CChronica Maps

Historic Landmarks of China

6 landmarks in today's China, from 210 BC to 1709, each shown as it was and as it is now.

All countries

About these landmarks

Terracotta Army · 210 BC

Thousands of life-size clay soldiers buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Farmers digging a well found them in 1974.

Mogao Caves · AD 366

Nearly five hundred Buddhist cave temples cut into a cliff outside Dunhuang between the fourth and fourteenth centuries; the sealed Library Cave was found in 1900.

Forbidden City · 1420

Imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, completed in 1420 under the Yongle Emperor; twenty-four emperors lived here until 1912. Since 1925 it has been the Palace Museum.

Great Wall at Badaling · 1505

The most visited stretch of the Great Wall, rebuilt in brick and stone under the Ming in 1505 to guard the approach to Beijing from the north.

Potala Palace · 1649

Winter palace of the Dalai Lamas on the Red Hill of Lhasa, rebuilt from 1645 by the Fifth Dalai Lama on the site of a seventh-century palace.

Old Summer Palace · 1709

The vast garden palace of the Qing emperors, with European-style halls designed by Jesuits. British and French troops looted and burned it in 1860; only ruins remain.

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.