Huizhou, on the Dongjiang River between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, is one of Guangdong's quieter old cities — "half city, half lake," as the saying goes, after the West Lake that Su Dongpo famously helped adorn during his 1090s exile. Around it gather a Taoist holy mountain, a bamboo-sea highland, hot springs, Hakka kitchens and clean beaches on Daya Bay. It makes an easy two-day escape from the delta megacities, and a worthy detour in its own right.
