vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall ( German : Berliner Mauer , pronounced ( bɛʁˈliːnɐ ˈmaʊ̯ɐ ) ( listen ) ) was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989 . Constructed by the German Democratic Republic ( GDR , East Germany ) , starting on 13 August 1961 , the Wall cut off ( by land ) West Berlin from virtually all of surrounding East Germany and East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989 . Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and finished in 1992 . The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls , accompanied by a wide area ( later known as the `` death strip '' ) that contained anti-vehicle trenches , `` fakir beds '' and other defenses . The Eastern Bloc portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the `` will of the people '' in building a socialist state in East Germany . In practice , the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period .
History of the Great Wall of China
The failure of the new Republic of China fanned disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture and ushered in the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement of the mid-1910s and 1920s that aimed to dislodge China 's future trajectory from its past . Naturally , the Great Wall of China came under attack as a symbol of the past . For example , an influential writer of this period , Lu Xun , harshly criticized the `` mighty and accursed Great Wall '' in a short essay : `` In reality , it has never served any purpose than to make countless workers labour to death in vain ... ( It ) surrounds everyone . '' Arise
Chinese Buddhism
The view that Buddhism was transmitted to China by the sea route comparatively lacks convincing and supporting materials , and some arguments are not sufficiently rigorous . Based on the existing historical texts and the archaeological iconographic materials discovered since the 1980s , particularly the first - century Buddhist manuscripts recently found in Afghanistan , the commentator believes that the most plausible theory is that Buddhism reached China from the Greater Yuezhi of northwest India and took the land route to reach Han China . After entering into China , Buddhism blended with early Daoism and Chinese traditional esoteric arts and its iconography received blind worship . Traditional
Korea under Japanese rule
The Japanese government created a system of colonial mercantilism , requiring construction of significant transportation infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula for the purpose of extracting and exploiting resources such as raw materials ( timber ) , foodstuff ( mostly rice and fish ) , and mineral resources ( coal and iron ore ) . The Japanese developed port facilities and an extensive railway system which included a main trunk railway from the southern port city of Pusan through the capital of Seoul and north to the Chinese border . This infrastructure was intended not only to facilitate a colonial mercantilist economy , but was also viewed as a strategic necessity for the Japanese military to control Korea and to move large numbers of troops and materials to the Chinese border at short notice .
Second Sino-Japanese War
By the end of 1944 Chinese troops under the command of Sun Li - jen attacking from India , and those under Wei Lihuang attacking from Yunnan , joined forces in Mong - Yu , successfully driving the Japanese out of North Burma and securing the Ledo Road , China 's vital supply artery . In Spring 1945 the Chinese launched offensives that retook Hunan and Guangxi . With the Chinese army progressing well in training and equipment , Wedemeyer planned to launch Operation Carbonado in summer 1945 to retake Guangdong , thus obtaining a coastal port , and from there drive northwards toward Shanghai . However , the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Soviet invasion of Manchuria hastened Japanese surrender and these plans were not put into action .
Ancient Roman architecture
The Romans generally fortified cities , rather than fortresses , but there are some fortified camps , such as the Saxon Shore forts like Porchester Castle in England . City walls were already significant in Etruscan architecture , and in the struggle for control of Italy under the early Republic many more were built , using different techniques . These included tightly - fitting massive irregular polygonal blocks , shaped to fit exactly in a way reminiscent of later Inca work . The Romans called a simple rampart wall an agger ; at this date great height was not necessary . The Servian Wall around Rome was an ambitious project of the early 4th century BC . The wall was up to 10 metres ( 32.8 ft ) in height in places , 3.6 metres ( 12 ft ) wide at its base , 11 km ( 7 mi ) long , and is believed to have had 16 main gates , though many of these are mentioned only from writings , with no other known remains . Some of it had a fossa or ditch in front , and an agger behind , and it was enough to deter Hannibal . Later the Aurelian Wall replaced it , enclosing an expanded city , and using more sophisticated designs , with small forts at intervals .
