“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Lao Tzu (the founder of Taoism, 6th century BC)
Hesitantly, I step foot on Chinese soil. I don't know what to expect. Would I feel unsafe? intimidated? Hostile vibes? With the Chinese firewall blocking all of the toolsI I usually use to communicate with the world - google map, gmail, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. We have to get used to Chinese Apps like: WeChat, Baidu translate, Alipay and Didi (the equivalent of Uber). It is like entering a new Universe with different rules of engagement. China is a country of one point four billion people, the world's oldest continuous civilization. It is a place unlike anywhere else I've ever been to. Historically - four thousands years of written history. Geographically - snow capped mountains, deep river valleys, high plateaus, broad basins, deserts and sandy dunes. Economically - it is the largest manufacturer and exporter of goods in the world and the "world's factory". A one party state, ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It evokes a range of emotions in me. On the one hand, a deep appreciation for the incredible human achievements and contributions throughout history. And on the other, prejudices against the authoritarian state ruled by the central communist government and its violent assault on human rights in modern history. China - Complex. Mysterious. Picturesque. Waiting for me to explore.
Beijing
Trying to hold back fatigue after a 15 plus hour flight and 15 hour time change, I find myself standing in the middle of Tiananmen square, (Gate of Heavenly Peace) with the eyes of Chairman Mao staring right at me. "No matter where you stand", our guide tells us, "Chairman Mao's eyes look directly at you". It was here, in 1949, in this large public square, that Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China. During 1989, pro-democracy protests took place in the square and were violently cracked down. Those protesting were massacred by the Chinese government. The government has never accepted responsibility for the massacre or held any officials legally accountable for the killings. Today, thirty five years later, the Chinese government is seeking to erase the memory of the Tiananmen Massacre from history. The memory of the video of a man standing in front of a tank that became the international symbol for the uprising of 1989 is still engraved in my brains, but out here, where it took place, all I can see are flowerbeds.
The “Forbidden City”, the center of politics and the seat of power was built during the Ming dynasty in 1420 to serve as an imperial palace. The complex covers a vast area of 180 acres and contains over 980 surviving buildings, showcasing traditional Chinese palatial architecture and design. It is surrounded by a great moat, 6 meters deep and walls, 10 meters high, to ensure the protection of the emperor - the son of heaven and heaven's earthly representative. Every detail in the design is rich in symbolism, from its golden yellow tiles – a color linking the emperor to the sun – to the ceramic animals that line the corners of the palace roofs. The dragon stands for the emperor and the power invested in him, the phoenix signifies virtue and the seahorse brings good fortune. By lunch time, I've already walked 12.000 steps, I try and fail to memorize the many different dynasties that ruled China and I've managed to get lost in the labyrinth of palaces and museum exhibits of nearly one million works of art, paintings, sculptures, imperial treasures and important collections. Big groups of Chinese tourists are led by an obnoxious, loud guide with a microphone carrying tall flags, all wearing either the same hats, or same shirts move in unison - there is no way to escape them. At every step, I can't help but think of the thousands of concubines and eunuchs that within those 10-meter high walls called this place home. The thought of how one becomes a eunuch gives me the creeps - selling your manhood for a comfortable job.
The Temple of heaven, built between 1406-1420, is a complex of Taoist buildings (a philosophy that emphasizes the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature) where emperors visited for annual ceremonies to pray for good harvests. The park of the Temple of Heaven is full of life In the morning, as many local elderly people meet there to sing, exercise, and practice Tai Chi. The temple's layout symbolizes the belief that heaven is round and earth is square. Towards the end of our visit, a school kid approaches me and asks if I am an American. He wants to know why I choose to visit China. I tell him that I am curious about China's history - old and current and I want to experience it first hand. He writes my response in a notebook, a school assignment I am sure. When I compliment him for his English - as English is barely spoken here - his friend rushes to tell me that his parents are rich and they can afford to travel to the US so he can practice his English. Do I sense a class structure?
This is where we are first introduced to a phenomenon we are going to encounter all over China. Girls dressed in traditional Chinese clothes called Hanfu (a renaissance of the ancient clothing traditionally worn by ethnic-majority Han Chinese) wearing heavy make up and stylized hair are accompanied by a professional photographer, pose for a photoshoot in front of historical sites or scenic spots and then post the results to Chinese social media. Searches for “new Chinese style” and “new Chinese style outfits” hashtags exceeded 100 million posts this month.
It is relatively early in the morning when we arrive at the Great Wall of China. My legs are giving way, struggling to continue carrying me further from one watch tower to the next. The Great Wall's 21196.18 km of fortification built over two millennia, starting as early as the 7th century BC, to defend against invasions - is the longest structure humans have ever built on the planet. A great army of manpower, composed of soldiers, prisoners, and local people, toiled to build the wall. I walk the Mutianyu portion, a well-preserved section of the Great Wall. This morning, there are few tourists around, so we enjoy the stunning scenery and the beautifully restored architecture all to ourselves. The sheer size, scale, and historical significance of this wall, inspires a profound sense of awe in me. What an incredible human achievement.
