The stately birthplace of California's statehood.

A Viking-themed bar in a canal town for those retreating from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai.

Once an imperial lake garden, anyone can now visit this city park.

Urine-soaked Chinese eggs.

This bridge dates back to the 9th century and allows visitors to walk an ancient path amid modern industrial trappings.

Though these human-made islands were constructed as an escape for the wealthy, they rarely see many visitors.

Home to around 40 different species, this forest was also the setting for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

A collection of cafes and shops all crafted from recycled storage containers.

This film studio and amusement park is considered one of the greatest filming locations in China.

Thanks to a bit of wordplay, seven auspicious stone cats guard this ancient canalside street.

With former lives as a bomb shelter and government parking lot, this shop is one of China’s most extraordinary locales for book-lovers.

The wartime boat shelter now doubles as an underground concert hall where musicians play on rafts along the waterway.

This under-visited temple is nestled within one of Shanghai's traditional shikumen-style residential blocks.

This tunnel looks like a sliver of Shanghai that's stuck in the past.

This theme park presents 5,000 years of Shanghai history and includes a "sunken" exhibition hall.

The knock-off oil painting capital of the world.

These mountain hot springs have seen power struggles, doomed romances, and a generalissimo's attempted escape from mutiny.

Natives of this mud-brick desert village use an ancient irrigation system to grow sweet, seedless grapes.

This weekly market in the remote oasis city of Hotan still has the atmosphere of the old Silk Road.

In its continuing quest to recreate famous parts of the world in miniature, China now has its own ghost Paris.

A spectacular annual festival centers around humans throwing molten iron against a wall at night.

This aquarium has almost as many world records as it does fish.

This quiet area of Yunnan Province annually transforms into an unbelievable sea of yellow flowers.

This massive neon wheel is the only one of its kind to be built over a bridge.