China beyond the cities

Since the place I lived in China in the early 80s was an agricultural university, I wanted to see more than a big urban center, with its glittering development.  Thankfully, we got to take a bus from Xian to Pingliang (Gansu), and a train from Taiyuan (Shanxi) to Beijing.  My eyes were glued to the scenes outside my window.  The geography of where we were driving in Shanaxi and Gansu--loess plateau--looked just like what I remembered of Shanxi , with its cave dwellings (yaodong) and terraces, its wheat fields and apple orchards, its greenhouses and vegetable plots.