China

China is less a country and more an entire universe with 5,000 years of history and zero chill when it comes to making things big. This is the birthplace of gunpowder, paper, and noodles—basically everything essential to surviving modern life—and it’s where dynasties rose and fell long before the Western world even had a concept of nation-states. While skyscrapers race toward the clouds in Shanghai, ancient traditions still hum quietly in tea houses and lantern-lit alleyways. With 56 recognized ethnic groups, including the Tibetan, Uyghur, and Zhuang peoples, China is a patchwork of cultures, cuisines, and philosophies. And don’t forget—this is the home of the Great Wall, the only thing humans built that’s so big it practically has its own ego (although despite the popular myth, is not exactly visible from space).