China

China is not a single destination — it is a continent's worth of geography, language, food, and history compressed into one country. The Great Wall runs for thousands of kilometres across the north. The karst peaks around Guilin look like something from a classical painting. Chengdu moves at a pace that makes the rest of China seem hurried. Xi'an was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and still has the city walls to prove it. Wherever you go, the scale is the point: China rewards travellers who come prepared to be surprised by how much there is, and how different each part feels from the last.

Getting around is easier than most first-time visitors expect. China's high-speed rail network is one of the best in the world — Beijing to Shanghai in four and a half hours, Xi'an to Chengdu in three. Domestic flights connect the cities the trains don't reach. The language barrier is real in smaller cities, but in the major tourist destinations navigable English signage and translation apps make independent travel straightforward. Halal food is widely available, particularly in the northwestern provinces of Xinjiang and Gansu, and in the Muslim quarters of cities like Xi'an and Lanzhou.

A first trip to China typically centres on Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai — the classic circuit that covers the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Warriors, and the Bund in around ten days. Return visitors tend to push further: into Yunnan's old towns, along the Silk Road through Gansu and Xinjiang, or south to the river landscapes of Guangxi. However you approach it, China is a destination that gives back in proportion to the time you put in.