Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: From Xinjiang to the Wudang Bridge

The film's first phase was shot in the Gobi, where it rained so persistently that Ang Lee later said he hardly took a break in eight months. Chinese Wikipedia lists the Karamay Ghost City among the locations. In the story the desert is Jen's past: the caravan raided by the bandit Lo, the comb he stole, and the cave where she followed him and they fell in love. Shooting began in Xinjiang on 31 July 1999.

Location precision: The Chinese article names the Karamay Ghost City but not the spots used; the pin marks the scenic area.

Visitor guidance: Remote Xinjiang scenic area near Karamay; check access and conditions before travelling.

Scenes from the film were shot on location in Hongcun, a village near Mount Huangshan in Anhui. Founded in 1131 by Wang Wen, it is laid out in the shape of an ox, with the hill as its head, the stream as its intestines and South Lake among the organs. It was Ang Lee's first time filming in mainland China. UNESCO listed the village together with Xidi in 2000, the year the film came out.

Location precision: The sources say scenes were shot in Hongcun without naming them; the pin marks the village.

Visitor guidance: Chenzhi Hall is one of the largest houses open to visitors and has a small museum.

Chinese Wikipedia lists Nanping next to Hongcun among the film's Anhui locations. The sources don't say which scenes were shot here. The village world of the film is Jen's: the daughter of the rich and powerful Governor Yu, about to be married, until the bandit Lo interrupts her wedding procession and begs her to leave with him. The village has over three hundred Ming and Qing buildings, including eight ancestral halls, and its building complex has been a national protected site since 2006.

Location precision: The Chinese article names the village but not which buildings or scenes appear; the pin is a rounded Wikipedia coordinate for the village.

Visitor guidance: Historic village in Yi County, a short trip from Hongcun.

This is the bamboo forest where Mu Bai pursues Jen and offers to take her as his student. She agrees on one condition: that he can take the sword Green Destiny from her in three moves. China's state tourism site says the swordfight among the treetops was filmed in the Great Bamboo Sea in Anji, a 4A-rated attraction of Moso bamboo. The actors did much of it themselves; Ang Lee said "That's really them in the trees."

Location precision: The source names the Great Bamboo Sea scenic area, not one grove; the pin marks the scenic area.

Visitor guidance: A national 4A-rated attraction in Anji County, Huzhou.

Mount Wudang is the story's home of swordsmanship. Li Mu Bai is a renowned Wudang swordsman, Jade Fox killed his teacher after seeking Wudang secrets, and Lo waits for Jen on the mountain. In tradition, tai chi was created here by the Taoist hermit Zhang Sanfeng. The film was not shot at the real Mount Wudang, a Taoist centre in Hubei, so this pin shows the mountain the story names, not a film set.

Location precision: The pin is the Wikipedia coordinate for the Wudang range; the story names the mountain, not a building.

Visitor guidance: Taoist centre in Hubei; the film itself was shot elsewhere (see the next stop).

Cangyan Mountain in Hebei plays Wudang in the film, fictionally placed within the Wudang Mountains. Its Bridge-Tower Hall rests on a stone arch bridge across a narrow gorge, 52 metres above the ground, built from 365 stone blocks. In the story Lo finds Jen on a bridge overlooking the edge of the mountain, asks her to make a wish, and she leaps into the mists below; the sources don't say which bridge the scene used.

Location precision: The film used Mount Cangyan, but the sources don't say the leap was filmed at the Bridge-Tower Hall; the pin marks the mountain's Wikipedia coordinate.

Visitor guidance: Mount Cangyan scenic area near Shijiazhuang; the Bridge-Tower Hall is a famed sight.