中山市

Why this place

Zhongshan is the birthplace of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese republic, and the city renamed itself for him. It is also the source of a huge share of the world's lighting products, and it has the arcaded old-town streets and Cantonese food culture to go with that.

What to see

• The Sun Yat-sen memorial and his former residence at Cuiheng village
• The Zhongshan old town and the arcaded shophouse streets
• The Zhouzhuang-style water-town pockets of the Pearl River estuary
• The lighting trade districts, which are a sight in themselves

What to eat

• Cantonese cooking — Zhongshan is well known for its food in the region
• The local 'kumquat' and 'almond cake' sweets

Best time

October–December and March–April