X-Men: Days of Future Past
For the future setting of the film , a set featuring a hillside monastery was built . Myhre was inspired by Chinese temples built on the sides of cliffs . The future set also featured a mixture of architectural styles from China , India , and Indonesia . Part of the set was a big wall , which was inspired by the Great Wall of China .
Berlin Wall
East Germans successfully defected by a variety of methods : digging long tunnels under the Wall , waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon , sliding along aerial wires , flying ultralights and , in one instance , simply driving a sports car at full speed through the basic , initial fortifications . When a metal beam was placed at checkpoints to prevent this kind of defection , up to four people ( two in the front seats and possibly two in the boot ) drove under the bar in a sports car that had been modified to allow the roof and windscreen to come away when it made contact with the beam . They lay flat and kept driving forward . The East Germans then built zig - zagging roads at checkpoints . The sewer system predated the Wall , and some people escaped through the sewers , in a number of cases with assistance from the Unternehmen Reisebüro .
Forbidden City
To the south , two nearly identical gatehouses stand along the main axis . They are the Upright Gate ( Chinese : 端 门 ; pinyin : Duānmén ) and the more famous Tiananmen Gate , which is decorated with a portrait of Mao Zedong in the centre and two placards to the left and right : `` Long Live the People 's Republic of China '' and `` Long live the Great Unity of the World 's Peoples '' . The Tiananmen Gate connects the Forbidden City precinct with the modern , symbolic centre of the Chinese state , Tiananmen Square .
Forbidden City
The north - eastern section of the Inner Court is taken up by the Palace of Tranquil Longevity ( 寧 壽 宮 ) ( O ) , a complex built by the Qianlong Emperor in anticipation of his retirement . It mirrors the set - up of the Forbidden City proper and features an `` outer court '' , an `` inner court '' , and gardens and temples . The entrance to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity is marked by a glazed - tile Nine Dragons Screen . This section of the Forbidden City is being restored in a partnership between the Palace Museum and the World Monuments Fund , a long - term project expected to finish in 2017 .
Great Pyramid of Giza
The Giza pyramid complex , which includes among other structures the pyramids of Khufu , Khafre and Menkaure , is surrounded by a cyclopean stone wall , the Wall of the Crow . Mark Lehner has discovered a worker 's town outside of the wall , otherwise known as `` The Lost City '' , dated by pottery styles , seal impressions , and stratigraphy to have been constructed and occupied sometime during the reigns of Khafre ( 2520 -- 2494 BC ) and Menkaure ( 2490 -- 2472 BC ) . Recent discoveries by Mark Lehner and his team at the town and nearby , including what appears to have been a thriving port , suggest the town and associated living quarters consisting of barracks called `` galleries '' may not have been for the pyramid workers after all , but rather for the soldiers and sailors who utilized the port . In light of this new discovery , as to where then the pyramid workers may have lived Lehner now suggests the alternative possibility they may have camped on the ramps he believes were used to construct the pyramids or possibly at nearby quarries .
Forbidden City
At the centre of the Inner Court is another set of three halls ( L ) . From the south , these are the Palace of Heavenly Purity ( 乾 清 宮 ) , Hall of Union , and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility . Smaller than the Outer Court halls , the three halls of the Inner Court were the official residences of the Emperor and the Empress . The Emperor , representing Yang and the Heavens , would occupy the Palace of Heavenly Purity . The Empress , representing Yin and the Earth , would occupy the Palace of Earthly Tranquility . In between them was the Hall of Union , where the Yin and Yang mixed to produce harmony . The
Forbidden City
While development is now tightly controlled in the vicinity of the Forbidden City , throughout the past century uncontrolled and sometimes politically motivated demolition and reconstruction has changed the character of the areas surrounding the Forbidden City . Since 2000 , the Beijing municipal government has worked to evict governmental and military institutions occupying some historical buildings , and has established a park around the remaining parts of the Imperial City wall . In 2004 , an ordinance relating to building height and planning restriction was renewed to establish the Imperial City area and the northern city area as a buffer zone for the Forbidden City . In 2005 , the Imperial City and Beihai ( as an extension item to the Summer Palace ) were included in the shortlist for the next World Heritage Site in Beijing .
