With its long and dramatic history, China offers endless cultural treasures. Famous attractions like the Terracotta Warriors, the Great Wall, metropolitan Shanghai and the imperial grandeur of Beijing are obvious magnets, but there's also sacred mountains and huge national parks to wander in.

Shanghai is a scintillating city swirling with rapid cultural change. Since market restrictions were lifted, Shanghai has embraced the forces of business and design and rewritten its rule book shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before.

While it can't match the epic history of Beijing or Xi'an's grander sights, Shanghai is the hotspot of modern China; a cosmopolitan city buzzing with the concept of 'lifestyle revolution', showcased in the architectural temples of art, fine dining and contemporary urban living on the Bund.

When To Go
Above all, the rule for Shanghai is to lay low during, or altogether avoid the Chinese New Year; the city grinds to a halt and public transport is flooded. The rest of winter offers good hotel discounts and few tourists.

Summer is peak season and gets a bit muggy, while from September to November the temperate weather brings out several interesting arts festivals and fairs. These are probably the best months to visit but trade fairs and conventions do little to bring the prices down from peak season.

In a country where provincial capitals are rarely known for their beauty, Nanjing shines. The construction work that's churning up the face of China seems to have affected this city less than most and it remains a place of broad boulevards and shady trees.

Ranking up there with the Great Wall and the Forbidden City as one of China's top historical sights, the 2000-year-old Army of Terracotta Warriors remains stunningly well preserved : a perpetually vigilant force standing guard over an ancient imperial necropolis.

The 6000 terracotta figures of warriors and horses face east in a rectangular battle array. Every figure differs in facial features and expressions. The horsemen are shown wearing tight-sleeved outer robes, short coats of chain mail and wind-proof caps. The archers have bodies and limbs positioned in strict accordance with an ancient book on the art of war.

Carved into a cliff face overlooking the confluence of the Dadu He and Min He rivers, the Grand Buddha measures an overwhelming 71m (233ft) high. Qualifying as the largest buddha in the world, his ears are 7m (23ft) long, his insteps 8.5m (28ft) broad, and you could picnic on the nail of his big toe - itself 8.5m (28ft) long.

This mammoth project was begun in 713 AD, engineered by a Buddhist monk called Haitong who organised fund raising and hired workers; it was finally completed 90 years after his death. Below the Grand Buddha was a hollow where boatmen used to vanish - Haitong hoped that the Buddha's presence would subdue the swift currents and protect the boatmen. A building once sheltered the giant statue, but it was destroyed during a Ming dynasty war.

It's worth looking at the Grand Buddha from several angles. While the easiest way to see him is to walk along the riverfront on Binhe Lu, you need to get closer to him to really appreciate his magnitude. You can go to the top, opposite the head, and then descend a short stairway to the feet for a Lilliputian perspective.

The Forbidden City, so called because it was off limits for 500 years, is the largest and best-preserved cluster of China's ancient buildings. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Qing, who didn't stray from this pleasure dome unless they absolutely had to. Allow a full day for exploration.

On the north-south axis of the Forbidden City, from the Gate of Heavenly Peace in the south to Divine Military Genius Gate to the north, lie the palace's ceremonial buildings.

Restored in the 17th century, Meridian Gate is a massive portal that in former times was reserved for the use of the emperor. Across the Golden Stream is Supreme Harmony Gate, overlooking a massive courtyard that could hold an imperial audience of up to 100,000 people.

Raised on a marble terrace with balustrades are the Three Great Halls, the heart of the Forbidden City. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important and the largest structure in the Forbidden City. Built in the 15th century, and restored in the 17th century, it was used for ceremonial occasions, such as the emperor's birthday, the nomination of military leaders and coronations.

These caves are the main reason most people make it to Datong. They're cut into the southern cliffs of Wuzhou Shan, next to the pass leading to Inner Mongolia, and contain over 50,000 Buddhist statues. The caves stretch for about 1km (0.6mi) east to west.

On top of the mountain ridge are the remains of a huge, mud-brick 17th-century Qing dynasty fortress. As you approach the caves you'll see the truncated pyramids, which were once the watchtowers. Sadly, many of the caves suffer damage from coal and other pollution, largely a result of the neighbouring coal mine. At the time of writing, most of the coal trucks were being diverted to a back road, making the trip more pleasant. East of the caves you can walk to a remnant of the Great Wall.

The incredible artwork shows influences of the many foreign craftsmen, from India and Central Asia, who worked on the grottoes. There are no guides at the caves, but there are decent English descriptions and explanations for many points within.

Jiuzhaigou is a gorgeous alpine valley studded with dazzling turquoise lakes as clear and bright as gemstones. Heavily forested and surrounded by snowy peaks and Tibetan herdsmen, Jiuzhaigou is a national treasure reserve and home to the protected takins, golden monkeys and pandas.

According to legend, Jiuzhaigou was created when a jealous devil caused the goddess Wunosemo to drop her magic mirror, a present from her lover, the warlord god Dage. The mirror dropped to the ground and shattered into 118 shimmering lakes.

One of Beijing's most visited sights, the immense park of the Summer Palace requires at least half a day of your time. Nowadays teeming with tour groups from all over China and beyond, this dominion of palace temples, gardens, pavilions, lake and corridors was once a playground for the imperial court. Royalty came here to elude the insufferable summer heat that roasted the Forbidden City.

The site had long been a royal garden and was considerably enlarged and embellished by Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century. He deepened and expanded Kunming Hu with the help of 100,000 labourers, and reputedly surveyed imperial navy drills from a hilltop perch.

Southern Chinese claim 'myriad mountains, rivers and geniuses' while Shandong citizens smugly contest they have 'one mountain, one river and one saint', implying they have the last word on each: Tai Shan (the most revered of China's five sacred Taoist peaks, and the most climbed mountain on earth), Huang He (the Yellow River) and Confucius.

Once upon a time, imperial sacrifices to heaven and earth were offered from its summit. Only five of China's emperors ever climbed Tai Shan, although Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty scaled it 11 times. From its heights Confucius uttered the dictum 'The world is small'; Mao lumbered up and declared 'The east is red'. You too can climb up and say 'I'm knackered'.

It's said that if you climb Tai Shan you'll live to be 100. Sun-worshippers - foreign and Chinese - also muster wide-eyed on the peak, straining for the first flickers of dawn. In ancient Chinese tradition, it was believed that the sun began its westward journey from Tai Shan.

The Great Wall of China is a Chinese fortification built from the 3rd century BC until the beginning of the 17th century, in order to protect the various dynasties from raids by Hunnic, Mongol, Turkic, and other nomadic tribes coming from areas in modern-day Mongolia and Manchuria. Several walls were built since the 3rd century BC, the most famous being the Great Wall of China built between   220  BC  and  200   BC  by   the  first

Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (this was located much further north than the current Great Wall of China built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains).

The Great Wall is the world's longest man-made structure, stretching over a formidable 6,352 km (3,948 miles), from Shanhai Pass on the Bohai Sea in the east, at the limit between "China proper" and Manchuria, to Lop Nur in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Along most of its arc, it roughly delineates the border between North China and Inner Mongolia.