China
Good to know: Our partner DMC China Peace International also offers tailor-made trips to Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The Chinese capital Beijing is about the size of the German state of Schleswig Holstein and has about 11.8 million inhabitants. In 2017, it is to become part of a megalopolis called Jing-Jin-Ji with 130 million inhabitants. Due to its long past, the country's political centre is home to a lot of history and significant cultural heritage, including the Forbidden City, which has even been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is definitely worth a visit!
The Beijing region, like 15 other areas, is crossed by the 21,196.18-kilometre-long Great Wall of China. It is considered the largest structure in the world in terms of volume and mass, and its construction began as early as the 7th century. Only some of the foundations remain, but there are some sections that can be walked along today.
The largest city in the world is also in China: Shanghai. Shanghai is also the country's most important industrial city and is itself home to the world's largest port. The city has a rich history and is an important cultural and educational centre with many museums, including China's first automobile museum. China's longest river, the Yangtze, also flows into the sea here. An absolute highlight is a cruise on the 2,800-kilometre-long river from Tibet, the roof of the world, through China to Shanghai.
On the south coast, on the banks of the Pearl River, lies the autonomous city of Hong Kong. Despite its past as a British colony, 95% Chinese live in the world metropolis today. Hong Kong is considered one of the cities with the highest cost of living in the world and, despite its reputation as a high-tech city, has preserved more traditional Chinese culture than many places in China. The city is also linguistically diverse, with official languages being English and Chinese, although Hong Kong's own Chinese characters are unknown in the rest of China.
One of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century was made by agricultural workers in the imperial city of Xi'an about 40 years ago. The emperor had his tomb built from the age of 13, and after 36 years a burial chamber protected by an army of life-size clay soldiers, the Terracotta Army, was completed. To date, about 3000 figures have been excavated, and about 5000 more are thought to be still hidden in the earth.
