Hefei

Checked out of the hotel, meeting at the local Cultural Bureau, then half an hour's tourism on a section of the city walls. They are huge, 12 metres high, snaking (slightly incomplete) around the city.
Then off by train to Hefei, capital of Anhui province. It’s a classic 3.5m pop Tier 2 city. Booming, construction everywhere, including a massive cultural zone in the south-west... but the smog gives it a bleached-out panorama which makes it difficult to pick out whatever merits it might have. Still, we had a good meeting at the vast and impressive Anhui Museum and an absorbing one-hour guided tour of its collections, and in the evening a dinner with some of Hefei’s arts community which turned out to be a jolly affair. There was an artist, a photographer, a government official, a radio presenter, a publisher, a poet, a performing arts promoter, an academic, and a very quiet guy who turned out to be the official's driver. Not much international culture comes to Hefei, nor the other way round, so people are keen to see what can be done.
PS. I am getting tired of Chinese dishes on a big round table and pine for some baked beans on toast.