China travel guide : explore Beijing, Shanghai and Chinese culture

What you need to know before visiting China

• Official name: People's Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó)
• Capital: Beijing
• Population: About 1.4 billion people
• Official language: Standard Chinese (Mandarin/Putonghua)
• Currency: Renminbi (RMB/Yuan/¥)
• Area: 9,596,960 square kilometres

How Chinese history shaped world civilization

China's historical narrative spans longer than any other continuing civilization, with a documented history extending over 3,500 years:

Ancient foundations: from Yellow River civilization to the Great Wall

Chinese civilization emerged along the Yellow River (Huang He) around 2100 BCE with the legendary Xia Dynasty, followed by the Shang and Zhou Dynasties which established core cultural elements that endure to this day. By 221 BCE, the Qin Dynasty unified China for the first time, standardizing writing, measurements, and currency, and beginning construction of the Great Wall. The subsequent Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) created a golden age of expansion and innovation, establishing the Silk Road trade routes spanning over 6,400 kilometres.

Imperial China: golden ages of Chinese dynasties

Through successive dynasties including the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing, China developed as the most advanced civilization of its time. The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) saw cultural achievements in poetry, painting, and ceramics, while the Song Dynasty (960-1279) pioneered innovations including paper money, movable type printing, the compass, and gunpowder. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Admiral Zheng He led the world's largest fleet of ships on voyages extending 12,000 kilometres to East Africa.

Modern transitions: from imperial rule to the People's Republic

The 19th century brought challenges as Western powers and Japan imposed unequal treaties on China. The Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911, ending more than 2,000 years of imperial rule. After decades of civil war and Japanese invasion, the People's Republic of China was established in 1949 under Chairman Mao Zedong, initiating radical social and economic transformations.

Contemporary China: economic reforms and global emergence

Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has experienced the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history, lifting over 800 million people out of poverty. Now the world's second-largest economy and largest manufacturer, China has reclaimed its historical position as a global power while balancing tradition with modernization, central planning with market forces, and cultural preservation with rapid development.

Chinese culture: language, philosophy and traditions

Languages and Scripts

While Mandarin Chinese serves as the national language, China embraces tremendous linguistic diversity with eight major language groups and hundreds of dialects. Chinese characters, a logographic writing system in continuous use for over 3,000 years, comprise one of humanity's most sophisticated writing systems, with approximately 8,000 characters in common use. This shared writing system historically allowed communication across regions despite spoken language differences.

Chinese philosophy: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism

Chinese thought has been shaped by three main traditions that have coexisted harmoniously for millennia. Confucianism emphasizes moral cultivation, social harmony, and proper relationships. Taoism focuses on living in harmony with the Tao (the Way) and natural world. Buddhism, arriving from India around the 1st century CE, added spiritual dimensions that complemented indigenous beliefs. These three traditions, often practiced simultaneously by individuals, have profoundly influenced Chinese art, medicine, martial arts, and governance.

Chinese cuisine: regional flavors and dining experiences

China's diverse culinary traditions reflect regional variations in climate, ingredients, and cultural preferences:

• Cantonese cuisine (delicate flavors, freshness, stir-frying techniques)
• Sichuan cuisine (bold spices with distinctive málà numbing heat from Sichuan peppercorns)
• Jiangsu cuisine (precise cutting techniques, seasonal ingredients, artistic presentation)
• Shandong cuisine (crisp textures, bold garlic and scallion flavors, seafood specialties)
• Dim sum (small plate tradition featuring over 1,000 distinct bite-sized dishes)

Tea, first cultivated in China over 3,000 years ago, remains central to Chinese culture with annual production exceeding 2.8 million tonnes across six main varieties (green, white, yellow, oolong, black, and dark). The Chinese tradition of communal dining, with dishes shared from a rotating central platform, embodies values of community and sharing.

