{"id":19655,"date":"2018-06-18T10:03:09","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T14:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=19655"},"modified":"2020-08-14T09:58:03","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T13:58:03","slug":"fascination-china-part-iii-chinese-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/fascination-china-part-iii-chinese-china\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fascination of China (Part III) \u2013 Chinese China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese<\/em>\u00a0China? Hey, Jack, isn\u2019t all of China Chinese? Nope, far, far from it. Non-Chinese China is two-thirds bigger than Chinese China.<\/p>\n

In Part I, we talked about the far south of Yunnan composed of a welter of Non-Chinese tribal peoples. In Part II, we talked Inner Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, sparsely inhabited mostly by Mongols. Next week, we\u2019ll conclude the series with Remotest China, which has a double meaning: China\u2019s remotest regions of East Turkestan and Tibet, and China\u2019s geographical isolation from the world.<\/p>\n

Today, we focus on where the Chinese \u2013 meaning\u00a0Han Chinese,<\/a><\/em>\u00a0the largest ethnic group in the world at 1.3 billion \u2013 live. Since the 1930s, geographers have divided China by what\u2019s known as the Heihe-Tengchong Line.<\/p>\n

\"china<\/p>\n

West of the line is two-thirds of China\u2019s territory, east of the line is one third. The numbers signify that\u00a094% of the population of China lives in one-third of China\u2019s land<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually worse than that, for there are a lot of mountains in that one third. Which means that while China is a huge country, bigger than the United States sans Alaska,\u00a0habitable China<\/em>\u00a0is small – smaller, say, than the U.S. east of the Mississippi.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where 1.3 billion Han Chinese live, stacked up on top of one another in masses of humanity. This is where the world\u2019s largest cities are: Chunking (Chongqing) at 30 million, Shanghai at 24 million, Beijing at 22 million, and on and on. Even a city you may not have heard of, Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan Province, has over 16 million.<\/p>\n

What do you do in cities that gigantic? My policy is to see a few key things then get out of Dodge. In Beijing, see the Wall, the Forbidden City, Temple of the Seventh Heaven, assiduously avoid the mausoleum of the greatest mass-murderer in the history of mankind, and adios. There\u2019s just too much elsewhere that\u2019s fascinating in Chinese China. Let\u2019s take a look at some highlights.<\/p>\n

\"china<\/p>\n

Take a bullet train for a short ride north of Beijing along the Yellow Sea to a place called Panjin. There you will find a natural wonder called\u00a0Panjin Red Seabeach<\/a><\/em>. Every autumn, the marshlands of seagrass turn bright red, attracting over 200 species of birds. It\u2019s an unbelievable sight that\u2019s nowhere else on earth:<\/p>\n

\"Panjin<\/p>\n

\"Panjin<\/p>\n

Have the train continue to the capital of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, to visit the\u00a0World Heritage Site of the Shenyang Imperial Palace<\/a>. Built in the early 1600s, the Imperial Palace of the Qing (Ching) Dynasty is a combination of Mongolian, Manchu, and Han architectural styles. It is immense with 114 buildings and vast parks.<\/p>\n

\"shen<\/p>\n

\"palace\"<\/p>\n

Fly from Shenyang to Taiyuan, capital of the Shanxi Province. Drive south to see the monumental\u00a0Mengshan Giant Buddha<\/a><\/em>. Carved into a cliff in 551 AD, it was discovered in the 1980s and only recently opened after archaeological repair.<\/p>\n

\"giant<\/p>\n

\"giant<\/p>\n

Drive an hour further to arrive at the\u00a0World Heritage Site of the Ancient City of Ping Yao<\/a>. This is China\u2019s best-preserved medieval walled city, built during the earliest days of the Ming Dynasty in the 1300s.<\/p>\n

The New York Times recounts how Ping Yao was\u00a0\u201cThe Wall Street of China\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in the 19th\u00a0century. Mao brought that to an end, but the untouched medieval city remains. The streets have no cars, this is the China of hundreds of years ago. Marco Polo knew Ping Yao well \u2013 there is much here he would still recognize.<\/p>\n

\"wall<\/p>\n

\"ping<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a high-speed train to take you from Taiyuan (tie-wan<\/em>) to Zhangzhou (jhong-joe<\/em>), capital of the Henan Province. A short drive brings you to the World Heritage Tentative List Site of the\u00a0Mausoleum of King Lujian<\/a>, built in the early 1600s and China\u2019s most intact Ming Dynasty tomb.<\/p>\n

