Always an important trading centre, YUEYANG was opened to foreigners as a treaty port in 1898 but never figured large in China's history. Despite accelerating tourism and an unpleasantly crowded new city springing up in the background, Yueyang's older lakeside quarter still retains the atmosphere and disinterested hospitality of a small town. The main street, Baling Lu , runs for 5km, bare, broad and numbingly straight from Yueyang's newer eastern fringes right up to Nanyuepo docks on the lake shore. Here it's crossed by Dongting Lu, with the old part of town, most of the accommodation, and all the sights close to this junction, including the unusual and impressive Yueyang Tower and a network of rambling stone alleys. The best time to be in town is for the Dragon-boat Festival , though beds will be in short supply. It's also worth asking at your hotel about possible evening opera performances ; spectacular, if less formal than Beijing's.