City guide · Beijing
Beijing's 600-year imperial palace — 8,700 rooms behind a 72-hectare wall, and the largest surviving wooden palace complex on earth.
Reviewed by our Beijing team Updated 2026-10-10
The short version
City guide
Photographs from the coast, and what other travellers wrote afterwards.
The Forbidden City is almost too familiar to every Chinese person. Every night the television has some drama set inside it; seeing those long-familiar names over the gates is still thrilling.
Traveller note — 'Five Free Days in Beijing'
We came late, the snow had mostly melted, and we did only the central axis in a rush — but the setting sun fell across the roofs and the whole place glittered gold against the snow.
Traveller note — 'The First Snow in Deep-Autumn Beijing'
The Forbidden City is the reason Beijing is laid out the way it is. Twenty-four emperors of the Ming and Qing ruled from behind these walls between 1420 and 1911, and the whole city still arranges itself around this rectangle at the centre — the temples to the south, the lakes to the north-west, the ring roads running along the line of the old city walls.
Almost everything you have seen on screen is here: the Hall of Supreme Harmony on its three-tier marble terrace, the gilded dragon throne, the private palaces of the inner court, the imperial garden. But the compound is far larger than the postcards suggest, and the wrong way to see it is to charge down the central axis in an hour. The right way is to leave the axis for the quieter east and west palace courts, where the courtyards breathe again.
Plan around the mechanics, because they decide whether the day works. The museum caps daily numbers and sells only timed, real-name tickets released on a rolling seven-day window, so you cannot simply walk up; it shuts every Monday; and it is one-way, south in and north out. Get those three things right, arrive as early as you can stand, and the Forbidden City is one of the great half-days on earth.
It is also, at heart, a museum with more than a million objects — about a sixth of China's registered cultural relics — and the exhibition halls are the reason to slow down rather than hurry through. A visit is as much about the jade, the bronzes and the clocks as it is about the architecture.
The Forbidden City
Seven things that are worth rearranging a day for.
Highlights
The largest wooden hall in China and the ceremonial centre of the palace, standing on a three-tier marble terrace. Inside is the gilded dragon throne; on the terrace, the bronze guardian vessels and the water vats scarred by the looting of 1900.
Behind the Gate of Heavenly Purity lies the emperor's private world: the Palace of Heavenly Purity where he governed, the Hall of Union with its imperial seals, and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, once the empress's residence.
The northern garden at the end of the axis, with pavilions, ancient cypresses and rockeries around the central Hall of Imperial Peace. Small and dense — a good place to slow down before the exit.
Two separate ¥10 exhibitions. The Halls of Treasures hold the imperial jades and gold; the Halls of Clocks hold the Qing court's astonishing mechanical timepieces. Both need their own ticket, and both are worth it.
The Six Eastern and Six Western Palaces flanking the axis, where the consorts lived — including Cixi's Chuxiu Palace and the state rooms of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. This is where the compound opens up and the crowds thin.
The glazed Nine-Dragon Screen near the Halls of Treasures, and the four elegant corner towers on the walls and moat. Come back at dusk for the moat's reflection, which is the best photograph of the palace.
Suggested itineraries
The visit is one-way, south in and north out, and you cannot re-enter. Build the route accordingly and do not backtrack.
The essential route, start to finish, without leaving the main line.
Enter at Meridian Gate, cross the inner Golden Water bridges, and walk the courtyard up to the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Then the three great halls in sequence: the Hall of Supreme Harmony with its throne, the Hall of Central Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony with the giant Cloud-Dragon Stone Carving behind it.
Stops: Meridian GateInner Golden Water BridgesHall of Supreme HarmonyHall of Central HarmonyHall of Preserving Harmony
Pass the Gate of Heavenly Purity into the inner court — the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Finish in the imperial garden at the north end, then exit through the Gate of Divine Prowess.
Stops: Gate of Heavenly PurityPalace of Heavenly PurityHall of UnionPalace of Earthly TranquilityImperial GardenGate of Divine Prowess
The axis plus the exhibitions and the side palaces, for people who want the museum as well as the buildings.
