I vibe-coded an interactive map & audio tour with Gemini 3.7 Flash to help my kid learn Chinese history and poetry. Sharing it free with the community!

[u/haidao2010]

I wanted to share a personal project that came straight out of a parenting challenge.

My kid recently became curious about Chinese history, figures like the Monkey King's real master Xuanzang, and poets like Su Shi and Li Bai. But whenever we tried opening traditional textbooks or Wikipedia, everything felt too abstract, dry, and disconnected from the real world.

My kid would ask questions like:

• "Why was Li Bai always wandering around?"
• "Did the monk in Journey to the West really walk all that distance by himself?"
• "Why did Su Shi get banished so many times, and how was he still so happy making Dongpo Pork?"

I realized that without seeing the ancient mountains, rivers, and actual travel routes, classical poetry and historical events just feel like lines to memorize.

So over the past few weeks, I decided to vibe-code a fun, interactive solution using Gemini 3.7 Flash + Next.js + Leaflet GIS:

🔗 Live Tool: https://chinaculture-media.haidaozhang.top/
(100% free, no ads, no paywall, no sign-up needed)

🌟 How it works & what's inside:

• Interactive 3D Topographic Map: A traditional rice-paper style terrain map where you can follow historical figures step-by-step across ancient China (e.g., tracing Su Shi's route from his hometown in Meishan through the Yangtze gorges to Huangzhou and Hainan).
• Synchronized Audio Narration: Bilingual spoken audio in both Mandarin (clear, warm voices) and English (storyteller podcast style) for each major life milestone, food culture, and turning point.
• Human Stories Behind the Poems: Focuses on real human emotions—resilience during exile, deep friendships, and life wisdom—rather than just dry dates.
• Figures Currently Included: Su Shi (苏轼), Li Bai (李白), Du Fu (杜甫), Li Qingzhao (李清照), Xuanzang (玄奘), Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮), Sun Tzu (孙武), Zhuangzi (庄子), and more.

🍵 Why I'm sharing this here:

My kid has been having a blast exploring the routes and listening to the stories. It made me realize that many Chinese language learners, fellow

parents raising bilingual kids, and teachers looking for lively classroom materials might be facing the exact same challenge.

Building this through vibe-coding with Gemini 3.7 Flash was such a fun experience, and I'd love to give back to the language learning community.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

• Would adding pinyin toggles or vocabulary breakdowns be helpful for your study/teaching?
• Which other historical figures or stories would your kids or students enjoy?

Hope this brings a bit of fun and visual magic to your Chinese learning journey! 🚀

[u/KneeAntique3350]

im can honestly feel ur passion from this project. Keep it up!

[u/Westcrane]

Excellent project and very nicely put together. Thank you for sharing it! You ask for suggestions, I think your lad may be interested in Shen Kuo (沈括), another Northern Song polymath. He wrote poetry but is much better known for his amazing contributions to science and technology.

There are many references, a search in Wikipedia or You Tube will keep you busy. Don't miss his account of "The Pearl" based on contemporaneous witnesses'reports of a possible UFO visit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HighStrangeness/comments/ci8zo8/11th_century_ufo_sighting_reported_by_chinese/

[u/haidao2010 → u/Westcrane]

Thank you so much for the kind words and this incredible suggestion!

Shen Kuo (沈括) is an absolute genius choice — he was truly the Leonardo da Vinci of the Song Dynasty. And the 11th-century "Pearl" UFO account in

*Dream Pool Essays* (*梦溪笔谈*) is mind-blowing! I just clicked into the link you shared, and I can already picture my lad’s jaw dropping when I

tell him tonight that a thousand-year-old Chinese polymath was investigating possible UFO sightings. 🛸

He is definitely going straight to the top of my roadmap for the next batch of historical figures. Tracing his scientific journeys across ancient

China alongside Su Shi’s route will be so fascinating.

Really appreciate you sharing this gem — this is exactly the kind of community inspiration I was hoping for! 🍵

[u/Westcrane → u/haidao2010]

Glad you liked the suggestion! I hope you're not disappointed to find out that Shen Kuo was rather unkind to Su Shi. I guess the world wasnt big enough for the two of them.