592 Best Sights in China

One way to leave behind the crowds at the First Gate Under Heaven is to scale the wall as it climbs Jiao Mountain, about 3 km (2 miles) from the city. The first section has been restored and fitted with handrails and ladders up the sides of the watchtowers, but you can keep climbing until you reach a more wild, authentic stretch. After that you can take a path through trees that leads to the Qixian Monastery, or continue to the top for stunning if precarious views of the mountains and lakes beyond. A chairlift operates in high season. Jiaoshan is a 10-minute taxi ride from Shanhaiguan.

The four main halls of one of China's most famous ancient Buddhist sites occupy terraces on a gentle slope up to Ma'an Shan (Saddle Hill), 35 km (22 miles) west of Beijing. Built in AD 622, the temple has been used for the ordination of Buddhist novices since the Liao Dynasty. The temple complex expanded over the centuries and grew to its current scale in a major renovation conducted by devotees during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). The temple buildings, plus three magnificent bronze Buddhas in the Mahavira Hall, date from this period. There's also a huge potbellied Maitreya Buddha carved from the roots of what must have been a truly enormous tree. To the right of this hall, just above twin pagodas, is the Ordination Terrace, a platform built of white marble and topped with a massive bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha seated on a lotus flower. Tranquil courtyards, where ornate stelae and well-kept gardens bask beneath a scholar tree and other ancient pines, add to the temple's beauty. Many modern devotees from Beijing visit the temple on weekends. Getting to Jietai and the nearby Tanzhe Temple is easy using public transportation. Take subway Line 1 to its westernmost station, Pingguoyuan. From there, take the No.931 public bus to either temple—it leaves every half hour and the ride takes about 70 minutes. A taxi from Pingguoyuan to Jietai Temple should be Y50 to Y60; the bus fare is Y6.

Rising 88 floors—eight being the Chinese number imparting wealth and prosperity—this tower combines the classic 13-tier Buddhist pagoda design with postmodern steel and glass. It houses one of the highest hotels in the world—the Grand Hyatt Shanghai occupies the 53rd to 87th floors. The 88th-floor observation deck, reached in 45 seconds by two high-speed elevators, offers 360-degree views of the city. The brave can also try the tower's Skywalk experience, a glass pathway without rails outside the 88th floor.

Skip the line and instead spend what you would've shelled out for a ticket to the observation deck at the 87th-floor Cloud 9 bar.

Originally built about AD 300, this temple has had a tumultuous history of destruction and rebuilding, with a brief stint as a plastics factory during the Cultural Revolution. What you see today dates from the 1980s. The temple's main draw is its copper Hongwu bell, cast in 1183 and weighing 3½ tons. The gilded temple, on one of Shanghai's busiest thoroughfares, is an interesting contrast to the surrounding skyscrapers, shopping malls, and luxury boutiques.

Just north of the city, Jinyun Mountain has some pretty views and a smattering of pavilions from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Three contain imposing statues: the Giant Buddha, the Amitabha Buddha, and the famous general of the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu. The park also has a set of hot springs, where you can swim in a pool or soak in the private cubicles.

Further from town than the Jiaoshan Great Wall, Jiumenkou is notable as the only section of the Great Wall to ford a river. Clamber up the battlements for dramatic views over the countryside. Jiumenkou is about 15 km (9 miles) north of Shanhaiguan; ask your taxi driver to wait for you for the return trip (a total of about Y120).

Trams clatter along this busy road, which is choked with traffic day and night. It's also packed with shops selling food, cell phones, herbal tonics, and bargain-basement clothes. Rattan furniture, picture frames, paper lanterns, and Chinese calligraphic materials make up the more traditional assortment at Queen's Road East, which runs parallel to Johnston Road. The lanes that stretch between the two roads are also lined with stalls, forming a minimarket of clothing and accessories.

The youngest garden in Suzhou, Joyous Garden was built in 1874. It borrows elements from Suzhou's other famous gardens: rooms from the Humble Administrator's, a pond from the Master of the Nets. The most unusual feature is an oversize mirror, inspired by the founder of Zen Buddhism, who stared at a wall for years to find enlightenment. The garden's designer hung the mirror opposite a pavilion, to let the building contemplate its own reflection. From April to October the garden doubles as a popular teahouse in the evening.

This remarkable 2,000-year-old underground irrigation system allowed the desert cities of the Silk Road to flourish despite an unrelentingly arid environment. In the oasis cities of Turpan and Hami, 1,600 km (990 miles) of tunnels brought water—moved only by gravity—from melting snow at the base of the Heavenly Mountains. You can view the tunnels at several sites around the city. Most tour guides take visitors to the largely educational Karez Irrigation Museum. Although the karez are widely regarded as the greatest Uyghur engineering achievement, most visitors are completely underwhelmed by what are essentially narrow dirt tunnels.

With its mazelike detours and dizzying neon signs, Kowloon can be a bit chaotic for the first-time visitor but a guided Kowloon Market Walk will take you through the nooks and crannies of Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok. You'll shop at famed street markets that sell everything from fine jade to cheap clothing and brightly colored goldfish in small plastic bags.