Later in the day, we hop on a rickshaw to ride in the narrow alleys of a Hutong. Hutongs are a maze of historic alleyways with old single storey traditional courtyards houses, which join together to form communities. It is populated by a few families and it is a pretty condensed space both physically and socially. Hutongs have been around for hundreds of years, and they reflect the culture of the common people. Unfortunately, over the years many of the Hutongs have been demolished to make way for new residential and commercial areas. We are invited to visit a local family of three generations that live around the courtyard and share a common kitchen. I feel transported to a bygone era, a remnant of old Beijing. Towards the end of our visit, the head of the family generously offers us a good luck charm. Xiu Xiu ( thank you )
The Summer palace, the largest and best preserved royal park in China, is a vast collection of lakes, gardens and palaces. Once a luxurious retreat for emperors fleeing the suffocating summer heat of the old imperial city and most significantly, the retirement playground of Empress Dowager Cixi. My fascination with the Dowager Cixi empress has been building up throughout my visit in Beijing. A third level concubine Manchu, she conned her way into power. The story of her life and reign remains veiled by varying versions of the truth. It is a hazy day with no clear visibility and the place is crowded with tourists. It is hard to walk in the Empress Cixi's shaded corridor and not to marvel at the Chinese garden design - my favorite place, without bumping into hundreds of people, mostly Chinese. At the end of the Long Corridor stands the famous 26-meter-long, double decker marble boat which Empress Cixi built in 1888. Arguably, the most powerful empress in Chinese history, known by the nickname of the Dragon Lady or "that evil old woman", she effectively controlled the Chinese government for 47 years and modernized China. In a male dominated society, her accomplishments are outstanding.
There are endless rows of high rise apartment blocks stacked like dominos, all symmetrically arranged as if in an army formation. Fading paint, caged balconies and windows with laundry hanging to dry. Some blocks seem completely empty and some are unfinished infrastructure - housing projects gone sour, or as they are called "ghost cities". Paradoxically, there are many new cars on the road, less than five years old, mostly electric. The variety of cars I've never heard of or seen before is impressive. One of them is called BYD which stands for "Build Your Dreams". On both sides of the boulevard, beautifully maintained roses are growing. It is so green - everywhere, I am in awe. Rapid progress on steroids or life on hold?
Xian
Xian, the oldest surviving capital of ancient China, the starting point of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang warriors. "What is the most important Chinese dynasty?" Susan, our Xian tour guide, asks us as she picks us up from the airport. "The Ming dynasty", I am happy to volunteer. "Wrong", she corrects me, "it is the Qin dynasty, the one that established the first great Chinese empire". Even-though the dynasty lasted only from 221 to 207 BCE it managed to standardized writing throughout the empire, built expansive infrastructure, standardized currency and measurement, the beginnings of the Great Wall and, the construction of the famous Terracotta Army. "And that is why", she says "It is the most important dynasty in my opinion."
Taking it all in, I am awestruck by the artistry and craftsmanship of this ancient civilization - a testament to China's enduring cultural legacy. This incredible army of over 7000 soldiers, archers, horses and chariots in full battle array has guarded Emperor Qin's tomb since 210 BC. Amazingly, no two figures are exactly alike -each has unique facial features and styles. These life-size, chalky-gray warrior demonstrates an overwhelming show of force — Qin Shi Huang could continue to rule over his empire even in death. Seeing rows upon rows of lifelike statues and thinking that they’ve been there for 2,200 years in all their splendor is mind boggling. Peasants digging a well first discovered the Terracotta soldiers completely by accident in 1974 without any historical record of their existence. It is perhaps the enormous scale of the discovery that has added to the mystery and captivated the world,
I will be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of Chinese food. Being a vegetarian that doesn't like mushrooms makes a hard situation even harder. Alas, very oily and spicy as hell food, or sugar in my eggplant make my stomach cringe. And that's why, a visit to the Muslim Quarter's street food, to indulge in my favorite, Mediterranean food sounds very appealing. Excitedly, I wind my way through the alleys, dodging bicycles, bumping into barrage of people, through street Hawkers wearing white caps selling pomegranates juice, shredded pork belly, BBQ skewers, mutton lamb stew, roast beef and hot, spicy oil but in this Muslim quarters there is no humus, falafel or labne to be found.