Geography of China
Northeast of the Tibetan Plateau , the Altun Shan - Qilian Mountains range branches off the Kunlun and creates a parallel mountain range running east - west . In between in northern Qinghai is the Qaidam Basin , with elevations of 2,600 -- 3,000 m and numerous brackish and salt lakes . North of the Qilian is Hexi Corridor of Gansu , a natural passage between Xinjiang and China Proper that was part of the ancient Silk Road and traversed by modern highway and rail lines to Xinjiang . Further north , the Inner Mongolian Plateau , between 900 -- 1,500 m in elevation , arcs north up the spine of China and becomes the Greater Hinggan Range of Northeast China .
Islamic architecture
The first Chinese mosque was established in the 7th century during the Tang Dynasty in Xi'an . The Great Mosque of Xi'an , whose current buildings date from the Ming Dynasty , does not replicate many of the features often associated with traditional mosques . Instead , it follows traditional Chinese architecture . Some Chinese mosques in parts of western China were more likely to incorporate minarets and domes while eastern Chinese mosques were more likely to look like pagodas .
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City remains important in the civic scheme of Beijing . The central north -- south axis remains the central axis of Beijing . This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen gate to Tiananmen Square , the ceremonial centre of the People 's Republic of China , and on to Yongdingmen . To the north , it extends through Jingshan Hill to the Bell and Drum Towers . This axis is not exactly aligned north -- south , but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees . Researchers now believe that the axis was designed in the Yuan dynasty to be aligned with Xanadu , the other capital of their empire .
Chinese Buddhism
The popularization of Buddhism in this period is evident in the many scripture - filled caves and structures surviving from this period . The Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu province , the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan and the Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi are the most renowned examples from the Northern , Sui and Tang Dynasties . The Leshan Giant Buddha , carved out of a hillside in the 8th century during the Tang Dynasty and looking down on the confluence of three rivers , is still the largest stone Buddha statue in the world .
Siege
During the Ming Dynasty ( AD 1368 -- 1644 ) , the Chinese were very concerned with city planning in regards to gunpowder warfare . The site for constructing the walls and the thickness of the walls in Beijing 's Forbidden City were favoured by the Chinese Yongle Emperor ( r . 1402 -- 1424 ) because they were in pristine position to resist cannon volley and were built thick enough to withstand attacks from cannon fire .
East China Sea
In 1995 , the People 's Republic of China ( PRC ) discovered an undersea natural gas field in the East China Sea , namely the Chunxiao gas field , which lies within the Chinese EEZ while Japan believes it is connected to other possible reserves beyond the median line . Japan has objected to PRC development of natural gas resources in the East China Sea near the area where the two countries Exclusive Economic Zone ( EEZ ) claims overlap . The specific development in dispute is the PRC 's drilling in the Chunxiao gas field , which is located in undisputed areas on China 's side , three or four miles ( 6 km ) west of the median line proposed by Japan . Japan maintains that although the Chunxiao gas field rigs are on the PRC side of a median line that Tokyo regards as the two sides ' sea boundary , they may tap into a field that stretches underground into the disputed area . Japan therefore seeks a share in the natural gas resources . The gas fields in the Xihu Sag area in the East China Sea ( Canxue , Baoyunting , Chunxiao , Duanqiao , Wuyunting , and Tianwaitian ) are estimated to hold proven reserves of 364 BCF of natural gas . Commercial operations began 2006 . In June 2008 , both sides agreed to jointly develop the Chunxiao gas fields , but they have never been able to agree on how to execute the plan .
