岳陽(yáng)樓

（Yueyang Tower）矗立在湖南省岳陽(yáng)市洞庭湖岸邊，是“江南三大名樓”之一，另外兩座分別是滕王閣（Tengwang Pavilion）和黃鶴樓（Yellow Crane Tower）。自古以來，岳陽(yáng)樓一直有“岳陽(yáng)天下樓”之稱，與有“洞庭天下水”之稱的洞庭湖齊名。最初岳陽(yáng)樓主要是軍用，如指揮海上艦隊(duì)以及舉行閱兵儀式（military review）。著名的《岳陽(yáng)樓記》由北宋偉大的作家范仲淹所作，它使岳陽(yáng)樓聲名遠(yuǎn)播，成為中國(guó)南方著名的景點(diǎn)。岳陽(yáng)樓的結(jié)構(gòu)在中國(guó)古代建筑史上是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的，具有無(wú)與倫比的藝術(shù)價(jià)值。

Located on the shore of

?the Dongting Lake in Yueyang City of Hunan Province, Yueyang Tower is one of “

the three most famous towers in the south of the Yangtze River

”, and?the other two are?

Tengwang Pavilion?

and the?

Yellow Crane Tower

. Since ancient times, Yueyang Tower has been

?enjoying the title of?

“the best tower on this planet”, having equal status with “the best lake on earth”—the?Dongting Lake. Originally, Yueyang Tower was mainly for military use, such?as directing marine troops and for military reviews. The well-known?

On Yueyang Tower

?by the great writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan,?

brought great fame to

?Yueyang Tower far and wide, making it a well-known scenic spot in southern?China. The structure of the tower?is unique in the architectural history of ancient China, holding unparalleled artistic values.

黃鶴樓

（Yellow Crane Tower）位于湖北省武漢市蛇山（Snake Hill），被譽(yù)為“江南三大名樓”之一。黃鶴樓始建于公元223年，正值三國(guó)時(shí)期。由于地理位置優(yōu)越，吳國(guó)建立者孫權(quán)將黃鶴樓建成軍隊(duì)瞭望塔（watchtower）。數(shù)百年來，其軍事用途逐漸被遺忘，而主要被當(dāng)做風(fēng)景如畫的景點(diǎn)欣賞。唐代有許多膾炙人口的詩(shī)篇贊美黃鶴樓。正是這些詩(shī)，黃鶴樓才能如此著名，吸引人們前來參觀。不同朝代，黃鶴樓有不同的建筑特色。然而，今天的黃鶴樓是基于清朝塔樓建造的。?

Located on

?the?Snake Hill in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Yellow Crane Tower is known as one of “the three most famous towers in the south of the Yangtze River”.?

It?was?first built in

?223?A.D. during?

the Three Kingdoms Period

. Due to the ideal location, it was built by Sun Quan, the?Founder?of Wu, as a watchtower for his army. For?hundreds of years, its military function has been?gradually forgotten, and the tower has served mainly as a picturesque spot. During the Tang Dynasty, many popular poems were written in praise of the Yellow Crane Tower. It was these poems that made the tower so renowned and attractive for people to visit. The tower had different architectural features in different dynasties. However, the tower which stands today is based on the one designed during the Qing Dynasty.

滕王閣

是南方唯一的一座皇家建筑，位于江西省南昌市西北部的贛江以東，塔高13米，2層結(jié)構(gòu)，始建于唐朝永徽四年（653年），是首批國(guó)家4A級(jí)旅游景區(qū)。滕王閣與湖北的黃鶴樓、湖南的岳陽(yáng)樓為并稱為“江南三大名樓”，因初唐才子王勃作《滕王閣序》讓其在三樓中最早揚(yáng)名于世。歷史上，滕王閣先后重建達(dá)29次，目前的滕王閣是1989年重修的。

?

The Pavilion of Prince Teng

, the?only?imperial structure in the south of China, lies in the east of the Ganjiang River in the north-west of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. The tower with a height of 13 meters and a two-floor structure, was first built in the fourth year of Yong Hui in the Tang Dynasty (653?A.D.), and is among the first national 4A class scenic spots. The Pavilion of Prince Teng, the Yellow Crane Tower in Hubei Province as well as the Yue Yang Tower in Hunan Province are generally known as?“the three most famous towers in the south of the Yangtze River”.

?The Pavilion of Prince Teng

?was the first known to the world due to the Introduction to the Pavilion of Prince of Teng?made by Wang Bo, a talented poet of the earlier Tang dynasty. In history, the pavilion was rebuilt 29 times. The current pavilion was rebuilt in 1989.

故宮（the Imperial Palace)位于北京市中心，是世界上現(xiàn)存規(guī)模最大、保存最完整的古代皇宮和古建筑群(architectural complex)。這座歷史悠久的宮殿，面積宏大，南北約千米，東西753米。整個(gè)皇宮相傳共有9999個(gè)房間，分為外朝和內(nèi)庭兩部分。外朝是皇帝行使權(quán)力、舉行盛典的地方。內(nèi)庭是皇帝的居住之地。故宮建筑群是中國(guó)古代宮殿建筑(Palatial architecture)的典范，對(duì)東亞及其他國(guó)家的文化和建筑產(chǎn)生了重大影響。而今整個(gè)故宮成為國(guó)家博物館，陳列著眾多珍貴的古代文物(cultural relics）。

The Imperial Palace, located in the center of Beijing, is the largest, best preserved ancient imperial palace and architectural complex in the world. The historical, spacious palace stretches about 1,000 meters from north to south and 753 meters on its east-west axis. Altogether, there are 9,999 rooms inside the palace according to legend, which is made up of two parts: the outer court and the inner court. The outer court was a place where the emperors exercised their power and held grand ceremonies. The inner court was the imperial residence. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments greatly in East Asia and elsewhere. Today the entire Imperial Palace functions as a national museum, where a variety of treasured cultural relics are exhibited.