China, Tibet and the Yangtze

Big, bold, bewildering: no adjective is too grand for the Chinese capital. It is a living, breathing timeline on the rushing banks of the Hai, where red lanterns flicker in the narrow alleys of hutong districts, the scents of Pekinese cuisine waft over busy markets, and each skyscraper looms larger than the last, a foil to the grand imperial palaces that sprawl with a stolid, almost haunting majesty below.

Stashed away like plundered gold, Xi’an is the China of your imagination. This grand city was once the final knot at the end of the Silk Route, its streets a raucous mix of faiths and fortunes. Times have changed, of course, but Xi’an still bristles with mystique: tour its 14th-century city walls or climb its square pagodas, but leave the most awe-inspiring sight of them all for last: the Terracotta Army, a highlight of any visit to this ancient place. 

For many travellers, Chengdu means one thing: pandas. But Sichuan’s capital promises much more. A bubbling hotpot of local culture, this is a city of ornate bridges and rambling old teahouses creaking with age, where afternoons can be spent playing chess beneath the trees of the People’s Park, and the evenings browsing the night markets for a fiery introduction into Sichuanese cuisine. 

Even if Lhasa were not the ancient cradle of Buddhism, it would be hard to refute the misty, spiritual quality of its geography, perched like an eagle’s nest on a lofty plateau. But faith is inescapable in this rich, altitudinous dream: fluttering prayer flags and monks’ crimson robes, butter lamps flickering in ornate temples, bazaars stocked with prayer beads, and grand palaces and shrines – among the holiest in Buddhism – that command the finest views of all from their seats amongst the clouds.

Spilling out of the Tibetan plateau, the great Yangtze – a name drawn from the ancient fiefdom of Yang that once spanned the lower reaches – runs 3,915 miles through soaring mountains and fertile farmlands, serving as the lifeblood to a third of China’s population. Steep gorges dwarf the forests and villages that cluster upon the banks – a fairytale setting for an intrepid, luxury cruise. Over 700 bird species can be sighted in the Yangtze River Basin, along with 280 mammals, including China’s endemic giant pandas.

Gone are the days of a quiet, mysterious trading post on the East China Sea: Shanghai is the future, a glittering, global metropolis whose space-age buildings speak volumes of its sky-high ambitions. But beyond the gleaming malls and towering five-star hotels of China’s largest city, the old Shanghai still flaunts her jewels: the architectural gems of the Bund waterfront, wooden teahouses, curved-roof pavilions and beautiful gardens with lotus-strewn ponds.