Cave dwellings
Saturday's exploration took us back to Yanqing County. Our most ambitious hopes were that we could see the Guyaju ancient cave dwellings and the old town of Yongning. We got a bit of a late start and were held up by traffic in the Badaling area, so we only got to see the caves. This is a tourist site that has only been open for a few years. It is a little off the beaten track, so it wasn't crowded at all.
The cave dwellings of Guyaju are a bit of an archaeological mystery. According to the English tourist information, there exists no relevant history to describe the use of these caves, though there seems to be some evidence or consensus that around 1000 years ago an ethnicity called the Xi or the Xiyi lived in this cave village. As our information pamphlet was translated mostly literally from the Chinese, it uses such colorful expressions that aren't as meaningful in English, such as one scholar's description of Guyaju as "the blank part in Chinese architecture history, a precious jade never been carved, and a young lady who conceals in her boudoir."
Another Saturday in Beijing, another upward climb.
Actually we did not take these particular steps up the mountain. These were closed off to tourists, but we still had to walk up.
One thing, among many things. that I found particularly interesting is that many of the signs were in three languages--Chinese, English, and Korean. At other tourists spots we've visited they are either in only two languages (Chinese and English), or at least also include Japanese.
For each of the cave-complexes, the lowest levels (still rather high up the mountain) were for livestock while the upper levels were for living. Some of the dwellings are one room and some are multi-room caves.
Even with all the uncertainty indicated in the tourist literature, they seem to be quite certain that this is the "palace" of the Xi Chieftain.
And who pays attention to the gates and warnings? Much to Myles' disappointment, only us.
Some of the caves were simple dug-outs. Some, though, had columns and stairs leading from one level to the next.
Lower on the mountain are several arch-shaped caves. These were used in the 1960s by the Chinese military to store materials, according to the tourist information. Now, in one, there is a large Buddha.
I could not find an explanation for these, small log cabins at the base of the mountain. Somewhere else in Yanqing I saw a few others as well, but I have no idea what they were about.
The cave dwellings of Guyaju are a bit of an archaeological mystery. According to the English tourist information, there exists no relevant history to describe the use of these caves, though there seems to be some evidence or consensus that around 1000 years ago an ethnicity called the Xi or the Xiyi lived in this cave village. As our information pamphlet was translated mostly literally from the Chinese, it uses such colorful expressions that aren't as meaningful in English, such as one scholar's description of Guyaju as "the blank part in Chinese architecture history, a precious jade never been carved, and a young lady who conceals in her boudoir."
Another Saturday in Beijing, another upward climb.
Actually we did not take these particular steps up the mountain. These were closed off to tourists, but we still had to walk up.
One thing, among many things. that I found particularly interesting is that many of the signs were in three languages--Chinese, English, and Korean. At other tourists spots we've visited they are either in only two languages (Chinese and English), or at least also include Japanese.
For each of the cave-complexes, the lowest levels (still rather high up the mountain) were for livestock while the upper levels were for living. Some of the dwellings are one room and some are multi-room caves.
Even with all the uncertainty indicated in the tourist literature, they seem to be quite certain that this is the "palace" of the Xi Chieftain.
And who pays attention to the gates and warnings? Much to Myles' disappointment, only us.
Some of the caves were simple dug-outs. Some, though, had columns and stairs leading from one level to the next.
Lower on the mountain are several arch-shaped caves. These were used in the 1960s by the Chinese military to store materials, according to the tourist information. Now, in one, there is a large Buddha.
I could not find an explanation for these, small log cabins at the base of the mountain. Somewhere else in Yanqing I saw a few others as well, but I have no idea what they were about.
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