City · northern China
北京
Beijing
One thing to know
Beijing’s Forbidden City was home to emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Today the former imperial palace is a museum you can explore.
UNESCO · fact source ↗ Meet Beijing’s Central Axis ↗Your next little discovery
Explore China
Big places. Small surprises. Tap a pin, meet a place — and hear its name.
Tap a numbered group to zoom in. Use + / − or two fingers to zoom. You can also choose a place below.
City · eastern China
上海
Shanghai
One thing to know
The Bund lines the Huangpu River with historic buildings once used by banks and trading companies. Across the water, Pudong’s much newer skyline faces it.
Shanghai municipal government · fact source ↗ A Shanghai snack with another history ↗City · north-western China
西安
Xi’an
One thing to know
Near Xi’an, thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers guard the burial complex of China’s first Qin emperor. Excavations began in 1974.
Xi’an municipal government · fact source ↗ Look closer at the terracotta soldiers ↗City · south-western China
成都
Chengdu
One thing to know
Chengdu has a research base devoted to breeding and protecting giant pandas. Its work includes research, conservation and teaching visitors about these animals.
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding · fact source ↗ Step inside Chengdu’s food museum ↗City · eastern China
杭州
Hangzhou
One thing to know
Hangzhou’s West Lake is a designed landscape as well as a lake. Causeways, islands, pagodas and surrounding hills have inspired artists and poets for centuries.
UNESCO · fact source ↗ The engineering behind West Lake ↗City · southern China
广州
Guangzhou
One thing to know
Guangzhou is nicknamed the City of Rams. A five-ram sculpture in Yuexiu Park recalls a local legend about immortals bringing grain to the city.
Guangzhou municipal government · fact source ↗City · north-eastern China
哈尔滨
Harbin
One thing to know
Harbin is famous for winter sculptures made from ice and snow. At Ice and Snow World, the building material really is part of the weather.
State Council / Xinhua · fact source ↗ There is more to Harbin than ice ↗City · eastern China
南京
Nanjing
One thing to know
Nanjing’s Xiaoling Mausoleum is the burial place of Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming dynasty, and Empress Ma. Its grounds sit beside wooded Zhongshan Mountain.
Nanjing municipal government · fact source ↗City · eastern coast
青岛
Qingdao
One thing to know
Qingdao hosted the sailing events of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The main Games were inland; these races needed the coast.
Qingdao municipal government · fact source ↗ Another side of Qingdao ↗City · northern China
天津
Tianjin
One thing to know
Tianjin’s Ancient Culture Street runs beside the Haihe River. At its heart is Tianhou Temple, dedicated to Mazu, a sea goddess worshipped by many seafaring communities.
Tianjin municipal government · fact source ↗Province · pin near Qinghai Lake
青海
Qinghai
One thing to know
Qinghai is home to China’s largest inland saltwater lake: Qinghai Lake. Its size changes with water levels, so a single area figure will not tell the whole story.
State Council / Xinhua · fact source ↗Pass · eastern Great Wall corridor
山海关
Shanhaiguan
One thing to know
At Shanhaiguan, the Great Wall reaches the coast. It is the eastern end of the main Ming-era corridor described in UNESCO’s World Heritage record.
UNESCO · fact source ↗ Follow the wall’s history ↗Landmark · pin near Badaling
长城
Great Wall
One thing to know
The Great Wall is a network of defences, not a single wall built in one go. Walls, passes and watchtowers were added and rebuilt over many centuries.
UNESCO · fact source ↗ Read the Great Wall’s different chapters ↗A wall with more than one story
Follow the Great Wall
The Great Wall is a network built and rebuilt over many centuries. The dashed line connects selected places along its Ming-era corridor, from Jiayuguan in the west to Shanhaiguan in the east. It is a schematic guide: branches, gaps and local twists are left out.
Look near Beijing for Badaling. Follow the line west and notice just how far the corridor reaches.
Explore the World Heritage record ↗About this map, pronunciations & sources
Locations are approximate. This is a physical geography view for discovering selected places, rather than a boundary or navigation map. Qinghai’s pin is near Qinghai Lake; the Great Wall pin is near Badaling. Facts checked 27 October 2026. Pronunciations are in Mandarin; many places also have names and pronunciations in other languages.
Land shapes: Natural Earth, public domain. Map controls: Leaflet, BSD 2-Clause. Wall connections are an editorial schematic based on the UNESCO record and China National Tourist Office’s account; they are not a surveyed wall trace.
Audio is hosted here and plays only when you press a button. Recordings have been converted to MP3; speech is unchanged. The recording credits and reusable licences are listed below.
- Beijing: Anddme — original recording, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Shanghai: Justinrleung — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Xi’an: Luilui6666 (Lingua Libre) — original recording, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Chengdu: Peter Isotalo — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Hangzhou: Peter Isotalo — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Guangzhou: Peter Isotalo — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Harbin: Peter Isotalo — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Nanjing: Audioman~commonswiki — original recording, CC BY-SA 2.5.
- Qingdao: Karmosin~commonswiki — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Tianjin: Peter Isotalo — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Qinghai: Peter Isotalo — original recording, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Shanhaiguan: EEIM — original recording, Public domain.
- Great Wall: CanonNi (Lingua Libre) — original recording, CC0.