China

Photo: The Great Wall

The Great Wall's ramparts of brick and stone twist through mountains north of Beijing.

Photograph by Gavin Hellier/Getty Images

The dynasties—Qin, Tang, Yuan, Ming—painted themselves on this exotic canvas many hundreds of years ago, and their imprint can be seen to this day. • China’s sacred Taoist and Buddhist mountain temples remain as alluring as ever. • So too the Forbidden City, the imperial tombs, and of course, the Great Wall. • But it is today’s China that compels the world’s attention. • Long ago, custodians of the Middle Kingdom saw themselves as at the center of the world. • Today, the deluded utopianism of Marx has been replaced by the strut of Adam Smith.

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