Eastern Asia · Asia
China · 5 days
5 Days in Xi'an
The first capital of China, with a wall you can ride and a noodle as wide as a belt. Five days, planned properly.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
Eastern Asia · Asia
China
Discover China - the world's oldest continuous civilization, inventor of paper, printing, gunpowder, and the compass, and home to landscapes that inspired legends.
Where Is China?
China is a country in Eastern Asia. Its capital is Beijing.
- Capital Beijing
- Population 1.41B
- Area 9,706,961 km²
China is a civilization that decided to become a country. For over five thousand years, this stretch of eastern Asia has been continuously inhabited, governed, written about, and argued over - producing along the way paper, printing, gunpowder, the compass, silk, porcelain, and a writing system used by a quarter of humanity. The Great Wall is merely the most visible symbol of a culture that has always thought in terms of centuries rather than years.
Modern China moves at a pace that makes the rest of the world look idle. It has built more high-speed rail track than the rest of the planet combined, and turned Shenzhen from a fishing village into a tech metropolis of 18 million in a single generation. But beneath the skyscrapers, the old rhythms persist - tai chi in the parks at dawn, dumplings folded by hand, tea ceremonies that haven't changed in a thousand years. China contains multitudes, from the frozen steppes of Inner Mongolia to the tropical beaches of Hainan, and rewards those willing to look beyond the surface.
At a glance
Language
Mandarin Chinese
Currency
Renminbi / Yuan (CNY)
Calling Code
+86
Drives On
Right
Internet
.cn
Timezone
CST (UTC+8)
Script
Simplified Chinese
Government
One-Party Socialist Republic
Independence
1949
Travel guides
Plan a trip to China
China · Fujian · 5 days
5 Days in Xiamen
A harbor city with a car-free colonial island, earthen castles in the hills and a medieval port nearby. Five days, booking rules included.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
China · 5 days
5 Days in Shanghai
A treaty port that became a skyline. Five days in China's biggest city, with the entry rules and apps sorted out first.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
China · Yunnan · 5 days
5 Days in Lijiang
A UNESCO old town that is mostly shops, and a 5,596-meter mountain that is not. Five days at 2,400 meters, planned honestly.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
China · Tibet · 5 days
5 Days in Lhasa
The Potala, the Jokhang, monastery debates and a turquoise lake, on the guided tour foreigners need. Five days in Lhasa.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
China · 5 days
5 Days in Hangzhou
A lake, a tea hill and a canal in the old Southern Song capital. Five days planned around what is free, what needs booking and what closes.
Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →
By population
Largest cities in China
1
Shanghai
China's largest city and global financial hub, where Art Deco heritage meets futuristic skyscrapers on the Huangpu River
24,900,000
2
Beijing
Capital for over 800 years, home to the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the modern Bird's Nest stadium
21,500,000
3
Guangzhou
Southern trade capital and birthplace of Cantonese cuisine, a commercial powerhouse for over 2,000 years
18,700,000
4
Chengdu
Capital of Sichuan province, famous for giant pandas, fiery hotpot, and a famously relaxed pace of life
16,300,000
5
Xi'an
Ancient capital and eastern terminus of the Silk Road, home to the Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor
12,900,000
6
Hangzhou
Known for centuries as paradise on Earth for its West Lake scenery, now also home to tech giant Alibaba
12,200,000
People
Famous people from China
Confucius
PhilosophyFounded Confucianism, whose teachings on morality, family, and governance shaped East Asian civilization for 2,500 years
Qin Shi Huang
HistoryFirst Emperor of unified China, built the Terracotta Army and began construction of the Great Wall
Sun Tzu
LiteratureAuthor of The Art of War, the most influential military strategy text ever written, still studied by business leaders worldwide
Zheng He
ExplorationMing Dynasty admiral who commanded the largest fleet the world had seen on seven voyages across the Indian Ocean
Tu Youyou
ScienceDiscovered artemisinin to treat malaria, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2015)
Yao Ming
SportBasketball Hall of Famer who became the NBA's most famous international player at 2.29 meters tall
Li Bai
LiteratureTang Dynasty poet widely regarded as the greatest in Chinese history, whose works are still memorized by schoolchildren today
