QUFU, China, a dusty rural town in the south of Shandong, easily accessible by bus or train from Tai'an, 100km north, and Ji'nan, 180km away, is quiet and pretty with an agreeably sluggish feel, but of great historical and cultural importance. Confucius was born here around 551 BC, taught here - largely unappreciated - for much of his life, and was buried just outside the town, in what became a sacred burial ground for his clan, the Kong. All around the town, despite a flurry of destructive zeal during the Cultural Revolution, is architectural evidence of the esteem in which he was held by successive dynasties and most monumentally by the Ming, who were responsible for the two dominant sights, huge buildings whose scale seems more suited to Beijing, the Confucius (or Kong) Mansion and the Confucius Temple.

Qufu is a great hassle-free place to stop over for a few days, with plenty to see concentrated in a small area. It's small enough to walk everywhere, along unpolluted streets with little traffic - there are even trees full of singing birds and benches to sit on. Around the end of September, on Confucius's birthdate in the lunar calendar, the pace of the town picks up when a festival is held here and reconstructions of many of the original rituals are performed at the temple.