Sedans

The sedan or sedanchair (jiaozi), a traditional vehicle of transportation carried by bearers, was called at the beginning jianyu (shoulder carriage), being a carriage that travelled on human shoulders. Jiaozi is its comparatively modem name.In old times, sedans fell into two major categories: the guanjiao (official sedan) and the minjiao (private sedan). Those of e former type were used by the royal family and government officials, and they varied in elaborateness according to the status of the person carried inside, following strict rules laid down for different levels of the hierarchy.Even for the emperor himself, he was to sit in palanquins or sedanchairs of different grades on different occasions: the ceremonial palanquin to go to a formal court of audience, the sedanchair when he rode rounds of inspection inside the Forbidden City, the light sedan for hunts and excursions outside the capital, and finally the casual litter, a spare sedan accompanying him on his trips, into which he might want to change at any moment. For his everyday use in the palace, it was usually the casual litter. Then the furnishings also differed with the seasons: the warm sedan for winter and the cool type for summer. The two sedanchairs now on display in the Hall of Complete Harmony Zhonghedian) of the Forbidden City are he casual litters used by the emperor for everyday purposes.Sedanchairs for the ministers and lower officials varied in grandeur with their ranks. In all cases, an official sedan out in the street was heralded by the beating of gongs to clear the way and surrounded by number of attendants. Common people meeting such a procession must keep quiet and step aside. The higher the official, the greater the number of followers and sedan bearers. The latter might vary from two for a petty official to eight for a very eminent personage. The emperor himself might have as many as sixteen carriers.Private sedans were of simple make, yet they were owned only by the landed gentry or urban rich. Built of wood or bamboo, they could be carried either on flat roads or along mountain paths. Some of the self-pampered potbellies inside, like the officials, were also accompanied by bodyguards walking by the side of the sedans.There was yet another type of sedans for hire to the common people for use on weddings. They were called huajiao (flowery sedan) or xijiao (happiness sedan). The deluxe model of this type was covered by bright-coloured silks embroidered with gaudy designs of good luck and even decorated with sparkling gems. The run-of-the-mill model was also bedecked with colourful silk ribbons. In feudal times a bride was not to be seen by outsiders, so there was an elaborate "double-sedan" with a small one inside the outer one so that the bride could get into (or out of) the inner sedan indoors and then be carried into the outer sedan without exposing herself to public view.Wedding sedanchairs continued to be in vogue for some time in certain regions after the founding of New China in 1949. Nowadays young people prefer the motorized sedan for their weddings, and the sedanchair has been relegated to the realm of history.China Travel website will lead you to discover symbolized Silk Road Tours, unique ice-covered Tibet Tours, magnificent Yangtze River Tours…It will introduce the famous traveling city Guilin and Yangshuo which the scenery is second to none in guilin. China has rich culture and history.Luxurious Guilin Hotels, Holiday Villages, folk travel will cater the foreigners many ideal accommodations.As well as Yangshuo China Tours Guide information: the world fairyland; Chinese culture, with a long history. Yangshuo Attraction, Guilin Attraction guide, China Attraction guide, Chinese history and culture exhibition, all beautiful China hills and water, and Yangshuo China Hotels.Guilin not only has beautiful scenery and human sites, but also has diversity of folk culture. It will show you rich Yangshuo Tour Packages, furthermore, provide Chinese medicine, kongfu and paintings and other Guilin Tours. for the foreign friends who love the Chinese culture.Guilin Travel make you a taste of a long history and colorful culture of the people style, and hill and water sceney harmony grade of city or style,To meet the modern needs of diversified tourism. So don't miss this great opportunity to experience the natural beauty and unique folk-customs of Guilin in person.Besides, If you want to know more information about traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese Medicine . So TCM can Prevent and Treat many chronic diseases, click it the benifit a lot.