Things to Do in China

China is the scale — the Wall, the Army, cities of twenty million, a rail network larger than the rest of the world’s — and the practical friction is real and handled. This page groups the country by region and interest, then points you to the tours page.

Beijing and the Great Wall

The capital and the first four nights of every route: the Forbidden City (980 buildings, a passport-linked booking days ahead, closed Mondays), Tiananmen Square at dawn for the flag, the Temple of Heaven with the retirees dancing in its park, the Summer Palace by boat, the hutong lanes by rickshaw and a courtyard lunch, the Lama Temple, the 798 art district, Peking duck at Siji Minfu or Da Dong. And the Wall: Mutianyu (90 minutes, restored, a cable car, fewer people than Badaling) before nine or after three, or Jinshanling (three hours, wilder) for a half-day walk along the ridge. Never the 1–7 October holiday.

Xi’an and the Terracotta Army

The Tang capital and the start of the Silk Road, five hours from Beijing by high-speed rail or a two-hour flight: the Terracotta Army in its three pits (pit 1 first, then 3, then 2, with a guide), the Ming city walls by bicycle at dusk, the Muslim Quarter’s night market for the hand-pulled noodles, the lamb and the roujiamo, the Great Mosque, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and the Shaanxi History Museum. Two nights, and the leg that turns a Beijing–Shanghai trip into a China trip.

Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou

The modern country at full volume: the Bund at night with Pudong’s towers across the river, the French Concession’s plane-tree streets and its cafes, the Yu Garden and the old city, the Shanghai Museum, the Jin Mao or the Shanghai Tower for the view, Nanjing Road, and xiaolongbao at their source. Suzhou’s classical gardens and canals are 25 minutes by rail; Hangzhou’s West Lake, the Longjing tea hills and the Lingyin temple an hour; the water towns of Zhujiajiao and Tongli a day. Three nights, the international airport, and the end of the classic route.

Guilin, Yangshuo and the karst south

The landscape on the 20-yuan note: the Li River by cruise boat from Guilin to Yangshuo through the limestone towers, then Yangshuo itself for bamboo rafts on the Yulong river, cycling through the paddies, the Moon Hill climb, the Impression Liu Sanjie light show, and the Longji rice terraces two hours north. Three nights, a flight from Shanghai or Xi’an, and the China of the scroll paintings.

Chengdu, Sichuan and the pandas

The giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base at eight, when they eat; the Leshan Giant Buddha, 71 metres, by boat; Mount Emei’s monasteries and its monkeys; the Sichuan opera’s face-changing; the tea houses of the People’s Park; and the food — hotpot, mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, the numbing pepper — which is the reason many come. Two or three nights, a flight from anywhere, and the gateway to Tibet and Yunnan.

Yunnan, Zhangjiajie and the Yangtze

The second-trip China. Yunnan for Lijiang’s old town and the Naxi, Dali’s lake and the Bai, the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek and Shangri-La’s monastery; Zhangjiajie for the sandstone pillars that inspired Avatar, the glass bridge and the Tianmen mountain cable car; the Yangtze cruise through the Three Gorges from Chongqing to Yichang over three or four nights; Pingyao’s intact Ming walled town; Huangshan’s granite peaks in cloud; and Hong Kong, a separate territory with its own entry rule, the harbour, the Peak, the dim sum and the ferries, as the exit for many.

Tibet and the Silk Road

Lhasa’s Potala Palace and the Jokhang, Ganden and Sera monasteries, and the road to Everest base camp, by permit arranged through an operator with acclimatisation days built in; and west of Xi’an, the Silk Road — Dunhuang’s Mogao caves by timed guided entry, the Gobi’s dunes, Turpan’s oasis and Kashgar’s Sunday market. The far China, for a third trip, escorted.

By interest