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As someone who does research on atheism, I would offer that I'm relatively highly qualified to answer this question.The question was why atheism is increasing (and I will limit my response to the American case), not whether or not it is. The data across multiple sources would show that it is, in fact, increasing, although slowly; I would consider this a point that does not need to be argued (although it could be demonstrated rather easily).But as for why, no one knows why atheism is increasing in America, or if the trend will continue. There are various theories; in fact, a contrary case could also be made that religion is simply changing, or that other indicators evince increasing vitality for religion or that secular growth is not strong/will not last [1; 19, chapter 3].I can offer you five theoretical reasons, backed by research. Bear in mind that these explanations are not necessarily either mutually inclusive or exclusive, nor is this list meant to be exhaustive; I was trying not to make this entry so long that people wouldn't read it.No.1 Political Backlash (Values Conflict)Offered initially by Hout and Fischer in a 2002 paper [2], this view implies that the increase in atheists is likely part of the larger increase in those who have “No Religion”, referred to as the “Nones”. Because they find that the shift from a religious preference to no religious preference does not characterize political conservatives, but only political moderates and liberals, they offer that the larger shift to no religion is a political response to the Religious Right. I infer that the growth of atheism becomes more plausible inside the political atmosphere which drove the rise in Nones (see reason number 5). Robert Putnam (mentioned further below) also noted in his co-authored volume American Grace [3] that a values conflict that emerged across 1960 to 1990 is responsible for multiple “shocks” across American society that result in the rise of the Nones as well; these shocks, in this case, are centered on conflict over social values, particularly as they relate to sex, sexuality, and drug use.Hout and Fischer also refer to delays in marriage. One of the conventional pieces of wisdom in the sociology of religion is that data often show a “return” to religion or church for those young couples who bear children; this is referred to as a “life cycle” effect and depends upon demography. Because modern American populations are putting off marriage and childbearing until later, we are seeing a lag with respect to return to religion. However, taking the political backlash into account, it is possible that more and more people will not return to religion or the church even after marrying and having children, as the lag means them spending more time outside of institutionalized religion (see also point number 5, about generational displacement, which keys into this).No. 2: Broad Social DisengagementIn 2001, Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam published Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community [3]. His central thesis meant to show the key indicators of the strength of American community and civil life had weakened over time (e.g. number of social ties to other people). In 2005, sociologist William Bainbridge published an article examining the social ties of atheists [4]. His abstract read:Data from a large, four-language web-based questionnaire, supplemented with data from the General Social Survey, allow us to explore possible sources of Atheism, notably the hypothesis that lack of social obligations encourages disbelief in God. The analysis is rooted in the compensator theory of religion, first proposed twenty-five years ago, but it incorporates a recent addition: the distinction between primary and secondary compensation. Social obligations make secondary compensation important, because it substitutes a compensator for a reward that a person is obligated to provide to another person. The data show that Atheism is indeed more common among people whose social obligations are weak. The analysis also traces connections between Atheism and the demographic fertility collapse that has been occurring in most advanced industrial nations, suggesting that secularization might best be understood in the context of declining social obligations.This analysis has been contradicted since its publication [18], yet it is still worth considering when we wonder about the rise of atheism.No. 3: SecularizationSecularization has a long and conflicted history in the sociology of religion, with a research focus dating back to the 1950s [5]; it has also gone under a great number of revisions and caveats along the way. In a crude way, it can be summarized as saying that modernity is antithetical to religion. Immediately we can see that whether this relationship is true will depend upon how we define and/or measure “modernity” (and “religion” for that matter).