Discover China

The China Daily article Brazen heights provides a fascinating insight into the Yinxu palaces of late Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BC) and this ancient kingdom and its society. Yinxu is located in Anyang city in Henan province. The treasure-filled Yinxu’s Archeological Museum is built under the earth, so as to not tamper with the natural landscape above it.

China has celebrated the Qingming Festival, when it’s traditional for people to pay tribute to their ancestors and the heroes who died serving their country.

In central China’s Henan Province holiday makers enjoyed some of these varied traditions at the 2012 Kaifeng Qingming Culture Festival. Kaifeng is closely linked to Qingming Festival, with the famous ancient painting “The Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival” capturing life in the Northern Song capital of Bianjing, which is today’s Kaifeng.

In the Qingming River Garden, the bustling scene depicted on the scroll painting comes to life. There is also a model of the scene in the excellent Henan Museum in Zhengzhou which I visited on my trip to Beijing, Tianjin, and Zhengzhou in December 2010 – January 2011.

China is the “country of the dragon”, with the dragon featuring prominently in Chinese mythology and folklore. The Shenzhen Daily article Country of the dragon introduces some fascinating places where you can learn about this aspect of Chinese history in the Year of the Dragon – Longmen Grottoes in Henan, Longji Terrace, Guangxi and Huanglong, Sichuan. I visited the amazing Longmen Grottoes during my trip to Luoyang in Henan Province in 2008 (see the story and pictures).

Songshan is considered to be the central sacred mountain of China. At the foot of this 1500 metre high mountain, close to the city of Dengfeng in Henan province and spread over a 40 square-kilometre circle, stand eight clusters of buildings and sites. These buildings are reflections of different ways of perceiving the centre of heaven and earth and the power of the mountain as a centre for religious devotion. Find out more about this amazing World Heritage listed location by watching the online videos of the CNTV Journeys in Time six-part Series: Mount Songshan.

I enjoyed a visit to the Songshan Shaolin Temple and its ancient pagoda forest as part of my travels through Anhui, Henan and Zhejiang provinces in 2009 (see story and pictures).

In 2008 I had the pleasure of visiting the White Horse Temple in Luoyang in central China’s Henan Province (see story and pictures). With over 1900 years of history, White Horse Temple is described as the cradle of Buddhism in China.

Over the next eight years, the temple will be expanded into an 87 hectare cultural park, the largest in China, with an International Temples Zone showcasing 10 exotic shrines from foreign countries. One can already be visited – an Indian shrine opened in May 2010. Two more will open shortly – a Thai shrine built in the 1990s is being expanded and will open in April, and a Myanmar Buddhist garden will be created in April.

Find out more in the China Daily article ‘Cradle of Chinese Buddhism’ embraces world.