Africa
Asia
Caribbean
Central America
Europe
Middle East
North America
Pacific
South America
Cycling is an activity practised by many; with 300 million bicycles whizzing around, it's easy enough to get in on the act. Ridiculously expensive permits for mountaineering, white-water raftering and hang-gliding mean hikers have China almost to themselves. More sedate pursuits include t'ai chi, practised in nearly every town park in the early morning.
The Great Wall (Changcheng) wriggles fitfully from its scattered remains in Liaoning province to Jiayuguan in the Gobi Desert. The wall was begun over 2000 years ago, required thousands of workers - many of whom were political prisoners - and 10 years of hard labour. Legend has it that one of the building materials used was the bones of deceased workers.
An estimated 180 million cubic metres of rammed earth were used to form the core of the original wall.
The wall never really did perform its function as an impenetrable line of defence. As Genghis Khan supposedly said, 'The strength of a wall depends on the courage of those who defend it'. Sentries could be bribed.
However, it did work very well as a kind of elevated highway, transporting people and equipment across mountainous terrain. Its beacon tower system, using smoke signals generated by burning wolves' dung, transmitted news of enemy movements quickly back to the capital. To the west was Jiayuguan, an important link on the Silk Road, where there was a customs post of sorts and where unwanted Chinese were ejected through the gates to face the terrifying wild west.
The myth that the Great Wall is visible with the naked eye from the moon was finally laid to rest in 2003, when China's first astronaut Yang Liwei observed that he could not see the barrier from space. The myth is to be edited from Chinese textbooks, where it has cast its spell over generations of Chinese.
(Badaling section)
tel info 010 6912 1338
tel info 010 6912 1520
tel info 010 6912 1423
bus 919 to Badaling from Deshengmen, about 500m E of Beijing's Jishuitan subway stop
| full | Yuan Renminbi 45.00 |
One of Beijing's most visited sights, the immense park of the Summer Palace requires at least half a day. Nowadays teeming with tour groups from China and beyond, this dominion of palace temples, gardens, pavilions, and lakes was once a playground for the imperial court. Royalty came here to elude the insufferable summer heat that roasted the Forbidden City.
The Summer Palace with its cool features - water, gardens and hills - was the palace of choice for vacationing emperors and Dowager Empresses. It was badly damaged by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War (1860) and its restoration became a pet project of Empress Dowager Cixi, the last of the Qing dynasty rulers. Money earmarked for a modern navy was used for the project but, in a bit of whimsical irony, the only thing that was completed was the restoration of a marble boat. The boat now sits at the edge of the lake in all its immobile and nonmilitary glory. The Palace's full restoration was hampered by the disintegration of the Qing dynasty and the Boxer Rebellion.
The place is packed to the gunwales in summer, with Beijing residents taking full advantage of Kunming Lake, which takes up three-quarters of the park. The main building is the lyrically named Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, while along the north shore is the Long Corridor, so named because it's, well, long. There's over 700m (2300ft) of corridor, filled with mythical paintings and scenes. If some of the paintings have a newish patina, that's because many of the murals were painted over during the Cultural Revolution.
19 Xinjian Gongmen
Haidian District
tel info 010 6288 1144
underground rail Xizhimen station, then minibus or bus 375
rail Wudaokou, then bus 331
boat Houhu Pier, behind Exhibition Center near zoo
bus 331, 801 from old Summer Palace
The Forbidden City, so called because it was off limits for 500 years, is the largest and best-preserved cluster of China's ancient buildings. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Qing, who didn't stray from this pleasure dome unless they absolutely had to. Allow yourself a full day, or perhaps several trips if you're an enthusiast.
On the north-south axis of the Forbidden City, from the Gate of Heavenly Peace in the south to Divine Military Genius Gate to the north, lie the palace's ceremonial buildings. Restored in the 17th century, Meridian Gate is a massive portal that in former times was reserved for the use of the emperor. Across the Golden Stream is Supreme Harmony Gate, overlooking a massive courtyard that could hold an imperial audience of up to 100,000 people.
Raised on a marble terrace with balustrades are the Three Great Halls, the heart of the Forbidden City. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important and the largest structure in the Forbidden City. Built in the 15th century, and restored in the 17th century, it was used for ceremonial occasions, such as the emperor's birthday, the nomination of military leaders and coronations.
Dongcheng District
www.dpm.org.cn tel info 010 6513 2255
underground rail Tiananmen Xi, Tiananmen Dong
| full | Yuan Renminbi 40.00 |
These caves, cut into the southern cliffs of Wuzhou Shan, contain over 50,000 Buddhist statues including the earliest Buddhist carvings in China. Images surrounding the main statues include the omnipresent '1000 Buddha' motif, flying apsaras (angels draped in flowing silk), pagodas in bas-relief and Chinese symbols such as dragons and phoenixes.
On top of the mountain ridge are the remains of a huge, mud-brick 17th-century Qing dynasty fortress. As you approach the caves you'll see the truncated pyramids, which were once the watchtowers. Sadly, many of the caves suffer damage from coal and other pollution, largely a result of the neighbouring coal mine. At the time of writing, most of the coal trucks were being diverted to a back road, making the trip more pleasant. East of the caves you can walk to a remnant of the Great Wall.
