History Adventure Need Travel Safety 1 Welcome & Culture Eating Journeys & Nature to Know in China worldnomads.com Where Nomads Go Nomads Where the Terracotta Army. the Terracotta scenery and explore beyond scenery and explore music scene, staggering music scene, Experience the underground CHINA 2 worldnomads.com World Nomads’ purpose is to challenge Langmusi Contents you to harness your curiosity, be brave enough to find your own journey, and to WELCOME WELCOME 3 gain a richer understanding of yourself, Get off the beaten path and experience China, the World Nomads Essential China 4 others, and the world. way. Our travel writers take you to the depths of Panjiakou Reserve to HISTORY & CULTURE 6 see a submerged section of the Great Wall, experience surf culture 5 Ancient Chinese Villages 8 worldnomads.com in Houhai Bay, taste authentic Chinese food across the country, and Yin and Yang in Southern China 12 discover extraordinary landscapes you’d never think were in China. Welcome We can’t possibly cover all of China in a handful of pages, and we Ancient Crafts in Suzhou 14 aren’t going to try. Instead, this guide offers a series of windows into China’s Underground Music Scene 18 China – with a focus on the undiscovered and less-visited areas of the Xi'an: Beyond the Terracotta Army 24 country, we want to inspire you to explore parts of China you never & Culture & EATING 26 knew existed. History China - Where Nomads Go also includes a useful Travel Safety 5 Chinese Food Experiences 28 Guide to help you navigate the world safely and bravely. Off you go. Tracing the Delectable Journey of Soup Dumplings 32 JOURNEYS 38 Eating Traveling the Ancient Tea Horse Route 40 Guizhou’s Alien-searching Radar Dish 46 Fuyun The Backroads of Journeys Gansu and Sichuan 48 Exploring the Yungang Grottoes and Hanging Monastery 52 ADVENTURE & NATURE 54 BEIJING Datong Adventure & Nature& Jiuzhaigou National Park 56 Scuba Diving the Great Wall of China 60 TRAVEL SAFETY 78 Visas & Registration 79 An Undiscovered Alternative to Yangshuo 62 10 Travel Safety Tips 80 Langmusi Xi’an Wuxi A Secret Surf Mecca on Hainan 66 Tourist Cons to Avoid 83 Jiuzhaigou National Park Changzhou Shanghai Know to Hangzhou Need China’s Ode to Siberia 68 Health & Hygiene 84 Yarchen Gar Chengdu Litang CHONGQING Shangri-La NEED TO KNOW 72 Law & Crime 86 Lijiang Shaxi Guiyang Handy Tips for First-timers 73 Banned Activities 87 Dongchuan Chengyang Travel Safety Dali Wanfenglin Yangshuo Getting Around 74 Essential Insurance Tips 88 China in Guangzhou Learn Some of the Local Lingo 75 Our Other Guides 89 Jinghong Climate & Weather 76 Our Contributors 90 Yangmei Ancient Town Getty Images / Guenterguni Houhai Bay Staying Connected 77 Get a Quote 91 2 3 worldnomads.com SEEK EXPERIENCES Getty Images / dowell ESSENTIAL Welcome CHINA Don’t miss out on these unexpected Chinese destinations, experiences, and adventures. Culture & History Try soup dumplings everywhere you go Discover the quiet Eating village of Xitang near Shanghai See tiny olive pits carved into intricate ornaments in Learn to surf at Journeys Suzhou Sharon McDonnell Houhai Bay Cycle around the karst formations Enrique A Sanabria / Flickr at Wanfenglin Foden Getty Images / Stephanie Scenic Area Adventure Adventure & Nature& Getty Images / Andre Vogelaere Scuba dive a Listen out for submerged section of extraterrestrial the Great Wall life in Guizhou Giulia Marchi Dyuvbanova Tatiana Explore Know to Jiuzhaigou Need National Park Travel Safety in China in Wonder at the rainbow Travel the Ancient landscapes of Zhangye Tea Horse Route Tess Humphrys Tess Getty Images / Tuul & Bruno Morandi Getty Images / Tuul Danxia Geopark Getty Images / Visual Chona Group Getty Images / BIHAIBO Getty Images / Eastimages 4 5 worldnomads.com Getty Images / Martin Puddy Welcome & Culture & History Eating Journeys Adventure Adventure & Nature& China’s history and culture is as diverse and fascinating as its landscape, with millennia-old monuments and ancient villages to Know to existing alongside the glass Need HISTORY and metal of its megacities. But there is room for the old and new worlds in this cultural mash-up, with traditional crafts Travel Safety in China in & CULTURE and festivals, historical villages preserving and practicing the old ways even as emerging artists in Guilin, Yangshou, Guangxi the underground music scene. 