After more than 200 visits to the Middle Kingdom, as China calls itself, I have just begun to grasp this most populated country on our planet. The more remote here the better for me, particularly Silk Road outposts like Turpan and Kashgar, as well as the vibrant tribal areas and tea forests of Yunnan.

A Uyghur man at the Yekshenba bazaar in Kashgar, China.
Beautiful karst mountains at Yangshuo, Guilin, China.
95 year old Yi minority woman in her home outside of Lijiang, China.
View from the longest cable car in the world of the curvy road that leads to Tianmen mountain in China.
Terracotta warriors in Xian, China.
View of the beautiful "Red Lands" of Dongchuan, in Yunnan province of China.
Tianchi Heavenly Lake, 90 minute drive from Urumqi in China's Xinjiang province.
Women from the Dai minority in Yunnan province, China.
Tibetan woman in Zhongdian, also known as "Shangri-La", China.
An old man from Dongchuan, in Yunnan province, known for its spectacular Red Lands.
Yi minority woman, Yunnan, China.
Looking down at the curvy and dangerous road leading up to Tianmen Mountain, China.
Beatiful lake and snow covered mountains along the Karkoram Highway leading to Karakul Lake in western China.
Yi minority woman in Zhongdian, China.
Quartzite-sandstone pillars of Zhangjiajie's Wulingyuan Scenic Area.
Ringha Monastery, in Zhongdian, China.
Beautiful rice terraces at Ping-An, Longsheng, China.
Snow capped mountains along the Karakoram Highway in China's Xinjiang province.
Woman at Zhuang Long, Yunnan, China.
Woman at the Yekshenba Livestock market in Kashgar, China.
Sunset at Crescent Lake set in the sand dunes of Dunhuang, China.
A Uyghur man and his camel, standing in front of the red sandstone cliffs of the Flaming Mountains in Turpan, western China.
The ruined city of Jiaohe at sunset in Turpan
A Uyghur man at the Yekshenba Livestock Market in Kashgar, China.
Bactrian camels and snowcapped mountains along the Karakoram Highway in western China.
An old man sitting outside the lesser visited East Qing Tombs in China.
Beautiful section of the Great Wall at Huangyaguan, which sees far fewer tourists than more popular areas.
A Kazak mother and daughter outside their yurt at Karakul Lake, in western China near the border with Tajikistan.