Entering China from Nepal felt like stepping into a time machine. On one side was a deeply spiritual land, steeped in superstition and wrapped in poverty. On the other stood opulence and power, saturated with hyper-materialism. The gates to China were imposing, imperial and modern. A towering newly built structure loomed over the ramshackle Nepali village that formed the border. On the Nepalese side, multi-coloured prayer flags fluttered in the valley winds. On the People’s Republic of China side, red communist flags snapped violently in the same air.