Joanna begins her journey in Hong Kong, where she is keen to find the road she grew up on: She leaves Hong Kong and travels to Beijing by the brand new Bullet Train, on a ten-and-a-half hour journey, covering 1400 miles.

Joanna arrives in Beijing by night but it is teaming with life, thanks to its population of 21 million. In China's capital, Joanna discovers a city that is still communist but has embraced capitalism. A third of the world's luxury brands are sold there and she discovers that more Rolls Royces are sold in Beijing than anywhere else, despite a local price tag of £500,000 in a city where the average annual wage is just over £2000.

While in the capital, Joanna visits a bizarre Mao Tse-tung themed restaurant, where a cabaret is performed during dinner and flags are waved in celebration of Chairman Mao, whose cultural revolution in the 60s saw one-and-a-half million people killed.