23 Best Sights in China

More than half of Suzhou's largest garden is occupied by ponds and lakes. The garden was built in 1509 by Wang Xianjun, an official dismissed from the imperial court. He chose the garden's name from a Tang Dynasty line of poetry reading "humble people govern," perhaps a bit of irony considering the magnificent scale of his private residence. In the warmer months the pond overflows with fragrant lotuses and the garden fills with tourists. Seek out the tiny museum near the exit for an informative display on the aesthetic differences between Chinese and Western garden design.

All elements of Suzhou style are here in precise balance: rocky hillscapes, layered planting, undulating walkways, and charming pavilions overlooking a central pond. Representing mountains, rivers, and the four seasons, it's a theme park of sorts, centuries before Walt Disney came along. It's also a fine example of how Chinese garden design creates the illusion of space, since this garden really isn't that big. To avoid the crowds, visit in the evening, when you can saunter from room to room enjoying traditional opera, flute, and dulcimer performances—as the master himself might have done. Evening performances are held from mid-March to mid-November.

Since the 18th century, this complex, with its traditional red walls and upturned tile roofs, has been a marketplace and social center where local residents gather, shop, and practice qi gong in the evenings. It is overrun by tourists and not as impressive as the ancient palace gardens of Beijing, but Yu Garden is a piece of Shanghai's rapidly disappearing past, and one of the few old sights left in the city.

To get to the garden itself, you must wind your way through the crowded bazaar. The garden was commissioned by the Ming Dynasty official Pan Yunduan in 1559 and built by the renowned architect Zhang Nanyang over 19 years. When it was finally finished it won international praise as "the best garden in southeastern China." In the mid-1800s, the Society of Small Swords used the garden as a gathering place for meetings. It was here that they planned their uprising with the Taiping rebels against the French colonists. The French destroyed the garden during the first Opium War, but the area was later rebuilt.

Winding walkways and corridors bring you over stone bridges and carp-filled ponds and through bamboo stands and rock gardens. Within the park are an old opera stage, a museum dedicated to the Society of Small Swords rebellion, and an exhibition hall of Chinese calligraphy and paintings.

Much more than your everyday nursery, Baomo Garden stretches across 25 acres (10 hectares) and dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), though it was reconstructed in the late 1950s after being destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. The garden is home to more than 30 picturesque stone archways, several carp-filled lakes, and even a rose garden, but it's also known for its galleries, particularly the Treasure Hall, with its impressive collection of preserved pottery, bronze, and jade from ancient China. About an hour away from central Guangzhou by bus, or 40 minutes by taxi, Baomo Garden is a nice break from the downtown crowds. To get here, take a direct bus from the Passenger Transport Station: there are six buses a day, leaving at 8 am, 9:10 am, 10:20 am, 11:50 am, 2:20 pm, and 3:40 pm.

No need to pack a lunch, several restaurants and teahouses on the grounds serve authentic Panyu and Cantonese cuisine.

Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong proclaimed this the finest of Ji'nan's many natural springs gurgling north from the foothills of Mount Tai. The spring is most active after the summer rains, when crowds gather under pavilions to watch it frothing and gushing. The pure water is said to be ideal for making tea; try it out at the Wangheting Teahouse, just east of the spring. A small museum in the park recounts the life of Jinan's most prized poetess Li Qingzhao, who lived near here in the 11th century.

Sitting at the feet of the Western Hills in Beijing's northwestern suburbs, the Beijing Botanical Garden, opened in 1955, hosts China's largest plant collection: 6,000 different plant species from all over northern China, including 2,000 types of trees and bushes, more than 1,600 species of tropical and subtropical plants, 1,900 kinds of fruit trees, and 500 flower species. With its state-of-the-art greenhouse and a variety of different gardens, this is a pleasant place to explore, especially in spring, when the peach trees burst with pretty blooms. An added feature is the wonderful Temple of the Reclining Buddha, which has an enormous statue that, it's said, took 7,000 slaves to build.

The oldest existing garden in Suzhou, the Blue Wave Pavilion dates back more than 900 years to the Song Dynasty. With a rambling, maze-like design, the grounds feel a little wilder than other Suzhou gardens. The central pond is surrounded by a wooden walkway; gaze into the water at the reflection of the upturned eaves of the surrounding buildings. More than 100 different latticework motifs in the windows provide visual variety as you saunter through the covered corridor that winds through the grounds. The Pure Fragrance Pavilion showcases Qing Dynasty furniture at its most extreme; the entire suite is created from gnarled banyan root.

This sculpture garden on the southeastern tip of Gulangyu Island is a fitting seaside memorial to Zhen Chenggong, also known as Koxinga, a famous Ming general who fought to protect China from the invading Manchus. A massive stone statue of him stares eastward from a perch hanging over the sea.

From dawn to dusk, Macau’s most popular park comes alive with tai chi practitioners, palm readers, couples, students, and men locked in Chinese chess battles under banyan trees. Developed in the 18th century, the gardens were built on the estate once occupied by the chairman of the British East India Company. When the British moved out in 1835, the land’s new Portuguese owners built a grotto around the country’s greatest poet, Luís de Camões, who spent years in exile in Macau. Now the park’s most iconic spot, Camões Grotto shelters a bronze bust of the poet within a rocky niche, while a bronze sculpture at the entrance symbolizes Portugal and China’s historic ties. Nearby, Casa Garden, a smaller park that now houses the Orient Foundation, features landscaped grounds, a brick pathway, and a lily-filled pond.

