Steam rises from bowls of spicy mutton rice noodles in breakfast shops a few streets from the gray-brick house where the Zunyi Conference met during the Long March. Red Army Street wraps traditional-style blocks around the site, and families come for snacks as much as for the museum.
Beyond the old town, the ruined castle of Hailongtun crowns a cliff-ringed mountain, and roads west lead to the distilleries of Maotai and the red cliffs and waterfalls of Chishui. Summers are hot and humid, winters are mild and gray, and drizzle can turn up in any month. A Local Friend turns your scattered list of noodles, museums and mountains into one day that flows from breakfast bowl to castle wall.