Hong Kong's largest Islamic worship center stands in front of Kowloon Park. Visitors can call ahead to arrange for a tour or simply drop by the building, which was designed by noted Indian architect I. M. Kadri. In addition to prayer halls, the complex includes a medical clinic and a library.

These 33 acres, crisscrossed by paths and meticulously landscaped, are a refreshing retreat after a bout of shopping. There are children's playgrounds, a fitness trail, a soccer field, an aviary, a Chinese garden, and a sculpture garden featuring 19 works by local artists. On Sunday and public holidays, there are stalls with arts and crafts, as well as a kung fu corner.

One of Hong Kong's most beautiful parks, Kowloon Walled City Park is designed in Qing-dynasty style. In previous centuries it was a walled military site, then a notorious slum filled with unlicensed doctors and dentists, opium dens, brothels, gambling houses, and worse, until it was demolished in 1994. Today the major attraction is the Yamen—the imperial government administrative building—the only remaining structure from the original Walled City and an example of southern Chinese architecture of the 19th century. There are also a number of traditional gardens on the grounds, and eight zones showcasing different flora that you can see on free 45-minute guided tours on weekends. Hong Kong's Thai community is based in the streets south of the park, and there are countless hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurants.

This monastery is often overlooked by tourists, so it's less crowded than others around Lhasa. If you arrive in the morning, climb to a second-floor chapel to see monks chanting, beating drums, and playing long bronze prayer trumpets. This temple also contains examples of sand painting, in which millions of colorful grains of sand are arranged in a complex pattern over the course of hours or even days.

People from throughout Hong Kong come to these two banyan trees to make wishes and offerings. Some burn joss sticks and incense; others used to throw an orange—tied to a wish written on a piece of paper—up into a tree (if it caught on a branch the wish would come true). Unfortunately, the weight of the oranges caused several branches to fall off and the practice has ended. Now, when people visit the trees—often during exam time or when the health of a loved one is in jeopardy—they tie the joss paper onto nearby wooden racks. Take the East Rail line to Tai Po Market train station, then take Bus 64K or 64P, or Minibus 25K.

One of the most important functioning Buddhist temples in Beijing, this much-visited Tibetan Buddhist masterpiece has five main halls and numerous galleries hung with finely detailed thangkhas (Tibetan religious scroll paintings). The entire temple is decorated with Buddha images—all guarded by somber lamas dressed in brown robes. Originally a palace for Prince Yongzheng, it was transformed into a temple once he became the Qing's third emperor in 1723. The temple flourished under Emperor Qianlong, housing some 500 resident monks. This was once the official "embassy" of Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing, but today only about two dozen monks live in this complex.

Don't miss the The Hall of Heavenly Kings, with statues of Maitreya, the future Buddha, and Weitou, China's guardian of Buddhism. This hall is worth a slow stroll. In the courtyard beyond, a pond with a bronze mandala represents paradise. The Statues of Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future hold court in The Hall of Harmony. Look on the west wall where an exquisite silk thangkha of White Tara—the embodiment of compassion—hangs. Images of the Medicine and Longevity Buddhas line The Hall of Eternal Blessing. In The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Fortunes you see the breathtaking 26-meter (85-foot) Maitreya Buddha carved from a single block of sandalwood.

Combine a visit to the Lama Temple with the Confucius Temple and the Imperial Academy, which are a five-minute walk away, within the hutong neighborhood opposite the main entrance.

A few narrow lanes filled with bars and clubs uphill from the intersection of Queen's Road Central and Pedder Street, Lan Kwai Fong has long been the epicenter of Hong Kong nightlife. Though much subdued after the protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, visit during the Hong Kong Sevens in April and you'll see it at its raucous, beer-soaked best.

The Lancang River is the name of the Mekong River in China, where it originates before flowing through Southeast Asia. It is easiest to access the river from Jinghong at the Xishuangbanna Bridge. The southern bank is lined with bars and really livens up at night.

The most glorious views of Lantau—and beyond—are from atop the 3,064-foot Lantau Peak. The ascent up the mountain that locals call Fung Wong Shan requires a strenuous 7½-mile hike west from Mui Wo, or you can begin at the Po Lin Monastery—from where the voyage is still a demanding two hours. The most striking views are at sunrise, particularly between December and February, when the air is dry and the sky is clear.

The Chinese New Year festivities end with the overwhelmingly red Lantern Festival. Hong Kong's parks—especially Victoria Park—become a sea of light as people, mostly children, gather with beautifully shaped paper or cellophane lanterns. It's also a traditional day for playful matchmaking, so it's particularly auspicious for single people. It's held on the 15th day of the first moon, usually in February.

