It’s vast, varied and right on your doorstep. We explore some of the less-visited destinations in the giant country.

Phoenix Town

Why visit: Legend has it that two phoenixes flew over Fenghuang Cheng and found it so beautiful that they hovered there, unwilling to leave. There was no H5N1 back then, so it wasn’t a problem for them, and if you take one look at this charming little town on the banks of Tuojiang River, you’ll see the attraction. This is picture book China; stilted wooden houses, an overhanging jade-green river, upturned eaves, flagstone streets and arched bridges. It is the sort of town that attracts artists, poets and playwrights.

Phoenix Town (on the Western boundary of Hunan) dates back 1,300 years to the Qin Dynasty and life still moves to an ancient rhythm. In winter, snowy roofs give the town a fairy-tale look, while in summer, men fish in the river, women wash clothes on the riverbanks, as an aroma of pickled red peppers—a local delicacy—wafts from open windows. There are lovely old gardens, elegant homes, splendid bridges and mysterious towers, and in the center of town lies the poetic and beautiful Rainbow Bridge, decked out in vermeil—gold over sterling silver.
Make no mistake; there’ree plenty of tourists here despite of its tricky location (it wasn’t even mentioned in the Lonely Planet). You can escape the masses in one of the tiny hotels that look over the river and let the charm of old-time China work its magic.

Things to see: Shen Congwen’s house (on Zhongying St.) is the former home of the Nobel Prize in Literature nominee and Chinese modern writer. Before his death in 1988, Shen’s former home had been listed as a cultural relic and was carefully restored. Another residence worth visiting is the traditional Miao home of Xiong Xiling, the famous philantropist who was the first premier in the republic; it’s an 800 square meter house with vintage overhanging balconies, wooden carvings and upturned eaves. And 10 kilometers out of town is the Southern Great Wall. Discovered in 2000 and partially reconstructed, it once protected the Ming Dynasty from the Miao to the south.

Avoid: Don’t step on the feet of Miao girls—by tradition, if you trample someone’s toes, it means you have to marry them. 

Qinghai Lake

Why visit: At three times the size of London, Qinghai Lake, a surreal inland sea in the northwest province of Qinghai, is the largest body of water in China. The salty water teems with fish, fishermen and thousands of waterfowls, while cormorants and gulls skim the surface. In summer, the vast plains around the lake burst into yellow day-glo as fields of rapeseed come into bloom. Humming with the activity of millions of bees, it attracts beekeepers from across China. It’s not just the beekeepers that have set up homes near Qinghai Lake; scattered in the hills beyond the rapeseed fields are dotted tents of Tibetan nomads who tend herds of sheep, goats and yaks. 

The Ta’er Monastery, 26 kilometers from Xining, Qinghai’s capital, along the road to the lake, is a pretty place that heaves with activity. Outside, incense smoke shrouds streets that buzz with pilgrims and tourists, and a makeshift market springs up each morning. Inside, pilgrims circumambulate the monastery buildings and stupas—some walk, some crawl, others prostrate themselves endlessly. The surrounding hills offer peaceful walks.

Things to see:  Qinghai Lake is home to the mainland’s answer for the Loch Ness monster. Take a boat trip and you’re sure to hear the legend of May 23, 1982, when a group of men fishing near an island at center of the lake saw a huge animal rising out of the water. “It was black and yellow in color, about 13 or 14 meters long and had the shape of an overturned boat,” explains our guide, He Ping, “Tibetan herdsmen living near the lake reported having seen the animal many times and they say it surfaces on very hot days.”

Avoid: Sadly, one of Qinghai’s major attractions is probably not a place you want to go if you are wary of bird flu. Now a peninsula, thanks to dropping water levels, Bird Island attracts hundreds and thousands of migratory birds each summer, including bar-headed geese, cormorants, black-necked cranes, gulls, sandpipers and pied avocets.

