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Shanghai (上海)

• The Bund (外滩): Open neighbourhood, Huangpu. Historic Bund buildings one way, the Huangpu River skyline the other.
• Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street (南京路步行街): Open neighbourhood, Huangpu. Shanghai's car-free shopping street, from People's Square to the Bund, lit up at night.
• People’s Square (人民广场): Open neighbourhood, Huangpu. Shanghai's central square on the old racecourse, ringed by museums, a park and a theatre.
• Oriental Pearl Tower (东方明珠): Observation deck, Pudong New Area. A Lujiazui tower for 263 m views, a glass corridor and Shanghai history.
• Top of Shanghai Observatory (上海之巅观光厅): Observation deck, Pudong New Area. China's highest observation deck: 546 m up on Shanghai Tower's 118th floor.
• Jin Mao Tower 88F Observation Deck (金茂大厦88层观光厅): Observation deck, Pudong New Area. A 340 m deck in Shanghai's pagoda-style tower, with an outdoor Skywalk option.
• Yuyuan Garden (豫园园林): Classical garden, Huangpu. A ticketed classical garden — rockeries, ponds and pavilions in Shanghai's old city.
• Yuyuan Bazaar (豫园商城): Open neighbourhood, Huangpu. The free bazaar around Yuyuan Garden: zigzag bridge, teahouse, dumplings, lanterns.
• Shanghai Disneyland (上海迪士尼乐园): Attraction, Pudong New Area. Disney in mainland China: eight lands, TRON, Zootopia, the tallest Disney castle.
• Shanghai Ocean Aquarium (上海海洋水族馆): Attraction, Pudong New Area. Lujiazui's aquarium, with a 155 m underwater tunnel and a China-only freshwater zone.
• Shanghai Museum East (上海博物馆东馆): Museum, Pudong New Area. A large Pudong museum for Chinese bronzes, ceramics, jade and sculpture.
• Shanghai Museum on People’s Square (上海博物馆人民广场馆): Museum, Huangpu. Shanghai Museum’s People’s Square building for major special exhibitions.
• Shanghai Natural History Museum (上海自然博物馆): Museum, Jing’an. Dinosaurs, an African savanna walk-through and 11,000 specimens in a spiral 'green snail'.
• Shanghai History Museum (上海市历史博物馆): Museum, Huangpu. Free city-history museum in the old Race Club with the clock tower on People's Square.
• Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (上海城市规划展示馆): Museum, Huangpu. Free, booking-only hall with an immersive digital model of Shanghai.
• Shanghai Science and Technology Museum (上海科技馆): Museum, Pudong New Area. Hands-on Pudong science museum, renewed in 2026: robots, flight halls and dome films.
• Shanghai Astronomy Museum (上海天文馆): Museum, Pudong New Area. A huge orbit-shaped astronomy museum by Dishui Lake, a full day out from central Shanghai.
• Museum of Art Pudong (浦东美术馆): Museum, Pudong New Area. A Jean Nouvel museum on the river: big loan shows, and a terrace facing the Bund.
• Power Station of Art (上海当代艺术博物馆): Museum, Huangpu. A riverside power plant turned contemporary art museum, home of the Shanghai Biennale.
• China Art Museum, Shanghai (中华艺术宫): Museum, Pudong New Area. Modern Chinese art in the red 2010 Expo China Pavilion — and mostly free to enter.
• West Bund Museum (西岸美术馆): Museum, Xuhui. David Chipperfield's riverside museum showing Centre Pompidou collection loans.
• Long Museum (West Bund) (龙美术馆（西岸馆）): Museum, Xuhui. A private art museum of concrete vaults built around an old coal-loading bridge.
• Fotografiska Shanghai (Fotografiska 影像艺术中心): Museum, Jing’an. A 1931 Suzhou Creek warehouse, open daily until 23:00 for photography shows.
• Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (上海犹太难民纪念馆): Museum, Hongkou. A 1927 synagogue, and how Shanghai sheltered Jewish refugees in WWII.
• World Expo Museum (上海世博会博物馆): Museum, Huangpu. A free museum of more than 170 years of world expos, including Shanghai 2010.
