Experience the best of Wuxi

Between Suzhou and Changzhou in Jiangsu province, Wuxi lies on the Grand Canal and the northern shore of Lake Tai. Its old canal quarter, around Qingming Bridge, keeps whitewashed houses and stone bridges beside the water. At the foot of Huishan hill lies Huishan Ancient Town, a quarter of ancestral halls, with the classical Jichang Garden and the spring known as the Second Spring Under Heaven.

Lake Tai, one of China's largest freshwater lakes, laps against Turtle Head Isle, a park famous for cherry blossom in spring. Near its shore, the Lingshan Grand Buddha, a bronze standing figure 88 metres high, looks out from a hillside. Yixing, a short way west and part of Wuxi's administrative area, is the home of purple-clay teapots and limestone caves, and Suzhou's classical gardens lie to the east.

Sweet is the taste of Wuxi: spare ribs are braised in soy and sugar until they fall from the bone, and local soup dumplings have a touch of sweetness. From the lake come icefish, whitefish and white shrimp, the three whites of Lake Tai. Spring, for blossom, and autumn are the best seasons.