Wanping City
Wanping County
China

August 9, 2010

From the book: Sights with Stories in Old Beijing *

Editors’ Note:

There is virtually no sight in Beijing that has not a fascinating story or legend attached to it, whether to do with its founding, its architecture or the historical figures associated with it.  This time-honored local lore, still very much alive in the city, weaves marvelous tales around the natural wonders and architectural showpieces of the capital, peopling them with miraculous immortals and imaginatively embroidering their history.

Apocryphal though most of then are, they embody in their story of honest toil and talent and their condemnation of wickedness, a historical reality that all too often is missing from the history books themselves.