City: China
Top Things to do in China
Top Hotels in China
- 1. InterContinental Century City Hotel Chengdu
- 2. Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West
- 3. Crowne Plaza Hangzhou HEDA, an IHG hotel
- 4. Holiday Inn Chengdu Century City-WestTower, an IHG hotel
- 5. Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
- 6. Holiday Inn Chengdu Century City-EastTower, an IHG hotel
- 7. Wyndham Grand Shenzhen
- 8. Crowne Plaza Xi'an, an IHG hotel
- 9. Alva Hotel by Royal
- 10. The Arca
Countries
What to do and see in China, China: The Best Geologic Formations
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area, depending on the source consulted. China also has the most neighbor countries in the world. Governed by the Communist Party of China, it exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
Restaurants in China
1. Xihai Stone Forest
2. Naqin Ocean Park
3. Yunnan Stone Forest Geological Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,123 reviews
This forest of stone, formed by erosion over millions of years, is comprised of many stone peaks, pillars and stalagmites rising abruptly from the ground and extending as far as the eye can see.
Reviewed By OrderintheHouse
My wife and I enjoyed 8 days touring amazing Yunnan Province as part of a 24 day private Wendy Wu China Encounters tour in June and July 2018. Our Yunnan experience commenced with two nights in Shangri-La on the Tibetan border. We visited the ancient towns of Lijiang and Dali and concluded with two nights in Kunming. Along the way we felt so privileged to witness three absolutely incredible attractions – the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the majestic Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the absolutely awesome Shiilin Stone Forest, 80 kilometres south-east of Kunming. The Shilin forest has existed in China’s Yunnan Province for over 270 million years. Instead of trees the “stone forest” is made up of towering, pillar-like rock formations. The forest offers magnificent vistas of thousands of huge limestone karst formations and there are plenty of caves, crevices and waterfalls to enjoy as you walk through this splendid landform. To be truthful we were so amazed at what we saw before our very eyes – the experience took our breath away. We had our own guide who gave us a superb walking tour in the National Park. The place is packed with local Chinese tourists on most days and our guide was skilful in finding the less populous areas to visit. Along the way we experienced a couple of interesting local cultural moments – an old couple playing traditional music with fascinating musical instruments amongst the rock formations and a small group of ladies from one of the ethnic minorities in their colourful traditional dress sewing an equally colourful quilt – also amongst the rock formations. At one of the entrance/exits to the National Park we witnessed even more colour with large groups of ethnic minorities proudly wearing beautiful colourful traditional dress. One group was resplendent in rich red and yellow. However, it was the magnificent rock formations we really came to see and admire. These colourful moments were a nice added bonus. Many travellers to China marvel at climbing the Great Wall outside of Beijing and witnessing the Terracotta Warriors archaeology find outside Xian. We believe travellers, in the same breath, should be extolling the virtues of visiting the Stone Forest also. So, “The Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors and the Stone Forest “ – what a wonderful “must see” trilogy” for the discerning China traveller that would be.
4. Folded Brocade Hill (Diecai Hill)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 102 reviews
At a height of 722 feet, this is the tallest hill in Guilin offering some of the best views for viewing and photographing the city.
Reviewed By betty_voyager - Sydney, Australia
The ticket office was closed and we did not have to pay to go up. They did however take our temperature and we had to show our passports. Having experienced it for free, I would still pay to go up, it was fun and worth the climb! We took a different route up and came down a different route. You get to see different things as you meander around the hill. Enjoyed very much! We even saw a man swimming in the Li river. If you look closely you can spot him in the third photo. Lovely way to spend 1.5 hours, highly recommend.
5. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,266 reviews
Zhangjiajie is in the northwestern part of Hunan Province in central China. The main draw is the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, including Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Tianzi Mountain and Suoxiyu Nature Reserve. Here, traveling through countless cloud-kissing mountains, clear streams and leafy trees, you may easily blend with nature around, thus enhancing your love unconsciously. Want to explore the Avatar mountains with camera? Join us now!
