Seven kinds
Sites protected at national level, sorted by what they actually are. A tomb, a city wall and a cave temple ask for different things from a visitor, and the grouping here follows that rather than the administrative label they share.
185 sites, 84 of them on the UNESCO list. Where a site also has its own page in the scenic areas layer, the entry links through to it.
For the background behind these, the knowledge layer has a page each on tombs, walls, buildings and gardens, temples, grottoes and ruins.
Seven kinds
What the Groupings Mean
| Kind | Sites | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Tombs and Mausoleums (陵墓) | 41 | Imperial and noble burials, from spirit ways lined with stone figures to excavated underground palaces. |
| Walls and Fortifications (古代防御工程) | 40 | City walls, passes, watchtowers and naval bases, including the Great Wall in several of its forms. |
| Historic Buildings (历史建筑) | 29 | Timber halls, pagodas, bridges and mansions, several of them dated among the earliest wooden structures still standing. |
| Religious Sites (宗教遗产) | 22 | Temples, monasteries and mosques still in use, Buddhist, Daoist, Muslim and Christian. |
| Classical Gardens (古典园林) | 19 | Scholar and imperial gardens, built as compositions to be walked through rather than looked at. |
| Grottoes and Rock Carvings (石窟) | 18 | Buddhist caves and cliff carvings cut over centuries along the routes the religion travelled. |
| Archaeological Sites (考古遗址) | 16 | Excavated cities, tombs and settlements, where the finds rather than the standing fabric are the point. |
By region
Where They Are
| Region | Sites | Provinces |
|---|---|---|
| North China (华北) | 48 | Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Tianjin |
| Northeast China (东北) | 10 | Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning |
| East China (华东) | 55 | Fujian, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Ningxia, Shandong, Shanghai, Tibet, Xinjiang, Zhejiang |
| Central China (华中) | 19 | Henan, Hubei, Hunan |
| South China (华南) | 4 | Guangdong |
| Southwest China (西南) | 14 | Chongqing, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan |
| Northwest China (西北) | 35 | Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi |
Which of These Are Worth the Detour
Some of these sit inside cities and take two hours; others are a half day off the expressway and worth it only if the period interests you. Tell our local team your route and they will say which ones fit and which are better left.