Zhangjiajie Self-Driving Travelogue
I most enjoy reading self-driving travelogues, following the blogger's pictures and text to experience together the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, the driving feel of various vehicle models, and the road conditions in different places. It's as if I were driving myself. An excellent self-driving travelogue truly gives infinite enjoyment. But there are also many self-driving travelogues I don't much like to read (personal opinion, please don't criticize). Self-driving travel, especially on automotive forums, should naturally focus on cars and driving. Some friends throughout the entire piece…
I love reading self-driving travelogues the most. Following the blogger's pictures and words, I get to experience our motherland's magnificent landscapes, the driving feel of various car models, and the road conditions in different places. It's as if I'm driving myself. An excellent self-driving travelogue truly gives one endless enjoyment.
But there are also quite a few self-driving travelogues I don't much care to read (personal opinion, please don't throw bricks). Self-driving travel, especially on a car forum, should naturally focus on the car and the driving. Some friends write entire posts full of scenic spot photos without mentioning the car's condition, road conditions, or driving experience at all. On a self-driving trip, besides seeing the sights, the freedom and joy of driving is also a great pleasure—if you only want to see the sights, why drive yourself? Pass on the joy of your self-driving trip to friends who love and understand cars.
This Spring Festival I went to Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang. Four of us traveled together, a total of 5 days, spending about 4800 RMB. If you economize a bit, you can spend even less!
D1: Departed from Shiyan at 17:35 on February 18, arrived in Zhangjiajie city at 12:40 AM, taking 7 hours.
Route: Shiyan——Xiangfan——Jingzhou——Gong'an——Lixian (Liyang)——Shimen——Cili——Zhangjiajie Shiyan——Gong'an
Expressway the whole way, tolls: 225 RMB. Rather frustrating—tolls are still charged on the first day of Chinese New Year! Many places waive them!
Gong'an——Lixian National Highway 207, first-class road, generally okay; one section has many large potholes, toll 10 RMB.
Lixian——Shimen county road, road conditions okay, no toll.
Shimen——Cili county road, road conditions very poor! The road surface is bad, and both sides are residential areas, which affects speed. On the map the distance is very short,
but we drove for over 40 minutes. Especially after leaving Shimen, finding the intersection to Cili was very hidden and hard to find. By the time we arrived it was already past 10 PM,
and thanks to meeting a kind person, otherwise we could have searched all night and not found it! So, travelers arriving there must ask for directions more.
Cili——Zhangjiajie expressway, toll 30 RMB.
At the Cili expressway entrance, there's a resort called Wanfu Hot Spring that's quite large in scale, and quite expensive too. By the time we reached Cili it was already 11 PM,
and we'd planned to stay there, but were startled by the room prices! 400 RMB/day for a standard room, and they said it was already discounted for the Spring Festival! Forget it, better to brave the night road! Fortunately Cili to Zhangjiajie only takes 1.5 hours. Right after exiting the Zhangjiajie toll station there's a self-driving tour service center—I suggest everyone avoid it. The people at the service center will stop your car as soon as they see an out-of-town license plate, and will ask you many questions—comrades, please be on your guard! When we asked how much it would cost to tour Zhangjiajie, they immediately quoted 800 RMB/person (we only spent 470 RMB/person), saying it was too late and they'd take us to stay in the city center, and one person even wanted to get into our car, which we refused. Coming off the expressway, many minivans, seeing out-of-town cars, kept chasing our car and signaling us to stop—they were asking whether we needed lodging, whether we wanted a guide, and so on! So please be careful, everyone, and don't be fooled! It's best to find a hotel yourself. After dodging those people's pestering, we stayed at a place called Fengyuan Hotel, 150 RMB/room, conditions average two-star standard, parking fee 10 RMB/night.
D2, D3: Zhangjiajie—Yuanjiajie—Yangjiajie. Three days and two nights from February 19 to 21, staying in the mountains, cost: 1950 RMB. Touring Zhangjiajie without a guide is very tiring! Because before leaving I'd read travelogues online that introduced a guide named Zhou Wenjing, said to be very good, we called her with a try-and-see attitude, and after agreeing on the price and time, Xiao Zhou quickly found us. 470 RMB/person, including the mountain entrance ticket (248 RMB/person), two nights' accommodation (family inn, fairly clean), and three meals a day in the mountains (home-style dishes). The tourist buses in the mountains are free, but the cable car, sky ladder, and mini train all cost money—you can choose whether to ride them, and Xiao Zhou won't deliberately require everyone to ride. At 8:30 AM we set off from the city to Zhangjiajie Scenic Area, toll 10 RMB, about 40 minutes.
Let me tell everyone the things to watch out for:
1. Traffic police stopping cars. On the way there, a person who looked like a traffic policeman stopped our car, saying he had a cousin working in Zhangjiajie Scenic Area who was going to be late and wanted to hitch a ride with us. Fortunately the car was full, and guide Xiao Zhou said: this is a scam—that person is actually an illegal guide, easy to get on but hard to get off! Thanks to Xiao Zhou for getting us out of it! If you meet a real old policeman stopping your car, hehe, then there's no way around it! Everyone judge for yourselves!
