I'll be travelling to China for the first time in December of this year and find myself spoiled for choice in such a large country. I'm trying to find historical and cultural sights that are at least somewhat under the radar and aren't completely packed with tourists, and am only going to be using public transportation. In addition, keep in mind there may be a bit of a language barrier - I took some Chinese lessons as a kid, but my memory is spotty on it and I am trying to learn at the moment in preparation.

As of now I find myself choosing between three regions of China:

1: Fujian.

The amount of history and culture in this province is the aspect that attracts me the most. I hear there's a huge amount of folk festivals and a very rich religious tradition on the southeastern coast and hope to visit some religious ceremonies when I'm there. Fujianese puppetry and opera is also of interest. If I went here I'd probably hit up Quanzhou, Gulangyu, and the tulou (I plan to stay in one of these fortified buildings if possible). The history of Quanzhou as the starting point of the Maritime silk road and the amount of religious and cultural syncretism that has happened here is highly fascinating to me.

Probably the biggest concern I have about Fujian is whether the architecture will be as impressive as the structures which can be found in the north. Which brings me to my second choice:

2: Shanxi.

This is the province I'm most interested in from an architectural standpoint. The list of truly spectacular architecture goes on, and on, and on. Lincheng, Pingyao, Taiyuan and Datong seem like hotbeds for amazing historical architecture. Temples, grottoes, residences, literal whole Ming and Qing Dynasty cities with preserved architecture.

What I am primarily concerned about here is the biting cold in this province in December, and in addition there's the concern of transportation - much of what's here is in the countryside, and buses take forever - I'll probably have to use DiDi to hire taxis for a full day to access many of the more isolated attractions I want to visit. Is this feasible? In addition, I don't think there are as many traditional cultural festivals here as there are in Fujian, which seems like a hotbed for religious rites. But the architecture at a glance seems extremely spectacular, and there are many more preserved older buildings than in any other province.

3: Chongqing + Sichuan.

Perhaps a good mix between the two. Less frigid than Shanxi, but there's still spectacular architecture and many buddhist grottoes like the Dazu rock carvings and Leshan Giant Buddha as well as other lesser-known giant Buddha sculptures peppered throughout the Sichuan countryside. There are also many well-preserved old towns like Langzhong, Shangli and so on, some of which seem less touristy than many other Chinese old towns. And the natural sights here seem pretty top tier - also, spicy food, which is always an attraction to me.

Which of these destinations would you pick if you were me, and if so, why?

Of those three, I've only been to Shanxi, and oh, there are some wonderful architectural and historic sites there! I went using public transportation and and occasional hired car or tour and knowing only a few words of Chinese -- and I had a wonderful time. BUT I was there in May, and as you note, it could be terribly cold in December.

If you haven't seen it, you might find some useful information in my old trip report:
Thanks for helping make my trip to China amazing!

Enjoying folk festivals in Fujian is a matter of timing. How do you find out when and where they are going on?

Timing matters for sure. Much of the well-known festivals in Fujian (and most of China) take place during the Lunar New Year, which will be later in winter - but travelling during that time will be rather crowded and inconvenient. In December though there's the Dongzhi Festival, celebrated during the winter solstice from December 21-23. It usually involves family-oriented gatherings, but I do know that worship of ancestors as well as local gods is a thing around that time. I've heard that large-scale worship activities are very easy to find especially in Quanzhou, so I'm hoping to come across at least a few.

I really like your idea of Fujian. It's a beautiful province, off the beaten path for foreign tourists and it will be mild in the winter.

I like Shanxi a lot, but it is very cold in winter. I haven't been to Sichuan yet.

The tulous in Fujian are wonderful. I visited the tulous over a 4 day period. There are hundreds, some are touristy , some are just peoples homes, some big, some small - they are all very interesting. I will say that we did it with a rental car and drove ourselves. I think going by bus on a day trip with a tourist group would be much less interesting. I don't know how you could visit multiple ones over days with public transport, but maybe you could get the train to the tolou region of Fujian and then take busses /taxis/private drivers - all that will be interesting in and of itself. I would not recommend a day trip for tolous, they deserve more time.

In addition, Fujian has one of the best tea cultures in China. They have a huge array of teas, especially Wulong(oolong) and Baicha (white tea). You could visit the Wuyi area, with loads of tea plantations in and around, visit small family tea producers. Even in the cuties, tea is everywhere in Fujian and it's delicious, In backstreet neighborhoods people are often seen outside drinking tea together at folding tables on the sidewalk.

I find a good tactic for avoiding crowds in China is to go to tourist type areas on weekdays and they're usually quiet, schedule cites for weekends as they are busy all thie time.

Xiamen is also a nice city.

I'll see if I can remember any other info about about Fujian.

​​​​​

Fujian has the merit that you'll see few if any other foreign visitors. Remember, however, that foreign tourism is a tiny fraction of total tourism in China, and it's public holidays you need to be aware of.

Quanzhou is the sort of mid-size city that despite massive expansion and redevelopment manages to retain a little sense of its past, and has a lot to see both in town and short bus trips out of it. (I can go into more detail if you wish.) I've been three times. Xiamen downtown has lost a lot of its ancient flavour, but a walk around Gulangyu looking at the treaty port architecture is well worth while. And the tulou are absolutely monumental—I doubt you'd be disappointed. Staying in one (if you don't mind roughing it a bit) and taking time using local buses to see more than the major ones, is a treat.

I think I'd plump for Fujian.

But don't expect too much of folk festivals, as if they have attracted notice and officially become things to see they will certainly have been redesigned and reorganised to produce maximum tourism revenue, and may involve Han Chinese in redesigned ethnic minority costume.

Shanxi was so astonishingly poor back in the Cultural Revolution that even the Red Guards didn't want to bother with it, and most of China's oldest wooden buildings, as far back as the Liao dynasty, and several Tang ones, are to be found there. I don't see the problem with buses as I explored much of the province on public transport, rarely bothering with private hire vehicles. I'd avoid Wutai Shan, but there are very ancient temples south of there towards Taiyuan. The sights at Datong are well worth visiting although awkwardly spread out, and it's one of the few places where a one-day tour might be advisable unless you've plenty of time.

But don't over-egg the pudding. 'Whole Ming and Qing cities with well-preserved architecture' are unlikely. Rebuilds for tourism purposes using inauthentic materials more so.