5 Lesser-Known but Must-Visit places in China

Where I’m from, when you say traveling to China, it means touring one of these five cities: Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Guangzhou. outside the travel circles and blogging communities, only a few have heard of other Chinese destinations. everything else can already be considered “off-the-beaten-path.” but if there’s one thing that my journey from Guilin to Zhangjiajie has taught me, it’s that this vast, vast country has a gazillion surprises tucked in its provinces.

We asked travel and food enthusiast Wai Zhou, co-founder of eating Adventures Food Tours, for other marvelous places in China that every explorer must experience. She has traveled extensively throughout the country with a particular interest in Yunnan, Guangdong and Xinjiang provinces. here are her recommendations, words and photos by her.

Ce este acoperit în acest ghid?

1. Wan Feng Lin (10,000 peaks) in Guizhou province
2. Shangri-La in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province
3. Longji Rice Terraces and Longsheng hot Springs in Guangxi Province
4. Jade Dragon Snow mountain near Lijiang, Yunnan Province
5. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region in far Western China

More tips on YouTube ⬇️⬇️⬇️Related Posts:

1. Wan Feng Lin (10,000 peaks) in Guizhou province

Wan Feng Lin, which means “ten thousand peaks”, is a collection of around 20,000 karst peak formations that stretch over a length of 200km in southern China. We stumbled across this near Xingyi in Guizhou province during one of our overnight stops on a leisurely train adventures between Guangzhou and Kunming.

Like most Chinese tourist sites, the government has a very well set up and structured way of viewing the site, with shuttle buses taking loads of domestic tourists to and from the viewing point. Not being fond of sticking with the hordes of tourists, we decided to follow a dirt path that weaved through some small farms and then up into the mountains.

Wan Feng Lin
Wan Feng Lin
The walk through the farms right away connected us to another world, with friendly old ladies attending to their crops, local people drying chillies outside their front doors and keeping pigs near their homes. A family was building their new home – it was mansion by Western standards. We started walking up one of these peaks. For a long time, we did not see anything of interest. just when we were about to turn back, we persisted a little longer and arrived at a small Buyi village hidden between the peaks.

Most of the Buyi people live in Guizhou province. They have their own language and normally live in small villages and work as farmers. We saw a young man in front of a simple old house and yelled out “Ni Hao” which means “hello” a few times but he didn’t turn around. We thought what unfriendly locals! then the young man turned around and we could see the surprise and delight in his face. He ran into the house to grab his elderly parents. They invited us into the house and insisted we stay for lunch. We witnessed true hospitality from these people who live such simple lives themselves. We found out later that the young man was mute and deaf.

Cum să ajungem acolo:
Xingyi is on the train line from Guangzhou to Kunming.
From Xingyi, take bus no.19 (40 minutes) or take a taxi to Wan Feng Lin (costs around CNY35)
Entry fee: CNY80 (Shuttle bus ride extra CNY50)
Opening hours: 8:00 – 18:00
Contact number: 0859-3342299

2. Shangri-La in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province

Shangri-la City, China
Shangri-la is a fictional place featured in lost Horizon, a novel written in 1933 by British author James Hilton. He describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La is actually a Tibetan word which means “sacred and serene land.” people associate the word to an unearthly paradise, a utopia. In 1996, the search for Shangri-La in Yunnan province began. In 1997, the Yunnan government declared they have found this utopia in Zhongdian. Zhongdian was then formerly renamed to current Shangri-La in 2001 to attract more tourists. With many snow-capped mountains and glaciers, hundreds of alpine lakes, gorges and meadows, I think it is well worth the title.

When we arrived Shangri-La town, we felt the effect of Shangri-La has instantly. We were more relaxed but could not think properly. We felt a bit light-headed and sleepy. Well, that was probably due to the high altitude – Shangri-La is 3450m above sea level.

The town itself is very interesting with a large Tibetan population. You see groups of Tibetan women dressed in traditional dresses with their bright pink hair wraps shopping together, all carrying a basket on their back and snuff in their hands. We saw Tibetan men running antique shops, where you can find Tibetan prayer flags and prayer wheels to silver snuff boxes, mingling with other locals.

