Anqing in a day: Zhenfeng Pagoda, dumplings in broth, and Huangmei opera

Anqing sits on the north bank of the Yangtze in Anhui, and for much of the Qing dynasty it was the provincial capital. Few foreign itineraries stop here, which is the reason to come: a compact river city you can cross on foot in a day, with a Ming pagoda, a breakfast worth queuing for, and an opera that grew up in its villages.

Morning: dumplings and the old quarter

Start at Jiangmao Shuijiao (江毛水饺), an Anqing name for thin-skinned pork dumplings in a light broth. Eat at the shared tables with people on their way to work, then walk on to the Daopashi (倒扒狮) quarter, a few restored streets of grey-brick shopfronts.

Look for Huyumei (胡玉美), a broad-bean paste maker founded in the nineteenth century. A small jar travels well in hand luggage.

Midday: Yingjiang Temple and the river

Yingjiang Temple (迎江寺) faces the water at the edge of the old city. Its seven-storey brick pagoda, Zhenfeng Ta (振风塔), was completed in 1570 and is billed locally as the first pagoda on the Yangtze. A separate ticket usually covers the narrow interior stair, and the upper galleries look straight down onto barges working against the current.

振风塔有“万里长江第一塔”之称。

Come down and follow the riverside promenade west. It is flat, partly shaded, and quiet on weekdays.

Evening: an hour of Huangmei opera

Huangmei opera (黄梅戏, huángméixì) takes its name from a county upriver in Hubei but matured around Anqing, and the city still treats it as its own. Ask your hotel which theatres are performing that week; a programme of excerpts, such as scenes from The Fairy Couple (天仙配, Tiānxiān Pèi), suits a first evening.

Surtitles are often in Chinese only. Read the plot beforehand, let the melody carry the rest, and walk back along the lit river.