584 Best Sights in China

Located next to Hong Kong's oldest funeral home, this two-story contemporary art center showcases cutting-edge exhibitions exploring social and political themes. It was founded in 1996 by seven artists and is one of the island's few non-profit art spaces. The intimate setting encourages interaction with the art, and the views of the surrounding skyscrapers from here are spectacular, especially at dusk.

Built in 1933, the Paramount was considered the finest dance hall in Asia. Until 1949, the so-called "Gate of 100 Pleasures" was the place for very late, very wild nights. After the Communist Revolution, Paramount closed and reopened as Red Capitol Cinema, showing propaganda films. In the past two decades, it underwent a series of renovations, openings, and closings before re-opening yet again in 2017 as a glitzy, retro, multistory nightclub, with a fourth-floor ballroom and plenty of private karaoke rooms.

This art deco structure overlooking People's Park was once the tallest hotel in Shanghai. Completed in 1934, it was known for its luxurious rooms, fabulous nightclub, and chic restaurants. Today the lobby is the most vivid reminder of its glorious past. It was an early inspiration for architect I.M. Pei (creator of the glass pyramids at the Louvre).

This hotel at the corner of the Bund and Nanjing Dong Lu is among Shanghai's most treasured buildings. If any establishment will give you a sense of Shanghai's past, it's this one. Its high ceilings, ornate woodwork, and streamlined fixtures are still intact. Following a renovation in 2010, the hotel reopened as the Fairmont Peace Hotel, with the jazz bar, tea lounge, restaurant, shopping arcade, and ballroom all restored to their original glory, evoking old Shanghai cabarets and galas. On the mezzanine level is a small but fascinating gallery chronicling the hotel's past.

The south building, formerly the Palace Hotel (and now the Swatch Art Peace Hotel), was built in 1906. The north building, once the Cathay Hotel, built in 1929, is more famous. It was known as the private playroom of its owner, Victor Sassoon, a wealthy landowner who invested in the opium trade. Sassoon lived and entertained his guests in the copper penthouse. The hotel was rated on a par with the likes of Raffles in Singapore and the Peninsula in Hong Kong. It was the place to stay, see, and be seen in old Shanghai. Noël Coward wrote Private Lives here.

The 492-foot Peak of Solitary Beauty, with carved stone stairs leading to the top, offers an unparalleled view of Guilin—and a short but intense workout for your legs. It's one of the attractions of the Prince City Solitary Beauty Park (Jing Jiang Wang Cheng). Surrounded by an ancient wall, outside of which vendors hawk their wares, sits the heart of Old Guilin. Inside are the decaying remains of an ancient Ming Dynasty palace built in 1393 and Guilin's Confucius temple. Sun Yat-sen lived here for a few months in the winter of 1921 (a fact duly noted on the wall by the outside gate). Cixi, the former empress dowager of China, inscribed the character for "longevity" on a rock within these walls.

In colonial days this park was the northern half of the city's racetrack. Today the 30 acres of flower beds, lotus ponds, and trees are crisscrossed by a large number of paved paths. It's also home to the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall.

The marriage market, held in the park weekends noon–5 pm, is not to be missed.

Desperately seeking spouses for their children, the parents and grandparents of unmarried adults post flyers advertising their child's height, job, income, Chinese Zodiac sign, and more.

This park surrounding White Dragon Lake has some 200 species of rare trees and flowers. Here you'll find the remains of fortifications built by a warlord in the early part of the 20th century.

Gulangyu holds a special place in the country's musical history, thanks to the large number of Christian missionaries who called the island home in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gulangyu has more pianos per capita than anyplace else in China, and the Piano Museum houses more than 70 beautifully preserved instruments that were once owned by famous pianists. Tucked away up a steep hill in the Shuzhuang Garden, this charming collection is a must for any music lover.

March and April are the best months to visit Plum Blossom Hill, when peach, pear, plum, and cherry trees explode with color and fragrance. The rest of the year it's probably not worth a special trip, though exhibits at the botanical gardens, established in 1929, are a rewarding experience year-round for those interested in the country's flora.

