Cities

Haikou, the capital of China’s tropical Hainan island, is often overshadowed by its glamorous sibling Sanya — yet it is exactly that slower, more local pace that makes it special….

Dalian, a breezy port city at the southern tip of China’s Liaodong Peninsula, blends Russian and Japanese-era architecture with sweeping coastal promenades and some of the north’s cleanest beaches. This…

This Shenyang travel guide is for travelers who want to explore the birthplace of the Qing dynasty and the gritty, friendly character of China’s northeast (Dongbei). Shenyang is the capital…

This Chengde travel guide is for travelers who want to escape Beijing’s summer heat and step into the retreat where Qing emperors once governed the empire. Tucked in the hills…

This Hohhot travel guide is for travelers who want to pair a real city with the wide-open steppe of Inner Mongolia. Hohhot, whose name means “Blue City” in Mongolian, is…

This Jingdezhen travel guide is for travelers who want to trade busy city itineraries for something hands-on and quietly beautiful. Tucked into the hills of northeastern Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen has…

This Quanzhou travel guide is for foreign travelers who want to step away from China’s megacities and into a living museum of global trade history. Once the busiest port in…

This Wuhan travel guide is for foreign visitors who want to look beyond Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an and discover the energetic heart of central China. Straddling the Yangtze and Han…

This Wuyuan travel guide is built from my own trips through Jiangxi’s northeast corner, where pale-green Hui-style villages sit in seas of yellow rapeseed flowers. If you want a China…

If you want a Chinese city that runs on street food, late nights, and electric energy, this Changsha travel guide is for you. Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province…