Dissecting the Zhangjiajie & Fenghuang Self-Guided Trip
[Personal Gear] 1. Backpack, waist pack, sneakers, hat, sunglasses, 3 sets of change of clothes (quick-dry preferred), underwear (3 sets recommended), toiletries, mosquito repellent, several plastic bags, razor, phone, camera, charger, MP3, water bottle, umbrella, small knife, notebook, ID card (a copy works too), student ID, tissues.
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.
[Personal Equipment]
1. Backpack, waist pack, sports shoes, hat, sunglasses, 3 sets of change of clothes (quick-dry clothing preferred), underwear (3 sets recommended), toiletries, mosquito repellent, several plastic bags, razor, mobile phone, camera, charger, MP3, water bottle, umbrella, small knife, notebook, ID card (a photocopy is also acceptable), student ID, tissues and wet wipes
2. Medicines: band-aids, Baoji pills, Niuhuang Jiedu pills, essential balm, cold medicine
3. Dry food: such as bread, ham sausage, dark chocolate, compressed biscuits, etc. (Zhangjiajie is quite tiring, so it's convenient to have snacks on the way. A small amount is enough)
Fenghuang and Zhangjiajie Itinerary
(I) Fenghuang Chapter:
D1
Guangzhou — Huaihua. Take train N596 departing Guangzhou at 22:22, arriving in Huaihua around 12:10 the next day (middle berth 248+5 yuan, lower berth 257+5 yuan). Overnight on the train. However, the train was 1 hour late (arriving at 13:30). 515
D2
Huaihua — Fenghuang. Overnight in Fenghuang. 66 (transport) + 60 (accommodation) + 1 (river lanterns) + 55 (dinner barbecue) = 182
After lunch on the train, take a bus to Fenghuang. From Huaihua to Fenghuang, you need to go to the West Bus Station to catch a bus, but it only departs when full. (Note: Huaihua has two bus stations; the other is the Central Bus Station, which has no buses to Fenghuang. We wasted 1 yuan taking bus No. 29 to the Central Bus Station, and ended up having to take a 4-yuan taxi to the West Station.) Huaihua to Fenghuang (ticket 30/person) was said to be an air-conditioned bus, but it turned out to be a lie. The bus was dirty and poor, not to mention the road conditions — it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a 'bumpy and dirty' highway, so friends in poor health should be careful on this stretch. The journey takes about 2.5 hours, and the scenery is average. If there is no direct bus to Fenghuang, you can choose a bus to Mayang, then transfer to Fenghuang, where there are more buses.
In the evening, go to the North Gate Tower to buy fireworks and night tour lanterns, and go to the bank at Tiaoyan to set off fireworks and wish lanterns. 1 yuan for 12 small ones. There are also many shaped ones, but the prices range from 1 to 5 yuan.
Suggestions:
From Jishou to Fenghuang, the road is relatively easy to travel and the cost is cheaper. At Jishou South Bus Station, about 2 kilometers from the train station, the driver will know it if you take a taxi (3.5 yuan). You can take a minibus to the bus station (Jishou minibus starting fare is 3 yuan, at most 4 yuan to the bus station, about 5-10 minutes). (15 yuan/person) The whole journey from Jishou to Fenghuang takes only 60-70 minutes, not more than an hour and a half. Upon arriving in Fenghuang, take a taxi to Hongqiao (5 yuan). If you go this way, you can slightly adjust your itinerary. You can take train N582 departing Guangzhou at 13:45 to Jishou (hard sleeper costs about 190 yuan, but this train has no air conditioning, so it will be quite tough), arriving around 5:30 AM the next day. Then take a green bus from the train station square to Dehang (ticket about 6 yuan, 40 minutes). After visiting Dehang, return to Jishou and take a bus back to Fenghuang.
Transportation in Fenghuang: Transportation in the new town mainly relies on a type of covered three-wheeled motorcycle. No matter where you go in the city, it costs ten yuan per vehicle (prices have gone up now; it used to be 1 yuan per person, but now it's not possible, no matter how you bargain). There are no transportation tools in the old town, but since it's not large, you can walk there in a few steps.
Fenghuang's specialty dishes include blood duck (personally I think it's average), fern, twice-cooked pork, sour soup fish, canned mushrooms, tofu dregs, and sour vegetable soup. The portions are large, the taste is good, and the price is cheap.
Fast food restaurants can be found everywhere in the county town, cheap at 3-5 yuan for a meal. There are also uniquely flavored snacks like malatang and rice noodles, plus Miao-style sour fish and pickled radish. For breakfast, there's an 'old brand' noodle shop at the head of Hongqiao Bridge, 5 yuan a bowl, very tasty — worth a try.