[As an important side note, secularization theory was highly contested by the rise of Rational Choice Theory of religion, inaugurated by Rodney Stark and William Bainbridge in 1987 [6]; it was contested prior to 1987 by other theorists and researchers, but RCT largely is a response to the various inadequacies of secularization theory when it comes to explaining religious change.]In 2004, Norris and Inglehart published Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide [7], which introduced what came to be known as the Existential Security Thesis (also sometimes called the existential security framework; closely related to the personal security hypothesis/uncertainty hypothesis). The linchpin observation made from this book was that the countries which tended to perform well on indices of societal well-being also tended to be lower down on religiosity spectrums, and vice versa (i.e. poor societal well-being, high religiosity). EST was essentially a modified, updated version of secularization theory. It posited two axioms: a security axiom, and a cultural traditions axiom. George Brian Nicholson, in his Master’s thesis on EST [8], provides the following sufficient description:The security axiom reflects the idea that “societies around the world differ greatly in their levels of economic and human development and socioeconomic equality—and consequently, in the extent to which they provide their people with a sense of existential security” (Norris and Inglehart, 2004, p.217). Facing more illness, disease, higher child mortality rates, political unrest, and providing less education, for example, marks these societies. The divide between rich and poor countries continues to increase. Thus, countries with less security will have more of a need for religion. The cultural traditions axiom reflects the underlying influence of a country’s religious or cultural heritage on the ideological views of the citizens. This adds a qualitative entity to their secularization theory...the authors summarize their overall secularization argument: “The theory … argues that the erosion of religious values, beliefs, and practices is shaped by long-term changes in existential security, a process linked with human development and socioeconomic equality, and with each society’s cultural legacy and religious traditions” (Norris and Inglehart, 2004, p.53).Any attempt to examine societal or state health and its relationship to indicators of religiosity falls into the scope of EST.Another poster here mentioned the EST work of Gregory Paul. He published an article supporting EST in 2005 [9]; his article’s claims and conclusions were rebutted to some extent in the same journal the following year [10], with the article’s authors saying:This rejoinder addresses Paul’s thesis, analysis, and conclusions in terms of the various methodological assumptions and frameworks used to deploy his study. It is the opinion of the authors that once all of the methodological issues are considered, Paul’s findings and conclusions are rendered ineffectual. In closing, various suggestions are offered in the hopes of advancing Paul’s hopes for “future research and debate on the issue” of comparative analysis of religiosity, secularism, and democratic social health.Furthermore, Gregory Paul also does not have any credentials that would regard him as a social scientist, social theorist, or even as a researcher of religion. He is manifestly an anti-theist [11], which renders his work suspect.No. 4: Internet UseCheyne and Britton, in an unpublished manuscript ostensibly dated 2010 [12], say:The internet has changed many things, including the world of atheists and other nontheists. Prior to the advent of the internet, such people were relatively isolated, possibly able to find a few books such as Bertrand Russell’s “Why I am not a Christian” at the local library, but with little material to stimulate any incipient irreligion unless they lived in major centres. It is likely the internet, even more than works by Dawkins, Hitchens, and the others or, rather, the interaction between the two that has created what has been called, for better or worse, the “new atheism.” Much has been written about the characteristics of the new atheists and much of this has been based on the writings of a few highly visible atheists. Little is known about the depth or breadth of such views. In addition to the direct effects of such writings, it is the chatter on the internet about such books and the rise of atheist blogs such as Atheist Planet, Pharyngula, and many others that is creating a sense of community among nonbelievers, doubters, and sceptics. Hence, we thought it timely to investigate the characteristics of the people connected, however peripherally, to this new internet communityAnd then there is Downey's popular paper about the relationship between Internet use and no religion [13], which would show how Internet use contributes to a decline in religious affiliation, although this is very likely not a direct effect on disaffiliation itself but co-occurs with other factors that perhaps are. See also Smith and Cimino's 2012 article [17] which discusses specifically the role of the Internet, online atheist communities, activism, and identity formation.See also new work by Paul McClure [20], who finds that “internet use is associated with increases in