-
Monte Fort
Just east of the ruins, Monte Fort was built by the Jesuits between 1617 and 1626 as part of the College of the Mother of God. Barracks and storehouses were designed to allow the fort to survive a two-year siege, but the cannons were fired only once, during the aborted attempt by t
-
Sera Ütse
From Sera the steep relentless climb up to the yellow-walled Sera Ütse retreat takes at least an hour (look up and see it high on the cliff above Sera; if that doesn’t put you off, you’ll be fine!). Sera Ütse was a retreat used by Tsongkhapa (his drub-puk , or meditation cave, can
-
Emin Minaret
Built to honor Turpan general Emin Hoja, this splendid 44m-high mud-brick structure, built 1777–78, is the tallest minaret in China. Also known as Sūgōng Tǎ after Emin’s son Suleiman, who oversaw its construction, its bowling pin shape is decorated with an interesting mix of geomet
-
China Fortune Wheel
This enormous, gold-plated Tibetan prayer wheel is turned with the aid of rushing water from the Yellow River. The prayer wheel is 27m tall, 10m in diameter and weighs 200 tonnes, earning it a spot in the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest prayer wheel. Inside the wheel
-
City Walls
A good place to start your Píngyáo experience is the magnificent city walls (城墙; chéng qiáng), which date from 1370. At 10m high and more than 6km in circumference, they are punctuated by 72 watchtowers, each containing a paragraph from Sunzi’s The Art of War . Part of the southern
-
Bank of China Tower
The awesome 70-storey Bank of China Tower designed by IM Pei rises from the ground like a cube, and is then successively reduced, quarter by quarter, until the south-facing side is left to rise on its own. The public viewing gallery (open 8am to 6pm weekdays) on the 43rd floor offe
-
Twin Bridges
A total of 14 bridges grace Zhōuzhuāng, but the most attractive is this pair of Ming-dynasty bridges (双桥; Shuāngqiáo ) gorgeously standing at the intersection of two waterways in the heart of this canal town. Shìdé Bridge (世德桥; Shìdé Qiáo ) is a humpbacked bridge while the connecti
-
Wǎnpíng Town
An astonishing sight, given that you are still within the confines of Běijīng’s 5th Ring Rd, this double-gated, Ming-dynasty walled town is still lived in today. Although few of its original buildings still stand (residents live in newish brick bungalows these days), its 2km-long,
-
Tomb of Wáng Jiàn
Built for Wang Jian (847–918), a general who rose to power following the collapse of the Tang dynasty to rule as emperor of the Shu kingdom, this above-ground tomb, the only one excavated in China so far, was pillaged just once, sometime after the subsequent collapse of the Shu. Th
-
Cattle Depot Artist Village
This century-old slaughterhouse deep in the entrails of Kowloon has reincarnated into an artists’ village, its red-brick buildings housing studios and exhibition halls. There are some 20 art organisations inside, including On and On Theatre Workshop . The nonprofit visual art organ
-
Former Site of Kāifēng Synagogue
Sadly, nothing remains of the synagogue – finally swept away in mid-19th century floodwaters – except a well with an iron lid in the boiler room of the Kaifeng Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (开封中医院, Kāifēng Zhōngyīyuàn), which may allow you to examine it. The spirit of the s
-
Palha Lu
Palha Lu-puk (next to Drubthub Nunnery) is an atmospheric cave temple said to have been the 7th-century meditational retreat of King Songtsen Gampo. The main attraction of the cave is its relief rock carvings, some of which are over a thousand years old, making them the oldest reli
-
Koguryo Sites
The Koguryo sites are spread around the very lovely green hills surrounding Jí’ān. Despite their historical significance, most sites don’t have a terrible amount of detail to examine. Many of the tombs are cairns – essentially heaps of stones piled above burial sites – while others
-
Zhāngjiājiè Scenic Area
From the Forest Park entrance, there is an early opportunity for a birds-eye view of the karst towers from Huángshí Village (黄石寨; Huángshí Zhài), a 3km loop on a plateau 1048m up. It’s a two-hour slog up 3878 stone steps, or a half-hour by electric bus (free), then cable car (one w
-
Xiányáng City Museum
More than 2000 years ago Xiányáng was the capital of the Qin dynasty. These days, it’s just a dusty satellite of Xī’ān. Its chief attraction is this museum, which houses a remarkable collection of 3000 50cm-tall terracotta soldiers and horses, excavated from the tomb of Liu Bang, t
-
Kite Museum
As youd expect, this museum tells the story of kites – from the first one, a bamboo magpie fashioned 2400 years ago in Wéifāng by Lu Ban (hes the winged figure in front of the museum), to their use in warfare, meteorology, hunting, cartography and eventually the study of electricit
-
Swallow’s Cavern
This freak of nature and ornithology is halfway between Jiànshuǐ and Gèjiù. The karst formations (the largest in Asia) are a lure, but what youll want to see are the hundreds of thousands of swallows flying around in spring and summer. The cave is split into two – one high and dry,
-
Whampoa Military Academy
This academy on Chángzhōu Island (长洲岛; Chángzhōu Dǎo) was founded in 1924 by the Kuomintang to train military elites for both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Many of the graduates went on to fight in important conflicts and civil wars. The present structure has a museum ded
-
Ten Fus Tea Culture House
Its a blatant attempt to promote the already hugely successful Ten Fu tea brand, but this teashop-cum-museum is interesting nevertheless. Sidestep the teas and tea sets for sale on the ground floor (unless youre in the buying mood, of course), and head upstairs to the tea corridor
-
Sok Kwu Wan
Though still a small settlement (population 500), Lammas secondary village of Sok Kwu Wan supports at least a dozen waterfront seafood restaurants popular with boaters. The small harbour is filled with rafts from which cages are suspended and fish are farmed. Its a lovely place to
Total
2381 -travel
FirstPage PreviousPage NextPage LastPage CurrentPage:
92/120 20-travel/Page GoTo Page:
