Beijing

Beijing is forever deeply and grittily etched into history. One-time roost of the Ming and Qing dynasties and scene of Chairman Mao's massive Cultural Revolution rallies, it's also notorious for Deng Xiaoping's bloody suppression of pro-democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Now, as China's political capital and largest city (population:12 million), Beijing is marching headlong into the future, sprouting skyscrapers, Starbucks outlets and mobile phone devotees at breakneck pace.

The capital wave, however, has yet to entirely wash away the communist residue. Yuppies share the streets with Confucius-style old-timers, and ancient quarters are overlooked by monoliths of concrete and steel, all against the distant backdrop of the Great Wall of China. Whatever you've come to see, you'll leave wide-eyed.

Beijing's centrepiece is the Forbidden City, where emperors and empresses held court for five centuries, and whose vast complex of palaces, courtyards, pavilions, gardens, and no fewer than 9000 rooms ranks as China's greatest collection of historic buildings.

Just south of it, flanked by museums and monuments, is Tiananmen Square - the largest public square in the world - and further south still, Tiantan (the Temple of Heaven). Set in an enormous park, this superb example of Ming architecture is heavenly indeed, designed according to ancient Chinese beliefs such as feng shui and cosmology.

North of the Forbidden City are further treasures: the Lama Temple, the most significant Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet; Summer Palace, a Chinese garden extravaganza of bridges, orchards, pavilions and pagodas arranged around Lake Kunming; and, 60km from the city, the nation's greatest attraction, the Great Wall of China.

History aside, leave plenty of time to tuck into the city's other attractions: shopping galore, a profusion of cuisine from all over China, burgeoning nightlife and jaw-dropping acrobatics shows.