Nestled in the heart of the province but generally overlooked in the rush to cross the Yangzi and reach Huang Shan, Anhui's capital, HEFEI , gets very few chance visitors. An unimportant backwater until being developed as a modest industrial base after 1949, Hefei's sole points of interest are a couple of historical sites and an unusually thorough museum . However, it's a comfortable place, relatively untouched by the ugly building mania sweeping the rest of China and dignified by a number of important science and technology colleges. North from Hefei, both Shouxian - just about feasible as a day trip from the capital - and Bozhou are more historic towns, worth a day's scrutiny on the long haul in or out of the province.