Comments on: Distressing China http://www.froginawell.net/china/2009/09/distressing-china/ The China History Group Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:35:30 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Richard http://www.froginawell.net/china/2009/09/distressing-china/comment-page-1/#comment-165036 Richard Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:50:10 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/china/?p=1511#comment-165036 I was just in Xi'an for a few weeks this summer and the Beilin/Forest of Stelae Museum and the surrounding district was one of my favorite places. When I was at the Shaanxi Provincial Museum I picked up a packet of postcards to send to different people back home. The one card I kept was of the Drum Tower because it still showed houses sitting right up next to it and not the modern plaza with the Starbucks. For me its an interesting testimony to how transient things are in Xi'an, and therefore I would predict in some other major urban areas in China as well. I was just in Xi’an for a few weeks this summer and the Beilin/Forest of Stelae Museum and the surrounding district was one of my favorite places. When I was at the Shaanxi Provincial Museum I picked up a packet of postcards to send to different people back home. The one card I kept was of the Drum Tower because it still showed houses sitting right up next to it and not the modern plaza with the Starbucks. For me its an interesting testimony to how transient things are in Xi’an, and therefore I would predict in some other major urban areas in China as well.

]]> By: Alan Baumler http://www.froginawell.net/china/2009/09/distressing-china/comment-page-1/#comment-165012 Alan Baumler Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:12:35 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/china/?p=1511#comment-165012 Ed, Your perception is correct. You will see basically no Han or pre-Han buildings in China. Most of the pre-Ming stuff is likely to be Buddhist, since they were more likely to build in stone or brick. Most early Chinese buildings were wood over a rammed earth platform. You can see the platforms sometimes, but that is about it Ed,

Your perception is correct. You will see basically no Han or pre-Han buildings in China. Most of the pre-Ming stuff is likely to be Buddhist, since they were more likely to build in stone or brick. Most early Chinese buildings were wood over a rammed earth platform. You can see the platforms sometimes, but that is about it

]]> By: Ed http://www.froginawell.net/china/2009/09/distressing-china/comment-page-1/#comment-164997 Ed Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:15:00 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/china/?p=1511#comment-164997 I've been fascinated by the lack of genuinely old ruins in China, I mean the lack of Europe's Roman ruins (some of which are nearly intact buildings and roads) and Greek temples, and the various equivalent sites in India. I think even in Mexico you are more likely to find older ruins than in China. Is my perception accurate? Is it due to the Chinese building in wood, or due to the upheavals that tended to accompany falls of dynasties? I’ve been fascinated by the lack of genuinely old ruins in China, I mean the lack of Europe’s Roman ruins (some of which are nearly intact buildings and roads) and Greek temples, and the various equivalent sites in India. I think even in Mexico you are more likely to find older ruins than in China.

Is my perception accurate? Is it due to the Chinese building in wood, or due to the upheavals that tended to accompany falls of dynasties?

]]>