China

Seasonal calendar — from climate data and curated definitions.

National holidays — closures and days off.

UNESCO World Heritage sites in this country.

• Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang

  1987Cultural

  ©

  The Forbidden City is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty Emperors, and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by the Palace Museum and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The Forbidden City is one of the most famous palaces in all of Chinese history, and is the largest preserved royal palace complex still standing in the world.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa

  1994Cultural

  ©

  Potala Palace is a museum complex in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It was formerly the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas, and from 1649 until 1959 served as the Dalai Lamas' residence. The palace complex became a museum following the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Mount Taishan

  1987Mixed

  

  Mount Tai is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the Jade Emperor Peak, which is commonly reported as being 1,545 meters (5,069 ft) tall.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• The Grand Canal

  2014Cultural

  

  The Grand Canal is a system of interconnected canals linking various major rivers and lakes in North and East China, serving as an important waterborne transport infrastructure between the north and the south during Medieval and premodern China. It is the longest artificial waterway in the world and a World Heritage Site.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing

  1998Cultural

  ©

  The Temple of Heaven is a complex of imperial religious Confucian buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and then later restored by the Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest and other seasonal rites. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world's great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Mount Huangshan

  1990Mixed

  

  Huangshan, literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. It was originally called "Yishan", and it was renamed because of a legend that the Yellow Emperor once made alchemy here. Vegetation on the range is thickest below 1,100 meters (3,600 ft), with trees growing up to the treeline at 1,800 meters (5,900 ft).

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Mogao Caves

  1987Cultural

  ©

  The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves; however, this term is also used as a collective term to include other Buddhist cave sites in and around the Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, and Five Temple Caves. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area

  1996Mixed

  ©

  The Leshan Giant Buddha is a 71-meter (233 ft) tall stone statue, built between 712 and 804 AD. It is carved out of a cliff face of Cretaceous red bed sandstones that lies at the confluence of the Min River and Dadu River in the southern part of Sichuan Province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below its feet. It is the largest and tallest stone Buddha statue in the world and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. It is over 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) from the Wuyou Temple.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Centre of Heaven and Earth”

  2010Cultural

  

  Shaolin Monastery, also known as Shaolin Temple, is a Mahayana Buddhist monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin kung fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak of the Mount Song mountain range in Dengfeng, Zhengzhou prefecture, in Henan, China. The name reflects its location in the ancient grove of Mount Shaoshi, in the hinterland of the Mount Song range.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
• Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing

  1998Cultural

  ©

  The Summer Palace or Yihe Garden was built by the Chinese Empress Cixi as a pavilion for quiet retreat. It is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. An imperial garden during the Qing dynasty, it includes Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres (1.1 sq mi), three-quarters of which is water.

  Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)