There are few places in the world that have experienced the pace of change that China has endured over the last thirty years. Travel by the bullet train through the heart of Shanxi Province to the ancient financial centre of Pingyao, with its traditional courtyards and preserved city wall, before turning back the clock 2000 years to discover the roots of the Chinese nation in the city of Xi’an. Continue south to Yellow Mountain, with its steep ascents and precipitous gullies made famous by poets and painters alike. Visit the West Lake of Hangzhou, an ancient capital which was known for its beauty as far back as the Southern Song when Marco Polo is said to have visited. The journey concludes in a world of glistening modernity and traditional lane houses. Shanghai has risen from a walled fishing town to an economic powerhouse and the face of modern China.