When locals mentioned a smaller place close by, my mind immediately painted a still life image of a horse drawn cart loaded with luscious brightly colored fruit. As this concept became more vivid in my mental eye – my need, to embark on a journey to see the quaint little town with the river running through it, had to be met! A little research showed that it has a population of close to 4 million which could just as well have been New Zealand.

“You’re going to climb Hua Shan?! Oh no… Please be careful! It‘s so dangerous there!” I can’t tell you how many times I heard Chinese people say this to me the week leading up to my summit of Hua Shan. Literally every person I told about my planned climb told me of the perils that are involved in climbing Shaanxi’s sacred mountain. At the time, I thought everybody was freaking out over nothing. I figured that their warnings about Hua Shan were the same kind of warnings as “don’t drink cold water” or “be careful of the bright sun today” that I often hear from Chinese people. Seriously, how dangerous could the climb be?

The Yellow River is said to be one of the most unique rivers in the world. It flows from the Tibetan Plateau in northern China and then continues northwards towards Mongolia. The river then runs south through the Qinling Mountains and finally heads east towards the sea via 50 different routes. Both the Yellow and the Yangtze River flow through China from the Tibetan Plateau. The two rivers are well known for the amount of glacial silt they carry. The Yellow River is said to be the most silt laden river in the world and is thought to have even more of the material than the Yukon River, the Mississippi, the Amazon and the Nile. For tens of millions of years glaciers have been grinding down the sides of the Himalayas producing the crushed rock. The rock is so fine that it can stay in the rivers for long periods of time. It is thought that the best farmland in China is along the eastern seashore, which was in fact created by the deposits of glacial slit from the two rivers.

There is an old Chinese saying: “不到长城非好汉 (bu dao chang cheng fei hao han)”.It means “he who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man”. As we known, the Great Wall is the symbol of China. If you come to Xi’an, you will see a very beautiful landmark around this ancient city. Through it, you can see China's ancient history and civilization. Yes, it is the Xi'an City Wall. Today, let’s visit the famous building together; explore the history and story behind it. 1. The history of the city wall The fortifications of Xi'an, an ancient capital of China, represent one of the oldest and best preserved Chinese city walls. The city wall of Xi’an is an extension of the prior Tang dynasty structure. It is the most complete city wall that has survived through China's long history. It was started by the Ming Dynasty in 1370 and finished in 1378 and has a rectangular –shaped construction. It is over 4 kilometers from the east to west and about 3 kilometers from the north to south. And the total length is 13.7 kilometers. It stands 12 meters high, 12-14 meters wide across the top and 15-18 meters thick at the button. On the top of the city wall, there is a rampart every 120 meters apart, which extends out from the main wall. The top of the rampart is at the same level as the top of the wall. The ramparts were built to allow soldiers to see their enemies who would try to climb up the wall. The distance between every two ramparts is just within the range of arrow shot from either side. This allowed soldiers to protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. There are altogether 98 of them on the city wall and each has a sentry building on top of it.

Blurry eyed and still half asleep I heat some water and stand impatiently as it comes to a boil, I’m up early, much earlier than usual and honestly…I didn’t even know the sun came up at this hour. The water comes to a boil and I throw in some tea, taking a sip, I sigh, squint my eyes and look outside its 8:30 in the morning, I guess my day has begun. I’m up today because I want to get out of this city, the noise, the crowds, the streets…it’s all been adding up lately and I need a break. I was told of a great place that has exactly what I am looking for, I’ll head there for the day and get some of that “fresh air” that I hear others talking so much about.

It’s called Cui Huashan and it’s about an hour south of the city, as I sat thinking about the beautiful trees, fresh air, and relaxing atmosphere my teas gone cold…hmmm I hope it’s not going to be one of those days. So I pick myself up, look down at my tea shake my head and grab my day pack. Now to be honest I did a little research into where I was going before waking myself up at the early hour of 8:30.

In July of 2006, I was on a bus heading through the Qinling Mountains in China with a beautiful young female. We were going to visit her aunt and relatives in the small town of Foping about 200 kms southwest of Xian. Donna is a student at the university in Xian where I am an associate professor of history. Donna is just a friend. I take trips with male and female students, but after the trip is I say good-bye to the guys and turn the females over to their boyfriends. Sometimes the female students have a hall pass to go with me. Sometimes they don’t. Back in America, at 56, I would not be a threat to anyone’s reproductive cycle. But in China, one cannot be certain. Donna’s aunt was located in the Qinling Mountains which are south of Xian, China in Shaanxi province where I live. One day Donna and I hiked a beautiful river valley with steep walls and lush vegetation. A river runs through it. We found two natural moss slickened rock slides to glide down into deep green pools of refreshingly cool water. The next day at a natural history museum in Foping (5,000 people), we met two Chinese guides and one American researcher who had been studying and observing Giant Pandas. When I discovered I might qualify for such a trip, it took me almost ten minutes to sign up. Five days were required to go to Xian and return to Foping with a student/translator and the necessary gear for six days of camping in the wilderness of the Qinling Mountains. It seemed as if I had been preparing for such an event all year.

As the season gets colder, two commodities become increasingly important: heavy clothes for going out, and books for staying in. Luckily, the markets in the xiaozhai district of Xi’an are able to supply both more than adequately. Outside the city walls, the XiaoZhai district is one of the most developed parts of the city, and one of the most popular for Xi’an’s youth. There certainly is no lack of things to do, between the Shaanxi Historical Museum, the largest bookstore in town, restaurants ranging from two-story KFC and McDonalds to the most expensive Korean food you are likely to find, and the many shopping centers and clothing stores that line the streets. For expatriates who have combed the insides of the city walls for things to do, this southern city district is a perfect stop. Book City is, by a wide margin, the largest bookstore in town. It stands at an impressive four stories tall and uses every inch of the space. While getting in with a bag or large purse is a bit of a hassle (you have to check it at a window by the door), the store is certainly worth checking out.