Comprehensive Maps of Mainland China Provinces

China is the world’s third-largest country, after Russia and Canada. Its political geography is intricate, comprising five different administrative zones, including 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two special administrative regions (SARs), as well as one claimed province. Below is a comprehensive list of the provinces in Mainland China, arranged in alphabetical order. Taiwan, which is the twenty-third and claimed province, is listed separately.

Anhui Province

Capital city: Hefei
Provincial population: 64.6 million
Famous for:

• Yellow Mountains (Huang Shan)
• UNESCO villages and Huizhou Architecture
• Jiuhuashan, one of China’s four Holy Buddhist mountains.

Fujian Province

Capital city: Fuzhou
Provincial population: 35.1 million
Famous for:

• Xiamen (formerly “Amoy”),
• Gulangyu
• Wuyishan Scenic Area
• Wulong Tea
• Hakka architecture

Gansu Province

Capital city: Lanzhou
Provincial population: 29.2 million
Famous for:

• Gansu Provincial Museum in Lanzhou
• Ming-era Great Wall Jiayuguan Pass
• Dunhuang City for Silk Road history and Mogao Grottoes
• Hexi Corridor portion of the Silk Road
• Tibetan Autonomous Area encompassing Labrang Monastery

Guangdong Province

Capital city: Guangzhou
Provincial population: 113 million
Famous for: factories and industry; its capital, Guangzhou (formerly “Canton”).

Guizhou Province

Capital city: Guiyang
Provincial population: 39 million
Famous for: large populations of minority peoples such as the Miao, Dong, and Buyi.

Hainan Province

Capital city: Haikou
Provincial population: 7.2 million
Famous for: beaches at Yalong Bay.

Hebei Province

Capital city: Shijiazhuang
Provincial population: 68 million
Famous for: Chengde’s Qing Dynasty summer palace (UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site), Great Wall Shanhaiguan Pass, the easternmost end of the Ming-era Great Wall.

Heilongjiang Province

Capital city: Harbin
Provincial population: 38.2 million
Famous for: historically being part of Manchuria; Harbin’s annual Ice & Snow Festival.

Henan Province

Capital city: Zhengzhou
Provincial population: 98.7 million
Famous for:

• The Yellow River area – the cradle of Chinese Civilization
• Shaolin Temple
• The Longmen Grottoes

Hunan Province

Capital city: Changsha
Provincial population: 67 million
Famous for:

• Delicious spicy food
• Mao Zedong’s birth village of Shaoshan Chong
• Wulingyuan scenic area

Hubei Province

Capital city: Wuhan
Provincial population: 60.2 million
Famous for: The Three Gorges on the Yangtze River.

Jiangsu Province

Capital city: Nanjing
Provincial population: 75.5 million
Famous for:

• Nanjing – the ancient capital of China and the site of major Japanese atrocities during WWII
• Suzhou – UNESCO World Heritage Site full of gardens and temples
• Yixing where China’s most famous clay teapots are made

Jiangxi Province

Capital city: Nanchang
Provincial population: 42.8 million
Famous for:

• Jingdezhen – the home of Chinese porcelain
• Lushan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Jilin Province

Capital city: Changchun
Provincial population: 42.2 million
Famous for:

• Being historically part of Manchuria
• The scenery at Heaven Lake on the North Korean border

Liaoning Province

Capital city: Shenyang
Provincial population: 27.1 million
Famous for:

• Being historically part of Manchuria
• Manchu cultural and historical sites (the Qing Dynasty was established by the Manchus in Liaoning, who then moved their capital to the Forbidden City in Beijing)
• Dalian, a beautiful port city with beaches and foreign architecture

Qinghai Province

Capital city: Xining
Provincial population: 5.4 million
Famous for:

• The Qinghai-Tibet Railway
• Qinghai Lake, China’s largest saltwater lake, and scenic area
• Tibetan autonomous area outside Xining around Kumbum Monastery

Shaanxi Province

Capital city: Xi’an
Provincial population: 37 million
Famous for:

• Terracotta Warriors Museum
• Xi’an’s Muslim quarter and ancient city wall

Shandong Province

Capital city: Jinan
Provincial population: 91.8 million
Famous for:

• Qingdao’s famous International Beer Festival
• Qufu – home of Confucius (the Kong family)

Shanxi Province

Capital city: Taiyuan
Provincial population: 33.4 million
Famous for:

• Pingyao, a Ming-era walled city
• Wutaishan, one of China’s four holy Buddhist mountains
• Datong Buddhist grottoes

Sichuan Province

Capital city: Chengdu
Provincial population: 87.3 million
Famous for:

• Chengdu’s many attractions
• Qingcheng Mountain
• Spicy Sichuan (or Szechuan) cuisine
• Giant Pandas
• Emeishan, one of China’s four holy Buddhist mountains

Yunnan Province

Capital city: Kunming
Provincial population: 44.2 million
Famous for:

• A large population of minority groups
• Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its Naxi minority culture
• Shangri-La, an ethnic Tibetan community in the high mountains
• Xishuangbanna, a trekking area famed for beautiful scenery

Zhejiang Province

Capital city: Hangzhou
Provincial population: 47.2 million
Famous for:

• Longjing tea, the most famous of Chinese green teas
• Putuoshan, one of China’s four holy Buddhist mountains
• Hangzhou’s West Lake
• Moganshan Scenic Area