Weekend Getaways From China

China’s cities and towns stretch across the length and breadth of the country and cover everything from the mountains to the beaches, the deserts to the forests. Although there’s a common `Chinese-ness’ to them all, there’s also some unique characteristic to each of them. Beijing, with its stolid and impressive Imperial City; Lhasa, guarding Tibet high up in the Himalayas; Suzhou, moated and ancient, with its lovely gardens (and lovelier women!). There is the oasis city of Turpan, a typically desert settlement, scorching hot and merciless; and there’s Macao, with its casinos and churches and Portuguese food or Hong Kong, with its thriving commercial cosmopolitan lifestyle and bustling markets. Monotony? Definitely not something you’d find in Chinese cities. Wherever you may go- north, south, east, west- although you may get some surprises (and shocks), you won't have a dull moment.