Foreigner Visits Famous Monkey King Spot in Xinjiang

[@JaYoeNation]

Who here grew up with Journey to the West in their childhood?

[@elecatho7747]

西游记，Journey To the West....From almost 65 years ago, we had the comic booklet versions that we kids passed around reading them, and reading the actual classical novel at high school level, and not forgetting the various movies and tv series over the years, this classic story has accompanied me and enriched my life journey.

[@cheese-df1yx]

my favorite tv series in child hood! still love the story now!

[@christianyang7595]

Who didn’t? You don’t know what this TV series mean to Chinese kids ❤️

[@seeyian]

you know, even the Overseas Chinese know this :Journey to the West “火焰山”。

[@dfens91]

Most kids in Australia, England and New Zealand grew up watching the TV series called Monkey (Magic) in the 1980s. Originally dubbed from Japanese series. Many fond memories...in Gandhara

[@pakhoe888]

I loved this, absolutely fantastic being able to document Chinese history, I envy you Matt. Keep up the great work.

[@feizai245]

Who would have thought that after so many hundreds of years WuKong put off the fire with the Iron Fan, it is still hot. 😁

[@raymondlianto9882]

The Legend of the Monkey King / Journey to the west was a great novel. It's story was fun and inspirational.

[@treycooper5827]

I believe those container-looking "houses" are there to dehydrate raisins and the particular area in Xinjiang is well known for that.

[@timothyxie7696]

Yes, still remember this in one of Matt's own livestream. I think it is in a Kashgar mall when Matt was trying to buy gifts for his family.

[@tingwang9465]

You are absolutely right. They are for drying raisins which is a very popular local produce.

[@kevinlaw6191]

The monkey king story is actually one of the four literature classics of China - Journey to the West, along with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin and Dream of the Red Chamber. All these novels mixed real historic figures with totally imaginary story line. The monkey king with his two bros were supposed to escort their Monk Master to the west to fetch Buddhists scripts. The pitch is that the Monk Master's body is sacred and anyone who eats him would become immortal. So along the journey to the west, a bunch of monsters and devils would try to catch him.

[@jeffreysoo8779]

Very interesting video. Silk Road is in my priority list. Just can't wait till the pandemic is over. Would love to spend some time in China to explore the country.

[@therminust4]

Tarim Basin/Ancient Xinjiang native peoples actually Tocharians not Uighur, Uighur actually nomad groups move to China. In Tang Dynasty Monk Xuanzang journey to India starting from checkpoint border in Tarim Basin/Ancient Xinjiang Tarim Basin & Bactria (Afghan, Kazak, Tajik) are Buddhist Country before and already trading route with China in Ancient Silk Road

[@tweedy4sg]

Tocharians are an Iranic (Indo-Europeans ie. Caucasian) people. Uyghurs and Tocharian intermarried & mixed after Uyghurs moved from Mongolia to settle in Turpan/Qocho. But the Tocharians got Turkicised, Turkic being the more dominant culture in the 800s & 900s. Hence you see some of today's Uyghurs have Caucasian facial features. Early Uyghurs and Tocharians were Buddhists. They gradually converted to Islam after they were conquered by the muslim Chagatai Khanate circa ~1390.

[@brexitgreens]

@@tweedy4sg I have always wondered about how Tocharians have vanished. Thank you for telling us. I have also always wanted to see living Tocharians - out of sheer curiosity about my ancestors Proto-Indo-Europeans. The best glimpse I've got are the fantastic Tarim mummies. (Thank you, Chinese archaeologists!) But that only intensifies my desire to see them alive. The mummies have no conventionally Iranian (as in Persian or Mesopotamian) traits whatsoever. They look so Irish. Maybe that's how the Iranian people have also looked originally? And Vedic Indians as well? How many good things have been lost in the mist of ages?

[@ahliong]

So privilege to tag along with you . Great job .

[@nicoletteuy8455]

OMG ! Another amazing , magnificent place in China...such a beauty! I wish we can travel back in time n watch how the ancient people did all those amazing carvings n paintings as well as how they survive in such beautiful but harsh environment during those times. Whew...! They're so diligent n patient in doing those paintings , my God ! Great great videos Matt ! Tnx u always for wht u've been doin' all these years in China ! Toh sieh , toh sieh...(tnx u) 🙄😃🙌👍

[@hsleng6233]

When there in 2001. Had a private tour from Xinjiang to Langzhou, Gangsu. Best trip ever. My visit to the fiery mountain was during winter. Freezing cold ❄. Most of the structures in your video were non existent then. Visited a Uyghur village in Turpan. Had roast lamb and local red wind. Thinking of going back but planning to travel from Xian to Kashgar. Can't wait for covid to end.

