Dunhuáng Shanzhuang (Dunhuáng): The finest hotel on the Silk Routes, with views of the Míngsha Shan Dunes, this imposing fortress is surrounded by stylishly renovated courtyard houses.
Lusong Yuán Binguan: Of all Beijing's traditional courtyard-style hotels, this former imperial residence has the most character, recalling the opulence of China's "feudal" era, but with a more lived-in feel than you'll find elsewhere.
Lóngmén Guìbin Lóu (Harbin): Built by the Russian-controlled Chinese Eastern Railroad in 1901, the Lóngmén has served as a hospital, the Russian Embassy, and a cheap hostel for migrant workers. In the 1930s and 1940s, it was part of the illustrious Japanese-owned Yamato Hotel chain. The Chinese Railway Bureau renovated the building in 1996, preserving the original Russian woodwork and restoring much of its turn-of-the-20th-century atmosphere. Rooms are palatial and decorated with period furniture.
Zhujia Huayuán Kèzhàn (Jiànshui): A stay at this charming guesthouse, which occupies several wings of the exquisitely restored, 214-room, 42-courtyard Qing dynasty mansion, is a delightful step back in time.
Sèman Binguan (Kashgar): Set on the grounds of the former Russian Consulate, this has merely two government-issued stars and poor service, but standard rooms and suites in the original and beautifully decorated consulate buildings, with their high ceilings and dramatic oil paintings, can be bargained down to low prices. This is the nearest you'll get to experiencing some "Great Game" ambience.
Déju Yuán & Tian Yuán Kuí (Píngyáo): These are the top two courtyard guesthouses in a town full of ancient architecture. The Déju Yuán has rooms decorated with calligraphy and furnished with dark wooden Míng style tables and chairs and traditional heated brick beds. The Tian Yuán Kuí also offers occasional opera performances on hot summer nights when the guesthouse is full and the performers available.
Former Consulates (Wenzhou and Xiàmén): Wenzhou's Jiangxin Liáoyangyuàn is a former British Consulate from 1894, set peacefully on an offshore island. There are only six very oddly shaped rooms, the best of which is vast and high-ceilinged with a balcony with a view across the water. Xiàmén's Jinquán Binguan is more upmarket, a recently converted former U.S. Consulate from 1928 on the island of Gulàng Yu, with views towards Xiàmén proper. Both former consulates allow modern visitors a whiff of the treaty port past.
The Peace Hotel, the best of Shànghai's historic hotels -- built in 1929 as the Cathay Hotel -- features a lobby that is an Art Deco masterpiece, and splendid public areas. Rooms have been modernized, but the service has lapsed. Go for lunch or a drink. A night in a several-hundred-year-old earthen fortress is as authentic as it gets, but don't expect luxuries (or even necessities).