being religiously unaffiliated and decreases in religious exclusivism. At the same time, I find that television viewing is linked to decreases in religious attendance and other time-related religious activities, but these outcomes are not impacted by Internet use. To explain these disparate findings, I argue that the Internet is fundamentally different from previous technologies like television and thus impacts religious beliefs and belonging but not time-related religious activities.”No. 5: Generational DisplacementMerino’s work [14] suggests that a cohort effect is in play; the rising number of atheists is explained mostly by the generational increases via demography. This would comport well with the fact that the increase in the number of atheists has been slow and gradual.​​However, other research [15] would show that the nonreligious, including atheists, compared to religious denominations and traditions, demographically perform poorly when it comes to generating/retaining their numbers across time. Still, counterbalancing for these two items might yet allow for atheism to increase slowly over many years.​​In summary, many things contribute to the rise in atheism. Phil Zuckerman, despite his association with Gregory Paul and his own manifest anti-theism, has produced some work worthy of consideration. Notably, apostasy and "no religion" are not to be equated with atheism per se, however, some apostates do go on to become atheists. Below is a quote from my own work, referencing Zuckerman's book Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion [16]:Zuckerman (2011, chapter 10, pp. 151-169) interviewed 87 apostates (individuals who had left or rejected their previous religious tradition or affiliation but who may or may not have become atheists/agnostics), some of whom eventually became atheists, and pinpointed “the nine most typical, most pervasive, or most often mentioned reasons given by apostates in accounting for their rejection of religion (p. 153).” These reasons broadly fell into the following categories: parents; education; misfortune; other cultures/other religions; friends, colleagues, lovers; politics; sex; Satan and hell; and malfeasance of religious associates. Zuckerman, adding the caveat that “reasons are not necessarily causes”, distinguishes between subjective reasons and objective causes; that is, any one of the various factors may increase the likelihood of apostasy but would not be, in and of itself, a cause for the rejection of one’s religion. He concludes that “a variety of life circumstances, personal experiences, and/or social dynamics (p. 165)” underlie the likelihood of apostasy.EDIT (April 27, 2017). A few months ago, Richard Flory had a piece in Observer, about factors driving the nonreligious rise. It was so compelling, I had to add his insights here. To summarize:First, traditional authority structures, including religious ones, have been flattened through access to knowledge. As a result, everyone and no one is an authority, which reduces the need for traditional authorities of any sort.Second, fewer Americans view important social institutions – such as religious organizations, corporations and government – as having a positive impact in society.Third, religion has a bad brand. From sex scandals across different religious traditions to the increasing association between evangelical Christianity and the political right, religion per se has taken a beating.[I think this one is especially important] Fourth, increasing competition for people’s attention from work, family responsibilities, social media and other activities means that religion loses out to more pressing commitments.Finally, personal choice is a bedrock feature of American culture. Individuals choose professional affiliations, diets, club memberships and myriad other associations, with religion being one more affiliation that is “chosen” by adherents.__________[1] Stark, R. (2015). The triumph of faith: Why the world is more religious than ever. Open Road Media.[2] Hout, M., & Fischer, C. S. (2002). Why more Americans have no religious preference: Politics and generations. American Sociological Review, 165-190.[3] Putnam, R. D., Campbell, D. E., & Garrett, S. R. (2012). American grace: How religion divides and unites us. Simon and Schuster.[4] Bainbridge, W. S. (2005). Atheism. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 1.[5] Page on iasc-culture.org[6] Stark, R., & Bainbridge, W. S. (1987). A theory of religion (Vol. 2). New York: Lang.[7] Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2011). Sacred and secular: Religion and politics worldwide. Cambridge University Press.[8] Nicholson, G. B. (2006). Cultural Zones and Existential Security: A Cross-national Examination of Secularization Theory (Master's Thesis, University of Georgia).[9] Paul, G. (2005). Cross-national correlations of quantifiable societal health with popular religiosity and secularism in the prosperous democracies. Journal of Religion & Society 1(7).[10] Mach, T. S., Moreno-Riano, G., & Smith, M. C. (2006). Religiosity, Secularism, and Social Health: A Research Note. Journal of Religion and Society, 8.