Kina

Sai Kung Peninsula is one of the last havens left in Hong Kong for hikers, swimmers and boaters, and most of it is one beautiful 7500-hectare country park. Small ferries depart from the waterfront for nearby island beaches, a journey to any of which is rewarding. Moored boats sell seafood to customers on the pier. The atmosphere is unbeatable.

Known as the 'Vegas of China', Macau is indeed an epicentre of gambling and glitz. While luxury entertainment here is world-class, the city has much more to offer than that. Macau was a Portuguese colony for 300 years, a history marked by a cultural hybridity that manifests itself in all aspects of life: Chinese temples stand on maritime-themed Portuguese tiles; the sound of Cantonese permeates streets with Portuguese names; and when you're hungry, it could be Chinese dim sum, pastéis de nata (Portuguese egg tarts) or Macanese minchi (ground meat stir-fried with potatoes) that come to the rescue.

Dali Old Town (大理古城, Dàlǐ Gǔchéng), the original backpacker hang-out in Yunnan, was once the place to chill, with its stunning location sandwiched between mountains and Erhai Lake. Loafing here for a couple of weeks was once an essential part of the Yunnan experience.

Rising from the subtropical and temperate forests of northwest Hunan, Zhangjiajie (张家界; Zhāngjiājiè) has a concentration of quartzite-sandstone formations found nowhere else in the world. Some 243 peaks and more than 3000 pinnacles and spires dominate the scenery in this Unesco-protected park. If caught in the right light or when the early-morning mountain mist rolls in around them, the effect is otherworldly.

145 meter högt och 125 meter i diameter. Megakonstruktionen i den kinesiska staden Weifang är tänkt att öppna för allmänheten inom kort och är det högsta ekerlösa pariserhjulet i världen.

På söndagen den 26 januari gick Utrikesdepartementet ut med en avrådan från icke-nödvändiga resor till Hubei-provinsen på grund av utbrottet av coronavisuset. Dessutom avråder man besök till marknader i Kina där djur förekommer.

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).

A cool, misty retreat from Sichuan basin’s heat, Emei Shan (峨眉山; 3099m) is one of China’s four sacred Buddhist Mountains (the others being Putuo Shsn, Wutai Shan and Jiuhua Shan. This excludes sacred Buddhist mountains in the Tibetan regions). A farmer built the first Buddhist temple near Jinding summit in the 1st century. That temple stood until it was gutted by fire in 1972, and many of the more than 150 temples on the mountain suffered fires or looting over the centuries but around 30 have been maintained and restored in various degrees. Reconstructed in the 9th century, Wannian Temple is the oldest surviving temple on the mountain.

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.

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.