• Soong Ching Ling Memorial Residence in Shanghai (上海宋庆龄故居纪念馆): Museum, Xuhui. Soong Ching Ling's 1920 villa on Huaihai Road, kept as she lived in it.
• Shanghai Xintiandi Shikumen Block (上海新天地石库门街区): Open neighbourhood, Huangpu. Restored shikumen lanes, now a dining street — beside the first CPC congress site.
• Tianzifang (田子坊): Open neighbourhood, Huangpu. 1930s lane houses and old workshops off Taikang Road — a maze of shops and cafés.
• Wukang Road (武康路): Open neighbourhood, Xuhui. Plane trees, 1920s–30s villas, and the ship-shaped Wukang Mansion at the end.
• Zhangyuan (张园): Open neighbourhood, Jing’an. A large restored shikumen block of luxury shops and cafés, right by West Nanjing Road.
• Yuyuan Road Historical and Cultural Block (愚园路历史文化街区): Open neighbourhood, Jing’an / Changning. A long, quiet plane-tree road: garden lanes from the 1920s–30s, small shops and cafés.
• M50 Creative Park (M50创意园): Open neighbourhood, Putuo. A former Suzhou Creek textile mill, now free galleries, studios and graffiti lanes.
• North Bund International Passenger Center Riverside (北外滩国际客运中心周边滨江公共空间): Open neighbourhood, Hongkou. A quieter Huangpu riverfront facing Lujiazui and the Bund, around the cruise terminal.
• Xujiahui Origin (徐家汇源): Open neighbourhood, Xuhui. Where Western science reached Shanghai: Gothic cathedral, old observatory, libraries.
• Columbia Circle (上生新所): Open neighbourhood, Changning. A 1920s American country club, Hudec villa and old pool, now an open creative park.
• Jing'an Temple (静安寺): Temple, Jing’an. A working temple on West Nanjing Road, with gold roofs and a 15-tonne silver Buddha.
• Jade Buddha Temple (玉佛禅寺): Temple, Putuo. A working temple, free to enter, with a Burmese jade reclining Buddha brought in 1899.
• Longhua Temple (龙华寺): Temple, Xuhui. One of Shanghai's oldest temples, beside a Song-dynasty pagoda; famous for noodles.
• Century Park (世纪公园): Park, Pudong New Area. Pudong's largest free park: 140 hectares of lawns, a lake and seasonal flowers.
• Fuxing Park (复兴公园): Park, Huangpu. A 1909 French-style park in Shanghai: plane trees, flower beds, and a night funfair.
• Zhongshan Park (中山公园): Park, Changning. A 1914 English-style park by Suzhou Creek, with boating, lawns and a cruise pier.
• Gongqing National Forest Park (共青国家森林公园): Park, Yangpu. Downtown Shanghai's only forest park: 131 hectares of woods, lawns and lakes.
• Shanghai Botanical Garden (上海植物园): Park, Xuhui. Free, 82 hectares in Xuhui — bonsai courtyards and glasshouses.
• Chenshan Botanical Garden (辰山植物园): Park, Songjiang. Shanghai's largest botanical garden: a quarry garden and dragon-like glasshouses.
• Zhujiajiao Historical and Cultural Block (朱家角古镇历史文化街区): Water town, Qingpu. A canal town west of central Shanghai — old lanes and stone bridges.
• Qibao Ancient Town (七宝古镇): Water town, Minhang. The canal town closest to downtown — Line 9, a stone bridge, two streets of old snacks.
• Nanxiang Ancient Town (南翔古镇): Water town, Jiading. Home of the xiaolongbao — twin brick pagodas, canal lanes, Guyi Garden next door.
• Guyi Garden (古猗园): Classical garden, Jiading. A Ming-era classical garden: bamboo, lotus ponds, one pavilion missing a corner.
• Sheshan National Forest Park (佘山国家森林公园): Park, Songjiang. Shanghai's only hills: a hilltop basilica, an old observatory, bamboo trails.
• Guangfulin Cultural Relics Park (广富林文化遗址): Park, Songjiang. 'The root of Shanghai': a 5,000-year-old site with museums half-sunk in a lake.
• NECC (国家会展中心（上海）): Exhibition centre. Shanghai's four-leaf-clover trade-fair venue, home of CIIE and Auto Shanghai: one metro stop from Hongqiao Railway Station, two from Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2.

