Anqing and Tongcheng: a river pagoda, Huangmei opera, and a lane six feet wide

Just after six, the riverbank below Yingjiang Temple (迎江寺, Yíngjiāng Sì) in Anqing belongs to the people who use it. A man practises tai chi with a sword still in its plastic sheath. Two women share a thermos, and a row of anglers have leaned their rods against the railing. Behind them the Zhenfeng Pagoda (振风塔, Zhènfēng Tǎ) turns from grey to gold as the light comes up. In front, long, low cargo barges move down the Yangtze so slowly they look parked. Most travellers only see Anqing from a train window on the high-speed line between Hefei and Jiujiang. That is exactly why two days here feel generous.

The pagoda the river steers by

The pagoda is the reason the city looks the way it does from the water. Seven storeys of octagonal brick rise from the temple grounds, and boatmen used the tower as a landmark long before anyone printed a navigation chart. Locals still quote the saying guòle Ānqìng bù shuō tǎ (过了安庆不说塔): once you have passed Anqing, don't bother talking about pagodas. The stairs inside are narrow and steep, the stone treads worn into shallow bowls. Each floor's windows frame a different slice of river, bridge and rooftop.

Come early, before the tour groups from the county towns, and walk the temple courtyards first. Incense smoke gathers under the eaves of the main halls, and the kneeling cushions are worn flat in the middle. Afterwards, follow the embankment path back toward the old centre. It is an ordinary city promenade, with benches, plane trees and kiosks selling bottled tea. What makes it worth the walk is the river beside it, wide enough here that the far bank is only a low green line.

Breakfast in a city where shuijiao means wonton

Order shuijiao (水饺, shuǐjiǎo) in most of China and you get crescent-shaped dumplings. Order it in Anqing and you get a bowl of thin-skinned wontons in clear broth with scallion and a sheen of fat on top. The best-known name is Jiangmao Shuijiao (江毛水饺, Jiāngmáo Shuǐjiǎo), a long-running local brand with branches around the centre. You pay at the counter, take a numbered slip and listen for your number to be called.

Add something fried from a street stall: a youtiao (油条, yóutiáo) dough stick, or one of the sesame-crusted flatbreads sold across Anhui as shaobing (烧饼, shāobing). Then walk Renmin Road (人民路, Rénmín Lù), the main pedestrian street, at the pace of people walking off breakfast. The shops at street level are the same chains you find everywhere, but look up. Several upper storeys keep older façades, and the side lanes lead into blocks of three-storey walk-ups with washing hung out on bamboo poles.

Back streets of a former provincial capital

Through much of the Qing dynasty and into the twentieth century, Anqing was Anhui's provincial capital. The province's name joins the first character of Anqing with the first of Huizhou. That past shows less in monuments than in the scale of the old shopping streets. Daobashi Street (倒扒狮街, Dàobāshī Jiē), just off Renmin Road, is a short restored stretch of grey-brick shophouses. Its name involves a stone lion facing the wrong way, and you will hear more than one explanation of why.

Look for Hu Yumei (胡玉美, Hú Yùměi), the old Anqing maker of fermented broad-bean paste, candou jiang (蚕豆酱, cándòu jiàng). Its shops sell the paste in jars at several heat levels, and it makes a more honest souvenir than anything printed with the pagoda. Later in the day, head north to Linghu Park (菱湖公园, Línghú Gōngyuán), a lakeside park of willows and zigzag bridges, with lotus in summer. Amateur singers and a few erhu (二胡, èrhú) players often gather under its pavilions to run through opera arias for whoever happens to be passing.

Huangmei opera, heard where it lives

Anqing is the home city of Huangmei opera (黄梅戏, Huángméi xì). It grew out of tea-picking songs from the hills along the Anhui–Hubei border and was polished on this city's stages. Next to Peking opera it sounds strikingly plain: fewer crashing cymbals, more melody, and lyrics in a softened local speech that audiences can actually follow. The tune most visitors half-know comes from The Heavenly Match (天仙配, Tiānxiān Pèi), a duet about a fairy and a farmer walking home together. You may hear it hummed by people who would never call themselves opera fans.

The city's troupes do not perform every day, and their schedules change with the season. Ask at your hotel desk, or check the troupe's WeChat account a few days ahead. If nothing is on, the park rehearsals give a fair sense of the sound. For dinner, look for shanfen yuanzi shao rou (山粉圆子烧肉, shānfěn yuánzi shāo ròu): chewy balls of sweet-potato starch braised with pork belly in soy and sugar, a dish found in family restaurants across the region.

A morning in Tongcheng, and a lane six feet wide

Tongcheng (桐城, Tóngchéng) is a short train ride north of Anqing. It gave its name to the Tongcheng school (桐城派, Tóngchéng pài), a circle of Qing essayists whose prose was taught in schools for generations. The town's most visited sight is much humbler than its literary fame. Liuchi Xiang (六尺巷, Liùchǐ Xiàng), the Six-Foot Lane, is a narrow stone-paved alley between two walls, and you can walk its length in a couple of minutes.

People come for the story. The family of the Qing minister Zhang Ying (张英, Zhāng Yīng) fell into a dispute with their neighbours over a boundary wall and wrote to him in the capital for support. He replied with a short poem telling them to give way. They moved their wall back three chi, the old Chinese foot. The neighbours, embarrassed, did the same, and the gap between the two walls became a public lane.

千里修书只为墙，让他三尺又何妨。

The line reads qiān lǐ xiū shū zhǐ wèi qiáng, ràng tā sān chǐ yòu hé fáng: a letter sent a thousand li over a wall, so why not yield three feet. You will likely see it carved or printed near the lane. Afterwards, walk to the Tongcheng Confucian Temple (桐城文庙, Tóngchéng Wénmiào) nearby, where an old gingko and a quiet courtyard make it easy to take your time before the train back.

Getting there, timing, and one mistake to avoid

Anqing Railway Station (安庆站, Ānqìng Zhàn) is on high-speed lines that connect it with Hefei and Jiujiang, and some days there are through trains from Shanghai and Nanjing. Tongcheng East (桐城东站, Tóngchéng Dōng Zhàn) is on the Hefei line, so the two towns fit in one booking. Timetables change, so check 12306 or the station before you plan around a particular train. A taxi or ride-hail from Anqing station to the riverfront is the easiest first move. Yingjiang Temple, the pagoda climb and opera performances all charge for entry, at different amounts. Confirm the price and opening times at the gate or with the troupe, not from an old blog post.

Spring and mid-autumn are the gentlest times to walk here. Midsummer is hot and humid, though that is also when the lotus in Linghu Park is at its fullest. Avoid national holidays if you want the Six-Foot Lane to yourself. The one mistake to avoid is trying to fit Tianzhushan (天柱山, Tiānzhù Shān), the granite mountain in nearby Qianshan, into these two days. It needs a full day of its own. Add a third day, or save it for another trip.