What's New

China's international visitors have rocketed from a mere 300,000 back in 1978 to an impressive 22 million in 2006. Already pundits are predicting that in less than 6 years, the country will rank first in terms of visitors, passing the current top three of France, Spain, and the United States.

One reason for this upward surge has been China's "Golden Week" policy. Currently, China has three "Golden Week" holidays: the May Day holiday, the National Day holiday, and the Spring Festival holiday.

Three days paid vacation are given to workers, and the dates of these celebrations are carefully chosen so that workers in Chinese companies always have 7 continuous days of vacation time. These national holidays were first started by the government for China's National Day in 1999 and are primarily intended to help expand the domestic tourism market, improve the national standard of living, and allow people to make long-distance family visits. The Golden Weeks are consequently periods of greatly heightened travel activity.

Visitors should also bear in mind that, in part as a result of these Golden Weeks, the number of domestic Chinese tourists has shot from 280 million in 1990 to a whopping 1.4 billion in 2006, the majority of these being peasants from rural areas. This should give you a clear idea of how crowded many of the "must-see" spots have become. Here's more news by region.

Beijing & Hebei

The capital's previously sparse subway system was given a boost in the fall of 2007 with the opening of Line 5, which runs past the east gate of the Temple of Heaven, up to Dong Dan, Dong Si, Lama Temple, and farther north to the east side of Yayun Cun (Asian Games Village). The subway system will be further improved by the summer of 2008, just in time for the Olympics, with the opening of Lines L1, 8, and 10. Line L1 should be particularly handy for travelers, as it connects the airport with Dong Zhi Men, an extensive bus and subway interchange point in central Beijing, and Line 8 is especially important for Olympic goers, as it will connect passengers to Olympic Park and the Olympic Sports Center. It juts off of Line 10, which runs along the east and north side of Third Ring Road, with stops at China World (Guomao) and Gongti Bei Lu, near the Sanlitun Bar Street.

The old central neighborhoods of Beijing offer some wonderful new accommodations that provide comfort and character, including the Hotel Côte Cour S.L., Yanyue Hutong 70 (tel. 010/6512-8020), Hotel Kapok, Donghuamen Dajie 16 (tel. 010/6525-9988), and Gu Xiang 20, Nanluogu Xiang 20 (tel. 010/6400-5566). The Olympics has given the five-star hotel industry a boom, with the opening of hotels like Raffles Beijing, Dong Chang'an Jie 1 (tel. 800/768-9009 in the U.S., or 010/6526-3388), Ritz-Carlton, Financial Street, 1 Jinchengfang Dong Jie (tel. 010/6601-6666), and Marco Polo Parkside, Anli Lu 78 (tel. 010/5963-6688). The games have also spurred existing luxury hotels like the Shangri-La Beijing to renovate and add new luxurious wings.

Beijing's newest restaurants illustrate the increasingly cosmopolitan character of the city, including the French Jaan in the Raffles Hotel (tel. 010/6526-3388), the Japanese Haiku by Hatsune (tel. 010/6508-8585, ext. 203), the Italian Cepe in the Ritz-Carlton, Financial Street (tel. 010/6601-6666), and the Cantonese Paper (tel. 010/8401-5080).

The first phase of renovations to The Forbidden City wraps up in 2008, but parts of the palace will remain under renovation until 2010. In the hutong (the traditional alley neighborhoods of Beijing) not far from Houhai Lake, the alley of Nan Luogu Xiang has blossomed into a gentrified neighborhood of cafes, bars, restaurants, and shops. It's an ideal place to see old Beijingers rubbing elbows with the hip, urban youth of China. Finally, if you really want to get a taste of the capital's youth scene, go see a show at one of the city's new live music venues, including Mao Livehouse, The Star Live, and the legendary Yu Gong Yi Shan, which just moved into the former quarters of a government official.

The Northeast

New D trains now connect Shenyang, Changchun, and Harbin to the capital city of Beijing.

As one of the cities hosting the 2008 Olympics' soccer games, Shenyang has been undergoing a face-lift. The city is now cleaner and less polluted. The city has also opened Shenyang Financial Museum (Shenyang Shi Jinrong Bowuguan), exhibiting the monetary history of the Northeast and ancient currencies found in the area. It claims to be the biggest museum of its kind in China.

The latest attraction of the Russian border town of Manzhouli is the Eluosi Taowa Guangchang (Russian Matryoshka Dolls Plaza) erected in 2006, with over 200 nesting dolls in the plaza. It highlights the distinctive Sino-Russian culture of the town. The town's first international hotel, Shangri-La, is scheduled to open in 2008.

Along the Yellow River

The long-delayed Datong airport finally opened in 2006 and currently has flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou with more connections planned for the future.

Hohhot is experiencing something a hotel building boom, with a number of international five-star operations soon to open: Kempinski, Sheraton, and Shangri-La hotels will soon top the list in Inner Mongolia.