What I found most interesting there was \u00a0the tomb and shrine for worshipping this lady:<\/p>\n

\"tomb<\/p>\n

Who was she?<\/p>\n

\"tombstone\"<\/p>\n

Chinese women come from all over China to pray at the shrine of the king\u2019s favorite concubine, asking that she give their husbands the love the king had for her.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s drive up into the Taihang Mountains to a village perched on a mountaintop called\u00a0Guoliang<\/em>.\u00a0Until the 1970s, it was so isolated the only way to reach it was by climbing over a thousand slippery stone steps carved into the vertical cliffs below.\u00a0The villagers \u2013 illiterate farmers with no training \u2013 decided to carve a tunnel almost a mile long through the edge of the cliffs with dynamite and manual labor.\u00a0Several of them died in the effort.<\/p>\n

\"map<\/p>\n

Completed in the late 70s, only recently has it become known to the outside world as\u00a0The Precipice Long Corridor<\/em>. Driving through, it is simply an astounding experience.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Here I am with the leader of the village team that carved the corridor. He showed me the tools they used.<\/p>\n

\"leader<\/p>\n

\"tools\"<\/p>\n

The villagers are happy to invite you to lunch. That\u2019s when you notice the squirrels in cages. They\u2019re on the menu, boiled in a stew prepared right at your table. Delicious!<\/p>\n

\"squirells<\/p>\n

\"table\"<\/p>\n

Getting back to Zhangzhou, about an hour west we reach the\u00a0World Heritage Site of the Longmen Grottoes<\/a>, carved out of the cliffs along the Yi River well over 1,000 years ago. There are over 100,000 Buddhist statues within 1,400 caves carved into the cliffside of Longmen \u2013 “Dragon\u2019s Gate.”<\/p>\n

\"longmen\"<\/p>\n

\"Songshan<\/p>\n

From Luoyang, venture up into the Songshan Mountains to the\u00a0World Heritage Site of the Shaolin Monastery<\/a>, birthplace of the martial art of\u00a0kung-fu.<\/em><\/p>\n

While you\u2019re first greeted with an alarming kung-fu warrior statue, you quickly learn everyone is friendly, like these young students:<\/p>\n

\"kung-fu<\/p>\n

\"monks<\/p>\n

1,500 years old, Shaolin exudes beauty and calm, yet with electric energy:<\/p>\n

\"shaolin<\/p>\n

\"shaolin<\/p>\n

Back to Zhengzhou, it\u2019s a short flight to Xian, capital of the Shaanxi Province. The oldest of China\u2019s capitals, it was founded as\u00a0Fenghao<\/a>\u00a03,000 years ago in 1051 BC. Today, of course, it\u2019s world-famous for the\u00a0Terracotta Army of Emperor Chin (Qin)<\/a>\u00a0in the 3rd\u00a0century BC.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind though, you can\u2019t get close and mingle with the ancient statues. They are housed in a huge shed with an interior balcony where you can look down upon them \u2013 you really need binoculars to see them close.<\/p>\n

\"Terracotta<\/p>\n

\"Terracotta<\/p>\n

A short flight from Xian gets us to Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan Province. The skyline of Chengdu at night is an eye-opener:<\/p>\n

\"cheng<\/p>\n

Stroll down Chengdu\u2019s famous Jinli Ancient Street, where old Chinese folk customs are practiced with the new, and you\u2019re bound to meet really friendly people. Chengdu\u2019s reputation is as the friendliest city in China.<\/p>\n

\"jin<\/p>\n

\"chinese<\/p>\n

Be sure and head out to the\u00a0Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base<\/a>, the largest panda facility in the world, where pandas are being bred and raised in their natural habitat. There is no better place on the planet than here to be close to and study Giant Pandas. Be there early when they are feeding and most active.<\/p>\n

\"pandas<\/p>\n

\"panda\"<\/p>\n

It will take you a couple of hours from Chengdu to reach the\u00a0World Heritage Site of the Leshan Giant Buddha<\/a>, the largest Buddha sculpture in the world at 233 feet high, carved into the side of Mount Emei in the 8th\u00a0century.<\/p>\n

