Marc Atchison visits some of the historic water towns located outside Shanghai and enjoys sampan rides under arched stone bridges that date back thousands of years and are now admired by modern-day tour4ists.

HUNAN, CHINA — The heat was starting to get to me. Not the heat of the day, but rather the heat of the food served in this southern Chinese province noted for its spicy cuisine.

FOSHAN, CHINA - Long before there was a martial arts actor named Bruce Lee, there was a martial arts master called Ip Man.

BEIJING - This is a city that changes in the blink of an eye, literally. As an old building disappears in a cloud of demolition dust, a new one appears when the dust clears.

YANGSHUO, CHINA - My “Huckleberry Fung” adventure starts when I board a small bamboo raft on the banks of the Little Li River in this southeast China outpost. “Fung” is the tall slender man piloting the precarious-looking craft that’s tied together with simple bailing wire. But my Chinese Tom Sawyer assures me the raft is seaworthy before he pushes off from the muddy shore with the aid of a long bamboo pole.

BANGKOK - When I arrive in Asia, the contents of my luggage includes six pairs of high-heels, two kilograms of jewelry and hundreds of dollars in hair products.

YIBIN, CHINA - I find myself captivated by this city of 4.5 million people that’s nestled in the heart of southern Sichuan province. Yibin is the first city along the mighty Yangtze River at the confluence of the Min River, which adds its flow to the longest river in Asia.

BEIJING - Thanks to the guidance of my friend Monica and a few other Beijing locals, my second pilgrimage to China’s populous capital (and the cultural centre of my heritage) was infinitely more authentic and rewarding than my first trip here — a mundane bus tour of the city’s tourist traps during my adolescence 13 years ago.

SHENZHEN, CHINA - As the late day November sun begins to dip behind the jagged mountains surrounding Genzon Golf Course, I fear the rapidly fading light will prevent me from completing my round at the best golf complex in China — if not all of Asia.

BEIJING - I used to eat by the guidebook. Before first travelling to Asia in 2013, I received all the requisite warnings from the local travel clinic — how to avoid malaria, ways to ensure my water was clean for drinking and why I should stay away from street food.