China's administrative division is perhaps as complex as its hieroglyphic alphabet and dialects. More often than not, you will encounter a term such as "traditional regions"; these will be labeled below.
Administrative division has three levels: provinces, counties (cities), and townships (townships).
The country is divided into 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, and 3 centrally administered cities. The administrative units of provincial subordination or autonomous region subordination include autonomous districts, counties, autonomous counties, and cities.
The subordinate administrative units of county or autonomous county include townships, national townships, and townships. Centrally administered cities and major cities are divided into districts and counties, while autonomous regions are divided into counties, autonomous counties, and cities.
Autonomous districts, districts, and counties are areas of national autonomy. Administrative districts, districts, and aimags are not organs of state power but represent the authority of provinces and autonomous regions, which exercise jurisdiction over the respective counties (khoshuns) or cities.
District departments are also not organs of state power but represent urban areas or cities not divided into districts. Some provinces have abolished district administrative units and replaced them with regionally subordinate counties under the jurisdiction of provincially subordinate cities.
The three centrally subordinate cities are Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin.
Twenty-two provinces are Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Taiwan.
The five autonomous regions are Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, and Tibet.
These cities, provinces, and autonomous regions have 31 autonomous regions, 321 cities, and 2,046 counties under their jurisdiction.
There is also an economic approach, as well as a geographical and climatic approach. China's central regions, southern regions, and northern regions differ in all respects. Let's focus on the traditional approach, these are the names most often found in tourist guides. We have compiled for you a list of the names of the country's regions linked to the six economic regions:
Excursion and tourist cities of China's regions are scattered throughout its territory, it is impossible to single out any particularly interesting area. Below you can read about excursion destinations in China and choose what you are most interested in.
