On these great thoroughfares the essential factors of production, such as capital, technology, and manpower flowed freely, with sharing of goods, resources and achievements. Important cities such as Almaty, Samarkand and Changan, along with great ports like Sur and Guangzhou flourished, while the Roman, the Arsacid and the Kushan civilisations prospered and China was enjoying the high point of its civilisation in the Han and Tang dynasties. The old Silk Road created great regional development and prosperity.

That's so true. Only a graceful, portly goddess like me is really able to show our country's prosperity and strength, the bold and unrestrained literature and art, with a hundred schools of thought, with rich men and wealth throughout the vast land, and... what else throughout the land?

Now it's the peak summer season, so the prices of the budget airlines have risen along with this, some are even more expensive than regular airlines.

Bah, I'm having great luck today and I'm going to win big this hand too!

Very good, very good, now it is my turn. In the Year of the Horse, they use the phrase 「马到成功」, meaning to win instant success and which also contains the character for horse「馬」; in the Year of the Monkey, they substitute the 「侯」 in the phrase 「加冠封侯」, wishing that you’ll be “given new offices and titles,” for its near homophone 「猴」, meaning monkey, in the Year of the Monkey; In the Year of the Rooster, they use the phrase “a crane among roosters,” to bless you with standing head and shoulders above the rest; In the Year of the Dog, they’ll wish you a prosperous new year, by substituting「旺旺旺」, meaning “very prosperous,” for the sound of a dog barking in Chinese, “汪汪汪,” a near homophone; and finally they substitute the character 「诸」 for in the phrase 「诸事顺心」, meaning “everything goes according to plan” for the character 「猪」, meaning “pig” in the Year of the Pig.

The Nile has also been called the world's longest river, at some 6670 kilometers in length. It flows through the countries of Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, passing through the Sahara Desert - the largest by area in the world, and finally flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. Its watershed covers 3,350,000 square kilometers, equal to 1/9th of the surface of the African Continent.

It's possible. During the peak season, tens of men and women are all crowded together in one pool.

There's also a company called "Wang Wang."

Not bad, not bad. Putuo Mountain really deserves to be the most important of the four Buddhist mountains. There were tons of people there lighting incense.

Did you go to Puji Temple? That's the place where there's the most people burning incense.