Cover the great halls and the inner court as above, but at half speed, pausing on the terrace for the bronze vessels and the water vats.
Stops: Three great hallsInner court
Detour east to the Halls of Treasures — and the Nine-Dragon Screen beside them — then to the Halls of Clocks. Both are ticketed separately and both deserve a slow walk.
Stops: Halls of TreasuresNine-Dragon ScreenHalls of Clocks
Choose east or west and explore the consorts' courts — the west for Cixi's Chuxiu Palace and the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the east for the jade and gold exhibitions. Exit north as before.
Stops: Six Western PalacesHall of Mental CultivationGate of Divine Prowess
Sights
The scenic ticket is charged once at the gate; the two exhibition halls are ticketed separately. Prices change — treat these as a guide.
The great hall · The throne
The largest wooden hall in China and the ceremonial heart of the palace, on a three-tier marble terrace with bronze guardian animals lining its edge. Inside, raised on a seven-step platform, is the gilded polychrome dragon throne of the Ming, set in front of gilded screens. It has burned and been rebuilt several times; what you see is the form given it in 1695.
Tip The water vats on the terrace carry gouges where foreign troops scraped the gilding off in 1900 — a small, stark detail most visitors walk straight past.
The three great halls · Cloud-Dragon carving
The two halls flanking the Hall of Supreme Harmony complete the outer-court trio. The Hall of Central Harmony was the emperor's rest and preparation room before ceremonies; the Hall of Preserving Harmony hosted banquets and, in the early Qing, the final palace examinations. Behind the latter lies the Cloud-Dragon Stone Carving, the largest single stone sculpture in the palace — one block carried from Fangshan by thousands of labourers over nearly a month.
Tip The 'thousand dragons spitting water' are the carved dragon heads under the terrace balustrades, which spout rainwater in a storm.
The emperor's home · Qianqing, Jiaotai, Kunning
Behind the Gate of Heavenly Purity, the palace changes character from state to private: the Palace of Heavenly Purity, where the emperor read memorials and later received foreign envoys; the Hall of Union, which stored the twenty-five imperial seals; and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, once the empress's residence and under the Qing a hall for Manchu shamanic ritual.
Tip The small gilded pavilions on the terrace outside the Palace of Heavenly Purity are the Halls of Imperial Peace, symbols of the emperor's hold on the state.
Northern garden · Pavilions
The garden at the very north of the axis, laid out around the central Hall of Imperial Peace and planted with ancient cypresses and rockeries. Four pavilions stand at its corners, symbolising the seasons, and the whole space is dense with carving and detail despite its small size. It is the last stop before the north gate.
Tip It is the most crowded point at closing — come earlier if you want a clear photograph of the pavilions.
Exhibition · ¥10
A separate, ticketed exhibition in the north-east of the compound, holding the imperial collection of jade, gold and jewellery, much of it ceremonial. Beside it stands the glazed-tile Nine-Dragon Screen, one of only three of its kind in China, its nine dragons arranged around a central yellow dragon with vivid blue, white and purple companions.
Tip The screen is outdoors and free to see if you do not want the exhibition ticket — but the jades inside are the reason to pay.
Exhibition · ¥10
The collection of Qing court mechanical clocks, one of the finest anywhere — elaborate gilded automata, musical clocks and timepieces given as tribute and made in the palace workshops. Fascinating for anyone, and a genuine surprise for visitors who come only for the architecture.
Tip Volunteer guides give free Chinese and English introductions in both the treasure and clock halls at set times — ask at the door.
Inner court · Cixi's world
The western courts beyond the inner palaces, where the empresses and consorts lived. Chuxiu Palace was restored for the dowager empress Cixi's fiftieth birthday and is the most elaborate of them; the nearby Hall of Mental Cultivation was the emperor's office and bedroom, its east chamber the very spot where Cixi and Ci'an held court from behind the screen.
Tip This is the quietest half of the palace once the morning groups have passed — leave it for after 2pm.
