肇庆市

Why this place

Zhaoqing sits beside a lake formed where the Xi River has flooded around seven limestone hills, and the resulting scenery — the Seven Star Crags — is the classic landscape of Guangdong. The city also made the inkstones that Chinese calligraphers prized most.

What to see

• The Seven Star Crags (Qixing Yan) and the lake, best seen by boat
• The old city wall and the Chongxi Pagoda on the river
• Dinghu Mountain, a forested hill with a nature reserve and a lake
• The Duan inkstone workshops — the stones come from a quarry on the Xi River

What to eat

• Zhaoqing is known for its wrapped zongzi — sticky-rice parcels, the local version is large and elaborate
• Xi River fish and the local Cantonese coastal cooking

Best time

October–December and March–April