Curator
of the world’s oldest continuous civilization, China has a lot of
historic attractions to offer such as the famous Forbidden City, the
Great Wall and the Terracotta Army. In recent years China has modernized
rapidly however as the Communist Party decentralized economic decision
making and opened the economy to increase foreign trade. The ambitious
skylines of Shanghai and other Chinese cities are a triumphant statement
of this process.
Traveling around is getting increasingly easier although visiting all of the top
tourist attractions in China is exhausting rather than difficult considering the vast size of the country.
10Pudong Skyline
Pudong is a district in
Shanghai
on the eastern side of the Huangpu River that has emerged as China’s
financial and commercial hub. A skyline of gleaming skyscrapers rises
out of what was mere farmland only 20 years ago. Skyscrapers includes
the symbolic Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center,
the Jin Mao Building and the Shanghai Tower that should be finished in
2014.
9Mogao Caves
The
Mogao Caves form a system of 492 temples 25 km (15.5 miles) southeast of the center of
Dunhuang,
an oasis strategically located at a crossroads on the Silk Road. The
caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a
period of about a 1,000 years. Construction of the Buddhist cave shrines
began in 366 AD as places to store scriptures and art. Along with the
Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, the Mogao Caves are one of the
three most famous ancient rock-cut temples in China.
8Leshan Giant Buddha
The
Giant Buddha of Leshan is a gigantic Buddha statue carved out of a
cliff face in Sichuan, western China. Begun in the year 713 during the
Tang Dynasty, the statue was not completed until the year 803, and was
the effort of thousands of sculptors and workers. The Leshan Giant
Buddha stands about 71 meters (233 feet) high and has three meter (11
feet) long fingers on each of its enormous resting hands.
7Mount Huang
One of China’s major tourist destinations, Mount Huang is a mountain range in eastern China also known as
Huangshan
(“Yellow Mountain”). The area is well known for its scenery, pine
trees, peculiarly-shaped granite peaks and views of the clouds from
above. In ancient times almost 60,000 stone steps were carved into the
side of the mountain range. Today there are also cable cars that
tourists can use to ride directly from the base to one of the summits.
6Li River Cruise
A Li River cruise from
Guilin
to Yangshuo is the highlight of any trip to northeastern Guangxi
Province. The landscape is decorated with amazing hills, steep cliffs,
incredible caves and farming villages, and is lined with bamboo groves.
With its breathtaking scenery and taste of a life far removed from the
concrete metropolis, the scenery along the Li River is one of the top
tourist attractions in China.
5Terracotta Army
The
Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the
armies of Qin Shi Huang (221 BC-206 BC), the first Emperor of China. It
is the most popular tourist attraction in
Xián
and one of the most popular in all of China. It is estimated that in
the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000
soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the
majority of which are still buried in the pits.
4Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a major tourist attraction in
Hong Kong
and one of the deepest container ports in the world. The bay offers
stunning views of the skyscrapers of Hong Kong island on one side, and
the Tsim Sha Tsui shoreline on the other. Victoria Harbour is also one
of the busiest harbors in the world with hundreds of ferries, junks and
speed boats darting up and down the shore. One of the best ways to see
the harbor is a trip on the Star Ferry.
3Forbidden City
Located in the center of
Beijing, the
Forbidden City
is the world’s largest palace covering 72 hectares. Built from 1406 to
1420, the palace complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707
rooms surrounded by a six meter (20 ft) deep moat and a ten meter (33
ft) high wall. Twenty-four emperors reigned over the country for almost 5
centuries from the Forbidden City until the abdication of Puyi, the
last Emperor of China. Today the Forbidden City is a museum and one of
the most popular tourist attractions in China.
2Potala Palace
Situated 130 meters above the Lhasa valley, the
Potala Palace
rises a further 170 meters and is the greatest monumental structure in
all of Tibet. The construction of the present palace began in 1645
during the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama and by 1648 the Potrang Karpo, or
White Palace, was completed. The Potrang Marpo, or Red Palace, was
added between 1690 and 1694. The Potala Palace remained the residence of
the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India, after the
Chinese invasion in 1959.
1Great Wall of China
The
Great Wall of China
built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th
century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from the
attacks of nomadic tribes from the north. The majority of the existing
wall were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The condition of
the Great Wall of China ranges from excellent to ruined. The most
popular area of the Great Wall is at Bādálǐng. Also renovated but less
touristy are Sīmǎtái and Jīnshānlǐng.
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