6 7 worldnomads.com Chenyang SEEK EXPERIENCES Ronan OConnell Ronan 5 ANCIENT Welcome & Culture & CHINESE History VILLAGES China is renowned for its cutting-edge megacities, yet it is also one of the oldest civilizations on the planet, and in its ancient hamlets Eating Ronan O’Connell finds traditional life continues. graceful pavilions, time-worn stone Yangmei Journeys Needing respite from the noise of Nanning, bridges, charming merchant houses, and the biggest city in Guangxi Province, peaceful riverside setting, Yangmei village I hop on a local bus to Yangmei, 25mi is something of a time capsule. (40km) away. But, despite a modest travel More than 1,000 years old, Yangmei time of 90 minutes, on arrival it feels as was a key commercial port during China’s if I have arrived in a different era. With its Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) Adventure & Nature& cobblestone alleys, historical temples, Dynasties. Today, it’s a sleepy town of fewer than 5,000 people, many of whom Yangmei are elderly. The 18th-century shophouses surrounding the village square sell spices, tea, herbal medicine, and comfort foods Chengyang Dong tribe, one of the 55 ethnic minority such as delicious Laoyou rice noodle soup, There are no cars in Chengyang, a village groups of China. Chengyang has been The Know to a bargain at US $2 a bowl. It’s so good I find in a remote valley in the southern Chinese home to the Dong people for more than Need room for a second. province of Guangxi, which borders 1,000 years. Locals live in stilted wooden Chengyang Yangmei bulges with history. What Vietnam. That’s because the main entrance homes, and feed their families by growing Wind and fascinates me most are its winding lanes. to this Dong-minority village is accessed rice, sweet potatoes and wheat, and still Rain Bridge Along one, I find 200-year-old homes via a narrow, wooden bridge that spans the practice ancient Dong customs. was built in constructed from a quirky mix of powdered Linxi River. The Chengyang Wind and Rain Traditional dances dedicated to the Travel Safety 1912 with only China in limestone and sticky rice soup. Another Bridge is a 260-foot-long (79m) structure, Goddess Sama are performed in the lane boasts the modest brick and wood built in 1912 with only pedestrians in mind. village square most days at 10am. After pedestrians building that was once home to two of the Walking across this bridge today, I pass being lucky enough to catch one rousing in mind leaders in China’s pivotal 1911 Revolution, several middle-age women selling scarves performance, I am invited into a local’s Ronan OConnell Ronan which ended the Qing Dynasty. and handicrafts. They are members of the home to enjoy a classic Dong meal – sticky 8 9 worldnomads.com SEEK EXPERIENCES Anren I couldn’t find any direct buses to Anren from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, and my taxi driver hasn’t a clue OConnell Ronan Getty Images / plej92 Getty Images / gionnixxx how to get there. Luckily, my phone’s GPS knows the way and, a US $30 fare later, we’ve traveled 40mi (64km) to Anren, an Welcome hour from downtown Chengdu. More than 1,400 years old, Anren is renowned for its 27 mansions, constructed in the early 1900s, when Anren was controlled by Liu Wenhui, a local warlord. The mansions are a unique blend of Culture & intricate European-style stonework and History the decorative arches and courtyards associated with traditional Chinese architecture. While perusing a museum set up inside one of his former homes, I read the story of how Liu Wenhui had dozens of local Eating farmers killed so he could build the mansions on their land. It’s a grim tale, but the mansions are spectacular. So, too, are the three old streets alongside them. About 100 ancient wooden buildings Journeys are scattered along Yumin, Shuren and Hongxing streets. Locals live on the upper Anren Ciqikou floors and, from their ground-floor shops, they sell clothes, handicrafts, and Sichuan souvenirs including brocade silk. Others rice with pickled vegetables, followed by a difficulty of reaching it via public transport run family restaurants serving some of undoubtedly visited more than the other Adventure & Nature& spicy hot pot. from Shanghai, and that the 50mi (80km), the spiciest food in Asia – the Kung Pao villages on this list – most of its historical To get here, catch a 35-minute train from US $40 one-way taxi fare, is enough to chicken left my tongue numb for what felt shophouses now cater to the tourism Guilin (the tourist hub of Guangxi Province, discourage most travelers. like hours. industry – it is still very interesting. 60mi (96km) from Chengyang) to Sanjiang Xitang is picture perfect. Row boats Ciqikou’s architecture is authentic, More than South bullet train station. From Sanjiang, glide along its canals, passing beneath Ciqikou with many Qing Dynasty-era structures 1,400 years catch a taxi to Chengyang. majestic arched bridges flanked by stately Chongqing epitomizes the dizzying rise of remaining, notable for their multi-tiered old, Anren Know to stone buildings with high-pitched roofs and modern China. One of the world’s fastest- rooves. Its layout is labyrinthine, with its Need Xitang decorative eaves. growing cities, in the past 20 years it has alleys looping and winding, ascending and is renowned They are large and beautiful numbers; It’s very hot when I visit in April, so I exploded from a modestly sized urban then descending.