Inner court · Exhibitions
The eastern courts, now largely exhibition spaces for the palace's jades, gold and silver. Among them, Yanxi Palace holds a curiosity: the 'Crystal Palace', a three-storey Western-style building begun in 1909 with an iron frame, marble and glazed brick and an interior meant to run with water and fish — left unfinished when the dynasty fell.
Tip The long, narrow lanes between the eastern palaces are among the most photogenic corridors in the whole compound.
Eating
There is no proper restaurant inside the Forbidden City — only fast food at high prices. Bring water and eat afterwards.
Expect only basic fast food and snack counters inside the compound, at inflated prices. There is no real restaurant, so plan to eat before or after; bring water, especially in summer when the courtyards have little shade.
Five minutes east of the north gate, the city's best-known snack street gathers specialities from Beijing and across China, from skewers and dumplings to noodles. Touristy and busy, but the most convenient stop after you exit.
A courtyard food hall on the north-west shore of Houhai gathering old Beijing brands — tripe, cheese, stir-fried liver, rolled oat cakes and sour plum juice. Pricier than the street norm, but it is the fast way to sample the classics in one place.
The old commercial street south of the square, with Beijing favourites such as roast duck and dumplings, and a chance to walk the city's restored southern axis on the same day you do the palace's.
Modern cafe and tea counters have opened along the moat and around the palace, serving palace-themed pastries and coffee — a holdout of imperial branding for a photo-op and a rest, a short walk from the gates.
Where to eat
All of these are a short walk or one metro stop from the palace. Expect queues at peak lunch time.
Street food · Near the north gate
The most convenient place to eat after exiting the north gate — a pedestrian lane lined with snack stalls and small eateries covering Beijing and national classics. Busy and a little touristy, but easy and well located.
Old Beijing · Houhai
A courtyard food hall on Houhai's north-west shore that gathers famous old Beijing names under one roof — tripe, cheese, braised liver, rolled oat cakes and sour plum drink. More expensive than the street, but the variety makes it worth it.
Roast duck · Qianmen
The famous roast-duck house near Qianmen, south of Tian'anmen Square — the classic place to eat Beijing duck after a palace morning. Order a whole duck, have it carved at the table, and finish with the bones in a soup.
Hutong · Local
In the lanes of the hutongs around Houhai and Nanluoguxiang, north-west of the palace, small courtyard restaurants serve home-style Beijing cooking in converted siheyuan houses. The food is straightforward and the setting is the point.
Sleeping
Stay within walking or one metro stop of Tian'anmen East/West so you can reach the gate early. Room rates jump in the summer holidays and October.
Convenient · Mid to luxury
The district east of the palace is the obvious base: several chain and international hotels within 10–15 minutes' walk of the north gate, with restaurants, shops and metro line 1 close by. The best balance of convenience and comfort.
South entrance · Historic district
Staying south of the square puts you on the approach to Meridian Gate and beside the restored Qianmen street, with easy access to the National Museum. Handy for an early start at the south gate and for combining the palace with Tian'anmen Square.
Boutique · Nanluoguxiang / Houhai
Converted siheyuan courtyard guesthouses in the hutongs north-west of the palace offer the most atmospheric stay in central Beijing — quiet lanes, small courtyards and a very different feel from a chain hotel. A short taxi or metro ride from the gates.
Budget · Reliable
Standard domestic chain hotels are scattered across the Dongcheng district around the palace, offering clean, predictable rooms at lower prices. Book ahead for weekends and holidays, when the whole area fills.
Getting around
The palace sits on the metro's east–west spine. There is no car park at the gates, so arrive by metro, bus or on foot.
Metro line 1 is the easy way in, stopping at Tian'anmen East and Tian'anmen West — both a short walk from Meridian Gate in the south. From the north side, Jing Shan Gong Yuan and Beihai North stations serve the exit area on lines 8 and 6.
Many bus routes serve the Tian'anmen area and the north gate, and are useful if you are coming from outside the metro's reach. The north-exit stops are along the moat on Jingshan Front Street.
Taxis and ride-hailing cannot drop you at the gate itself — the central area is restricted — so drivers set you down a few minutes' walk away. Give the driver a nearby landmark such as Tian'anmen East station or Jingshan Park.
