China is one of the 10 most visited countries in the world for its many tourist attractions, ranging from its traditional and modern cities, to its ancient culture.
Let's know in this article the best 50 tourist places in China.
1. Macau
Macau is China's “Las Vegas”, a tourist spot for fans of gambling and gambling; one of the richest cities in the world and with one of the highest standards of living.
The Sands and the Venetian are some of its most famous casinos. In the city you can also visit the Macao Tower, a 334 meter high building.
Also read our guide on the 20 things to see and do in Las Vegas
2. The Forbidden City, Beijing
The Forbidden City is one of the tourist spots in China that was once a royal palace that housed 24 emperors. An almost sacred place not accessible to the public.
The palace is a sample of the extravagance with which the constructions were made in ancient times. Each of the more than 8,000 rooms with gold-painted ceilings has a special and elegant design, with walls painted in red and yellow colors.
This palace complex is next to the Kremlin (Russia), the Banking House (United States), the Palace of Versailles (France) and the Buckingham Palace (United Kingdom), one of the most important palaces in the world.
It was occupied for more than 500 years by the Ming and Qing dynasties, whose end came in the year 1911 of the 20th century. Today it is a World Cultural Heritage declared by UNESCO and the Chinese know it colloquially as "The Palace Museum", one that holds treasures and historical and cultural relics of the country.
3. Towers of the Fortress, Kaiping
The fortress towers in Kaiping, a city just over 100 kilometers southwest of Guangzhou, were erected in the early 20th century to protect the population from robbery and war, and at the same time as a manifestation of opulence.
There are a total of 1,800 towers in the middle of the rice fields of the city, which you can visit on a tour of its streets.
4. Shangri-La
This tourist place is in China, not in Tibet. A site of myths and stories to the northeast of Yunnan province.
It used to be called Zhongdian, a name that changed to its current name in 2002. Getting there means taking a road trip from Lijiang or taking a plane flight.
It is a small and quiet place that can easily be traveled on foot to see the Potatso National Park or the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery.
5. Li River, Guilin
The Li River is 83 kilometers long, long enough to admire the surrounding landscape such as beautiful hills, farmers' villages, cliff areas and bamboo forests.
National Geographic magazine has this enormous body of water as one of its "Ten Most Important Aquatic Wonders of the World"; a river visited by personalities such as former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. and by the creator of Microsoft, Bill Gates.
6. The Great Wall of China, Beijing
It is the largest ancient architecture on the planet and with its little more than 21 kilometers in length, the longest wall in the world. It is a work so great that it is possible to see it from the moon.
This feat of ancient world architecture, one of the New Seven Wonders of the Modern World and a World Heritage Site, was erected as a defensive wall against foreign offensives that wanted to invade Chinese territory.
Its builders undertook the work over kilometers of rugged territories, with steep mountainous areas and adverse climates.
The Great Wall goes from the western border of China to its coast, with landscapes of incomparable beauty that serve as tourist attractions.
The best preserved areas are close to the city of Beijing.
7. Yellow Mountains
The Huang Mountains or Yellow Mountains are towards the eastern part of China, between Shanghai and Hangzhou, whose peaks are the best known in the country.
These mountains provide the tourist with five unforgettable spectacles such as sunrises, seas of clouds, strange rocks, hot springs and pine trees with twisted and bent trunks.
The region serves as the seat of one of China's top three national parks: Yellow Mountain National Park. The other two are the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and the Jiuzhaigou National Forest Park.
8. Shanghai
Shanghai is the economic "heart" of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world with just over 24 million inhabitants.
Also called the "Asian Seattle" has great and numerous attractions to visit, such as the Bund neighborhood, an area with colonial features that mixes the European style of the 19th century with the current modern buildings.
In the Fuixing Park you will be able to admire a gigantic area of trees, the largest in the entire area and get to know the financial tower of the city, an example of large buildings and modern constructions.
Shanghai can be reached by plane and if you are in the country, by the national train system.
9. Huangguoshu waterfall
Waterfall 77.8 meters high and 101 meters long, which makes it the highest in the Asian continent and therefore, one of the tourist attractions in China.
This natural monument also known as the "Cascade of the yellow fruit tree" can be visited any month of the year, but the best season for it is June, July and August, when it is seen in all its splendor with an impressive flow of water of 700 cubic meters per second.
You can access this waterfall from Huangguoshu Airport, 6 kilometers away.
10. Terracotta Warriors
The Terracotta Warriors remained hidden for more than 2,000 years until 1974, when farmers digging the earth stumbled upon them, an army of more than 8,000 stone statues of soldiers and horses.
The carved figures are average in size for the time and were built by the emperor, Qin Shin Huang, in the Qing Dynasty, to ensure the eternal fidelity and commitment of his soldiers.