Taiyuan's excellent new Shanxi Museum has finally opened its doors in an enormous building by the river that features state-of-the-art displays highlighting the province's reputation as the cradle of Chinese civilization.

The Silk Routes

Xi'an's impressive history museum was undergoing extensive renovations at press time, but its collection was still open to the public and the work is expected to be completed by 2008.

Lanzhou's Provincial Museum (Sheng Bowuguan) has undergone an extensive renovation and now displays its historic collection in ultramodern format.

Dunhuang has a brand-new (tiny) train station just 6km (3 3/4 miles) from the town, meaning you no longer have to transfer from Liuyuan (unless you're arriving from Beijing or Shanghai).

The old town in Kashgar, absurdly enough, has also been handed over to a private Han company, which has set up a ticket booth at the front of certain neighborhoods, charging anyone who looks like a tourist ¥30 ($3.90/£1.90). That same company has also begun charging those who want to enter Lake Karakul via Karakorum Highway ¥50 ($6.50/£3.25). Nothing seems to get done with the money, save for lining the boss's pockets, but fortunately there are ways to avoid both fees.

Eastern Central China

Qingdao, a port city 890km (552 miles) southeast of Beijing, is all set to host the watersports events for the XXIX Olympiad. At press time, the city was putting the final touches on its Olympic Sailing Center, which includes a five-star InterContinental hotel that will serve as the athletes' village during the games. To facilitate travel to the city, brand-new express trains (train numbers starting with "D," also known as D-series trains) zip passengers to and from Beijing in a mere 5 1/2 hours.

Several high-end hotels like Shangri-La and the Hyatt have pulled out of Nanjing, but that has not scared off other global hoteliers. The Accor group has opened the super swank Sofitel Galaxy Nanjing in the center of the city, as well as a golf resort near the Purple Gold Mountains. Keep an eye out for InterContinental's ambitious downtown, six-star hotel, which is set to open in 2010.

Huang Shan is one of China's most famous and most climbed mountains. Accordingly, they've increased park entrance fees by more than 50% to ¥202 ($26/£13). Climb it now, before the next price increase!

Shanghai

Trains to and from Hangzhou and select destinations south now operate out of the Shanghai South Railway Station (Shanghai Nan Zhan) in the southwestern part of town. New "D" bullet trains make the journey to Hangzhou in 1 hour and 40 minutes.

There is a new 24-hour Shanghai Call Center hot line (tel. 021/962-288) with English-speaking staff to handle almost all tourist queries. Meanwhile, Nanshi, the old Chinese city, has become incorporated into Huangpu District.

There are now five metro lines running with the total expected to reach 11 lines in the next decade. Metro line 4, tracing a circle along the Inner Ring Road and extending into Pudong should be fully operational by 2008. Several metro stops have been renamed: Henan Nan Lu has become Nanjing Dong Lu; Shimen Yi Lu has become Nanjing Xi Lu; and Dongfang Lu has become Shiji Dadao.

The venerable Peace Hotel has been closed for a major restoration and is expected to open in 2010 for the World Expo (hence it has been removed as a hotel listing for this edition). New luxury hotel arrivals include Le Royal Meridien, Nanjing Dong Lu 789 (tel. 021/3318-9999); Radisson Hotel Shanghai New World, Nanjing Xi Lu 88 (tel. 021/6359-9999); Renaissance Shanghai Yuyuan Hotel, Henan Nan Lu 159 (tel. 021/2321-8888); The Regent Shanghai, Yan'an Xi Lu 1116 (tel. 021/6115-9988); and Hyatt on the Bund, Huangpu Lu 199 (tel. 021/6393-1234). The Pudong Shangri-La has added a luxurious Tower Two. For the budget-minded, there are now clean and functional Chinese business motels such as the A-Line Hotel, and the Jinjiang Inn and the Super Motel 168 chains, while those hankering for old Shanghai Chinese style can stay at the atmospheric Old House Inn, Huashan Lu Lane 351, no. 16 (tel. 021/6248-6118).

The number of dining options continues to increase, but happily many of our restaurant recommendations from the previous edition are still around and thriving. The best new arrival for this edition is the avant-garde Jade on 36 at the Shangri-La Pudong, Fucheng Lu 33 (tel. 021/6882-8888).

The former Dongjiadu Fabric Market in the old Chinese city has moved a few blocks to become the South Bund Fabric Market. The Xiangyang Clothing Market selling knockoff designer goods finally closed in July 2006. Some vendors appear to have relocated to the Qipu Lu Market in Zhabei District and the Yatai Xinyang Fashion and Gift Market at the Science and Technology Museum (Shanghai Keji Guan) stop in Pudong.

With the temporary closing of the Peace Hotel, the Peace Hotel Old Jazz Bar Band has moved to the Huating Hotel and Towers (tel. 021/6439-1000).

The new I. M. Pei-designed Suzhou Museum has opened in Suzhou, as has a new Shangri-La Hotel Suzhou (tel. 0512/6808-0168) and Sofitel Suzhou (tel. 0512/6801-9888).

