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Cypress Park
A few kilometres south of Bāyī a stand of ancient cypress trees dot a steep but inviting hillside. The most venerable cypress is a reported 2500 years old, making it the oldest tree in China, and as old as the Buddha himself. This, in addition to the tree being sacred to Bön founde
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Milarepa Palace Buddhist Temple
About 2km from the bus station along the main road towards Xiàhé is this towering temple, ringed by prayer wheels. The port-coloured building is highly unusual in the Tibetan world in that different spiritual leaders from varying sects are worshipped on each floor. The ground-floor
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Prime Minister Chen’s Castle
This beautifully preserved Ming-dynasty castle is the former residence of Chen Tingjing, prime minister under Emperor Kangxi in the late 17th century, and co-author of China’s most famous dictionary. The Chen family rose to prominence as senior officials in the 16th century and the
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Cíqìkǒu Ancient Town
The opportunity to snatch a glimpse of old Chóngqìng makes it worth riding out to this part of town, on the Jiālíng River west of the centre. Through the archway that is the entrance to the town, most of the buildings – many dating to the late Ming dynasty – have been restored, and
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Shànghǎi Zoo
On the grounds of a former golf course, this is one of Chinas greenest and most pleasant zoos, and makes for a great day with the kids, especially if the suns out. There’s a decent selection of animals – from woolly twin-humped Bactrian camels to spindly legged giraffes, lots of di
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Jiāngtóuzhōu Ancient Town
The 1000-year-old village of Jiāngtóuzhōu is tucked away among farmland 32km north of Guìlín. There’s an unmistakable rustic charm, with cobblestone alleyways and weathered homes from the Ming and Qing dynasties, where blocks of tofu are laid out to set in the courtyards. The resid
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Tang Caves
The Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) was Mògāo’s high point. Painting and sculpture techniques became much more refined, and some important aesthetic developments, notably the sex change (from male to female) of Guanyin and the flying apsaras, took place. The beautiful murals depicting th
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Lónglǐ
Stranded in splendid isolation amid fields and rice paddies near the Húnán border, Lónglǐ is a former garrison town populated by the descendants of Han soldiers sent to protect the empire from the pesky Miao. One of the province’s ‘eco-museums’ (read, real-live village), it’s fasci
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Hanging Monastery
Built precariously into the side of a cliff, the Buddhist Hanging Monastery is made all the more stunning by its long support stilts. The halls have been built along the contours of the cliff face, connected by rickety catwalks and narrow corridors, which can get very crowded in su
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Gāochāng
Originally settled in the 1st century BC, Gāochāng rose to power in the 7th century during the Tang dynasty. Also known as Khocho, or sometimes Karakhoja, Gāochāng became the Uighur capital in AD 850 and was a major staging post on the Silk Road until it burnt in the 14th century.
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North Tomb
Another Shěnyáng highlight is this extensive tomb complex, the burial place of Huang Taiji (1592–1643), founder of the Qing dynasty. The tomb’s animal statues lead up to the central mound known as the Luminous Tomb (Zhāo Líng). In many ways a better-preserved complex than the Imper
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Gomar Gompa
Across the Gu-chu river valley from Wútún Sì is the mysterious 400-year-old Gomar Gompa, a charming monastery that resembles a medieval walled village. There are 130 monks in residence living in whitewashed mud-walled courtyards and there are a few temples you can visit. The huge c
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Bird’s Nest & Water Cube
Seven years after the 2008 Olympics, walking around the Olympic Sports Centre midweek is rather like being stuck in a district of Brasilia or one of those zombie movies where humans have all but been wiped out. A few events are staged at the signature National Stadium, known colloq
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Yúnfēng Shān
A Taoist mountain dotted with 17th-century temples and monastic retreats, Yúnfēng Shān is 47km north of Téngchōng. It’s possible to take a cable car, close to the top from where it’s a 20-minute walk to Dàxióng Bǎodiàn (大雄宝殿), a temple at the summit. Lǔzǔ Diàn (鲁祖殿), the temple sec
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Bādálǐng
This restored section of the Great Wall is Běijīng’s most-visited chunk of the brick-clad bastion. Nixon, Thatcher, Reagan, Gorbachev and Queen Elizabeth have all stamped on Bādálǐng. It ticks all the iffy Great Wall boxes in one flourish: souvenir stalls, T-shirt flogging hawkers
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Gòngqīng Forest Park
This vast expanse of forested parkland on the western shore of the Huángpǔ River is a leafy, wooded and tranquil slice of countryside in Shànghǎi. This is about as wild as you get in Pǔxī, with acres of willows, luohan pines, magnolias, hibiscus and nary a skyscraper in sight. Aim
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Garden of the Master of the Nets
Off Shiquan Jie, this pocket-sized garden is considered one of Sūzhōus best preserved. Laid out in the 12th century, it went to seed and was later restored in the 18th century as part of the home of a retired official turned fisherman (hence the name). A striking feature is the use
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Tashilhunpo kora
The kora around Tashilhunpo Monastery takes about one hour to complete. From the main gate, follow the monastery walls in a clockwise direction and look for an alley on the right. The alley curves around the western wall, past tsatsa (clay icon) makers, stone carvers and monks reci
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Tángmó
A narrow village extending 1km along a central canal, Tángmó originally dates to the late Tang dynasty. A pathway follows the waterway from the entrance at the east gate (东门, dōng mén ) into the village, leading past the large Tán’gàn Garden (檀干园, Tán’gàn Yuán), modelled after Háng
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Sha Monastery
Just 2km southeast of Nyima Jiangre, Sha is dedicated to the Dzogchen suborder. A highlight of the monastery is the pair of 9th-century doring (inscribed pillars) that flank the entrance gate. These have inscriptions that detail the estates given to Nyangben Tengzin Zangpo, a boyho
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