[@婉卿-m6w]

lanzhou,Not langzhou.

[@hsleng6233]

@@婉卿-m6w sorry my bad. ☺

[@婉卿-m6w]

Please don't mind. Maybe you missed it.请不要介意，也许你只是疏忽了，可以理解。😄

[@sinlim2915]

dunhuang, heard here got 1000 stone caves carved into huge, giant budhhas, budhhas paintings, amazing !

[@frankkhtan]

I am resolved to visit these awesome places.... thank you Matt and team.

[@ronc2010]

I was at the Flaming Mountain off Turpin some 20 years ago. Never thought this mountain, referenced in Journey to The West, actually exists. I was proven wrong.

[@merbst]

I watched many hours of that monkey king TV show each morning in my Shanghai hotel room while digesting the continental breakfast! There was also some elephant guy!

[@walterchin8832]

JingJing is not only beautiful but brilliant as well.

[@johnss449]

Enjoyed seeing this area. Interesting history for sure. I've watched many of the Monkey King series lol...

[@tchong625]

Well, Matt, now you know The Journey to the West, there is a game trailer that blown the people's mind called Black Myth Wukong, it is also based on this mythology, you can also check it out XD

[@kevinlaw6191]

Great place with great stories

[@alanclw6024]

Absolutely stunning... The lamdscape was beautiful too.

[@petermanuel5043]

Beautiful, interesting video. Thanks so much!

[@itsme2be]

Thanks for showing around, but still would love to visit myself, but seems very difficult and expensive to get there. At least I have seen it on your channel!

[@merbst]

Wow, so cultures exist with many ambitious artists and craftsmen in far away places, even before my hometown was founded in 1985!

[@TheLilleyPad]

Looking forward to the next one!

[@tsengp7115]

Those buildings off the highway at the beginning of this film are used for storing/drying grapes to make raisins.

[@MarkinChina]

Never really been a Monkey King fan,..great drone footage, a nice video, very informative ...

[@omni3670]

My! This is like a David Attenborough documentary! Except that it is more authentic and personal. Good job Jayoe! Wu Kong is a legend. So sad vandalism has desecrated the place!

[@elecatho7747]

Sadly (it's just too mild a word to begin with), the Europeans came and ransacked the grotto and carted away more than 40,000 pieces of artifacts and destroyed many statues and murals.

[@nanyanguo1]

Europeans n japanese raiders too. Damn , its sacrilege , they are doomed for showing no respect to the holiness of an ancient sacred site.

[@elecatho7747]

@@stevewilson5292 What a twisted mind you got... Raiders, thieves and robbers, in the name of conservators, my foot..

[@nanyanguo1]

@@stevewilson5292 the red guards didnt loot or rob. The damages they caused was due to domestic politics conflicts. It is not uncommon in history of all civilisations for monuments to be damaged by domestic rioters or rebels . What they do is their business. Wat a cheek to try n use these internaldamages causes to justify the looting crimes of the anglo saxons colonial robbers. Shame on you. Shame on the robbers for keepin what dont belong to them If the western countries were the ones robbed, can be sure they would be demanding n hounding the robber country to return the stolen treasures..

[@nanyanguo1]

@@stevewilson5292 Tsk tsk .. trying to deflect the indefensible shame of looting by the anglo saxons robbers to talking about the treasures taken from the Forbidden City by the defeated chinese nationalist party fugitives to Taiwan . . sorry not interested in your twisted arguments

[@nanyanguo1]

@@stevewilson5292 dope it is not racist for calling out the anglo saxon colonial looters. It is stating a historical fact. If it is racist, then you are also a racist for your pathetic attempt at denying or deflecting away the fact.

[@FoodXBert]

Great video Matt. My friend in Beijing did the over dub English voice for this movie.

[@kofeesala23]

This woman is full of energy, great!

[@sayaandyangsaya2756]

Amazing place, hope I can visit there in the future.

[@tsengp7115]

Very well made film! Thanks!

[@barbaralui4668]

Amazing drone footage. Lucky you.

[@hyeung1]

@22:05 Lin Zexu was the person who confiscated and destroyed opium from the British merchants. He was exiled to Xinjiang for a few years after losing the Opium War. I'm very surprised that he "forgot" what he did.

[@JaYoeNation]

Haha. Kim let you down.

[@minihuge3498]

林則徐was the official in southern China who tried to put a stop to the opium “trade”. The Opium War began the humiliation years of China. Hong Kong was taken away after the Qing Government was defeated.

[@cheese-df1yx]

火焰山！wow，I enjoy the tour video alot!

[@Nilguiri]

Kim the editor seems like a nice, funny guy!