If you come from Tian'anmen Square, you walk north through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and Duanmen to reach Meridian Gate — a proper approach that takes a good 20 minutes with the security check. It is the classic way to arrive on the axis.
Bring your passport for ID: tickets are real-name and checked at the gate.
The exit at the Gate of Divine Prowess faces Jingshan Park across the street — the perfect next stop for the panorama. From there it is a short walk to Beihai Park and Houhai, or a metro ride onward from the north-side stations.
Shopping
The palace's own shops sell well-made but expensive souvenirs; the streets around it offer cheaper versions of the same themes.
The museum's own design line is the best-sold souvenir brand in China: stationery, scarves, phone cases, tea sets and toys sporting dragons, roof tiles and imperial motifs. Buy inside the palace for authenticity, or at the official stores nearby.
Palace-branded pastries, sweets and teas make light, easy gifts, often in handsome boxes. Prices are high but the packaging is part of the appeal — a classic 'gift from Beijing' that travels well.
Around the palace, the Wangfujing department stores and the Qianmen street shops sell everything from Peking-duck gift sets to silk, clogs and handicrafts. Cheaper and more varied than the palace shops, though less specific to the palace itself.
Practical
Area code 010. Tickets are real-name and timed, so save your passport details and booking confirmation offline as well as on your phone.
| Main ticket | ¥60 peak (1 Apr–31 Oct) · ¥40 off-peak (1 Nov–31 Mar) |
|---|---|
| Exhibition tickets | Halls of Treasures ¥10 · Halls of Clocks ¥10 |
| Opening hours | 08:30–17:00 peak · 08:30–16:30 off-peak |
| Last entry | 16:10 peak · 15:40 off-peak — tickets stop earlier |
| Closed | Mondays, except public holidays |
| Left luggage | Free shuttle between the south and north gates, 08:30–18:00 |
| Audio guide | Deposit ¥10; rental ¥10 in Chinese and Cantonese, ¥40 other languages |
| Enquiries | Broadcast room 010-85007424 · information 010-85007422 / 85007421 |
Tips
Tickets are released online exactly seven days ahead and popular slots vanish fast. Set a reminder, have your passport numbers ready, and book the minute your date opens.
The palace closes every Monday except public holidays. If your only free day is a Monday, swap in the Great Wall or the Temple of Heaven and move the palace.
The first hour after the 08:30 opening is calm and the light is soft; it peaks around midday, then thins after 14:00 until the 16:10 last entry. Avoid the middle of the day if you can.
Enter only at Meridian Gate in the south and exit at the Gate of Divine Prowess in the north — you cannot go back in. Plan the route so you never need to retrace it.
Touts offering 'tours' at the gates are not licensed. Book a guide through the official service desks at Meridian Gate or the north gate if you want one, or use the audio guide.
The exit faces Jingshan Park. Fifteen minutes up to the Wanchun Pavilion gives the classic rooftop panorama over the whole palace — the best possible end to the visit.
Background
The palace covers 72 hectares inside a rectangular wall with a moat, with around 8,700 rooms across 980 surviving buildings. Its plan is a single north–south axis, everything arranged symmetrically around it: a front half of state halls where the emperor governed and held ceremony, and a rear half of private palaces where he lived. The yellow glazed roofs, white marble bases and gilded timber framework were reserved for the imperial family alone.
The engineering is as deliberate as the ritual. The compound drains through a system of sloped courtyards, carved stone channels and dragon-mouth spouts into the inner Golden Water river, which connects to the outer moat — the same water that supplied firefighting when a hall burned. Under the living quarters, flues ran beneath the floors of the 'warm pavilions' to heat them without open braziers. Nothing here is accidental.
Built between 1406 and 1420 under the Yongle emperor and rebuilt many times since, the palace was home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing. The buildings have burned and been rebuilt repeatedly — what you see of the great halls is largely the form given them in the Kangxi reign. In 1911 the last emperor, Puyi, abdicated, and in 1924 he was expelled; the following year the palace became a public museum.
