Atlas of China
Places to visit in China
244 featured places across China's regions: the landmarks worth a journey, each with the best season, the time it needs and how to get there. 8,286 more listed sights are on the map and in each region's list.
Beijing 北京
-
Great Wall at Mutianyu 慕田峪长城
Restored Ming watchtowers riding a wooded ridge, with a toboggan run back down
-
Forbidden City 故宫
Six centuries of imperial power behind vermilion walls in the heart of Beijing
-
Badaling Great Wall 八达岭长城
Ming ramparts climbing both ways from a fortified pass, a short fast train from Beijing
-
Simatai Great Wall and Gubei Water Town 司马台长城·古北水镇
Steep Ming watchtowers on a ridge above a resort water town, with a lit night walk
-
Ming Tombs 明十三陵
Stone guardians on the Sacred Way and an emperor's underground palace to walk through
-
Cuandixia Village 爨底下村
Ming and Qing courtyard houses stacked in tiers up a hillside in the western mountains
-
Fragrant Hills Park 香山公园
Wooded former imperial hills that turn red with smoke-tree leaves each autumn
-
Longqing Gorge 龙庆峡
Boat rides between sheer cliffs in summer, a festival of lit ice sculptures in winter
-
Summer Palace 颐和园
An imperial lakeside garden of painted corridors, temple-topped hills and a marble boat
-
Tanzhe Temple 潭柘寺
Terraced temple courtyards in the western hills, shaded by ancient ginkgos and cypresses
-
Universal Beijing Resort 北京环球度假区
Harry Potter, Minions, Jurassic World and an all-indoor Kung Fu Panda land in Tongzhou
-
Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site 周口店北京人遗址
Limestone caves on Dragon Bone Hill where the fossils of Peking Man were found
-
Bird's Nest and Olympic Green 奥林匹克公园
The Bird's Nest and Water Cube, venues of the 2008 and 2022 Olympics, lit up after dark
-
Marco Polo Bridge 卢沟桥
An 800-year-old stone bridge lined with hundreds of carved lions, by a walled Ming fort
-
Old Summer Palace 圆明园
Broken marble arches of Qing European-style palaces beside lakes of summer lotus
-
Tiananmen Square 天安门广场
A vast ceremonial square below Tian'anmen gate, where the national flag is raised at dawn
-
798 Art Zone 798艺术区
Contemporary art galleries and cafés in the sawtooth-roofed halls of a 1950s factory
-
Lama Temple 雍和宫
Incense-filled courtyards and an 18-metre sandalwood Buddha in a working monastery
-
Temple of Heaven 天坛
Where emperors prayed for harvests, and where Beijing now dances, sings and plays cards
-
Beihai Park 北海公园
A former imperial lake garden crowned by a white Tibetan-style stupa on its island
-
National Museum of China 中国国家博物馆
Ancient bronzes, jades and porcelain in a vast museum beside Tian'anmen Square
-
Shichahai 什刹海
Three linked lakes ringed by hutongs and lakeside bars, with open-air skating in winter
-
Drum and Bell Towers 钟鼓楼
Beijing's old timekeeping towers, with drum performances and views over the hutong roofs
-
Prince Gong's Mansion 恭王府
A Qing courtyard mansion and rock garden, home first to a corrupt minister, then a prince
-
Qianmen Street and Dashilar 前门大街·大栅栏
A pedestrian avenue below Qianmen gate and a lane of shops trading since Qing times
-
Temple of Confucius and Imperial Academy 孔庙和国子监
Courtyards of stone steles naming imperial exam graduates, beside the old Imperial Academy
Tianjin 天津
-
Five Great Avenues 五大道
Leafy lanes of century-old villas from Tianjin's treaty-port days
Hebei 河北
-
Chengde Mountain Resort 承德避暑山庄
The Qing emperors' summer capital, ringed by temples, some modelled on Tibet's
