Top China Winter Destinations

Hainan, a mountainous island across the Gulf of Tonkin from Vietnam, has a warm climate, sandy beaches, pure, deep blue bathing waters and invigoratingly fresh air. The two main cities are the capital, Haikou, on the northern coast, and beach-bespeckled Sanya on the southern coast. Hainan is rapidly becoming a getaway for well-heeled Chinese and foreign tourists, and the government's plans to build Monaco style casinos here will only accelerate the upscale atmosphere that is spreading across the island. There are still many places for backpackers on Hainan, but hurry if this is your scene, for they are quickly ceding ground to a more jet-set style. 

• Yalong Bay
• Wuzhizhou Island
• Tianyahaijiao Tourism Zone
• Monkey Island
• Luhuitou Park

You will probably not visit China just to ski, unless Yabuli Ski Resort in Heilongjiang is your destination. Most Chinese ski resorts are designed to appeal to beginners. The good news is that because the Chinese are taking to the slopes like ducks to water, they will soon begin to demand better, and once the demand appears, supply will hastily follow. For now, China's slopes are clogged with insanely happy Chinese novices on weekends, but if you also happen to be a novice and would like to rub shoulders with ditto Chinese, then, by all means, head for the slopes, for the Chinese enjoy themselves royally when on skis!

• Yabuli Ski Resort
• Nanshan Ski Resort
• Wanlong Ski Resort
• Xiling Ski Resort
• Changbaishan Ski Resort
• Alshan Alpine Ski Resort
• See All Top China Ski Resorts

This unique festival is sometimes referred to by its parts: an Ice Lantern Festival and an Ice and Snow World Exhibition. It officially begins around January 5th and lasts for a month, but can begin earlier and run longer, weather permitting. The 27th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will be held during the period from January 5, 2011 to February 17, 2011. The venues of the festival (including Harbin International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Sun Island, Ice and Snow World and Ice-lantern Exhibition in Zhaolin Garden.) are open to public from December 20, 2010. It features "sculpted" ice in the shape of castles and animals, etc., fashioned of ice blocks by ice sculptors from the four corners of the earth who flock to Harbin each year for this unique event. The themes change yearly. This impressive, walk-through "city" of ice and snow is lit up at night, transforming it into a multicolored fairyland.

• Harbin Travel Guide
• Harbin Weather
• Harbin Flights
• Harbin Hotels
• Harbin Attractions
• Harbin Tours

Two mountains with towering snowscapes, one sacred to Buddhism, the other to Taoism, both mist-enshrouded, UNESCO Heritage Sites, will transport you to the origin of Chinese mysticism. Yellow Mountain, Anhui Province, is as quintessentially Chinese as it gets, with ancient, craggy pines, hot springs and mists so thick that the locals liken them to a sea of clouds. Scenes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were filmed in the valley below.Mt. Emei, Sichuan Province, one of China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains and a revered Taoist site as well, has a primordial massiveness to it that conjures up dinosaurs. It too is blanketed in eerie mists, but of the more wispy, fleeting type that change with the blink of an eye.

• Yellow Mountain
• Mt. Emei
• Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
• Jiuzhaigou Valley
• Mount Tai

Hainan Island, highlighted separately, is of course a prime coastal winter getaway. So is the Macau-Guangzhou-Hong Kong area some 500 km farther up the coast, which has an attractions density par excellence, including countless historical sites that go back to China's colonial period. Farther afield is Yunnan Province, whose subtropical climate is warm year-round, yet whose northwest corner offers Jade Dragon Snow Mountain – with China's highest-altitude ski resort – and Haba Snow Mountain, between which lies one of the earth's deepest gorges, Tiger Leaping Gorge. To the south is Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve teeming with monkeys, leopards, tigers, Asian elephants, wild oxen, giant lizards and boa constrictors, while the northeast is characterized by old, eroded mountains leaving so-called stone forests.

• Hainan Island
• Macau
• Guangzhou
• Hong Kong
• Xishuangbanna

Beijing – A showcase of Han Chinese culture, including the Beijing Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, numerous Siheyuan courtyards, countless temples, museums, and other ancient sites as well as more modern tourist attractions such as the Beijing Zoo and the 2008 Olympic Games 'Bird's Nest', Beijing speaks for itself.

Hong Kong – Temperature averages 16°C (61°F) in Hong Kong during the period of Chinese New Year, one of the most important events in Hong Kong. The celebrations have some differences from what people in Mainland China do. The most popular activities are the magnificent fireworks display at Victoria Harbor, the Chinese New Year Parade, strolling in night-long flower markets, New Year horse racing, shopping and New Year prayers.

Guizhou Province – Guizhou's southeastern corner, Qiandongnan, is home to no less than 38 ethnic minority groups, with the Miao (41%) and the Dong (31%) dominating. Qiandongnan ("Southeast" Qian, the latter an older name for Guizhou) is a UNESCO recognized geographical patchwork of thriving ethnic minority communities that exhibit unique architectural styles and time-honored folk customs against a background of pristine, sustainable ecology.

Tibet – Tibetan New year, known as Losar, is the most important festival in the Tibetan calendar. The upcoming 2011 Tibetan New Year takes place on 5th, March. The Losar festival is celebrated by Tibetan peoples, and is marked by ancient ceremonies that represent the struggle between good and evil, by chanting, and by the passing of torches through the crowds.

A geographically representative selection of first-rate, naturally-occuring hot springs near popular destinations:

Jiuhua Hot Springs – Beijing, formerly the exclusive domain of emperors, rich in therapeutic minerals.
Zhongshan Hot Springs – Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, favorite spa of Deng Xiaoping, also rich in therapeutic minerals.

Hailuo Valley Hot Springs – Hailuo Glacier Forest, Mt. Gongga, Sichuan Province, near Chengdu. Bathe in therapeutic hot waters while falling snow melts around you. Mt. Gongga is a trekker's paradise; Chengdu, a panda's paradise.

Zhongshan Hot Spring – Zhongshan, Guangdong. Decorated with evergreen trees and colorful flowers, the villas, gardens, corridors there will remind you the Royal gardens’ magnificence. The well designed buildings and the nature beauty of Luo Sanmei Mountain form a harmonious picture. 

Nantian Hot Spring – Sanya, Hainan Island. Nantian Hot Spring has the desirable medical value concentration standard and is a luorosilicic remedy hot mineral water field. The dancing coconut trees, the villas among the green and fresh trees, the measureless oxygen and the clean and blue sky, all of them form a heaven on the earth, which will take you into a fairytale dream and make you enjoy yourself at the most.

Longsheng Hot Spring – Longsheng County, Guilin. Hot Spring is situated in a deep and tranquil valley and surrounded by mountains of dense vegetation, it is warm in winter and cool in summer.

Jinping Mengla Hot Springs – South-central Yunnan Province, not far from Kunming, the basins are lined with small, smooth, colorful stones that you can wriggle against for a unique massage. Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve (think: wild elephants) is only a 3-hour flight from Kunming.