Beijing (北京)

• The Palace Museum (Forbidden City) (故宫博物院): Museum. Enter a former imperial palace at Meridian Gate, then walk its courtyards north.
• Tiananmen Square (天安门广场): Open neighbourhood. A public square with a separate free, real-name reservation and security check.
• Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (毛主席纪念堂): Museum. Free to enter, but booked separately from the square.
• Mutianyu Great Wall (慕田峪长城): Attraction. A restored Great Wall section: ridge walks, shuttle buses, optional lifts.
• Badaling Great Wall (八达岭长城): Attraction. Climb the famous Badaling section; daytime and night tickets have different rules.
• Temple of Heaven (天坛): Attraction. An imperial altar park with separate tickets for its ceremonial buildings.
• Summer Palace (颐和园): Classical garden. Walk lakeside paths and imperial buildings around Kunming Lake.
• Jingshan Park (景山公园): Park. Climb Wanchun Pavilion for the overhead view of the Forbidden City.
• Beihai Park (北海公园): Park. A royal lake garden with a white dagoba crowning Qionghua Island.
• Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) (圆明园): Park. Ruins and waterways of a former imperial garden.
• Lama Temple (Yonghegong) (雍和宫): Temple. A Tibetan Buddhist temple with halls, courtyards and active worship.
• Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷): Open neighbourhood. A narrow north–south hutong lined with shops and side lanes.
• Shichahai and Houhai (什刹海): Open neighbourhood. A lakeside hutong district around Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai.
• Qianmen Street (前门大街): Open neighbourhood. An 840 m pedestrian street on Beijing’s southern central axis.
• National Museum of China (中国国家博物馆): Museum. A free national museum beside Tiananmen Square, with timed entry.
• 798 Art District (798艺术区): Open neighbourhood. Old factories, now galleries, design shops and public art.
• Olympic Green (奥林匹克公园（鸟巢、水立方）): Open neighbourhood. A free Olympic plaza between the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.
• Prince Kung's Mansion (恭王府): Museum. A Qing princely mansion and garden with a passport ticket exchange.
• Bell and Drum Towers, Beijing (北京钟鼓楼): Attraction. Two historic time towers with separate and joint tickets.
• Universal Beijing Resort (北京环球度假区): Attraction. A full-day theme park with dated tickets and a passport entry rule.

Xi’an (西安)

• Terracotta Army (Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum) (秦始皇帝陵博物院（兵马俑）): Museum. Look down on the excavated ranks of Qin terracotta soldiers near Xi’an.
• Shaanxi History Museum (main building) (陕西历史博物馆（本馆）): Museum. Free ancient-history galleries with a strict timed booking at the main museum.
• Xi'an City Wall (西安城墙): Attraction. Walk or cycle the elevated walls around Xi’an’s old city.
• Muslim Quarter (回民街): Open neighbourhood. Lanes of Hui food around Beiyuanmen, behind the Drum Tower.
• Great Mosque of Xi'an (化觉巷清真大寺): Temple. A historic mosque courtyard hidden in Huajue Lane behind Xi’an’s food streets.
• Bell and Drum Towers, Xi'an (西安钟鼓楼): Attraction. Two separate Ming-era towers at the heart of Xi’an, with individual and combined tickets.
• Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (大雁塔·大慈恩寺): Temple. Walk the Buddhist temple grounds around Xuanzang’s landmark pagoda.
• Beilin Museum (Forest of Stone Steles) (西安碑林博物馆): Museum. Centuries of Chinese writing, carved into stone — in a renewed museum.
• Huaqing Palace (华清宫): Attraction. Tang palace hot-spring ruins and later history below Lishan.
• Grand Tang Dynasty Ever-bright City (大唐不夜城): Open neighbourhood. Lights, sculpture and performances on a broad Tang-themed pedestrian street.