-
Jinshanling Great Wall 金山岭长城
A Ming ridge-top wall of 67 towers, restored at one end and wild towards Simatai
-
Shanhai Pass 山海关
Where the Ming Great Wall ends at the sea, at the 'First Pass Under Heaven'
Shanxi 山西
-
Pingyao Ancient City 平遥古城
An intact Ming walled town of courtyard inns, where China's first draft banks were born
-
Mount Wutai 五台山
Temples, a towering white stupa and yellow-tiled roofs below five flat-topped holy peaks
-
Yungang Grottoes 云冈石窟
Giant Buddhas carved into a sandstone cliff some 1,500 years ago
-
Hukou Waterfall 壶口瀑布
The muddy Yellow River squeezed into a roaring rock chute between Shanxi and Shaanxi
-
Datong Ancient City 大同古城
Rebuilt Ming ramparts around genuine Liao–Jin temple halls and a glazed dragon screen
-
Hanging Temple 悬空寺
A wooden temple pinned to a sheer cliff, seemingly propped up on stilts
-
Jinci Temple 晋祠
Song-dynasty halls, painted clay maidservants and a cross-shaped bridge at the Jin springs
-
Qikou Ancient Town and Lijiashan Village 碛口古镇·李家山村
Stone lanes of an old Yellow River port and a hillside village of stacked cave homes
-
Taihang Grand Canyon 太行山大峡谷
Sheer gorges in the Taihang Mountains, explored by boat, cliff path and cable car
-
Yingxian Wooden Pagoda 应县木塔
A Liao-dynasty timber pagoda of 1056, five storeys outside and nine within
-
Foguang Temple 佛光寺
A Tang timber hall of 857 on a quiet hillside, still filled with its Tang clay statues
-
Guangsheng Temple 广胜寺
A 13-storey glazed-tile pagoda above Yuan halls and murals, among them a theatre scene
-
Huangcheng Xiangfu 皇城相府
A walled hillside estate of courtyards, towers and gardens built by a family of officials
-
Mount Mian 绵山
Cliff temples, plank walkways and gorges on the mountain of the Cold Food legend
-
Qiao Family Compound 乔家大院
Walled courtyards of a Qing merchant-banking family, the set for Raise the Red Lantern
-
Wang Family Compound 王家大院
Fortified courtyard 'castles' of a Qing merchant and official clan on a loess hillside
-
Xiezhou Guandi Temple 解州关帝庙
Gateways, halls and towers honouring the deified general Guan Yu in his home district
-
Yanmen Pass 雁门关
A Ming fortress gate on the Inner Great Wall, its ramparts running up the mountain ridges
-
Yongle Palace 永乐宫
Yuan-dynasty Taoist murals in a temple moved piece by piece to make way for a reservoir
-
Yuncheng Salt Lake 运城盐湖
Brine ponds that turn red, pink and green in summer, below the Zhongtiao Mountains
-
Shuanglin Temple 双林寺
Some 2,000 painted clay Buddhas, saints and guardians crowded into ten temple halls
-
Xiaoxitian Temple 小西天
A small hilltop hall crowded with nearly 2,000 painted clay Buddhist figures
-
Shanxi Museum 山西博物院
Bronzes of the ancient state of Jin, Buddhist statues and tomb treasures on the Fen River
Inner Mongolia 内蒙古
-
Hulunbuir Grassland 呼伦贝尔大草原
Summer grassland to the horizon, looping rivers and yurts near the Russian border
-
Badain Jaran Desert 巴丹吉林沙漠
Some of Earth's tallest dunes, with lakes tucked into the hollows between them
-
Ejin Poplar Forest 额济纳胡杨林
Golden Euphrates poplars along a Gobi river, at their best for three weeks in October
-
Mausoleum of Genghis Khan 成吉思汗陵
A 1950s memorial to the Khan, where hereditary Darkhad guardians still keep the rites
Liaoning 辽宁
-
Mukden Palace 沈阳故宫
The Manchu palace where the Qing dynasty was proclaimed, years before it took Beijing
-
Panjin Red Beach 红海滩风景廊道
Tidal flats turned crimson by seepweed, crossed by boardwalks through the Liaohe delta
Jilin 吉林
-
