the air, as the CBS-affiliated station produced informational programming on how to receive and view ABCs channel 7. KGO-TVs original studios were located in the renovated Sutro Mansion near Mount Sutro in San Francisco, Channel 7 was the fourth of ABCs five original owned-and-operated stations to sign-on, after outlets in New York City, Chicago and Detroit, and before Los Angeles. In addition, it is the only ABC station to keep its original call letters, Channel 7 had a limited broadcasting schedule during its first year on the air. It was not until September 1950 that the announced, in the San Francisco Chronicle. For much of the 1950s, the station signed on late in the morning or early afternoon, especially on the weekends, because the ABC network didnt offer many daytime programs. For many years, Saturday programming began with King Normans Kingdom of Toys, in 1954, KGO-TV moved to one of the most modern broadcasting facilities on the West Coast at the time at 277 Golden Gate Avenue, formerly known as the Eagle Building. The building was demolished between 2010 and 2011, as an ABC-owned station, KGO-TV originated a few network daytime shows, including programs hosted by fitness expert Jack La Lanne, singer Tennessee Ernie Ford, and entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee. Syndicated game shows Oh My Word and The Anniversary Game were produced at KGO-TV by Circle Seven Productions, in September 1962, KGO began carrying ABCs first color program, the animated series The Jetsons, followed by The Flintstones. In the mid 1960s, KGO became the first Bay Area station to broadcast local programs in color, in 1985, KGO-TV began broadcasting from its current studios at 900 Front Street, sharing the facility with radio stations KGO, KSFO and KMKY. By 2012 the radio stations had vacated 900 Front street, KRON-TV also uses one of the two studios on the first floor for production of its news programming. This resulted in the Salinas–Santa Cruz–Monterey Bay market losing over-the-air reception of ABC programs since KNTV had also served those communities. On December 20,2010, Hearst Television, owners of NBC affiliate KSBW, the new subchannel debuted on April 18,2011, effectively displacing KGO from cable providers in Californias Central Coast, which replaced the station with KSBWs ABC-affiliated subchannel. KGO-TV was one of the earliest ABC stations to use the original Circle 7 logo, according to Broadcasting magazine, KGO unveiled this logo, created by San Francisco design consultant G. Dean Smith, on August 27,1962. Some programs seen on channel 7.2, such as the Commonwealth Club Speakers Luncheon, KGO-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12,2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The stations digital relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 24 to VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations. As a result, KGO-TV is the only Bay Area television station to retain the same channel allocation post-transition, KGO-TV has a construction permit for a fill-in translator on UHF Channel 35, serving the southern portion of the viewing area, including San Jose
KGO-TV
–
KGO-TV
25.
Chinese culture
–
Chinese culture is one of the worlds oldest cultures, tracing back to thousands of years ago. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a geographical region in eastern Asia with customs. Important components of Chinese culture include ceramics, architecture, music, literature, martial arts, cuisine, visual arts, philosophy, there are 56 officially labelled ethnic groups in China. In terms of numbers however, Han Chinese is by far the largest group, throughout history, many groups have merged into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic, the term Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the family name and they were located on the Yellow and Yangtze River. Traditional Chinese Culture covers large geographical territories, where region is usually divided into distinct sub-cultures. Each region is represented by three ancestral items. For example, Guangdong is represented by chenpi, aged ginger, others include ancient cities like Linan, which include tea leaf, bamboo shoot trunk, and hickory nut. Such distinctions give rise to the old Chinese proverb, 十里不同風, 百里不同俗/十里不同风, 百里不同俗, literally the praxis vary within ten li, since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, some form of Chinese monarch has been the main ruler above all. Different periods of history have different names for the various positions within society, conceptually each imperial or feudal period is similar, with the government and military officials ranking high in the hierarchy, and the rest of the population under regular Chinese law. From the late Zhou Dynasty onwards, traditional Chinese society was organized into a system of socio-economic classes known as the four occupations. However, this system did not cover all groups while the distinctions between all groups became blurred ever since the commercialization of Chinese culture in the Song Dynasty. This led to the creation of a meritocracy, although success was only to males who could afford test preparation. Imperial examinations required applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics and those who passed the highest level of the exam became elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a highly esteemed socio-economic position. A major mythological structure developed around the topic of the mythology of the imperial exams, trades and crafts were usually taught by a shifu. The female historian Ban Zhao wrote the Lessons for Women in the Han Dynasty and outlined the four women must abide to, while scholars such as Zhu Xi. Chinese marriage and Taoist sexual practices are some of the rituals, most social values are derived from Confucianism and Taoism
