For instance, the ancient civilization of mystical Tibet has always fascinated travellers. Learn about the history of Tibetan Buddhism, and visit the Potala Palace. Pilgrims come from every corner of Tibet to the Heavenly Lake Namtso.

Another popular tour travels along the historic Silk Road, one of the world's most famous trade routes. This route features ancient Islamic and Buddhist civilizations, bustling markets, exotic folk customs and a faded but glorious history. This fascinating overland route was once used for transporting silk to Europe. It covers areas in central China not visited by many tourists and passes through archaeological treasures such as the cities of Xian and Dunhuang as it heads into Xinjiang.

Or hike along the Great Wall of China. Make sure to bring hiking shoes and warm clothing, as the Wall was built as a military fortification atop steep, exposed mountain ridges.

China has a population of 1.265 billion, the largest of any country on earth, and holds about 22 percent of the earth's total population. It is an extremely diverse nation consisting of 55 different ethnic groups. The Chinese speak eight major dialects: Putonghua (Mandarin), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Taiwanese), Gan, Xiang, and Hakka and many sub-dialects. In addition, ethnic groups such as the Mongolian, Naxi, Tibetan, Yi, Uygur, and other ethnic groups have their own native languages.

The language spoken in Beijing is often referred to as Mandarin or Putonghua. Putonghua, which means "common language" is the country's main language and is spoken by more than 70 percent of the population. Putonghua is also referred to as the "Han language" (Hanyu) or simply Chinese. Because of the increased economic migration across China during the past two decades years, the use of Mandarin has increased.

In recent years, as tourism to China has grown, the use of English has increased across the country. In major cities, staff in stores and hotels can speak fluent or at least basic English. However, it is best for English-speaking tourists to have a translator, as knowledge of English is by no means universal, especially in rural areas where approximately 2/3 of China's population lives.

China, officially called the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the third largest country on earth. Only Russia and Canada are larger. China has a land area of 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 square miles), and a widely varying climate. Before you leave, find out what seasonal climates to expect in the region you are going to visit, and pack accordingly. China has a marked continental monsoon climate with great variety in temperature and rainfall. The greatest part of China is in the northern temperate zone while the southern areas are in the tropical or subtropical zone and northern areas in the frigid zone.

In most of China there is a clear division between seasons. In winter, northerly winds from high latitude areas keep the northern region cold and dry, while in summer, monsoons from southern coastal areas bring warmth and humidity. In north China, such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, summer is dry and sweltering while winter is bitingly cold. Sandstorms often occur in spring in this area, especially in the Inner Mongolia and Beijing area. The red dust from these storms can be picked up by high-altitude winds are travel around the world. In Russia, pink snow was reported in the winter of 2006 as this far-flung red dust mixed with local precipitation.

On the Tibet-Qinghai plateau, which has an elevation of approximately 4,000 meters above sea level, winter is long and extremely cold while summer is short and moderately warm. There is little precipitation here and a great temperature fluctuation between day and night. Visitors to Tibet should bring warm clothing even in summer.

In central china, such as Yangtze River area, summer is long, hot and humid while winter is short and cold. In the areas south of the Yangtze River, temperature rarely falls below freezing. In the near-tropical far south, such as the area around Guangzhou, the summer is long, humid and hot while the winter is short and mild. The rainy season runs from May through August and typhoons frequently occur in the southeast coast between July and September.

Chinese currency is called Renminbi (people's money), abbreviated as RMB, issued by The Bank of China. The unit of Renminbi is a yuan and with smaller denominations called jiao and fen. The conversion among the three is: 1 yuan equals 10 jiao which equals 100 fen. The safest way to bring currency to China is in travellers' checks. Be sure to keep your currency exchange receipts because you will need to show them when you change RMB back to your own currency when you leave China. Credit cards are often not accepted in remote areas, so be sure to carry sufficient RMB and travelers' checks to cover your requirements.