Concise Index to Xenophon topics China

THIS SECTION LISTS TOPICS RELATED TO CHINA

JOHN SLOAN

Extraordinary Wonders of China and The Yangtze River Cruise This is the title the tour company gives for the very enjoyable and comprehensive but necessairly brief visit to China - brief in compaison to the huge number of fascinating places on wishes to visit. The link is to the day by day report describing the activities and sights.

Beijing - This is a link to the photography we made during out visit to China and the table also has links to other cities we visited.

Aviation Museum The museum is in and adjacent to a tunnel - This is a link to the photography I made during our visit to China.

Chongquin is now the largest city in area in China. This is because the surrounding province was amalgamated into the city - or to put it the other way the city was turned into the whole province. This link is to the photography we made there during our tour

Fengdu, The "ghost city' is located on the left bank of the Yangtze on the side of MingShan mountain. The mountain since ancient times has been the home of Tianzi - King of the Dead. This is a link to the photography I made there during the visit to China

Guilin is the center of a tourist industry with popular cruises on the Li jang River and visits to the remarkable limestone formations and caves. The name means cassia tree forest - the cassia is also called osmanthus a fragrant blossoming tree. The town was founded far back in history, in 214 BC, during the reign of Qin Shi Hungdi, the first emperor (whose capital and terra cotta soldiers we found far to the north). This is a link to the photography I made during the visit to China.

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province. It is an ancient and important city which was the southern terminus of the Grand Canal. It is on Hangzhou Bay and now is located on the east side of Xi Hu Lake, in a formerly submerged area. The lake was formerly part of the bay and open to the sea until in the 4th century the accumulation of silt blocked the entrance. This is a link to the photography I made during our visit to China.

Hong Kong was the last city during our tour - we visited on day twenty. The history of this fascinating city is welll known. It was an island inhabited by a few fisherfolk when the British siezed it at the end of the Opium war by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The Imperial Chinese government was compelled to cede the island to Great Britain for use as a commercial base. Eighteen years later with the Treaty of Peking the mainland opposite - Kowloon was added. And in 1898 the further area of mainland known as the New Territories was leased for 99 years. But this region was inhabited since Neolithic times and was then settled during the Han Dynasty. It was expanded during the Sung Dynasty 960 - 1279. This is a link to photography of many different sections of the city and Kowloon.

This is a very large and remarkable military museum in which Chinese history is extolled. There are several halls devoted to Chinese military history since Neolithic times, Another hall is full of modern weapons, The "Hall of Presents' is a rather unique one, displaying some 500 ceremonial gifts given to Chinese officials by personages from countries around the world. This is a link to photography we made while exploring the many exhibits.

Shanghai is a wealthy, moderizing city but also retains interesting locals from its earlier times. This is a link to photography we made during out visit.

Wushan is located at the confluence of the Daning and Yangtze (Chang Jiang) Rivers. It is an important river stop because of the tourist interest in visiting the Three Little Gorges on the Daning. It is also between two of the main gorges on the Yangtze itself. Already the lower part of the town has been covered by the rising Yangtze and one can see the preparations for the new town at a higher level. The gorges also are being submerged - or rather the river level along the canyon walls is rising. There are more views of Wushan under construction in the section on the Yangtze river. This is a link that includes photography of an interesting tour through the Three Little Gorges by small craft.

Today Xi'an is a manufacturing city, capital of Shaaxi Province, with a population of 5 million. It is a very wealthy city, as visits to the up-scale stores will reveal, but in a relatively poor agricultural region of the Wei River valley and 100 miles from the Huang He River.
It was the imperial capital (or actually they were at now ruined sites in the close proximity) for 11 - 13 dynasties (sources vary), between 1000 BC and 1000 AD. Now it is most famous as a tourist center due to the discovery of the underground Terra Cotta Army of the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (210 BC) - Bing Mayong - 20 miles east of town.The link is to the photography I made in 2007. The medieval city walls are very impressive.

Here are photographs of the Yangtze River, the huge dam, the gorges and scenes of activities on board the cruise ship during our visit in 2007.

Yichang is the last port town on the lower Yangtzi before the Three Gorges Dam when going up stream. Some of the cruises on the middle Yangtzi to Chongquin start or end here.