In the evening, at Yongfeng Bridge Pedestrian Street (the street in front of Hongqiao), there are many night market stalls where you can get stir-fried dishes — meat dishes 5 yuan, vegetable dishes 2-3 yuan. A few people can eat for 20-30 yuan, and the food is very good. I recommend eating there.
The most distinctive food in Fenghuang is beef skewers — tasty, worth a try. There are also many fried skewers, with fish, crab, and so on, costing from fifty cents to one yuan each. As long as you can handle spicy food, you can try them every day. About a 5-minute walk south of Hongqiao, in the evening it becomes a barbecue street with all kinds of barbecue, fermented glutinous rice balls, wontons, dumplings, and hot pot — everything you could want. Lamb skewers are 5 yuan for 25 skewers, but don't be fooled by the 25 — they're very small skewers, and you can easily finish them all. Also, the grilled fish here is excellent — definitely try it (20 yuan each). If you don't eat spicy food, you can tell the owner. They stay open rain or shine (when it rains they put up plastic sheeting).
Cycling leisure route: Shawan—Dutian—Guanzhuang (Oasis), about 9KM (along the Tuo River, rural scenery), but few people cycle it now (not sure if it's because of the rain — it rained all three days we were in Fenghuang).
Riverside guesthouses in Fenghuang quote 80 yuan for a standard double room, with a minimum of 60 yuan. Along the Tuo River in the old town there are guesthouses everywhere — take your time looking and you're sure to find one you like.
[Shopping]
①. Fenghuang silverware: there are many silverware shops in Fenghuang with a wide variety of styles. Recommended: Fu Ji Silver Shop and Old Fenghuang Silver Shop. At the market in Shanjiang there are many old silver pieces, much cheaper.
②. Fenghuang printed and tie-dyed cloth: Liu Dapao's is of course the most famous, and Wu Huahua's and Zhang Guiying's tie-dye works are also fine pieces, but the prices are steep.
(II) Wulong Mountain / Laodong / Dehang / Jishou Section
D3
Wulong Mountain Scenic Area + Laodong Miao Village: 50 (accommodation) + 160 (Wulong Mountain & Laodong) + 8 (breakfast) + 10 (buying straw sandals) + 43 (dinner) = 271
One-day tour total price 186 yuan/person __ special offer 90 yuan/person (includes round-trip bus fare, insurance, boat ride, lunch, entrance tickets). Many guesthouses accept sign-ups, but a single attraction costs 60-80 yuan, and two together cost 100 yuan. But as long as you insist that you have a friend who's been here before, you can get two attractions for 90 yuan. However, personally I don't think these two attractions are worth visiting — the scenery is average. Especially when it's raining, definitely don't go to Wulong Mountain, and especially don't go to that Wulong Cave — there's nothing much to see, the path is hard to walk, and it floods. Many of us slipped and got soaked. At Laodong, many children will welcome you at the roadside when you get off the bus, and they'll offer some handmade bamboo items (seemingly free, because we were afraid it would be rude to take their things, so we kept refusing; later we saw some people accept them and the children happily walked away). In Laodong there's a 'fortress lady' who is 88 years old, but her skin is still very good, and she's still weaving cloth.
D4
50 (accommodation) + 223 (souvenirs) + 11 (breakfast) + 20 (Tuo River boat ride) + 3 (snacks) + 36 (dinner) + 44 (bar) = 387
Since our clothes and shoes got wet yesterday, we could only wear the guesthouse slippers and stroll around town buying things. In the evening we went to a bar — the bars here are quite distinctive and worth experiencing, but the prices are similar to Guangzhou's, 22 yuan for a 350ML beer. For a boat ride on the Tuo River, taking a private one is more cost-effective — the asking price was 15 yuan/person, later 10 yuan/person, and the two of us 'chartered' a whole boat. You can't buy just the upstream ride separately; you need a package ticket for 168 yuan to ride. Of course, the 168 yuan includes ten attractions (two of which are also free to the public).
D5
11 (lunch) + 6 (taxi from Hongqiao to the station) + 120 (Fenghuang to Zhangjiajie) + 40 (Sanxiaguo) + 80 (accommodation) = 257
Resting at the guesthouse, preparing to climb Zhangjiajie tomorrow. There are two buses a day from Fenghuang to Zhangjiajie, at 8:30 and 14:30, taking 5 hours. The ticket is 60 yuan at the long-distance bus station in Fenghuang New Town. A taxi from Hongqiao costs about 5 yuan.
Let me write down our original plan, hoping it will help friends who want to go in the future:
Original plan D4 (4.14): Fenghuang—Dehang, stay in Dehang. Spent the morning resting at the guesthouse, bought a few souvenirs after lunch, then in the afternoon went to the bus station near Nanhua Gate to catch a bus to Jishou bus station, arriving at Jishou train station around 4 PM (the tourist shuttle to Dehang only departs from the train station), and reached Dehang around 5 PM.
