CHINESE whispers

Go beyond the Great Wall and China’s buzzing capital, step back from the crowds and take it slow to discover a quieter side to this vast country

- MARGARET POLLITT

Hello,” a voice with a Chinese accent from behind me cut through the din as I was carried along by the rampaging river of people flowing through the streets of Beijing. I turned around to see a mother hurrying her children towards me excitedly, curious to meet the foreigner. “Where you from?” she called out, eager to engage me in conversation as her kids scampered happily along by her side, their round cheeks painted with Chinese flags. But before I could answer I was swept away again by the crowd.

To be fair, I’d expected China to be bustling. I’d arrived at the beginning of October, just before ‘Golden Week,’ one of the country’s busiest national holidays, which sees over 700 million Chinese people travelling, millions of them hitting the streets of Beijing. Families rushed in and out of stores filling their shopping bags in preparation for the festivities, while others flocked to buy bright red flags from street vendors, waving them as they continued on their way.

I’d come to China intrigued to visit the country with the world’s largest population: 1.38 billion and counting – Beijing alone has over 21.5m people. I was curious to see those famously ​huge numbers for myself, as people rather than statistics, but even more so to find out if there was still a quieter side to this vast, teeming land – even in the holiday.

This search would take me to the ancient cities of Beijing and Xi’an, to see two of the world’s greatest archaeological wonders. I’d then head further south to Yangshuo, to explore the countryside before ending my trip with a visit to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to come face to face with the country’s national symbol – the giant panda. I’d never seen one in person before and, well, China seemed like the place to do it.