05_181843 ch01.qxp 2/25/08 9:19 PM Page 6 1 The Best of China With every new edition of this book, identifying the “best of China” becomes a more and more difficult task. As this once isolated giant awakens, forces are being unleashed that impact tourism. Devastating pollution, widespread corruption, and the sheer volume of tourists have transformed many of China’s best-known sights into filthy, overpriced circuses. To find the very best that China has to offer, it is sadly becoming more important to know what to avoid, rather than what to see. Perhaps the best advice that we can give is to focus on nature. After suffering through the devastating Cultural Revolution, what little remains of the country’s much-vaunted 5,000 years of culture is being lost in the rush to get rich—even small cities have become heavily polluted sweatshops. Fortunately, China still has some of the most spectacular natural scenery on the planet. Many places within the People’s Republic have only recently been opened to visitors, so we have only had a few decades to unlock some of this enormous realm’s secrets. While we certainly do not claim to have uncovered everything, we have been truly inspired by this huge treasure house, and have included here what we have discovered so far. 1 The Best China Experiences • Strolling Past the Old Russian formerly stodgy old buildings into Architecture in Harbin: At the heart some of the city’s finest shopping and of the Russian-built city, Zhongyang dining establishments. These rooftop Dajie’s unexpected cupola-topped Art restaurants offer unsurpassed views of Nouveau mansions are reminders of Shanghai, old and new. See chapter 9. the 1920s and 1930s, when Harbin • Cycling the City Wall in Xi’an: The was the liveliest stop on this leg of the largest city walls in China have been Trans-Siberian Railroad. See chapter 5. much pierced for modern purposes • Exploring the Forbidden City’s and can be tackled in a modern way, Forgotten Corners (Beijing): No one too, with a breezy, traffic-light-free fails to be impressed by the grandeur ride above the rooftops on rented of the Forbidden City’s central axis, bicycles and tandems. Behold views which is allCOPYRIGHTED most visitors see. But the of remnants MATERIAL of vernacular architec- quieter maze of pavilions, gardens, ture, clustered around small temples. courtyards, and theaters to either side See chapter 7. have the greater charm. See p. 110. • Exploring Li Jiang’s Old Town: Built • Dining on Shanghai’s Bund: China’s over 800 years ago and partly rebuilt most famous waterfront street of after a massive 1996 earthquake, Li colonial architecture, the Bund, has Jiang’s old town, with its maze of cob- become the toniest address in town, blestone streets, gurgling streams, and with the redevelopment of a few original and reconstructed traditional 05_181843 ch01.qxp 2/25/08 9:19 PM Page 7 THE BEST CHINA EXPERIENCES 7 Naxi houses, is one of the most atmos- for instance, seniors can be found pheric places in China, hordes of playing mahjong with friends while tourists notwithstanding. Rise before their caged songbirds sit in nearby the sun, then watch its golden rays fil- trees providing ambient music. As ter through the gray winding streets, patrons eat watermelon seeds, nuts, lighting up the dark wooden houses. dried squid, or beef jerky, attendants See chapter 12. appear at regular intervals to refill their • Walking on the Great Wall from cups from copper kettles. For an after- Jinshanling to Simatai (Beijing): noon of perfect relaxation, stop by and The Great Wall, winding snakelike forget about sightseeing for a few through the mountains, was meant to hours. See chapter 13. be walked. This magnificent 3-hour • Gazing at the Sea of Terra-Cotta hike follows China’s greatest monu- Warriors at the Tomb of Qin Shi ment through various states of repair, Huang (Xi’an): The first sight of the from freshly restored to thoroughly tomb, in a hangarlike building, leaves crumbling, over steep peaks and gen- many visitors stunned and awed. This tle flats, and through patches of destination is at the top of almost wilderness and rugged farmland, with every visitor’s list, and it does not over two dozen watchtowers along disappoint. See p. 266. the way. See chapter 4. • Strolling in Shanghai’s French • Riding the Star Ferry (Hong Kong): Concession: The domain of the There’s no better way to get French community up until 1949 acquainted with Hong Kong than to was colonial Shanghai’s trendiest area, ride the cheapest cruise in China. and it remains full of tree-lined The century-old green-and-white boulevards, colonial mansions, and Star ferries weave