The twentieth century left small marks all over it. The Manchu inscriptions on the outer-court gate plaques were removed in 1915 when Yuan Shikai attempted to restore the monarchy — a reign that lasted 83 days. The gilding was scraped off the bronze water vats by foreign troops in 1900, and the scars are still there. And a century and a half of court life — the great halls, the private palaces and the man who called a meal 'a transmission' — now belongs to the museum's visitors.
Travel with them
Not guides — the series, books and songs shaped by this place.
Dir. Chen Jialin, 2001
A landmark 46-part historical drama beginning as the child emperor Kangxi takes the throne inside these walls and grows into one of the Qing's most capable rulers. The most widely watched portrait of the palace's inner politics.
Li Shaobai
Photographer Li Shaobai's ten-year record of the palace in more than a hundred images, paired with historical detail and anecdote — a portrait that extends the visitor's view of the place in both space and time.
Wei Yi
The memoir of a man who, after years sent down to the countryside, returned to Beijing to take a job literally guarding the gate of the Forbidden City. By turns funny and bitter — a personal view of the palace in the twentieth century.
Bobby Chen
A rock song that folds Beijing opera vocals into its chorus, turning the old city into a mood of nostalgia and longing. Its mix of modern sound and operatic voice is the perfect companion to a walk along the moat at dusk.
The questions visitors ask us most about The Forbidden City, answered plainly.
Prices and practical details are reviewed every month by our Beijing team and updated the day a rule changes.
Yes, and well ahead. The museum sells only timed, real-name tickets, released online on a rolling seven-day window, and caps daily visitor numbers, so popular slots go fast. Book through the official Palace Museum channel with your passport details the moment your date opens — there is no reliable walk-up ticket.
No. It is closed every Monday except on public holidays. If your only free day in Beijing is a Monday, do the Great Wall or the Temple of Heaven instead and move the palace to another day. The rest of the week it opens at 08:30, with last entry at 16:10 in peak season.
You enter only through Meridian Gate in the south and exit through the Gate of Divine Prowess in the north — it is a one-way visit, so do not start from the north gate. From Tian'anmen Square, walk north through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and Duanmen to reach Meridian Gate.
Two hours for the central axis alone — Meridian Gate, the three great halls, the three inner palaces, the imperial garden, out the north gate. Four hours if you add the Halls of Treasures, the Halls of Clocks and one set of the Six Palaces. It is a large site; walking it flat out is no fun.
The first hour after opening at 08:30, or after 2pm. It is busiest from late morning to early afternoon, then thins again after 14:00 until the 16:10 last entry. Weekdays outside the summer holidays and the October golden week are far quieter than weekends.
Jingshan Park directly north, for the rooftop view down over the palace — an hour, and the perfect finish. Tian'anmen Square and the National Museum sit to the south, on the approach. Wangfujing, five minutes east of the north gate, is the nearest place to eat afterwards.
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City guide · 12 tours
One family, two thousand years of steles, and a ¥150 pass that covers the lot — the easiest serious day trip in Shandong.
Penglai
City guide · 12 tours
China's immortals' coast — a Song-dynasty naval harbour you can walk for free, a mythology nobody ever found, and the ferry to 32 islands.
Changdao
City guide · 12 tours
32 islands, one causeway, a ¥150 land pass, tens of thousands of gulls and nowhere you can drive — the place where everything happens by boat.
Nanjing
City guide · 12 tours
Capital of six dynasties, capital of the Republic, and the city that eats more duck than anywhere else on earth.
Suzhou
City guide · 12 tours
Two thousand five hundred years of canals, sixty surviving gardens, and a city that shuts its gates at half past five.
Zhouzhuang
City guide · 12 tours
Nine hundred years, fourteen bridges, one ticket — and a town that only makes sense before eight in the morning.
Tongli
City guide · 12 tours
Fifteen canals, seven islets, forty-nine bridges — and a town that still gets up at dawn because it lives here.
Wuxi
City guide · 12 tours
Taihu on one side, a Grand Buddha on the next hill, and ribs sweet enough to argue about — the most underrated city on the Yangtze delta.
