Cities

Xishuangbanna, in the far south of China’s Yunnan Province against the borders of Laos and Myanmar, is a slice of Southeast Asia inside China — a land of rainforest, Buddhist…

Wuyishan, in the northern mountains of China’s Fujian Province, is where the Nine Bend River twists between rust-red danxia cliffs and terraced tea gardens that produce the famous rock tea…

Tengchong, a sleepy county-level city in the far west of China’s Yunnan Province, sits on the edge of the Himalayan tectonic belt where volcanic heat still rises close to the…

Enshi, China, is a prefecture in the mountainous southwest of Hubei Province, where towering karst cliffs, deep gorges, and terraced Tujia villages carve a landscape that feels a world away…

Aershan, China, is a small volcanic resort town in the far northeast of Inner Mongolia, where a string of crater lakes, geothermal springs, and conifer forests meet the border with…

Mohe, China, is the country’s northernmost county, sitting in the far north of Heilongjiang Province where the Amur (Heilong) River forms the border with Russia. This Mohe travel guide covers…

Yili, China, lies in the fertile river valley of northwestern Xinjiang, China, a green crescent of grassland and snow peaks that feels more like Switzerland than the desert Xinjiang many…

Hotan, China, sits at the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, China, where the Hotan River fans out into a green oasis ringed by the Taklamakan Desert. This…

The first time I got lost in Kashgar old town, I was grateful for it. I had turned off Seman Road to chase the smell of roasting lamb, took three…

In the cold, dry north of Shanxi Province, Datong is a former imperial capital that guards some of China’s most jaw-dropping monuments. Once a power center of the Northern Wei…