China
Contents
Plan Your Trip
Welcome to China
China's Top 30
Need to Know
First Time China
If You Like
Month by Month
Itineraries
Eat & Drink Like a Local
Cruising the Yangzi
Regions at a Glance
On The Road
Beijing
Sights
Courses
Activities
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
The Great Wall
Ming Tombs
Chuandxia
Wnping Town
The Great Wall
Visiting the Wall
Mutianyu
Gbeiku
Jiankou
Zhuangdaoku
Jinshanlng
Huanghua Cheng
Badalng
Tianjin & Hebei
Tianjin & Hebei Highlights
Tianjin
Hebei
Shijiazhuang
Zhengding
Yujiacun
Chengde
Shanhiguan
Jimingyi
Liaoning
Dalian
Around Dalian
Dandong
Shenyang
Xingcheng
Jilin
Changbai Shan Nature Reserve
Yanji
Ji'an
Beidahu Ski Resort
Changchun
Heilongjiang
Harbin
Mdanjiang
Jingpo Lake
Wdalian Chi
Mohe
Shandong
J'nan
Zhujiayu
Tai'an
Tai Shan
Qufu
Zoucheng
Qingdo
Lao Shan
Yantai
Penglai
Jiangsu
Nanjing
Suzhou
Mudu
Tongl
Luzhi
Zhouzhuang
Zhejiang
Hangzhou
Moganshan
Wuzhen
Nanxun
Xinye
Zhuge
Siping
Jinhua
Ptuoshan
Ningbo
Shaoxing
Shanghi
Sights
Activities
Tours
Festivals & Events
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Zhujiajio
Fujian
Xiamen
Glang Y
Fujian Tlou
Quanzhou
Around Quanzhou
Fuzhou
Wyi Shan
Shanxi
Datong
Around Datong
Wtai Shan
Taiyuan
Around Taiyuan
Pingyao
Around Pingyao
Qikou
Jincheng
Guoyu
Prime Minister Chens Castle
Shaanxi
Xi'an
Around Xi'an
Hua Shan
Hancheng
Yulin
Anhui
Tunxi
Xidi
Hongcun
Pingshan
Shexian
Huangshan
Jihua Shan
Hefei
Henan
Zhengzhou
Nanjiecun
Song Shan & Dengfeng
Luoyang
Around Luoyang
Guoliangcun
Kaifeng
Zhuxian Zhen
Hubei
Whan
Jingzhou
Around Jingzhou
Wdang Shan
Shennongjia
Yichang
Jiangxi
Nanchang
Around Nanchang
Lushan
Jngdezhen
Wuyuan
Around Wuyuan
Sanqing Shan
Longhu Shan
Longnan
Hunan
Changsha
Shaoshan
Heng Shan
Zhangjiajie
Dehang
Fenghuang
Hongjiang Old Town
Furong Zhen
Hong Kong
Sights
Activities
Tours
Festivals & Events
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Macau
Sights
Activities
Tours
Festivals & Events
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Gungdong
Gungzhou
Around Gungzhou
Foshan
Kaiping
Yangjiang
Zhaoqing
Around Zhaoqing
Qingyun
Nanlng National Forest Park
Shenzhen
Zhuhi
Chaozhou
Around Chaozhou
Meizhou
Dabu
Chayang Old Town
Baihou Old Town
Shantou
Hinan
Hinan Highlights
Hiku
Around Hiku
Central Highlands
Boting
The East Coast
Bo'ao
Shimei Bay & Ri Yue Bay
Sanya
Xinglong
Gungxi
Guilin
Around Guilin
Ziyuan
Longj Rice Terraces
Sanjiang
Yangshuo
Around Yangshuo
Liugong
Xingping
Huangyao
Nanning
Yangmei
Beihi
Weizhou Island
Huashan Cliff Murals
Pingxiang
Detian Waterfall
Tongling Grand Canyon
Leye
Guizhou
Guiyang
Qingyan
Kil
Basha
Leishan
Longl
Xijiang
Zhaoxing
Zhenyun
Around Zhenyun
Anshun
Around Anshun
Weining
Chishu
Yunnan
Kunming
Around Kunming
Shilin
Heijng
Jianshu
Yuanyang Rice Terraces
Xiaguan
Weishan
Dal
Erhi Lake
Cang Shan
Xzhou
Nuodeng
Shaxi
Lijiang
Baisha
Shuhe Old Town
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Tiger Leaping Gorge to Baishutai
Lugu Lake
Shangri-la
Around Shangri-la
Deqin & Kawa Karpo
Liuku
Fugong
Bngzhongluo
Dulong Valley
Tengchong County
Ruili
Around Ruili
Jnghong
Around Jnghong
Sichuan
Chengdu
Dujiangyan
Four Sisters Mountain
Emei Shan
Le Shan
Lijiang
Y'an
Zigong
Yibin
Bamboo Sea
Kangding
Northern Garze Prefecture
Southern Garze Prefecture
The Road to Gansu
Songpan
Jizhaigou National Park
Langzhong
Chongqing
Chongqing City
Dazu Buddhist Caves
Laitan
Zhongshan
Wlong
Anju Ancient Town
Xinjiang
Urumqi
Tian Chi
Turpan
Around Turpan
Hami
Kuqa
Kashgar
Karakoram Highway
Yengisar
Charklik
Cherchen
Hotan
Karghilik
Yarkand
Bu'erjin
Kanas Lake Nature Reserve
Yining
Sayram Lake
Gansu
Gansu Highlights
Lanzhou
Southern Gansu
Xiahe
Around Xiahe
Hezuo
Langmusi
Hexi Corridor
Wuwei
Around Wuwei
Zhangye
Zhangye Danxia National Geopark
Jiayuguan
Dunhuang
Around Dunhuang
Eastern Gansu
Tianshu
Around Tianshu
Ningxia
Yinchuan
Helan Shan
Zhongwei
Guyuan
Tongxin
Inner Mongolia
Hohhot
Around Hohhot
Shangdu
Baotou
Genghis Khan Mausoleum
Hila'er
Enhe
Mnzhoul
Shi Wei
Bayanhot
Far West Inner Mongolia
Qinghi
Xining
Around Xining
Huzhu Beishan Forest National Park
Tongren
Guide
Yushu
Princess Wencheng Temple
Nangchen
Golmud
Mduo
Tibet
Tibet Highlights
Lhasa
Around Lhasa
Drepung Monastery
Ganden Monastery
Sera Monastery
U
Yarlung Tsangpo Valley
Southern Ngari
Saga
Tsang
Gyantse
Shigatse
Lhatse Lazi
Sakya
Everest Region
Tingri
Far West Ngari
Darchen & Mt Kailash
Lake Manasarovar
Understand
Understand China
China Today
History
People of China
Religion & Philosophy
Chinese Cuisine
Arts & Architecture
