ewan yu, what's the 3 best cities to visit in China for a tourist? i'm planning on going there this summer or fall. i'm thinking shanghai, chongqing and maybe a third?
Hi Texas, thanks for your question. I’ll answer whatever I can. I write in Chinese first and then translate it, so please forgive me if anything isn’t perfect.
Since you’ve already got Shanghai and Chongqing covered, I’m sure you’ve done your travel homework, so I won’t go into details about those two cities. Instead, I’ll give you a third city as an alternative option.
-----------------
First choice: Xi’an.
The Terracotta Army dates back about 2,200 years. It was built for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. More than 700,000 craftsmen, prisoners, and laborers were drafted to construct it.
After Ying Zheng unified the six kingdoms, he became obsessed with one thing — immortality. He was terrified of death. He was the first emperor of China; he had power, wealth, and an entire empire. The only thing he feared was dying.
So he desperately searched for an elixir to live forever, and hunted for the legendary immortals. It’s said he gathered many Taoists and sorcerers to find a way for him to live eternally.
I don’t think he was just superstitious. It was his power that made him unwilling to die.
I think he finally accepted that no one can live forever. So he started building the Terracotta Army.
He believed death wasn’t the end — people just went to live in another world. That’s why he built the huge Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, filled with countless treasures and daily items.
He believed the soul never dies; it goes to an underground kingdom to keep leading an army and ruling. So he made the Terracotta Army — to continue being emperor in the afterlife.
One of the most famous stories is the voyage of Xu Fu.
When Qin Shi Huang was crazy about seeking immortality, a very clever man appeared — Xu Fu.
He was a fangshi (a Taoist alchemist) at that time, sort of like a combination of wizard, doctor, explorer, and con artist.
How did Xu Fu trick the First Emperor?
He told him: “There are three magical mountains in the Eastern Sea — Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. Immortals live there, and they have the elixir of life. Anyone who takes it will live forever.”
The First Emperor believed him right away. He wanted immortality so badly that he was willing to give anything.
The First Emperor gave him a huge fleet.
Xu Fu asked for anything, and the emperor gave it to him: Thousands of boys and girls. Plenty of food, clothes, medicine and treasures. Dozens of large ships. Craftsmen, farmers and skilled workers.
All for one single purpose: to sail the seas, find the immortals, and bring back the elixir of life.
First voyage: he came back empty‑handed.
Xu Fu went out searching, but found no immortals at all. But he was too smart.
When he returned, he told the First Emperor: “The immortals thought your gifts were too small. They refused to give you the elixir.”
And unbelievably, the emperor believed him again — and gave him even more people and money.
Second voyage: he never came back.
Xu Fu set off again. This time, he disappeared completely.
No one knows exactly where he went.
But according to history and legends, he took all those thousands of people, found a warm, fertile new land with no ruler…
and became king himself.
He never came home.
www.biblegateway.com