Outer Mongolia

Why visit: Ride like Genghis Khan into the wilderness and live among nomads in the savage heart of Mongolia. Push your survival skills to their limits while camping out in the depths of winter, when temperatures reach 20 degrees below zero in the mountainous regions of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park northeast of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar.

Your host family will welcome you with open arms into their humble ger, an igloo-like tent held together by a wooden frame and wrapped with felt and canvas. Don’t underestimate the level of modern comforts that Mongolian nomads enjoy. Each ger is usually equipped with its own solar panel that powers a television, radio and lights inside. On most days, men will be out on horseback, herding cattle and sheep, while women take care of the children as well as prepare meals. Come midnight, everyone scrambles outside to light firecrackers and gaze up at the night sky. Only then can you truly appreciate the “Land of Blue Sky.” 

Wake up to rays of sunlight beaming through a round rooftop window and trek on horseback to a frozen river nearby and break through the ice with a sharp-edged rock to gather fresh water in large tin barrels.

Before you bid goodbye to nomadic life, stop at an ovoo, a stone pyramid-shaped shrine decked with blue, yellow, red, white and green Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind. You’ll find many such shrines scattered throughout the mountainsides, which are made to honor the mountain spirits. Follow the custom of walking clockwise around the ovoo and throw something at it to bring you good luck for your journey back home.

Things to see: Ulaanbaatar suffers aesthetically from its recent communist past, but it’s a good base from which to explore the wild desert beyond the capital city. A must-visit is the Gandan Monastery (or Gandantegchinlen Khiid), the largest in Mongolia, with more than 400 monks. Built during Khublai Khan’s reign, it’s a center of Buddhist learning and houses a 25-meter high statue of Buddha.

Avoid: To refuse a drink in Mongolia is not as simple as a polite “No, thank you.” When offered, you should hold the drinking vessel in your right hand and cup your right elbow with your left. As you bring it to your lips, transfer the vessel from your right hand to your left. Dip your right ring finger into the drink and sprinkle drops of it into the air by flicking your ring finger against your thumb around your head in four directions, symbolizing the mountains in the north, east, south and west. Finally, kiss the lip of the vessel and return it to the person who offered you the drink.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Why visit: This two-day hike is one of the world’s greatest (and, so far, relatively unexploited) walks, following along the Yangzi River as it plunges through Yunnan’s spectacular Tiger Leaping Gorge (Lijiang City, Yunnan) between Haba Peak and Jade Dragon Mountain, on its way from the Himalayas to the East China Sea. Known locally as Huo Tiao Xia, the gorge has three sections, including 24 bends in the highest, narrowest section. Visitors to the gorge have two choices; walk the high trail over barren, rocky Haba Peak along the rim of the gorge, or take the low road for a two-hour journey by car (but that’s for softies). The adventurous, and relatively fit, will want to do it the hard way. 

The gorge itself is approximately 16 kilometers long and the Haba Peak route is more than twice as long as that. It’s tough going, but it offers breathtaking (often literally) scenery. The walk starts at Qiaotou, at the western end of the gorge, and day one is spent high on the mountain, hiking for six to eight hours to the Halfway Guest House, a cozy hostel situated midway along the route. 

Next morning, if your legs are up for it, you can take an optional descent down the cliff to the river itself. An easy hike from the Halfway Guest House takes you to Tina’s Guest House and the dangerous route down to the riverbank. It charges RMB10 each way for the three-hour round trip (you can opt out of the return section).

Things to do: They’re a friendly bunch at Tiger Leaping Gorge, so don’t be surprised if your driver invites you to his mountain home for home-cured ham and freshly picked wild mushrooms cooked on a wood-burning stove. If you can spare a seven-hour drive, go to Lugu Lake, home to the enigmatic Mosuo tribe, which is run on a strictly matriarchal system; instead of getting married, the women take lovers.

Avoid: Dodge the RMB30 entrance fee to the gorge by getting there before the gatekeeper arrives at 7am. And while Jade Dragon Mountain is appealing, it is commercialized and has overpriced chairlifts. Thus, we recommend you stick to Haba Peak.