FIFTY-SIX ETHNIC groups, hundreds of languages, 65 cities with a million or more people. 1,400,000,000 people, dozens of regions and regional cuisines, 55 UNESCO sites. Deserts, silk roads cities and bazaars, mountains, history, arts and culture dating back thousands of years.
And I only have one page of photos?
Well, I was only passing through, from Shanghai to Mongolia, and back again.
Beijing does have some incredible sites, but I much preferred the feel of Shanghai. Still, I have not even taken a bite out of what China has to offer.
On the Bund, Shanghai, local tourists pose in front of a man responsible for millions of deaths.
Melons in a railyard, Inner Monogolia.
Downtown Shanghai, 2000.
Shangahi viewed from the river.
Inner Mongolia, a butchers' market.
Badaling section of the Great Wall is closest to Beijing, and probably the best restored.
I enjoyed several hours alone here before the crowds arrived from Beijing. My bus from Mongolia had dropped my off before sunrise. When the crowds came, they came thick and fast.
Like most things, China consumes more tobacco than any other country on earth.
A couple of Japanese speaking Beijing girls I met in Tianamien Square.
Tianmamien Sqaure, where nothing happened.
A fu dog guards the Forbidden City, Beijing.
Near Tianamien Square, Beijing, 2000.
A section of the roof in the Forbidden City, Beijing.
A maze, in the Old Summer Palace, known in Chinese as Yuanming Yuan, which dates to the 18th century.
A heavy brass cauldron in the Forbidden City, Beijing.
The Forbidden City complex, constructed from 1406 to 1420, consists of 980 buildings, Beijing. It was home to Chinese Emperors from the Ming through to Qing Dynasties (1924).
A goods wagon parked in a quiet Shanghai street.