Kina

The centre of the Tibetan Buddhist world for over a millennium, Lhasa (ལྷ་ས་; 拉萨; Lāsà; literally the 'Place of the Gods') remains largely a city of wonders. Your first view of the red-and-white Potala Palace soaring above the Holy City raises goosebumps and the charming whitewashed old Tibetan quarter continues to preserve the essence of traditional Tibetan life. It is here in the Jokhang, an otherworldly mix of flickering butter lamps, wafting incense and prostrating pilgrims, and the encircling Barkhor pilgrim circuit, that most visitors first fall in love with Tibet.

The fertile Dunhuang (敦煌, Dūnhuáng) oasis has for millennia been a refuge for weary Silk Road travelers. Most visitors stayed long enough only to swap a camel; but some stayed, building the forts, towers and cave temples that are scattered over the surrounding area. These sites, along with some dwarfing sand dunes and desertscapes, make Dunhuang a magnificent place to visit.

Pingyao (平遥, Píngyáo) is China’s best-preserved ancient walled town. If you have any China mileage under your belt you'll appreciate the town’s age-old charms. While some ‘ancient’ cities may rustle together an unconvincing display of old city walls, sporadic temples or the occasional ragged alley thrust beneath apartment blocks, Pingyao has managed to keep its beguiling narrative largely intact: red-lantern–hung lanes set against silhouettes of imposing town walls, ancient towers poking into the north China sky, and an entire brood of creaking temples. In recent years, shops on the main commercial streets have developed a penchant for disco lighting, light-box menus and noise-making costumed jesters. But outside these central areas, the ancient city is little changed.

From ancient walled capital to showpiece megacity in barely a century, Beijing (Běijīng, 北京), spins a breathless yarn of triumph, tragedy, endurance and innovation.

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.

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.

An off-limits border area for more than 60 years, Sha Tau Kok Village (沙頭角), which lies 11km northeast of Fanling, was sealed off from the rest of Hong Kong in 1951 following the communist takeover of China. While access to the border town itself is still restricted to local residents, the 400 hectares of land – and the patchwork of villages that it contains – to the west and southwest have been partially open since 2012.

Overlapping much of the historic Tibetan region of Kham (ཁམས་), eastern Tibet is the face you never knew Tibet had: a land of raging rivers and deep gorges, immense pine forests and azalea-filled meadows, outspoken monks and rebel nomads. It is here that the plateau begins its descent towards the subtropical Sichuan basin, and the landscapes represent both extremes: you can drive over a scrubby high mountain pass dusted with snow and a few hours later be sliding your way through rainforest on a mud-bath road. Chances are you’ll be the only traveler in sight.

Coiling its way through 23 degrees of longitude, the Great Wall (长城, Chángchéng) stands as an awe-inspiring monument to the grandeur of China’s ancient history. With sections dating back 2000 years, the wall (or, more accurately, walls, because they belong to several different eras) wriggle haphazardly from their scattered Manchurian remains in Liaoning province to wind-scoured rubble in the Gobi desert and faint traces in the unforgiving sands of Xinjiang. Interspersed with natural defences (such as precipitous mountains), the Great Wall can be visited in 15 Chinese provinces, principalities and autonomous regions, but nowhere is better than Beijing for mounting your assault on this most iconic of bastions.

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).