Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne - a visit to China

The most popular section of the Great Wall is visited by 10 million a year

Archways in gardens of Fragrant Hills, in Beijing

Gorgeously decorated eaves at the Summer Palace

Exhibition at the Summer Palace features legendary artists Pu Xinyu and Zhang Daqian. Detail from "Pines and Hermit"

View of southern Beijing on a clear day at the Fragrant Hills

Marble dragon at Fragrant Hills

A fisherman tries his luck among lotus plants on the manmade lake of the Summer Palace

Beijing's Forbidden City is said to be visited by 15 million people per year

Artwork and natural surroundings combine in a tasteful aesthetic at the Summer Palace

Visitors light incense at Tanzhe Temple in Beijing

Pitted limestone rocks are esteemed landscape features in Chinese gardens

Eight thousand paintings adorn the 728 m "long corridor" of the Summer Palace

Selfies for all on the wall

Ripening seedheads of rare imperial rice at Museum of Chinese Gardens

So steep is the wall in places that walkers cling to handrails as they descend

Even on a smoggy day, visiting the wall is an inspiring encounter with nature and culture

Visitors throng to the Summer Palace

Seeking shade at Summer Palace

NZ's ambassador John McKinnon speaks at the opening ceremony

Never before exhibited in China, a moa skeleton greets visitors to the exhibition

Dignitaries pause beside a carved and backlit pounamu artwork in the exhibition

Exhibition curator Mick Abbott ponders a water feature at Tanzhe Temple

Twenty thousand plants create an impression of the Silk Road inside the Museum of Chinese Gardens

Detail from "White Peach Blossoms and Mountain Bird"

Temple of Heaven visitors reach out to a 500-year-old juniper whose bark is said to resemble the coils of nine dragons

Man among impatiens flowers at Fragrant Hills