Explore China
Where to go in China.
China is huge — and every region feels completely different.
The best trip isn’t about trying to see everything. It’s about choosing the places that match the way you want to travel — whether that means dramatic mountains, scenic road trips, ancient towns, local culture, great food, or simply slowing down somewhere beautiful.
Explore China by region below and find the places that feel right for your trip.
Southwest China
Mountains, minority cultures and slow road trips
Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, Guizhou, Chongqing and Guangxi hold some of China's most dramatic landscapes: Himalayan ranges, Tibetan grasslands, karst hills, rice terraces and vertical cities. This is where most of my longer journeys spend their time.
Yunnan
Rice terraces, old towns, snow mountains and 25 ethnic groups.
Sichuan
Epic mountains, Tibetan culture, road trips and some of China's most dramatic scenery.
Tibet
High plateau, monasteries and the biggest skies in the country.
Guizhou
Misty karst valleys, waterfalls and wooden villages on stilts.
Chongqing
A vertical city in the fog — China's most cinematic urban maze.
Guangxi
Karst peaks, quiet rivers and slow mornings on the water.
Northwest China
The Silk Road, grasslands and high plateau
Xinjiang, Gansu and Qinghai feel closer to Central Asia than to coastal China. Think desert highways, painted mountains, high-altitude lakes, grasslands and some of the emptiest roads in the country. These regions are best travelled by car or small group road trip.
Classic China
First-timer cities and historic centres
Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Suzhou are the names most travellers already know. They're worth seeing — but the best itineraries pair them with somewhere less expected, so the trip doesn't end up feeling like a checklist.