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China A guide to its main attractions |
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My pictures of China
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This page provides a list of the main things to see in China. "++"
identifies the top attractions.
BEIJING Beijing (north):
LIAONING (northeast) Shenyang: Gugong (imperial palace of 1636) HEBEI (north of Beijing) Chengde/Jehol (3 hr from Beijing): Summer Palace, Liao-period white pagoda (12th c) Mancheng (25 km west of Baoding, near Chengde, 137km south of Beijing): Han-period tomb of Liu Sheng, king of Zhongshan (206 AD) Dingzhou City: Kaiyuan temple pagoda (1055 AD), 84 meters high, eleven storeys, tallest of all extant ancient buildings SHANDONG (south of Beijing) Qufu: +Kong Miao/Temple of Confucius of 1724 (Han dynasty gates, Great Pavilion of Constellations of the Scholars of 1190) and Wung Fu (1567) Taian: Tai Shan (Taoist pilgrimage mountain) JIANGSU (south of Shandong) Nanjing: Ming tombs on Zijin Shan (Ming Xiaoling) and Zhongshan ling (1920 mausoleum of Sun Yatsen) Zhouzhuang (Venice of China) SHANXI (between Beijing and Xian) Taiyuan: Shuangta monastery with 13-storey pagoda, Jin monastery of 1020 (25 km southwest of Taiyuan) Datong/ Tatung: Nine dragon screen in Jiulong Bi, +++Yungang/Yunkang caves of 386-534 AD (++Cave 6 of 5th c AD, +Cave 7 of 480, +Cave9, Cave 12's west wall, +Cave 13, +Colossal 5th c.AD Buddha of cave 20), Huayan/Hunyan hanging monastery of 1140 in Yingxian (+lower Huayan of 1038) Hunyuan: Xuangong hanging monastery (65 km southeast of Datong) Pingyao (traditional village of Ming dynasty, 1.5 hour from Taiyuan) Tianlong Shan (near Jinci, 50 kms from Taiyuan): cave temples of 6th c (sculptures of Cave 19) Yingxian: Pagoda (11th c), oldest extant wooden pagoda Heng Shan: Hsuan-kung Ssu hanging monastery HENAN (between Beijing and Xian) Luoyang: +Longmen Caves of 494-750 AD (1352 grottoes, 40 pagodas including +Seated Buddha in cave 13 of 527, +cave 20, +cave 6, +Pinyang Cave T69 of 6th c AD, Vairocana Buddha of 675), Baima monastery of 1st c BC (first Buddhist temple in China), Han-dynasty tomb of 1st c BC (with earliest wall painting of China) Zhengzhou: Shang ruins Dengfeng (60 km southeast of Luoyang): Twelve-sided pagoda of Mt Sung (320 AD) Kaifeng: +Iron Pagoda (1049) SHAANXI (central) Xian
SHANGHAI (central East Coast)
ZHEJIANG (south of Shanghai) Hangzhou: West Lake and +Liuhe Pagoda (Six Harmonies Pagoda) of 1165 AD FUJAN (south of Zhejiang) Quanzhou: twin pagodas of Kaiyuan temple GUANGDONG (southern East Coast) Guanzhou/Canton: Shamian Dao (island with colonial architecture), Foshan temple of Ming dynasty (16km from Canton) Shenzen: Skyline Hong Kong:
TAIWAN Taipei After the Japanese banned Taoism in the 20th century, Buddhist and Taoist deities came to be worshipped together in the same Buddhist temples. Deities include Matsu, the goddess of the sea, Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy, Kuan Kung, a brave soldier. Temples to see: Hsing Tien TIBET (southwest) SICHUAN (Eastern Tibet) Le Shan: ++Da Fo, largest Buddha in the world of 803 Emeishan (pilgrimage mountain) Chengdu: Baoguang monastery of 2nd c AD Garze monastery of 1642 Dzongchen monastery (main Buddhist temple in East Tibet) Jiuzhaigou nature reserve (Arrow Bamboo Falls, Five Flower Lake, Pearl Shawls Falls) CHONGQING (east of Sichuan) Dazu: +Beishan caves of 9th-13th c (10,000 carved stone statues with 250m-long Buddha Crescent), +Baodingshan caves of 1179-1249 Cruise to Yangtze gorges YUNNAN (south of Sichuan) Kunming : stone forest (100 km southeast) Lijiang (border of Tibet): old town, temple frescoes Dali: old town, three pagodas Jinghong: Dai villages Damenglong (border of Myanmar): Hanfeilong pagoda of 1204 Shangri-La/ Zhongdian (border of Myanmar): +nature INNER MONGOLIA (north) Dongsheng: Genghis Khan's mausoleum (1952) Kublai Khan's palace of Xanadu (destroyed) GANSU (east of Xinjiang) Dunhuang/Tun-Huan: +++ Mogao caves of 366-907 AD (Cave 272 of 420s with "Dome of Heaven" and "Lantern Ceiling"; Cave 259 of 450s with "Treasure Stupa"; Cave 254 of 470s with stupa pillar and Sivi and Mahsattva Jatakas; Cave 249 of 540 with fresco of Buddha in preaching pose and ceiling imagery mixing Chinese tradition and Buddhist belief; Cave 285 of 538 with Vihara architecture and ceiling imagery with traditional Chinese iconography; Cave 428 of 570 with stupa pillar, gable roof, decorative "Lantern" ceiling; Cave 96 of 690s with a female Buddha Maitreya; Cave 217 of 710 with western Paradise and Lotus Sutra; Cave 1's wall painting of Manjusri's pilgrimage; Cave 70's landscape painting of 8th c; Cave 139A's wall painting of the Western Paradise) Lanzhou: White Pagoda (seven-storey eight-sided pagoda with images of Buddha of 12th c) Mai-chi-shan rock-cut Buddhist caves (+stele of Cave 133) Jiayuguan fort of the Great Wall (1372) XINJIANG (far west) Urumqi:
Kashgar:
Turfan: Gaochang (ancient Uygur capital) Turfan: Jiaohe (ancient capital of the Cheshi kingdom of 7th-10th c) | Links |