Kina

Waist-deep in handsome history, Shanxi (山西) is home to an impressive roll call of must-see, ancient sights. Most travellers start with the walled city of Pingyao. Basing yourself here and jumping to the town's surrounding sights is practically all you need: you'll encounter time-worn temples, sprawling Ming- or Qing-dynasty courtyard residences, and the opportunity for a day trip to the dizzying mountain cliffs and gorges of Mian Shan.

Forever being compared to Běijīng (if anything, it's more like Shànghǎi), the former foreign concession port of Tiānjīn (天津) is a large, booming, yet laid-back city, with a pleasant river promenade and some charming neighbourhoods. It's an easy day trip from the capital, but you may want a long weekend to explore the city properly.

While the full 40km or so of coastline dedicated to tourism is usually referred to as Sanya, the region is actually made up of three distinct zones. Sanya Bay is home to the bustling city center and a long stretch of beach and hotels aimed at locals and mainland holidaymakers. Busy, cheerful Dadonghai Bay, about 3km southeast, beyond the Luhuitou Peninsula (鹿回头岭, Lùhuítóu Lǐng), is where most foreign travelers stay. A further 15km east, at exclusive Yalong Bay, the beach is first-rate, as is the line of plush international resorts.

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.

Vast, thinly populated and with an average altitude of over 14,764 ft (4500m), western Tibet (Ngari, མངའ་རིས་) is a rough and ready frontier occupying one of the remotest corners of Asia. For most travelers the main attractions of what is likely to be a two- or three-week overland trip are the almost legendary destinations of Mt Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. Indeed, many of the Tibetan and Indian pilgrims you meet on this road have been planning a visit all their lives.

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).

Níngbō (宁波), an ancient harbour city, has been an important trading port for millennia, and today is one of China's busiest. One of the five ports opened during the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, it has a former foreign concession, Lǎo Wàitān (老外滩), now a vibrant, pedestrian-only entertainment district along the Yǒng River. For travellers, Níngbō is primarily a waypoint on the journey to Pǔtuóshān.

Guǎngzhōu (广州), once better known internationally as Canton, has been China's busiest trading centre for centuries. Despite breakneck redevelopment up to and after the 2010 Asian Games, much of the metropolis still hums along at a pleasantly sedate pace, where narrow, leafy streets conceal temples and mosques, pockets of colonial-era heritage, traditional dim-sum eateries, distinctive qílóu shophouses and Lǐngnán architecture. Equally, you can embrace modernity via the 21st-century architectural landmarks of the showpiece Zhūjiāng New Town, such as the late Zaha Hadid's Opera House and the slim-waisted Canton Tower, rising up over the Pearl River, which cuts a lazy swathe through the city.

Combining fresh sea air and dashing good looks, Qīngdǎo (青岛) – the name means 'Green Island' – is a rare modern city that has managed to preserve some of its past while angling a dazzling modern face to the future. Its blend of concession-era and modern architecture puts China’s standard white-tile and blue-glass developments to shame. The winding cobbled streets, colonial German architecture and red-capped hillside villas are captivating and there's so much to enjoy in the city’s diverse food scene, headlined by the ubiquitous home town beer Tsingtao. Meanwhile, the seaside aspect keeps the town cooler than the inland swelter zones during summer, and slightly warmer in winter.

The original city core and the sole part of Shanghai to pre-date the 1850s, the Old City (上海老城厢; Shànghăi Lăo Chéngxiāng) is a favourite with visitors hoping to glimpse ‘traditional’ China. Many of the older buildings have been replaced with modern apartment blocks, but there are still more temples here than in the rest of the city combined, and pockets are impregnated with atmosphere and shabby charm.