[Transportation]:
'Green taxi' (Hongqiao-Fenghuang Nanhua Gate Bus Station) 3 yuan; Fenghuang Bus Station-Jishou Bus Station (12 yuan/person, air-conditioned, about 1 hour); taxi (Jishou Bus Station-Jishou Train Station) 3.5 yuan; Jishou-Dehang (4 yuan/person, air-conditioned, about 40 minutes)
[Accommodation]:
In Dehang we chose the guesthouse in the primary school nearby, standard room 60 yuan/night (usually very expensive, but we went in the off-season so we could negotiate), with water heater, private bathroom, TV
[Food]:
Highly recommend 'Miao Sister Restaurant' in the parking lot — the food is both affordable and delicious (off-season prices are negotiable), and the lady is incredibly nice. The stir-fried chicken pieces (20 yuan, very generous portion) we devoured completely. The peach blossom worms (15 yuan) don't look great but taste quite fragrant — worth a try. Of course, if there's anything you don't understand about the local area, you can ask the lady!!
Original plan D5: Dehang-Zhangjiajie, stay in Zhangjiajie city area.
In the morning, as planned, we first went to 'Tianwen Terrace' at 8 o'clock. I remember there was a stone signpost saying Tianwen Terrace was still 300 meters away, but in fact we walked almost a thousand meters and still hadn't arrived. Then we started climbing. Climbing Tianwen Terrace in the morning was wise — if we'd come at noon, we'd surely have been baked dry. By about halfway up we were completely exhausted, and thinking we still had to climb more in Zhangjiajie tomorrow, we decided to turn back. In the end, we never made it to Tianwen Terrace. Fortunately, we made it back to the village just as the performance was starting. After lunch, braving the scorching sun, we went to Liusha, which was relatively closer and the path easier to walk, with more tourists. The beauty of Liusha must be experienced in person (China's tallest waterfall) — it's indescribable. We rushed back before 3 PM, watched the costume performance, and then immediately headed to Zhangjiajie.
(III) Zhangjiajie Section:
[Transportation]:
From the parking lot, take the Dehang tourist shuttle to Jishou Train Station (4 yuan, departs every 20 minutes). But you should know that all trains heading to Zhangjiajie depart before 12 noon. If you miss that time, don't worry — like me, you can go to Jishou South Bus Station, where there are also buses to Zhangjiajie (35 yuan/person), departing when full, taking 2.5 hours.
[Train Station]:
As soon as you get off the train, many travel agency touts will approach you promoting multi-day tours. At this point, don't show any interest — once you ask a few questions out of curiosity, you'll be surrounded by enthusiastic touts. So at this point you should head straight to the large plaza on the left side of the station exit. There are public buses to the city area from the plaza, Bus No. 6 costs 1 yuan per person (2 yuan between 22:00-06:00). Of course, at the train station plaza you can also choose to take a taxi directly to the city area. For taxis, agree on the price with the driver first — don't let the driver use the meter, or they'll take a long detour. From the train station plaza to the city area is about 10 yuan.
[Accommodation]——
There are many hotels in Zhangjiajie city area, generally rated two stars or above, and the prices aren't cheap — a two-star is usually around 150 yuan/night. If you know someone local, you can negotiate the price, and the environment inside is decent. The city area of Zhangjiajie is rather chaotic, so I don't recommend staying in those small inns. Although small inns are relatively cheap, the people staying there are all locals, a mixed crowd, and many drug users and prostitutes rent rooms there, so safety can't be guaranteed.
The security in the Zhangjiajie scenic area is much better than in the city, so I recommend staying inside the scenic area. This way you don't need to re-enter the park, saving a lot of time. Also, the Zhangjiajie ticket is valid for 2 days; if you stay inside the scenic area without leaving, you can stay as long as you want. Anyway, staying in the scenic area has many advantages. Inside the scenic area are all farmhouse guesthouses, mainly clustered near Yuanjiajie (No. 1 Bridge under Heaven).
D6--D8 (4.15—4.18) Zhangjiajie
Another place worth visiting in the city area is a place called Tujia Customs Park — no local driver doesn't know it. Take the bus for one yuan. Inside it's purely Miao and Tujia folk customs, plus some collections — quite an eye-opener. The ticket is 80 yuan. Another place worth visiting is Baiyang Ancient Temple, also called Puguang Zen Temple — locals generally call it by the latter name. From the train station, take Bus 1 or 7 and you can get off right in front of the temple. The ticket is 20. But they check very loosely here, or you can follow behind some tour groups and go in — absolutely no one will ask. To be safe, if there are three of you, buy one ticket and say some nice words and you can get in. But I strongly suggest you confidently blend in behind a tour group. Temples are really the same everywhere; I think if you're sneaking in, you might as well take a look, since it's even 7 years older than the Forbidden City. If they insist you buy a ticket, there's no need to spend the money.
