A wetland scenic area across the river from downtown Harbin, Sun Island is home to the world’s largest permanent indoor ice and snow theme park, plus epic snow sculpture displays during the Harbin Ice Festival—but you don't have to like the cold to have a good time. Other attractions include landscaped gardens, animal displays, a Russian-style village, and small museums and galleries.
This is one well-preserved city wall. Built around 1370 during the Ming Dynasty, it was incredibly important for the defense of Pingyao, which was once the main banking center in China. The wall has six gates, resembling a turtle from above, so Pingyao has been nicknamed the “Tortoise City,” a city of immortality.
The Ancient City of Pingyao is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in China, dating back to the Zhou Dynasty, and rebuilt in 1370. Over the centuries, it served as a financial center during different dynasties, kind of like the Qing Dynasty’s Wall Street. The architecture here dates to Imperial China, and there are photo opportunities at every turn in this UNESCO-protected ancient city.
A fairytale version of Russia featuring replicas of famous and lost buildings, Volga Manor sits on a river just outside Harbin. The tourist resort is particularly magical in winter when snow decks the trees and frames the onion domes and red-brick buildings, and travelers can enjoy activities like sledding, skating, and saunas, as well as Russian-themed shows, art, and eats.
The impressive Shenyang Imperial Palace, also called Mukden Palace, dates back to the Jin and Qing Dynasties in the 17th and 18th centuries when it was the center of Manchurian power before it moved to Beijing. The palace has 114 buildings, all fine examples of traditional Chinese palatial architecture that are well worth a visit.
The beating heart of historic Harbin, Harbin Central Street (Zhongyang Pedestrian Street), extends for almost 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) through a bewildering mishmash of European architectural styles—a legacy of the city’s Russian influences. It’s particularly special after dark in ice festival season, with the gateway and ice sculptures lit up for the night.
Beijing Opera (Peking Opera) has been around since the late 18th century and was originally performed for the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty. It has enjoyed something of a revival since the Cultural Revolution, with visitors from around the globe coming to see the highly stylized costumes, dances, and singing.
A space-age structure with a sloping grass roof that echoes Mongolia’s rolling steppes, Hohhot’s Inner Mongolia Museum boasts more than 100,000 exhibits spanning eras from dinosaurs to space launches, plus cultural treasures. However, it’s paleontology that draws most travelers here, particularly the 85-foot (26-meter) nurosaurus skeleton and the wooly rhinoceros.
This Tibetan Buddhist temple—all that remains of what was once a much larger temple complex—is one of Hohhot’s most interesting places of worship. Its five pagodas are decorated with more than 1,500 colorful Buddha reliefs, and on one of the walls you’ll see a unique Mongolian astronomical map, carved in stone.
Xinghai Square is one of Dalian’s top attractions, and one of China’s largest public squares. It’s a massive area with gardens, walking paths, a fountain show, amusement park, and restaurants—plus it’s right on the water, so you have some great views of Xinghai Bridge, especially at night, and you can rent boats there, too.
The Imperial Vault of Heaven, one of three main structures of the UNESCO-listed Temple of Heaven, is a top Beijing attraction. Built during the Ming Dynasty in 1530 and rebuilt in 1752, the Imperial Vault of Heaven once housed the tablets of the emperors’ ancestors, used in rituals and ceremonies, and the tablet of the God of Heaven.
Nowhere is China’s rapid modernization more apparent than at the China World Trade Center (Guomao) in Beijing. Completed in 2010, the complex houses Beijing’s tallest skyscraper, the China World Trade Center Tower III, as well as upscale hotels, shopping complexes, apartments, convention space, and office buildings.
Miaoying Temple (Miaoying Si, White Stupa Temple, or White Dagoba Temple) features a famous white dagoba, or stupa, that towers 167 feet (51 meters) over the neighboring hutongs in Beijing’s Xicheng District. Although the present temple was built in the Ming Dynasty, the stupa itself dates from the late 1200s and is the oldest and tallest such structure in China.
Positioned just north of its sibling, the Drum Tower (Gulou), Beijing’s Bell Tower (Zhonglou) kept time for the city until 1924. The tower was originally built in the 13th century, but its current incarnation dates to the 18th century. The grey stone structure holds an enormous bell and a tea house and offers spectacular views.
From his wife’s opium den to his fancy American car and private racecourse, the Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo (Puppet Emperor’s Palace) delivers mesmerizing insights into the life of Puyi, China’s last emperor. He lived here from 1932 until 1945 as ruler of Manchukuo, a theoretically independent state in northeastern China that was actually under Japanese control.
Follow the sizzle of wok frying and the shouts of vendors to this quintessential after-dark hotspot in Beijing. The pedestrianized Donghuamen Night Market teems with locals and tourists who come for the adventurous street food, including skewers of scorpion, snake, starfish, or lamb testicles (as well as tamer options).
The Beijing Aquarium (Beijing Haiyangguan)—the largest inland aquarium in China—is part of the Beijing Zoo. Anyone interested in marine life will enjoy experiencing its Amazon rain forest pavilion, coral reef, shark aquarium, and marine mammal exhibits complete with daily sea lion and dolphin shows.
Beijing may not be known for environmental values, but Wild Duck Lake National Wetland Park (Yeyahu) outside the city is flying the flag for natural restoration. Migrating birds and indigenous plants adorn the flat wetlands that fringe Wild Duck Lake, while a network of cycle paths make it a pleasant place to explore.
A high green mound set in landscaped gardens with statues, steles, museums, and a tent for dance performances, the Zhaojun Tomb is one of the biggest Han Dynasty tombs, standing as high as a 10-story building. It’s named for a famous beauty and Chinese heroine, Wang Zhaojun, who married a chief of the nomadic Xiongnu people in 33 BC.
A huge Tibetan Buddhist temple complex, Dazhao Temple is one of Hohhot’s signature sights and draws pilgrims from across China. Worshippers bearing prayer wheels process past a blue-faced Medicine Buddha, a silver model of Sakyamuni (Buddha in human form), a stupa clad in prayer flags, a selection of deities, and an array of colorful murals.
A truly global outdoor gallery, the Changchun World Sculpture Park features hundreds of carvings from a myriad of countries and cultures, including Inuit, Māori, and Maya pieces, set amid parkland around a lake. Four separate museums feature East African Makonde wood carvings, works by Chinese sculptor Wei Xiaoming, and art from calligraphy to installations.
Offering fresh forest air and reflecting waters in summer, the Jingyue Lake reservoir turns into a Chinese winter wonderland once the waters freeze over, with ice skating, sleigh rides, snow sculptures, and more. The centerpiece of Jingyue Lake National Forest Park, it’s a great way to get out into nature from Changchun.
One of China’s oldest and most impressive temple complexes, Jinci Temple—just southwest of Taiyuan in the Shanxi province—was constructed some 1,500 years ago. Formerly used for ancestral worship, the sprawling temple complex contains nearly 100 buildings scattered across a verdant garden setting. It’s also celebrated for its wealth of ancient trees, including a 3,000-year-old cypress.
From May to June, Changchun’s Peony Garden comes alive with opulent blossoms in shades of pink, white, and fuchsia, and the sweet scent of peony fills the air. Paired with classical Chinese backdrops of bridges, streams, pavilions, and woodland, it’s a lovely but fleeting display of flowers that play an important role in Chinese culture.
