Attractions

I still remember the first time I walked through the red gates of Wuhou Shrine on a humid Chengdu afternoon. The cicadas were loud, the incense was thick, and for…

I still remember the first time I stepped off the bus at Huaqing Palace, about 30 kilometers east of Xi’an’s city wall. Steam was drifting off the warm pools, cypress…

When I first climbed Purple Mountain (Zijin Shan) on the eastern edge of Nanjing, I expected another quiet imperial tomb. What I found instead was one of the most atmospheric…

I still remember the moment I stepped through the narrow entrance of the Lingering Garden (Liu Yuan) and the city noise of Suzhou simply vanished. One small doorway, then a…

When I first arrived in Shanghai, everyone told me the same thing: “You have to walk Nanjing Road.” So one humid evening in May, I stepped out of People’s Square…

The first time I climbed the weathered stone steps toward the Ruins of St. Paul in Macau, China, I honestly expected a postage-stamp monument buried in tour groups. What stopped…

The first time I stepped out of a taxi on Tongjiang Street and looked up at Saint Sophia Cathedral Harbin, I stopped talking mid-sentence. I had seen the photos, of…

The first time I stepped onto Zhanqiao Pier, I understood immediately why it appears on nearly every postcard of Qingdao. This long, narrow boardwalk stretches straight out into the yellow-green…

On my first evening in Guilin, I did what every visitor ends up doing: I walked down to the Li River and looked for the elephant. I had seen the…

When I first caught sight of Songzanlin Monastery rising above the golden plains outside Shangri-La town, I understood instantly why people call it “Yunnan’s Potala.” The cluster of white walls…