Savoring Qilu Culture at the Majestic Mount Tai, Singing Heroic Yanzhao Elegies to Praise Nature’s Grandeur — An 8-Day National Holiday Self-Drive Journey Through Shandong, Hebei, and Jiangsu

Savoring Qilu Culture at the Majestic Mount Tai, Singing Heroic Yanzhao Elegies to Praise Nature’s Grandeur

— An 8-Day National Holiday Self-Drive Journey Through Shandong, Hebei, and Jiangsu

Shandong and Hebei have been lands of vibrant thought, advanced education, and flourishing rituals since ancient times, but also lands of trustworthiness, chivalrous spirit, and heroes. From great Confucian thinkers like Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, Mozi who founded Mohism, Shang Yang the representative of Legalism, to Western Han Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu; from outstanding statesmen King Wuling of Zhao, Lian Po, Lin Xiangru, Lord Pingyuan, to the first real-life female manifestation of the Willow-Branch Guanyin—the Sui Dynasty Princess Nanyang, a brilliant healer who saved the suffering, and the Warring States miracle doctor Bian Que. The assassin Jing Ke, whose song “The wind howls, the Yi River is cold; the brave man leaves, never to return” still resonates; the loyal Zhao retainers Gongsun Chujiu and Cheng Ying who sacrificed their lives to protect the orphan of the Zhao clan, a deeply moving story of devotion; the Warring States general Yue Yi of Yan who captured 72 cities of Qi, and Zhao’s famed generals Zhao She and Li Mu; the heroes of the Three Kingdoms like that ever-loyal Zhao Zilong of Changshan, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei, Hebei’s own great warriors Yan Liang and Wen Chou; empire builders Qin Shi Huang, Li Yuan, Zhao Kuangyin, and Chai Rong (Emperor Shizong of Zhou); Han Yu of the Tang-Song Eight Great Prose Masters, poet Jia Dao, and the literary giant Cao Xueqin who wrote Dream of the Red Chamber; Li Chun the designer of the Sui Dynasty Zhaozhou Bridge; martial arts masters Huo Yuanjia, Broadsword Wang Wu, and Swallow Li San; Yang Luchan who founded Yang-style Tai Chi; and a host of brilliant Spring and Autumn and Warring States tales—Mao Sui Recommending Himself, Learning the Handan Walk, The General and the Premier Make Peace, Wearing Hu Attire and Shooting from Horseback—all show how this magical, magnificent land abounds in talent, heroes, and radiant splendour. To understand the cultural DNA and inner spirit of the Chinese people, Qilu and Yanzhao are undoubtedly the most representative provinces. So this October, the family trip to “accompany the young prince in his studies” was set in this vast, chivalry-infused land of Qilu and Yanzhao, brimming with humanistic warmth.

Ever since the Dragon Prince started learning the classic Analects a year ago, our focus on traditional culture has grown day by day. Over the years, we have traveled with the child to many places across the country, letting him experience vastly different local customs, witness the kaleidoscopic human history of our motherland, broaden his horizons and thinking, and build a sense of grand perspective. During the 2018 National Day holiday, we drove the Dragon Prince to Xuzhou and other places, allowing him to explore and connect with the birthplace of the Two Hans civilization, discover the highly developed “Three Wonders of Xuzhou”—Han tombs, Han terracotta warriors, and Han pictorial stones—trace the origins of Chinese painting art from ancient painted pottery, bronze vessels, cliff paintings and carvings to Han stone carvings, sculptures, and clay warrior figures, and understand the inextricable, intimate ties between art and life. Visiting Ximatai, the Chu King’s tomb, Xiang Yu’s hometown, and Gaozu Square, the child learned about the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era over 2,000 years ago, how Qin Shi Huang unified all under heaven and China emerged, opening the door to Chinese national history. At the end of Qin, chaos swept the empire, warlords fought for the Central Plains, and heroes everywhere took the stage. He heard how Zhao Gao “pointed at a deer and called it a horse,” how Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought the Chu–Han Contention, were “surrounded by Chu songs,” and how Xiang Yu bid his farewell to his beloved concubine; how Xiao He chased Han Xin under moonlight, how Han Xin was appointed commander-in-chief, and the origin of Liu Bang’s “Ode to the Great Wind.” Immersed in these stories while traveling, the child absorbed historical anecdotes, broadened his knowledge and cultural awareness, and nurtured a sense of national identity and pride. When the Dragon Prince was just over four, Mom bought him children’s editions of historical classics—Records of the Grand Historian, Five Thousand Years Up and Down, The Thirty-Six Stratagems, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Chinese History, and the full Great China Treasure Hunt series introducing local history and culture. His passion for 5,000 years of Chinese culture and profound human history was thus ignited. In later journeys, his interest and attention to historical and human geography were further solidified. We are grateful that such guiding, inspirational education sparked his curiosity and kindled the Dragon Prince’s deep love for history, culture, and the humanities.