[11] THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION by Gregory S. Paul[12] Page on arts.uwaterloo.ca[13] [1403.5534] Religious affiliation, education and Internet use[14] Merino, S. M. (2013). Irreligious socialization? The adult religious preferences of individuals raised with no religion. Secularism and Nonreligion, 1, 1-16.[15] Page on pewforum.org[16] Zuckerman, P. (2011). Faith no more: Why people reject religion. Oxford University Press.[17] Smith, C., & Cimino, R. (2012). Atheisms unbound: The role of the new media in the formation of a secularist identity. Secularism and Nonreligion, 1(1), 17-31.[18] Hunter, L. A. (2010). Explaining atheism: Testing the secondary compensator model and proposing an alternative. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 6.[19] Hood Jr, R. W., Spilka, B., Hunsberger, B., & Gorsuch, R. (1996). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach. New York: Guilford Press.[20] McClure, P. K. (2017). Tinkering with Technology and Religion in the Digital Age: The Effects of Internet Use on Religious Belief, Behavior, and Belonging. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. DOI. 10.1111/jssr.12365

What is Upstate New York?I lived in Middletown, Orange County, which is part of the Hudson Valley, an area filled with prisons, small towns, state jobs, a Manhattan commuters haven where Times Square is eighty miles away with all forms of mass transit available to commute there. It's a few miles from the Delaware River and the corner of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The beautiful Hudson Valley, home to onion fields, horse and apple farms, The Hudson River, Bear Mountain, West Point and IBM. How is it here in upstate? In a word, it’s a toss-up. Good if you have a high-paying job, very average if you don’t. Living in NYC - urban living has become unthinkably expensive for many middle-class creative types. So many live outside and commute into the City. We didn’t imagine that we were pioneering some crazy new way of life. Upstate New York has been attracting formerly urban folk for decades. We just wanted to be a little ahead of the curve, give ourselves some financial space to reimagine our lives. In reality, city folk have been settling in various counties of upstate New York for generations. We were betting on the fact that we wouldn’t be alone in fleeing the big city for a small town. Small towns in upstate all have something from Manhattan; Jewish Delis, a Rockabilly Bar called Hot Shotz, a diner (or two), Chinese food and a couple of pizza places.Upstate New York is a mountainous lake-filled region which begins more than 50 miles outside the greater metropolitan area and is bounded by Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway to the north, Vermont and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Lake Erie to the west and Pennsylvania's Pocono mountains to the south - often takes a backseat to the glitz and glam of the 30 million metro populations of the City. Leave Manhattan on the George Washington Bridge, go immediately north on the Palisades and you are into mountains and lakes country. But that is not considered upstate. Not even when you enter the Hudson Valley, one of the most beautiful regions of the USA, filled with Onion Farms, Apple Orchards, and Standard and Thoroughbred horse breeding farms. Drive up the Hudson or Delaware River Valley, go by the Catskill Mountains, resorts and canoe liveries and you are still not in what is considered Upstate. Remember, just outside of NYC are mountains, huge lakes and rivers. Upstate is considered anywhere from 50 to 100 miles outside of NYC, way north into tough man and guns territory, where there is a minimum influence from NYC. The area is farm, blue collar, hunting and fishing territory. Don't fuck with these people, they will eat your lunch and you will say please.Manhattan is the economic engine of the three state region and millions commute there. From Times Square, drive 40 miles in any direction and you are in picture-perfect American suburbia: single-family homes on large lots with beautiful lawns (in summer) covered with three feet of snow (winter) and green mature trees; department stores; longtime neighborhood staple restaurants and Italian bakeries; family-friendly farms smelling of toasted bread, coffee, and hot cider, open for seasonal apple and berry u-picks; highly-rated schools. Enclosed within all this suburbia are pockets of outdoor heaven with lakes, hiking trails, etc. The counties in NY State are big, bigger than some states, so when you look north at Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties you are not in upstate. Neither when you look at northern New Jersey or southern Connecticut. Not even when you look south to Pennsylvania at its northern border including Philadelphia. I have mentioned are all considered part of the 30 million New York City metropolitan regions. And of course Long Island with its hundreds of thousands of people is part of the NYC region. Millions of people work in NYC and take mass transit to get there. NYC's 9 million population becomes more than 12 to 15 million and the metro