Dr Donia Zhang

The Summer Palace, a representative of Chinese gardens https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/y7G3xwslL08gXmrpISoQhQ

Chinese gardens are divided into northern and southern styles with different sceneries of merits https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DxSr8e_Cb4UusZ2HBKfclQ

Today is the Laba Festival (Congee Festival), which is on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month in traditional Chinese calendar (2021/1/20). It is customary... to eat Laba Congee on this day. The ingredients of Laba Congee vary from region to region. The Beijing-style Laba Congee often includes a small amount of each of the following: red beans, green beans, black beans, black glutinous rice, white glutinous rice, dried jujubes, dried longan pulp, fruit of Chinese wolfberry, walnuts, ginkgo, lotus seeds, and plenty of water. These materials contain rich nutrition, are easy to be absorbed by the human body, and thus are good for health. More detailed info about Laba Festival can be found in this PPT: https://www.academia.edu/42632293/Laba_Festival See more

183He demolished the dilapidated old house and built a 183 sqm courtyard house for his parents. After completion, the neighbors all praised it! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_mc3HD5CvWMovjjcLgwe-A

Chinese Courtyards: The most elegant courtyards in the world https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GCewvnnkd8vRxm_t7vkupw

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)'s Yijing diagram, which was gifted to him by Joachim Bouvet, S.J. (1656-1730).

Today we visited Wangshiyuan (The Master-of-Nets Garden) in the morning, where we saw several groups of German tourists clustered in the garden showing great in...terest in it. The garden guide said this garden receives the most foreign visitors each year because of its unique design. Then we went to see Canglang Ting (The Blue Waves Pavilion) and Suzhou Wenmiao (Confucius Temple) in the afternoon. While I was inside the Confucius Temple, I was stunned that its surrounding corridor layout is exactly like what I put in my Beijing new courtyard garden house scheme, but this is my first visit to this Temple! So, there must be some kind of Cultural trait embedded in my mind that I have always been aware of. Tonight, we also happily met my Facebook friend Jennifer Ball in (The Garden Hotel of Suzhou) and enjoyed a thoughtful conversation and dinner together. See more

Yenching Academy of Peking University, October 17, 2018. Thanks to Professor David Moser for the invitation and hospitality. YCA is situated in the beautiful Yan campus of Peking University, with state-of-the-art facilities and highest-quality teaching staff.

Grand View Garden, Beijing, China, October 16, 2018

Today, we were on an independent tour in the rain to visit Suzhou Liuyuan (The Lingering Garden) in the morning, Huqiu (The Tiger Hill) in the afternoon, and Sh...antang Street (Seven-mile-long Shantang) in the evening. The places have not changed much since I last visited them 10 years ago, except that the Tiger Hill has built two additional small gardens in 2012 near its North Gate. These additions really had marvellous workmanship and are quiet places to sit and enjoy its beautiful sceneries. See more

178178 number of high-rise buildings in Shaoxing Old Town will be demolished and flattened! Shaoxing’s Old Town is going to change dramatically...https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/J8u8MgAxthb_IoNx4PABfw

Grand Beijing Central Axis https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-59CmaxrTR_wKhAPCf8tYA

Nan Lian Garden, Kowloon, Hong Kong, September 20, 2018. This Tang-style Classical Chinese Garden is built in central Hong Kong right off the Diamond Hill metro station. It is a peaceful oasis in the middle of a noisy urban setting.

After visiting his home, I know what a mansion is, the private garden and the courtyard at the back, making life like poetry https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/N9MbYzWVc6KqFeh-E0HkgA

Lu Xun Museum and Former Residence, Fucheng Gate Avenue, Beijing, China, October 13, 2018

Today, we visited the Shizilin (The Lion Forest Garden) in the morning, and the Zhuozhengyuan (The Humble Administrator’s Garden) in the afternoon. These two cl...assical Suzhou gardens are both included in UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list. They are exceptionally beautiful places to savour southern Chinese landscape architecture and culture. See more