Chinese culture
–
A
Chinese opera performance in
Beijing known as
Peking opera (京剧)
Chinese culture
–
Popular Chinese
lion dance (舞狮) during
Wikimania opening ceremony
Chinese culture
–
A fire
dragon dance (舞龙) during
Chinese New Year celebration in
China
Chinese culture
–
Gold detailing on a
throne used by the
Qianlong Emperor. The
Chinese dragon was a symbol reserved for the
Emperor of China or high level imperial families during the
Qing Dynasty
26.
Nian
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According to Chinese mythology, a Nian is a beast that lives under the sea or in the mountains. Once each spring, on or around Chinese New Year, it out of hiding to attack people. Weaknesses of the Nian are purported to be a sensitivity to loud noises, the Chinese Lion dance is known to have originated from the legend of the Nian. The tradition has its origins in a story of a Nians attack on a village, after the attack, the villagers discussed how to make the Nian leave them in peace. According to this myth, the Nian never appeared in the village again. The Nian was still believed to exist, but was never expected to make an appearance to a human again and it thus became symbolic in the eyes of the town people, and they continued doing what was needed to drive it away. With time this became a tradition, Chinese mythology in popular culture dragon Three Delivery Yule Goat A Singapore webpage describing differences between the northern and southern lion dance this link is not in English
Nian
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Southern Chinese lion dance portrays the Nian
Nian
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A southern style nian in the lion, unicorn, and ox style (Ming)
Nian
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Northern style nian of the Ming dynasty, located at the
Ming Dynasty Tombs Sacred Walk
27.
Lion dance
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Lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lions movements in a lion costume. The lion dance is performed during the Chinese New Year and other Chinese traditional, cultural. It may also be performed at important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies, the Chinese lion dance is sometimes mistakenly referred to as dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that a lion is normally operated by just two dancers, while a dragon is longer and needs many people, also, in a lion dance, the performers faces are only seen occasionally, since they are inside the lion. In a dragon dance, the faces can be easily seen since the dragon is held on poles. Chinese lion dance fundamental movements can be found in most Chinese martial arts, there are two main forms of the Chinese lion dance, the Northern Lion and the Southern Lion. Versions of the dance are also found in Japan, Korea, Tibet. Another form of lion dance exists in Indonesian culture, but it may be of a different tradition and may be referred to as Singa Barong. However, lion is not native to China, and the Lion Dance therefore has been suggested to have originated outside of China from countries such as India or Persia, and introduced via Cental Asia. According to ethnomusicologist Laurence Picken, the Chinese word for lion itself, shi, there were different versions of the dance in the Tang Dynasty. In a later account, the 5 lions were described as each over 3 metres tall and each had 12 lion lads, by the eighth century, this lion dance had reached Japan. During the Song Dynasty the lion dance was performed in festivals. The Southern Lion is a development in the south of China originating in the Guangdong province. However it is likely that the Southern Lion of Guangzhou is an adaptation of the Northern Lion to local myths and characteristics, the two main types of lion dance in China are the Northern and Southern Lions. Other ethnic minorities groups in China may also have their own lion dances, Chinese lion dances usually involve two dancers but may also be performed by one. The larger lions manipulated by two persons may be referred to as lions, and those manipulated by one person little lions. The performances may also be divided into civil and martial styles. The civil style emphasizes the character and mimics and behaviour of the lion, while the style is focused on acrobatics
Lion dance
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Lion dance
Lion dance
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Details of the Song Dynasty painting "One Hundred Children Playing in the Spring" (百子嬉春图页) by Su Hanchen (苏汉臣) showing children performing the lion dance.
