China's History & Historic Sights

This website is divided into two main sections. The first section is dedicated to provide a narrative of the different historical periods in China's history. It is not the aim of this website to explore every single event that happened in Chinese history, list the name of every emperor and the date of every battle. Pages like the Chinese history pages on Wikipedia already exist for this purpose. However, our articles contain many links to pages with further and more-detailed information whenever an important figure, event or concept is mentioned in the narrative. In this way, we aim to facilitate our readers' deeper learning about Chinese history.

If you already have a specific imperial dynasty/historical period in mind that you want to learn more about, then you can find and access the narrative overview of that period directly by using the page menu on the left. Some imperial dynasties in the history of China went through different periods with specific distinguishing characteristics. The Song dynasty for example is divided into a Northern Song period and (you guessed it) a Southern Song period. Therefore, when clicking on the name of that dynasty in the menu on the left, a sub-menu appears that allows you to directly select the Northern Song or Southern Song period. Both periods are explained on the same main page but the sub-menu allows you to directly find the period that you are interested in without having to look for it by scrolling down the page.

The second section of this website provides in-depth information about a selection of historic sights in China that played a major role in the Middle Kingdom's history. Chinese History Digest does not intend to create a list of all existing and visitable historic places of interest in China as there are far too many. This website only aims to provide information (including detailed travel information to plan an upcoming trip to China like opening hours, entrance ticket prices, how to get there, nearby recommended hotels . . . etc.) about the historic sights that are mentioned in this website's narrative overviews of the different historical dynasties/periods.

Historical Periods

This website provides comprehensively-illustrated summaries of the different historical periods in China's past. Chinese History Digest presents the past not only as a succession of different leaders, military conquests etc. but places special emphasis on the underlying reasons for the different historical developments. Whereas other history pages just list the names of leaders and events along with short descriptions, our articles about the different historical periods are written in the form of a narrative story. That makes our pages ideal for people who quickly want to gain a thorough understanding of China's history.

Click on the image above or the red button below to come to a page that lists all the different historical periods (incl. imperial dynasties) in China's history together with a short description. There you can then select the specific period that you are interested in to learn more about. You can also access our narrative historical overviews directly by using the site menu on the top left of every page.

List of China's historical periods

Historic Sights

Some experts predict China to become the world's most visited country by 2030. It is already the world's fourth most visited country now which is not really a surprise considering the abundance of amazing places the country has to offer. Many tourist attractions are related to China's historic past. As of now, China has 43 places inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and a further 62 on the tentative list. Many of these have some historic relevance. In addition, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism maintains a rating system that divides all tourist attractions in the country between the ratings of 5A to 1A.

Click on the image above or the red button below to visit a page that lists all historic sights in China that are currently featured on this website together with a short description. There you can then select the specific historic sight that you want to learn more about. Additionally, the page contains a map that marks the location of every featured historic sight plus nearby recommended hotels.

List of featured historic sights