area gorges on commuters every day.Let's look at the region: Being that most people associate New York with New York City, one might be surprised to learn that almost all of the state is actually rural farmland and wilderness. The Appalachian Trail runs though NY; the state is covered with mountains and lakes. The Adirondack Park comprises 6.1 million acres of protected nature; which is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon and the Great Smokey Mountain National Parks combined! That being said, the rural lifestyle does have many positives, as well as negatives. The scenery is beautiful with rolling hills, small valleys and of course the Finger Lakes. The seasons can be beautiful, especially at the end of summer and during the height of autumn. Right now the colored leaves are gorgeous!This weekend my town will be hosting its annual Apple Festival, which takes place at the historically preserved homestead on the outskirts of town. Lots of traditional crafts, bluegrass music, local food and tours of the historic buildings.Let's start with the Hudson Valley, it starts right outside NYC and oozes beauty, history and celebrity from its mountains to its rivers, what with its Standard Bred Horse Farms, onion farms, apple orchards, wine making, and world famous Fall foliage. In my opinion, for recreational, educational, artistic and scenic opportunities, there is no finer place to be. Every town has a story, and there are many small towns south of Albany that are worth a day trip ‑ Hudson, Saugerties, New Paltz, Rhinebeck and Highland Falls which contains West Point to name a few. All of which have fun little shops and great dining thanks to the Culinary Institute of America nearby. There are good size mountains with abundant camping, hiking trails and hotels. The Hudson Valley is a land of beautiful countrysides, mountains, meadows, historic homes, antiques, unique shops, wonderful restaurants and endless breath taking views. Oh, did I mention food? The Hudson Valley has some of the best restaurants and eateries you'll find anywhere.A little west and you are in the Catskill Mountains? They are the home to some of the first grand resorts in the country, and in some ways, a wilderness that's only about three hours north of New York City. Just three hours north west of Manhattan is a bucolic region called the Catskills a.k.a. Borscht Belt a.k.a. the Jewish Alps. The Catskills consists of lakes, rivers, mountains, small towns, and resort hotels and hundreds of Bungalow Colonies. The region has a history. Every year between 1920 and 1970, almost one million of New York City's Jewish population summered in the Catskills and hundreds of thousands still do. While much has been written about grand hotels like Grossinger's and the Concord, little has appeared about the hundreds of more modest bungalow colonies and kuchaleins ("cook for yourself" places) where more than 80 percent of Catskill visitors stayed. These were not glamorous places, and middle‑class Jews today remember the colonies with either aversion or fondness. The Jewish influence in the Catskills is indescribable, it would all start in Jewish Villages like in those Brooklyn, punctuated by the gruff call of Ruby the Knish Man who sold legendary hot potato knishes smothered in kosher salt from a pushcart which would magically appear anywhere you were in Brooklyn or end up in "the country," that area of the Catskill Mountains of lower upstate New York usually referred to as the Borscht Belt and characterized by bungalow colonies. Large resorts, such as Grossinger's, hosted the careers of Borscht Belt comedians - I saw lots of them - (I: E: Joey Bishop, Milton Berle, Rodney Dangerfield, and Buddy Hackett whom I am personally suing for busting my gut with his “Pull my finger” routine) But most of New York City's Jewish population (and the Borscht Belt was almost exclusively Jewish) could not afford an entire summer away at a large resort; they chose rather, to rent bungalows. A bungalow can be charitably described as a summerhouse, and less charitably described as a shack, which most of them were or became.The Delaware River Valley lays alongside the Delaware River, with Pennsylvania on one side and the Hudson Valley on the other. From Milford, Port Jervis, through Calicoon and Narrowsburg to Hancock, going through Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware, and Greene counties that were all America's original frontier, life in this corner of the western Catskills in Upstate New York keeps time with the natural rhythms of the land, changing with the seasons. Our streams and woodland have been nearly untouched by time. Mountains and valleys are threaded with nearly 1,000 miles of waterways. The Delaware County Catskill Mountains are beautiful, serene, and unspoiled. It is a land of cows grazing, fish swimming in the streams, and deer playing in the hills.Venture a few hours north and you are in world-famous historic American horse racing town of Saratoga Springs, with its picture-perfect “best American main street” and natural mineral baths. Outsiders (including NYC residents) might find it odd that condos along Broadway