BITs 4th Annual Global Congress of Knowledge Economy 2017 had its opening ceremony and first sessions today, September 19, in Qingdao, China. International exp...erts in their specific fields of study were invited to attend, including a Nobel Prize winner in physics from the University of California at Berkeley, and a delegate from UNESCO. I felt very honored to be invited by the organizing committee to give a talk on "Courtyard Housing for Health and Happiness" this afternoon in the Smart Cities and Urbanism session. My talk was very well received and I was also happy to see the certificate of presentation in the registration package. Here are some photos I took during the event. See more

We arrived in Suzhou today in another guided tour and visited the Dingyuan (Calm Garden) in the morning, which was the estate of Liu Bowen. This garden is a rel...atively new public recreation space that is not listed as UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage site, but Suzhou currently has nine gardens on the list. We were then taken to a silk factory for their obvious efforts in trying to sell us their products. In the afternoon, we were taken to another manufacture for selling us their jade and pearl products. Only after 4 pm, we were led to take a boat tour by the city moat and then up to a portion of the old city walls to see its night views. Economically, southern China is more prosperous, and Suzhou’s infrastructure has improved so much compared with what it was like 10 years ago when I conducted my fieldwork for my PhD there, but its extent of commercialism is also overwhelming. See more

The Beautiful Windows of Traditional Chinese Houses http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s

Suzhou Street, Summer Palace, Beijing, China, October 12, 2018

On September 16, I attended an international event called "Back to Earth" held at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (BUCEA). It was to pr...omote earthen architecture using rammed earth for constructing modern buildings and reinforcing old structures. The material is being studied and promoted by UNESCO, and BUCEA is a pioneer in this area of research on how to improve its capability for rainwater resistance and durability in case of earthquakes. It is perceived that rammed earth is more ecological and sustainable than concrete. Here are some pictures I took during the event, which was well attended also by delegates from UNESCO. See more

Shichahai Lake District, Beijing, China, October 11, 2018

The Beijing International Design Week is held at the Shichahai Lake District, Beijing, China, September 21 October 7, 2018.

We took a guided tour to Hangzhou today and visited the West Lake, the Hangzhou Silk Museum, and the West Wetland Park (). While traveling on the tour bus..., I observed that Hangzhou has made tremendous improvement on its suburban housing condition compared with what I saw in 1995 when I first visited the city. It appears to me that its suburban housing infrastructure is just as good as that in some European countries, such as Italy and Spain when I briefly visited in 2015. See more

Classical Chinese Gardens, Dream-Making Art https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EdprY18Awk1CxHx5vlncgg

My compilation and translation of 50 Chinese proverbs mostly based on my fathers memories. I started the project about 20 years ago and recently added 10 more ...phrases. Enjoy your reading and learn the wisdom. Its freely available at: https://www.academia.edu/40332341/Chinese_Proverbs https://www.researchgate.net/pub/335777978_Chinese_Proverbs See more

The rain has made Beijing look like southern China, it is beautiful! http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_156d99b790102wgrn.html

The Dream of Returning to Beijing Siheyuan: The most beautiful houses of China http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_72c747420102xdaw.html

Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, China, September 12, 2018

Happy Chinese Teachers Day (September 10th is a national teachers day in China since 1985; it shows appreciation of teachers contributions to the Chinese society, a festival celebrating the 2,300-year tradition of respecting educators and education in China)

The 2nd International Conference on Heritage of China was held at Suzhou University of Science and Technology, China, September 6-9, 2018.

Beautiful modern interpretations of classical courtyard houses in Suzhou, China https://www.sohu.com/a/283084114_363688

Beijing Siheyuan (Courtyard Houses) http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s

Another milestone in my education: Certificate in Interpreting Vernacular Architecture in Asia, from the University of Hong Kong | edX, and my final grade is 100%

Happily met and spent a day with Sabine Schmitz at the Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou, China, September 5, 2018.

Hangzhou Lingyin Temple and its Flying Peak, September 5, 2018

While preparing for my application recently, I am so happy to discover that over 40 of the worlds most prestigious universities libraries have collected my bo...oks and journal articles, such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, University of Toronto, McGill University, Peking University, and Tsinghua University, to name just some of them. See more

20120130 : Journey of Civilization: The Philosophical Wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Talk by Peking University Professor Lu Yulie) http://tv.cntv.cn/v/C25534/b82be289ab4b4df2b72601532fb4f470

Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) 4th Biennial Conference was held at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, September 1-6, 2018.

