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Top 10 Ancient Wonders in China

As one of world’s four ancient countries with splendid ancient civilization, China surely is rich in a lot of great tangible projects and relics. Among them, some are too great to be avoided when we are talking of the world wonders because they are hardly realized or completed by humankind in spite of human’ advanced technology and science at present. These gems or representatives of Chinese ancient people’s contribution or achievements in the process of coexisting with nature and improving their life standards largely show the wisdom of Chinese people in ancient times. For different orientations in the past, toady these miraculous projects surprise the first-time travelers and become the symbols of Chinese tourist destinations. We list 10 of them to show the readers who are interested in China and are planning to visit China someday.

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China Great Wall: Chinese people are always proud of their Great wall. To some extent, it represents the spirit of Chinese people and history. In many exhibitions or conferences in China, participators can easily find its existence in pictures or painting hung on walls. It has been widely expressed in politics, culture-exchange, and artistic creation. It is the symbol of China. In Beijing, the famous spots for visiting Great Wall are the section of Badaling Great Wall, the section of Juyongguan Great Wall, the section of Mutianyu Great Wall and the section of Simatai Great Wall…

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The Forbidden City is the best preserved one. Currently, it serves as China’s Palace Museum. This magnificent palace, located in the center of Beijing city, was built in 1406 and completed in 1420. In the past, it used to be the imperial residence for 24 emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City, the best representative of Chinese civilization, is considered a holy place by Chinese people. The palace covers an area of over 2,350,000 square feet. It has 9,999 rooms built in traditional architectural style.

Terracotta Warriors1

The Terracotta Warriors was exceptionally discovered in Xi’an in 1974 by a local peasant. It triggered the interest of Chinese archeologists, they excavated the 7,000 earth-made soldier and horse figures, which are taller and larger than the real life ones at that time (about 2,200 years before present). The most interesting thing is the face expressions and the “hair styles” of these soldier figures are different from one another. It took about 38 years with many craftsmen to complete the whole project.

Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal

Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the earliest and longest canal in the world with the maximum project work. It starts from Beijing (anciently Zhujun) to Hangzhou (anciently Yuhang) with the total distance of more than 1700 meters. Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal plays a great role in the development and exchange of economy and culture between southern China and northern China, especially in the aspect of the industrial and agricultural development in the canal line area. It is called the water great wall, when compared with the Great Wall.

Qingcheng Mountain

The Dujiangyan Project consists out of three sub-projects : Yuzui (Fish Mouth) watershed divides the Dujiang River into two parts – Inner and Outer Rivers, Feisha (Flying Sand) Spillway transfers sands and stones from Inner River to Outer River and Baopingkou (Bottle Neck) controls the flowing water amount, as well as the auxiliary projects of Baizhang and Renzi Banks. The Dujiangyan Irrigation Project has successfully transformed the western Sichuan Basin from a dry land into fertile land.

The Anji Bridge

The Anji Bridge has a segmental deck and the parapets are engraved with dragons and other animals. Its construction started in the 15th year (595) of the reign of Kaihuang and was completed in the 1st year (605) of Daye’s reign of the Sui Dynasty. The bridge, exquisite in workmanship, unique in structure, well-proportioned and graceful in shape, and meticulous yet lively in engraving, has been regarded as one of the greatest achievements in China. Great attention and protection have been given to it through successive dynasties.

Potala Palace1

Potala Palace It can be said that the Potala Palace is the symbol of Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet. Situated on Red Hill in northwest of the city, the Potala Palace was originally built as the house for the marriage of Emperor Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wenchang in the Tang Dynasty. The palace was destroyed twice in its history. In 1645, it was rebuilt and expanded by Dalai Lama V. The project took about half a century to complete.

Mogao Grottoes

Mogao Grottoes, again known as “Thousand Buddha Caves”, are located at the cliffs of the Soughing Sand Hill some 25 kilometers to the southeast of the city of Dunhuang. The name of the grottoes is a derivation of the township named Mogao. Being the largest, the most well-known grottoes of Buddhism art in China they are caved out on the third and fourth floors,extending a length of 1.6 kilometers along the cliff. The grotto was initially dug in 366, the 2nd year under the reign of Jianyuan…

Leshan Giant Buddha

Leshan Giant Buddha is the tallest stone Buddha statue in the world, and is the hottest tourist destination in southwest China thanks to its grandness and mystery. It was carved out of a cliff face by an 8th-century monk in southern Szechuan province, near the city of Leshan. The Giant Buddha lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. It faces the sacred Mount Emei (with which it shares its World Heritage status), with the rivers flowing below his feet…

The Stone Gate at Baoxie Road

The Stone Gate at Baoxie Road is located in the Baohe River Reservoir, 17 km north of Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province. The Baoxie Road was a famous passage through Qinling Mountains, with a total length of 250 km. It runs through Qinling Mountains, with the south entrance, Bao Valley, located in Hanzhong City and the north entrance, Xie Valley, in Mei County in Shaanxi Province. Therefore, it got the name Baoxie Road. Its construction started from the Warring States Period (475-221BC)…

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Aug 30, 2026~ Sep 16, 2026, 8-person small group 18 Days in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shangrao, Zhangjiajie, Chongqing, Chengdu, Beijing

Hello everyone! Eric, thank you so much for your attention during our trip to China. Having you and your team there was essential—we really enjoyed it! We hope to return to China with our children in the future and will stay in touch. It will also be a pleasure to recommend you to our friends, who are already eager to visit China after seeing our photos and videos! Thank you!

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Best of China Tour, 13 Days in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing

Sep 2026 • Family

This was a very special trip for my big birthday where I wanted to take my two sons to China. Our travel professional was Jane, who answered my million questions, promptly and with the utmost patience. She provided us with the right apps to use, transportation assistance, personable and knowledgeable local guides who spoke English. Everything was absolutely perfect and I encourage anyone taking a big trip, to give yourself plenty of time. It took me 10 months to plan with Jane’s help. I plan to use Best Asia Tours again!

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China Essence with Natural Wonders Exploration

May 05th, 2026, Couple

We traveled to China during 05th May to 17th May, 2026. Here goes our comment.

Guilin & Yangshuo:

Mr. Tom was an excellent guide in every aspect. He made every experience a great adventure and beyond. With his energy and knowledge, he adjusted the schedule with extra activities such as visiting the pandas, which made it extra special. He is good at explaining everything in a clear and succinct way, since much is guiding us, we loved our time in China and couldn’t have done it without Tom. He is also frequently offering helpful knowledge we very much appreciated. He also took great pictures of us. Mr. Kong, the driver is very courteous & flexible.

Zhangjiajie, Furong & Fenghuang town:

Allen is a capable and smart guide who has an optimistic and patient personality. We feel fortunate to have her. She is very good at arranging the schedule and navigating the towns’ sights in an efficient manner. We appreciate her help to negotiate with the photographer and provide us good seats and advice. The driver Mr. Lee is a safe & excellent driver who is courteous to us, other drivers and pedestrians. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Zhengzhou area. The hotel was excellent!

Beijing:

Ray Liu is a very knowledgeable and smart guide with excellent English. We learned a lot from him about Chinese history, culture, and current life. He is on time and capable. He shared with us a lot of interesting facts and information, and it was easy to talk to him because he is friendly, talkative and has fluent English. Ray knows his way around & got us everywhere, and it was nice there was a charge port in the back. He can be more courteous to bikers & pedestrians, but we got everywhere safely.

Linda Cheng


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