Kina

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.

Synonymous with the Silk Road, the slender province of Gansu (甘肃, Gānsù) flows east to west along the Hexi Corridor, the gap through which goods and ideas once streamed between China and Central Asia. The constant flow of commerce left Buddhist statues, beacon towers, forts, chunks of the Great Wall and ancient trading towns in its wake. Gansu offers an entrancingly rich cultural and geographic diversity. Historians immerse themselves in Silk Road lore, art aficionados swoon before the wealth of Buddhist paintings and sculptures, while adventurers hike through desert rockland, ascend sand dunes and tread along high-mountain paths well worn by Tibetan nomads. The ethnic diversity is equally astonishing: throughout the province, the local Hui Muslims act as though the Silk Road lives on; in Xiahe and Langmusi a pronounced Tibetan disposition holds sway, while other minority groups such as the Bao’an and Dongxiang join in the colourful minority patchwork.

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.

Fuzhou (福州, Fúzhōu) is a handsome provincial capital with charming old town laneways lined with lanterns and traditional architecture pressed up against the backs of shiny shopping plazas. Fuzhou's tea culture is renowned, and you’ll find plenty of purveyors along the banks of the Minjiang River. A short trip to the west lies Gu Mountain and its delightful, accessible hiking paths. A new metro makes the centre easy to access, but most visitors pass through en route to other destinations in southern China, so the only tourists you're likely to see will be Chinese.

Despite being a popular destination with domestic travelers, Guizhou (贵州, Guìzhōu) remains largely unknown to travelers outside China – and what a travesty of justice. The province has two of the country's largest and most spectacular natural features – a waterfall and a cave – while outside the capital, Guiyang, it's pretty much green hills and valleys, flowing rivers and limestone formations to the horizon.

Tibet’s second-largest city and the traditional capital of Tsang province, Shigatse (གཞི་ཀ་རྩེ་; 日喀则; Rìkāzé) is a modern, sprawling city, with wide boulevards humming with traffic. As you drive in across the plains, the sight of the Potala-lookalike Shigatse Dzong, high on a hilltop overlooking the town, will probably fire your imagination, but the fort is empty and most of what you see dates from a 2007 reconstruction. It is Tashilhunpo Monastery that is the real draw here. Since the Mongol sponsorship of the Gelugpa order in the 17th century, Tashilhunpo has been the seat of the Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

Here is proof, should you need it, that Qinghai has incredibly diverse landscapes: an alpine forest located 100km northeast of Xining with an elevation that spans 2200m to 4000m. Within are farming communities, ranging mountain goats, family restaurants, birch forests, waterfalls, lakes and plenty of hiking opportunities. The national park is popular with Xining folk seeking a weekend retreat, so go during the week for the optimum experience.

Fotografierna av den kinesiska landsbygden lockar fotofantaster från hela världen. Staden Xiapu har blivit en av landets mest virala destinationer. Men allt är iscensatt!

The most important city in western China and the economic engine of the upper Yangzi, Chongqing City (重庆; Chóngqìng) is a massive and enthralling urban sprawl. Chongqing makes up for a lack of top-notch sights with fantastic food and charismatic geography: its combination of steep hills at the confluence of the Yangzi and Jialing Rivers is a prelude to the even more dramatic scenery of the Three Gorges downstream.

Home to the wondrous Harbin Ice & Snow Festival, and the world's largest indoor ski facility, the capital of Heilongjiang (哈尔滨; Hā’ěrbīn), located on the Songhua River, is a stylish city and a highlight of any trip through Dongbei.