WUZHOU, 220km southeast of Guilin, China, is an increasingly modern, prosperous trading city and river port, its fragmentary colonial architecture a reminder of foreign influence during the late nineteenth century when British steamers puffed down the Xi River to Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Today these have been replaced with faster domestic ferries and hovercraft, but the river remains a major transport artery - so much so that Wuzhou has never been linked to the national rail network - and many foreign visitors still arrive or depart along it. Lured by the prospects of Guilin, Yangshuo or Guangzhou, few leave time between connections to have a look around, but Wuzhou is an interesting place: eminently Chinese, comfortably sized and a fine introduction to the interior of the People's Republic.