Most Photogenic Cities in China

No landscape in China is more iconic — or more surreal in person. Karst peaks draped in mist, cormorant fishermen on bamboo rafts, and the Li River winding through a thousand limestone towers. Every angle is a painting waiting to happen.

The floating Avatar mountains are real, and a camera cannot do them justice. Thousands of sandstone pillars rising from cloud cover, accessible by glass-floored walkways and cable cars. The most otherworldly scenery in mainland China.

The snow-capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountain reflected in the canals of the UNESCO old town, red lanterns glowing at dusk, Naxi music drifting from open courtyards. Lijiang looks like a film set and feels even better in person.

West Lake in morning mist, pagodas mirrored in glassy water, willow trees trailing into lotus ponds. Hangzhou's beauty has been celebrated in Chinese poetry for a thousand years — the camera only confirms what the poets already knew.

Curved bridges over jade-green canals, whitewashed walls hung with wisteria, and nine UNESCO classical gardens where every view is composed like a scroll painting. Suzhou is the most photogenic city in eastern China that most photographers overlook.