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. 🎥...
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...
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...
Before Zhou Became a Dynasty, It Was Already a People, a Place — and a Story Most first-time travelers to China meet the: Zhou dynasty (周朝, Zhōu Cháo) as a date. 1046 BCE Zhou defeats Shang. New dynasty. Next chapter. 😂 That’s useful for an exam. But travel gives us a better question: Where did the Zhou come from BEFORE they defeated Shang? That question eventually took Dad & Elaine beyond Xi’an…...
You’ve Seen the Terracotta Warriors. Now Take the Train West and Find Out What Came Before. For most first-time international travelers: Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān) is already one of the great stops on a China itinerary. And rightly so. You come for: Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, Qín Shǐhuáng) and: the Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑, Bīngmǎyǒng). You stand in front of that extraordinary underground army and meet the ruler who completed the conquest of the...
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:...
One Small City. Several Very Different Chinas. Xi’an gives first-time travelers some enormous names. Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇. Terracotta Warriors 兵马俑. Han 汉. Tang 唐. Hancheng is different. It doesn’t hit you with one gigantic headline attraction. Instead, this smaller city northeast of Xi’an quietly opens several doors into completely different layers of Chinese history. Dad & Elaine came because of one man: Sima Qian (司马迁, Sīmǎ Qiān). Then Hancheng started adding...
Every day, thousands of travellers land at Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (西安咸阳国际机场). Almost all of them do exactly the same thing. They collect their luggage, call a Didi, board the airport metro, or catch the high-speed train, eager to reach the famous sights of Xi’an (西安)—the Terracotta Army (兵马俑), the Ancient City Wall (西安城墙), the Muslim Quarter (回民街), and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (大雁塔). Hardly anyone stops. Even fewer realise that just a short...
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