Browsing Category: DEEP China Series

Section 1 — From the Zhou Homeland to the Last Campaign of Zhuge Liang Stay a few days in Baoji and you can travel through more than a thousand years of Chinese history without going very far. One day, Elaine and I were following the ancient Zhou world around Qishan. Another rabbit hole nearby takes you to Wuzhangyuan — where Zhuge Liang fought his final campaign in 234 CE. By now you...

Section 1 — The Dynasty That Makes the Rest of Ancient China Easier to Understand If Qin Shi Huang is your starting point for ancient China, the Zhou dynasty is probably the next dynasty you should understand. Because once Zhou makes sense, Confucius, the Spring and Autumn period, the Warring States, the Mandate of Heaven — and eventually Qin’s unification of China — all begin fitting together. Elaine and I didn’t set...

Section 1 — Two Characters Every Traveler in China Knows Walk into a museum in Baoji and you can encounter a bronze vessel made more than 3,000 years ago. Inside its inscription are two characters that every traveler in China sees today: 中国. But before you conclude that someone was already writing the modern name “China” three millennia ago, there’s a wonderful historical rabbit hole we need to explore. If you’ve traveled...

Section 1 — Leave the Museum and Walk Into the Zhou Landscape In Baoji, Elaine and I encountered the Zhou dynasty through ancient bronzes. Then we went farther — to Qishan and Zhouyuan, visited the Temple of the Duke of Zhou and climbed Fenghuangshan. Because sometimes the best way to make 3,000-year-old history feel real is to leave the museum and walk into the landscape where the story began. Our journey started...

Section 1 — What Came Before Qin? Most international travelers come to Xi’an to meet Qin Shi Huang and his Terracotta Warriors. Elaine and I traveled farther west to Baoji — and discovered that one of the best ways to understand China’s First Emperor is to ask a much simpler question: what came before Qin? Xi’an gives international travelers one of the easiest doorways into ancient Chinese history. You meet: 秦始皇 —...

Section 1 — Why China Kept Building Walls Most international travelers meet the Great Wall near Beijing. Elaine and I went farther west, to Yanmenguan in Shanxi — one of China’s great northern mountain passes. Standing there made me ask a much bigger question: why did Chinese states and dynasties keep building walls along the northern frontier for more than two thousand years? Everyone knows: The Great Wall of China — 长城...

Section 1 — From Xi’an to Yuncheng: Another Rabbit Hole Across the Yellow River Travel northeast from Xi’an into Yuncheng and Chinese history does something slightly strange. Instead of asking you to remember another emperor or another battle, it asks a much older question: what makes someone a good ruler — or even a good person? After traveling through Hancheng (韩城), Elaine and I continued into another historically extraordinary part of northern China:...

Section 1 — Take the Historical Rabbit Hole North From Xi’an Most international travelers come to Xi’an to meet China’s First Emperor. Travel north to Hancheng, however, and you’ll meet the man whose great historical work helped later generations remember Qin Shi Huang — and centuries of Chinese history before him. Xi’an is one of the best places in China to become infected with Chinese history. 😂 You see the Terracotta Warriors....

Section 1 — Travel Back More Than 3,000 Years to Shang China From Beijing, travel south to Anyang and you can stand inside the remains of a Chinese capital more than 3,000 years old — where archaeologists found royal tombs, magnificent bronzes and thousands of inscribed bones carrying questions asked by people of the Shang dynasty. After our too-short overnight stop in Handan (邯郸, Hándān), Elaine and I continued south to: Anyang —...

We stopped overnight in Handan on our way from Beijing toward the UNESCO ruins of ancient Shang at Anyang. We visited Congtai, took our photographs and continued south. Only later did I realize just how badly I had underestimated this city. 😂 This Deep China story begins with a confession. When Elaine and I visited: Handan — 邯郸 (Hándān) we weren’t making a great historical pilgrimage to the ancient State of Zhao....