If you lived in ancient times, how long would it take to walk from Guangzhou to Beijing?
On a map of China, the straight-line distance from Guangzhou to Beijing is about 6 cm, while the actual straight-line distance from Guangzhou to Beijing is about 1900 km, and the driving distance is about 2 100 km. It takes 23 hours by car, 8 hours by high-speed rail and about 3 hours by plane.
Then in ancient times, there were no various modes of transportation to choose from like we do now. The most ancient people can choose is water and land, and land can also be divided into walking and riding. So how long did it take the ancients to travel from Guangzhou to Beijing? What mode of transportation is faster?
The waterway is too dangerous.
Careful observation of the map of China shows that Guangdong is a coastal area, and China has a developed water system, so it can reach Beijing by sea. Then let's pick up the map and see how to get there. First, we set sail from the coastal areas of Guangdong, crossed the Taiwan Province Strait through the South China Sea, then passed through the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea in turn, and finally docked at Tianjin Port. It takes another land trip to reach Beijing, and it is more than 100 kilometers from Tianjin to Beijing.
When the navigation technology of internal drainage is not developed, there is only one sea route, but it can be seen that it is a circuitous route. It is worth noting that the weather at sea is unpredictable. If the weather is fine on the way, you can also blow the sea breeze and enjoy the sea scenery. However, it is inevitable that sailing will not encounter bad weather, and ships will not be able to move forward if they are blocked. If the ship capsizes in the storm, it will really bark every day, which is also invalid.
In addition, pirates prevailed in the coastal areas of ancient China. They robbed and robbed at sea. Although every court has its own measures and forces to fight pirates, for example, General Qi Jiguang of the Ming Dynasty was an able man to fight the Japanese pirates, but you can't expect to be rescued in time when you meet pirates at sea. Just like living with your head up at sea, the safety factor of water intake is too low.
Besides, the speed of the waterway is not as fast as expected. Do you know it should be green, fat, red and thin? The heroine went back to her hometown by water to worship her ancestors, but then she chose land to go to Beijing as soon as possible. It can be seen that the speed of the waterway is actually average, and it took more than three months on the road.
Riding is unqualified.
In the spring breeze, this proud horse runs at the speed of two beats. I visited all the sights of Chang 'an gracefully in one day. Riding a horse to visit great rivers and mountains is an elegant thing in the eyes of literati. However, in ancient times, horses were similar to luxury goods. These noble families have a good education, a high status and enough capital to ride horses. They can ride freely with their aristocratic status and rest in the official post station. Ordinary people are not qualified to ride horses, and you can envy others if you have a donkey to ride.
We often see 800 urgent letters in movies and TV plays, that is, in an emergency, we can ride a horse to quickly send information to our destination. Of course, 800 miles is an exaggerated figure. In ancient times, when delivering urgent letters, messengers were required to ride horses to deliver letters, and many post stations were set up along the way. Every time the messengers arrive at a post station, they change people or horses. Therefore, in this process, horses often die of exhaustion, and the cost is huge, which only the official can bear.
In fact, a horse can run 300 kilometers a day. According to this limit speed, taking into account the actual road conditions in ancient times, it will take at most 8 days, but the road can not be guaranteed to be unimpeded. There were no expressways in ancient times, and even pipeline stations were not all flat and wide roads. From Guangzhou to Beijing, the terrain is complex, the winding path is secluded and the mountain road is rugged. So it takes at least a month to ride a horse.
It is not easy to walk.
This one won't work, and neither will that one. I can always walk. As the saying goes, there is no road on the ground, and many people become roads. He said all roads lead to Rome.
Yes, walking is the most common and simplest mode of transportation in ancient times. Considering the bad weather and the fact that bandits in the mountains can't pass normally, it takes three or four months for normal people to walk from Guangzhou to Beijing.
Everyone should be familiar with the story of Wei Zi going to Beijing to find his father in Princess Zhu Huan. Wei Zi walked from Jinan to Beijing for half a year, but it is about 400 kilometers from Jinan to Beijing, so Wei Zi walks at most two or three kilometers every day on average. This speed is still due to Wei Zi's small steps as a woman. In addition, the road conditions are complicated, and some roads are winding, so it is easy to get lost, and it takes a lot of time and cost to ask for directions.
However, it is also interesting to make friends on foot, talk about the land, enjoy the natural beauty along the way, and write a poem when you are interested. Moreover, although walking is slow, compared with the other two modes of transportation, walking is the most economical mode of transportation in ancient times, and taking other faster shortcuts is more flexible and the safety factor is relatively higher.
Therefore, in ancient times, walking was the best way to get from Guangzhou to Beijing.
With the changes of the times, our current mode of travel is becoming more and more convenient. Of course, there is no need to compare with ancient times. Therefore, we need to cherish our present life and be good at discovering the fun in life. Thanks to the invention of fast and safe means of transportation, let us enjoy a good time.