Taimu Mountain Guide: Fujian’s Granite Peak Maze by the Sea
I have taken clients up plenty of Chinese mountains, and Taimu is the only one where I hand out head torches at the trailhead. The reason is simple: much of…
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Qingyuan Mountain Guide: Quanzhou’s Cliff Taoist Sanctuary
There is a moment on the path above the ticket gate when the trees open and you meet a face carved out of a boulder in the eleventh century —…
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Jinxi Ancient Town Guide: Kunshan’s Quiet Water Town
For eight centuries this town was not called Jinxi. It was called Chenmu — literally “Chen’s Grave” — because a consort of a Southern Song emperor was buried here, in…
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Suihua Travel Guide: Golden Grain Plains and the Qingdian Manchu Town
Suihua (绥化) is the least glamorous place I recommend, and I recommend it often. It is an agricultural prefecture on the Songnen Plain an hour north of Harbin, sitting on…
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Anchang Ancient Town Guide: Shaoxing’s Riverside Water Town
The smell hits before the view does. Walk into Anchang from the eastern car park on a December morning and the air is thick with smoke, soy and rendered pork…
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Wuhai Travel Guide: Yellow River Bend, Vineyards and Desert Oasis
I went to Wuhai (乌海) the first time for grapes, which sounds absurd for a coal-and-chemicals city in the far west of Inner Mongolia. But the sums make sense once…
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Cicheng Ancient Town Guide: Ningbo’s Timeless County Seat
The first time I brought a client to Cicheng, she looked at the wide, straight main street and said, “This isn’t a water town at all.” She was right, and…
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Shizuishan Travel Guide: Shahu Lake, Desert Edge and Coal City
The first time I sent clients to Shizuishan (石嘴山) I got it wrong. I booked them into the old riverside district, and they spent two days commuting past slag heaps…
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Yunfu Travel Guide: Six Patriarch Hometown and Karst Panlong Cave
Yunfu (云浮) was a working stop for me long before it was a leisure one. I used to pass through on stone-trade business — this is the city that cuts…
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Duyun Travel Guide: Doupeng Mountain, Bridge City and Buyei Villages
I first stopped in Duyun (都匀) by accident. A client’s flight into Guiyang landed too late to push on to the Libo karst parks, and I needed a town with…
