Must-see attractions in China

  • Peak Tram
Hong Kong's Peak Tram going up an incline

    Peak Tram

    Hong Kong

    This cable-hauled funicular railway has been scaling the 396m ascent to the highest point on Hong Kong Island since 1888. A ride on this clanking tram is…

  • Mogao Grottoes

    Dunhuang

    The Mogao Grottoes are considered one of the most important collections of Buddhist art in the world. At its peak during the Tang dynasty (618–907), the…

  • Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in Temple of Heaven Park, Chongwen.

    Temple of Heaven Park

    Temple of Heaven Park & Dongcheng South

    An oasis of methodical Confucian design, the 267-hectare Temple of Heaven Park is unique. It originally served as a vast stage for solemn rites performed…

  • Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an, China

    Army of Terracotta Warriors

    Xi'an

    The Terracotta Army isn't just Xi'an's premier sight: it's one of the most famous archaeological finds in the world. This subterranean life-size army of…

  • Summer Palace

    Summer Palace

    Beijing

    A marvel of Chinese garden design and one of Beijing's must-see attractions, the Summer Palace was the royal retreat for emperors fleeing the suffocating…

  • West Lake of Hangzhou

    West Lake

    Hangzhou

    The very definition of classical beauty in China, West Lake is utterly mesmerising: pagoda-topped hills rise over willow-lined waters as boats drift…

  • Winter sunrise over Hong Kong from the Peak, at Victoria Peak

    Victoria Peak

    Hong Kong

    Standing at 552m, Victoria Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong Island. It is also one of the most visited spots by tourists, and it’s not hard to see…

  • The Potala Palace in Morning Sunlight

    Potala Palace

    Lhasa

    The magnificent Potala Palace, once the seat of the Tibetan government and the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas, is Lhasa's cardinal landmark. Your…

  • Man Po Daoist Temple, Hong Kong

    Man Mo Temple

    Hong Kong

    One of Hong Kong’s oldest temples and a declared monument, atmospheric Man Mo Temple is dedicated to the gods of literature (‘Man’), holding a writing…

  • My only regret is that the moment was almost too perfect...

    Yuyuan Gardens & Bazaar

    Shanghai Old City

    With its shaded alcoves, glittering pools churning with fish, plus pavilions, pines sprouting wistfully from rockeries, and roving packs of Japanese…

  • Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

    Zhangjiajie

    Among China’s crop of surreal landscapes, Zhangjiajie has got to be a contender for one of the most impressive. A forest of spectacularly weathered spires…

  • Tibet, Lhasa, monks chanting at Jokhang temple

    Jokhang Temple

    Lhasa

    The 1300-year-old Jokhang Temple is the spiritual heart of Tibet: the continuous waves of awestruck pilgrims prostrating themselves outside are a…

  • Dzongsar Monastery

    Sichuan

    One of the oldest, most important and certainly most visibly impressive monastery complexes in Kham, the remote Dzongsar Monastery sits on a sharp ridge…

  • Harbin Ice & Snow World

    Harbin

    The signature venue for Harbin's winter-long Ice & Snow Festival is the main reason that both domestic and international travellers chase the cold weather…

  • Bada Rice Terrace

    Yunnan

    Bada is one of the finest rice terraces at Yuanyang to catch the sunset at. If you only have time for one terrace, this is it.

  • SHAOLIN TEMPLE, CHINA - JANUARY 10, 2017: The Chinese architect building with local people, Henan; Shutterstock ID 2051641661; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Shaolin Scenic Area

    Henan

    The largely rebuilt Shaolin Temple is a commercialised victim of its own incredible success. A frequent target of war, the ancestral home of wǔshù was…

  • Luoyang, China - June 19, 2008: Tourists take photos in front of the massive stone carvings of Buddha at the Longmen Grottoes.

    Longmen Grottoes

    Henan

    The ravaged grottoes at Longmen constitute one of China’s handful of surviving masterpieces of Buddhist rock carving. A sutra in stone, the epic…

  • Labrang Lamasery, Gansu, China

    Labrang Monastery

    Gansu

    With its succession of squeaking prayer wheels (3km in total), hawks circling overhead and the throb of Tibetan longhorns resonating from the surrounding…

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    Yading Nature Reserve

    Sichuan

    The magnificent Yading Nature Reserve, 140km south of Daocheng, centres around three sacred snowcapped mountains, a holy trinity encircled by forested…

  • Maijishan Grottoes

    Gansu

    Set among wild, green mountains southeast of Tianshui, the grottoes of Maijishan hold some of the most famous Buddhist rock carvings along the Silk Road…

  • Drepung monastery, Lhasa, Tibet, China

    Main Assembly Hall

    Lhasa

    The main assembly hall, or Tsogchen, is the principal structure in the Drepung complex and is the one chapel you must not miss. The hall is reached…

  • Le Shan Grand Buddha

    Sichuan

    Le Shan’s serene, 1200-year-old Grand Buddha sits in repose, carved from a cliff face overlooking the confluence of three busy rivers: the Dadu, Min and…

  • Beihai Park 北海公园:承光殿 (Beijing 北京)

    Beihai Park

    Beijing

    Beihai Park, inside the old Imperial City, looks much as it would have done in the 18th century when it served as Emperor Qianlong's private gardens. The…

  • Pigments used for painting

    Bakong Scripture Printing Press

    Sichuan

    This fascinating 1729 printing press houses an ongoing printing operation that still uses traditional woodblock printing methods and maintains more than…

  • Southeast Corner Watchtower, with purple flowers in foreground.

