Getting under province's skin to discover delights

By Paige Sheffield And Sun Ruisheng ( China Daily )

Updated: 2016-07-22

Thirteen. That's how many stairs you have to climb to get to an upstairs bedroom in the Wang's Grand Courtyard.

Had I traveled without a local guide, I probably wouldn't have noticed that.

I would've just walked up the stairs, focused on seeing the next obvious sight, not paying much attention to the small details. But the number of stairs is not random.

Like many small yet significant designs and details in Wang's Grand Courtyard, it means something.

At the age of 13, girls would climb 13 steps to live upstairs. They would come down once they were going to be married.

I could've easily overlooked the number of stairs, but I'm glad it was brought to my attention instead: To me, this was an interesting piece of history to learn about. Shanxi province as a whole is similar to this courtyard in that waynot only is it full of opportunities to see sights and snap photos; it's also full of opportunities to learn more about the rich history and culture. During the "Shanxi in the eyes of foreigners" trip, we traveled to several locations that had obvious points of interest.

Mian Mountain is beautiful. Pingyao Ancient City is an interesting, well-preserved historical city. Many buildings we passed in each location featured gorgeous, photograph-worthy designs.

But by having the opportunity to explore beneath the surface - sometimes literally, like when we walked through the underground tunnel in Zhangbi Village - we heard the stories embedded deep within the intricate designs, learned about how various animals and objects symbolize various characteristics, and began to discover how all of these details contrast with each other or come together to make Shanxi what it is. At Wang's Grand Courtyard, peaches symbolize longevity and pumpkins represent fertility because of all the seeds they have. So many other symbols could be found throughout this courtyard, and when I looked closer, I could see the character for the Wang family name used in some of the designs on buildings. The Ancient City of Pingyao feels modern in some ways, but at the same time, walking through it is like catching a glimpse of the past, with the buildings providing an example of ancient Chinese cities.

Standing on Mian Mountain, we could see clear skies, temples, monkeys and waterfalls. We were immersed in nature, culture and history all at once.

We started the trip in Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital city, and made our last stop at an international golf course where we were surrounded by nature and fresh air. It was cool and calm and the stars and moon were shining brightly, much different from the image that would typically come to many foreigners' minds when they think of China, especially if they're more familiar with the country's bigger cities.

All of the places we visited were quite different from each other, but they are all part of what makes Shanxi such a worthwhile place to visit. In Zhangbi Village, buildings correspond with constellations. In just this one location, we were able to discover more about astrology, learn about religion and see various temples, and navigate an underground tunnel previously used for military defense.

Contact the writer through sunruisheng@chinadaily.com.cn