Travel editor Dave Balow takes a fascinating look behind China's bamboo curtain.

WHEN you travel to China you have to think big.

The capital Beijing is the size of Belgium, the Wall is Great, the Terracotta Army vast . . . and even the pandas are giant!

Not so long ago tourists were not welcome, but now they flood in almost at the same rate as Chinese-made goods flood out.

In fact, holidays behind the bamboo curtain are becoming so popular that by the year 2020 China is expected to be the number one tourist destination on the globe.

And all this change is happening at a frighteningly hurried pace.

Forget about the peaceful China of the Willow Pattern plate, today city life in the world's third largest country is more hi-tech than tai chi, more skyscraper than slum and life is lived in the fast lane.

It is easy to get overwhelmed when you arrive in China. The first thing you learn is that virtually nobody speaks English and getting about on your own can be a tricky business.

You're not allowed to hire a car and drive yourself - which, after taking one look at the way the locals conduct themselves behind the wheel or handlebars, you wouldn't want to do anyway.

So an organised tour is really the only way to get the best out of China . . . and certainly a must if you want to travel the vast distances needed to see all the highlights.

As I normally do when trying a new and far-away destination, I put myself in the hands of one of the experts - Kuoni Travel.

The company wins virtually every award when it comes to organised long-haul tours and tailor-made holidays and I wasn't taking any chances with China.

So I opted for a China Highlights tour - just over two fast-paced weeks and an itinerary that packs in all that it promises in the brochure . . . and lots more.

We started in Beijing, and it was a good start. None of the expected pollution, and the sights and sounds were sharpened under a clear and crisp November sky.

First stop was Tiananmen Square, the world's largest urban space, a place full of memories of the day in 1989 that the tanks rolled in to crush a students' revolt in front of the TV cameras.

Part of this vast area is taken up by Chairman Mao's mausoleum, where each day the embalmed and flag-draped body of the father of the cultural revolution is raised from its subterranean freezer as thousands of visitors troop solemnly past.

I didn't want to join the queue and headed instead to the wonderful Forbidden City to hear stories of emperors and dynasties long gone.

Later we visited the Summer Palace, the Ming Tombs and the Temple of Heaven, where you can join in a morning's recreation with the locals be it tai chi, kite flying, chinese chess or the latest craze, ballroom dancing - and there was even time to 'do a Ted Heath' and visit those giant pandas in Beijing Zoo.

But no trip to the capital city is complete without spending the best part of a day at the Great Wall.

The world's most collosal construction snakes its way for more than 3,000 miles across mountain ridges and barren hills and this is the best place to visit two of the specially restored sections.

I went to the less crowded site at Mutianyu and after walking for a few hundred yards found myself splendidly alone on this wonder of the modern world.

After Beijing we flew down for a tour and stay in the old Chinese capital of Nanjing, nestling below the Purple Mountains, then on by train - taken from the most modern station I have ever seen, which had a grand piano in the entrance hall - then by barge along the Grand Canal, down to the tranquil city of Suzhou, with it's elegant array of classic gardens.

You need to be in a tranquil mood when you arrive in Shanghai.

This amazing city of 17 million people is a neon-lit look into China's future. Most of the world's cranes seem to be working here around the clock putting up skyscraper after skyscraper.

The world's tallest building is going up alongside the world's fourth tallest building, the Jing Mao tower, the world's fastest train, the 280mph MagLev whisks visitors to and from the airport in a few face-contorting minutes, and the famous Bund - the riverfront area - is a huge confusion of colour until the lights are switched off at 10pm so the locals have enough power to cook evening meals.

The senses get so bombarded in Shanghai and the old Peace Hotel, a favourite of Noel Coward's, at the bottom of the golden mile that is the Nanjing Road, is a much-needed haven and a reminder of the contrasts with colonial times.

You need to catch your breath after Shanghai, but it is immediately taken away again on arrival in Xian, two hours flight away, and home to the maginificent Terracotta Warriors.

No amount of research prepares you for the first site of this vast clay army standing in the same huge pits where they were found by a local farmer in 1974.

Restoration work on the soldiers will probably never end. More than a thousand life-sized figures stand in battle order but there are thousands more in the three huge pits waiting to be put back together.

By now I felt I had overdosed on stunning sights, but there was more to come at the next destination, Guilin, where the Li River snakes its way through limestone gorges.

It was another hour and a half's flight from Xian down to Guilin, but this 'Lake District' of China is a must during any grand tour of the country.

A memorable five hour cruise down the Li River was the highlight here and as you watched the old fishermen using tethered cormorants to catch their supper and the river families cooking and washing on the banks you could have been a million miles away from hectic life in the cities.

After such a long and exhilirating trip, it was good to finish the journey in Hong Kong where, after an obligatory city tour, I could relax on the beach for a couple of days in warm winter sunshine.

My advice is to visit China sooner rather than later, for the land of the dragon is changing so quickly that there won't be much of the old lifestyle left if you allow your holiday plans to drag on!

FACTFILE

Kuoni Travel (01306 747008 or www.kuoni.co.uk) offers 15 nights on the China Highlights tour staying; three nights Beijing, two nights Nanjing, two nights Suzhou, two nights Shanghai, two nights Xian, two nights Guilin and two nights Hong Kong mostly on a half board basis, including flights with British Airways from Heathrow, transfers in resort and excursions as detailed in the itinerary. Prices for 2008 from £2,029 per person based on two sharing.