Beijing

With its skyscrapers and relatively wealthy population, the capital epitomizes the best of modern China, but the past lives on in some splendid imperial icons, including the graceful palaces of the vast Forbidden City and the extraordinary circular Temple of Heaven. In the center, look out for the dwindling number of hutongs, the narrow alleyways that make up much of old Beijing. There are also China’s top restaurants and nightlife to take advantage of, from teahouse theaters and acrobatic shows to clubs that only play the deepest house. A short drive from the capital, you’ll also find the vast, clean parks of the Imperial Summer Palace, and the stone guardians and chambers of the Ming Tombs.

The big Wall

This extraordinary feat of civil engineering began in the 5th century and stretched 6,000 km across China. The most accessible remaining sections are near Beijing, including in the very popular Badaling and the less commercialized Simatai and Jinshanling.

xian

Enriched by the ancient Silk Road trade, Xi’an was one of the ancient capitals of China. Its most famous sight is the Terracotta Army, life-size figurines that guard the tomb of the country’s first emperor, Win Shi Huang, but there is much more to Xi’an, including its two 1,300-year-old Tang pagodas and the remains from the Neolithic. in nearby Banpo. The famous Shaolin Si kung fu temple is a day’s drive east near Luoyang. Bustling with visitors, it’s a huge tourist trap, filled with shops selling weapons and tracksuits, and with wushu students showing off their skills.

the li river

Looking like a Chinese scroll painting, a procession of tall and wonderfully eroded limestone peaks flanks 85 km of the Li River in the southwestern province of Guangxi. Make your base in the city of Guilin with tour packages or in the quieter town of Yangshuo, then sail or rent a bike and pedal through the countryside.

Carry off

With more than thirteen million inhabitants, Shanghai is the most populous city in the world. Its lively, style-conscious nightlife is second only to Beijing’s, and the shopping is fantastic, with good deals on bespoke clothing and plenty of glamorous malls to peruse. Although the city has few must-see sights, the beautifully presented Shanghai Museum offers the perfect introduction to China’s phenomenal artistic heritage. Shanghai also sports pockets of impressive European ART Deco architecture along its riverfront esplanade, a legacy of its time as a former colonial concession, strategically located near the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s cityscape is one of the modern wonders of the world, best seen at night as you cross the harbor on the Star Ferry, but taking the famous tram up to Victoria Peak gives you another classic view. Shopping is one of Hong Kong’s main pastimes, in the overly glitzy malls, the chaotic Temple Street night market, and the more traditional Stanley Market. Hong Kong is also the place for dim sum brunches like no other. Away from the commercial hub, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Shatin offers fine temple statues and hill views, and there’s historical interest in the Qing Dynasty walled village of Kat Hing Wai. Or spend a day or two poking around the less-developed outer islands, exploring Lantau’s small beaches and forested hills, or visiting the former Portuguese enclave of Macau.

three throats

The last stage of the 6,400-kilometer-long Yangtze River, in Chinese, and is still used as a transportation artery. Take a ferry across the Three Gorges, between the Sichaouan city of Chongqing and Yichang in Hubei, a three-day, 250-kilometre journey through ancient villages, turbulent shoals and dramatic cliff-top scenery, some under threat from plunge into a huge and highly controversial dam project due for completion in 2009

Tibet

The “roof of the world” is a place of red-robed monks and austere monastery complexes set against the breathtaking vastness of the Tibetan plateau. It’s also plowing under heavy-handed Chinese military rule, but even the Dalai Lama, in exile in India, encourages people to visit and see the region firsthand. Take your time, and after seeing the mighty Potala Place, the top tourist spot in Tibet, in the capital Lhasa, head to the less-visited monasteries of Shigatse and Gyantse. By 2008, access to Tibet will be possible via what will be the spectacular Qinghai-Tibet railway, the highest in the world. It will cover more than 1,100km from Golmud to Lhasa, mostly at an altitude of 4,000m or higher, using pressurized compartments to prevent altitude sickness.

Guangxi and Guizhou

The rural regions of these provinces are among the poorest in China, but the minority communities scattered across the fabulous tiered mountains here are worth exploring, especially the Dong Village of Zhaoxing in northern Guangxi. The Miao hill tribe settlements around Kaili in Guizhou host riotous festivals throughout the year, complete with bullfights, dances, dragon boat races and fantastic costumes.

Kashgar

An oasis city in the deserts of northwest China, Kashgar is populated by Turkic-speaking Ulgir Muslims. Its appeal lies in its remoteness from the rest of China, and its Sunday bazaar, an Arabian Nights-style event that draws 100,000 people, including thousands from neighboring Krygystan, Turkistan, Tajkistan and Pakistan, to trade in everything, from camels and carpets to plastic buckets

The Silk Road

Follow the ancient Silk Road between China and Central Asia, a 3,000-kilometre-long train and bus route from Xi’an to Kashgar. Along the way, you can see remote sections of the Great Wall, Qinghai Hu bird-watching lake, astonishing eighth-century Buddhist rock art at Dunghuang, the pleasant oasis town of Turpan, and the scorching sands of the Taklamakan Desert.

Hangzhou and Suzhou

Once a vital trade center on the 1,800-kilometre-long Grand Canal in eastern China, Hangzhou is located around the famous beauty spot of Xi Hu, or West Lake, surrounded by pagodas and forested hilly greenery, its surface dotted with fishing boats. It’s also worth traveling 60km north to Suzhou, another city with canals and an abundance of traditional Chinese gardens.

Changbai Shan Nature Reserve

Located right on China’s border with North Korea, Changbai Shan is hard to reach even when the road opens up in summer, but the rewards are the stunning blue Tian Chi – “Heaven’s Lake” – and the slim chance that you might see siberian tigers Chances are, you’ll be able to sample some of the rare mushrooms and medicinal herbs that locals harvest here and serve in restaurants; Changbai Shan ginseng is considered the best in China.

Yunnan in Sichuan

China’s diverse foggy region, these two provinces stretch from Tibet to the steaming rainforests of Xishuangbanna, and also share borders with Laos, Vietnam, and Burma. The best places are Sichuan’s holy mountain Emei Shan, where you can sleep and eat in the dozen or more Buddhist temples; the city of Dali in Yunnan, with its ethnic Bai population and a vivid landscape of mountains and lakes; Lijiang, a charming maze of cobbled alleyways and wooden houses, home to the Naxi people of Tibetan descent; and the austere and dramatic landscape of Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest canyon in the world, with a drop of 2.5 kilometers.

chaozhou

A timidly traditional city in the south of Guangdong province, Chaozhou has 19th-century streets and even older architecture, including the city walls and the beautiful Kaiyuan Temple, that make it a joy to explore. Foodies should also try Chaozhou’s restaurants, famous for their bitters, refreshing gongfu tea, and fruit-flavored sauces.