20160317 China Central Television Discovery Program, Beautiful Chinese Architecture: The Imagined Landscapes http://tv.cntv.cn/v/C14092/82cf5d6836504efbb12906e8d41f5e80

My academia and social media sites

20160316 China Central Television Discovery Program, Beautiful Chinese Architecture: The Varied Vernacular Houses http://tv.cctv.com//17/VIDEuSkD4bNIkJVEhXZfp4hQ160317.shtml

Thanks to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and Park in Vancouver Canada where hosted my talk today. It went very well and received warm responses.

The Revival of Courtyard Architecture in China. Design by Qu Wenzhong

Beijings Five Architectural Colors, and the Symbolism Behind Them (by Jeremiah Jenne, 2020) https://www.thebeijinger.com//beijings-five-architectural-

Benefits of the Courtyard House Design (Blog post by TH!NK by IBI, 2018; Photo by Rikke Filbrt Larsen on Unsplash) https://www.ibigroup.com/ib/benefits-courtyard-house-design

The Neolife Chinese Medical Clinic Inc. that my family had successfully operated for 17-18 years (1997-2014) in Canada was a team work of all my family members:... parents Suzan Li and Junmin Zhang, and sister Lydia Lok. I did translation for them mostly when we first established the corporation. When we had a family business, the fine line between work and life was blurred: life was work and work was life. Here are some photos taken at our Clinic inside our previous home in Richmond Hill, and while attending various professional events in Toronto, Ontario. http://www.neolandschool.com/neolifeclinic See more

Throughout my mother Suzan Lis medical career, she has published three journal articles and one conference paper, one for each phase of her professional life. ...I recently scanned them as image files to share with those of you who are interested in this area of study. The three journal articles are attached here, while all the four pieces are listed below. , , 1966, 15(3): 173-174. Some Experience on the Management of Orthopedic Wards in Children Li Xiu-zeng Chinese Journal of Pediatrics, 1966, 15(3): 173-174. http://www.cmaped.org.cn/CN112140196603/26035.htm , 19913 Cesarean Anesthesia with Pregnancy and Heart Disease Journal of Capital Medical University, 1991 (3): 235-236. http://journal03.magtech.org.cn/Jweb_sdy//Y1991/V12/I3/235 1997 (1): 17-18. Examining the Principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine through the Skin Scraping Therapy Canadian Journal of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, 1997 (1): 17-18. (p. 208) 2006-9-20-22 Article Title: Re-Examining the Principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine through the Skin Scraping Therapy Author: Suzan Xiuzeng Li Translator: Donia Zhang Original Chinese version of the paper published in the Third International Congress of Traditional Medicine, Collection of Essays (p. 208), Toronto, Canada, September 20-22, 2006 http://www.neolandschool.com/neolifeclinic/theory.htm https://neolifeneoland.wordpress.com/theory

Some photos taken in 1997 when we first established our family business, Neolife Chinese Medical Clinic Inc., in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. It was successf...ully operated for 17-18 years. Canadian Chinese newspaper Health Times had a column reported it in a series in 1998. We are proud of this accomplishment as traditional Chinese medical practitioners in Canada. http://www.neolandschool.com/neolifeclinic See more

Chinese landscape architecture. Source: WeChat, 2018

World Architecture. Source: WeChat, 2017 and 2018

My birthday August 19 happens to be the Chinese Doctors Day designated in 2018, in recognition of the importance of medical doctors in safeguarding peoples health. This year, the day is particularly significant because of the contributions that doctors made in fighting with the COVID-19 Pandemic. A salute to all doctors, and Happy Chinese Doctors Day!

Join the Ontario Heritage Trust, Doors Open Ontario and its many partners throughout 2020 on a virtual journey across the province as they open Ontarios doors online! https://bit.ly/31HWAt6 Ontario Heritage Trust | #ontariolive @dkbphotos_ont

Interview with SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus Ronald G. Knapp by Built Heritage and Heritage Architecture

An elegant modern house. Source: WeChat, 2018

The fish likes the house. Source: WeChat, 2018

Architecture as sculpture: two modern examples. Source: WeChat, 2018