in downtown Saratoga push $1m price tag — similar in valuation to, say, a luxury brand-new condo in a high rise in prime location in downtown Tampa or St Pete, FL. Not to mention an assortment of mansions sprinkled throughout the area, easily topping this mark. There have to be good reasons for that…and these reasons involve the fact that some wealthy people find this location desirable, for whatever reason.From there, drive 30 minutes East, and you are in a hiker’s mecca of the famous Berkshires, home to the Norman Rockwell museum; Kripalu yoga center, and numerous historic sightseeing destinations. So what’s my verdict?All around the Upstate region are convenient stores and ethnic eateries, which is kind of reminiscent of New York City lifestyles. Small road size stops usually consist of a gas station with a convenience store with a serviceable diner attached to it. The convenience store also fills a snack need, being open late and selling beer, cigarettes, candy, ice and such. In the convenience store part of the establishment they make sandwiches, not fancy sandwiches, but good subs. Their Italian combo (at about $4) weighs usually more than a pound and a half and easily feeds two hungry people. But whether there is enough macaroni salad at the deli counter is a problem a thousand times more consequential to those who make their living running deli counters. The diner offering typical diner food at typical diner prices with friendly service, just fine, but nothing to write home about. In addition, in the Delaware River Valley there are canoe liveries, campsites, and fisheries. All along the Delaware River, small towns let life flow by at a slow pace. On their main drag, restaurants, antique shops and art galleries stand side by side with hardware stores and insurance agencies and the proverbial New York Pizza joint and Delis selling two inch thick Pastrami sandwiches. There are always benches on the river’s edge to sit on and eat while watching kayakers and canoers paddle down the river.After taking an Early Retirement working in the Manhattan computer industry for thirty years, I worked Route Sales jobs in Upstate New York for thirteen years, my sales territory being the Hudson Valley, Delaware River Valley and Catskill mountains. I sold all kinds of goods and services, from convenient store goods, to gas station products, Sam’s club memberships, cruise travel and janitorial services. I had all kinds of customers, small town governments, food and hard goods distributors, all kinds of institutions, schools, and all kinds of small businesses, hotels, bungalow cottage colonies, canoe liveries and resort operations.Other than that there is Upstate, New York. Once full of industrial boomtowns, Upstate NY has suffered long-term decline in industry, jobs and population. The mile long General Motors Engine plant in Buffalo that employed more than five thousand now has less than 20 people, all replaced by robots. Upstate industries were devastated by technology. But Upstate is extraordinarily beautiful, what with hundreds of miles of shore line on two Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway, along with Niagara Falls and ten thousand big lakes full of fish begging to be caught as your boat gets around with motor or sail, all wrapped up by rock climbing cliffs, mountains galore and big canoe trip rivers. Upstate is a series of small towns ensconced between mountains and deep valleys full of good-ole-boys hanging at the local dinner, bars or bowling alley telling lies.Upstate is Middle Class and inexpensive. It has affordable housing. For example, I saw a nice, move-in-ready house about a block from the Hudson River going for about $120,000 in Catskill. This is not far from famous resorts including Lake George and Saratoga Springs. The schools in the area tend to rate very well, if you have kids, and it’s not far from Albany, a medium-sized city that has lots of colleges and some decent jobs. Try to find a house downstate less than $300,000 that is in a good school district and ready to move into. And taxes are usually higher downstate, too. It is also a conservative area - very Republican. A con if that isn't your thing. Most people view this area as not a wild and crazy place like New York City, but an ideal place to raise a family. The are lots of opportunities to get outdoors and do fun stuff like hiking, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, etc. If you like the country, this is the place . . . it's beautiful! There are nice small towns all over the state, but a lot of them are poor and show it.People out in the rural sections can be just as conservative and redneck as the best KKK dragoons from Mississippi. You don't live here unless you can handle yourself, have lots of guns, drive a pickup, and take no shit from anyone and like lots of snow to use your snow cat in. And Upstate rarely gets the extremes like tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. It's very safe where women don't hesitate to go out running, at night, alone. I would say that the quality of life if you have a family and a decent job (like I do) are great. So, If you like