Off-the-wall journeys

A kingdom for little people.[Photo by Erik Nilsson/China Daily]

The Great Wall is, well, great. And armies of travelers conquer the Terracotta Warriors for good reason. But brisk tourism development has conjured some peculiar contemporary Chinese destinations. Erik Nilsson and Xing Yi take outlandish journeys to the Middle Kingdom's fringe attractions.

Watch people thrust their heads into crocodiles' jaws?

Visit a giant-salamander "biotech" museum? See parrots lift weights with their beaks? Feed live cows to Siberian tigers?

Sleep in a dungeon, Soviet aircraft carrier or warehouse pocked with peepholes so you can spy on other guests?

Stage a corporate meeting in a cave? Or a secret room behind a hotel bookshelf? Take a breather in an "oxygen room"?

If you want to do any of these things, China is the destination.

It's where you can visit a "kiss" petting zoo where animals are pickled in jars.

You can join the walking dead on a torch-lit march led by a shaman, worship at temples devoted to hell or wander a tombstone museum.