Chinese arts: calligraphy, architecture and traditional medicine

Chinese artistic traditions span millennia, from the 8,000 life-sized terracotta warriors guarding the First Emperor's tomb to the meticulous brushwork of Song Dynasty landscapes. Calligraphy, considered the highest art form, transforms written characters into aesthetic expressions of beauty and meaning. Chinese performing arts include Beijing Opera, a stylized integration of music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics developed over 200 years. Traditional Chinese medicine, practiced for over 2,500 years, approaches health holistically through herbal remedies, acupuncture, and practices like tai chi, which is practiced daily by an estimated 250 million Chinese.

Where to go in China: top cities and attractions

Beijing: essential sights in China's historic capital

China's political and cultural heart blends monumental history with modern ambition:

• Forbidden City: The world's largest palace complex covering 72 hectares with 9,999 rooms, home to 24 emperors over 500 years.
• Temple of Heaven: A 267-hectare masterpiece of Ming architecture where emperors performed rituals to ensure bountiful harvests.
• Great Wall: The nearby Badaling and Mutianyu sections of this 21,196-kilometre structure.
• Summer Palace: An imperial garden spanning 2.9 square kilometres, centered around the 2.2-kilometre-long Kunming Lake.
• Hutongs: Ancient alleyway neighborhoods dating back 700 years, offering glimpses into traditional Beijing life.

Shanghai: experiencing China's modern megacity

China's largest city and financial center captures the country's meteoric rise with its iconic skyline featuring 163 buildings over 150 metres tall. The Bund, a waterfront promenade, showcases colonial-era architecture facing the futuristic Pudong district across the Huangpu River, where the 632-metre Shanghai Tower stands as the world's second-tallest building.

Xi'an: terracotta warriors and ancient Chinese history

Once the starting point of the Silk Road and China's capital during 13 dynasties, Xi'an offers the Terracotta Army (discovered in 1974), with over 8,000 unique warriors standing 1.8 to 2 metres tall. The city's 14-kilometre Ming-era walls, rising 12 metres high and 15-18 metres thick, entirely encircle the old city.

Guilin: exploring China's most beautiful landscapes

Celebrated for limestone karst landscapes that have inspired poets and painters for centuries, Guilin's otherworldly scenery features thousands of limestone peaks rising dramatically from the Li River. A typical cruise covers 83 kilometres between Guilin and Yangshuo, passing peaks rising 200 metres above the water.

Hong Kong: navigating China's global financial center

This Special Administrative Region presents one of the world's most spectacular harbors, with 1,274 skyscrapers (the most globally) creating a canyon of glass and steel. Victoria Peak, rising 552 metres, offers panoramic views of this densely populated territory where 7.5 million people occupy just 1,106 square kilometres.

Best natural destinations in China: mountains to rivers

• Tibetan Plateau: The "Roof of the World" averaging 4,500 metres above sea level, with Mount Everest (8,848 metres) on the Nepal border.
• Yangtze River: Asia's longest river at 6,300 kilometres, flowing through spectacular Three Gorges stretching 191 kilometres.
• Zhangjiajie: Forest of 3,000 quartzite sandstone pillars rising up to 800 metres, inspiring the floating mountains in the film "Avatar."
• Taklamakan Desert: One of the world's largest sand deserts covering 337,000 square kilometres, with dunes reaching 300 metres high.
• Rice Terraces of Longji: 66 square kilometres of intricate agricultural engineering, with terraces rising from 300 to 1,100 metres above sea level.

Interesting facts about China you might not know

China uses approximately 45 billion chopsticks annually, requiring 20 million trees to produce.

The Grand Canal, at 1,776 kilometres, is the world's longest and oldest canal, still partially in use after 2,500 years.

China's high-speed rail network covers over 37,900 kilometres—more than the rest of the world combined.

The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power station, with a generating capacity of 22,500 megawatts and a reservoir stretching 660 kilometres.

Kites were invented in China around 3,000 years ago, initially used for military purposes to measure distances and send signals.

Chinese inventions that transformed global history

• Papermaking (invented around 105 CE, transforming knowledge transmission)
• Printing (both woodblock printing in the 7th century and movable type by 1040 CE)
• Compass (first magnetic compasses appeared during the Song Dynasty around 1044 CE)
• Gunpowder (developed during the Tang Dynasty and initially used for fireworks)
• Silk production (cultivated for over 5,000 years, with technologies kept secret for millennia)