History of the Great Wall of China
To Chinese minds , the heqin policy was humiliating and ran contrary to the Sinocentric world order like `` a person hanging upside down '' , as the statesman Jia Yi ( d . 169 BC ) puts it . These sentiments manifested themselves in the Han court in the form of the pro-war faction , who advocated the reversal of Han 's policy of appeasement . By the reign of Emperor Wu ( r . 141 -- 87 BC ) , the Han felt comfortable enough to go to war with the Xiongnu . After a botched attempt at luring the Xiongnu army into an ambush at the Battle of Mayi in 133 BC , the era of heqin - style appeasement was broken and the Han -- Xiongnu War went into full swing . The
Aftermath of the Korean War
China successfully prevented the South Korean and U.S. militaries from establishing a presence on its Manchurian border . At that time , Manchuria , especially Liaoning -- the Chinese province north of the Yalu River -- was China 's most important industrial center . Protecting the Manchurian industrial zone was one of the major reasons China entered the war . Furthermore , by supporting the North Korean state , China obtained more than 300 km of strategic buffer zone from the U.S. which would avoid the military spending necessary to protect its Korean border for the next fifty years .
Trump Tower
The tower is a reinforced concrete shear wall core structure . At the time of its completion , it was the tallest structure of its type in the world . Trump Tower used 45,000 cubic yards ( 34,000 m ) of concrete and 3,800 tons of steelwork .
Construction of the World Trade Center
Extensive use of prefabricated parts for the perimeter framing and floor truss systems helped speed up the construction process and reduce costs , while providing greater quality control . Steel components were freighted into a Penn Central yard in Jersey City . From there , they were brought in the early morning hours through the Holland Tunnel to the construction site , then lifted into place by a crane . Larger pieces were brought to the construction site by tugboats . A special type of crane , suitable for constructing such tall buildings , that used hydraulics to lift components and provided its own power was used in construction of the World Trade Center . The Favco Standard 2700 Crane , manufactured by Favelle Mort Ltd. of New South Wales , Australia was informally called a `` kangaroo crane . ''
Migration in China
However Qing rule saw an massively increasing amount of Han Chinese both illegally and legally streaming into Manchuria and settling down to cultivate land as Manchu landlords desired Han Chinese peasants to rent on their land and grow grain , most Han Chinese migrants were not evicted as they went over the Great Wall and Willow Palisade , during the eighteenth century Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares of privately owned land in Manchuria and 203,583 hectares of lands which were part of coutrier stations , noble estates , and Banner lands , in garrisons and towns in Manchuria Han Chinese made up 80 % of the population .
Forbidden City
Directly to the west is the Hall of Mental Cultivation ( N ) . Originally a minor palace , this became the de facto residence and office of the Emperor starting from Yongzheng . In the last decades of the Qing dynasty , empresses dowager , including Cixi , held court from the eastern partition of the hall . Located around the Hall of Mental Cultivation are the offices of the Grand Council and other key government bodies .
Geography of China
The average annual precipitation in China and Taiwan Early - season snow covering part of the North China Plain near Shijiazhuang , Hebei Snow encircling the area around the Bo Hai The first day of spring 2010 brought a massive sandstorm blowing from Inner Mongolia On November 11 , 2010 , a wall of sand blew across northern China , covering much of the North China Plain and Shandong Peninsula . Smog from Eastern China spread over neighboring areas in February 2004 . Haze over the North China Plain and the Lüliang Mountains of Shanxi Natural color satellite image of a smog event in the heart of northern China Dense smog settled over the North China Plain on February 20 , 2011 .
Forbidden City
At the four corners of the wall sit towers ( E ) with intricate roofs boasting 72 ridges , reproducing the Pavilion of Prince Teng and the Yellow Crane Pavilion as they appeared in Song dynasty paintings . These towers are the most visible parts of the palace to commoners outside the walls , and much folklore is attached to them . According to one legend , artisans could not put a corner tower back together after it was dismantled for renovations in the early Qing dynasty , and it was only rebuilt after the intervention of carpenter - immortal Lu Ban .
