Q. Let's say you want to explore another group's culture. How do you start?
A. Study the place where that culture was born. Ask: What clues can I find in the geography of this place? How did its environment shape the lives of the people who settled there? Take the case of China, for example....

FAMILY GATHERING
Setting: A home in Beijing, China, in the summer of 2005
Characters: American teenagers, Amy and John Lee; Uncle Ru; Cousin Bao

BEIJING VISIT
Uncle Ru: Ah, here you are, Son, at the computer!
Bao: You're home early, Father! Was your flight good? Have you eaten lunch?
Uncle Ru: Yes, thank you, Bao.... And are these our visitors from Maryland! Nephew John! Niece Amy! Welcome to China's capital! I'm sorry I wasn't here when you arrived. My business trip took longer than I expected. Tell me: Are your parents enjoying their visit?
John: Oh, yes, Uncle Ru, thank you. They're out shopping now....
Amy: Mom wants to buy a set of the official mascot dolls for the Beijing Olympics. Dad's looking for jade. And Auntie Yu said she'll help them spend their yuan! We're all having an excellent time. Thank you for inviting us to stay with you....
Uncle Ru: But you are our family! Now, tell me: What have you seen in Beijing?
John: Dozens of construction cranes!...
Uncle Ru: Yes, yes. The city is getting ready for the Olympics in 2008.
John: We met some of Bao's college friends at an Internet café. Then we all went biking in a park where their "green environment club" had planted lots of trees....
Amy: And on our way back, we rode through some hutongs. The lanes are so narrow! Bao explained that, centuries ago, hutongs were passageways between the walls of family compounds! At the end of one hutong, we found an old Confucian temple....
John: Then yesterday, we took a subway to the Palace Museum, where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties once lived. I was amazed at all the palaces and artwork behind the moat.
Amy: We saw the emperor's throne, too. And so many dragon images!
Uncle Ru: In ancient China, dragons were symbols of power and virtue, Amy. One legend tells about dragons who scooped up water from the ocean and poured it over China during a drought, to irrigate the parched farmland. Then the dragons turned themselves into China's great rivers!

GEOGRAPHY MATTERS
John: The Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers? They're a big part of China's history, aren't they?
Uncle Ru: Yes indeed. Archaeologists keep finding early records of Chinese civilization near both rivers. Here: I brought home a map to help you trace the rest of your journey through China. Bao can show you each river's path.
Bao: Well, both rivers rise on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. See? Here on the map. Then, as they zigzag toward the east coast, they plunge through these mountains and hills....
Uncle Ru: Now, notice where the rivers approach each other. That's where the hills give way to a fertile plain that stretches all the way to the coast....
Bao: It's the North China Plain. Here, I'll outline it on the map — like a half-circle.... Start the line at the coast northeast of Beijing, then curve it inland toward the northern bend of the Yellow River. Swing the line down, west of Xi'an. Then cross the Yangtze River and end up on the coast below Shanghai.
Uncle Ru: That region is called "China Proper." Its rich soil made it easy for early humans to domesticate animals and build farms and villages. Large cities developed. And China's civilization slowly spread throughout eastern Asia.
Amy: And that civilization was never destroyed?
Uncle Ru: Never. The language, arts, and customs of modern-day China have roots that are at least 6,000 years old. In a way, our culture was saved by our location! China is surrounded, in the south and west, by mountains, plateaus, and deserts.
Bao: ...And for thousands of years those barriers protected China from attack by empires in southwestern Asia and Europe.

A RIDDLE...
John: What about China's northern border?
Bao: Ah, China was vulnerable there. And that's why our early emperors began building....
Amy: ...The Great Wall! To defend China!
Uncle Ru: Yes. But the Great Wall isn't just one wall, Amy. It's a network of walls, built over many centuries.
John: ...We're going to visit the Wall tomorrow.
Uncle Ru: Well, good! And here's a riddle to ponder, while you're there. "How does the Great Wall show that Chinese culture is both old and new?"
John: We'll think about that, Uncle. Xiexie! Thank you!

© Learning Enrichment, Inc. Content last updated: May 2006. Page last reviewed: May 2006.