Yangzhou
City guide · 12 tours
A city built by salt merchants who had more money than restraint — gardens, a narrow lake, and the best breakfast in China.
Zhenjiang
City guide · 12 tours
Three hills, one ferry landing, and an unreasonable share of Chinese literature — the Yangtze city people drive past.
Changzhou
City guide · 12 tours
A 2,500-year-old canal city that built a dinosaur park and refuses to apologise for it.
Wuzhen
City guide · 12 tours
A town that is two towns: the older, quieter East Zone and the lit-up West Zone you sleep inside.
Xitang
City guide · 12 tours
Nine canals, 122 lanes, one long roofed corridor — and a town that still works for a living.
Hangzhou
City guide · 12 tours
A lake in the middle of a city, a tea village in the hills, and two thousand years of getting the mood right.
Xixi Wetland
City guide · 12 tours
Ten square kilometres of marsh inside Hangzhou, and the only way into half of it is a boat.
Ningbo
City guide · 12 tours
A 7,000-year-old port with Asia's oldest private library, a free waterfront 20 years older than Shanghai's, and the best seafood before the islands.
Mount Putuo
City guide · 12 tours
A Buddhist island with no cars, three great temples and a ¥10 lunch that is the point of the place.
Qiandao Lake
City guide · 12 tours
A thousand islands that did not exist sixty years ago, and the cleanest big-lake water in China.
Shaoxing
City guide · 12 tours
Two and a half thousand years of water-town China, and Lu Xun's house is free.
Zhoushan
City guide · 12 tours
1,390 islands, one road bridge in, and a harbour that lands more fish than almost anywhere on earth.
Hengdian
City guide · 12 tours
A backlot the size of a town, where the palaces are copies and the film crews are real.
Yandang Mountain
City guide · 12 tours
A volcano that weathering turned into scenery — 500-odd sights of peak, cave and waterfall across eight scenic areas.
Zhejiang
City guide · 12 tours
One small, mountainous, absurdly rich province that holds a lake, two canal towns, a Buddhist island and a dead volcano.
Hong Kong Outlying Islands
City guide · 12 tours
Two hundred-odd islands, half an hour of ferry from the financial district, and not a car on three of them.
Hong Kong Shopping
City guide · 12 tours
A duty-free port where the tag starts lower, two citywide sale seasons knock a third off, and every mall sits on an MTR exit.
Macao
City guide · 12 tours
Four hundred years of Portuguese streets, a fake Venice under a painted sky, and the best egg tart in Asia.
Urumqi
City guide · 12 tours
The city furthest from the sea, with a snow range on its doorstep and dinner starting at nine.
Hong Kong SAR, China
City guide · 11 tours
A harbour skyline you already know by heart, dim sum trolleys at dawn, and 260 islands an hour from the neon.
Taiwan, China
City guide · 11 tours
Night-market alleys, high-mountain railways, and a coastline that changes character every hundred kilometres.
Qinghai Lake
City guide · 12 tours
A 4,400 sq km inland sea at 3,200 m, ringed by rapeseed gold, prayer flags and the best cycling road in China.
Mount Emei
City guide · 11 tours
A 3,099-metre Buddhist summit you can reach by cable car before lunch — and a mountain full of monkeys that will absolutely rob you.
Beijing
City guide · 11 tours
Six centuries of imperial red walls, a Great Wall you can climb before lunch, and the best roast duck on earth.
Taipei
City guide · 11 tours
A 24-hour bookstore, a night market that never stops sizzling, and a city that apologises when you bump into it.
North Xinjiang
City guide · 11 tours
Alpine lakes the colour of poured enamel, a village of log cabins under birch trees, and the last tear the Atlantic ever sheds.
Lanzhou
City guide · 11 tours
A city split in half by the Yellow River, where beef noodles are a breakfast ritual and the Silk Road still runs through the streets.
Mount Hua
City guide · 11 tours
Five granite peaks, one plank road bolted to a cliff face, and a sunrise that justifies the 2am start.
