Explore the real-world places that appear in Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao. 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 Shanghai, The Great Wall, The Terracotta Army, Diyu (The Underworld), Penglai Island and 8 more.
Zachary's home city and the story's launching point
Zachary Ying lives in Shanghai with his mother, a Chinese immigrant raising him in a modern urban environment. It is here that Zachary first encounters the AR headset that allows the spirit of Qin Shi Huang to possess him. The city represents Zachary's ordinary world before the mythological adventure sweeps him away.
In the Spirit Realm, Shanghai sits at a powerful convergence of earthly and spiritual energies, where the living world bleeds into mythological territory. Ancient water dragons are said to patrol the Huangpu River beneath the city's modern foundations. The city's rapid transformation mirrors the tension between old Chinese mythology and the modern world.
Shanghai grounds Zachary as a Chinese American caught between worlds — literally and culturally. His life there reflects his fractured identity, caught between his mother's heritage and his American upbringing, setting the thematic stage for the entire novel.
Ancient barrier sealing demons from the mortal world
The Great Wall appears as both a historical marvel and a mythological barrier in the story, tied directly to Qin Shi Huang's legacy. The emperor originally built the wall not only to keep out human invaders but also to seal away supernatural threats. Zachary and his companions must interact with its spirit-realm counterpart to prevent demons from breaking through.
In the Spirit Realm, the Great Wall is a living magical construct infused with the lifeforce of thousands of workers who died during its construction. Their spirits serve as guardians, and the wall pulses with qi that keeps demonic entities at bay. When the wall weakens, the entire mortal world trembles.
The Great Wall embodies Qin Shi Huang's dual legacy — a monument of immense human cost that nonetheless protects civilization. It mirrors the novel's central tension about whether ruthless power can be justified by its protective outcomes.
Qin Shi Huang's supernatural clay soldiers awakened
The Terracotta Army is a pivotal location where Qin Shi Huang's ancient clay soldiers are awakened as supernatural warriors. Zachary and his friends must navigate the spirit-realm version of the tomb complex, confronting the emperor's buried power. The site crackles with the accumulated spiritual energy of the First Emperor's reign.
In the Spirit Realm, each terracotta soldier retains the soul fragment of the craftsman who created it, bound into service for eternity. The clay army stands at the threshold between the living world and the Yellow Springs, Diyu. Qin Shi Huang designed the necropolis to be a fully functional spirit empire, complete with rivers of mercury simulating his earthly domain.
The Terracotta Army represents Qin Shi Huang's obsession with immortality and control — themes that define his character in the novel. For Zachary, confronting the army means confronting the emperor possessing him, forcing a reckoning with inherited power and its moral cost.
The Chinese mythological realm of the dead
Diyu is the Chinese underworld where Zachary and his companions must venture to recover the crucial soul artifact. The realm is ruled by Yanluo Wang and his ten judges, who preside over the punishments of the dead. The heroes navigate terrifying spirit courts and supernatural obstacles to fulfill their quest.
Diyu is structured as a vast bureaucratic empire of suffering and judgment, presided over by Yanluo Wang and ten kings each governing a different court of punishment. The dead must pass through all ten courts before reincarnation, their sentences determined by earthly deeds. Qin Shi Huang has deep connections to Diyu, having sent countless souls there through his wars and executions.
Diyu confronts the characters — and readers — with questions of justice, accountability, and the weight of historical atrocity. It forces Zachary to grapple with Qin Shi Huang's crimes on a cosmic scale, asking whether redemption is possible for those who caused immeasurable suffering.
The mythological isle of immortals in the Bohai Sea
Penglai Island is one of the legendary Three Islands of the Immortals that Qin Shi Huang historically sought, and it figures in the novel as a spirit-realm destination. The island holds divine secrets and powerful artifacts connected to immortality magic. Zachary must navigate the island's mythological inhabitants and traps to advance his quest.
Penglai floats between the mortal and immortal planes, visible only to those the island chooses to reveal itself to. Eight Immortals are said to convene here, and the island's peaches grant extended life to any who eat them. The sea around Penglai is patrolled by divine sea creatures that test the worthiness of approaching vessels.
Penglai crystallizes the novel's central theme of immortality's true cost. Qin Shi Huang's obsessive historical quest for the island echoes throughout his characterization, making the location a nexus where ambition, myth, and consequence converge.
Sacred cradle of Chinese civilization and spiritual power
The Yellow River appears in the novel as a source of immense mythological power, home to river dragons and serving as a conduit between the mortal and spirit realms. Characters must cross or bargain with the river's supernatural guardians at key moments. The river's flooding mythology connects directly to the ancient hero Yu the Great.
The Yellow River is governed by a succession of powerful Dragon Kings who must be appeased with offerings and respect. Its turbulent waters carry the memories of every civilization built on its banks. During times of supernatural crisis, the river itself becomes a battlefield between divine forces seeking to control its enormous spiritual energy.
The Yellow River represents the deep roots of Chinese civilization that Zachary is reconnecting with throughout the novel. It serves as a living reminder that Chinese identity is ancient, powerful, and tied to forces far larger than any single emperor or dynasty.
Sacred mountain where emperors communed with Heaven
Mount Tai is where Qin Shi Huang's spirit retains a powerful divine connection, having performed the sacred Feng sacrifices here in life to legitimize his rule. Zachary must ascend the mountain's spirit-realm counterpart to access celestial powers. The mountain is guarded by divine sentinels who test those seeking to commune with Heaven.
Mount Tai is the earthly axis connecting the mortal world to the celestial courts of the Jade Emperor. Each emperor who performed the Feng sacrifice here left a spiritual imprint that accumulates like sediment, giving the mountain immense divine authority. The mountain god Bixia Yuanjun presides over matters of fate and watches all who ascend.