The Southeast

The mass industrialization and resulting levels of pollution have led us to drop a number of the more toxic coastal cities such as Ningbo and Fuzhou and replace them with cleaner, more natural destinations. These include the popular mountain retreat of Moganshan, the bamboo forests of Anji -- made famous in the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- and the less well known, but no less spectacular peaks of Yandangshan.

Hong Kong

The Star Ferry has moved from its longtime location next to City Hall to the Central Ferry Piers, where ferries also depart to the Outlying Islands.

Near the Central Ferry Piers is the gorgeous Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, 8 Finance St. (tel. 800/819-5053 in the U.S. and Canada), which boasts the best location money can buy, next to Hong Kong Station. Unsurprisingly, its Caprice French restaurant (tel. 852/3196 8888) is one of Hong Kong's hottest dining venues, boasting great views and a dramatic setting. At the other end of the spectrum and Hong Kong Island is Top Deck, at the Jumbo (tel. 852/2553 3331), offering alfresco dining atop the Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant in Aberdeen.

Peak Tower, Victoria Peak (tel. 852/2849 7654), has been totally renovated and now features a rooftop observation deck with 360-degree views, with free tai-chi lessons given Saturdays at 9am.

Lantau's Giant Tian Tan Buddha is now accessible via cable car from Tung Chung MTR subway station. Near the Buddha is the new Ngong Ping Village (tel. 852/2109 9898), with a museum devoted to the life of Siddhartha Gautama (the man who became Buddha), an animation theater, restaurants, and shops.

The Southwest: Mountains & Minorities

In the last few years, Guizhou Province has seen almost as many new highways as the provinces on the coast. Apart from the main sights such as the caves and the falls, which are now swarming with sheeplike ganbu, the province can still be very hard to travel, and is favored mainly by Europeans with an interest in ethnography.

Most overseas tourists to Guangxi head straight for Yangshuo, even though old China hands are lamenting the fact that this small country town has grown far too rapidly for its own good. Despite the frantic growth and accompanying degradation, it remains one of the highlights for most visitors. For a taste of what Yangshuo and Guilin used to be like, we have added a section on the more remote area of Bama in northwestern Guangxi, famed for the world's highest population of healthy centenarians. Long famous for its Foreigners' Street, a rather tacky imitation of West Street in Yangshuo, where visiting foreigners are the main attraction for streams of gawking local tourists, Dali now boasts the very attractive Hong Longjing area as a pleasant alternative. The bad news is the town is growing so rapidly that it will not be long before the entire Er Hai valley is concreted over and Dali becomes a victim of its own success.

Li Jiang has become so overcrowded that we have added a number of Yunnan alternatives for those seeking more peaceful excursions. These include the charming if rather if rather artificial town of Shuhe, as well as the much better value historical town of Jianshui and the spectacular rice terraces of nearby Yuanyang. Now that a regular boat service to Thailand is in operation, Jinghong is set to become an important gateway with the rest of Southeast Asia. In addition, we have also included the increasingly popular Vietnamese border crossing of Pingxiang.

The new train connection between Nanning and Kunming has opened up a great deal of eastern Yunnan. In this edition we have featured the rapeseed seas and karst terrain around Luoping, a this is a great place to begin exploring one of China's less traveled regions.

Yangzi & Beyond

Hongse Niandai (Red Generation) nightclub was once a highlight of any trip to Chengdu, with its completely red interior and roster of apolitical rock bands playing most nights. Sadly, the march of modernization has seen the red give way to the globally homogenous and the rock bands are now a thing of the past. Tragically, the name remains the same -- don't be fooled.

Chongqing Municipal Museum has moved to new premises near Renmin Guangchang (People's Square). While the new facility wasn't open at the time of writing, it promises to be a much grander affair with a sexier name: the Three Gorges Museum (Sanxia Bowuguan).

Once the terminus for Three Gorges cruises, Wuhan has been stricken from most itineraries in favor of Yichang, a fairly uninspiring town just downstream from the Three Gorges dam. A new expressway linking Wuhan to Yichang takes about 4 hours and reduces your cruising experience by a day. But don't worry, most travelers tend to regard the stretch of the Yangzi into Wuhan as a little uninspiring.

The Tibetan World

The biggest news in the Tibetan world was the 2006 opening of the Tibet train, which runs from Golmud to Lhasa and now connects tourist centers across the country to the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). While the train has been criticized for its environmental and social impact, the route, which takes passengers through passes over 5,000m (16,404 ft.) is one of the most stunning journeys on the planet.

Following an incident at Everest Base Camp (and in the run-up to the Olympics), restrictions on individual foreign travelers to the TAR have tightened, meaning that you may need to be part of a group to get to Lhasa, and you'll certainly need to join one to travel along the Friendship Highway.

While the TAR is undeniably worth visiting, these restrictions and greater numbers of tourists make a visit to the "other Tibet" in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan all the more appealing. Yushu's airport is due for completion by 2009, which will make this distant Khampa county in Qinghai more readily accessible.