Capitals and courts
Beijing and the Terracotta Warriors near Xi’an offer one historical starting point. The Great Wall is a distinct landscape with different visiting sections; choose the section and transport before allocating the day.
Country guide
China
17 places across the five collections. Start with what draws you here, then build a journey that gives each place enough time.
Photograph
Hao Wei from China · CC BY 2.0Country orientation
Find the shape of your journey.
See how the 17 entries are distributed, then choose a cluster that suits the journey you want. Numbers on this map refer to the list alongside it.
Representative points, including broad regions and shared-border entries. A pin is not a visitor entrance or evidence of a direct travel connection.
- Great Wall of China
The Original 100 · A line of watchtowers following the folds of northern China's mountains.
- Terracotta Warriors
The Original 100 · An emperor's army, preserved in earth and assembled figure by figure.
- Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple
The Original 100 · Sacred architecture above the high-altitude streets of Lhasa.
- Beijing
The Original 100 · Imperial courtyards and ceremonial architecture at the heart of Beijing.
- Leshan Giant Buddha
The Original 100 · A Tang-dynasty Buddha carved into the riverside cliff.
- Mount Everest
Honourable Mentions · The world's highest summit within a much larger Himalayan landscape.
- Zhangjiajie & Wulingyuan
Honourable Mentions · Sandstone pillars rising through a forested landscape.
- Jiuzhaigou
Honourable Mentions · Clear lakes and falling water in a forested mountain valley.
- Huangshan
Honourable Mentions · Granite peaks, wind-shaped pines and clouds below the path.
- Dunhuang & the Mogao Caves
Honourable Mentions · A desert crossroads with an extraordinary painted interior world.
- Yungang Grottoes
Extraordinary Discoveries · Buddhist sculpture on a monumental scale near Datong.
- Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
Extraordinary Discoveries · Rice terraces sustained by a whole mountain-water system.
- Zhangye Danxia
Extraordinary Discoveries · Sedimentary colour revealed through folds, erosion and changing light.
- Suzhou Gardens
Extraordinary Discoveries · Gardens that create whole landscapes within carefully bounded spaces.
- West Lake, Hangzhou
The Wider World · Water, islands, gardens and distant hills form a cultural landscape shaped through centuries of artistic and poetic attention.
- Mount Wutai
The Wider World · Temples distributed through a mountain setting make the relationship between Buddhist practice, architecture and landscape central.
- Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng
The Wider World · An enduring water-management landscape and a Daoist mountain setting bring engineering and religious heritage into conversation.
Plan a country journey
Imperial capitals, sacred mountains and regional landscapes.
Gardens and mountains
Suzhou and Hangzhou suggest a lower-Yangtze journey; Huangshan adds a mountain landscape. Zhangjiajie, Jiuzhaigou and the Hani terraces are other regional journeys, not interchangeable nearby nature stops.
Longer routes
Dunhuang and the Mogao Caves introduce a Silk Road setting. Tibet and high-altitude entries need their own access and acclimatisation research. Use each guide’s context rather than assuming one national itinerary covers all circumstances.
These are editorial starting points, not timed itineraries. Use the linked place guides for practical details, then build your own route in the travel workbench.
Find your way through China.
The country guide gathers The Original 100 and every alternative included elsewhere on the site. A shared regional wonder may appear in more than one country.
The Original 100
1–100 · 5 places in this country
21 · China
Great Wall of China
A line of watchtowers following the folds of northern China's mountains.
36 · Tibet, China
Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple
Sacred architecture above the high-altitude streets of Lhasa.
Honourable Mentions
101–200 · 5 places in this country
Mount Everest
The world's highest summit within a much larger Himalayan landscape.
125 · China
Dunhuang & the Mogao Caves
A desert crossroads with an extraordinary painted interior world.
Extraordinary Discoveries
201–300 · 4 places in this country
The Wider World
401–500 · 3 places in this country
487 · China
West Lake, Hangzhou
Water, islands, gardens and distant hills form a cultural landscape shaped through centuries of artistic and poetic attention.
492 · China
Mount Wutai
Temples distributed through a mountain setting make the relationship between Buddhist practice, architecture and landscape central.
499 · China
Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng
An enduring water-management landscape and a Daoist mountain setting bring engineering and religious heritage into conversation.
Turn the collection into a journey.
Begin with an anchor place and its suggested base. Compare the guides’ seasonal notes and allow separately for time spent travelling. A collection of places in one country is not automatically a sensible route, particularly where islands, mountains or remote regions are involved.
Use the travel workbench to record your chosen overnight stops and the transport information you have checked. It keeps unresearched connections visible and produces a day-by-day outline you can print or export.
For international travel, check current entry requirements, regional advice and the operating details of the actual transport and visitor authorities. Country and territory labels here organise the guides; broad shared landscapes do not imply unrestricted border crossings.