top ten

Travel Wonders

of Asia

1 Great Wall of China

2 Taj Mahal

3 Bali

4 Angkor Wat

5 Forbidden City

6 Bagan Temples/Pagodas

7 Banaue Rice Terraces

8 Potala Palace

9 Qin Terra Cotta Warriors

10 Borobudur

Great Wall of China

This defensive wall once ran across China. Its glory days were during the Ming Dynasty in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, the Great Wall has become the travel icon of China.

Northern China.

Taj Mahal

The marbled Taj Mahal with its elegant dome and faultless symmetry is the most beautifully designed building in the world. The emperor built it as a tomb for his beloved wife.

Northern India.

Bali

Bali's picturesque rice terraces are legendary, as is its exciting culture, which includes internationally celebrated arts & crafts, music, dance and food.

Indonesia.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is the majestic ruins of a complex of structures built in the 12th century. For reasons not fully understood, the Khmers abandoned it. It then lay hidden under jungle growth for centuries.

Cambodia.

Forbidden City

Two dozen Chinese emperors ruled their nation for almost 500 years from inside the Forbidden City. This imposing  palace-fortress is well-preserved.

Beijing, China.

Bagan Temples/Pagodas

Over 10,000 religious structures were built in Bagan in the 11th to 13th centuries. Many important ones have been preserved or reconstructed.

Myanmar (Burma).

Banaue Rice Terraces

These steep rice terraces are unequaled in height and vastness. They were sculpted with handtools over a two millennia period.

Philippines.

Potala Palace

The sizable Potala Palace was the winter political seat and still the religious center of Tibet. The building commandingly hugs the side of a steep hill overlooking Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

Tibet, China.

Qin Terra Cotta Warriors

The life sized pottery army called the Qin Terra Cotta Warriors was buried in underground vaults over 2000 years ago. They were not discovered until several decades ago. Thousands of baked clay figures were found.

China.

Borobudur

This tall and wide religious stupa was constructed in the 8th century, then neglected and blanketed with wild greenery. Borobudur was uncovered in the 19th century.

Indonesia.

About my top ten

Wonders of Asia rankings

The selections are the first 10 Asian wonders on my Top 100 Wonders of the World list. Scroll down to view my top 100 list in its entirety.

MY OTHER TOP 10 LISTS

MY 100 AND TOP 1000
WONDERS OF THE WORLD LISTS