For the 2019 National Day, we took him to Anhui and Jiangsu, wandering famous mountains and rivers, letting him step into nature, into pastoral landscapes, to touch the wild, to savor mountains and streams, and to cultivate his character. “Only what is national is global.” The 5,000-year Chinese cultural treasury glitters like stars, and a child must use their own eyes and feet to observe, measure, think, and choose. As the child grew, in July 2020 summer holiday, I took him on a self-drive loop around the Great Northwest, further expanding his vision and thinking space. Starting from Chang’an (Xi’an), the capital at the peak of Chinese civilization, we felt the grandeur of the Terracotta Army and the First Emperor’s mausoleum, grasped the heroic spirit of Han Emperor Wu’s Maoling Mausoleum “trampling the Xiongnu,” savored the profound historical layers of the Tang Dynasty’s Huaqing Palace, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Qianling Mausoleum, and Famen Temple, and carefully read the profound Buddhist teachings in the painted sculptures of the Northern Wei Maijishan Grottoes. Along the way, we drove, lingering amidst incense smoke at the ancient Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum in Shaanxi, strolling beside the roaring Yellow River at Hukou Waterfall, sitting in the serene Wutaishan temples where chanting rises to calm the world, gazing out over the vast, artifact-rich Yinxu ruins of the Shang capital, immersing ourselves in the splendid historical treasures of the Luoyang Museum, walking in the rain before the ancient worship niches in the Longmen Grottoes, quietly listening to the unyielding historical voice of the Chinese nation and sensing the evolutionary trail of ancient Chinese civilization. That northwest journey brought the Dragon Prince many mental transformations, a nirvana-like rebirth, a soaring leap. It was, perhaps, the best practice of “reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles.”

This double-festival National Day long holiday, we started from Shanghai and headed west then north, crossing all of Jiangsu to reach Shandong and Hebei, the farthest point being the Chengde Mountain Resort north of Beijing. It took eight days, covering a total distance of 3,415.4 km, averaging 436.93 km per day. Years of traveling have made the Dragon Prince deeply fond of self-drive tours. His heart full of curiosity and exploration makes every new, unfamiliar place poetic and full of anticipation. Unraveling the unknown, discovering a distant, strange place—that has become our travel passion. Forever longing and dreaming about the future—that is the source of our travel happiness.

On the first day of October (01/10), National Day, the whole day was on the road. We left home at 1:50 AM, only to be stuck in a two-hour jam on the Wuzhou Avenue elevated road, witnessing the first accident of the trip. Crashes lined the way, the worst a pile-up of more than 20 vehicles, luckily not too severe. Altogether, 17-plus hours and 826 km of driving before finally arriving at the foot of Mount Tai at the entrance—Hongmen. Without pause, we set up in the restaurant courtyard, arranged the equipment, and the Dragon Prince began an online class with his overseas schoolmates. Every day of the trip thereafter, no matter where we were, the Dragon Prince would punctually open his computer, rain or shine, to attend online lessons, wandering in the ocean of knowledge.

The second day (02/10), we drove to the Tianwai Village tourist service center, took a scenic bus along the winding mountain road for about 40 minutes to arrive at the Zhongtianmen cable car station. From there we rode the cable car over the Eighteen Bends, reaching the Nantianmen station 18 minutes later. We strolled along Tianjie and Guanri Peak, ascended to the ultimate summit of the Five Sacred Mountains, felt the towering majesty of Mount Tai standing equal to the heavens, gazed back at the historical traces where Qin and Han emperors conducted the grand Fengshan ceremonies, and embraced the feeling of “surveying all beneath the sky, all other mountains appear small,” fully experiencing the kingly aura of Mount Tai.

