Recent time have seen a ceaseless drama of energetic development and economic contortions unfold in China. Emerging from the austerities and craziness of the Mao era, the country is now a full member of the World Trade Organization, and is home to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Massive investment has radically improved transport quality, and travel has become steadily speedier and more comfortable. China has never been so transformed, except perhaps when the Mongols passed through with their own blueprints for change.
March to May and September to November are best, avoiding the extremes of winter and summer
Adding the Great Wall sites near Beijing to your have-seen must-sees Paying a mandatory visit to the ancient Forbidden City and Summer Palace in Beijing Parading through the Army of Terracotta Warriors, grand reminders of China’s imperial past Enjoying the more-familiar Western atmosphere of Shanghai Chilling out in Xishuangbanna’s lush, subtropical rainforest
Read The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D Spence-probably the most readable attempt to encompass Chinese modern history in a single volume; the novels of Pearl S Buck, including The Good Earth and lmperial Woman
Listen to Moon Rising in the Rosy Clouds, a selection of classical and modern works featuring traditional instruments by the Chinese National Orchestra
Watch the gorgeous films of Zhang Yimou, of the ‘Fifth Generation ‘ film movement, including Shanghai Trian and Raise the Red Lantern
Eat Peking duck in Beijing; anything with four legs (bar your table) in Guangzhou
Drink cha (tea). As political surveillance is relaxed, China’s teahouses, traditional centres of gossip and intrigue, are making a comeback
Tai gui le! (too expensive!)
Pandas; unchecked development; students practicing English on tourists; edgy modern art scene; Tiananmen Square; the Great Wall
Not all Chinese ‘look’ Chinese: the majority, Han Chinese (92%), are only one of 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China
China has a thriving music industry, but has been sluggish at developing a market for Western music-largely due to limited airings of tame Western songs on the radio Generations of Chinese are still convinced that Western music is the Carpenters, Richard Clayderman, Kenny G and Lionel Richie.