Since the world first learned about China through the traveller Marco Polo's writings more than 700 years ago, this enormous Asian nation has come to be seen as the epitome of everything that is enigmatic and strange. Even now, decades of economic expansion later, this huge nation still holds a certain allure. In fact, the contrast between China's traditional ways and the emerging, ultra-modern state has only served to heighten interest in a long-standing way-of-life.