We wandered through Guangfu Ancient City, Hongji Bridge, Ganlu Temple, the Wujia Courtyard, and Yang Luchan’s former residence, absorbing the exquisite craftsmanship of ancient city walls, bridges, and buildings, appreciating the brilliance of the Willow-Branch Guanyin Buddhist culture, and the pride of Yang-style Tai Chi famed across the land. Standing atop the ancient city walls of Guangfu, gazing over the ancient Handan terrain, we felt the passionate surge of Yanzhao’s heroic elegies. Under the starry sky we sped to Baoding’s Laiyuan County, visiting the Baishishan World Geopark where we spent an entire day hiking a 7.2 km loop around the mountain, marveling at the majestic array of marble peaks—a rare world spectacle—and the vast splendour of rare ten-thousand-mu red birch forests. Under clear starry skies, we set off early to Zunhua in Hebei to see the Eastern Qing Tombs, the grandest, most systematically complete, and best laid-out Qing imperial tomb complex in the world, admiring the pure natural ecology of clear skies, blue water, and fresh air, and sensing an era when the emperor’s decrees were absolute, with no consort clan meddling, no tyrants, no eunuch dictators, and no lazy or corrupt governance—in China’s feudal autocratic history, the Qing dynasty was a model of official rectitude.

Skirting the ring expressways around the capital, we headed straight for the Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei, experiencing this vast, scenic imperial garden, the largest in the world, with its 36 scenic spots of Emperor Kangxi and 36 of Emperor Qianlong—shimmering waters, pavilions, and terraces scattered like stars. Chinese culture is deep and expansive: a mountain, a temple, an ancient town, a virtuous sage, a mausoleum, a garden, a landscape—each can bring you cultural Zen and historical emotion, letting you breathe in the pure pastoral air, bathe in the fragrance of culture and humanity, grasp the poetry and serenity of life, and see the bustling, glittering world more clearly.

Our itinerary for this trip across Hebei and Shandong was as follows:

Day 01 (01/10): Shanghai to Tai’an; stayed at Mountain Walk Inn, Tai’an.

Day 02 (02/10): Climbed Mount Tai to its summit, savored its majesty; stayed at Xintai Business Hotel, Feicheng County.

Day 03 (03/10): Visited Guangfu Ancient City (Hongji Bridge, Ganlu Temple, Ancient City Tower, Wujia Courtyard, Yang Luchan’s former residence); stayed at Jinlong Mountain Villa inside Baishishan scenic area, Laiyuan County.

Day 04 (04/10): Tour of Baishishan World Geopark—a grand loop from and back to the east gate, a full circuit; stayed again at Jinlong Mountain Villa.

Day 05 (05/10): Visited the Eastern Qing Tombs; stayed at Chengde Aolin Swimming Pool Hotel.

Day 06 (06/10): Visited Chengde Mountain Resort; stayed at the same hotel.

Day 07 (07/10): Continued to the Outer Eight Temples of Chengde—Putuo Zongcheng Temple and Xumi Fushou Temple (the “Little Potala Palace”). In the afternoon drove toward Zhenjiang, racing 1,175 km, finally checking into the GreenTree Inn Zhenjiang Central Avenue RT-Mart Express Hotel at 4:24 AM on the 8th.

Day 08 (08/10): Visited Zhenjiang’s Jiaoshan Scenic Area, strolled through the 1,800-year-old Dinghui Temple, viewed the Jiaoshan Stele Forest—second largest in China after the Xi’an Beilin—and climbed the Ten Thousand Buddhas Tower to feel the poet’s spirit of “The great river flows east, washing away the past.” In the afternoon, drove back to Shanghai and arrived home safely.

Travel is measuring mountains and rivers with your feet; writing is leaving a memory of what was seen on site. I hope this travelogue will record the Dragon Prince’s journey through Hebei and Shandong, for him to one day read and relive the joys and gains of the trip. So follow our camera lens and the Dragon Prince’s guided voice to glimpse this eight-day National Holiday journey across Hebei and Shandong—towering, majestic, peculiar mountains and waters, vast forests, and a dazzling canvas of human history and culture.