Holiday in Hefei

About Hefei

Hefei is China's best-kept secret — a 5-million city in Anhui province that practically does not exist in Western travel guides, but is regarded within China as an emerging technology and science metropolis. The city is home to the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), one of the country's most prestigious research universities, which develops quantum computers and fusion reactors here — Hefei is the Chinese equivalent of MIT or Caltech in city form. Yet behind the high-tech facade lies a city with 2,200 years of history. Hefei was the home of Lord Bao (Bao Zheng), the most famous judge in Chinese history, whose incorruptible justice in the 11th century became the stuff of operas, TV series, and folk legends. Bao Park (Baohe Park) with the Lord Bao Temple, the tomb, and a museum is the city's most important historical site — located on an island in the lake, surrounded by lotus ponds. Chaohu Lake, one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China, is only 60 kilometers southeast and offers boat tours, fishing villages, and hot springs. The historical Huizhou architecture of the nearby villages — whitewashed houses with black roofs, stone bridges, and fish ponds — is part of the UNESCO World Heritage and can be reached from Hefei as a day trip. What makes Hefei particularly interesting for visitors is the absence of tourists: one experiences an authentic Chinese metropolis without tourist infrastructure, souvenir shops, and the staging that characterizes many more famous cities — and that is precisely what makes it appealing.