{"name":"244 featured places","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Atlas of China (https://www.atlasofchina.com), CC BY 4.0","updated":"2026-10-29","count":244,"rows":[{"id":"great-wall-mutianyu","name":"Great Wall at Mutianyu","name_zh":"慕田峪长城","pinyin":"Mùtiányù Chángchéng","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":40.4319,"lon":116.5704,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–early Nov","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Restored Ming watchtowers riding a wooded ridge, with a toboggan run back down","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/great-wall-mutianyu/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Mutianyu is one of the best-restored stretches of the Great Wall within easy reach of Beijing: a run of Ming-era ramparts and closely spaced watchtowers following a steep, forested ridgeline. It draws far smaller crowds than Badaling, and a chairlift or cable car does the hard climbing for you, so your energy goes into walking from tower to tower."},{"id":"forbidden-city","name":"Forbidden City","name_zh":"故宫","pinyin":"Gùgōng","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9158,"lon":116.3908,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half to a full day","days":1,"tagline":"Six centuries of imperial power behind vermilion walls in the heart of Beijing","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/forbidden-city/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors, the Forbidden City is the world's largest surviving ensemble of historic wooden palace buildings, a procession of gates, marble terraces and golden-roofed halls laid along Beijing's north–south axis. The great ceremonial halls are only the beginning: the quieter side courts, the Treasure Gallery and the Hall of Clocks reward anyone who strays off the central line."},{"id":"temple-of-heaven","name":"Temple of Heaven","name_zh":"天坛","pinyin":"Tiāntán","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.8822,"lon":116.4066,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Where emperors prayed for harvests, and where Beijing now dances, sings and plays cards","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/temple-of-heaven/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, three tiers of blue-tiled roof on a white marble base, is one of the most recognisable buildings in China. The cypress-shaded park around it, several times the size of the Forbidden City, is at its best in the early morning, when locals gather for tai chi, ballroom dancing, choir practice and games of cards and Chinese chess."},{"id":"summer-palace","name":"Summer Palace","name_zh":"颐和园","pinyin":"Yíhéyuán","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9975,"lon":116.2689,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"An imperial lakeside garden of painted corridors, temple-topped hills and a marble boat","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/summer-palace/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In Beijing's north-western suburbs, the Summer Palace arranges halls, temples and pavilions around Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill in one of the great set pieces of Chinese garden design. Walk the painted Long Corridor, climb to the Tower of Buddhist Incense for the view, then cross the water by boat to the Seventeen-Arch Bridge."},{"id":"tianjin-five-avenues","name":"Five Great Avenues","name_zh":"五大道","pinyin":"Wǔ Dàdào","region_id":"120000","region":"Tianjin","city":"Tianjin","lat":39.115,"lon":117.2,"category":"city","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":1,"tagline":"Leafy lanes of century-old villas from Tianjin's treaty-port days","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tianjin-five-avenues/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Wudadao, the Five Great Avenues, is a grid of quiet, tree-lined streets in Tianjin's former British concession, built up in the early 20th century with brick villas, mansions and apartment blocks in a medley of European styles. It is a place to slow down: cycle or take a horse-drawn carriage around the blocks, peer through garden gates and stop for coffee on Minyuan Square."},{"id":"chengde-mountain-resort","name":"Chengde Mountain Resort","name_zh":"承德避暑山庄","pinyin":"Chéngdé Bìshǔ Shānzhuāng","region_id":"130000","region":"Hebei","city":"Chengde","lat":40.989,"lon":117.938,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"The Qing emperors' summer capital, ringed by temples, some modelled on Tibet's","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/chengde-mountain-resort/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"For much of the 18th century the Qing court spent its summers in this walled park in the hills north-east of Beijing, where lakes, pavilions, wooded slopes and an open grassy plain recreate landscapes from across the empire. Beyond the walls, the Eight Outer Temples include a scaled-down copy of Lhasa's Potala Palace and a hall built around a giant wooden statue of the thousand-armed Guanyin."},{"id":"pingyao","name":"Pingyao Ancient City","name_zh":"平遥古城","pinyin":"Píngyáo Gǔchéng","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Pingyao","lat":37.201,"lon":112.178,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"An intact Ming walled town of courtyard inns, where China's first draft banks were born","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/pingyao/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Pingyao is one of the best-preserved walled towns in China: a grid of grey-brick courtyard houses, temples, shopfronts and old banking halls enclosed by a Ming-dynasty wall more than 6 km around. Stay overnight in a courtyard inn, walk the ramparts at sunset and explore the back lanes after the day-trippers have gone."},{"id":"yungang-grottoes","name":"Yungang Grottoes","name_zh":"云冈石窟","pinyin":"Yúngāng Shíkū","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Datong","lat":40.11,"lon":113.122,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Giant Buddhas carved into a sandstone cliff some 1,500 years ago","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yungang-grottoes/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On the western edge of Datong, more than 250 caves and over 50,000 statues are cut into a low sandstone ridge. The largest Buddhas stand well over 10 metres tall, and one now sits open to the sky where the front of its cave fell away, making Yungang one of the great early landmarks of Chinese Buddhist art."},{"id":"hanging-temple","name":"Hanging Temple","name_zh":"悬空寺","pinyin":"Xuánkōng Sì","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Datong","lat":39.663,"lon":113.711,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A wooden temple pinned to a sheer cliff, seemingly propped up on stilts","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hanging-temple/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In a gorge below Mount Heng, about 65 km south-east of Datong, the Hanging Temple clings to a cliff face, its halls and pavilions linked by narrow walkways and apparently held aloft by slender wooden poles. It is unusual inside too: Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian figures share the complex, with the Buddha, Laozi and Confucius seated side by side in one hall."},{"id":"hulunbuir-grassland","name":"Hulunbuir Grassland","name_zh":"呼伦贝尔大草原","pinyin":"Hūlúnbèi'ěr Dà Cǎoyuán","region_id":"150000","region":"Inner Mongolia","city":"Hailar","lat":49.21,"lon":119.76,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Jun–Aug","time_needed":"3–4 days","days":3,"tagline":"Summer grassland to the horizon, looping rivers and yurts near the Russian border","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hulunbuir-grassland/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In the far north-east of Inner Mongolia, the Hulunbuir grasslands roll to the horizon each summer, threaded by looping rivers and dotted with herds of sheep, horses and cattle. Road-trip from Hailar west to the border town of Manzhouli, on the Russian frontier, or north to the wetlands around Ergun, stopping for horse rides, a night in a yurt and lamb roasted Mongolian-style."},{"id":"badain-jaran","name":"Badain Jaran Desert","name_zh":"巴丹吉林沙漠","pinyin":"Bādānjílín Shāmò","region_id":"150000","region":"Inner Mongolia","city":"Alxa Right Banner","lat":39.8,"lon":102.3,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Some of Earth's tallest dunes, with lakes tucked into the hollows between them","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/badain-jaran/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Badain Jaran holds some of the tallest stationary sand dunes on Earth, great ridges that rise hundreds of metres above the desert floor. Between them lie more than a hundred small lakes, some fresh and some briny, and most visitors go in by 4x4 with local drivers who tackle slopes that look impossibly steep."},{"id":"mukden-palace","name":"Mukden Palace","name_zh":"沈阳故宫","pinyin":"Shěnyáng Gùgōng","region_id":"210000","region":"Liaoning","city":"Shenyang","lat":41.796,"lon":123.45,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"The Manchu palace where the Qing dynasty was proclaimed, years before it took Beijing","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mukden-palace/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Built from 1625 into the 1630s, Shenyang's imperial palace was the seat of the early Manchu rulers before they captured Beijing in 1644. Smaller and far calmer than the Forbidden City, it blends Han Chinese, Manchu and Tibetan design; look for the octagonal Dazheng Hall facing two rows of pavilions once used by the princes and the Eight Banners."},{"id":"changbai-heaven-lake","name":"Changbai Mountain & Heaven Lake","name_zh":"长白山天池","pinyin":"Chángbái Shān Tiānchí","region_id":"220000","region":"Jilin","city":"Erdaobaihe","lat":42.03,"lon":128.06,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jul–Sep","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"A volcanic crater lake on the China–North Korea border, often wrapped in cloud","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/changbai-heaven-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Heaven Lake fills the crater of Changbai Mountain, a volcano straddling the border with North Korea, its deep blue water ringed by jagged rim peaks. On the north slope, park buses and minivans climb to a viewpoint on the rim; lower down, the Changbai Waterfall pours from the lake's outlet and hot springs steam beside the path, where vendors sell eggs boiled in them."},{"id":"harbin-ice-festival","name":"Harbin Ice & Snow World","name_zh":"哈尔滨冰雪大世界","pinyin":"Hā'ěrbīn Bīngxuě Dàshìjiè","region_id":"230000","region":"Heilongjiang","city":"Harbin","lat":45.781,"lon":126.564,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Dec–Feb","time_needed":"Afternoon and evening","days":1,"tagline":"Full-size castles of river ice, glowing with colour through Harbin's deep-freeze winter","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/harbin-ice-festival/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Each winter Harbin cuts great blocks of ice from the frozen Songhua River and builds a temporary city of castles, towers and slides, lit from within in shifting colours after dark. Ice and Snow World is the centrepiece of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, alongside the snow-sculpture park on Sun Island and ice lanterns in the city's parks."},{"id":"mount-tai","name":"Mount Tai","name_zh":"泰山","pinyin":"Tài Shān","region_id":"370000","region":"Shandong","city":"Tai'an","lat":36.256,"lon":117.101,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"China's most sacred peak, climbed by emperors and by night hikers chasing sunrise","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mount-tai/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"First among China's Five Great Mountains, Mount Tai has drawn pilgrims for some 3,000 years. A stone stairway of thousands of steps climbs past temples, memorial archways and cliffs carved with calligraphy to Jade Emperor Peak at the top; many hikers set out in the dark to arrive for sunrise, while cable cars cover the upper section."},{"id":"qufu","name":"Qufu, Hometown of Confucius","name_zh":"曲阜三孔","pinyin":"Qūfù Sān Kǒng","region_id":"370000","region":"Shandong","city":"Qufu","lat":35.596,"lon":116.991,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"The temple, mansion and forest cemetery of Confucius and his descendants","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qufu/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Qufu was the hometown of Confucius, and its three great sites, the Temple of Confucius, the Kong Family Mansion and the Cemetery of Confucius, form one of China's grandest historic ensembles. The temple's halls rival an imperial palace in scale, while the cemetery north of town is a peaceful forest of ancient trees, stone figures and tombs."},{"id":"qingdao","name":"Qingdao Old Town & Seafront","name_zh":"青岛","pinyin":"Qīngdǎo","region_id":"370000","region":"Shandong","city":"Qingdao","lat":36.061,"lon":120.32,"category":"city","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Red roofs, German-era villas, sea breezes and the home of Tsingtao beer","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qingdao/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Qingdao tumbles down green hills to the Yellow Sea, its old town a patchwork of red-tiled roofs and stone buildings from the years of German rule. Walk out along Zhanqiao Pier, wander among the villas of Badaguan, then taste Tsingtao at the brewery where it has been made since 1903."},{"id":"shaolin-temple","name":"Shaolin Temple","name_zh":"少林寺","pinyin":"Shàolín Sì","region_id":"410000","region":"Henan","city":"Dengfeng","lat":34.5081,"lon":112.9354,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"The cradle of Chan Buddhism and kung fu, at the foot of Mount Song","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shaolin-temple/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Founded in 495 at the foot of Mount Song, the Shaolin Temple is revered as a cradle of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and the home of Shaolin kung fu. Catch a martial-arts performance, walk among the hundreds of brick tomb pagodas of the Pagoda Forest, and hike or ride the cable car into the Shaoshi peaks behind."},{"id":"longmen-grottoes","name":"Longmen Grottoes","name_zh":"龙门石窟","pinyin":"Lóngmén Shíkū","region_id":"410000","region":"Henan","city":"Luoyang","lat":34.556,"lon":112.471,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr (peony season), Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Some 100,000 Buddhas carved into riverside cliffs, watched over by a serene giant","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/longmen-grottoes/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On both banks of the Yi River just south of Luoyang, limestone cliffs are honeycombed with more than 2,000 caves and niches holding around 100,000 Buddhist figures, carved over roughly four centuries from the Northern Wei to the Tang. The centrepiece is the 17-metre Vairocana Buddha at Fengxian Temple, whose calm face is among the finest in Chinese sculpture."},{"id":"terracotta-army","name":"Terracotta Army","name_zh":"兵马俑","pinyin":"Bīngmǎyǒng","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.385,"lon":109.2731,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Thousands of life-size clay soldiers standing guard for China's first emperor","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/terracotta-army/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Found by farmers digging a well in 1974, the Terracotta Army is a buried host of clay warriors, horses and chariots placed to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China. In Pit 1, ranks of infantry stand in battle formation under a vast hangar-like hall, each figure with its own face, hairstyle and armour."},{"id":"big-wild-goose-pagoda","name":"Big Wild Goose Pagoda","name_zh":"大雁塔","pinyin":"Dàyàn Tǎ","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.2192,"lon":108.9592,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Oct; come at dusk","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Tang-dynasty pagoda built for scriptures a monk carried home from India","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/big-wild-goose-pagoda/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Rising above Da Ci'en Temple in southern Xi'an, this square, tapering brick pagoda has been a landmark of the city since the 7th century. The squares around it come alive at dusk, with a large musical fountain on the north side and the lantern-lit, Tang-themed promenade of Datang Everbright City stretching away to the south."},{"id":"xian-city-wall","name":"Xi'an City Wall","name_zh":"西安城墙","pinyin":"Xī'ān Chéngqiáng","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.2508,"lon":108.9469,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Cycle all 14 km of a Ming city wall, high above Xi'an's rooftops","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xian-city-wall/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Xi'an's Ming-dynasty wall is among the best-preserved city walls in China, a broad brick rampart about 14 km around with gate towers, corner towers and a moat. Rent a bike on top and ride the full loop in a couple of hours, with old courtyards on one side and the modern city on the other."},{"id":"mount-hua","name":"Mount Hua","name_zh":"华山","pinyin":"Huà Shān","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.4833,"lon":110.0833,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Sheer granite peaks, stairways cut into cliffs and a notorious plank walk","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mount-hua/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The western of China's Five Great Mountains, Mount Hua is a cluster of granite peaks joined by stairways hewn into the rock. Cable cars do most of the climbing; the real thrill is walking the ridges between the summits and, for the brave, clipping into a harness for the Plank Walk in the Sky on the South Peak."},{"id":"mogao-caves","name":"Mogao Caves","name_zh":"莫高窟","pinyin":"Mògāo Kū","region_id":"620000","region":"Gansu","city":"Dunhuang","lat":40.0372,"lon":94.8042,"category":"heritage","designations":["national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A thousand years of Buddhist murals in desert cliff caves on the Silk Road","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mogao-caves/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Cut into a cliff on the edge of the desert near Dunhuang, the Mogao Caves preserve nearly 500 painted caves made between the 4th and 14th centuries, their murals and clay sculptures tracing a millennium of Buddhist art and Silk Road life. Visits begin with films at the digital exhibition centre, followed by a guided tour of a rotating selection of caves."},{"id":"crescent-lake","name":"Crescent Lake & Singing Sand Dunes","name_zh":"鸣沙山月牙泉","pinyin":"Míngshā Shān Yuèyá Quán","region_id":"620000","region":"Gansu","city":"Dunhuang","lat":40.0882,"lon":94.6699,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A crescent-shaped spring among towering dunes, right on the edge of town","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/crescent-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Just south of Dunhuang the desert begins abruptly at Mingsha Shan, the 'Echoing Sand Mountains'. Tucked into a hollow between the dunes is Crescent Lake, a small spring-fed pool with a rebuilt pavilion on its shore; around it you can ride camels along the ridges, slide down the sand or climb the crest for sunset."},{"id":"zhangye-danxia","name":"Zhangye Danxia (Rainbow Mountains)","name_zh":"张掖七彩丹霞","pinyin":"Zhāngyè Qīcǎi Dānxiá","region_id":"620000","region":"Gansu","city":"Zhangye","lat":38.953,"lon":100.087,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":1,"tagline":"Mountains striped red, orange and yellow like the layers of a painted cake","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/zhangye-danxia/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"About 40 km west of Zhangye, the Qicai (Seven-Colour) Danxia scenic area is a landscape of sandstone ridges banded in rust, ochre, cream and pink. Shuttle buses link boardwalks and viewing platforms, and in the low evening light the colours deepen dramatically."},{"id":"jiayuguan","name":"Jiayuguan Pass","name_zh":"嘉峪关","pinyin":"Jiāyù Guān","region_id":"620000","region":"Gansu","city":"Jiayuguan","lat":39.801,"lon":98.214,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":1,"tagline":"The Great Wall's mighty western fortress, framed by the snowy Qilian Mountains","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jiayuguan/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Built in 1372 at a narrow point of the Hexi Corridor, Jiayuguan was the westernmost major pass of the Ming Great Wall, the last gate of the empire for travellers heading out along the Silk Road. Its restored fortress of gate towers and walls within walls stands on a bare gravel plain below the snow-capped Qilian range."},{"id":"qinghai-lake","name":"Qinghai Lake","name_zh":"青海湖","pinyin":"Qīnghǎi Hú","region_id":"630000","region":"Qinghai","city":"Xining","lat":36.9,"lon":100.18,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep (rapeseed in Jul)","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"China's largest lake: a high-altitude inland sea edged with yellow rapeseed","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qinghai-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"At about 3,200 metres, Qinghai Lake is China's largest lake, a salty, sky-blue expanse ringed by grassland where Tibetan herders graze yaks and sheep. In July the shores glow yellow with rapeseed and cyclists ride the loop road, while migratory birds nest here in spring and summer (Bird Island itself is closed to visitors)."},{"id":"chaka-salt-lake","name":"Chaka Salt Lake","name_zh":"茶卡盐湖","pinyin":"Chákǎ Yánhú","region_id":"630000","region":"Qinghai","city":"Xining","lat":36.742,"lon":99.08,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":1,"tagline":"A salt flat so still it turns into a mirror for the sky","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/chaka-salt-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Chaka is a salt lake on the Qinghai plateau, where a thin film of brine over white salt crust throws back near-perfect reflections of clouds and people on calm days. A little train runs out across the salt, and visitors wade in barefoot or in rented boots for the classic 'Mirror of the Sky' photographs."},{"id":"shapotou","name":"Shapotou","name_zh":"沙坡头","pinyin":"Shāpōtóu","region_id":"640000","region":"Ningxia","city":"Zhongwei","lat":37.458,"lon":104.994,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Where the dunes of the Tengger Desert tumble down to the Yellow River","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shapotou/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On the edge of Zhongwei, the dunes of the Tengger Desert slide right down to the banks of the Yellow River at Shapotou. It's a playground for all ages: zip-line across the river, ride a camel along the dune crests, sled down the sand or drift downstream on a traditional sheepskin raft."},{"id":"kashgar-old-city","name":"Kashgar Old City","name_zh":"喀什古城","pinyin":"Kāshí Gǔchéng","region_id":"650000","region":"Xinjiang","city":"Kashgar","lat":39.4719,"lon":75.9853,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"A Silk Road crossroads of mud-brick lanes, bazaars and the Id Kah Mosque","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/kashgar-old-city/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"For some two thousand years Kashgar has been a great oasis at China's far western end of the Silk Road, where routes from Central Asia, India and China converged. Wander the restored Old City's lanes of carpenters, coppersmiths and naan bakers, visit the yellow-fronted Id Kah Mosque, and spend a Sunday at the bustling livestock market on the edge of town."},{"id":"kanas-lake","name":"Kanas Lake","name_zh":"喀纳斯湖","pinyin":"Kānàsī Hú","region_id":"650000","region":"Xinjiang","city":"Burqin","lat":48.81,"lon":87.03,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mid-Sep–early Oct (autumn), Jun–Aug","time_needed":"2–3 days","days":2,"tagline":"A milky-turquoise lake in the Altai forests that turns gold each autumn","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/kanas-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"High in the Altai Mountains near the borders with Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia, Kanas is a long glacial lake whose colour shifts from jade to milky blue with the light. Boardwalks follow the river through larch and birch forest past Moon Bay and Fairy Bay, and the nearby villages of Kanas and Hemu are home to Tuvan herders who live in log cabins."},{"id":"tianshan-heavenly-lake","name":"Heavenly Lake of Tianshan","name_zh":"天山天池","pinyin":"Tiān Shān Tiānchí","region_id":"650000","region":"Xinjiang","city":"Ürümqi","lat":43.884,"lon":88.13,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"An alpine lake beneath snowy Bogda Peak, a day trip from Ürümqi","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tianshan-heavenly-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Lying at about 1,900 metres in the Tian Shan, Tianchi is a long, clear lake framed by dark spruce forest and the glaciated peaks of the Bogda range. Take a boat, walk the lakeshore paths or climb to a viewpoint, and look out for Kazakh herders' yurts on the summer pastures."},{"id":"turpan-jiaohe","name":"Turpan & Jiaohe Ruins","name_zh":"吐鲁番交河故城","pinyin":"Tǔlǔfān Jiāohé Gùchéng","region_id":"650000","region":"Xinjiang","city":"Turpan","lat":42.953,"lon":89.064,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A 2,000-year-old city carved out of a river island, in China's hottest basin","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/turpan-jiaohe/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Turpan sits in a desert basin that dips below sea level, one of the hottest places in China, yet grapes and melons flourish here thanks to centuries-old irrigation. Just west of town, the Jiaohe Ruins are the remains of a city carved downward into a narrow loess terrace between two rivers, its streets, temples and houses still easy to read from the walkways."