Great Wall, Forbidden City and Thousands of Years
China is a vast country in East Asia and one of the world's oldest continuous civilisations, known for the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Army, giant pandas, karst landscapes and a cuisine of astonishing variety. Its history stretches back thousands of years, and its scale is hard to grasp: deserts, mountains, tropical coasts and megacities all lie within one country. For visitors, the best approach is to pick a handful of highlights and let the high-speed rail network, one of the most extensive in the world, handle the distances between them.
Beijing is the grand opening chapter. The Forbidden City, the former imperial palace inscribed by UNESCO in 1987, is a masterpiece of red walls and golden roofs, while the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace show the elegance of imperial design. Sections of the Great Wall at Badaling, Mutianyu and Jinshanling are within a day trip of the capital. Xi'an, the ancient Silk Road capital, houses the Terracotta Army, also inscribed in 1987. Travellers often add Shanghai and Shenzhen for modern China, and Japan or Seoul on an extended route.
Pandas, Karst Peaks and the Table of Sichuan
China's landscapes are as memorable as its monuments. Chengdu, in Sichuan, is the home of the giant panda and a research base where visitors can watch pandas in a naturalistic setting, as well as a centre of teahouse culture and fiery cuisine. Guilin and Yangshuo are famed for the karst peaks of the Li River, best seen from a bamboo raft, and Zhangjiajie's sandstone pillars inspired the floating mountains of a famous film. The Yangtze, the Yellow Mountains of Huangshan and the old towns of Lijiang and Pingyao each add their own scenery and character.
Food varies dramatically by region. Peking duck in Beijing, hot pot and mapo tofu in Sichuan, dim sum in Guangdong, soup dumplings in Shanghai and hand-pulled noodles in Xi'an make a culinary journey in themselves. Tea is part of daily life, from jasmine to Longjing, and teahouses are places to pause. A tourist board or travel brand can present China as many different holidays in one, from cultural circuits to family trips, while Singapore and Thailand pair well for beach finishes.
Read the full China guide on Visit Travel Group, or see YourChina.co.uk on Visit Travel Group.