Destinations by Region

A September 2026 travel report puts Changsha first among China's autumn poetry destinations, with hotel interest up 58 percent. Where the colour actually is, and how to plan around the holiday rush.

Kaifeng rebuilt itself after floods and conquests, and its Song-dynasty reputation still shapes the city. A first-visit plan for the old capital on the Henan plain.

Hangzhou is a city built around a lake and a set of hills, with tea villages, temples and a slow food culture within reach of the metro. How to spend three days well.

Nanjing is the capital that history kept rewriting: Ming walls, a republican-era boulevard, major museums and one of China's best eating cities. A three-day first-visit plan.

Putuoshan is one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains — and an island, with temple complexes, pilgrim paths and beaches between them. How to reach it, what to see in order and the overnight that changes the trip.

Two hours from Chengdu sit two UNESCO sites: an irrigation system that still waters the plains after 2,000 years, and a Taoist mountain of shaded stone paths. A day-trip plan that fits both without rushing.

Kashgar is where China stops looking like China: an old town of mud-brick lanes, workshops and tea houses on the old Silk Road, with a Sunday livestock market unlike anything else in the country. A first-visit plan for the far west.

Two hours from Beijing, the Qing emperors built an entire summer empire: a hill-and-lake resort the size of a small city, ringed by Tibetan-style temples. A day-trip plan for the resort, the temples and the escape itself.

Jiuzhaigou is China's most beautiful valley: terraced lakes in impossible blues, waterfalls every few minutes' walk, and a shuttle system that makes it all walkable. How the park works, what to see in order and when to go.

The hutongs are Beijing's other half: gray-brick alleys, courtyard homes and lake-side life running alongside the imperial monuments. A self-guided day on foot — the lanes that still feel local, the stops that matter and the food between.

Datong is the frontier capital where China's great Buddhist cave art was born: fifty thousand figures carved into a sandstone cliff, a temple hanging off a gorge wall, and a rebuilt old city that rewards an unhurried day.

Leshan's giant river-carved Buddha and Mount Emei's golden summit sit two hours apart from Chengdu, and they split perfectly across two days: the Buddha by water on day one, the mountain and its monastery night on day two.

Xiamen is China's easiest island city: a walkable old quarter, a ten-minute ferry to car-free Gulangyu, and seafood streets that run all evening. A three-day plan for families, couples and small groups alike.

Qingdao pairs a German-built old town with real beaches and China's most famous beer. A first-visit plan: the old town, the coast, the breweries, and where the city fits a wider coastal trip.

Hot pot is the headline, but Chengdu eats all day: street breakfasts, noodle shops, mapo tofu at its source, teahouse snacks and night markets. A visitor's route into Sichuan food — spice included.

While the north freezes, Hainan swims: Sanya's crescent bays, island food and resort culture make it China's winter beach capital. Which bay fits you, what high season changes, and how to build the escape.