I don't think Niaowu was or most of the events per se. The only thing that makes me think some of it was meant to be included in the Guilin chapter is Master Bei. He appears in the original concept art and cormorant fisherman are pretty much unique to Guilin.I'm not sure we can assume that Niaowu (or its events) was supposed to be part of the original plan for Guilin; I'd be surprised if Guilin was originally ever more than what we got in S2 and Bailu Village.
It is possible some of that stuff is from the Xian chapter but the card shows Yanlang and Niao Sun and another master so I'm not sure.
I also think downplaying real locations was to appease Chinese censors. Although I don't think it is a requirement of their censorship laws to not take place in real locations. S3 does mention Guilin and the Li river though and in the DLC Zhang mentions Hong Kong. We know Niaowu is on the Li river so it either is a proxy for Guilin city (supported by it having the elephant rock) or somewhere near it.So what I've been considering is that the chapters likely matter in terms of the broad strokes of the story and perhaps some cool setting ideas, but no longer the actual locations. I think that Suzuki trying to make Shenmue viable in China has left him at the mercy of the Chinese censors and I'm not even sure if it's going to cover any real locations again. I've been thinking about it and I don't think that S3 contains any references to real locations at all; at the end of S1, Ryo is going to Hong Kong, he travels to Wan Chai, then Kowloon, then Guilin. In S3? Bailu Village, then Niaowu, then the "Cliff Temple" with no mention at all to what province or region they can be found...
I could be wrong (I hope so) but it seems likely that Ryo will be travelling to places that are "inspired" by Chinese locations (in the same way that Niaowu was inspired by Fenghuang and even Baisha would have been an amalgamation), rather than the locations themselves.
I heard that S3 didn't even make it past the censors (for other reasons I suppose) and they never released it China anyway so I hope this doesn't become a sticking point going forward.
The image does show something looking more similar to Xuantong temple than Shaolin but it's hard to say off a small concept art. Could be that the cliff temple was meant to be incorporated into Chapter 7 along the Shaolin/Luoyang.mean, the Chapter 7 card shows Niao Sun, Lan Di, and a Cliff Temple so I think it's pretty safe to assume that, to the extent that those cards are still relevant, that's where we are in the story. But you're right, in all likelihood it was originally meant to be the Shaolin Temple (hopefully it may still be).
It's one of the weirdest parts of the ending because we have no idea where they are. Most people think of the northern walls so I thought they were already in the north until I found out about the southern wall. S4 will have to explain I guess.It's possible considering the Great Wall seems to have been a location for S3, it really just depends on where Suzuki decides to plop the Cliff Temple. Even if it's near Fenghuang, that's still pretty far from Luoyang. I hope the ending scene isn't canon but I just can't think of a reason to include it if not to suggest that Ryo and co. are well on their way. It would have been just as easy to have them on the boat, looking out to the horizon as we listen to their inner monologues.
I do think the original ending was to be expanded as there were shots of Ryo fighting Mr. Muscles on the wall, but that may just have been promo.
I think it's just one stopping point on the map that has more landmarks. I wouldn't be surprised if in S4 he pulls out the scroll and there are more landmarks to follow. They reference the elephant rock so it's meant to be cryptic I guess.Plus why is Niaowu even on that map and not the Great Wall or some other landmark?
Me too. I really liked that Shenmue took place in the real world.I hope that I'm wrong and we can see real locations in Shenmue again (I can't stress enough how strict the censorship is in China, especially when dealing with their criminal underworld and especially when dealing with their history). I'll forgive almost anything if I get Ren on a horse though.