锦州市

Why this place

Jinzhou sits on the Liaoxi corridor, the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea that every army moving between China proper and Manchuria had to cross. It has been a strategic city for two thousand years and the Great Wall runs through its mountains.

What to see

• The Fengguo Temple at Yixian — a huge Liao-dynasty timber hall from 1020
• The Nine Gates of the Great Wall at Suizhong, where a stretch runs into the sea at Jiumenkou
• The Liaoshen Campaign memorial, for the 1948 battle that decided the northeast

What to eat

• Grilled seafood and dried shrimp from the Liaodong coast
• Liaoxi lamb and millet dishes

Best time

May–October