In addition to being declared the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Terracotta Warriors were also declared a World Cultural Heritage in 1987 and are considered one of the most important archaeological sites on the planet.
The thousands of these figures are in Shanxi province, very close to Xi’an, which can be reached by bus.
11. Guanyin statue
At 108 meters high, Guanyin is the fourth largest statue in China; one of its tourist spots in Hainan's Nanshan Cultural District, 40 kilometers away from downtown Sanya.
The "Buddhist Goddess of Mercy" has three sides oriented, one to mainland China, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
The image was blessed in 2005 and is also considered one of the tallest statues on earth.
12. Saint Sophia Cathedral
Orthodox church in the city of Harbin, the largest in the east and southeast of the Asian continent.
The neo-Byzantine-style temple was built with 721 square meters and 54 meters high, by Russians expelled from their country who settled in the region.
It was built at the beginning of the 20th century so that at the end of the war between Russia and Japan, the Orthodox community would have a place of worship and prayer.
The Communist Party used it for 20 years as a deposit. Now it is a museum where the architecture, art and heritage of the city are exhibited.
13. Giant pandas, Chengdu
Pandas are native to Chengdu, a tourist spot in China that has the Panda Valley in Dujiangyan, the Bifengxia Panda Base and the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center, the best place to see these attractive omnivorous mammals from China.
Chengdu Panda Center is north of the city, while the Bifengxia Base is a two-hour drive from Chengdu, where there are many of these animals in their natural environment.
14. Potala Palace, Tibet
It is the official residence of the Dalai Lama, where the well-known White Palace is also located, a place where the religious and political life of Buddhists takes place.
The Potala Palace is in the Himalayan mountains at more than 3,700 meters high and is the religious, spiritual and sacred center of the Chinese and of the practices to honor Buddha. The train service goes there.
The so-called "Palace of Eternal Wisdom" is in the autonomous region of Tibet and is one of the tourist places in China.
15. Yuyuan Garden
It is one of the most famous gardens in China built as a symbol of love on the part of Pan Yunduan, governor of Sichuan, towards his elderly parents. It is north of Shanghai, near the old wall.
One of its most photographed attractions is the large jade stone in the center of the garden, which exceeds more than 3 meters.
16. Brahma Palace
The Brahma Palace was built 88 meters high at the foot of "Little Lingshan Mountain", near Taihu Lake and the Lingshan Giant Budha.
This majestic work was built in 2008 for the Second World Forum of Buddhism. Inside, it has a luxurious theme park with gold decorations and a lot of glamor, all surrounded by mountains and rivers.
17. Wuyuan
Small town at the crossroads of Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces in eastern China, with fields full of beautiful flowers and a laid-back lifestyle, which makes it a great attraction for tourists.
18. City wall of Xi’an
In addition to the Great Wall, China has the city wall of Xi’an, a wall erected more than 2,000 years ago as a symbol of power and to defend the country from foreign invasions.
The portions of this wall that can be admired today date from the year 1370, when the Ming dynasty reigned. At that time the wall was 13.7 kilometers long, 12 meters high and 15 to 18 meters wide.
On a bike ride in the surroundings you will see unique panoramas of the ancient capital of China.
19. Xi’an
Ancestral city included in the ancient Silk Road (commercial routes of the Chinese silk business since the 1st century BC) with records of the passage of the Qin dynasty.
It is a place with extensive cultural value and great archaeological appeal for having the famous Terracotta Warriors and the Great Mosque, a building from the Tang dynasty that shows the influence and relevance of the Islamic region in this Chinese region.
Xi’an can be reached by plane from anywhere in the world or by train if you are already in the country.
20. Beijing
With more than 21 million 500 thousand inhabitants, the capital of China is one of the most populated cities in the world; a city of myths, legends and a lot of folklore.
Beijing is also one of the most industrialized cities on the planet, specifically ranked 11th out of 300 cities by GDP in 2018.
The Great Wall, the Forbidden City and a wide range of restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues are in the capital, a city where memories of the glorious past of the dynasties are in harmony with modernism and progress.
21. Mount Wuyi
This World Heritage Site is a tourist place in China from where the doctrines and precepts of Neo-Confucianism were spread, a doctrine of wide influence in Asia from the 11th century.
The mountain is 350 kilometers to the northwest of the city of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province and can be reached by flights from Shanghai, Xi’an, Beijing or Guangzhou.
The drift bamboo raft ride on the Nine Bend River is one of the other attractions here.
22. West Lake, Hangzhou
The "West Lake", also known as "paradise on earth", has a unique landscape due to a very well structured design that makes it one of the tourist places in China.
West Lake was conceived as a manifestation of Chinese love for landscaped parks dedicated to recreation. On three sides it is surrounded by mountains, while on the fourth it shows the silhouette of the distant city.
A pagoda and an arch bridge in the purest Chinese style, together with the large groves, islands of special greenness and colorful hills, complement this magnificent landscape.
23. Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves comprise more than 400 underground temples of murals and literary scrolls from ancient times, in Gansu province.
The walls of the temples are covered by hundreds of murals dedicated to Buddhism, believed to have been built by the Buddhist, Lo-tsun, after he had a vision of thousands of Buddhas shining like flares from a cliff.
24. Tigre Salto Gorge
Chain of mountainous gorges north of the city of Lijiang, in the province of Yunnan, a place where you can practice hiking and other adventure sports.
Its name is due to the legend of a tiger that jumped through the longest point of the canyon to flee from a hunter. There you will find a route that can be traveled from the city of Quiaotou to the Daju region.
25. Yangshuo
Yangshuo City is surrounded by mountains and mist; an extraordinary region of beautiful natural landscapes with lots of bamboo and other exotic species.
It is a tourist place in China that is visited to admire the most original hills and rivers of the country, in an excursion made by the river in bamboo boats.
Yangshuo also has in the Kanataka district the Dodda Alada Mara, which is more than 1,400 years old, and the ancient Longtan Village, whose construction during the Ming dynasty dates back 400 years.
26. Hongcun Ancient Village
900-year-old town characterized by classic buildings and its peaceful atmosphere, which makes it a place of inspiration for poets, painters and art students.
Hongcun Ancient Village is 70 kilometers from Huangshan City, Anhui Province, with quartzite rock streets. You can see the work of farmers in the rice fields, as well as the reflection of the facades of the houses in the waters of the lake.
27. Suzhou
Suzhou is one of the most beautiful cities in China, winner in 2014 of an award that recognized its urbanism, one composed of traditional Chinese architecture.
It is in Jiangsu province with a population of more than 10 million people, which have the Silk Museum and the Humble Administrator's Garden, examples of the history and tradition of the city.
Walking the streets of Suzhou is like traveling to the period of the Tang or Qi dynasties, with which it is known what urbanism was like in ancient China.
28. Hangzhou
This city on the border with Shanghai is one of the tourist spots in China, capital of Zhejiang province, on the banks of the Qiantang River.
Hangzhou was home to one of the most important ports in the country during the various Chinese dynasties, as it was surrounded by lakes and temples.
Among its places of interest is Lake Xihu, one of the most beautiful with an extensive and varied flora, and the Yue Fei military mausoleum, a military man of great relevance during the Song dynasty.
29. Yalong Bay
Beach in the province of Hainan over 7.5 kilometers long on the southern coast of Hainan, where surfing and other water sports are practiced.
30. Fenghuang
Another of China's tourist attractions is Fenghuang, a city founded more than 1,300 years ago with 200 residential buildings, 20 streets and 10 alleys, all built during the Ming dynasty.
The city, whose houses are built on stilts, is very visited by followers of art and literature, who are going to pay tribute to the Chinese writer, She Congwen, author of the "Frontier City".
Fenghuang means, phoenix.
31. Mount Lu
This Unesco World Heritage Site (1996) is considered an emblem of China's spirituality and culture, and more than 1,500 painters and poets from periods of both ancient China and modern China have turned to find inspiration. .
One of these artists is Li Bai, a member of the Tang dynasty and Xu Zhimo, who in the 1920s traveled to this peaceful mountain, which he used as a source of illumination to make his works.
32. Qinghai Lake
The Qinghai is the largest salt lake in China. It is 3,205 meters above sea level in Qinghai province, a height that does not prevent it from being one of the most touristic places in the country.
Once a year and during June and July, groups of people arrive who have made the route pedaling their bicycles.
The Qinghai Lake Tour National Cycling Race is held every summer.
33. Temple of Heaven
Heaven is the largest temple of its kind in the entire country, which makes it one of the tourist places in China. A place equally considered the most mystical in the entire Asian nation.
The shrine is in the center of Tiantan Gongyuan Square, towards the southern region of Beijing.
At the Temple of the Rogatives, within the enclosure, the faithful come to pray and ask for a good year for both themselves and their families.
34. Trestle Bridge, Qingdao
The Trestle Bridge has been located on the so-called Yellow Sea since 1892, one of the tourist attractions in China with as many years as the city of Qingdao, where it is built.
The work was erected to honor Li Hongzhan, an important statesman of the Qing dynasty. Now it is an emblem of the city of 440 meters long.
At one of its ends the Huilange Pagoda was built, where exhibitions and cultural presentations are held throughout the year.
35. Hailuogou Glacier National Park
Magnificent park in the province of Sichuan with a glacier preceded by the legend of a Tibetan monk who transformed this wasteland while playing with his conch shell, attracting animals that began to live there.
The park is also known as “Conch Gully”, in honor of the conch and the monk.
Although the glacier, which passes through mountains, forests, cliffs, rivers and peaks, can be visited at any time of the year, the best time of day to observe it is in the morning.
