China’s Grand Cities

Big, bold, bewildering: no adjective is too grand for the Chinese capital. It is a living, breathing timeline on the rushing banks of the Hai, where red lanterns flicker in the narrow alleys of hutong districts, the scents of Pekinese cuisine waft over busy markets, and each skyscraper looms larger than the last, a foil to the grand imperial palaces that sprawl with a stolid, almost haunting majesty below.  

Stashed away like plundered gold, Xi’an is the China of your imagination. This grand city was once the final knot at the end of the Silk Route, its streets a raucous mix of faiths and fortunes. Times have changed, of course, but Xi’an still bristles with mystique: tour its 14th-century city walls or climb its square pagodas, but leave the most awe-inspiring sight of them all for last: the Terracotta Army, a highlight of any visit to this ancient place. 

For many travellers, Chengdu means one thing: pandas. But Sichuan’s capital promises much more. A bubbling hotpot of local culture, this is a city of ornate bridges and rambling old teahouses creaking with age, where afternoons can be spent playing chess beneath the trees of the People’s Park, and the evenings browsing the night markets for a fiery introduction into Sichuanese cuisine. 

The iconic scenery of Yangshuo feels both familiar and like something from another world; this ethereal region is one of mighty, jade-green karst stacks, towering over glassy rivers. All along its waterways, a buzzing nightlife scene has emerged in the lively towns and villages, where rooftop bars clink glasses until the small hours, the illuminated peaks brooding in the distance. 

Gone are the days of a quiet, mysterious trading post on the East China Sea: Shanghai is the future, a glittering, global metropolis whose space-age buildings speak volumes of its sky-high ambitions. But beyond the gleaming malls and towering five-stars of China’s largest city, the old Shanghai still flaunts her jewels: the architectural gems of the Bund waterfront, wooden teahouses, curved-roof pavilions and beautiful gardens with lotus-strewn ponds.