With its world-famous cultural relics, Cambodia draws a lot of Chinese traveling in Southeast Asia.[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

City pulse

Apart from temples, Siem Reap has more to offer.

For a start, there is the diverse environment and rich wildlife, and in the downtown, despite the absence of skyscrapers, bustling markets and street food vendors show the energy of the country.

The local circus troupe Phare, The Cambodian Circus, is also worth seeing.

Performers use theater, music, dance and modern circus arts to tell Cambodian stories, as their shows are inspired by real-life experiences and deal with themes such as war, discrimination, relationships, poverty and the supernatural.

The circus proceeds are used to educate children from poor families in performing arts and other crafts at Phare Ponleu Selpak, an NGO-run school in Battambang, Cambodia. Many of the graduates from the school work for the circus.

The country's capital city Phnom Penh has hidden treasures such as the old town area that has Chinese shophouses, French colonial buildings and "New Khmer Architecture" of the late 1950s and 1960s.

The Central Market, known as Psah Thmey, is a large structure in the shape of a dome with four branches. It was one of the largest markets in Asia when it opened in 1937.