| Capital | Beijing | Languages | Mandarin, Cantonese, and several other languages |
| Population | 1,37 bln | UTC offset | UTC+8 |
| Surface | 9,60 mln sq km | Currency | Renminbi yuan (RMB) |
Source: CIA World Factbook [2016]
Traditionally dressed Amdo Tibetans must be among the most colourful people around - and you can see lots of them ... [more]
The obvious destination for any visitor to Hangzhou, West Lake offers a variety of attractions along its shores, ... [more]
Walking up Huashan Mountains certainly involves an effort: around 5,000 steps to reach the top with some spectacular ... [more]
The most extensive sight of the world, the Great Wall of China can be visited at various places, some touristy, ... [more]
Known primarily because of its incredible development, the city still has an old part, squeezed in between high ... [more]
Xi'an - a highlight of the brilliance of mankind that rose to fame after a farmer discovered a terracotta warrior ... [more]
Despite a rapid increase of motorized traffic, bicycles are still a popular way of transportation in China; not ... [more]
Although its famous cousin in Xi'an gets most of the attention, the Terracotta Warriors of Xuzhou have their own ... [more]
Barren, cold, unhospitable: those words come to mind when you travel through Qinghai. The landscape is varied ... [more]
A visit to the sky burial place of Batang caused me to think about life and death while watching the snowy white ... [more]
The Lama Temple is Beijing's largest temple and one of the main sights of the city. You can easily spend several ... [more]
Tienanmen is a lively place during a summer day. But it looks completely different on a wintery evening: impressive ... [more]
One of the largest Chan temples in China, Lingyin temple complex not only has an impressively large Sakyamuni ... [more]
Tucked away in the mountains above Danba, Jiaju is a village with typical Tibetan houses and traditionally dressed, ... [more]
They are cuddly, they are cute, they are slow and lazy, and they are a symbol for animals on their way to extinction: ... [more]
When the car started skidding backwards over the snowy road, we decided to get off. By the time we jumped on, ... [more]
A brightly coloured town of the Tibetan highlands, Tagong holds a very old lamasery where you can spend hours ... [more]
Tibetans from the eastern province of Kham, Khampas, still keep to their traditions, are colourful, seem friendly, ... [more]
Dominating the skyline of Gyantse, the fortress is run down but offers great views of the town, the famous Gyantse ... [more]
While Jyekundo looks like a modern Chinese town, there still is a large amount of Tibetans in town with strikingly ... [more]
Giving the name to the town, Jyekundo Dondrubling sites on a hill high above the trading town of Jyekundo and ... [more]
One of the biggest mosques in northwest China, the Great Mosque of Xining holds many surprises for the traveler ... [more]
A sea of ice stretching out to the horizon awaited me upon arrival at Ngoring Tso or Lake Ngoring just when this ... [more]
Perched on the ridge of a mountain, the superb location of Ganden Monastery makes it interesting not only as a ... [more]
Of all koras, the Barkhor kora is probably the most famous and most used by Tibetan Buddhists. A continuous stream ... [more]
A beautiful clear-water lake surrounded by mountains, with a monastery on a small island in the middle: Draksum-tso ... [more]
The train to Lhasa is special for various reasons: it runs on the highest rail line in the world and it is the ... [more]
The icon of Tibet, symbol of the Dalai Lama, landmark of Lhasa, and according to some one of the New Seven Wonders ... [more]
Huge areas in Qinghai appear empty, but when you look closer, you can see and meet Tibetan nomads, living in black ... [more]
Situated high in southern Tibet, scorpion-shaped Yamdrok Tso is often a perfect mirror of its surrounding barren ... [more]
A small temple on a historical site is dwarfed by an ocean of prayer flags, which also cover some parts of the ... [more]
Not just home to the largest collection of prayer stones in Tibet, but also one of the best koras, Gyanak Mani ... [more]
The main sight of Shigatse, the monastery of Tashilhunpo is like a separate village lying agains the hills, with ... [more]
Across the valley of the Peltang-chu river, Trangu monastery dominates the scenery south of Jyekundo. Visit the ... [more]
Pilgrimage is a vital part of the life of any Tibetan, and Tibetan pilgrims are inevitably part of life for any ... [more]
The most sacred of sacred buildings in Tibet, the Jokhang is like a beehive with devout Tibetans flowing in and ... [more]
Sera monastery is famous for its debating sessions in the afternoon; the monastery itself is like a small, abandoned ... [more]
Unfortunately under restoration during my visit, the monks made my visit to this fortress-like monastery memorable ... [more]
The kora around Tashilhunpo monastery is probably one of the finest and easiest in Tibet; a great way to see pilgrims ... [more]
Just outside Lhasa, you can find Drepung monastery. Once the largest monastery of the world, it survived the last ... [more]
Pelkor Chöde monastery is home to the famous Gyantse Kumbum, largest stupa of Tibet. Otherwise, the views from ... [more]
Mount Everest fascinates nearly everyone; it must be the best known mountain in the world. Coming close to this ... [more]
A pleasant walk from Lijiang, the Black Dragon Pool is best visited in the late afternoon when the light on the ... [more]
A great way to spend your evening in Lijiang is to visit the Naxi Orchestra, playing ancient Chinese and Naxi ... [more]
Even though part of it is teeming with mostly local tourists, the old town of Lijiang is a very pretty place where ... [more]
One of the most spectacular stretches of nature in China can be enjoyed by walking through the Tiger Leaping Gorge, ... [more]
Crafted over many centuries by the Hani people, their rice terraces are spectacularly defining the landscape of ... [more]