[@thomaselago2833]

Westerners have done soo much damage in this world. Sad

[@hughg4043]

Wow, the Ba Jiao Shan ice-cream is so clever! I want one!

[@sstchan924]

In stead of cartoons, and movies the older generation Chinese school kids read “Journey to the West” , “Saga of the Three Kingdoms” ……etc, like kids today reading the Harry Potter series. In the process learned a lot of history and quotations and expressions which are still used in daily conversations between Chinese. It is one of the reasons for foreigners try to be truly good China hands.

[@JaYoeNation]

Did any of you get what the buildings, in the beginning, were for?

[@sportsonwheelss]

For dehydrating fruits. Xinjiang is famous for their raisins. Green oven, not need for electricity

[@JO-et2ir]

Yes grape drying.

[@potblack243]

bbc : concentration camp.

[@2morrowsworld]

I think the archaeologist Aurel Stein was one of the raiders. He led several expeditions in the region in the first two decades of the 20th century. One involved surveying the tombs and fortifications in remote settlements of the Taklamakan desert (Loulan). His team also looted Mogao grottoes. Not necessarily a great legacy.

[@wellawong2417]

Good Job and Support !

[@RichartAsia]

Omg must visit one day!

[@Nilguiri]

In India they still use fans shaped a bit like that to keep cool. I was there with some Spanish friends and we had taken dozens of typical Spanish fans (called abanicos) to give away as gifts, and everybody was fascinated and impressed at how much better they worked than their crappy old inefficient fans, and how they fold away and take up virtually no room! The black ones were the most popular.

[@wuchangyang186]

Matt, I believe you should have already heard about the story of Tangseng. As you have been to Dayan tower in Xi’an at where he translated the Buddhism bibles and published it.

[@azlanameer4912]

China is humanistically wonderfull country... a paradise on Earth for her people. Love you Joy. From Pakistan.

[@07tylerlee]

Monking King's persona is similar to Loki's in the Marvel Universe, minus the constant need for dominating the world. He uses his mischief for good.

[@vanhocwong6689]

Looks like a massive tourist place.

[@greensacruzn9645]

👍

[@sinlim2915]

monkey king my fav, but when i was very small, i was shocked and scared by it ! why? bcoz all the different animals can talk human language ! how can animals open their mouths talk to human !?

[@101yayo]

Its still happening and most of these Chinese, Buddhist and Hindu artefacts are auctioned off in places like Sotheby's.

[@boontan1236]

🔥

[@Moksha-Raver]

That music before zooming in on the grottos was beautiful. Looks like some Indian-influenced artwork. Was that area vandalized during the cultural revolution? I assume the Monkey King series was as impactful for a generation of Chinese children as similar programs in other parts of the world. Jingjing seemed to be nostalgic at its mention.

[@Moksha-Raver]

Gotta love the sense of humor of that camera guy.

[@elecatho7747]

Sadly (it's just too mild a word to begin with), the Europeans and Japanese came and ransacked the grotto and carted away more than 40,000 pieces of artifacts and destroyed many statues and murals in the early 1900s.

[@elecatho7747]

@@stevewilson5292 "Silence" ? go read up the actual history, who had ransacked and stolen the artifacts there.

[@elecatho7747]

@@stevewilson5292 Get the hell out of that twisted reason/logic, little kid. How the centuries of lootings, colonising and stripping the wealth, natural resources of others, and you bloody talking about "protecting" them,.. Come on, give me a break, kid.

[@taiwaing5410]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@wujiao8373]

I know it is necessary, but the guy spraying the disinfectant kind of ruins the atmosphere.

[@osmsbshsbxfnsh]

Those strange houses are used to make raisins

[@asquove7863]

You said it like Vegas but we can't build casino here. 🙈

[@abdirahmanhussein3899]

@ 0:14 what are these desert bldgs for? Drying Xinjiang Raisins?!!!

[@jurgenangler5294]

Yes

[@abdirahmanhussein3899]

Comment # 2: The Taliban of Bamiyan are as guilty as the Japanese who defaced these grottos. But who cares?

[@abdirahmanhussein3899]

@@jurgenangler5294 Yes! Thanks, I was not sure! Silk Road contribution of Xinjiang! In the ME, lots of dry fruit is consumed... Dates. Raisins. Apricots. And nuts!

[@sonjajefferson23]

nice video

[@eric_panshengmou]

火焰山

[@foocheeseng9959]

The highway to the west is almost the Route 66 the chinese version

[@aliciacline08]

Just kinda curious where your wife and child is? And why is Jing jing always wearing a superman shirt? Genuine questions. Seems odd...

[@JaYoeNation]

Anny and Eva are healthy and happy in ningbo. I have no control of JJs wardrobe

[@azlanameer4912]

Man! You are the real ambassador of Chinese culture!!!