Changbai Mountain & Heaven Lake 长白山天池
A volcanic crater lake on the China–North Korea border, often wrapped in cloud
Heilongjiang 黑龙江
-
Harbin Ice & Snow World 哈尔滨冰雪大世界
Full-size castles of river ice, glowing with colour through Harbin's deep-freeze winter
-
China Snow Town (Xuexiang) 雪乡
A forest-farm village under thick caps of sticky snow, busy, commercial and very cold
-
Central Street & St Sophia Cathedral 中央大街与圣索菲亚教堂
A cobbled pedestrian street of Russian-era façades and a green-domed Orthodox cathedral
Shanghai 上海
-
The Bund & Lujiazui Skyline 外滩与陆家嘴
1920s banks on one bank of the river, a sci-fi skyline on the other
-
Shanghai Disney Resort 上海迪士尼度假区
Mainland China's first Disney theme park, with a castle, rides and nightly shows
-
Lujiazui 陆家嘴
Shanghai's skyline in a loop of river: spheres, a twisting tower and the Bund opposite
-
Former French Concession 原法租界
Plane-tree streets, garden villas and shikumen lanes for Shanghai's best city walk
-
Shanghai Museum 上海博物馆
Ancient Chinese bronzes, ceramics, painting and jade, now shown at Shanghai Museum East
-
Yu Garden & City God Temple 豫园与城隍庙
A Ming-dynasty garden of rockeries and dragon walls beside a Taoist city temple
Jiangsu 江苏
-
Classical Gardens of Suzhou 苏州园林
Whole landscapes of rock, water and pavilion folded into a city block
-
Purple Mountain & Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum 南京钟山风景区
A forested mountain on Nanjing's edge, crowned by a blue-roofed hilltop tomb
-
Slender West Lake 瘦西湖
A ribbon of willow-fringed water lined with the pavilions of Qing salt merchants
-
Zhouzhuang 周庄古镇
Jiangnan's most famous water town, famed for its Twin Bridges and merchant halls
-
City Wall of Nanjing 南京城墙
The Ming capital's brick ramparts, anchored by the vast fortress of Zhonghua Gate
-
Fuzimiao and the Qinhuai River 夫子庙—秦淮风光带
Nanjing's lantern-lit Confucius Temple quarter, beside painted boats on the Qinhuai
Zhejiang 浙江
-
West Lake 西湖
The lake that taught China what a perfect landscape should look like
-
Mount Putuo 普陀山
A Buddhist island in the East China Sea, home of Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion
-
Qiandao Lake 千岛湖
A drowned mountain valley of 1,078 forested islands, an hour by train from Hangzhou
-
Wuzhen Water Town 乌镇
Stone bridges and lantern-lit canals in a water town that's best after dark
-
Hengdian World Studios 横店影视城
A working film backlot of palaces and old streets, run as a theme park
-
Lingyin Temple & Feilai Feng 灵隐寺
A working Chan monastery beside a hillside of 1,000-year-old rock carvings
Anhui 安徽
-
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) 黄山
Granite spires, wind-bent pines and a sea of clouds straight out of an ink painting
-
Mount Jiuhua 九华山
A Buddhist sacred mountain where 99 temples cling to granite peaks and mist
-
Hongcun Village 宏村
A merchant village planned in the shape of an ox, mirrored in its own pond
-
Xidi 西递村
A quieter UNESCO twin of Hongcun: flagstone lanes, merchant houses and a Ming archway
Fujian 福建
-
Fujian Tulou 福建土楼
Round earthen fortresses where whole clans lived behind a single gate
-
Wuyi Mountains 武夷山
Bamboo rafts, red sandstone cliffs and the birthplace of Da Hong Pao tea
-
Gulangyu Island 鼓浪屿
A car-free island of old villas, banyan trees and drifting piano music
Jiangxi 江西
-
Mount Lushan 庐山
Misty peaks, waterfalls and a hill station of stone villas above the Yangtze
-
Mount Sanqing 三清山
Granite pillars in cloud and pine, and cliffside plank walks to a Taoist palace
