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...
Don’t Just Pass Through Shanxi’s Capital — Use Taiyuan (太原, Tàiyuán) as Your Base Most first-time international travelers planning China know: Beijing (北京, Běijīng). Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān). Maybe: Pingyao (平遥, Píngyáo). But then Dad says: Taiyuan (太原, Tàiyuán). And the understandable response is: “Where?” 😂 Fair question. Because Taiyuan (太原, Tàiyuán) isn’t the city Dad expects most first-time international travelers to build their China trip around. But after Dad & Elaine traveled...
Stay a few days around Baoji (宝鸡, Bǎojī) and something strange happens to the timeline. One day, Dad & Elaine were following: Qishan (岐山, Qíshān) Zhouyuan (周原, Zhōuyuán) Duke of Zhou (周公, Zhōugōng) and the world of the: Western Zhou dynasty (西周, Xī Zhōu) — more than 3,000 years ago. Then our next rabbit hole jumped forward more than a thousand years. To: 234 CE. And one of the most famous names...
Beyond Xi’an: Qishan (岐山) & Zhouyuan (周原) — Walking Through the Homeland of the Zhou Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān) gives most international travelers their first great encounter with ancient China. The: Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑, Bīngmǎyǒng), Qin Dynasty (秦朝, Qín Cháo), and: Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, Qín Shǐ Huáng) are difficult to miss. But Dad & Elaine kept asking the question that causes so much trouble on ChinaTravelBUG: “WHAT CAME BEFORE QIN?” 😂🐇 That...
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...
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