between tugs, Art Deco masterpieces, now bundled junks, and oceangoing vessels in a 5- up with phone lines and pole-hung minute harbor crossing, and thanks washing. Some of the city’s best shop- to the wonderful Suzy Wong novel, ping is also here. Just beyond the for- remain one of the territories’ premier mer concession is one of modern attractions. See chapter 11. Shanghai’s trendiest areas, the mega- • Exploring the karst scenery around development of restaurants and shops Yangshuo: The cruise down the now- known as Xin Tiandi. See chapter 9. polluted Li River between Guilin and • Getting Lost in the lanes around Yangshuo may be overexposed and Beijing’s Back Lakes: No other city overpriced, but the scenery area in the world has anything quite remains captivating. Avoid the pricey like the hutong, narrow lanes once “as taxis and motorbike rentals and numberless as the hairs on an ox.” explore instead in traditional Chinese Now rapidly vanishing, the best-pre- style, by bicycle. Both the Yulong served hutong are found around a pair River and the Jin Bao are still rela- of man-made lakes in the city center. tively peaceful as they flick lazily This area is almost the last repository through serrated hills like dragon’s of Old Beijing’s gritty, low-rise charm, teeth. See chapter 12. dotted with tiny temples, hole-in-the- • Unwinding in a Sichuan Teahouse: wall noodle shops, and quiet court- One of the great pleasures of being in yard houses whose older residents still Sichuan is drinking tea at a neighbor- wear Mao suits. See the walking tour, hood teahouse. On any given after- “The Back Lakes,” on p. 124. noon at Qingyang Gong in Chengdu, 05_181843 ch01.qxp 2/25/08 9:19 PM Page 8 8 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF CHINA • Strolling the Old Neighborhoods • Taking a “Peapod” Boat on Shen- of Kashgar: The dusty alleys, color- nong Stream (Yangzi River): Best of ful residential doorways, and mud- the Three Gorges cruise excursions, brick walls remain as they have been this 2-hour journey through a long, for decades. Kids with henna-dyed narrow canyon takes passengers to feet and fingernails will approach you one of the famous suspended coffins speaking a few words of Chinese and of the Ba people, then returns them English; men with donkey carts downstream in a fraction of the time. trudge down narrow passages; bakers Along the way, howler monkeys may arrange round large slabs of nan in be spotted swinging through the coal ovens built into the ground. trees, small waterfalls appear from the Spending hours watching how citi- rocks, and swallows and other small zens of Kashgar live is one of the most birds flit about. The water in this rewarding experiences along the Silk small tributary is surprisingly clear, Road. See p. 323. and the scenery and silence are thor- oughly calming. See chapter 13. 2 The Best Small Towns • Xia He (Gansu): This delightful tourists, remains a retreat from the monastery town nestles in a moun- world. You can hike part of the tain valley at an elevation of 2,900m impressive 19-peak Green Mountains (9,500 ft.). It’s divided into two sec- (Cang Shan) to the west, sail on the tions, primarily Hui (Muslim) and cerulean Er Hai Lake to the east, and Han Chinese at its eastern end, take a bike ride into any of the nearby changing abruptly to Tibetan as you Bai villages. See p. 656. climb westward to the gorgeous • Dunhuang (Gansu): Surrounded by gilded roofs of the vast Labrang barren deserts, this oasis town beck- Monastery. Tibetan pilgrims make ons with sand dunes, camel treks, and you welcome on the 3km (2-mile) the Buddhist cave art of Mogao. Its circuit around the monastery’s tree-lined streets and backpacker perimeter. See chapter 7. cafes give it a laid-back feeling that is • Manzhouli (Inner Mongolia): A tiny hard to find elsewhere in China. See town of 50,000 on the Russian bor- p. 295. der, lost in a sea of grass, Manzhouli • Yangshuo (Guangxi): While much of is the East-meets-Wild-West frontier the central area is now tacky and outpost David Carradine should have overcommercialized, this small town used as the backdrop to the TV series on the Li River, nestled in a cluster of Kung Fu. It stands on the edge of the spiny pinnacles, has retained enough Hulun Buir, an emerald expanse of of its laid-back charm to be a delight- grassland shot through with radiant ful alternative to Guilin. Yangshuo patches of wildflowers. See p. 210. is at the cutting edge of Chinese • Dali (Yunnan): This home of the Bai tourism and features some of its best people, a backpacker’s mecca recently innovations as well as some of its gentrified for larger numbers of worst.