Liaoning - 14 Cities & Top Attractions

The Qing dynasty's first imperial palace (1625), smaller and more intimate than Beijing's Forbidden City, with a distinct Manchu-Mongol architectural blend.

The largest of the four Qing imperial tombs outside Shenyang, surrounded by a 330-year-old pine forest.

The 1920s warlord's Manchu-style residence museum, with the Xi'an Incident exhibition.

The largest city square in Asia, lined with seafood restaurants, the Century Sculpture Park, and the Binhai Road seafront.

Dalian's 32-km coastal road from Xinghai Bay to Laohutan, the city's most scenic drive and cycling route.

A 663-meter forested coastal mountain at the Bohai-Yellow Sea confluence, with Tang Dynasty temple ruins and seasonal plum blossoms.

Korea-imported theme park inside the Jinshitan resort, the largest theme park in northeastern China.

The historical Russian-leased-port and Japanese-colony port, with the Russo-Japanese War cemetery and Lushun Museum.

A world-class museum of modern Chinese history, with the Qing-British-Germany-Japan occupation layers, in the original Russian colonial building.

The 'Little Guilin of Liaodong', a 2,000-hectare karst gorge with river boat tours and red maple forests.

A 100-hectare forested zoo with the southern-China species collection, set on a hilly peninsula overlooking the bay.

The largest hot-spring resort in northeast China, with 600+ years of hot-spring heritage, on the Qianshan mountain.

A renovated Soviet-era dragon-phoenix themed park with an aquarium and water rides, the largest entertainment complex in the Fushun-Tieling corridor.

An old-growth broadleaf forest on the eastern edge of the Hunhe river, with a 1932 Japanese POW camp historic site.

The world's longest water-filled karst cave, navigable by boat, with a 1,000-meter underground river section.

The half-collapsed 1,100-meter bridge that once connected Dandong to North Korea, the most-photographed border site in China.

A natural animal reserve in the Qianshan mountain range, with a viewing area for wild Manchurian tigers and wolves.

A mountain park on the Chinese bank of the Yalu River, with views of Sinuiju city in North Korea and the 1937 Yalu River battle memorial.

A sea-stack mountain and Bohai temple complex, with a 1933 Sino-Japanese war memorial.

The only well-preserved Ming-dynasty walled city in northeast China, with a 4-km intact city wall.

A wetland reserve at the Liaohe river delta, with reed-bed walking paths and a fishing-village sunset.

Bohai bay beach resort on the Jinzhou-Yingkou coast, summer swimming.

A coal-mine heritage park at the edge of the Hunshandake Sandy Land, with a 1938 open-pit mine museum.

An oasis-like reservoir and grassland in the Hunshandake sandy land, summer grassland and birding.

The tallest Liao-dynasty pagoda in northeast China (1180), 71-meter tall, the symbol of Liaoyang.

A 700-year-old hot-spring tradition, the largest hot-spring resort in Liaoning, with a 1930s Qing-era bathing complex.

The world's largest reed wetland, the Suaeda salsa that turns the beach blood-red in October, the most-photographed Liaoning landscape.

A 800-sq-km wetland at the Liaohe delta, with the world's second-largest reed-bed reserve and red-crowned cranes.

A mountain-ringed reservoir north of Tieling, summer boating and fishing.

A hilly eco-tourism park in northern Tieling, autumn maple and birch foliage.

The 5,000-year-old Chaoyang North Pagoda, the largest surviving Liao-dynasty pagoda, with a museum of regional Buddhist art.

A 1,400-year-old ancient town on the Dalinghe river, the historic capital of the ancient Yan kingdom.

A Bohai coastal mountain with sea views and a Soviet-style sanatorium heritage, the closest mainland to the Yalu River mouth.

A long Bohai sea beach near Xingcheng's Ming ancient city, with summer swimming and seafood.