The incredible artwork shows influences of the many foreign craftsmen, from India and Central Asia, who worked on the grottoes. There are no guides at the caves, but there are decent English descriptions and explanations for many points within.
Northern Shanxi
bus 3
| full | Yuan Renminbi 60.00 |
Ranking alongside the Great Wall and the Forbidden City as one of China's top historical sights, the 2000-year-old Terracotta Army remains a stunningly well preserved, perpetually vigilant force standing guard over an ancient imperial necropolis. Almost as extraordinary is a pair of bronze chariots and horses on display in a museum by the main entrance.
The discovery of the Army was, like many major discoveries, entirely serendipitous. In 1974 peasants digging a well uncovered what turned out to be perhaps the major archaeological discovery of the 20th century: an underground vault of earth and timber that eventually yielded thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers and their horses in battle formation. In 1976 two other smaller vaults were discovered close to the first one.
The 6000 terracotta figures of warriors and horses face east in a rectangular battle array. Every figure differs in facial features and expressions. The horsemen are shown wearing tight-sleeved outer robes, short coats of chain mail and wind-proof caps. The archers have bodies and limbs positioned in strict accordance with an ancient book on the art of war.
Archaeologists believe the warriors discovered so far may be part of an even larger terracotta army still buried around the Tomb of Qin Shihuang. Excavation of the entire complex and the tomb itself could take decades.
(southern Shaanxi)
www.bmy.com.cn tel info 029 8391 1961
bus Nos 306, 307
mini-bus green Terracotta Warriors
| full | Yuan Renminbi 90.00 |
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.
Beijing's youth is more interested in MTV than Mao; rhetorical slogans from the Cultural Revolution have given way to butchered English splashed across designer-copy T-shirts, and expats, tourists, foreign investors and a mobile phone-toting hip-oisie are mixing it up with the bureaucrats.
With preparations for the 2008 Olympics well under way, old hutongs (alleys) and buildings are being demolished, new buildings are going up, small things are giving way to big things and big things are giving way to even bigger things. This fast-paced, two-minute-noodles lifestyle doesn't please everyone - the old comrades are complaining about uppity youths and loss of values - but the capital of the People's Republic of China doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon.
This yak-nibbled highway over the Khunjerab Pass (4800m/15,740ft) is the gateway to Pakistan and was used for centuries by caravans plodding down the Silk Road. Khunjerab means 'valley of blood', a reference to local bandits who took advantage of the terrain to plunder caravans and slaughter the merchants.
Nearly 20 years were required to plan, push, blast and level the present road between Islamabad and Kashgar; over 400 road-builders died. Facilities en-route are being steadily improved, but take warm clothing, food and drink on board with you. Even if you don't wish to cross into Pakistan, it's worth doing the trip up to Tashkurgan from Kashgar because the scenery is stunning: high mountain pastures roamed by camels and yaks tended by yurt-dwelling Tajiks.
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.
While it can't match the epic history of Beijing or Xi'an's grander sights, Shanghai is the hotspot of modern China; a cosmopolitan city buzzing with the concept of 'lifestyle revolution', showcased in the architectural temples of art, fine dining and contemporary urban living on the Bund.
In this city of jockeying juxtapositions, the bullet-train speed of recent changes has bewildered and unsettled many. As monumental building projects push skyward and glinting department stores swing open their doors to a stylish elite, those lacking disposable cash try to realign the vision of their new city with memories of a Communist history. The city's prosperous sheen belies the ongoing social concerns for a disintegrating welfare system. Shanghai is shackled to a past it is both suspicious and proud of. Nobody can predict what the city will look like two decades from now, but as the Chinese saying goes, if the old doesn't go, the new won't come.
Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) starts on the first day of the lunar calendar, which usually falls in February. Although it officially lasts only three days, many people take a week off. Ear plugs are handy at this time to dull the firecracker assaults, and prices of hotel rooms tend to go through the roof. Try not to travel during Chinese New Year or the week-long May 1 or National Day holidays, when tens of millions of Chinese are on the move. The Lantern Festival isn't a public holiday, but it's big and it's colourful. It falls on the 15th day of the 1st moon (around mid-February to mid-March) and marks the end of the New Year celebrations. The famous lion dances occur throughout this period. Tomb Sweeping Day is in April, and sees Chinese families spend the day tending the graves of departed loved ones. Hong Kong hosts one of the liveliest annual Chinese celebrations - the Dragon Boat Festival. Usually held in June, the festival honours the poet Qu Yuan and features races between teams in long ornate canoes. Many Westerners take part in the races, but plenty of practice is needed to get all the paddles working as one.
Special prayers are held at Buddhist and Taoist temples on full-moon and sliver-moon days. Temple and moon-based festivities include Guanyin's Birthday (late March to late April), Mazu's Birthday (May or June), Water-Splashing Festival (mid-April), Ghost Month (late August to late September), Mid-Autumn Festival (September or October) and the Birthday of Confucius (28 September). China's minority regions host some of the best festivals, from the dramatic monastery dances of Tibet and Western Sichuan to the stunningly costumed festivities of the Miao (Hmong) people of Guizhou.
