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Xī’ān Museum
Housed in the pleasant grounds of the Jiànfú Temple is this museum featuring relics unearthed in Xī’ān over the years. There are some exquisite ceramics from the Han dynasty, as well as figurines, an exhibition of Ming-dynasty seals and jade artefacts. Don’t miss the basement, wher
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Tuyoq
Set in a green valley fringed by the Flaming Mountains, the mud-constructed village Tuyoq offers a glimpse of traditional Uighur life and architecture. Tuyoq has been a pilgrimage site for Muslims for centuries: the devout claim that seven trips here equal one trip to Mecca. On the
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Mǎtí Sì
Mǎtí Sì translates as Horse Hoof Monastery, a reference to a legendary event in which a heavenly horse left a hoof imprint in a grotto. Between the 5th and 14th centuries a series of caves were almost as miraculously built in sheer sandstone cliffs and filled with carvings, temples
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Han Dynasty Brick Museum
Thirty years ago, Zhang Xinkuan was a young army officer laying a road in Hénán province when he noticed the huge granite slabs they were smashing into gravel were covered in exquisite carvings. Thus began his lifes pursuit to save more than 5000 of these relics from the Han dynast
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Tidrum Nunnery
Tidrum, with its medicinal hot springs, has a great location in a narrow gorge at the confluence of two streams. The entire valley is festooned with prayer flags. The small nunnery has strong connections to Yeshe Tsogyal, the wife of King Trisong Detsen and consort of Guru Rinpoche
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Mindroling Tsuglhakhang
The central Tsuglhakhang is an elegant brown stone structure on the west side of the courtyard. As you walk clockwise, the first chapel youll see is the Zheye Lhakhang, with statues of Guru Rinpoche and Terdak Lingpa (with a white beard and excellent hat). The bare main hall itself
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Dōngjiāo Coconut Plantation
This coconut farming community takes up a big chunk of Wénchāng County on the northeast coast. Cool, palm-lined lanes wind through traditional villages where locals harvest coconuts and snooze in hammocks. At the shore, kilometers of long (though somewhat scrubby and gnat-ridden) b
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Shíhù Garden
This Ming dynasty courtyard home belonged to Ding Shanbao, a Jiāngsū merchant who at one time owned half the town. In 1885, he restored the property as his private residence and put the focus on its garden, considered a masterpiece of Sūzhōu-style design with an unusually compact a
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White Bamboo Shoot Pagoda
Surrounded by jungle (watch out for stray snakes!), this pagoda dates back to 1204 and is Dàměnglóng’s premier attraction. According to legend, the pagoda’s temple was built on the location of a hallowed footprint left behind by the Sakyamuni Buddha, who is said to have visited Xīs
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National Museum of China
Běijīng’s premier museum is housed in an immense 1950s building on the eastern side of Tiān’ānmén Sq, and is well worth visiting. The Ancient China exhibition on the basement floor is outstanding. You could easily spend a couple of hours in this exhibition alone. It contains dozens
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Poly Art Museum
This small but exquisite museum displays a glorious array of ancient bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, a magnificent high-water mark for bronze production. Check out the intricate scaling on the ‘Zūn vessel in the shape of a Phoenix’ (倗季凤鸟尊) or the ‘Yǒu with Divine Faces’
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Clock Exhibition Hall
The Clock Exhibition Hall is one of the unmissable highlights of the Forbidden City. Located in the Hall for Ancestral Worship (Fèngxiàn Diàn) – just off to the right after the Three Great Halls – the exhibition contains an astonishing array of elaborate timepieces, many of which w
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Great Bell Temple
Newly refurbished, this famous shrine (originally called Juéshēng Temple) was once a pit stop for Qing emperors who came here to pray for rain. Today the temple is named after its massive Ming-dynasty bell (6.75m tall and weighing a hefty 46.5 tonnes), which is inscribed with Buddh
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Luòbiǎo Hanging Coffins
There are hanging coffins found in other parts of China, but there are more in Luòbiǎo than anywhere else and they are reasonably accessible. At one time there were more than 300 hanging coffins, although a third have fallen to the ground as their support stakes have rotted away ov
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Big Goose Pagoda
This pagoda, Xī’ān’s most famous landmark, 4km southeast of the South Gate, dominates the surrounding modern buildings. One of China’s best examples of a Tang-style pagoda (squarish rather than round), it was completed in AD 652 to house the Buddhist sutras brought back from India
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Qīnglóng Dòng
Across the river from the old town, the epic vertical warren of temples, grottoes, corridors and caves of Qīnglóng Dòng rises up against Zhōnghé Mountain (Zhōnghéshān; 中和山). Flooded with lights at night, it forms a sublime backdrop to the town. Put aside a good hour for exploration
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Lónghuá Temple & Pagoda
Southeast from Xújiāhuì, Shànghǎis oldest and largest monastery is named after the pipal tree (lónghuá) under which Buddha achieved enlightenment. The much-renovated temple is said to date from the 10th century, its five main halls commencing with the Laughing Buddha Hall ; note th
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Gate of Heavenly Peace
Hung with a vast likeness of Mao Zedong, and guarded by two pairs of Ming stone lions, the double-eaved Gate of Heavenly Peace, north of Tiān’ānmén Square , is a potent national symbol. Built in the 15th century and restored in the 17th century, the gate was formerly the largest of
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Píngshān
Take a motorised pedicab (around ¥20) through the mulberry groves from Hóngcūn towards Xīdì to find this picturesque village, the streets of which are littered with young Chinese artists. Ancient, noteworthy halls include the Xiányì Táng (咸宜堂) with its terrifically decorated fronta
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Darjay Gompa
Travellers sick of dusty market towns and only seeing gorgeous scenery through bus windows will enjoy two days exploring the grasslands around one of Gānzī prefecture’s largest and most venerated monasteries. Darjay Gompa is 30km west of Gānzī on the road to Dégé. A short walk from
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