China is not so much another country as another world.
Cut off from the rest of Eurasia by the Himalayas to the south and
the Siberian steppe to the north, it has grown up alone and aloof.
The only foreigners it saw were visiting merchants from far-flung
shores or uncivilized nomads from the wild steppe: peripheral,
unimportant and unreal. Apart from a few ruling elites of Mongol
and Manchu origin, who quickly became assimilated, China did not
experience a significant influx of foreigners until the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, something which still
colours the experience of today's visitors to China.
While empires, languages, nations and entire peoples in the rest
of the world have risen and blossomed - then disappeared without
trace - China has spent the past two millennia largely recycling
itself. The ferocious dragons and lions of Chinese statuary have
been produced by Chinese craftsmen, with the same essentially
Chinese characteristics, for 25 centuries or more, and the script
still used today reached perfection at the time of the Han dynasty,
two thousand years ago. It is as though the Roman empire had
survived intact into the twenty-first century, with a billion
people speaking a language as old as classical Latin.
To say that the Chinese are presently enjoying better government
than at any time in their recent history may not be saying much,
but it is surely true. There is little sign of the Communist Party
relinquishing power, or its control over the media. However, the
negative stories surrounding today's China, the oppression of
dissidents, the harsh treatment of criminal suspects and the
imperialist behaviour towards Tibet and other minority regions, are
only one part of the picture. Away from politics, the country is
undergoing a huge commercial and creative upheaval. A country the
size of ten Japans has entered the world market: Hong Kong-style
skylines are being constructed in cities all across China, and tens
of millions of people are finding jobs that earn them a spending
power they have never known. The colossal historic fact of Hong
Kong and Macau, the last European colonies, being returned to China
in time for the new millennium, as though by celestial injunction,
only adds to the sense that Chinese destiny is being restored to
its rightful place at the centre of the world.
The sheer pace of change is visible in every part of Chinese
life, from the economy to the still-young independent travel
industry. Travellers who visited China as little as ten years ago
are amazed to hear how much the place has opened up and how many
more liberal trends have emerged in the wake of the late Deng
Xiaoping's free market economics. For whatever reasons you are
attracted to China - its history, art, culture, politics or simply
its inaccessibility - the speed at which things are changing will
ensure that your trip is a unique one.
The first thing that strikes visitors to China is the
extraordinary density of population: central and eastern China do
not have landscapes so much as peoplescapes. In the fertile plains,
villages seem to merge into one another, while the big cities are
endlessly sprawling affairs with the majority of their inhabitants
living in cramped shacks or in depressingly uniform dormitory
buildings. This doesn't mean that China is the same everywhere -
there are many regional variations in people and language; indeed,
some whole areas of the People's Republic are not populated by the
"Chinese", but by so-called minority peoples, of whom there are
more than two hundred distinct groups, ranging from the hill tribes
of the south to the Muslims of the northwest. Nevertheless, the
most enduring images of China are intrinsically Chinese ones:
chopsticks, tea, slippers, massed bicycles, shadow-boxing, exotic
pop music, karaoke, teeming crowds, Dickensian train stations,
smoky temples, red flags and the smells of soot and frying tofu -
as well as the industrial vistas you would expect from one of the
world's largest economies. Away from the cities, there is the sheer
joy of crossing such a vast and ancient land - from the green paddy
fields and misty hilltops of the south, to the mountains of Tibet,
to the scorched, epic landscapes of the old Silk Road in the
northwest. And the Chinese, despite a reputation for rudeness, are
generally hospitable and friendly, though in the more
out-of-the-way places travellers are still considered something of
an oddity.
However, it would be wrong to pretend that it is an entirely
easy matter to penetrate modern China. Borders are open, visas are
readily distributed and the airports are teeming with foreigners,
but the standard tourist "sights" - the Great Wall, the Forbidden
City, the Terracotta Army - are relatively few considering the size
of the country. Indeed, historic architecture is scant to say the
least, and Chinese towns and cities lack that sense of history so
palpable in the great cities of Europe or the Middle East. The
Communists, like all dynasties before them, simply destroyed
earlier showpieces. On top of this are the frustrations of
travelling in a land where few people speak English and where
foreigners are regularly viewed as exotic objects of intense
curiosity, or fodder for overcharging.
When planning a journey through China, bear in mind that your
trip is bound to involve an element of stress and hard work. If you
have lots of cities on your itinerary, try to fit in some small
towns as well, which tend to be cheaper as well as more relaxing.
Don't stick exclusively to the famous places and sights; often your
most interesting experiences will arise in places which least
expect tourists. Above all, if it's your first visit, try not to be
in too much of a hurry; take your time and be selective. If your
budget is tight, think about staying in just a few places and
getting to know them rather than undertaking lots of expensive and
exhausting journeys. Even if money is less of a problem, you might
do well to forego too much travel and opt instead for higher
quality restaurants and hotels. Given the inevitable frustrations
of making arrangements, flexibility is essential whatever your
budget