AS the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi is its political, economic and cultural center, and an important portal of China’s opening-up.

LOCATED in southeast Fujian Province, the coastal city Quanzhou is dotted with rolling hills, valleys, and basins; the Daiyun Mountain extends southwest from the northeast of the city.

LHASA, the 1,400-year-old capital of Tibet Autonomous Region located in its southeast, is among the world’s highest-altitude cities. The region’s political, economic, cultural, and religious center, Lhasa, which in the Tibetan language means Sacred City, is the starting point for tours of Tibet, and has become even more popular since the modernization of its infrastructure.

CHONGQING, in Southwest China, is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government, the other three being Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin.

FOSHAN is an ancient city endowed with a bountiful culture. Located in the heartland of the vibrant Pearl River Delta, Foshan is west of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, and gazes upon Hong Kong and Macao from the north.

THE Dali Old Town sits in Dali City, the seat of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. The town first emerged as the capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom (738-937), and later served as the capital of the Kingdom of Dali (937-1095, 1096-1253). It used to be a political, economic, and cultural center of Yunnan for as long as 500-odd years.