Are you the person who wants to run away from the busy work and enjoys the quiet and simple life? If your answer is “yes”, I'd like to introduce an amazing place to you-the Phoenix Ancient Town.

Phoenix Ancient Town is located in the western boundary of Hunan province, which is famous for one of the two most beautiful towns in china. “Phoenix” is a magic bird that is born from a fire in Chinese culture. It is a symbol of longevity and good omen. It is said that there was a pair of phoenixes flying over the town and being attracted by the beautiful scenery. They were so reluctant to leave that they hovered there. That is the reason why this place was named “phoenix”

Nearly every visitor who comes to Phoenix Ancient Town will be impressed by its air of mystery, elegance and primitive simplicity. This is not only a world of color green, in which mountains, water and skies are extremely beautiful; but also a world of poetry. The bridges over the water and unique house built on stilts show a harmony that is so often portrayed in traditional Chinese painting.

The Miao-style stilt houses built by the Miao ethnic minority have a strong regional flavor. These are two –storey wooden structures whose lower storey is supported by several heavy logs standing tilted on the ground and the large, wide upper storey lean over the river. The upper storey is beautifully crafted and decorated, with up-turned eaves and carved windows, doors and railings. Looking down on the river from the window, you could see small boats floating slowly and gently on water. At the foot of the stilt house, many women wash clothes with their washing wooden clubs and the splashing water stir the ripples on the river.

“All night in my attic I hear the spring fall, apricot blossoms will be sold in the lanes tomorrow.” is a famous verse written by Luyou, a poet in Song Dynasty. The verse shows a very poetic scene of the alleys in Phoenix Ancient Town. There are dozens of alleys paved with flagstones in this ancient town. Each flagstone shows wear caused by the feet of generations of local people who have used them when going about their daily business. These alleys run between the old houses. Sometimes you could see several very old people chatting in front of their old house. Walking slowly on these old streets, you will find it is so easy to run away from your busy daily business and relax yourself completely. This is really a good place for people to enjoy quietness and peacefulness.

The Miao ethnic minority is mainly settled here. If the visitor wants to know more about Miao ethnic minority, he must pay a visit to the Miao Villiage. The Miao women have a natural beauty and it is unnecessary for them to use cosmetics. They love to dress blue cloth set off with a white scarf. They also love to wear silver jewelers, especially during the festival. A large array of hand-made silver ornament is available in the local shops. Home-made tie-dyes, printed and batik clothes are other local specialties that make wonderful souvenirs.

Phoenix Ancient Town is not only a very poetic place, but also a traditional Chinese painting. The extremely beauty of the ancient town and the friendness and hospitality of the Miao ethnic minority will give you a memorable memory.

Kindbridge Team at The Phoenix Piazza

Philips has trickled news about these DAPs over the past few months, but things just got real, man. The Raga is a completely nondescript flash player with 2GB or 4GB of flash storage, a tiny multi-line display, 27 hours of battery life and a $35 or $45 price tag; the Spark steps things up with a fancy 1.5-inch OLED color screen, clix-style navigation and $50 / $60 price points; while the LUXE (pictured) adds Bluetooth and style into the mix for $90 or $100. Spark and LUXE both offer Rhapsody integration and some new "FullSound" EQ tech from Philips, but the real hotness is the LUXE. The player can clip to your clothing and pump tunes as would be expected, but also syncs up with your phone to allow you to interrupt the music and answer calls without ever swapping out your headphones. We got to play around with a couple versions Philips had on display, and it really does look the part -- though we wouldn't mind it a bit slimmer. The Spark looks nice and really does offer a good amount of screen for the size -- plus we're suckers for the clix interface -- but the Raga looks like the red-headed, overweight stepchild of the lineup. LUXE will be available in January, but the other two should be hitting store shelves now. Check out our hands-on shots in the gallery below. Or don't, we're not the boss of you.

We all remember that little home invader/burglar Goldilocks and her serious issues with gauging temperature. “Too hot, too cold….” blah blah blah, shut it you delinquent! Designer Kai Chen has invented a little what’s hot/what’s not meter that takes all the guess work out of getting into your bathtub. “Bath Safeguard” is a neat little electronic bath plug device that measures the temperature of the water and emits a color glow reflecting the current conditions of the water. When not in use, place it back on the magnetic induction recharger base. Made of waterproof silicon this item is sure to see production…and at least shut that little tramp up.

Designer: Kai Chen

What can it mean? How many people
saw this view?

Most area in China Main land could saw this Smiling Moon View and it was lasted over 90 mins.

7pm - 1st December - 2008 - China - the smiling very time

Moon, Venus, Jupiter made this amazing view.

I liked that it was smiling at me. Moon fascinates me a lot.