A journey through articles to explore China in depth

The taxi dropped me off in the historic Xuanwu district, in South Beijing, and my eyes were caught by the majestic temple that stands very elegantly in the distance. Built in 1406, with architectural gracefulness as impressive as its arrangement, it's the Temple of Heaven. 

It's not easy to be a responsible tourist in China! The environment here suffers like nowhere else; historic buildings are destroyed to make way for pale, concrete imitations; and the Chinese love the kind of guided tours that involve large groups of tourists being dragged from one point to another by a guide yelling into a microphone. Oh dear! Adopt a sensible approach, and make yourselves ambassadors for a different kind of tourism!

Just bear in mind that China represents just over 19% of the global population. The 1.3 billion current inhabitants could be twice or three times as many if the one child policy had not been implemented.

Welcome to the biggest and highest plateau in the world. At an average height of 4,200 meters, it is so high that you have trouble breathing. On it you will find the highest mountains in the world, including Everest and Lhotse , which is 8,516 meters high. It's not surprising that very few people live here, but the countryside is magnificent. 

Witness to a long vanished working class architecture, the hutongs are an area of narrow passages and intertwined alleys that remind you what towns used to be like in China.

Being famous in China results in a level of popularity that is hard to imagine, given the size and population of the country! It only takes a chance encounter with a celebrity outside the Fook Lam Moon restaurant in Hong Kong's Wanchai District to recognize this. 

China deserves respect for its size alone. The country is almost as big as the United States of America. It extends from the Pacific ocean as far as the Indonesian peninsula and has 1.3 billion inhabitants, that is to say, about a 5th of the world's population! 

Find out about China and its culture through books, films, and music. 

In this article there are some tips which will help you to get around the country.

Chinese cuisine is also among the best and tastiest in the world. Or rather, I should say Chinese cuisines. A chance for educated palates to take a trip to explore other flavors, or, in general, to see cooking in another light.