},{"id":"karakul-lake","name":"Karakul Lake & Karakoram Highway","name_zh":"喀拉库勒湖","pinyin":"Kālākùlè Hú","region_id":"650000","region":"Xinjiang","city":"Kashgar","lat":38.438,"lon":75.05,"category":"nature","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"A still, high lake mirroring Muztagh Ata on the road to Pakistan","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/karakul-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Around 190 km from Kashgar on the Karakoram Highway, Karakul Lake lies at about 3,600 metres, its still water reflecting the snowy domes of Muztagh Ata and Kongur. Kyrgyz herders graze yaks and camels on the shores, and the highway runs on through the Pamirs to Tashkurgan and the Khunjerab Pass into Pakistan."},{"id":"potala-palace","name":"Potala Palace","name_zh":"布达拉宫","pinyin":"Bùdálā Gōng","region_id":"540000","region":"Tibet","city":"Lhasa","lat":29.6578,"lon":91.1169,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day, plus 1–2 days to acclimatise","days":2,"tagline":"The red and white palace of the Dalai Lamas, rising in tiers above Lhasa","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/potala-palace/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Climbing in tiers of white and red walls up Marpo Ri, the Red Hill above Lhasa, the Potala Palace was the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas from the 17th century and is one of the great buildings of Asia. Inside, a one-way route climbs through chapels, assembly halls and gilded burial stupas, lit by butter lamps and filled with murmuring pilgrims."},{"id":"everest-base-camp","name":"Everest (Qomolangma) Base Camp","name_zh":"珠峰大本营","pinyin":"Zhūfēng Dàběnyíng","region_id":"540000","region":"Tibet","city":"Shigatse","lat":28.141,"lon":86.851,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 days","days":3,"tagline":"Face the full north wall of Everest from around 5,000 metres","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/everest-base-camp/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On the Tibetan side a road runs up the Rongbuk valley, so you can stand before the full north face of Qomolangma (Everest) without trekking for days. Since 2019 tourists have been kept below the climbers' base camp, staying at the guesthouse by Rongbuk Monastery or in the seasonal tent camp nearby and watching the summit catch the last light at sunset."},{"id":"namtso","name":"Namtso Lake","name_zh":"纳木错","pinyin":"Nàmù Cuò","region_id":"540000","region":"Tibet","city":"Lhasa","lat":30.7,"lon":90.6,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A vast turquoise sky lake at 4,700 metres beneath the Nyenchen Tanglha range","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/namtso/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Namtso is one of Tibet's great sacred lakes, a huge sheet of salty turquoise water at about 4,700 metres beneath the snowy Nyenchen Tanglha range. Most visitors head for the Tashi Dor peninsula on the south-eastern shore, where prayer flags stream over rocky outcrops riddled with hermits' caves."},{"id":"badaling-great-wall","name":"Badaling Great Wall","name_zh":"八达岭长城","pinyin":"Bādálǐng Chángchéng","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":40.3542,"lon":116.0069,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Ming ramparts climbing both ways from a fortified pass, a short fast train from Beijing","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/badaling-great-wall/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In Yanqing district, about 70 km by road north-west of central Beijing, Badaling's Ming wall and watchtowers climb away on both sides of a fortified pass. Walk the steep North Wall up to the North 8th Tower, its highest point, or take the shorter and gentler South Wall."},{"id":"simatai-gubei","name":"Simatai Great Wall and Gubei Water Town","name_zh":"司马台长城·古北水镇","pinyin":"Sīmǎtái Chángchéng · Gǔběi Shuǐzhèn","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":40.6492,"lon":117.2659,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Steep Ming watchtowers on a ridge above a resort water town, with a lit night walk","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/simatai-gubei/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"About 120 km north-east of central Beijing in Miyun district, the Simatai section of the Great Wall follows a steep ridge above Gubei Water Town, a resort of stone lanes, courtyard inns and waterways built at its foot. Wander the town, ride the cable car or climb to the wall's eastern towers, then stay into the evening for a night walk on a short, lit stretch."},{"id":"ming-tombs","name":"Ming Tombs","name_zh":"明十三陵","pinyin":"Míng Shísānlíng","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":40.3014,"lon":116.2432,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Stone guardians on the Sacred Way and an emperor's underground palace to walk through","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/ming-tombs/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Thirteen Ming emperors were buried in this valley in Changping district, about 40 km north of central Beijing, each in his own tomb complex. Start on the Sacred Way, lined with stone animals and officials, then visit Changling, the largest tomb, whose great hall stands on columns of nanmu (a prized hardwood), and Dingling, where you can walk through the excavated underground palace."},{"id":"longqing-gorge","name":"Longqing Gorge","name_zh":"龙庆峡","pinyin":"Lóngqìngxiá","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":40.5449,"lon":116.0051,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct; Jan–Feb for the ice festival","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Boat rides between sheer cliffs in summer, a festival of lit ice sculptures in winter","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/longqing-gorge/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In Yanqing district, about 85 km north-west of central Beijing, Longqing Gorge is a 7 km canyon flooded by a reservoir, its cliffs rising straight out of the water. Take the boat up the gorge past its named rock formations and ride the cable car up a peak for the view, or come in winter for the Ice Lantern Festival in the frozen valley."},{"id":"tiananmen-square","name":"Tiananmen Square","name_zh":"天安门广场","pinyin":"Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9033,"lon":116.3917,"category":"city","designations":["national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A vast ceremonial square below Tian'anmen gate, where the national flag is raised at dawn","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tiananmen-square/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"At the centre of Beijing, Tiananmen Square stretches south from Tian'anmen, the 'Gate of Heavenly Peace', to the old city gate of Zhengyangmen, with the Great Hall of the People on its west side and the National Museum of China on its east. Come at sunrise to watch the national flag raised at the north end, then walk south past the Monument to the People's Heroes towards Zhengyangmen, or head north through Tian'anmen, the way into the Forbidden City."},{"id":"qianmen-dashilar","name":"Qianmen Street and Dashilar","name_zh":"前门大街·大栅栏","pinyin":"Qiánmén Dàjiē · Dàshílànr","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.8945,"lon":116.3919,"category":"city","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A pedestrian avenue below Qianmen gate and a lane of shops trading since Qing times","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qianmen-dashilar/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Just south of Tiananmen Square, the gate tower of Zhengyangmen, better known as Qianmen ('Front Gate'), and its archery tower stand at the head of Qianmen Street, a pedestrian avenue on Beijing's old central axis that was redeveloped in the 2000s. A few hundred metres down, turn west into Dashilar, a short lane of long-established 'time-honoured' shops such as the Tongrentang pharmacy, the Ruifuxiang silk store and the Neiliansheng shoemaker, then carry on into the hutongs, the old lanes of courtyard houses, beyond."},{"id":"drum-and-bell-towers","name":"Drum and Bell Towers","name_zh":"钟鼓楼","pinyin":"Zhōnggǔlóu","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9402,"lon":116.3896,"category":"heritage","designations":["national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Beijing's old timekeeping towers, with drum performances and views over the hutong roofs","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/drum-and-bell-towers/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"At the northern end of Beijing's historic central axis, the Drum Tower and the grey-walled Bell Tower face each other across a small square in the hutongs, the old lanes of courtyard houses. Climb the Drum Tower to see its great drum, catch a drumming performance and look out over the rooftops of central Beijing, then cross to the Bell Tower for its 63-tonne bronze bell, cast in the reign of the Ming Yongle Emperor."},{"id":"shichahai-hutongs","name":"Shichahai","name_zh":"什刹海","pinyin":"Shíchàhǎi","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.938,"lon":116.3871,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Oct, or mid-winter for skating","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Three linked lakes ringed by hutongs and lakeside bars, with open-air skating in winter","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shichahai-hutongs/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"North-west of the Forbidden City, Shichahai is the collective name for three linked lakes, Qianhai ('Front Lake'), Houhai ('Rear Lake') and Xihai ('Western Lake'), surrounded by hutongs, the old lanes of courtyard houses. Start at Yinding Bridge between Qianhai and Houhai, walk the slanting lane of Yandai Xiejie ('Tobacco Pipe Slanting Street') towards the Drum Tower, then follow the shore of Houhai on foot, by bike or by pedicab as its lakeside bars and restaurants fill up in the evening."},{"id":"beihai-park","name":"Beihai Park","name_zh":"北海公园","pinyin":"Běihǎi Gōngyuán","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9244,"lon":116.3831,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A former imperial lake garden crowned by a white Tibetan-style stupa on its island","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/beihai-park/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Immediately north-west of the Forbidden City, Beihai ('Northern Sea') is a former imperial garden whose lake covers more than half of its area. Cross to Jade Flower Island and climb through Yong'an Temple to the White Dagoba, a Tibetan-style stupa on the summit, then take a boat to the north shore for the Five Dragon Pavilions and the glazed-tile Nine-Dragon Wall."},{"id":"prince-gongs-mansion","name":"Prince Gong's Mansion","name_zh":"恭王府","pinyin":"Gōngwángfǔ","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9353,"lon":116.3801,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Qing courtyard mansion and rock garden, home first to a corrupt minister, then a prince","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/prince-gongs-mansion/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"A few minutes' walk from the Shichahai lakes, Prince Gong's Mansion is one of the best-preserved Qing-dynasty mansions in Beijing, now run as a museum. Walk north through its courtyard houses, some with exhibitions on the mansion's history, into the garden of rockeries, ponds and pavilions, and look out for the grand opera house."},{"id":"lama-temple","name":"Lama Temple","name_zh":"雍和宫","pinyin":"Yōnghégōng","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9456,"lon":116.411,"category":"heritage","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct; very crowded around Chinese New Year","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Incense-filled courtyards and an 18-metre sandalwood Buddha in a working monastery","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/lama-temple/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In the north-east of the old city, the Lama Temple is a working monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, built in a mix of Han Chinese and Tibetan styles. It began as the home of Prince Yong, the future Yongzheng Emperor, and was turned into a lamasery, a monastery for Tibetan Buddhist monks, in 1744. Walk north through its courtyards and five main halls to the last of them, the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses."},{"id":"confucius-temple-imperial-academy","name":"Temple of Confucius and Imperial Academy","name_zh":"孔庙和国子监","pinyin":"Kǒngmiào hé Guózǐjiàn","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9451,"lon":116.4083,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Courtyards of stone steles naming imperial exam graduates, beside the old Imperial Academy","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/confucius-temple-imperial-academy/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"On Guozijian Street, a short walk west of the Lama Temple, Beijing's Temple of Confucius, first built in 1302, stands beside the Guozijian, or Imperial Academy, the highest seat of learning under the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Wander the temple's courtyards of old cypresses and carved stone tablets (steles), then cross into the academy, with its Biyong Hall ringed by a round pool, and see the Qianlong Stone Classics, 189 steles carved with the Confucian classics."},{"id":"national-museum-of-china","name":"National Museum of China","name_zh":"中国国家博物馆","pinyin":"Zhōngguó Guójiā Bówùguǎn","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9036,"lon":116.395,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Ancient bronzes, jades and porcelain in a vast museum beside Tian'anmen Square","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/national-museum-of-china/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"On the east side of Tian'anmen Square, part of the Beijing Central Axis World Heritage Site, the National Museum of China occupies a building completed in 1959 and reopened in 2011 after four years of renovation. Start with Ancient China on the basement floor, which follows Chinese history in eight periods from prehistory to the Ming and Qing dynasties, then choose among themed galleries on subjects such as ancient jade, porcelain, Buddhist sculpture and money."},{"id":"798-art-zone","name":"798 Art Zone","name_zh":"798艺术区","pinyin":"Qījiǔbā Yìshùqū","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9828,"lon":116.4905,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct; avoid Mondays","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Contemporary art galleries and cafés in the sawtooth-roofed halls of a 1950s factory","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/798-art-zone/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In the Dashanzi area of Chaoyang District, north-east of the centre, the 798 Art Zone has turned a 1950s state factory complex into a district of galleries, museums, studios and cafés. Wander the lanes between the old workshops, drop into whichever exhibitions catch your eye, and make time for UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, a non-profit museum that opened here in 2007."},{"id":"olympic-green","name":"Bird's Nest and Olympic Green","name_zh":"奥林匹克公园","pinyin":"Àolínpǐkè Gōngyuán","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9917,"lon":116.3906,"category":"city","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct; come at dusk for the lights","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"The Bird's Nest and Water Cube, venues of the 2008 and 2022 Olympics, lit up after dark","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/olympic-green/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"At the northern end of Beijing's central axis, the Olympic Green was laid out for the 2008 Summer Olympics and used again for the 2022 Winter Games. Walk the plaza between the round National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest for its woven-looking steel frame, and the square National Aquatics Centre, or Water Cube, a pairing often said to echo the old Chinese idea that the sky is round and the earth is square. Stay until dusk, when both buildings light up."},{"id":"universal-beijing-resort","name":"Universal Beijing Resort","name_zh":"北京环球度假区","pinyin":"Běijīng Huánqiú Dùjiàqū","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.8548,"lon":116.6778,"category":"city","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Harry Potter, Minions, Jurassic World and an all-indoor Kung Fu Panda land in Tongzhou","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/universal-beijing-resort/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Opened in September 2021 in Tongzhou District, east of central Beijing, Universal Beijing Resort combines the Universal Studios Beijing theme park with the Universal CityWalk dining and shopping street and two hotels. The park's seven themed lands include the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Jurassic World Isla Nublar, Minion Land and Transformers: Metrobase; plan a full day and finish with dinner on CityWalk."},{"id":"old-summer-palace","name":"Old Summer Palace","name_zh":"圆明园","pinyin":"Yuánmíngyuán","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":40.0072,"lon":116.2925,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Jul–Aug (lotus), Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Broken marble arches of Qing European-style palaces beside lakes of summer lotus","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/old-summer-palace/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"A couple of kilometres east of the Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was the Qing emperors' main residence, a garden complex of lakes, islands and halls covering about 3.5 square kilometres, until its destruction in 1860. Today it is a park of open water and ruins: head first for the carved stone fragments of the European-style palaces (Xiyang Lou), designed with Jesuit missionaries for the Qianlong Emperor, then walk or take a boat around the lakes."},{"id":"fragrant-hills","name":"Fragrant Hills Park","name_zh":"香山公园","pinyin":"Xiāngshān Gōngyuán","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.991,"lon":116.1797,"category":"nature","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mid-Oct–early Nov (red leaves), Apr–May","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Wooded former imperial hills that turn red with smoke-tree leaves each autumn","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/fragrant-hills/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"At the foot of the Western Hills in Haidian District, Fragrant Hills Park is a former imperial garden of pine and cypress forest, temples and pavilions climbing to Incense Burner Peak. Walk up past Xiangshan Temple, rebuilt and reopened in 2017 after being destroyed in 1860 and 1900, towards the summit; from mid-October to early November the smoke trees turn the slopes red and draw very large crowds."},{"id":"tanzhe-temple","name":"Tanzhe Temple","name_zh":"潭柘寺","pinyin":"Tánzhè Sì","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.904,"lon":116.0241,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Oct–early Nov (ginkgos), Apr–May","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Terraced temple courtyards in the western hills, shaded by ancient ginkgos and cypresses","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tanzhe-temple/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In the hills of Mentougou District, about 30 km west of central Beijing, Tanzhe Temple is an active Buddhist temple whose Ming- and Qing-era halls rise up the slope in terraced courtyards. Follow the central axis up through the Hall of Heavenly Kings and the Mahavira Hall to the Vairocana Pavilion, then explore the side courtyards and the pagoda forest of monks' tombs outside the gate."},{"id":"cuandixia","name":"Cuandixia Village","name_zh":"爨底下村","pinyin":"Cuàndǐxià Cūn","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.9969,"lon":115.6383,"category":"culture","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Ming and Qing courtyard houses stacked in tiers up a hillside in the western mountains","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/cuandixia/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In the mountains of Mentougou District, about 90 km from central Beijing, Cuandixia is a village of more than 70 Ming- and Qing-era courtyard houses rising in tiers up a slope, linked by stone-paved lanes and steep steps. Wander the lanes for carved brick, stone and wood details and the old family maxims and slogans on the walls, then stop for a meal in one of the courtyards that now serve as family-run restaurants and inns."},{"id":"zhoukoudian","name":"Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site","name_zh":"周口店北京人遗址","pinyin":"Zhōukǒudiàn Běijīngrén Yízhǐ","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.6892,"lon":115.9239,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Limestone caves on Dragon Bone Hill where the fossils of Peking Man were found","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/zhoukoudian/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In Fangshan District, about 50 km south-west of central Beijing, the limestone caves of Dragon Bone Hill yielded the fossils of Peking Man, an early human (Homo erectus) who lived here hundreds of thousands of years ago, and the site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Start at the site museum, with skull casts, stone tools and the story of the excavations, then walk up the hill to Locality 1, the main fossil cave, and the Upper Cave, where much later modern humans lived."},{"id":"lugou-bridge","name":"Marco Polo Bridge","name_zh":"卢沟桥","pinyin":"Lúgōu Qiáo","region_id":"110000","region":"Beijing","city":"Beijing","lat":39.8492,"lon":116.2131,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"An 800-year-old stone bridge lined with hundreds of carved lions, by a walled Ming fort","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/lugou-bridge/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Spanning the Yongding River about 15 km south-west of central Beijing, Marco Polo Bridge (Lugou Bridge in Chinese) is a 266-metre granite bridge of eleven arches, first completed in 1192, its balustrades topped by hundreds of carved stone lions in different poses. Cross the bridge, then walk east into Wanping Fortress, a small walled town built in 1638–1640 that holds the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression."},{"id":"yixian-xidi-village","name":"Xidi","name_zh":"西递村","pinyin":"Xīdì Cūn","region_id":"340000","region":"Anhui","city":"Huangshan","lat":29.9044,"lon":117.9875,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A quieter UNESCO twin of Hongcun: flagstone lanes, merchant houses and a Ming archway","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yixian-xidi-village/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Xidi is a village of the Hu clan in Yi county that, with Hongcun, forms the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui. It keeps 124 old houses and three ancestral halls along stone-paved lanes beside its streams, and most of the houses are open to visitors. It makes a good counterpart to Hongcun: less about one famous view, more about wandering lane by lane."},{"id":"chizhou-mount-jiuhua","name":"Mount Jiuhua","name_zh":"九华山","pinyin":"Jiǔhuá Shān","region_id":"340000","region":"Anhui","city":"Chizhou","lat":30.4822,"lon":117.8044,"category":"culture","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A Buddhist sacred mountain where 99 temples cling to granite peaks and mist","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/chizhou-mount-jiuhua/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Mount Jiuhua is one of the four sacred mountains of Chinese Buddhism and the holy site of Ksitigarbha (Dizang), the bodhisattva who vowed to save beings from hell. Some 99 temples survive, clustered around the monastery village of Jiuhua Street and scattered over granite peaks linked by stone paths, cable cars and a funicular. It is a working pilgrimage mountain, so the incense, chanting and mountain views come together in a way few scenic areas manage."},{"id":"the-bund","name":"The Bund & Lujiazui Skyline","name_zh":"外滩与陆家嘴","pinyin":"Wàitān yǔ Lùjiāzuǐ","region_id":"310000","region":"Shanghai","city":"Shanghai","lat":31.2397,"lon":121.495,"category":"city","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day plus an evening","days":1,"tagline":"1920s banks on one bank of the river, a sci-fi skyline on the other","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/the-bund/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Bund is Shanghai's riverside promenade, lined with granite banks, trading houses and grand hotels from the city's 1920s and '30s heyday. Across the Huangpu River, Lujiazui answers with the bulbous Oriental Pearl Tower and the twisting Shanghai Tower. Stand on the waterfront at dusk and you see a century of the city in a single glance."},{"id":"suzhou-gardens","name":"Classical Gardens of Suzhou","name_zh":"苏州园林","pinyin":"Sūzhōu Yuánlín","region_id":"320000","region":"Jiangsu","city":"Suzhou","lat":31.324,"lon":120.6286,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Whole landscapes of rock, water and pavilion folded into a city block","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/suzhou-gardens/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Suzhou's classical gardens were built by retired officials and wealthy scholars as private worlds, where a pond stands in for a lake and a single craggy rock for a mountain. The Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest; the compact Master of the Nets Garden is a lesson in proportion. Walk slowly: every moon gate and lattice window is placed to frame a view."},{"id":"nanjing-purple-mountain","name":"Purple Mountain & Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum","name_zh":"南京钟山风景区","pinyin":"Nánjīng Zhōngshān Fēngjǐngqū","region_id":"320000","region":"Jiangsu","city":"Nanjing","lat":32.0645,"lon":118.8483,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, late Oct–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A forested mountain on Nanjing's edge, crowned by a blue-roofed hilltop tomb","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/nanjing-purple-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Purple Mountain rises just east of Nanjing's Ming city wall, its wooded slopes holding some of the city's most important monuments. A broad stairway climbs to the white-walled, blue-tiled mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen, while nearby the tomb of the first Ming emperor is approached along a Sacred Way guarded by stone elephants, camels and lions. In autumn, plane trees and maples turn the whole hillside gold and red."