Po Toi Islands: Waglan Island (North-northwest)

Built around the Yellow River and Yangtze basins, China grew into a vast modern state with landscapes that run from the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas to the Gobi Desert and the shores of the South China Sea. The Yangtze, Asia’s longest river, crosses the country west to east, linking mountain regions with major cities and fertile plains. Beijing’s Forbidden City, the former imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, remains a defining monument of its long imperial era. The Great Wall follows northern terrain in many separate sections, while regional cuisines, tea traditions and festivals reveal striking local variety. Explore other places across China’s regions to put this setting in a broader geographic context.