Dingxi, China

With a population of over 2.5 million, Dingxi is hardly the tranquil rural idyll many imagine China to offer. In fact, this prefecture-level city in Gansu province is plagued by environmental degradation, having lost much of its once-lush grasslands and forests due to overpopulation and natural disasters. The climate is also a challenge, with warm, humid summers and frigid, virtually snowless winters.

While Dingxi is known for its medicinal herbs and agricultural products like potatoes and yams, the region has long struggled with poverty, with some citizens lacking even basic necessities as recently as the 1990s. The bureaucracy is a persistent headache, as evidenced by the 2013 earthquakes that killed 95 people and destroyed over 120,000 homes.

Dingxi is not for the faint of heart - this is a gritty, hardscrabble place better suited to the resilient than the romantic.