China

China spans a vast swathe of East Asia, from tropical Hainan to snowy mountains, pairing an ancient civilisation with dynamic megacities. Beijing has the Forbidden City, palace of the Ming and Qing emperors, and the Temple of Heaven, with the Great Wall a day trip away. Shanghai’s Bund faces the Pudong skyline across the Huangpu, and Hong Kong, a city of Cantonese cooking, wraps around Victoria Harbour beneath the Peak.

Hangzhou’s West Lake, UNESCO-listed, is ringed by tea hills; Xi’an guards the Terracotta Army of the Qin dynasty; Chengdu means teahouses, giant pandas and Sichuan cooking. In Yunnan, Lijiang’s old town lies beneath Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Shangri-La opens onto highland valleys. Jiuzhaigou, also UNESCO-listed, is famed for turquoise lakes and waterfalls, and Hainan for the beaches around Sanya. Food alone is a reason to come: Cantonese dim sum (small dishes shared over tea), crisp-skinned Peking duck, tingling Sichuan pepper, Shanghai’s soup-filled xiaolongbao dumplings and an age-old tea culture.

Spring and autumn are usually the most comfortable seasons in most cities; Hainan’s beaches suit the cooler months, roughly November to April, and Jiuzhaigou is at its most vivid in autumn. China rewards culture and food lovers, first-timers and returning travellers, and families, especially on journeys combining cities, nature and beach, or continuing to Japan or Southeast Asia.