Shanxi Travel Guide
The Yellow River runs incessantly day and night. It has been a powerful symbol nurturing the Chinese nation and bred the Chinese civilization.
The Yellow River from its place of origin passes Qinghai and Gansu, turns north at Ningxia's Shizuisha to Inner Mongolia where the Yellow River becomes mild and quiet. The Yellow River's flow has brought water to the grasslands, giving it its lushness and richness.
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| Yellow River |
Inner Mongolia is a beautiful and charming place, decorated by colorful mountains, rivers, forests, grasslands, deserts and lakes. It is here with pleasantly cool summers and autumn days that the vast grasslands beyond the Great Wall appear more graceful and enchanting. Inner Mongolia has the reputation of being the home of singing and dancing. Horseracing, wrestling and archery are regarded as "the three skills of men" among the Mongolian people and well-known in China and abroad.
From the grasslands of Mongolia, the Yellow River heads its way south and comes to the Loess Plateau. The fierce water of the Yellow River surges as a sharp sword cutting the plateau into two pieces. The deep gorge it made becomes the natural demarcation between Shanxi Province and Shaanxi Province. This area is more commonly referred to as the Jin-Shaan Gorge.
At the valley between Ji County of Shanxi and Yichuan County of Shaanxi, the Yellow River creates the Hukou Waterfall, the second largest waterfall in China. The torrential water gushing drops the Yellow River from the height of 70 meters falls below to the stone valley at a width of only 40 meters, splashing high spray with thundering noises.
On the Shanxi side of the Jin-Shaan Gorge, the Shanxi landscape is splendid and beautiful. The long history has left an impact on Shanxi with an abundant cultural heritage and many places for sightseeing among the natural landscape.
In the Jin-Shaan Gorge, the Yellow River is blocked by the Qin Mountains and turns to the western Henan. The ensuing rapids are cut off by the solid rocks of Shaan County and through the abrupt landscape of Sanmenxia Gorge.
At Mengjin County, the Yellow River enters the grand plains it actually created and then winds its way eastward. The huge amount of silt the Yellow River brought from the Loess Plateau was deposited in the plains and made the riverbed higher and higher to become the world-famous "suspension river".
The ancient Chinese people lived for generations in this old land made by the Yellow River and created the brilliant Chinese Shanxi ancient culture , leaving a bountiful cultural heritage. The ancient walls, tombs, architectures and carved stones are scattered over the Central Plains. They appear as like pearls inlaid of the Central Plains to reflect the glory of the ancient Chinese civilization.
The Central Plains is a living museum of the history of the Chinese people. The relics of primitive man are displayed in Yunyang of Nanzhao and in Xiaonanhai of Anyang, as well as the cultural relics in the Yangshao Village of Mianchi County and in the Dahe Village of Zhengzhou City.
More details for Hukou Waterfall in Linfen County.
The Central Plains, the center of the land, was a place contested by every military force of each dynasty. It was also the common practice for different dynasties to proclaim their capitals in the plains. Luoyang was the capital for nine dynasties.
