Second-trip favorite

Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)

黄山 · East China

Granite peaks above a sea of clouds — named to the New York Times' 52 Places to Go in 2025, now 2.5 h from Shanghai by high-speed rail.

April–May and September–November

2–3 days

2.5 h high-speed train from Shanghai.

Stay overnight on the summit for the sunrise above the clouds — book the mountain hotels well ahead.

Don't miss in Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)

The experiences Western travelers rate highest here.

The peaks that inspired centuries of Chinese ink painting — stay overnight on the summit for sunrise above the clouds.

The 900-year-old whitewashed village with a moon pond at its heart — a filming location for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

More destinations at the same level of the journey.

West Lake perfection an hour from Shanghai — the landscape that defined Chinese ideas of beauty for a millennium.

The classical garden city — 2,500 years of canals, moon gates and scholar aesthetics, 30 minutes from Shanghai by rail.

China's ice city — a Russian-built winter wonderland whose Ice and Snow Festival took over Western social media.

China's most diverse province — snow mountains, old towns and 25 ethnic minorities, now a favorite for returning Western travelers.