Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.
May 3rd 2008Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China The driver of our brand new coach spent the majority of the eight hour journey weaving in and out of more lorries than I imagined one country could have; they must have easily outnumbered cars by at l ... 33 photos[full story]
May 9th 2008Asia » China » Beijing » XiCheng District Az egy hónapos "alapozás" után (amikor a kínai orvoslás + akupunktúra elméleti alapjait tanítgatták nekem) ezen a héten végre beengedtek az oroszlán barlangjába, azaz a kórház Akupunktúra Osztályára. ... 4 photos[full story]
April 29th 2008Asia » China » Beijing » Chaoyang district Today we visited Chaoyang Park, right across the street from our hotel. Once you get inside the park, it is pretty unbelievable how much there is! We decided it would be nice to rent a motorized boa ... [full story]
May 3rd 2008Asia » China » Beijing And it is nowhere more obvious than in Beijing. Everything about it screams ‘I'm big, I’m important and I’m here, right here’. The buildings are HUGE, all of them, the roads ar ... 16 photos[full story]
May 6th 2008Asia » China » Beijing » Chaoyang district Well…what the hell am I doing back here again? For some masochistic reason I decided to send myself back to China this summer but rather than traveling I’ll be working for China AgriCorp ... [full story]
May 8th 2008Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China Wow. Yesterday was many adventures packed into a few short hours. Last night I was so exhausted, the only thing I could do was crawl into bed. I even fell asleep on the bus home from dinner! This morn ... 14 photos[full story]
May 8th 2008Asia » China » Beijing (Beijing): No one fails to be impressed by the grandeur of the Forbidden City's central axis, which is all most visitors see. But the quieter maze of pavilions, gardens, courtyards, and theaters to e ... [full story]
May 8th 2008Asia » China » Beijing After having a bad cold in Beijing after Mongolia, it is time to move again. There is still no reply from the Olympics and I'm tired on sitting on my ass waiting, so I'm going to Xi'an for some days a ... 4 photos[full story]
March 29th 2008Asia » China » Beijing » Beihai Park We began our 20 days tour through China in Hong Kong. We arrived a day before our tour started and spent a night at Guodadong Guesthouse in the infamous Chungkung Mansions. Our room was ultra compact ... 26 photos[full story]
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