},{"id":"west-lake","name":"West Lake","name_zh":"西湖","pinyin":"Xī Hú","region_id":"330000","region":"Zhejiang","city":"Hangzhou","lat":30.2469,"lon":120.1442,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"The lake that taught China what a perfect landscape should look like","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/west-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Ringed by soft green hills and crossed by willow-lined causeways, West Lake has been painted and written about for more than a thousand years. Walk the bike-free Su and Bai causeways, take a boat out to the little islands, then climb into the Longjing tea hills above the western shore. It's a city park on a grand scale, and it rewards an unhurried pace."},{"id":"wuzhen","name":"Wuzhen Water Town","name_zh":"乌镇","pinyin":"Wūzhèn","region_id":"330000","region":"Zhejiang","city":"Hangzhou","lat":30.7454,"lon":120.4884,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day, ideally with an overnight","days":1,"tagline":"Stone bridges and lantern-lit canals in a water town that's best after dark","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wuzhen/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Wuzhen is a canal town of arched stone bridges, black-tiled houses built right over the water and narrow stone lanes beside canals still plied by wooden boats. Its West Scenic Zone has been restored with real care, and once the day-trippers leave, the lanterns come on and the canals turn to mirrors. Stay a night to see it at its best."},{"id":"huangshan","name":"Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)","name_zh":"黄山","pinyin":"Huángshān","region_id":"340000","region":"Anhui","city":"Huangshan City","lat":30.134,"lon":118.1667,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Nov; winter for snow and rime","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Granite spires, wind-bent pines and a sea of clouds straight out of an ink painting","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huangshan/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Huangshan is a cluster of sheer granite peaks topped with pines that grow sideways out of bare rock. Cable cars lift you from the foothills to the summit area, where stone stairways link the viewpoints and mornings often bring a sea of cloud pooling between the peaks. Spend a night on the mountain to see both sunset and sunrise."},{"id":"hongcun","name":"Hongcun Village","name_zh":"宏村","pinyin":"Hóngcūn","region_id":"340000","region":"Anhui","city":"Huangshan City","lat":30.0003,"lon":117.9859,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–Apr (rapeseed blossom), Oct–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A merchant village planned in the shape of an ox, mirrored in its own pond","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hongcun/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Hongcun is a Huizhou village of white walls, black tiles and stepped 'horse-head' gables, set around a half-moon pond and a willow-fringed lake. Merchants' mansions hide intricately carved wooden halls and quiet courtyards, and stone channels carry water past almost every door. Morning mist over South Lake is the picture everyone comes for."},{"id":"fujian-tulou","name":"Fujian Tulou","name_zh":"福建土楼","pinyin":"Fújiàn Tǔlóu","region_id":"350000","region":"Fujian","city":"Xiamen","lat":24.588,"lon":117.056,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Dec","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Round earthen fortresses where whole clans lived behind a single gate","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/fujian-tulou/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The tulou of southwestern Fujian are giant round and square houses of rammed earth, some with hundreds of rooms stacked around an open courtyard. Many are still lived in, with families cooking, drying tea and selling snacks under the wooden galleries. At Tianluokeng, a square tulou ringed by round and oval ones makes the classic view from the hillside above."},{"id":"gulangyu","name":"Gulangyu Island","name_zh":"鼓浪屿","pinyin":"Gǔlàngyǔ","region_id":"350000","region":"Fujian","city":"Xiamen","lat":24.4475,"lon":118.0625,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Oct–Apr","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A car-free island of old villas, banyan trees and drifting piano music","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/gulangyu/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Just across a narrow strait from downtown Xiamen, Gulangyu is a hilly island of winding lanes, former consulates and mansions built by Chinese families who made their fortunes overseas. With no cars allowed, it's an island for wandering, from shady back alleys up to Sunlight Rock and its view across the water."},{"id":"wuyi-mountains","name":"Wuyi Mountains","name_zh":"武夷山","pinyin":"Wǔyí Shān","region_id":"350000","region":"Fujian","city":"Wuyishan","lat":27.65,"lon":117.96,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May (tea season), Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Bamboo rafts, red sandstone cliffs and the birthplace of Da Hong Pao tea","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wuyi-mountains/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Wuyi Mountains are a landscape of red sandstone cliffs and rounded peaks reflected in the clear, looping Nine Bend River. Drift downstream on a bamboo raft, climb Tianyou Peak for the view over the bends, then follow the tea trails where mineral-rich 'rock tea' grows in narrow terraces between the cliffs."},{"id":"lushan","name":"Mount Lushan","name_zh":"庐山","pinyin":"Lú Shān","region_id":"360000","region":"Jiangxi","city":"Jiujiang","lat":29.565,"lon":115.985,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Misty peaks, waterfalls and a hill station of stone villas above the Yangtze","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/lushan/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Mount Lu rises abruptly from the plains between the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake, its summit often wrapped in cloud. Up top, the resort town of Guling is full of stone villas built by missionaries and foreign families escaping the summer heat, and trails lead out to waterfalls, temples and cliff-edge viewpoints."},{"id":"wuyuan","name":"Wuyuan Villages","name_zh":"婺源","pinyin":"Wùyuán","region_id":"360000","region":"Jiangxi","city":"Wuyuan","lat":29.25,"lon":117.86,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mid-Mar–early Apr, Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"White-walled villages among yellow rapeseed in spring and red chillies in autumn","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wuyuan/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Wuyuan County is scattered with Huizhou-style villages of white walls and dark tiles, tucked among terraced fields, tea hills and old stone bridges. In March the valleys turn yellow with rapeseed flowers; in late autumn villagers set out chillies, corn and squash on bamboo trays, painting the rooftops red and orange."},{"id":"jingdezhen","name":"Jingdezhen, Porcelain Capital","name_zh":"景德镇","pinyin":"Jǐngdézhèn","region_id":"360000","region":"Jiangxi","city":"Jingdezhen","lat":29.2917,"lon":117.1986,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"The city that fired porcelain for China's emperors, and still has clay on its hands","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jingdezhen/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Jingdezhen has made porcelain for more than a thousand years, and clay still runs through daily life here. See the excavated imperial kiln site and the striking brick-vaulted Imperial Kiln Museum (closed on Mondays), watch artisans throw and paint in the old workshop quarters, then browse studios where young ceramicists from all over the world sell their work."},{"id":"three-gorges","name":"Yangtze Three Gorges","name_zh":"长江三峡","pinyin":"Cháng Jiāng Sānxiá","region_id":"500000","region":"Chongqing","city":"Chongqing","lat":31.0478,"lon":109.5717,"category":"nature","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"3–4 days by cruise","days":3,"tagline":"Cliffs closing in on the Yangtze along China's most storied river passage","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/three-gorges/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Between Chongqing and Yichang, the Yangtze cuts through the mountains in three gorges, Qutang, Wu and Xiling, where limestone walls rise straight from the water. A multi-day river cruise is the classic way to see them, with side trips up narrower tributary gorges and a stop at the vast Three Gorges Dam."},{"id":"wudang-mountains","name":"Wudang Mountains","name_zh":"武当山","pinyin":"Wǔdāng Shān","region_id":"420000","region":"Hubei","city":"Shiyan","lat":32.4,"lon":111.004,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Taoist palaces strung along forested ridges, and the legendary birthplace of tai chi","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wudang-mountains/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Wudang Mountains are one of China's most sacred Taoist ranges, with Ming-dynasty palaces and temples strung along forested ridges up to the bronze Golden Hall on the highest peak. Taoist priests still live and train here, and martial-arts schools at the foot of the mountain teach visitors the slow, flowing forms of Wudang tai chi."},{"id":"yellow-crane-tower","name":"Yellow Crane Tower","name_zh":"黄鹤楼","pinyin":"Huánghè Lóu","region_id":"420000","region":"Hubei","city":"Wuhan","lat":30.545,"lon":114.302,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A tower rebuilt many times over, made immortal by a single Tang poem","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yellow-crane-tower/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Yellow Crane Tower stands on Snake Hill above the Yangtze in central Wuhan, its five tiers of yellow-tiled eaves visible across the city. The present tower dates from 1985, but the view from the top, over the river, the first Yangtze bridge and the three historic towns that make up Wuhan, is the real reward."},{"id":"zhangjiajie","name":"Zhangjiajie National Forest Park","name_zh":"张家界国家森林公园","pinyin":"Zhāngjiājiè Guójiā Sēnlín Gōngyuán","region_id":"430000","region":"Hunan","city":"Zhangjiajie","lat":29.325,"lon":110.434,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2–3 days","days":2,"tagline":"Thousands of sandstone pillars rising out of the mist like a stone forest","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/zhangjiajie/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a maze of quartz-sandstone columns, some hundreds of metres tall, capped with pines and often veiled in mist. Walk Golden Whip Stream along the valley floor, then ride the cliffside Bailong Elevator or the cable cars up to Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain for the views from above."},{"id":"fenghuang","name":"Fenghuang Ancient Town","name_zh":"凤凰古城","pinyin":"Fènghuáng Gǔchéng","region_id":"430000","region":"Hunan","city":"Fenghuang","lat":27.9483,"lon":109.599,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1,"tagline":"Stilt houses leaning over the Tuo River in a town that glows after dark","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/fenghuang/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Fenghuang's old town lines both banks of the Tuo River, with wooden stilt houses hanging over the water, stepping stones across the shallows and covered bridges strung with lanterns. Miao and Tujia heritage shows up in the food, embroidery and silver jewellery. At night the riverfront lights up and the banks fill with music and boats."},{"id":"canton-tower","name":"Canton Tower & Pearl River","name_zh":"广州塔","pinyin":"Guǎngzhōu Tǎ","region_id":"440000","region":"Guangdong","city":"Guangzhou","lat":23.1066,"lon":113.3245,"category":"city","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Dec","time_needed":"An evening, plus a day for the city","days":1,"tagline":"A slim-waisted tower glowing over the Pearl River in China's Cantonese food capital","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/canton-tower/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Canton Tower's twisted steel lattice rises above the Pearl River, lit in shifting colours every evening, with a slow Ferris wheel of glass pods circling its very top. Ride up for the skyline, then take a night cruise past the illuminated bridges and towers of the waterfront. Save time and appetite for Guangzhou itself: dim sum, roast goose and the old streets of Xiguan."},{"id":"li-river-yangshuo","name":"Li River & Yangshuo","name_zh":"漓江与阳朔","pinyin":"Lí Jiāng yǔ Yángshuò","region_id":"450000","region":"Guangxi","city":"Guilin","lat":24.7781,"lon":110.4966,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 days","days":2,"tagline":"Limestone peaks, bamboo rafts and bike rides through rice paddies","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/li-river-yangshuo/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Between Guilin and Yangshuo, the Li River winds through a landscape of limestone peaks, feathery bamboo and water buffalo cooling off in the shallows. Cruise downstream or ride a bamboo raft near Xingping, then base yourself in Yangshuo to cycle the Yulong River valley, climb a hill for sunset or take a cooking class."},{"id":"longji-rice-terraces","name":"Longji Rice Terraces","name_zh":"龙脊梯田","pinyin":"Lóngjǐ Tītián","region_id":"450000","region":"Guangxi","city":"Guilin","lat":25.7562,"lon":110.1121,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Jun (flooded), Sep–Oct (golden)","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Rice paddies stacked up the mountains like the scales on a dragon's back","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/longji-rice-terraces/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Longji terraces climb steep hillsides north of Guilin in tight contour lines that shine silver when flooded in spring, turn green in summer and go gold before the autumn harvest. Zhuang and Yao villages of wooden houses sit among the fields, linked by stone paths you can hike between Ping'an, Dazhai and Tiantouzhai."},{"id":"detian-waterfall","name":"Detian Waterfall","name_zh":"德天瀑布","pinyin":"Détiān Pùbù","region_id":"450000","region":"Guangxi","city":"Nanning","lat":22.866,"lon":106.722,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jul–Oct (fullest flow)","time_needed":"1 day; 2 with nearby karst sights","days":1.5,"tagline":"A broad, tiered waterfall spilling across the border between China and Vietnam","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/detian-waterfall/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Detian Waterfall tumbles in wide white tiers over limestone ledges on the Guichun River, framed by karst hills and rice fields. You can take a bamboo raft almost into the spray, while the Vietnamese half of the falls pours down just across the river."},{"id":"sanya-beaches","name":"Sanya Beaches","name_zh":"三亚","pinyin":"Sānyà","region_id":"460000","region":"Hainan","city":"Sanya","lat":18.231,"lon":109.642,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Nov–Apr","time_needed":"2–3 days","days":2,"tagline":"China's tropical south coast, where winter is beach season","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/sanya-beaches/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Sanya sits at the southern tip of Hainan Island, where palm-fringed bays meet warm, clear water. Yalong Bay has the softest sand and calmest swimming, Dadonghai is lively and close to town, and Haitang Bay is lined with big resorts and a vast duty-free mall."},{"id":"chongqing-hongyadong","name":"Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views","name_zh":"洪崖洞","pinyin":"Hóngyádòng","region_id":"500000","region":"Chongqing","city":"Chongqing","lat":29.563,"lon":106.577,"category":"city","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"An evening, plus a day for the city","days":1,"tagline":"A cliffside stack of stilt houses glowing gold over the river every night","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/chongqing-hongyadong/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Hongyadong is an 11-storey complex of stilt-house-style buildings clinging to the cliff above the Jialing River, just before it joins the Yangtze, and it lights up gold every evening. It's the most photographed corner of Chongqing, a hilly megacity of bridges, monorails and fiery hotpot, where a street on one level can lead straight onto a rooftop on another."},{"id":"chengdu-pandas","name":"Chengdu Giant Panda Base","name_zh":"成都大熊猫繁育研究基地","pinyin":"Chéngdū Dàxióngmāo Fányù Yánjiū Jīdì","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":30.7333,"lon":104.1458,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round; Mar–Jun and Sep–Nov are most comfortable","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Watch giant pandas munch bamboo and tumble about among the trees","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/chengdu-pandas/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is a landscaped park of bamboo groves and spacious enclosures on the city's northern edge. Adult pandas lounge and eat, red pandas wander through the trees, and in season the nursery holds the year's cubs. Go early: pandas are most active in the cool of the morning, especially around feeding time."},{"id":"jiuzhaigou","name":"Jiuzhaigou Valley","name_zh":"九寨沟","pinyin":"Jiǔzhàigōu","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Jiuzhaigou","lat":33.26,"lon":103.918,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Late Sep–Oct; also May–Jun","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Lakes so clear you can count the fallen trees lying on their beds","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jiuzhaigou/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Jiuzhaigou is a Y-shaped system of forested valleys in northern Sichuan, threaded with lakes of startling turquoise, cobalt and green. Waterfalls spill over mossy travertine terraces, and boardwalks lead from one lake to the next. Autumn, when the forests turn red and gold, is the most spectacular season."},{"id":"leshan-giant-buddha","name":"Leshan Giant Buddha","name_zh":"乐山大佛","pinyin":"Lèshān Dàfó","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Leshan","lat":29.5447,"lon":103.7733,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A 71-metre Buddha carved from a riverside cliff where three rivers meet","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/leshan-giant-buddha/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Leshan Giant Buddha sits carved into a red sandstone cliff, gazing across the meeting of the Min, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. A steep, narrow staircase beside the statue leads from its head down to its feet, where you can look up at its vast face. A short river boat ride gives the full view from the water."},{"id":"mount-emei","name":"Mount Emei","name_zh":"峨眉山","pinyin":"Éméi Shān","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Emeishan","lat":29.5197,"lon":103.3325,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"A sacred Buddhist mountain of mist, monasteries and a golden summit above the clouds","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mount-emei/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Mount Emei is one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains, rising from the Sichuan plain to more than 3,000 metres. Old stone trails link monasteries through forest and bamboo, while buses and a cable car lift visitors to the Golden Summit, where a gilded, many-faced statue of Samantabhadra looks out over a sea of clouds."},{"id":"daocheng-yading","name":"Daocheng Yading","name_zh":"稻城亚丁","pinyin":"Dàochéng Yàdīng","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Daocheng","lat":28.45,"lon":100.35,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 days","days":3,"tagline":"Three sacred snow peaks, glacial lakes and Tibetan meadows high on the plateau","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/daocheng-yading/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Yading Nature Reserve protects three holy peaks in the Tibetan highlands of western Sichuan, ringed by alpine meadows, larch forests and glacial lakes. Trails climb from Chonggu Monastery to Pearl Lake and, much higher, to Milk Lake and Five-Colour Lake beneath the glaciers. It's remote and high, and that is exactly the appeal."},{"id":"huangguoshu-waterfall","name":"Huangguoshu Waterfall","name_zh":"黄果树瀑布","pinyin":"Huángguǒshù Pùbù","region_id":"520000","region":"Guizhou","city":"Anshun","lat":25.991,"lon":105.667,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Oct (strongest flow)","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A thundering curtain of water you can walk behind through a cave in the cliff","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huangguoshu-waterfall/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Huangguoshu is one of China's biggest waterfalls, plunging into a deep pool in a lush karst gorge in western Guizhou. A path leads into the Water Curtain Cave behind the falls, where you watch the torrent from the inside. The wider park also takes in the broad cascades of Doupotang and the rock gardens and streams of Tianxingqiao."},{"id":"xijiang-miao-village","name":"Xijiang Miao Village","name_zh":"西江千户苗寨","pinyin":"Xījiāng Qiānhù Miáozhài","region_id":"520000","region":"Guizhou","city":"Kaili","lat":26.496,"lon":108.17,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov; Miao New Year in late autumn","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"More than a thousand wooden Miao homes climbing the hills, glittering like stars at night","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xijiang-miao-village/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Xijiang is the largest Miao village in China, two hillsides of dark wooden stilt houses rising above a river and terraced rice fields. Women in festival dress wear towering silver headdresses, and the village stages songs and dances for visitors. Climb to a hilltop viewpoint at dusk to watch thousands of lights come on across the valley."},{"id":"lijiang-old-town","name":"Lijiang Old Town","name_zh":"丽江古城","pinyin":"Lìjiāng Gǔchéng","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Lijiang","lat":26.8721,"lon":100.2343,"category":"culture","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Cobbled lanes, rushing canals and Naxi courtyards beneath a snow-capped peak","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/lijiang-old-town/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Lijiang's old town, Dayan, is a tangle of cobbled lanes where clear streams fed by Black Dragon Pool run past wooden Naxi houses, shops and courtyard guesthouses. The centre is busy and commercial, but early mornings and the backstreets reveal its charm, and the nearby villages of Shuhe and Baisha are quieter places to explore by bike."},{"id":"jade-dragon-snow-mountain","name":"Jade Dragon Snow Mountain","name_zh":"玉龙雪山","pinyin":"Yùlóng Xuěshān","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Lijiang","lat":27.098,"lon":100.178,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Dec","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A glacier-hung massif on Lijiang's doorstep, with a cable car to over 4,500 metres","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jade-dragon-snow-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Jade Dragon Snow Mountain's jagged, snow-streaked ridge rises straight above the Lijiang plain, close enough for a day trip. A cable car carries visitors up to a glacier viewing platform at over 4,500 metres, while lower down, the turquoise terraced pools of Blue Moon Valley and the meadows of Spruce Meadow offer gentler walks."},{"id":"yuanyang-rice-terraces","name":"Yuanyang Rice Terraces","name_zh":"元阳梯田","pinyin":"Yuányáng Tītián","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Yuanyang","lat":23.1,"lon":102.77,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Dec–Mar (flooded terraces)","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Thousands of flooded paddies mirroring the sunrise across southern Yunnan's hills","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yuanyang-rice-terraces/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In the Ailao Mountains of southern Yunnan, the Hani people have sculpted entire mountainsides into rice terraces, some valleys holding thousands of paddies. In winter and early spring the fields are flooded, and at sunrise and sunset they turn into a mosaic of pink, gold and silver mirrors. Mushroom-roofed Hani villages sit among the fields."},{"id":"shangri-la","name":"Shangri-La & Songzanlin Monastery","name_zh":"香格里拉松赞林寺","pinyin":"Xiānggélǐlā Sōngzànlín Sì","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Shangri-La","lat":27.874,"lon":99.704,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A golden-roofed Tibetan monastery stacked up a hillside, nicknamed 'Little Potala'","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shangri-la/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Ganden Sumtseling, known in Chinese as Songzanlin, is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan, its whitewashed halls and gilded roofs climbing a hillside above a small sacred lake. Hundreds of monks live here, and the prayer halls glow with butter lamps and painted murals. Shangri-La's old town, Dukezong, and the lakes and meadows of Pudacuo National Park are close by."},{"id":"dali","name":"Dali Old Town & Erhai Lake","name_zh":"大理古城与洱海","pinyin":"Dàlǐ Gǔchéng yǔ Ěrhǎi","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Dali","lat":25.693,"lon":100.159,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Bai courtyards, old stone gates and lakeside bike rides beneath the Cangshan peaks","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/dali/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Dali's old town sits on a gentle slope between the Cangshan mountains and Erhai Lake, a grid of stone lanes, Bai courtyard houses and gate towers. Cycle the lakeshore to villages like Xizhou, known for its old merchant mansions and crispy baba flatbread, and visit the Three Pagodas, which have stood just north of town for more than a thousand years."