Explore the real-world places that appear in A Bittersweet Journey Through Culture by Yu Quiyu. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Mogao Caves (Dunhuang), Yangguan Pass, Mountain Resort (Chengde), Tianyi Pavilion (Ningbo), Dujiangyan Irrigation System and 7 more.
Dunhuang, Gansu — The opening journey into China's cultural memory
In the opening essay, 'Desert Sunset' / 'The Dunhuang Caves', Yu Qiuyu travels to the Mogao Caves and meditates on the Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu, whose carelessness let foreign explorers carry off thousands of manuscripts. Yu treats the site as a wound and a treasure at once, mourning the plunder while marveling at the murals. The essay sets the book's tone of grief mixed with reverence.
The Mogao Caves were carved from the 4th century onward along the Silk Road, creating nearly 500 decorated grottoes. In 1900 the Library Cave was discovered, and manuscripts were later removed by Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot.
The caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site managed by the Dunhuang Academy. Visitors tour a selection of caves with guides, and a digital exhibition center prepares visitors for the visit.
Visit: Mogao Caves (historic site)
Near Dunhuang, Gansu — Frontier gate of the Han dynasty
Yu Qiuyu travels to the Yangguan frontier, evoking the famous Tang poems of farewell to friends departing west. He reflects on how exile and parting shaped Chinese literary sensibility and on the loneliness of scholars sent to the borderlands. The remote ruin sharpens his sense of history's weight.
Yangguan was a major Han dynasty pass on the Silk Road, south of Yumen Pass. It became immortalized by Wang Wei's poem about parting at Yangguan.
Little remains beyond a restored beacon tower and a scenic area with a museum. The site draws visitors for the desert views and its poetic associations.
Visit: Yangguan Scenic Area (historic site)
Chengde, Hebei — Qing imperial summer retreat
In 'The Mountain Resort', Yu Qiuyu walks through the Qing emperors' summer palace and meditates on the Kangxi and Qianlong eras, the Manchu rulers' ambitions, and the decline of their dynasty. He sees the garden as a monument to power and eventual fatigue, and links it to the way Chinese history repeatedly turns from grandeur to ruin.
Construction began in 1703 under the Kangxi Emperor and finished in 1792. It served as a secondary imperial capital where emperors received envoys and ethnic leaders.
The Chengde Mountain Resort and surrounding temples are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is open for strolling, boating, and exploring the palaces and lakes.
Visit: Chengde Mountain Resort (historic site)
Ningbo, Zhejiang — Oldest private library in China
Yu Qiuyu visits the Tianyi Pavilion and reflects on the Fan family, who guarded their book collection for generations under strict rules. He explores the tension between preserving culture by hoarding it and the necessity of sharing knowledge. The library becomes an image of both cultural devotion and isolation.
Founded around 1561 by Fan Qin, a Ming official, it is the oldest surviving private library in China. Its design, with water-based fire protection, influenced Qing imperial libraries.
It operates as a museum and garden complex in Ningbo, displaying rare books, courtyards, and pavilions. It is a popular cultural attraction.
Visit: Tianyi Pavilion Museum (museum)
Dujiangyan, Sichuan — Ancient engineering marvel
Yu Qiuyu stands before the Dujiangyan and praises Li Bing, the Qin official who tamed the Min River without dams. He contrasts this practical, humane engineering with the wars and politics of the same era, finding in it the quiet, life-giving side of Chinese civilization. The essay celebrates a monument to harmony with nature.
Built around 256 BCE under Li Bing, the system diverts the Min River to irrigate the Chengdu Plain. It has functioned for over 2,200 years.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and still irrigates farmland. Visitors walk across bridges, see the fish-mouth levee, and visit the Two Kings Temple.
Visit: Dujiangyan Scenic Area (historic site)
Jiayuguan, Gansu — Western terminus of the Ming Great Wall
In 'The Great Wall' Yu Qiuyu explores the Wall not as a triumph but as a symbol of defensiveness and closure in Chinese history. At Jiayuguan he contemplates the border fortress and the emotions of soldiers and exiles. He questions whether the Wall protected culture or confined it.
Jiayuguan Fort was built from 1372 under the Ming dynasty as the western end of the Ming Great Wall. It guarded the narrowest point of the Hexi Corridor.
