China
15 Best Landmarks in China
The Bund leads, and the rest of China's best landmarks follow, ranked by real visits.
Ranked by traveler review volume across 1396 tracked places in China. Updated monthly.
The Bund
Landmark · ShanghaiThe Bund is a waterfront area and protected historical district in central Shanghai, running along the western bank of the Huangpu River.
Read our full guide →Fortifications of Xi'an
Landmark · Xi'anThe Fortifications of Xi'an, also known as the Xi'an City Wall, are one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved Chinese city walls.
Read our full guide →Tiananmen Square
Landmark · BeijingTiananmen Square is a vast paved plaza in central Beijing, covering 440,000 square meters.
Read our full guide →Oriental Pearl Tower (Dongfang Mingzhu)
Landmark · ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl is Shanghai's retro-futuristic TV tower, a 468-metre structure of giant pink spheres strung along three columns, an instant icon of the Pudong skyline since the 1990s.
Read our full guide →Waibaidu Bridge
Landmark · ShanghaiWaibaidu Bridge, also known as the Garden Bridge, is the first all-steel bridge in China and the only surviving camelback truss bridge in the country.
Read our full guide →Nanjing Lu (Nanjing Road)
Landmark · ShanghaiFree entryNanjing Road is China's most famous shopping street, a heaving, dazzling commercial artery running from the historic Bund toward central Shanghai.
Read our full guide →Shanghai World Financial Center
Landmark · ShanghaiThe Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) is the distinctive 'bottle opener' skyscraper in Pudong's Lujiazui district, 492 metres tall, with a trapezoidal aperture near its top that gives it its nickname.
Read our full guide →Muslim Quarter
Landmark · Xi'anFree entryXi'an's Muslim Quarter (Huimin Jie) is the vibrant heart of the city's Hui Muslim community, a warren of lantern-lit lanes packed with food stalls, snack shops, and centuries of culture, just behind…
Read our full guide →Canton Tower
Landmark · GuangzhouThe Canton Tower is Guangzhou's spectacular 600-metre observation and TV tower, a slender, twisting 'hourglass' lattice that's one of the tallest structures in the world, and a defining sight of the…
Read our full guide →Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Dayanta)
Landmark · Xi'anFree entryThe Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Dayan Ta) is one of Xi'an's most important historic monuments, a towering, seven-storey Tang dynasty brick pagoda dating from the 7th century, built to house Buddhist…
Read our full guide →Bell Tower of Xi'an
Landmark · Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an, built in 1384 during the early Ming dynasty, is a symbol of the city and one of the grandest bell towers in China.
Read our full guide →Yellow Crane Tower
Landmark · WuhanYellow Crane Tower is a iconic pagoda-style tower located on Snake Hill in Wuhan, overlooking the Yangtze River.
Read our full guide →Xiamen University
Landmark · XiamenXiamen University, often called the most beautiful campus in China, offers visitors a unique blend of academic life and scenic beauty.
Read our full guide →Jin Mao Tower
Landmark · ShanghaiFree entryThe Jin Mao Tower is one of Shanghai's most iconic skyscrapers, standing 421 meters tall with 88 floors.
Read our full guide →Drum Tower of Xi'an
Landmark · Xi'anThe Drum Tower of Xi'an, built in 1380 during the early Ming Dynasty, stands in the city center alongside the Bell Tower as a symbol of Xi'an.
Read our full guide →
Good to know
What is the best-known of the landmarks in China?
The Bund in Shanghai is the most reviewed, with 19,639 traveler reviews and a 4.6 rating. That makes it the safe choice if you are only fitting in one.
Which of China's landmarks is worth going out of your way for?
Oriental Pearl Tower (Dongfang Mingzhu) in Shanghai rates highest at 4.5 out of 5 across 6,629 reviews. Smaller crowds than the headline entry usually explain the gap.
Which city in China has the most landmarks?
Shanghai, with 6 on this list, ahead of Xi'an on 5. The list spans 6 cities in total, capped at three per city so one big city cannot crowd out the rest of the country.
Are any of these landmarks free to visit?
Yes, 4: Nanjing Lu (Nanjing Road), Muslim Quarter, Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Dayanta) and others. That is based on each place's own visiting information, not an assumption about the category.
How is this list of landmarks ranked?
By how many travelers reviewed each place, filtered to those rated well enough to be worth your time, drawn from 1,396 tracked places in China. No one pays to appear on it, and the order is refreshed monthly as new reviews land.
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