Xinyang

Xinyang lies at the southern tip of Henan, nestled against the Dabie Mountains where the province meets Hubei and Anhui, in a mild, humid zone that feels more like the Yangtze region than the dry north. It is one of China's most celebrated tea districts, giving its name to Xinyang Maojian, a prized green tea grown on the misty hills around Nanwan Lake. The cool heights of Jigong Mountain, dotted with early 20th-century foreign villas, made it a famous summer retreat. The area is rich in revolutionary history as part of the old Dabie Mountains base area. Its distinctive slow-stewed Xinyang cuisine and rice-based diet set it apart within Henan. Xinyang Minggang Airport and the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway connect it to Wuhan and Zhengzhou.