-
Jingdezhen, Porcelain Capital 景德镇
The city that fired porcelain for China's emperors, and still has clay on its hands
-
Wuyuan Villages 婺源
White-walled villages among yellow rapeseed in spring and red chillies in autumn
Shandong 山东
-
Mount Tai 泰山
China's most sacred peak, climbed by emperors and by night hikers chasing sunrise
-
Qingdao Old Town & Seafront 青岛
Red roofs, German-era villas, sea breezes and the home of Tsingtao beer
-
Qufu, Hometown of Confucius 曲阜三孔
The temple, mansion and forest cemetery of Confucius and his descendants
-
Mount Lao (Laoshan) 崂山
A granite Taoist mountain rising straight from the Yellow Sea, east of Qingdao
-
Penglai Pavilion and Water City 蓬莱阁与蓬莱水城
A cliff-top tower of immortals and a Ming sea fortress on the Bohai shore
Henan 河南
-
Shaolin Temple 少林寺
The cradle of Chan Buddhism and kung fu, at the foot of Mount Song
-
Longmen Grottoes 龙门石窟
Some 100,000 Buddhas carved into riverside cliffs, watched over by a serene giant
-
Yinxu 殷墟
The last Shang capital, where China's earliest writing and Fu Hao's tomb came to light
-
Wanxian Mountain (Guoliang) 万仙山
A village that hand-cut a road through the cliff face
-
White Horse Temple 白马寺
China's first Buddhist temple, with Thai, Indian and Burmese halls beside it
-
Henan Museum 河南博物院
Zhengzhou's treasure house of Central Plains bronzes, jades and Neolithic finds
-
Iron Pagoda 开封铁塔
A 56-metre glazed-brick pagoda of 1049 that has outlasted floods and earthquakes
Hubei 湖北
-
Wudang Mountains 武当山
Taoist palaces strung along forested ridges, and the legendary birthplace of tai chi
-
Yellow Crane Tower 黄鹤楼
A tower rebuilt many times over, made immortal by a single Tang poem
-
Shennongjia 神农架生态旅游区
Primeval forest and alpine meadow on the roof of central China, a UNESCO forest reserve
-
Enshi Grand Canyon 恩施大峡谷
A limestone canyon with a 150 m rock pillar, a cliff plank road and a waterfall floor
-
Three Gorges Dam 三峡大坝
The Yangtze's mega-dam, seen from hilltop lookouts and a ship lift that raises whole boats
-
Hubei Provincial Museum 湖北省博物馆
Marquis Yi's ancient bronze bells, played live, and the sword of King Goujian
Hunan 湖南
-
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park 张家界国家森林公园
Thousands of sandstone pillars rising out of the mist like a stone forest
-
Fenghuang Ancient Town 凤凰古城
Stilt houses leaning over the Tuo River in a town that glows after dark
-
Tianmen Mountain 天门山
A cliff-top walk to a natural arch known as Heaven's Gate, above the city
-
Yueyang Tower 岳阳楼
A helmet-roofed tower above Dongting Lake, famed for one 11th-century essay
-
Hunan Museum 湖南省博物馆
A Han marchioness, her silk banner and a gauze robe as thin as air
Guangdong 广东
-
Canton Tower & Pearl River 广州塔
A slim-waisted tower glowing over the Pearl River in China's Cantonese food capital
-
Kaiping Diaolou and Villages 开平碉楼
Fortified tower houses rising above rice paddies, built with emigrants' money
-
Mount Danxia 丹霞山
Red sandstone cliffs and flat-topped peaks that gave the 'Danxia' landform its name
Guangxi 广西
-
Li River & Yangshuo 漓江与阳朔
Limestone peaks, bamboo rafts and bike rides through rice paddies
-
Detian Waterfall 德天瀑布
A broad, tiered waterfall spilling across the border between China and Vietnam
-
Longji Rice Terraces 龙脊梯田
Rice paddies stacked up the mountains like the scales on a dragon's back
-
Chengyang Eight Villages 程阳八寨
Dong villages of timber drum towers and a covered bridge, set among paddy fields
-
Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art 花山岩画
About 1,900 red figures painted on a sheer cliff above the Ming River
Hainan 海南
-
Sanya Beaches 三亚
China's tropical south coast, where winter is beach season
Chongqing 重庆
-
Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views 洪崖洞
A cliffside stack of stilt houses glowing gold over the river every night
-
Yangtze Three Gorges 长江三峡
Cliffs closing in on the Yangtze along China's most storied river passage
-
Dazu Rock Carvings 大足石刻
A cliffside storybook of Buddhist hells, mothers and thousand-armed Guanyin
-
Wulong Karst 武隆喀斯特
Three colossal natural bridges, a sinkhole canyon and a cave in the hills of Wulong
Sichuan 四川
-
Chengdu Giant Panda Base 成都大熊猫繁育研究基地
Watch giant pandas munch bamboo and tumble about among the trees
-
Jiuzhaigou Valley 九寨沟
Lakes so clear you can count the fallen trees lying on their beds
-
Leshan Giant Buddha 乐山大佛
A 71-metre Buddha carved from a riverside cliff where three rivers meet
-
Daocheng Yading 稻城亚丁
Three sacred snow peaks, glacial lakes and Tibetan meadows high on the plateau
-
Huanglong Scenic Area 黄龙
Thousands of terraced travertine pools spill down a mountain valley like a golden dragon
-
Sanxingdui Museum 三星堆博物馆
Goggle-eyed bronze masks and a towering bronze tree from a lost Bronze Age kingdom
-
Dujiangyan Irrigation System 都江堰
A 2,200-year-old waterworks that tamed the Min River without a dam and still runs today
-
Hailuogou Glacier 海螺沟
A glacier spilling down into fir forest beneath Mount Gongga, Sichuan's highest peak
-
Mount Emei 峨眉山
A sacred Buddhist mountain of mist, monasteries and a golden summit above the clouds
-
Mount Siguniang 四姑娘山
Four 'sister' snow peaks above three alpine valleys of forest, meadow and lakes
-
Zoige Grassland & First Bend of the Yellow River 若尔盖草原与黄河九曲第一湾
Highland marsh, grazing yaks and the Yellow River looping across the plain at sunset
-
Kangding 康定
An old tea-trading town where Tibetan and Han cultures meet, made famous by a love song
-
Langzhong Ancient City 阆中古城
Lantern-hung lanes laid out by feng shui in a loop of the Jialing River
-
Mount Qingcheng 青城山
A cradle of Taoism, where forest stairways climb past temples and cave shrines
-
Xichang & Qionghai Lake 西昌与邛海
A sunny lakeside city at the heart of Yi country, ablaze with torches each summer
-
Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs 自贡
Jurassic dinosaurs, ancient brine wells and the lanterns that made the city famous
-
Jiaju Tibetan Village 甲居藏寨
Painted Gyalrong Tibetan farmhouses on a mountainside, in a valley of ancient towers
-
Jianmen Pass 剑门关
The cliff-walled gate on the old road to Shu that Li Bai said one man could hold
-
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Ridge upon ridge of feathery bamboo, laced with misty trails, waterfalls and cliff shrines
-
Songpan Ancient Town 松潘古城
A walled market town of the old tea-and-horse trade, and a base for horse treks
-
Tagong Grassland 塔公草原
Yak pastures, a revered monastery and the snow peak of Zhara Lhatse on the horizon
-
Wuhou Shrine & Jinli Street 武侯祠与锦里
Cypress-shaded halls honouring Three Kingdoms heroes, with a bustling snack lane next door
-
Jiayang Little Steam Train 嘉阳小火车
A coal-era steam train puffing through rapeseed fields to an old mining town
-
Mount Mengding 蒙顶山
Misty tea terraces and an imperial tea garden where tea growing is said to have begun
-
Taoping Qiang Village 桃坪羌寨
A lived-in Qiang stone village of watchtowers, rooftop paths and hidden water channels
