Elaine was climbing again. 😂 Up stone steps. Through old gateways. Higher and higher above the landscape outside: Hancheng (韩城, Hánchéng), Shaanxi. Our destination was: Sima Qian Temple and Tomb 司马迁祠墓 Sīmǎ Qiān Címù Dad had dragged Elaine here for one man. A historian who died more than: 2,000 YEARS AGO. 🐇 🎥 Come Up the Hill With Elaine Elaine climbs the steep stone steps toward the Sima Qian shrine complex in...
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. 🎥 Walk With Elaine to Huangdi Mausoleum Elaine walks along the...
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. 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. 🎥...
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...
Just Outside Beijing (北京, Běijīng), Dad & Elaine Found a Human Story Hundreds of Thousands of Years Older Than Imperial China When international travelers come to: Beijing (北京, Běijīng) we naturally think of history. The: Forbidden City (故宫, Gùgōng). The: Great Wall (长城, Chángchéng). The: Temple of Heaven (天坛, Tiāntán). Emperors. Dynasties. Palaces. Walls. Imperial China. But one day Dad & Elaine traveled southwest from central Beijing (北京, Běijīng)… and the historical...
Five Terraces, One Bodhisattva — and a Mountain That Became More Than Geography Dad & Elaine arrived at Mount Wutai (五台山, Wǔtái Shān) in Shanxi Province (山西省, Shānxī Shěng) after traveling through several very different historical worlds. At: Yanmenguan Pass (雁门关, Yànménguān) we were thinking about: northern frontiers, armies, walls, and: who controlled the road between the Central Plain and the northern steppe. At: Yungang Grottoes (云冈石窟, Yúngāng Shíkū) we met: Xianbei...
Section 1 — One Hangs From a Cliff. The Other Has Stood in Wood for Nearly 1,000 Years. After Yungang Grottoes introduced Elaine and me to the Northern Wei and the Xianbei world of northern China, we continued through northern Shanxi and encountered two buildings that almost seem determined to defy common sense: the Hanging Temple (悬空寺), clinging to a cliff near Mount Heng, and the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda (应县木塔), a towering...
Section 1 — Beyond the Great Wall: When the People From the Northern Frontier Became the Rulers At Yanmenguan (雁门关), Elaine and I stood on China’s northern frontier and asked why Chinese states and dynasties kept building walls. Then, farther north near Datong (大同), we visited Yungang Grottoes (云冈石窟) — and encountered the other half of the story. What happened when peoples from beyond the old Central Plains political world didn’t merely...
Dad and Elaine came to Pingyao (平遥, Píngyáo) expecting to see one of China’s great ancient walled cities. And when we arrived… that was exactly what we saw. A wall. A very BIG wall. 😂 But within the next few minutes, Dad began to realize something. The wall wasn’t really the story. The city behind it was. Come in with us. 🧱 Arriving at Pingyao (平遥) Dad and Elaine arriving outside the...
DEEP China: Jinci (晋祠, Jìncí) — Where the Story of Jin (晋, Jìn) Begins A 3,000-Year Story, Nearly 1,000-Year-Old Art and Architecture — and the Missing Link Elaine Had to Explain to Dad Travel around: Shanxi Province (山西省, Shānxī Shěng) and you’ll keep seeing one Chinese character: 晋 Jìn Look at a Shanxi license plate. There it is. Dad knew: Jin (晋, Jìn) is the official abbreviation for: Shanxi Province (山西省, Shānxī...
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