    Southeast Corner Watchtower

    Temple of Heaven Park & Dongcheng South

    This immense fortress, part of the Ming City Wall Ruins Park, guarded the southeast corner of Beijing's city walls. Originally built in 1439 but repaired…

  • Xidi

    Anhui

    Typical of the elegant Huizhou style, Xidi’s 124 surviving buildings reflect the wealth and prestige of the prosperous merchants who settled here. Its…

  • The Longji terraces area is famous for the excessively large number of terraced rice paddy fields on its mountain, which have created an intricate pattern on the hillsides. Set amongst the villages of the minorities Zhuang and Yao, the area allows for easy to moderate walking/hiking possibilities along and up hillsides to view the panoramas of the terraced rice fields

    Rice Terraces

    Guangxi

    Longji's famed rice terraces have been luring travellers to the region for decades to witness some of China's most spectacular scenery. Rising to 1000m,…

  • China, Zhejiang province, Hangzhou, Lingyin temple, statues of Buddha

    Lingyin Temple

    Hangzhou

    Hangzhou’s most famous Buddhist temple, Lingyin Temple was originally built in AD 326, but has been destroyed and rebuilt no fewer than 16 times. During…

  • Facade of St Paul's Cathedral, Macau

    Ruins of the Church of St Paul

    Macau

    The most treasured icon in Macau, the towering facade and stairway are all that remain of this early-17th-century Jesuit church. With its statues, portals…

  • Photo shoot in 798 Art District.

    798 Art District

    Beijing

    Contemporary art meets communist history at this thrilling enclave of international galleries installed within China's model factory complex of the 1950s…

  • Close-Up Of Gold Male Statue In Jade Buddha Temple

    Jade Buddha Temple

    Shanghai

    One of Shanghai’s few active Buddhist monasteries, this temple was built between 1918 and 1928. The highlight is a transcendent Buddha crafted from pure…

  • Lama Temple.

    Lama Temple

    Beijing

    Converted from a princely residence to a lamasery in the 18th century, the Lama Temple extends through a crescendo of ever more divine halls in a whirl of…

  • Pandas at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

    Giant Panda Breeding Research Base

    Chengdu

    One of Chengdu’s most popular attractions, this panda park 18km north of the city centre is the easiest way to glimpse Sichuan’s most famous residents…

  • China, Shanghai, Pudong, Shanghai Tower against sky

    Shanghai Tower

    Shanghai

    China’s tallest building dramatically twists skywards from its footing in Lujiazui. The 121-storey, 632m-tall, Gensler-designed Shanghai Tower topped out…

  • China, Gansu Province, Zhangye, 35m sleeping buddha in the Great Buddha temple, (1098) western Xia dynasty

    Big Buddha Temple

    Gansu

    Originally dating to 1098 (Western Xia dynasty), this stunning temple contains an astonishing 35m-long sleeping Buddha – China’s largest of this variety…

  • Jiayuguan Fortress on the West end of the Great Wall at Jia Yu Guan Pass

    Jiayuguan Fort

    Gansu

    One of the classic images of western China, this huge fort once guarded the narrow pass between the snowcapped Qilian Shan peaks and the Hei Shan (Black…

  • Beijing's ancient Drum Tower, built during the Ming Dynasty (1380AD).

    Drum Tower

    Beijing

    Venerable bastions of time-keeping, the Drum Tower and its counterpart the Bell Tower were for centuries the tallest buildings in Beijing, lording it over…

  • Linggu pagoda

    Linggu Temple Scenic Area

    Nanjing

    This expansive temple complex contains one of the most historic buildings in Nanjing – the Beamless Hall (无梁殿, Wúliáng Diàn), built in 1381 entirely out…

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    Xi'an City Walls

    Xi'an

    Xi'an is one of the few cities in China where the imposing old city walls still stand. Built in 1370 during the Ming dynasty, the magnificent 12m-high…

  • NANJING, CHINA - 2014/11/12: Tourists take photos in front of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum. Sun's Mausoleum situated at the foot of Mount Zijin in Nanjing,  Sun is considered to be the "Father of Modern China" both in mainland China and Taiwan, as well as the founder of Republic of China.  As the Holy land of Chinese people both home and abroad, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum attracts a lot of visitors every year. (Photo by Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Sun Yatsen Mausoleum

    Nanjing

    An astonishing sight at the top of an enormous stone stairway (a breathless 392 steps), Sun Yatsen's tomb is a mandatory stop for most visitors…

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