This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.

Once a bustling fishing port, this semi-ghost town is now more than 90 miles away from the shore.

Light still pours into the ruins of this ancient Islamic observatory.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

These ancient pecked images are among the oldest and best-preserved in Mongolia.

People have been scribbling on this massive chunk of granite for more than 1,500 years.

A jagged silhouette of shamanistic stone heaps rises from the shore of this dazzling mile-high lake.

Mongolian Buddhists believe this monastery in the Gobi desert to be the center of the world's spiritual energy.

Dinosaur eggs were first discovered at these fiery red cliffs.

The grassy landscape is home to the world's last truly wild horses.

The oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia has survived centuries of invasions, political shifts, and religious purges.

A clay house decorated with ceramic chips in Tianjin.

An exquisite example of Uyghur Islamic architecture.

This temple located on a vertical drop of a rocky mountain houses relics from the Song Dynasty.

Natives of this mud-brick desert village use an ancient irrigation system to grow sweet, seedless grapes.

China's beehive-shaped pyramids house the remains of a lost kingdom.

Monks turned this mountain into a temple by digging grottoes, tunnels, and a huge pagoda-like hall.

Sited in an Inner Mongolian desert are the remnants of an important trade stop along the Silk Road.

It took an artist 20 years to create this sprawling sculpture garden honoring the area's ancient inhabitants.

The field of tiny caves that mark this Chinese cliffside are each their own historic Buddhist temple.

A lush desert oasis in the shape of a narrow crescent.

These tiny statues form a terracotta army from China's Han dynasty.

Enormous burial mounds of ancient emperors.

A bright turquoise river cascades beautifully down stepped terraces in southern China.