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CTS Tours

CTS · play · spot the lie

5 Truths & 1 Lie

Spot the lie about China 🇨🇳

Five of these claims about China's most iconic places are true. One is a famous myth that Westerners have believed for decades. Read each, pick the lie, and we'll show you the truth — plus the CTS tour that takes you to every real spot.

Mt. Huangshan's twisted pines and granite peaks rising through a sea of clouds at sunriseA
Ranks of life-sized terracotta warrior statues standing in their excavation pit in Xi'anB
Songzanlin Monastery's gold rooftops and Tibetan architecture with snow mountains behindC
The Great Wall of China snaking through autumn-coloured forested mountainsD
Vertical sandstone pillars rising through morning mist in Zhangjiajie National Forest ParkE
Turquoise alpine lakes surrounded by autumn-coloured forest in Jiuzhaigou ValleyF

Step 1 · pick your guess

Which claim is the lie?

Read all six below first — then tap a letter and reveal the truth.

Read each claim carefully

Five are true. One is a famous myth Westerners have believed for decades. Take your time.

Mt. Huangshan's twisted pines and granite peaks rising through a sea of clouds at sunriseA

Mt. Huangshan, Anhui — China

Mt. Huangshan's twisted pines and granite peaks inspired over 1,500 years of Chinese landscape painting — including the iconic Welcoming Guest Pine that's been alive for over 1,300 years.

Best of China · 15 days
Ranks of life-sized terracotta warrior statues standing in their excavation pit in Xi'anB

Terracotta Army, Xi'an — China

Of the 8,000+ terracotta warriors guarding Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb, no two faces are identical — each was modeled on a real soldier from his army 2,200 years ago.

Best of China · 15 days
Songzanlin Monastery's gold rooftops and Tibetan architecture with snow mountains behindC

Shangri-La, Yunnan — China

Shangri-La in Yunnan was renamed in 2001 — the town officially adopted the name of the fictional paradise from James Hilton's 1933 novel “Lost Horizon” to attract international tourists.

Yunnan Explorer · 12 days
The Great Wall of China snaking through autumn-coloured forested mountainsD

Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing — China

The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space with the naked eye, stretching over 21,000 kilometres across the country.

Best of China · 15 days
Vertical sandstone pillars rising through morning mist in Zhangjiajie National Forest ParkE

Zhangjiajie, Hunan — China

Zhangjiajie's sandstone pillars directly inspired the floating Hallelujah Mountains in James Cameron's Avatar (2009) — the producers visited, and one pillar was officially renamed “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.”

Zhangjiajie Stopover
Turquoise alpine lakes surrounded by autumn-coloured forest in Jiuzhaigou ValleyF

Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan — China

Jiuzhaigou's brilliant turquoise lakes get their colour from calcium carbonate deposits left by ancient glaciers — the water is so clear you can see up to 40 metres down.

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