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 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 & Elaine Came for One of China’s Best-Preserved Walled Cities — Then Dad Found a Financial Rabbit Hole When international travelers hear: Pingyao (平遥, Píngyáo) in Shanxi Province (山西省, Shānxī Shěng)… the first image is usually the wall. And understandably so. The: Ancient City of Pingyao (平遥古城, Píngyáo Gǔchéng) is one of China’s great surviving historic walled cities. You can walk through: old streets, courtyards, shops, temples, government buildings, traditional residences,...
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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