From Yandi Mausoleum 炎帝陵 in Baoji 宝鸡 to 炎黄子孙 — and Why Winning the Battle Didn’t Mean Erasing the Loser Travel China. Let the places teach you Chinese history. See the place. Ask the bigger question. Understand China better. Section 1 — We Came to Visit One Ancestor. Then the Family Story Got Complicated. Dad & Elaine came to: Yandi Mausoleum (炎帝陵, Yándì Líng) near: Baoji (宝鸡, Bǎojī) in: Shaanxi Province (陕西省,...
Just a Few Hours From Beijing, Anyang Takes You More Than 3,000 Years Back Beijing gives a first-time traveler an enormous amount of Chinese history. The: Forbidden City. Great Wall. Temple of Heaven. Summer Palace. Ming. Qing. Imperial China everywhere. So why would Dad tell you to get on another train? 😂 Because a few hours south of Beijing sits: Anyang (安阳, Ānyáng) in Henan Province (河南省, Hénán Shěng). And Anyang can...
Section 1 — Before Zhou Won, King Wen Was a Prisoner of Shang Dad & Elaine had just encountered the world of the: Shang dynasty (商朝, Shāng Cháo) at: Yinxu (殷墟, Yīnxū) near Anyang (安阳, Ānyáng) in Henan Province (河南省, Hénán Shěng). There, Shang felt powerful. Royal tombs. Bronzes. Palace and temple remains. Oracle bones carrying the questions and names of Shang kings. 🔥 Then we went to another historical site near...
Before There Were Chinese Characters, Humans Were Already Trying to Make Marks Carry Meaning At Yinxu (殷墟, Yīnxū), Dad & Elaine stood looking at: 甲骨文 — jiǎgǔwén oracle-bone inscriptions More than: 3,000 YEARS OLD. Some looked completely mysterious. Then Dad noticed something. A few ancient forms seemed almost… VISUAL. Sun. Moon. Mountain. Tree. Person. 😳 And that created another rabbit. Before humans could write words, did they first learn to make marks...
Meet the Historian Hiding Behind Many of the Emperors, Generals, Rebels and Rabbit Holes We Keep Finding Across China Dad has a confession. For quite a while, we kept traveling around China and meeting: FAMOUS DEAD PEOPLE. 😂 Qin Shi Huang. Xiang Yu. Liu Bang. Emperor Wu of Han. King Wen of Zhou. Generals. Rebels. Emperors. Strategists. And everywhere we went, somebody would tell us: “This ruler did this…” or: “That general...
Section 1 — You Came to Huangdi Mausoleum. But Who Exactly Is Buried Here? Travel into northern: Shaanxi (陕西, Shǎnxī) toward: Huangling County (黄陵县, Huánglíng Xiàn) and you’ll encounter a name that takes us much farther back than: Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇), Confucius (孔子), or even: Shang dynasty (商朝). The place is: Huangdi Mausoleum (黄帝陵, Huángdì Líng). Dad & Elaine visited. And naturally, the first-time Western traveler sees: 陵 — líng mausoleum...
From China’s Most Dramatic Yellow Waterfall to the River Behind Some of Its Oldest Civilizations Section 1 — You Came for the Waterfall. Look at the River. Dad & Elaine came to: Hukou Waterfall (壶口瀑布, Húkǒu Pùbù) for the obvious reason. It’s spectacular. 😂 The: Yellow River (黄河, Huáng Hé) comes roaring through a canyon between: Shanxi (山西, Shānxī) and: Shaanxi (陕西, Shǎnxī). Then the river suddenly narrows. The water crashes downward....
What the Terracotta Army Reveals About Qin Shi Huang — and the China He Created Most first-time travelers to: Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān) come for one place. The Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑, Bīngmǎyǒng). We did too. 😂 Rows upon rows of life-sized clay soldiers. Infantry. Archers. Officers. Horses. Chariots. One enormous underground army associated with: Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, Qín Shǐhuáng) — China’s: First Emperor (始皇帝, Shǐ Huángdì). You’ve seen the photographs. But when...
Section 1 — Before Beijing Was Beijing: Who Lived Here Hundreds of Thousands of Years Ago? Most international travelers come to Beijing (北京, Běijīng) for the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven and perhaps the hutongs. But about 42 kilometers southwest of central Beijing is a very different kind of historical destination: the Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site (周口店北京人遗址, Zhōukǒudiàn Běijīngrén Yízhǐ) — a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the...
Section 1 — Five Peaks, One Bodhisattva, and a Sacred Mountain With an International Story Elaine and I traveled to Mount Wutai (五台山, Wǔtái Shān) in Shanxi expecting one of China’s great Buddhist mountain destinations. What I hadn’t fully appreciated was that Mount Wutai isn’t important only to Chinese Buddhism. For centuries, its reputation traveled far beyond Shanxi — attracting monks, pilgrims and rulers from across a much wider Asian Buddhist world....
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