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Samtenling Nunnery
A pleasant hour-long (2.5km) walk northeast of Reting leads to the village-like Samtenling Nunnery, home to more than 140 nuns. The main chapel houses a meditation cave used by Tsongkhapa; to the right is his stone footprint and a hoofprint belonging to the horse of the protector P
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Victoria Park
Victoria Park is the biggest patch of public greenery on Hong Kong Island. The best time to go is on a weekday morning, when it becomes a forest of people practising the slow-motion choreography of taichi. The park becomes a flower market a few days before the Chinese New Year. It’
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Penha Hill
Towering above the colonial villas along Avenida da República is Penha Hill, the most tranquil and least-visited area of the peninsula. From here you’ll get excellent views of the central area of Macau. Atop the hill is Bishop’s Palace , built in 1837 and a residence for bishops (n
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Flaming Mountains
Near Bezeklik Caves in Turpan are the Flaming Mountains, which appear midday like multicoloured tongues of fire. The Flaming Mountains were immortalised in the Chinese classic Journey to the West, when Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) used his magic fan to extinguish the blaze. There’s
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Guāngxiào Temple
‘Bright Filial Piety Temple’ is the oldest temple in Guǎngzhōu, dating back to the 4th century. By the time of the Tang dynasty it was well established as a centre of Buddhist learning in southern China. Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, taught here. Most of the current bui
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Chöding Hermitage
A path branches off the kora up side steps beside the thangka wall to the Chöding hermitage. The hermitage was a retreat of Tsongkhapa, and predates Sera. There is not a great deal to see, but it is a short walk and the views from the hermitage are worthwhile. A path continues sout
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Che Kung Temple
This large Taoist temple complex, rebuilt in 1993, is on the opposite bank of the Shing Mun River channel. It’s dedicated to Che Kung, a Song-dynasty general credited with ridding Sha Tin of the plague. The best time to visit the temple is on the third day of Chinese New Year, when
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Běijīng Natural History Museum
The main entrance to this overblown, creeper-laden museum is hung with portraits of the great natural historians, including Darwin and Linnaeus. The contents range from dinosaur fossils and skeletons, including a Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis (a vast sauropod that once roamed China)
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Neche Goshog Monastery
This small, golden-roofed Bön monastery was rebuilt in 2008 after being gutted in a fire. It’s home to around 25 monks and is famous for a 2000-year-old juniper tree that is sacred to Bönpos. The manicured courtyard includes a small side shrine dedicated to the Bön founder Tonpa Sh
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Chinese Footbinding Culture Museum
This fascinating museum charts the history of footbinding in China with examples of the shoes that constituted, as captions in the museum attest, to The Golden Lotus complex that was the freakish mentality of the males at that time. Periodically banned, including a Taiping prohibit
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Sun Yat Sen Memorial House
This mock-Moorish house (c 1910) commemorates Dr Sun Yatsens (1866–1925) brief stay in Macau where he gathered support to overthrow the Qing dynasty. Youll see documents and personal belongings of the Father of the Chinese Republic. Interestingly, Sun himself had never lived in the
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Jǐnjiāng Pagoda
The highest point for miles, this pagoda sits atop Jǐnjiāng Shān in the park of the same name. The views across to North Korea are unparalleled and the park itself (a former military zone) is a well-tended expanse of forested slopes. You can take a taxi to the entrance or easily wa
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Prince Gong’s Residence
Reputed to be the model for the mansion in Cáo Xuěqín’s 18th-century classic Dream of the Red Mansions, this historic courtyard home is one of Běijīng’s largest private residential compounds. It remains one of the capital’s more attractive retreats, decorated with rockeries, plants
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Xuánwǔ Lake Park
The vast lake within this lovely, verdant 530-hectare park – backing onto the towering city wall – is studded with five interconnected isles, scattered with bonsai gardens, camphor and cherry-blossom trees, temples and bamboo groves. The entire lake circuit is a whopping 9.5km jaun
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Líchá Village
At 700-year-old Líchá village, 21km east of Zhàoqìng, houses, many with wok-handle roofs and bas-relief sculptures, radiate from a taichi (a symbol of yin and yang) on a central terrace, turning the village into a maze. Most residents have emigrated to Australia; only the elders re
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Pǎomǎ Shān
Pǎomǎ Shān is the famed mountain of the Kāngdìng Qíng Gē (Kangding Love Song), one of Chinas most enduring folk songs. Its an easy ascent on foot or take the cable car halfway up for excellent views of the town and surrounding peaks and valleys. You have to pay to go all the way up
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Sai Kung Country Park Visitor Centre
Pak Tam Chung (北潭涌) is the start of the MacLehose Trail. While you’re in Pak Tam Chung, visit the Sai Kung Country Park Visitor Centre, which is to the south of the village, just by the road from Sai Kung. It has excellent maps, photographs and displays of the area’s geology, fauna
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South Lake Park
This 193-hectare park has dozens of species of trees including some rare ones, but you dont have to be a botanist to enjoy it. The setting is lovely and some of the foliage is simply interesting to look at, or read a book under. There are also lawns to nap on and a lake to stroll a
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Exchange Square
This complex of office towers houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the offices of global financial corporations. The main draw is the attractive and relatively peaceful open-air space, featuring fountains, and sculptures by Henry Moore and Ju Ming. Access is via a network of ove
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First Beacon Platform of the Great Wall
Atop a 56m-high cliff overlooking the Tǎolài River south of Jiāyùguān, the remains of this beacon platform are a disappointing pile of dirt, but the views over the river and bare gorge are impressive and you can walk alongside attached vestiges of Ming-era Great Wall. Your driver w
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