cloudy weather and high taxes then the staggering abundance of fresh water is a bonus.A standard joke is this is the one place in the USA where they are seriously looking forward to global warming. The worst that happens is some flooding when the snow melts in the mountains and flows down into the towns putting main streets awash. I would say that Upstate is culturally something like laid back Good-ole-boy Alabama without the racial history, confederate flags, big bellies, trailers, and Coke machines on ones front pouch. Upstaters are fit and tough, where people have family that fought on the Yankee side of the Civil War, are gun crazy grizzly slender rough necks, who climb mountains, live in bungalow houses and enjoy a good Saturday night bar fight once in a while over who shot the biggest deer or black bear. I would also recommend New York with its excellent schools and colleges, to anyone looking for a good college / University to attend.I have to say that I LOVE upstate NY. I enjoy the change in seasons and I've learned to enjoy any extreme in weather- it makes the perfect days that much better. I have survived 36 degrees below zero in Watertown when I visited the 10th Mountain Division Army base. I just love the Finger Lakes and would move up there in a heartbeat if I could get a job up there - I'm happy where I am, though. I can remember someone from Knoxville, Tennessee saying that there was nothing in his whole state as nice as Canandaigua Lake, but then again that was at the end of June. One of my neighbors was from Georgia and he felt about the same. Upstate will knock your socks off with its natural beauty. Rhinebeck is probably one of the nicer places in upstate NY if you'll consider it upstate. Lots of state land for great trails running, great surrounding school systems, and at a perfect location being only about 75 min from NYC and 50min from Albany.

There weren’t many civilizations in modern China during the Zhou dynasty in fact .But there did be some nations could date back to that period .My English is bad ,so excuse me .I.Those who Han Chinese knew little aboutI.i.City-states of the West Region or Xīyù(西域 in Chinese ,modern day Xinjiang and some part of Central Asia)City states in Xiyu area haven’t communicated with Han Chinese people because of the vast desert until 100s BCat the period of Emperor Wu (141 BCE-87 BCE) of Western Han Dynasty ,but they do exist in the period of Zhou dynasty since the Greek descripted them when Alexander the Great conquered states in Middle East .Most people from these City states spoke Tocharian langauges ,an old branch of Indo-European languages ,which died out in 9th century AD when the Turks enter the Tarim basin and the Zunghar basin while the local climate became extremely dry at the same time,then the Tocharian people were either turkicized or parched .Reproduced picture of Kroran Beauty ,a female mummy found in Xinjiang in 1980 ,died about 3800 years ago ,who had probably a Tocharian background .But there did be some city states in Xiyu that didn’t speak Tocharian languages ,and luckily ,their offsprings survived the long history .The City State of Wusun ,which is situated in present Ili Valley ,maybe spoke a variant of Scythian language which is a kind of Eastern Iranian languages ,which maybe survived today as the Ossetian people in Russia and Georgia .Rider burial mound Tenlik (III.-II. B.C.) The Tenlik kurgan is associated with the Wusun.(from wikipedia)Gaito Gazdanov (1903–1971),a writer with Ossetian background .(from wikipedia)Another example of these city states is the State of Khotan ,which is situated in present Hotan Prefecture in Xinjiang .The language of Khotanese ,aka the Saka language was also an Eastern Iranian language ,and was widely spoken in the oasis of Hotan until the Kingdom of Hotan was conquered by the Islamic Kara-Khanid Khanate in 969 and the local Buddists were slaughtered and turkicized .The Saka people were considered as one kind of ancester of modern day Tajik peoplein China or Pamir people in Tajikistan .Li Shengtian (or Viśa' Saṃbhava) ,one of Khotanese kings with the reign of 912–966 .Tajik people in traditional wedding dress .II.Those who Han Chinese knows .II.i. Ba People and Shu people .The people in the modern Sichuan Basin were originally called Baipu (百濮,Old Chinese :*praːɡ poːɡ ，literally “hundreds of Pu people”) ,who may be the people living in Sanxingdui-period Sichuan ,which is believed to be the position of State of Shu (蜀) in Chinese history record.The Shu State became a vassal of the Zhou dynasty in 1045 BCE (which didn’t shown up on the map) .The Shu people maybe a branch of Burmese-Loloish people who was the ancestor of modern-day Yi people and Burmese people ,or a branch of Austroasiatic people who might be a relative of modern-day Wa people ,Khmer people or Vietnamese people (Kinh people in China).Golden mask found in Jinsha ,near Chengdu ,Sichuan province .Two Yi girl in traditional dress .Wa girls from Lincang,YunnanThe Ba(巴) people living in present-day Chongqing was the direct ancestor of modern Tujia people living in Hunan ,Hubei ,Chongqing and Guizhou .Ba people also became the vassal of Zhou dynasty about the same time with Shu ,who in the Spring and Autumn period became a great power in the Yangtze River Basin and fought with State of Chu in several big battles .After being conquered by the State of Qin in 316 BC ,Ba people were completely governed by the central government ,and lately their offsprings become Tujia people today ,who is highly siniticized today but still remained some customs that could be dated back to the pre-Qin period .Tujia language is a kind of Tibetan-Burmese language that is rapidly declined today dueing to the widely speaking of local Mandarin Chinese ,many Tujia people have given up their language and speak Mandarin Chinese today .Huzuoniaojiagu (虎座鸟架鼓,literally”Drum with tiger-like base and bird-like support”) ,found in Jingzhou ,Hubei ,was made by the Chu peoplefor commemorating a battle of defeating Ba people .The tiger of the base is totem of the Ba people ,while the bird of the support is totem of the Chu peopleModern Tujia people ,from Chinese National GeographyII.ii.The Miaoman peopleMiaoman (苗蛮)people ,or rather Sanmiao (三苗)people ,lived in today Hubei and Hunan province ,they were recorded by Han Chinese people since the legend period with many legends about them .The Daxi civilization and Qujialing civilization near Yangtze River are archaeologic evidences of the Miaoman people .Modern day ,Miaoman people become the Hmong-Mien people ,including Hmong(Miao,苗),Mien(Yao,瑶)and Shē(畲) people who live in mountainous area of South China and Indochina Penisular .The Shē people today have spoken local dialects of Chinese (mostly Hakka ,while some speaking Gan ,Wu or Min ,so on),but the Hmong people and Mien people are speaking variants of Hmong-Mien languages .Pottery bowls found in sites of Daxi Civilization .Modern day Hmong-Mien language speaking area .(from wikipedia)A traditional Hmong house in the Miao Village of Xijaing in Leishan ,Guizhou .II.iii.The Dongyi people and the Baiyue people .The people living to the east of the Zhongyuan area(roughly Henan today)were called Yi(夷,Old Chinese:*lil) or Dongyi(东夷) when the Zhou Emperors reign ,while people gave the Dongyi people beyond the Huai River a new name ,the Yue(越,Old Chinese:*ɢʷad) people or Baiyue people,the Yi people were thought as the ruling people of the Shang dynasty but they completely died out today ,while the Yue people became the ancestor of modern day Tai-Kadai people ,including Dong (Kam),Zhuang ,Laotian and Thai people .Many states in today Shandong province in the Zhou dynasty had a Dongyi background ,including State of Song ,where ancestors of Confucius came from ,and Confucius himself was a biologically Dongyi man .Except of Yi States in modern Shandong ,the State of Wu and Yue are two great powers among the Yue states .Xishi ,one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China ,came from the State of Yue .Sword of Goujian the King of Yue (520BCE-465BCE),found in Jingzhou ,Hubei .Modern Kam Grand Choir in Guizhou Province .II.iv.The Nomad People:Di ,Hu or Rong ,and Xiongnu .There are so many nomad tribes in Chinese history ,while in the Zhou dynasty ,the nomad people are much more southerner than the imperial dynasties of China .The Di(狄,Old Chinese :deːɡ) people ,who were nomad tribes in modern day Shanxi and Hebei province ,were thought to be a possible ancestor of the Turkic people ,who offsprings modern Uighur ,Kazakh ,Kyrgyz ,Yakut ,Chuvash or Azerbaijan people .In the Warring States era ,one branch of the Di people ,the White Di ,found the Zhongshan State ,and later became a siniticized state until it was conquered in 296 BCE .Bronze Beast of Zhongshan Era .Traditional Uighur wedding .Horse Sacrifice of Luhun Rong ,a branch of Rong people ,found in Luoyang ,HenanThe Hu(胡,Old Chinese :*ɡaː) people or the Rong (戎,Old Chinese :*njuŋ)people were considered the ancestor of the later Qiang people ,who was the ancestor of modern Tibetan and Qiang people .The Rong people was devided into many tribes ,and maby of them entered Guanzhong Plain and mantainoues areas of the Zhongyuan area ,which made the King Ping of Zhou made Luo his capital instead the traditional Hao .Later ,during the rising of Empire of Qin ,many Rong tribes were conquered or fled west to more mountainous area ,until they entered the Tibetan Plateau .Tibetan Opera Performance of Sho Dun Festival in Lhasa .The Xiongnu(匈奴,Old Chinese :*qʰoŋ naː) people ,who was called Xianyun(玁狁,Old Chinese :*hŋramʔ lunʔ) in the Zhou dynasty ,was the most mysterious kind of nomad people .Some thought they might be a relative of modern day Mongolic people or another kind of Altaic people ;Some thought they might be an ancestor or a close relative of modern Ket people living in Central Siberia who speaks a kind of Yeniseian languages that is an old-continential relative of Na-Déne people in America such as Navajo ,Chipewyan ,Tlingit ,or Apache people .There was once a thought that Xiongnu people migrated west then became the Huns people ,but there wasn’t enough evidence and the Huns people appeared to a Turkic people .Han Dynasty Map ,with Xiongnu in light green ,by Buhalin .Ket Shaman ,1914 ,from wikipedia