dung, transmitted news of enemy movements quickly back to the capital. To the west was Jiayuguan, an important link on the Silk Road, where there was a customs post of sorts and where unwanted Chinese were ejected through the gates to face the terrifying wild west.

The myth that the Great Wall is visible with the naked eye from the moon was finally laid to rest in 2003, when China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei observed that he could not see the barrier from space. The myth is to be edited from Chinese textbooks, where it has cast its spell over generations of Chinese

Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve
Transport bus: from Chendu & Songpan Hours 07:00 – 18:00 Web www.jiuzhaigouvalley.com Keyword valley/canyon, national park, forest Jiuzhaigou (Nine Village Gully) refers to the nine Baima Tibetan villages that can be found in the valley. According to legend, Jiuzhaigou was created when a jealous devil caused the goddess Wunosemo to drop her magic mirror, a present from her lover the warlord God Dage. The mirror dropped to the ground and shattered into 118 shimmering turquoise lakes.

Those pools of eye candy are what lie within your dreams after you leave, along with the snow-crusted mountain peaks, and forests and meadows home to protected takins, golden monkeys and pandas.

The park is pristine, however, resort-style hotels leading up to the park entrance have 20,000 beds; over 1.5 million people per year come here. The original residents have been forced to move in order to ‘protect’ the park (those here actually work within the park’s confines to keep up appearances). And as you’re technically not allowed to strike off into the backcountry, it can be a bit disheartening as the efficient shuttle buses whiz by with an alarming regularity. A word of warning: several tour operators in Chengdu have been blacklisted by travellers for lousy service and/or rudeness. Ask around among travellers to pinpoint a reliable agency.

Summer Palace
Address 19 Xinjian Gongmen, Haidian District, Beijing Phone tel: (010) 6288 1144 (info) Transport rail: Wudaokou, then bus 331
underground rail: Xizhimen station, then minibus or bus 375
boat: Houhu Pier, behind Exhibition Center near zoo
bus: 331, 801 from old Summer Palace Hours 08:30 – 17:00 Keyword castle One of Beijing’s most visited sights, the immense park of the Summer Palace requires at least half a day. Nowadays teeming with tour groups from China and beyond, this dominion of palace temples, gardens, pavilions, and lakes was once a playground for the imperial court. Royalty came here to elude the insufferable summer heat that roasted the Forbidden City.

The Summer Palace with its cool features – water, gardens and hills – was the palace of choice for vacationing emperors and Dowager Empresses. It was badly damaged by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War (1860) and its restoration became a pet project of Empress Dowager Cixi, the last of the Qing dynasty rulers. Money earmarked for a modern navy was used for the project but, in a bit of whimsical irony, the only thing that was completed was the restoration of a marble boat. The boat now sits at the edge of the lake in all its immobile and nonmilitary glory. The Palace’s full restoration was hampered by the disintegration of the Qing dynasty and the Boxer Rebellion.

The place is packed to the gunwales in summer, with Beijing residents taking full advantage of Kunming Lake, which takes up three-quarters of the park. The main building is the lyrically named Hall of Benevolence