},{"id":"stone-forest","name":"Stone Forest","name_zh":"石林","pinyin":"Shílín","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Kunming","lat":24.8166,"lon":103.324,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","4A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day on site","days":1,"tagline":"A maze of limestone blades and towers you can lose yourself in","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/stone-forest/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"The Stone Forest is a vast field of grey limestone pinnacles, many taller than a house, weathered into blades, towers and narrow corridors. Paths loop through the Major and Minor Stone Forests, squeezing between rock walls and climbing to pavilions that look out over the whole maze."},{"id":"victoria-harbour","name":"Victoria Harbour","name_zh":"维多利亚港","pinyin":"Wéiduōlìyà Gǎng","region_id":"810000","region":"Hong Kong","city":"Hong Kong","lat":22.29,"lon":114.17,"category":"city","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Dec","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Glass towers and green hills around a harbour you can cross in ten minutes","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/victoria-harbour/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Victoria Harbour separates Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon peninsula, its shores packed with skyscrapers backed by steep, green hills. Cross on the Star Ferry, then stroll the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront after dark for A Symphony of Lights; for the view down from above, see Victoria Peak."},{"id":"macau-historic-centre","name":"Historic Centre of Macau","name_zh":"澳门历史城区","pinyin":"Àomén Lìshǐ Chéngqū","region_id":"820000","region":"Macau","city":"Macau","lat":22.1972,"lon":113.5585,"category":"heritage","designations":["mo-classified"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Oct–Dec","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Portuguese tiled squares, baroque churches and Chinese temples, a short walk apart","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/macau-historic-centre/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Macau's historic centre is a walkable patchwork of Portuguese and Chinese heritage: the wave-patterned paving of Senado Square, the carved stone facade of the Ruins of St. Paul's and the incense-filled A-Ma Temple. Between sights, stop for Portuguese egg tarts, pork chop buns and Macanese cooking, a fusion cuisine found nowhere else."},{"id":"dazu-baodingshan-rock-carvings","name":"Dazu Rock Carvings","name_zh":"大足石刻","pinyin":"Dàzú Shíkè","region_id":"500000","region":"Chongqing","city":"Chongqing","lat":29.7544,"lon":105.7941,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A cliffside storybook of Buddhist hells, mothers and thousand-armed Guanyin","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/dazu-baodingshan-rock-carvings/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Dazu Rock Carvings are a World Heritage group of Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian sculpture spread across hills around Dazu, with Baodingshan as the main draw. Along a horseshoe-shaped cliff, huge reliefs of the reclining Buddha, the hell scenes and the thousand-armed Guanyin read like a stone picture book of faith and everyday life. Beishan, an older and quieter group just north of Dazu town, makes a good second stop."},{"id":"wulong-karst","name":"Wulong Karst","name_zh":"武隆喀斯特","pinyin":"Wǔlóng Kāsītè","region_id":"500000","region":"Chongqing","city":"Wulong","lat":29.4399,"lon":107.7863,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Three colossal natural bridges, a sinkhole canyon and a cave in the hills of Wulong","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wulong-karst/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Wulong's limestone landscape is part of the South China Karst World Heritage Site and is visited at three main places. The Three Natural Bridges are huge limestone arches linked by deep sinkholes and a river canyon, Furong Cave is a long cave of formations, and Fairy Mountain is a cool highland of forest and meadow. Together they make the best nature trip from Chongqing."},{"id":"xiahe-labrang-monastery","name":"Labrang Monastery","name_zh":"拉卜楞寺","pinyin":"Lābǔléng Sì","region_id":"620000","region":"Gansu","city":"Xiahe","lat":35.1939,"lon":102.507,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A living Tibetan Buddhist monastery town, ringed by a long corridor of prayer wheels","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xiahe-labrang-monastery/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Founded in 1709 beside the Daxia River, Labrang is one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and still a working centre of monastic study, organised in six colleges. Gilded roofs, white-walled halls and monks in maroon robes fill the valley, while pilgrims circle the whole complex along a corridor of prayer wheels. It is one of the most atmospheric places in Gansu to watch Tibetan religious life at close quarters."},{"id":"maijishan-grottoes","name":"Maijishan Grottoes","name_zh":"麦积山石窟","pinyin":"Màijīshān Shíkū","region_id":"620000","region":"Gansu","city":"Tianshui","lat":34.3517,"lon":106.004,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Painted clay Buddhas in caves hung high on a haystack-shaped cliff","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/maijishan-grottoes/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"A steep, haystack-shaped crag of red sandstone near Tianshui is honeycombed with nearly 200 Buddhist caves carved from the fourth century onwards and strung together by walkways clinging to the cliff face. Where Mogao is famous for murals and Longmen for stone carving, Maijishan is known for painted clay sculpture, with thousands of figures. It is part of the Silk Roads World Heritage Site, and far quieter than the big names of the Hexi Corridor."},{"id":"dunhuang-yardang-geopark","name":"Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark","name_zh":"敦煌雅丹国家地质公园","pinyin":"Dūnhuáng Yǎdān Guójiā Dìzhì Gōngyuán","region_id":"620000","region":"Gansu","city":"Dunhuang","lat":40.5102,"lon":93.2377,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"A full day","days":1,"tagline":"Wind-carved clay towers stretching to the horizon in the Gobi beyond Yumen Pass","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/dunhuang-yardang-geopark/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Far northwest of Dunhuang, the wind has carved the Gobi into a maze of long clay ridges and towers called yardangs, covering around 400 km² in northern and southern zones. Locals call it the Ghost Town for the way the formations loom like ruined buildings and the wind howls through them. The national geopark is part of the Dunhuang UNESCO Global Geopark, approved in 2015, and the late-afternoon light on the formations is hard to beat."},{"id":"kaiping-diaolou-villages","name":"Kaiping Diaolou and Villages","name_zh":"开平碉楼","pinyin":"Kāipíng Diāolóu","region_id":"440000","region":"Guangdong","city":"Jiangmen","lat":22.3765,"lon":112.5745,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Oct–Apr","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Fortified tower houses rising above rice paddies, built with emigrants' money","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/kaiping-diaolou-villages/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Kaiping's diaolou are fortified multi-storey tower houses, most built in the early 20th century with money sent home by emigrants in North America and elsewhere. They mix Chinese forms with Greek, Roman and Islamic-style ornament. Four village groups, Zili, Majianglong, Jinjiangli and Sanmenli, were inscribed by UNESCO in 2007 out of some 1,800 towers still standing, and the area is also a 5A scenic area."},{"id":"renhua-mount-danxia","name":"Mount Danxia","name_zh":"丹霞山","pinyin":"Dānxiá Shān","region_id":"440000","region":"Guangdong","city":"Shaoguan","lat":25.0319,"lon":113.7461,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Red sandstone cliffs and flat-topped peaks that gave the 'Danxia' landform its name","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/renhua-mount-danxia/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Mount Danxia is the place that gave its name to the 'Danxia landform': flat-topped peaks, sheer red cliffs and narrow ravines carved from Cretaceous red sandstone and conglomerate. It forms part of the China Danxia World Heritage Site, listed in 2010, and is also a UNESCO Global Geopark and a 5A scenic area. Hiking trails, a river cruise and cliffside temples make it an easy outdoor trip from Guangzhou."},{"id":"sanjiang-chengyang-eight-villages","name":"Chengyang Eight Villages","name_zh":"程阳八寨","pinyin":"Chéngyáng Bāzhài","region_id":"450000","region":"Guangxi","city":"Sanjiang","lat":25.9004,"lon":109.6381,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Dong villages of timber drum towers and a covered bridge, set among paddy fields","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/sanjiang-chengyang-eight-villages/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Eight Dong villages line the Linxi River north of Sanjiang, each with timber stilt houses, a drum tower, a stage and a covered 'wind and rain' bridge. The star is Yongji Bridge at the entrance, a long wooden span topped by pavilion roofs, and the quiet lanes beyond it give a real sense of everyday Dong life. The area became a 5A scenic area in 2024."},{"id":"ningming-huashan-rock-art","name":"Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art","name_zh":"花山岩画","pinyin":"Huāshān Yánhuà","region_id":"450000","region":"Guangxi","city":"Chongzuo","lat":22.2462,"lon":107.0351,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"About 1,900 red figures painted on a sheer cliff above the Ming River","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/ningming-huashan-rock-art/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"On a limestone cliff above the Ming River, ancient painters left a wall of red figures: squatting humans, bronze drums, swords, boats and running animals. You reach the panel by boat through quiet karst scenery, which is half the appeal. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been a 5A scenic area since December 2024."},{"id":"libo-zhangjiang-xiaoqikong","name":"Libo Zhangjiang Scenic Area (Xiaoqikong and Daqikong)","name_zh":"荔波樟江景区","pinyin":"Lìbō Zhāngjiāng Jǐngqū","region_id":"520000","region":"Guizhou","city":"Libo","lat":25.2828,"lon":107.7565,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Oct (water and greenery); Mar–Apr quieter","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Emerald pools, stepped waterfalls and trees growing from water in a karst forest","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/libo-zhangjiang-xiaoqikong/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"A national scenic area of roughly 270 sq km in southern Libo, made up of the Xiaoqikong and Daqikong areas, the Shuichun river gorge and the Zhangjiang river belt. Karst forest closes in around turquoise pools, lakes, waterfalls and rapids along the Zhangjiang, and the area is part of the Libo Karst cluster of the South China Karst World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2007. Most visitors spend their time in Xiaoqikong, a compact, walkable valley, with the canyon of Daqikong as a quieter extra."},{"id":"jiangkou-fanjingshan","name":"Fanjingshan","name_zh":"梵净山","pinyin":"Fànjìngshān","region_id":"520000","region":"Guizhou","city":"Tongren","lat":27.9194,"lon":108.6921,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A Buddhist 'pure land' above the clouds, with temples on two rock pinnacles","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jiangkou-fanjingshan/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Fanjingshan rises to about 2,570 m at the heart of the Wuling Mountains and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018, with relict forests and species such as the Guizhou snub-nosed monkey and the Fanjingshan fir that live nowhere else. It is also a Buddhist mountain, traditionally linked with Maitreya, and the walk takes in Mushroom Rock and the Old and New Golden Summits, with temples and shrines on and below the rock pinnacles. A shuttle bus and cable car from the east gate shorten the climb, but it is still a full day out."},{"id":"liping-zhaoxing-dong-village","name":"Zhaoxing Dong Village","name_zh":"肇兴侗寨","pinyin":"Zhàoxīng Dòngzhài","region_id":"520000","region":"Guizhou","city":"Liping","lat":25.9096,"lon":109.1777,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Spring and autumn; Niren Festival (Sep–Oct)","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Five drum towers and covered bridges in one of China's largest Dong villages","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/liping-zhaoxing-dong-village/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Zhaoxing is one of China's largest Dong villages, in Zhaoxing town in the south of Liping County, and is a 4A-rated scenic area. Its houses are grouped into five clan districts named Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi and Xin, each with its own drum tower, wind-and-rain bridge and opera stage. Performers sing Dong Grand Song beneath the drum towers for visitors."},{"id":"pingtang-fast-sky-eye","name":"FAST Radio Telescope (China Sky Eye)","name_zh":"中国天眼","pinyin":"Zhōngguó Tiānyǎn","region_id":"520000","region":"Guizhou","city":"Pingtang","lat":25.6529,"lon":106.8566,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct (clear views)","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"The world's largest single-dish radio telescope, set in a natural karst bowl","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/pingtang-fast-sky-eye/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The world's largest single-dish radio telescope: a 500 m dish built into a natural karst bowl at Dawodang in Pingtang county, completed in September 2016. Visitors see it from the scenic area's viewing deck and can visit the Nan Rendong Memorial Hall (named for its chief scientist) and an astronomy experience hall, with an XR centre and a dome film theatre alongside. It is a working observatory, so only the visitor areas are open."},{"id":"qinhuangdao-shanhai-pass","name":"Shanhai Pass","name_zh":"山海关","pinyin":"Shānhǎiguān","region_id":"130000","region":"Hebei","city":"Qinhuangdao","lat":40.0092,"lon":119.7536,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Where the Ming Great Wall ends at the sea, at the 'First Pass Under Heaven'","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qinhuangdao-shanhai-pass/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Shanhai Pass is the fortified gateway at the eastern end of the Ming Great Wall, squeezed into the narrow plain between the Yan Mountains and the Bohai Sea. The scenic area takes in the walled old town with its gate towers and Bell and Drum Tower, Mengjiangnü Temple, and, some kilometres south, Laolongtou ('Old Dragon's Head'), where the wall runs out into the water. Much of what you see has been rebuilt since the 1980s, so expect a mix of original and restored work."},{"id":"luanping-jinshanling-great-wall","name":"Jinshanling Great Wall","name_zh":"金山岭长城","pinyin":"Jīnshānlǐng Chángchéng","region_id":"130000","region":"Hebei","city":"Chengde","lat":40.6788,"lon":117.2508,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A Ming ridge-top wall of 67 towers, restored at one end and wild towards Simatai","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/luanping-jinshanling-great-wall/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Jinshanling is a 10.5 km stretch of Ming-dynasty Great Wall on the Hebei–Beijing border, with five passes, 67 watchtowers and three beacon towers. The western end has been restored, while the stretch towards Simatai, which continues east into Beijing, is more weathered. Visitors walk the ridge path between towers, and it is a favourite place for sunrise views and photography."},{"id":"hailin-china-snow-town","name":"China Snow Town (Xuexiang)","name_zh":"雪乡","pinyin":"Xuěxiāng","region_id":"230000","region":"Heilongjiang","city":"Mudanjiang","lat":44.3322,"lon":128.2029,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Dec–Feb","time_needed":"2 days (one night in the village)","days":2,"tagline":"A forest-farm village under thick caps of sticky snow, busy, commercial and very cold","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hailin-china-snow-town/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Officially Shuangfeng Forest Farm, this village in the Zhangguangcai Range is known for deep, sticky snow that builds into thick caps on the eaves and roofs of its houses through a long winter. Visitors come for the snowy lanes and lantern-lit evenings, a small ski slope for beginners and a film set from the story Tracks in the Snowy Forest. It sits inside Xuexiang National Forest Park, which also holds the separate Taipinggou primeval forest area. Be realistic: it is heavily commercialised and crowded at New Year, and the charm lies in the snow itself."},{"id":"harbin-central-street","name":"Central Street & St Sophia Cathedral","name_zh":"中央大街与圣索菲亚教堂","pinyin":"Zhōngyāng Dàjiē Yǔ Shèng Suǒfēiyà Jiàotáng","region_id":"230000","region":"Heilongjiang","city":"Harbin","lat":45.7712,"lon":126.6135,"category":"city","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep, Dec–Feb","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A cobbled pedestrian street of Russian-era façades and a green-domed Orthodox cathedral","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/harbin-central-street/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Central Street is a cobbled pedestrian street about 1.45 km long, running from Xinyang Square to the Songhua riverbank, lined with Baroque, Renaissance, Art Nouveau and eclectic buildings, shops, cafés and ice-lolly stands. A short walk to the south-east stands St Sophia Cathedral, a red-brick former Russian Orthodox church with a green onion dome, now home to the Harbin Architecture Art Gallery. Together they are the best way to see Harbin's Russian-era past in a few hours."},{"id":"henan-museum","name":"Henan Museum","name_zh":"河南博物院","pinyin":"Hénán Bówùyuàn","region_id":"410000","region":"Henan","city":"Zhengzhou","lat":34.7893,"lon":113.666,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Zhengzhou's treasure house of Central Plains bronzes, jades and Neolithic finds","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/henan-museum/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Henan Museum is one of China's oldest museums and the best single stop for understanding the province that was the heartland of early Chinese civilisation. Its collection of well over 100,000 pieces (the museum itself now cites about 249,000) is strongest in prehistoric finds, Shang and Zhou bronzes and ceramics from many dynasties. A morning here makes the sites around Luoyang, Anyang and Dengfeng much easier to place."},{"id":"luoyang-white-horse-temple","name":"White Horse Temple","name_zh":"白马寺","pinyin":"Báimǎ Sì","region_id":"410000","region":"Henan","city":"Luoyang","lat":34.7243,"lon":112.5981,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"China's first Buddhist temple, with Thai, Indian and Burmese halls beside it","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/luoyang-white-horse-temple/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"By tradition White Horse Temple is the first Buddhist temple in China, founded in 68 AD near the Han capital. The Ming and Qing halls on the main axis hold Yuan-dynasty dry-lacquer Buddhas and arhats brought from the Forbidden City in 1972, and the 13-storey Qiyun Pagoda of 1175 stands just east. Thai, Indian and Burmese-style halls added since 1992 make it a rare place to compare Buddhist traditions in one visit."},{"id":"kaifeng-iron-pagoda","name":"Iron Pagoda","name_zh":"开封铁塔","pinyin":"Kāifēng Tiětǎ","region_id":"410000","region":"Henan","city":"Kaifeng","lat":34.8166,"lon":114.3649,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A 56-metre glazed-brick pagoda of 1049 that has outlasted floods and earthquakes","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/kaifeng-iron-pagoda/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Kaifeng's Iron Pagoda is a 13-storey octagonal brick tower, about 56 m tall, finished in 1049 in the Northern Song. It is called 'iron' for the rusty brown colour of its glazed bricks, which are moulded with more than fifty patterns of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, flying figures, musicians, lions and flowers. It stands in Iron Pagoda Park in the north-east of the old city and is one of the best surviving pieces of Song brick architecture."},{"id":"anyang-yinxu","name":"Yinxu","name_zh":"殷墟","pinyin":"Yīnxū","region_id":"410000","region":"Henan","city":"Anyang","lat":36.1225,"lon":114.3186,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"The last Shang capital, where China's earliest writing and Fu Hao's tomb came to light","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/anyang-yinxu/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Yinxu is the ruined capital of the late Shang dynasty, spread across both banks of the Huan River on the north-western edge of Anyang. It is where the oracle-bone inscriptions, the earliest known Chinese writing, were excavated, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. Visitors walk the palace and temple area, stand at the undisturbed tomb of Fu Hao, and see the royal cemetery with its large tombs and sacrificial pits. The new Yinxu Museum, opened in 2024, shows nearly 4,000 bronzes, jades, pottery pieces and oracle bones."},{"id":"huixian-wanxian-mountain","name":"Wanxian Mountain (Guoliang)","name_zh":"万仙山","pinyin":"Wànxiān Shān","region_id":"410000","region":"Henan","city":"Xinxiang","lat":35.727,"lon":113.6059,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A village that hand-cut a road through the cliff face","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huixian-wanxian-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Wanxian Mountain is a Taihang Mountains scenic area made up of the Guoliang and Nanping sections, best known for the Guoliang Tunnel, a road carved by hand through the cliff face above the valley. Clifftop Guoliang village has long drawn painters and film crews, and the sheer walls around it form a national rock-climbing park with hundreds of routes."},{"id":"the-peak-tower","name":"Victoria Peak","name_zh":"太平山顶","pinyin":"Tàipíng Shāndǐng","region_id":"810000","region":"Hong Kong","city":"Hong Kong","lat":22.2714,"lon":114.15,"category":"city","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Dec","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Ride the 1888 funicular to the skyline view, then walk the Lugard Road loop","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/the-peak-tower/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Peak is the high ground above Central on Hong Kong Island, where the Peak Tram deposits you at the wok-shaped Peak Tower for the classic view over the towers and Victoria Harbour. The tower holds shops, restaurants, Madame Tussauds and the Sky Terrace 428 viewing platform on its roof. Most visitors then walk the Peak Circle Walk, a shaded loop on Lugard Road and Harlech Road with wider and quieter lookouts."},{"id":"ngong-ping-tian-tan-buddha","name":"Tian Tan Buddha & Ngong Ping","name_zh":"天坛大佛与昂坪","pinyin":"Tiāntán Dàfó Yǔ Ángpíng","region_id":"810000","region":"Hong Kong","city":"Hong Kong","lat":22.254,"lon":113.905,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Dec","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A giant bronze Buddha on Lantau, reached by a 25-minute cable car ride","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/ngong-ping-tian-tan-buddha/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Tian Tan Buddha, known as the Big Buddha, is a seated bronze statue 34 m tall including its base, on the Ngong Ping plateau of Lantau Island. Visitors climb 268 steps for views over the hills, and Po Lin Monastery stands beside it. Many arrive on the Ngong Ping 360 cable car from Tung Chung, which crosses the bay and hills to Ngong Ping Village."},{"id":"yiling-three-gorges-dam","name":"Three Gorges Dam","name_zh":"三峡大坝","pinyin":"Sānxiá Dàbà","region_id":"420000","region":"Hubei","city":"Yichang","lat":30.8239,"lon":111.0037,"category":"culture","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"The Yangtze's mega-dam, seen from hilltop lookouts and a ship lift that raises whole boats","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yiling-three-gorges-dam/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Three Gorges Dam is a concrete gravity dam across the Yangtze at Sandouping, and the world's largest hydroelectric station by installed capacity. Visitors are taken by shuttle round a one-way route of hilltop lookouts and platforms, ending at a park that faces the dam wall head-on. The ship lift, which began operating in 2016, raises whole vessels past the dam in one move."},{"id":"shennongjia-ecotourism-area","name":"Shennongjia","name_zh":"神农架生态旅游区","pinyin":"Shénnóngjià Shēngtài Lǚyóuqū","region_id":"420000","region":"Hubei","city":"Shennongjia","lat":31.4547,"lon":110.3974,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Primeval forest and alpine meadow on the roof of central China, a UNESCO forest reserve","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shennongjia-ecotourism-area/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Shennongjia is a vast forested massif in north-western Hubei, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016 for its primary forests and rich wildlife. The main visitor area has two parts: Shennongding, with boardwalks through primeval forest, alpine meadow and rock forests below the 3,106 m summit, and Guanmenshan, an 8 km river gorge with natural-history museums. The wider district is also home to wild golden snub-nosed monkeys, which live in protected forest and are not guaranteed sightings."},{"id":"enshi-grand-canyon","name":"Enshi Grand Canyon","name_zh":"恩施大峡谷","pinyin":"Ēnshī Dàxiágǔ","region_id":"420000","region":"Hubei","city":"Enshi","lat":30.4071,"lon":109.191,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Apr–Sep, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A limestone canyon with a 150 m rock pillar, a cliff plank road and a waterfall floor","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/enshi-grand-canyon/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Enshi Grand Canyon, also called the Mufu Grand Canyon, is a karst canyon in the Qing River basin where cliffs, rock pillars, sinkholes, caves, natural bridges and underground rivers all occur. Visitors see it in two parts: the cliff-top walkways of Qixingzhai, and the Yunlong River Fissure, a narrow slot that is up to about 75 m deep. It suits a full day of walking among dramatic limestone scenery."