南宁市

Why this place

Nanning is the capital of Guangxi and one of the greenest cities in China, which is why it is called 'the green city'. It is the practical base for the province's karst landscapes and the border crossings to Vietnam, and it has the best food market in the region for Guangxi's own cuisines.

What to see

• The Guangxi Museum of Nationalities, the best place to understand the Zhuang and the region's minorities
• Qingxiu Mountain and the city's parks, which are genuinely lush
• The old streets of Xingning and the Zhongshan Road night market
• Detian waterfall and the karst country west, toward the Vietnam border

What to eat

• Old-friend noodles (laoyou fen) — the Nanning classic, sour and spicy with fermented bamboo
• Sour-wild-fruit and pickled-vegetable dishes, which are central to Guangxi cooking
• Tropical fruit: mangoes, lychees, dragon fruit and durian from the south

Best time

October–December and February–April