Hong
Kong has the big city specials like smog,
odour, 14 million elbows and an insane love
of clatter. The best thing about being in
Hong Kong is getting flummoxed and fired
by the confluences and contradictions of
a Chinese city with Chinese and Western
elements.
Macau
is a city with two faces: the fortresses,
churches and food of former colonial masters
Portugal speak to a uniquely Mediterranean
style on the China coast. And yet Macau
is also the self-styled Las Vegas of the
East. The last few years have seen once-sleepy
little Macau booming.
In a
country where provincial capitals are rarely
known for their beauty, Nanjing shines.
The construction work that's churning up
the face of China seems to have affected
this city less than most and it remains
a place of broad boulevards and shady trees.
Shanghai
is a scintillating city swirling with rapid
cultural change. Since market restrictions
were lifted, Shanghai has embraced the forces
of business and design and rewritten its
rule book shaping a fresh, new city that
is sophisticated, innovative and living
a life it has never lived before.
Xi'an was once
a major crossroads on the trading routes from
eastern China to central Asia, and vied with Rome
and later Constantinople for the title of greatest
city in the world. Today Xi'an is one of China's
major drawcards, largely because of the Army of
Terracotta Warriors on the city's eastern outskirts.
China isn't a country - it's a different
world. Unless you have a couple of years and unlimited patience,
it's best to follow a loose itinerary here, such as following
the Silk Road, sailing down the Yangzi River, or exploring
the Dr Seuss landscape of Guangxi Province.