Lion dance
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Northern Lion in a variety show
Lion dance
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Lion dance during Chinese New Year 2015 in Paris
28.
Dragon dance
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Dragon dance is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance it is most often seen in festive celebrations, the dance is performed by a team of dancers who manipulate a long flexible figure of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon. The dance team simulates the movements of this river spirit in a sinuous. The dragon dance is performed during Chinese New Year. Chinese dragons are a symbol of China, and they are believed to bring luck to people, therefore the longer the dragon in the dance. The dragons are believed to possess qualities that great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom. The appearance of a dragon is both fearsome and bold but it has a benevolent disposition, and it was an emblem to represent imperial authority, the movements in a performance traditionally symbolize historical roles of dragons demonstrating power and dignity. During the Han Dynasty, different forms of the dance were described in ancient texts. The number of dragons, their length and colour, as well as the performers may vary according to the time of year, the dragon acts of the Han Dynasty were also mentioned in the Tang and Song Dynasty. Such dragon lanterns may also be carried and paraded by performers in the street during the Lantern festival at nighttime, a form of dragon dance from Tongliang County, which originated as snake totem worship, began during the Ming Dynasty and became popular in the Qing Dynasty. The number of different dragon dances has been put at over 700, the dragon is a long serpentine body formed of a number of sections on poles, with a dragon head and a tail. The dragon is assembled by joining the series of hoops on each section and attaching the ornamental head, the size and length of a dragon depends on the human power available, financial power, materials, skills and size of the field. A small organization cannot afford to run a very long dragon because it requires considerable power, great expenses. The normal length and size of the body recommended for the dragon is 34 metres and is divided into 9 major sections, the distance of each minor section is 35 cm apart, therefore, the body has 81 rings. Many may also be up to 15 sections long, and some dragons are as long as 46 sections. Sun Loong in Bendigo, Australia was, at the time it was made in 1970, much longer dragons have been created for one-off events. The world record for the longest dragon is 5,605 metres, historically the dragon dance may be performed in a variety of ways with different types and colors of dragon. Green is sometimes selected as a color of the dragon
Dragon dance
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Dragon dance
Dragon dance
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Han Dynasty stone relief engraving showing a form of Dragon Dance.
Dragon dance
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Parade of a Chinese dragon in Seattle, c. 1909
Dragon dance
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The head of dragon
29.
New Year picture
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A New Year Picture is a popular Banhua in China. It is a form of Chinese colored woodblock print, for decoration during the Chinese New Year Holiday and its original form was a picture of a door god fashioned during the Tang dynasty. Later, more subjects, such as fairs, the Kitchen God, women, customarily, as each Chinese New Year arrives, every family replaces its New Year picture in order to say goodbye to the Past and welcome the Future. In the 19th century Nianhua were mass-produced and displayed for those who could not read and they often depicted the Chinese point of view of events. The scenes sometimes were used to create patriotic sentiment, the most famous production places for New Year Pictures in China are Sichuan, Tianjin, Shandong, and Suzhou. Among the best four, Yangliuqing, from Tianjin was regarded as the greatest, yanliuqing’s paintings were first produced between 1573 and 1620. The New Year Pictures in Sichuan were mostly come from Mianzhu, mianzhu’s New Year Pictures are different from other places’. The particular rules require symmetry, completeness, equilibrium, clarity and it originates from earlier Song Dynasty and booming in late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. In its prosperous time, there were more than 300 workshops in Mianzhu, in addition, the production were transported and sold not only in different parts of China, but also sold to India, Japan and other countries. As times changed, people, especially those in cities, were influenced by modern arts to see New Year Pictures as traditional, moreover, people considered the door god was too menacing to hang in their homes. At the middle of the 1980s, the amount of New Year