Jiangkou, China

With a population of just 184,764, Jiangkou is a sleepy backwater in China's remote Guizhou province. The county seat of Shuangjiang offers little more than a smattering of government offices and a handful of ethnic minority villages. Bureaucracy is a persistent headache, as the county is divided into a dizzying array of 2 subdistricts, 6 towns, and 2 ethnic townships. The climate is unremarkable, neither a selling point nor a deterrent. Overall, Jiangkou is best suited for those seeking a low-key, unglamorous slice of rural Chinese life, far from the thrills of the country's megacities.