Travel China with the Yangxifu: Getting Beyond the “Postcard China”
Sometimes the best China travel happens off the tourist circuit. Find the more everyday side of China, and/or Chinese culture, on your trip, with these ideas.
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Travel China’s offbeat and unusual destinations, with one Western woman married to a Chinese man.
Travel China with the Yangxifu: Mao Zedong’s Childhood House, Shaoshan, Hunan
Nestled in the sun-kissed hills of central Hunan, there’s an ordinary yellow mud-brick peasant house with a not-so-ordinary neighbor —
Read moreTravel China with the Yangxifu: The Spooky Sanxingdui Museum, Guanghan, Sichuan
Sanxingdui, the Sichuan mystery that forever shook up Chinese history as we know it, is on display at the Sanxingdui Museum near Chengdu, with some of the spookiest bronzes you’ll ever see in China.
Read moreTravel China with the Yangxifu: Mawangdui, Hunan Museum, Changsha
The over 2,000-year-old Mawangdui mummy is amazing, but it’s not the only amazing thing on display at this special exhibit at the Hunan Provincial Museum. From ancient leftovers to revealing silk texts and even a story-high coffin, Mawangdui wows the visitor from beginning to end.
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Travel China with the Yangxifu: Yuanmingyuan Park (the Old Summer Palace)
Beijing’s Yuanmingyuan Park, or the Old Summer Palace, is a a quiet reminder of foreign aggression on China and the country’s past humiliation.
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Travel China with the Yangxifu: Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, Henan Province
Just East of Xi’an, four hours up the railway line to Beijing, is another grand cache of art that stands in the Terracotta Warriors’ shadows, but delivers almost as many “wow” moments. I’m talking Luoyang’s Longmen Grottoes — a string of over 100,000 Buddhist images and statues carved into a hillside during China’s Wei and Tang Dynasties.
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Travel China with the Yangxifu: Shang Dynasty Wall Ruins, Zhengzhou, China
It’s one thing to see China’s history in a museum, and another to walk on it. Zhengzhou, China offers such an experience at the Shang Dynasty Wall Ruins.
Read moreTravel China with the Yangxifu: Suzhou’s Wedding Gown Street
Are you engaged? Living in or going to China? Consider a visit to Suzhou’s Wedding Gown Street, where bridal beauty of your dreams is a bargain.
Read moreTravel China with the Yangxifu: Po Pagoda (繁塔), Kaifeng, China
Po Pagoda, a stumpy gray Northern Song-era pagoda in Kaifeng, China covered in tiles featuring Buddhist images, is unusual for its design, size and even shape.
Read moreInterview on China Travel 2.0
In an interview with China Travel 2.0, I talk about my first China impressions, learning Chinese, meeting my Chinese inlaws, and tips on travel around China.
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