Yuan Dynasty Puppet Pilgrimage Blog Post #1

I am Puff the Magic Dragon from America; I am traveling up a portion of the Yangtze River. It is the Yuan Dynasty. Before I begin my journey let me tell how the Yuan Dynasty began. It started with Genghis Khan who led the Mongols to defeat a lot of china. But the founder and ruler of the Yuan dynasty was Genghis’s son Kublai Khan. It is the first time foreigners have ruled over China and the first time they initiated direct contact between China and the west. There was then a new capital being built in 1266 AD based on traditional Chinese models. That is how the Yuan dynasty began; now it is still growing but hasn’t changed much. The government of the Yuan dynasty has little Chinese officials. I will start in Shanghai and see as much sights as possible. Then I will travel up stream any way I can. I will end in Nanjing, seeing the culture and the sights there. I know, I know it’s not very far to travel but my time is short. Besides my other colleagues are traveling up the rest of the Yangtze River. That reminds me, I also need to tell you more about the Yangtze River. People here in China call it the Chang Jiang or the Yangzi. It is the longest river in Asia and the third longest river in the world. It stretches 6,300 kilometers from the glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Qinghai across southwest, central and eastern China, it ends in the East China Sea at Shanghai.