Chengdu (成都)

• Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (成都大熊猫繁育研究基地): Attraction. Giant and red pandas in a bamboo park — timed real-name tickets, passports accepted.
• Wuhou Shrine (武侯祠): Temple. Three Kingdoms temple-museum for Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang — ¥50 ticket, book with passport.
• Jinli Ancient Street (锦里): Open neighbourhood. Free lantern-lit street of rebuilt Qing-style shopfronts beside Wuhou Shrine.
• Kuanzhai Alley (宽窄巷子): Open neighbourhood. Three restored Qing-era lanes of tea houses, snacks and shops, free to walk.
• People’s Park, Chengdu (成都人民公园): Park. A free city park — Chengdu people drink tea by the lake.
• Du Fu Thatched Cottage (杜甫草堂): Classical garden. Where the Tang poet Du Fu lived in Chengdu — a memorial garden, ticket needed.
• Wenshu Monastery (文殊院): Temple. A free working monastery in central Chengdu — red walls, tea, vegetarian food.
• Jinsha Site Museum (金沙遗址博物馆): Museum. A Bronze Age Shu capital site with a gold-ornament collection, closed for a rebuild.
• Sanxingdui Museum (三星堆博物馆): Museum. Bronze Age masks, a four-metre sacred tree — a day trip from Chengdu.
• Dujiangyan Irrigation System (都江堰景区): Attraction. A Qin-era waterworks that splits a river — swaying bridge, temples, riverside paths.
• Mount Qingcheng (青城山): Attraction. Taoist temples on a forested mountain: gate, lake, cable car and Laojun Pavilion.
• Leshan Giant Buddha (乐山大佛): Attraction. A 71 m Tang-dynasty Buddha carved into a river cliff, seen on foot or from a boat.

Chongqing (重庆)

• Hongyadong (洪崖洞): Open neighbourhood. Free stilt houses stacked on a cliff, lit gold over the Jialing River after dark.
• Liziba Monorail Station (李子坝轻轨穿楼): Observation deck. A free riverside platform to watch Line 2 trains pass through a 19-storey apartment block.
• Yangtze River Cableway (长江索道): Attraction. Over the Yangtze in a 1,166 m cable car — a short sightseeing ride between two riverbanks.
• Jiefangbei (解放碑): Open neighbourhood. A free, always-open crossroads district around Chongqing's wartime victory monument.
• Ciqikou Ancient Town (磁器口古镇): Open neighbourhood. A riverside Ming–Qing old street in Shapingba: snacks, teahouses, a hill temple.
• Chaotianmen (朝天门): Open neighbourhood. Where two rivers meet: a free riverside square at the tip of the peninsula.
• Eling No. 2 Factory (鹅岭二厂文创公园): Open neighbourhood. A free former printing works turned into hilltop lanes of cafés, murals and rooftops.
• Three Gorges Museum (重庆中国三峡博物馆): Museum. A free city-centre history museum across People's Square from the Great Hall.
• Raffles City Chongqing The Crystal (来福士水晶连廊（探索舱）): Observation deck. A paid glass-floor deck, 250 m up in a horizontal skyscraper above the river confluence.
• Shancheng Alley (山城巷（第三步道）): Open neighbourhood. A free cliffside lane of stone steps, old houses and lantern-lit shops in Yuzhong.

Hangzhou (杭州)

• West Lake (西湖): Park. A free, always-open lakeshore of causeways, bridges, boats and a nightly fountain.
• Lingyin Temple and Feilai Peak (灵隐寺·飞来峰): Temple. A 1,700-year-old Chan temple beside a cliff of carved Buddhas — free, but book a slot.
• Leifeng Pagoda (雷峰塔): Attraction. A rebuilt lakeside pagoda over excavated ruins — and a lift to the top-floor deck.
• Hefang Street (河坊街): Open neighbourhood. Old pharmacies, snack stalls and lanterns on a restored Southern Song-style street.
• Longjing Tea Village (龙井村): Open neighbourhood. Where West Lake Longjing tea grows: free terraces, tea houses and a spring.
• China National Tea Museum (中国茶叶博物馆): Museum. A free national tea museum set among Longjing tea fields and a Jiangnan garden.
• Yue Fei Temple (岳王庙): Temple. The shrine and tomb of the Song general Yue Fei — a short, solemn stop beside West Lake.
• Zhejiang Provincial Museum (浙江省博物馆): Museum. The provincial museum's old Gushan campus on West Lake, free with a courtyard library.
• Xixi National Wetland Park (西溪国家湿地公园): Park. A big-city wetland of reed lanes and boat routes — half free, half ticketed.
• Grand Canal and Gongchen Bridge (大运河拱宸桥): Open neighbourhood. The canal's southern end: a Ming stone bridge, craft museums and old lanes.