Dunhuang
City guide · 11 tours
A desert oasis where Buddhist cave art survived a thousand years and a crescent lake refused to dry up.
Gannan
City guide · 11 tours
433 kilometres of the Yellow River's first bend, a 3.5 km prayer-wheel circuit, and Tibetan grasslands almost nobody has commercialised yet.
Sichuan–Tibet Highway
City guide · 11 tours
2,142 kilometres of cliff-edge switchbacks, four of China's most beautiful mountains, and a road the Tibetans walk on their knees.
Kangding
City guide · 11 tours
The town that gave Asia its most famous love song, a 7,556m sacred peak on its doorstep, and the last real Tibetan town before the road climbs to Lhasa.
Lhasa
City guide · 12 tours
A city of prayer wheels and butter lamps at 3,700 metres, where the sun shines 3,000 hours a year and the world's highest palace watches over it all.
Nyingchi
City guide · 11 tours
Tibet's greenest corner — peach blossom valleys, a 7,782 m peak that hides from almost everyone, and the world's deepest canyon.
Namtso
City guide · 11 tours
A 1,920-square-kilometre sheet of impossible blue at 4,718 metres, ringed by snow peaks and prayer flags.
Chongqing
City guide · 12 tours
A vertical city of fog, cable cars and cliff-side stilt houses, where the火锅 never stops boiling and the night skyline outshines Hong Kong.
Qiandongnan
City guide · 11 tours
A thousand Miao households stacked up a mountainside, drum towers and wind-rain bridges in Dong villages, and a 600-year-old Ming garrison town on the road to Guiyang.
Libo
City guide · 11 tours
Emerald rivers threading through karst peaks, a 600-metre forest growing out of a riverbed, and China's largest wild plum grove.
Guiyang
City guide · 11 tours
China's summer capital at 1,100 metres, where the nights run on sour fish soup, street-side barbecue and mahjong that never quite stops.
Zhenyuan
City guide · 11 tours
A 2,000-year-old river town where the Wuyang River carves an S through the mountains and every lane hides a story.
Huangguoshu
City guide · 11 tours
Asia's biggest waterfall, and the only one on earth you can walk behind, above and around — plus 600-year-old Ming dynasty villages a short drive away.
Harbin
City guide · 11 tours
Minus 30 degrees, a frozen river you can walk across, and a cathedral built by Russians who never went home.
Yunnan
City guide · 11 tours
Snow mountains, tropical rainforest, twenty-five minorities and a plate of rice noodles — all in one province.
Shanghai
City guide · 11 tours
A 1920s waterfront of colonial banks facing a science-fiction skyline, soup dumplings you eat with a straw, and 20 million people moving like clockwork.
Zhangjiajie
City guide · 11 tours
Three thousand sandstone pillars straight out of Avatar, a glass skywalk bolted to a cliff, and a cable car that leaves from downtown.
Guangzhou
City guide · 11 tours
A 2,200-year-old trading port where dim sum is a religion, colonial islands sit beside 600-metre towers, and the food never stops.
Guilin
City guide · 11 tours
Karst peaks rising straight out of a green river, rice terraces carved into mountainsides, and the best bowl of noodles you'll eat in China.
Shenzhen
City guide · 11 tours
A fishing village that became a megacity in forty years — and it still has 500-year-old banyans, empty beaches and dim sum worth the border crossing.
Chengdu
City guide · 11 tours
A 3,000-year-old city where the schedule is tea, mahjong and hotpot — and the pandas are just the opening act.
Xinjiang
City guide · 11 tours
Snow peaks, grassland, desert and oasis — one-sixth of China, and the longest road you will ever ride.
Xi'an
City guide · 14 tours
Thirteen dynasties of emperors, a terracotta army buried for 2,200 years, and a walled city you can cycle in 100 minutes.
Qinghai
City guide · 11 tours
China's high-altitude blue heart: a salt lake you can walk on, a 3,200-metre sea, and yak butter tea at the roof of the world.
Tibet
City guide · 11 tours
A plateau the size of Western Europe where the sky starts at your feet, prayer flags carry the wind, and the roads run past 8,000-metre peaks.
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