Tianliu, China

With a population of just 67,165, Tianliu is a sleepy backwater, hardly the bustling hub one might expect from a city on the ancient Silk Road. The famed White Horse Pagoda, a monument to a Buddhist monk's faithful steed, is the main draw, but the chime of its wind-bells belies the persistent headache of bureaucracy that plagues the area. While the Diamond Sutra, one of Buddhism's most influential texts, was first translated here, the city itself offers little to captivate the average traveler beyond historical curiosity. Tianliu is best suited for the dedicated pilgrim, not the casual tourist seeking modern comforts.