9 places to live differently

Northern Wei capital where ancient grandeur meets viral citywalk fame.

China's most intact walled county town from the Ming-Qing era

Home of the world's oldest and tallest wooden pagoda

Three thousand years of history wrapped inside five ring roads.

Where the Songhua meets the Heilongjiang — China's river-border frontier

China's ice city — Russian-era boulevards, minus-30 winters, and a frontier spirit.

A Ming-era merchant-fortress village just beyond Pingyao's walls

Where China, Russia, and Mongolia converge at a one-of-a-kind border port city

Home to China's finest suspended clay sculpture — made famous by Black Myth