},{"id":"hubei-provincial-museum","name":"Hubei Provincial Museum","name_zh":"湖北省博物馆","pinyin":"Húběi Shěng Bówùguǎn","region_id":"420000","region":"Hubei","city":"Wuhan","lat":30.5639,"lon":114.3589,"category":"heritage","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Marquis Yi's ancient bronze bells, played live, and the sword of King Goujian","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hubei-provincial-museum/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Hubei Provincial Museum, beside East Lake in Wuchang, is home to the treasures of the Chu and Zeng states, including the bronze bells and vessels from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng and the Sword of Goujian. A dedicated hall stages performances on replica bells. It is an outstanding place to see Warring States craftsmanship."},{"id":"zhangjiajie-tianmen-mountain","name":"Tianmen Mountain","name_zh":"天门山","pinyin":"Tiānmén Shān","region_id":"430000","region":"Hunan","city":"Zhangjiajie","lat":29.0499,"lon":110.4789,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A cliff-top walk to a natural arch known as Heaven's Gate, above the city","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/zhangjiajie-tianmen-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Tianmen Mountain is a karst massif rising to about 1,519 m just south of Zhangjiajie city, pierced by Tianmen Cave, a natural arch roughly 131 m high. Normally visitors go up by one of the world's longest passenger cable cars, which has been closed since 13 October 2026 for rebuilding; for now the only way up is the express cable car from the mountain gate to the arch, then escalators to the summit. Up top, cliff-side paths with glass-floored sections lead round the plateau, and a stairway of 999 steps climbs to the arch. It is the easiest big view in Zhangjiajie, and a good partner to the sandstone pillars of the forest park."},{"id":"yueyang-tower","name":"Yueyang Tower","name_zh":"岳阳楼","pinyin":"Yuèyáng Lóu","region_id":"430000","region":"Hunan","city":"Yueyang","lat":29.3847,"lon":113.0883,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A helmet-roofed tower above Dongting Lake, famed for one 11th-century essay","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yueyang-tower/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Yueyang Tower stands on the old west wall of Yueyang and looks over Dongting Lake towards Junshan Island. It is one of the Three Great Towers of Jiangnan, and its fame rests on Fan Zhongyan's essay on it, whose line about worrying before the world worries and rejoicing after it is known to most Chinese schoolchildren. The timber tower, 19.4 m tall under a helmet-shaped roof and held up by four full-height nanmu columns, largely dates from the 1880 rebuilding."},{"id":"changsha-hunan-museum","name":"Hunan Museum","name_zh":"湖南省博物馆","pinyin":"Húnán Shěng Bówùguǎn","region_id":"430000","region":"Hunan","city":"Changsha","lat":28.2153,"lon":112.9878,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year round; Oct–Nov, Mar–Apr","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Han marchioness, her silk banner and a gauze robe as thin as air","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/changsha-hunan-museum/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Hunan's provincial museum holds more than 540,000 items, but it is best known for its permanent Mawangdui exhibition of finds from the Han tombs near Changsha. The star is the remarkably preserved body of the Marchioness Xin Zhui, along with the T-shaped silk funeral banner, a plain gauze robe, lacquerware and silk manuscripts. A second permanent exhibition, 'Hunanese', traces the province from prehistory with pieces such as the Shang bronze Min fanglei."},{"id":"ejin-horo-genghis-khan-mausoleum","name":"Mausoleum of Genghis Khan","name_zh":"成吉思汗陵","pinyin":"Chéngjísīhán Líng","region_id":"150000","region":"Inner Mongolia","city":"Ordos","lat":39.3712,"lon":109.7794,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A 1950s memorial to the Khan, where hereditary Darkhad guardians still keep the rites","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/ejin-horo-genghis-khan-mausoleum/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Three linked, ger-shaped halls with white walls, red windows and blue-tiled roofs stand on the Ejin Horo grassland south of Ordos. The Khan's actual burial place has never been found, so these halls, built in 1955–56, are a memorial and the main centre of his worship rather than a verified tomb. You see a living shrine with murals, a marble statue, relics and offerings."},{"id":"ejin-poplar-forest","name":"Ejin Poplar Forest","name_zh":"额济纳胡杨林","pinyin":"Éjìnà Húyánglín","region_id":"150000","region":"Inner Mongolia","city":"Alxa","lat":41.9663,"lon":101.0803,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Sep–mid Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Golden Euphrates poplars along a Gobi river, at their best for three weeks in October","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/ejin-poplar-forest/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Ejin Poplar Forest is a belt of desert poplars (Populus euphratica) along the Ejin River beside Dalaihub, in the Gobi of western Inner Mongolia. The scenic area covers about 56 square kilometres of riverside forest, Gobi, grassland and lakes, arranged as a string of numbered 'bridges' along the river. The leaves turn gold in autumn, usually from late September into October, and the region fills with photographers for those weeks."},{"id":"nanjing-fuzimiao-qinhuai","name":"Fuzimiao and the Qinhuai River","name_zh":"夫子庙—秦淮风光带","pinyin":"Fūzǐmiào–Qínhuái Fēngguāngdài","region_id":"320000","region":"Jiangsu","city":"Nanjing","lat":32.0224,"lon":118.784,"category":"culture","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Nanjing's lantern-lit Confucius Temple quarter, beside painted boats on the Qinhuai","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/nanjing-fuzimiao-qinhuai/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Fuzimiao, the Confucius Temple, stands on the north bank of the inner Qinhuai River at the heart of a lively district of restored lanes, snack stalls and teahouse-style restaurants. Next door, the Jiangnan Examination Hall now houses the China Imperial Examination Museum. It is the easiest place in Nanjing to combine history, street food and an evening stroll by the water."},{"id":"nanjing-ming-city-wall","name":"City Wall of Nanjing","name_zh":"南京城墙","pinyin":"Nánjīng Chéngqiáng","region_id":"320000","region":"Jiangsu","city":"Nanjing","lat":32.0145,"lon":118.7762,"category":"heritage","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"The Ming capital's brick ramparts, anchored by the vast fortress of Zhonghua Gate","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/nanjing-ming-city-wall/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Built after Nanjing became the Ming capital in 1368, the city wall once ran 35.3 km around the inner city and about 25 km still stands. Zhonghua Gate in the south is its showpiece, a fortress gate with three enclosed courtyards, and you can climb up to walk the top. Other long stretches run beside Xuanwu Lake and past Jiming Temple."},{"id":"kunshan-zhouzhuang-water-town","name":"Zhouzhuang","name_zh":"周庄古镇","pinyin":"Zhōuzhuāng Gǔzhèn","region_id":"320000","region":"Jiangsu","city":"Suzhou","lat":31.1151,"lon":120.8459,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Jiangnan's most famous water town, famed for its Twin Bridges and merchant halls","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/kunshan-zhouzhuang-water-town/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"A canal town of old houses, lanes and stone bridges in Kunshan, usually counted as the most famous of the Jiangnan water towns. Its Twin Bridges became widely known after a painting by Chen Yifei was presented to Deng Xiaoping in 1984, and two great houses, Shen Hall and Zhang Hall, are national monuments. It is heavily visited and commercialised, so go early or stay overnight."},{"id":"yangzhou-slender-west-lake","name":"Slender West Lake","name_zh":"瘦西湖","pinyin":"Shòu Xīhú","region_id":"320000","region":"Jiangsu","city":"Yangzhou","lat":32.4041,"lon":119.4208,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A ribbon of willow-fringed water lined with the pavilions of Qing salt merchants","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yangzhou-slender-west-lake/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Slender West Lake is a long, narrow waterway at the north-west edge of Yangzhou's old city, strung with bridges, pavilions and garden islands. It grew from the moats of Tang and Song Yangzhou and was lined with gardens by Qing salt merchants and officials. Walk the banks or drift along by boat; it is the city's showpiece and a stop on the Grand Canal World Heritage listing."},{"id":"yushan-mount-sanqing","name":"Mount Sanqing","name_zh":"三清山","pinyin":"Sānqīng Shān","region_id":"360000","region":"Jiangxi","city":"Shangrao","lat":28.9187,"lon":118.0539,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Granite pillars in cloud and pine, and cliffside plank walks to a Taoist palace","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yushan-mount-sanqing/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Mount Sanqing in north-east Jiangxi is a World Natural Heritage site (2008) where dense clusters of granite pillars and peaks, such as the Giant Python and the Goddess of Spring, rise from forest and drifting cloud. It is also a Taoist mountain: the nationally listed group of ancient buildings around Sanqing Palace comprises more than 200 temples, pavilions, carvings, gates and bridges built from local granite, with the palace itself rebuilt in the Ming dynasty. Cable cars and cliff-hugging walkways reach the high ground, where Yujing Peak rises to about 1,820 m."},{"id":"panjin-red-beach","name":"Panjin Red Beach","name_zh":"红海滩风景廊道","pinyin":"Hónghǎitān Fēngjǐng Lángdào","region_id":"210000","region":"Liaoning","city":"Panjin","lat":40.8488,"lon":121.8414,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mid-Sep–mid-Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Tidal flats turned crimson by seepweed, crossed by boardwalks through the Liaohe delta","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/panjin-red-beach/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Red Beach scenic corridor follows about 18 km of the Liaohe delta coast, where tidal flats are carpeted with seepweed (Suaeda salsa) set against reed marsh and wetland. A winding wooden boardwalk and boat rides on the river channel let you out among the red, and the surrounding reserve shelters many birds. It has been a 5A scenic area since 2020."},{"id":"yinchuan-western-xia-imperial-tombs","name":"Western Xia Mausoleums","name_zh":"西夏陵","pinyin":"Xīxià Líng","region_id":"640000","region":"Ningxia","city":"Yinchuan","lat":38.435,"lon":105.9872,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Earthen mounds of a vanished Tangut empire, beneath the Helan Mountains","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yinchuan-western-xia-imperial-tombs/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Western Xia (Xixia) Imperial Tombs are the necropolis of the Tangut dynasty, strung along the foot of the Helan Mountains and inscribed by UNESCO in 2025 as the Xixia Imperial Tombs. The site holds nine imperial mausoleums, 271 subordinate tombs and a northern architectural complex. The weathered rammed-earth mounds, up to about 23 m high, are thought to be the cores of once-tiled, tower-like structures. Most visitors combine the museum with Mausoleum 3, attributed to the dynasty's first emperor, Li Yuanhao."},{"id":"huangzhong-kumbum-monastery","name":"Kumbum Monastery","name_zh":"塔尔寺","pinyin":"Tǎ'ěr Sì","region_id":"630000","region":"Qinghai","city":"Xining","lat":36.4901,"lon":101.5671,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Oct; Feb for the butter sculpture festivals","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Golden roofs and butter sculptures at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huangzhong-kumbum-monastery/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Kumbum is one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, set on a hillside in Lusar town, Huangzhong District, built where the school's founder Tsongkhapa was born. Some 200,000 square metres of halls, colleges, residences and stupas climb the slopes, mixing Tibetan and Han styles, and the monastery is best known for its butter sculptures, murals and appliqué work. It is still a working monastery, so you share the lanes with monks and pilgrims."},{"id":"muslim-quarter","name":"Muslim Quarter","name_zh":"回民街","pinyin":"Huímín Jiē","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.2641,"lon":108.939,"category":"culture","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round; liveliest in the evening","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Halal street food and a temple-style mosque in the lanes north of the Drum Tower","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/muslim-quarter/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"North of the Drum Tower, the streets and lanes of the Muslim Quarter are home to Xi'an's Hui (Chinese-speaking Muslim) community and are lined with halal food stalls and restaurants. Walk up Beiyuanmen and into the side lanes for yangrou paomo (flatbread torn into small pieces and simmered in mutton broth), roujiamo (a flatbread stuffed with chopped, spiced beef), soup dumplings and jingao (mirror cake), a small round rice-flour cake named for its mirror-like look. Finish in the quiet courtyards of the Great Mosque on Huajue Lane."},{"id":"xian-bell-and-drum-towers","name":"Bell Tower and Drum Tower","name_zh":"钟楼·鼓楼","pinyin":"Zhōnglóu · Gǔlóu","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.261,"lon":108.9423,"category":"heritage","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Two Ming towers at the heart of the walled city, where bell and drum once marked the day","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xian-bell-and-drum-towers/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"The Bell Tower stands in the middle of the roundabout where the four main streets of Xi'an's walled city meet, and the Drum Tower faces it across a broad square a few minutes' walk to the west. Climb the Bell Tower first, cross the square to the Drum Tower and its rows of drums, then walk on through the Drum Tower's arch into the Muslim Quarter."},{"id":"beilin-museum","name":"Forest of Stone Steles Museum","name_zh":"西安碑林博物馆","pinyin":"Xī'ān Bēilín Bówùguǎn","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.2552,"lon":108.9481,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Inscribed stone tablets of classics, calligraphy and Silk Road history by the south wall","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/beilin-museum/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Just inside the city wall, a short walk east of the South Gate, this museum grew from a collection of inscribed stone tablets (steles) set up at the Confucian temple and prefectural school in 1087, and since an expansion completed in 2025 it has more than 2,000 pieces on display. Walk through the old galleries first, then cross to the new north building for calligraphy by Tang masters such as Yan Zhenqing, four of the six Tang reliefs of Emperor Taizong's warhorses and the Nestorian Stele."},{"id":"shaanxi-history-museum","name":"Shaanxi History Museum","name_zh":"陕西历史博物馆","pinyin":"Shǎnxī Lìshǐ Bówùguǎn","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.2258,"lon":108.9503,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round; weekdays are easier to book","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Tang gold and silver, original tomb murals and finds from Shaanxi's Zhou, Qin and Han past","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shaanxi-history-museum/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"About 1 km north-west of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Shaanxi History Museum opened in 1991 in a Tang-style complex and holds more than 1.7 million objects. Its main exhibition traces the province's past from the earliest settlements through the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang; then see the Hejiacun hoard of Tang gold and silver and, with a separate ticket, the gallery of Tang tomb murals."},{"id":"small-wild-goose-pagoda","name":"Small Wild Goose Pagoda","name_zh":"小雁塔","pinyin":"Xiǎoyàn Tǎ","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.2408,"lon":108.9374,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A slender Tang brick pagoda, cracked by earthquakes, in the grounds of the Xi'an Museum","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/small-wild-goose-pagoda/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"South of the city wall, this 13-storey brick pagoda was built in 707–709 in the grounds of Jianfu Temple, and since 2014 it has been part of the Silk Roads World Heritage listing. It now stands in a park shared with the Xi'an Museum: look round the museum's galleries, then walk through what remains of the temple to the foot of the pagoda."},{"id":"daming-palace","name":"Daming Palace National Heritage Park","name_zh":"大明宫国家遗址公园","pinyin":"Dàmíng Gōng Guójiā Yízhǐ Gōngyuán","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.2891,"lon":108.9595,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Earthen terraces and a rebuilt gatehouse marking out the lost palace of the Tang emperors","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/daming-palace/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Just north of Xi'an Railway Station, this huge park marks out the Tang dynasty's main palace, whose timber halls vanished more than a thousand years ago. Enter through the Danfeng Gate, rebuilt as a protective hall over the excavated foundations of the five-passage main gate, then walk north past the bare earthen platforms of the Hanyuan, Xuanzheng and Zichen halls to the Taiye Pond, with a site museum and scale models to help you picture what stood here."},{"id":"datang-everbright-city","name":"Datang Everbright City","name_zh":"大唐不夜城","pinyin":"Dàtáng Bùyèchéng","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.212,"lon":108.9594,"category":"city","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Oct; come after dark","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A lantern-lit, Tang-themed avenue of street performers, sculptures and evening crowds","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/datang-everbright-city/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Stretching south from the Big Wild Goose Pagoda to the line of the old Tang city wall, Datang Everbright City is a modern pedestrian avenue first opened in 2009, a Tang-themed showpiece rather than a historic site. After dark its Tang-style buildings light up and costumed dancers, musicians and parades fill the street; walk south from the pagoda past sculpture groups of Tang emperors, the Shaanxi Grand Theatre and the Xi'an Concert Hall to Kaiyuan Square."},{"id":"huaqing-palace","name":"Huaqing Palace","name_zh":"华清宫","pinyin":"Huáqīng Gōng","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.3651,"lon":109.2074,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Hot springs at the foot of Mount Li where a Tang emperor wintered with Yang Guifei","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huaqing-palace/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"At the northern foot of Mount Li in Lintong, about 30 km east of central Xi'an, Huaqing Palace is a landscaped complex of hot springs, lakes and pavilions where rulers built bathing palaces from the Zhou dynasty onwards. The Tang palace decayed after the An Lushan rebellion and most of what stands today is much later; the real survivors are the excavated bathing pools of the Tang emperors and their consorts, shown in a site museum. In the evening the dance drama The Song of Everlasting Sorrow is staged beside the lake, with floodlit Mount Li as its backdrop."},{"id":"han-yangling","name":"Han Yangling Mausoleum","name_zh":"汉阳陵","pinyin":"Hàn Yánglíng","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.4445,"lon":108.9423,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Walk on glass above burial pits full of armless clay figures at a Han emperor's tomb","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/han-yangling/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"North of the Wei River, beside the expressway to Xi'an Xianyang airport, lies the tomb of Emperor Jing of Han (r. 157–141 BC) and his Empress Wang, two large burial mounds ringed by smaller burial pits. Start in the underground hall built over ten excavated pits, where glass floors and walkways let you look down on rows of small clay figures, animals and grave goods, then see more finds in the archaeology museum."},{"id":"qianling-mausoleum","name":"Qianling Mausoleum","name_zh":"乾陵","pinyin":"Qiánlíng","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.5755,"lon":108.2139,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"A spirit way of stone guardians climbing to the joint tomb of Gaozong and Wu Zetian","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qianling-mausoleum/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"On Liang Mountain in Qian County, about 85 km north-west of Xi'an, Qianling is the joint tomb of the Tang emperor Gaozong and his wife Wu Zetian, the only undisputed female sovereign in Chinese history. Its spirit way (the ceremonial approach to an imperial tomb) climbs between two southern hills, each topped by a tower, past stone pillars, winged horses, ostriches, five pairs of horses with grooms and ten pairs of officials, to Gaozong's inscribed stele, Wu Zetian's Wordless Stele and 61 headless statues of foreign envoys."},{"id":"louguantai","name":"Louguantai","name_zh":"楼观台","pinyin":"Lóuguàn Tái","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.0583,"lon":108.3272,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Taoist courtyards climbing to the terrace where Laozi is said to have taught","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/louguantai/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In Zhouzhi County at the foot of the Zhongnan range of the Qinling Mountains, about 70 km west of Xi'an, Louguantai is one of the oldest holy places of Taoism, the Chinese religion that reveres Laozi. Much of what you see is new: a temple complex of nine courtyards, opened in 2012, climbs the slope on the axis of the Shuojingtai ('Terrace for Expounding the Scripture'), whose own halls date from the Ming, Qing and later restorations. Beside it, the ruins of the Tang-era Zongsheng Palace keep old steles and ancient trees."},{"id":"famen-temple","name":"Famen Temple","name_zh":"法门寺","pinyin":"Fǎmén Sì","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":34.4404,"lon":107.8989,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Tang relic temple, the treasures of its sealed crypt and a 148-metre modern stupa","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/famen-temple/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Famen Temple, in Fufeng County about 120 km west of Xi'an, was favoured by Tang emperors as the home of a relic believed to be a finger bone of the Buddha. Start at the old temple, whose brick pagoda half collapsed in 1981: while clearing its base in 1987, archaeologists found a Tang crypt, and its gold and silver, glass and rare celadon are now shown in the museum beside it. Then walk up the long avenue of the modern cultural park to the 148-metre Namaste Dagoba, named for the gesture of palms pressed together, which now houses the relic."},{"id":"baoji-bronze-museum","name":"Baoji Bronze Ware Museum","name_zh":"宝鸡青铜器博物院","pinyin":"Bǎojī Qīngtóngqì Bówùyuàn","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Baoji","lat":34.3487,"lon":107.1901,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Zhou dynasty bronzes, led by the He zun and the earliest known written 'Zhongguo'","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/baoji-bronze-museum/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In Baoji, on the Wei River west of Xi'an, this museum shows bronzes from a region rich in Zhou dynasty sites, where tens of thousands of bronzes have been unearthed since the Han dynasty. Head first for the He zun, an early Western Zhou ritual wine vessel displayed in a hall of its own, then look for long inscriptions such as the 372 characters of the Lai pan, which list Zhou kings, and the large bo bells of the dukes of Qin from the Spring and Autumn period."},{"id":"mount-taibai","name":"Mount Taibai","name_zh":"太白山","pinyin":"Tàibái Shān","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Baoji","lat":33.9551,"lon":107.7653,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Forest roads and a cable car climb to 3,511 metres on the Qinling range's highest peak","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mount-taibai/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Mount Taibai, where Mei, Taibai and Zhouzhi counties meet, is the highest peak of the Qinling Mountains, the range commonly taken as the line between northern and southern China, and rises to about 3,770 metres at Baxian Tai. From the visitor centre at Tangyu, park buses climb through forest to Hongshuping, where the Tianxia cable car lifts you to Tianyuan Difang at 3,511 metres. Short walks lead on from the top station, but the summit lies a long, high hike beyond."},{"id":"qingmuchuan","name":"Qingmuchuan Ancient Town","name_zh":"青木川古镇","pinyin":"Qīngmùchuān Gǔzhèn","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Qingmuchuan","lat":32.8313,"lon":105.5776,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A curving market street of timber shophouses where Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan meet","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qingmuchuan/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Qingmuchuan, in the far west of Ningqiang County near the point where Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan meet, grew up as a trading town for the mountain border region. Walk the curving Huilongchang old street, where more than 50 old shophouses and courtyard homes survive, among them Rongshengkui, a three-storey merchants' entertainment house, then climb to the Furen Middle School on the hillside to the south."