Markets around Yuanyang provide an excellent opportunity to meet some of the colourful tribes of Yunnan province, ... [more]
A short hop from the city of Xichang, Qionghai Hu offers some fantastic views of the lake and the mountains around ... [more]
My only goal was to see the Yi people, as I had seen spectacular pictures of their dresses. My search for the ... [more]
Visiting the newest star on the Shanghai skyline at night makes for a futuristic experience. Not just the building ... [more]
Picturesque canals with old traditional houses, stone bridges reflected in the green water below, trees overhanging ... [more]
Just hiking into the wild near Kaili can bring unexpected surprises: fantastic views over the valleys below, the ... [more]
A short hop from the city of Kaili, Matang is still a relatively authentic village where you can find the Gejia ... [more]
While Gedong itself has grown into a modern Chinese town, its market is as colourful as it has probably always ... [more]
Heavily restored and beautified for visitors, Xijiang village still has several attractions that make a visit ... [more]
A lake that does not exist anymore, but is still a sight - that is Aydingkul lake in the vicinity of Turpan; it ... [more]
Information was scarce, people did not seem to know about it - yet the Yotkan Ruins proved an excursion of a different ... [more]
One of the prime attractions of Turpan turned out to be very hard to visit - it took me four visits before I could ... [more]
If you want to understand how the area surrounding Turpan can be so green, a visit to the Karez museum can go ... [more]
Once a famed town with a history and a travel destination for many, the old town of Kashgar is being replaced ... [more]
Truly spectacular mountain range on the east of Turpan, the Flaming Mountains are a wild kind of red mountains ... [more]
What once was a dangerous and long journey through the huge, empty space of the Taklamakan Desert, has now become ... [more]
The best preserved old city in the vicinity of Turpan, Jiaohe Ruins is not only very interesting to visit in itself, ... [more]
Once a famous, colourful market, a reason in itself to pay Kashgar a visit, the bazaar of the city has been stripped ... [more]
The bazaar of Hotan guarantees a constant stimulation of all your senses, and might be one of the most authentic, ... [more]
A narrow, spectacular canyon, an old town with adobe houses, and one of the holiest Muslim sites in China: there ... [more]
Among the finest examples of Chinese garden art, Yuyuan Garden offers rocky landscapes, trees, bridges, pavilions, ... [more]
Right in the middle of the old city of Shanghai, surrounded by highrise buildings, you can find a secluded and ... [more]
Crossing the Pu river using the Bond Sightseeing Tunnel is a fun experience, with light and sound effects inside ... [more]
The old, romantic town of Nanxun makes for a perfect day trip: roam around the quiet streets and corners, visit ... [more]
A wild section of the Great Wall of China, Jinshanling offers both restored and ruined parts of one of the most ... [more]
A unique mix of sounds welcomes you as soon as you step into this curious market where not only flowers, fish, ... [more]
In well-kept and spacious Temple of Heaven Park, you can find grand temples, halls of prayer, splendidly decorated ... [more]
Square Zhaolin park has a rich array of ice sculptures and buildings, which are artistically lit in the evening, ... [more]
With the extremely cold winter climate of Harbin, the Songhua river freezes solidly for months on end, and its ... [more]
The sculptures on display in the exhibition on Sun Island are true works of art: finely carved white masterpieces ... [more]
The biggest of all the winter exhibitions in Harbin, the fairy tale castles of Ice and Snow World dwarf you, and ... [more]
Off limits to most for centuries, half the Forbidden City is now accessible for everyone, and it is so enormous ... [more]
Exploring the pavilions, temples, bridges, islets, and man-made nature of the enormous Summer Palace complex can ... [more]
For the locals, Fuxing park is a place to come and relax, play, dance, discuss, kiss - and for the casual visitor, ... [more]
Hiking up the slopes dotted with pavilions and viewpoints over Beijing, several temples with the Temple of Azure ... [more]
One of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism, Putuoshan actually is a hilly island in the Sea of China, ... [more]
The city of Chengdu is rapidly modernizing, but you can still find patches of old and quiet; Wenshu Monastery ... [more]
The rich tulou cluster of Hongkeng does not only hold some great examples of enormous traditional Hakka houses; ... [more]
More a hill than a mountain, Baoshi mountain offers easy hiking, a monastery, caves, a pagoda, tranquillity and ... [more]
After visiting the Nanputuo temple complex with its many halls, statues, pagodas and worshippers, hiking up the ... [more]
Karst peaks rising from rivers, waterfalls, tea terraces, boulders, statues, old temples: spectacular landscapes, ... [more]
Once used to tell the time, the Drum Tower now still is a magnificent building, housing a small museum, with fine ... [more]
Looking at the sun rise over a sea of clouds and silhouettes of jagged peaks, and later seeing the steep cliffs ... [more]
One of the surviving old neighbourhoods of Beijing, walking the hutongs on both sides of busy Nanluogu Xiang hutong ... [more]
It is impossible not to be in awe when you reach the feet of the statue and look up at the enormous Buddha rising ... [more]
You look up, and see more than a hundred niches, big and small, all with sculpted Buddhas inside, some of them ... [more]
The imperial Ming Tombs and the Sacred Way are a place of historic significance, offering ample opportunities ... [more]
Walking the historic Marco Polo Bridge, it is hard not to imagine the famous Venetian traveler crossing this very ... [more]
Personal travel impressions both in words and images from China. Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places in Asia.
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