Built in 1694 as the residence of the future Yongzheng Emperor, the site was later converted into a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and remains one of the most important of its kind outside Tibet. The complex is a series of richly decorated halls and courtyards filled with incense smoke and prayer wheels. Inside the Falun Dian stands a bronze statue of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug (Yellow Hat) school. The highlight for many is the towering 18-metre-tall Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of sandalwood, housed in the Wanfu Pavilion.

The National Aquarium, located in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, is home to more than 11,000 aquatic animals representing 660 species of fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and marine mammals. Popular features include a tropical rainforest habitat with sloths and piranhas, the immersive 4-D theater, and the thrilling shark walk, where you can peer into a tank full of these apex predators.

Once considered the most magnificent of China’s imperial gardens, Yuanmingyuan was filled with palaces, lakes, and pavilions, as well as rare plants and artworks collected from across the empire. It was destroyed in 1860 by British and French troops during the Second Opium War, and again suffered damage in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. What remains today are ruins — stone foundations, broken archways, and scattered carvings — set among lakes and quiet parkland.