Over thousands of years, the natural barriers in China's remote south-western frontier have created isolated pockets of culture, incubating some of the world's most extraordinary ways of life. 25 distinct ethnicities live in the province of Yunnan.

Tibet is the rooftop of the world, the highest plateau on earth and an extreme high altitude environment where people have lived for five thousand years.

Once at the crossroads of East and West on the ancient Silk Road, the vast expanse of Xinjiang is set to take a pivitol role again as China builds 21st century trade routes to take its goods to the world.