Walking the Great Wall of China:    Tour CN01:    Prices from £1223

You visit the Ming and Qing capital at Beijing, the 2000 year old capital of Chang'an at X'ian, and then walk and cycle along the Great Wall to appreciate this extraordinary architectural feat in its varied settings. 

The tour starts in Beijing, where the Ming and Qing emperors ruled from the Forbidden City. For all the photographs, the palaces and temples can still astonish the visitor. Then comes X'ian, capital of the earlier dynasties, which had grown by the Tang (618-907) into the largest city in the world. You can visit sites once inhabited by its bronze age peoples, walk through city ruins of the the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang periods, explore imperial tombs, wander in temples and pagoda courtyards, or study the beautiful examples of Chinese calligraphy. You will see the Great Mosque, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty, the Bell and Drum Towers of the Ming Dynasty, and the rich collections of age-old stone steles. Most unforgettably of all, you will visit the terracotta army of the Emperor Qin Huangdi (259-210 BC). His huge burial mound has not been excavated, but in a hangar-like building are displayed the extraordinary army of 8,000 life-sized warriors which guarded the imperial tomb. Some kneel, while others stand, and each sculpture is distinct in facial expression, equipped with arms and armor according to rank. 

Stretching 6000 km from Jianyu Pass in Gansu Province to the Yalu River in Liaoning Province, the Great Wall is one of the great architectural feats of mankind. The first sections were built in the 7th century BC, and these earthen ramparts were joined into an almost impenetrable defence against the Xiongnu tribes when the China was unified in 221 BC. Successive dynasties renovated and built new sections, the last being the Ming, which took 200 years to erect the well-preserved sections north of Beijing. Grave problems were overcome, and at enormous cost. The hardships of labourers and frontier guards are commemorated in innumerable Chinese poems, but the greatest monument to dynastic China is the wall itself. It crosses wide river valleys, loops over hills, clings to precipitous cliffs and rugged mountain ranges until it crumbles away into earth mounds in the far eastern deserts of the Gansu corridor. There is no better way of understanding what human toil can achieved, or of appreciating the beauty of the countryside traversed, than by sightseeing on this walking and cycling tour. 

Cycling in Guizhou:    Tour CN02:    Prices from £1598

The Guizhou tour not only leads you through the most beautiful of landscapes, but combines visits to China's fascinating minority peoples.  You will see the Stone Forest, the Huangguosho waterfall and take a river trip along the Li River.

Located in the northeast corner of Guangxi Province, Guilin is one of the country's top tourist attractions - the most beautiful scenery under Heaven', it is often called. The Li River winds through hills and green fields, past limestone pinnacles and a karst country of caves and overshadowed cliffs. Guilin itself is a picturesque city, rich in monuments from earliest to Ming Dynasty times, and home to one million of the ethnic minority groups. Their customs and colourful costumes add vibrancy to a city that provides Chinese and foreign visitors with a wide range of amenities. The riverside restaurants serve up the local delicacies: fish, eel, frog, snail, shrimp and snake. Local markets sell oranges, tangerines, pomelos, chestnuts, kumquats. A cable car ascends the neighbouring Yaoshan Hill, and there are walks in parks and to local beauty spots, some of which are illuminated at night. Stalactite-hung caverns lure visitors, and everywhere appear the scenes celebrated in paintings and poems throughout China's history. 

The whole region has much to offer. Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, is called the the "Spring City", and has been important for 2000 years. General Zhuanjiao made Kunming the capital of the Chu Dynasty, and both Sun Kewang of the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Wu Sangui of the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) presided here. Successive dynasties had palaces and temples built and renovated, many of which survive today. Particularly noteworthy are the buildings at Black Dragon Pool, the Bamboo Temple, Daguan Park, Golden Temple, Green Lake and Yuantong Temple. The Black Dragon Pool contains a restored Ming temple, which was once once the largest Daoist centre in southwest China. The shoreline of the Dianchi Lake, south of Kunming, is dotted with picturesque settlements, farms and fishing enterprises. To the southeast of Kunming lies the Stone Forest, where the visitor following the ambling paths will come across pools teeming with goldfish and reflecting the thousand different shapes of the strange peaks and pillars. Every lunar year on June 24th, the Sani people celebrate their national festival. Wrestling and bull fighting take place, and at night the young men propose to girls by the light of colored lanterns. Regions around Kunming are thick with exotic trees and flowers, and offer protection to rare birds and animals, many of which can be seen in botanical gardens.

Guizhou is also home to many of China's indigenous peoples. Though integrated into the Chinese socialist system, their customs are also protected and encouraged. You will see the Miao with their brightly-coloured costumes, and the fascinating Buyi peoples. The last are famous for the carpentry and building skills displayed in the wind and rain bridges, drum towers and houses in their own distinctive styles.

China

From snowcapped Himalayan peaks to the stony wastes of the Tarim basin and the lush tropical island of Hainan, China offers visitors a great diversity of things to see and do. Only ten percent the country is amenable to agriculture, but that portion supports a fifth of today's mankind. China may be changing, but remains a country very different from the west, in outlook and in cultural achievements.

After the ravages of the Cultural Revolution, and the opening of industrial zones to western capitalism, China is making special efforts to conserve and market its long heritage. Tours to the main cultural centres are well established, with knowledgeable guides speaking European languages. But with realworld-travel you can get off the tourist track and see something of the real life of the country. Hundreds throng the Forbidden City, but realworld-travel takes you round Peking by bicycle. X'ian is a city of great antiquity and cultural interest, but you will reflect on the sights better when you spend the following days walking and cycling along the Great Wall. China cannot be understood in a single visit, but a trip with realworld-travel will lay the foundations for a deeper appreciation of the country.

The two tours featured here focus on different aspects of this enormously diverse and fascinating country. The first introduces you to China's great cultural monuments, and to the striking scenery around the Great Wall. The second shows you the tranquil and often beautiful countryside of Guangxi Province. Neither tour is very arduous, and from both you should carry away memories of a country steeped in past customs but also looking hopefully to the future. Travel in China is a formative experience, once the initial difficulties in customs, food and way of life have been smoothed out by realworld's knowledgeable local operators. If you really want somewhere really different, come to China.