CHINATRIP · PLACES
Places
01 / NORTH CHINANORTH CHINAChengdeChengde was the Qing emperors' summer capital. The Mountain Resort is China's largest surviving imperial garden — twice the size of the Summer Palace. The surrounding Eight Outer Temples blend Han, Tibetan and Mongol arcExplore ↗
02 / EAST CHINAEAST CHINAXiamenXiamen is a garden city on the sea. The colonial villas and piano music of Gulangyu, the blue water and sky of the Ring Island Road, the indie shops of Zengcuoan and the youthful buzz of Xiamen University have made it onExplore ↗
03 / EAST CHINAEAST CHINANanjingNanjing is a former capital of six dynasties and ten regimes — the imperial gravity of Purple Mountain alongside the river life and romance of the Qinhuai. The grandeur of Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, the spirit road at MingExplore ↗
04 / EAST CHINAEAST CHINASuzhou"Above there is heaven, below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou." Suzhou's classical gardens are a World Heritage Site (nine gardens); the canals and bridges of Zhouzhuang and Tongli are the archetypal Jiangnan water towns; Explore ↗
05 / EAST CHINAEAST CHINAZhujiajiaoZhujiajiao, in Shanghai's Qingpu district, is the best-preserved Jiangnan water town on the city's doorstep — hence "the Venice of Shanghai". Its history reaches back to the Three Kingdoms; the Ming- and Qing-era buildinExplore ↗
06 / EAST CHINAEAST CHINAShanghaiTwo cities in one — the old world of the Bund and the new skyline of Lujiazui, cafés and Shanghainese cooking in the lanes. Shanghai doesn't dazzle at first; it grows on you the more you walk.Explore ↗
07 / SOUTH CHINASOUTH CHINAGuilin"Guilin's scenery is the finest under heaven." The karst peaks along the Li River are a real-life Chinese landscape painting. Elephant Trunk Hill is the city emblem, the Two Rivers and Four Lakes night cruise is dreamlikExplore ↗
08 / CENTRAL CHINACENTRAL CHINAZhangjiajieZhangjiajie National Forest Park is the real-world inspiration for Avatar's Hallelujah Mountains — more than 3,000 quartz-sandstone pillars rising straight up. Tianmen Mountain's 999-step stairway and glass walkway, and Explore ↗
09 / SOUTHWEST CHINASOUTHWEST CHINADazu Rock CarvingsThe Dazu Rock Carvings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the masterpiece of China's late grotto art — "the final monument of Chinese cave sculpture". First cut in the early Tang, they continued through the late Tang, Explore ↗
10 / SOUTHWEST CHINASOUTHWEST CHINAGuizhou HighlightsExplore ↗
11 / SOUTHWEST CHINASOUTHWEST CHINAEverest Base CampEverest Base Camp, in Tingri county, Shigatse, sits at 5,200 m — the closest an ordinary traveller can get to Mount Everest (8,848.86 m), with a full view of its north face turning gold at sunrise and sunset. Around it aExplore ↗
12 / SOUTHWEST CHINASOUTHWEST CHINAYamdrok LakeYamdrok (Yangzhuoyongcuo, "Yamdrok Tso") means "swan lake" in Tibetan — one of Tibet's three great sacred lakes and known as the "jade lake". The surface lies at 4,441 m, the shoreline winds for 250 km, and the water shaExplore ↗
13 / NORTHWEST CHINANORTHWEST CHINAChaka Salt LakeChaka Salt Lake is called "China's mirror of the sky" — a Chinese answer to Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni. The lake sits at 3,100 m and covers about 105 km². On a clear, windless day the surface turns to glass, reflecting theExplore ↗
14 / NORTHWEST CHINANORTHWEST CHINAXiningXining is the capital of Qinghai and the eastern gateway to the Tibetan Plateau, at about 2,300 m. Almost every trip to Qinghai Lake, Chaka Salt Lake or Kekexili starts here. Xining itself has the Dongguan Great Mosque aExplore ↗
15 / NORTHWEST CHINANORTHWEST CHINAKanas"An earthly paradise", "God's own reserve". In autumn (late September–early October) it is the ceiling of China's fall scenery. Kanas Lake lies deep in the Altai Mountains; the water changes colour with the seasons and iExplore ↗
16 / HONG KONG, MACAO & TAIWANHK MACAU TAIWANTaipeiTaipei is Taiwan's political, economic and cultural heart — the National Palace Museum holds the finest of Chinese art, Ximending pulses with youth and fashion, Shilin Night Market is a food paradise, and Taipei 101 crowExplore ↗