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 Sunday, 6 July 2008

Travel

Asia Travel Guides

Asia
China
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Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Tiantan: built 1420, burnt and rebuilt 1889

Beijing
Where the mojo of MTV and mobile phones has eclipsed the magic of Mao.

If your visions of Beijing are centred around pods of Maoist revolutionaries in buttoned-down tunics performing exercise in Tiananmen Square, put them to rest: this city has embarked on a new millennium rollercoaster and it's taking the rest of China with it.

A glittering capitalist jewel: Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbour at night

Hong Kong
On-the-boil Hong Kong will bowl you over.

Hong Kong has the big city specials like smog, odour, 14 million elbows and an insane love of clatter. But it's also efficient, hushed and peaceful: the transport network is excellent, the shopping centres are sublime, and the temples and quiet corners of parks are contemplative oases.

Shopping rush at Nanjing Lu, an enormous pedestrian-only shopping complex

Shanghai
Shanghai has thrown on its Armani to strut on the global stage.

Shanghai is a scintillating city swirling with rapid cultural change. Since market restrictions were lifted, it has embraced the forces of business and design and rewritten its rule book shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before.