Dehang, the "Quiet" Land of Western Hunan
Dehang, the "Quiet" Land of Western Hunan. September 30, cloudy. Fenghuang–Jishou–Dehang. Long-distance buses from Fenghuang can be boarded at Nanhua Gate on the way in, but there are only two per day—one after 7 a.m. and one after 5 p.m. So it's better to depart from Fenghuang Bus Station, where buses leave once full. A taxi from the ancient town costs 4 yuan. The fare is 15 yuan...
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.
The 'Quiet' Land of Xiangxi—Dehang
September 30, Cloudy, Fenghuang-Jishou-Dehang
Long-distance buses departing from Fenghuang can be boarded at Nanhua Gate, where we arrived on our inbound trip, but there are only 2 departures a day—one after 7 in the morning and one after 5 in the afternoon. So it's better to depart from Fenghuang Bus Station, where the bus leaves as soon as it's full. A taxi from the ancient town costs 4 yuan to get there. The fare is 15 yuan per person.
After about an hour's drive, we arrived at Jishou Bus Station. Note that the bus to Dehang must be taken at the train station. So we spent 4 yuan on a taxi to the train station, just caught a minibus about to depart, and set off smoothly.
For 6 yuan, in less than 40 minutes we arrived at the ticket office of Dehang Miao Village. The tickets aren't cheap—60 yuan for admission, or 120 yuan to also join the bonfire party. We had no interest in such a commercialized bonfire party with little substance. We hadn't watched one in Fenghuang, and here we likewise didn't buy a ticket for the evening show. But later we discovered that Dehang's bonfire party is actually very much worth watching!
After buying tickets and entering, we called the owner of 'Stone Guesthouse,' where we had booked, to come pick us up. Stone was easy to find—dressed in Miao clothing, wearing glasses, he looked very much like a student. His wife handled our check-in. She was a straightforward and beautiful young woman—you could tell at a glance she was the one in charge! Later we learned that Stone actually had a little daughter, adorable! Stone Guesthouse is not far from the village entrance. Although it's not a stilted house, the rooms are fully equipped and comfortable. Behind the house is a vegetable plot, with huge orange pumpkins lying adorably in the beds. And a stream flows right by the house—very close to nature.
After a quick tidy-up, we walked into the village. The roadside was lined with shops and restaurants, all in stilted houses, very distinctive. The architectural style of Dehang Miao Village is wooden stilted houses. Compared to Fenghuang, the structures seem much simpler, and of course vastly different from Laodong's. In any case, we picked a place to sit down and ordered our beloved fresh bamboo shoots, Dehang's specialty cured meat, and a sour eggplant, then without further ado, we dug in heartily! Unexpectedly, Dehang's food was still heavily flavored!
After eating and drinking our fill, we planned to spend the afternoon visiting Liusha Waterfall, one of Dehang's three major waterfall attractions. We walked and played along the way, full of wild fun! Because it was midday, the tour groups hadn't all arrived yet, so the valley was quiet, with babbling streams—very much like a hidden paradise.
After walking and playing for an hour, we finally saw a corner of the waterfall, like a sudden revelation. Liusha Waterfall naturally can't compare to famous large waterfalls like Huangguoshu, and by October the flow had already weakened considerably. If you want to see waterfalls, summer is ideal. But honestly, Liusha Waterfall still surprised me. It doesn't have a magnificent momentum, but the scenery truly lives up to its name—the waterfall pours down like flowing sand, crashing into a pool of emerald water. The green of the pool is so pure that I can't help but compare it to the water of Jiuzhaigou.
Along the road, many local villagers were selling straw sandals. Since we had come to such a natural and pure place, we had to try the fun of straw sandals. 3 yuan a pair, completely hand-woven—what could we say! BF and I each got a pair, attracting a very high rate of turned heads, and we felt especially unique and proud. According to BF, the straw sandals become even more comfortable and fitting after getting wet.
Actually, the round trip was originally supposed to take 2 hours, but we spent 4 hours playing along the way—that's the kind of spontaneity we wanted. On the way back to the village, there was a distillery. From rice wine to corn liquor, everything was brewed by the owner himself. His rice wine especially is highly recommended—20 yuan per jin, incredibly sweet and fragrant, attracting countless mountain bees.
Back in the village, we noticed something being prepared in the village square, and learned that there was a bonfire party at 7:30 in the evening. The square was quite large, filled with bamboo chairs that could probably seat 200 people. The decorations and atmosphere were very ethnic. Later, considering the high ticket price of 60 yuan per person, we didn't watch it.
At dinner time, we deliberately chose a three-story Miao sister stilted house restaurant. Sitting on the top floor, you can overlook the whole village. Unexpectedly, the bonfire party square lit up with searchlights, looking very impressive and atmospheric. After dinner, we strolled back to the square. Although barriers had been added, we glimpsed some of the spectacle through the gaps, and really regretted being stingy with that 60 yuan. I recommend friends watch Dehang's bonfire party.
That night we rested early, preparing to climb the mountain the next morning to visit Wentian Terrace and Yudai Waterfall.
We got up early to go up the mountain. In the early morning, no tourists had entered the mountain yet. In the fields and mountains there were only the two of us. It felt like the whole valley belonged to us, natural to the bone. I really wished we could move here and be a pair of farmers, plowing and farming every day.
Along the way we still walked and played. Wild scenery makes one feel the most relaxed and excited. Even a bright green caterpillar could make me, a long-time city dweller, exclaim in surprise. Actually, thinking about it, this simplest, quietest scene is the way to delight body and mind. Suddenly I felt the sorrow of being a city person.
After about an hour's walk, we began the upward stone-step path. The sun rose higher and higher, the temperature gradually increased, and more and more tourists appeared on the mountain. Yudai Waterfall, due to the dry season, had lost all its former momentum, and was much less worth viewing than Liusha Waterfall. But the light gradually strengthened, finally ending these days of gloomy weather, and we saw blue sky and green mountains. Our mood, as the mist dissipated, became transparent as well.
By the time we climbed to Wentian Terrace, it was already 10:30. Looking back, there was an even higher platform called Wentian Terrace. Asking a nearby Miao girl, we learned that Wentian Terrace and Wentian Platform are places for men and women to sing mountain songs to each other. The girls sing at Wentian Terrace, and the boys at Wentian Platform. The young Miao girl was very clever and bright, and loved interacting with people. At my request, she even sang a mountain song for us—truly simple and lovely!
Standing on Wentian Platform and looking down, we found that Dehang's scenery already had hints of Zhangjiajie, just on a smaller scale, but still elegant and beautiful, simply touching the heart.
For the descent, you can either return to the village the way you came, or take another path that leads to Aizhai Highway. The highway is a national road, and you can flag down a minibus heading to Jishou. So if your schedule is tight and you don't have much luggage, you can directly carry your pack up to Wentian Platform, then head toward the highway.