Pictures in Mianzhu was around five hundred thousand. However, the number dropped sharply since the early 1990s, production method, hand draws pictures, wood printing, watermarks trapping, Half-drawing and half-painting, lithography, offset printing and so on. Finally, when the preparation is complete, the printer paint color on the color board before carved, then put paper on the wood board and use brush to flat brush the paper. Then the Chromatic woodblock New Year picture is complete, New Year pictures content can have many things and that is more than 2000 different. But roughly the New Year pictures have four main memes, the gods and mascot That is basic theme of New Year picture. The immortal is mainly content of New Year print in the early time, the secular life The folk artists through their own observation and feelings to show what the real life is, this kind of subject matter less than the other subjects in the New Year pictures. Topics include people of interest-bearing work of life, festive customs, current affairs anecdotes. The baby and beauty The subject matter in a proportion in the folk New Year pictures, expressed the people early birth, husband and wife
New Year picture
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New Year picture of
Qing Dynasty
New Year picture
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New Year picture. Unknown. 1900.
New Year picture
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Chang'e Flying to the Moon.Wu Shaoyun. 1950.
30.
Red envelope
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Outside of China, similar customs exist across parts of South East Asia and many other countries with a sizable ethnic Chinese population. In 2014, the Chinese mobile app WeChat popularized the distribution of red envelopes via mobile payments over the Internet, red envelopes are gifts presented at social and family gatherings such as weddings or holidays such as Chinese New Year. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is a symbol to ward off evil spirits, the act of requesting red packets is normally called tao hongbao or yao lishi, and in the south of China, lai see. Red envelopes are usually given out by married couples to single people, regardless of age, or by older to younger ones during holidays and festivals. The amount of money contained in the envelope usually ends with a digit, in accordance with Chinese beliefs. The exception being the number 9 as it pronounciation of nine is homophonus to the long and is the largest digit. Still in some regions of China and in its diaspora community, at weddings, the amount offered is usually intended to cover the cost of the attendees as well as signify goodwill to the newlyweds. During the Chinese New Year, in Southern China, red envelopes are typically given by the married to the unmarried, students and future students in the sciences are typically rewarded handsomely. The amount of money is usually notes to avoid heavy coins and it is traditional to put brand new notes inside red envelopes and also to avoid opening the envelopes in front of the relatives out of courtesy. Red packets are also used to deliver payment for service to lion dance performers, religious practitioners, teachers. Adoption of WeChat Pay saw an increase following the launch. Analysts estimated that over 100 billion digital red envelopes would be sent over the New Year holiday in 2017, in China, during the Qin Dynasty, the elderly would thread coins with a red string. The money was referred to as money warding off evil spirits and was believed to protect the person of younger generation from sickness, red envelopes continue to be referred to by such names today. There are several legends as to how the red envelope came to be, one story depicts a village where a demon was terrorizing the people at night, in most cases children were the victims. The belief was that the demon was touching the childrens heads while they were asleep, as the theory continued to linger within the village, a worried couple decided to protect their new born child by praying to their god for protection. In return, their god sent eight fairies to protect the new born child from the demon, in order to trick the demon, the fairies disguised themselves as eight coins and were placed under the childs pillow at night to protect the child. At night the demon supposedly approached to touch the child on the head when the eight coins began to shine so bright that it prohibited the demon to see, frightened from what had just happened, the demon ran away in terror. After hearing this story, the villagers began spreading the word, at first the red envelopes were only given to children during the Spring Festival, but as time progress they were given to anyone
Red envelope
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Assorted examples of contemporary red envelopes
Red envelope
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For the film production/distribution company, see
Red Envelope Entertainment. For the cabaret, see
Red Envelope Club.
