Guizhou

Despite being a popular destination with domestic travelers, Guizhou (贵州, Guìzhōu) remains largely unknown to travelers outside China – and what a travesty of justice. The province has two of the country's largest and most spectacular natural features – a waterfall and a cave – while outside the capital, Guiyang, it's pretty much green hills and valleys, flowing rivers and limestone formations to the horizon.

Guizhou's people are as diverse as its environment. Around 37% of the province’s population consists of more than 18 ethnic minorities. Flitting around the Dong and Miao villages in the east of the province is like an anthropological dream sequence. Nearby is the ancient riverside settlement of Zhenyuan, as striking as Guilin to the south, where Chinese tourists chuckle into their hot-and-spicy sour fish soup that they still have it all to themselves.