Kina

The remote highways running along the north of Kham can be used to exit the Tibet Autonomous Region into Qinghai, Sichuan, or as part of a long loop around Kham. At the time of writing only one route into Qinghai was open to foreign travellers: Hwy 109 (also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Hwy) running from Lhasa to Xining. As the railway covers the same route most people do not hire private vehicles for this section. A few hardy souls make the trip by bike, crossing into Tibet over the 5180m Tangu-la pass. Under current regulations, a guide still needs to accompany you and your bicycle in a support vehicle. Check out Bike China for more.

Xiamen (厦门, Xiàmén), the island city formerly known in Western circles as Amoy, is emerging as southern China’s most sophisticated city. Chinese travelers have long understood the lure of its lengthy seaside promenade and European city architecture, but international ‘jetizens’ are now descending on the fun.

Guangxi (广西, Guǎngxī) conjures up visions of cycling and bamboo-rafting upon shimmering river waters beneath the sublime karst peaks of Yangshuo and hiking between villages in the lofty Longji Rice Terraces. That's not all though: you can take selfies in front of the dramatic Danxia landscape (a type of landform) at Tianmen Mountain and Bajiaozhai National Geopark, and get sprayed by the mighty waterfall of Detian or splashed by live seafood in Beihai's Vietnamese quarter.

How popular is this time-locked place? Lijiang’s (丽江, Lìjiāng) maze of cobbled streets, rickety (or rickety-looking, given gentrification) wooden buildings and gushing canals suck in over eight million people a year. So thick are the crowds in the narrow alleys that it can feel like they've all arrived at the same time.

Hekou (河口, Hékǒu) is a small town set along the Yuanjiang River across from Vietnam. Decent transport connections mean there are few reasons to linger, but it's a pleasant enough place to spend the night before or after using the only border crossing for travelers heading directly between Yunnan and Vietnam.

The historical province of Tsang (གཙང) is either the first or last place that most travelers experience in Tibet, and the setting for two of Asia's great mountain drives: to far western Tibet and across the Himalaya to Nepal. The great overland trip across Tibet – from Lhasa along the Friendship Hwy to the Nepali border via Gyantse, Shigatse and Mt Everest Base Camp – goes straight through Tsang, linking most of Tibet's highlights on one irresistible route. Along the way is a scattering of atmospheric Tibetan monasteries and historic towns, an adventurous detour to the base of Mt Everest and multitudes of snowy peaks and moonlike landscapes to behold. Dozens of smaller monasteries just off the highway offer plenty of scope to get off the beaten track and experience an older Tibet.

North of Myanmar and Laos, Xishuangbanna (西双版纳, Xīshuāngbǎnnà) is the Chinese approximation of the original Thai name of Sip Sawng Panna (12 Rice-Growing Districts). Better known as Bǎnnà, the area has become China’s mini-Thailand, attracting tourists looking for sunshine, water-splashing festivals and jungle treks. Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, as it is known officially, is subdivided into the three counties of Jinghong, Menghai and Mengla.

Shenyang (沈阳, Shěnyáng) is a provincial capital on the rise. Its sleek metro hums beneath wide boulevards and contemporary glass monoliths, while an underrated Imperial Palace and tomb complex – sadly overlooked by all bar the history buffs – lies at either end of its park-lined urban centre.

One of China’s most enduringly popular holiday spots, Hángzhōu’s (杭州) dreamy West Lake panoramas and fabulously green hills can easily tempt you into long sojourns. Eulogised by poets and applauded by emperors, the lake has intoxicated the Chinese imagination for aeons. Kept spotlessly clean by armies of street sweepers and litter collectors, its scenic vistas draw you into a classical Chinese watercolor of willow-lined banks, mist-covered hills and the occasional shíkùmén (stone-gate house) and old lǐlòng (residential lane).

Ü (དབུས་) is Tibet’s heartland and contains almost all the landscapes you’ll find across the plateau, from sand dunes and meandering rivers to soaring peaks and juniper forests. Due to its proximity to Lhasa, Ü is the first taste of rural Tibet that most visitors experience, and you can get off the beaten track surprisingly easily here. Fine walking opportunities abound, from day hikes and monastery koras (pilgrim circuits) to overnight treks.