The House Removals Company

Moving to China?

The world’s oldest continuous civilisation, which then tried to destroy itself in the Cultural Revolution, China is unfathomable to outsiders. Although it was inhabited by humanoids 500,000 years ago, the first known agriculture began about ten thousand years ago. Cliff carvings dating to around 6000 BC show 8,453 individual characters including sun, moon, gods and scenes of hunting and grazing. In 2205 BC, the Xia Dynasty united to stop the Yellow River flooding. Successive dynasties expanded their territory and created complicated pantheons of deities. In the eighth century BC, the Confucian and Taoist philosophies were founded; these were refined over the next two millennia as first the Qin and later the Ming conquered farther lands and cemented their power.

The Manchu invasion in the sixteenth century brought abrupt change: the new emperors introduced mandatory head shaving and literary inquisition, and instituted new codes for warriors. Opium was to prove their downfall: imperial edicts condemning the use of the addictive drug clashed with the British desire to continue the trade. The first Opium War was followed by a series of bloody rebellions, in which millions of people died. The empire collapsed at the beginning of the twentieth century, succeeded by the Republic of China. This was always deeply divided and a strong Communist Party started to emerge in opposition. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 sent the communists into hiding. After the Second World War, in 1949, the communists took over under Mao Zse-Tung, who became Chairman of the new People’s Republic of China. The PRC began a series of ambitious social programmes; the resulting famines caused an estimated 36 million deaths. The Cultural Revolution begun in 1966 encompassed the systematic destruction of artworks, literature, buildings and negative thoughts. After Mao’s death the country started to liberalise, although the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 is testament to the leadership’s dislike of opposition. In recent years the economy has opened up and capitalism is eagerly embraced; nonetheless there are still strict controls on information and the human rights record is universally condemned.

Spanning nearly a continent, China ranges from the freezing Mongolian steppes in the north via the Gobi Desert to the alluvial plains of the Yellow River and the near tropical heat of the south. Any trip to the country, however, should start with Beijing, a vast conurbation that is growing so quickly that locals get lost trying to find their homes. The Forbidden City is the vast palace built by the Ming Emperors according to geomantic theories, encompassing ceremonial halls, the Palace of Heavenly Purity (otherwise known as the Emperor’s bedroom), a series of smaller palaces that now serve as museums and the Imperial Garden. There’s even a Starbucks! Just outside, Tiananmen Square is home to Chairman Mao’s marble memorial hall and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. East of the city centre, the 798 Art District is the place to see modern Chinese art at its most dynamic. For those who don’t wish to travel too far, the Great Wall of China does pass near the city: this would also be a good place to start walking along the Wall.

Northeast of the capital, Chengde was the emperor’s summer retreat and spectacular examples of imperial architecture are found on the outskirts. In Sichuan province, Dafo, the world’s largest carved Buddha, gazes out over the sandstone cliffs of Leshan. Travelling by boat along the Yangtzi River is the best way to see the province’s staggering scenery. And don’t miss the teahouses in the area, where the garrulous locals chat and play mahjong throughout the day. Sichuanese hotpot is a searingly chillied stock into which meat and vegetables are dipped. The Yellow River has been at the heart of Chinese culture for centuries. In Xian, the Terracotta Army is a collection of over two thousand lifesize terracotta warriors that were set to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang over two thousand years ago. In the city itself, two Tan-dynasty pagodas and the Ming city walls merit a visit. Further along the river, the Confucius Temple is one of China’s three great architectural complexes.