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The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles)from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total. At its peak, the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men. |
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Xian
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The Terracotta Warriors
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The Terracotta Army was discovered in eastern outer suburbs of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province by local farmers drilling a water well 1.5 miles east of Mount Lishan. This discovery prompted archaeologists to proceed to Shaanxi Province to investigate. The Terracotta Army is a form of funerary art buried with the First Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang, Shi Huang means the first emperor) in 210-209 BCE (he declared himself the first emperor of China in 221 BCE to the end of his life in 210 BCE). Their purpose was to help rule another empire with Shi Huang Di in the afterlife. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Armies." Mount Lishan is also where the material to make the terracotta warriors originated. In addition to the warriors, an enormous tomb lies beneath a man-made hill waiting to be excavated as science develops the techniques to preserve the contents. |
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Beijing
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The Forbidden City
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The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square metres (7,800,000 square feet). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 1924, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artefacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. |
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Around Guilin
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The Li River
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Along the 100-kilometer stretch of the Li River, majestic limestone mountain peaks rise into the sky. It is one of China's most famous scenic areas. The Li River originates in the Mao'er Mountains in Xing'an county and flows through Guilin, Yangshuo and Pingle, down into the Xi Jiang, the western tributary of the Pearl River in Wuzhou, its course of 437 kilometers is flanked by green hills. Cormorant fishing is often associated with the Li River. Its unusual karst topography hillsides have often been compared to those at Halong Bay, Vietnam. the small town of Yangshuo is the most famous location along the river and barges cruise between Guilin and Yangshuo on a daily basis. Cycling, hiking, Tai Chi, cooking classes, cave exploring and rock climbing are popular activities. The imagery of the Li River is featured on the 20 yuan note |
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Anhui Province
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The Yellow Mountains (Huang Shan)
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Mount Huang, also known as Huangshan is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. The area is well known for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly-shaped granite peaks, Huangshan Pine trees, and views of the clouds from above. Mount Huang is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China's major tourist destinations. The World Heritage Site covers a core area of 154 square kilometres and a buffer zone of 142 square kilometres. The mountains were formed in the Mesozoic, about 100 million years ago, when an ancient sea disappeared due to uplift.The mountaintops often offer views of the clouds from above, known as the Sea of Clouds, and many vistas are known by names such as "North Sea" or "South Sea. |
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Hong Kong
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Victoria Harbour
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The Victoria Harbour is world-famous for its stunning panoramic night view and skyline, particularly in the direction towards Hong Kong Island where the skyline of skyscrapers is superimposed over the ridges behind. Among the best places to view the Harbour is at the Victoria Tower on the Victoria Peak, or from the piazza at the Culture Centre or the promenade of Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side. Rides on the Star Ferry to view the harbour are also widely popular. As the natural centre of the territory, the harbour has played host to many major public shows, including the annual fireworks displays on the second night of the Lunar New Year. To add to the popularity of the harbour as a sightseeing location, the government introduced a show dubbed A Symphony of Lights, using use audio, lights and pyrotechnics to introduce the city to its viewers every evening. Also recently opened, was the Avenue of Stars, built along the promenade outside the New World Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. |
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Zhejiang Province
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Hangzhou
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Hangzhou is renowned for its historic relics and natural beauty. It was dubbed "the most beautiful city in China" by legendary explorer Marco Polo and has since enjoyed worldwide renown as one of the ten most scenic cities in China. Although Hangzhou has been through many recent urban developments, it still retains its historical and cultural heritage. Today, tourism remains an important factor for Hangzhou's economy. One of Hangzhou's most popular sights is West Lake. The lake covers an area of 6 square kilometres and includes some of Hangzhou's most famous historic and scenic places. The area includes historical pagodas, cultural sites, as well as the natural beauty of the lake and hills. Hangzhou is also well known to tea lovers in China and around the world. Longjing Tea is one of the most sought-after types of tea and a visit to one of the Longjing plantations around the city is a popular activity. |
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Sichuan Province
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Jiuzhaigou
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Jiuzhaigou Valley is a nature reserve in the north of Sichuan, a province in south western China. It is known for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Jiuzhaigou's ecosystem is classified as temperate broad-leaf forest and woodlands, with mixed mountain and highland systems. Nearly 300 km² of the core scenic area are covered by virgin mixed forests. Those forests take on attractive yellow, orange and red hues in the autumn, making that season a popular one for visitors. They are home to a number of plant species of interest, such as endemic varieties of rhododendron and bamboo.Jiuzhaigou takes its name from the nine Tibetan villages along its length. Seven of them are still populated today. The area can be reached by air or bus from Chengdu. |
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Xinjiang Province
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The Taklamakan Desert
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The Taklamakan Desert, also known as Taklimakan, is a desert in Central Asia, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It is bounded by Kunlun Mountains to the south, and Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan to the west and north. Taklamakan is known as one of the largest sandy deserts in the world and it is regarded as one of the most beautiful. It covers an area of 270,000 km² of the Tarim Basin, 1,000 km long and 400 km wide. It is crossed at its northern and at its southern edge by two branches of the Silk Road as travellers sought to avoid the arid wasteland. In recent years, the People's Republic of China has constructed a cross-desert highway that links the cities of Hotan (on the southern edge) and Luntai (on the northern edge). Many treasures have been discovered around the ancient oasis towns of which the Mogao Caves are arguably the most precious. |
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The Shanghai Bund has dozens of historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from Britain, France, the U.S., Russia, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain, a newspaper, the Shanghai Club and the Masonic Club. The Bund lies north of the old, walled city of Shanghai. This was initially a British settlement; later the British and American settlements were combined in the International Settlement. A building boom at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century led to the Bund becoming a major financial hub of East Asia. The Bund houses 52 buildings of various architectural styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Art Deco (Shanghai has one of the richest collections of Art Deco architectures in the world). |
