Start where you land

Imperial capital, hutong breakfasts and the easiest Great Wall day trips. Big, but the subway makes it simple — and almost everything books with a passport number.

The Bund at dawn, art-deco lanes, and Pudong's towers across the river. China's easiest first city — English-friendly, and the world's largest metro stitches it all together.

Pandas, teahouses and the best food in China — the easy-going gateway west to Leshan, Mount Emei and the road to Tibet.

Thirteen dynasties of capital: the Terracotta Army, a city wall you can cycle, and the Tang-era buzz of the Muslim Quarter after dark.

Misty West Lake, tea hills and lakeside temples — the Jiangnan idyll, just 45 minutes from Shanghai by bullet train.

Karst peaks and a Li River cruise down to Yangshuo, then days cycling rice paddies and bamboo-rafting the Yulong — low budget, high payoff.

China's millennia-old trading port and the capital of Cantonese food — slow yum-cha mornings, Lingnan courtyards, and the Pearl River glowing at night.

Harbour, the Peak and a thousand dai pai dong minutes apart — its own border, currency and open internet make it the softest landing into, or out of, China.

China's startup metropolis next to Hong Kong — glass towers, design lofts, beaches and theme parks, an easy border hop away.

The 8D mountain megacity — cliffside towers, a monorail through a building, river fog and the spiciest hotpot in China.

The City of Eternal Spring and gateway to Yunnan — the Stone Forest, lakes, and the bullet train on to Dali and Lijiang.

The Venice of the East — UNESCO gardens, canal old towns and silk, 25 minutes from Shanghai by bullet train.

Capital of six dynasties, wrapped in the world's longest city wall — Ming tombs, lantern-lit Qinhuai nights and deep history.

Yunnan's mellow heart — a Bai old town between Erhai Lake and the Cangshan range. Cycle the shore and slow down.

A UNESCO Naxi old town of canals and cobbles under Jade Dragon Snow Mountain — gateway to Tiger Leaping Gorge.

China's Ice City — the world's biggest ice-and-snow festival, Russian onion domes and −25°C magic in the far northeast.

China's most relaxed seaside city — the car-free island of Gulangyu, a seafront campus, temples and serious café culture.

Red-roofed German old town meets Yellow Sea beaches and the home of Tsingtao beer — the most drinkable seaside city.

The rooftop of the world — the Potala, the Barkhor pilgrim circuit and thin mountain light. Needs a permit and a plan.

The quartz-sandstone pillars that inspired Avatar — Wulingyuan, a glass bridge and Tianmen's cliff-edge skywalk.

The Yellow Mountains — granite spires over a sea of clouds, sunrise summits, and the Hui villages of Hongcun below.

The Silk Road oasis — Mogao cave murals, singing sand dunes and Crescent Lake on the rim of the Gobi.

The most revered of China's five sacred peaks — a midnight stair climb to a summit sunrise above Tai'an.

Rainbow-striped Danxia hills in the Hexi Corridor — banded sandstone and big Silk Road skies, best at golden hour.

China's best-preserved walled Ming city — intact ramparts, old banking houses and lantern-lit lanes after dark.

A riverside town of stilt houses on the Tuo — wooden bridges, lantern-lit nights and Miao culture, near Zhangjiajie.

China's far-west Silk Road crossroads — a labyrinth old town, the Id Kah Mosque and a famous Sunday bazaar.

China's ancient capital for 13 dynasties, home to the UNESCO-listed Longmen Grottoes and the country's first Buddhist temple.