China's Landscapes
Martial Arts of China
Survive
Directory AZ
Accommodation
Children
Customs Regulations
Discount Cards
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Food & Drink
GLBTIQ Travellers
Internet Access
Legal Matters
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Tourist Information
Travellers with Disabilities
Visas
Transport
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
China By Train
China's Train Network
Train Travel
Train Types
Tickets
Health
Before You Go
In China
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Special Features
Essential China
Welcome to China
China. The name alone makes you want to get packing. It's going places, so jump aboard, go along for the ride and see where it's headed.
Breathtaking Antiquity
Its modern face is dazzling, but China is no one-trick pony. The world's oldest continuous civilisation isn't all smoked glass and brushed aluminium and while you won't be tripping over artefacts – three decades of round-the-clock development and rash town planning have taken their toll – rich seams of antiquity await. Serve it all up according to taste: collapsing sections of the Great Wall, temple-topped mountains, villages that time forgot, languorous water towns, sublime Buddhist grottoes and ancient desert forts. Pack a well-made pair of travelling shoes and remember the words of Laotzu: 'a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step'.
Stupendous Scenery
Few countries do the Big Outdoors like the Middle Kingdom. China's landscapes span the range from alpha to omega: take your pick from the sublime sapphire lakes of Tibet or the impassive deserts of Inner Mongolia, island-hop in Hong Kong or bike between fairy-tale karst pinnacles around Yángshuò; swoon before the rice terraces of the south, take a selfie among the gorgeous yellow rapeseed of Wùyuán or hike the Great Wall as it meanders across mountain peaks; get lost in green forests of bamboo or, when your energy fails you, flake out on a distant beach and listen to the thud of falling coconuts.
Cuisine
The Chinese live to eat and with 1.4 billion food-loving people to feed, coupled with vast geographic and cultural variations in a huge land, expect your tastebuds to be tantalised, tested and treated. Wolf down Peking duck in Běijīng, melt over a Chóngqìng hotpot or grab a seasoned ròujiāmó (shredded pork in a bun) before climbing Huá Shān. Gobble down a steaming bowl of Lánzhōu noodles in a Silk Road street market, raise the temperature with some searing Húnán fare or flag down the dim sum trolley down south. Follow your nose in China and you won't want to stop travelling.
Diversity
China is vast. Off-the-scale massive. A riveting jumble of wildly differing dialects and climatic and topographical extremes, it's like several different countries rolled into one. Take your pick from the tossed-salad ethnic mix of the southwest, the yak-butter-illuminated temples of Xiàhé, a journey along the dusty Silk Road, spending the night at Everest Base Camp or getting into your glad rags for a night on the Shànghǎi tiles. You're spoilt for choice: whether you’re an urban traveller, hiker, cyclist, explorer, backpacker, irrepressible museum-goer or faddish foodie, China’s diversity is second to none.
Traditional dancers leaving the stage at the Summer Palace, Běijīng | MATT MUNRO/LONELY PLANET ©
Why I Love China
By Damian Harper, Writer
A passion for Chinese martial arts saw me enrolling for a four-year degree in Chinese at university in London back in the 1990s. They were fun days, when travelling China was testing but exciting in equal measure. Hot spots like Píngyáo were unheard of and Shànghǎi’s Pǔdōng was a cocktail-free flatland. I could say it's the fantastic food, the awesome landscapes, the thrill of train travel, the delightful people or pitching up in a small town I’ve never been to before, and I wouldn’t be lying. But it’s the Chinese language I still love most of all.
China's Top 30
Forbidden City
Not a city and no longer forbidden, Běijīng’s enormous palace is the be-all-and-end-all of dynastic grandeur with its vast halls and splendid gates. No other place in China teems with so much history, legend and good old-fashi
oned imperial intrigue. You may get totally lost here but you’ll always find something to write about on the first postcard you can lay your hands on. The complex also heads the list with one of China’s most attractive admission prices and almost endless value-for-money sightseeing.