You saw it from below at the start of this essay. Note all the people with umbrellas coiling their way up the stone steps to the top. Rain didn\u2019t stop them, nor me.<\/p>\n

\"Site<\/p>\n

\"Leshan<\/p>\n

In the northwest corner of Sichuan, there\u2019s a mountain range running north-south called Minshan. At both ends is a pair of spectacular natural wonders twinned as World Heritage Sites:\u00a0Jiuzhaigou<\/a>\u00a0(jow-jhai-goo<\/em>) in the north and\u00a0Huanglong<\/a>\u00a0at the south. The fairyland dreamlike beauty of both is utterly captivating. Yes, this is real. First Jiuzhaigou\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Minshan\"<\/p>\n

\"Minshan\"<\/p>\n

In front of a waterfall, there was a gorgeous Chinese lady whose boyfriend was out of camera range. I couldn\u2019t resist. Then I saw they were getting married.<\/p>\n

\"lady<\/p>\n

\"couple<\/p>\n

Huanglong is a steep gorge holding a stepping-stone series of travertine terrace lakes of surreal beauty.<\/p>\n

\"Huanglong\"<\/p>\n

\"Huanglong\"<\/p>\n

\"Huanglong\"<\/p>\n

\"Huanglong\"<\/p>\n

Back in Chengdu, you take a flight to a place called Zhangjiajie (jhan-gee-ah<\/u>-hey<\/em>) in the Hunan Province. Here you explore the\u00a0World Heritage Site of Wulingyuan<\/a>. If you\u2019ve seen the James Cameron movie\u00a0Avatar<\/em>, one of Wulingyuan\u2019s 3,000 gigantic quartzite-sandstone pillars may look familiar, as it\u00a0inspired Avatar\u2019s “Floating Peaks.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\"floating<\/p>\n

To get to the clifftop Huangshi village overlooking the forest of giant stone pillars…<\/p>\n

\"Huangshi\"<\/p>\n

You take a cable car\u00a0through<\/em>\u00a0them:<\/p>\n

\"Huangshi<\/p>\n

The view is truly unearthly.<\/p>\n

\"Huangshi<\/p>\n

The highest peak in Zhangjiajie-Wulingyuan is Tianmen Shan \u2013 Heavenly Gate Mountain. The Gate is an enormous hole in the peak:<\/p>\n

\"highest<\/p>\n

We reach it not by the road with 99 hairpin turns, but via the world\u2019s longest high mountain cableway:<\/p>\n

\"Tianmen<\/p>\n

\"Tianmen<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not going to fly through the Gate of Heaven as stuntman Jeb Corliss did in a wingsuit \u2013 the two-minute YouTube\u00a0video of Corliss<\/a>\u00a0will blow your mind \u2013 but our experience of Tianmenshan will be amazing nonetheless.<\/p>\n

\"Gate<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just a few glimpses of Chinese China, for there\u2019s so much more. Wherever else you go, you\u2019ll likely end in Shanghai. It\u2019s one of the world\u2019s largest and now glitziest cities on the planet.<\/p>\n

\"shanghai\"<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re like me, the glitz will soon wear off, and you\u2019ll soon wish you were back in the serenity of Jiuzhaigou.<\/p>\n

\"Jiuzhaigou\"<\/p>\n

Wheeler Expeditions conducted this exploration of Chinese China in 2013. It\u2019s about time we did this again. If you\u2019d like to be notified, sign up below. And if there\u2019s someplace of adventure you\u2019ve always dreamed of experiencing yourself, let us know!<\/p>\n

Click here to get advance notice of expeditions you can join & stunning photos of Once-in-a-Lifetime Adventures<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jack Wheeler is the founder of\u00a0Wheeler Expeditions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chinese\u00a0China? Hey, Jack, isn\u2019t all of China Chinese? Nope, far, far from it. Non-Chinese China is two-thirds bigger than Chinese China. In Part I, we talked about the far south of Yunnan composed of a welter of Non-Chinese tribal peoples. In Part II, we talked Inner Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, sparsely inhabited mostly by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":366,"featured_media":19656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[11656,11657,11653,1792,1805,11655,11663,11660,7831,11662,11658,11659,11654,11652,11661,11665,2018,7830,7822],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/image16.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19655"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19655"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29811,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19655\/revisions\/29811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19655"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=19655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}