A one-stop showcase of independent Hong Kong design, this enclave of shops, pop-ups, and workshops is set inside the old Police Married Quarters, a modernist housing complex built in 1951. You can take the elevator up either of the main residential buildings to explore a beehive of boutiques selling clothes, handbags, leatherware, metalwork, and more. There's also a small history exhibition on Level 5 of the Staunton Block, where you can learn about the police families who once occupied the small units now serving as shops. PMQ is easily reached by taking the Central--Mid-Levels Escalator. 

Built in 1906, this peaceful Buddhist monastery is located adjacent to the Tian Tan Buddha. The grounds feature stately halls with many intricate statues, carvings, and paintings, as well as landscaped gardens with koi fish ponds. The Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas houses, like its name, 10,000 golden buddha statues and is a sight to behold. There is a popular vegetarian restaurant on-site.

This impressive but often overlooked museum, located in a gleaming glass office tower, was established in 1998 to promote traditional art and to protect Chinese art from being lost to foreign countries. The museum has focused on the overseas acquisition of ancient bronzes, sculpture, and painting. The space is divided into two galleries, one for the display of early Chinese bronzes, and the other for Buddhist scriptures carved in stone. Also on display here are four bronze animal heads that were once located in the Old Summer Palace.

This street is roughly at the spot where Captain Charles Elliott stepped ashore in 1841 to claim Hong Kong for the British empire. Back then, this was the waterfront, but aggressive reclamation means it is now several blocks inland. At the top of the street stands Hollywood Centre, home to the nonprofit contemporary art space Asia Art Archive.

Macau’s largest temple is part of a functioning monastery with several dozen monks. The classically designed structure has an ornate, three-story central pavilion that houses a nearly 18-foot (5.4-meter) bronze statue of the Buddha—the tallest in Macau. Throughout, you’ll find beautiful wall murals, ornamented ceilings, red wood columns, and peaceful fishponds and banyan trees, as well as resident monks who tend vegetable plots that supply the popular on-site vegetarian restaurant.

Spanning a small lake, this ancient bridge of 53 stone arches has a neglected air, overgrown with grass and surrounded by nondescript modern buildings. Seeing practically no tourists, it's a strangely forlorn and moving sight. By taxi it's about 25 minutes from the center of town.

The slender spire of Baochu Pagoda rises atop the romantically named Precious Stone Hill Floating in Rosy Clouds. The brick and stone pagoda is visible from just about anywhere on the lake. From the hilltop you can see across the lake to the city. Numerous paths from the lake lead up the hill, which is dotted with Buddhist and Taoist shrines. Several caves provide shade from the hot summer sun.

This grand compound sits in a neighborhood once reserved for imperial relatives. Built in 1777 during the Qing Dynasty, it fell to Prince Gong—brother of Qing emperor Xianfeng and later an adviser to Empress Dowager Cixi—after the original inhabitant was executed for corruption. With nine courtyards joined by covered walkways, it was once one of Beijing's most lavish residences. The museum offers Beijing opera and tea to visitors who pay the higher ticket price. Some literary scholars believe this was the setting for Dream of the Red Chamber, one of China's best-known classical novels.

Qingdao's charming Protestant Church is easy to spot: look for the ostentatious green spire resembling a medieval castle. It was built in 1910 at the southwest entrance of Xinhao Hill Park. Puff up the steps to the bell tower for sea views and to marvel at the German-engineered clock mechanism.

The conical-roofed centerpiece of this serene hillside temple, the Pavilion of the Brilliance of the Rising Sun (Xuguangge), will be instantly recognizable if you've visited Beijing's Temple of Heaven. Built to host visiting Kazak, Uygher, and Kyrger dignitaries, as well as to commemorate certain Mongol tribes, Pule Temple was laid out to resemble a mandala of Tibetan Buddhism. From the south wall of the temple, it's a peaceful 40-minute walk up the hillside to Sledgehammer Rock. The Y50 ticket includes admission to Sledgehammer Rock and the lovely Anyuan Temple down the hill.

