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The Glossary

Qi Pao - "Also known as "Cheongsam"; A traditional one-piece garment worn by Chinese women."

From China Glossary

Hiking is king in Hunan, a hilly province in central China best known as the birthplace of China's "Father of Communism," Mao Zedong. Located halfway to the south of Yangtze River, Hunan is internationally acclaimed as a producer of fine jade carvings, embroidered silks, and other handmade arts and crafts. Hunan's chili peppers cuisine is considered one of China's eight culinary wonders.

One of the five busiest railway hubs in mainland China is Hunan's Zhuzhou city. Trains from this city connect travelers to many Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which can also be reached through airplane.

Another railway center, Huaihua, links climbers to Wulingyuan or Zhangjiajie Mountain, a World Heritage Site and Hunan's most famous tourist draw for its sandstone karst panorama made more dramatic by lowering clouds. Wulingyuan provides many hiking and cable-car riding opportunities in its 243-square-mile park filled with giant sandstone karst pillars and a subtropical forest covering three natural reserves. Rhesus monkeys, giant salamanders, hundreds of bird species, and over 500 tree types, including dawn redwood, which was believed to be extinct until rediscovered in 1948, call the reserve a home. The park's highlight is its Golden Whip Stream, a clear pool of running water surrounded by karst pillars. Near the park is Meishan Dragon Palace, one of China's most beautiful karst caves.

Among China's five sacred Taoist mountains is Hengshan, Mount Heng or Nan Yue, where emperors used to hunt and summon the spirits of heaven and earth. A famous summer and winter hideout, Mount Heng has a Zhurong Hall Temple atop its highest crest, Zhurong Peak, and another one by its foot, Nanyue Grand Temple, a complex of Tang Dynasty-style palace-like structures.

China's second-largest body of freshwater is Donting Lake, a favorite sunset ferry route to those clamoring to see one of China's most famous pagodas, the multicolored Yueyang Pavilion.

Hunan's cultural heritage is a billion-yuan industry that greatly contributes to the province's economic growth. Among the most-visited cultural communes are Shaoshan chong, Mao Zedong's hometown; and Feng Huang, a World Heritage Site for its "authentic Chinese" town of Miao and Tujia minorities known for their silver jewelry, stilt and suspended houses, gate towers, bridges, and pagodas tracing back to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

A museum and a school in Jiangyong County specialize in the art of Nu shu, a writing system exclusively used by the county's women. Nu shu is often compared to Japan's hiragana penmanship, which was used to write epics such as The Tale of Genji.

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