Fed by artesian springs and garlanded by vivid banks of willows, Daming Lake has been inspiring Chinese poets and writers for 1,500 years. Surrounded by temples, pavilions, and leafy walkways, it's a pleasant spot for a stroll. There's a teahouse on top of the 50-meter tall pagoda on the island in the east of the lake. Climb up for pleasant views of Thousand Buddha Hill on clear days.

This European-style park, once open only to Shanghai's French residents, is one of downtown's most tranquil spots. Here you'll find people strolling hand in hand, practicing tai chi, and playing cards and mah-jongg. There is a tiny amusement park and, on weekends and holidays, art projects for kids. The open spaces double as dance floors, with elderly couples dancing away the day—visitors are welcome to join in.

This lovely garden is named for the bamboo plant's characteristic trio of leaves, which look like the Chinese character ge (个). There are more than 60 varieties of bamboo here, including yellow stalks, striped stalks, huge treelike stands, and the delicate-leaved dwarf. The garden was developed by a wealthy salt merchant named Huang Zhiyun, who believed bamboo represented the loyalty of a good man. As you wander, note the loose bricks in the path; they're arranged to clack under your footsteps. The garden is also accessible from an entrance on Dongguan Jie.

A verdant holdover from colonial times, Hong Kong's Botanical Gardens opened back in 1864, and remain a delightful showcase of subtropical Asian flora, with bamboo groves, towering banyans, and groves of colorful rhododendrons. The fauna arrived much later and is a garden highlight: Lemurs, sloths, meerkats, and all manner of acrobatic monkeys swing about in well-tended enclosures. A menagerie of colorful birdlife includes flamingos housed in an aviary. The walk from the Central MTR stop is long and uphill, so consider taking a bus or taxi. Buses 1A, 3, and 22 go there from Central Ferry Pier.

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.

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.

This garden employs countless craggy rock formations from nearby Lake Taihu to create a surreal moonscape. A labyrinth of caves surrounds a small lake; they're great fun for kids to explore, but watch for sharp edges. There's a popular local saying that if you talk to rocks, you won't need a psychologist, making this garden a good place to spend a 50-minute hour. A tearoom on the second floor of the main pavilion has nice views over the lake.

These beautiful gardens were built in the 19th century by a Chinese merchant named Lou Kau, who considered every last detail, from the rock formations and angle of the sunlight to the placement of the ponds and pavilions. The balanced landscapes bear the hallmark of Suzhou’s gardening style. The government took possession and restored the grounds in the mid-1970s, opening up this space for tranquil walks among delicate flowering bushes framed by bamboo groves. A large auditorium frequently hosts concerts and other events, most notably recitals during the annual Macau International Music Festival. Adjacent to the gardens, a yellow, European-style building houses the Macau Tea Culture House, a small museum with exhibits on Chinese tea culture.

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.

This 200-acre urban garden is best visited during spring, when it's covered in roses, azaleas, bamboo, and orchids. Do visit the penjing garden; penjing translates as "pot scenery" and describes the Chinese art of creating a miniature landscape in a container. More than 2,000 bonsai trees line the penjing garden's courtyards and corridors. The Chinese cymbidium garden has more than 300 varieties. Within the Grand Conservatory are towering palms and more than 3,000 varieties of tropical plants.

This lovely, peaceful garden on Gulangyu is immaculately kept and dotted with pavilions and bridges, some extending out to rocks just offshore. Built in 1913 by a wealthy Taiwanese merchant, the garden is home to several key sights, including the Piano Museum and the Twelve Cave Paradise, which comprises 12 caves formed from multicolor sandstone.

Southern Mountain is the highest point in the city, and at 935 feet it's the most popular place from which to view Chongqing. For a thousand years Nan Shan has been the route over which travelers and traders of medicine, tea, spices, and silk entered the city and headed on to Sichuan. The best place to enjoy the views and the feel of the mountain is in this very traditional Chinese garden with oddly shaped rocks and bonsai trees.

Surrounding a pretty lake at the base of Wanshi Mountain, this garden has a fine collection of more than 6,500 species of tropical and subtropical flora, ranging from eucalyptus and bamboo trees to orchids and ferns. Pathways wind past interesting rock formations, a rose garden, and several temples, including the notable Heaven's Border Temple. Don’t miss the atmospheric "rain forest" section, and be sure to wear comfy shoes: this huge park is worth hours of exploration.

Soar over the park in a cable car (Y70 round-trip), embarking next to where the east end of Huxiyan Lu crosses Huyuan Lu, at the base of the mountain.

With a well-designed layout, this is one of China's finest gardens, and an interesting place to spend several hours among fragrant frangipani, massive lily pads, drooping jackfruit, and thousands of other colorful and peculiar plants. Don't walk through too fast, or you'll miss out on some of the more unique plants, such as tiaowu cao, or "dancing grass," which actually stands up if you sing at it. Each plant's placard features English and Latin names.