A Shanghai Native's Zhangjiajie & Fenghuang Guide
A Shanghai Native's Zhangjiajie & Fenghuang Guide. Accustomed to Shanghai's bustling crowds and urban prosperity, after working for over half a year I finally had time to go out and relax, so I was very happy, haha... I wanted to travel south. Friends said Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang were pretty good. In my memory, western Hunan is very mysterious—perhaps a northerner's habitual way of thinking. Below are my impressions from several days...
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
A Shanghai Native's Guide to Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang
Used to the bustling crowds and city prosperity of Shanghai, after working for more than half a year I finally had time to go out and relax, so I was very happy, hehe... I wanted to go south. I heard from friends that Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang were pretty good. In my memory, Xiangxi was very mysterious—perhaps it's a northerner's habitual way of thinking. Below are some feelings and experiences from the past few days, with some suggestions for those planning to go in the future. For reference only; I bear no legal responsibility, hehe.
I. Itinerary
Day 1: You can take the 7:30 p.m. flight from Shanghai to Zhangjiajie, arriving around 10 p.m. Shake off all the guides and touts who come up to you, and head straight to the parking lot to take a taxi to the city center. You can stay at the Guizu Hotel near the city bus station, which is very close to the bus station, so the next morning you can take a bus to the scenic area. Before coming, I had already found online a well-reputed guide named Wang Zhong. By the time I reached the hotel at 10:30, Guide Wang was already waiting there and had booked a room for me. After tidying up, we agreed to get up at 7 the next morning, and then I went to sleep.
Day 2: Got up at 7 a.m., had a simple breakfast, met Guide Wang downstairs at the hotel, walked 5 minutes to the bus station and took a bus to the Forest Park (the large scenic area has two main entrances: Forest Park and Wulingyuan). About an hour later we arrived at Forest Park. Itinerary: Forest Park -- Golden Whip Stream -- Water Winding Around Four Gates -- Bailong Elevator -- Yuanjiajie -- No. 1 Bridge Under Heaven -- Shentang Bay. At night we stayed at a Tujia guesthouse on the mountaintop of Yuanjiajie (right near Wulong Village). The guesthouse was fairly clean, with hot water at fixed times, a private bathroom, and a TV. The only thing is that staying on the mountain at night, there is no entertainment at all, let alone any romantic encounters, unless you go into the deep mountains and old forests to look for wild boars and venomous snakes, so it is a bit lonely at night for one person, hehe.
Day 3: Got up at 7:30 AM, ate breakfast, and right at the guesthouse entrance we could catch the scenic area shuttle bus. Itinerary: Shentang Bay—Immortal Bridge—Tianzi Seat—Wulong Village—Tianbo Mansion—Point General Terrace—return to the guesthouse to rest before sunset.
Day 4: Got up at 7:30 a.m. In the morning, Helong Park -- Ten-Mile Gallery (we did not take the cable car and spent more than 2 hours walking down the mountain). At noon we arrived at the Wulingyuan entrance, finished lunch, completed the Zhangjiajie scenic area itinerary, and took a bus back to Zhangjiajie city bus station. We took the afternoon bus to Fenghuang (about 4 hours). We arrived in Fenghuang at nearly 7 p.m. Inside the old town, we looked for a guesthouse by the Tuo River. In the end, because we were too tired, we did not look much more and stayed at a guesthouse called Diaoyulou by the Hong Bridge. It was a triple room with hot water for showers, a TV, and a private bathroom, 30 yuan per bed. After putting down our luggage and resting briefly, we went to Dashi Restaurant for dinner. At night Fenghuang was very lively: night markets, bars, and people releasing flower lanterns on the Tuo River, not one of them was missing...
Day 5: At 7 in the morning I was woken by the sound of antiphonal singing on the Tuo River. I got up and enjoyed the singing and the morning light of Fenghuang from the riverside balcony of our room. After washing up, we found an old noodle shop by the Hong Bridge; the taste was good, a bit like Yunnan's crossing-the-bridge rice noodles. In the morning, on the Hong Bridge, an older woman pulled us in to take a boat ride on the Tuo River. On the boat I took, the boatman was especially nice and told me many stories about Fenghuang, and I was the only passenger on the boat, which was very pleasant. Highly recommended. At noon we tasted blood cake duck, fresh fish from the Tuo River, and some unknown wild vegetables. After lunch, we bought some Fenghuang specialty ginger candy and then took a bus back to Zhangjiajie. In the evening we flew from Zhangjiajie back to Shanghai.
II. Key Points
1. Besides the attractions above in Zhangjiajie, personally I think the Menghe Cave rafting is worth a visit. If you have time, you can arrange a day for rafting;
2. The above itinerary for the Zhangjiajie scenic area can be compressed into two days. Helong Park and Ten-Mile Gallery, which we visited on the last day, are not much to see and can be skipped entirely. If you make the second day's schedule tighter, you can go down the mountain and stay in Wulingyuan, so that on the morning of the third day you can directly take the early bus from Wulingyuan to Fenghuang;
3. In Fenghuang you should stay for three days, strolling slowly and enjoying slowly. If you are interested in ethnic customs, you can spend a day at Laodong Miao Village, but it is said to be not that great;
4. Fenghuang is more crowded on weekends, so consider booking a room in advance;
5. If you join a tour group in the Zhangjiajie scenic area, many attractions are skipped, while must-go group tour spots like Huangshizhai are not much to see and are crowded, so it's best not to join a tour group.