},{"id":"hanzhong-rapeseed","name":"Hanzhong Rapeseed Fields","name_zh":"汉中油菜花","pinyin":"Hànzhōng Yóucàihuā","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Hanzhong","lat":33.122,"lon":107.0436,"category":"nature","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–early Apr","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Spring rapeseed turning the Han River basin gold beneath the Qinling foothills","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hanzhong-rapeseed/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Each spring the Hanzhong Basin, a long plain on the upper Han River between the Qinling and Daba mountains, turns yellow as about a million mu (some 67,000 hectares) of rapeseed comes into flower. Start at Huangtang Water Town in Laojun Town, on the northern edge of Hanzhong city, one of the busiest viewing areas, where a small sightseeing train runs through the fields. With a car, follow the official flower routes on into the basin's counties."},{"id":"huangdi-mausoleum","name":"Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor","name_zh":"黄帝陵","pinyin":"Huángdì Líng","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Xi'an","lat":35.584,"lon":109.2691,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Ancient cypresses, an ancestral temple and the tomb mound of the legendary Yellow Emperor","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huangdi-mausoleum/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"On Mount Qiao at Huangling, in the loess hills north of Xi'an, this is the traditional burial place of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), a legendary ruler revered as a common ancestor of the Chinese people. Start in Xuanyuan Temple at the foot of the hill, where a huge cypress inside the gate is said to have been planted by the Yellow Emperor himself, some 5,000 years ago according to local tradition. Then climb through the old cypress woods that cover the hill to the walled tomb mound on the summit."},{"id":"hancheng-dangjiacun","name":"Hancheng Old Town and Dangjia Village","name_zh":"韩城古城·党家村","pinyin":"Hánchéng Gǔchéng · Dǎngjiā Cūn","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Hancheng","lat":35.4607,"lon":110.4354,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Ming temples in an old county town and a village of grey-brick Ming–Qing courtyard houses","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hancheng-dangjiacun/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Hancheng, on the west bank of the Yellow River where it enters the Guanzhong plain, keeps an old town of courtyard houses and Ming temples around Jincheng Street. Start at the Confucian Temple, largely rebuilt in 1371, and the City God Temple of 1571 nearby. Then take a taxi about 9 km north-east to Dangjia Village, where more than 100 Ming and Qing courtyard houses, ancestral halls and the six-storey Wenxing Pagoda survive."},{"id":"yulin-zhenbeitai","name":"Yulin Old Town and Zhenbeitai","name_zh":"榆林古城·镇北台","pinyin":"Yúlín Gǔchéng · Zhènběi Tái","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Yulin","lat":38.29,"lon":109.7496,"category":"heritage","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"A four-tier Ming watchtower on the Great Wall and an old garrison street under six towers","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yulin-zhenbeitai/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Yulin, in Shaanxi's far north, was a key Ming garrison town on the Great Wall frontier. In the old town, walk the main street that passes under six towers built across it between the 15th century and 1921, several of them since rebuilt. Then take a taxi about 5 km north to Zhenbeitai, a four-tier, brick-faced watchtower more than 30 metres high on Hongshan hill."},{"id":"tongwancheng","name":"Tongwancheng Ruins","name_zh":"统万城遗址","pinyin":"Tǒngwànchéng Yízhǐ","region_id":"610000","region":"Shaanxi","city":"Jingbian","lat":37.999,"lon":108.85,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Pale rammed-earth walls of a 5th-century Xiongnu capital at the edge of the Mu Us Desert","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tongwancheng/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"About 50 km north of Jingbian, on the north bank of the Wuding River at the southern edge of the Mu Us Desert, stand the walls of Tongwancheng, capital of the Xia state in the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439), when northern China was divided among short-lived kingdoms. Start at the site museum on the south bank, which covers the Xiongnu people and the city's history, then take the shuttle across to walk the ruins. The city later served as a regional seat under the Tang and was abandoned by the early Ming, after which drifting sand slowly buried it."},{"id":"qingdao-mount-lao","name":"Mount Lao (Laoshan)","name_zh":"崂山","pinyin":"Láo Shān","region_id":"370000","region":"Shandong","city":"Qingdao","lat":36.1402,"lon":120.6718,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A granite Taoist mountain rising straight from the Yellow Sea, east of Qingdao","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qingdao-mount-lao/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Mount Lao rises directly from the Yellow Sea coast east of Qingdao, its highest peak, Jufeng, reaching 1,132.7 m. Granite ridges, waterfalls, forest paths and Taoist temples are spread across six scenic zones, so you can mix a coastal temple visit with a proper mountain walk. It is regarded as one of the cradles of Taoism and makes an easy day out from the city."},{"id":"penglai-pavilion-water-city","name":"Penglai Pavilion and Water City","name_zh":"蓬莱阁与蓬莱水城","pinyin":"Péngláigé Yǔ Pénglái Shuǐchéng","region_id":"370000","region":"Shandong","city":"Yantai","lat":37.8263,"lon":120.7489,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A cliff-top tower of immortals and a Ming sea fortress on the Bohai shore","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/penglai-pavilion-water-city/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Penglai Pavilion, first built in 1061 on Danya Hill above the sea, ranks among China's Four Great Towers and is tied to the legend of the Eight Immortals. Below it, the Ming Penglai Water City, begun in 1376 as a coastal defence base, keeps its sea gate, harbour and walls, with the Ancient Ships Museum and the Qi Jiguang Memorial Hall inside. Together they make an easy, scenic coastal day trip from Yantai."},{"id":"shanghai-yu-garden","name":"Yu Garden & City God Temple","name_zh":"豫园与城隍庙","pinyin":"Yùyuán Yǔ Chénghuáng Miào","region_id":"310000","region":"Shanghai","city":"Shanghai","lat":31.2292,"lon":121.4875,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Ming-dynasty garden of rockeries and dragon walls beside a Taoist city temple","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shanghai-yu-garden/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Yu Garden is a Ming-dynasty private garden in the north-east of Shanghai's old walled city, divided by walls into a string of smaller gardens with rockeries, ponds, pavilions and halls. Next door the City God Temple, a working Taoist temple, and the busy Yuyuan bazaar make it an easy half-day of old Shanghai. The national listing also covers the nearby Chenxiang Pavilion, a working Buddhist nunnery."},{"id":"shanghai-museum-peoples-square","name":"Shanghai Museum","name_zh":"上海博物馆","pinyin":"Shànghǎi Bówùguǎn","region_id":"310000","region":"Shanghai","city":"Shanghai","lat":31.2302,"lon":121.471,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Ancient Chinese bronzes, ceramics, painting and jade, now shown at Shanghai Museum East","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shanghai-museum-peoples-square/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Shanghai's museum of ancient Chinese art has been housed since 1996 in a building on People's Square whose shape recalls an ancient bronze ding vessel. Since Shanghai Museum East opened in Pudong in 2024, the permanent galleries of bronzes, ceramics, painting, calligraphy, jade and more are shown there. From July 2026 to November 2027 the People's Square building shows only one large exhibition, on the ancient civilisations of the Americas."},{"id":"shanghai-oriental-pearl-tower","name":"Lujiazui","name_zh":"陆家嘴","pinyin":"Lùjiāzuǐ","region_id":"310000","region":"Shanghai","city":"Shanghai","lat":31.2417,"lon":121.4947,"category":"city","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Shanghai's skyline in a loop of river: spheres, a twisting tower and the Bund opposite","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shanghai-oriental-pearl-tower/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Lujiazui is the financial district on a bend of the Huangpu in Pudong, home to the Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower and the twisting Shanghai Tower. The 468-metre Oriental Pearl Tower, opened in 1995, has spheres strung on concrete columns, with an outdoor viewing corridor in the lower sphere and a glass-floored walkway at 259 metres in the upper sphere. From the riverfront here you look straight across the water at the Bund."},{"id":"former-french-concession","name":"Former French Concession","name_zh":"原法租界","pinyin":"Yuán Fǎzūjiè","region_id":"310000","region":"Shanghai","city":"Shanghai","lat":31.2063,"lon":121.4337,"category":"city","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day to a day","days":1,"tagline":"Plane-tree streets, garden villas and shikumen lanes for Shanghai's best city walk","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/former-french-concession/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The former French Concession is a district of tree-lined streets, apartment blocks and villas in the west of central Shanghai, now filled with cafés, small shops and galleries. Wukang Road and Anfu Road make the classic stroll, with Tianzifang's lanes and Xintiandi's rebuilt stone-gate houses nearby. It is Shanghai at human scale, in contrast to the Bund."},{"id":"shanghai-disney-resort","name":"Shanghai Disney Resort","name_zh":"上海迪士尼度假区","pinyin":"Shànghǎi Díshìní Dùjiàqū","region_id":"310000","region":"Shanghai","city":"Shanghai","lat":31.1457,"lon":121.6553,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Mainland China's first Disney theme park, with a castle, rides and nightly shows","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shanghai-disney-resort/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Shanghai Disney Resort in Pudong is a commercial theme-park resort that opened in 2016. Its main attraction is Shanghai Disneyland, which has eight themed areas, an Enchanted Storybook Castle, rides, parades and shows, alongside a shopping and dining district and two themed hotels. It suits families and Disney fans, and is not a cultural sight in the traditional sense."},{"id":"mount-wutai","name":"Mount Wutai","name_zh":"五台山","pinyin":"Wǔtái Shān","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Taihuai","lat":39.0077,"lon":113.5896,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Jun–Sep; roads to the terraces often close Nov–Apr","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Temples, a towering white stupa and yellow-tiled roofs below five flat-topped holy peaks","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mount-wutai/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Mount Wutai in north-east Shanxi is one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains, a high massif whose five flat-topped peaks, the 'five terraces', are identified with Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Dozens of Han Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist monasteries cluster around the valley town of Taihuai: walk from Xiantong Temple to the great White Stupa of Tayuan Temple, then climb to yellow-roofed Pusading. With a second day, ride a tourist minibus up to the bare, grassy terraces themselves."},{"id":"foguang-temple","name":"Foguang Temple","name_zh":"佛光寺","pinyin":"Fóguāng Sì","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Taihuai","lat":38.8689,"lon":113.3873,"category":"heritage","designations":["national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Tang timber hall of 857 on a quiet hillside, still filled with its Tang clay statues","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/foguang-temple/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On a west-facing hillside near Doucun, about 50 km by road south-west of Taihuai, Foguang Temple forms a separate part of the Mount Wutai World Heritage Site. Climb its terraces to the East Hall, a seven-bay timber hall built in 857 under the Tang dynasty, where some three dozen Tang clay statues stand on a long altar beside patches of Tang mural. Back in the courtyard are the Manjushri Hall of 1137 and Tang stone sutra pillars, one of them dated 857."},{"id":"datong-old-city","name":"Datong Ancient City","name_zh":"大同古城","pinyin":"Dàtóng Gǔchéng","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Datong","lat":40.0903,"lon":113.2952,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"Rebuilt Ming ramparts around genuine Liao–Jin temple halls and a glazed dragon screen","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/datong-old-city/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Datong was a 5th-century capital of the Northern Wei and later the Western Capital of the Liao and Jin dynasties, and its walled old town keeps rare temple halls of the 11th and 12th centuries. Start at Huayan Temple, with its Liao sutra hall of 1038 full of clay bodhisattvas and its huge Jin main hall of 1140, then see the 45-metre glazed-tile Nine-Dragon Screen and Shanhua Temple in the south of the old city. Finish on the rebuilt ramparts, a 7.24 km circuit."},{"id":"yingxian-wooden-pagoda","name":"Yingxian Wooden Pagoda","name_zh":"应县木塔","pinyin":"Yìngxiàn Mùtǎ","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Datong","lat":39.5653,"lon":113.182,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Liao-dynasty timber pagoda of 1056, five storeys outside and nine within","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yingxian-wooden-pagoda/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In the county town of Yingxian, south of Datong, the octagonal timber pagoda of Fogong Temple rises more than 65 metres, with five outer storeys hiding four mezzanine floors. Built in 1056 under the Khitan Liao dynasty, it is the oldest surviving all-wooden pagoda in China, and Guinness World Records lists it as the world's tallest wooden pagoda. Walk round it to study its 54 kinds of interlocking wooden bracket sets (dougong), then step into the ground floor to see the great seated Buddha."},{"id":"yanmen-pass","name":"Yanmen Pass","name_zh":"雁门关","pinyin":"Yànmén Guān","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Datong","lat":39.1871,"lon":112.8634,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Ming fortress gate on the Inner Great Wall, its ramparts running up the mountain ridges","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yanmen-pass/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"About 20 km north of Dai county town, Yanmen Pass guards a gap in the mountains on the Ming-dynasty Inner Great Wall, long a strategic route between the plains of northern Shanxi and the steppe frontier. Walk through the stone gates of the fort, look into the shrine to the general Li Mu, then follow the wall as it climbs the ridges to the watchtowers."},{"id":"jinci-temple","name":"Jinci Temple","name_zh":"晋祠","pinyin":"Jìncí","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Taiyuan","lat":37.7082,"lon":112.435,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Song-dynasty halls, painted clay maidservants and a cross-shaped bridge at the Jin springs","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jinci-temple/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"At the foot of Xuanweng Mountain, about 25 km south-west of central Taiyuan, Jinci is a spring-fed complex of shrines, pavilions, bridges and old trees added to over many centuries. Make for the Song-dynasty Hall of the Holy Mother, with wooden dragons coiled around its front pillars and about 40 life-size painted clay attendants inside, then walk over the cross-shaped Fish Pond Flying Bridge in front of it and find the reclining Zhou cypress beside the hall, said to be some 3,000 years old."},{"id":"shanxi-museum","name":"Shanxi Museum","name_zh":"山西博物院","pinyin":"Shānxī Bówùyuàn","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Taiyuan","lat":37.8648,"lon":112.5247,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Bronzes of the ancient state of Jin, Buddhist statues and tomb treasures on the Fen River","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shanxi-museum/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Shanxi's provincial museum, on the west bank of the Fen River in central Taiyuan, traces the province's history from prehistoric times to the Ming and Qing merchants, with further galleries of jade, ceramics, coins, painting and calligraphy. Give most of your time to the bronzes of the ancient state of Jin, the tomb figures of the Northern Wei and the Buddhist sculpture."},{"id":"qiao-family-compound","name":"Qiao Family Compound","name_zh":"乔家大院","pinyin":"Qiáojiā Dàyuàn","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Pingyao","lat":37.4061,"lon":112.4298,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Walled courtyards of a Qing merchant-banking family, the set for Raise the Red Lantern","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qiao-family-compound/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In Qiaojiabao village in Qi county, about 30 km north-east of Pingyao, the Qiao family's mansion is a walled cluster of grey-brick courtyard houses begun in the 1750s and later home to the merchant-banker Qiao Zhiyong (1818–1907). Walk from courtyard to courtyard and through rooms laid out with period furniture and displays on merchant life, farming customs and local festivals."},{"id":"wang-family-compound","name":"Wang Family Compound","name_zh":"王家大院","pinyin":"Wángjiā Dàyuàn","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Pingyao","lat":36.8964,"lon":111.8684,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Fortified courtyard 'castles' of a Qing merchant and official clan on a loess hillside","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wang-family-compound/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On a loess terrace above Jingsheng town in Lingshi county, the Wang family built a series of walled residential compounds between the late 17th and early 19th centuries, among the largest of Shanxi's merchant mansions. The open sections alone hold more than 100 courtyards and over 1,000 rooms: climb through the Gaojiaya and Red Gate Castle complexes and look closely at the carved stone, brick and wood, much of it based on folk themes."},{"id":"shuanglin-temple","name":"Shuanglin Temple","name_zh":"双林寺","pinyin":"Shuānglín Sì","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Pingyao","lat":37.1708,"lon":112.1251,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Some 2,000 painted clay Buddhas, saints and guardians crowded into ten temple halls","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shuanglin-temple/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"About 6 km south-west of Pingyao's walls and part of the Pingyao World Heritage Site, Shuanglin Temple hides behind a high, fortress-like wall, and its ten halls around three courtyards hold some 2,000 painted clay figures made between the 12th and 19th centuries, many of them in the Ming dynasty. Look for the arhats (Buddhist saints) in the Arhat Hall and, in the Thousand Buddha Hall, the relaxed Guanyin and the twisting guardian Weituo, the temple's best-known figure."},{"id":"mianshan","name":"Mount Mian","name_zh":"绵山","pinyin":"Miánshān","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Pingyao","lat":36.8735,"lon":111.9701,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Cliff temples, plank walkways and gorges on the mountain of the Cold Food legend","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mianshan/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"About 20 km south-east of Jiexiu, Mount Mian is a 75 sq km scenic area of gorges, cliffs and forest, with Buddhist and Taoist temples built into rock overhangs and caves. Ride the shuttle buses up to the cliff temples of Zhengguo and Yunfeng, the latter set in a huge natural cave, then walk the plank paths of Qixian Valley or the Sky Bridge along the cliff face."},{"id":"qikou-lijiashan","name":"Qikou Ancient Town and Lijiashan Village","name_zh":"碛口古镇·李家山村","pinyin":"Qìkǒu Gǔzhèn · Lǐjiāshān Cūn","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Qikou","lat":37.6412,"lon":110.7975,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Stone lanes of an old Yellow River port and a hillside village of stacked cave homes","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/qikou-lijiashan/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On the east bank of the Yellow River in Lin County, Qikou prospered in the Ming and Qing as a river port where cargo from upstream was unloaded and sent on overland; its old streets of warehouses, shops and merchants' courtyards still line the river below the Black Dragon Temple on the highest point of town. Walk the lanes and climb to the temple, then go a short way south to Lijiashan, where merchant families lived in yaodong (cave dwellings dug into the loess hillside) that rise more than ten levels up the slope, the roofs of one row serving as courtyards for the next."},{"id":"hukou-waterfall","name":"Hukou Waterfall","name_zh":"壶口瀑布","pinyin":"Húkǒu Pùbù","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Linfen","lat":36.1487,"lon":110.4515,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Mar–Apr, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"The muddy Yellow River squeezed into a roaring rock chute between Shanxi and Shaanxi","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hukou-waterfall/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On the Yellow River between Ji County in Shanxi and Yichuan County in Shaanxi, Hukou ('teapot spout') is where a river hundreds of metres wide is funnelled into a rock trough a few dozen metres across and pours into it in a churning brown cascade. On the Shanxi bank, paths and steps lead down to viewing points beside the falls and along the gorge below."},{"id":"guangsheng-temple","name":"Guangsheng Temple","name_zh":"广胜寺","pinyin":"Guǎngshèng Sì","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Linfen","lat":36.3015,"lon":111.8066,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A 13-storey glazed-tile pagoda above Yuan halls and murals, among them a theatre scene","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/guangsheng-temple/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In the Huoshan foothills about 17 km north-east of Hongtong town, Guangsheng Temple is in two parts: the Upper Temple on the hill, dominated by the 47-metre Flying Rainbow Pagoda, and the Lower Temple and Water God Temple beside the Huoquan spring below. Start with the pagoda, faced with yellow, green and blue glazed tiles, then walk down to the Lower Temple's Yuan-dynasty halls, rebuilt after an earthquake in 1303, and the murals of the Water God Temple."},{"id":"xiaoxitian","name":"Xiaoxitian Temple","name_zh":"小西天","pinyin":"Xiǎoxītiān","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Linfen","lat":36.7018,"lon":110.926,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct; avoid public holidays","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"A small hilltop hall crowded with nearly 2,000 painted clay Buddhist figures","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xiaoxitian/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"On Phoenix Hill at the western edge of Xi County town, Xiaoxitian ('Little Western Heaven', also called Qianfo'an) is a small late-Ming Buddhist temple laid out in two courtyards up the slope. Climb to the Mahavira Hall in the upper courtyard, only about 170 square metres, where nearly 2,000 painted clay figures, from about 3 metres tall to a few centimetres high, crowd the walls and beams, many of them 'suspended' sculptures fixed high up on iron wires."},{"id":"yongle-palace","name":"Yongle Palace","name_zh":"永乐宫","pinyin":"Yǒnglègōng","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Yuncheng","lat":34.7225,"lon":110.6876,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Yuan-dynasty Taoist murals in a temple moved piece by piece to make way for a reservoir","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yongle-palace/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Just north of Ruicheng town in Shanxi's far south-west, Yongle Palace (gong, 'palace', is a title for major Taoist temples) is dedicated to the immortal Lü Dongbin and holds about 1,000 square metres of murals from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Walk north from the gate to the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, where a procession of nearly 300 deities fills the walls, then on to the Chunyang and Chongyang halls, where the lives of Lü Dongbin and the Taoist master Wang Chongyang unfold in strip-cartoon-like scenes."},{"id":"xiezhou-guandi-temple","name":"Xiezhou Guandi Temple","name_zh":"解州关帝庙","pinyin":"Xièzhōu Guāndìmiào","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Yuncheng","lat":34.912,"lon":110.8426,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct; Guan Gong festival usually in September","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Gateways, halls and towers honouring the deified general Guan Yu in his home district","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xiezhou-guandi-temple/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In Xiezhou town, about 20 km south-west of central Yuncheng, this is one of the largest temples to Guan Yu, a general of the Three Kingdoms era (220–280) later worshipped as a god of loyalty and war. Begin in the Jieyi Garden, named after the oath of brotherhood Guan Yu swore with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, then follow the main axis north through a series of gateways and the main Chongning Hall to the Chunqiu Tower, where an upstairs statue shows Guan Yu reading the Spring and Autumn Annals."},{"id":"yuncheng-salt-lake","name":"Yuncheng Salt Lake","name_zh":"运城盐湖","pinyin":"Yùnchéng Yánhú","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Yuncheng","lat":35.0077,"lon":110.9994,"category":"nature","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Aug for the colours; midwinter for salt crystals","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Brine ponds that turn red, pink and green in summer, below the Zhongtiao Mountains","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yuncheng-salt-lake/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"Known in ancient times as the Hedong salt pond, Yuncheng Salt Lake covers about 130 square kilometres along the southern edge of Yuncheng city, below the Zhongtiao Mountains. Walk or cycle the north-shore greenway past brine ponds that in warm weather turn shades of red, pink, yellow and green, then visit the Chishen Temple, which honours the gods of the salt pond, the wind and the sun, and the Hedong salt museum nearby."