China

Follow along to read about our adventures in China. Also, here's a link to some beautiful photos of the most famous landscapes: http://www.cnto.org/landscape.htm

China is a huge country with many different regions. There is an old Chinese saying "China, long divided must be united and China, long united must be divided". The vast majority of the people are Han, with the heart of China in Yellow and Yangtze River valleys. The outer regions (further south, west and north) are very different geographically and culturally. Let me paint a little picture...

The entire western third of China is organized into two autonomous regions, Tibet to the south and Xinjiang to the north. Tibet is, of course, extremely mountainous and well known in the west as the homeland of the Dali Lama and Tibetan Buddhism. Much of Xinjiang, home of the Silk Road, is very high desert, sparsely populated by nomads. Both regions consider themselves a distinct people more or less occupied by China, although Beijing believes they liberated and are helping develop these hinterlands.

The southern region of China includes well known provinces such as Yunnan and Sichuan. Many of the people of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, trace their cultural roots to this region. Much of our description of northern Thailand applies to southern Yunnan. They have a different language (even a different alphabet) from Beijing. Considered one of the most beautiful areas of China, parts of this region are sub-tropical, while the western portion begins to rise into the Tibetan Himalayas.

Southeastern China includes Hong Kong and Macau, and the recent special economic development zones near them. The seaboard is undergoing rapid change, changing from an undeveloped agricultural area to a developed industrial nearly overnight.

The Yangtze and Yellow river valleys are the heart of China, with fertile soil, warm climate, and large farming populations. Along the seaboard is Shanghai, the target of the most extensive development effort in China. The government wants Shanghai to be a city equivalent to London, Tokyo or New York in economic power, and is literally building an entire new metropolis adjacent to the existing Shanghai.

To the north lies Beijing, the current capital, and more or less in the center of China is Xi'an, a former capital. 

Our travels include Hong Kong, southern China, the Yangtze River valley, Shanghai and Beijing.