China's highlights span an almost impossible range: ancient imperial monuments, surreal natural landscapes, minority cultures, cutting-edge cities, and one of the great culinary traditions on earth.
The Great Wall
The wall snakes over mountains and through deserts for thousands of kilometers — no single visit captures its full scale. The sections within reach of Beijing (Mutianyu, Simatai, Jinshanling) are the most accessible. Simatai and Jinshanling are less restored and more atmospheric; get there early.
The Forbidden City, Beijing
The imperial palace complex in central Beijing is one of the largest in the world: 980 buildings arranged around a sequence of courtyards, throne halls, and gardens. Three hours is enough to walk through; a full day rewards slower exploration of the outer sections most tourists rush past.
The Terracotta Army, Xi'an
Over 8,000 life-sized clay soldiers buried with China's first emperor in 210 BC. Three excavation pits are open to view, each at a different stage of archaeology. The scale and quality of the craftsmanship still astonishes. Xi'an itself is worth a couple of extra days.
Li River and Guilin Karst
The landscape around Guilin — limestone peaks rising sharply out of flat rice paddies, reflected in slow river water — is the quintessential Chinese landscape painting made real. Take the boat from Guilin to Yangshuo, then explore the countryside around Yangshuo by bicycle.
Mogao Caves, Dunhuang
Hidden in desert cliffs outside Dunhuang, nearly 500 cave temples filled with Buddhist murals and statues. The caves were carved over a thousand years by monks and pilgrims on the Silk Road. Some murals survive in extraordinary color. One of the most remarkable historical sites in Asia.
West Lake, Hangzhou
Hangzhou's West Lake has been inspiring poets, painters, and garden designers for a thousand years. Marco Polo called the city the finest in the world. The lake itself is ringed with pagodas, causeways, and tea plantations. Best in the morning before the tour groups arrive.
Lhasa and the Tibetan Plateau
Lhasa sits at 3,650 meters, surrounded by mountains, with the Potala Palace rising above the valley on a rocky hill. The Jokhang Temple is the spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism — pilgrims from across the plateau circle it day and night, prostrating on the stone pavement. Tibet requires a permit and some altitude acclimatization, but rewards the effort.
Old Shanghai
The Bund — Shanghai's waterfront of Art Deco and neoclassical buildings facing the futuristic Pudong skyline across the river — is one of the great urban vistas anywhere. The old city's narrow alleyways (shikumen) survive in a few areas, increasingly hemmed in by development.
Yunnan Province
The most ethnically diverse province in China, Yunnan offers a completely different China: subtropical, multiethnic, beautiful. Lijiang's old town, Tiger Leaping Gorge, the rice terraces of Yuanyang, Shangri-La's monasteries. It borders Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, and the cultural mix reflects that.
Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan
A nature reserve in the mountains of northern Sichuan, famous for its turquoise lakes, waterfalls, and forests. UNESCO World Heritage Site. The colors of the water — fed by mineral-rich springs — are genuinely improbable. Book entry well in advance; numbers are capped.