Hefei, Anhui's capital, is China's honest middle child — no world- famous skyline, no imperial palace, and all the better for it. What it has is real: the tomb and temple of Judge Bao, the incorruptible official of a thousand operas; the park where a Three Kingdoms general beat an army ten times his size; the residence of the most controversial statesman of the late Qing; a water-town day trip; and a science establishment that now builds the country's quantum future. Two unhurried days fit it like a glove.
