Attractions

The towering west gate tower of Jiayuguan Fort against a vast blue Gobi sky I still remember the moment I first stepped through the arched gateway of Jiayuguan Fort. The…

I still remember the first time I stepped off the train in Qingdao. The sea air smelled of salt and something else—something malty and warm that I couldn’t quite place….

I still remember the first time I stepped off the high-speed train in Tianjin, luggage in hand, with no real plan beyond one thing on my list: the Tianjin Eye….

I still remember the moment I stepped through the first gate of Prince Gong’s Mansion and the noise of Beijing seemed to switch off. One second I was on a…

Standing on the east side of Tiananmen Square, the National Museum of China is the kind of place that humbles you the moment you walk in. I had been to…

When I first wandered down to the water’s edge in Macau, China, I wasn’t expecting a temple to change the way I understood an entire city. But A-Ma Temple (妈阁庙)…

I still remember the first time I stepped through the gates of Chimelong Tourist Resort in Guangzhou. It was a sticky summer morning, my nephew tugging at my sleeve, and…

The first time I climbed the stone path up Mount Gephel, I heard the monastery before I saw it — a low murmur of chanting drifting down the slope, punctuated…

I still remember the first time I stepped off the bus in Dali and saw them. It was a soft, grey morning, the kind where the Cangshan range disappears into…

Wind-eroded Yardang rock formations at Ghost City near Urho, Karamay I almost skipped Ghost City. On my first road trip through Xinjiang, China, I had Turpan’s flames and Kashgar’s old…