Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. I first went to China in 1989 to teach English at Sichuan University for three years, and have returned numerous times since. Yet although I’ve visited many places, I have barely seen a fraction of what this immense country has to offer.
I feel most other travellers are missing even more, which is a pity. The Great Wall, Forbidden City and Terracotta Warriors are the big sights in China we can all name. But what other cultural sights come to mind? How many cities? And although China has 23 provinces, most people can name only a few.
China is among the world’s great destinations and yet is largely unknown. Most of us only have the haziest ideas about its dynasties and inventions, major landscapes, outstanding museums and rich variety of cuisines. For a nation with such historical depth, almost one fifth of the world’s population and such a prominent impact on the world economy and politics, we should be paying more attention.
It’s time to take a new look at China, where many of us haven’t been since before the pandemic, if at all. The interest is certainly there. In pre-pandemic 2019, more than 600,000 Australians visited China annually.
Then COVID-19, trade tensions and the geopolitics of the South China Sea understandably deterred many potential visitors. China also battles an increasingly unfavourable media image, digital payment systems challenging to foreigners, and competiti.
