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...
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....
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...
Section 1 — We Came for the Ancient City. The Bigger Rabbit Hole Was Money. Pingyao (平遥) is one of China’s best-preserved historic cities and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Elaine and I went for the ancient walls, streets and courtyards. But behind that beautiful Ming-Qing cityscape lies another story that international travelers can easily miss: Shanxi merchants, long-distance trade, and an ingenious solution to a very practical problem — how do...
Section 1 — One Temple Outside Taiyuan Opens the Door to the State of Jin Just outside Taiyuan, Elaine and I visited Jinci (晋祠) expecting an important historical temple complex. Instead, it opened another enormous Chinese-history rabbit hole: the story of Jin (晋) — a state whose eventual breakup helped create the Warring States world of Zhao, Wei and Han. If you’ve traveled around: 山西 — Shānxī Shanxi you may already have...
Section 1 — Before You Explore Shanxi, Start in Taiyuan Shanxi is one of those Chinese provinces where history seems to be hiding everywhere. Elaine and I came for places such as Pingyao, Yanmenguan, Yungang, the Hanging Temple and Wutai Shan. But before disappearing into all those rabbit holes, we spent time in Taiyuan — and discovered that the provincial capital is one of the best places to understand what you’re about...
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