},{"id":"huangcheng-xiangfu","name":"Huangcheng Xiangfu","name_zh":"皇城相府","pinyin":"Huángchéng Xiàngfǔ","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Jincheng","lat":35.5146,"lon":112.5773,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A walled hillside estate of courtyards, towers and gardens built by a family of officials","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huangcheng-xiangfu/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In Yangcheng County, about 25 km west of Jincheng, Huangcheng Xiangfu ('the chancellor's residence at Huangcheng') is the walled estate of the Chen family, a maze of courtyard houses, towers and gardens built mostly in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Enter through the outer town built for Chen Tingjing, then climb into the older hillside inner town and its tall defensive Hanshan Tower; the estate also houses a dictionary museum."},{"id":"taihang-grand-canyon","name":"Taihang Grand Canyon","name_zh":"太行山大峡谷","pinyin":"Tàihángshān Dàxiágǔ","region_id":"140000","region":"Shanxi","city":"Changzhi","lat":35.9453,"lon":113.5611,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Oct; autumn colours in October","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Sheer gorges in the Taihang Mountains, explored by boat, cliff path and cable car","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/taihang-grand-canyon/","verified":"2026-10-18","summary":"In the far east of Huguan County, near the border with Henan, the Taihang Grand Canyon is a national geopark of deep gorges cut into the Taihang Mountains, visited through separate scenic areas. Baquan Gorge combines a boat ride on a reservoir between cliffs with cliff-side walkways, a cable car and a cliff lift, while Hongdou Gorge, named after its Chinese yews, and Qinglong Gorge are walking routes past pools and waterfalls."},{"id":"wuhou-shrine-jinli","name":"Wuhou Shrine & Jinli Street","name_zh":"武侯祠与锦里","pinyin":"Wǔhóu Cí yǔ Jǐnlǐ","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":30.6483,"lon":104.047,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Cypress-shaded halls honouring Three Kingdoms heroes, with a bustling snack lane next door","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wuhou-shrine-jinli/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Chengdu's Wuhou Shrine honours Zhuge Liang, the celebrated strategist of the Three Kingdoms era, together with Liu Bei, the Shu Han emperor he served, whose tomb mound lies within the same walls. Halls of painted statues of ministers and generals, a Tang-dynasty stele and a curving red-walled lane shaded by bamboo make it China's best-known Three Kingdoms site. Next door, Jinli is a rebuilt Qing-style street of snack stalls, craft shops and teahouses."},{"id":"du-fu-thatched-cottage","name":"Du Fu Thatched Cottage","name_zh":"杜甫草堂","pinyin":"Dù Fǔ Cǎotáng","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":30.6622,"lon":104.0263,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov; plum blossom around Jan–Feb","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Bamboo groves and plum blossom where Du Fu, China's 'Poet-Sage', once lived","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/du-fu-thatched-cottage/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"This leafy park in western Chengdu honours Du Fu, the Tang-dynasty poet revered in China as the 'Poet-Sage', on the banks of the Huanhua Stream where he made his home. Paths wind through bamboo groves and plum trees to memorial halls, a gallery of great Chinese poets and a reconstructed thatched hut laid out as his study, bedroom and kitchen. It is one of the calmest places in the city to spend a morning."},{"id":"kuanzhai-alley","name":"Kuanzhai Alley","name_zh":"宽窄巷子","pinyin":"Kuānzhǎi Xiàngzi","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":30.6673,"lon":104.0492,"category":"city","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Three restored Qing-era lanes of courtyard gateways, teahouses and Sichuan snacks","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/kuanzhai-alley/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Kuanzhai Alley is a set of three parallel lanes (Wide Alley, Narrow Alley and Well Alley) lined with grey-brick courtyard houses and gateways in the old heart of Chengdu. Restored and reopened in 2008, they are now full of teahouses, snack stalls, craft shops and bars. It is busy and commercial, but a pleasant place to graze on Sichuan street food and watch the city stroll by."},{"id":"wenshu-monastery","name":"Wenshu Monastery","name_zh":"文殊院","pinyin":"Wénshū Yuàn","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":30.6779,"lon":104.0702,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"An active Buddhist monastery of incense-filled courtyards, a teahouse and vegetarian food","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/wenshu-monastery/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Wenshu Monastery is a working Buddhist monastery in central Chengdu, a sequence of halls and leafy courtyards busy with worshippers lighting incense. Locals linger over bowls of tea in its garden teahouse, and its vegetarian restaurant serves simple Sichuan-style dishes. The streets around it are lined with shops selling incense, prayer beads and other Buddhist supplies."},{"id":"peoples-park-teahouse","name":"People's Park & Heming Teahouse","name_zh":"人民公园与鹤鸣茶社","pinyin":"Rénmín Gōngyuán yǔ Hèmíng Cháshè","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":30.6594,"lon":104.0558,"category":"culture","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Bamboo chairs, jasmine tea and roving ear cleaners in Chengdu's favourite park","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/peoples-park-teahouse/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"People's Park is central Chengdu's green heart, where locals stroll, dance and while away the hours over tea. Its lakeside Heming Teahouse, open since 1923, is the classic place to sink into a creaking bamboo chair with a lidded bowl of jasmine tea while ear cleaners make their rounds with an array of metal picks. At weekends the matchmaking corner draws parents swapping details of their unmarried sons and daughters."},{"id":"dujiangyan","name":"Dujiangyan Irrigation System","name_zh":"都江堰","pinyin":"Dūjiāngyàn","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Dujiangyan","lat":31.0034,"lon":103.6093,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Oct; early April for the Qingming Water-Releasing Festival","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A 2,200-year-old waterworks that tamed the Min River without a dam and still runs today","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/dujiangyan/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Dujiangyan is the ancient water-management scheme that turned the Chengdu Plain into the 'Land of Abundance', and it still works after more than 2,200 years. Rather than damming the Min River, it splits the flow with a fish-mouth levee, spills floodwater and silt over a low weir and feeds the plain through a channel cut through solid rock. Walk from the Bottle-Neck Channel past the Flying Sand Weir to the Fish Mouth, then cross the swaying Anlan suspension bridge to the Two Kings Temple."},{"id":"mount-qingcheng","name":"Mount Qingcheng","name_zh":"青城山","pinyin":"Qīngchéng Shān","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Dujiangyan","lat":30.9003,"lon":103.5708,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A cradle of Taoism, where forest stairways climb past temples and cave shrines","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mount-qingcheng/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Mount Qingcheng, one of China's four famous Taoist mountains, rises from the western edge of the Chengdu Plain in a ring of deep-green peaks. On the Front Mountain, shaded stone stairways climb past temples, cave shrines and pavilions to Laojun Pavilion on the summit, with a lake ferry and cable car to save your legs. The separately ticketed Back Mountain is wilder and quieter, with gorges, waterfalls and cliff-side plank walkways."},{"id":"sanxingdui","name":"Sanxingdui Museum","name_zh":"三星堆博物馆","pinyin":"Sānxīngduī Bówùguǎn","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":31.0037,"lon":104.2166,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Goggle-eyed bronze masks and a towering bronze tree from a lost Bronze Age kingdom","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/sanxingdui/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"More than 3,000 years ago, a kingdom on the Chengdu Plain cast bronzes unlike anything else in ancient China: huge masks with protruding eyes, a life-size standing figure and a sacred tree nearly 4 metres tall. A vast new museum hall opened beside the excavation site in 2023, displaying more than 1,500 pieces, including gold masks and other treasures from six further sacrificial pits dug since 2020. In the restoration hall you can watch conservators piecing together the latest finds."},{"id":"luodai-ancient-town","name":"Luodai Ancient Town","name_zh":"洛带古镇","pinyin":"Luòdài Gǔzhèn","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Chengdu","lat":30.639,"lon":104.3286,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A Hakka market town on Chengdu's edge, with grand guild halls built by Qing-era settlers","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/luodai-ancient-town/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Luodai, on Chengdu's eastern fringe, is the heart of Sichuan's Hakka community, and many residents still speak the Hakka language. Its real treasures are a set of nationally protected Qing-era guild halls built by settlers from Guangdong, Jiangxi and Huguang (Hubei and Hunan), with carved opera stages and quiet courtyards. Expect a busy, commercial main street of snack stalls and souvenir shops; the halls and side lanes are the reward."},{"id":"huanglong","name":"Huanglong Scenic Area","name_zh":"黄龙","pinyin":"Huánglóng","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Songpan","lat":32.7432,"lon":103.833,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Jun–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Thousands of terraced travertine pools spill down a mountain valley like a golden dragon","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/huanglong/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Huanglong is a narrow valley in the Minshan mountains where calcium-rich water has built thousands of terraced travertine pools, tinted turquoise, jade and gold. A boardwalk follows the 3.6-km travertine flow past cascades and pool fields up to the Five-Colour Pool at 3,576 m. It makes a natural pairing with Jiuzhaigou, a couple of hours away."},{"id":"siguniang-mountain","name":"Mount Siguniang","name_zh":"四姑娘山","pinyin":"Sìgūniang Shān","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Rilong","lat":30.9962,"lon":102.8297,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Four 'sister' snow peaks above three alpine valleys of forest, meadow and lakes","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/siguniang-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Mount Siguniang is a cluster of four snow peaks in the Qionglai range, the highest of which, Yaomei Feng, reaches 6,250 m. Three valleys fan out from Rilong (now Siguniangshan Town): Shuangqiao, with a sightseeing-bus road to its far end; Changping, a long forested trekking valley; and Haizi, a tougher high-altitude hike to alpine lakes. The area is part of the UNESCO-listed Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries."},{"id":"taoping-qiang-village","name":"Taoping Qiang Village","name_zh":"桃坪羌寨","pinyin":"Táopíng Qiāngzhài","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Taoping","lat":31.557,"lon":103.4568,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A lived-in Qiang stone village of watchtowers, rooftop paths and hidden water channels","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/taoping-qiang-village/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Taoping is a Qiang village of tightly packed stone houses above the Zagunao River, its homes linked by dim alleys, covered passages and rooftop walkways, with tall stone watchtowers rising over them. Qiang families still live in the old village, and guesthouses in the new village next door make it easy to stay the night. In 2024 UN Tourism named it one of its Best Tourism Villages."},{"id":"songpan-ancient-town","name":"Songpan Ancient Town","name_zh":"松潘古城","pinyin":"Sōngpān Gǔchéng","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Songpan","lat":32.6404,"lon":103.5962,"category":"culture","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A walled market town of the old tea-and-horse trade, and a base for horse treks","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/songpan-ancient-town/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Songpan is a walled market town at about 2,850 m in the upper Min River valley, where Tibetan, Qiang, Hui and Han communities share the streets. Its restored ramparts and stone gateways make an easy stroll, and the town is a relaxed base for Huanglong and for horse treks into the surrounding hills."},{"id":"zoige-grassland","name":"Zoige Grassland & First Bend of the Yellow River","name_zh":"若尔盖草原与黄河九曲第一湾","pinyin":"Ruò'ěrgài Cǎoyuán yǔ Huánghé Jiǔqū Dì-yī Wān","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Zoige","lat":33.4796,"lon":102.4687,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Highland marsh, grazing yaks and the Yellow River looping across the plain at sunset","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/zoige-grassland/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"The Zoige grassland spreads across Sichuan's northern edge at around 3,500 m, part of one of the world's largest high-altitude marshes. Near Tangke, the Yellow River coils across the plain and swings almost completely round to head back into Qinghai, and a hillside stairway beside Suokezang Monastery gives the classic view, best at sunset. Boardwalks at Flower Lake (Huahu) lead out into the wetland, bright with flowers in early summer."},{"id":"hailuogou-glacier","name":"Hailuogou Glacier","name_zh":"海螺沟","pinyin":"Hǎiluógōu","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Moxi","lat":29.5533,"lon":101.9695,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Sep–Nov; Dec–Feb for hot springs","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"A glacier spilling down into fir forest beneath Mount Gongga, Sichuan's highest peak","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hailuogou-glacier/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Hailuogou is a glacier valley on the eastern flank of Mount Gongga, whose summit rises to more than 7,500 metres. Park buses wind up through fir forest to a cable car that rides over the ice to viewing decks facing an icefall more than 1,000 metres high, while the glacier's tongue reaches down below 3,000 metres among the trees. Stay in the small town of Moxi at the park gate, where hot-spring hotels make a perfect end to a cold day."},{"id":"kangding","name":"Kangding","name_zh":"康定","pinyin":"Kāngdìng","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Kangding","lat":30.0534,"lon":101.9625,"category":"culture","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"An old tea-trading town where Tibetan and Han cultures meet, made famous by a love song","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/kangding/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Kangding, Dartsedo in Tibetan, sits at about 2,560 metres in a steep valley where the Zheduo and Yala rivers meet, and for centuries it was where Tibetan and Han traders met too. Today it's a busy town of monasteries and riverside streets, and the natural first night's stop for travellers heading west onto the plateau. Climb Paoma Mountain, the hill of the famous 'Kangding Love Song', and make a side trip to Mugecuo, an alpine lake at nearly 3,800 metres in the forested mountains north-west of town."},{"id":"tagong-grassland","name":"Tagong Grassland","name_zh":"塔公草原","pinyin":"Tǎgōng Cǎoyuán","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Tagong","lat":30.3214,"lon":101.5207,"category":"nature","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Yak pastures, a revered monastery and the snow peak of Zhara Lhatse on the horizon","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tagong-grassland/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Tagong, Lhagang in Tibetan, is a small herding town on a sweeping grassland at about 3,700 metres, watched over by the 5,820-metre snow peak of Zhara Lhatse, also called Yala Snow Mountain. Visit Tagong Monastery and the golden Muya stupa, then walk out across the pastures. Many travellers pair it with Xinduqiao, about 30 km south, whose roadside villages and valleys are a favourite with Chinese photographers."},{"id":"danba-jiaju","name":"Jiaju Tibetan Village","name_zh":"甲居藏寨","pinyin":"Jiǎjū Zàngzhài","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Danba","lat":30.9431,"lon":101.8641,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Mar–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Painted Gyalrong Tibetan farmhouses on a mountainside, in a valley of ancient towers","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/danba-jiaju/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Jiaju is a village of about 140 Gyalrong Tibetan families, its stone houses whitewashed and banded in red and black and scattered among fields and orchards on a mountainside about 8 km from Danba town. Stay in a family homestay to see the village at dawn and dusk, then visit Suopo, a few kilometres south-east of town, where dozens of tall stone watchtowers rise among the houses. In 2005 Chinese National Geography magazine named Danba's Tibetan villages among the most beautiful in China."},{"id":"zigong","name":"Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs","name_zh":"自贡","pinyin":"Zìgòng","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Zigong","lat":29.3989,"lon":104.826,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jan–Feb (lantern festival); Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Jurassic dinosaurs, ancient brine wells and the lanterns that made the city famous","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/zigong/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Zigong, in southern Sichuan, grew rich on salt and rewards a stop on three counts. The Zigong Dinosaur Museum at Dashanpu is built over a dense bed of Middle Jurassic fossils, with bones displayed in the excavation pit just as they were found; in the old salt quarters, the ornate 18th-century Xiqin Guild Hall houses the Salt History Museum and the timber derrick of the Shenhai Well still stands. Each Spring Festival season the city's lantern festival fills Chinese Lantern World with giant illuminated figures."},{"id":"shunan-bamboo-sea","name":"Shunan Bamboo Sea","name_zh":"蜀南竹海","pinyin":"Shǔnán Zhúhǎi","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Yibin","lat":28.4691,"lon":104.9636,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Ridge upon ridge of feathery bamboo, laced with misty trails, waterfalls and cliff shrines","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shunan-bamboo-sea/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"The Shunan Bamboo Sea blankets some 120 square kilometres of low ridges in southern Sichuan with hundreds of bamboo varieties, led by towering moso. Roads and footpaths run through green tunnels to lakes, waterfalls and cliff-face galleries such as Xianyu Cave, and a cableway from the West Gate floats you over the canopy. It is cool, hushed and loveliest early in the morning, when mist hangs among the stems."},{"id":"xichang-qionghai","name":"Xichang & Qionghai Lake","name_zh":"西昌与邛海","pinyin":"Xīchāng yǔ Qiónghǎi","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Xichang","lat":27.8299,"lon":102.3122,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Nov–Apr (dry and sunny); late Jul–early Aug for the Torch Festival","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A sunny lakeside city at the heart of Yi country, ablaze with torches each summer","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xichang-qionghai/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Xichang, capital of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, sits at about 1,500 metres beside Qionghai, Sichuan's second-largest freshwater lake. Mild, sunny winters earn it the nicknames 'Little Spring City' and 'Moon City'; walking and cycling paths run through the lakeside wetlands, and forested Lushan above the western shore is dotted with old Buddhist and Taoist temples. It is also the main town of the Yi people, whose Torch Festival is the region's biggest celebration."},{"id":"jiayang-steam-train","name":"Jiayang Little Steam Train","name_zh":"嘉阳小火车","pinyin":"Jiāyáng Xiǎohuǒchē","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Leshan","lat":29.2675,"lon":103.8173,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Feb–Mar (rapeseed); Apr–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Most of a day","days":1,"tagline":"A coal-era steam train puffing through rapeseed fields to an old mining town","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jiayang-steam-train/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"The Jiayang railway is a 19.8 km, 762 mm narrow-gauge line in Qianwei County, south of Leshan, built in 1958–59 to haul coal out of the hills. Coal traffic has all but ended, yet small steam locomotives still pull open-windowed carriages over a zigzag, through tunnels and past terraced fields to the old mining town of Bajiaogou, making it one of the few steam passenger services left anywhere. In late February and March the valleys glow yellow with rapeseed."},{"id":"mengding-mountain","name":"Mount Mengding","name_zh":"蒙顶山","pinyin":"Méngdǐng Shān","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Ya'an","lat":30.0818,"lon":103.0457,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Misty tea terraces and an imperial tea garden where tea growing is said to have begun","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/mengding-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Mount Mengding rises to 1,456 metres on the rainy western rim of the Sichuan Basin, about 15 km from Ya'an, its slopes striped with tea terraces. Stone paths climb past temples and ancient ginkgos to the Imperial Tea Garden, a small walled plot near the summit, while a tea museum at the foot and teahouses along the way introduce local teas such as Mengding Ganlu, a delicate green tea."},{"id":"langzhong-ancient-city","name":"Langzhong Ancient City","name_zh":"阆中古城","pinyin":"Làngzhōng Gǔchéng","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Langzhong","lat":31.5789,"lon":105.9642,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Lantern-hung lanes laid out by feng shui in a loop of the Jialing River","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/langzhong-ancient-city/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Langzhong's old town is a chessboard of grey-tiled courtyard houses, lantern-hung lanes and temples, wrapped on three sides by the Jialing River and ringed by hills, a site long held up as a model of feng shui planning. Highlights include the shrine and tomb of the Three Kingdoms general Zhang Fei, the tiered Huaguang Tower and a Qing-dynasty imperial examination hall, now a museum of the old civil-service exams. Stay overnight to see the lanes lit up after the day-trippers leave."},{"id":"jianmen-pass","name":"Jianmen Pass","name_zh":"剑门关","pinyin":"Jiànmén Guān","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Guangyuan","lat":32.215,"lon":105.5635,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"The cliff-walled gate on the old road to Shu that Li Bai said one man could hold","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jianmen-pass/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Jianmen Pass is a narrow cleft where sheer cliffs part to let the ancient road from Shaanxi through into Sichuan, guarded by a rebuilt gate tower. A visit means a full day of steep stone stairways and cliff-hugging plank paths, with a cable car to save the climb. The adventurous can tackle the Yuannao Path, a trail without handrails up a near-vertical cliff, climbed in a helmet and safety rope."},{"id":"anyue-rock-carvings","name":"Anyue Rock Carvings","name_zh":"安岳石刻","pinyin":"Ānyuè Shíkè","region_id":"510000","region":"Sichuan","city":"Anyue","lat":30.2985,"lon":105.3158,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Tang and Song Buddhas carved into quiet hillsides, led by a 23-metre Buddha at rest","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/anyue-rock-carvings/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Anyue county, midway between Chengdu and Chongqing, holds one of China's largest concentrations of Buddhist cliff carvings, scattered across farmland and low hills. The star is Wofoyuan, where a 23-metre Tang-dynasty Buddha reclines on his left side near caves lined with carved scripture; Song-era highlights include the graceful Purple Bamboo Guanyin at Pilu Cave and the bodhisattvas of Huayan Cave. Crowds are thin, and so is public transport."},{"id":"jokhang-temple","name":"Jokhang Temple & Barkhor","name_zh":"大昭寺与八廓街","pinyin":"Dàzhāo Sì Yǔ Bākuò Jiē","region_id":"540000","region":"Tibet","city":"Lhasa","lat":29.6531,"lon":91.1322,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Apr–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Tibet's holiest temple, ringed by the pilgrim circuit of the Barkhor","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jokhang-temple/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"The Jokhang is regarded as the most sacred temple in Tibet, founded in the mid-7th century under King Songtsen Gampo and enlarged many times since. Its main chapel houses the Jowo Shakyamuni, a statue of the Buddha said to have been brought by Princess Wencheng, and the gilded roofs look out over Barkhor Square at the heart of Lhasa's old town. Pilgrims circle it day and night on the inner Nangkor and the outer Barkhor kora, which makes the streets around it the best place in Lhasa to watch living faith."