常德市

Why this place

Changde is where the Taohuayuan — the Peach Blossom Spring of Tao Yuanming's famous fable about a hidden village outside time — is located, and the whole prefecture is built around that literary landscape. It also holds the Chengtoushan site, one of the earliest rice-farming and walled settlements in China.

What to see

• Taohuayuan — the Peach Blossom Spring site, with the spring, the cave and the reconstructed village
• The Liuye Lake and the city's riverside parks
• Chengtoushan, a 6,000-year-old walled settlement with rice fields

What to eat

• Hunan country cooking — smoked pork, chilli and river fish
• Changde is known for its rice noodles, eaten as a breakfast soup

Best time

Late March–April for the blossom; September–November otherwise