It has more than 10 hot springs running below, two of them open to the public; one is 2,600 meters high.
36. Nalati Grasslands
The name of these grasslands was given by one of the troops of the warrior Genghis Khan, who, impressed by the color of the meadows, called them Nalati, which in the Mongolian language means: "place where the sun rises."
In this prairie, still a witness to Kazak practices and customs, as well as traditional sports, they are dedicated to raising falcons for hunting with inhabitants who reside in yurts.
The best season to visit the grasslands is between May and October.
37. Pudacuo National Park
About 20% of China's plant and tree species, as well as a significant percentage of the country's animals and birds, are settled in the wetlands that are part of the Pudacuo National Park, in Yunnan province.
This natural area of black-necked cranes and magnificent orchids complies with the guidelines of "The World Conservation Union", a relevant world organization for environmental conservation.
38. Silk Market
Popular market in Beijing with more than 1,700 stalls selling shoes and clothes, all imitation, but at good prices.
39. Longji Rice Terraces
The Longji Rice Terraces are 1,500 meters high in Guanxi Province, a place that hails from the Yuan Dynasty.
Another place is the Jinkeng rice terraces, between the towns of Dhaza and Tiantou, perfect for taking pictures, making videos and spending time in healthy recreation.
40. Leshan Buddha
Huge statue of Buddha sculpted in stone between 713 and 1803 AD, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1993.
At 71 meters high, this architectural gem in all of China is the largest stone Buddha in the world. It is in Leshan City, Sichuan Province.
It was a work undertaken during the Tang Dynasty by the Buddhist monk, Haitong, to ask and thank for the end of the natural disasters caused by the Dadu and Ming rivers.
41. Karakul Lake
Beautiful lake at 3,600 meters above sea level formed by glacial water that mirrors the mountains that surround it. May to October are the best months to visit it.
Getting to Karakul is not easy. You must travel along the Karakoram highway, one of the highest and most dangerous roads in the world due to its frequent landslides.
42. Three Pagodas, Dali
Dali is an ancient town in the southwest of Yunnan province, where three Buddhist pagodas were built, the first one built in the 9th century to ask for the cessation of floods; With its 69 meters high and 16 floors, it could be considered as a “skyscraper” for the Tang dynasty, its builders.
It continues to hold the position of the highest pagoda in China, with each of its 16 levels adorned with statues of Buddha.
The other two towers were built a century later and are 42 meters high each. Between the three they form an equilateral triangle.
43. Beijing Summer Palace
Palace built at the initiative of Emperor Qianlong in 1750. It is on the shores of Kunming Lake with a large corridor, a 750-meter roofed space and decorated with more than 14 thousand paintings.
In the Yulan pavilion, Emperor Guanxu was a prisoner for 10 years.
44. Yulong River
One of the most beautiful tourist places in China of all. It is calm, relaxed and very peaceful.
Among its attractions are the Yulong Bridge, more than 500 years old, built during the Ming dynasty; and the Xiangui Bridge, with 800 years of existence.
45. Hua Shan
Ideal mountain both for people who practice extreme sports such as mountaineering or parkour, as well as for taking pictures and recording videos.
46. Chengde Mountain Resort
Site to vacation and rest during the Qing dynasty, now a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has beautiful and delicate gardens and a 70-meter pagoda.
Majestic lands with large meadows, high mountains and quiet valleys, allow us to understand why it was chosen to vacation and rest.
47. Longtan Valley
Longtan Valley, 12 kilometers long, is considered number one among the narrow gorges in China. It is defined by a strip of purple-red quartz sandstone.
The valley is irregular in shape, with a lot of vegetation and large cliffs.
48. Shennongjia, Hubei
Natural reserve of 3,200 square kilometers with more than 5,000 species of plants and animals and home of the golden or flat monkeys, a rare species in China that is protected.
According to some legends, the "yeti", a creature similar to the "bigfoot", lives in this vast territory.
49. Chengdu
It was known during the Han and Menchang dynasties as the city of brocades or hibiscus; It is the capital of Sichuan province and one of the tourist places in China.
It is a metropolis of great natural attractions such as the Wolong National Park, with more than 4 thousand species under its protection, and the Wuhou Temple, built to honor Zhuege Liang, warrior of the Shu kingdom.
50. Hong Kong
Hong Kong leads the list of most popular cities in China and the world. Its more than 25 million foreign tourists a year exceed in visits to popular metropolises such as New York, London and Paris, according to Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2019 report.
The city is so varied that in one day you can visit ancient temples and the next, spectacular and modern skyscrapers, art galleries and fabulous nightlife and entertainment venues.
Hong Kong is also attractive for its perfect harmony between the ancient and the ancient, with the modernity of the current world.
We invite you to share this article with your friends on social networks so that they also know the 50 tourist places in China.