},{"id":"yamdrok-lake","name":"Yamdrok Lake","name_zh":"羊卓雍措","pinyin":"Yángzhuó Yōngcuò","region_id":"540000","region":"Tibet","city":"Shannan","lat":29.1878,"lon":90.6172,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A turquoise, snow-ringed sacred lake revealed from the Kamba La pass","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yamdrok-lake/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Yamdrok Yumtso, one of Tibet's three great sacred lakes, is a long, branching turquoise lake ringed by snow mountains and believed to be the dwelling of a protector goddess. Viewpoints on the road along its northern shore look out over the water and its islands, home to many water birds. Samding Monastery, headed by a female incarnate lama, stands on a peninsula near Nagarzê on the south-western side."},{"id":"shigatse-tashilhunpo-monastery","name":"Tashilhunpo Monastery","name_zh":"扎什伦布寺","pinyin":"Zhāshílúnbù Sì","region_id":"540000","region":"Tibet","city":"Shigatse","lat":29.2671,"lon":88.8705,"category":"heritage","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Oct","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"The seat of the Panchen Lamas, with a 26-metre gilded Maitreya and a giant thangka wall","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shigatse-tashilhunpo-monastery/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Tashilhunpo, on the southern slope of a hill on the west side of central Shigatse, was founded in 1447 by Gendun Drup, later recognised as the first Dalai Lama, and has been the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas since the 17th century. One of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school, it is a working monastery whose halls include a chapel with a giant gilded bronze statue of Maitreya and the tomb stupas of successive Panchen Lamas. Pilgrims walk the circuit path around its walls, and a tall wall above the complex is used to display giant thangkas at festivals."},{"id":"bortala-sayram-lake","name":"Sayram Lake","name_zh":"赛里木湖","pinyin":"Sàilǐmù Hú","region_id":"650000","region":"Xinjiang","city":"Bole","lat":44.6011,"lon":81.3907,"category":"nature","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep","time_needed":"One day","days":1,"tagline":"Xinjiang's largest, highest alpine lake, ringed by steppe and ancient tombs","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/bortala-sayram-lake/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Sayram Lake, roughly 450 km² at about 2,070 m in the northern Tian Shan, is Xinjiang's largest and highest alpine lake, fed by rain, glacial meltwater and groundwater and ringed by steppe. A 79 km road circles the shore, and around the lake lie some 2,800 ancient tombs – stone cairns, stone-slab graves and earth mounds from the Bronze Age to the Sui and Tang – protected as a national heritage site. A large new visitor centre opened in January 2025."},{"id":"xinyuan-nalati-grassland","name":"Nalati Grassland","name_zh":"那拉提草原","pinyin":"Nàlātí Cǎoyuán","region_id":"650000","region":"Xinjiang","city":"Xinyuan","lat":43.3182,"lon":84.0266,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jun–Sep","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A green plateau meadow where Kazakh herders ride beneath spruce slopes","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xinyuan-nalati-grassland/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Mountain grassland, spruce forest and river valleys at the eastern end of the Ili valley in the heart of the Tianshan, with a planned area of about 1,840 km² and an average altitude of about 1,800 m. Tourism here began in the 1980s, and the developed part links some 27 viewpoints by scenic roads, with home visits to herding families, hiking, photography and stargazing camps among the activities. The scenic area lies close to the Duku Highway, a popular mountain drive across the Tianshan."},{"id":"green-lake-kunming","name":"Green Lake Park","name_zh":"翠湖公园","pinyin":"Cuìhú Gōngyuán","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Kunming","lat":25.0515,"lon":102.7025,"category":"city","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round; gulls roughly Nov–Mar","time_needed":"2–3 hours","days":0.5,"tagline":"Kunming's favourite park, where wintering gulls wheel over willow-lined causeways","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/green-lake-kunming/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Green Lake is a small park in central Kunming, its four ponds divided by willow-lined causeways and arched bridges and dotted with pavilions. Locals gather here from early morning to sing, dance and play music, and from about November to March thousands of black-headed gulls winter on the water, swooping over the bridges as visitors feed them. The streets around it, by the old campus of Yunnan University, are some of the most pleasant in the city to wander."},{"id":"western-hills-dragon-gate","name":"Western Hills & Dragon Gate","name_zh":"西山龙门","pinyin":"Xīshān Lóngmén","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Kunming","lat":24.9522,"lon":102.639,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Apr","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"Taoist grottoes and a single-file ledge path cut into a cliff high above Dianchi Lake","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/western-hills-dragon-gate/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"The Western Hills rise steeply along the western shore of Dianchi, Kunming's great lake, cloaked in pine forest and dotted with temples. The highlight is Dragon Gate, where the Taoist halls of Sanqing Ge give way to a chain of shrines, tunnels and stairways cut into a sheer cliff, along a ledge path so narrow that people pass in single file. Along the road up, the Buddhist temples of Huating and Taihua sit in quiet woods."},{"id":"dongchuan-red-land","name":"Dongchuan Red Land","name_zh":"东川红土地","pinyin":"Dōngchuān Hóngtǔdì","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Huashitou","lat":25.9258,"lon":103.0678,"category":"nature","designations":[],"unesco":false,"best_time":"May–Jun, Sep–Dec","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Hills of brick-red soil patched with green, gold and white crops like a giant quilt","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/dongchuan-red-land/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In the hills of Dongchuan, north-east of Kunming, farmers till terraces of brick-red soil and plant them with wheat, potatoes, buckwheat and rapeseed. Fresh-ploughed earth and growing crops make a patchwork of red, green, gold and white that changes from season to season. Scattered viewpoints such as Damakan, Luoxiagou and Yuepu'ao draw photographers at sunrise and sunset."},{"id":"chengjiang-fossil-site","name":"Chengjiang Fossil Site & Fuxian Lake","name_zh":"澄江化石地与抚仙湖","pinyin":"Chéngjiāng Huàshídì yǔ Fǔxiān Hú","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Chengjiang","lat":24.6345,"lon":102.9674,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Half-billion-year-old fossils of early animals beside one of China's deepest lakes","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/chengjiang-fossil-site/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"In the hills near Chengjiang, south-east of Kunming, mudstones laid down in a shallow sea some 518 million years ago hold some of the earliest complex animals ever found, with soft parts such as guts and even nerves preserved. The fossil beds became a World Heritage Site in 2012, and a large museum built beside them displays the finds with models and interactive galleries. Just to the south, Fuxian Lake, one of the deepest freshwater lakes in China, is good for a lakeside stroll or a night by the water."},{"id":"luoping-rapeseed","name":"Luoping Rapeseed Fields","name_zh":"罗平油菜花海","pinyin":"Luópíng Yóucàihuā Hǎi","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Luoping","lat":24.9396,"lon":104.3949,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Late Feb–mid-Mar","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Seas of golden rapeseed flowers swirling around karst peaks and spiral terraces","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/luoping-rapeseed/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Each late winter the farmland around Luoping, in eastern Yunnan, turns gold as rapeseed comes into flower across a vast area. At Jinjifeng, hundreds of small conical karst hills rise from the yellow fields, while at Niujie the crops curl around sinkholes in concentric 'snail shell' terraces. North-east of town, the Jiulong Waterfalls tumble down a staircase of ten falls in a Bouyei farming valley."},{"id":"jianshui-ancient-town","name":"Jianshui Ancient Town","name_zh":"建水古城","pinyin":"Jiànshuǐ Gǔchéng","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Jianshui","lat":23.6192,"lon":102.8295,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Apr","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A Ming gate tower, a great Confucian temple and grilled tofu on the way to Yuanyang","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jianshui-ancient-town/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Jianshui is an old garrison town in southern Yunnan, entered through Chaoyang Tower, a massive Ming gate tower of 1389, and laced with lanes of courtyard houses and old stone wells. In town, the highlights are a Confucian Temple that ranks among China's largest and the Zhu Family Garden, a late-Qing merchant mansion of 214 rooms and 42 courtyards. A vintage tourist train runs west to the 17-arch Double Dragon Bridge and the mansion village of Tuanshan."},{"id":"puzhehei","name":"Puzhehei","name_zh":"普者黑","pinyin":"Pǔzhěhēi","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Qiubei","lat":24.1382,"lon":104.119,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Jul–Aug (lotus); also Sep–Oct","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Lotus-filled lakes winding between hundreds of green karst hills, explored by boat","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/puzhehei/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Puzhehei is a lake-dotted karst landscape in south-east Yunnan, where dozens of linked lakes and channels wind between hundreds of steep, rounded limestone hills. In summer the shallows turn into vast lotus fields, and visitors drift between Yi villages by boat, then climb Qinglong Shan for sunset over the water. It is a national 5A scenic area, hugely popular with Chinese holidaymakers and still little known abroad."},{"id":"yuanmou-earth-forest","name":"Yuanmou Earth Forest","name_zh":"元谋土林","pinyin":"Yuánmóu Tǔlín","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Yuanmou","lat":25.8481,"lon":101.7575,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Nov–Apr","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Ochre clay pillars carved by rain in a hot, dry valley, glowing at sunrise and sunset","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/yuanmou-earth-forest/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"North of Kunming, the Yuanmou Basin holds fields of eroded clay and sandstone pillars, fins and towers, the tallest around 40 metres, banded in ochre, red, grey and white. Wumao, the most developed site, has paths leading down into a maze of gullies, while Langbapu sees fewer visitors. The colours are richest in low sun, so come early or late."},{"id":"shaxi-ancient-town","name":"Shaxi Ancient Town","name_zh":"沙溪古镇","pinyin":"Shāxī Gǔzhèn","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Shaxi","lat":26.3196,"lon":99.8521,"category":"heritage","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A caravan town on the old Tea Horse Road, with a village market every Friday","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/shaxi-ancient-town/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Shaxi is a quiet Bai farming town in a valley between Dali and Lijiang, and its old core, Sideng, is often called the last surviving caravan market on the Tea Horse Road. The cobbled square is framed by a Qing-dynasty opera stage, old caravan inns and the Ming-dynasty Xingjiao Temple, and a short stroll leads out through the east gate to the arched stone Yujin Bridge over the Heihui River. It is far calmer than Dali or Lijiang, especially once the day-trippers leave."},{"id":"weishan-ancient-town","name":"Weishan Ancient Town","name_zh":"巍山古城","pinyin":"Wēishān Gǔchéng","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Dali","lat":25.2325,"lon":100.3065,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"An unhurried Ming grid town south of Dali, where the Nanzhao kingdom was born","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/weishan-ancient-town/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Weishan is a low-key old town an hour south of Dali, laid out in the early Ming dynasty as a grid of lanes lined with wooden shopfronts, courtyard houses and snack stalls. Gongchen Tower, the massive north gate, and Xinggong Tower at the centre can both be climbed for views over the tiled roofs. Outside town, the forested slopes of Weibao Mountain are scattered with Taoist temples."},{"id":"tiger-leaping-gorge","name":"Tiger Leaping Gorge","name_zh":"虎跳峡","pinyin":"Hǔtiàoxiá","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Qiaotou","lat":27.1922,"lon":100.1141,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"A classic two-day trail high above one of the world's deepest gorges","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tiger-leaping-gorge/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest river canyons on Earth: the Jinsha, as the upper Yangtze is called here, churns through a slot some 15 km long, with the snow peaks of Jade Dragon and Haba rising around 3,800 m above the water on either side. The High Trail, a two-day walk past Naxi villages, waterfalls and family-run guesthouses, is one of China's great treks. Non-hikers can take stairways and cliffside walkways down to the roaring rapids at the Upper Gorge viewing area."},{"id":"lugu-lake","name":"Lugu Lake","name_zh":"泸沽湖","pinyin":"Lúgū Hú","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Luoshui","lat":27.73,"lon":100.7504,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Oct","time_needed":"2–3 days","days":2.5,"tagline":"A clear alpine lake on the Yunnan–Sichuan border, home to the matrilineal Mosuo","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/lugu-lake/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Lugu Lake is a deep, clear alpine lake at about 2,700 m, ringed by forested mountains and dotted with small islands, with its western shore in Yunnan and its eastern shore in Sichuan. Stay in Luoshui village or on the slender Lige peninsula, then paddle out in a dugout 'pig-trough' canoe to Liwubi Island and its small temple, or ride the chairlift up Gemu Goddess Mountain for views over the whole lake. On the Sichuan side, a long bridge and boardwalks cross the reed beds of the Grass Sea."},{"id":"meili-snow-mountain","name":"Meili Snow Mountain & Yubeng","name_zh":"梅里雪山与雨崩","pinyin":"Méilǐ Xuěshān yǔ Yǔbēng","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Deqin","lat":28.4463,"lon":98.8803,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Oct–Nov, May–Jun","time_needed":"2 days; 3–4 with Yubeng","days":3.5,"tagline":"Yunnan's highest peak, sacred and unclimbed, with a trek to a village beneath its glaciers","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/meili-snow-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"The Meili Snow Mountains form a wall of ice-hung peaks above the Mekong gorge near Deqin, crowned by Kawagarbo (6,740 m), the highest summit in Yunnan. Feilaisi, across the valley, faces the whole range at dawn, and a trail from Mingyong village climbs to viewpoints over a glacier tumbling towards the river. The classic trek leads to Yubeng, a Tibetan village in a high valley beneath the peaks, with day hikes on to a sacred waterfall and a glacier lake."},{"id":"baishuitai","name":"Baishuitai","name_zh":"白水台","pinyin":"Báishuǐtái","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Shangri-La","lat":27.5021,"lon":100.0337,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–Apr, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Milk-white travertine terraces below Haba Snow Mountain, sacred to the Naxi Dongba faith","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/baishuitai/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Baishuitai, the 'White Water Terrace', is a hillside of creamy travertine terraces in Sanba township, south-east of Shangri-La, where mineral-rich spring water spills from one shallow pool to the next. Covering about 3 sq km at around 2,380 m on the northern foot of Haba Snow Mountain, it is one of the best-known formations of its kind in China. Boardwalks climb beside the terraces, and it makes a scenic detour on a slow route between Shangri-La and Tiger Leaping Gorge."},{"id":"nujiang-grand-canyon","name":"Nujiang Grand Canyon & Bingzhongluo","name_zh":"怒江大峡谷与丙中洛","pinyin":"Nù Jiāng Dàxiágǔ yǔ Bǐngzhōngluò","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Bingzhongluo","lat":28.0044,"lon":98.6353,"category":"nature","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov","time_needed":"3–4 days from Liuku","days":3.5,"tagline":"A deep, remote river canyon of Lisu and Nu villages, mission churches and a horseshoe bend","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/nujiang-grand-canyon/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"North of Liuku, the Nu River, the upper Salween, cuts a deep, narrow canyon between the Gaoligong and Biluo ranges, both topping 4,000 m, and a road follows it for nearly 300 km past Lisu and Nu villages perched on the slopes. At its northern end, around Bingzhongluo, the valley widens into farmland on broad river terraces, the river swings round a cliff in the horseshoe-shaped First Bend, and walkers can follow an old caravan path cut into the cliffs to the Nu village of Wuli."},{"id":"xishuangbanna-jinghong","name":"Xishuangbanna & Jinghong","name_zh":"西双版纳与景洪","pinyin":"Xīshuāngbǎnnà yǔ Jǐnghóng","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Jinghong","lat":21.9933,"lon":100.8054,"category":"culture","designations":["4A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Nov–Apr; Water-Splashing Festival around 13–15 April","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"Gilded Dai temples, a Mekong-side night market and April's Water-Splashing Festival","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xishuangbanna-jinghong/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Jinghong, the capital of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan's tropical far south, straddles the Mekong (here called the Lancang) and has a distinctly Southeast Asian feel. Its Dai people, close kin of the Thai, Lao and Shan, follow Theravada Buddhism: visit the gilded halls and stupas of the main Buddhist temple and Manting Park, once the Dai kings' royal garden, then cross to the riverside Gaozhuang quarter, where the sprawling Starlight Night Market fills with grilled fish, tropical fruit and crafts after dark."},{"id":"xishuangbanna-botanical-garden","name":"Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden","name_zh":"中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园","pinyin":"Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn Xīshuāngbǎnnà Rèdài Zhíwùyuán","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Jinghong","lat":21.9174,"lon":101.2728,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Year-round; Nov–Apr is drier, May–Jun for fireflies","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"China's largest botanical garden, with giant banyans, palms and true primary rainforest","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/xishuangbanna-botanical-garden/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this vast research garden beside the town of Menglun holds more than 13,000 kinds of plants in themed collections, from palms, bamboos and orchids to towering banyans and aquatic plants. The landscaped West Park is easiest to tour by electric cart, while the East Park protects a patch of primary tropical rainforest threaded with shady walking trails. It is one of the best places in China to see what a real tropical forest looks like."},{"id":"jingmai-mountain","name":"Old Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain","name_zh":"景迈山古茶林","pinyin":"Jǐngmài Shān Gǔ Chálín","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Lancang","lat":22.1737,"lon":99.9989,"category":"culture","designations":["4A","national"],"unesco":true,"best_time":"Mar–Apr (spring tea picking), Oct–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":2,"tagline":"Ancient tea trees grown beneath the forest canopy around Blang and Dai villages","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/jingmai-mountain/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"On a forested ridge in Lancang county, in Pu'er prefecture, old tea trees grow scattered beneath taller forest trees instead of in clipped rows. Nine traditional Blang and Dai villages of wooden stilt houses sit among five old tea forests, and in 2023 the landscape became the world's first tea-themed World Heritage Site. Walk the forest paths, drink the local Pu'er tea in a village tea house and stay the night to watch the mist lift off the hills."},{"id":"heshun-ancient-town","name":"Heshun Ancient Town","name_zh":"和顺古镇","pinyin":"Héshùn Gǔzhèn","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Tengchong","lat":25.0136,"lon":98.4574,"category":"culture","designations":["5A","national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Apr","time_needed":"Half a day to 1 day","days":1,"tagline":"A hillside village of courtyard homes built on the fortunes of traders in Burma","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/heshun-ancient-town/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Just outside Tengchong, Heshun's grey-tiled courtyard houses climb a hillside above a stream, stone bridges and rice fields, linked by lanes paved with volcanic stone. Generations of its men traded in Burma and beyond, and their money built clan ancestral halls, memorial archways, mansions mixing Chinese and Western styles and the Heshun Library, founded in 1928 and often called China's largest village library. It is a gentle place to wander and to spend a night."},{"id":"tengchong-volcanoes-rehai","name":"Tengchong Volcanoes & Rehai Hot Springs","name_zh":"腾冲火山与热海","pinyin":"Téngchōng Huǒshān yǔ Rèhǎi","region_id":"530000","region":"Yunnan","city":"Tengchong","lat":25.2224,"lon":98.5012,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Oct–Apr; winter is best for soaking","time_needed":"1 day","days":1,"tagline":"Climb a dormant volcano's crater, then watch a boiling spring cook your eggs","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/tengchong-volcanoes-rehai/","verified":"2026-10-19","summary":"Dozens of dormant volcanoes ring Tengchong: in the volcano park north of town you can climb the stairway up Dakongshan to look into its crater, or float above the cones in a hot-air balloon. South-west of the city, Rehai ('Hot Sea') is a steaming valley of vents, spouting springs and mineral crusts around the Big Boiling Pot (Dagunguo), a pool about 6 m across that churns at around 96°C. End the day with a soak in a hot-spring pool."},{"id":"hangzhou-lingyin-temple","name":"Lingyin Temple & Feilai Feng","name_zh":"灵隐寺","pinyin":"Língyǐn Sì","region_id":"330000","region":"Zhejiang","city":"Hangzhou","lat":30.2428,"lon":120.0967,"category":"culture","designations":["national"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"Half a day","days":0.5,"tagline":"A working Chan monastery beside a hillside of 1,000-year-old rock carvings","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hangzhou-lingyin-temple/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Lingyin, the 'Temple of the Soul's Retreat', is one of China's best-known Chan Buddhist monasteries, tucked into a wooded valley just west of West Lake. Its great halls are lively with incense and chanting, and across a stream the limestone cliff of Feilai Feng is carved with Buddhist figures from the tenth century onwards. Together they make a half-day that mixes living religion with early sculpture."},{"id":"chunan-qiandao-lake","name":"Qiandao Lake","name_zh":"千岛湖","pinyin":"Qiāndǎo Hú","region_id":"330000","region":"Zhejiang","city":"Hangzhou","lat":29.5954,"lon":119.0099,"category":"nature","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A drowned mountain valley of 1,078 forested islands, an hour by train from Hangzhou","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/chunan-qiandao-lake/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Qiandao Lake, or Thousand Island Lake, is a vast reservoir in Chun'an county where hilltops rise from clear green water as forested islands. Cruises from Qiandaohu town visit a selection of islands, with lookouts, short walks and a sense of space that city-weary visitors enjoy. It works as a quiet overnight escape rather than a checklist of sights."},{"id":"zhoushan-mount-putuo","name":"Mount Putuo","name_zh":"普陀山","pinyin":"Pǔtuó Shān","region_id":"330000","region":"Zhejiang","city":"Zhoushan","lat":29.9763,"lon":122.3895,"category":"culture","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Apr–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A Buddhist island in the East China Sea, home of Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/zhoushan-mount-putuo/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"One of the four sacred mountains of Chinese Buddhism, Putuo is a small island of about 12.5 km² where dozens of temples and nunneries sit among camphor groves, rocky headlands and sandy beaches. It is the holy site of Guanyin, and pilgrims, monks and day-trippers share the same lanes. Come for the combination of sea air, incense and temple architecture, which feels quite unlike the inland Buddhist mountains."},{"id":"hengdian-world-studios","name":"Hengdian World Studios","name_zh":"横店影视城","pinyin":"Héngdiàn Yǐngshìchéng","region_id":"330000","region":"Zhejiang","city":"Jinhua","lat":29.1791,"lon":120.2981,"category":"city","designations":["5A"],"unesco":false,"best_time":"Mar–May, Sep–Nov","time_needed":"1–2 days","days":1.5,"tagline":"A working film backlot of palaces and old streets, run as a theme park","url":"https://www.atlasofchina.com/places/hengdian-world-studios/","verified":"2026-10-29","summary":"Hengdian is a commercial film-studio complex in Dongyang, where full-size replica palaces and old streets are used for Chinese films and television dramas and opened to paying visitors. The 5A area includes Guangzhou and Hong Kong Streets, the Palace of the Qin King, the Song-dynasty city of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a Ming and Qing palace complex modelled on the Forbidden City, and the Dream Valley theme park. It is more a day of staged spectacle than of heritage, with live shows, rides and sometimes a crew shooting a scene."}]}