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China photos
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BEIJING PHOTOS
The brash modernity of BEIJING (meaning Northern Capital) comes as a surprise to most visitors. Traversed by freeways (it's the proud owner of more than a hundred flyovers) and spiked with high-rises, this vivid metropolis is China at its most dynamic.
 Beijing Photos
Beijing Travel guide
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DALIAN PHOTOS
Clean, modern and rich DALIAN is a large, sprawling city on the Yellow Sea. It's one of China's most cosmopolitan cities, partly because it has changed hands so often; as the only ice-free port in the region it was eagerly sought by the foreign powers who held sway over China in the nineteenth century.
Dalian Photos
Dalian Travel guide
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DATONG PHOTOS
Don't be put off by first impressions of contemporary DATONG , the second largest city in Shanxi Province, situated in the far north, near the border with Inner Mongolia. Amid the blasted landscape of modern industrial China - coal mines, power stations and...
Datong Photos
Datong Travel guide
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DUNHUANG PHOTOS
An oasis town perched right on the outer periphery of old Chinese Turkestan, DUNHUANG has always been literally on the edge of the desert - from downtown you can see giant, spectacular sand dunes at the bottom of the street. Today, though, increasing...
Dunhuang Photos
Dunhuang Travel guide
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GUANGZHOU PHOTOS
GUANGZHOU, once known to the Western world as Canton , leaves many people with the unfavourable impression that China dwells in relentless chaos and that the city is simply a bad caricature of Hong Kong. Guangzhou is indeed very much modern China pushed...
Guangzhou Photos
Guangzhou Travel guide
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GUILIN PHOTOS
GUILIN (Osmanthus Forest) is one of China's worst tourist traps, entirely dependent on visitors for its income and flaunting an expensive service industry tailored to the well-heeled tour groups that are forever passing through. Well planted with trees and...
Guilin Photos
Guilin Travel guide
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HANGZHOU PHOTOS
HANGZHOU , capital of the province, southern terminus of the Grand Canal, and one of China's leading tourist attractions, lies in the north of Zhejiang at the head of Hangzhou Bay. The canal has been the instrument of the city's prosperity and fortunes...
Hangzhou Photos
Hangzhou Travel guide
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HARBIN PHOTOS
The last major city before you hit the sub-Siberian wilderness and its scattering of oil and mining towns, HARBIN is the capital of Heilongjiang Province and probably the northernmost location that's of interest to visitors. It's worth a visit for its winter ice...
Harbin Photos
Harbin Travel guide
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HONG KONG PHOTOS
In its multi-faceted role as a repository of traditional Chinese culture, the last jewel in the crown of the British Empire and one of the key economies of the Pacific Rim, HONG KONG is East Asia's most extraordinary city. The territory's per capita GNP, for example...
Hong Kong Photos
Hong Kong Travel guide
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LANZHOU PHOTOS
On the map, Lanzhou appears to lie very much in the middle of China - though this is a misleading impression. Culturally and politically it remains remote from the great cities of eastern China, despite being both the provincial capital and the largest industrial...
Lanzhou Photos
Lanzhou Travel guide
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MACAU PHOTOS
Sixty kilometres west across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong lies the tiny Portuguese enclave of MACAU . A mere sliver of mainland and a couple of islands covering about twenty-four square kilometres in total, the territory is geographically and...
Macau Photos
Macau Travel guide
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NANJING PHOTOS
NANJING , formerly known in the West as Nanking, is one of China's greatest cities. Its very name, "Southern Capital", stands as a direct foil to the "Northern Capital" of Beijing, and the city is still considered the rightful capital of China by many Overseas...
Nanjing Photos
Nanjing Travel guide
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SANYA PHOTOS
Across the island from Haikou on Hainan's central southern coast (320km direct down the expressway), SANYA is, sooner or later, the destination of every visitor to the island. Though relics at the westerly town of Yazhou prove that the area has been...
Sanya Photos
Sanya Travel guide
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SHANGHAI PHOTOS
After forty years of stagnation, the great metropolis of SHANGHAI is currently undergoing one of the fastest economic expansions that the world has ever seen. While shops overflow and the skyline fills with skyscrapers, Shanghai now seems certain...
Shanghai Photos
Shanghai Travel guide
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SHENYANG PHOTOS
SHENYANG is the capital of Liaoning Province and unofficial capital of the northeast, both a railway junction and banking centre that's served as host to the Manchus, the Russians, the Japanese, the Nationalists and then the Communists. An hour's flight or...
Shenyang Photos
Shenyang Travel guide
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SUZHOU PHOTOS
Famous for its gardens, beautiful women and silk, the ancient and moated city of SUZHOU, just sixty minutes from Shanghai by train, lies at the point where the rail line meets the Grand Canal, about 30km to the east of Tai Hu. The town itself is built on...
Suzhou Photos
Suzhou Travel guide
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TIANJIN PHOTOS
China's third largest city, the commercial centre of TIANJIN , on the coast some 80km east of Beijing, is a dynamic and modern city, but for visitors its most attractive feature is its legacy of colonial buildings reflecting an assortment of foreign styles...
Tianjin Photos
Tianjin Travel guide
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TIBET PHOTOS
TIBET, the "Roof of the World" (Bod to Tibetans, Xizang to the Chinese), has exerted a pull of almost supernatural proportions over travellers for many centuries. However, it is today a sad, subjugated colony of China. The scenery has a majesty and grandeur that are...br>
Tibet Photos
Tibet Travel guide
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WUHAN PHOTOS
One way or the other, almost anyone travelling through central China has to pass through WUHAN , Hubei's sprawling capital, most likely cruising in along the Yangzi from Sichuan or Shanghai, or rattling in by rail. In truth, transport links are the sole reason...
Wuhan Photos
Wuhan Travel guide
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XI'AN PHOTOS
Modern XI'AN is a manufacturing town of five million inhabitants and the capital of Shaanxi Province, holding a key position in the fertile plain between the high loess plateau of the north and the Qingling Mountains to the south. It's one of the more pleasant of...
Xi'an Photos
Xi'an Travel guide
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YANGSHUO PHOTOS
Nestled 70km south of Guilin in the thick of China's most spectacular karst scenery, YANGSHUO , meaning Bright Moon, rose to prominence during the mid-1980s, when visitors on Li River cruises from Guilin realized that beyond simply spending an hour here...
Yangshuo Photos
Yangshuo Travel guide
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YINCHUAN PHOTOS
The capital of Ningxia, YINCHUAN is a pleasant, leafy place, and although it does not possess outstanding tourist interest, it is certainly possible to spend one or two enjoyable days here. Try, in particular, to reach the city's best sight, the mysterious...
Yinchuan Photos
Yinchuan Travel guide
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