Hiking & Cycling in China

The Middle Kingdom is less a country than an entire world: from Hong Kong's neon lights and jungle-clad mountains to Guangxi's karst peaks rising from the morning mist like an ink painting, from Longji's shimmering rice terraces to Yunnan's hidden Shangri-La and the deserts of the north. Here there are 56 official ethnic groups, hundreds of dialects and eight classic regional cuisines. Think dim sum, fiery Sichuan dishes and Guilin's rice noodles for breakfast. Only a handful of countries have as many World Heritage sites. Yet China's magic lies just as much in everyday life: stone paths between rice terraces older than many cathedrals, farmers offering oil tea, and an infectious curiosity about strangers. China is something quite different from the rest of the world but surprisingly accessible to travel in, and of course you get closest to it on foot.