China spans five time zones, from the Gobi Desert and Tibetan Plateau to the karst valleys of Guangxi and the subtropical coast of Hainan. It has over 5,000 years of recorded history and a pace of change over the past four decades that has no precedent in human history.
Beijing rewards days of exploration among the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace, with a visit to the Great Wall at Jinshanling or Mutianyu an absolute must. Shanghai is a quite different proposition. Its Art Deco Bund waterfront faces a futuristic Pudong skyline across the Huangpu River, and its restaurant and arts scene is among the most exciting in Asia. The karst peaks of Guilin and Yangshuo are as beautiful as the centuries of paintings suggest. Chengdu is the gateway to giant panda conservation and the launching point for journeys into Sichuan’s extraordinary culinary culture. In the northwest, the Silk Road cities of Xi’an, Kashgar, and Dunhuang aer full of ancient history, while the Autonomous Region of Tibet offers high-altitude monasteries and Himalayan views that have drawn travellers for generations.
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Highlights and hidden gems
Beijing: Spend days exploring the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace before heading to the less-visited sections of the Great Wall at Jinshanling or Mutianyu.
Shanghai: Walk the Art Deco Bund waterfront, cross the river to the futuristic Pudong skyline, and eat and drink your way through one of Asia's most exciting and dynamic cities.
Guilin and Yangshuo: Cruise the Li River through a landscape of karst peaks and bamboo groves that has inspired Chinese artists for centuries and remains as beautiful as the paintings suggest.
Chengdu: Visit giant pandas at the city's celebrated conservation centre before exploring the hotpot restaurants and teahouse culture of Sichuan's compelling and underrated capital.
Xi'an: Stand before the Terracotta Army, one of the most astonishing archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, in the ancient capital that marked the eastern end of the Silk Road.
Litang: A remote Tibetan plateau town sitting at over 4,000 metres in western Sichuan, where monasteries, yak herders, and vast open grassland make it one of the most atmospheric and least visited corners of ethnic Tibetan culture accessible without a special permit.
Zhangjiajie: Trek through a national park of dramatic sandstone pillars rising from forested valleys in Hunan province, the landscape that inspired the floating mountains of Avatar.
Lijiang: Explore a remarkably well-preserved ancient town in Yunnan province, where cobbled streets, Naxi culture, and snow-capped mountain views make it one of China's most rewarding smaller cities.
Dunhuang: Visit the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO-listed complex of Buddhist cave temples containing some of the world's finest ancient art, on the edge of the Gobi Desert.
Hangzhou: Take the train from Shanghai to a city of classical gardens, silk museums, and the vast West Lake, long regarded by the Chinese themselves as one of the country's most beautiful destinations.
