China, City by City

The Imperial Capital — political heart, cultural soul.

Beijing's riviera — concession-era heritage, river cuisine.

The Bavarian Coast of China — beer, Gothic spires, Yellow Sea.

The walled Ming city — China's best-preserved ancient town.

The cradle of kung fu — Songshan, Bodhidharma's cave.

Ancient capital of nine dynasties — Longmen Grottoes.

Yungang Grottoes — Northern Wei Buddhist colossi.

The Buddhist mountain — Manjushri's seat.

The Chinese Bordeaux — Changyu wines, Yellow Sea coast.

Liugong Island — first Sino-Japanese war heritage.

The springs city — gateway to Mount Tai and Qufu.

The Empress' sacred summit — the most pilgrimaged peak.

Confucius' birthplace — the moral geography of China.

The Yellow River cradle — Shang dynasty heart.

Northern Song capital — the Qingming festival scroll.

The Pearl of the Orient — where China meets the world.

Heaven on Earth — West Lake serenity.

Southern Capital — Republican history, riverfront grandeur.

The crossroads of China — Yangtze and Han rivers meet.

The Buddhist island — Guanyin's sacred mountain.

Tengwang Pavilion & the Communist uprising.

The poet's mountain — Tang dynasty literary pilgrimage.

The hidden capital — Anhui's rising cultural hub.

Cloud-sea peaks — the most-painted mountain in China.

Three Gorges Dam — Yangtze cruise gateway.

Yangtze cruise — five nights through Qutang, Wu and Xiling.

The mountain megacity — neon, hot pot, Yangtze.

Entrepreneurial coast — Yandang Mountain.

Yongding's ancient port — Tianyige library.

Asia's World City — Victoria Harbour, the Peak, Repulse Bay.

The Vegas of the East — heritage Portuguese, gaming Asian.

Innovation Capital — the corridor where tech is forged.

Gateway to the South — the Canton Fair, Pearl River Delta.

Bridge to Macao — Zhuhai-HK-Macao bridge gateway.

Cantonese opera & ceramic heritage.

Manufacturing capital — Pearl River Delta corridor.

Land of Abundance — pandas, Sichuan, the gateway west.

City of Eternal Spring — gateway to Yunnan.

Old Town under jade dragons — UNESCO Naxi heritage.

Karst landscapes — the soul of Chinese painting.

Karst-encircled retreat — cycling, climbing, river dawns.

The Avatar mountains — quartzite pillars in cloud.

Nine villages, hundred lakes — Tibetan turquoise valleys.

Mao Zedong's home province — Yuelu Academy.

The Phoenix Town — wooden stilt houses on the Tuojiang.

Yangtze's source & Wuliangye baijiu.

The Giant Buddha — UNESCO 71-metre carving.

The Bodhisattva's mountain — golden summit pilgrimage.

Tibetan Yunnan — Songtsam Linka, Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Erhai Lake & the Bai people's heritage.

Tropical Yunnan — Dai minority, jungle, Mekong.

Volcanoes & Heshun Old Town.

The Eternal Capital — Terracotta Warriors at sunrise.

The roof of the world — the Potala Palace.

Tashilhunpo & the path to Everest base camp.

Capital of the Silk Road revival.

The terminus of the Silk Road — Sunday livestock bazaar.

Mogao Caves & desert dunes — Buddhism's jewel of the Silk Road.

Yellow River bend & Lanzhou beef noodles.

The Tibetan Plateau gateway — Qinghai Lake.

Western Xia tombs — Ningxia wines & Hui Muslim heritage.

China's Maldives — Yalong Bay, Haitang Bay, year-round summer.

Tropical China — coffee plantations, hot springs, free-trade luxury.

Da Hong Pao tea — Confucian neo-cradle, jade peaks.

The garden port — Gulangyu Island, sea-air, Hokkien food.

Three Lanes & Seven Alleys — Fujian capital.

The Marco Polo port — UNESCO Maritime Silk Road.

Silver Beach & gateway to Weizhou Volcanic Island.

The green city — gateway to Vietnam.

River-encircled — Guilin's industrial neighbour.

China's northern Riviera — Russian and Japanese architectural legacy.

Russia of the East — the Ice & Snow Festival.

The Blue City — Mongolian grasslands & yurts.

Genghis Khan's mausoleum — Mongolian luxury.

Steel-grasslands gateway — Wudang Lamasery.

The Manchu capital — Mukden Palace.

The Last Emperor's palace — Manchukuo heritage.

Rime ice trees — China's winter wonderland.

Korean Autonomous Prefecture — Mount Paektu.

China's northernmost — aurora borealis.

Mirror Lake & Wudalianchi volcano.

The Lion City — orchid hub of luxury.

The neon imperial — Asakusa, Ginza, Roppongi.

The cultural capital — temples, geisha, kaiseki.

Japan's kitchen — the gourmet city.

Hallyu metropolis — palaces, K-beauty, hanwoo.

Korean coast — Haeundae, Jagalchi seafood market.

The Royal City — temples, river, gastronomy.

Andaman pearl — Amanpuri, COMO, Trisara.

Lanna kingdom — Four Seasons Tented Camp.

Twin Towers metropolis — KL skyline.

Aman island — Ubud, Seminyak, Nusa Dua.

Indonesian capital — gateway to Bali, Borobudur.

Philippine capital — gateway to Boracay, Palawan.

Visayan pearl — diving and Chocolate Hills.

Old Quarter — French Indochina elegance.

Saigon's pulse — French colonial elegance.

Angkor Wat — the world's greatest temple complex.

Mekong-side capital — French Indochina silence.

Burma's capital — Shwedagon Pagoda.

Gulf gateway — Burj Al Arab to Mount Everest.