We were expecting the Tibetan5 Lesser-Known but Must-Visit places in China (###) Where I’m from, when you say traveling to China, it means touring one of these five cities: Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Guangzhou. outside the travel circles and blogging communities, only a few have heard of other Chinese destinations. everything else can already be considered “off-the-beaten-path.” but if there’s one thing that my journey from Guilin to Zhangjiajie has taught me, it’s that this vast, vast country has a gazillion surprises tucked in its provinces.

We asked travel and food enthusiast Wai Zhou, co-founder of eating Adventures Food Tours, for other marvelous places in China that every explorer must experience. She has traveled extensively throughout the country with a particular interest in Yunnan, Guangdong and Xinjiang provinces. here are her recommendations, words and photos by her.

Ce este acoperit în acest ghid?

1. Wan Feng Lin (10,000 peaks) in Guizhou province
2. Shangri-La in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province
3. Longji Rice Terraces and Longsheng hot Springs in Guangxi Province
4. Jade Dragon Snow mountain near Lijiang, Yunnan Province
5. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region in far Western China

More tips on YouTube ⬇️⬇️⬇️Related Posts:

1. Wan Feng Lin (10,000 peaks) in Guizhou province

Wan Feng Lin, which means “ten thousand peaks”, is a collection of around 20,000 karst peak formations that stretch over a length of 200km in southern China. We stumbled across this near Xingyi in Guizhou province during one of our overnight stops on a leisurely train adventures between Guangzhou and Kunming.

Like most Chinese tourist sites, the government has a very well set up and structured way of viewing the site, with shuttle buses taking loads of domestic tourists to and from the viewing point. Not being fond of sticking with the hordes of tourists, we decided to follow a dirt path that weaved through some small farms and then up into the mountains.

Wan Feng Lin
Wan Feng Lin
The walk through the farms right away connected us to another world, with friendly old ladies attending to their crops, local people drying chillies outside their front doors and keeping pigs near their homes. A family was building their new home – it was mansion by Western standards. We started walking up one of these peaks. For a long time, we did not see anything of interest. just when we were about to turn back, we persisted a little longer and arrived at a small Buyi village hidden between the peaks.

Most of the Buyi people live in Guizhou province. They have their own language and normally live in small villages and work as farmers. We saw a young man in front of a simple old house and yelled out “Ni Hao” which means “hello” a few times but he didn’t turn around. We thought what unfriendly locals! then the young man turned around and we could see the surprise and delight in his face. He ran into the house to grab his elderly parents. They invited us into the house and insisted we stay for lunch. We witnessed true hospitality from these people who live such simple lives themselves. We found out later that the young man was mute and deaf.

Cum să ajungem acolo:
Xingyi is on the train line from Guangzhou to Kunming.
From Xingyi, take bus no.19 (40 minutes) or take a taxi to Wan Feng Lin (costs around CNY35)
Entry fee: CNY80 (Shuttle bus ride extra CNY50)
Opening hours: 8:00 – 18:00
Contact number: 0859-3342299

2. Shangri-La in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province

Shangri-la City, China
Shangri-la is a fictional place featured in lost Horizon, a novel written in 1933 by British author James Hilton. He describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La is actually a Tibetan word which means “sacred and serene land.” people associate the word to an unearthly paradise, a utopia. In 1996, the search for Shangri-La in Yunnan province began. In 1997, the Yunnan government declared they have found this utopia in Zhongdian. Zhongdian was then formerly renamed to current Shangri-La in 2001 to attract more tourists. With many snow-capped mountains and glaciers, hundreds of alpine lakes, gorges and meadows, I think it is well worth the title.

When we arrived Shangri-La town, we felt the effect of Shangri-La has instantly. We were more relaxed but could not think properly. We felt a bit light-headed and sleepy. Well, that was probably due to the high altitude – Shangri-La is 3450m above sea level.

The town itself is very interesting with a large Tibetan population. You see groups of Tibetan women dressed in traditional dresses with their bright pink hair wraps shopping together, all carrying a basket on their back and snuff in their hands. We saw Tibetan men running antique shops, where you can find Tibetan prayer flags and prayer wheels to silver snuff boxes, mingling with other locals.