Like a snapshot of a Portuguese praça, St. Augustine Square is paved with black-and-white tiles laid out in mosaic wave patterns and lined with leafy overhanging trees and lots of wooden benches. It’s easy to feel as if you’re in a European village, far from South China. One of the square’s main structures is the Teatro Dom Pedro V, a European-style performance hall with an inviting green-and-white facade, built in 1859. It’s an important cultural landmark for Macau and was regularly used until World War II, when it fell into disrepair. The 300-seat venue once again hosts concerts and recitals—especially during the annual Macau International Music Festival—as well as important public events. Igreja de Santo Agostinho (Church of St. Augustine), to one side of the square, was built by Spanish Augustinians in 1591. The Catholic landmark has a grand, weathered exterior, a drafty interior with a high, turquoise-color wood-beam ceiling, and a magnificent stone altar with a statue of Christ on his knees, bearing the cross, with small crucifixes in silhouette on the hill behind him. On the first day of Lent each year, devotees carry this statue, called Our Lord of Passos, in a procession through the downtown streets.

This restored Hakka house was once the home of the Law family, who arrived here from Guangdong in the mid-18th century. It's the perfect example of a triple-jian, double-lang residence. Jian are enclosed rooms—here, the bedroom, living room, and workroom at the back. The front storeroom and kitchen are the lang, where the walls don't reach up to the roof, and thus allow air in. Although the museum is small, informative texts outside and displays of rural furniture and farm implements inside give a powerful idea of what rural Hong Kong was like. It's definitely worth a trip to bustling industrial Chai Wan, at the eastern end of the MTR, to see it. Photos show what the area looked like in the 1930s—these days a leafy square is the only reminder of the woodlands and fields that once surrounded this buttermilk-color dwelling.

North of Middle Beach you'll find this lovely park, where quiet paths through a pine forest lead to the Guanyin Temple (Guānyīn sì). Look for the aviary, known as the Birds Singing Forest. There are also good views of the sea from the top of Lianfeng Hill.

A few steps away from Man Mo Temple, this private museum is accessible by guided tour only, and visits must be reserved online in advance. It’s well worth it, however, not only because of the superb collections---which include fine Chinese lacquerware, porcelain, and Ming and Qing dynasty furniture---but also because nothing is behind glass and you are even permitted to feel, pick-up, and interact with some of the treasures.

Built in 1592, the Temple of the Lotus honors several Buddhist and Taoist deities, including Tin Hau (goddess of the sea), Kun Iam (goddess of mercy), and Kwan Tai (god of war and wealth). The front of the temple is embellished with magnificent clay bas-reliefs of renowned figures from Chinese history and mythology, while inside there are several halls, shrines, and courtyards. But the temple is best known as the place where, for centuries, Chinese Mandarins traveling from Guangdong would stay. The most famous of these was Commissioner Lin Zexu, whose confiscation and destruction of British opium in 1839 helped kick off the First Opium War. There’s even a six-foot statue of him in the courtyard.

Windows frame yet more windows, undulating rooflines recall waves, and a closed corridor opens out into a tranquil pool in this intriguing garden. The compound provides an endless array of architectural surprises: in a corner, an unexpected skylight illuminates a planted nook; windows are placed to frame bamboos as perfectly as if they were painted. The Mandarin Duck Hall is particularly impressive, with a picturesque moon gate engraved with vines and flowers. In the back of the garden stands a 70-foot-tall rock moved here from Lake Taihu. Occasional solo musical performances on erhu and zither enliven the halls.

Close to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial, this temple commemorates Xuan Zang, the roving monk who brought Buddhist scriptures back to China from India. Seek out the Beamless Hall, a magnificent 14th-century structure built entirely from bricks without wood or nails to help bear its roof. Today it has been given over to propagandistic Republic-era displays. Farther up the hill is an impressive nine-story granite pagoda built in 1929 as a memorial to fallen revolutionaries. Vendors sell balloons to toss from the upper balcony.

In a dramatic mountain setting, the 1,600-year-old Lingyan Temple is most famous for the Thousand Buddha Hall, with its cast of 40 hand-carved and painted wooden figures seated around the chamber. Unerringly lifelike, each one is distinct, from facial features to the folds of their robes. Dating back to the Song Dynasty, these are some of the finest religious sculptures in China. Several years ago, researchers cracked one of the life-sized statues open and found a full set of internal organs inside, made out of stuffed silk.

In the temple grounds, the Pagoda Forest (Da Lin) is a totemic graveyard of sculpted towers erected over centuries, each marking the passing of a prominent monk. The size and artistry of each tower points not to the status of the deceased, but the prosperity of the temple at the time. The cycle of boom and bust, it would seem, is eternal.

The easiest way to access the trail to Lion Rock, a spectacular summit, is from Kowloon. The hike passes through dense bamboo groves along the Eagle's Nest Nature Trail and up open slopes to Beacon Hill for 360-degree views over hills and the city. The contrasting vistas of green hills and the cityscape are extraordinary. There's a climb up the steep, rough track to the top of Lion Rock, a superb vantage point for appreciating Kowloon's setting between hills and sea. The trail ends at Wong Tai Sin Taoist Temple, where you can have your fortune told. To start, catch the MTR to Choi Hung (25 minutes from Tsim Sha Tsui) and a 10-minute taxi ride up Lion Rock to Gilwell Campsite. At the end of the road you'll see a sign indicating the start of the trail. From Wong Tai Sin, return by MTR.