Chengyang Bridge Travel Guide: Dong Villages and Covered Spans of Sanjiang
Some bridges get you across a river. The Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge, in Sanjiang county in the north of Guangxi, does that and then becomes the social heart of…
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Meizhou Island Travel Guide: Mazu Temples and Golden Beaches
I went to Meizhou Island expecting a quiet fishing islet and left understanding why millions of overseas Chinese make the pilgrimage here every year. This small island off the coast…
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Famen Temple Travel Guide: Buddha Finger Relic and Underground Palace
I have stood in a lot of Chinese temples, and after a while the gold roofs start to blur together. Famen Temple, in the small county of Fufeng about 120…
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Datang Everbright City Travel Guide: Tang Night Streets and Light Shows
The first time I went to Xi’an I did the obvious loop: Terra-Cotta Army by day, the City Wall at dusk, the Muslim Quarter for lamb skewers. It was good….
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Eastern Qing Tombs Travel Guide: Imperial Mausoleums and Zunhua Day Trips
Most travelers who fly into Beijing never make it past the Forbidden City and the nearby Ming Tombs. I almost did the same. On my third trip to China I…
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Fengdu Ghost City Travel Guide: Underworld Temples above the Yangtze
Fengdu Ghost City is one of the strangest half-days you can spend in China — a hillside warren of temples dedicated to the Chinese underworld, where demons judge the souls…
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Three Gorges Dam Travel Guide: Ship Locks and Yichang Viewpoints
The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric structure on earth, and seeing it in person rearranges your sense of scale. On our last trip we approached from Yichang, stood…
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Liangzhu Ancient City Travel Guide: Neolithic Ruins and Jade Museum
Most visitors to Hangzhou spend their whole trip circling West Lake and never learn that, 20 km northwest, a 5,000-year-old city lies buried in the rice fields. The Liangzhu ancient…
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Jiangyin Travel Guide: Yangtze Riverfront and Xu Xiake’s Hometown
Jiangyin is a county-level city on the southern bank of the Yangtze, squeezed between Wuxi and the river’s mouth. Most visitors rush past on the highway or the high-speed line…
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Zhoukou Travel Guide: Laozi’s Birthplace and Plain Temple Towns
Zhoukou sits in the southeast of Henan Province, a flat, wheat-and-maize plain stitched together by the Shahe and Ying rivers. It is not on the standard China tourist circuit, and…