-
Anyue Rock Carvings 安岳石刻
Tang and Song Buddhas carved into quiet hillsides, led by a 23-metre Buddha at rest
-
Du Fu Thatched Cottage 杜甫草堂
Bamboo groves and plum blossom where Du Fu, China's 'Poet-Sage', once lived
-
Kuanzhai Alley 宽窄巷子
Three restored Qing-era lanes of courtyard gateways, teahouses and Sichuan snacks
-
Luodai Ancient Town 洛带古镇
A Hakka market town on Chengdu's edge, with grand guild halls built by Qing-era settlers
-
People's Park & Heming Teahouse 人民公园与鹤鸣茶社
Bamboo chairs, jasmine tea and roving ear cleaners in Chengdu's favourite park
-
Wenshu Monastery 文殊院
An active Buddhist monastery of incense-filled courtyards, a teahouse and vegetarian food
Guizhou 贵州
-
Huangguoshu Waterfall 黄果树瀑布
A thundering curtain of water you can walk behind through a cave in the cliff
-
Xijiang Miao Village 西江千户苗寨
More than a thousand wooden Miao homes climbing the hills, glittering like stars at night
-
Fanjingshan 梵净山
A Buddhist 'pure land' above the clouds, with temples on two rock pinnacles
-
Libo Zhangjiang Scenic Area (Xiaoqikong and Daqikong) 荔波樟江景区
Emerald pools, stepped waterfalls and trees growing from water in a karst forest
-
Zhaoxing Dong Village 肇兴侗寨
Five drum towers and covered bridges in one of China's largest Dong villages
-
FAST Radio Telescope (China Sky Eye) 中国天眼
The world's largest single-dish radio telescope, set in a natural karst bowl
Yunnan 云南
-
Lijiang Old Town 丽江古城
Cobbled lanes, rushing canals and Naxi courtyards beneath a snow-capped peak
-
Xishuangbanna & Jinghong 西双版纳与景洪
Gilded Dai temples, a Mekong-side night market and April's Water-Splashing Festival
-
Yuanyang Rice Terraces 元阳梯田
Thousands of flooded paddies mirroring the sunrise across southern Yunnan's hills
-
Dali Old Town & Erhai Lake 大理古城与洱海
Bai courtyards, old stone gates and lakeside bike rides beneath the Cangshan peaks
-
Meili Snow Mountain & Yubeng 梅里雪山与雨崩
Yunnan's highest peak, sacred and unclimbed, with a trek to a village beneath its glaciers
-
Shangri-La & Songzanlin Monastery 香格里拉松赞林寺
A golden-roofed Tibetan monastery stacked up a hillside, nicknamed 'Little Potala'
-
Tiger Leaping Gorge 虎跳峡
A classic two-day trail high above one of the world's deepest gorges
-
Lugu Lake 泸沽湖
A clear alpine lake on the Yunnan–Sichuan border, home to the matrilineal Mosuo
-
Stone Forest 石林
A maze of limestone blades and towers you can lose yourself in
-
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain 玉龙雪山
A glacier-hung massif on Lijiang's doorstep, with a cable car to over 4,500 metres
-
Jianshui Ancient Town 建水古城
A Ming gate tower, a great Confucian temple and grilled tofu on the way to Yuanyang
-
Tengchong Volcanoes & Rehai Hot Springs 腾冲火山与热海
Climb a dormant volcano's crater, then watch a boiling spring cook your eggs
-
Chengjiang Fossil Site & Fuxian Lake 澄江化石地与抚仙湖
Half-billion-year-old fossils of early animals beside one of China's deepest lakes
-
Dongchuan Red Land 东川红土地
Hills of brick-red soil patched with green, gold and white crops like a giant quilt
-
Luoping Rapeseed Fields 罗平油菜花海
Seas of golden rapeseed flowers swirling around karst peaks and spiral terraces
-
Nujiang Grand Canyon & Bingzhongluo 怒江大峡谷与丙中洛
A deep, remote river canyon of Lisu and Nu villages, mission churches and a horseshoe bend
-
Old Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain 景迈山古茶林
Ancient tea trees grown beneath the forest canopy around Blang and Dai villages
-
Shaxi Ancient Town 沙溪古镇
