Experience the best of Zhanjiang

Zhanjiang lies in Guangdong province on the Leizhou Peninsula, the southernmost part of mainland China, facing Haikou and the island of Hainan across the Qiongzhou Strait. France leased the area from 1898 as Guangzhouwan, calling its port Fort Bayard, and it returned to China after the Second World War. The city's natural deep-water harbour has been developed since the 1950s.

Huguangyan, a round crater lake ringed by woods south-west of the centre, forms a geopark of volcanic scenery with walking trails. Mangrove forests line parts of the shore, and a national nature reserve protects them and the birds that feed in the mud. At the tip of the peninsula, the pineapple fields of Xuwen stretch across the red volcanic soil.

The sea decides the menu, with oysters, prawns and crab prepared simply with garlic or steamed. The hot, humid season is long, the heaviest rain falls between April and September, and typhoons can pass between July and October.