China Overview

China is a land of a thousand faces (or, more specifically, 1,339,724,852) stretching across ten million sq. km. and five thousand years of written history. From the towering snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the lush rainforests of Yunnan and the bleak emptiness of the Gobi Desert, from Hainan's tropical white-sand beaches to the glittering futuristic skyline of Pudong, China's landscapes are as diverse as they come. China is narrow cobblestoned hutong, old men smoking pipes over games of mah-jong, and rice paddies dotted with water buffalo and farmers in bamboo hats. But it is also home to ten of the world's 20 tallest buildings and the second largest economy on earth. This is where the painfully hip 798 art zone thrives amid old Maoist slogans in Bauhaus factories. The twang of er hu strings jangle against the buzz of construction. High red walls that once stood guard over imperial processions now watch over neon-lit streets. China has an interesting mix of the extravagantly in-your-face new and the hauntingly ancient. Guessing what you'll come upon next is as difficult as trying to predict the latest fashions in Shanghai—but who needs to guess when you can just discover firsthand?