The other park is Dayong Bridge Park, a really nice place to rest, free, and also a good spot for locals to relax after meals. It's fairly large, and you can see the majestic Tianmen Mountain, the place where planes fly through the cave. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays starting at 7 PM there's a large musical fountain show.
[Food]:
Sanxiaguo is actually a kind of convenient hot pot. The most locally distinctive is the dry pot, which is a hot pot stewed without soup. I think the best place to eat it is near Fengwan Bridge at 'Master Hu's Sanxiaguo.' Sanxiaguo is 20 yuan per portion, and one portion is enough for 1.5 people. So for two or three people, the most economical choice is to order 60 yuan worth. Recommended dishes are dry-fried intestines and dry-fried walnut meat — the two can be stewed together in one pot, and the taste is fantastic! While eating, also order a portion of pickled radish — crunchy, sour, makes your mouth water!
Friends who want to eat Hunan cuisine can go to a chain called 'Xiangli Renjia' — easy to find, right near the bus station. It was recently renovated, and the chicken pot and duck soup taste superb, and the cured meat is good too.
For late-night snacks, Wenchang Pavilion is a good place — usually for barbecue, so it's extremely crowded there. Everyone can go join the fun! Or go to the People's Cinema, a famous late-night snack street. A few shops at the cinema entrance do good business, but recently because business is so good and there are so many people, there's a tendency toward shoddy quality; also there's demolition going on there recently. The newly built beer night market in front of the commercial building is also good. 30 yuan and your belly is stuffed!
Don't forget, if you want something to whet your appetite, opposite the cinema (now demolished) there's a place selling pickled radish and pickled cucumber — a very famous old brand, set up as a stall in front of a shop. It's said the owner made millions selling radish. A bit exaggerated, but that he has 500,000 is absolutely certain.
Here's one more hard-to-find place for you, to eat 'straw hat noodles.'
The name comes from the fact that the owner always wears a straw hat while selling noodles. The sauce is incredibly fragrant and you can ask for extra. The noodles are made by him—supposedly all by hand in the old days. The owner is quite eccentric, selling only a tiny amount each day. He used to be even more peculiar: he only sold noodles at 9 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you wanted to eat his straw-hat noodles, you actually had to call him and ask if he was in a good mood and whether he'd come out to sell noodles. Only with a reservation would you not go in vain. But it's precisely this mystery that gives his noodles a legendary quality. Now he has a simple shop, located 10 meters inside the second alley on the left side of the road from the bus station entrance toward the Department Store. There's no signboard—just a flatbed cart with a worn straw hat hanging on it. That's the place. But it's usually gone by around 1 PM. If you want to eat there, heh heh, you'd better go early! Whether you get to eat it or not depends on your luck!
To be honest, the noodles are really good. 3 yuan for a small bowl, 4 yuan for a large one. You'll want more after finishing, especially the sauce.
Finally, let me mention a place a bit farther away where you can eat game—good for those with deep pockets looking to splurge. 'Bami Bridge' has a very distinctive name, and the food is quite good. It's located by Bami Bridge on the road from Nanzhuangping toward Fenghuang. You'll need to take a taxi there specially, within 15 yuan. You can negotiate the fare, and you can ask the driver to pick you up for the return trip. They have wild boar, bamboo rat, muntjac meat, cured meat, and more. Recommended local specialties: yellow pork, also known as pressed pork, and Miao sour meat. Heizhugou wild mountain mushrooms—fresh mushrooms of all kinds will dazzle you. Their dim sum is also excellent: refreshing corn cake, crispy outside and tender inside, and pearl meatballs—all are treats you'll never tire of.
[Must-see places in Zhangjiajie]:
Mihun Terrace, Wulong Village, Tianbo Mansion, Shentang Bay, Dianjiang Terrace, Immortal Bridge, One Step Difficult. The first six are truly excellent spots for viewing scenery. From Immortal Bridge, if you walk to another peak, there's also a superb viewing platform, but you must have some courage, because Immortal Bridge is actually a natural stone bridge (1.5m wide) with no railings, and beneath your feet is a bottomless abyss. You also have to climb about 20 meters of rocky path to reach the viewing spot. The whole process is almost entirely walking along the edge of cliffs—haha, absolutely thrilling! One Step Difficult is no longer difficult now; they've built a large iron bridge over it. But you can still go see how people in the past had the guts to take that step.