Country guide
China covers 9.6 million km², third largest of any country, and holds more than 1.4 billion people — about 17 per cent of everyone alive. It is divided into 33...
Photograph · Severin.stalder · CC BY-SA 3.0
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
China covers 9.6 million km², third largest of any country, and holds more than 1.4 billion people — about 17 per cent of everyone alive. It is divided into 33 province-level divisions, two of them special administrative regions.
Beijing is the capital; Shanghai is the most populous city by urban area. Between them the land runs from the Central Plain and the Yangtze and Yellow rivers out to desert, plateau, subtropical and temperate forest, and the Himalayas in the southwest. The first decision a visitor makes here is therefore not which sight to see but which climate to travel in.
Checked 2026-08-25
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Mustang Joe · CC0
Photograph · Charlie fong · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · ScareCriterion12 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Charlie fong · CC BY-SA 4.0
Seasonal closures come from recorded opening hours.
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
104 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
中国国家博物馆
The National Museum of China stands on the east side of Tiananmen Square in central Beijing. It occupies a vast building that merged the former Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution.
恭王府
Prince Gong Mansion, known locally as 恭王府, stands as one of Beijing's most significant surviving aristocratic residences from the Qing dynasty era. The complex represents a prime example of traditional Chinese princely architecture and garden design.
西安鼓楼博物馆
Xi'an Drum Tower is a Ming Dynasty landmark in the centre of Xi'an's walled city. It stands opposite the Bell Tower and is one of the city's defining historic buildings.
首都博物馆
The Capital Museum is a major cultural institution in Beijing, China, dedicated to preserving and exhibiting artifacts related to the city's history and culture. Its local name is 首都博物馆.
中华艺术宫
China Art Museum, known locally as 中华艺术宫, is a dedicated art-museum stop at 205 Shangnan Road in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. Its visitor purpose is a focused encounter with Chinese art exhibitions rather than a brief landmark photograph.
上海科技馆
Shanghai Science and Technology Museum is a major public science museum located in Shanghai, China. Its local name is 上海科技馆. The museum serves as a prominent cultural and educational institution within the city, dedicated to science popularization and technological exhibition.
鄭家大屋 Casa do Mandarim
Mandarin’s House, also known as Zheng Guanying’s former residence, is a historic mansion in Macau’s Historic Centre. It was the ancestral home of the Zheng family and is associated with the thinker Zheng Guanying.
上海城市规划展示馆
Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center is a civic museum devoted to explaining how Shanghai has developed as a city.
路氹歷史館 Museu da História da Taipa e Coloane
The Museum of Taipa and Coloane History, known locally as 路氹歷史館, is a cultural institution in Macau dedicated to preserving and presenting the historical development of the islands of Taipa and Coloane.
陕西历史博物馆
Shaanxi History Museum is a major museum in Xi'an, a city shaped by the history of successive Chinese capitals. Its collections span prehistoric communities, the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties, and archaeological discoveries from Shaanxi.
中国科学技术馆
China Science and Technology Museum is Beijing's national-scale institution for public science education, located beside Olympic Green. Its main exhibition programme explains fundamental science, engineering, life, environment and technological development through large interactive galleries rather than a traditional object-only collection.
国家自然博物馆
The National Natural History Museum of China is Beijing's principal museum for zoology, palaeontology, botany and human origins. Located at Tianqiao, it combines specimen collections, scientific research and public education, with dinosaur skeletons among its best-known displays.
上海犹太难民纪念馆
The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum commemorates the approximately 20,000 Jewish refugees who found shelter in Shanghai during World War II, primarily in the Tilanqiao area of Hongkew.
上海自然博物馆
Shanghai Natural History Museum is a science-focused museum at 510 West Beijing Road, inside Jing’an Sculpture Park in central Shanghai.
鲁迅博物馆
Beijing Lu Xun Museum is dedicated to the life, writing and cultural legacy of Lu Xun, one of modern China’s most influential authors.
宋庆龄故居
The Former Residence of Soong Ching-ling is a historic house museum in Beijing’s Shichahai area.
天主教藝術博物館 Museu de Arte Sacra e Cripta
Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt occupies the lower level of the Ruins of St. Paul’s in Macao’s historic center. It preserves religious art and architectural remains connected with the former Church of Mater Dei and College of St.
上海当代艺术博物馆
The Power Station of Art is a contemporary art museum in Shanghai, China. Its local name is 上海当代艺术博物馆. The museum occupies a converted former power station building, representing an industrial heritage adaptive reuse project.
澳門博物館 Museu de Macau
Macao Museum is a cultural institution located within the Mount Fortress complex in the historic centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The museum occupies a prominent position overlooking the city, integrated into the seventeenth-century Portuguese military fortification.
澳門藝術博物館 Museu de Arte de Macau
The Macao Museum of Art is the largest visual arts museum in Macau, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting artworks. It occupies a purpose-built facility in the Macau Cultural Centre complex near the Outer Harbour.
天文公園 Astropark
Astropark, also known as 天文公園, is an astronomy-themed public park in Hong Kong devoted to stargazing and astronomical education.
中国铁道博物馆（东郊展馆）
The China Railway Museum is a national museum in Beijing dedicated to the history of Chinese railways.
通訊博物館 Museu das Comunicações
Communications Museum introduces the history and development of communication technology in Macao. Its subject reaches from postal services and telecommunications to broadcasting and the systems that connect people across distance.
北京市规划展览馆
Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall is a central exhibition venue focused on the capital’s urban form, development and future plans. Near Qianmen, it places Beijing’s immense scale into a visual format that visitors can understand through maps, models and diagrams.
中国电影博物馆
China National Film Museum is a national institution devoted to the history, technology and culture of Chinese cinema.
Twelve to eighteen days can link Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai by high-speed rail, with Shenzhen as a southern extension. Hong Kong and Macao need separate border planning and should not be treated as ordinary domestic stops on the same timetable.
Entry rules differ between mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, even within one journey. Check the official immigration authority for every border segment and match the permission to the passport, purpose, and exact itinerary.
High-speed rail and domestic flights cover mainland distances, while metros handle most urban journeys. Hong Kong uses Octopus and separate border controls, and Macao has its own formalities, so prepare payment and identity requirements for each jurisdiction.
April to May and September to October are only broad mainland planning windows. Beijing, Shanghai, the south, Hong Kong, and Macao have different heat, rain, and holiday pressures; the least flexible regional leg should set the dates.
Mainland China uses renminbi (CNY), while Hong Kong and Macao use HKD and MOP. Payment systems and card acceptance differ across those jurisdictions, so prepare the appropriate local method before crossing each border.
On the mainland, save 110 for police and 120 for medical help; Hong Kong and Macao use separate emergency systems. Mainland electricity is recorded as 220 V with Type A, C, and I sockets, while tap-water guidance is not recorded.
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