Designed in China: Part One The Travel Show

Now on BBC News, it's time for the Travel Show.

When it comes to eager, bolder and while the, China offers the

traveller more incredible landmark than most countries. -- bigger. You

go to some places around the world and they are supposed to be an --

amazing and they are average. Here we really feel it is raw - you and

the elements. And frankly this is quite an astonishing place to be.

Never in human history has there been such rapid change as in China,

with its so-called economic miracle. But duds at -- double-digit growth

in the world's the largest and most populous country has come at a cost.

Dust storms, industrial waste and carbon emissions are all taking

their toll. The smog filled mega metropolises of China are forcing an

exodus of those who can afford to leave and foreign tourism is falling

in cities like Beijing. But there is so much more to China than it is

ever-changing cities. And that's what I want to explore. In this two

parts special and travelling across China discovering some of the most

beautiful and unblemished landscapes in the world and I am starting my

journey at the country's most iconic site.

The great Wall of China. What a feat of ingenuity and human endeavour. It

is more than 20,000 kilometres long and I suspect a lot of people toiled

and suffered to make of this. Welcome to the Great Wall! Now the

wall is witness to a very different test of endurance. This man is a

plumbing contractor by day and he's about to run the notoriously

demanding Great Wall Marathon. Today he is on the record.

I tell you what, this is no ordinary marathon. You've got these super --

you've got to be superfit to do one of these. Of course China's most

famous landmark is man-made, but what is best well known is China's

treasure trove of natural wonders. And when the actual event begins its

not long before competitors feel the heat and hit the wall in more ways

than one. But these people are part of a growing trend in China, people

who can and want to explore their natural environment. The great out

yours is becoming an essential voyage of discovery. -- great

outdoors. And that's my mission. I am en route to explore some of the

most precious and threatens landscapes that up until now have

stood the test of time. Before you decide to explore China there's one

thing you've got to take into account and that is the sheer scale

of the place. A mean, this is supposed to be a small airport in a

satellite city just outside Beijing. But look at the size of the place.

It's massive and right now I'm going to get the hell out of the smoke and

go to my first promote location. Two hours from the plane -- by plane

from Beijing and you are in this province, home to the biggest nature

reserve in all China. And some of the dentist would land you will ever

encounter. Nice weather, that average is warm. I think it gets

colder when you go up towards the mountains and we are heading

north-east towards the border with North Korea. There is one of the

world's most amazing natural wonders I've been told. It takes just a

stroll down the main thoroughfare to see the billions of yuan being

invested here. This place is definitely geared towards the

country's new elite, as well as foreigners. People in search of

clean air holidays. This is a symbol of what they are calling the new

Chinese dream, a prosperous nation of consumers and leisure seekers.

This famous resort has only been going a few years and is still under

construction. It is geared towards skiing and outdoor activities. It is

somewhat resembles a theme park, but I'll tell you what, it's a heck of

an investment. But this is the star attraction. Heaven Lake, nestling

inside a volcanic crater. It is nearly 400 metres deep and locally

it is seen as holding mysterious mythical and spiritual powers. It is

important to the Chinese but also the Koreans. That's North Korea just

over there and it is seen as the ancient birthplace of the Korean

nation. It is just astonishing. Most visitors here are South Korean,

eager to lay eyes on the place of their ancestral origin. And North

Korean propaganda claims that former leader Kim Jong Il was born on a

mountain and on his death the ice of the lake cracked loudly.

This woman is a local journalist who works for the Chinese government.

I know there are lots of myths and legends about this place. What are

they? And one other thing, they reckon the

volcano could erupt at any time. Mind you, I'm not sure if I'd like

to be hanging around all day in this climate. It can get to nearly -45

degrees in midwinter. But before I go there is one local speciality

I've got to try. So we have eggs here. These are hot springs here?

And these are the eggs. Wow! And I can either these now? Right, it is

try it. But the Daisy! Shall we do that again? -- oopsie daisy. My

second try is a bit more of a success. It tastes like a normal X

and the shell caseloads normal shell. But the much talked about

magical properties of nature are good for more than just cooking eggs

and corn here. Somewhat remarkably 70% of the world's output of plant

that claims to have special properties is made up of this plan.

Ginseng. I am going to that makes an awful lot of it. -- this plant.

China was the first country to discover, cultivate and processed

ginseng for medical reasons. This woman has been growing at since she

was a teenager. Why has this earlier got most of the

world's ginseng? How much ginseng do you have

everyday? She brings me a cup of ginseng tea.

That is actually quite refreshing. Let's see if it actually changes me

in some way, not that I'm expecting it to be some kind of magic elixir,

but you never know. Growing ginseng is a slow process.

It can take up to 30 years to nurture one plant. I have just

dropped the cheap stuff, which is fine, but I have just found out that

this one plant alone is worth 250 US dollars, which is incredible --

drunk. Yes, it is 31 years old and is more precious, but nonetheless,

just that, 250 US dollars! Incredible. The nature reserve is

about 2000 square kilometres in size with more than 80 kinds of tree.

