Do These Unbelievable Places in China Actually Exist?

When I first started researching for our trip to China, I found so many incredible places it was hard to narrow it down. But some of these places looked almost too good to be true. Especially with all the AI stuff out there, it can be hard to tell what’s real and what has been enhanced by AI.

So, we traveled to 5 different places that looked almost unbelievable the first time we saw them online to see (1) if they look the same as on the internet (2) what the experience visiting them is really like beyond the Instagram aesthetic.

After visiting, we ranked each stop from 1 (skip it) to 10 (worth an entire trip to China).

From the mountains that inspired the scenery in Avatar to a fairytale Chinese village, here’s our review of these 5 seemingly incredible places in China and if they live up to the hype.

1. InterContinental Wonderland, Shanghai

This world’s only 5 star underground hotel is an architectural feat, built onto the wall of an abandoned rock quarry. The hotel photo that inspired this visit was so unlike anything we’d ever seen before, we had to find out if there was a reason no one was talking about it.

The InterContinental Wonderland hotel took 12 years to build and was designed by one of the architects of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

There are a number of amenities and activities to keep guests entertained. Each night, a very impressive light show projected on the cliff surrounding the hotel. There’s a great spa, indoor waterfall, and an underwater restaurant with tanks of jellyfish. On top of the quarry is a little theme park with kids rides, a (very opaque) glass walkway, and a rope swing over the water below. There were a number of rooms to choose from, but we chose the underwater hotel room as that looked like the most interesting option.

Rating: 5/10.

The hotel looks unlike anything else we’ve seen and spending the night here with friends made the experience fun, but the hotel itself is kinda strange. The “underwater room” cost 4x as much as any other room, but ended up feeling like a dungeon with some aquarium tanks, and the theme park had an abandoned dystopian feel. If you do go, watch the light show, go rope swinging, and skip the underwater room.

2. Fairytale Village, Wangxian Valley

The pictures of Wangxian Valley online, with lantern lined streets and pagoda topped  mountains make it look like something straight from a postcard.

Truth is, this used to be an old mining village and very recently, the government put $350 million into turning it into a replica of an ancient Chinese village for people to visit to increase tourism. Spoiler alert: it worked. Wangxian is basically the Disneyland version of an ancient Chinese village with all of the crowds included.

The village is full of incredibly aesthetic alleyways, temples, and mountains. The streets are lined with traditional buildings selling all kinds of food like dumplings, buns, tea, Chinese pancakes, tofu, and more. Each dish costs under $3, so it’s the perfect place to walk around and try multiple dishes.At night the city lights up and the squares fill with entertainment. There’s traditional song, dance, fire spinning, diy souvenir projects, and even Chinese ear cleaning (which we absolutely tried).

Rating: 9/10

Wangxian Valley has so much to see, do, and eat. Like Disneyland, there are a lot of crowds, but we didn’t find that detracted from the experience. The only reason we deducted a point was because it was low season so activities like rafting and swimming in the valley were closed, but that did also mean less tourists so maybe it was for the best! Located a 6 hour drive from Shanghai, it’s worth it if you’re up for a road trip and to get out of the big city

3. Avatar Mountains, Zhangjiajie National Park

One of the most iconic backdrops of the Avatar movie is the floating Hallelujah Mountains. It doesn’t seem like a place like this could exist in real life, but according to Google, it can and it does, in China

Zhangjiajie National Park is an otherworldly place home to these pillar-like limestone cliffs jutting out of the forest. It’s also one of the places in China where you can rent a robotic exoskeleton for $28/day to make walking around a bit easier (and more fun).

The park is home to the world’s tallest elevator at 1,000 feet tall, which is worth the ride to the top! It has tons of walkways and boardwalks so you can take in all of the scenery. After strolling the boardwalk and eating at one of the restaurants, you can ride on the park’s cable car to get a close up view of the mountains

Ranking 7/10 

The scenery at Zhangjiajie National Park is 10/10 and the robotic exoskeleton added to the adventure. We only wished we knew what to expect in comparison to the national parks we’re familiar with back home. In our heads, this experience included lots of adventure and hiking. In reality, it was filled with riding tourist buses, looking at mountains from platforms, and photographing the park’s McDonalds. The area surrounding Zhangjiajie is filled with lots of other experiences, including the next place on our list, so for that reason it makes it worth traveling to as part of a larger trip!

4. Furong Village

In contrast to Wangxian Village, Furong Village is a real ancient city that has been around for over 2,000 years. Though similar to Wangxian village, you must buy an entry ticket.

When you first enter the village from the ticket gate, the whole place feels really deserted. We were kind of excited because it felt like we were the only tourists there, but as soon as we got into the city center, all the tourists we expected appeared.

The village is centered around this picture perfect waterfall in the center of town. You can walk the trail that goes behind that waterfall to reach a viewpoint that shows off the incredible contrast between city and waterfall. At night the entire place lights up with lanterns. The restaurant we found overlooking the waterfall had without a doubt the best view we’ve ever had from a table, but the food was…not so great. If you go to the spot we did, just grab drinks and take in the view!

Rating 7/10

This rating came because there’s less to do at Furong Village than we hoped. There were also far more Western tourists than Wangxian, which made the village lose some authenticity. However, it is only 1.5 hours from the Avatar Mountains, so combining the two activities would definitely raise the rating. Combine it with the nearby via ferrata and you’ve got yourself a 12/10 trip!

5. 24 Hour Spa, Shanghai

I don’t know about you, but the 24 hour spas in China have been invading our FYP. We’ve been seeing these high end spas with over-the-top-buffets, saunas, napping rooms, and pools for less than $150. But are they really as good as they seem?

Honestly, our day at Qushui Lanting Spa was better than we could’ve imagined. Upon arrival, you’ll start by enjoying the pools, saunas, and hot tubs. Afterwards, you don the provided pajamas and use the provided hair, skin, and makeup products to freshen up. The rest of your day is yours to enjoy. There are nap rooms, theater rooms, buffets with unlimited sushi and caviar, and more.

Kara’s highlight of the spa was getting a traditional Chinese cupping massage, followed by an hour long foot massage while we watched Avatar in the theater room. Both were an additional cost.

Rating: 9/10

This 24 hour spa was out of this world incredible, and 12 hours here was not nearly enough time. Kara only subtracted a point because the massages felt pricey for China standards and the buffet had too much fish for her liking. I personally would’ve given a lower score because the way her back looked after her cupping massage freaked me out, but that was a personal problem.

All in all, we think China is awesome! And while we don’t think any one place on this list is worth an entire trip to China, combining them all into one trip would be the perfect itinerary.

To see our full review of all these unbelievable spots, check out the video below.