It's over the mountains, it has no major roads, it's too dangerous, or tourists don't get it at all. Five writers with a desire for travel or living elsewhere recall a city that once captured their hearts and minds for reasons of secrecy or isolation, or simply being off limits.

The novelist Romesh Gunesekera can't wait to tell us about Kunming, which is so unlike any other modern Chinese city...

Producer Duncan Minshull

First broadcast in April 2013. Show less