The fort is a well-preserved tourist site with towers, a museum, and nearby Wall sections. Visitors can climb ramparts and see the desert landscape.
Visit: Jiayuguan Pass (historic site)
Fengqiao, Suzhou — Setting of Zhang Ji's Tang poem
Yu Qiuyu visits Hanshan Temple and Fengqiao, recalling Zhang Ji's poem about a night mooring beside the temple with the midnight bell. He reflects on a failed scholar's sorrow having become part of the collective cultural memory, even reaching Japan. The essay mixes personal melancholy with literary legacy.
The temple dates to the Liang dynasty in the 6th century and was made famous by the Tang poem 'Night Mooring at Maple Bridge'. It has been rebuilt many times after fires.
The temple is an active Buddhist site and tourist destination with a bell tower and the nearby Maple Bridge. Visitors can ring the bell during New Year events.
Visit: Hanshan Temple (historic site)
Jiujiang, Jiangxi — Retreat of poets and monks
Yu Qiuyu wanders Lushan, tracing the footsteps of Tao Yuanming, Li Bai, Bai Juyi, and the monk Huiyuan. He reflects on how the mountain sheltered scholars withdrawn from politics and how landscape shaped their poetry. The essay explores the pull between public duty and reclusion.
Lushan was a center of Buddhist and Daoist life, with Donglin Temple founded by Huiyuan in 386. Poets and scholars across dynasties wrote about its scenery.
Mount Lu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular resort area with trails, waterfalls, and temples. Lushan Nature Reserve is open year-round.
Visit: Mount Lu National Park (park)
Shaoxing, Zhejiang — Home of literati and Lu Xun
Yu Qiuyu writes of Shaoxing's canals and scholars, reflecting on Lu Xun, Wang Xizhi, and Xu Wei as emblems of the region's intellectual spirit. The town's boat-filled waterways evoke his own native Zhejiang roots. He considers how the region produced so many sharp, melancholy minds.
Shaoxing has been a cultural center since the Spring and Autumn period. Lu Xun was born there in 1881, and its old town preserves canals and ancestral homes.
Lu Xun's Former Residence and the surrounding historic district are open to the public. Visitors can ride wupeng boats and visit the Lu Xun Memorial Hall.
Visit: Lu Xun's Former Residence (museum)
Qixian, Shanxi — Home of the Shanxi bankers
In 'Shanxi Merchants' Yu Qiuyu follows the rise of Shanxi bankers who built networks of credit across China. He admires their discipline and trust, and then reflects on the decline of the banks with the fall of the Qing. The courtyards embody both ambition and the limits of enclosed tradition.
The Qiao Family Compound was built from 1756 and expanded over later generations. The Shanxi merchants created the piaohao banks that handled remittances across Qing China.
The compound is a folk museum with courtyards, displays, and was a filming location for Raise the Red Lantern. Visitors tour its rooms and exhibits.
Visit: Qiao Family Compound (museum)
Pingyao, Shanxi — Walled Ming-Qing banking town
Yu Qiuyu uses the walled town of Pingyao to illustrate the Shanxi merchants' financial world, observing the streets where the first draft banks operated. He sees in its preserved lanes a vanished commercial civilization.
Pingyao's city walls date to 1370 and the town became the center of China's early banking in the 19th century. Its layout of streets and shops remains largely intact.
Pingyao Ancient City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors walk the walls, visit Rishengchang, and stay in courtyard inns.
Visit: Pingyao Ancient City (historic site)
Yueyang, Hunan — Overlooking Dongting Lake
Yu Qiuyu stands at Yueyang Tower and recalls Fan Zhongyan's essay about worrying before the world worries and rejoicing only after it rejoices. He considers the ideal of the scholar-official who remains responsible to society even in exile. The vast lake view amplifies his reflections on moral duty.
The tower dates back to 220 CE and was rebuilt many times; the current structure dates from the Qing era. Fan Zhongyan wrote his famed 1046 essay about it, never having visited.
It is one of China's Three Great Towers and a popular attraction. Visitors climb the tower for views over Dongting Lake and the city.
Visit: Yueyang Tower (landmark)
More by Yu Quiyu: All Yu Quiyu books
Other nearby maps: Chu Ci (Songs of Chu / The Songs of the South) by Qu Yuan (with Song Yu and later Han dynasty poets) locations map · Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong locations map