Thousands of sandstone towers rise from the forest in Hunan, often wrapped in cloud, in the landscape said to have inspired the floating mountains of Avatar. Walk the cliffside trails and glass skywalks for views that feel otherworldly.

In Xi’an, thousands of life-size soldiers stand in formation exactly where they were buried more than two thousand years ago, each with its own face. Explore with a historian who brings the first emperor’s story to life, then cycle the city’s ancient walls at sunset.

Visit a panda research base in the early morning, when the pandas are most active, munching bamboo and tumbling through the trees. Learn how conservation work has helped bring the species back from the brink.

In Suzhou, scholars’ gardens of moon gates, rockeries, and lotus ponds have been tended since the Ming dynasty. Nearby, canal towns like Wuzhen and Tongli reveal stone bridges, whitewashed houses, and boats drifting beneath red lanterns.

Beijing’s most famous dish is pure theater. Watch the chef carve glossy, crackling duck right at your table, then wrap each slice in a delicate pancake with scallion, cucumber, and sweet bean sauce.

Settle into a bamboo chair in a Chengdu park with a bottomless cup of jasmine tea, as locals play mahjong and ear cleaners wander between the tables. Come evening, gather around a bubbling hot pot, then watch the masks change in a blink at a Sichuan opera.

Glide through the Three Gorges aboard a river ship, as sheer limestone cliffs rise from the water and mist drifts through the valleys. Shore excursions bring ancient temples, cliffside villages, and calm side gorges reached by smaller boats.

Skip the crowded sections and hike a wilder stretch near Mutianyu or Jinshanling, where watchtowers march along the ridgelines and the views stretch for miles. Go early for soft morning light and a wall that feels like your own.

Float between the karst peaks of Guilin and Yangshuo, the dreamlike landscape painted on China’s 20-yuan note. Afterward, cycle through rice paddies and tiny villages as water buffalo graze along the banks.

Wander the old lanes around the Drum and Bell Towers by rickshaw or on foot, past courtyard homes, songbird cages, and neighborhood noodle shops. Then step inside a family home to fold dumplings and hear how life in the hutongs has changed over generations.

Known as the Dragon’s Backbone, these terraces have been carved into the mountainsides for centuries, shimmering like mirrors in spring and glowing gold before harvest. Meet the Yao women of Huangluo, famous for hair that can grow longer than they are tall.

The Yellow Mountains have inspired Chinese poets and painters for over a thousand years. Spend the night near the summit to watch the sun rise over a sea of clouds, with twisted pines clinging to the granite peaks.

Step into the Mogao Caves, where nearly a thousand years of Buddhist murals glow in candlelit grottoes along the old Silk Road. At dusk, ride a camel up the Singing Sand Dunes to Crescent Moon Lake, a desert oasis that has drawn travelers for centuries.

Join tai chi practitioners along the Bund at dawn, then explore the leafy lanes of the former French Concession. Learn the art of the perfect xiaolongbao, delicate soup dumplings pleated by hand, and return at night when the skyline lights up across the river.

Stroll the willow-lined shores of West Lake, then wander up into the terraced hills where Longjing tea has grown for centuries. Pick leaves alongside a tea farmer and watch them roasted by hand in a hot wok.

Explore the cobbled lanes and canals of Lijiang and the old Tea Horse Road village of Shaxi, home of the Naxi and Bai people. Continue to Tiger Leaping Gorge and on to Shangri-La, where Tibetan monasteries crown the hills beneath snowcapped peaks.