2. Guides at the gate. At the scenic area entrance there are many individual guides, all local residents. If friends look for a guide there, be sure to check whether they have a guide certificate. If you don't hire a guide, eating and lodging on the mountain by yourself is still inconvenient. In peak season the mountain accommodations are all full, and each scenic area is far from the others—unfamiliar with the terrain, it's very troublesome.
3. Parking. Because private cars aren't allowed into the scenic area, and you'll be touring for 3 days, friends who drive should find a safe place to park. Guide Xiao Zhou had us park at the entrance of Xiangdian Hotel (four-star), with dedicated security guards watching, very safe. Cost 10/day, paid when picking up the car.
4. Picking up the car. Because we entered from the East Gate and exited from the West Gate. Coming out from Ten-Mile Gallery, the tourist bus's terminal is the West Gate, so you need to get off midway and then go pick up the car. Sorry, I forgot where we got off midway—the guide should know clearly. Renting a car from where you get off to the mountain entrance costs 30 RMB. I won't say much about the scenery and culture on the mountain—experience it yourselves! At least I found it very enjoyable! Oh right, meat on the mountain is very expensive. I'd wanted to replenish my strength and have chicken soup, but when I asked the price: 180 RMB/bird, I nearly fainted! So before going, eat more meat!
You can arrange your time as you like. If you arrive in Zhangjiajie during the day, you can go directly to the scenic area; there are also many family inns outside the scenic area, and if you communicate with the guide in advance, you can also go up the mountain the same day.
D4: Zhangjiajie Ten-Mile Gallery——Jishou——Fenghuang. At 3 PM we left Zhangjiajie and began our Fenghuang trip. It took 3.5 hours to reach Fenghuang, toll 30 RMB. Under guide Xiao Zhou's guidance, we chose a shortcut passing through China's largest Red Stone Forest scenic area, but due to time constraints we missed it. During the Spring Festival there were many out-of-towners in Fenghuang, and we hadn't booked a riverside inn in advance, so when we arrived at night we couldn't stay in a stilted house, and instead stayed at Aoshuang Hotel in the new town—and even that was a triple room, 188 RMB/room, nothing to be done! From the new town to the ancient town is very close, about a 20-minute walk.
D5: One-day tour of Fenghuang. Early in the morning we excitedly headed to the ancient town, and the first thing was to find a riverside inn. We were fairly lucky—next to Tiaotiao Rock there's a bar called Shuimu, accommodation conditions quite good, standard room 120 RMB/day, hot water 24 hours a day. After settling in, we started strolling the ancient town. That day I wandered around the ancient town, probably 4 or 5 laps! Each lap brought new discoveries, such as atmospheric bars, novel craft shops, delicious snacks, traces of vicissitudes, and so on. When tired from walking, I'd sit on a bench at a bar and watch the passing tourists. I love Fenghuang's snacks—while strolling my mouth was basically constantly eating, pickled radish, plum blossom cake, sponge cake, glutinous rice cakes, stinky tofu, ginger candy, and so on, I tried them all! One word: stuffed! I won't say more—experience it yourselves!
Friendly reminder: parking at riverside inns is a headache—the space is too small to park, so you have to park outside the ancient town. But you must choose a place that charges parking fees, with someone watching so you don't worry about your car being scratched. We learned the hard way: during the day we parked outside the parking lot, and when we went to the car at night to get things, we found a deep scratch on the door by the driver's side—probably made by the parking attendant, because we hadn't parked in his territory! This happens a lot in Fenghuang—seeing an out-of-town car parked there, some lowlife will scratch it! Some even smash your rearview mirror glass! Everyone be careful when parking! Parking fee 20 RMB/night. You can ask the inn owner to help you figure out parking.
D6: At 10 AM on February 23, we left Fenghuang to return to Shiyan. Because of a wrong decision, we chose a very long route back. That day
we didn't get back to Shiyan until 11 PM—tired! Route: Fenghuang——Jishou——Changde——Linli (li)——Lixian——Gong'an——Jingzhou——Xiangfan——Shiyan. 180 km more than the route coming, and 3 more hours of driving. Within Hubei it's expressway, Changde——Linli is expressway, other places are all... play: 2270 RMB, mainly the 4 people's Zhangjiajie tickets, cable car tickets, mini train tickets, etc.
Important reminder: friends who drive themselves must never drive fatigued—I nearly made a fatal mistake! On the way there, on the expressway from Cili to Zhangjiajie, because it was already 12 AM and the other friends were all sound asleep in the car, as I drove I started getting drowsy and my mind wandered! The car drifted out of the lane and ran over the reflective lights on the road—with a thud, it jolted me awake, and I quickly straightened the wheel. Afterward, I pulled the car over in a temporary parking area. At the time, I broke out in a cold sweat! Really dangerous! So, never drive fatigued! For night driving, it's best to have a companion to chat with you and help watch the road conditions!
Wishing friends who go out to play a safe journey!