Cai Lun
ScienceCredited with inventing modern papermaking around 105 CE, one of the most consequential inventions in human history
Food
Traditional cuisine of China
- Peking Duck
- Beijing's most famous dish - roasted until the skin is crackling crisp, served with thin pancakes, scallions, and hoisin sauce
- Dim Sum
- Cantonese tradition of small steamed and fried dishes in bamboo baskets, originally a teahouse snack in Guangdong
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Sichuan classic of diced chicken stir-fried with peanuts, chili peppers, and tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns
- Xiaolongbao
- Shanghai soup dumplings with a delicate skin hiding a burst of hot broth and seasoned pork inside
- Mapo Tofu
- Fiery Sichuan dish of silky tofu in chili bean paste with ground pork and numbing Sichuan pepper
- Hot Pot
- Communal meal of simmering broth at the table where diners cook thin slices of meat, vegetables, and noodles themselves
- Char Siu
- Cantonese barbecued pork glazed with honey and five-spice, recognizable by its lacquered red edges
- Mooncakes
- Dense pastries filled with lotus seed paste or red bean, exchanged and eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival
Nature
Nature and landmarks in China
- Great WallLandmark
- The world's longest structure at over 21,000 km, built across mountains and deserts over 2,000 years by multiple dynasties
- Yangtze RiverRiver
- Asia's longest river at 6,300 km and the third longest in the world, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea
- ZhangjiajieMountain
- Towering sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in Avatar, now a UNESCO Global Geopark
- Li RiverRiver
- Limestone karst landscape between Guilin and Yangshuo, featured on the 20 yuan banknote and considered China's most scenic waterway
- Mount EverestMountain
- The world's highest peak at 8,849 meters, straddling the border between China (Tibet) and Nepal
- Jiuzhaigou ValleyNational Park
- UNESCO-listed valley of vivid turquoise lakes, multi-level waterfalls, and snow-capped peaks in northern Sichuan
- HuangshanMountain
- Granite peaks emerging from seas of clouds, the Yellow Mountains have inspired Chinese landscape painting for centuries
- Gobi DesertDesert
- One of the world's great deserts spanning northern China and Mongolia, where the first dinosaur eggs were discovered
Sport
Sports in China
- Table Tennis
- Absolute global dominance with 37 of 42 Olympic gold medals since the sport entered the Games in 1988
- Badminton
- Perennial Olympic and World Championship powerhouse with dozens of gold medals across all disciplines
- Diving
- The most decorated diving nation in Olympic history, winning nearly every gold medal since the 1980s
- Weightlifting
- Among the all-time leaders in Olympic weightlifting medals across multiple weight classes
- Gymnastics
- Major force in artistic gymnastics with numerous Olympic and World Championship team and individual titles
Facts
Did you know?
China's Great Wall stretches over 21,000 km - if uncoiled it would reach more than halfway around the Earth
Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more native speakers than any other language on Earth, with over 920 million
China invented paper, printing, gunpowder, and the compass - collectively known as the Four Great Inventions
The Chinese high-speed rail network spans over 42,000 km, more than the rest of the world combined
Fortune cookies are not Chinese - they were invented in San Francisco in the early 1900s and are virtually unknown in China
China spans five geographical time zones but officially uses only one (Beijing Time, UTC+8) for the entire country
The Terracotta Army near Xi'an contains over 8,000 individually sculpted soldiers, no two faces alike, buried for over 2,200 years
China produces and consumes roughly half of the world's pork and has been raising pigs for over 10,000 years
Stories
Read more about China
Geography · History · Culture
How the Continents Got Their Names
Zeus disguised as a bull, a Florentine explorer who stole Columbus's credit, and a southern land imagined centuries before it was found. The surprising origins of all seven continent names.
February 23, 2026Read the story →
Culture · History · Geography
Why Do Some Countries Drive on the Left?
From medieval swordfighters to Napoleon's conquests - the surprising history behind why 76 countries drive on the left while the rest of the world drives on the right.
February 22, 2026Read the story →
Play
Can you find China on a map?
Drop a pin where you think it is and see how close you got. A few rounds and you will place China and its neighbours without a second thought.
Keep exploring