A caravan town on the old Tea Horse Road, with a village market every Friday
-
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden 中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园
China's largest botanical garden, with giant banyans, palms and true primary rainforest
-
Green Lake Park 翠湖公园
Kunming's favourite park, where wintering gulls wheel over willow-lined causeways
-
Heshun Ancient Town 和顺古镇
A hillside village of courtyard homes built on the fortunes of traders in Burma
-
Puzhehei 普者黑
Lotus-filled lakes winding between hundreds of green karst hills, explored by boat
-
Baishuitai 白水台
Milk-white travertine terraces below Haba Snow Mountain, sacred to the Naxi Dongba faith
-
Weishan Ancient Town 巍山古城
An unhurried Ming grid town south of Dali, where the Nanzhao kingdom was born
-
Western Hills & Dragon Gate 西山龙门
Taoist grottoes and a single-file ledge path cut into a cliff high above Dianchi Lake
-
Yuanmou Earth Forest 元谋土林
Ochre clay pillars carved by rain in a hot, dry valley, glowing at sunrise and sunset
Tibet 西藏
-
Potala Palace 布达拉宫
The red and white palace of the Dalai Lamas, rising in tiers above Lhasa
-
Everest (Qomolangma) Base Camp 珠峰大本营
Face the full north wall of Everest from around 5,000 metres
-
Namtso Lake 纳木错
A vast turquoise sky lake at 4,700 metres beneath the Nyenchen Tanglha range
-
Jokhang Temple & Barkhor 大昭寺与八廓街
Tibet's holiest temple, ringed by the pilgrim circuit of the Barkhor
-
Tashilhunpo Monastery 扎什伦布寺
The seat of the Panchen Lamas, with a 26-metre gilded Maitreya and a giant thangka wall
-
Yamdrok Lake 羊卓雍措
A turquoise, snow-ringed sacred lake revealed from the Kamba La pass
Shaanxi 陕西
-
Terracotta Army 兵马俑
Thousands of life-size clay soldiers standing guard for China's first emperor
-
Mount Hua 华山
Sheer granite peaks, stairways cut into cliffs and a notorious plank walk
-
Hancheng Old Town and Dangjia Village 韩城古城·党家村
Ming temples in an old county town and a village of grey-brick Ming–Qing courtyard houses
-
Hanzhong Rapeseed Fields 汉中油菜花
Spring rapeseed turning the Han River basin gold beneath the Qinling foothills
-
Mount Taibai 太白山
Forest roads and a cable car climb to 3,511 metres on the Qinling range's highest peak
-
Yulin Old Town and Zhenbeitai 榆林古城·镇北台
A four-tier Ming watchtower on the Great Wall and an old garrison street under six towers
-
Big Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔
A Tang-dynasty pagoda built for scriptures a monk carried home from India
-
Famen Temple 法门寺
A Tang relic temple, the treasures of its sealed crypt and a 148-metre modern stupa
-
Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor 黄帝陵
Ancient cypresses, an ancestral temple and the tomb mound of the legendary Yellow Emperor
-
Qianling Mausoleum 乾陵
A spirit way of stone guardians climbing to the joint tomb of Gaozong and Wu Zetian
-
Qingmuchuan Ancient Town 青木川古镇
A curving market street of timber shophouses where Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan meet
-
Tongwancheng Ruins 统万城遗址
Pale rammed-earth walls of a 5th-century Xiongnu capital at the edge of the Mu Us Desert
-
Huaqing Palace 华清宫
Hot springs at the foot of Mount Li where a Tang emperor wintered with Yang Guifei
-
Louguantai 楼观台
Taoist courtyards climbing to the terrace where Laozi is said to have taught
-
Baoji Bronze Ware Museum 宝鸡青铜器博物院
Zhou dynasty bronzes, led by the He zun and the earliest known written 'Zhongguo'
-
Han Yangling Mausoleum 汉阳陵
