China's Best Attractions
The essentials: the Great Wall at Mutianyu (roughly $8–9, about 1.5 hours from Beijing), the Forbidden City in Beijing ($6–8, book online in advance), the Terracotta Army in Xi'an ($17–21), and — a genuinely separate region worth its own days — a Li River cruise or bamboo raft through Guilin's karst limestone peaks in southern China. Arrive at opening time everywhere; Chinese domestic tourism runs at a scale that surprises most first-time Western visitors.
China's headline attractions are famous for a reason, but the honest version of this list also includes the one most Western itineraries skip entirely: the Li River, a completely different landscape and region from Beijing/Xi'an/Shanghai's history-and-skyline circuit, and worth treating as its own leg of the trip rather than an afterthought.
The Great Wall of China
Multiple restored sections are reachable from Beijing as a day trip. Mutianyu is the best all-around choice for first-timers (restored, scenic, a cable car up and a toboggan ride down); Jinshanling is wilder and less crowded but requires more driving. Entry runs roughly $8–9; add transport (private car, small-group tour, or public bus) on top. See our full Great Wall section-by-section guide for the complete comparison, including night-tour options.
The Forbidden City, Beijing
The imperial palace at the heart of Beijing — nearly 1,000 buildings across 180 acres, the residence of Chinese emperors for close to 500 years. Genuinely vast; budget 3–4 hours. Entry runs $6 (low season, Nov–Mar) to $8 (high season, Apr–Oct). Tickets are timed-entry and released online a few days ahead — book as soon as your dates are set, not the morning of.
The Terracotta Army, Xi'an
Thousands of individually sculpted life-size clay soldiers, buried in battle formation with China's first emperor over 2,000 years ago and discovered by accident in 1974. Entry runs $17 (low season) to $21 (peak season, Apr–Oct). Go early or late in the day — the site draws enormous domestic tour groups by mid-morning.
The Li River and Guilin's karst peaks
A completely different part of the country — dramatic, mist-wrapped limestone karst mountains rising out of a slow, green river in Guangxi province, in China's south. Take a half-day or full-day cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, or a quieter bamboo raft trip for a slower, more intimate version of the same scenery. Best visited April–May or September–October, when the river runs clearer and the peaks aren't shrouded in summer haze. See our full Guilin & Yangshuo guide for prices and how to get there.
If you only build one "extra" region into a first China trip beyond the Beijing–Xi'an–Shanghai line, make it Guilin/Yangshuo — it looks like nowhere else in the country, and most first-timers only discover it existed after they've already booked flights home.
Beyond the classic five
If your trip runs longer than the classic 10-12 day Beijing-Xi'an-Shanghai-Guilin route, Zhangjiajie's Avatar-inspired sandstone pillars (Wulingyuan National Forest Park and the Grand Canyon Glass Bridge — see our Zhangjiajie guide) are a genuinely different, still under-visited-by-Western-tourists landscape worth the extra domestic flight.
What to skip or approach carefully
- Badaling's Great Wall section on weekends or Chinese holidays — it's the most famous but also by far the most crowded, sometimes to the point of shuffling single-file.
- 'Free' tea ceremony or art exhibition invitations from friendly strangers near major sights — a well-documented scam that ends in a large, non-negotiable bill.
- Same-day walk-up tickets for the Forbidden City or Terracotta Army in peak season — both frequently sell out; book online a few days ahead.