Geography of China
China 's borders have more than 20,000 km ( 12,000 mi ) of land frontier shared with nearly all the nations of mainland East Asia , and have been disputed at a number of points . In the western sector , China claimed portions of the 41,000 km ( 16,000 sq mi ) Pamir Mountains area , a region of soaring mountain peaks and glacier - filled valleys where the borders of Afghanistan , Pakistan , the former Soviet Union , and China meet in Central Asia . North and east of this region , some sections of the border remained undemarcated in 1987 . The 6,542 kilometres ( 4,065 mi ) frontier with the Soviet Union has been a source of continual friction . In 1954 China published maps showing substantial portions of Soviet Siberian territory as its own . In the northeast , border friction with the Soviet Union produced a tense situation in remote regions of Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang along segments of the Argun River , Amur River , and Ussuri River . Each side had massed troops and had exchanged charges of border provocation in this area . In a September 1986 speech in Vladivostok , the Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev offered the Chinese a more conciliatory position on Sino - Soviet border issues . In 1987 the two sides resumed border talks that had been broken off after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ( see Sino - Soviet relations ) . Although the border issue remained unresolved as of late 1987 , China and the Soviet Union agreed to consider the northeastern sector first . In October 2004 , China signed an agreement with Russia on the delimitation of their entire 4,300 km ( 2,700 mi ) - long border , which had long been in dispute .
Geography of China
The topography of China has been divided by the government into five homogeneous physical macro-regions , namely Eastern China ( subdivided into the northeast plain , north plain , and southern hills ) , Xinjiang - Mongolia , and the Tibetan highlands It is diverse with snow - capped mountains , deep river valleys , broad basins , high plateaus , rolling plains , terraced hills , sandy dunes with many other geographic features and other landforms present in myriad variations . In general , the land is high in the west and descends to the east coast . Mountains ( 33 percent ) , plateaus ( 26 percent ) and hills ( 10 percent ) account for nearly 70 percent of the country 's land surface . Most of the country 's arable land and population are based in lowland plains ( 12 percent ) and basins ( 19 percent ) , though some of the greatest basins are filled with deserts . The country 's rugged terrain presents problems for the construction of overland transportation infrastructure and requires extensive terracing to sustain agriculture , but is conducive to the development of forestry , mineral and hydropower resources , and tourism .
Silk Road
Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE have been found in Ancient Egypt . The Great Oasis cities of Central Asia played a crucial role in the effective functioning of the Silk Road trade . The originating source seems sufficiently reliable , but silk degrades very rapidly , so it can not be verified whether it was cultivated silk ( which would almost certainly have come from China ) or a type of `` wild silk '' , which might have come from the Mediterranean region or the Middle East .
Mesopotamia
Brick is the dominant material , as the material was freely available locally , whereas building stone had to be brought a considerable distance to most cities . The ziggurat is the most distinctive form , and cities often had large gateways , of which the Ishtar Gate from Neo-Babylonian Babylon , decorated with beasts in polychrome brick , is the most famous , now largely in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin .
Berlin Wall
The transcript of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on 1 August in the same year , suggests that the initiative for the construction of the Wall came from Khrushchev . However , other sources suggest that Khrushchev had initially been wary about building a wall , fearing negative Western reaction . What is beyond dispute , though , is that Ulbricht had pushed for a border closure for quite some time , arguing that East Germany 's very existence was at stake .
Great Pyramid of Giza
It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu ( often Hellenicised as `` Cheops '' ) and was constructed over a 20 - year period . Khufu 's vizier , Hemiunu ( also called Hemon ) , is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid . It is thought that , at construction , the Great Pyramid was originally 280 Egyptian cubits tall ( 146.5 metres ( 480.6 ft ) ) , but with erosion and absence of its pyramidion , its present height is 138.8 metres ( 455.4 ft ) . Each base side was 440 cubits , 230.4 metres ( 755.9 ft ) long . The mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million tonnes . The volume , including an internal hillock , is roughly 2,500,000 cubic metres ( 88,000,000 cu ft ) .