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Chinese people in general are very friendly and so we find ourselves sitting at our guide's 27th floor apartment drinking a special kind of tea and staring at the next door exact replica high-rise apartment. A big TV is on display in the middle of the living room, some Chinese music is playing and clothes are hanging to dry on the balcony - a standard middle class Chinese apartment. The Communist party has given its tacit approval to the emerging middle class as a positive aspect of modernization. Susan seems trustworthy and intelligent, she tells us that Chairman Xi is a genius. He is short, she says but compensates by having a big brain. Then she confesses that she started having doubts about the validity of the news she hears on TV since COVID. Her confidence in what is true and what is made up is starting to collapse.
Guilin
China is a very ethnically homogenous country, one ethnic group, the Han, make up 92 % of China's population. Han Chinese in China have been a culturally, economically and politically dominant majority throughout most of China's recorded history. Here in Guilin, in the southern part of China, we encountered our first minority guide, William. There are 28 different ethnic minority groups in China with William's Zhuang minority being the largest. Throughout China, all of our guides have Western names, either they don't trust us foreigners to pronounce their Chinese names correctly or are trying to make our lives easier. Guilin's spectacular setting among the jagged limestone karst hills is what brought us here - always on the look out for photo opportunities. From our hotel's breakfast's room we can see the picturesque bridge, the two rivers and four lakes break through the fog. I find myself wandering aimlessly for hours, watching the many locals practice their TaiChi and dance by the lake. This is rural Chinese life, relaxed, simple and unassuming.
This place feels the most remote from my western civilization, it is more authentically Chinese than any other place I encountered so far. I walk in the footsteps of an old world rural charm, I smell the spicy foods and I look quite horrified at the strange food they sell, some of which I have no idea what it is or more, what kind of an animal or plant it used to be. Daxu Ancient Town still preserves the old black-tile architecture and streets paved with flagstones made smooth from a thousand years worth of carts, shoes and weather. Small traditional Chinese clinics (snake oil?) remain in prosperous old residential houses with elegant wooden carvings and elderly craftsmen still busy with their traditional work. This is a vanishing way of life, there are no young people living here and no one is coming back.
We are cruising down the famous river Li with its shallow green water to the sleepy town of Yangshuo. We flow past countryside houses, under the gaze of soaring green hills and wind through rice fields. It is foggy and windy up on the upper deck while Chinese and English announcements of the prime scenes go on and on like a broken record in the loudspeaker above. Through the fog and the sea of clouds we detect limestone formations in a non - stop procession of gorgeous karst peaks rising out of misty rivers, some resembling all kinds of animal shapes. There are only a few local bamboo fishermen boats to be seen before the big rain starts. It is pouring and blowing wind but we are still standing out on deck getting soaked, grasping the incredible nature in front of our eyes.
Shanghai
Shanghai being one of the core cities in the Yangtze River Delta region and one of the coastal cities in China, is one of the world's major centers for finance, business and economics, The Port of Shanghai is the world's busiest container port. Shanghai, with its 29 million people, larger than Beijing in terms of population, modern, bustling with energy and vibrance is a refreshing change from everything else I've experienced so far. Our hotel sits on the Bund, or what they call here "Oriental Paris", famous for its historical colonial buildings, some futuristic architecture and stunning views of the Pudong skyline across the Huangpu River. At night, I lay awake, on the 17th floor and stare at the "architecture gallery of skyscrapers" lit up in hues of purple and pink reflecting in the river. The visit to the top of the Shanghai tower, the second tallest building in the world, with panoramic views of the city from up above, I leave to Jason ( fear of heights ) to go and capture all those great photo opportunities while I travel further back in time at the 16th-century Yuyuan Garden with its tranquil pools and mellow pavilions. To end this perfect day, I entertain myself in colonial-era mansions mixed with hipster stores and funky restaurants in the Shanghai French Concession.
For our 35th anniversary, being the romantic I am, we plan to go sink in the ancient beauty of the Watertown of Xitang. The scenic town is known for the hundreds of old bridges that connect the cobbled-stone lanes and covered waterside walkways in town. During the evening, rowing boats lingering on the river and scarlet lanterns and reflecting bridges is the perfect way to celebrate our special day and end our trip on a high note.
Throughout our journey , China unfolds before me like a tapestry, woven with the rise and fall of emperors, ancient customs, unity and division and significant cultural and technological advances. I marvel at the on time modern transportation they have and I feel safe here at all times. Alas, as our days come to a close, my initial enthusiasm begins to dim. I notice more and more the surveillance cameras everywhere. I sense a measure of uncertainty and loss of optimism of where the country is going. I hear more about youth unemployment that hit record highs this year. I continuously see high rise buildings standing still, half done and empty. I sense people are questioning what is next. Saying that, the warmth and hospitality of the people I met along the way leave an indelible mark on my heart. Their kindness and generosity managed to bridge cultural divides and for that, I am forever grateful. China is indeed - Complex. Mysterious and picturesque.
Photography by Jason McBride and Irit Raz-mcbride.