Reviewed By andrewgrif - Sunderland, United Kingdom
This place is amazing and well worth a visit. Such amazing scenery and views. So baring this in mind I'll go into a bit more detail with things to be aware of. Firstly the park opens well before 7am. I arrived at the park about 6:50am and there was already lots of people there being let in. For the most part there is really good signage as to where to go. There are a couple of the bus stops that don't have English but there's pretty much always someone to ask. The queue for tickets goes down quickly, tickets are 228¥ (hotels might try selling you a ticket to "beat the queues" but they will over charged so it's not worth it.) The ticket lasts for 4 days. Secondly, it is always busy pretty much everywhere. Even when it's not busy there is still a crowd to push pass to get a good picture, but be rude and push pass them, otherwise you will be waiting a long time. There are plenty of facilities at intervals along all the routes even the steep stair routes have toilets and food stalks along the way. You have to use the buses and you have to queue there's no getting round this but the queues go quickly for the most part. All of the routes are well marked and have good footing. However they are long so wear sensible shoes (the amount of Chinese tourists wearing flip flops is surprising). There are multiple ways to the upper routes, 2 walking, 1 elevator and 2 cable cars (that I came across anyway) you have to pay for the cable cars and elevator individually which are about 60-80 ¥ which isn't too much really. The route I took the first day took me up the elevator, there was initially a queue for the first stage you go up but for the second and glass elevator there was no queue so I got close the window and it was a great view. I then took the bus round to the enchanting view which was great, again not too crowded early. You can walk round to the natural bridge from here. If you're there early then it's worth a walk round. On the way there are a few spots with quiet viewpoints. There are a couple of points where there are Y junctions that get pretty cramped with people pushing and shoving, be bold and push through, there is no other way. The worst was the junction before the natural bridge you either go up to bypass the bridge or go left to go over. Once over it's bit too crowded. Once over go upwards but rather than going to the peak go around and there's some quite spots with great views. Follow signs to the car park to get the bus to the next stop. Yangjiajie is the next stop with the great Wall of natural, and tianbo mansion. The wall is worth a look but not the best view. I would about the trek to tianbo. It is steep with a route that has well worn stones that are slippy that make an already dicey route even worse. There's also very slim gaps through rocks. Push through these and you end with a climb up very questionable ladders to a lookout that isn't that amazing, the climb is vertical so if aren't great with heights don't bother. Another tip, if you do this route rather than waiting for people going up and down there a route round the base so go down but then go round not up. The route back from here is also not great so as I say avoid if you aren't looking to push yourself. From the Yangjiajie stop you can get a bus to tianzi mountain. This has some great views and is worth a wander around. This is also where there is a McDonald's. There's also a tower you can climb that was free and not too crowded. The best views were down past the tower, they were also pretty much empty. Next tip, the bus stop going from tianzi mountain to Yangjiajie was always ridiculously busy whenever ever I passed so avoid going this route. From tianzi mountain I got the bus to the cable car and down and this was great as the views were amazing and I got a car to myself. Day 2 I walked the golden whip stream which was nice and quiet early on I walked along and then back to the step up luancuan slope. This is a tough climb, over 2000 steps, an hour of steps with no flat. It was very difficult and to be honest but really worth the effort, the only views are at the top. Next tip before going to the enchanting viewpoint, head between the shops following signs down, go along and there's some great views with no one there. There are monkeys though. Most were fine but 1 did try and jump for a guys backpack. Day 3 I was extremely tired so just popped in to see the 10 mile natural gallery (not 10 miles at all) I went here first thing at 6:50 and there were already crowds of tour groups. You can walk or get a monorail which you pay for. I walked and the route is awful. It's totally flat but it's a railed walkway where you can only walk 2 people wide, this is the up and down route so you have tours stopping and tours coming down and people pushing passed. It's not a pleasant walk at all and the views were good but not essential. Rather than heading back down this route you can take steps to the tianzi mountain section. I didn't do this but it might have been worth it to avoid going back the way I came in. Next tip, apart from the buses, don't queue, Chinese tourists will randomly stop along routes for no reason or to admire a view for a long time. Push passed and stay ahead of the crowds, especially tour groups. Be prepared to get your photo taken. I'm a white guy with a beard which the Chinese find facinating. But don't be afraid to say no, if you really don't want to just walk away. It is more fun to just embrace it but if you are hot and sweaty it can be too much. In conclusion it's definitely worth a visit as the views are breathtaking. But be prepared for crowds and plan your route carefully. Know what you want to see and the best route to get there.
6. Yuntaishan Geopark
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,003 reviews
Reviewed By 103ongc - Malaysia, null
We went to Jiao zhuo from zhengzhou since we couldnt find any tour guide from Zhengzhou. The next morning took a taxi to Yuntaishan. Wonderful place especially the Red Stone gorge which should never miss.
7. Longmen Grottoes
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,607 reviews
Early Chinese Buddhist cave art is represented by well-preserved pagodas, carvings and statues.
Reviewed By Foodie_Traveller_12 - Edmonton, Canada
We went to this as part of a history theme tour of China. The carvings and workmanship was outstanding. The largest statue was commissioned by the first female emperor of China - Wu ZheTian. Across the river you will see a historic building which represents the perfect harmony and aligns with the perfect Feng Shui.
8. Dongchuan Red Land
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 167 reviews
Reviewed By Au_and_Family - Singapore, Singapore
Dongchuan Red Land is a place of beautiful and colorful terraces. We have a rental car with a driver cum guide to bring us there. We saw many colorful terraces as we were driven to see Shuipingzi Rice Terrance (the Moon Rice), sunset at Luoxiagou in Songmaopeng, then to Huagou Thousand years of Nagarjuna—Red Soil Grand Sight. Sunrise next day at Damakan was marred by foggy morning weather. Later in the morning, we saw Qicai Slope (colorful slope), Jinxiuyuan, and Yuepuao—Luoshi Bay. It was a wonderful colorful experience.
9. Mufu Grand Canyon
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 73 reviews
Reviewed By gulsenali - Guangzhou, China
we started from cable car down to up station and did 6k on the top of the ridge until escalators. followed by few kilometers bus ride from escalator down station to cable car down station back. then walked down the stairs to follow the green path on the bottom of the valley. all together 15 km GPS measured was gold. highly recommended for hiking lovers !
