This ancient marvel rivaled Rome’s intricate network of roads This ancient marvel rivaled Rome’s intricate network of roads China’s beloved drunken poet died centuries ago—or did he?

“My kids roamed all over ... dates back 2,000 years in China’s history. Ting has played the pipa since childhood and won first prize in China’s national pipa competition in 1996.

This story appears in the June 2009 issue of National Geographic magazine. The world economy in the ninth century had two powerful engines. One was Tang dynasty China, an empire stretching from ...

This story appears in the May 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine ... but barges plying the Grand Canal have knit China together for 14 centuries, carrying grain, soldiers, and ideas ...