China

The authors of this book have set out not only to capture the magic and beauty of China, but also to provide a visual portrait of what many believe is fast evolving as the world's next superpower. Travelling from the steppes and deserts of the north to the tropical forests of south-west China, they portray the men and women of the vast cities fuelling China's development, as well as those in the villages, temples and centres of Chinese culture who in their different ways are the guardians of the nation's heritage. The text also presents China's extraordinary journey of a 3500-year-old culture into the 20th century, with chapters on the Imperial City, the Great Wall, Confucianism, the workings of the Chinese script, and the spoken language of Chinese.