Anhui Province, 615km (381 miles) NW of Shanghai, 321km (199 miles) NW of Huang Shan

As the provincial capital of Anhui, this industrial city of 1.3 million has few attractions for the tourist but sees a constant flow of business travelers. Hefei is also home to the University of Science and Technology, where Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi was vice-president until he sought asylum in the West after the 1989 Tian'an Men Square massacre.