Walk on glass above burial pits full of armless clay figures at a Han emperor's tomb
-
Xi'an City Wall 西安城墙
Cycle all 14 km of a Ming city wall, high above Xi'an's rooftops
-
Daming Palace National Heritage Park 大明宫国家遗址公园
Earthen terraces and a rebuilt gatehouse marking out the lost palace of the Tang emperors
-
Shaanxi History Museum 陕西历史博物馆
Tang gold and silver, original tomb murals and finds from Shaanxi's Zhou, Qin and Han past
-
Small Wild Goose Pagoda 小雁塔
A slender Tang brick pagoda, cracked by earthquakes, in the grounds of the Xi'an Museum
-
Bell Tower and Drum Tower 钟楼·鼓楼
Two Ming towers at the heart of the walled city, where bell and drum once marked the day
-
Datang Everbright City 大唐不夜城
A lantern-lit, Tang-themed avenue of street performers, sculptures and evening crowds
-
Muslim Quarter 回民街
Halal street food and a temple-style mosque in the lanes north of the Drum Tower
-
Forest of Stone Steles Museum 西安碑林博物馆
Inscribed stone tablets of classics, calligraphy and Silk Road history by the south wall
Gansu 甘肃
-
Mogao Caves 莫高窟
A thousand years of Buddhist murals in desert cliff caves on the Silk Road
-
Zhangye Danxia (Rainbow Mountains) 张掖七彩丹霞
Mountains striped red, orange and yellow like the layers of a painted cake
-
Jiayuguan Pass 嘉峪关
The Great Wall's mighty western fortress, framed by the snowy Qilian Mountains
-
Crescent Lake & Singing Sand Dunes 鸣沙山月牙泉
A crescent-shaped spring among towering dunes, right on the edge of town
-
Labrang Monastery 拉卜楞寺
A living Tibetan Buddhist monastery town, ringed by a long corridor of prayer wheels
-
Maijishan Grottoes 麦积山石窟
Painted clay Buddhas in caves hung high on a haystack-shaped cliff
-
Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark 敦煌雅丹国家地质公园
Wind-carved clay towers stretching to the horizon in the Gobi beyond Yumen Pass
Qinghai 青海
-
Qinghai Lake 青海湖
China's largest lake: a high-altitude inland sea edged with yellow rapeseed
-
Chaka Salt Lake 茶卡盐湖
A salt flat so still it turns into a mirror for the sky
-
Kumbum Monastery 塔尔寺
Golden roofs and butter sculptures at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa
Ningxia 宁夏
-
Shapotou 沙坡头
Where the dunes of the Tengger Desert tumble down to the Yellow River
-
Western Xia Mausoleums 西夏陵
Earthen mounds of a vanished Tangut empire, beneath the Helan Mountains
Xinjiang 新疆
-
Kashgar Old City 喀什古城
A Silk Road crossroads of mud-brick lanes, bazaars and the Id Kah Mosque
-
Kanas Lake 喀纳斯湖
A milky-turquoise lake in the Altai forests that turns gold each autumn
-
Heavenly Lake of Tianshan 天山天池
An alpine lake beneath snowy Bogda Peak, a day trip from Ürümqi
-
Turpan & Jiaohe Ruins 吐鲁番交河故城
A 2,000-year-old city carved out of a river island, in China's hottest basin
-
Karakul Lake & Karakoram Highway 喀拉库勒湖
A still, high lake mirroring Muztagh Ata on the road to Pakistan
-
Nalati Grassland 那拉提草原
A green plateau meadow where Kazakh herders ride beneath spruce slopes
-
Sayram Lake 赛里木湖
Xinjiang's largest, highest alpine lake, ringed by steppe and ancient tombs
Hong Kong 香港
-
Victoria Harbour 维多利亚港
Glass towers and green hills around a harbour you can cross in ten minutes
-
Tian Tan Buddha & Ngong Ping 天坛大佛与昂坪
A giant bronze Buddha on Lantau, reached by a 25-minute cable car ride
-
Victoria Peak 太平山顶
Ride the 1888 funicular to the skyline view, then walk the Lugard Road loop
Macau 澳门
-
Historic Centre of Macau 澳门历史城区
Portuguese tiled squares, baroque churches and Chinese temples, a short walk apart