Lingxi, in southern Zhejiang, is a satellite city of Wenzhou — a region famed for its entrepreneurial spirit and private industry. Its mountainous remoteness tempered the reach of centrally planned ideals in earlier decades, helping commerce take root. I’ve been coming here for over twenty years — it’s my wife’s hometown — and it’s become one of my favourite places in China. Beyond family, what draws me back is the rhythm of daily life: rickshaws ferrying shoppers, neighbours dancing in the evenings, people practicing hand-painted calligraphy in boutique tea houses and coffee shops, and street vendors turning out crisp dumplings straight from the pan. For me, Lingxi captures the essence of lived-in China.