绍兴市

Why this place

Shaoxing is where China's rice wine comes from — the dark, aged huangjiu sold across the country. It is also the home town of Lu Xun, the most important modern Chinese writer, and its old town of canals, stone bridges and black-tiled houses is one of the most intact in the country.

What to see

• Lu Xun's former residence and the little streets around it, exactly as he described them
• The rice-wine workshops and cellars, with tasting
• The canal lanes and arched stone bridges of the old town
• Lanting, the Orchid Pavilion, where Wang Xizhi wrote the most famous piece of Chinese calligraphy
• East Lake and the Kuaiji Mountains, and the great Yu mausoleum

What to eat

• Shaoxing huangjiu (rice wine) — served warm in winter
• Drunken chicken and drunken crab, cooked with the wine
• Stinky tofu and the local fermented dishes, which are excellent once you get past the smell

How to plan

One full day for the old town and Lu Xun's lanes, half a day for Lanting.

Best time

March–May and October–November