Located on the western banks of the Wulie River, this temple was built in 1755 to commemorate Emperor Qianlong's triumphant conquest of the warring Dzungar people from Xinjiang. Intended to mark a new period of peace, it was modeled after the Samye Monastery, a sacred Lamaist site in Tibet. Also known as "Big Buddha Temple," its main attraction is an awe-inspiring 72-foot-tall statue of Guanyin, a Buddhist deity of compassion. The statue is made from five types of wood, including pine, cypress, elm, and fir.

Built from 1767 to mark Emperor Qianlong's birthday, the largest of Chengde's temples is modeled on the Potala Palace in Lhasa—it also goes by the nickname "Little Potala." A fusion of Chinese and Tibetan architectural styles, it's most impressive when viewed from the north wall of the Mountain Resort, or from the courtyard of Anyuan Temple. Inside the imposing gate is a pavilion housing three stelae, the largest inscribed in Han, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan languages. The Y80 ticket includes admission to the Xumi Fushou Temple next door, a replica of the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama.

If you can find it, the Puxian Temple is a tranquil place to get away from the crowds. At the temple's vegetarian restaurant, try the jidoufen, a bean concoction that can be eaten hot as a porridge or cold and cut up like noodles. The ubiquitous baba bread is also quite good. Wash it all down with a pot of Tibetan tea, made with yak butter.

Most people come to these lakes, along with Xihai to the northwest, to stroll and enjoy the shoreside bars and restaurants. In summer you can boat or fish. In winter, sections of the frozen lakes are fenced off for skating. This day trip is easily combined with a visit to Beihai Park or the Bell and Drum towers.

Dominating this 740-acre park is a 4,265-foot-high mountain that has fine views of the town from its western peak. The park itself has a bit of everything, including thousands of plants and a collection of birds and monkeys (many of which roam freely through the park).

From its top, looking south, you can see that Qianmen (Front Gate) is actually two gates: the Sun-Facing Gate (Zhengyangmen) and the Arrow Tower (Jian Lou), which were, until 1915, connected by a defensive half-moon wall. The central gates of both structures opened only for the emperor's biannual ceremonial trips to the Temple of Heaven. The gate now defines the southern edge of Tiananmen Square.

A busy maze of narrow streets, Qingping Market is a chaotic and colorful way to get a feel for old Guangzhou. The outdoor lanes have the most ambience, what with the overflowing knickknack stalls and traditional medicinal goods (ginseng, fungi, and the like), but there are also some newer air-conditioned indoor markets that make for a nice reprieve in the humid summertime.

Built during the Tang Dynasty, Qingyang Gong is the oldest Taoist temple in the city, and one of the most famous in China. Six courtyards open out onto each other before arriving at the sculptures of two goats, which represent one of the earthly incarnations of Lao Tzu (the legendary founder of Taoism). If you arrive midmorning, you can watch the day's first worshippers before the stampede of afternoon pilgrims. The temple grounds are filled with nuns and monks training at the Two Immortals Monastery, the only such facility in Southwest China. A small teahouse is on the premises.

This creative community hub is representative of several such spaces popping up in Hong Kong that encourage community interaction. The design of the building is a nod to the industrial heritage of the neighborhood, where the world's largest sugar refinery once stood. The space houses a theater, a workshop, and a community kitchen, where activities like educational tours and culinary lessons are regularly held.

The westernmost gorge of the Three Gorges, Qutang Gorge is also the shortest. The currents here are quite strong due to the natural gate formed by the two mountains, Chijia and Baiyan. There are cliff inscriptions along the way, so be sure to have your guide point them out and explain their significance. Several are from the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago. Warriors' coffins from that period were discovered in the caves on these mountains, and some still remain.

This scenic area gets its name from the legend of Yunzhang, a 15th-century Buddhist monk who supposedly pleased the gods so much with his recitation of a sutra that they showered flowers on this spot. It was put to a grim purpose in the 1930s, when the Nationalists executed thousands of their left-wing political enemies here. In 1950, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was transformed into a memorial park furnished with statues of heroic martyrs, soaring obelisks, and a museum.