Text: Wei Wenshou

Whiteout:The Xinjiang Blizzards of Winter 2009–2010

Last winter, Xinjiang was hit by its worst cold spell in 60 years. Four consecutive blizzards dumped more than half a meter of snow on northern Xinjiang. The snowstorms have caused casualties and losses to livestock, but they are not entirely a bad thing, as they brought plenty of water to the arid region.

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Text: Gao Hong

Last Innocence: The Wa People of Wengding Village

Deep in the dense subtropical forests of southwestern Yunnan province lies a unique culture that has survived due to its relatively isolated geography. However, in Wengding—the last stronghold of the Wa (Va) people—their way of life is in danger of disappearing as the village opens up to the outside world.

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Text: Nie Zuoping

Cordyceps: The Truth Behind Caterpillar Fungus

 

Larva in winter, herb by summer. Widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, caterpillar fungus (Cordyceps sinensis) is a wondrous herb that has provided many locals in the mountains with a life of plenty. Are its healing properties really as effective as claimed? And what can make it worth as much as 500,000 yuan (US$73,000) a kilo?

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Text: Xiao Chunlei

Revealed After 2,000 Years: The Terracolor Warriors of Xi’an

The world has been eagerly awaiting the next round of excavation of terracotta Pit #1 in Xi’an, Shaanxi province where many figurines were found with their original colors intact. Go behind—and beneath—the scenes with this exclusive report by CNG.

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Text: Yang Dongxiao

The Stirring of the Shaken: Resurrecting the Seismograph

Although only descriptions of Zhang Heng’s instrument have survived in the literature, dozens of seismologists have tried to replicate his original design. What makes them so obsessed with the world’s first seismograph?

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Text: Li Fei and Xie Fan

Power Puff: Farming the Wind in Dabancheng

The barren lands in Xinjiang’s Dabancheng are home to raging winds that could blow a train over. However, the arrival of modern windmills has lent a touch of beauty to the hostile landscape. Some estimate that the Dabancheng wind farm generates enough electricity to power 800,000 modern households for a year.

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Text: Wang Nan

Aqueducts: Channeling Memories of a Bygone Era

Aqueducts have been used by human civilization for thousands of years. In the 1960s and 1970s, these man-made channels sprang up all across China in a massive endeavor to irrigate the land. Today many of these aqueducts carry nothing more than memories of a turned page in history.

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Text: Zuo Lingren

Spotted Seal: A Fate Adrift in the Bohai Sea

Few people would imagine that China is home to seals. In fact, the Bohai Sea, Liaodong Peninsula in Liaoning province and the Miaodao Islands off Shandong province are the winter home to spotted seals—the only seal that breeds in Chinese waters. This is their story.

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