Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān) → Hancheng (韩城, Hánchéng) → Yuncheng (运城, Yùnchéng) → Linfen (临汾, Línfén) → Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān) Qin (秦, Qín). Sima Qian (司马迁, Sīmǎ Qiān). Yu (禹, Yǔ). Shun (舜, Shùn). Yao (尧, Yáo). Taosi (陶寺, Táosì). Two green trains. One unexpected lunch. Then back to Xi’an. Most first-time travelers come to Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān) for a very good reason. The Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑, Bīngmǎyǒng). You stand in front of...
Linfen (临汾, Línfén): We Came for a City — and Found 4,000 Years of China Most international travelers planning their first trip to China have heard of: Beijing. Shanghai. Xi’an. Maybe Chengdu and Chongqing. But: Linfen? 😂 Dad hadn’t put Linfen (临汾, Línfén) on our journey because it was a famous tourist city. We came because we kept asking one annoying question in Xi’an: What came before Qin? And that question sent...
One Province. Multiple Chinas. Datong (大同, Dàtóng) → Yungang Grottoes (云冈石窟, Yúngāng Shíkū) → Hanging Temple (悬空寺, Xuánkōng Sì) / Yingxian Wooden Pagoda (应县木塔, Yìngxiàn Mùtǎ) → Yanmen Pass (雁门关, Yànménguān) → Taiyuan (太原, Tàiyuán) → Jinci (晋祠, Jìncí) → Pingyao (平遥, Píngyáo) → Linfen (临汾, Línfén) → Yuncheng (运城, Yùnchéng) Travel China. Let the places teach you Chinese history. Most travelers planning a trip through: Shanxi (山西, Shānxī) start with a...
Five Places. Five Questions. One Connected Journey Beyond Beijing (北京, Běijīng). Beijing (北京, Běijīng) → Jinan (济南, Jǐnán) → Mount Tai (泰山, Tàishān) → Qufu (曲阜, Qūfù) → Linzi (临淄, Línzī) / Zibo (淄博, Zībó) → Dezhou (德州, Dézhōu) → Beijing (北京, Běijīng) Most China itineraries tell you: WHERE TO GO. This journey asks something different: WHAT SHOULD YOU TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHEN YOU GET THERE? Dad originally started taking Elaine to...
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...
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