Mount Tai represents legitimate imperial power and its connection to divine mandate — the Mandate of Heaven. Zachary's engagement with this site forces him to consider what gives anyone — emperor or ordinary person — the right to wield extraordinary power.
Underwater realm of the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas
The Dragon Palace is a spectacular underwater spirit-realm location where Zachary and companions must negotiate with the Dragon Kings to obtain a powerful artifact. The palace is a labyrinthine complex of coral, jade, and enchanted sea-materials guarded by sea dragon soldiers. The Dragon Kings themselves are ancient, powerful, and politically complex figures with their own agendas.
The Dragon Palace of the East Sea is a realm of impossible grandeur, built from enchanted coral and lit by pearls the size of boulders. The Dragon Kings govern the weather, tides, and rainfall of the mortal world from their thrones of jade. Their treasure hoards contain artifacts from every dynasty of Chinese history, accumulated through centuries of divine patronage.
The Dragon Palace sequence explores Chinese mythological ecology — the idea that the natural world is governed by divine bureaucracies mirroring human institutions. It asks whether these ancient powers serve humanity or whether humanity serves them, reflecting on the relationship between people and the systems they inherit.
Sacred lake tied to the Black Tortoise of the North
Xuanwu Lake appears as a portal site where the spirit of the Black Tortoise — one of the Four Divine Beasts — manifests. The heroes must seek the Tortoise's blessing or wisdom at a critical juncture in their quest. The lake's calm surface conceals tremendous spiritual depth and power.
Xuanwu Lake is one of four sacred water bodies anchoring the Four Divine Beasts to the mortal world. The Black Tortoise coiled at its depths maintains the northern ward against chaos. In times of spiritual crisis, the lake's waters turn obsidian black and the tortoise's form can be seen moving beneath the surface.
The Four Divine Beasts represent the cardinal directions and cosmic order in Chinese mythology. Xuanwu's presence anchors the novel's mythological framework, showing Zachary that the world he's navigating has its own deep structural logic that predates and transcends any single ruler.
Sacred Taoist peaks where immortals train
The Wudang Mountains appear as a refuge and training ground where characters seek guidance from Taoist immortals still inhabiting the peak temples. The mountains serve as neutral spiritual territory that even the most powerful supernatural beings respect. A crucial piece of mythological knowledge is unlocked here.
The Wudang peaks exist simultaneously in the mortal and immortal planes, making them a rare point of genuine contact between human practitioners and divine beings. Taoist immortals who have transcended death continue their cultivation in the misty upper reaches. The mountains are said to rearrange themselves to disorient those who approach with impure intentions.
The Wudang Mountains represent the living, practicing tradition of Chinese spirituality — not merely ancient history but an ongoing relationship with divine forces. For Zachary, they offer a counterpoint to Qin Shi Huang's imperial conquest of power, showing that spiritual authority can be earned through discipline rather than seized through force.
Heart of imperial China and its spiritual power
The Forbidden City's spirit-realm counterpart serves as a staging ground for confrontations between supernatural factions vying for control of China's imperial spiritual legacy. The palace complex in the spirit realm still houses the accumulated power of every dynasty that ruled from Beijing. Zachary must navigate its bureaucratic spirit courts to reach his ultimate goal.
The spirit-realm Forbidden City is a perfect mirror of the mortal palace but inhabited by the ghosts of eunuchs, concubines, ministers, and emperors who never left their posts. The Hall of Supreme Harmony still resonates with the combined willpower of every emperor who sat upon the Dragon Throne. Ley lines from across China converge beneath the Meridian Gate.
The Forbidden City represents the totality of Chinese imperial power — its grandeur, its isolation, and its ultimate fragility. For a Chinese American like Zachary, the palace is both a source of cultural pride and a symbol of the authoritarian systems he must reconcile with his own values.
The mythological axis mundi and home of the Queen Mother of the West
The Kunlun Mountains represent the ultimate divine authority in the novel's cosmological structure, home to the Queen Mother of the West and her peaches of immortality. Zachary's quest ultimately connects to the powers that reside on Kunlun. The mountains serve as the mythological backdrop against which the entire spirit-realm conflict is judged.
Kunlun is the navel of the earth, where the heavenly and earthly realms are thinnest. The Queen Mother of the West tends her peach garden on its jade terraces, and the Yellow Emperor's palace stands on its summit. To reach Kunlun is to stand at the center of all Chinese mythological reality.
Kunlun represents the highest divine authority that stands above even the most powerful emperors and dragons. Its presence in the novel's geography reminds characters and readers that human power — however great — exists within a larger cosmic framework that ultimately cannot be conquered or owned.
Enchanted lake of ancient legends and romance
West Lake appears as a hauntingly beautiful spirit-realm location where ancient mythological beings have been trapped or are waiting. The lake's legendary associations provide Zachary and companions with crucial mythological clues. Its enchanted waters reveal reflections of the spirit world to those who know how to look.
West Lake is a liminal space where the boundaries between the human and spirit worlds dissolved long ago due to the intensity of mythological events that occurred there. The White Snake Lady and other legendary beings left permanent spiritual impressions that still manifest on foggy mornings. Lotus flowers in the lake bloom according to divine rather than natural seasons.
West Lake represents the intersection of beauty, tragedy, and mythological consequence — a place where love, power, and immortality collided across centuries of Chinese legend. It offers Zachary a glimpse of the emotional stakes of the mythological world he's navigating, not just its dangers.
More by Xiran Jay Zhao: All Xiran Jay Zhao books