There are over 40 threatened species here, including links, the lipid,

and the Siberian tiger. -- the links and the leopard. And joining a daily

conversation patrolled the books after daily feeding stations like

this one for bugbears and stops people from picking endangered

plants -- looks after. I'm doing my bit. Might not be my finest work,

but the patrol continues. Suddenly the team spots something suspicious.

Follow, follow, follow. It looks like this guy has been

stopped for doing something possibly that he should not be doing, and

they will question him now. They will searching, actually. -- search

him. He is caught with a sack of wild vegetables. Kicking them he is

illegal and the man is taken to the conservation Station for a possible

fine -- picking them here. I guess when you see it in action,

you kind of realise for a lot of people, this is the only form of

living they can make, and when it comes to situations like this I help

but feel sorry. But if you are in the conservation business, you have

to enforce the rules. It is time for me to leave the province and

continue my trip. Out in the sticks, you are still at the mercy of

man-made pitfalls. So we have a major situation. The car has

seriously working down. We are basically in the middle of nowhere,

and miles away from the airport we have to get to get back to Beijing

today in order to on with a trip -- broken down. This is one of the

hazards of working way out in the countryside, and I have seriously no

idea what will happen now. The driver is definitely nervous. The

car seems unable to pick up any speed. OK. We are going downhill

now, which helps. A little bit more smoothly, you never know. But our

driver is still on the phone to base to work out what the mechanical

fault could be. But as smooth running is short lived. We have run

out of downhill gradient and are now going uphill, and we are making very

slow progress. Do they have automobile rescue systems here? No,

they don't, I am told. The future of our trip slightly hangs on this

situation. Then the driver has an original idea.

So is this a makeshift Jack? I don't know what is happening here. He is

bashing something with a log. Have we made progress by doing that? It

is OK? That smog may have done the trick. -- log. The driver tells me

there was a problem with the fuel tank and using the log activated the

reserve tank. All I know is we are moving smoothly again. That is the

end of my trip to the province, and it has been my first real groups of

rural China. What is interesting is from the splendour of the volcanic

crater, to the forestry and the fields down here, you are seeing

something interesting developing as tourism comes more focused here on

the countryside. I could see a tension in the future between people

who make everything here and the desire to conserve this land. --A

living here. My next destination is the north-west of the country

ordering on my golly, and is one of the poorest and most remote regions

of China, but with an illustrious past -- ordering Mongolia.

This city was a major trading post on the legendary silk Road, which

connected China with the West. But it was not just goods being swapped,

it was culture, ideas and people. And today they want to revive that

magic and bring more people over and put this region back on the map.

Tourism numbers here are on the rise, above the national average,

and this is one reason why they think will grow even faster. About

20 kilometres east of the city is this does apart. 20% of China's

landmass is desert -- Desert Park. We are in one of the world's most

famous. Up until now, there was not much use for this when, and tourism

came along with other ideas -- land. The Desert Park is 27 square

kilometres of soft sand and heavy jeans, and this is a taste of the

fun and games they are planning here -- dunes. A wave surfing galley, but

if you want something edgier, there is this. We're going up the hill.

And now we are going around. Wow! Turning again. And a right turn!

Wow! Well, that was incredible. This guy is a real expert and we are

going right by the side of the tops of inclines, and I think we will

fall, but we don't. It is very scary. But I'm in the hands of a

good driver, and that is the best I can hope for. But it is frightening.

Daniel is a local investor who has big plans for the area. This place

was always unique, but now it has been a centre for entertainment for

local people. People meet on summer days and enjoy the barbecue and do

some family activities. So a tourist will come into the gates here, and

what will happen? At the very beginning, this is just empty sand.

If it is just that, this place is nothing. But with these cars, you

can enjoy driving the cars and try different activities to be closer

with nature. Nature doesn't just mean forest and water, it also means

this desert. Daniel is confident that the growing Chinese middle

class will look to escape the cities and explore the country's nature

more. What kind of tourists can you imagine coming here? All tourists,

actually everyone. When you get it, you will enjoy a different life. I

think it is kind of an Enlightenment to your own life.

As I reached the end of the first leg of the journey around China's

natural wonders, I am realising a lot is resting on new ventures. To

help the economy as well as personal well-being, people here are being

encouraged to travel far and try something new. Next time, I journey

further into Chinese countryside and find out how tradition and tourism

can live side-by-side. And I come across this place, not

mentioned in any guidebook I have ever read. But before I leave here,

there is one thing I just have to do. Yet! Are you ready for this? --

Yeah!. LAUGHTER

. That was actually... I was looking at him driving and thinking this is

scary, now I think I can do anything. I can go over the steep

inclines, the drops, everything. It probably isn't a good idea, but it

feels so comfortable and easy. I will do it again!