We were expecting the Tibetan5 Lesser-Known but Must-Visit places in China (###) Where I’m from, when you say traveling to China, it means touring one of these five cities: Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Guangzhou. outside the travel circles and blogging communities, only a few have heard of other Chinese destinations. everything else can already be considered “off-the-beaten-path.” but if there’s one thing that my journey from Guilin to Zhangjiajie has taught me, it’s that this vast, vast country has a gazillion surprises tucked in its provinces.

We asked travel and food enthusiast Wai Zhou, co-founder of eating Adventures Food Tours, for other marvelous places in China that every explorer must experience. She has traveled extensively throughout the country with a particular interest in Yunnan, Guangdong and Xinjiang provinces. here are her recommendations, words and photos by her.

Ce este acoperit în acest ghid?

1. Wan Feng Lin (10,000 peaks) in Guizhou province
2. Shangri-La in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province
3. Longji Rice Terraces and Longsheng hot Springs in Guangxi Province
4. Jade Dragon Snow mountain near Lijiang, Yunnan Province
5. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region in far Western China

More tips on YouTube ⬇️⬇️⬇️Related Posts:

1. Wan Feng Lin (10,000 peaks) in Guizhou province

Wan Feng Lin, which means “ten thousand peaks”, is a collection of around 20,000 karst peak formations that stretch over a length of 200km in southern China. We stumbled across this near Xingyi in Guizhou province during one of our overnight stops on a leisurely train adventures between Guangzhou and Kunming.

Like most Chinese tourist sites, the government has a very well set up and structured way of viewing the site, with shuttle buses taking loads of domestic tourists to and from the viewing point. Not being fond of sticking with the hordes of tourists, we decided to follow a dirt path that weaved through some small farms and then up into the mountains.

Wan Feng Lin
Wan Feng Lin
The walk through the farms right away connected us to another world, with friendly old ladies attending to their crops, local people drying chillies outside their front doors and keeping pigs near their homes. A family was building their new home – it was mansion by Western standards. We started walking up one of these peaks. For a long time, we did not see anything of interest. just when we were about to turn back, we persisted a little longer and arrived at a small Buyi village hidden between the peaks.

Most of the Buyi people live in Guizhou province. They have their own language and normally live in small villages and work as farmers. We saw a young man in front of a simple old house and yelled out “Ni Hao” which means “hello” a few times but he didn’t turn around. We thought what unfriendly locals! then the young man turned around and we could see the surprise and delight in his face. He ran into the house to grab his elderly parents. They invited us into the house and insisted we stay for lunch. We witnessed true hospitality from these people who live such simple lives themselves. We found out later that the young man was mute and deaf.

Cum să ajungem acolo:
Xingyi is on the train line from Guangzhou to Kunming.
From Xingyi, take bus no.19 (40 minutes) or take a taxi to Wan Feng Lin (costs around CNY35)
Entry fee: CNY80 (Shuttle bus ride extra CNY50)
Opening hours: 8:00 – 18:00
Contact number: 0859-3342299

2. Shangri-La in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province

Shangri-la City, China
Shangri-la is a fictional place featured in lost Horizon, a novel written in 1933 by British author James Hilton. He describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La is actually a Tibetan word which means “sacred and serene land.” people associate the word to an unearthly paradise, a utopia. In 1996, the search for Shangri-La in Yunnan province began. In 1997, the Yunnan government declared they have found this utopia in Zhongdian. Zhongdian was then formerly renamed to current Shangri-La in 2001 to attract more tourists. With many snow-capped mountains and glaciers, hundreds of alpine lakes, gorges and meadows, I think it is well worth the title.

When we arrived Shangri-La town, we felt the effect of Shangri-La has instantly. We were more relaxed but could not think properly. We felt a bit light-headed and sleepy. Well, that was probably due to the high altitude – Shangri-La is 3450m above sea level.

The town itself is very interesting with a large Tibetan population. You see groups of Tibetan women dressed in traditional dresses with their bright pink hair wraps shopping together, all carrying a basket on their back and snuff in their hands. We saw Tibetan men running antique shops, where you can find Tibetan prayer flags and prayer wheels to silver snuff boxes, mingling with other locals.

We were expecting the Tibetan