[@我爱您中国]

No wonder XinJiang have Nan bread and many indian delicacy food i was wondering why is that, Because of the religion Buddhism and i think Tibet should have indian influence too right?

[@georgechen1446]

林则徐虎门销烟啊，小哥。后来迫于英国政府压力，清政府将他远调新疆。

[@christianyang7595]

You don’t know what this TV series mean to Chinese kids

[@JaYoeNation]

What do you mean?

[@我爱您中国]

If u know please explain lol

[@jurgenangler5294]

Another bummer?

[@alexkij3888]

I think he trying to say that the Monkey King is a memory for many childhood they grew up with.

[@christianyang7595]

@@alexkij3888 Exactly! Thanks

[@echodeng9745]

火焰山 铁扇公主 牛魔王？

[@rorschachgotnicemask9449]

The reason those faces are gone could possibly be an Islamic thing, maybe during the religious change.

[@xworld021]

美国应该向孙悟空或铁扇公主借芭蕉扇把自己的山火吹灭。

[@echodeng9745]

林则徐虎门销烟

[@alberttham81]

Everything is fine except when you mentioned that you think monkey god is kind of jerk, please have some respect for others people

[@wes8787]

I thought the monkey god was kind of naughty and was only forced to accompany the priest to the west?

[@我爱您中国]

@@wes8787 He was not naughty but evil actually, cause Monkey king is very heartless, kill whoever is in his ways because of Monkey king's pride and his powerful strength, Very and pretty similar like Lu bu

[@alexkij3888]

No worry he is fictional character

[@ngkeam9491]

@@alexkij3888 some Chinese treats this Monkey King(孙悟空) as deity, they pray to him in their home altars!

[@ngkeam9491]

@@我爱您中国 no, no, Monkey King is kind hearted, his mission is to safeguard his Master the monk, ensures no harms are done by the mosnters, demons and evildoers! until the Monk acquires successfully the Buddhist's scriptures from the West( India)!

[@johnzheng7064]

Xi you ji

[@grandwonder5858]

I just love the fact that the Muslims arrived in China about 1000 years ago, but their descendants who interbred with local Chinese people in Xinjiang (Uighurs) want to be considered the real "original people" of Xinjiang when Han Chinese have been there 3000 years before any Muslim have ever arrived anywhere close to western China, or Mongolia for that matter! The idea of "East Turkestan" has never came about until the Chinese government allowed its Muslim people in western China to go to Saudi Arabia where they were indoctrinated by the Saudis with extreme Islamic beliefs and who planted the idea of "East Turkistan" into their heads as a way for more Muslim people to conquer more parts of the world. The US, in its desire to destroy China from within because of its inability to compete with China in the global economic market, then picked up this cry for independence for the Uighur people by starting a massive anti-China propaganda campaign and made up lies about China's abuses of its minority populations. China not only did not mistreat its minority populations, but in fact responded very well when the Uighurs killed thousands of its Han people through hundreds of terrorist attacks that were sponsored by the US and Saudi governments. Instead of launching missile attacks and sending soldiers to kill the Uighurs like the US has always done against Islamic terrorists, the Chinese government made peace with the Uighur people and strived to better their lives by proving them with better education, infrastructures, and job opportunities so that they won't be easily fooled by the Americans and the Saudis to go give up their lives by strapping their bodies with bombs in order to kill innocent Han Chinese in schools, railway stations, airports, restaurants, shopping centers, theaters, etc. Through education, job opportunities, and a significant increase in the quality of life provided by the Chinese government, the Uighurs realized their history has always been linked with the Han Chinese, other ethnic Chinese minorities, and the Chinese government and not with the radical Islamic Fundamentalists from thousands of miles away. I would like to challenge the US government to treating its native people better just like the Chinese government has done for its people. Right now, the US government are building several oil pipelines through Minnesota that have already spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the water and soil located in Indian reservations. The Native People of Minnesota have vehemently protested against these oil pipelines built into their lands and drinking water and nearly 900 of them are placed in jails by the Minnesota and US governments where they are made to serve years in jails for simply practicing their Constitutional rights to protest against an abusive, racist government. The white judges force these Native People to pay tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonds for each Indian that wants to be bailed out of jail. These bonds for Native inmates are set many times higher than for white criminals that are jailed for much more serious offenses, to the point that few Indians have the means to pay for their bonds and so they are left to rot in jails! What kind of a disgusting government is that that goes around crying about China's abuses on its minority populations when it is one of the worst abusers of its own indigenous people? Doesn't the US government have any sense of shame or understand its own hypocrisy?

[@smfoo49]

Hi Jing Jing, You speak good English, but just stop wearing the superman T-shirt. Just not appropriate and out of place.